I’ve got to be honest and admit that I’ve never heard of Space Hulk, but Swank-mo-tron seems pretty excited about it. I may have to check this one out just to see what could be so interesting it would draw such excitement from him.
But, on to things I’ve actually heard of:
For people that want their games to be punishingly difficult (read: no fun), Namco Bandai and From Software would like to present Dark Souls II. It was announced last week at the Video Game Awards. No details, release date, platforms, etc. came with the announcement. But at least you know it’s coming.
Another big reveal at the VGAs was The Phantom Pain from newcomer Moby Dick Studios. Allow me to save you the trouble of filtering through internet conspiracy theories. No, Moby Dick Studios isn’t real. Yes, this is Metal Gear something-or-other from Kojima. Here’s a quick rundown of the conspiracy “proof:”
- Moby Dick CEO Joakim Mogren; Joakim is an anagram of Kojima. M-OGRE-n is a reference to Project OGRE, an MGS-related project already announced by Kojima.
- Mogren is also the name of a soccer team in Montenegro, the locale for Metal Gear Rising Revengeance.
- The protagonist in the trailer looks like at least one of the countless versions of Snake we’ve seen in past games.
- Someone who looks suspiciously like Volgin from MGS3 is clearly seen in the flames. As is a man on a unicorn that seems to be Big Boss.
- Finally there’s the missing pieces of the title logo. My brain doesn’t work creatively enough to see, but the conspirators are claiming the missing pieces provide a sketch for the letters to spell Metal Gear Solid V.
- Oh yeah, this is the kind of weird shit Kojima likes to do.
A couple of preorder packs have surfaced Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us. What appears to be the “good” pack is a GameStop exclusive. This Survival Pack includes bonus XP for multiplayer, a multiplayer melee attack booster, extra starting in-game cash, customizable character items for multiplayer, and two bonus skins for Joel and Ellie that unlock after beating the single player campaign. Outside of that pakcage, “participating retailers” will be offering the Sights and Sounds Pack: the official soundtrack, a PS3 theme, and two PSN avatars (Winter Joel, Winter Ellie). More details on the multiplayer have been promised, but we don’t know when. they’ve simply said “before The Last of Us is released on 7th May 2013.”
Microsoft has announced a massive rollout of “over 40 new apps” coming to XBox Live. Of course, only a small percentage of those are coming to any one region. For the United States, the Karaoke and Maxim apps are rolling out now. The others will be coming by Spring 2013: All3M, Ameba TV, Flixster, Game Trailers, IndieFlix, Machinima, MTV, PBS, Popcorn Flix, Slacker Radio, The CW Network, and Vimeo.
According to Rockstar, they’ll be completing the PS2 era Grand Theft Auto trilogy on PSN today. That’s right, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, arguably the best and possibly the biggest, of the GTA games to date is finally coming to PSN. I still have my PS2 copy, but my backwards-compatible PS3 YLOD’d. I don’t have a price as of press time, but $9.99 is the expectation.
A couple of changes are happening to the PlayStation Plus Instant Game Collection with this week’s update. Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition and PSN puzzle-platformer Rochard are being added. By now the PS+ IGC has gotten so robust I can’t even decide what they’re rolling out to make room for it.
The next-gen rumors are so persistent, and they’re so obviously coming soon despite that lack of official announcements, I feel obligated to report a few of the latest “likelies.”
The next XBox is apparently called “Kryptos” internally. It will be running off a new AMD-produced chip, known as “Oban.” Apparently Oban is starting mass production about now, but serious quality issues are delaying high production levels. Presumably higher quality chips are in the works and production on Kryptos will begin at that time. Another reliable source informs me that there will be no name extension to the device when it hits retail, where it will be known simply as XBox. However, this may be related to the idea of moving to parallel release of an XBLA only version and a “gamer” version. The lighter version would run only apps like Netflix et al. It’s expected to be very low cost. Meanwhile, the heavier set would include a blu-ray disc drive and be targeted to those who want a game console, not a media center. Interesting ideas.
PlayStation 4 rumors have that device being internally codenamed “Thebes.” Other recent rumors have it being released as “Orbis,” a name that would tie it more directly to the Vita. Unfortunately, this device is also being rumored to use the same AMD “Oban” chip that is having production issues. That strikes me as odd. Certainly both manufacturers would want the best available tech, but using the same chip seems unlikely. I have two separate sources providing conflicting rumors about a release date. One source claims Sony is committed to being first to market – not counting Nintendo’s WiiU, obviously. That points to a possible release mid-to-late 2013. My other source claims we’re looking at spring 2014 at the earliest, which would be slightly behind the predicted schedule for Microsoft’s next box.
Keep your salt box handy, because these rumors won’t be stopping until we get the official announcements.