Just in case you missed Zombietron’s story from Sunday, or haven’t checked your email, Sony is renaming their PlayStation Network for PS3 to be more in line with their other electronic services. Beginning on Wednesday, the PSN will now be known as the Sony Entertainment Network. Usernames, passwords, subscriptions, etc. will not be affected, other than to have a new icon. While you’ll also notice the change on PS Vita when it releases later this month, they are not currently doing anything to PSN on PSP. Ultimately, most consumers will not be affected by this in any way (except for a firmware update I’m sure). But you should still expect an explosion of looneys on the internet Wednesday afternoon when the folks that were too busy to check their email think Sony’s trying to pull one over on them.
One of the later stories in Friday’s edition of VGQH was THQ’s delay of Metro: Last Light, reportedly for more polish. We’ll have to wait and see the merits of this and what it means for THQ’s new brand focus. In the meantime, one of their other franchises is getting here a little quicker than I expected. I had thought to see Darksiders II in fall, but it has now been announced for a June release. This sequel sees the horseman Death attempt to clear War’s name, who stands accused of accidentally triggering an early apocalypse. The first game was rated very highly and was often described as a mash-up between God of War and Legend of Zelda.
Another release date was recently announced, and it’s also coming up very quick. Then again, when you’re cross marketing through different mediums, it’s nearly always a good idea to have products releasing in similar time frames. Game of Thrones, the RPG from Cyanide Studios, is set to release May 15th. That puts it about halfway through the course of the television show’s second season on HBO. (The first season will be available on DVD and Blu-ray March 6th.)
If you’ve been playing Mass Effect since the first game on PC or XBox 360 you’ve already grown accustomed to keeping your save games to import into the next game. For PS3 users, who had a choose-your-own-adventure motion comic to set up decisions from the first game, we’re still looking forward to sending our various Shepards into Mass Effect 3 on March 6th. Despite repeated assurances that this will end Commander Shepard’s story, BioWare suggests you keep your files from this trilogy-ender as well. Obviously this doesn’t have to mean Mass Effect 4, but other events in the same universe will obviously be affected Shepard’s activities (Rachni destruction, Krogan genetic engineering, etc.). While this is obviously not an announcement for anything, it does give hope that we haven’t seen the last of this impressive universe. But, with rumors abound concering next-gen hardware, what could saving that file mean? Should we expect a use for it in the next year to insure we’re sitll playing it on our PS3s or 360s? Do they have a plan for moving it to PS4 or neXtBox? Are any other franchises using this forward-thinking save utility that may need to answer the same questions?
Just in case there was any doubt about all of the other leaks we’ve heard about Capcom’s Street Fighter x Tekken, we’ve now some visual evidence of the four unconfirmed fighters: M. Bison, Akuma, Jin, and Ogre. A pair of move list graphics clearly show the four, along with instructions for performing some of their special attacks. In addition to these four, and the myriad other fighters on the roster, PS3 players will have exclusive access to Kuro, Toro, Cole McGrath, Mega Man (of sorts), and mecha Pac-Man.
EA has made no secret of their plans for another Medal of Honor sequel, and they’re getting set to reveal even more of those plans. Invites have started going out to various press outlets to attend an event on March 6th, the same week as the Game Developers Conference. The invites are quite clear that this will be the big reveal of the next Medal of Honor. Considering we all know it’s coming, this will be the first chance to see just what it will be.
Tim Schafer is a development celebrity. It probably seems strange to outsiders that gamers have behind the scenes favorites, but it seems strange to me that Jeff and Jimmy of the Big Movie Mouth Off have such an encyclopedic knowledge of directors, producers, and effects artists that I think of as obscure. Regardless, Schafer and his team at Double Fine have made some of the best-loved games around – including Stacking, Costume Quest, Brutal Legend, and most importantly, Psychonauts. The high praise and enduring fan loyalty to Psychonauts continually brings up the question of Psychonauts 2, a project Schafer has publicly declared he would like to do. It came up again recently in an interview, with Schafer lamenting that he hasn’t been able to get a publisher interested. This piqued the interest of another development celebrity, Markus “Notch” Persson. Notch is the founder of Mojang who recently completed Minecraft, a cult smash. Utilizing the millions he’s earned from Minecraft, Notch recently opened a publishing branch of Mojang, which factors in heavily to the messages he’s sent to Schafer via Twitter. When Schafer mentioned that he needs a few million dollars from a publisher to make Psychonauts 2 happen after all these years, Notch responded with “How many millions exactly?” He followed up with telling Schafer he wants to “make Psychonauts 2 happen,” and that he’s “serious.” This doesn’t actually mean anything will come of it, but this could certainly be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. And the fans will be reaping all the benefits.
With Twisted Metal making its return to consoles on Valentine’s Day, this should be a triumphant time for David Jaffe and Eat Sleep Play. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. Jaffe is apparently leaving the company, reportedly of his own accord, while they’ve just released 8 employees through layoffs. Eat Sleep Play was founded in 2007 “to provide gamers with small-to-medium sized games that look great, run fast, and — most importantly — are fun and commercial.” A high profile release like Twisted Metal doesn’t seem to fit that description very well, but we haven’t really seen it in action yet. With the loss of Jaffe, who created the car combat series and the bestselling action-platformer God of War, and the recent layoffs, Eat Sleep Play is down to 26 employees. The new plan is to focus on iOS games for the iPhone and iPad. But what does this mean for the three game contract they had with Sony?
Speaking of Twisted Metal, you didn’t think a simple release on Valentine’s Day was going to end its glory did you? Three additional vehicle skins will be available by drinking NOS energy drinks and entering the promo code online. That will get you a download code to pick up a specialized Dollface truck, gore-dripping hearse, or bright pink ice cream truck complete with a grinning clown. While these skins are advertised as exclusives, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them become available as paid DLC at a later date.
In the world of special editions, Starhawk has the latest reveal. This Limited Edition is not a paid upgrade, you’ll need to preorder at GameStop for free access to these bonuses when the game launches on May 8th. It’s a fairly robust package too, one I’d normally expect to see an extra $10-20 charge to upgrade. It comes with a PS3 theme, the official soundtrack, a free download of the original Warhawk from PSOne, and two DLC add-ons (a $20 value). What do those add-ons include? Here’s the summary from the PlayStation Blog:
- Maw of Despair Outcast Pack – Includes the Maw of Despair Co-op Map and Shade Warrior MP Skin. This challenging co-op mission takes place deep beneath the planet’s surface in a particularly dangerous Rift mine. The Maw of Despair is home to the oldest Outcast tribe, the Shade Warriors. The heart of each Shade Warrior blazes with pure Rift energy, granting them extra toughness and combat ability. The firefights you’ll encounter in the Maw of Despair co-op mission will push your shooting skills to the edge!
- Echo Scrapyard Rifter Pack – Includes the Scrapyard Homeworld and Huxley Ardin MP Skin. An exclusive player Homeworld, the Echo Scrapyard features Huxley’s mechanics shop and junkyard — known throughout the Frontier as the best place in the Frontier for Rifters to get spare parts for their Razorbacks and Sidewinders. And in the canyon basin below, Huxley’s shop is a network of roads and trails for players to hone their own Razorback 4×4 and Sidewinder Jetbike driving skills.
It looks like that settles it for another early edition of Video Game Quick Hits. Come back again on Friday for more short bites of the top news.