Alright, put down the controller. You can take five minutes away from “Titanfall” to read the news can’t you? Then again, speaking of “Titanfall,” there are K’Nex sets coming this Fall.
In other news, Capcom and Twitch announced the Capcom Pro Tour this week. This “Street Fighter”-centric, year-long competition could set a new bar for professional gaming. The tournament will begin with “Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition” and switch to “Ultra Street Fighter IV” after its releases in June. Sixteen competitors will be chosen from premier events throughout the year. Winners of the premier events (Final Round March 14-16 in Atlanta, GA; NorCal Regionals April 18-20 in Sacramento, CA; Southeast Asia Majors June 20-22 in Singapore; Community Effort Orlando June 27-29 in Orlando, FL; Evolution Championship Series July 11-13 in Las Vegas, NV; The Fall Classic October 10-12 in Raleigh, NC; and DreamHack Winter November 27-30 in Jönköping, Sweden) and those who earn enough points in ranking events (SoCal Regionals February 28-March 2 in Los Angeles, CA; PAX East April 11-13 in Boston, MA; E3 June 10-12 in Los Angeles, CA; and San Diego Comic Con July 24-27 in San Diego, CA) will qualify for the Capcom Cup final in December. For more information, check out capcomprotour.com.
CD Projekt RED has some sad news for fans, “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt” has been postponed. This is pretty normal for the industry, though that doesn’t make it any less painful for the gamers who are looking forward to a particular title. The game was slated for 2014 and has now been pushed to February 2015. In an open letter to fans, the developer says “We’re sorry to make you wait longer than you, or we, initially assumed you would. At the same time, we believe the game will prove to be worth the wait and meet the expectations you have of us. We believe The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will be an exceptional RPG, one of the best, providing many hours of wonderful entertainment.” Their plans for the game are bold and expansive. If time is what it takes to push the art form, consumers should allow for it.
It’s not unusual for job listings or LinkedIn CVs to “leak” information about unannounced or upcoming titles, but it is a little strange for them to expose characters. That’s sort of what happened when Take Two recently posted want ads for voice actors, likely for “Mafia III.” Louisiana isn’t the typical locale for mob stories, but Raylon Givens has made Kentucky a great location for organized crime. So it could work. You can read the character descriptions, all three of whom are Louisiana-born gangsters, below. This isn’t necessarily tied to “Mafia III” but that is the best theory in circulation now as Take Two and 2K Czech are known to be working on the game.
Franklin
Born in Louisiana, Mixed race – African American/Caucasian, Early 20s, 6′, Bouncer’s build – broad, not cut. An orphan in the racially segregated South who rises to criminal prominence after returning home to Louisiana from war. Having been an outsider to both white and black society, Franklin is fiercely loyal to those he considers “family.” He is both street-smart and strong. Disciplined and imposing, confident yet guarded, Franklin knows how to get a job done at any cost…Tony
Born in Louisiana, Italian, Early 30s, Thin, Immaculately dressed and groomed. A genius with numbers and statistics who runs sports betting operations in Louisiana. Tony is not your typical gangster. Meticulous and organized, Tony is more concerned about numbers and profit than people. On the surface, Tony appears quiet and socially awkward, but in reality he is more than capable of inflicting violence on anyone who disrupts his bottom line. Tony doesn’t fear people; he simply does not understand or like them.Mickey
Born in Louisiana, Italian, Late Teens/Early 20s, Average build. A young street hustler who likes to run his mouth, Mickey likes to talk big on the streets, but when push comes to shove, he can’t back it up. Mickey has a bad habit of taking credit for bigger jobs and making himself seem higher up in the criminal ladder than he really is. When confronted with this, he reverts back to the scared teenager he really is.
While we’re all anticipating the May 27th release of “Watch Dogs” none of us really know the exact content to be expected. With Australia’s draconian ratings board recently re-evaluating their rating for the title we’re learning that it may be a little more racy and violent than expected. I mean, we expected violence and sex is practically a given in the current social climate, but the extent of it wasn’t clear. According to the Australian board’s initial review the violence had a “strong impact” and the sex had a “moderate impact,” earning it an MA15+ rating (US analog is roughly T for Teen). The new R18+ rating (US analog is roughly M for Mature) says the violence is “high impact” and the sex “strong impact.” So sexier and more violent? Sounds like a good Saturday night. Of course, knowing Australia’s board, Ubisoft probably had to cut half the scenes to even get that rating rather than outright ban.
Tuesday’s VGQH had a story about a gamer marking his 500th Platinum trophy with a real-world replica. Over on the Microsoft side, Raymond “Stallion83” Cox didn’t build himself a monument but he did reach a milestone. After “Eight years, three months,” and “Many many hours, many nights” he has reached exactly One Million Gamerscore. The landmark achievement is “I Like a Challenge” from “Titanfall.” As I mentioned Tuesday, I’m not a huge fan of hunting/whoring Achievements and Trophies, but if that’s your thing then a guy with multiple Star Wars tattoos is in no position to judge. Congrats on your goal “Stallion83.”
Here’s an odd one. This week’s PSN Store update seems to have introduced rental options, though none of them are working yet. If you’re intrigued by the idea of renting PSN games, there appears to be several options. One, seven, and 30 day rentals look to be the options for “Catherine,” though all three are listed as free for the non-functioning listing. It’s listed as “Catherine PS Now” by the way, indicating it’s probably part of the upcoming Gaikai-powered streaming service. “Uncharted 3” and “Far Cry 3” had listings for $4.99 and $5.99, respectively, but those are also out of the order for the moment. Intriguing.
For those interested in console sales numbers, PlayStation 4 is still in the lead but XBox One is catching up. It’s always fun to see how different sources use these numbers. Obviously Sony-biased reports highlight the fact that they’re ahead. Microsoft-biased reports are focusing on the catching up. The straight facts from NPD show Sony selling nearly double the numbers in January, while February had Microsoft selling about 90% of Sony’s numbers. That’s a significant gain. With this week’s release of “Titanfall” I am expecting even more XB1 gains in March. As a side note, PS4 had more units sold, but the higher price point for XB1 means Microsoft actually did more in sales dollars.
A bit of a boring note to end on, but I’m assuming there’s at least one other weirdo out there who gets their kicks from financials. Enjoy your weekend everyone, and come back Tuesday for the latest news from the weekend.