It’s the last edition of VGQH for the first half of 2011. Hard to believe we’re this late into the year already. The younger crowd is out of school and enjoying their summer. Hopefully they’re outside playing, but I hope they’re getting plenty of game time in the air conditioning as well. For me, it’s now my busy season. It seems like I have plans every night and somewhere to be every weekend as well. I usually try to get in an hour of gaming when I finish at the gym but before the wife gets home and it’s time to start dinner. I’ll also be doing some traveling this week and throughout the summer so I’ll be getting plenty of PSP and Kindle gaming action.
As for the news, the biggest story happened yesterday as the United States Supreme Court announced their verdict on California’s 2005 law banning the sale of certain games to children. You can read the full story here. Now, I don’t have many quick hits today, but you’re probably going to find something you like.
Bethesda’s online shooter Brink is getting a DLC pack and a title update in July. The update should improve online compatibility, weapon balancing, and enhanced AI. The DLC, “Agents of Change,” comes with two environments, five player abilities, two outfits, and two weapon attachments. The DLC will be available for 360, PS3, and PC all around the same time. It will be free for the first two weeks, going to an unannounced fee after that time.
Due to the expiration of Ubisoft’s license for the franchise IP, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled is being pulled from online services as of June 30th. This is kind of a strange consequence of downloadable games that I don’t think everyone foresaw when PSN, XBLA, et al became popular. A published game on disc can always exist on disc, but apparently downloadable games can be blocked from continued sale after publication. Thankfully we haven’t seen much of this, but if you’ve been holding off on this game, released in 2009, you better get it quick. It’s only $9.99 and has four player co-op. Totally worth it. Although, if I’m Ubisoft, I might knock it down 50% for these last few days just to drag in a few more bucks while you can. I do believe the game will continue to be eligible for re-download if you have already purchased it during its publication time.
The second DLC character for the new Mortal Kombat releases next week. Kenshi, the blind swordsman, will be available for $4.99 on your console’s store starting July 5th. Five dollars per character is pretty high for add-on content. That’s why NetherRealm Studios offered a Season Pass on the XBox Marketplace for $15 that included all four characters if you paid for all four DLC characters (Kenshi, Skarlet, Rain, the elusive fourth character) up front. Rumors are that once all four characters release the discounted DLC will show up again on 360 and PS3 some time in the future. No guarantees, but if the price seems steep maybe you could wait. It’s not like the price ever goes up if it never comes down.
Over in Bioware-land, the company is finally starting to talk about continuing the Mass Effect franchise beyond the end of Shepard’s trilogy. You didn’t really think a company could walk away from a cash cow like that did you? The company’s co-founders, Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka, have recently indicated that they feel the IP has a lot of potential to branch out. For now, their sights are set on Mass Effect 3, but where it goes from there is up in the air. The company is listening to fans to get a feel for what we’d like to see next and all options are currently on the table. There’s been plenty of rumor lately about the addition of multiplayer, possibly even an MMO. Nothing is confirmed, but it’s a safe bet that something will be happening.
And that looks to be it for this week’s early edition. Kind of a slow end to a huge month, but that’s to be expected. Check back on Friday for more highlights from the world of gaming news. Fair warning, since my travel plans will have me with intermittent internet connectivity (at best), the next two editions of VGQH may be a little slim – and possibly published a little late. Then again, if it’s a slow news week, they may be pretty thin anyway.