Before we get started, be sure to vote on yur favorite cover for Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion. Zombietron has the full story and the options, solo Mickey or Mickey with other Disney characters. Vote for your favorite at their Facebook and the winner will be the official cover. Of course, if they’re clever, they’ll just make it reversible like the Mass Effect 3 cover.
Meantime, more news:
Tecmo Koei has confirmed the Dead or Alive 5 Collector’s Edition, but so far it’s only in the UK. I’m certain it will make its way to North American shores though. If it does come across the pond, and it’s the same as announced for the Brits, it will include a set of swimsuits for the female characters, hardcover art book (soft-core porn), CD soundtrack, and a cast poster. In the meantime, preordering the game will give you the option to choose from two sets of bunny outfits. The Angels Pack provides bunny costumes for Kasumi, Lei-Fang and Hitomi. The Devils Pack will bunnify Christie, Tine and Ayane. Soon after this announcement, a new character, Rig, was revealed. Rig is a Canadian Tae Kwon Do expert. That makes 13 total fighters, a number I expect to increase before the game’s release in September.
You may have noticed a Mercenary Pack for Dust 514 on your PSN Store this week and wondered why. After all, the free to play shooter from CCP Games isn’t even out. There is a good reason. Buying the $20 pack will unlock about $50 worth of content in the full game, but it also guarantees you Beta access, starting this weekend. So what exactly do you get for the $20?
- 4,000 Aurum ($20 USD value) – in-game currency for DUST 514
- 30-day Active Skill Booster – increase earned Skill Points by 50%
- “Dragonfly” Scout Dropuit – unique armor with unlimited use
- “Toxin” ICD-9 Submachine Gun – unlimited use and custom skin
- HK4M Shotgun X 50
- Hacked Drop Uplink x 50 – create on-the-spot spawn points for teammates
- Fused Locus Grenade x 50
- 1.5dn Myofibril Stimulant x 50 – temporary melee damage boost
- All Access Beta Pass – participate in every Beta Event, additional play sessions during off weekends
Over on the XBLA you may have noticed the launch of Kinect Central, along with the temporary promotion for a Kinect game, Haunt. Starting on Tuesday and ending Monday, July 2nd, Haunt is available for free. Wait a minute. Hasn’t Microsoft repeatedly told publishers that content can’t be free on XBLA? Anyway, I don’t even know if it’s any good, but it’s free so why not grab it. It’s not like you’re doing anything else with your Kinect.
With Bioware finally releasing the nearly 2GB Extended Cut of Mass Effect 3 earlier this week (review), they’re now hinting at the future DLC they’ve wanted to do all along. I suspect the days of free add-ons for the title are over. Then again, that depends on fan reaction to the Extended Cut. Producer Mike Gamble teased the next content via Twitter: “Would now be a good time to talk about how we’re doing more DLC in the future? That was a trick question. We’ll save the future DLC for future chats. Don’t worry though. There’s much more.” Naturally, eager fans have already scoured the Extended Cut’s code and discovered elements of an add-on apparently titled “Leviathan.” Plenty of script and dialogue from the chapter are included. All of that stuff is findable online, but I’m avoiding spoilers myself so I’m not even posting links in case I see too much in the effort.
After his appointment to CEO and president of Sony Corporation in April, it should come as no surprise that Kaz Hirai is stepping down from chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment. Hirai has spent many years with the company, working his way from sales in the music division to the new head of the entire corporation. His continued role at SCE was expected to be temporary during the transition. As CEO of Sony Corp. he will still have a part time position on the Sony Online Entertainment board. This coincides with Sony Chairman Howard Stringer leaving his own role on the same board. Also part of this management change is the appointment of SCE Japan’s president, Hiroshi Kawano, to the SOE board. Hirai’s time at SCE ushered in the age of PlayStation, one of the few segments of the company still performing well. It’s hoped that Hirai’s leadership will set the rest of organization down the same successful path.
I’m still a little disappointed that United Front Games is making LittleBigPlanet Karting instead of ModNation Racers 2, but a unified Play. Create. Share. enterprise simply makes more sense for the Sony brand. But I’m not so disappointed (or stupid enough to miss a good game) as to boycott the release. Which is why I’m signing up for the beta. And you can too. You can already sign up if you’re in the EU. In North America the sign-up isn’t quite ready yet, but we have been told to watch the PlayStation Blog closely as its launch is imminent.
A “retailer quiz” has been made available by Microsoft to educate retailers about the upcoming Halo 4. It’s kind of a weird concept, but it does reveal some details about the game. Apparently there are pages and pages of content, but most of it just hype, like “Halo 4 will be a huge blockbuster game this holiday that every gamer should play.” A few details that may interest fans do come from this though:
- 10 new weapons
- 2 new vehicles, “plus many of your favorites from the past”
- “Improved support to create, organize and track groups” – read clan support
- 10 multiplayer maps at launch, more to come
- 50 Spartan Ops missions to be released per season, all with “high-quality” cinematics
- First season free – 12 hours of gameplay, single-player or co-op
The first DLC for Max Payne 3 has been revealed, and Rockstar says it will be available July 3rd. “Local Justice” is included in the Rockstar Pass ($29.99), or will be available for $5.99 for the first week ($7.99 later). Buying the Rockstar Pass will also get you the “Disorganized Crime Map Pack,” “Deathmatch Made in Heaven” mode, “Hostage Negotiation Map Pack,” “New York Minute” co-op pack, “Painful Memories,” and “Trickle Down Economics Map Pack” as they release through summer and fall. The preorder bonus packs will also be available for purchase (or free with Rockstar Pass)on July 3rd, including: Cemetery Map ($1.99), Silent Killer Loadout Pack ($1.99), Pill Bottle Item ($0.99), Deadly Force Burst ($0.99), and Classic Max Payne Character ($0.99). The Local Justice pack includes
- three new maps from the singleplayer endgame
- 55th Battalion HQ map for all game modes
- Imperial Palace and Departure Lounge maps for Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Payne Killer
- Light Fingers Item for faster looting
- M4 Assault Rifle with attachments
- São Paulo Police Faction with avatar options
Official details are scarce, but it appears the Nuketown multiplayer map will be “reimagined for the future” as a preorder incentive for Call of Duty: Black Ops II. One of the most popular maps from the first game, the new version will be called Nuketown 2025. There is some indication that this will actually be just one part of a “limited edition map pack.” But, as I said, details are scarce so that could be incorrect. The game is scheduled for November 13, 2012.
The official party line from Microsoft is that they “have not made any announcements updating launch timing for Gears of War: Judgment beyond early 2013.” Apparently we should “Stay tuned for new details… to be revealed at San Diego Comic-Con, July 12-15.” Be that as it may, the latest rumors are that Microsoft is looking at February 2013. We’ll have plenty of ‘bots covering Comic-Con so stay tuned to Big Shiny Robot! to get those details as soon as they drop.
I don’t tend to cover a lot sports games in VGQH, mostly because there’s too damn many of them. But, some of you may be interested, so take a look at the $100 Dynasty Edition of NBA 2K13. This pack will obviously include the game, but it also comes with a very pretty, full-sized Spalding basketball (designed by Art of Basketball), a set of Ink’d Skullcandy earbuds, and a textured Skinit controller skin. The price seems a little high for a game that gets released every year, but the bonus content is roughly retail value. The real question is whether you need a pretty basketball and a controller skin. The Ink’d earbuds are nice, I own a pair, but they’re fairly cheap to buy separately.
Sad news for those working in the gaming industry this week, as Prototype developers Radical Entertainment and parts of SEGA Europe were both closed. Radical, owned by Activision, was all but shuttered this week, with their parent company citing poor sales on Prototype 2 as the cause (only 250,000 units despite generally positive reviews). A few members of the staff will remain, providing supporting roles on other Activision projects. Over at SEGA, offices in Australia, Benelux, France, Germany, and Spain, are being closed as part of their ongoing restructure. Distribution in those territories will now be handled by SEGA London with help from third parties, Level03 Distribution and 5 Star Games.
Apparently Shaun and Ed had the right idea. At least according to Spanish developer Moonbite. They’ve recently announced Zombeer, a “first-person-survival-horror-comedy-shooter (FPSHCS).” The main character, K, wakes up after the zombie outbreak to find he’s been bitten but uninfected. How? Well because he’s hungover, of course. Apparently beer fends off the zombie virus. I always knew drinking was good for something. According to Moonbite’s CEO, Carlos Fernandez, the “team is very passionate about pop culture so the game proudly features many references to movies, comic books and games that we like.” Sounds great and I’d like to know more, but that’s all I’ve got for now. Apparently the game is planned for “HD consoles” by year’s end.
With XBLA’s Summer of Arcade being announced recently, it’s time for PSN to show off their Summer Sale. It’s a little unfair to compare the two though. SoA is all about new games, while PSN’s version is more about discounting older titles that have often been overlooked. Beginning July 3rd, Sony will be taking 30% (50% for PS+) off 12 games you really should play if you haven’t already:
- Closure
- Crysis
- Infamous: Festival of Blood
- Jurassic Park: The Game
- Killzone 3 (Multiplayer)
- NBA Jam: On Fire Edition
- Pac-Man Championship Edition DX
- Real Steel
- Renegade Ops
- Shadow of the Colossus HD
- The House of the Dead III
- Worms: Ultimate Mayhem
By now you’ve surely seen or heard about 007 Legends. Rather than focus the licensed game on just the next film in the franchise, this one will feature missions from six of the films, with their respective Bonds all being replaced by the current super-spy, Daniel Craig. To date, Skyfall (2012) and Moonraker (1979) have been confirmed. The latest reveal is the inclusion of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969). The movie wasn’t bad, but it’s a good thing Lazenby is being replaced as he’s generally considered the worst 007, alongside Timothy Dalton. I’m looking forward to seeing the remaining films being included. The game is scheduled for October 16th.
That does it for the week, and also for the month of June. Check back Tuesday for the latest snapshots of gaming news – assuming I survive the Spartan Beast at Soldier Hollow this weekend.