Today’s VGQH isn’t the most fantastic version ever, but there are a few things to be excited about. And my ranting is mainly limited to one paragraph.
I’m not familiar with Larian Studios, the indie-developer from Belgium. Apparently they recently received a lot of praise for Divinity II, a game that sounds familiar, but not one that brings details to mind. Regardless, they’ve recently announced a new game for 2012, Dragon Commander, and they now have my attention. Not because it’s set in the Divinity universe (as I mentioned, that doesn’t mean much to me) but because it sounds great. It’s part turn-based strategy and part RPG. Ostensibly, you have an army of wizards, dragons, and other fantastic elements and build power alongside allies. Once the enemy comes, you join the fight in full on dragon combat. And the dragons have jet packs. That’s right, being a dragon is no longer good enough, now they have jet packs. If I can give one of them a robotic laser eye along with the jet pack I will officially have the most awesome beast imaginable. Jet pack dragons will make you their bitch.
Let’s take a complete 180 now. Larian has a new game, while Valve has an old game. Counter-strike: Global Offensive, an update to a 12 year old game, is coming to Steam, XBLA, and Playstation Network in 2012. This release will update and upgrade classic elements of the game, but will also release new weapons, characters, maps, game modes, etc. The first chance for the public to play the game will be at PAX Prime (this Friday) and the Eurogamer Expo.
God of War Collection Volume II is coming to PS3 in just a few weeks. Collecting both epic PSP titles (Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta) for the big brother console is pretty great in and of itself. But upgrading it to full 1080P at 60 frames per second is amazing. I can’t even explain, just check out the video:
Speaking of collections, we all know about the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection coming in November. This includes, MGS: Peace Walker, MGS 2: Sons of Liberty, and MGS 3: Snake Eater. But it’s clearly missing a couple of things. Online retailer Zavvi is fixing that problem with exclusive rights to the MGS Ultimate HD Collection. The catch is that they’re only making 4,000 of them and it’ll run you roughly $100 US. But, along with the normal kit, you’ll get 5 art cards, a download code for the PSN release of the original Metal Gear Solid, and MGS 4: Guns of the Patriots. And it all comes packed together in a numbered steelbook case. If this is the one you must have, pick it up now.
This hardly qualifies as news, but I love making fun of people and this one’s a two-fer so I’m going for it. A gaggle of folks from Heavy Iron Studios have become decidedly outspoken on what they see as a bad misstep for Sony, the Playstation Vita. Many of them referred to the concept as a “car wreck.” They cite some good reasons, including the recent trouble Nintendo has had with launching the 3DS, the price point, the lackluster reception of XPeria Play, and the fact that people don’t seem inclined to carry a dedicated gaming device when their smart phone can pretty much handle that task. In broad strokes, they are correct and I don’t necessarily disagree with them. Will Vita be as big a flop as PSP Go? Probably not, but I’m not convinced the technology is there to drive the general market back to a gaming only device. Sorry Sony. On the other hand, I have to question the source of this derision: Lyle Hall, President of Heavy Iron. And the guy behind UFC Personal Trainer has an opinion that matters? Your most recent claim to fame is making an exercise game, one published by the slowly sinking THQ. Somebody want to find me the sales and Metacritic numbers on that game? I can’t be bothered. But I’ll gladly stand corrected if the numbers show it.
FREEZE! Sorry, can’t help myself on that one. I don’t normally link videos and I know this is the second time I’ve done it today, but you’ve got to see this, the latest villain announcement for Batman: Arkham Asylum. I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the character, and I don’t know how well he fits in this version of the fiction. But, it’s a villain announcement for one of my most anticipated games of the year.
I have a few other little bits, but nothing of any real relevance, so I’m just going to leave it with the Mr. Freeze reveal. Kind of hard to top that today. With the Gamescom happening now in Cologne, I expect to see some better updates on Friday. Unless everyone blew their wad on E3 and Comic-Con that is. See you then.