How do you feel about sequels? How do you feel about Capcom? If those two answers don’t coincide you probably won’t like their plans for the future. In its annual report earlier this week, Capcom explained their plans for shorter development cycles, more sequels in less time, and fewer people working on each title. This could be a winning strategy if you have a solid franchise and are looking to capitalize on name rather than innovate physics, movement, control schemes, etc. between each title. [Yeah, it means their Activisioning. Can I trademark that word?] They also intend to shorten sales cycles to 2 1/2 years to match the demand with the more rapid sequel. That is slightly offset by their intention of supporting titles with DLC for the first two years. Under the new plan, major title development teams will be limited to 100 members, and multiple sequels will be in development at once. Again, not entirely new, as Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed III was in development before Brotherhood and Revelations released. With their plans to release more titles per year they’ll be outsourcing “process-work” but the “core portion” of development will be done in house. Frankly, Capcom hasn’t interested me for several years anyway. If their new strategy flops then I don’t really care. If it works, they could redeem themselves to many gamers. Plus, there’s the added benefit of a shorter credits sequence at the end of games if only 100 people work on them.
The 1.8.2 patch that’s incoming for Minecraft on XBox360 will include Creative Mode. Most of those super-impressive constructions you’ve seen from the PC version were built in this mode that doesn’t require you to harvest raw materials for building. While the update will be free, according to 4J’s Paddy Burns, it’s still weeks away. Other elements will be included in the update as well. Hopefully we’ll get a more solid window soon.
I’ve been trying to avoid spoilers for Assassin’s Creed III so I haven’t watched many of the dev diaries and various other footage Ubisoft has been releasing. Most of that seems like hype and not news so I can reconcile it in my head for not including it in VGQH. If I see something tht looks newsworthy though, I read it. What I found this week probably still isn’t really news, but this concept art for Connor in Mohawk armor is just too awesome to ignore. And, it doesn’t really spoil anything because I don’t even know if the outfit made it into the full game. Maybe it’s an unlockable, DLC, story-related, or just concept. I cna’t wait until October 30th to find out.
For the little boy in me there are two things that will always capture my attention: robots and dinosaurs. Oh, High Moon Studios, you know how to play to my inner destroyer. The Dinobot Destructor Pack DLC is coming to Transformers: Fall of Cybertron next week. The pack will include four of the transforming robot dinosaurs for use in multiplayer, apparently one for each class. Possibly even better than the presence of Grimlock (T-Rex), Slug (Triceratops), Snarl (Stegosauraus), and Swoop (Pteranodon) will be using their body parts in the multiplayer character creator.
If giant robots and dinosaurs aren’t your thing, there may still be some DLC news to excite you. The Mechromancer DLC for Borderlands 2 has been tentatively scheduled for October. The game itself releases on September 18th, meaning you’ll be just about ready for that fifth class on October 16th. If you pre-order the game you’ll be getting the add-on for free. Latecomers will find themselves paying 800MSP/$9.99. Additional DLC is planned for the title, with at least four expansions coming between launch and June 2013. You can pick up all four with season pass for 2400MSP/$29.99 or one at a time at $10 each.
Ubisoft had their Digital Day in Paris this week and had a few big reveals:
Despite mediocre sales for the franchise, and generally bad reviews for the most recent title, Ubisoft is going ahead with Call of Juarez: Gunslinger. The last game, The Cartel, was supposed to carry the western feel into a modern setting. Instead, it just sucked. The series is returning to its wild west roots with this downloadable game. Famous outlaws like Billy the Kid and Jesse James will appear in-game. A new addition to the series is dodging bullets in addition to increased accuracy in their version of bullet time. No release date yet, but look for more information soon.
Ubisoft looks to be building their downloadable presence as they also announced Thunder Wolves, a co-op arcade shooter for XBLA and PSN. According to the game’s blurb, “There’s a job opening for a crack helicopter pilot with the notorious Thunder Wolves. Our group of experienced combat professionals has dodged more bullets and blown up more bridges than the US 7th Army, and we are currently looking to replace a reliable member who was killed in action.” Sounds corny as hell, but I kind of can’t wait to hear a release date on it.
Finally, Ubisoft announced Trials Evolution‘s first DLC pack will be coming this fall for 400MSP. The pack will include 36 tracks, a BMX bike, and some new course editor tools.