News - 2012, Week 24
Saturday16th Jun 2012
News Grand Theft Auto Vita Hijacks Sony Survey
Get hype
Sony’s officially gone survey mad. Earlier in the week it referenced Gran Turismo Vita in an online questionnaire, and now it’s followed up with Grand Theft Auto. The survey – completed by Digital Spy – quizzed users on whether they would download a Vita version of the open-world franchise if it was discounted alongside the PS3...
News New The Amazing Spider-Man Trailer Comes Out Swinging
Hot shot
It’s been a while since we got a decent web-slinging game, but Beenox’s upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man looks poised to break that trend. This brand new developer diary offers a fairly brief look at the title, but should be enough to get your blood pumping. The open-world navigation looks absolutely fantastic, and brings back fond...
News Ubisoft Planning on Bringing Splinter Cell to the Big Screen
Red carpet
Splinter Cell could be the latest video game property to make an appearance on the big screen. Deadline reports that publisher Ubisoft is currently in talks with both Warner Bros and Paramount over a theatrical release of the stealth series. It’s not yet clear which game – if any, of course – would form the basis for the film...
News Battlefield 3 Cranks Up the XP This Weekend
Level up
Fans of guns, tanks and explosions are in for a treat, as DICE has announced a double XP weekend for Battlefield 3. Those of you engaging in digital warfare anytime between now and 23:59PM PDT on Sunday will net additional points for your efforts. If you've got social plans, you can always tell your friends that you’re washing your hair...
Friday15th Jun 2012
Review Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown (PlayStation 3)
King of the ring
Virtua Fighter is the Beck of the gaming world. Adored by critics and shouted about by its fans, but virtually inaccessible to newcomers. It's never reached a wide audience like Street Fighter or Tekken, but now Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown has dropped the cost of entry to just £9.99/$14.99 there is no excuse for fight fans not...
News EA Targeting Five Million Sales for Dead Space 3
Errr
For many fans, Dead Space 3 already looks desperately disappointing. The tense, claustrophobic horror of its predecessors has been replaced by formulaic cover-based shooting. That’s because the game needs to hit a “larger audience” according to publisher EA. Chatting with CVG, publishing executive Frank Gibeau explained that a game like...
News BioShock Ultimate Rapture Edition Details Float Online
Under the sea
The idealistic cloud city of Columbia may not be picking up new passengers until 2013, but publisher 2K Games would love you to take a trip beneath the waves to Rapture instead. The eagle eyed editors over at Eurogamer.net spotted a rating for the BioShock Ultimate Rapture Edition earlier today, which supposedly collates the first two...
News Studio Liverpool Staffing Up for New PS3 and Vita Title
Phantom elite
If it’s not an employee's CV revealing unannounced information, then you can count on a job listing instead. Sony’s own recruitment website has kicked up an interesting tidbit this morning, revealing that WipEout developer Studio Liverpool is working on a new PlayStation 3 and Vita game. According to the advertisement, the UK...
News Insomniac Taking "Extra Time" to Nail Overstrike's Gameplay
In the oven
One of the games conspicuously absent from this year’s E3 was Insomniac Games’ upcoming Overstrike. The four-player co-op shooter was announced at last year’s event under the EA Partners program, but has been hiding in the shadows ever since. Speaking with CVG, EA Labels gaffer Frank Gibeau explained that the delay was due to...
News New Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz Trailer Rolls Online
Grab a spoon
A brand new Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz trailer has tumbled online. The footage shows off several stages from the upcoming primate puzzler, and even details the game’s level creation feature. Judging from the trailer, the gameplay looks as sweet as ever. Will you be tucking into Banana Splitz when it launches exclusively on...
News Guitar Hero Developer Neversoft Answers the Call of Duty
On board
It seems as though Guitar Hero developer Neversoft has joined the Call of Duty family. An updated splash page on the former Tony Hawk studio’s website notes that it is currently working on the blockbuster first-person franchise. Elsewhere, a handful of job listings confirm that it is indeed developing a “new FPS”. There are...
News Tee Off with the European PlayStation Store's Golf Sale
Fore
Those of you keeping an attentive eye on the PlayStation Store may have noticed that Sony’s launched a stealth golf-themed sale on its digital storefront. The scale of the sale might not be the greatest, but there are still some pleasing deals within. Perhaps the biggest steal is Everybody’s Golf for Vita, which can be yours for a tempting...
News PlayStation Mobile Coveting Quality Ahead of Quantity
Turning down the volume
There’s no doubt that Apple’s massively successful App Store has had a disruptive impact on the games industry. But while it plays host to a wealth interactive gems, it’s also plagued by numerous sub-par experiences. Sony’s hoping to change that with PlayStation Mobile, by ensuring that only high quality content...
News EA Admits That Its Syndicate Reboot "Didn't Pay Off"
Performance review
If the real world of business was as ruthless as the fictional one in Syndicate, then EA’s Frank Gibeau wouldn’t have time to lament the poor performance of Starbreeze’s series reboot. Thankfully, it’s not, and the executive can openly acknowledge the fact that the first-person shooter didn’t quite live up to...
News May NPD: Hardware Collapses, Investors Look Away Now
Troublesome trends
Let’s get straight to the point: May was not a good month for video game sales in North America. Hardware sales were down 39% year-over-year, bringing in just $138.9 million compared to $228.8 million in 2011. Software sales also saw a decline of 16%, though the NPD puts that decrease down to fewer releases. Unsurprisingly, PC...
Thursday14th Jun 2012
News Gran Turismo Vita Referenced in Sony Survey
To the rescue
If there’s one game in Sony’s stable that could single-handedly improve the fortunes of the ailing PlayStation Vita, then it’s Gran Turismo. The flagship simulation racer continues to be the platform holder's best-seller by far, and, as such, a second handheld entry would make perfect sense. It could be on the cards too, if a...
News Peter Cullen Returns for Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
Roll out
Activision has confirmed that Optimus Prime’s long-serving voice actor Peter Cullen will reprise his role for the upcoming Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. He’ll be joined by fan favourite Gregg Berger, who’ll once again lend his dulcet tones to the loveably idiotic Grimlock. Established voice actor Fred Tatasciore will attempt to...
News Just So You Know, Final Fantasy XIV Is Still Coming to PS3
Eventually, anyway
Back at E3 2009, Sony countered the announcement of Final Fantasy XIII for Xbox 360 by revealing Final Fantasy XIV for PS3. The shock trailer prompted gasps from the bewildered audience, until the words “Online” flashed up on the screen. Three years later, there’s still no sign of the title on Sony’s console. That’s...
News Ubisoft Bullish About PlayStation Vita's Prospects
True believer
Ubisoft was one of the few third-party publishers to deliver the goods for Vita at this year’s E3. The company announced a full-blown spin-off in Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation – a title that’s been getting a lot of buzz in the aftermath of the show. That support shows serious belief in the platform’s future prospects,...
News God of War: Ascension Trailer Shows Off Single-Player
Irate elephants
For a series that’s so popular, there’s a bit of a negative buzz surrounding God of War: Ascension. We suspect it’s not because the game looks bad – it doesn’t – but more that it seems overwhelmingly familiar. It’s hard to disagree. Still, there is the hint of some new mechanics in this single-player trailer. At one...
News Massive MotorStorm RC Update Retunes Difficulty
Try again
We absolutely adored MotorStorm RC, but we reached a point in the campaign where it all got a bit too tough. Turns out developer Evolution Studios noticed that too, as it has prepared a new patch designed to rebalance the game. The developer notes that the patch is not intended to make the game easy, but to ensure the campaign progression...
News Sony Talks Up Connectivity in New PSN Commercial
Raise a glass
Sony’s been criticised for some of its more outlandish marketing schemes over the past five or so years, but this brand new European PlayStation Network commercial seems to finally get the point. It’s a two-and-a-half minute celebration of everything Sony’s online service can do, set to a pulsating synthesized bass line and...
News thatgamecompany Raises $5.5 Million, Goes Fully Independent
Travelling alone
Journey developer thatgamecompany has announced that it has raised $5.5 million in funding – allowing it to cut its ties with Sony, and go fully independent for the first time since its formation. Earlier in the year, we revealed that the creative studio was looking to move beyond PlayStation. Speaking specifically about the...
News Details on Playdead's Next Project Escape from Limbo
Waking up
The successor to Playdead’s critically acclaimed Limbo is deep in development. News comes courtesy of a list of Danish interactive grant recipients, which includes a reference to a title named Project 2 in development at the indie studio. Details are unsurprisingly scarce, but the listing notes that the game will follow a "a boy's...
News Trendy Entertainment Bins Vita Port of Dungeon Defenders
Diverting resources
The PlayStation Vita version of Dungeon Defenders has been cancelled, developer Trendy Entertainment has revealed. The studio stated on its website that it was switching the resources reserved for the handheld port to a new unannounced project. Dungeon Defenders was first demonstrated on Vita back when the device was known as...
Wednesday13th Jun 2012
News Sony Promises PlayStation Vita Game Heaven Improvements
Learning lessons
The first PlayStation Vita Game Heaven received a lot of negative feedback. The well publicised Japanese event was conceived to stimulate interest in Sony’s struggling handheld, but ended up irritating followers due to its pre-recorded format and lack of surprises. Sony Japan CEO Hiroshi Kawano has promised that the next Game...
News Japanese Sales Charts: Tokyo Jungle Strides to Summit
Vita sales increase
Sony’s bonkers PlayStation 3 exclusive Tokyo Jungle roared to the top of the Japanese sales charts this week, beating out fierce competition from Dragon Quest Monsters on 3DS. The baffling post-apocalyptic adventure rounded up sales just north of 110k units to secure the number one spot. Elsewhere, PlayStation Vita exclusive...
Store Update 12th June 2012 (North America)
Viva la Vita
The excitement of E3 may be a distant memory, but the PlayStation Store’s still firing on all cylinders. It’s an especially good week for Vita owners, with the hotly anticipated Gravity Rush finally hitting digital store shelves. The Japan Studio developed exclusive is joined by the handheld version of the Metal Gear Solid HD...
News Rockstar Moving Max Payne 3 Cheaters into Quarantine
Don't get caught
Rockstar has announced an interesting solution for dealing with the “miscreants” ruining Max Payne 3’s multiplayer component – move them into quarantine. Writing on its official blog, the developer revealed that it is aware that “a small minority of players are spoiling the Max Payne 3 multiplayer experience for honest...
News Sony Executives Take Pay Cuts, Return Bonuses
Trying times
While the PlayStation business is doing reasonably well for Sony, the Japanese giant is not in great shape overall. New CEO Kaz Hirai has promised to return the company to profitability over the next 12 months, but on the back of four straight losses, the executive has been forced to take a pay cut. The cut will affect the...
Store Update 13th June 2012 (Europe)
Slim pickings
There’s not a lot to shout about in this week’s European PlayStation Store update. No doubt the arrival of Gravity Rush and PulzAR on Vita will delight early adopters, but the PS3 side of the store is looking somewhat barren by comparison. At least there’s the introduction of Babel Rising and Bang Bang Racing to hold your...
News New Assassin's Creed III Trailer Takes a Trip Through the Forest
Climbing trees
Ubisoft’s released a brand new seven minute video of Assassin’s Creed III. The Frontier demo was shown to press during E3 last week, and includes full narration from creative director Alex Hutchinson. The footage includes a look at numerous mechanics from the game, including hunting and combat. But perhaps most staggering is the...
News PulzAR Brings Laser Puzzles to Your Table Top
Reflective riddle
Sony’s backed augmented reality in a big way on PlayStation Vita. The platform holder has already released a handful of interesting experiences on the PSN, and it is set to follow that up with PulzAR this week. Already available in North America (and due out later today in Europe), the title sees you completing a series of...
News The Walking Dead Was PSN's Top Selling Game in May
Catching on
TellTale’s episodic The Walking Dead series ambled to the top of the PlayStation Network sales charts for the month of May. The downloadable adventure was joined by thatgamecompany’s Journey in second and PixelJunk Shooter in third. It was a strong anniversary month for the Q-Games developed series, with no less than four of the...
News The Expendables 2 Game Outed By Ratings Board
Sly
We’re really scraping the metaphorical barrel for interesting stories today aren’t we? How about this one then: the Australian Classification Board has rated a video game tie-in to the upcoming The Expendables 2 movie. The title – which was an awarded an MA15+ rating – supposedly includes “strong violence” and an online component...
News Babel Rising Launch Trailer Smites Scores of Sinners
Great balls of fire
In order to celebrate Babel Rising’s arrival on the PlayStation Network this week, Ubisoft has released a brand new video of the sanctimonious strategy action title in motion. The trailer shows off some of the activities you can expect to experience in the final game – namely zapping blasphemous peasants with thunderous bolts...
Tuesday12th Jun 2012
News Sony Not Ruling Out Super Slim PlayStation 3
Losing weight
All the way back in 2009, Sony announced the PlayStation 3 Slim at GamesCom in Germany. The rebranding effort helped to reverse the PS3’s fortunes, transforming the platform into the popular system we know today. Three years on, Sony has refused to rule out the possibility of another hardware revision. Speaking with Eurogamer.net,...
News Take Another Look At Quantic Dream's Beyond
Heavy rain
Quantic Dream seems to have a thing about torrential rain. If you don’t believe us, check out this brand new footage of the French studio’s upcoming PS3 exclusive, Beyond. In it, protagonist Jodie Holmes is shown running across the roof of a speeding train. The most important thing: it’s pouring down again. The game looks...
News Watch This Bonkers Lollipop Chainsaw Launch Trailer
Super sweet
At one point in this Lollipop Chainsaw launch trailer, protagonist Juliet Starling cuts a UFO in half. That’s pretty weird – but we should probably point out that the alien space shuttle is being piloted by an undead funkster who laments his mortality through an autotune module. Brilliant. Fix your eyeballs on the video below for a...
News Empty Your Wallet with These European Vita Discounts
Hot prices
Ask nicely, and you shall receive. Sony has announced a fairly decent Vita sale on the European PlayStation Blog this morning, slashing the prices of a host of popular digital titles. Starting this week (13th June), you’ll be able to pick up the likes of Escape Plan and MotorStorm RC at discounted prices. The sale itself is set to run...
News Minor PlayStation Vita System Software Update Launched
Software stability
Sony’s released a new optional system software update for PlayStation Vita. The download – which is available now in North America – doesn’t appear to do much other than offer enhanced “software stability". We're not sure we understand the point of optional firmware updates. Surely if the download's not important enough...
News New Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires Trailer Takes a Swing
Familiar footage
You didn’t think the Dynasty Warriors franchise was going to take a break, did you? Tecmo Koei has released a new trailer for the upcoming Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires expansion which, well, looks a lot like you’d expect a Dynasty Warriors title to look. The game’s due out on 20th September in Japan and sometime next year in...
News Get Your Face in Ubisoft's Splinter Cell: Blacklist
Fame monster
If you’ve always dreamed of being stabbed in the throat by Splinter Cell: Blacklist protagonist Sam Fisher, then you might finally get the chance. GameStop has launched a contest that will see winners jetted off to developer Ubisoft Montreal to have their likenesses implemented into the upcoming game. To be in the running all you...
News Epic Gravity Rush Launch Trailer Floats Online
Pumped up
Those of you in possession of a PlayStation Vita have probably been counting down the days until the release of Gravity Rush. As such, you probably won’t need reminding that the game is set to drift onto North American store shelves today. In order to celebrate that fact, Sony has released a launch trailer for the ambitious Japan Studio...
News Metal Gear Online Hides Away Forever Today
Snake out
In case you’d forgotten (we had), Metal Gear Online is set to shut down its servers forever today. The optional online component was shipped alongside Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots in 2008, and has maintained a relatively engaged fanbase ever since. Our fondest memory of the mode was desperately trying to figure out how to...
News LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes Trailer Gets Chatty
Motormouth
If you’re still a little nervous about Traveller’s Tales adding voice actors to its LEGO games, then this LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes trailer should help to settle your nerves. Judging from the footage, it looks like the developer’s done an excellent job of integrating the dialogue without detracting from the slapstick sense of...
News Slant Six Slashes Workforce By 25%
Rotten news
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City developer Slant Six has been forced to cull its workforce by about 25%. However, the studio hopes to rehire those affected employees in the coming months. Speaking with GameInformer magazine, a company spokesperson said: Regretfully, we can confirm that there have been some temporary layoffs at...
News Escape Plan's Asylum DLC Costs 25 Cents
Seriously
Update: The price has now been corrected to $0.25. The original story follows. When developer Fun Bits Interactive announced Escape Plan’s first full DLC pack during E3 last week, it promised the content would launch with a novelty promotional price-point. Following up on the PlayStation Blog this afternoon, the devel
Monday11th Jun 2012
News Watch Grasshopper's Suda51 Play Tokyo Jungle
Slow news day
Grasshopper Manufacture’s Suda51 is well regarded for his zany personality. After all, the developer has put out crackers games such as No More Heroes and Shadows of the Damned. But even the developer’s own Lollipop Chainsaw looks relatively tame when compared to Sony’s upcoming Tokyo Jungle. In order to complete the circle of...
News Sony Amplifying PlayStation Plus with Format Tweaks
Bandwidth buster
Now that the rush of E3 is over, we finally have the time to acknowledge just how crazy some of Sony’s PlayStation Plus related announcements were. Depending on your region, subscribers now have access to more than ten full games to download. It’s extraordinary when you take a step back and think about the value on offer...
News Final Fantasy III Port in Development for PSP
We know
The PlayStation Portable continues to be a prominent system in Japan – perhaps to the detriment of the recently released PlayStation Vita. Furthering the predicament, Square Enix has announced that it is working on a port of Final Fantasy III for Sony’s debut handheld. The PSP port will feature enhanced graphics and the ability to play...
News Marvel Pinball Avengers DLC Nudges PSN Next Week
Saving the world one ball at a time
The Avengers will once again assemble in digital pinball format on the PlayStation Network next week. Steel ball wizards Zen Studios has announced that the eagerly awaited Marvel Pinball: Avengers Chronicles expansion will launch on Sony’s digital storefront on 19th June in North America. We’re guessing...
News FuturLab Laments Lack of Trophies in PlayStation Minis
Valuable trinkets
Trophies sell games, of that there is very little doubt. Licensed pap such as Hannah Montana: The Movie and Trivial Pursuit have enjoyed cynically long retail legs due to their mind-numbingly easy platinum trophies. That ability to drive sales should not be discredited, and FuturLab’s James Marsden believes the lack of digital...
Rumour Mass Effect 3 DLC Takes the Fight to Earth
Backyard battle
It looks like BioWare has a traitor amongst its ranks. A super secretive Reddit tipster, who’s already accurately leaked every Mass Effect 3 DLC pack, has returned with another glimpse at the future. The poster has revealed that the space opera’s next expansion pack will add Earth-based levels to the divisive multiplayer...
News Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Maintains Position Atop UK Charts
Locked up
Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier has enjoyed a third successive week at the top of the UK sales charts. It was joined in second by Max Payne 3 and FIFA 12 in third. EA’s Battlefield 3 jumped up a few spots into fourth, while Sniper Elite V2 held onto its position in the top five.
News Grasshopper to Release Student Developed Vita Games in Japan
Edutainment
Lollipop Chainsaw developer Grasshopper Manufacture has announced the winners of its student development initiative, Game Campus Festa. The project – which kicked off last year – was launched as a collaboration between the developer and various Japanese schools. The fruits of the scheme will be released later this month on...
