Welcome to another instalment in our weekly news digest where the team at PSU Towers picks our favourite slices of gaming gossip from the past seven days, before proceeding to offer our two cents on each story for good measure.
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Warner to publish Lollipop Chainsaw in 2012
Lollipop Chainsaw, Grasshopper Manufacturer’s latest effort, will be arriving in the west next year, courtesy of publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. I’m excited about this, and you should be too. Why? Well, for one, it’s being masterminded by Suda51, and it’s again an original IP, as was the barmy but brilliant Shadows of the Damned. In this day and age with annualised sequels and the deluge of shooters clogging up the market, the industry needs to take risks and offer something fresh and unique. And when it comes to unique, you’d be hard pressed to find another developer is willing to implement more than a few eyebrow-raising idiosyncrasies than Suda51. I mean, come on, what other game maker can produce something about a Californian cheerleader who rampages around the place chopping up zombies with a chainsaw? Needless to say, Lollipop Chainsaw sounds bloody brilliant – cheap pun very much intended.
U.S., Japanese PSOne games heading to EU PlayStation Store
PAL gamers have been moaning for some time now about the lack of PSOne titles available on the EU PlayStation Store, and justifiably so. After all, our mates across the pond and in the Land of the Rising have been gotten their mitts on a myriad of retro classics in recent years, from the original Resident Evil trilogy to those rare JRPG gems. When it comes to Europe however, we either have to wait ages to get our hands on the game, or they don’t show up at all. Sure, we understand that there are certain logistical issues to consider, but it doesn’t really alleviate the sheer frustration of it all. That all looks set to change however, with Sony announcing that it’ll be bringing import games to PAL regions thanks to a brand new initiative. Even better, any EU game that doesn’t pass QA will be given a second shot at making the cut if it’s available on the U.S. or Japanese PS Store, complete with 60hz playback. Lovely.
Sony snaps up Sucker Punch
Sony’s been gobbling up a fair bunch of top tier developers as of late, with Sucker Punch following hot on the heels of the hardware manufacturer’s acquisition of LittleBigPlanet Vita dev, Double Eleven Limited. This, of course, is brilliant news for the PlayStation family, as Sucker Punch has churned out some pretty stonking software over the past few years, such as the sneaky Sly Cooper and supercharged inFamous. And, with fresh IP in the works for PS3, it shouldn’t really come as a surprise that Sony snapped them up while they’re hot, though unsurprisingly there were apparently many other companies interested in acquiring the developer. Whatever they come up with next should definitely be worth your attention, so keep your eyes peeled.
Catherine breaks sales record for Atlus
Catherine has caught a lot of media attention since its launch in Japan earlier this year, and for good reason – despite its erotic exterior, it’s actually a bloody good game. Not only that, but it’s not your average good game either; it’s quirky, and the various idiosyncrasies apparent throughout (sheep anyone?) have ensured Catherine has resonated with consumers not just in its native Japan, but in the traditionally hard-to-crack western market to boot. It obviously paid off too, as Atlus said the game has been its biggest software launch ever – and rightly deserved, too. For more, I recommend you check out our review, as written by PSU’s U.S. wordsmith, Adam Dolge.
It had to happen. Borderlands was a pretty meaty success, attracting healthy sales and wowing critics to boot – a sequel was always inevitable, and Gearbox has hinted at one multiple times in the past. This week we found out that the firm is indeed beavering away at a follow-up, and that it’ll be released in FY2013. Even better though, is that the company plans on showcasing Borderlands 2 at GamesCom in just over a week, before offering yet another teaser at PAX Prime in Seattle soon after. So far we don’t know too much about the game, although publisher 2K has championed the usual additions, such as new weapons, characters, enemies, locations and more. The usual stuff you’d expect from a sequel, basically. Still, with GamesCom just around the corner, we won’t have long to wait. Keep your eyes peeled for more info as we get it.
DICE: Battlefield won’t be released every year
Thank god for that. Don’t get me wrong, I like Battlefield as much as the next military FPS aficionado, but annualising yet another big-name franchise isn’t what the industry needs. After all, we’ve already seen excessive brand milking from the likes of Activision with Call of Duty, and – much to my dismay – Assassin’s Creed, though in the case of the latter I think yearly entries won’t be perpetuated beyond Revelations. Anyway, back to Battlefield, DICE has said that it reckons churning out a new game every year has the potential to kill off the brand, and wants to avoid doing so if possible. Fortunately, the firm doesn’t think publisher Electronic Arts will ever demand such a move, so hopefully we’ll be able to see quality releases in the series every 2-3 years. On the other hand, DICE flirted with the idea of releasing expansion packs ala Bad Company 2, which are substantial enough so that punters get their Battlefield fix, while not requiring the extensive development cycle that a fully blown sequel would demand. Not a bad business plan, it has to be said.
PS Vita due out in U.S., Europe in early 2012
Disappointing as this is, it’s not really that surprising. I’ve called it out many times before, though in the case of the U.S. Vita launch, I did hope against hope it’d make Christmas. Still, while it would be nice to get our mitts on Sony’s new pocket brick in our X-Mas stockings, we can at least pretty much guarantee that the launch line-up will be pretty pucker. And frankly, that’s what I’m most concerned with. I mean, looking at Nintendo’s efforts with the 3DS, you can have a flash piece of kit on the market but if you haven’t got the software to back it up, you’re going nowhere fast. Sure, Street Fighter IV and a couple of the others are great games, but early adopters had to wait a good few months to get their hands on the first triple-A effort in the shape of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. With Vita however, we’ll get Uncharted, WipEout, LittleBigPlanet and tons more. Plus, launching the hardware in Japan this year will give Sony to iron out any potential wrinkles in the line-up/hardware prior to rolling out the handheld in the west in early 2012. Expect more info at GamesCom in just over a week’s time.
Atlus reveals first week Catherine sales numbers, boasts with cake
Atlus revealed earlier in the week that its quirky adult adventure Catherine broke sales records for the Japanese giant, and in this case the proof is on the pudding…sorry, cake – the raunchy romp sold through 200,000 units during its first week on the market. As pointed out in our actual article, this may not seem all that jaw-dropping compared to the likes of Call of Duty, but for a relatively modest investment like Catherine, it’s pretty impressive. And frankly, as our review clearly shows, the game deserves all the attention it gets, and marks refreshing change of pace in a year largely dominated by blockbuster sequels. Here’s hoping we’ll be hearing of the game passing that magical million sales barrier in the not-too-distant future.
PS Vita release date to be revealed at TGS
So, we know that Vita won’t make it out in the west this year, and will arrive in Japan before 2012 rolls in. Nonetheless, a concrete release date has yet to be unveiled, something which Sony will apparently divulge at the Tokyo Game Show in September. A fitting venue for a release date announcement, though I think a few of us expected some European details to drop at GamesCom in a couple of weeks’ time. Regardless, we won’t have to wait long to find out exactly when we can get our grubby mitts on Sony’s flash new toy, and with TGS typically playing host to a plethora of massive announcements, September can’t come soon enough. Let’s just hope Vita arrives over here in the U.K. and across the pond before March 2012.
Twisted Metal delayed until early 2012
Given the amount of triple-A games due out this holiday season, it’s perhaps a little easier to overlook one or two casualties in the holiday line-up. Mass Effect 3 is one game that won’t be filling stockings this X-Mas, and has now been joined by Eat Sleep Play’s Twisted Metal. According to creator David Jaffe – who apologised profusely for the delay on the US/EU PS Blog this past Friday – the game just isn’t ready, and as such the team want to make sure the final product is the ‘best’ entry to date. While it’s a pity to see such a high-profile PS3-exclusive shoved into next year, I have a feeling that had Twisted Metal arrived this side of Christmas, it may have got lost in the shuffle. After all, some games are bound to be overlooked in such a busy retail period – just take a look at last year’s Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. Plus, this way, we get the best of both worlds: a meaty Christmas line-up and a stonking start to the New Year. Not all that bad really, is it?