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.
See below for the past week’s top stories.
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SEGA unveils Tokyo Game Show line-up
As one of the biggest gaming events of the year – not to mention the last of the 2010’s ‘Big Three’ (the other two being E3 and GamesCom) – the annual Tokyo Game Show is consistently met with lofty expectations. As is the case with most events, sometimes these expectations are met, other times they fall flat. Fortunately, SEGA looks set to deliver with its sumptuous 2010 line-up, featuring an onslaught of future classics such as the eagerly anticipated Vanquish and PSP Yakuza title. With the event itself kicking off on September 16, it won’t be long until other major companies lift the lid on their own plans for the show, but from the look of things we’re off to a good start. Watch this space.
Borderlands Game of the Year Edition dated for U.S.
Ah, Borderlands. While distinctly lacking in the AI department and featuring one of the most superficial narratives of recent memory, the Gearbox-developed shooter remains a highlight of last year’s third-party offerings, providing a visually striking loot-driven experience punctuated by intense gunplay and tired but functional RPG mechanics. Fitting then, that the chaps at Gearbox saw fit to announce that it’s giving the title a Game of the Year Edition makeover just before Halloween. Pleasingly, they’re also including all previously released DLC, plus a foldout map of the game world thrown in for good measure. Lovely. Needless to say, new adopters will be in for a treat – we highly recommending picking this up when it hits store shelves.
Sony details God of War: Ghost of Sparta Entertainment Pack
Anything involving bald badass Kratos immediately grabs our attention, though we’ll be the first to admit that his latest PSP-3000 theme doesn’t exactly float our boat. The rest of the Entertainment Pack, however, is nothing short of mouth-watering. Not only do you get a copy of the hotly anticipated Ghost of Sparta, but also Sony’s throwing in a download voucher for Kratos’ PSP debut Chains of Olympus, plus a 2GB Memory Stick Pro Duo and UMD flick Kick Ass for good measure. As we’ve said before, there’s never been a better time to make the transition to Sony’s slab, so if the prospect of investing in a PSP makes your wallet rumble, hold off a few months until November 2 to pick this baby up. You won’t regret it.
Pachter: GTA 5 won’t be out until 2012
Ah, we thought it was about time ol’ Pachter popped his head up again for another peek in to his crystal ball. For those who have been living under a rock for the past few years, Michael Pachter – of Wedbush Morgan fame – is perhaps the industry’s most ubiquitous and outspoken analyst of recent memory, frequently chiming in on numerous financial, political or down right nonsensical goings-on in our beloved videogames empire. The topic of Grand Theft Auto V is an area that many folk tend to gravitate towards – Pachter included – with the Wedbush Morgan man’s latest findings pointing to a 2012 launch for the crime sequel. Frankly, we’d be surprised that he’d even begin to suggest any other date for the game, seeing as how we’ve yet to even hear an official confirmation on its development. We’re already over half way through 2010, and a substantial effort like GTA certainly won’t be a rush job on Rockstar’s part – as such, 2012 seems the only candidate for a possible release. As it turns out, he was bang on the money in regards to L.A. Noire’s delay, as we found out later in the week.
Konami and Square announce Tokyo Game Show line-up
Hear that whistle? That’s the boarding signal for the hype train right there. With just a fortnight to go until Japan’s biggest gaming event of the year, things are starting to look mighty impressive as the industry’s hottest developer’s lift the lid on their plans for the show, the latest of which come in the form of Konami and Square Enix. If you’ve been following our coverage as of late you’ll probably have a good idea of what to expect from both companies already, but for those who haven’t, you can look forward to the likes of Metal Gear Solid: Rising from the former, and The 3rd Birthday from the latter. In regards to Square, while not showing up on their initial list, the Japanese giant has confirmed that Final Fantasy Versus/Agito XIII will be popping up at the event, though full details are being kept under wraps. Aside from the above juggernauts, there’s also the likes of Deus Ex, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and Kingdom Hearts: Re: Coded to feast your eyes on, making for quite the impressive showcase. We’re pumped.
Capcom teases Resident Evil 6 announcement
This is somewhat unexpected. After all, if we’re to believe Capcom’s previous ramblings on a sixth instalment in the venerable horror series, it could be another eight years before we see RE6 on shelves. As such, the prospect of an imminent announcement isn’t something we thought would be on the cards any time soon. Still, while we’re obviously chuffed to bits we could be getting some Resi 6 gossip soon, we just hope reports of a reboot are true – no cheap and cheerful sequel here, please Capcom. We’ll leave the majority of our thoughts on the subject to our impending RE6-centric wish list feature which will be up on PSU in the coming weeks, where we happily plan to elaborate on our feelings on what RE6 should include. For now, we’ll just say one thing: Zombies. Make it happen.
First Killzone 3 public hands-on demo at PAX
What more is there for us to really elaborate on here? Killzone 3, playable at PAX. Any self respecting gaming/Killzone aficionados should be there in a heartbeat. Sadly we’re not going to be there, so if any of our readers are lucky enough to attend, we hope you have an absolute blast of a time. For the record, you’ll be able to try out both the multiplayer and single player offerings for the Guerrilla Games shooter, as well as have a sneak peak at the sequel running in 3D. No doubt any hands-on time with this beauty will make the wait until February even more unbearable.
MGS4 ‘complete edition’ is something Hideo Kojima “wanted” to do
Judging from the amount of feedback regarding Trophy support for MGS4 at launch, we reckon every man and his dog wants Mr. Metal Gear to churn out this baby. Aside from the obvious pleasure of unlocking Trophies and watching Old Snake snap necks in glorious 3D, the Metal Gear franchise has been no stranger to re-releases, with MGS1, 2 & 3 all getting tweaked and touched up in some form, ala Twin Snakes, Substance and Subsistence. As such, we would have thought a MGS4 complete edition would definitely be on the cards. Unfortunately, Kojima himself has now poured cold water on any hopes of seeing such an update, conceding that while he wanted to make it, he wouldn’t have any time to work on his new project, something which he’s obviously keen on getting out the door. Consequently, the prospect of Trophies and 3D support for Snake’s epic swan song isn’t looking particularly rosy at present. Still, at least we can just go back and play MGS4 over again and enjoy it for what it is, regardless of the lack of any additional features – a bloody fantastic game.
Treyarch unveils Call of Duty: Black Ops multiplayer modes
It’s been a long time coming, but Treyarch finally saw fit to lift the curtains on some of its multiplayer plans for Black Ops this week. From what we’ve seen so far it seems like a competent enough affair, though we highly doubt the Combat Training aspect (pitting gamers offline against bots) will appeal to the majority of folks who frequent the online gaming space these days. Wager Matches sound quite intriguing mind, and the thought of gambling our hard-earned Call of Duty Points (the game’s new currency system) on fame and fortune in a heated gun battle certainly sounds like it’ll get the adrenaline pumping – which, funnily enough, is exactly what the developer’s have in mind. Meanwhile, the minimalist approach to the likes of Sticks and Stones – where you wage war with just a crossbow and knife – sounds equally appealing, and should prove a fine distraction for those looking to deviate from the usual death by distance antics of fire arms play. We’re also chuffed at the ability to pimp our guns out with custom tags and whatnot, though we imagine some of you won’t really give two hoots about this particular feature. So far so good, then, but there’s still plenty more to see. Watch this space.
Take-Two confirms L.A. Noire delay
Given the amount of heavy hitters that have been making the transition in to 2011 as of late, we can’t say we’re at all surprised to learn that Rockstar Games’ mammoth mystery sim L.A. Noire will also miss the 2010 holiday train. Then again, we weren’t convinced it’d see the light of day this year anyway, seeing as how we’ve heard little to no information the past year. Still, the game has remained one of our most anticipated outings for quite some time, and we’re convinced it’ll deliver. If anything, this just further cements our belief that 2011 is shaping up to be one of the hottest gaming periods of recent memory. Bring it on.
Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath coming to PS3 in 2011
We’ve been racking our brains for the last couple of months wondering what Just Add Water would come up with in regards to it’s Oddworld plans – and we have to admit, a PS3 revamp of Stranger’s Wrath wasn’t something that appeared on our radar. Ok, so all this proves is that we’re not quite the perspicacious rabble we thought, but that’s something we can live with. The pertinent point here is that Stranger’s Wrath is probably one of the best options to come out of this lucrative collaboration with Lorne Lanning and the chaps at JAW. Hopping in to shoes of Bounty Hunter Stranger, the game offers several obscure, yet invigoratingly unique features such as the live ammunition feature, where Stranger literally employs the use of living creatures to deal out damage against foes.
Killzone 3 gets U.S. release date
Start counting down those days folks – Killzone 3 arrives in the U.S. on February 22, 2011. Indeed, while we already had the heads-up from Sony on a February release for the Guerrilla shooter, it’s comforting to finally have a solid date pinned on the title so we know just how long it is we have to wait. Or perhaps not so comforting, as it only sets in stone the fact we’ve got an excruciating five and a half months until we can finally get our hands on the shooter. Bugger.
Duke Nukem Forever a reality, due out next year
Strap yourselves in folks, it’s just officially gone nuclear – Duke Nukem Forever is finally crawling out from the rock it’s been hiding under this past 10+ years and will be landing on store shelves next year for PS3, PC and 360. Who’d have thought it? Just when we thought Duke’s long lost sequel was perpetually doomed to the firey pits of development hell, good ‘ol Randy Pitchford and the chaps at Gearbox Software come and extricate everyone’s favourite bubble-gum chewing, alien blasting hero from the brink of despair. Awesome. The ever-lingering question is, however, for a game that‘s been in the works since 1997, will it ultimately live up to the hype? To many, this may seem like an insurmountable task – and rightly so – but we have every faith that Pitchford and co. will deliver what fans have been clamouring for more than a decade. Well, we got our fingers crossed, at least. Make it worth the wait, chaps.