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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Bethesda unveils Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Collector’s Edition
I find it somewhat ironic that Bethesda was saying just last week that videogames were a bit too expensive these days, only to lift the lid on a £130 Collector’s Edition release of Skyrim. Now, I love a good CE as much as the next slobbering fantasy fanatic – but 130 quid is pushing it. Sure, you get a pretty statue of a Dragon, but the rest of the contents – including an art book and ‘Making of’ DVD – just doesn’t justify forking out for such an exorbitant sum. For example, with the Assassin’s Creed Revelations Animus Edition, you have to pay £70 but you get a massive encyclopaedia, in-game content, Assassin’s Creed Embers DVD, soundtrack, and a nice bit of packaging to boot. Obviously in Skyrim’s case the Dragon is the centrepiece, but quite honestly, you could go down your local tat shop and purchase something just as aesthetically pleasing in the gothic/fantasy line for a much smaller sum. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a massive Elder Scrolls follower, but this is asking just a little too much. After all, it’s essentially 40 quid for the game and another 90 quid for the extras; one could conceivably plonk down the cash for the regular edition plus a pair of other triple-A titles for the same sum.
Modern Warfare 3 pre-orders ‘meaningfully different’ to Black Ops
Every year Call of Duty appears on the scene and rifle-butts its way through another sales record barrier, and there’s no doubt in my mind that Modern Warfare 3 will perpetuate this tradition come November. Black Op was a monster success, no two ways about it, but already publishing powerhouse Activision is hinting that this year’s entry is going to be even bigger, with pre-orders said to be ‘meaningfully different’ than the Cold War-era shooter. Furthermore, studio head Bobby Kotick reckons the publisher hasn’t seen anything like the level of consumer excitement that MW3 has attracted in his entire 21-year history. To be honest though, it’s getting to be a well-oiled machine now. Activision puffs its chest as it rolls out another iteration in the massively milked military blaster, and every year punters lap it up. Let’s face it, we’ve all heard this tune before, in fact we’ve got the sheet music mesmerised. Will it score high with critics? Probably not. People were already getting a little fed up with the brand when MW2 arrived on the scene, and scores have diminished somewhat in recent years as a result. Will it resonate with Joe Public and blow the roof off another sales barrier? You bet your arse it will, soldier.
FFXIII-2, FF Type-0 confirmed for Tokyo Game Show
Any half-decent Tokyo Game Show needs a meaty showcase from Square Enix, and fortunately, the RPG juggernaut has rolled out the red carpet for this year’s convention. First the disappointing news: Final Fantasy Versus XIII won’t be there. However, I don’t think anyone will be all that surprised by this revelation, seeing as how it’s been keeping a low profile for the past few years now. Nonetheless, it would have been nice to see how it’s shaping up. Still, what we do have is Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Final Fantasy Type-0, both of which will be featured in playable form. Each game is eagerly anticipated among fans, the former especially due to the fact FFXIII was met with a somewhat tepid response among critics and gamers alike. As such, there’s a lot of weight on FFXIII-2’s shoulders to deliver a worthy follow-up, but also adhere to the more conventional FF mechanics that the original game failed to deliver. As for Type-0, that’s been in the works for some time now, and by this point we’re all just hoping it’ll be worth the wait. Keep your eyes peeled for the inevitable deluge of off-screen footage come mid-September.
Duke Nukem Forever profitable, L.A. Noire ships 4 million
For those of you who don’t know the story behind Duke Nukem Forever, allow me to present a heavily truncated version. The game started out development back in the late 90s, and after tumultuous production cycle, finally released in June 2011 to a critical mauling. Despite this, the game managed to top the charts in the U.K. and made the Top Five across the pond, indicating a solid reception at retail. That certainly seems to be the case, as Take-Two has indicated the game turned in a solid profit for the publishing giant, and it wouldn’t surprise me if we see more from the foul-mouthed alien slayer later down the line. Elsewhere, L.A. Noire also pulled in the punters, shipping four million units worldwide since its launch in May. Unlike the King, however, Cole Phelps’ gritty detective romp proved a critical darling, scoring rave reviews across the globe. Do I smell sequel? Possibly, though given the apparent problems plaguing Team Bondi at the moment, it may not come from its original creator. Despite solid sales, Take-Two still posted a loss for the first quarter of its 2012 financial year, though looking ahead the publisher has some meaty games on the horizon that should ensure things get back on track.
Pachter: GTA V to sell ‘at least 18 million copies’
It’s easy to chuck around big numbers when talking about Grand Theft Auto. After all, the Rockstar crime caper has continually proved one of the most lucrative franchises on the market , and everyone is expecting massive sales from the inevitable GTA V, which as yet remains unannounced. For Wedbush Morgan Securities however, the firm has a fairly solid number in mind, with analyst Michael Pachter predicting the game could conceivably shift 24 million copies going by the series’ historical attach rate. At the very least however, Pachter notes the firm anticipates ‘at least 18 million copies’ sold. While I’m no fan of arbitrarily throwing around sales figures, I think that GTA V should be able to flog 20 million without too much trouble, and indeed I would expect no less, considering how GTA IV has already reached that milestone three years after launch. Consumers haven’t exactly been spoilt for choice when it comes to GTA as of late, so a new game is bound to be met with rapturous applause upon release, both critically and commercial.
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations multiplayer beta is timed PSN-exclusive
Multiplayer betas have proven quite the compelling way to take some of the biggest games of this generation for a test spin prior to launch, far more than regular demos perhaps. In the case of a triple-A series like Assassin’s Creed, the chance to slip into the shoes of a slippery assassin and poke other gamers with pointy objectives a few months before the latest game hits shelves is too good an opportunity miss out on. Ubisoft knows this, and as such as pulled the curtain back on the Assassin’s Creed: Revelations’ multiplayer beta, which kicks off on September 3 – but that’s not all. Nope, the beta will be a timed exclusive to PlayStation Network meaning PS Plus and Uplay subscribers will be able to enjoy the fruits of Ezio’s latest adventure before anyone else. It’s quite a meaty offering too, with nine characters up for grabs plus four game modes, including the all-new Artifact Assault. Get signed up folks, this’ll be hot.
SCEE to replace London riot victim’s PSP
The U.K. riots have been dominating the headlines for the past week or so, with one particularly distressing YouTube clip attracting quite a bit of press in the process. The video in question, filmed by onlookers in the nation’s capital, shows an injured male, 20, sitting on the pavement before being approached by a group of youths. One of the members slowly lifts the victim to his feet, ostensibly showing concern for the youngster. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case, and was merely distracting the poor bloke while his mate quickly unzipped the victim’s backpack, before making off with his PSP in the process. A disgusting act and one that has rightly angered pretty much everyone under the sun to say the least. Pleasingly however, Sony has stepped up to the plate and offered to replace the youngster’s handheld console in a post on a website pertaining to the incident, with Namco also chipping in by offering to send the lad a bunch of games. Personally, I just hope the Old Bill catch the callous thugs who perpetrated the crime in the first place.
PS3, PSP lead hardware sales in Japan
Blimey, how the tables have turned. It only seems like yesterday that Nintendo was stamping its size nines all over the competition over in the Land of the Rising Sun with its Wii and DS combo, though things have slowly been tapering off the last six months or so. Put it down to market saturation or changing tastes, but regardless of the reason, Nintendo’s boxes just aren’t pulling in the punters like they used to. Of course, this has meant that its leading rival, Sony, has managed to put the boot in and flog a hefty amount of PSP and PS3’s in the process. Then again, as mentioned in our article, Sony’s slab has always remained consistently popular in the region, though PS3 hasn’t always had an easy ride, with sales up and down like a yo-yo for much of its lifecycle. This past week has seen both formats at the top of the charts, with PSP leading the way with just over double the sales of Nintendo Wii. 3DS is sure to receive a substantial boost in sales with some pretty meaty games on the horizon, though with the amount of PS3 and PSP exclusives also in the pipeline – such as the Team ICO Collection and Final Fantasy Type-0 – I expect Sony will enjoy a healthy chart performance for the remainder of the year.
God of War Origins cinematics remastered in full 1080p
It’s a bloody good time to be a God of War fan these days. Not content with churning out a meaty sequel in last year’s God of War III, Sony also polished up the original PlayStation 2 games last year, giving them a fresh lick of paint and bundling them together on a single Blu-ray disc. However, it doesn’t stop there either. Nope, we’ve now got the Origins Collection on the way, which remasters PSP beauties Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta in HD for PS3. However, sceptics thinking this is just another micky mouse quick fix can’t be any further off the mark. Developer Ready at Dawn has confirmed that it’s been working its arse off in making the pair as polished as possible, meticulously re-rendering the game’s cut scenes in native 1080p, as well as tweaking every single character by hand and scrubbing up the muddy textures to boot. If that wasn’t enough, they’ve also thrown in stereoscopic 3D support too. Sure, we’ve known about Origins for a few months now, but I don’t think any of us realised just how much hard graft had gone into bringing these handheld classics to Sony’s black box. Those of you who haven’t played the games are in for a right treat come this September to say the least.