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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UK Charts: Dead Space 2 claims second week at top spot
Dead Space deserved far more recognition from the public than it received back in 2008, so we’re chuffed to bits that gamers have gravitated to the sequel in their swarms. Indeed, the Visceral horror sequel has reportedly already outstripped its predecessor in terms of sales, though it’s not hard to see why. Dead Space 2 is a stonking spook fest, packed full of sweat-inducing combat and sofa-soiling scares. Just how a good horror game should be. Elsewhere, we’re a little shocked to see Mass Effect 2 already out of the top ten (it didn’t even crack the top five at its peak), and we didn’t expect Sack-tastic sequel LittleBigPlanet 2 slide down to fifth place as quickly as it did. Still, when you’re competing against casual-orientated brands like the ubiquitous FIFA 11, it’s not surprising some of the more hardcore offerings will suffer in the long run. Same goes for the tenacious Call of Duty: Black Ops, which is still clinging on to the top five despite launching back in November. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood’s still doing mighty fine, and we’re chuffed to see the brands has found its stride. No wonder Ubisoft’s keen on churning out a sequel this year.
Ubisoft reveals present day Call of Juarez: The Cartel
While surrendering its distinction as the cream of the crop among Wild West titles to Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption, Call of Juarez is still worth checking out for anyone who claims to have an affinity for cowboys and copious gun battles. Still, the last thing we expected from a third instalment was a transition to a more contemporary setting. Yep, for the newly-unveiled Call of Juarez: The Cartel, that’s exactly what we’re getting. No longer are the proceedings tied to the Old West, with players now placed into a sprawling adventure taking gamers from the crime-infested streets of modern day L.A. to the dusty delights of Juarez, Mexico. A curious move, but we’re hoping this will help distinguish the title from its contemporaries. From what we’ve seen so far (which admittedly, amounts to nothing more than a few shots and tidbits) The Cartel certainly looks the business, and from the sound of things will feature a meaty narrative to boot. We’ll be keeping an eye on this one that’s for sure.
Uncharted 3 turns up the heat with procedural fire effects
Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series has consistently set the benchmark for visual quality on Sony’s black box, so it’s no surprise to see the team upping the ante for its latest offering. Indeed, Drake’s Deception looks set to feature some of the most realistic applications of fire in a videogame to date, with the developers implementing what’s known in the trade as ‘procedural fire effects.’ Essentially, this allows fire to realistically burn an object over time, and allows for a heap of other swanky visual effects, such as wallpaper rolling up at its corner, before burning to a crisp. Such is the meticulous visual work in Uncharted 3 we’ve seen so far, we wouldn’t be surprised if this feature extended to Sully’s almighty moustache being singed off. Now that would be a scene worth experiencing. But enough rambling. Bottom line is Nate’s third adventure is looking even more gorgeous every time we see it, and we can’t wait to see how Naughty Dog handles the desert locations. Indeed, the locations where Drake gets sand in between his toes should prove an oasis of opportunity for the Dogs to churn out some eye-popping aesthetics, and we can’t wait to finally clap eyes on the areas beyond the now-infamous Chateau.
The Darkness II announced
Blimey, this has been a long time coming. Rumors of a follow-up to 2007’s celebrated shooter The Darkness have been rife for the past few years, though nothing ever came into fruition. Until now, that is. Yep, 2K’s finally lifted the lid on The Darkness II, and from the sounds of things, it’s going to be a right cracker. Details are pretty sketchy at present, though with the game due out in fall 2011, we shouldn’t have to wait long for more details to come into the light (like what we did there?) Poor attempt at humour aside, we’re pumped for this. From what we do know, the game will signal the return of Jackie Estacado, who has since taken up residence as boss of The Mob. However, a full-blown gangster war breaks out, and Estacado’s powers pop up for more blood-curdling antics. Oh, and it’s also apparently adopted a cel-shaded visual style. An interesting move, though we’ll have to see how it pans out. Regardless, we’re pumped.
Red Dead Redemption sells 8 million
Take-Two’s Q3 earnings call wasn’t quite the bomb-dropping spectacle we were hoping for – after all, the publishing giant failed to provide any details on Max Payne or a new Grand Theft Auto. However, it did further cement something that shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone: Red Dead Redemption has sold like hotcakes. Eight million hotcakes, to be precise. In the unlikely event that you haven’t experienced John Marston’s epic Wild West extravaganza, then we highly recommend you gallop over to your local videogames store and plonk down the cash, sharpish – it really is that bloody awesome. Unsurprisingly, the title, along with its zombie-centric Undead Nightmare expansion, proved instrumental in boosting Take-Two’s profits for the nine month period ending December 31. While we doubt a sequel’s on the horizon anytime soon, we just hope that this isn’t the end of Rockstar’s Wild West endeavours. Still, there’s always the newly unveiled Call of Juarez: The Cartel to keep us occupied.
Amazon lists inFamous 2 Hero Edition
Sony hasn’t officially announced a Hero Edition for its electricity-charged sequel infamous 2, but as we mentioned in our news article, Amazon is generally on the money when it comes to outing such releases. In this case, it’s a whopper – the Hero Edition clocks in at $99.99, but for a good reason. Among the many highlights thrown into this sumptuous set include an 8.5” Cole MacGrath statue, replica sling pack, a comic book, soundtrack and a voucher that unlocks a myriad of downloadable content. Not too shabby, we think you’ll agree. Of course, with Killzone also receiving the special edition treatment in the form of the Helghast Edition (which reminds us, we hope you got your pre-orders in early), it seems punters are going to be decidedly strapped for cash over the next few months. Decision, decisions. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on the Hero Edition in the vein chance it was all smoke and mirrors, though we’ll be keeping our fingers crossed for an official announcement in the coming weeks and months.
Guitar Hero, True Crime: Hong Kong canned
We imagine this’ll be a bit of a mixed bag in terms of reaction among gamers. On one hand, Guitar Hero aficionados’ will no doubt lament the loss of this year’s instalment in the ubiquitous music simulator, though at the same time, we reckon a fair chunk of you will be glad to see the back of the franchise – at least for now. After all, it can’t be denied that the music videogame genre has suffered a fair old decline over the past year or so, so we can hardly blame Activision for giving the series the chop if it wasn’t bringing home the bacon. If anything, Rock Band 3 proved a far more compelling experience than any of the past few Guitar Hero games, especially when stacked against the endless deluge of band-orientated offshoots. Perhaps the series is due a nap. Nonetheless, it’s a huge brand, and its loss is certainly a shocker. Still, the demise of True Crime: Hong Kong is a tough pill to swallow, as it was frankly looking rather tasty to say the least. You could argue till the ends of the earth whether or not the game could survive in the current climate (Activision seems to think not, hence why it pulled the plug) though one thing’s for sure – we’re gutted.
Russell spills more Uncharted movie details
We’ll be honest: the more we read about the Uncharted movie, the more we find ourselves wanting to pop a cap in our heads. Let’s not beat around the bush; director David O. Russell’s clearly making no attempt to adhere to the original template, instead deciding to go off in a more soprano-eqsue, family-orientated direction. Still, the most worrying factor so far isn’t the script itself, it’s the fact Russell clearly hasn’t been doing his homework, seemingly not having played the games at all. Quizzed by IGN as to why he wanted to adapt Uncharted, he offered the rather bizarre response of it being down to the fact the games are based around a family of treasure hunters. A decidedly incongruous statement indeed, seeing as how none of the Uncharted games thus far have so much as mentioned hero Nathan Drake’s relatives, let alone featured them as an integral plot component. We’re not sure what Davey boy has been playing, but it clearly wasn’t Uncharted. As such, while we desperately wanted this to work, we’re not overly optimistic. Then again, this IS a videogame – movie adaptation; more fool us for not learning from experience, eh? Still, given Russell’s rapturously received The Fighter, we can at least expect that as a standalone flick, Uncharted will deliver a pleasurable viewing experience. Fingers crossed.
Famitsu readers eager to get their mitts on NGP
Given the original PSP’s monumental success in its native Japan, we’re not at all surprised to read that Famitsu readers are eager to snap up its successor, the NGP. Obviously Famitsu caters to the hardcore gaming crowd, though these are the folk who have been flocking to the likes of Monster Hunter and Sony’s slab in their droves. Basically, these are the guys ensures Sony bigwigs are having roast turkey every Christmas. According to the survey, a large chunk of readers are particularly intrigued by the presence of dual analogue sticks and the NGP’s meaty innards, plus a fair few also seem to dig its aesthetics. Can’t say we blame them, as the pint-sized platform’s quite the sexy piece of kit. With 3DS looming, it’s comforting to know that consumer interest in Sony’s next-gen handheld is so high. Of course, there’s still that all-important purchase swaying price to consider, but we’re confident Sony will get it right. If all goes to plan, NGP should be in for a healthy launch come winter 2011.
Namco blames poor Enslaved sales on “busy holiday” period
Developed by Ninja Theory, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is the very embodiment of a sleeper hit. Stacking up an 82 percent (at the time of writing) metacritic rating, the partner-based adventure romp’s glowing critical reception sadly didn’t translate into sales, with the Namco-published outing failing to crack the coveted 500,000 mark. It came close with 460,000 sales, but in business, close just doesn’t cut the mustard. Obviously, Namco’s got an answer as to why it failed to pull in the punters: it released in a busy holiday period. Hard to argue with, seeing as how it came out in a time where everyone and his granny were gearing up for the likes of Call of Duty, Gran Turismo 5 and more. Still, with poor sales in mind, the question on everyone’s lips is whether or not a sequel will ever see the light of day. Fortunately, while not offering firm confirmation of a follow-up, it seems Namco hasn’t given up on the IP, revealing it’s considering opportunities for all things Enslaved. Hopefully this will mean it’ll green light a sequel, and more pertinently, find a more suitable release spot for it to capture the hearts and minds of gamers around the globe. In fact, that’s just what it aims to do, according to marketing man Carson Choi. Here’s hoping, eh?
Rumor: Activision looking to acquire Take-Two
Now this could be massive. Obviously, we’ll be taking rumors with a pinch of salt until we hear otherwise, but it still makes for a tantalizing bit of gossip. If Activision does indeed get its fingers in Take-Two’s prolific pie, then that would see an unprecedented unification of mega brands such as Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, BioShock and World of Warcraft. Of course, we don’t for one second expect many folk to be happy about this – Activision’s excessive brand milking has cheesed off more than its fair share of gamers in recent years, and given the recent demise of Guitar Hero, we’d hate to see a similar situation play out all over again.