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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U.K. Charts: Modern Warfare 3 denies Assassin’s Creed
November has proven one of the most competitive months of recent memory, with heavy hitters across all three major platforms scrapping it out for your hard earned cash. However, it seems the likes of Master Chief, Link and the combined might of Ezio and Altair wasn’t enough to topple Captain Price and chums, with Modern Warfare 3 still strutting its stuff at the summit of the U.K. All Format Charts – and that’s despite an 87 percent drop in sales. Nonetheless, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations managed to slip into second place, garnering the series’ most successful launch to date. Despite critics feeling Ezio’s latest offering has become somewhat stale, it seems the public’s appetite for surreptitiously stabbing people in the chest and jumping into haystacks hasn’t waned. Unfortunately, the aforementioned influx of games has meant there’s no room for cheeky chappie Nathan Drake on the charts, with Uncharted 3 tumbling out of the top ten.
Square to open new studio in Montreal
Square Enix is spreading its wings next year with the opening of a new studio in Montreal, which will cater for 150 new jobs. Not only that, but the industry giant is also looking to expand Eidos Montreal, creating 100 new jobs in the process. The past year or so has been rife with studios having to shut up shop, so this is a refreshing development to say the least. Most intriguing, however, is the fact the new Montreal office’s first project will be a Hitman title. Now, we already know that Hitman Absolution is currently in the works for a 2012 release, and this has led many to believe the new game will be a next-generation project. A tantalizing prospect if ever there was one.
Jak & Daxter Collection unveiled
Naughty Dog finally let the cat out of the bag this week regarding the long-rumored Jak & Daxter Collection, possibly one of the worst kept secrets of recent memory – let’s face it, we all knew it was coming. Unsurprisingly for those who have been following our coverage, the bundle will include Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy as well as Jak II and Jak III, all remastered in shiny 720p visuals with full Trophy and 3D support. The bundle itself is due out in February, giving you plenty of time to Platinum Uncharted 3 and check out some of Naughty Dog’s previous endeavours before Nathan Drake arrived on the scene.
First party European Vita launch titles revealed
PlayStation Vita already boasts a sumptuous software launch line-up for its impending Japanese debut on December 17, so it was pretty obvious the western offering would be equally as impressive. While third party titles have yet to be unveiled, Sony this week lifted the lid on its first-party line-up, confirming a boatload of AAA offerings such as Uncharted: Golden Abyss, WipEout 2048 and the newly unveiled MotorStorm: RC. Aside from that, we’ve also got the quirky, excellent-looking Escape Plan to supplement the obvious heavy hitters on the list. All in all, this is a massive step-up on the PlayStation Portable’s day-one offering, and hopefully Sony will see fit to serve up something similar for the North American market. Have you pre-ordered yet?
Silent Hill 2 HD will feature original voice acting, says Konami
Fans of Silent Hill 2 and 3 were justifiably miffed when Konami revealed that the upcoming HD Collections would incorporate all-new voice acting. After all, the original games’ cast gave stellar performances (at least for a videogame, anyway) and speaking as someone who bought both games on launch and became emotionally invested in the game’s characters, those classic voice overs have become iconic. While newcomers won’t be fussed, old timers will likely appeciate the option of having the original cast — after all, I can’t personally imagine anyone other than Guy Chi as James Sunderland. It’s a pity though, that this gesture won’t extend to Silent Hill 3.
EA gives Battlefield 3 owners Battlefield 1943
PS3 Battlefield 3 fans were up in arms in late October when it emerged that EA had apparently backtracked on their promise of offering BF 1943 free with every purchase of the military shooter. A comment doing the round at the time indicated that the offer of PS3 DLC timed-exclusivity was EAs way of throwing fans a bone. However, after one miffed fan threatened the company with legal action, the publishing behemoth said this week that it does indeed on keeping its promise and laid out plans for European, North American and Japanese BF3 owners to claim their free copy of the WWII shooter. Interestingly, this isn’t the first time a firm has seemingly backtracked on its promise of PS3-exclusive content; THQ said at E3 that Saints Row: The Third would feature some extra goodies for Sony console owners, which indicated a new game mode of some description. However, it later turned out that the freebie was in fact a free copy of Saints Row 2.
Report: PS Move has sold nine million
Sony’s wand-waggling wonder PlayStation Move has apparently been performing a little better than we initially thought. While Kinect undeniably had the early advantage, selling a whopping eight million units in just 60 days, sales for the Microsoft device have seemingly stalled at 10 million. PS Move, however, has proven a steady performer, and recently topped the nine million unit mark worldwide, putting it a mere million behind its 360 counterpart. Move has been pretty hit and miss when it comes to compatible software; games like Killzone 3 have shown what the peripheral can do when it’s put to good use, but titles like Heavy Rain and – ironically – PlayStation Move Heroes haven’t resonated so well with punters. Let’s hope Sorcery is going to deliver the goods, as it’s currently looking like the Move’s must-have title.
PSA: All PS3 games will be playable on Vita via remote play
If a report on Eurogamer is to be believed, we’ll all soon be gobbling up those shiny Trophies on the go via PlayStation Vita, thanks to a new Firmware update that enables remote play for all PS3 games. Yep, Sony seems to be pulling out all the stops for its swanky new pocket brick, and already the handheld is looking to offer a boatload of more feature than its predecessor ever did. After all, playing PSOne games via remote play was entertaining, but there’s nothing more tempting than unlocking Trophies while you’re on your lunch break at work.
And the rest…
Kojima on Metal Gear: ‘I wanted it to end at every step of the way’
Kojima: ‘It may be hard to get into Rising’
Japanese poll: PlayStation Vita is the most wanted hardware this holiday season