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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Battlefield 3 nabs the top spot
I think it’s pretty obvious how the charts are going to go down when Modern Warfare 3 hits stores, but for now, the limelight belongs to Battlefield 3, which knocks Batman: Arkham City off the top spot after just one week. Apparently, DICE’s acclaimed military shooter sold more in one week than all previous Battlefield titles combined. No mean feat to say the least. Despite a bit of a shaky launch thanks to some sever issues, BF3 has certainly got off to a solid start, though I highly doubt it’ll be able to hold off the commercial behemoth that is Call of Duty, regardless whether or not it’s the better game. For now though, EA’s seminal shooter is firmly in the public consciousness, and deservedly so – any company that employs military vehicles to roll through the streets of London to promote their product gets my vote.
Resident Evil Chronicles HD Collection confirmed
Capcom’s been flying the Resident Evil flag a great deal this year, though this isn’t a surprise considering the fact the venerable horror series is celebrating its 15th anniversary. Not content with bringing us the likes of Resident Evil: Revelations and Operation Raccoon City in the near future, they’ve also re-released Resident Evil 4 and Code: Veronica X in HD (or rather, upscaled them) and to top it off have now confirmed that two former Wii rail shooters are coming to Sony’s platform in HD. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles will feature a fresh coat of paint and PlayStation Move compatibility, and offer truanted versions of all major core entries in the series, most of which are playable in two-player co-op. I’ve finished both games and speaking as a hardcore Resi fanatic, they’re well worth the investment. Sure, they’re rail shooters, but both games are packed with unlockables and offer a nice recap of events as well as fleshing out some of the more undeveloped areas in the franchise’s increasingly convoluted plot. Umbrella Chronicles is the meatier of the two, packing in RE Zero, 1, 3 and a new Russian scenario, plus mini-scenarios where you play as Albert Wesker, Ada Wong and Special Agent Hunk. Having said that, the RE2 sections in Darkside Chronicles have been sumptuously realised in their updated state, and remain a definite highlight. Providing Capcom decides to release the bundle outside of Japan, this is worth checking out for sure.
Sony teases announcement of ‘surprising’ new game at Jump Festa 2011
Japan’s annual nerd extravaganza Jump Festa takes place in mid-December, and Sony’s teased that we can probably expect some sort of surprise announcement to drop at the games/manga/anime shindig. As pointed out in our news article, the fact the last day of the event is December 18 – which just so happens to be the same day PlayStation Vita is released in the Land of the Rising Sun – makes it look quite likely Sony will lift the wraps off a previously-unannounced game for its swanky new pocket brick. Quite what the platform holder has up its sleeves is open to wide-spread conjecture for now, so feel free to speculate to your heart’s content in the comments section below.
Battlefield 3 sells 5 million in one week
Just last week EA said that it had shipped an eye-watering 10 million copies of Battlefield 3 to stores, though it remained unknown as to how many units of that figure translated into sales. Well, now we know – sort of. The publishing giant’s internal estimates this week has the military shooter selling five million copies in just one week, an impressive figure for any company let alone EA. Despite FPS games being as common as muck these days, it looks like Joe Public’s appetite for the genre hasn’t waned, with BF3 easily becoming EA’s biggest game launch of all time – though quite how it will stack up to Modern Warfare 3 remains to be seen.
Global PS3 sales hit 56 million
Sony’s flagship console has been slowly but inexorably creeping up on Xbox 360 for some time now, and this week the platform holder confirmed PS3 has edged even closer to its leading rival. PS3 has now raked in approx. 56 million sales worldwide, putting it a mere 1.3 million behind Microsoft’s machine. I can recall many folk initially scoffed at the idea of PS3 overtaking 360, but it now looks like this may actually happen. Indeed, such a feat would be even more impressive considering the fact Xbox 360 had a year head start on PS3 (and that’s just in the U.S., as PS3 didn’t hit shelves in Europe until 16 months after 360. A strong software line-up for 2011 has obviously facilitated PS3 sales across all regions, though it will be interesting to see which console performs the best over the X-Mas holiday season.
Silent Hill HD Collection, Downpour dated
Konami’s lifted the curtain on its Q1 2012 line-up, confirming it’ll release a Silent Hill game every month from January – March. First up is the Silent Hill HD Collection, which offers high definition revamps of acclaimed horror outings Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3. February sees PlayStation Vita multiplayer title Silent Hill: Book of Memories, while March will see the long-awaited arrival of Silent Hill: Downpour following its delay last month. The jury’s still out on Downpour and Book of Memories, seeing as how we haven’t really got a clear look at both titles yet, although PSU’s Rob Zweetslot had a gander at Downpour at the Eurogamer Expo and came away slightly unimpressed. The HD Collection, however, is a must-have purchase for any self-respecting horror buff, offering two of the best games in the entire series – Silent Hill 2 in particular is considered the best of the bunch.
Ubisoft announces Rainbow Six: Patriots
2011 has been a mammoth year for sequels, and from the look of things this trend will perpetuate into 2012 and beyond, with news of another triple-A franchise getting another addition to the family in the shape of Rainbow Six: Patriots. It’s curious that Ubisoft decided to lift the cloth on the game at this point in time though, considering it’s not even out until 2013, but still, I suppose it’s never too early to get the hype machine started. The military shooter space is becoming highly competitive these days what with Call of Duty and Battlefield puffing their chests, though Ubisoft has still got two years to get things polished, and from the sound of it Patriots is to be the most ambitious game in the series to date, offering an extensive single-player campaign and comprehensive multiplayer component. Plus, players will also have to make morality choices to boot — a solid addition in my book. The last few Rainbow Six games were in danger of becoming a bit too formulaic, so if Ubisoft is intent on injecting a bit of flavour into the series, then I’m all for it.
Square’s ‘Winter of RPGs’ brings Chrono Cross, FFV, FFVI to PSN
Square’s rolling out the red carpet this winter for PSN users, bringing three critically acclaimed PSOne RPGs to Sony’s flagship online service – Chrono Cross, FFV and FFVI. Just in case you were too young to appreciate these classics back in the day, Chrono Cross was a critical darling and shipped 1.5 million copies upon its release on PSOne back in 2000, and remains one of the most celebrated RPGs on Sony’s original grey box of tricks. The two FF games, meanwhile, are retro classics, with FFVI in particular often considered one of the best 16-bit RPGs ever released. If you’re interested in retro games or just curious to see how the genre has evolved over the years from humble beginnings, then any one of these games would prove an ideal investment. In fact, for all the flashy visuals of today’s RPGs, most modern titles could probably learn a thing or two from their predecessors – they’re still an absolute blast to play even after all these years.
It’s been nearly a year’s wait, but The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is almost upon us, with developer Bethesda having confirmed this week the game has entered manufacturing ahead of its November 11 launch. We’ve been keeping our eye on this game for some time now, as I’m sure most of you have; from the look of things it’ll trump Oblivion, which is no walk in the past to say the least. Of course, the game just so happens to be releasing in one of the busiest release periods of the year, and given the fact the fantasy RPG is said to pack around 300 hours of gameplay, this is title you’re going to have dedicate some serious time to if you want to get the most out of it. An enjoyable experience no doubt, but juggling it with all those other triple-A treats this winter isn’t going to be easy. So PSU readers, have you pre-ordered? Have you forked out for the exorbitantly-priced Collector’s Edition? Or are you not fussed at all? Let us know in the comments section below.