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.
– – – – – – – – – – – – –
Square Enix hints at possible Final Fantasy XIII sequel
To be quite frank, we’d much prefer that the chaps at Square focused on churning out a proper PS3 entry in the Kingdom Hearts franchise than continually milking the Final Fantasy series for all its worth. After all, FFXIII’s universe is already set to be expanded with the eagerly awaited FF Agito/Versus XIII at some point in the (hopefully) not too distant future, and so the prospect of getting an FFXIII-2 isn’t exactly filing us with the joys of spring. That’s not to say we wouldn’t welcome one later down the line, but right now we’d rather get our mitts on Versus XIII and Kingdom Hearts 3.
Platinum says Bayonetta 2 will come ‘when the time is right’
Blimey, how much longer are they going to keep dangling this juicy morsel in front of our noses? Indeed, we’ve been hearing musings of a potential follow-up to Bayonetta since the spring, and just when it seems like an announcement is imminent, it all goes quiet – that is, until creator Hideki Kamiya and the Platinum Games chaps pipe up with yet more ramblings on a sequel. Still, that’s beside the point. At the end of the day, we’re stoked at the chance of seeing the sultry, gun-wielding witch crop up again later down the line, especially in light of the controversial direction Capcom and Ninja Theory are taking with the Devil May Cry series. In fact, this may very well be the franchise to supplant Dante as the cream of the crop among the stylish action genre – the original certainly showed a lot of competence in that respect. Just a friendly word of advice regarding a sequel, Platinum – no more dodgy PS3 conversions, eh?
Rumor: PSP2 due out in late 2011
Even though Sony is keeping mum on the subject, we think it’s fair to say that the PSP2 ranks among the worst kept secrets in the company’s illustrious history – let’s face it, we all know its coming. According to the latest Internet murmurs, it’s looking highly likely we’ll get a formal reveal on a successor to Sony’s slab at E3 next year, with the handheld itself apparently pencilled in for release during the 2011 holiday season. As far as hardware launch periods go, you can’t really go wrong with a Christmas release, especially if Sony is pulling out all the stops as we’re lead to believe it is. Just as well though, with Nintendo’s 3DS on the horizon (it’ll be here by next spring), the portable gaming space is going to be heating up big time – and we can’t wait to see what Sony has up its sleeves for PSP2.
CoD: Black Ops to include stereoscopic 3D
While the adoption of 3D technology in the gaming space is still very much in its infancy, the fact that so many big hitters are already supporting the feature – Killzone 3 and Gran Turismo 5 spring to mind – can only be a good thing in our books. Needless to say, with Call of Duty: Black Ops now set to join the list of 3D compatible games, it’s obvious big name developers are starting to hop on the bandwagon and are intent on creating a firm push in the 3D landscape. And this is something we very much support here at PSU Towers. After all (and we’ve said this before and we’ll reiterate again), we aren’t entirely convinced of the application of 3D technology in games yet, though this is purely due to the fundamental reason we haven’t had much hands-on time with the tech at the time of writing – if more triple-A software output will incorporate this feature over time, then that means ample opportunity for us and punters alike to acquaint ourselves with the technology. Given Sony’s commitment to pushing 3D support, we doubt we’ll have long to wait.
Race for first MMO on PS3 heats up thanks to DC Universe Online delay
Okay, we’re not going to sugar coat this – Sony’s PlayStation 3 holiday line-up is looking decidedly lacking in comparison to how things seemed just three months ago. Unfortunately, we’ve the seemingly endless barrage of delays to thank for that, with the likes of LittleBigPlanet 2, SOCOM 4 and now DC Universe Online all pushed back in to the depths of 2011, leaving Gran Turismo 5 to pick up the slack. Obviously the Polyphony Digital racer will sell like hotcakes and no doubt go on to be THE game to own for the Q4 2010 period, but when you consider the fact Sony once had three other exclusives to further supplement their first-party offerings for Christmas, it’s a bit of a blow all the same. A pity, as DC Universe in particular had been on our radar from quite some time having endured such an arduous development cycle. Either way, 2011 is going to be massive, folks. Onwards and upwards, eh?
Prince of Persia getting 3D treatment in Europe
First off, we’d just like to extend our sympathies to our U.S. readers in the knowledge that the Prince of Persia HD Collection won’t be making the transition to North America. Nonetheless, we suppose the situation could have been worse – at least our friends across the pond will be able to import the game thanks to the PlayStation 3’s multi-region capabilities. Now that’s out of the way, on to something more positive; what a bloody brilliant move on Ubisoft’s part. Prince of Persia may have fallen off the wagon in recent years, but the games on offer in this collection – namely, Sands of Time, Warrior Within and The Two Thrones – remain some of last-gen’s most compelling slices of interactive entertainment, fusing platforming, adventure and gratifying combat in one cohesive, narrative-heavy package. Indeed, it seems God of War Collection has spawned something of an on-going trend as of late, with numerous PS2 classics now receiving a swanky HD paint job for folks who were unlucky enough to miss out on the games first time around. We hope this isn’t the last of its kind.
The Force Unleashed III is being “figured out”
Blimey, hold your horses – The Force Unleashed II isn’t even on shelves yet and we’re already hearing rumblings of a third entry being canned? Talk about jumping the gun. Still, that was apparently the situation a few months back, when it was rumored fresh-faced LucasArts head Paul Meegan had apparently shelved plans for The Force Unleashed III. While we weren’t expecting anything on a sequel to materialise for quite some time, being the Star Wars aficionado’s we are at PSU Towers, we’re chuffed to hear that a third instalment hasn’t ended up on the cutting room floor. Indeed, things are “still being figured out” in that respect. Still, it’s looking likely a Force Unleashed III could happen somewhere along the lines, with LucasArts’ Julio Torres observing that there’s still a couple of years in between the events of TFU II and Star Wars: Episode IV where a third game could conceivably take place. For now though, we’re just focusing on getting our mitts on the second game – cause it’s sure looking mighty fine.
Western Yakuza 4 release will see only “minimal” cuts
Hear that? That’s us breathing a well-justified sigh of relief. Don’t get us wrong; we didn’t even expect Yakuza 3 to make the transition to western markets in the first place, but it’d be disingenuous of us to suggest we weren’t decidedly bummed over the amount of cuts made to the U.S. and UK conversion. After all, the hostess bars and assorted mini-games found in the Japanese original are all part of the quintessential Yakuza experience that have remained staples of the series since its inception on PlayStation 2 in the mid-2000s. Needless to say, it’s comforting to hear that SEGA aren’t going to trim down the goods for the impending fourth instalment, which hits shops in spring 2011. More so, in fact, as this marks the final traditional Yakuza title – unless you count the PSP outing Black Panther – before Kazuma and co find themselves up against hordes of undead foes in Yakuza: Of the End. As such, we want the most complete experience possible.
Modern Warfare 3 in works at Sledgehammer Games, says analyst
While we’re not ones to hop on the nearest bandwagon here at PSU Towers, we have no problem in admitting that we absolutely love the Modern Warfare brand and would therefore relish in the opportunity accompany Captain Price, Soap and the rest of the SAS cockney rabble for a third outing. In fact, we’ve been itching to catch first wind of Modern Warfare 3 ever since we ploughed through last year’s stellar follow-up to Call of Duty 4. Still, it’s been a tumultuous year for the chaps at Infinity Ward, and as such it’d be fair to say the chances of seeing Price and co return for yet another action-packed spectacle seemed a little on the slim side. However, and while the rumblings of analysts hardly constitutes as a solid indication of things to come, it isn’t entirely inconceivable that the reins have been passed over to Sledgehammer Games – after all, we know they’re working on a Call of Duty game, though up until now we didn’t see it as a FPS outing. Still, with the firm’s official site claiming otherwise, perhaps development of Modern Warfare 3 has migrated to the Glen Schofield/Michael Condrey powerhouse after all. One thing’s for sure; with the ubiquity and financial prowess the Call of Duty brand has amassed over the past half a decade, you can be sure the series will continue to be churned out on a regular basis in one incarnation or another, be it MW3 or something entirely disparate altogether. Watch this space.
David O. Russell to direct Uncharted movie
As mentioned previously on PSU, we quite intrigued at the prospect of a film adaptation of Uncharted, so the news that the film has finally attracted a director is a welcoming development. Indeed, O. Russell was previously attached to the project before pulling out a few months back, but he’s now back on board and if the folks at IMDB are anything to go by, the movie should be with us by 2013. So, a long way off then, but hopefully this’ll prove one of the rare (if only instances) a video game – movie conversion is actually worth waiting for. Fingers crossed, folks.