Gaming News 04/03/12 - 11/03/12
Nintendo
- Bioshock infinite heading to Wii U?
Nintendo gamer has reported that Ken Levine is making a game for Wii U. The magazine has assumed that the game is Bioshock infinite. It’s certainly plausible, since the game is coming to Xbox 360 and PS3 this year.
- 3DS continues to destroy the Vita in Japan
This weeks Media Create sales figures are in from Japan and they once again show that the Nintendo 3DS is once again obliterating all other consoles. The Nintendo 3DS managed to sell 70,744 units, while Sony’s recently released PlayStation Vita, only managed to sell 10,023 units. Here’s the Japanese software charts, along with the Japanese hardware charts:
- [PS3] One Piece: Pirate Warriors
- [3DS] Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
- [3DS] Harvest Moon: The Land of Origin
- [PSP] Great Battle Full Blast
- [3DS] Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
- [3DS] Mario Kart 7
- [PS3] Naruto Shippuden: Narutimate Storm Generation
- [3DS] Super Mario 3D Land
- [3DS] Monster Hunter 3G
- [PSP] Tales of the Heroes: Twin Brave
- Nintendo 3DS: 70,744
- PlayStation 3: 65,116
- PSP: 15,715
- PlayStation Vita: 10,023
- Wii: 8,111
- PlayStation 2: 1,377
- Nintendo DS: 1,363
- Xbox 360: 1,248
- Austrian Newspaper confirms Medal of Honor: Warfighter for Wii U.
Austrian newspaper Der Standard is reporting that the recently announced Medal of Honor Warfighter will be coming to Wii U. The publication states that the game is coming to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U and PC on October 23rd. EA has previously expressed interest in developing games for the Wii U.
- Unreal Engine 4 is only for next gen games
Gaming publication, Kotaku has reported that Epic’s Unreal engine 4 will be purely for 8th gen consoles. Epic states that if you were making a game for next-gen systems that you’d also want running on current systems, you would still go with Unreal Engine 3, but, if you were going purely next-gen, you’d go with Unreal Engine 4. Hopefully we will see a few games utilising Unreal Engine 4 on Wii U.
- Valve isn’t making a steam box
We reported last week rumours that Valve was planning to make a next gen console but these romours have been shot down by Valve. Kotaku’s Stephen Totillo spoke to Valve’s longtime spokesperson Doug Lombardi at GDC who confessed that Valve had been contracting some new hardware from partners, but they were solely doing this for the purposes of testing the upcoming Steam Big Picture Mode UI system.
- Angry Birds and Angry Birds Space coming to Wii U
Rovio chief marketing officer Peter Vesterbacka has confirmed to Joystiq that the company wants Angry Birds Space on every platform available, including Nintendo 3DS. Gamers have been waiting for quite some ti,e for the Angry Bird franchise to make its way to the Nintendo 3DS, but it seems as though the original Angry Birds, and the forthcoming Angry Birds Space, are finally coming.
“With all our games, we’re going for all the screens: Smartphones, tablets, TVs, the web, so we really want to bring Space to all the screens as well,”
“As always, we have limited resources, so we can only do iOS, Android, PC and Mac for the launch, but the other platforms will follow shortly after.”
“We’ll have our games on the 3DS pretty soon. The Vita we haven’t decided what to do about yet, but of course we want to be on all the screens, so let’s see how the Vita does in the market. And of course, always when working with these console guys it’s not that we can decide, it’s really if Sony wants to have Angry Birds on Vita. It’s more up to them than to us.”
- New Donkey Kong game coming to 3DS?
According to forum member over at DKVine EB Games are now accepting pre-orders for a Donkey Kong game for the Nintendo 3DS. Nintendo themselves haven’t mentioned such a game, but the image shows the pre-order box-art sitting on store shelves along with the forthcoming Kid Icarus: Uprising and Smash Bros 3DS. Perhaps we will hear something about the game at E3 in June, presuming it’s legitimate.
Sony
- New Darkstalkers game in development?
Capcom has been working on a new entry in cult beat-‘em-up franchise Darkstalkers since last year, according to Internet reports. VentureBeat got the scoop from an inside source, which claims Darkstalkers 4 is indeed in development with Street Fighter IV overlord Yoshinori Ono at the helm. According to the site, the new game will utilize a modified version of Street Fighter x Tekken’s game engine, with Ono-san having started work on the project after wrapping up SF x Tekken in late 2011. The news follows on from Capcom filing a Darkstalkers trademark with the European Union trademarks office on February 14, the first time it has done so since 2004.
- Assassins Creed III details revealed
Ubisoft has unveiled the official debut trailer for Assassin’s Creed III, confirming the historical adventure sequel for an October 31 release on PlayStation 3, PC and Xbox 360. A Wii U version is also in the previously revealed, the game indeed takes place during the American Revolution, and sees players controlling fellow assassin and Native American Ratohnaké:ton (also known as Connor).
The game will utilize a brand new engine by the name of Ubisoft-AnvilNext, which promises revolutionary visuals, character models and AI. Assassin’s Creed III is being developed by Ubisoft Montreal, with help from six other internal studios.
Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft, commented:
“Assassin’s Creed III features the franchise’s most expansive setting so far, along with an exciting new hero and exponentially more gameplay.”
“Whether you’re a longtime fan of Assassin’s Creed or if you’re new to the franchise, you’re going to be blown away by the scale and marvel of Assassin’s Creed III.”
- EA opens new studio to work on unannounced frostbite 2 games
EA has opened a new studio to focus on making a “new generation of games using Frostbite 2 engine,” the company announced. EA Gothenburg is located near Stockholm, Sweden, where DICE, the developer of Battlefield 3, which was powered by Frostbite 2, is located.
No word on what this new team will create. But the studio says of the positions: “Game franchise and genre will be revealed after a candidate is under NDA.”
- 2K Czech helping out with Grand theft auto V?
Rockstar has apparently brought 2K Czech on board to help out with development of Grand Theft Auto V. That’s according to a VG247 source, which claims the studio – best known for its work on Mafia II - has been involved with the crime sequel for almost a year, helping out with cut scene animations and general gameplay.
Furthermore, the same source also reckons Mafia III is now in development following a year’s worth of pre-production, “in which the game’s concepts and tech were stripped back to basics and rebuilt.”
Rockstar and 2K Czech are supposedly sharing tech secrets with each other as part of publishing giant Take Two’s plans to turn Mafia into a ‘major franchise.’
Interestingly, the source notes that 2K was present at the 'Durango' London presser last week, hotly rumored to play host to an insider unveiling for Microsoft's next-generation home console.
- PS3 exclusive Datura announced
Sony has lifted the wraps off Datura, a brand new PlayStation 3-exclusive collaboration between SCE Santa Monica Studio and Plastic Studios. Details are sketchy at present, though it has been confirmed that PlayStation Move will be compatible with the game and “adds an extra level of immersion.” Gamers will apparently start off in the middle of a lush forest, and must explore by controlling their character’s hand.
- Ubisoft Toronto announcing a “triple A” game soon
According to CVG, ex-Assassin’s Creed Producer, Jade Raymond, said that the Toronto-based Ubisoft branch will be announcing its first "triple-A" game.
"We are about to announce our first big triple-A being developed by the studio. I've got to say I think it's going better than I could've imagined.”
Raymond clarified that the team is still 100% focused on wrapping up their new Splinter Cell game, however, the studio still intends on creating “big new IP” sometime soon.
- PS vita launch met with “overwhelming enthusiasm”
PlayStation Vita’s North American debut last month was met with “overwhelming enthusiasm” from gamers, Sony has said. The comments come in wake of February NPD data, and while Sony neglected to divulge any sales figures for the new portable, it seems the device has got off to a solid start.
Said Patrick Seybold, Sony Computer Entertainment America’s (SCEA) corporate communications chief:
“After months of anticipation, the U.S. launch of PlayStation Vita saw overwhelming enthusiasm amongst gamers, resulting in exceptional hardware, software and peripheral sales.”
The executive went on to reiterate that the handheld has moved 1.2 million units worldwide since launch, and noted customers seem overall highly chuffed with their shiny new PS Vitas.
Xbox
- Check out this new “heavy hitters” video from the bioshock team
2K Games Ken Levine, as well as art director Nate Wells and lead artist Shawn Robertson, feature in the latest Bioshock Infinite trailer to discuss the game’s heavy hitting enemies, the Motorized Patriot. Ken Levine, creative director on the project, introduces us to some of the so-called Heavy Hitters which were put in place to make things a bit more interesting and challenging for our protagonist. Check out the video below:
- Next Xbox won’t include a disk drive?
MCV is reporting that the next Xbox console won’t come equipped with a disc drive, and will launch sometime next year. If true then the next Xbox will be the worlds first console to forgo a disc drive in favour of downloadable games. I’m sure GameStop and GAME won’t be too pleased with this news.
The briefings have been issued under what MCV’s source describes as “the strictest NDA” they have ever encountered.
Although the console will not include a disc drive, it will offer compatibility with some sort of interchangeable solid-state card storage, although it is not known whether this will be proprietary or a more standard format such as SD.
Furthermore, a 2013 launch date for the hardware has been confirmed. What is less clear, however, is the intended timing of Microsoft’s announcement.
- Xbox 360 wins in February US hardware sales
ComputerAndVideogames reports today that the NPD numbers are in for the month of February. The XBox 360 is the clear winner here, garnering 426,000 units moved in February, which accounts for roughly 42% of the market last month. The Wii moved 228,000 units in the US, and Sony did not comment on the PS3's performance. In perhaps less-shocking news, Modern Warfare 3 was the top-selling game in the month of February.
Sources: http://mynintendonews.com