Sony has announced that their upcoming handheld, PS Vita, will miss a 2011 launch in US and Europe, but it will launch in Japan before Christmas. This is after a recent report that said that Vita would release in October end.
The system is supposed to ship out at the end of FY2012, meaning it must be within the first quarter of next year.
Sony announced at E3 that the handheld would, in fact, be out by this year end. Obviously, they’re not living up to their promise.
Sony President Kaz Hirai announced this today (via Associated Press).
While gaming still looks for its Citizen Kane, it has already found its McDonalds: Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg said on an earnings call today that the last two entries in the Call of Duty series, Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops, have sold 22 and 25 million units respectively.
The numbers may look impressive on the outside, but they don’t answer the big question. Namely: What’s the K/D spread?
Activision’s been hesitant to talk about whether its upcoming soon-to-be-blockbuster Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 would also bust blocks on the Wii — despite the fact that the franchise’s last outing, Black Ops, appeared on the console. During today’s investor’s call, Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg brought said hesitation to an end, explaining, “We’re pleased to have recently confirmed that we will release a Modern Warfare 3 Wii SKU this year, so as not to leave any of the community out of the excitement.”
Next Level Games
Sega of America
Action & Adventure RATING: T for Teen
Captain America: Super Soldier is the latest Marvel comic video game from SEGA. It coincides with the feature film released earlier this summer with the likeness of Chris Evans. The game clearly tries to copy the successful gameplay of Batman: Arkham Asylum. But can it measure up? Or is Captain America doomed to live in Batman’s shadow as the ugly red-headed step child?
If you were a fan of the feature film, you will see and hear similarities with characters and voice acting, but with little else. Chris Evans (from the movie) voices Captain America and obviously plays the model for the character. The Red Skull, Dr. Zola, Peggy, Dum Dum, Bucky, and Falswerth all appear in the game and are voiced by the actors from the movie. Also, they all impressively look exactly like the actors as well. In addition to the recognizable characters, some new ones appear in Super Soldier. Madame Hydra, an uptight, feared, and ruthless fighter, holds the highest ranking female title in the Hydra organization. Another addition to characters is Baron Von Strucker, a high ranking individual in Hydra who is looking for technology known as the “Satan Claw.”
The majority of the game takes place in the Bavarian mountains in Europe in the Castle Zemo. The castle is a medieval fortress controlled by the Nazi inspired group, Hydra. You must infiltrate the castle in its giant wonder, by adventuring through its courtyards, weapon depots, and underground facilities. The massive layout and endless corridors make the game’s map a bit overwhelming and easy to get lost in. You can expect to back track quite a bit during certain levels in the game. Unfortunately, having to do so takes away from the already lackluster storyline and slows the game down.
Graphically, the game leaves something to be desired. It’s muddy and dull colors make exploring seem more like a chore than anything else. However, the detail on Captain’s suit and his shield are rather impressive, but that’s about it.
Gameplay is rather repetitive. Even with giant bosses to defeat, nothing really stands out. In the few instances the game tries to become a platformer, you’re immediately handed a pacifier and guided with camera angles and button commands. However, the combat system really saves this game. Once again, you will see striking similarities to Batman: Arkham City’s system. The only difference being that Captain America: Super Soldier still has slightly unresponsive controls and awkward frame rate issues. Counter attacks are time based, and at some points, Captain America just seems to miss your command and makes you feel his pain. The more action there is on screen, the slower the fight sequence becomes.
With that said, the underlying combat system is still rather enjoyable. Building up combos unlocks fancy finishing moves involving Captain America slamming a fist full of justice in the face of his Hydra foes. He can also disarm enemies and use their weapons to take out reinforcements. The brutal finishers really do give you a sense of accomplishment after facing such an evil organization.
Oddly enough, the elite Hydra organization has never heard of a filing cabinet. Or at least that’s what one would assume seeing how there are a number of documents spread all around the levels. From a corner in a jail cell to behind an explosive barrel, the locations of collectibles are rather mind boggling. Still, finding all the vast collectibles earn you points to unlock different combo moves (sound familiar?) so they are worth searching around for. Not to mention the encouragement of destroying statues; which seems rather out of character of Captain America to be honest.
The combat challenges are separate from the story, but are probably the best part of the game. You race against the clock to take out a certain amount of enemies to try and earn a gold medal. Since the combat system is the highlight of the game, these challenges are worth playing through and are actually pretty enjoyable.
Overall, Captain America: Super Soldier blatantly tries to mimic the popular Batman: Arkham City gameplay. From the combat style all the way to having challenge missions, Captain America just lives in Batman’s shadow it seems. However, you can’t really blame SEGA for trying to repeat a winning formula. By trying to live up to Batman, Captain America comes across looking more like the overlooked middle sibling rather than the ugly red headed step child of the super hero games. At the heart of Captain America is a fun game with an enjoyable combat gameplay. You could definitely find better, but you could most certainly find a lot worse.
En Masse Entertainment has finally broken its silence about TERA’s launch window, and there’s good news for fans of the upcoming fantasy game The good news is that Producer Chris Hager has penned a post on the official TERA website that offers a bit more info. In a nutshell, the North American client will enter alpha testing “later this year,” with beta scheduled for early 2012.
That should put to rest months of speculation as to whether the game will reach North American shores in 2011 (as well as whether it will be competing for launch customers with The Old Republic, which BioWare expects to release prior to the end of the year).
En Masse publishing vice president Chris Lee comments on the launch delay, indicating that the extra time will result in a more polished product. “The game’s action combat and depth has generated a lot of interest, and we are committed to making sure every aspect of the game lives up to our standard of quality,” he said.
The “Filmed Entertainment” division of Time Warner — under which its Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment brand defiantly operates — saw a revenue increase of 13 percent during the second fiscal quarter (ended June 30, 2011). The $2.8 billion result was “led by growth in video game revenues,” attributed primarily to the grosses of Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game, and the grossest Mortal Kombat yet.
That pair’s performance was likely dwarfed by the record-breaking sequels at the cinema: Warner Bros. raked in over $1.5 billion worldwide between Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and The Hangover Part II. (But don’t tell Green Lantern that.)
Operating income for the division dropped by 11 percent from last year to $154 million. According to Warner’s statement, higher revenues were offset during the period by elevated advertising costs, restructuring costs, and film-related valuation adjustments. Time Warner as a whole posted a net income of $637 million for the quarter, alongside revenues of $7.03 billion.
Source: Time Warner (PDF)
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata understands The Frustrations Of Early 3DS Adopters, which he addressed in an apologetic statement yesterday, as translated by Giant Bomb.
“If the software creators and those on the retail side are not confident that the Nintendo 3DS is a worthy successor to the DS and will achieve a similarly broad (user) base,” Iwata explained, “it will be impossible for the 3DS to gain popularity, acquire a wide range of software, and eventually create the product cycle necessary for everyone to be satisfied with the system.”
Iwata added, “Those customers who purchased the 3DS at the very beginning are extremely important to us.” He further said, “We know that there is nothing we can do to completely make up for the feeling that you are being punished for buying the system early.” Perhaps Iwata is right on this account, though twenty free games is certainly a step in the right direction. Almost as good as thirty free games!
While Microsoft has vowed to include some form of Kinect functionality in the core gaming franchises, the upcoming Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition will make use of the device, but not in as big a way as you might think. After confirmation of Kinect features at this year’s E3, 343 Industries has recently spoke out about the upcoming game, and what to expect in regards to Kinect functionality. Frank O’Connor of 343 explained in a recent interview: “I don’t think it’s going to be something that people need to be hyper-excited about,” said O’Connor.” “It’ll be cool, but it’s not something you’d put on the front of the box. I don’t want to downplay it, but I think of it like this – I use voice on Netflix and it’s awesome, and that’s what this’ll be. Something that enhances you overall experience.” No formal announcements have been made just yet, but with PAX Prime just weeks away, and of course Halo Fest, I’m sure we’ll be hearing much more about all the features of the newest addition to the Halo library.
A new trailer for Deus Ex: Human Revolution, call “Classified Information” has been released. It’s a massive 5 minute long trailer, and it shows a lot of interesting gameplay footage and story tidbits. The trailer, basically, gives you a background of the game and its story and setting. It’s enough to get anybody pumped for the upcoming release.
The Mirror’s Edge and Battlefield franchises are related through more than developer-publisher relations — they’re poised to share digital DNA. If it is made, a sequel to Mirror’s Edge may use Battlefield 3′s Frostbite 2 engine, according to Official PlayStation Magazine, which writes, “The Frostbite 2 engine will pave the way for Mirror’s Edge to make a free-running return.” We don’t know much more about the potential sequel or OPM’s “inside whispers,” besides the fact that Mirror’s Edge is an “important franchise” to EA. We may have to wait until EA and DICE stop coddling Battlefield 3 for confirmation of another game or details about its engine. For now, dreaming about free-running on Frostbite 2 will have to tide us over. Mmmm…
En Masse Entertainment has finally broken its silence about TERA’s launch window, and there’s good news for fans of the upcoming fantasy game The good news is that Producer Chris Hager has penned a post on the official TERA website that offers a bit more info. In a nutshell, the North American client will enter alpha testing “later this year,” with beta scheduled for early 2012.
