It’s almost here. The weekend that is, and if we can help make your wait more bearable with these pieces of news, then our job is done.
Some of you may have noticed that we’ve kinda relegated rumours and speculation about the next generation of consoles to this feature in general. We find most of it to be rather ho-hum, and as Sony proved, while 90% may actually be accurate, some major aspects may be wildly wrong. So, this here news features here for now: According to two sources, CVG has “learned that EA has secured a partnership with the Xbox [Microsoft] firm”. Apparently, neither person is certain of “what EA will show, nor what the terms of the exclusivity partnership will be.” Suspicions are pointing to exclusive add-on content and “big announcements”. Behind the scenes, the zombies have been wondering if a game like Mirror’s Edge might appear as an exclusive on Microsoft’s new console. We’re only speculating by the way. Don’t go quoting us.
This will apparently all tie in with a rumoured 26 April announcement by Microsoft. At least Sony did announce a date for an announcement and end all that speculation. D everyone that favour at least please Microsoft.
With the PS4 announced and official, we can only assume the next batch of leaks will revolve how it all looks and what games will be coming out. The first leak is the “how it will look” variety, but not pf the console itself, but rather the new interface. There are plenty of high-res images on Gematsu to go along with the one below.
A game which will not be appearing on PS4 is Gran Turismo 6. The title is still a PS3 game according to SCEE senior vice-president Michael Denny. Speaking to Silicon Republic, he said that the PS3 will continue to be supported with new software, such as GT6 and a new Assassin’s Creed game to join the previously confirmed titles such as The Last of Us and Beyond: Two Souls.
EA is planning to include ‘micro-transaction’ in all their upcoming games. Apparently, consumers are “enjoying and embracing that way of the business.” Who. The. Hell. Supported. Them? There’s a bounty on your head right about now. [via Eurogamer]
According to Ubisoft, Watch Dogs is positioned to challenge GTA V. That’s the thought of Ubisoft executive director for EMEA territories Alain Coore. In an interview with Edge he said that Ubisoft wants Watch Dogs to crack a new genre for the publisher, namely the “open-style GTA genre”. “Yes, Grand Theft Auto is one of the biggest brands in the industry and everybody respects the brand and we’ll have fun playing the next one too, but I think Watch Dogs’ positioning is also on next-gen, bringing a lot of features – connectivity, interactivity, companion gaming and so on which is bringing some freshness to the genre.”
PSN and PS3 related goodness now. Skyrim‘s Dawnguard DLC is now available on the European PSN. Get it in the first week and score 50% off. Sony has also discounted pretty much everything related to LittleBigPlanet. The discounts are valid until 13 March. Over on the US PSN, all the winners of the PSN Gamers’ Choice Awards have been discounted by 50% until 4 March. The games include Journey, The Walking Dead Season Pass, Counter-Strike, GTA San Andreas, and more.
Five new “action-packed” story missions – in which you can “rain firepowered justice down on the drug-dealing denizens of Hong Kong island” – are now available to download for Sleeping Dogs in the ‘Wheels of Fury’ DLC. Available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC at either 320MSP, $3.99, €2.99 or £2.39.
Insomniac Games have registered a trademark for Sunset Overdrive. The product is identified on the application as “computer game software” and “entertainment services, namely, providing an on-line computer game”. A NeoGAF member has also noted that sunsetoverdrive.com was also registered by a Ryan Schneider, which happens to be the name of Insomniac’s brand development director. [via CVG]
StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm is almost out (12 March to be exact) and to celebrate Blizzard has released this trailer. It’s ‘Vengeance’.
Let’s head off to the red planet next shall we? Mars War Logs, the cyberpunk role-playing game by Spiders Studio, is showing off some combat in this trailer. The game will be available in ‘Spring’ [Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere] and will arrive on XBL, PSN and PC.
Yesterday, we wasted two lines mentioning that the UK was getting the Wii Mini. We’ll waste three more today and let you know the console will retail for around £80. That might be worth waking up on 22 March if you’re in the UK and spoiling yourself right? [via CVG]
