Here is what has been making news:  New Releases, Mass Effect 3 Patch problem, ME3: Operation Resurgence, God of War IV, Resident Evil 6, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, The Legend of Dragoon, Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition, Darksiders II, Mystery Project, Crysis 3, Quake 4, Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, Sony cuts jobs, Elder Scrolls IV: Skyrim, Super Mario 4.

New Game Releases

April 15^th – April 21^st

Monday, April 16^th

Sword and Sworcery EP will be available for the PC and Mac.

Tuesday, April 17^th

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (Enhanced Edition) will be available for the Xbox 360 and PC.

Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention will be available for the PS Vita.

Deadliest Warrior: Ancient Combat will be available for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

Nexuiz will be available for the PC.

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet will be available for the PC.

The House of the Dead 4 will be available for the PS3.

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (Dark Edition) will be available for the Xbox 360.

Wednesday, April 18^th

Trials Revolution will be available for the Xbox 360.

Blades of Time will be available for the PC and Mac.

Doc Clock: The Toasted Sandwich of Time will be available for the PS3.

Mass Effect 3 Patch problem

Causing 360s to crash

After a month of complaints about Shepard’s face not being fully imported into game 3, BioWare relented and sent us a patch to fix the problem.  Unfortunately, it also created a larger problem for Xbox 360 gamers.  The complaints are that not only didn’t it fix the face import issue, but it also causes the game to crash on Xbox 360 systems.  BioWare promises they are “investigating” the crash problem and invites feedback within a thread on their forum.

There seems to be no problems with any other console, just the Xbox 360 version of the game.  The problem arises when the game is searching for your downloadable content and trying to connect to the EA server.  At which point it just locks up and you are not able to choose to continue your game, create a new game, or do much of anything at all other then bring up the dashboard and shut off your console.  Some reports have indicated that it shuts down the 360 completely, although I haven’t seen that as of yet.  Thomas Abram, a BioWare representative on the developer’s forums, stated that “We are aware of the issues people are having when connecting to the EA Servers. We are currently investigating this,”

On top of all of this, those who can get into their games, after downloading the patch, are continuing to encounter issues with importing their ME2 Shepard face.  Other users have complained of losing all of their DLC and kill counts.
While we know that BioWare is aware of the problems, and they report to be working on fixing the problems, we do hope that this fix comes soon and that it doesn’t create further problems (test it out first guys?).  Games are not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, so plunking down $60 to $70 for one, and then not being able to play it .. well, that’s just not acceptable.  We do wish BioWare the best and hope their solution comes quickly.

ME3: Operation Resurgence

BioWare blames Sony for block

More difficulties for BioWare in the multiplayer arena for their Mass Effect 3: Operation Resurgence weekend challenge.  It seems that PlayStation 3 users are not able to participate as had been planned (and with the absence of many Xbox 360 users, one has to think the playground is rather empty).

The online promotion began Friday and was made available to Xbox 360 and PC gamers if they downloaded the free multiplayer DLC Resurgence Pack.  The challenge includes a 10% experience bonus when you play the new maps titled Firebase: Condor and Firebase: Hydra.  Unfortunately PS3 gamers, who were told they would be able to participate in the weekend challenge, cannot and BioWare blames Sony for this.  According to a BioWare representative, Sony did not approve the promotion.  BioWare, at the time of this writing, was trying to work out a compromise with Sony so that the Multiplayer Challenge weekends will be available on the PS3.

We suspect that this particular promotion weekend will essentially only involve PC gamers given the widespread issue with the Xbox 360 crashes (see above story) and the lack of PS3 gamers.  This means a whole lot of ME3 fans will not be able to participate in getting extra XP or get the Reserve Pack that unlocks one of the new random alien classes.

We hope that Sony and BioWare can work out this little snag and play nice together so that gamers from all three console versions are able to participate in additional challenge weekends in the future.

God of War IV

Sony’s tease

“Will vengeance bring  redemption?”  This is the question looming on Sony’s PlayStation Facebook page.  Sony teases us with a reveal date of April 19^th, but no other information.  The belief is that the question and the date are related to a God of War IV announcement, although, there is a chance that it is related to an announcement about the Vita.

Fans have anticipated a new God of War game since it was announced in January that the company was working on a fourth entry in the GoW franchise.  Sony Santa Monica put out job listings for a God of War development team to create multiplayer services last year.  Further, last month Shannon Studstill, the senior director of product development at the Santa Monica studio hinted that the game may be headed for the PS Vita or other mobile platforms.  So much speculation, guess we will have to wait until the 19^th to get a full answer.

Resident Evil 6

Pre-order goodies

Pre-orders almost always involve some kind of goodies, so its no surprise that pre-orders of Resident Evil 6 would also involve goodies.  Depending upon which retailer you pre-order with, you will be able to get one of the three Mercenaries Mode maps.

If you pre-order RE 6 from GameStop, you will get The Catacombs map.  The Catacombs is a dark, underground area that is filled with zombies and booby traps such as spiked floors which can impale you or a zombie.

If you pre-order RE 6 from BestBuy, you will get The Railyard map.  A multi level area that involves fighting zombies inside parked trains, on the roof of the facility and inside the facility.

If you pre-order RE 6 from Amazon.com, you will get The High Seas Fortress map.  More of an outdoor area where zombies spawn on an aircraft carrier’s deck.  You’ll be popping off zombies throughout the whole ship, inside and out.  You’ll be in cramped quarters of the military ship and the open air of the hanger and deck.

These maps are not story driven, they are in fact Mercenaries mode which was first introduced in Resident Evil 3.  The maps are point based challenges where you fight against the clock to take out as many zombies as you can.  The idea is to keep you coming back for more, best your own time.

No date has been announced yet for the PC version of the game, but it will be out for Xbox 360 and PS3 on October 2^nd this is a month sooner than their original projection of November 2012.   Capcom reports that they don’t plan to release RE 6 for the Wii U, additionally, there is no confirmed release date from Nintendo for the Wii U at this point.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

Release info

Sadly, it has been confirmed that the originally stated release window for Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, will not be met.  So rather than expecting the game this year, it is being projected for a 2013 release.

The good news is, the game will be in English and will be shipped to North America and Europe at the same time.  The game was released in Japan last year and now has an English language trailer to tease us with.  The trailer was released the same day that Namco Bandai reported the launch delay.

The Legend of Dragoon

Coming to PSN

In the year 2000, Sony’s four discs of The Legend of Dragoon kept RPG fans occupied for hours upon hours.  Originally, the game was touted as too hard for American gamers (say what?) so a re-balanced version was shipped off to the States.  Those of you who fondly remember the game that you spent hours playing on the first PlayStation console will be happy to hear that it will be available on the PlayStation Network May 1^st.  So dust off those nostalgic memories and get ready to relive the past.

Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition

Coming to PC with new content

Thanks to an online petition that raised almost 100,000 signature, Namco Bandai has confirmed that Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition will be getting a PC version.  Originally, Namco Bandai had no plans to make a PC version of the game.

Within the first three months of the games release it shipped around 1.5 million units and sold about 1.3 million of those units.  The PC version of the game is expected to ship world wide on August 24^th.  Namco Bandai has confirmed that the PC version will include some new content as well.  In the PC version of Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition you can expect to see a Manticore-like monster that takes the form of a winged creature with horns and a lion face.  There will be new bosses to fight, including Chimera of Tomb and Artorias of Abyss, as well as new enemies such as Abyss Guard and Chained Prisoner.  Naturally you can expect new environments to explore like Old Ruins and Oolacile Tomb to name a couple.

Another new addition to the game will be an enhanced PVP mode so that you and another player can “more closely” create battles against each other.  All in all, it sounds like a huge win for the PC gamer .. well done fans!

Darksiders II

THQ moves release date

We have been expecting Darksiders II to be launched sometime in June, but recently we learned that this just may not be the case at all.

Danny Bilson, VP of THQ Core Games, was recently asked if there was a possibility that the June release date for the game would be changed.  The question came about as the result of the recent lay-offs and restructuring of the studio.  He responded with “We haven’t announced anything… but the team is working really, really hard. We’re not going to ship it before it’s done.”  Bilson was also not able to follow up with any kind of release date.

So now the rumors begin, it sounds likely that we won’t be seeing Darksiders II released in June given that its publisher isn’t able to comment on a confirmed release date.  Its highly likely that we will get some kind of confirmation about the game in June during E3, or at least we hope that to be true.

Mystery Project

Three studios collaborate

Back in February we heard about a mystery project, at that time there just wasn’t much to say about it, but now we are able to report a bit more information on what it might be.  What we know is that it is a 3DS game and it will feature the iconic characters from three different game studios.  It will be a strategy RPG game developed in collaboration between Namco Bandai, Sega, and Capcom.

So then, given that information we bump up against the unknowns.  Which characters will be in the game?  And here is where the fun begins because we get to guess.  So if we look at Namco Bandai studios and their iconic characters we come up with Kaito and Black Rose from the game .hack, Jin and Ling Xiaoyu from the game Tekken, and Kos-Mos and T-elos from the game Xenosaga.  Those seem to be the most notable.

If we look at Sega and their iconic characters we come up with Kurt and Riela from the game Valkyria Chronicles, Pai and Akira from the game Virtua Fighter, and Shinguji Sakura and Ogami Ichiro from the game Sakura Wars.

Now if we look at Capcom, well naturally we first think of Chris and Jill from the Resident Evil games, Demitri and Dante from the games Darkstalkers and Devil May Cry, and Ryu & Ken from Street Fighter 0.

Naturally there are others from each of the studio that could be included, those were just a few that stood out for me.  Since we are promised the release of a trailer for later next month, we will know more about just who will be in the game then.  Who do you think should be included in the Mystery Project?

Crysis 3

EA revealing more info

Crytek revealed last month that there would be a huge new triple A title announced in April, adding that it would be a “big budget” game.  At the time, I have to admit, Crysis wasn’t one of the games that came to mind, but in hind-sight, the game did sell a cool three million units and was highly acclaimed when it was released last year.

In a statement to Game Informer, EA said “The best kept secret in shooters just can’t be contained. Stay tuned for more information on April 16.”  This was in response to a question relating to a product page and banner for Crysis 3 that appeared in Origin, EA’s digital store.  While the product page gave no actual information about the game, it did sport a banner of Alcatraz holding an advanced bow and arrow set, a new look for the Crysis hero.  The background of the artwork appeared to involve an urban setting suggesting that the environment will be more like Crysis 2 than the tropical environment of the original Crysis.

The product page didn’t stay up for long however, EA pulled it the same day it went up so our guess is that it was an “oopsie.”  Because of this we also know that Crysis 3 will be available for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

Quake 4

Re-release info

Originally released through Activision in 2005, Quake 4 is being brushed off for a re-release.  Bethesda stated that the game will be re-released and available at a discount.  Its already available on Steam but is expected to go on sale in North America and Europe for $19.99 on June 19^th.

The game was developed by Raven Software in collaboration with id Software and later the rights to the game were acquired by Bethesda when their parent company, Zenimax Media, purchased id Software.  Quake has always been a popular franchise and picking up Quake 4 for a mere $19.99 is a rather dandy deal.

Pokémon Black 2 and White 2

New characters and maps

Pokémon fans everywhere are looking forward to this one.  Both Pokémon Black and Pokémon White are getting a sequel that will feature new maps and new characters.  As you start your game you will be able to choose either a brand new male or female trainer.  You will also have a new rival and two new gym leaders.

Both games will have you begin in different cities than were in the first game.  While an American release date hasn’t yet been announced, the games will launch in Japan this June.

Sony cuts jobs

focusing on recovering game division

Recently Sony followed along with many other game studios and announced they would be cutting jobs and trying to pull themselves out of financial difficulties.  They named their gaming division as a key part of their recovery strategy.

Kaz Hirai, Sony’s CEO, recently stated at a press conference that “As CEO, I take this very seriously. But at the same time, it strengthened my resolve to transform Sony,”  he added that “Employees too want to restore Sony to its former glory and go beyond.”

The plan is to focus on investing and development for the electronics division of the company.  The electronics division includes cameras, phones and game systems.  The main question that hasn’t been answered yet is what Sony plans for their handheld systems as smart phones evolve into better and better gaming platforms.

Games help the company with their profit line and will be part of what Sony will focus on after suffering a net loss of $6.4 billion last year.  After cutting up to 10,000 employees from their payroll, the company hopes to generate around 70% of its total sales coming from the electronics division.

Sony reportedly plans to continue to deliver games for the PS3, PS Vita and will continue to develop peripherals and accessories.  Additionally, they are looking at adding new titles and subscription services to the PS Network, as well as beefing up the slate of PlayStation Suite devices and content.  Finally they will be adding to their television and advertising department in effort to spur more sales.

Elder Scrolls IV: Skyrim

Kinect support

The Xbox 360 version of Elder Scrolls IV: Skyrim will be getting Kinect support according to Bethesda.  They confirm that the patch for Kinect support will be out this month.

There will be over 200 voice commands supported, including dragon shouts as well as menu options including accessing inventory, saving and loading the game.  Bethesda reports that sometime in the coming weeks, a full list of voice commands will be revealed.

Besides Kinect support the patch will also include some interface tweaks to the game such as special map function, more hotkey options and the ability to sort your inventory by value, name or weight.  We do not know if these non-Kinect enhancements will be available to platforms other than the Xbox 360.

Super Mario 4

New 2D game in the works

Not long ago Nintendo registered a domain name for Supermario4.com. They had reported at the last investor’s meeting that they were working on a new 2D Mario adventure game which would be released in April next year.

While registering a domain name doesn’t necessarily tell us that an actual product is connected to it, but we are taking it as meaning something given Nintendo’s report to their investors. It would be nice to see Mario make it to number four in the franchise, however, we still don’t know which platform to expect the game to be released on.