May 15, 2012

Hey guys, if you actually stopped playing Diablo 3 in order to read this news update, thank you. You are a strong human being that I admire. Since Diablo 3 came out and no one will be reading this it will be a short THQ themed update today.

In our first story, Darksiders 2 has a release date (GameInfomer). Darksiders 2 will come out on August 14, 2012. THQ is pleased to announce that preorders of this game are up five times the amount of preorders Darksiders had. This is great for THQ, the publisher had some trouble earlier this year but seems to be getting back on its feet. They also have stated that Darksiders 2 will have double the marketing budget and although the game has been pushed back a few months from its original May release date, THQ does not seem to be concerned.

Moving on, the gaming community got its first glimpse of Pokemon Black & White 2 today (Joystiq). This game is an oddity in the Pokemon world. It is a direct sequel to the previous game. The player will be exploring and rediscovering the region introduced in the previous game and how the events in the prior game have shaped the area. The game has a new starting zone, Aspertia City. The information released does not state if there will be different gym leaders or not but this is definitely a title I will be following during the next few months.

In our final news story, THQ is already working on next-gen titles (GameInformer). THQ has announced they want to establish new franchises in the next generation systems early on as well as develop older ones. They have not specified which games will have sequels in the upcoming years but they seem very adaman on being the first company to have games on the consoles.

Well that is about it for me. I'm exhausted. Night.

-Will

May 14, 2012

Hello everyone! Welcome to an Average Player news week.

Let’s jump into the gaming world’s news:

To start this week off, Mercenary Ops.’s closed beta will be hitting soon, with players getting a chance to winner a beta key. Mercenary Ops. is a third-person online shooter being developed by Yingpei Games, Ltd. and published by Kalends Publishing that features both player versus player multiplayer as well as cooperative missions, and the beta will be starting June 20, 2012. Until then, interested gamers should like the game’s Facebook page to get a chance to win a beta key. The is set to release this summer and will be free-to-play with an optional micro-economy where players can buys weapons and upgrades that are also available as random in game drops.

In other news, two new creatures to be featured in 343 Industries’ upcoming Halo 4 have been leaked by a picture of a Series 1 McFarlane toy package (via Joystiq and Game Informer).  The images comes from a post on All Games Beta and shows the new monsters, the Crawler and the Watcher, and teases a third other new creature that will be made available in toy form this holiday season.

In our final story of the night, Game Stop will now be carrying redeemable Steam cards (via Joystiq, Game Informer, and Games Industry). Steam Wallet cards are only available at $20 and $50 and are for sale now. “Offering Steam Wallet codes at GameStop extends more options and convenience to gamers around to the world,” stated Jason Holtman, Valve's director of business development.

That’s all for today folks, thanks for dropping by. This is Average Player Chris signing off.    

May 10, 2012

Hey readers..... Chris and I suck at news lately. I missed Tuesday and Chris missed Wednesday, I think Chris might've told me to do Wednesday news but whatever that's not the point. I promise I'll get better, it has been a very forgetful few weeks for me. That is also why you are getting this update rather early in the morning. Because I realized just now that I had some Thursday news to report. Without further adieu, get ready for some Thursday news.

In our first story of the day, Kid Icarus: Uprising will probably not have a sequel (Joystiq). Project Sora feels that they pulled all the stops with this last game and by making another they will lose the novelty that the first game had going for it. While this is not an end for the series itself, there is no news about a sequel to the game being made in the near future. Fans will have to patiently wait for the next Kid Icarus game to launch in the next few decades. The gaming community must stay hopeful though, we probably wont have to wait another 25 years to see a new Kid Icarus game.

Moving on, Xbox 360 may finally be getting an internet browser (GameInformer). Nothing is definite yet but there have been a multitude of rumors floating around that point to a Kinect based browser on the console. Sony had an internet browser on launch day and Nintendo had one less then a year later. It seems that Microsoft is really far behind on this new development. Also the browser is going to be Internet Explorer. I try to keep my news opinion free, but really, it has been half a decade and they can only just get IE on the 360.

In our final news story, Mojang had a great success with Minecraft's launch on the Xbox Live Arcade (Joystiq). The game was profitable within the hour of its release and outsold any other game on the marketplace within its first day. As the 24 hour mark came to a close, 400,000 copies of the game had been distributed. Notch also happily reported that they managed to secure free update privleges which he says were harder to secure then he suspected. There Notch goes, being a man of the people.

Well that's it for me. I have to write an essay now good night/good morning good people of the gaming world.

-Will

May 7, 2012

Hello everyone and welcome to the Average Player news week. Sorry about the lack of news Friday. I just realized that I didn’t update.

Got to get better at that…

To start this day off is a new teaser for Assassin’s Creed 3 (via Joystiq). The teaser is for a full gameplay reveal that will be unlocked when a bar on the Assassin's Creed Facebook page is filled.   

Next, a bunch of upcoming games and DLCs have been given launch windows and release dates, the first being the Binding of Isaac DLC, the “Wrath of the Lamb”, will be hitting in late May (via Joystiq and Game Informer). Included is a trailer for the expansion, which will hit on May 28^th according to creator Edmund McMillen. The DLC will cost $3 and is the game’s one and only expansion.

The second launch window is for the next Dead Space game (via Game Informer). EA has stated that brands like “Madden NFL, FIFA, Sim City, Medal of Honor, Dead Space, and Need for Speed” and mobile games like “Simpsons Tapped Out, and Bejeweled,” will be getting another installment during EA’s 2013 fiscal year. It is unclear whether the Dead Space game is Dead Space 3 or a spin-off, when asked; EA stated “There’s no further information today but watch for several big product announcements from EA at E3 in June”.

The last launch window given is for Company of Heroes 2 (via Game Informer). The game is being readied for an early 2013 release and will focus on the Eastern Front of the Second World War. “Company of Heroes 2 is a true successor,” stated Greg Wilson, a producer at Relic Entertainment, “introducing a new front, new protagonists and new technology while retaining the unique mix of strategic gameplay and competitive multiplayer that made the original Company of Heroes such a success”. The game will feature commandership of the Red Army, which was not available in the first game.

In our final story, EA has announced that subscription rates for the Star Wars: The Old Republic has dropped from 1.7 Million subscribers in March to 1.4 Million in their most recent financial report (via Massively and Game Informer). Also announced with the bad news, is the names of the next two planned content updates for the game, Legacy and Allies, which will in the coming months.

That’s it everyone, enjoy your week, Average Player Chris is signing out.   

May 3, 2012

Hey there. I have decided to do an early update today because I will not be available to do one later tonight. So enjoy the early posting. A little forewarning, most of the news today revolves around Bethesda. It is a little ridiculous how busy the company has been lately.

In our first news story, an Elder Scrolls MMO has been announced (IndustryGamer). ZeniMax is currently developing the game and there is not that much information about it. We do know that ZeniMax is going to try to release the game sometime in 2013, so fans will have to wait a little while before they can roam through the Elder Scrolls universe. The game will have three factions and is set 1000 years prior to the events that unfold in Skyrim and it seems PVP will be a large in game focus. The company also stated that the game has been in development for a number of years and they are excited to release their hardwork to the public. They will be presenting more about the game at E3 and in the upcoming issue of GameInformer.

In more news that deals with E3, THQ has decided to forgo a booth this year (GameInformer). The company had numerous financial setbacks earlier this year and had to layoff a significant number of employees. The company stated that when they needed to decide on the booth they were in a bad place. They seem to be recovering from this earlier setback and will still be around at E3 answering questions and presenting upcoming games. They will just not be hoting a booth.

More Elder Scrolls news here, the Steam Workshop featuring mods for Skyrim has proven to be an all around success (Joystiq). Since the workshop came out in mid-February, mods have been downloaded 13.6 million times. Most of the mods utilized add minor things to the game such as new skins, enemies and spells but some more impressive mods have actually added quests to the game. Since both Steam workshops are so successful, we will hopefully see more coming out in the next couple years.

Well I hope you enjoy my update. Stay tuned for Tuesday news next week.

-Will