Two Star Wars Spinoff Films Planned

February 5, 2013 by Andy in Film, News Snippets and tagged Disney, J.J. Abrams, JJ Abrams, Lucasfilm, New Star Wars, Star Wars, Star Wars Episode VII, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars Spinoff | Leave a comment

With Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm, a new trilogy of Star Wars films was pretty quickly announced with Episode VII scheduled for a 2015 release with J.J. Abrams directing. Though that is not all fans of the franchise can expect in the coming years with two spinoff films officially announced. These films will not be “Episodes” and each film will focus on a separate character and the films will be able to stand on their own. The intention of these films is to expand the universe beyond the current six films for movie goers.

Lawrence Kasdan (writer of The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark) will write one of the films with Sherlock Holmes screenwriter Simon Kinberg writing the other. These films will be released some time after Episode VII.

Source: StarWars.com

The Witcher 3 Announced for Next Gen Consoles and PC

February 5, 2013 by Andy in News Snippets, PC, PlayStation, Videogames, Xbox and tagged CD Projekt, CD Projekt RED, Next Generation Consoles, NextBox Next XBOX, PC, PlayStation, PS4, REDengine 3, The Witcher, The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt, Video Games, Videogames, Witcher 3, XBOX, Xbox 720 | Leave a comment

CD Projekt RED has announced the third installment of its The Witcher franchise. The developer claims that the game will be the largest modern RPG and will be 30x larger than The Witcher 2. This next installment will use CD Projekt’s new engine REDengine 3 and will be the first game to utilize said engine. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will be an open world game said to be 20% larger than the world in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim–the map will take over 30 minutes to cross on horseback!

Wild Hunt will be the final installment of the series developed by CD Projekt RED and will be released in 2014 for PC and “all high-end platforms available.”

In related Witcher news, the first two games are currently on sale on Steam for $5 and $10 and the second game has received a permanent price drop on Xbox 360 (officially down to $30).

Sources: Joystiq, Kotaku

Current & Upcoming Sales on XBLM

February 2, 2013 by Andy in News Snippets, Videogames, Xbox and tagged Cheap Ass Gamer, Deal of the Week, DotW, Game Sales, Gaming, Gaming Sales, Major Nelson, Video Game, Videogames, XBLA, XBLM, XBOX, Xbox 360, Xbox Deal of the Week, Xbox DotW | Leave a comment

From now until February 4th, Xbox gamers will be able to pick from a large selection of EA games and add-ons from XBLM. The games included are Shank 1 & 2, Death Spank and Thongs of Virtue, Dragon Age: Origins and its sequel, and several other games. The DLC available for discounted prices include several add-ons for DA:O, DA 2, Mass Effect 3, Battlefield 3, and more. Details on the sale can be found on Xbox Live Marketplace.

Coming up this next week for Xbox Live Gold members will be discounts on XBLA games Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, Hydrophobia, Orcs Must Die, and more from 50 – 67% off. Hydrophobia will be going for $2 (160 MSP), Orcs Must Die and the Alan Wake spin-off episode will be reduced to 600 MSP ($7.50), and the remaining titles will be available for 400 MSP ($5). The sale begins February 5th and runs through the 11th.

Source: Major Nelson

PS4 to be Unveiled this Month–Xbox this Spring

February 1, 2013 by Andy in News Snippets, PlayStation, Technology, Videogames, Xbox and tagged Console Generations, E3, Game Consoles, Microsoft, Next Gen, Next Generation, Nextbox, PlayStation, PlayStation 4, PS4, Sony, Video Games, Videogames, XBOX, Xbox 720, Xbox Next | Leave a comment

We all have known this was coming for a while now–the current generation of consoles is over 7 years old (the Xbox 360 originally launched in November of 2005) and many believe a new console generation is long overdue. According to Polygon, the next PlayStation game console will be officially unveiled this month. Microsoft, however, plans to unveil their next console in the spring. Both platforms are expected to launch this holiday season.

A PlayStation meeting is scheduled for February 20 and will highlight the future of Sony’s PlayStation brand.

Source: Polygon

Duncan Jones to Direct “Warcraft”

January 31, 2013 by Andy in Film, News Snippets, PC, Videogames and tagged Activision, Bilzzard, Blizzard Entertainment, David Bowie, Duncan Jones, Film, Film Releases, Legendary, Legendary Pictures, Moon, Oz the Great and Powerful, Sam Raimi, Spider-Man, Warcraft, Warcraft Movie, World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft Movie, WoW, WoW Movie | Leave a comment

Duncan Jones, director of science fiction films Moon and Source Code, will be taking over as director of the film adaptation of Warcraft. Sam Raimi, director of the Spider-Man trilogy and the upcoming Oz the Great and Powerful, was originally signed as the director, but he detached himself from the project in favor of Oz.

Blood Diamond screenwriter Charles Leavitt will pen the script for Warcraft with production planned to begin this fall. Warcraft is expected to release in 2015.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

XSEED Releasing Several Titles Stateside in 2013

January 31, 2013 by Andy in News Snippets, Nintendo, PC, PlayStation, Videogames, Xbox and tagged 3DS, Deep Silver, Killer is Dead, Microsoft, Nintendo, Operation Rainfall, Pandora's Tower, PlayStation, PS3, Rune Factory, Rune Factory 4, Sony, Valhalla Knights, Vita, Wii, XBOX, Xbox 360, Xseed, Xseed Games, Ys | Leave a comment

Confirming the rumors that XSEED would localize Killer is Dead for North American audiences is a press release from Kadokawa Games. The press release states, “KADOKAWA GAMES today announced a partnership with XSEED Games to bring ‘KILLER IS DEAD’ to North America… ‘KILLER IS DEAD’ is expected to launch worldwide in Summer 2013 for PlayStation®3 and Xbox 360.” Killer is Dead will be released in European territories by Deep Silver.

In addition to Killer is Dead, XSEED will be releasing Pandora’s Tower (the last of the three “Operation Rainfall” games) for Wii, Rune Factory 4 for Nintendo’s 3DS, Ys: Memories of Celceta and Valhalla Knights 3 for PlayStation Vita, and remakes of the first two Ys games for PC this year.

Source: Joystiq

GTA V and Fuse Delayed

January 31, 2013 by Andy in News Snippets, PC, PlayStation, Videogames, Xbox and tagged Delays, Fuse, Game Releases, Games, Gaming, Grand Theft Auto, Grand Theft Auto V, GTA, GTA V, GTAV, Insomniac, Insomniac Games, Rockstar, Rockstar Games, Video Games, Videogames | Leave a comment

Rockstar’s highly anticipated fifth (numbered) installment in the Grand Theft Auto franchise has been delayed from its initial planned release of spring 2013 to September 17. The press release states, “The September release date moves the launch back from its original projected release window of spring 2013 in order to allow additional development time.”

Insomniac’s first multi-platform game Fuse has also been delayed to the second quarter of 2013.

Source: Joystiq–GTA, Fuse

South Park New Season Format

January 30, 2013 by Andy in News Snippets, Television and tagged Cartman, Comedy Central, Kenny, Kyle, South Park, South Park Season 17, SouthPark, Stan, Television | Leave a comment

Comedy Central’s popular animated series South Park will be presented in shorter seasons going forward. Since season 8 of the series, each year consisted of 14 episodes divided into two runs of seven episodes. Future seasons of South Park will consist of 10 episodes that will air weekly without a break. South Park has been renewed until 2016.

Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators of South Park, have stated that their reasons for this change in season formatting is due to the variety of ways in which viewers access new episodes (e.g. watching on Hulu or South Park Studios’ website) and manageability with Trey Parker stating the new format is “more manageable and ensures that it will be something we are proud of.” Reducing the number of episodes in a season and completing its run in a single shot may also give the series’ c0-creators more time to work on other projects such as the upcoming videogame South Park: The Stick of Truth.

Season 17 of the show will premiere September 25, 2013.

Source: IGN

Grasshopper Manufacture Acquired by GungHo Online Entertainment

January 30, 2013 by Andy in News Snippets, PlayStation, Videogames, Xbox and tagged Goichi Suda, Grasshopper, Grasshopper Manufacture, GungHo, GungHo Online Entertainment, Killer 7, Killer is Dead, Lollipop Chainsaw, No More Heroes, Suda51, Video Games, Videogames, Xseed, Xseed Games | 1 Comment

Goichi Suda’s (Suda51) game development studio Grasshopper Manufacture has been acquired by Japanese game publisher GungHo Online Entertainment (GOE). Grasshopper Manufacture is known for the No More Heroes franchise, Killer 7, and Shadows of the Damned among others. Their most recent retail release was 2012’s Lollipop Chainsaw. Grasshopper is currently developing Killer is Dead for release in Japan this year with Xseed Games rumored to be localizing the game for American audiences. GOE’s acquisition of Grasshopper will not affect the development of titles currently being made by Grasshopper with the official press release stating: “Titles already in development at the studio before the acquisition will not be affected by the deal and will continue under their current publishing terms.”

Source: Kotaku

Crytek USA and Homefront 2

January 28, 2013 by Andy in News Snippets, PC, PlayStation, Videogames, Xbox and tagged Crysis, Crytek, Crytek USA, Darksiders, Homefront, Homefront 2, THQ, Vigil, Vigil Games | Leave a comment

With THQ recently selling its assets and closing its doors, some intellectual properties and studios were left in the cold in the sale. One of the studios that was left untouched in the sale was Vigil Games–the developer of the fantastic Darksiders games. While I’m surprised that this studio wasn’t purchased by a an interested buyer, there’s some good news in the whole ordeal: Crytek, the developer behind the Crysis franchise, has opened a new studio in Austin, Texas.

Crytek’s new studio, Crytek USA Corp., is composed of 35 former Vigil employees and will be headed by David Adams, the former general manager for Vigil Games. It’s nice to know that the talented folks who gave us Darksiders and its sequel have found new employment so quickly. I’m eagerly looking forward to what projects spring forth from Crytek USA and wish them all the best.

Crytek was the purchaser of the Homefront IP in THQ’s asset sale–the property was purchased for $544,218. Crytek had been developing the Homefront 2 for THQ and feared that their work on the game might be lost with THQ’s closure. Crytek’s general manager, Nick Button-Brown, stated that it’s “beneficial for us [Crytek] to have control over the IP’s destiny.” No information was given on the potential release date of Homefront 2.

Sources: Gamasutra, Joystiq