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Hello to all the new readers from Google, lured by the promise of GTA 5. I hope you enjoy it here. It was a genuine toss-up between naked Prince Harry pictures and GTA 5 screens, and whilst the former is clearly the bigger story we do have some morals here at VideoGamer.com. God save the Queen.
Hilarious SEO opening aside, this really has been the week of Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto V and all they’ve had to do is release a bunch of screenshots. Our first batch featured transport, then we got some leisure images and finally it was onto business. All this and not a peep from the mouth of Rockstar regarding a release date, although a retail source has told VideoGamer.com that there’s pretty much no chance GTA 5 will arrive in stores in 2012. Expect Rockstar’s mouthpiece to be put back into its box again now, at least for a few weeks.
Now that all the Grand Theft Auto V excitement is out of the way we can get down to normal business of rounding up the week’s reviews. Intern Brett left us with a parting gift – a 6/10 review for Retro/Grade, Martin shared his opinion on Counter-Strike: GO and Jon wasn’t overly impressed by XBLA title Hybrid. It was bad news for Euro PS3 gamers though, with CS: GO failing to make it to the PlayStation Store as promised. We didn’t quite get our Transformers: Fall of Cybertron review completed in time, but you can watch this video instead.
Microsoft took the art of releasing a special edition to an all-new level this week with confirmation of the Halo 4 Soundtrack Special Edition which will set you back £50. Make up your own mind if that sounds like an attractive purchase. The value of the Halo 4 game itself was also questioned when the game’s complete list of Achievements revealed the campaign would feature only eight missions. The internet booed and hissed until 343 piped up enough courage to fight back, stating Halo 4 is like well long and stuff.
Gamers have also been up in arms about the total lack of effort which seems to have gone into porting Dark Souls to PC. Not only did the game ship with a dodgy locked resolution, but it turns out a modder could make a fix in a matter of hours. If a guy not attached the game’s development could fix the game, then why couldn’t the studio working on the port do the same?
Gamers around the world were saddened by the news that Sony had closed Studio Liverpool, formerly Psygnosis. The studio was responsible for many a PSone classic, notably launching the WipEout franchise which went a long way in popularising gaming as something that was actually pretty cool. What this means for the WipEout franchise remains to be seen, with Studio Liverpool rumoured to have been hard at work on a radically different take on the racing series for PlayStation 4. There was also bad news for PopCap and THQ, which both suffered staff layoffs. EA did, however, attempt to soften the blow by announcing a sequel to Plants vs. Zombies.
DayZ creator Dean Hall’s stock continues to rise, this week telling VideoGamer.com that the PS3 and Xbox 360 have passed their use by date. We agree that the consoles may not smell as fresh as they once did, but they’re not quite ready to hit the bin. And just when we were all getting upset about the prospect of the next-generation being a bit dull, Alan Wake creator Remedy pumped some life back into the party by telling the world that the next consoles will be totally amazing. Graphics whores everywhere had to find a secluded space for a moment to themselves.
And a week wouldn’t be complete without some more FIFA 13 and PES 2013 info. EA got the week started by revealing that England and Manchester City No.1 keeper Joe Hart and Arsenal’s young winger Oxlade-Chamberlain join Lionel Messi on the FIFA 13 cover. We put out on spin on the cover, replacing Lionel Messi with a selection of namesakes – my favourite was Lion-o from Thundercats. Whilst FIFA 13 can bathe in its licensed teams, PES 2013 must settle for the official license for Manchester United and 20 teams from Brazil. And if you weren’t convinced by the first PES 2013 demo Konami is hoping to gain your attention with a second demo next week.
As always please remember to listen to our podcast which is now on its 57th edition. And I’ll leave you with the first episode of new video feature Gaming for Gratis.
Enjoy your long weekend – I’m off for a cheeky chinese.
