I tried to return Halo Reach to gamestop still shrinkwrapped and they wouldn't accept it due to "suspicion of theft"

Did you have the receipt?

Possibly. I've even returned to Amazon before.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aLqfLMxhLkA?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

lol

Street Fighter X Megaman kind of sucks. Maybe it's just because I'm coming off of playing a much better fan game in Day in the Limelight, but it just doesn't do much for me. Fighting the bosses is fun though.

Slow News day
 

Daily Recap:
* Nintendo DS recently surpassed the PS2's lifetime sales to become the new #1 selling video game system of all-time.
http://www.screwattack.com/news/nint...lifetime-sales

* Square-Enix considering a name change for Final Fantasy Versus XIII with the possibility of it no longer being part of the XIII series.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...change-hinted/

* War Z developer, Hammerpoint, involved in another controversy after several people have discovered several features which were supposed to be included in the "Foundation" edition are in fact missing or incomplete. The company itself is refusing to offer refunds as of now.
http://www.screwattack.com/news/cont...surround-war-z
http://www.destructoid.com/the-war-z...d-240814.phtml

Final Fantasy Versus Vapourware

Hey, if big companies can lie, why not the little guy?

EXXPPPLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSIONS!!!!

That is all

While earlier today THQ revealed some really bad news, Capcom themselves also announce bad news with Resident Evil 6 being blamed the most.

According to a recent press announcement, the company has cut their estimated profits projection for the fiscal by roughly 33% with weak sales of Resident Evil 6 and recent news of Monster Hunter 4 being delayed as the main reasons.

Capcom was disappointed how badly Resident Evil 6 sales dropped after its initial launch period to the point of the game falling well short of their estimates.

Monster Hunter 4 for the 3DS which was set to be released in Japan on March 2013 has now been delayed till a later date and no longer is part of Capcom's current fiscal year. The official reason for the delay is to have more time for polish and quality improvement for the game.

http://www.ubergizmo.com/wp-content/...ent-Evil-6.jpg
http://www.destructoid.com/capcom-cu...s-240906.phtml
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/1...pcom_hoped.php
_______________________________________________________________________________
Daily Recap:
* Update to the recent War Z controversy as Valve has temporary removed the game for sale on Steam while the developers have tweaked the features list to add in more microtransactions.
http://www.destructoid.com/the-war-z...m-240916.phtml
http://www.destructoid.com/the-war-z...e-240892.phtml

* While Maxis has stated SimCity's Always-On DRM will ensure quick reconnections are possible, they have no clue how long the actual wait will be nor if the DRM guarantees it being possible all the time. http://www.destructoid.com/simcity-c...n-240898.phtml

* * Bonus - 5 days left for voting for the 2012 TPWW Gammies.
http://www.tpww.net/forums/showthread.php?t=122038

How's catering to modern Western shooting games treating RE, Capcom?

They have been screwing up so much with multiple series in multiple ways that this is not at all surprising.
If they released MML3, didn't blame us for not doing THEIR job and if they didn't screw up SFxT and didn't cut so much out of games to sell as DLC, maybe I'd care.

They probably can't hear you over the cries of "why? What have we done wrong?"

Considering this is the second company to have problems announced in one day, I kind of wonder if maybe we're near the crash so many have predicted for the last few years. I'm not saying this is doom for the market, but it's kind of looking like MAKE IT or BREAK IT time for the games industry. EA and Activision aren't having the best times as a company, either. They do have some games that sell awesome, but they've suffered hits in terms of market confidence. Neither are in THQ area, but it's something to look out for.

Personally, I hope these companies start getting their shit together. Maybe Capcom will actually take this as a sign to stop dicking around. Or maybe they'll punch Mega Man fans in the balls again.

I think a big cause is because companies have made the mistake of aiming games more and more towards the CoD/"Hey, Bro!" demographic. Resident Evil 6 being a good example. They are making games more and more alike.
That's not a demographic I see shelling out full price on games over and over again yet more and more games are aimed at them.

Also doesn't help that games are getting more expensive. NSMBU is, on average, £50. NSMB Wii was only £40, if not a little cheaper, when it first released.

So, between the hike in prices and the fact they are make more games with less variation, it's no surprise companies are having a hard time.

I'd commit genocide for a Rival Schools revival.

The development costs are to blame as well, IMO. Most AAA titles production is millions of dollars, making it very difficult to even profit. I don't think there will be a crash or anything, but there are some big changes that seem like they need to take place. Not sure what they can do really.

And A Rival Schools revival would be pretty fucking amazing. One of the best fighters of all time.

According to a tweet sent by the lead director of the series, Nintendo is currently working on a re-release of the Mother/Earthbound series.

Shigesato Itoi stated while he wasn't allowed to give any specific details he did confirm they are not working on Mother 4 but the game will be a re-release of the earlier Mother games (Mother 1-3). Also wasn't allowed to state which platform the game would arrive on or if it even will be released outside of Japan.

http://www.screwattack.com/sites/def...er_5868501.jpg
http://earthboundcentral.com/?p=10806
http://www.screwattack.com/news/eart...confirmed-itoi
_______________________________________________________________
Daily Recap:
* Square Enix announces Final Fantasy IV is available now for iOS devices while Final Fantasy V will be arriving in the near future.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/mobil...ilable-on-ios/
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...irmed-for-ios/

* Update on War Z being pulled on Steam as Valve clarifies the game was not pulled due to complaints but instead it was accidentally released before its planned release date.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...was-a-mistake/

* GOG.com is having an "End of the World" sale today with about 125 games being discounted with discounts going as high as 80% off.
http://www.destructoid.com/gog-com-r...g-240926.phtml

WarZ was totally pulled because of complaints.

guess what... it's going to be for 3ds

This makes me sad :'(

Based on a recent survey sent by Capcom, the company is considering the future of several franchises in regards to digital distribution.

According to Christian Svensson, the outcomes will not automatically mean certain games and series will or will not have future digital releases but it will play a big influence when the actual decision is being made.

The survey itself has a series of questions dealing with the games being possible as just straight ports, HD remakes, reboots of series, or even as new games in a serie.

In regards to the Mega Man series, several questions dealt with the idea of possible compilation sets including all the sub-branches in the series. Also on the idea of these games being kept in the classic 2D sprite format (with or without HD upgrades) or redone in a pseudo 3D format (2.5D).

http://www.destructoid.com//ul/241019-m1.jpg
http://www.destructoid.com/capcom-su...s-241019.phtml
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KFCBRBY
____________________________________________________________
Daily Recap:
* VBlank Entertainment announce Retro City Rampage will arrive sometime in January of 2013 for both XBLA and WiiWare.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...rly-next-year/

* Ubisoft is currently rumored to be interested in purchasing several THQ assets with Darksiders, WWE, and Saints Row series among the list they are interested in at the moment.
http://www.destructoid.com/rumor-ubi...s-241046.phtml

* Bonus - 3 days left for voting for the 2012 TPWW Gammies Awards.
http://www.tpww.net/forums/showthread.php?t=122038

Yeah I was looking forward to seeing it do well. I guess the DayZ re-release will have to do.

Given the fact that the gaming industry has seen nothing but growth for almost a decade and has been nearing exponential growth, I'm going to say "lol" and move on.

but that would mean Steam was not perfect, and <s>God</s> Gabe knows we can't have that.

I'm trying to decide of Ubisoft purchasing Saints Row would be bad, or just lateral.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wjoVHG-H3TQ?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Why would you want it to do well? It's a cheap cash in on the popularity of DayZ, made by the same guys who did Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tenpLSKU-9U?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Fucking A.

Don't worry about it Capcom and Konami, these guys got your slack.

What exactly is this whole Slenderman thing?

It sounds like one of those stories kids would pass around in a neighbourhood to each other. A creepy monster guy is trying to kill you or something. Is that what it is?

We had something like that. He was called Mr Vain and he was inside out and wanted to catch children.
He lived in the abandoned/crumbling castle on top of the hill near the farm. Yes, I grew up by a farm and castle among other "whimsical" things.

The castle was always lit up at night which added to the idea someone was in there.

Essentially. A long time ago, there was a thread on Something Awful about photoshopping pictures to make them look creepy or paranormal. A user posted these two images:

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/...n-1-708110.jpg

http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/...n-2-784777.jpg

And Slenderman was created. The creepiness of it captured people's imagination, and others started posting pics/making up stories. And it took off from there. It's completely internet created.

It's actually fairly fascinating. Great example of collaborative media, and some genuinely creepy stuff has come out of it. If you ever have time, check out the Marble Hornets series on youtube. It's a series of short found footage pieces telling the story of a kid who disappeared while making a movie. Obviously Slenderman is involved. I think the guys who did that are actually writing for the new Slenderman game.

I thought it was something like that.

Mr Vain >>> Slenderman. *no bias:shifty:*

Play the game, dude. Then come back and tell us about your Vain character. It's easy to find and free to play.

"Slender: The Eight Pages"

Meh, the dogs jumping through the windows in RE1 scared me more than any of the Slenderman crap.

internet fad.

not sure why people fixated on Slender so much. there's like 900 free Slender games.

I'd call The Eight Pages the best one easily. I can care less about the Slender meme itself, the game was just a wonder to me.

* Tomb Raider reboot is rumored to be having online multiplayer based on a supposed leak by retailer GAME.
http://www.screwattack.com/news/rumo...re-multiplayer


* Dead Space 3 demo arrives for XBLA and PSN on January 22 with an early access date of January 15 for those who link their Origin accounts to the game's official website.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...-xbox-360-ps3/


* Blizzard announces the planned Team Deathmatch mode for Diablo III has been scrapped although PvP dueling will be its replacement once the next patch arrives.
http://www.destructoid.com/diablo-ii...d-241348.phtml

* More bad news for War Z developers as their trademark for the game was suspended due to it conflicting with an earlier trademark owned by Paramount Pictures.
http://www.screwattack.com/news/war-...ptoa-month-ago


* Official Xbox Magazine (OXM) confirms the reboot of Tomb Raider will indeed have online multiplayer with the official announcement to occur on January 8th.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...n-tomb-raider/

Remedy Entertainment teases they have big plans for 2013 and it might end up being a new Alan Wake game.

The studio did register for a "Alan Wake 2" domain name last year so its possible the game gets officially announced later this year.

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...-big-for-2013/

Major Nelson has put a countdown to E3 up on his blog already. While I'm expecting a new console reveal from them, some people are just morons and hyping themselves up beyond comprehension because they haven't learnt why the last few E3's have sucked yet.

Daily Recap:
1) Ubisoft currently working on a new game engine meant for the next Xbox and PS4.
http://www.screwattack.com/news/rumo...ation-and-xbox

2) A town in Connecticut will be holding a town burning on January 12 with only violent video games being targeted.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...t-video-games/

3) Sony files a new patent which in theory would ban used games from being playable on the PS4 by the use of digitally tagging games the first time they are played.
http://www.destructoid.com/sony-pate...g-241715.phtml

Holy shit, this pissed me off to no end. Ranting a violent fucking storm about this fucking moronic bullshit

Sweet! I can go up there and score me some free games.

But come on, this pales in comparison to Disco Demolition Night.

The whole things stupid. They say "The group’s action is not intended to be construed as statement declaring that violent video games were the cause of the shocking violence in Newtown on December 14th." but anyhow with half a brain knows that is how its going to be interpreted by idiots at CNN, FOX News and MSNBC.

This is tantamount to book burning, which shows how archaic people can get when they can't find answers.

I just find it funny that to have the games they either had to have bought them previously knowing full well the content of their "M" rated games, or they are going to go out and buy the games, further funding that which they're blaming.

Also, burning plastic isn't good for le environment, shiver-brains

Remember, guns don't kill people. Video games kill people.

Also, what other purpose really can be proclaimed from such an action? They're doing it in response to Sandy Hook and targeting only violent video games.

Someone should compare them to Nazis. Oops, there I go, saying "Nazi."

I don't think you understand how this works. The idea is a buyback program. The people holding this are trying to get them off the streets. They are not funding the gaming industry. Anyone buying games specifically to take advantage will be doing so at a loss unless they don't bother with some sort of sliding scale.

Whether the people who take them up do this knowing the games are M rated or not is completely irrelevant and beside the point.

In short, know what you're talking about before you rant or you're no better than these people. The article even mentions how this works, and it's not even one of the better written pieces on the subject.

If you can't be bothered, why should they?

Grain of salt

Are they destroying the games on site and then taking them somewhere to be disposed of or are they taking them somewhere to be "destroyed and disposed"? Because if it's the latter I imagine there will be some resales going on.

Think its destroyed on site and then brought to the local dump. The $25 gift certificate I think is per person and not per game.

People already started considering ways to scam the event by just buying the cheapest games possible at Gamestop and then end up profiting $15-$20 from the gift certificate.

I don't think it's environmentally safe to burn plastic and metal like that. How are they going to get a permit?

Daily Recap:

1) Update to Sony's recent patent news as Gamestop's shares fell by 5% in reaction to the news. According to Micheal Patcher, Sony would be the least likely to benefit from the patent due to them barely generating 10% of all sales on Playstation platforms.
http://www.screwattack.com/news/game...ory-circulates

2) Activision possibly dropping the Bond license soon after several Bond games have been pulled from both Steam and their own web store.
http://www.screwattack.com/news/jame...al-storefronts

3) Crytek teases the Crysis series could move out of the FPS genre after Crysis 3 is released.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...not-be-an-fps/

Maybe they're not going to burn the discs, just bust them up or crush them or something.

NVidia are making an ugly Android handheld:

http://i.imgur.com/Pp0BD.png

Coming out in Q2, can stream games from PC to the device too. It's called Shield

http://www.abload.de/img/tumblr_me4tq8lnwr1qdrbtoj9.gif

Oh and that SteamBox is pretty much confirmed too. Using Linux as predicted.

Wow that's horrible. Even bigger than the first controller for the original Xbox.

Wasn't there rumoured to be a Nintendo Direct this month in which they'd reveal the new Smash Bros? Any word on that? A date or something?

http://www.abload.de/img/tumblr_me4tq8lnwr1qdrbtoj9.gif

They seem to only announce the date a couple of days before anyway.

There is a Pokemon announcement tomorrow at 11am GMT that has just been upgraded to a Direct. 10 minutes only and Pokemon only though.

Well I would think a Pokemon announcement would be Pokemon exclusive news.

Daily Recap:
1) Vicarious Visions could be teasing at a new Crash Bandicoot game being in development soon after a recent photo sent by the company showed off a newly redesigned image of Crash himself.
http://www.screwattack.com/news/new-...visions-office

2) Child's Play reveals a little over $5 million was raised last year for the charity which also kept the tradition of the record being broken every year since the charity formed.
http://www.screwattack.com/news/game...%99s-play-2012

3) According to a recent posting on LinkedIn, Dead Rising 3 is rumored to be in development with Blur Studio working on the CGIs, trailers, and cinematics for the game.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...nkedin-resume/

I'm hoping this one is Pokémon X Super Mario.

I want to send Luigi on an adventure riding a Squirtle.

I'm pretty sure it's going to be a Wii U game. Black/White 2 haven't been out that long and it's usually once every 2 years in the main handheld series.

Really hoping it's Snap 2.

I don't like the redesign of Crash Bandicoot. He looks pretty pudgey. The original design was spot on. There was no need to give him tattoos a few years back or to do this new redesign.

All they need to do is use the original design and make more games like Crash 1,2,3 & WoC. Not because of some fanboy/nostalgia thing but because that's all you really need for a good Crash game and it's all anyone seems to want. None of this Titans stuff or whatever else is needed.

Anyway, people in the commonts on ScrewAttack say it looks like a toy for Skylands because he's on some platform. Never pplayed Skylands so I wouldn't know.

The early Crash games were ass, and not in a 'compared to modern gaming way'. Blockbuster set up the PS1 Crash kiosk right next to Mario 64 and from that 1st day the series was ass to me.

Was a new 3DS Pokemon. X and Y. Looks hot.

Looking that shit up fucking now.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VzO6J981nAw?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Pintint is already looking up fan art of Fennekin

I thought they were fun. They had a simple goal but they were enjoyable. Not as good as Mario 64 but they were different games in more ways than one.

How they haven't made a pokemon platformer is beyond me.

I'd have thought some kind of online 3D Pokemon RPG would have been a no-brainer.

Miiverse shows that players can communicate without drawing penises and swearing so, why not? The Wii U pad would be useful for calling out Pokemon and using your items and communicating with human players.

I figure their handheld hardware would lose a major exclusive if a main series, fully pimped out console version ever came out. Doesn't stop them from releasing full Mario and Zelda games across handheld and consoles, though, so maybe that's not it.

I think it's maybe to do with the target audience being young children. Most DS or 3DS consoles I see are in the hands of young children on the bus etc and, from what I've seen with my nephew and others, parents buy their young children handhelds sooner than they buy them consoles these days.

Crash games were indeed done quite well, for a platformer :)

I would suspect if my first interaction with Crash was next to Mario 64, I would think it to be complete shite too.

Now Pokemon..... can they just fucking die already?

Say what you will about Pokemon, it's a consistently well done series. Other franchises could be so lucky.

@Drakul

I don't think something being targeted at kids would stop Nintendo from doing something on a console; their consoles historically targeted... at kids.

Yeah but I think Pokemon is the one that's targetted the most towards children. Which is saying something when you look at Mario.
Ever kid gets a handheld these days, every kid will then buy Pokemon, which comes in two versions.
Less kids at Pokemon loving age are likely to have a home console, not counting their parents 360 or PS3. So releasing a Pokemon for that might not be as profitable.

This is all just guess work, obviously. I just go by what I see.

Daily News:
1) According to Valve, there will be several versions of the so-called "Steam Box" and they have invested in Xi3's modular technology with the possibility of it being used for their "Steam Box."
http://www.destructoid.com/ces-there...x-241996.phtml
http://www.giantbomb.com/news/valve-...dular-pc/4510/

2) More rumors regarding the next Xbox devkit surfaced this time stating it uses an 8-Core CPU, 8GB of RAM, AMD 8800 GPU, and runs on a modified Windows 8 OS.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...-specs-leaked/

3) Sony announces starting today US members of the Playstation Plus program can join the God of War Acension multiplayer open beta with European members being able to join on Wednesday.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...k-for-ps-plus/

4) Warner Bros announces the next LEGO series game will be called "LEGO Marvel Super Heros" which will include every single hero and villain in the Marvel universe. The game is set for a Fall 2013 release for PS3, Vita, Xbox 360, Wii U, DS, 3DS, and PC.
http://www.screwattack.com/news/lego...verything-fall

I'll go with my intuition that an HD somewhat-multiplayer Pokemon on the WiiU would damn there be a Killer App.

"WB announces Marvel game." Whoa.

Oh yeah, but The Pokemon Company (the artists formally know as Game Freak) don't touch consoles for whatever reason. Probably busy churning out sequels, but yeah, who gives a shit when they're as fantastic as they have been.

Pokemon is more aimed at Japan than children in general though and don't forget, handhelds over there are much bigger deals than consoles. Other than the Vita that is, but that thing is unfortunately bombing everywhere.

3DS just passed 10 million sold in Japan because everyone went fucking crazy for Animal Crossing over there. That's beaten the PS3 life to date sales. Now in 2013, they've got Monster Hunter 4, Dragon Quest and Pokemon coming out amongst others. It's going to explode.

I knew Animal Crossing had become one of their big franchises, but holy shit I didn't realise how big.

http://www.cubed3.com/media/2012/December/acchart.gif

All those acronyms! :eek:

I wonder how well New Leaf will sell here. I mean, Animal Crossing isn't nearly that big here, is it?

Only numbers that I can find based on Wild World is that it sold 4.7 million copies in Japan by July 2008 (came out in 2005) and as of March 2011, it had sold 11.51 million copies worldwide. Over half the sales probably came from Japan, but it doesn't look like it's a slouch in the sales department in the west either.

The Wii one "only" sold 3.38 million worldwide though.

The crazy thing about those Animal Crossing 3DS numbers is that it was sold out for the first few weeks because the cart is the largest 3DS cart so far and was slower to manufacture and that it doesn't include eShop sales.

Wasn't a significant portion of the AC:NL sales in Japan downloaded?

The numbers don't have direct downloads in them at all. The Media Create ones are all carts only, the Famitsu ones include download codes you can buy in stores. The latest figures show 300k were download codes.

No-one knows how many direct eShop purchases there were. Nintendo won't release it.

Lego Marvel :D

That seems possible.

More chance of a Marvel vs DC game.

Daily Gaming News:
1) More Steam Box news as Valve denies rumors of the console launching in 2013 while Gabe Newell explained they are currently experimenting with several prototypes and tablet-like controllers.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...am-box-rumors/
http://www.giantbomb.com/news/gabe-n...ox-plans/4511/

2) According to Microsoft, more Xbox Live NUads are being planned for the future after being pleased with the huge success of the feature ever since it was launched last August.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/xbox_...tment-planned/

3) Fallout 4 could be getting an official announcement in the near future after a teaser was sent on Twitter by the voice actor of "Three Dog" from Fallout 3.
http://www.screwattack.com/news/fall...ctor-three-dog

4) Microsoft reveals a video and some details regarding a new Kinect project called "IllumiRoom." In theory it would be able to create an augmented reality-like setting which covers an area the size of a living room and reacts depending on what is being shown.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...om-technology/
http://www.destructoid.com/new-kinec...m-242076.phtml

HA!

I saw video of the Kinect thing. I saw no evidence of AR. It just looked like some kind of bog standard projector.

Even in Lego form it would be fantastic, maybe more so.

Pipe dream, at least for now.

At least we're dreaming big.