This Week in Gaming #1 (1/16-1/22)

  Written for the week of 01/16/11 - 01/22/11 
 
Hey all and Welcome to my new Blog Series, This Week in Gaming News. Generic name, I know, but it’s straight forward. The formal introductions were made in my previous post so I won't get into that so lets get our news on. Lets start with what was probably the biggest news this week. 

News

  Nintendo 3DS

 Nintendo released information about it's new handheld, the Nintendo 3DS, this week in New York. It will release on March 27, 2011 for $249.99 in the US. Many games were announced including: a list of games from Ubisoft, The Sims 3, Madden NFL, Super Street Fighter IV 3D, and many others. The 3DS sounds like a really cool device from what every gaming news site is saying, and games look very interesting and from the video released on Wednesday, it looks like a really cool device but I personally have to get my hands on it to make a good impression on me. I saw it behind a glass case at E3 and did not want to wait in a LONG line to see it. 

 

Black Ops First Strike DLC

Call of Duty: Black Ops will receive it's first piece of DLC next month. Set to release on February 1, 2011, First Strike DLC will contain four new maps and a new zombie mode map. The maps will release on the Xbox 360 first for 1200 Microsoft Points and there has been no word yet on a PS3 and PC release. Treyarch released a video on YouTube detailing the new multiplayer maps. I am looking forward to playing on these maps. They all add some new tactic to the way people play on these maps, with the zipline on Kowloon and the "No Man's Land" in Berlin Wall. 
   

 Final Fantasy XIII-2

After a domain name was registered last week, Square Enix has announced Final Fantasy XIII-2. It will follow the character Lightning and will be joined by a brand new character. This is not a first in the series as Final Fantasy X got a sequel in Final Fantasy X-2. The game will release this year in Japan on the Xbox 360 and PS3. No word on the US release but expect sometime next year. I cannot give first-hand impressions of FFXIII because i have not played it, but from the many podcasts I listen to, the same problem came up, the game was too linear for too long. Hopefully, the next game can fix those problems. 
 

 
Portal 2 PS3 News

Valve announced some Portal 2 news this week. Back at E3, Gabe Newell came out on the stage at the Sony Press Conference and said that the PS3 version of Portal 2 will be "the best version on consoles". The news that came out this week seems to prove that point. The PS3 versions of Portal 2 will have cloud-based storage of game saves, cross-platform chat, cross-platform play between the PC/Mac and PS3, and a free copy of the game for PC/Mac by linking your PSN ID and Steam account. This news is awesome for anyone picking up the game for the PS3, such as myself. This furthers my excitement for this game. April 21 cannot come sooner enough. 

Help With Modern Warfare 3

According to a report from the Los Angeles Times, Infinity Ward  is gathering help from Activision sister studios, Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software, with their next game. With the release of Jason West and Vince Zampella this past year, along with numerous others, that IW needs help creating their next game, weather its MW3 or another project. Sledgehammer, who was working on a spin-off of the Call of Duty franchise, will help IW with the single-player, while Raven handles the multi-player. Since the release of West and Zampella, I've always had a sick feeling in my stomach about the future of Infinity Ward. It seems the studio has been in the pits lately and I have told myself over and over again that there would be no MW3. Now with this news, seeing that MW3 could be an actuality, I now believe that it won't be good. I'm sure it'll still do big numbers, as all CoD games do, but I don't think it'll be a good game. An ignorant opinion I know, but it's my gut feeling. 

Quick Fire

There was a ton of other news this week that does not need much explanation. Thus a Quick Fire Segment of the blog.  

•  Mass Effect 2 came out on the PS3 this past week. Sites, such as IGN, GameSpot, and Game Informer, reviewed it. I haven't played ME2 at all yet and when I get money, I will surely pick it up.     
• WWE All Stars was given a trailer this past week featuring "Macho Man" Randy Savage. This is a surprise, given the Macho Man does not seem to like Vince McMahon and the WWE, mostly Vince. It's nice to see he's in the game though and it looks awesome.
• Anyone plan on buying Killzone 3? (I will eventually) Well you're in for a treat as those who buy it will also get a code for the SOCOM 4 Beta when it goes live. Killzone 3 releases February 22. SOCOM 4 is said to release this spring.
• In other Killzone 3 news, there will be an open beta for this game. The beta will run from February 2 - 14 and will be a free download to all US PS3 users. It will offer early access to 2 maps and has support for PlayStation Move and Stereoscopic 3D.
• Propaganda Games, makers of Turok and Tron: Evolution, closed down this week. Condolences to those affected.
• With the release of LittleBigPlanet 2 this week, Sony held an event in New York attempting to break 7 Guinness World Records. They broke 5. Congrats to all who participated. Full details from the PS Blog here .
• Isaac Clarke, star of Dead Space, will appear in Dragon Age 2. Trailer goes here .
• Gears of War: Triple Pack was announced, with a misleading name. It will come with Gears of War, Gears of War 2, and Gears of War: All Fronts Pack DLC, all for $30.
• Release Date News:

1. Double Fine's Stacking will release for $15 on the PSN Feb. 8 and XBLA Feb. 9
2. PlayStation Move Heroes will release March 22, 2011 on the PS3
3. Conduit 2 also releases March 22, 2011 on the Wii
4. Mortal Kombat  has a release date of April 19, 2011 for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Totally excited for this game.
5. Duke Nukem: Forever FINALLY has a release date of May 3, 2011 for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. It also got a "reveal" trailer .

New Releases 

1. Mass Effect 2 

   (PS3)

2. LIttleBigPlanet 2

    (PS3)

3. Mindjack

    (Xbox 360, PS3)

4. Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves

    (PSN)

5. Plants vs. Zombies

    (DS)

  Written for the week of 01/16/11 - 01/22/11 
 
Hey all and Welcome to my new Blog Series, This Week in Gaming News. Generic name, I know, but it’s straight forward. The formal introductions were made in my previous post so I won't get into that so lets get our news on. Lets start with what was probably the biggest news this week. 

News

  Nintendo 3DS

 Nintendo released information about it's new handheld, the Nintendo 3DS, this week in New York. It will release on March 27, 2011 for $249.99 in the US. Many games were announced including: a list of games from Ubisoft, The Sims 3, Madden NFL, Super Street Fighter IV 3D, and many others. The 3DS sounds like a really cool device from what every gaming news site is saying, and games look very interesting and from the video released on Wednesday, it looks like a really cool device but I personally have to get my hands on it to make a good impression on me. I saw it behind a glass case at E3 and did not want to wait in a LONG line to see it. 

 

Black Ops First Strike DLC

Call of Duty: Black Ops will receive it's first piece of DLC next month. Set to release on February 1, 2011, First Strike DLC will contain four new maps and a new zombie mode map. The maps will release on the Xbox 360 first for 1200 Microsoft Points and there has been no word yet on a PS3 and PC release. Treyarch released a video on YouTube detailing the new multiplayer maps. I am looking forward to playing on these maps. They all add some new tactic to the way people play on these maps, with the zipline on Kowloon and the "No Man's Land" in Berlin Wall. 
   

 Final Fantasy XIII-2

After a domain name was registered last week, Square Enix has announced Final Fantasy XIII-2. It will follow the character Lightning and will be joined by a brand new character. This is not a first in the series as Final Fantasy X got a sequel in Final Fantasy X-2. The game will release this year in Japan on the Xbox 360 and PS3. No word on the US release but expect sometime next year. I cannot give first-hand impressions of FFXIII because i have not played it, but from the many podcasts I listen to, the same problem came up, the game was too linear for too long. Hopefully, the next game can fix those problems. 
 

 
Portal 2 PS3 News

Valve announced some Portal 2 news this week. Back at E3, Gabe Newell came out on the stage at the Sony Press Conference and said that the PS3 version of Portal 2 will be "the best version on consoles". The news that came out this week seems to prove that point. The PS3 versions of Portal 2 will have cloud-based storage of game saves, cross-platform chat, cross-platform play between the PC/Mac and PS3, and a free copy of the game for PC/Mac by linking your PSN ID and Steam account. This news is awesome for anyone picking up the game for the PS3, such as myself. This furthers my excitement for this game. April 21 cannot come sooner enough. 

Help With Modern Warfare 3

According to a report from the Los Angeles Times, Infinity Ward  is gathering help from Activision sister studios, Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software, with their next game. With the release of Jason West and Vince Zampella this past year, along with numerous others, that IW needs help creating their next game, weather its MW3 or another project. Sledgehammer, who was working on a spin-off of the Call of Duty franchise, will help IW with the single-player, while Raven handles the multi-player. Since the release of West and Zampella, I've always had a sick feeling in my stomach about the future of Infinity Ward. It seems the studio has been in the pits lately and I have told myself over and over again that there would be no MW3. Now with this news, seeing that MW3 could be an actuality, I now believe that it won't be good. I'm sure it'll still do big numbers, as all CoD games do, but I don't think it'll be a good game. An ignorant opinion I know, but it's my gut feeling. 

Quick Fire

There was a ton of other news this week that does not need much explanation. Thus a Quick Fire Segment of the blog.  

•  Mass Effect 2 came out on the PS3 this past week. Sites, such as IGN, GameSpot, and Game Informer, reviewed it. I haven't played ME2 at all yet and when I get money, I will surely pick it up.     
• WWE All Stars was given a trailer this past week featuring "Macho Man" Randy Savage. This is a surprise, given the Macho Man does not seem to like Vince McMahon and the WWE, mostly Vince. It's nice to see he's in the game though and it looks awesome.
• Anyone plan on buying Killzone 3? (I will eventually) Well you're in for a treat as those who buy it will also get a code for the SOCOM 4 Beta when it goes live. Killzone 3 releases February 22. SOCOM 4 is said to release this spring.
• In other Killzone 3 news, there will be an open beta for this game. The beta will run from February 2 - 14 and will be a free download to all US PS3 users. It will offer early access to 2 maps and has support for PlayStation Move and Stereoscopic 3D.
• Propaganda Games, makers of Turok and Tron: Evolution, closed down this week. Condolences to those affected.
• With the release of LittleBigPlanet 2 this week, Sony held an event in New York attempting to break 7 Guinness World Records. They broke 5. Congrats to all who participated. Full details from the PS Blog here .
• Isaac Clarke, star of Dead Space, will appear in Dragon Age 2. Trailer goes here .
• Gears of War: Triple Pack was announced, with a misleading name. It will come with Gears of War, Gears of War 2, and Gears of War: All Fronts Pack DLC, all for $30.
• Release Date News:

1. Double Fine's Stacking will release for $15 on the PSN Feb. 8 and XBLA Feb. 9
2. PlayStation Move Heroes will release March 22, 2011 on the PS3
3. Conduit 2 also releases March 22, 2011 on the Wii
4. Mortal Kombat  has a release date of April 19, 2011 for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Totally excited for this game.
5. Duke Nukem: Forever FINALLY has a release date of May 3, 2011 for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. It also got a "reveal" trailer .

New Releases 

1. Mass Effect 2 

   (PS3)

2. LIttleBigPlanet 2

    (PS3)

3. Mindjack

    (Xbox 360, PS3)

4. Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves

    (PSN)

5. Plants vs. Zombies

    (DS)

pretty good blog man. i do like the release date information. good for people who don't know when games are being released. your news is kind of late. i knew about the portal 2 ps3 and steam thing for a couple of weeks.

yea sorry bout the late news. i get them as i see them on twitter. it took me longer than i thought to write this. ill get up on time this week.