I'm currently doing my last playthrough of Mass Effect 2 before the final game comes out and I'm treating this as my official playthrough of the series. As I predicted back when the debut trailer was shown during the 2010 VGAs in December, Mass Effect 3 has been pushed back to Q1 2012.
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| Who didn't see this delay coming? Don't worry, I'll be pumping you guys full of lead next year. |
Dragon Age II was rushed and EA and BioWare paid for it, I'm hoping this means they learned from that mistake. Unfortunately some people on the internet have taken the "We want to bitch about something" route. I'll get into that tomorrow.
For the moment though, with Mass Effect 3 delayed to 2012 and Portal 2 released, Batman: Arkham City is now my most anticipated game yet to be released this year.
A new Assassin's Creed game has been announced with the title Assassin's Creed: Revelations. The game will once again feature Ezio Auditore da Firenze in a trip to Constantinople.
I'm a little mixed on this. I love Assassin's Creed as much as anyone else but I'm iffy on returning to Ezio after I felt Brotherhood could have closed off his arc perfectly fine. Also it feels like Ubisoft is trying to stretch this out as long as possible with it not being the official third entry in the series.
Also I don't really like the one-year development cycle. This was a release that I was expecting them to drop on us sometime soon and it took away the pleasant surprise. Also while Brotherhood was excellent, it wasn't quite as satisfying as ACII.
Still, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't going to check it out. It hasn't taken Arkham City's spot, but I'm still anticipating it and if I see any news on it from E3, I'll be posting it here.
A new Nintendo console is currently in development. Dubbed "Project Cafe" or Wii 2 (it doesn't have an official name yet), the new console is apparently set to come out in mid 2012.
Apparently it will be even more powerful than the 360 and PS3 though I personally cannot confirm that though there are sites that list the specs of the new console.
The controller, surprisingly, will NOT be a motion controlled...controller. It will be a more traditional type of controller with analog sticks and common button layouts. Where it's different is with a screen on the controller itself that not only shows the gameplay on the television but is also sensitive to touch. I'm not quite sure how this will work but I'm interested in seeing.
So, a bit of exciting news though now I'm worried that they're going to delay Skyward Sword for the new console like they did with Twilight Princess.
I'm somewhat concerned about the new Screed, but they haven't disappointed me yet. I think the worst thing that can happen is the story going downhill. Even if the gameplay isn't much different in each new installment I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. In yearly franchises like CoD the gameplay not the story brings people back (mostly). If you have similar gameplay as the last installment but a story that's either bad or used simply as a backdrop for your adventures then it can get a little stale. I think the CoD games are fun but lacking in substance, like a summer blockbuster movie. But with Screed even if the gameplay doesn't change too much in each new installment as long as the story is good and remains a major focus then I'd love for them to release a new game every year.
ReplyDeleteOf course, Brotherhood's story was lacking compared to Screed 2 (it was still really good), but Screed 2 was so awesome that it'll be tough to hit that high mark again. Maybe I'm just trying to be optimistic because Screed is my favorite new IP of this generation.
So Project Cafe seems interesting. It better be more powerful than the 360 or PS3. That would just be embarrassing if it weren't. I trust Nintendo to do what must be done - make an awesome new console. Just please be friends with 3rd party developers this time around. And do NOT delay Skyward Sword. I'm guessing that since it's so heavily based around Wii controls they won't, and it'll be the Wii's swan song, like Majora's Mask was for the N64.
I agree but it still took any surprise away. I wasn't at all surprised when i read the news.
ReplyDeleteIt's probably not going to be a day one for me. If it comes out in October, it's up against Batman: Arkham City and that's my main pick for the rest of the year. (By the way if you haven't played Arkham Asylum yet, find a copy and play it. It kicks so much ass).
If it comes out in November, it's up against Uncharted 3, Battlefield 3, Elder Scrolls Skyrim etc.