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The Week in Review news piece summarizes and highlights the most important gaming related news and rumors over the past week. This weekly article will keep you plugged in and in-tune. Capcom made some noise this week. For starters, Street Fighter IV is off to a great start, shipping over 2 million units in it first week. A Guinness World Record was set in the game (SFIV) by Zak Bennett in London when he dispatched 108 challengers in a row without being beaten in just four hours. Also, it was announced via Xbox LIVE that Lost Planet 2 is in fact in development. The new game will return to E.D.N. III, however, the planet is very different this time around, as human colonizers have been busy terraforming the planet. Lost Planet 2 is going to feature “four-player co-op, new interlinked episodes, and deep customization.” Interestingly, Lost Planet 2 may also be an Xbox 360 exclusive. In the official press release, no mention was made of a Sony PS3 or PC release for the third-person shooter. Click HERE if you’d like to check out the 9 minute announcement video. Another anticipated game was given its first teaser trailer this week as well. BioWare’s Mass Effect 2 teaser trailer caused a lot of commotion amongst fans this week because the initial communiqué presented in the video states that the original protagonist, Commander Shepard, was killed in action. Nevertheless, developers at BioWare have since calmed the community by letting everyone know that their old game saves will in fact be useful, and that Commander Shepard will likely play a role. Click HERE to see the problematic trailer in its entirety. Sony also saw its fair share of the limelight this week. Only two announcements about the gaming giant were actually official. The first came from their retail partner convention, Destination PlayStation, where a new girl-friendly, “Lilac” PSP 3000 was announced. It was also mentioned that a load of important franchises will be coming to the handheld. Namely, LittleBigPlanet, Assassin’s Creed, Rock Band: Unplugged, and MotorStorm: Arctic Edge. The second had to do with the increasing strength of the PSN. PlayStation Network accounts now number over 20 million. The milestone was reached in a mere 2 years and 3 months since its launch on November 11, 2006. Even more remarkable is the fact that Sony hit the 10 million member mark just five months ago. On the rumor front, a PS3 price cut once again reared its hopeful head. However, Sony vehemently denies such claims. Additionally, people have begun to insist that a new model of PSP, the 4000, will be out by the end of the year and that it will have a sliding face. Although, later in the week, Acclaim developer David Perry hinted at the existence of the PSP 2, and that it was being released without a UMD drive. Perry wrote on both his Twitter and Facebook pages that “I hear Sony FINALLY has the PSP 2. And thank goodness, they’ve removed the stupid battery-sucking UMD disc drive. I’m excited!” If true, it would seem to disprove the PSP 4000 theory. Nintendo and Microsoft also had important announcements of their own. The Xbox 360, for instance, is getting a blood-red, 120 GB HDD Elite model bundled with a red controller, a code to download Street Fighter II Turbo HD Edition, a black headset, and a copy of Resident Evil 5 in commemoration of the horror series’ launch. Nintendo also announced a new piece of hardware for the Japanese market. The Big N is releasing a new Classic Controller PRO this Summer. The new controller is larger than the original, far more ergonomic (extended grips), and has larger, more modern shoulder buttons. On the software side, Nintendo has released an extensive list of quality first and third-party titles coming out over the next year for all of their platforms. These titles include updated classics, games that take advantage of Wii MotionPlus, downloadable goods, etc. Notable games include Excitebots: Trick Racing, Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, Punch-Out!, Rythm Heaven, Klonoa, The Conduit , and many, many more. Core support may actually be in the cards for 2009. Thanks so much everyone and we will see you next week! |