Last Friday I had several leads on new entries in existing franchises, and none of them were a surprise. The odd part was that most of them either just recently released the current iteration, or were actually still several days from doing so. In a similar vein, I found this week that Polyphony Digital is working on Gran Turismo 6. Now GT5 has been out for a year, so it seems about right to announce the sequel. What I find odd, however, is that I heard about GT5 several years before the end of the PS2’s life cycle – back when it was planned for that console. Now, with rumors that XBox Project Ten could be releasing in 2012, is it out of line to expect another prolonged development cycle that pushes the latest Gran Turismo onto the PlayStation4? According to Kazunori Yamauchi, “What really will be the separating factor [from GT5] is something that we can’t update through a DLC is something that obviously has to be saved for GT6.” What gameplay elements are so huge they can’t update the already robust GT5 system? Maybe it’s not gameplay at all. Maybe it’s hardware….
Rumors continue to build regarding the Grand Theft Auto V trailer. While we now know that the game takes place in Los Santos, San Andreas, there’s plenty more to speculate. First, rumors that Tommy Vercetti may be the main protagonist seem to be false. In fact, Ned Luke of Law & Order has been identified as the voice of the narrator – who is probably the protagonist as well. Over on the imdb page, Luke is listed as playing Albert de Silva. Then again, that same page also has Young Maylay rumored to be reprising his role as Carl “C.J.” Johnson. Frankly, that just seems out of Rockstar’s style. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear Maylay’s voice in the game, but I wouldn’t expect a return of C.J.
If you’ve been waiting patiently with your redeem code in hand for the Bloodbath Arena DLC on Dead Island, we have good news. The wait is nearly over. The game has received generally good reviews, but the rampant glitches and bizarre online issues have been a plague, keeping the dev team busy with patches instead of finalizing the promised pre-order incentive. The add-on, which seems to be essentially a “hoard” mode, will be adding four new arenas and the “brain wave bomb” on November 22nd. If you didn’t get your pre-order code, you can still pick up the DLC for $9.99.
In other DLC and pre-order news, incentives for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 have been announced. Kind of a late announcement, considering the game launched today. Regardless, getting this from GameStop scores the Femme Fatales Costume Pack (Morrigan, Chun-Li, X-23, Storm); Amazon has the New Age of Heroes Costume Pack (Strider Hiryu, Doctor Doom, Cyber Akuma, Sentinel); and Best Buy will carry the Villains Costume Pack (Super Skrull, MODOK, Crimson Viper, Wesker). Also revealed in the official strategy guide is a tease for a new costume for Zero. It appears you’ll be able to dress him as Mega Man. Why Capcom thinks this is an acceptable substitute for the blue bomber himself is beyond me.
In one of the more bizarre pre-order incentives I’ve seen in some time, Asura’s Wrath could actually be made easier depending on where you get the game. Amazon is offering the Devastator pack that gives you two extra in-game gauges. One will reduce damage taken by Asura, while the other fills his Unlimited Rage faster. Similarly, Best Buy is giving you the Infinity pack. This pack offers Extinguisher and Zealot modes, which accelerate cooling after overheat from heavy attacks and prolong Unlimited Rage, respectively. GameStop’s incentive is the only one that doesn’t seem to affect how the game plays. They’re giving you the concept art book that flips over to feature a Penny Arcade comic exploring how Asura would handle everyday situations. Frankly, I’m not a huge fan of overly hard games so the Amazon and Best Buy boosters look interesting. But, if you don’t want to nerf your game with add-ons, that comic book looks great. The game is out in February.
It’s becoming the norm for big online shooters to suffer from cheating. The teams behind Halo took pretty drastic measures earlier this year. Now DICE and EA are coming down hard for Battlefield 3 cheaters. According to the official Battlefield Twitter, “This week we’ve banned hundreds of offending accounts and have stats-wiped accounts for exploiting (such as boosting).” DICE is also working a patch to reduce the blinding caused by the tactical flashlight and possibly using the EMP drone to counter mortar spam. In the meantime, if you’ve been cheating by boosting or glitching, you just got served. Although, I do have to question, if you release a game with glitches that let players rack up kills, points, or whatever, is it really fair to punish them for exploiting that glitch? Especially when you offer rewards for doing more of them? Wouldn’t it be more proper to just remove the glitch?
And that seems to be the end of the news for this week’s early edition. Check back on Friday for more updates.