 | THQ made 'massive mistakes' says Rubin Jan 31st 2013, 17:37 Former president says company had every chance to survive if it weren't for mistakes like uDraw and "haphazard and inefficient approach to deal-making." 
THQ's drawn out and public demise is not attributable to industry-wide changes, but rather "massive mistakes" made by the company. That's according to former president Jason Rubin, who told MCV in a new feature that though THQ--like all publishers--faced intensified pressure, the company could have survived if certain mistakes were not made. “I think it is incorrect to attribute THQ's predicament with overall changes in the industry,“ Rubin said. “To be sure, all triple-A publishers have been under pressure, but THQ had every chance to survive had it not made massive mistakes." These mistakes, Rubin said, occurred well before he was brought on board to lead the company in May 2012 and included "incredible losses" associated with uDraw and wasted capital on the canceled Warhammer MMO. Rubin added that THQ's exit from the children's game business came too late and that Homefront--as well as other "inferior" titles--could have been better. He also attributed THQ's failure to a "generally haphazard and inefficient approach to deal-making [which] left the company with too much negative hanging on its books." THQ was broken apart and sold to five different companies last week during a bankruptcy auction. For a full breakdown of the proceedings, check out GameSpot's coverage of the event. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Take-Two, GameStop shares fall on GTAV delay Jan 31st 2013, 16:39 Shares tumble after Rockstar pushes upcoming action game into September; "nothing new" to share about Wii U and PC versions. 
Investors are not thrilled with today's Grand Theft Auto V delay. Shares of Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two Interactive and specialty retailer GameStop tumbled today upon news that GTAV would miss its spring release date, instead landing months later on September 17. At press time, Take-Two shares are down 6.05 percent to $12.27, while GameStop fell 4.15 percent to $22.69. A Take-Two representative declined to comment, while GameStop was not immediately available. Separately, a Rockstar Games representative told GameSpot today that there is "nothing new" to share regarding potential PC and Wii U versions of GTAV. Rockstar Games cofounder Dan Houser last year said these versions were "up for consideration," though today's announcement left them out. For more on GTAV, check out GameSpot's previous coverage. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Aliens: Colonial Marines getting $30 DLC pass? Jan 31st 2013, 16:15 GameStop listing suggests Gearbox Software's upcoming shooter will offer Season Pass featuring four expansions delivered by summer 2013. 
Aliens: Colonial Marines will feature a $30 downloadable content Season Pass, according to a GameStop product listing. The page states the pass will include four expansions to be delivered by summer 2013. These are to include extra campaign content, additional multiplayer maps, new modes, and further character customization options. Developer Gearbox Software has not announced an Aliens: Colonial Marines Season Pass, and a representative from the company was not immediately available to comment. A Season Pass for Aliens: Colonial Marines would not come as much of a surprise. Gearbox's latest game, Borderlands 2, featured a $30 pass that gave gamers access to four expansion packs. In addition, such initiatives are becoming widespread, and can be found in games like Halo 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Max Payne 3, Gears of War 3, Saints Row: The Third, L.A. Noire, and UFC Undisputed 3. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Grand Theft Auto V delayed, due September 17 Jan 31st 2013, 15:12 Rockstar Games delays upcoming Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 open-world game four months for extra polish; no mention of Wii U or PC versions. 
Grand Theft Auto V has been delayed and will hit store shelves September 17, Rockstar Games announced today. The game was previously targeted to launch sometime this spring for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Explaining the delay, Rockstar said the extra time will allow the company to polish the game further. "We know this is about four months later than originally planned and we know that this short delay will come as a disappointment to many of you, but, trust us, it will be worth the extra time," the company said in a statement. "GTAV is a massively ambitious and complex game and it simply needs a little more polish to be of the standard we and, more importantly, you require." Notably absent from Rockstar's announcement of the GTAV release date today was mention of a PC or Wii U version of the game. The company previously said these versions were "up for consideration." Grand Theft Auto IV originally launched only for Xbox 360 and PS3, but was later made available on PC. GTAV was announced in October 2011, and a teaser trailer that followed in November confirmed that the game will be set primarily in present-day Los Santos, a fictional town modeled on Los Angeles. Rockstar has also said that GTAV boasts the largest scope of any installment in the franchise to date. The GTAV game world is reportedly bigger than Red Dead Redemption, GTA: San Andreas, and GTAIV combined. GTAV features three protagonists, making it the first title in the series to tell its primary story through multiple characters. However, it is not an entirely novel idea for the franchise. GTAIV focused its narrative on the story of Niko Bellic, but ensuing downloadable expansions depicted Liberty City from the viewpoints of two additional characters. GTAV will have some big shoes to fill. Its predecessor, GTAIV, was a massive success for Rockstar and Take-Two. The game has shipped over 25 million copies, placing it among the top-performing games of all time. In total, the Grand Theft Auto franchise itself has shipped over 125 million copies. Entertainment Design and Research analyst Jesse Divnich said in November that he thinks GTAV has the potential to sell north of 25 million copies during its first 12 months on the market. For more on GTAV, check out GameSpot's video breakdown of the game's second trailer (below), as well as all previous coverage. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | No Wii U price cut Jan 31st 2013, 14:35 Nintendo president Satoru Iwata says company has no plans to reduce price of new system; Google StreetView, TiVo delayed. 
Gamers holding out for a Wii U price cut are out of luck. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said during a recent financial call that due to the system being sold at a loss, a price cut is off the table. "With Wii U, we have taken a rather resolute stance in pricing it below its manufacturing cost, so we are not planning to perform a markdown," he said. "I would like to make this point absolutely clear." Iwata also admitted that Nintendo has not done the best job communicating "the value of our product." The executive said Nintendo will try to correct this before it launches upcoming marquee Wii U titles like Mario Kart and Zelda, among others. Iwata added that unlike the original Wii, consumers have had difficulty instantly understanding the appeal of Wii U. He said those who have purchased a Wii U have shown a "certain degree of satisfaction" with the system, but this has not yet spread to the wider gamer populace. "But since its value by nature is something that takes time to appreciate and hence cannot be spread amongst society instantly, we have yet to communicate its value to the wider public," he said. "To put it another way, we delivered Wii U to those consumers who we thought would be the first to buy it, but information has not successfully been passed on to those consumers who we think will be the next people to buy it. This must be one big factor with which Wii U could not maintain its momentum." Also during the call Iwata confirmed that Google StreetView compatibility for Wii U has been delayed. To be titled "Wii Street U," the service was announced in December and was expected to launch this month. It is now targeted to release in mid-February so Nintendo can spend "more time on final development work." Another service yet to launch for Wii U is TiVo. Previously targeted to launch in January, Nintendo has confirmed with Polygon that the feature will not release until later this year. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Nintendo planning future platforms Jan 31st 2013, 14:26 President Satoru Iwata looking beyond Wii U and 3DS; company has begun developing tech that would simplify sharing assets between platforms. Nintendo already has its eyes on what's next. A translation of prepared remarks from president Satoru Iwata today states Nintendo last year began work on technology for "future platforms" that would make software assets more transferable, regardless of the platform. According to Iwata, this would have multiple benefits, including avoiding software launch lineup shortages.  "Last year we also started a project to integrate the architecture for our future platforms. What we mean by integrating platforms is not integrating handhelds devices and home consoles to make only one machine. What we are aiming at is to integrate the architecture to form a common basis for software development so that we can make software assets more transferrable, and operating systems and their build-in applications more portable, regardless of form factor or performance of each platform," he said. "They will also work to avoid software lineup shortages or software development delays which tend to happen just after the launch of new hardware." Iwata said that previously it was technologically impossible to have the same architecture for handheld and home consoles, but Nintendo's new technology could change this. Iwata's comments suggest games could be shared between a home console and a portable device, though the company is a long way away from implementing any such technology. "Although it has not been long since we began to integrate the architecture and this will have no short-term result, we believe that it will provide a great benefit to our platform business in the long run," he said. Nintendo's latest platform is the Wii U, which launched last year and has sold over 3 million units worldwide. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | GRID 2 gets May release date and preorder bonuses Jan 31st 2013, 14:00 Upcoming racing game gets myriad preorder offers alongside May release date. 
Upcoming racer GRID 2 will be released on May 28 in North America and May 31 in Europe, developer Codemasters has announced. The release date arrives alongside myriad preorder offers at various US retailers. Customers opting for GameStop get the GRID 2: Turbo-Charged Edition, which dishes up two DLC packs: the McLaren Racing Pack and the GTR Racing Pack. The McLaren Racing Pack plops a McLaren MP4-12C GT3 Special Edition into the in-game livery, alongside a special online event and two new routes on the Brands Hatch GP circuit. The GTR Racing Pack delivers a Nissan GT-R SpecV road car plus daytime variants of the five Yas Marina circuit routes. Meanwhile, Best Buy is giving out the IndyCar Edition, which hands players the keys to the Dallara IndyCar and the IndyCar Pace car alongside two new routes around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval Circuit. Amazon US, on the other hand, will provide the Head Start Pack, which buffs up the garage with a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722 GT and offers discounts for the game's car upgrade store and a bonus on Codemasters' social platform RaceNet. Codemasters also announced that anyone who pre-orders GRID 2 at UK retailer GAME will receive the Brands Hatch Edition, which includes the McLaren Racing Pack and Head Start Pack. "After four long years, Grid returns not just as a fast-paced street racer, but as an online experience that hopes to rank among the very best that gaming has to offer," wrote Mark in his GRID 2 preview last year. GRID 2 will be released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. For more information on the game, check out GameSpot's previous coverage. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | God of War: Ascension PS3 bundle includes all six games Jan 31st 2013, 14:00 New $350 500GB garnet red system to launch in March featuring 30-day PS Plus membership and all God of War games to date. 
Sony is marking the return of Kratos with an all-new, game-stuffed system bundle. The company today announced the $350 God of War: Ascension Legacy Bundle, which features a 500GB garnet red system (with matching controller), a copy of God of War: Ascension, and the God of War Saga. This includes God of War, God of War II, God of War III, and the God of War: Origins Collection (which includes PSP games God of War: Chains of Olympus and God of War: Ghost of Sparta). In addition, the God of War: Ascension Legacy Bundle includes a 30-day trial membership to PlayStation Plus. The bundle will be available day-and-date with God of War: Ascension on March 12. Sony just last weekend launched a 500GB white PS3 model, marking the first time Sony had ever released a PS3 in any color other than black in the United States or Canada. The God of War series has sold over 21 million units worldwide since it launched in March 2005. God of War: Ascension is a prequel to the original, and is the first entry in the franchise to feature a multiplayer component. A trailer for the game will play during the online Super Bowl XLVII stream this weekend. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
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