Britain’s Shops React to Early Portal 2 Release
In response to Valve’s early release of Portal 2 over Steam this Monday, high street gamer haven Game have decided to break the Friday release date for console and PC retail versions of the game, stocking shelves to the brim one day early, meaning that you should be able to find Portal 2 on shelves at your local Game today.
Valve’s viral marketing campaign for Portal 2 took the form of an extensive alternate reality game, where the game’s antagonistic rogue AI GLaDOS seemingly took control of Steam accounts, Steamcasts and other Valve properties to perpetuate her imminent rebooting via getting players to collect delicious potatoes and play Indie games.
The event finished with the complete release of Portal 2, online at least, being brought forward a whopping four days, which for retail-buying PC gamers must have seemed frustratingly unfair, which prompted Game to step in with both a lucrative incentive to shop at their store and also a helpful hand to Steam-less Portal fans.
Borderlands Soon to be Broader Lands, Borderlands 2 in the Works
Spotted in a recent CV submitted by freelance artist James Mosingois, this nugget of Borderlands 2 confirmation information comes directly from the artist himself. Before the internet at large and subsequently Gearbox Software, the Borderlands development crew, got their hands on the document, Mosingois had apparently been employed previously at Gearbox to work on user interfaces for Borderlands 2.
After the hapless menu designer leaked this useful Borderlands related revelation, the internet found it, but then it was subsequently edited by the developers at Gearbox to not include massive spoilers/speculation.
Earthquake to Blame for 88mil U$D Loss to Japanese Game Industry as 3DS Creeps Into Lead in Handheld Sales
After the frankly terrifying display of nature’s wrath and the subsequent humanitarian disaster in the Japanese area, figures are just emerging outlining the damages caused to the Japanese games industry, a key aspect of the Japanese technology economy.
CEO of Enterbrain Hirokazu Hamamura commented on the situation, a man whose company both publishes its own game software titles as well as the ever-loved Famitsu magazine, a major gaming news outlet for the eager young gamer generation growing up in the more urban areas of the country.
Speaking at a Tokyo seminar, Hamamura outlined the key points that have seemingly crippled an industrial giant in terms of game manufacture.
- ¥2.86 billion ($34.6 million) in hardware sales lost.
- Potentially ¥4.47 billion ($54.2 million) in software sales lost.
- Delay or cancellation of 31 titles including:
- 3DS games Steel Diver, Dead Or Alive Dimensions, Yakuza Of The End.
- Poor 3DS sales.
- Promotional campaigns for 3DS software, hardware, peripherals.
Although this seems like a long list of troubling revelations, Hamamura was insistent that the industry would experience a recovery period in the next quarter, due to increased titles being released.
This information however comes with the news that the 3DS crawled slowly to the top of the console charts in the earthquake-stricken country, with Sony’s console dropping 11,500 units in sales, allowing Nintendo’s 3D console to edge ahead just the right amount to take the lead. However, whether the new can outsell the old can only be told by time, so keep an eye on them charts them.
Battlefield Gets Seen
Dice and EA have given us a cool 12 minutes gameplay footage for its forthcoming Battlefield 3, and good lord does it look amazing. Check it out below:
Miyamoto muses over Mario release
Now there is one sure fire way to get your console selling like hotcakes and thet is the appearance of a certain fluffy lipped plumber who goes by the name Mario, so one of the biggest questions surrounding Nintendos latest handheld console is when are we getting a new Super Mario brothers game!
Well, Mario creator and Nintendo’s head honcho Shigeru Miyamoto has been speaking to French site GameBlog, and Miyamoto said: “I promise to do everything to deliver your new Mario this year,”
Which quite frankly excites us in ways that a hired help should not, but dammit its Mario and we all love Mario. We can expect a bit more information in June when the E3 expo opens and sheds alight on all our big gaming questions!
And Finally…
Mass Effect 3 Screenshots?! Glorious!
