This Week in Gaming News: 7/14/12 – 7/20/12

Wishing there was an alternative title with the NFL license to combat with Madden? Well keep wishing.

Also this week, Brain Fargo makes good on his Kickstarter promises by releasing the first tempting screenshot of Wasteland 2, the remake of Double Dragon packs on the neon lights, and the rebooting of sorts of the Rock Band series is shaping up to be another must-have part game.

Expect no end to EA’s exclusive rights to the NFL license

Game publishing giant EA won victory over an old class-action-lawsuit that challenged its hold over the NFL license, calling it a monopoly. But the gaming giant won the argument in court, retaining its exclusive use of the NFL’s players, coaches, stadiums, and teams. There were some interesting restrictions in the settlement however: EA has a five year ban on exclusive rights over the NCAA when their current license agreement ends in two years; they also have a five year ban on any exclusive use of the Arena Football League’s property and players. I don’t know about you, but EA seems to come out the huge victor in this lawsuit, as this really makes no difference to gamers or to publishers. If a different football sim with the NFL license comes out, players are still going to flock in droves to EA’s Madden. (Source: Kotaku)

First screenshot of Wasteland 2 shows gigantic scorpion terrorizing a small resistance; looks amazing

Brian Fargo’s ultra successful Kickstarter campaign to fund a sequel to PC hit Wasteland made headlines. And what did he and his team do with all that money? Begin to fulfill their promises, that’s what. The first official screen of the game (pictured) has a lot going for it. Most notably is the two-story tall scorpion in the upper right corner. The post apocalyptic wasteland will draw inklings of Fallout for sure, but the first Wasteland was the progenitor to Fallout, so this is sort of the granddad of the disastrous future in video game form. Fargo also stated that is a very early build of the game, and many graphical enhancements aren’t implemented yet, so take the screenshot with some speculation and hope for the future. (Source: The Verge)

Double Dragon Neon knees you in the face this September

The HD remake of classic arcade and NES brawler Double Dragon is being released on the PSN and Xbox Live September 11th and 12th. If you haven’t played any of the Double Dragon games (more specifically the first two, and maybe the third), then you likely didn’t grow up in the early 90’s, and/or didn’t have any game playing friends. The remake is titled Double Dragon Neon, and from the current gameplay trailer it appears the use of neon colors has been turned up a few notches. Maybe they’re overcompensating for how much neon was actually in the 90’s, but I’m still going to look forward to kicking ass as Billy and Jimmy Lee yet again. (Source: Machinima)

You can officially get excited for Rock Band Blitz

Harmonix was the king of party games during the peak of the Guitar Hero/Rock Band days a few years back. Since then they’ve fallen significantly, but are still around, with dedicated players downloading new tracks ever week and rocking out like, well, a rock star. But their newest title Rock Band Blitz is drastically different from previous Rock Bands in that it doesn’t require instruments, but instead uses the standard controller. The gameplay looks reminiscent of Harmonix’s past titles Frequency and Amplitude. This new trailer showcases some of the game change power-ups you can use in the game. Top that with fun looking gameplay, a back catalog of songs that uses pretty much all past Rock Band songs you’ve downloaded, and the potential to be another killer party game, and Rock Band Blitz looks like a clear winner. (Source: YouTube)

Taiwanese man dies after 40-hour marathon Diablo III session

A Diablo III player in Taiwan was found dead in his room after logging in 40 hours of playtime. The 18-year-old man checked into an internet cafe and stayed the night in his room. The prolonged game playing and subsequent lack of movement, authorities say, ultimately contributed to his death. Staying in a sitting position for hours on end is bad for your circulatory system, so in order to stay healthy we need to move around, exercise our muscles, and get our blood flowing. While this is an incredibly sad story, it should not be forgotten by gamers and teach us all to take a step back from the virtual world and enjoy our own, beautiful Earth. (Source: Kotaku)

The Adventure Time DS/3DS game gets a gameplay trailer

If you haven’t watched Adventure Time on Cartoon Network or otherwise, then you’ve been missing out on one of the absolute craziest animated series’ around. And now the cartoon is getting it’s own video game with the coolest title I’ve heard: Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why’d You Steal Our Garbage?! And now this awesome looking game gets a promising trailer. Check it out here, and then YouTube some clips and enjoy! (Source: Machinima)

Jak and Daxter are ready to duke it out in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale

Hot off the heels of recently announced Heihachi and Toro, Sony announced the classic duo of Jak and Daxter would be joining the fray from the (go figure!) Jak and Daxter series of games. Also accompanying them is Cole MacGrath from the inFAMOUS games. As I said before, this game is shaping up to be stellar. I have a prediction that can easily come true and MUST COME TRUE: Crash Bandicoot will be announced. I can’t see how they can make this game, call it “PlayStation All-Stars” and NOT include Crash. Time will tell. (Source: PlayStation Blog)

Torchlight II is apparently still coming out this summer

Runic Game’s successful Diablo clone Torchlight was awesome. The dungeon crawling, loot-driven hack-and-slash was mindless fun at its best. But it lacked one key element: multiplayer. Runic promised to deliver on this omission in more than just a patch, but in a full fledged sequel slated for launch Summer 2012. As Summer 2012 is unfortunately coming to an end in two months, that deadline is fast approaching. But rest assured, a recent blog post from Runic Game’s president Travis Baldree said the game is still looking to release in that launch window. And that it’ll be done when it’s done. I for one am actually having second thoughts about getting this one. With the time sink of Diablo III already nipping at all my free time, I don’t think I can fit another, similar game in my schedule. (Source: Joystiq)

Laters,
Jsick