So what happened this week? A new God of War game was announced, which is itself a huge deal, but a few release dates were given out as well that have me equally giddy.
Wasteland 2 Kickstarter turns up $3 million in fan support.
The original Wasteland was a popular title back in the late 80s but was largely overshadowed in popularity by the original Fallout when it was released in 1997. Often called the originator of post-apocalyptic RPGs, designer Brian Fargo has turned to financial support site Kickstarter to fund a sequel to the original Wasteland. The time frame for donations on the site to fund the project ended earlier this week, with the project raking in nearly three million dollars in support money, well over the initial goal of $900,000. I’m happy for Fargo and the team to have received so much support, and I’m itching to see what they do with the game. It will undoubtedly be a direct competitor with the Fallout series (which I already love dearly). It’ll be some time before we finally see the game’s release but with this much support and cash it should turn out to be well worth the wait. (Source: Machinima)
Halo 4 gets a release date.
Much anticipated and Bungie-free Halo 4 is coming out this year. Microsoft announced this week that the game will drop on November 6th of this year, just in time for elections! New developers 343 Industries have their work cut out for them revitalizing the series and Master Chief, as the last game left the epic spartan floating off in space with no signs of help. What I’m really interested in is the multiplayer suite of options that the game is surely going to contain. Halo has been battling it out with Call of Duty and Battlefield this generation of consoles for first-person shooter dominance and I’m looking forward to seeing something fresh thrown into the fray. (Source: GameSpot)
Sony announces God of War: Ascension.
Hot off the press and my biggest “oh hell yeah!” news story of the week is Sony announcing a new game in the incredibly brutal God of War series. Called God of War: Ascension, the game has already been confirmed to NOT be God of War 4, but rather a prequel to the original game. The trailer (which you can find here) seems to tell the origin story of Kratos, portraying the anti-hero before he was the Ghost of Sparta (speaking of which, it’s assumed it”ll take place before Ghost of Sparta for the PSP as well). Whenever I get another chance to kill mythical beasts as violently as Kratos I get sinfully happy, and hearing of Kratos’ beginnings could be especially fun. I’m thinking back to some of the flashbacks seen in the PS2 games and wanting to play through those. Since the game was just announced however, it’ll be a good while before we hear anything else about this one coming out. (Source: G4TV)
Diablo III is playable by all this weekend only!
Blizzard’s hotly anticipated beta of hack-and-slash killfest Diablo III is free to play this weekend. Currently known for MMORPG juggernaut World of Warcraft and strategy timesink StarCraft II, Blizzard is amping up for Diablo III‘s May 15th release by putting the game’s servers through a “stress test” this weekend. You’ll be able to log in and play between 12:01pm (Pacific Time) today through 10:00am (Pacific Time) this Monday, April 23rd. Five full classes will be playable up to level 13. I’m not sure if these beta characters carry over to the game’s full release version, but I’m pumped to be able to get back into the demonic world of Diablo. Go here to download the beta. I can already hear the clicks…
(Source: Game Informer)
You can soon play Marvel vs. Capcom 2 on your iPhone.
Easily the most surprising news story of the week, Capcom has stated that on April 25th (just five days away!) you can download and play Marvel vs. Capcom 2 on your iPhone or iPod Touch. Known for its crazy combos, insane cast of characters, and beautiful 2D graphics, MvC2 is one of the better tag team fighters ever. But on a touch screen? Many journalists, myself included, are baffled at how the game will handle without any actual buttons. I’m sure some people will be all over it within the first week and become masters at it, but I’m just happy with being able to play it anywhere I want. After all these year, we can finally take IT for a ride. I’m sorry, I couldn’t pass that one up. (Source: Kotaku)
Laters,
Jsick
