This Week in Gaming News: 5/26/12 – 6/1/12

It’s one week before E3 and the new game announcements are already rolling in. This week is starting out great with new releases coming for the Castlevania series as well asThe Lord of the Rings.

I can’t wait for E3 next week!

 


Xbox 360 Minecraft kicks all kinds of ass

PC enthusiasts rejoice! The Xbox 360 release of popular world-builder/time sink Minecraft has become one of the Xbox 360’s best selling downloadable titles. Not only did the title sell extremely well, but it has also knocked off Call of Duty from the top spot on the Xbox’s most played games. I for one am very happy to see a game other than a shooter top this list (and an indie game at that!). Thought I’m not a fan of the game, I take my hat off to Minecraft. Perhaps this will be a turning point for the game industry. (Source: Kotaku)


DotA/League of Legends style Lord of the Rings game coming for consoles

Lord of the Rings lends itself pretty well to the DotA/LoL, already featuring differing classes, characters, and attacks from the multitude of games the book/movie franchise has already amassed. So while this announcement comes as a surprise this week, it’s more of a, “Oh really? Heh… that makes sense.” The big deal with this one though is that it’s coming out on the consoles. Other “multiplayer online battle areana” games fared very well on PC space, so seeing if this one can pull it off might change the landscape of the genre entirely. The game is coming this fall for Xbox Live and PlayStation network. (Source: Machinima)


Shin Megami Tensei 4 is coming to the 3DS

Atlus has confirmed that the next installment of the demonic/apocalyptic RPG series Shin Megami Tensei will be coming to the 3DS. Little more is known at this time other than a couple of images showing a destroyed city and a couple of people standing on a cliff’s edge (very reminiscent of the Castlevania III ending). Seeing as the RPGs are some of the finest JRPGs out there today, this is great news for RPG fans and 3DS owners alike. (Source: Game Informer)


Mortal Kombatstudio NetherRealm is making a new DC Comics Fighter

Ed Boon and crew are working on an exciting new project featuring the likes of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and more. Called Injustice: Gods Among Us, the new title is a fighting game that seems to have a lot already going for it. As you duke it out with your favorite heroes (or not so favorite if you’re a Marvel fan), the background your fighting in will crumble and fall apart as you crash through it and land. Items like Batman’s grenades can be picked up from the ground by either player and used as weapons in the fight. The game is still in development, but Destructoid has written a fantastic preview of the game that you can enjoy before the game’s 2013 release date. I’m definitely looking forward to this one. (Source: Destructoid)


Humble Indie Bundle V is out now, and it’s awesome

Not sure what the Humble Indie Bundle is? Here’s a quick bit of information for you. The Humble Indie Bundles are collections of independent video games for the PC or Mac that are packaged (or more appropriately, bundled) together to encourage gamers to pick them up. And the price? Whatever you want to pay. Seriously. You can pay $1 or $10,000 or more. You as the gamer decide where the money goes: to the developers of the games, to Child’s Play charity, or to the Humble Bundle organizers. It’s a great cause and you get some great games.

Oh yeah, the games! This time around I was more impressed that last time. You get:
– Bastion
– Amnesia: The Dark Descent
– Psychonauts
– LIMBO
– Superbrothers: Swords & Sorcery EP
– Steam codes to play all these games (Which are DRM free, meaning you can play them and share them), as well as each game’s complete soundtrack.

Here’s the link. Go buy them.


Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is coming; spin-off title for 3DS also in the works

The fine folks at Konami have outdone themselves this time. Hinting last week that a new Castlevania title set in the Lords of Shadow world would be on the way, the Japanese developer officially confirmed the news this week. Better yet for vampire killers, there is also a completely separate title in the works for the 3DS. Known as Castlevania: Mirror of Fate, the new portable Castlevania looks to be a spin-off of the Lords of Shadow setting. A very, very vague teaser trailer has been released, hinting at more information coming June 5th, during E3. More to come for sure! (Source: Konami, GameTrailers)


Laters,
Jsick

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