This Week in Gaming News: 8/25/12 – 8/31/12

For the last week in August there sure were a lot of new games announced. As a matter of fact, pretty much each piece of news I’ve included in this week’s edition pertains to new and upcoming releases. Isn’t that the best type of week though? One full of games to come. Games to get you excited to keep playing, and games that keep you satiated until the next one comes out. Truly this is our hobby at it’s greatest.

A brand new Final Fantasy game is coming, set in the world seen in FFXIII

Be it for lack of time or perhaps waning interest in the series, but I have yet to play Final Fantasy XIII despite owning the game on the PS3. A direct sequel came out last year, and now news of another spin-off sequel is in the works. Titled Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Square Enix once again puts players in the control of the pink haired heroine Lightning. The game had only a few details revealed at PAX Prime 2012 (which is this weekend, by the way), namely that the game isn’t going to follow the exact formula of past Final Fantasy games. Still though, this is great news for RPG and FFXIII fans. Now, where’s Versus XIII… (Source: Game Informer)

The World Ends With You re-released on iOS; sequel hinted at?

Last week I reported about a countdown clock on the game’s official site ticking away until Sunday. Well, that resulted in the revelation of TWEWY being ported to the iPhone and iPad. Not bad really, considering the game is becoming harder to find nowadays, but not what fans wanted. Well, it was discovered later in the week that at the end of the iOS port of the game, there is a hint at a possible sequel to the original! Nothing official has come from Square Enix yet, but they told fans to just enjoy the re-release and be excited for things to come in the future. So, once again, it’s looking good for The World Ends With You fans that a sequel is in the works. I wonder for what system…? (Source: Kotaku)

Check out these sweet Collector’s Editions of upcoming games!

I’m not usually the one to preorder anything, but when Collector’s Editions are this cool I think I might just have to splurge.

Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why’d You Steal Our Garbage?! comes with a metallic case modeled after the Enchiridion in the series, as well as a free stylus, map and book.

Harvest Moon: A New Beginning Anniversary Edition gives you a stuffed cow or stuffed yak depending on which version of the game you decide to buy. Me… I’m getting both!

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 continues to give cool new toys you really don’t need at all but really want.

And let’s not forget about Borderlands 2 or Street Fighter’s 25th Anniversary.

Nariko and and Sir Daniel Fortesque join the fray

In this week’s batch of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale news, the killer fighter Nariko from Sony’s Heavenly Sword joins in the battle, while the less popular main character from Medieval, Sir Daniel Forresque, was also announced. Like I said many times before, it’s always good to hear new characters announced, and while some might scoff at the inclusion of Medieval anything, the series is definitely a good PS1 classic. And I’m all for the oldies. Like Crash. Where the hell is that guy, Sony?! (Source: PlayStation Blog)

Torchlight II will be out in just three weeks

Diablo-inspired PC dungeon crawler Torchlight II is coming out in less than a month for PC and Mac. I was a fan of the first game, mainly because it had solid gameplay modeled after Blizzard’s excellent demonic action RPG, plus it used a very healthy amount of color and lighting. Torchlight II will expand upon on that by adding more stuff to do, and finally adding multiplayer support (which honestly should have been there in the first place). While this game looks great, with the still somewhat recent release of Diablo III, are gamers even thinking about this game anymore? (Source: Kotaku)

Brand new Metal Gear Solid game continues the legacy of Solid Snake

Hideo Kojima has been a busy man, and you can add another notch to the developers belt with this weeks announcement of Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes. The game is being called an “Open-World MGS”, following series stalwart Solid Snake doing what he does best: sneaking around and stealthily killing people and doing shit. Not being a huge fan of the series it’s hard to understand where all the hype comes from, but the game looks absolutely stunning from the few visuals I’ve seen already. Here’s to another round of tactical espionage action! (Source: Machinima)

Lots of new games were announced this week:

Animal Crossing (3DS) is coming to North America.

Rhythm Hunter, a new game from the creators of Pokemon, seems interesting.

Sixth and final Professor Layton game will be coming next year in Japan.

All three Phoenix Wright games and Bastion are coming to iOS.

Borderlands 2 is getting 4 DLC packs, and a Season Pass to save cash.

Final Fantasy is getting a huge, epic 25th anniversary special edition.

PS Vita releases PlayStation Classic games to download

This isn’t really anything to get too excited about, but it did bring up an interesting thought to myself and a few buddies: What if Sony either makes a new handheld or transitions the Vita to become an emulation only system? By that I mean what if Sony created a handheld that solely played old PS1 and PS2 games, and maybe even select PS3, PSP, and original games as well? You’d still have to pay and download each title via the PlayStation Network, but I for one would jump at the idea of getting the entire catalog of PS1 and PS2 games available for instant download to take with me anywhere. If they marketed the device as such, it’d be a great way to get old gamers on board, and encourage newer gamers to experience some of the greatest video games every created. Wishful thinking perhaps… (Source: G4TV and my own thoughts)

Laters,
Jsick