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Report: Fire Emblem Awakening retail shipments delayed [Update: Nintendo responds]
Amazon is warning of a "potential shipping delay" for Fire Emblem: Awakening, and GameStop marks it "currently unavailable online" – despite today being the official release date for the 3DS strategy game. Best Buy also shows it as unavailable.Game Informer spoke to a few stores, and found Best Buys expecting copies on February 6, and GameStops expecting them on February 8. We've checked in with Nintendo for more information on the supply issues.In the meantime, there are no supply issues on the 3DS eShop, where Fire Emblem: Awakening launched this morning.Update: A Nintendo spokesperson provided the following statement to Joystiq: "Nintendo makes every effort to make sure its games and systems are available at retail stores nationwide on launch day. Sometimes, because of the variables of shipping, different retailers receive their shipments on different days. Fire Emblem Awakening can be purchased right now from the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS."
Why Toki Tori 2 was delayed
Two Tribes co-founder Collin van Ginkel revealed the motivations behind the last-minute delay of Toki Tori 2 today, also showing off a bit of the results in the form of before-and-after graphics (above). The team realized that with no publisher to worry about, there was no external pressure to get the game out by Christmas."Now we only had to let the others know," van Ginkel said, "and inform Nintendo that one of their Christmas games would not meet its deadline. Nintendo was amazing and said: 'That's tough for you guys, let us know when it's good enough!'"The improvements Two Tribes identified include graphics, performance, more testing time, and most importantly, flow. The game was designed with an open level structure allowing players to choose their own course between levels. "Sounds great, and it certainly has its benefits," van Ginkel said, "but it turned out to be a design nightmare. We had to find a way to accommodate novice players, as well as experienced puzzle game players. In the end it resulted in many question marks above the heads of our testers." Amusingly, the structure remains open in the final version, "but we don't advertise it as much anymore."
DayZ standalone version jacks up graphics, player customization
The race to a DayZ standalone version release is on, and creator Dean Hall is feeling excited and confident about the progress being made. Hall posted a list of improvements that the team is currently working on, from graphics to customization, and gave an update regarding the testing process. DayZ standalone's graphics are clearly improved from the ARMA II-modded version, and Hall includes side-by-side comparison photos of a town to show just how big of a difference the new engine makes. He said that the team is working on vehicle, character, and weapon customizations, although players will find that the real avatar customization will come while engaging in the game proper. One notable entry on Hall's list is the fact that the team is building the servers to be "MMO-like" so that hacking and cheating will be markedly more difficult. He also said that while external testers haven't been invited into the beta yet, this will happen once the full server/client architecture is completed.
ShootMania Storm delayed until April, open beta in February
Just a day before it was due out, Ubisoft is pushing back ShootMania Storm until April. The game's new release date is April 10, with an open beta scheduled from February 12 until launch.Developer Nadeo noted the additional time allows the studio to release the shooter/builder at an acceptable standard of quality."Nadeo's model of development has always been to be very close to the community, and following the release of the Beta 2 in December, we received a tremendous amount of information from the very active ShootMania community," said Nadeo Live managing director Anne Boudel-Jouin. "For a living, online multiplayer title like this the work is never done, but these extra few weeks will allow us to polish the game further and release it to the level of quality we think our players deserve."
DayZ standalone version should arrive by April
What everyone seems to be clamoring for these days is a standalone version of DayZ, the hit zombie survival game by Dean Hall. The creator opened up to Reddit on the progress of the version and his feelings on being confused for the maker of The War Z. Hall says that DayZ's standalone version should come out before April, although he allows for wiggle room if something comes up between now and then. The team is being cautious about pulling the trigger on testing, too: "Slowly we'll hand out the first keys and get a few servers running. Then we will reassess. It could go really well and we open up quickly, or it could go badly. Don't expect the tech test to be fun, or very pretty." Past the release of the standalone version, Hall said that he has plans to create a new map that centers around a western city. Hall also addressed his frustration at being confused with The War Z: "I am angry about The War Z. I'm very angry. I'm quite hurt personally because anyone can see how similar the words are, and while the average gamer knows the difference, individual people don't. I've had family members and close friends mistake the difference and confront me about what they believed was unethical behavior they thought I was making."
Painkiller Hell and Damnation delayed until April on consoles
Painkiller: Hell and Damnation was released on PC back in October, but Xbox 360 and PS3 owners are doomed to wait. Originally set for January 22, The Farm 51's remake of the original game will now be released on April 5. It'll be sold in both a "standard" edition for $29.99/29.99/24.99, and a "collector's" edition for $10 more."We have been working around the clock to bring the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game in line with the quality and standard of the PC game," Nordic Games Production and Business Development Manager Reinhard Pollice said in the announcement. "There has been a slight delay so that the console communities can enjoy the fiendishly ghoulish experience that we know they want and deserve."
Why DayZ isn't a standalone title yet
You may have noticed that it's no longer 2012. (If not: Hello and welcome to the world of tomorrow!) You may also have noticed that, despite all expectations to the contrary, a DayZ standalone game has not yet been released. That's because, according to creator Dean Hall, the dev team "had the chance to go from making a game that was just the mod improved slightly, packaged simply, and sold -- to actually redeveloping the engine and making the game the way [the team] dreamed it could be." The new plan is for a closed test of 500-1000 participants to happen in the near future, after which the internal release date will be adjusted as the team feels necessary. As the team has taken extra time to polish things up, a great deal has changed. Items have more complexity now -- picking up a shirt from a player who suffered from cholera may well get you infected, and shooting a player in the head in an attempt to get his night vision goggles may result in damage to the goggles themselves. The UI is being streamlined and simplified to be "straightforward and functional just like in Minecraft." Map redesign and refinement is being slowed down by the continued imprisonment of the team's lead architect.
ARMA 3 delayed into 2013
While two Bohemia Interactive team members remain in Greek jail on suspicion of espionage, Bohemia's ARMA 3 has been unsurprisingly delayed past its planned 2012 release. The new release window falls sometime within 2013, the developer revealed in a statement (available after the break).New project lead Joris-Jan van 't Land, who has replaced Daniel Musil, said that the studio is "in the process of implementing changes that will help us innovate as a studio under unexpected circumstances - facing problems we simply couldn't have imagined." Bohemia plans a "more complete announcement at the beginning of next year."
Two Tribes: Toki Tori 2 taking its time
Ornithological puzzle platformer Toki Tori 2 will not be ready for its December 20 debut on Wii U, developer Two Tribes announced today in an apologetic statement. "Toki Tori 2's a personal project for us," the statement notes. "It's the first game we've made without being tied to a license or publisher, it's something we're putting a lot of love in, and it's something that's just not good enough to be released yet."The developer is working to "fix the game's current weak spots, in all categories ranging from gameplay to graphics to technology." The new release date was not yet specified, but Two Tribes expects to release Toki Tori 2 "early in the new year."
Scribblenauts Unlimited not coming to Europe until 2013 [update]
Scribblenauts Unlimited won't reach Europe until next year, developer 5th Cell revealed this week. Posting on Twitter, the developer noted "2013" is the European window for both the Wii U and PC versions.With Unlimited being a Wii U launch arrival in North America, fans expected it to join the system in Europe on November 30. Posting on NeoGAF, 5th Cell CEO Jeremy Slaczka said the 2013 window for Europe is "due to things outside of development," and not related to localization issues.There's also confusion over the Australian release, with 5th Cell and publisher Warner Bros. apparently contradicting each other. According to 5th Cell, Unlimited is actually limited to North America until 2013. However, Level Up Times reports it's coming to Australia on November 28, according to a Warner Bros. representative. We've reached out to the publisher for clarification and will update if we hear anything.Update: A Warner Bros. representative tells us details on the European distribution of Scribblenauts Unlimited are coming soon.
Wii U's 'TVii' launching in December, video on demand (Netflix, etc) in 'coming weeks' [update]
Originally thought to be out at the system's launch, the Wii U's "TVii" feature is now slated for December. The TVii functionality, exclusive to the US and Canada, puts a TV program guide on the Wii U GamePad, and allows users to use the pad to view and control programming from cable and satellite, along with YouTube and popular video on demand services. Through the Wii U, TVii also allows commenting and sharing via Twitter, Facebook, and Miiverse.Speaking of those video on demand services, don't expect Amazon Instant Video, Hulu Plus, and Netflix to work on day one. Nintendo now says that those services will be available "in the coming weeks."[Thanks, Eric!]Update: Netflix tells Engadget that its service will be on Wii U "at launch," but won't be part of TVii until Q1 of next year.
PSN Wednesday: Black Ops Declassified, PS All-Stars pre-orders
Last night's PSN update arrived a bit late, so you may not have noticed what went up on the store. With that in mind, we thought it would be useful to show the highlights from yesterday's update, and link out to the full list, so your shopping is unaffected.PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is up for pre-order through the PS Store this week. The freemium version of SingStar is now downloadable, so you can try it out and decide if you want to fill your catalog with SingStore songs. And Tekken Tag Tournament 2 brings fighting dinosaurs, bears and cyborgs to PS3. In less happy news, the God of War Ascension beta is not on PSN as planned. If you have a voucher, don't redeem it yet!Meanwhile, the biggest release on Vita is Call of Duty Black Ops Declassified by default, but we're delighted to see a Vita version of Colors!, which began its life as a DS homebrew app before going to 3DS and now Vita officially. It's a drawing app that lets you save and share your work online.
Persona 4 Arena isn't taking the stage in Europe this year
Persona 4 Arena isn't coming to Europe this year, now leaving it without a release window. Zen United, the company distributing the fighter, announced the delay via the Persona 4 Europe Facebook page. Zen says it will announce a projected release date once it receives the EU build, but currently the distributor doesn't even know when that build will be ready.Europeans originally expected the game on August 31, in the same month as the North American launch. Following that delay and today's news, fans are now left uncertain when the game will actually be released. This further delay only adds to scrutiny over the decision to enforce the game's region lock, a decision Atlus claims it took to prevent the North American version 'cannibalizing' its Japanese counterpart. Maybe Atlus should've consulted Murphy's law before making Arena the first PS3 game to have such a constraint.The Persona 4 tie-in fighter may be beaten to European retail shelves by Vita re-release Golden. Publisher NIS America is projecting a tentative February 22 for the latter's release.
Surface pre-order deliveries delayed in the UK and Canada, Microsoft offers coupon for the inconvenience
We began hearing grumblings of delayed Surface deliveries in the very early hours of this morning, and it seems it's not an unlucky few that are suffering, but an unlucky many. There were reports of delays to shipments in the UK and Canada less than a week ago, but Microsoft was quick to dismiss the claims as an error and put minds at rest. Now, it seems, the white flag has been waved and blame acknowledged. Eager to appease disgruntled customers, the company is offering a £50 or $50 Canadian coupon (depending on your accent) to spend in the Windows Store as recompense. While it provides little relief to those who had a shut-in weekend planned, at least you can trick out your new toy when it finally arrives, at Microsoft's expense. And, if you've received neither a Surface nor a coupon, we suggest you reach out for the freebie -- if your fingers aren't hitting tiles, they might as well be hitting keys instead. [Thanks to Daniel and all others who sent this in]
PlayStation Store reboot misses UK launch, no new date provided
While the PlayStation Network Store makeover is now live in other countries across the PAL territory, technical problems with the UK launch forced Sony to remove the update and return the store back to its previous design. Speaking to Joystiq, Sony couldn't disclose a time frame for the new look to relaunch, instead stating it's hard at work trying to bring it back online as soon as possible.Sony also released an official statement: "The phased launch of the new PlayStation®Store has been temporarily postponed in some territories as teething issues related to the global roll-out of the Store are being addressed and resolved. It is really important to us that the best possible Store experience is delivered and we appreciate your patience as we resolve these matters. The new PlayStation®Store is now live in the following countries: Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, UAE, Kuwait , Qatar, India, Israel Poland, Turkey, Greece, Slovenia, Hungry and South Africa."The new-look PlayStation Store is expected to launch in North America on October 23.
Happy Wars currently missing from XBLM [Upate: Available now!]
Update: Happy Wars is now available on the Xbox Live Arcade and at Xbox.com.Today was supposed to be the launch day for Xbox Live's first free-to-play game, Happy Wars. However, the free-to-play revolution hasn't taken hold on Xbox yet, because the game isn't there. As of writing, the only Happy Wars content available on the Xbox Live Marketplace is a trailer; the game's entry on the Marketplace as accessed on the Xbox only gives you the option to "rate" it."I know the team is aware of the issue and actively working on it," Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb told Joystiq, promising to tweet an update when information is available. In the meantime, you'll have to find another cheerful skirmish on which to take out your frustrations.
Rayman Legends delayed to Q1 2013 worldwide
Rayman Legends was on track to be a launch release for the Wii U in Europe, but Ubisoft has moved it back to Q1 of 2013, which we suppose keeps it inside Nintendo's ridiculous six-month "launch window.""Rayman Legends will launch worldwide in the first quarter of 2013," Ubisoft told Videogamer. "We're happy that fans are excited about the game, and we are taking the time to make sure we deliver a game that lives up to and hopefully exceeds their expectations. We'll have more details to share soon."Being Ubisoft, the publisher still has a ton of games prepared for launch day in North America, including Assassin's Creed 3, ESPN Sports Connection, Just Dance 4, Rabbids Land, Your Shape, and ZombiU.
Zelnick: Take-Two didn't meet fiscal 2012 expectations because of delays
Take-Two Interactive didn't meet its revenue and profit goals for fiscal year 2012 because it delayed some games, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick admitted during a stockholder meeting today."This was primarily due to our decision to postpone the release of several titles in order to allow for additional development time," Zelnick said, without naming any specific games. "Although our commitment to quality may occasionally affect near-term results, we believe it's the right approach for maximizing revenue and profits over the long-term."Zelnick later mentioned BioShock Infinite, which was delayed to February 26, and Grand Theft Auto 5, which never had an official release date but was widely expected to launch some time in 2012. After all, Take-Two has a probable $600 million deficit in its 2013 outlook, expecting to earn $1.7 billion - $1.8 billion by March."Grand Theft Auto 5 is in full development and making substantial progress," Zelnick added.%Gallery-163291%
The Daily Grind: Should companies offer release schedules for updates?
If you've been following the news about The Secret World lately, you know that the game's second monthly update has now been delayed until next week, meaning that it's missing the "monthly" mark entirely. That's part of the development process; projects wind up taking more time than you expect. That's normal. But it does mean that the promise of "monthly content updates" isn't coming to fruition, and that promise may have been better off never being made in the first place. Lots of companies promise a certain rate of content delivery, and more often than not those targets get missed on a regular basis. Making the promise does serve a purpose, however, as it helps players know that the game's team is still hard at work. So are promises of update schedules a good thing? Or should studios stop saying that there will be a regular stream of updates when it so rarely comes to pass? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Isis' NFC mobile payments delayed past September target
Isis must have spoken too soon. Just days after the alliance committed to launching its mobile payment system in September, its marketing lead Jaymee Johnson has warned FierceMobileContent that the rollout won't make the promised summer target. The delay is portrayed as a collection of minor hiccups, although we're not bracing ourselves for a short wait: Isis plans to update us on the situation in October, and that suggests we won't be making NFC-based purchases on Isis any sooner. It's another disappointment for the future-is-now crowd hoping to leave cash behind -- not that Apple and Google will object to a rival's misstep.
