Q3-2012
Latest
Sleeping Dogs awaken on August 14; pre-order bonuses defined
Hong Kong-based action game Sleeping Dogs will launch at retail on August 14. Publisher Square Enix announced the game's launch date this morning alongside news of three separate pre-order bonuses tied to three separate retailers: Best Buy, GameStop, and Amazon.Should you choose to go the brick-and-mortar route, Best Buy is offering the "Georges St. Pierre Pack," which features a trio of GSP-related gear and moves (his "signature flying punch," for instance). GameStop is similarly offering a slew of in-game content, dubbed the "Police Protection Pack. As you might imagine, it comes with a variety of police officer-themed gear. Finally, Amazon has the "Martial Arts Pack," which ... well ... you get it at this point, right? For full listings of all the gear, head past the break.Oh, and if you're a PC gamer wondering what your fancy pre-order bonus is, know that Square Enix hasn't forgotten about you: "Exclusive content for the digitally downloadable PC version of Sleeping Dogs will be announced at a later date," the press release reads.
'Pokemon Conquest' brings Nobunaga's Ambition stateside on June 18
Yes, that's a factual headline above: Nintendo is publishing the bizarre crossover of Pokemon Plus Nobunaga's Ambition in the US as "Pokemon Conquest" for the Nintendo DS. And yes, you also read that right -- Pokemon Conquest marks the second Pokemon game heading to the DS in 2012 rather than the 3DS (Pokemon Black/White Version 2 being the other).Unlike main series Pokemon games, Tecmo Koei handled development rather than Game Freak. Conquest is also a 2D adventure set in the world of Ransei, where players inhabit "a young warlord who is linked with a Pokemon." Pokemon Conquest arrives on June 18.%Gallery-152208%
Ubisoft dates Rocksmith for UK despite trademark issue
Ubisoft has issued a September 14 release date for its guitar teaching program Rocksmith in the UK. There's a small problem with that: Ubisoft hasn't actually cleared the trademark dispute that pushed the game into 2012 in the first place. "No agreement/deal has been reached and no meaningful dialogue engaged," Kris Ford, percussionist for the band Rocksmith, told Eurogamer.Ford said the release date announcement was "interesting but no surprise." Proceedings with the European trademark office are expected to continue through June. Giving a date to the game is "a bit presumptive to say the least, as to the outcome of that process and decision." He admitted that Ubisoft could just launch the game as it did in the US, "which will mean the start of a different kind of legal battle in the UK courts." Ford then went on to hope for "another English victory" close to the anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt. Really.
Bellator MMA Onslaught brings arcade-style grappling to XBLA and PSN
During GDC, Deadliest Warrior publisher 345 Games showed off its latest licensed project, a mixed martial arts game based on the "Bellator" MMA organization, which can be seen on 345 partner Spike TV. 345 informed me that the major hook of Bellator is that fighters advance through single-elimination tournaments rather than having bouts chosen.In general, however, the idea is that you don't have to be a person who knows the nuances of MMA organizations, or an armchair MMA strategist, to understand the gameplay of Bellator MMA Onslaught, as it's designed with simplicity and pick-up-and-play qualities in mind.In the demo I saw, punches and kicks were mapped to one button each (left and right punch, left and right kick), and grappling maneuvers are mapped to the right stick, allowing you to reach out and then push the right stick in different directions to perform different holds, attempt to get out from a hold, etc. -- the technical stuff of MMA fighting, turned into a simple mechanic.The version I played was considered early -- the TV-style UI was not yet present, and developer Kung Fu Factory and 345 had yet to even decide on all the mechanics to be included. The final game is due this summer.%Gallery-150468%
Battlefield 3: Close Quarters announced for June, two more packs incoming
Battlefield 3: Close Quarters, the first major paid piece of DLC for the game since last December's "Back to Karkand," is coming this June. The expansion includes four maps, 10 weapons and no vehicles -- it's about close quarters, after all.There will be two more expansions for the game following the June expansion. "Armored Kill" will focus on additional weapons, larger maps, and new drivable vehicles. The second pack, called "End Game," features cover art depicting a lunatic holding a knife. That's the extent of what we know about that one so far.The news of this expansion comes at a critical time. Frustrations in the Battlefield 3 community has been bubbling into potential action, and EA has maintained radio silence until now.
Epic Games China bringing Mercenary Ops exclusively to NA/EU computers this summer
There's a whole group of folks at Epic Games China and they're working hard on the first big title from Epic Games' eastern subsidiary. The game, Mercenary Ops, is a ... somewhat derivative third-person shooter built in Unreal Engine 3, which uses cover, blind fire, and active reloading mechanics (from the Gears of War franchise) as main gameplay concepts. Given the "mercenary dudes" setting, the combination of Gears gameplay and bro'd out characters gives it a Gears of War meets Call of Duty feeling, as we discovered during a brief hands-on session today at GDC 2012. So ... yeah, perfectly competent, but not the most original.Perhaps more interesting, the game isn't being published by EGC's American parent company, but instead a brand new North American publisher named Delkans. And what in the world is Delkans? That's a good question -- one that company reps weren't willing to supply an answer for when repeatedly asked during our meeting today. Apparently the publisher is made up of folks from the tech industry, though that's all we could pull out of reps.Mercenary Ops is planned for a summer 2012 launch in North America and Europe, with Asian markets potentially following (Delkans isn't talking solid plans just yet).%Gallery-149855%
Inversion flipping out in North America on June 5, June 8 in Europe
Perhaps we should send out Joystiq-themed calendars to game publishers with clear explanations of when seasons begin and end, and maybe a note with the definition of "early" and "late." Despite Namco telling us back in late January that Inversion would arrive in "early 2012" (it was the 24th, so it was actually late in the month), it looks like the game isn't arriving until early June (as in "the fifth and the eighth for North America and Europe, respectively, which isn't even remotely in "early 2012").Namco said the extra time in the oven will give Saber Interactive "the opportunity to create an enjoyable and engaging third-person shooter experience with a comprehensive multiplayer component." We had just assumed that the graphics needed tightening on level three or something, but then that's why we're not game devs, eh?
Street Fighter X Tekken out on Vita this fall with 12 more characters
The Vita version of Street Fighter X Tekken will be the most populous of all. In addition to the PS3/Vita-exclusive Pac-Man, Mega Man, Cole, Toro, and Kuro, Capcom announced twelve extra characters on Vita as part of its Street Fighter 25th Anniversary celebration. The portable fighter will have exclusive access to Street Fighter's Elena, Guy, Cody, Sakura, Dudley and Blanka, and Tekken's Alisa, Christie, Jack, Brian, Lars and Lei.There may yet be time for these new fighters to show up in the console game: Capcom said that the Vita version would be released in the fall. That gives the publisher plenty of time to release the characters as console DLC. In any case, where's our tiny arcade stick?
Barnes & Noble 2012 Q3 Report: loss-making Nook generates sales, tears
It's that time of the year when Barnes & Noble's accountants reveal the figures for the quarter to determine if the age of print is over. Turns out there's some good news for bookseller. Overall sales for the chain increased five percent: the company took $2.4 billion through the cash registers. That was split $1.49 billion (up two percent) in high-street retail, online sales took $420 million (up 32 percent year-on-year) and the Nook in all its forms and glories took $542 million (up 38 percent). The only grey cloud was that sales in college-only stores dropped three percent, thanks in part to renting textbooks to impecunious freshmen. They're probably all using that money on buying digital content on their Nooks: digital content purchases increased by 85 percent in a single quarter. Like rival Amazon, it wouldn't release how many devices were sold, except to say it likely maintained its market share. However, all of that (pretty) good news is a bit of a smokescreen: B&N won't reveal its profits after interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization has been deducted. Pre ITDA income dropped 12 percent from the same period in 2011 and the company has revealed that the BN.com and Nook businesses made a combined loss of $94 million, with annual income looking to be in negative figures. Update: A tidbit from the conference call, the company believes the device currently holds around 30 percent of the overall e-reader market: using numbers direct from the publishers themselves.
Spec Ops: The Line drawn into retail on June 26
Spec Ops: The Line has been pushed back and previewed across several years, but now we finally know it'll cross the finish line come June 26. Take-Two revealed as much this morning in a PR missive which also detailed the "Premium Edition" of the third-person shooter. It will feature a variety of multiplayer bonus content to folks who pre-order the game from "participating retailers" (none are listed, but we're thinking places like GameStop and Amazon are fair bets).Perhaps "Premium Edition" doesn't sound militaristic enough for you? Thankfully, Take-Two totally thought of that, which is why part the premium edition gives access to the "FUBAR pack," containing various multiplayer customization options ("unique and visually distinct items). Additionally, premium content includes an AK-47 unlock and an Officer Class promotion (which confers "several team-based advantages") at rank one, as well as double XP for the first week of online play.2K Games producer Denby Grace openly calls out the unbalance in this pre-order scheme, saying "People who pre-order the game are going to have an immediate advantage in the multiplayer mode." G ... great?
FarCry 3 coming September 6 (in Europe) according to German trailer [update: now in English!]
Are you ready to wub wub wub with Jason Brody as he murders dozens (hundreds?) of island natives after ending up in the wrong place at the wrong time during the events of Far Cry 3? Oh, not ready yet? Well that's good, actually, as the game won't be available until September 6 in Europe (September 4 for North Americans) according to a new, dubstep-heavy trailer for the game leaked out of Germany via All Games Beta.The game had previously been pegged with an extremely vague "2012" launch window, but the trailer -- which popped up before a planned Ubisoft quarterly financial call later today -- pins September 6 to the game and, unsurprisingly, suggests we get pre-ordering.In other news, we're feeling way, way less sorry for Far Cry 3 protagonist Jason Brody after watching this latest trailer. It's never a good idea to go exploring unmapped islands, not to mention ones where you almost immediately find automatic weapons just sitting around. Use your brain, Brody!Update: Ubisoft had the leaked trailer removed from YouTube, but we snagged a pic of the release date splash screen before it got removed. Sorry, y'all! We've reached out to Ubi for more info on the trailer and the game's worldwide release dates.Update 2: The US version of the trailer is now live, once more confirming the release date of September 4 in North America and September 6 in Europe.
Namco Bandai profits up in Q3 2012, as are year-end projections
Namco Bandai's financial statement for the third quarter of fiscal 2012 has been released, and while the report contains a lot of tables and numbers and figures, it actually has very few pictures, which was a problem for our exceedingly limited attention spans. We did our best, though, and after concentrating really hard and taking our Adult ADD medication, we were able to produce actual, honest-to-goodness business information.For instance! For the 9 month period ending on December 31, 2011, Namco Bandai reports a net income (which is the amount of earned money left over after all operating expenses and taxes) of ¥16.3 billion, or about $210 million, which is a 34.3 percent increase over the same period last year.The company predicts an additional ¥2.19 billion ($28.3 million) in net income over the course of Q4, (which runs from January 1 to March 31, 2012), wrapping up fiscal 2012 to the tune of ¥18.5 billion ($238.4 million) in net profit over the course of the fiscal year. Provided these predictions stand the test of time, Namco Bandai's performance in fiscal 2012 will be a 90 percent increase over its performance in fiscal 2011.Whew! Now if you'll excuse us, we have cat videos to watch.
Konami net income up 77 percent year-over-year
We're still a couple of months away from the end of fiscal 2012, but the first 9 months of the confusingly offset financial season have treated Konami extremely well: The company reports a 77.3 percent year-over-year increase in net income over fiscal 2011, earning profits of ¥17.05 billion ($224 million) for the period.Most of that, however, was pushed by Konami's social networking devision, which operates mobile/casual games in Japanese markets and posted revenues of $348 million, up from $127 million over the same period last year. The company's "consumer games" segment fell year-over-year, from $698 million in fiscal 2011 to $465 million in fiscal 2012. Konami has also adjusted its predictions for the end fiscal 2012, anticipating overall revenue at $3.38 billion and net income at $298 million.
Panasonic 2012 Q3: $9 billion loss, Sanyo writedowns, restructuring
Panasonic's released its 2012 quarterly report (its financial year runs from summer to summer) and concedes it's been as bad for them as it was for Sony and Sharp. It's blaming the Japanese Earthquake for damaging its supply chain, a strong yen for keeping prices high, plus having to write-down the costs for its acquisition of Sanyo. The company's promising to restructure (in the face of stern competition from Samsung and LG) to become a "green innovation" business as well as to streamline its operating costs. It's predicting a quarterly loss of $9.2 billion as it takes the hit for this turmoil, and it doesn't look like things will improve with an anticipated further loss of another $2 billion at the end of the (financial) year.
Take-Two Q3 financials down year-over-year, still within predictions
Take-Two Interactive has released its financial figures for the third quarter of fiscal 2012, which ended on December 31, 2011. While "in line" with the publisher's predictions, results are down when compared year-over-year to the same period in fiscal 2011.During Q3 2012, Take-Two's net revenue of $236.3 million was $97.7 million less than its net revenue of $334.3 million in Q3 2011. Operational income for the period was $14.2 million, down $22.6 million from the same quarter last fiscal year. Take-Two attributes this disparity to the fact that fiscal 2011 benefitted from the launch of Red Dead Redemption and its Undead Nightmare DLC more so than fiscal 2012 was able to.When looking at the entirety of Take-Two's fiscal 2012 performance so far, the downward year-over-year trend continues with an overall net revenue of $677.7 million (compared to 2011's $954.6 million), and an operating loss of $76.2 million (compared to 2011's operating income of $76.2 million).The company has also adjusted its outlook on Q4 in response to moving Max Payne 3's release date into the first quarter of fiscal 2013. It now expects net revenue for the period ending on March 31, 2012 to land between $112 million and $162 million, with its prediction for all of 2012 adjusted accordingly to a range of $790 million to $840 million.
Darksiders 2 steps out of the shadows this June
Darksiders 2 is scheduled to launch in June 2012, THQ's Q3 fiscal report reveals. It lists the ambitious action-adventure game for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Darksiders 2 is coming to Wii U as well, although Nintendo's platform isn't set to drop until the "year-end season."
Trials Evolution now on track for spring 2012 launch
Trials Evolution is creeping one wheelie flip closer to launch with today's announcement of a "spring 2012" launch window. More exciting than an ambiguous window of four months? The latest trailer which reveals said launch, which showcases the game's surprisingly malleable track editor.Beyond making crazy tracks to challenge your best friends (and worst enemies -- it is Trials, after all) through Xbox Live, players will be able to create crazy looking first-person shooters and Spy Hunter-esque top down fare. And while that's all plenty thrilling, we're most interested in having an unlimited supply of crazy racetracks to obsess over. Finally, a reason to never stop playing Trials!%Gallery-146251%
EA sees $205 million net loss in Q3, rise in social-games users
EA recorded a net loss of $205 million, but its highest operating cash flow in 31 quarters for the fiscal third quarter ending December 31, 2011. In Q3 2011, EA generated $1.06 billion in net revenue, which is up from the previous Q3, with a net revenue of $1.05 billion. EA's cash flow from operations is recorded at $475 million.EA's Battlefield 3 and FIFA 12 have each sold more than 10 million units, while Madden 12 sold almost 5 million. PopCap, which EA acquired in August, grew revenue 30 percent on a trailing 12-month basis, and its monthly active users for social games rose to 52 million, up from 39 million the previous year.
5th Cell's third-person ceiling shooter Hybrid arrives this summer
After pushing back its crazy shooter concept, Hybrid, to a 2012 launch window, Scrriblenauts dev 5th Cell is once more ready to talk about the forthcoming Xbox Live Arcade game. First things first: Hybrid is now scheduled for a summer 2012 launch window. Hooray!Moreover, 5th Cell is promising a variety of major updates as a result of the delay time. Said promises include locking the shooter's framerate at 60FPS, a redesigned look, and a new twist on the in-air movement. Take a look at the improvements with the latest media straight from 5th Cell, above and below.%Gallery-146069%
Logitech's Q3 2012 report confirms Revue is sold out, Harmony remote refresh 'in the coming months'
Logitech's Q3 earnings for the 2012 fiscal year don't have many surprises since the company already revealed it was dropping out of the Google TV team. In prepared remarks, company management confirmed it is completely sold out of new units, closing the door on any users still trying to nab a $99 Revue (who shouldn't be too heartbroken, since Vizio is promising a second gen unit is on the way at the same price). There is promise however, if you're looking for a new Harmony remote model, while interim CEO Guerrino De Luca says the company is late in providing a successor to the best selling Harmony One and other models, resulting in a 30 percent drop in sales, it plans to strengthen the lineup "in the coming months." In other segments, it's seeing growth in those iPad accessory keyboards, for more details check the press release embedded after the break or in the PDFs linked below.
