Q2-2012
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Apple's Q2 2012 earnings call scheduled for April 24
Apple confirmed on its investor website that it will disclose its Q2 2012 financial results on Tuesday, April 24 at 2:00 pm PT (5:00 pm ET). Just like it has done in the past, Apple will provide an audio webcast of the earnings conference call.
Two hearts collide in Bug Princess 2 for iOS next week
Cave's iPhone ports are always of a high quality, to the point that it's kind of unsettling to see so much craziness happening on your phone's little screen. They're also populous -- and to that point, here's news of another one.Cave will release a port of the 2006 arcade sequel Mushihimesama Futari to the App Store on April 5. In keeping with its no-nonsense (or no crazy Japanese titles, which is equivalent to nonsense for many of us) iOS naming policy, it's called "Bug Princess 2." Easy!The game will be available for a promotional price of $4.99 for 4 days; it'll be $6.99 after that.
Anomaly: Warzone Earth comes to the warzone of XBLA April 6
Anomaly: Warzone Earth, the "reverse tower defense" game of disabling defenses around alien spacecraft (and the game with the most "three random nouns stuck together" title since Sniper: Ghost Warrior) is heading to XBLA on April 6, perfectly situated within the announced "spring" release window. It'll cost 800 Microsoft Points ($10), itself an anomaly in a sea of $15 games.Speaking of anomalies, check out the trailer above, released in honor of the XBLA release date announcement.
Binary Domain called to PC in April
The set of platforms on which you can play Binary Domain will soon no longer be ... an area composed only of two things. Sega announced today that Binary Domain is coming to the PC in North America and Europe this April."As well as the excitement generated by Binary Domain in the console press we were seeing increasing numbers of players asking for a PC version," said Sega's SVP of Marketing Gary Knight. "So we listened and we delivered." Of course, being a PC game, it's being released both retail and digitally -- Steam puts an April 6 date on its version, which comes with some totally '80s ninja costumes.
Resident Evil Chronicles HD Collection comes to PSN in June
Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and Darkside Chronicles, the two Wii rail-shooter retellings of Resident Evil events, will be re-released for PS3 this June in North America and Europe. It's being released as a single collection at first, called the Resident Evil: Chronicles HD Collection. but you'll have the option to buy separately later.The PSN-only release will come with optional Move compatibility, allowing the same point-and-shoot gameplay found in the Wii games -- but, like, in HD, with trophies this time. In any case, there is a bit of new Resident Evil storyline in these two games, so good luck making sense of the whole series if you haven't played it. Really, good luck making sense of it even if you have.%Gallery-150642%
PS Minis' 'Idiot Squad' mashes up Chu Chu Rocket, strategy, and sheep
Football-player sheep destroy obstacles in front of them. Ninja sheep jump over obstacles, and gunner sheep have projectiles. With those rules in mind, you must guide your woolly charges to the ewes they've come to rescue.Idiot Squad by Hydravision, a new PS Mini coming March 27 in North America and March 28 in Europe, seems designed for anyone but idiots. Your three classes of sheep soldier must be directed around grid-based puzzles using a limited selection of arrow items, much like the puzzles in Sega's classic Chu Chu Rocket. But way more complicated! Can anyone's brain handle that?%Gallery-150577%
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%
Sorcery lighting up PlayStation Move on May 22
Your PlayStation Move, it's so ... lonely. Just the loneliest. It could really use a new, original game every now and then. Sony's about to provide one with the May 22 launch of Sorcery. We weren't in love with the game when we last checked it out, but we hope some more magic has been injected since then.
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%
Diabolical Pitch crosses home plate April 4
April 4 marks the beginning of the Kinect combat baseball season. Major Nelson revealed that Diabolical Pitch, Grasshopper Manufacture's damned freaky Kinect game, will be out on that day.There's no more new info, as it was just a blurb in a roundup of news from Microsoft's recent press event, but no amount of explanation would make that game make sense anyway.
Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor available June 19
Capcom's Kinect-controlled Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor marches onto the battlefield on June 19 and June 22 in North America and Europe, respectively.We'll have a preview of latest build for the Vertical Tank (VT) simulator a little later today.
Vita's Gravity Rush drops in North America June 12
Neither Sony, with its initial "launch window" estimate, nor retailers, with late May targets, were quite right about Gravity Rush's North American release date. The publisher revealed the real date for the action game on the PlayStation Blog today: June 12 -- just over four months after the Japanese release.While you wait for your chance to fling yourself around a stylized city, constantly reorienting the pull of gravity, we suggest watching this new trailer. Despite the claims it makes, we've heard nothing about the game's ability to give you supernatural apple powers.
Xperia U, HTC One X and One S coming to Orange UK
Orange, the only cellular network that's also one of your five-a-day has announced that it'll be releasing Sony's Xperia U, HTC One X and One S to smartphone demanding Britons in the second quarter of the year. Depending on your point of view, it's either fantastic or terrible that the network bagged the white edition of Sony's handset as an exclusive, but it's going to tempt some of you to the citrus-side of the force. There's no word on pricing, but we'd expect them to cost something we've heard called "money." While you wait for them to arrive, why not decide on which handset you'd rather purchase by reading our splendid hands-ons with each of the handsets? Xperia U / One X / One S.
Xenoblade Chronicles arrives on April 6 wrapped in this gorgeous box art
According to Nintendo of America head Reggie Fils-Aime himself, Xenoblade Chronicles will finally arrive in North America on April 6. Wait, but didn't that game already come out, like, two other times? Yes, friend, it totally did. First, in Japan on June 10, 2010 as just "Xenoblade," then in Europe once more on August 19, 2011 with its current name. The April 6, 2012 North American launch will mark its third such launch. But hey, check out that incredible box art!The game's tumultuous journey from Japanese exclusivity to worldwide release has been a point of contention for classic console JRPG fans. After a group formed online named "Operation Rainfall," various loud messages were voiced to Nintendo about a trio of JRPGs that were at the time unannounced for North America (The Last Story, Xenoblade Chronicles, and Pandora's Tower). All three titles have since been announced for release (or released) in other regions, though Pandora's Tower is still not planned for a US release.Of course, you could've been playing Xenoblade Chronicles all along by using our handy guide to making the EU version work on your North American Wii. But then you already knew that, right?
Retro City Rampage running wild on Xbox, Wii, PS3, Vita, and PC in May
Vblank Entertainment's long-awaited, open-world 8-bit parody crime game, Retro City Rampage, will finally be let loose in May, creator Brian Provinciano told Joystiq. It'll be rampaging across a few new platforms -- in addition to the known XBLA and WiiWare versions, Provinciano announced plans on the PlayStation Blog to release the game on PS3 and PlayStation Vita, and shared plans on his own site to release it PC. He's aiming for a simultaneous May release for them all.In fact, you can pre-order that PC version right now at retrocityrampage.com, and get bonuses including a mini soundtrack download, a digital manual and 20% off of Fangamer's Retro City Rampage collection*.And yes, Provinciano is still making all of these versions pretty much on his own. "Maxime [Trépanier]'s been doing art and the music guys are still doing some polish but I'm still juggling everything else myself," Provinciano told Joystiq. Add publishing to that list of duties as well. "I'm self publishing on PlayStation," Provinciano said. "Sony's fantastic that they allow you to do that."Once this epic undertaking is finally completed, Provinciano hopes to take on something smaller-scale. "I've got many ideas and definitely want to do more open-world games," he said, "but right after RCR I will take a breather and work on something small and different. Hopefully something that takes maybe eight weeks instead of eight years."%Gallery-148026%[*Disclosure: I have worked with Fangamer on a currently available product.]
Fallout 3 and Oblivion unite in double pack on April 3
Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion invite you to participate in their joyous union on April 3 in North America. Bethesda's double pack will feature the standard edition of both games, at $29.99 for Xbox 360 or $19.99 for PC.Bethesda isn't allowed to release the double pack on PS3, Pete Hines told Joystiq. "We will continue to work to try to change that, but at present it is still not approved," he said. "We would like to release a PS3 version a well."Seeing as Fallout 3 launched in 2008 and Oblivion in 2006, it's about time they settled down, found a partner and relinquished their previous $60 lifestyle. Of course the age gap may upset a few people since two years is, like, 80 years in video game time, but they'll get over it. While they're buying the double pack, probably.
Darksiders 2 rides into retail on June 26
THQ is doing all it can to keep Death away from its door, so it's hoping you'll welcome him into your home on June 26. The official Darksiders Twitter account recently revealed Darksiders 2's launch date. The company had previously only forewarned of the Grim Reaper approaching in June.%Gallery-145524%
Pandora's Tower coming to Europe in April, enjoy gross Valentine's Day cards now
Pandora's Tower is the next European Wii RPG release for us all to be jealous of. Following this month's The Last Story, Pandora's Tower will arrive in Europe on April 13, ensuring an oddly impressive 2012 Wii lineup for the region.Pandora's Tower is an action-RPG game in which soldier "Aeron" traverses a series of towers to gather monster meat with his magical sword and chain, and then feeds the aforementioned flesh to his cursed friend Elena. Yikes.Speaking of "yikes," Nintendo chose to mark the announcement with a set of grotesque Pandora's Tower-themed Valentine e-cards. You can view them in the gallery or download them from Nintendo, for any relationships you need to end.%Gallery-147423%
Not a Jedi trick: Kinect Star Wars and console bundle coming in April
After missing the exhaust port its planned holiday launch, Kinect Star Wars and the Star Wars Xbox 360 console bundle have settled on a new release date. The game and console bundle will now launch on April 3. The bundle features a console and Kinect unit in the style of everyone's favorite droid, R2-D2, a C-3PO styled controller and a copy of Kinect Star Wars. It will retail for $450.Alongside the news, Microsoft has also released some new screens of Kinect Star Wars. Said shots include images of the dance mode revealed by the ESRB, entitled "Galactic Dance Off." We considered writing something funny about it, but then we saw the above screen shot and the words just left.Finally, a handful of AMC theaters in the US and Canada will host special screenings of the "new" 3D version of Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, during which moviegoers can try out Kinect Star Wars. Visit the official site for more details.%Gallery-146706%
Join the riverside community of ... Riverspring in Game of Thrones on May 15
Are you ready to brood like you've never brooded before this coming spring? Cyanide Studio and Atlus are banking on that possibility, announcing a May 15 launch date for the upcoming Game of Thrones RPG for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.Beyond the launch date, a handful of new media was handed over to sate fans in the three months between now and mid-May. If you're looking for an early taste at some serious brooding, look no further!%Gallery-146250%
