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Roundup: Wii and DS game release dates for 2010
Today's Nintendo Media Summit played host to a whirlwind dating game with quite a few players. If all the excitement got your heart thumping but left your head spinning, then you'll be relieved to find our list of matches -- each game paired with its release date (or release window ... or release season) -- posted just after the break. You're welcome!
Nintendo publishing Dragon Quest IX in North America
American DS owners have been waiting patiently for Dragon Quest IX, as the game racks up crazy sales in Japan and weekly DLC is released from Square Enix. Well ... we're going to have to keep waiting. While Nintendo didn't announce a date for the RPG at the Nintendo Media Summit today, the company announced that it will not only co-market Dragon Quest IX, it will publish it in North America. This is the first official confirmation of a localized release. Square Enix previously said that it would consider localizing DQIX in its next fiscal year (beginning in April). Update: Nintendo has scheduled Dragon Quest IX for a summer 2010 release. %Gallery-15248%
Super Meat Boy coming to XBLA before WiiWare, aiming for summer release
In this week's meat-related game news, Super Meat Boy devs "Team Meat" (a.k.a. Edmund McMillen and a few others) has confirmed the game's release for XBLA with the above screen via its Twitter account. The studio further confirmed the news to IGN, who also found out that the team is hoping for a summer release. According to the report, SMB will find his way into thousands of inglorious deaths on the Xbox 360 first, with WiiWare and PC/Mac support coming afterward. No PSN release was announced, but the team would say that it has the little meaty platformer up and running on a PlayStation 3 dev kit. The reason for the move is said to be at least in part due to the space restrictions enforced by Nintendo and Microsoft, with the latter offering more space and thus more options for extra content. Super Meat Boy is claimed to be "about half finished," with the game's developers hoping for a summer release, just in time for grill season. Talk about synergy! Source 1 - Super Meat Boy Twitter account Source 2 - IGN
Dragon Ball Origins 2 flying to DS on a cloud this summer
If, like us, you were surprised by how much fun Dragon Ball: Origins for DS was, prepare to be delighted once again. Namco Bandai announced that it is publishing Dragon Ball: Origins 2 in North America, with a summer release in mind. The sequel features the same kind of Phantom Hourglass-esque, stylus-controlled action, with the option to switch to buttons. This time, a two-player co-op mode is included, so Goku and a non-Goku friend can beat up the Red Ribbon Army over local wireless. The Japanese release also includes an emulated version of what we know as the NES's Dragon Power -- there's currently no word if that awful game will be a bonus in the American version. %Gallery-85949%
D3 serving God Eater to North America in Q3 2010
Namco Bandai's God Eater debuted to strong sales in Japan upon its release on February 4. Namco Bandai -- or rather, its subsidiary, D3 Publisher -- has wasted no time in announcing a localized version of the PSP action RPG. The Monster Hunter-like God Eater, targeted for a Q3 2010 release, puts players in control of "God Eaters," people fighting against the monsters that have overtaken the modern world. They do this with transforming magical weapons called Jinki -- giant weapons that become beast-like when powered up. While you wait for Q3 to arrive, why not try the game right now? You can download the Japanese demo from the game's website.
Medal of Honor, APB dated for Summer 2010
According to EA's list of upcoming titles in its latest earnings report, a couple of high-profile games are going to be released this summer between July 1 and September 30: Realtime Worlds' crime-themed MMO APB (which is likely to be the "major MMO" to whose spring release John Riccitiello referred to previously), and ... a "TBA" Medal of Honor title -- possibly the one with the beard. EA did say that game would be out before March 2011! The summer release is listed for consoles, PC and handhelds. Also due out in the quarter: the expected spate of annual sports franchises (Madden, FIFA, FIFA Online, NHL), a Monopoly game for consoles and handhelds, and a new MySims title -- we're guessing MySims Sky Heroes.
Video game release highlights for first half 2010
.nounderline a { text-decoration: none; } You know, we were having a heckuva time committing all the compelling first half retail releases of 2010 to memory, so then we thought, why not write them down? Bookmark this calendar to track your most anticipated games. Check back for updates -- and let us know what's on your radar in the comments section. (Time to crack open that piggy bank, eh?) Updated: May 14 January | February | March | April | May | June | Q3–Q4 | TBD
EA drops fiscal year outlook
Following its announcement of NBA Jam, EA sent out another press release that's likely to elicit a much more somber "boom-shaka-laka." The mega-pubisher adjusted its estimate for earnings for both its fiscal Q3 2010 (which ended on December 31) and the full fiscal 2010 (which ends March 31). It's ... not good news. EA reduced its net revenue for Q3 from $1.247 billion to $1.227 billion, and its fiscal 2010 expectations to between $3.6 billion and $3.675 billion, down from a range of $3.6 billion to $3.9 billion. The publisher attributed these losses to "weakness for EA and the overall packaged goods sector in Europe in December," as well as a shift in its product lineup toward lower-margin titles -- which, we assume, refers to products like the Rock Band line, which have big boxes and big music licensing payouts.
Mafia 2 coming before July 31, 2010
During the always thrilling Take-Two Interactive quarterly investors call this afternoon, the ever-elusive Mafia 2 received an almost, kinda sorta release date: Q3 2010. When applying Take-Two's Q3 dates to the Gregorian calendar that most folks on this planet use, we can infer that the game will arrive somewhere between May 1 and July 31. This isn't to say that the title is a shoe-in for release, though, with company CEO Strauss Zelnick saying the game is "scheduled to fall in our third quarter." Remember when Max Payne 3 was scheduled for release in Winter of 2009? Exactly. %Gallery-6189%
Samsung expecting OLED laptops in Q3 2010
It'd be about a year late according to an earlier roadmap, but Samsung at IFA this week proclaimed its intention to adopt OLED for its laptop lineup as soon as the screens are commercially available -- "probably sometime Q3 next year" said Kyu Uhm, head of Worldwide Sales and Marketing for the company's Computing Division. Unfortunately, the company was mum on any other details. We doubt it'll look much like its 2008 prototype, but we can dream, can't we? [Via OLED-Info]
