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It's official: Motorola pushes up Atrix 4G launch to Feb. 22
And there you have it, kids: the rumored in-store date for the Atrix 4G has become a reality, with pre-orders shipping on February 21 and handsets finding their giddy new owners as soon as February 22.
Motorola pushes up Atrix 4G launch to Feb. 22, shoves Xoom pre-sales back to Feb. 20th?
The best laid plans of Motorola may be in disarray, as we hear the device manufacturer is shuffling release dates for its hottest new Android devices. Supposedly, AT&T customer service reps are getting the above message in their inbox, which suggests the modular Atrix 4G smartphone may arrive more than a week earlier than planned, while a Best Buy memo (image after the break) pegs Xoom tablet pre-sales for February 20th, three days after the date originally communicated. Still, we haven't heard anything to suggest that the Xoom won't be 100 percent ready for purchase on February 24th, so you should be just fine saving your eight Benjamins for then. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
LG says it will mass produce large OLED panels by 2013, aims for market domination
LG has plucked our heart strings once again by announcing on its Q4 earnings call that its mass production of large OLED panels will ramp up at the end of 2013. In other words, the schedule it laid out a little less than a year ago to triple OLED production via a $226 million facility expansion is still on track -- which is pretty amazing given that other OLED schedules we've seen have been 90 percent fantasy and 10 percent hype. On the same call, vice president of LG Display Jung Ho also took the opportunity to share the company's goal of becoming the market leader in OLED TV. Considering LG has already announced plans to release a 31-inch 3D OLED set in the US and Europe this year with a 55-inch prototype following in 2012 -- it seems Samsung may now have a real fight on its hands for OLED dominance that it can't dance its way out of. No matter who wins, though, the possibility of ultra-thin TVs gracing our walls is definitely getting brighter.
SOE's Smedley says MMO copycats incoming, drops hints on PlanetSide Next release
Big things are happening at SOE these days, and whether you're talking about the newly minted DC Universe Online or the company's PlanetSide followup and spy-centric The Agency, it's an exciting time to be a fan. Eurogamer brings us a bit of info regarding potential release windows for both PlanetSide Next and The Agency, and the former looks to be gracing our desktops much sooner than we expected given the general lack of information to date. "We're looking at late first quarter, early second quarter [2011]," says SOE head honcho John Smedley in regard to the long-awaited PlanetSide sequel. Players will have to wait a bit longer to get their espionage fix, as The Agency is still slated to arrive "late this year." Why so long? It boils down to SOE's desire to differentiate itself from the competition. "There's some stuff coming out in the next two or three months, MMO-wise, and a lot of it is generic copycats of other games," Smedley tells Eurogamer. He also talks a bit about the impending arrival of Free Realms on the Playstation 3, intimating that the free-to-play title will spread its console wings in early February.
HTC EVO Shift 4G (Knight / Speedy) gets leaked picture, January 9th release date?
We'll warn you that we have nothing but the word of an alleged Sprint employee that this is the real deal, but we don't know what else it could be -- if it walks like a duck and quacks like an EVO with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, we're inclined to believe it's the HTC EVO Shift 4G. Factor in the noticeable lack of front-facing camera, silver trackpad and those throwback flat keys, and we're even willing to forgive those hastily penciled watermarks on the keyboard and on top of the clearly 'shopped screen. Even if this shot is legit, we haven't seen the full device yet -- it sure looks like this Knight is wearing a suit of plastic armor around the edges. In possibly related news, Android Central nabbed an alleged screenshot of a Sprint database showing an "HTC A7373" handset coming to Sprint on January 9th, and while one Russian e-tailer seems to think that codename refers to the GSM-friendly Desire Z, we have to imagine a Knight / Speedy / EVO Shift release is far more likely than a T-Mobile G2 redux on Sprint's CDMA frequencies. Update: Just to be clear, there are a few things about this image that irk us, not least of which that pasted-on screen. We're inclined to think this might be a dummy unit that was touched up to look like a real phone.
CCP delaying Incursion to ensure excellence
With the Sansha set to descend on EVE Online en masse, a new character creator that is the precursor to Incarna (when all will be blessed with feet), and a plethora of other goodies large and small, Incursion has been garnering a lot of attention from both active and retired capsuleers. According to a dev blog posted today by EVE's Senior Producer, CCP Zulu, the company has made a tough decision about the release date for its eagerly anticipated expansion. Rather than push it out with potential bugs and issues, CCP is opting to split up Incursion into a three-part deployment. The important part is that by doing so, CCP expects to be able to give each particular chunk of the expansion the time it needs to be "excellent." The first chunk, which will release on November 30th, offers a host of requested and needed tweaks. While CCP isn't willing to confirm the exact list of features at this time, the list of potentials is expansive, including changes to rockets, T2 ammo, 80 new storyline missions, faction ships' addition to the market, and more. From there, the second patch will be released in December and will contain wonders that "only Santa knows." January 2011 is when the company plans to release the third chunk, which should deliver Incursion's new character creation tool to the masses. If you're curious about more details on the reasons for the change in deployment dates as well as a bigger listing of all the things to come, pop on over to the EVE Online site and check out the devblog.
Windows 8 about two years away, according to Microsoft Netherlands
When will Microsoft bring Windows 8 to market? 2012's looking like a safe bet -- not only was it slated for that date in an allegedly leaked product roadmap, but Microsoft Netherlands hints that the OS is just two years away. Buried at the bottom of a press release celebrating the first birthday of Windows 7, you'll find the above Dutch phrase, which Google Translate returns as "Furthermore, Microsoft is of course the next version of Windows. But it will take about two years before "Windows 8" on the market." There are certainly plenty of reasons why Microsoft's riskiest product bet might not hit its target date, but the machine translation seems clear. Here's hoping the OS will ship with some suitably futuristic hardware.
Microsoft prepping Windows Phone 7 for an October 21st launch? (update: US on Nov. 8?)
We'd heard October. We heard Europe in October. We heard next month. Now, Neowin cites anonymous sources that Windows Phone 7 will arrive in the UK, France, Spain, Germany and Italy on precisely October 21st, and is preparing a good deal of marketing fanfare to support a fancy October 11th unveiling in New York City. We can't say whether the rumor's correct, but it's certainly picking up steam, as these particular numbers were independently reported by Pocket-lint and the Spanish publication El Economista earlier this month as well. Now all we need is an alleged US release date -- misery loves company, right? Update: Microsoft expert Paul Thurrott says that while Redmond's indeed holding an October 11th shindig in NYC, it's not a Windows Phone event... but his source tells him the long-lost US launch date is actually November 8th. Imagine that! [Thanks, Stephen]
Rumor pegs Nintendo 3DS for November 11th in Japan
Remember when Nintendo said it'd release its release date for the 3DS autostereoscopic portable game system on the 29th of this month? We may already have the magic number -- depending on how you interpret a few Japanese words. You see, a supposed video game accessory designer by the handle "nocchisan" recently tweeted that eleven Nintendo 3DS accessories will be released on November 11th, and asked his or her followers to kindly buy them up... while purportedly remarking that the 3DS itself will arrive at the same time. While the tweets in question can certainly be read that way, and it makes a certain amount of sense for accessories to appear at launch, our admittedly limited grasp of Japanese suggests an alternative translation: that it's the accessories themselves (and not the 3DS) that will all arrive at the same time. There's also the little matter of nocchisan himself, whose Twitter account has already disappeared -- we have nothing actually connecting him to the accessory company except a link in his tweet.
More details on weekly episodes in Star Trek Online's Season 2
If you're playing Star Trek Online, odds are good that you've come by your affection for the game via a prior love of the series. While we haven't had a new show on television in several years, almost every fan has fond memories of sitting down each week for the latest installments of the story. According to a new 10-question interview with Daniel Stahl, that's exactly what the team hopes to replicate (pun intended) with the weekly episodes that are coming along with Season 2. Each one is meant to give players something new to look forward to on a weekly basis, ranging from first contact with an alien race to placing your ship in perilous situations. Speaking of first contact, there's more information on diplomatic missions, which seem as if they'll not simply be standalone ventures but also components of existing content. (The once-dreaded planetary aid missions, for example, fall under their aegis.) One of the rewards for progressing through the diplomatic ranks is the chance to make first contact and define the first impression the Federation makes -- something that any fan of the series will tell you is an important event. Star Trek Online players eager for more information on Season 2 can read the full list of questions, which include a preliminary target of the last week in July.
New Super Mario Wii, Zelda: Spirit Tracks & others dated for Europe
Arguably the two biggest titles set to release on their respective platforms this year, New Super Mario Bros. Wii and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks have both been dated by Nintendo of Europe. NSMBW is set to invade living rooms on November 20, while Spirit Tracks will be pulling into the station on December 11. But that's not all, as Nintendo has also dated Wii Fit Plus for October 30 and plans to cater to your inner fashionista with Nintendo Presents Style Boutique on October 23. Nintendo of America previously confirmed NSMBW for November 15 and Zelda for December 7; and Wii Fit Plus releases ... this Sunday! Time to sculpt that perfect figure again. %Gallery-64968%
Splinter Cell: Conviction delayed until 'March quarter'
There's a whole host of delays coming out of today's Ubisoft investor update, but this is the one that'll likely hurt the most: Splinter Cell: Conviction has been moved from the fourth quarter of 2009 to the first quarter of 2010. In other words, Sam Fisher won't be making his return until sometime between January 1 and March 31 of next year (the fourth fiscal quarter of 2009-10).You're sad, we're sad, everyone's sad. But Conviction's been delayed so many times, you can make a few more months, right? Right?
Cities XL announces delay, new October 8 and 9 European launches
It looks like our European readers are going to have to wait a bit longer to get their hands on Cities XL, a new title that will bring MMO elements to a city-building game. Cities XL developer Monte Cristo Multimedia announced today that they're pushing back that September launch date to early October. The game will release on October 8th for these European countries: France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Austria. The French and German language versions of the game will be distributed by Focus and Flashpoint. October 8th will mark the Australian and New Zealand launches as well, with Namco Bandai Partners distributing the English language version of Cities XL. The English version will also launch the following day, October 9th, in the UK, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, and Italy.
New Games This Month: June 2009
Summer's just two weeks away, and traditionally it brings with it year's worst drought of good new releases. June 2009 is actually holding up pretty well though with a few big ticket items like Red Faction: Guerrilla and Ghostbusters and a slew of new Overlord games.Hit the gallery for the full list, and be sure to let us know which ones you'll be picking up.%Gallery-65417%
Square targeting spring 2010 release for Final Fantasy XIII on 360
It's sad when we hear "around a year away" as a release window and it sounds fairly close, but that's Square for you. The company says it's targeting a spring 2010 release for the Final Fantasy XIII on the Xbox 360.We just got a look at the game running on the 360, and it looks gorgeous.
Ubisoft gives clearer picture of Splinter Cell, Red Steel release dates
We still have no idea why it's taken Sam Fisher so long to return to us, but at least now we have a better idea of when he'll be back. Ubisoft narrowed the release date for Splinter Cell: Conviction to Q3 of this fiscal year (between November 2009 and December 2009) in a conference call this morning.We also got narrower release windows for games like Assassin's Creed 2 (Q3), Red Steel 2 (Q3) and Ghost Recon 4 (Q4). You can check out the full list right here.
Cities XL gets September 3 launch date for French and German-speaking countries
We've been seeing MMO developers prepare to fill different niches in the industry with a number of science fiction, post-apocalyptic, and even horror titles in the works, to name just a few avenues that are being explored. One area that seems unique to us is the concept of a city-building MMO which is on the way with Cities XL, currently in development at Monte Cristo Multimedia. Is this game an MMO (or virtual world) as we would typically define it? Perhaps not. But it will offer persistent world gameplay as well as economic interaction between player-created cities, further enabled by social networking options, which we think may be of some interest to our readers.While we don't have release dates for the North American market yet, Monte Cristo Multimedia got word to us today about the game's European release dates. They state: "Monte Cristo is very happy to announce that Cities XL, the next generation city builder, will be released on September 3rd 2009 on PC DVD in the following countries: France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Austria, in French and German languages. A release is planned for other countries, we will announce a precise date as soon as possible."%Gallery-50213%
The Daily Grind: Should companies announce release dates?
This weekend brought us news of a new announced release date for Warrior Epic after having the game go through three iterations of closed beta. We also got news that Champions Online has been pushed back as well. Of course, these two companies are far from the only ones who have wound up pushing release dates back after announcing them. Blizzard has done it several times, Aventurine did it for Darkfall, the list goes on and on and on. While we appreciate it when time is extended to continue polishing the games, we're left to wonder - would it be better just to avoid naming a date at all to anyone outside of your own employees and shareholders? Do you think it would be better if companies didn't announce release dates, instead just saying "when it's ready"? Or do you prefer some advance notice - even if it keeps getting changed around on you? Does it impact your interest in a game when a release date is pushed back repeatedly?
New Games This Month: May 2009
It's a new month of game releases, and ... well at least they're not as bad as April. Bionic Commando, inFAMOUS and Terminator: Salvation provide some middle-to-late month relief, but you're going to have to be daddy's little trooper for a few weeks. You can hang in there, can't you, chief?You can start planning your buying strategy right here.%Gallery-51611%
Microsoft exec discusses merits of releasing games outside Q4
Microsoft's Euro marketing exec for Xbox, David Gosen, is joining the chorus of suits starting to question the industry's overly Q4-focused release schedule. Speaking with MCV, Gosen points out that about 200 titles were released within three to four weeks last holiday -- with the third week of November (Thanksgiving in the States) being "crazy."Gosen points to the success of Resident Evil 5 in March as a way of "de-seasonalizing" the industry. He admits that Christmas is "still the key selling period," but if more publishers get on board with this new thinking, it'll create "second or third release windows." GTA IV did gang-busters (gang-organizers?) last May -- Street Fighter IV also had surprising February sales this year.Obviously, we -- by that, we mean our wallets -- are huge fans of this full-calendar approach. Top-tier sequels will likely do well whenever they release, but new IPs with potential need a little space to breathe. [Image]
