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GameStop earnings call adds to Guild Wars 2 release date speculation
Since players aren't tremendously happy with ArenaNet's answer of "when it's ready" every time the question of the Guild Wars 2 release date comes up, any hint of further clarification is something to be prized. As a game retailer, dates are the sort of thing that come up in GameStop's earnings calls. Covering the Q1 conference call released today, Gamespot has CFO Robert Lloyd stating that Guild Wars 2 has been bumped out of the current quarter, putting its release sometime after July. It's worth noting that as of this posting, GameStop's online listing still had the Guild Wars 2 release date as June 26th. As has been repeated countless times by ArenaNet devs, no information should be treated as official unless it's directly from them. Don't let that stop you from pulling out your favorite tinfoil hat and cooking up some speculations, though.
HTC Thunderbolt rumored to be hitting Best Buy February 14th, sans mobile hotspot or Skype video?
The HTC Thunderbolt may have been officially announced way back at CES, but there's still quite a bit we don't know about the phone -- namely, a price or a release date. We now at least have what looks to be a fairly solid hint of the latter, however, courtesy of the above shot of a Best Buy inventory screen that lists an in stock date of February 14th. You'll note that the screen doesn't actually mention the HTC Thunderbolt anywhere, but some sleuthing by the folks at Android Central reveals that the product code matches one found on a Thunderbolt box that turned up in a recent hands-on video. Joining that rumor is a separate one from Droid Life, which has obtained some supposedly authentic Verizon materials that suggest the Thunderbolt won't be shipping with mobile hotspot functionality enabled at launch, and that Skype video chat won't be enabled initially either. No word on a reason for the delay (if there actually is one), but both features will seemingly be enabled at some point, and there will apparently be a placeholder icon in the case of Skype that will display a "coming soon" message if it's launched.
WTF? R*, WRU PS3 GTA4? O! n/m.
Are you sitting down? We've got some big news. We mean REALLY big news. This is huge! This is MASSIVE news! Are you ready?There's a page missing from Rockstar's support web site.Isn't that incredible? What? You don't understand why this matters? Well what if we told you the page that's missing was for the PS3 version of Grand Theft Auto IV! That's right! There's a page for the Xbox 360 version but nothing listed for the PS3. Everyone's talking about it. Well, some people are, anyway. Do you realize what this means?What do you mean, "It could mean anything"? It obviously means that Microsoft is going to buy Take Two and take the exclusive rights to the Grand Theft Auto series away from Sony, thereby ensuring the Xbox 360's dominance over this console cycle!You're still skeptical? Even with all this unassailable evidence? OK, what if we told you that Microsoft hinted through one of their blogs that tomorrow there would be another announcement on the order of the Xbox 360 Elite confirmation. Now do you believe us? Grand Theft Auto IV is going exclusively to Microsoft! Sony is doomed!What do you mean it all sounds circumstantial? You really think this is just rumor-mongering and a big to-do over what'll probably end up being nothing? Oh, please. How naive can you be. Don't you know a hot story when it hits you in the face?What's that? You say you just checked and now there there is a page for the PS3 version? Oh. Well it wasn't there before.Look, just forget we said anything.
Wii rumor wrap-up
With the international launch details for Nintendo's Wii all but certain to be revealed in the next few days, it will be time for journalists, bloggers, analysts and forum trolls everywhere to say goodbye to one of their favorite pastimes: rumormongering. In tribute to happy guesses gone by, here's a quick round up of some of the more memorable rumors that have emerged over the past few months, with original sources and dates noted.Whose information will reign supreme? You'll know the official word as soon as we do.PriceAmerica:Official: $250 or lower - Nintendo senior managing director Yoshihiro Mori (5/25)$150 - Vibe Magazine (9/10)$170 - David Gardner, executive VP and COO of EA's worldwide studios (8/21)$175 - Text of supposed Reggie speech from Go Nintendo (8/27) $200 - Merill Lynch analyst Justin Post (5/17)$229 - "sources suggest" to IGN (8/7)$229 - "A source close to Nintendo" via NintendoPlayers (9/12)$249 - EGM (5/8)$299 - 7-11 flier (8/4)Japan:Official: 25,000 yen or lower ($213) - Nintendo senior managing director Yoshihiro Mori (5/25)19,800 yen ($170) - Financial report from Tokyo-based Nikko Citigroup (8/15)Europe/Britain:Official: Less than 250 Euros ($317) - Nintendo's head of German operations, Bernd Fakesch (8/23)149 pounds ($278) - Shopto.net via GoNintendo (7/14)149 pounds ($278)- MCV (9/8)Australia:330 AUD ($248) - Sunday Herald Sun (9/10)Release DateOfficial: Q4, 2006 - Nintendo E3 press conferenceAmerica:October - CNN/Money (7/5)Oct. 2 - GamingTarget, based on software release date press release (7/25)Oct. 2 - Text of supposed Reggie speech from Go Nintendo (8/27)November - Insider source from Nintendo sales meeting, on Orange Lounge Radio (9/4)Nov. 2 - Best Buy game listingNov. 6. - Sports Illustrated for Kids (7/2)Nov. 6 - "an industry source speaking to Cubed3" (5/31)Nov. 12 - "some have suggested" to IGN (8/7)Europe/Britain:October - Shopto.net via GoNintendo (7/14)Oct. 2 - JeuxFrance (5/31)Nov. 3 - EA launch date for Need for Speed: Carbon (7/19)Shortly before Nov. 24 - MCV (9/8)Australia:November - Toys "R" Us
