It had been rumored for quite awhile that there would be a Call of Duty game of some sort released on the PlayStation Vita and with the release of Call of Duty Black Ops II later this year, it only made sense that Sony would somehow have a title correlating with that release window.
Well, it seems all those guesses were indeed correct as Sony revealed during their Pre-E3 conference that a Call of Duty game would indeed be coming to the Vita sometime this holiday season. Not much is known about the title as Sony only revealed the name of the game, Call of Duty Black Ops: Declassified. We will likely know much more over the coming months, perhaps even the next few days so stay tuned!
Augmented Reality (AR) functionality is becoming a lot more prevalent in games, with all the major platforms featuring it in some way. I find the possibilities it affords really exciting, and Sony are exploring an interesting direction with their Wonderbook peripheral, announced during their E3 conference.
From London Studio, the team behind EyeToy and EyePet, Wonderbook is a natural extension of the previous titles, utilizing the tech to add a layer to that old “reading” thing. What’s been demoed so far looks like a virtual pop-up book, with players (readers, maybe?) able to interact with it physically, like pulling tabs and turning pages, as well as apparently influencing the story.
Sony have announced the Wonderbook will retail for $39.99US, which includes the peripheral and a Blu-Ray game. A range of “stories” will be available to download for use with it, the first of which is quite impressive: The Book of Spells, written by J.K. Rowling and set in the Harry Potter universe.
The Wonderbook takes the role of an ancient Book of Spells, and the player/”reader” is a Hogwarts student studying it in the library. There are over twenty spells to learn about, practice and master, with House Points awarded for completing challenges. Examining the book close up can reveal hidden notes from previous students, including clues to what Sony so intriguingly refer to as a “conundrum” written by Rowling for players to solve.
The hardcore fanboys are already complaining about this, but they tend to do that about games that don’t involve shootin’ dudes in the face. The Wonderbook peripheral is a great idea, and I’m really interested to see what else Sony can do with it. If they continue to support it with quality stories and games, the Move might become the standout motion control platform.
THQ laid off the entire staff at their San Diego Studio and shut all operations down. It has been speculated that they did this on the first day of E3 in order to avoid a lot of press. In addition, it was widely rumored that this studio was working on the UFC game for 2013. THQ revealed today that theysold the rights to EA for an undisclosed amount of the green stuff.
THQ has responded by saying: “THQ confirms that today’s announcement regarding the UFC license transition will affect the company’s San Diego studio,” the company said in a statement. “THQ is working closely with those relevant staff to either find possible employment within the company, or potentially with EA.”
Two special Assassin’s Creed III Playstation bundles have been announced at Sony’s E3 2012 press conference. The first bundle will include a Playstation 3 320GB console, a copy of Assassin’s Creed 3 and exclusive Playstation 3 DLC.
And the second will include Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation, a ‘crystal white’ wi-fi Playstation Vita, and a 4GB memory card.
Ubisoft have to name exactly what that “exclusive Playstation 3 DLC” might be, but players who link up their Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation game with Assassin’s Creed III will unlock Connor’s tomahawk, an exclusive character skin, a multiplayer character, and a complete upgrade of ammunition pouches.
The both Playstation 3 and Playstation Vita bundles will be available on October 30, the same day that Assassin’s Creed III hits stores.
God of War: Ascension, prequel to the God of War series, will be released on March 12, 2013 in an announcement made during Sony’s E3 media conference. This announcement was made after the single player gameplay was revealed for the first time since the game’s reveal. The gameplay features weapons that can be picked up and used and areas where Kratos mus fix wreckage in order to move forward. These are some of the additions to the hack and slash gameplay that made God of War famous.
God of War: Ascension tells the tale of Kratos before he became the Ghost of Sparta and the God of War. It will only be released for the Playstation 3.
The Playstation Suite has received a change of name and a new partner during Sony’s E3 media conference. PS Suite will be now known as Playstation Mobile to reflect on the focus of the initiative. Also announced during the conference was Sony’s first third party partner for the Playstation Certified program, which will play all Playstation Mobile games. HTC will be the first partnership in the Playstation Mobile initiative. While no mobiles were mentioned, the new HTC One X was held up by Mr. House.
No other concrete details were announced, including how the HTC devices will work with Playstation Moblie, but information will soon be released. The Playstation Mobile development kit is still in its Beta phrase, with a full release of the kit expected to be released later this year.
During Sony’s E3 media conference, it was announced that Playstation Plus subscribes will be receiving 12 free titles starting from tomorrow and throughout June. Some of these titles include Infamous 2, LittleBigPlanet 2, Virtua Fighter 5 Saints Row 2, Just Cause 2 and Choplifter HD, with the others yet to be revealed.
Playstation Plus is Sony’s premium online servies offering free titles, early access to upcoming titles and discounted downloads. So far, Sony has offered 60 titles free of charge since its launch to Plus subscribers.
During Sony’s E3 media conference, it was announced that the Playstation Vita will become an enhanced controller for the Playstation 3 via a cross-controller initiative. Not much has been said on the technology, but there will be one piece of DLC coming to show off its capabilities. LittleBigPlanet 2 will be receiving a cross-controller DLC to allow interaction with the Playstation Vita.
No other details, including which games it will support, were revealed during the conference, but more details should be coming within the following months.. Hopefully Sony follows through with this initiative, as it does sound interesting and intriguing.
Hot off the E3 2012 stage, Sony has announced that its upcoming crossover brawler PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale will be coming to the Playstation Vita. But wait there’s more, both Vita and Playstation 3 versions of the game will have cross platform multiplayer. Meaning that Vita players can off against PS3 player (and vice versa) in the game’s multiplayer.
But the surprises didn’t stop there; two new characters for the game have been announced at Sony’s Press Conference – Bioshock’s Big Daddy and Uncharted’s Nathan Drake, confirming earlier rumours of their existence in the game. Big Daddy and Nathan Drake join the growing lineup of Sly Cooper, Kratos, Sweet Tooth (Twisted Metal), Fat Princess and PaRappa the Rapper.
Save files of the game can be used in both versions allowing for player to mix and match their gaming experience on the go on their Vita or Playstation 3. Both Playstation 3 and PS Vita versions of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale will launch in winter 2012.
During Sony’s E3 conference, Jack Tretton confirmed that the Playstation Vita will be receiving support for Playstation games as early as this summer/winter. Not all PS One games will be compatible as of yet, but these titles will be playable and available when support begins to role out:
Tomb Raider
Final Fantasy VII
Wild Arms
Twisted Metal 2
Cool Boarders 2
Arc the Lad
JetMoto
It is unknown how long it will take for full support to arrive on the Vita. Before this announcement, the only way to play Playstation games was through Remote Play via the Playstation 3.
