Grave Gamer News & Views — sony

The Red Herb Roundup - May 27th Edition

Welcome, followers and perusing eyeballs alike, to the third installment of the Roundup.  Once again, I’ve taken the liberty of collecting, condensing, and listing news worthy happenings in the gaming world that the Herb missed throughout the week as a sort of bullet-pointed tribute to my failures as an internet blogger.  Enjoy!

• Assassin’s Creed III is coming and Ubisoft will be damned if you’re able to find an excuse not to get it.  Not only will the game launch in October for the PC and your major gaming consoles (Wii U included) but a recent online retail listing may have outed it for the PS Vita.  Take your pick.
• The ongoing legal war between Infinity Ward’s ex-chiefs and Activision revealed that the publisher had paid the Call of Duty developer $493 million in bonuses.  The ungodly amount is claimed by the plaintiffs to still not cover the wages their contracts demanded (which is reported to be enough money to grant the city of Detroit flight).
• Don’t expect to see Bungie at E3 in any official capacity.  They’re just sending guys over to drool over new games like the rest of us.
• On that note, annoying footage of what looks like Halo 4’s multiplayer surfaced.  You’ll see what I mean if you decide to punish yourself and watch it.
• Analysts think Grand Theft Auto V should have no problem selling 14 million copies.  Rockstar always knew how to profit off of crime.
• A brand new franchise in the Star Wars universe is set for unveiling on May 31st.  Lucasfilm confirmed we’ll see more at E3…Guess we abandoned Starkiller, huh?
• Yakuza 5 is happening, now with five playable characters and new improvements to gameplay mechanics like seamless transitions between adventuring and combat and I don’t know why I’m talking to America about this.
• Resident Evil: Chronicles HD Collection, bundling the once-Wii bound rail-shooters with new Move controls, hits PSN on June 26th for $26.99.  Should you want one game in the collection over the other (I mean Darkside), you can buy the titles individually for $14.99 each starting July 17th.
• Mass Effect 3 is getting the multiplayer Rebellion Pack next Tuesday.  The pack includes two new maps, new characters, and more weapons.  Here’s the part I love: if you redeemed the Online Pass code, the pack is yours for free, which is consistently my favorite DLC price point.
• A patent for “Game-Interrupting Advertisements” has been unearthed, filed by none other than Sony.  I can only presume the patent was filed in an attempt to ruin the fucking future.

“He Ain’t Even Hurt…” - New Glimpse at The Last of Us

While information on The Last of Us is light, the masses at large still seem to content themselves on boiling Naughty Dog’s latest effort down to just a “zombie game."  The infected shown in the game’s debut trailercertainly seem indicative of that, but Naughty Dog says pegging their post-apocalyptic foray as such is only looking at a smaller...

Sony CEO Says Blocking Used Sales is ‘Anti-Consumer’

Industry analyst Michael Pachter went straight to the horse’s mouth to figure out Sony of America’s stance on anti-used methods such as the angrily rumored next generation of hardware that would restrict your game purchasers to only your console.

When Pachter asked SCEA’s head honcho and CEO Jack Tretton about the topic, despite being steeped in the business side of the industry, the Sony exec still shot back with a surprisingly diplomatic answer.  Tretton considers any move against the used market to be “anti-consumer” and that he personally is “opposed to blocking used games.”

We’re not out of the woods yet, though.  Tretton was sure to reiterate his words were only that; his words.  “Japan might think something different,” the executive added.  It may seem like a win for used retail to have one of the Big Three’s top figureheads support customer choice, but given that Sony is a Japanese company, the final say on the matter might have to come from the East.

It’s hard to believe a third Men in Black movie is coming to theaters this year.  It’s harder to believe that this new LBP costume pack is called “Sack in Black."  I’m having trouble suspending my disbelief this morning.

Let’s circumvent all the jokes and just rename sack-boys.  How about "Scrotes”?

Believe it or Not, God of War: Ascension is Multiplayer

“We wouldn’t do multiplayer in God of War unless we knew we could do it right,” says Ascension’s director, Todd Papy.  That’s right, Sony Santa Monica’s latest entry into the gore-drenched epic of revenge comes with the addition of multiplayer this time around.  In the video preview, we’re specifically treated to Ascension’s...