The Red Herb Roundup: Revengeance

1/12/13
Welcome back to the Roundup, where we take a look back at the week in gaming, reflect on the gaming happenings, and balance our finances in order to put gaming above all else, minimizing insignificant expenses like food and rent (let the landlord keep banging at the door – it’s not like he has a key or whatever).

This week in games, cyberpunk became cool again, Pokemon invaded a new dimension on its quest to conquer ours, the Kinect became even more gimmicky, and Massachusetts declares war on our virtual wars.  All this and half past an inch more after the jump.

What We Covered This Week...

1. The Walking Dead: Season 2 might feature save importing.  My cruel, sociopathic decisions live to fight another day.
2. Pokemon X and Y announced!  Protip: A full Pokedex is the only way the potential mates will know you’re a viable partner at your sexual peak.
3. Connecticut town cancels event where they gather and destroy violent video games.  Stow your disappointment, though.  A city in Massachusetts is holding the same goddamn, son of a bitching event.
4. The creators of The Witcher are going sci-fi with Cyberpunk 2077.  Details slim; still looks remarkably badass.
5. Dead Space 3 has itself a soon-to-be rare limited edition.  First come, first serve, of course.

…And What We Didn’t

• If you’ve ever thought to yourself, “Golly, I’d sure like to own the property rights to the Saint’s Row franchise,” then, boy, do I have some news for you.  The former game publishing giant, THQ, has put up its white flag and filed for bankruptcy.  An auction for an unknown number of the company’s assets is being held on January 22nd, where it is said a slew of recognizable publishers (such as EA and Ubisoft) will be swooping down to feed off of THQ’s carcass like vultures looking to buy relinquished property rights.
• After having been stone-wall silent about the inclusion of the mode, Capcom and developer Ninja Theory have revealed that the legacy-feature Bloody Palace Mode is returning in next week’s DmC: Devil May Cry.  The only catch is that the mode won’t be on disc.  Instead, it’ll be offered sometime after launch in a free title update.  You were so expecting it to be priced DLC.  Do your friends know you’re this cynical?
• No, Crysis 3 won’t be making it to the Wii U, after all.  So says Cytek’s own Cevat Yerli, citing the severe lack of a “business drive” between publishers EA and Nintendo.  “I’d love to see it on Wii U,” says Mr. Yerli.  “But what I love to see and what gets done at the end of the day are two different things.”
• Hell, I would’ve settled for LEGO Spider-Man and called it a day, but Traveller’s Tales has decided to take on the whole Marvel pantheon in LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, aimed for this Fall.  TT has promised over one-hundred unlockable characters, making it the largest Marvel cast to grace a console game in history.  Let us hope for the addition of Squirrel Girl.
• The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct, Activision and Terminal Reality’s stab at digitizing the TV show’s universe starring the Dixon boys, has been dated for March 26th, 2013, coming to PC, PS3, Xbox 360, and even the Wii U.  Terminal Reality has been withholding when it comes to footage of the game, and everything we have seen looks like a decayed mess.  I’ve seen gaming miracles before, but when your best quality is Michael Rooker’s likeness, I think it’s time to hit the delay button.
• Capcom Vancouver, formerly Blue Castle Games, the dev behind any and all things labeled Dead Rising 2, are commencing work on another “big game” for their overlords.  The studio’s only hints on what’s next on their plate was that the game is not a remake or sequel to an existing IP and won’t feature zombies of any sort.  Might it be the white whale of the industry?  Dare I say…a new IP?  No, no…That’s dangerous thinking.
• Once upon a time ago, Gearbox Software declined on making a Call of Duty game for Activision.  Mr. Randy Pitchford, the developer’s president, “just didn’t see what there was left to accomplish” with the blockbluster series.  Apparently, there’s only two reasons a Gearbox game comes into fruition: either the title wouldn’t have existed otherwise or if the dev can offer something entirely new and unique for an existing brand.  Good to know.
• Behold IllumiRoom!  Presented at this year’s CES, the Microsoft Research project allows the Xbox’s Kinect sensor to scan your room, then project an image complementing the video game on your TV screen.  The effect is you see your current game world extend past the borders of your television and into your living room.  Keep note of IllumiRoom, as it may just be incorporated into the Xbox 360 successor’s design, and also potentially be used for brainwashing (just bein’ speculative – but you owe me a Dew if I’m right).  Watch it in action hereabouts.
• Remember that rumor Resident Evil: Revelations was possibly porting from the 3DS to home consoles?  Little bit less of a rumor now, as Xbox 360 Achievements has a full achievement list for the 360 version of the game.  Though thought to be a downloadable title, the fifty achievements and full 1000 point score that can be earned from the game fit the retail standard better than a digital-only release.  No official word has come from the powers-that-be as of yet about an impending announcement.

Trailer Park

• Cyberpunk 2077 - Here’s an encore of the superb debut teaser of Blade Runner: The Game.
• Remember Me - Science fiction and martial arts is a combination you don’t question.  Like Uh-Oh Oreo’s and Reese’s Peanut Buttercups, it just works.
• Tomb Raider - The reboot’s versus multiplayer is out of the bag and this is your chance to see it in action.  Two things may come to mind as you view the video, though: One) Well, that’s a lot like Uncharted.  Two) Die, Zachary Levi.  Die.