Xbox Announcement Event Will ‘Lay the Foundation’ for ‘Tons of Exclusives’ at E3
Lately, there’s been a trend toward making E3 all about games, and saving other announcements – like hardware reveals – for outside events like February’s PlayStation 2013 meeting. Xbox is following suit, with Microsoft’s reveal of their next-gen gaming console set for just three days away, on May 21 at 10am Pacific / 12pm Central. Don’t expect a ton of new games to show up at the announcement – there’ll be a few, to be sure, to showcase the capabilities of the console, but the real showcase will be at E3 a couple weeks later.
Microsoft Interactive Entertainment Business head Aaron Greenberg talked about how the company plans to leverage the two events in the latest Major Nelson podcast. Check out his relevant comments by clicking below.
Game Informer Editor: PS Vita Will Have a ‘Surprisingly’ Strong Presence at E3 2013
All’s been relatively quiet on the PS Vita front since Sony announced PS4 in February, and according to Game Informer, there’s a reason for that. Executive editor Andrew Reiner tweeted that he gets the impression the little handheld with big dreams will have a “surprisingly big show” at E3 this year.
If true, that means Sony’s banking big on this year’s E3 to spread the word about their catalogs for both PS4 and Vita in order to drive sales and keep them going strong as they enter the next generation.
Last week, Sony teased an “amazing big title” for Vita that we haven’t seen or heard about yet. I’m guessing it’ll be a central showcase at Sony’s E3 press conference.
Pachter Estimates 55,000 Wii U Sales for U.S. in April, Vita Does Even Worse
Just ahead of NPD’s sales reveal, infamous Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter released his estimates for game hardware sales for the month of April. Highlights from the report: Xbox 360 is still on top with over 200,000 consoles sold, while PS3 picks up a close second in the home console department with 165,000 systems. As for Nintendo: 75,000 Wiis sold…and only 55,000 Wii Us. We’re talking January-level lows, which I suppose you might expect given that there was only one major Wii U title released last month, and it wasn’t even an exclusive. Even combining Nintendo’s hardware sales, they don’t even approach Sony or Microsoft.
Meanwhile, the handhelds situation is very different. Pachter estimates that 3DS managed an almost 50% jump over last year’s numbers with 185,000 units sold. PS Vita, on the other hand, dropped an impressive 57% year-over-year to 30,000 units.
Eevee-Themed Nintendo 3DS XL Model Coming to Pokémon Centers in Japan
Nintendo is preparing to release a special limited edition Eevee-themed 3DS XL model to Pokémon Center locations across Japan beginning on June 22. However, to get their hands on one of these babies, Japanese locals will have to enter in a lottery, which begins today and runs through June 3.
They’re region-locked, so you won’t be able to get one for yourself except to play imports. However, like the Pikachu-themed 3DS XL model that launched in March, it might come to America someday. Click below for an image of the system’s backside.
Sony Has Filed a Trademark for That Rumored ‘Greatness Awaits’ Slogan
Looks like we’ll be hearing a lot of commercials cut off with the line “Greatness Awaits” after all. Sony has filed a trademark registration for the “Greatness Awaits” slogan, meaning the rumors we heard last week are likely to be 100% genuine.
We just hope that “greatness awaits” suggests something more like “greatness is right around the corner” rather than “greatness will always lie in the future and evade the present.” It’d suck to have to wait an entire generation for a game that never actually sees the light of day all over again.
Nvidia Shield Pre-Orders To Start Soon
The Nvidia Shield is a Tegra 4-powered Android handheld. The Nvidia Shield gives gamers access to an array of gaming avenues, including Nvidia TegraZone, Google Play, and Steam. The system runs on the Tegra 4 processor and boasts 16GB of memory, GPS, Bluetooth 3.0, a mini-HDMI output, a microSD storage slot, and a headphone jack. Shield cannot natively run games though, which is why uses its own app store as well as the Google Play store. The pre-orders for the device start next week on May 20th, with a higher price tag than most expected. Fans who signed up to receive Shield updates can begin pre-ordering today, while reservations will open to the general public through the company’s website next week.
Did I mention it is selling for $349.99?
One of the ways that Nvidia is bringing gamers to Shield, besides its cool name, is the use of its GeForce GTX video cards to stream play from a PC to the Shield. It also includes Double Fine’s Broken Age and Costume Quest in the TegraZone library to show the support of developers and garner consumer interest.
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E3 2013: What to Expect from Nintendo
Nintendo’s changing up their approach to E3, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be tons of trailers, announcements, and new games to see and play. We actually already know about a number of games we should expect to see at the show, and the company’s sure to have a surprise or two up its sleeve.
With E3 less than a month away, we’ve gone back over and looked at all the stuff we know we can expect this year for Wii U and 3DS. Find out what’s ahead by clicking below.
Activision CEO: Next Xbox and PS4 Could Face Challenges
A lot of people look at Wii U’s slow start through the lens that PS4 and Xbox-whatever will be able to blow it out of the water once they launch. But Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, echoing a concern I raised a few weeks back, says there are many unknown factors that could cause similarly slow sales for other next-gen devices.
For example, a big part of the problem with Wii U was that there really aren’t that many big first-party games to choose from. And other than Mario, Nintendo Land, Lego City, and Monster Hunter, there aren’t really any options you can’t also find on Xbox and PlayStation. But as of now we don’t really know of more than a handful of next-gen only titles coming at or near launch for PS4 – the rest of them are going to be cross-generational, just like much of Wii U’s current lineup.
Find out what he had to say about the challenges by clicking below.
Why ‘Greatness Awaits’ Would Actually be a Really Terrible Slogan
I don’t know if that rumored “Greatness Awaits” slogan is real, or if it’s really for PS4 or actually for Destiny. I do know, however, that it rubs me the wrong way.
I can actually understand the appeal: latch on to the term “greatness,” which seems to now be a synonym for “awesome” in the colloquial sense rather in the “fear of God” sense, and tie it forever to the PlayStation brand. I get it. It’s a cool campaign.
But the more I think about it, the more I think about where PS4 is headed and about past PlayStation launches and some of the blunders they’ve faced, the more I worry that it’s the wrong message.
Insomniac CEO Comments on Next Gen Consoles, Says Wii U is Current Gen
Insomniac Games has been a longtime supporter of Sony and the PlayStation brand. Prior to 2012, Insomniac had developed exclusively for the PlayStation brand, but Facebook game Outernauts and the upcoming Fuse – which will release for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 – have opened the company up to new opportunities. Could we see Insomniac developing across all of the next gen consoles? During an “ask me anything” segment on Reddit, Insomniac CEO Ted Price gave his initial thoughts on the upcoming generation of consoles.
Bing Gordon: If You Have a Tablet, There’s Not Much Reason to Buy Wii U
Bing Gordon is part of OUYA’s board of directors, coming from venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and he definitely doesn’t have much faith in Nintendo’s Wii U. In fact, he says that because of the prevalence of tablets and smart devices, there’s “not much reason to buy a Nintendo.” The only thing left that tablets can’t already do is apparently play Miyamoto’s games.
But while Miyamoto’s games are popular, they’re not nearly as popular as games on tablets, he says.
Source: Next Xbox Called ‘Xbox Infinity’
A few weeks back, a rumored logo leak for the next Xbox at Reddit suggested that it will be called “Xbox Infinity.” Today, a new report from International Business Times states that this is the console’s “confirmed” name. The report does not, however, give any information about the accuracy of the rumored logo – which the original creator has confirmed is fake – it’s another of those cases where “sources related to development of the new Xbox” have offered information.
We’ll find out the console’s true name on May 21.
Source: IBT
