Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA Soccer, and Silent Hill are the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
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- Boss Fight Books to Get a New Look for Richard Moss’s “Age of Empires”
- GDC Awards: All the Winners from 1996 to Today
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- We Pitched a Museum a 1993 Game Hint Line (And They Actually Said Yes) – Yarn Spinner (2026)
- The History Of The Word “Metroidvania” And How It Spread – A Critical Hit (2025)
- Creator of Hit Game Shovel Knight Is at a ‘Make or Break’ Moment – Bloomberg (2025)
- Shadow of the Colossus: An oral history – Design Room (2025)
Most Recent: Xbox One
Rumor: Sony working on PS4 games, Xbox 720 coming in 2013
New rumors from Develop have hit the Intertubes and they once again concern the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox 720 (or Xbox Next if you prefer).
The latest round of rumors say that several internal studios at Sony have begun work on PS4 games. Supposedly, these games are still in the very early stages, but the projects could enter “full production” if given the green light. Naturally, Sony declined to comment.
While Develop’s source didn’t delve into which of Sony’s studios were working on next-gen games, it’s probably not hard to figure out. Almost all of the company’s high-profile teams (Polyphony Digital, Sony Santa Monica, Zipper Interactive, Sucker Punch, Guerrilla Games, and Media Molecule) have yet to announce their development plans for 2012 or beyond. What could they all be working on? PS4 games of course.
A different set of sources informed the magazine that the Xbox 720 will likely make its debut at E3 2013 ahead of a Fall 2013 release.
The rumors also mentioned that Lionhead is working on Fable IV for the system. Peter Molyneux previously mentioned the next numbered Fable game at this year’s BAFTA Games Awards. But he was very careful not to announce the game’s existence or mention what system it may appear on.
But the Xbox Next seems like a pretty safe bet.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Fable Legends
THQ taps Crytek to develop Homefront 2
Executives at THQ haven’t been shy about declaring Homefront the start of a new series, even before it was released. Today, the publisher made good on their promises by announcing that Homefront 2 is in development at Crytek (Crysis, FarCry).
“We see Homefront as a really strong universe that has a lot of potential and that has been expertly created and marketed by THQ,” said Cevat Yerli, Founder, CEO and President of Crytek. “We believe that bringing our level of quality, creativity and production values to the next Homefront title creates an opportunity for both THQ and Crytek to deliver a truly blockbuster game. It’s really important to us that THQ has the faith in giving us a lot of creative freedom over one of its most important properties to allow us to bring the Homefront world to life in a new and innovative way.”
Original developer Kaos Studios was shut down by THQ earlier this year, prompting the Crytek shift. As development of the series moves to Europe, so does the storyline. It’s just a tease so far, but here’s all we know about the plot of Homefront 2:
“[T]he splintered nations of Europe struggle to maintain peace at home, as the global economy continues its downward spiral, and civil order disintegrates. The world is teetering on the brink of ruin…”
According to THQ, Homefront 2 (which is just a working title) will be available on the PC and consoles during their 2014 fiscal year. For those without a THQ financial calendar handy, that means the game will be released between April 1, 2013 and March 31, 2014. So it’s very likely the “consoles” THQ is referring to are the Wii U, PS4 and Xbox 720.
Beyond Good & Evil 2 is beyond current generation’s grasp
There’s been plenty of E3-related news over the last few days, but how about a bit of E3 “non-news.” Rayman creator Michel Ancel revealed that Beyond Good & Evil 2 will not be released for this generation of consoles. However, the acclaimed developer confirmed that the game is still in development and is in no danger of being canceled:
“It is still alive and we are very far [into] development so we can’t go back now,” Ancel said. “We are targeting the next generation of consoles.”
The franchise has never really been forgotten as fans have been clamoring for more on the sequel since it was announced back in 2008. A high definition remake of the first Beyond Good & Evil was released on the Xbox Live Arcade in March. It will be added to the PlayStation Network any day now.
[Source: GamesIndustry.biz]
PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 may come 2014 at earliest
The rumors heating up for the Wii 2 aren’t necessarily shocking, as Nintendo remains the only console manufacturer without a High Definition presence. The onset of the next, true console generation? Now, that would really shake things up.
Kotaku claims to have talked to various insiders on the whisperings around Sony and Microsoft board rooms about when they’ll launch new consoles. Many sources are pointing towards 2014, claiming neither company wants to undermine profits by releasing a system that’s too expensive to make. Others hint at greedier reasons, claiming “both MS and Sony are telegraphing to each other that they’re delaying, to milk the current [generation].”
It’s been a while since I took Microeconomics, but I’m pretty sure that would be illegal.
The site also spoke to analysts Billy Pigeon, who believes Microsoft and Sony will probably wait to see how successful Nintendo’s incoming HD system does, and the infamous Michael Pachter, who attests that neither is ready for a new console cycle. Stephen Totilo of Kotaku attempted to agree with them, writing the sentence “it would also make likely that expected but unannounced games from other publishers, the next Grand Theft Auto, for example,” in an apparent lack of cohesion. Personally, I think this generation is just hitting its stride, and I’d at least like to see another Metal Gear Solid before the circle begins anew.
We’ll let you know if Kotaku hurls anymore accusations of criminal collusion at our favorite game companies.
Square Enix planning studio that’ll specialize in PS4/Wii 2/Xbox 720 games
Square Enix plans to open a new studio in Montreal, Vancouver or Toronto next year and hire 100 new developers to work at it. So what, you say, new studios open all the time. Especially in Canada, which is quickly turning into the leading location for video game development.
Well, what if I told you that this studio would be responsible for creating games for the (currently unannounced) PlayStation 4, Wii 2 and Xbox 720. I’ll wait while your brain processes the change from “So what?” to “Whoa!”
The news comes from a report on GamesIndustry.biz, which cites an article in the Canadian newspaper La Presse. Stephane D’Astous, the director of Eidos Montreal, will make the final decision on where the studio will be located. But he’s not shying away from the fact that this studio is being built from the ground up to create next generation games.
“The new consoles from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo will require more attention and more staff,” D’Astous said. “We want to prepare ourselves.”
Maybe the next generation of consoles is closer than we think.
Microsoft begins work on next Xbox
That’s right, “begins work,” which likely means the next Xbox is not going to be released anytime soon.
Microsoft has posted multiple job openings on LinkedIn to fill several positions in their Xbox division. These jobs have titles like Hardware Verification Engineer and VLSI Graphics Architect, which may not mean much to someone who’s not a hardware developer, but the job listings include a few tell-tale signs that Microsoft has started working on the Xbox 720 (emphasis added):
Come join a dynamic engineering team and play a key role in the development and verification of the Xbox and future platforms.
[The Xbox Console Architecture team] is responsible for defining and delivering next generation console architectures from conception through implementation.
While it’s possible Microsoft has been working on the third Xbox in secret all this time, it’s not very likely. So don’t expect a big, splashy reveal at this year’s E3 and I wouldn’t hold my breath for one in 2012 either.