Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Andrew House has suggested that PS4 “demand may well outstrip supply” after the console made all the right headlines at E3 this week. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, the PlayStation boss said Sony has raised internal sales forecasts for the upcoming console following the positive reception shown by consumers and retailers over the past few days.

Sony revealed the actual PS4 hardware for the first time on Tuesday at its E3 press conference, where it also announced a Christmas release date in Europe and the US and a PS4 price of £349 / €399 / $399, which is $100 less than Xbox One’s launch cost. Consumers and retailers alike also reacted positively to the news that PS4 won’t impose restrictions on used games or require regular online check-ins, unlike Microsoft’s console.

SCEA CEO Jack Tretton said GameStop executives had told him the retailer would purchase “every single [PS4] unit” Sony can manufacture, a claim the WSJ verified with a spokesperson for the retailer. Meanwhile, SCE UK MD Fergal Gara told GamesIndustry.biz PS4 isn’t in “mass manufacture right now” but that he expected to have “very significant stocks for the UK”.

For more info on the games hitting the console, check out our comprehensive list.

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Here’s the first question out of the way: Hideo Kojima doesn’t know if Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes will be released together with The Phantom Pain–so the series’ creator told CVG in a recent interview. With that in mind, he at least made the case for the strange division in the upcoming cross-gen game:

“The Phantom Pain provides a vast world where the player can really go anywhere and get lost,” Kojima said. “But for past Metal Gear fans used to a linear experience it would probably be hard for them to get used to that without having a prologue and a way to get used to it. So Metal Gear Solid Ground Zeroes is an interpretation to really give them a very short, smaller version of that scale.”

Ground Zeroes’ is set solely at night, and in a much more constrained region than The Phantom Pain. Playing in that order, series fans can get used to controlling Snake before they begin to tackle sneaking around an open world governed by the cruel march of the sun.

Kojima said he was set on making an open world to allow “users to create their own gameplay.” He’s being extra-literal there–players will be able to create and publish missions through tablet and smartphone apps and find them scattered around the game.

Kojima Productions’ LA Studio is making a new Metal Gear Online multiplayer mode for the game, too, so MGSV should pack a lot of bang for your buck whether Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain are sold together or not.

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The Mirror’s Edge reboot will be an “open-world action adventure game”, EA Labels president Frank Gibeau said today during the publisher’s E3 2013 analyst call (via CVG). The executive made no further mention of the game, other than to say there’d been a terrific fan reaction to Monday’s news that protagonist Faith is returning in what has officially been described as an “all-new origin story”.

In a recent feature called Mirror’s Edge 2 – 15 things the sequel needs, we said: “Mirror’s Edge 2 may benefit from an open-world aspect, allowing us to see the entire City in between missions, perhaps wandering off the beaten path for acrobatic side quests. Ancillary missions and other urban intricacies could be buried throughout the place, we just need the linear leash to be taken off. We want to go to the City limits, so let us!”

Gibeau also said today on EA’s analyst call that the company plans to release 11 HD and 14 mobile games in fiscal 2014, down on the number of titles launched in the past two years as the company continues to execute on its “fewer, bigger, better” software release strategy. However, the exec said EA’s release rate “will increase going forward” as the next-gen kicks in, noting: “There are probably about five or six new IPs that are fully owned and we haven’t announced yet.”

The EA Labels boss also discussed the company’s move to sign a console exclusivity deal with Microsoft for Respawn’s Titanfall. While he said EA has “a very balanced portfolio” across both Sony and Microsoft platforms, Gibeau explained: “There are tactical opportunities from time to time on a title or on a service component that we do enter into a relationship with one or two of the first parties on that particular opportunity and we’ll execute on it. Titanfall is an example of that. It’s a product that came in through our EA Partners group, it’s a partnership with Respawn, and there was an opportunity for Microsoft, EA and Respawn to create a tactical opportunity to make Titanfall exclusive to Microsoft.” Titanfall will hit Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC in spring 2014. In a recent opinion piece, we argued that exclusivity will be the key battleground between Microsoft and Sony in the next-gen.

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Square Enix has revealed plans to release Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Director’s Cut on Xbox 360, PS3, PC and Mac. Prior to the announcement, the upcoming special edition was a Wii U exclusive featuring various improvements over the original August 2011 release.

Eidos Montréal general manager Stéphane D’Astous said: “After our Director’s Cut announcement we received an overwhelming response from the community asking us to bring this ultimate edition of Human Revolution to other platforms. We’re thrilled to accommodate that request. We can now say with pleasure, ‘You asked for this!'”

Square Enix announced the game in March, when it said that it’ll offer “overhauled boss fights, refined game balance and combat, improved AI, and striking visual improvements which make this edition the best looking and most immersive Deus Ex experience available”.

It will also include the entire Missing Link DLC chapter and former pre-order bonus mission Tongs’s Rescue, “a full slate of Wii U GamePad features including touch-screen hacking, interactive map editing, augmented sniping, grenade throwbacks and many other neural hub enhancements”, plus Miiverse integration. Square Enix has confirmed that Director’s Cut’s touchscreen features developed for the Wii U version will translate to SmartGlass and Vita.

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Taking place over the first 400 days of the undead epidemic, 400 Days’ five mini-episodes each cross paths with a rural truck stop. You can play them in any order, and will find decisions from Season One influence 400 Days, and choices in 400 Days will influence Season Two when it arrives this fall.

400 Days will cost $5 and will require the first episode of Season One to play. Telltale recommends you play through the first season beforehand, but it’s a free country–especially with everybody turned into zombies.

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GameStop is reportedly planning to pull all Wii U Basic units from store shelves, sparking speculation that the low-end model may be discontinued. Citing a retail source with a “good track record”, Kotaku reports that GameStop won’t be selling the 8GB Wii U as of June 18, one week after Nintendo’s pre-E3 event next Monday.

GameStop stores have reportedly been sent the following message from head office: “Nintendo Wii U Basic Recall – Two Week Preparation On Tuesday, 6/18, all stories will need to return all new/unopened Wii U Basic (020359). .. Stores that have 10 or more in stock will receive shipping cartons from the [distribution center]. .. All other stores will need to save shipping cartons for this recall.” GameStop hasn’t returned a request for further information, while Nintendo said it wouldn’t comment on its business practices with retailers.

Nintendo said in April that Wii U sales fell significantly short of the company’s full-year target. As far back as January, about two months after the console launched, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said the company had failed to anticipate the level of demand for the Premium version. “Inventory levels for the premium, deluxe package was unbalanced as many people wanted that version and couldn’t find it,” he acknowledged. In recent months, multiple retailers including Target and Asda have introduced Wii U Basic price cuts in a bid to boost sales or, perhaps, to clear existing stock in anticipation of the model being phased out.

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@javsjavsjavs I can confirm that we will have TV’s (or similar)on stage to show the games.That should be the extend of TV talk in your #E3May 31, 2013

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Microsoft’s Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb took to Twitter to confirm what many gamers already hoped was the case about the continued roll-out of Xbox One details.

PS4 games were at the center of Sony’s reveal event, but its other entertainment features are still largely unexplored. We’ll see how Sony and Microsoft wrangle consumer expectations for their respective consoles very soon.

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During the five minute hands-off playthrough, which GR editor Henry Gilbert also saw on the Wii U, we witnessed the new improvements to the Assassin’s Creed formula, and we grilled our demo guide on what to expect from standard AC gameplay moments. The section starts in summer 1773 as Conor stands on a rooftop, waiting to drop down and explore colonial Boston. AC III will introduce weather effects into the action, including rain and snow (at least you’ve probably figured out the snow by now). Conor descends from the rooftop with a Leap of Faith into a moving hay cart. Yes, look for moveable cover, and with it, the ability to stab guards and hide their bodies inside of wheeled hay bales.

Conor also has a nifty new method of dealing with dead guards. With corner kills, he (or someone else) can lure a guard around the corner, stab them, then hide the body on his side of the wall, which eliminates the time-consuming task of lifting corpses and hiding them out of public view. And, just as Ubisoft showed off how Conor uses trees and foliage as cover in the forests, he can also pop down in urban bushes and camouflage himself.

We also saw a brutal segment that showed off the new crowd blending. Conor stands next to a group of Native Americans on a pier chit-chatting (as opposed to the usual silent bench sitters) in front of what looked like a carpentry table. As a guard walks by, Conor grabs him, spins him around, and impales him, chin-first, into a pitchfork. That incites a guard fight, and we discovered that now, guards won’t wait their turn to attack an Assassin. Conor will have to fight off two at a time in brawls. It looks like corpse looting is still very much a part of gameplay, as our Ubisoft rep confirmed.

That led us to ask about AC III”s currency system. Although details were vague, it seems that the game will strike a balance between a traditional currency system seen in past games and a degree of bartering. That explains the moment from the media event in which Conor skins a deer. Meat and fur are as much as commodity in colonial Boston as florins were for Ezio.

AC III’s Assassin’s Guild system will get some new flourishes, as well. As Conor escapes the brawl on the pier, he sees an area next to a huge ship (which, incidentally, is the end goal of the demo), but the passageway is surrounded with Redcoats. He summons a group of backup Assassins, all of whom are disguised as British soldiers, and he poses as a prisoner. The ruse works and buys him enough time to scale the walls of the passageway, climb the roof, and use his bow to pick off a guard and draw attention away from the entrance to the ship.

As Conor boards the ship, he picks up a musket. It’s important to note that the deck has three guards on board. We have to admit, we were shocked to see him rush the boat, gore one guard with the musket, then fire a blast to fell a second, then drop the weapon, run full speed, and knock the third guard overboard with a shoulder charge. And as you remember, enemies in Assassin’s Creed games have all of the swimming ability of a Milky Way bar.

As Conor climbs the mast of the ship, one final fact is revealed that you’d probably never notice: the ropes and patterns of the mast carry similar V-formations to many of the trees that Conor traverses in the wilderness sections of the game. In other words, the natural movements that look fluid as he leaps from tree to tree also translate seamlessly into his navigation of boats and skiffs.

While the freshness of the New England forests and naval fights of Assassin’s Creed III have gotten all of the attention, we’re glad to see that the urban battles of Ubisoft’s sequel are evolving in a logical fashion. Amidst a strong E3 with plenty of titles to be excited about, few have us as excited as this one.

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EA is showcasing nearly a dozen new titles at their press conference today, but we were looking forward to few of them as much as Criterion’s latest racer, Need for Speed: Most Wanted.

The biggest announcement of the full reveal was that this will in fact be an open world experience. They’ll also be bringing back Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit’s Autolog system (now called Autolog 2) which will allow you to track your friend’s progress.

That’s important this time around because the major theme is becoming “Most Wanted.” Not most wanted among a group of NPCs, but among all your friends on your leaderboard.

“Criterion is shaking up the franchise with Need for Speed Most Wanted,” said Matt Webster of Criterion Games. “This is Most Wanted for a new generation of players. We’ve brought everything we know about racing, chasing and exploration and smashed them together in a highly connected open world automotive experience. Whether driving solo or racing with friends in our amazing new multiplayer experience, Autolog fires up competition out of everything as players compete to be most wanted amongst their friends.”

EA has even announced the full release date for the title as well. We’ll be seeing Need for Speed: Most Wanted land on store shelves on October 30, 2011. They also announced that it’s coming to Xbox 360, PS3, iOS, Android, Vita, and PC. With Criterion’s insane history of quality in the racing genre, October 30th can’t come soon enough.

EA showed off two different trailers (one gameplay, one pre-rendered) and we’ll post those as soon as we get our hands on them.

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Perhaps it seems a bit silly to be complaining about how a game will soon devour everyone’s free time, especially in this age where games are mostly getting shorter and we’re always crying about how we’re not getting our $60 worth, but dammit, we’re still terrified of certain impending releases because we’re gamers, and by god if we had the willpower to stop ourselves from playing games we wouldn’t be in this whole mess in the first place, would we? We swear we actually get heart palpitations and break out in a clammy sweat when we think about this handful of upcoming games, because any one of these could mean that we’ll miss out on every other good game for a while as we pound away at our obsession. These games aren’t necessarily long in the traditional sense, like old-fashioned RPGs that took a minimum of fifty hours, but rather these titles will likely have endless sidequests and general dicking-around options that we’ll choose to take a hundred hours before we begrudgingly schlep into the final quest.

The Nominees:

Dark Souls

Friggen’ Dark Souls is going to be so bad for us because not only will it eat a good sixty hours of our time, but half that time will be spent dying and cursing. We’re going to be miserable for a good portion of those hours, and we’re going to love every minute of that misery. If that doesn’t make sense, then you need to play Demon’s Souls. Now.Preview

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

The Elder Scrolls games are always enormous timesinks (as anyone who’s played Oblivion or Morrowind can attest), filled with epic quests and optional tasks that can easily suck up hundreds of hours, and Skyrim promises to be the biggest one yet. Not only is it more ambitious than Oblivion, with sharper visuals, around 120 distinct dungeons and Bioshock 2-inspired, two-fisted weapon/spell-wielding, but its Radiant Story system will mix up pre-written quests with semi-randomized ones.Preview

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

We had no idea how huge this game would be until we learned some recent details, although do we really need to know more than that it has 120 unique dungeons (how did that end up as the same number as Skyrim)? Fine: there are hundreds of items which can be crafted into hundreds of other items, and the combat is more like God of War than Elder Scrolls, which means the combat alone will likely make us want to play this forever.Preview

Saints Row: The Third

We loved the shit out of Grand Theft Auto IV, but as a “sandbox game,” Saints Row: The Third makes it look as if Rockstar’s lost its way. Where are the needlessly violent Rampage missions, the skydiving gun fights, the civilian loss, and, for the love of god, the dildo-based weapons?! Well, thankfully, they’ve all taken up residence in Steelport, and this time around Volition Inc. decided a total lack of restraint is how to best present a wonderfully gratuitous open-world with an infinite amount of options for you and a co-op buddy. Care to fire a missile into a group of nuns from a supersonic jet you’re piloting in the nude? Saints Row: The Third has a place for you…Preview

And the winner
is%26hellip;

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

As promising as the other nominees look, we’re calling this one for Skyrim. Part of it is down to the game’s pedigree – like we said above, the previous Elder Scrolls games were legendary timesinks that ate up more weekends than we can count and took months to finish, and Fallout 3 – created by the same development team – was no less involving. However, Skyrim brings a host of additions that have us extremely intrigued, not the least of which are its dragons, which are huge, appear randomly and can grant you new powers once you’ve brought them crashing down to earth. There are smaller improvements as well, including villages with their own dynamic economies, a more customizable leveling system, an elaborate crafting system and a greater focus on story when exploring dungeons. It all adds up to a game that promises to dominate our lives this November, and we can’t wait to let it.

Above: Plus, furries

Jun 23, 2011

The Nominees:

Dark Souls

Friggen’ Dark Souls is going to be so bad for us because not only will it eat a good sixty hours of our time, but half that time will be spent dying and cursing. We’re going to be miserable for a good portion of those hours, and we’re going to love every minute of that misery. If that doesn’t make sense, then you need to play Demon’s Souls. Now.Preview

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

The Elder Scrolls games are always enormous timesinks (as anyone who’s played Oblivion or Morrowind can attest), filled with epic quests and optional tasks that can easily suck up hundreds of hours, and Skyrim promises to be the biggest one yet. Not only is it more ambitious than Oblivion, with sharper visuals, around 120 distinct dungeons and Bioshock 2-inspired, two-fisted weapon/spell-wielding, but its Radiant Story system will mix up pre-written quests with semi-randomized ones.Preview

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

We had no idea how huge this game would be until we learned some recent details, although do we really need to know more than that it has 120 unique dungeons (how did that end up as the same number as Skyrim)? Fine: there are hundreds of items which can be crafted into hundreds of other items, and the combat is more like God of War than Elder Scrolls, which means the combat alone will likely make us want to play this forever.Preview

Saints Row: The Third

We loved the shit out of Grand Theft Auto IV, but as a “sandbox game,” Saints Row: The Third makes it look as if Rockstar’s lost its way. Where are the needlessly violent Rampage missions, the skydiving gun fights, the civilian loss, and, for the love of god, the dildo-based weapons?! Well, thankfully, they’ve all taken up residence in Steelport, and this time around Volition Inc. decided a total lack of restraint is how to best present a wonderfully gratuitous open-world with an infinite amount of options for you and a co-op buddy. Care to fire a missile into a group of nuns from a supersonic jet you’re piloting in the nude? Saints Row: The Third has a place for you…Preview

And the winner
is%26hellip;

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

As promising as the other nominees look, we’re calling this one for Skyrim. Part of it is down to the game’s pedigree – like we said above, the previous Elder Scrolls games were legendary timesinks that ate up more weekends than we can count and took months to finish, and Fallout 3 – created by the same development team – was no less involving. However, Skyrim brings a host of additions that have us extremely intrigued, not the least of which are its dragons, which are huge, appear randomly and can grant you new powers once you’ve brought them crashing down to earth. There are smaller improvements as well, including villages with their own dynamic economies, a more customizable leveling system, an elaborate crafting system and a greater focus on story when exploring dungeons. It all adds up to a game that promises to dominate our lives this November, and we can’t wait to let it.

Above: Plus, furries

Jun 23, 2011

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