On PS3 and as a Cross-Buy title on PS Vita this week, PlayStation All-stars Battle Royale is a brawler on the PS3 like nothing that has come before it. From Kratos to Sly Cooper, Sweet Tooth to PaRappa the Rapper, PlayStation characters from all over the gaming spectrum are brought together in a fighting adventure that’s both easy to play, and hard to master. The game plays out across static and interactive Sony themed environments, and features local multiplayer support as well as the ability to take the battle online for competitive multiplayer action.
On PS Vita and on PSN as a digital download, with an overall Metacritic score of 90 and a multitude of “Editor’s Choice” and “Best Of” awards, Persona 4 stands as one of the finest games ever made, delivering many dozens of hours of enthralling storytelling, immensely satisfying combat, intricate party management, and addicting Persona collection and customization. Now, Persona 4 Golden for the PS Vita offers an enhanced and expanded portable version of the highly acclaimed original!
Enjoy this week The Drop.
PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale
(Also on PS Vita/PSN Download) — PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is free-for-all brawler showcasing the best and brightest of PlayStation’s characters and worlds. From Kratos to Sly Cooper, Sweet Tooth to Parappa the Rapper, Sony characters from all over the gaming spectrum are brought together in a fighting adventure that’s both easy to play, and hard to master. Take the battle online for competitive multiplayer action, or go head to head with a group of friends on the couch and prove once and for all who’s really the best!
Hitman: Absolution (Also on PSN) – Hitman: Absolution follows Agent 47, a cold-blooded assassin, who takes on his most dangerous contract to date. Betrayed by those he once trusted — and now hunted by the police — he suddenly finds himself at the center of a dark conspiracy and must embark on a personal journey through a corrupt and twisted world. Boasting a cinematic story, distinctive art direction and highly original game design, Hitman: Absolution combines much-loved classic gameplay with features never seen before in the Hitman franchise.
Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two (Also on PSN) – In Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, gamers will play as Mickey Mouse and for the first time ever, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit — Walt Disney’s first cartoon star — in an all-new adventure of creativity and discovery. The game returns Mickey Mouse and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit to Wasteland, an alternate world filled with 80 years of forgotten Disney characters and theme park attractions. Now, Mickey and Oswald must join forces as true partners — Mickey with his magical paint brush that wields paint and thinner, and Oswald with his powerful remote control that allows him to command electricity. Unleash the power of creativity in an epic battle to save this magical world of Wasteland and change it forever in this heroic adventure!
Sonic & All-Stars: Racing Transformed (
Rise of the Guardians: The Video Game – Let your imagination soar in Rise of the Guardians as you play as the all magical, powerful, and immortal Guardians from the DreamWorks Animation film. As North, Bunnymund, Tooth, and Sandman, each player has their own set of upgradable and never-before-seen extraordinary abilities to help you take on the evil spirit “Pitch” and his infectious nightmares. With drop-in-and-out multiplayer for up to four players, cool team attacks, and an arsenal of spellbinding moves, you and your team of Guardians will protect the hopes, beliefs and imaginations of children all over the world!
History’s Legends of War: Patton – In this epic turn-based strategy game you will follow the paths of General Patton during WWII, leading your troops to battle while traversing Western Europe’s devastated land. Gain prestige points and use them to enhance your army, acquiring advanced weapons and gear. Play through four different types of missions: Attack, Defense, Infiltration, and Sabotage. From the French beaches to Belgium, you will have to prove your worth as a member of Patton’s Third Army, and fight for victory!
Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse (Also on PSN) – Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse utilizes the talented voice cast and writers, authentic humor and subversive spirit of the Family Guy series, giving fans a whole new way to interact with their favorite show. The game features a completely original story that sends the guys back through the Multiverse on a mission to stop Bertram. The game also featuers extra challenge levels, multiplayer maps, costumes and unlockable characters as well as a co-op mode.
Persona 4: Golden (PS Vita)
Persona 4 Golden for PlayStation Vita offers an enhanced and expanded portable version of the highly acclaimed original! Visuals have been beautifully remastered to take advantage of the PS Vita’s crisp, vibrant 5″ OLED display. The game’s aural presentation is better than ever, with 1.5 times the voiced dialogue of the original release. A new online dungeon rescue feature allows users to call on other players for assistance when they are about to die in the TV world. Persona 4 Golden is also overflowing with new content: new Personas to collect; new story events along with an all-new character; stunning new anime cutscenes, which include a new opening animation with a new song from master composer Shoji Meguro; a host of fan-suggested tweaks and changes, and much more! Persona 4 Golden is far more than just a handheld version of an all-time classic: it’s the best way to experience it yet!
Jet Set Radio (PS Vita) – The government is attempting to silence the kids of Tokyo, but with their Overdrive Magnetic-Motor Skating Shoes, the cops will have to catch ‘em first. The Jet Set Radio program keeps the kids unified and inspired to fight for their rights of expression, which includes graffiti art. Grab your spray cans and design your own piece on one of the immense walls in the 3D, interactive city. You might be forced to protect your territory from adversaries that want to take over your neighborhood. Join up with like-minded hip individuals that will help you keep your area the way you want it. The cops will be after you too, so you’ll have to be quick. The 10 cartoon-style characters are pumped up with polygons so they come alive in 3D. Uniqueness is key to these kids and each character stands apart with exclusive abilities and style. They like to show off too, and with 18 missions, there’s plenty of time to impress. It’s fast, it’s fun, and it’s definitely funky.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning – An open-world action RPG, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is set in Amalur, a rich and deeply immersive world underpinned by 10,000 years history, created by 22 time New York Times bestselling author, R.A. Salvatore. Immersing players in a rich, living, breathing open-world dripping with magic and rife with danger, underpinned by strong storytelling, Reckoning lets players define their destiny as they engage in intense action combat while exploring the huge, vibrant and varied world of Amalur as envisioned by the visionary creator of Spawn and acclaimed artist, Todd McFarlane.
Designed by open-world RPG legend Ken Rolston, Reckoning offers players unparalleled choice in a world of infinite possibility. Together, the visionaries and development team behind Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning are creating a game that aims to forever change the RPG genre.
Tom Clancy’s Endwar – From 2011 to 2014, the world enjoyed an unprecedented era of peace as enhanced defense technology eliminated the threat of nuclear war. It didn’t last. By 2020, constant depletion of resources has international tensions at a breaking point. One spark will ignite what no one thought could ever happen … a third and final world war. World War III comes to life in Tom Clancy’s EndWar.
Sine Mora (PS3/Vita) – Sine Mora is an innovative shooter which mixes traditional side-scrolling gameplay with unique time manipulation mechanics. Sine Mora takes advantage of the newest in 3D display technology to deliver an horizontal side-scrolling shoot-em-up experience unlike any other thanks to its unique twist on bending time.
F1 Race Stars – F1 Race Stars is a fast-to-the-fun arcade racing game for all ages featuring official FORMULA ONE cars, teams and circuits as they’ve never been seen before. F1 Race Stars will take players on a world tour of iconic FORMULA ONE locations, including Monaco, Silverstone and the new Circuit of Americas in Austin, Texas, recreated as fantastical racing circuits built for speed and wheel-to-wheel competition. Friends and family can share the fun too; F1 RACE STARS will deliver 4-player split-screen racing and 12-player competition alongside an extensive career mode featuring a number of Championships.
Clan of Champions – Clan of Champions is a hardcore multiplayer action game. You will choose from 3 different characters – human, elf, or orc – and take on missions, each of which is different in content and length. You can either play by yourself or with other players in co-op mode, and up to 3 players can play simultaneously online. There is also a 3 vs 3 team battle mode where you can fight with, and against, your friends. There will be a large amount of DLC for additional quests, items, and weapons for the future.
More PSN Downloads
- The Walking Dead: Episode 5 – No Time Left
- Elminage Original (PSP/PS Vita)
- Doom Classic Collection
Demos
- DMC (Devil May Cry)
- Sine Mora (PS3/PS Vita)
minis
- Jetpack Joyride
[Editor’s Note: The following dates are subject to change. Game details are gathered from Press Releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.]
Check out this murderers' row of highly anticipated games scheduled to ship this fall. Ladies and gentlemen, start your saving. If you want to play the biggest games of the year, your wallet warning level will be at Defcon 1 come the autumn months.
Here are the confirmed dates we have so far. Click the game name to read our review.
November
Halo 4 – November 6
LittleBigPlanet Karting – November 6
NASCAR The Game: Inside Line – November 6
Paper Mario: Sticker Star – November 11
Call of Duty: Black Ops II – November 13
Wonderbook: Book of Spells -- November 13
Wii U Launch – November 18
Disney's Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two – November 18
Disney's Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion – November 18
Scribblenauts Unlimited -- November 18
New Super Mario Bros. U -- November 18
Nintendo Land -- November 18
Hitman: Absolution – November 20
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royal – November 20
Persona 4 Golden -- November 20
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed – November 20
December
Far Cry 3 – December 4
Guardians of Middle-earth -- December 4
Guardians of Middle-earth -- December 4
Which games are you planning to splurge for first?
According to the market research and consulting firm Newzoo, consumer behavior among gamers changed dramatically in 2012, while the video game market overall remained flat.
Between the PC, television, tablet, and smartphone, consumers currently have four primary screens to access entertainment with, and 22 percent of American gamers used all four screens for gaming in 2012. The most money and the most time were spent on PC gaming, while TV came in second for time and money spent.
However there was a dramatic shift from gamers towards mobile devices.
The combination of digital, tablet, and smartphone games led to a decline in boxed sales, but also led to 24 million Americans spending money on gaming for the first time ever, which was helped by the free-to-play business model. Spending by this group is expected to increase over time.
The total number of American gamers rose 8 percent to 157 million, with 55 percent of those gamers actually spending money on games.
Free-to-play is becoming an increasingly prevalent business model for video games. Guild Wars 2 experienced both critical and financial success earlier this year with its subscription-free model, and games like Planetside 2 and Dust 514 are attempting to draw players in with their free-to-play models as well. Cevat Yerli, the CEO and president of Crytek, is also looking to display the merits behind free-to-play with the first-person shooter Warface.
Tablets and handheld devices were able to monetize their content most effectively in 2012; the money spent on games for those devices was twice the amount that was spent on smartphone gaming, despite only having half as many players. Tablets and smartphones also seem to complement each other quite well, with more than 10 million Americans playing games on both devices.
While games on tablets and smartphones, and games with a free-to-play model experienced a surge in 2012, the video game market overall remained flat.
The number of gamers spending money on games increased by 33 percent to 86 million in 2012, but those gamers are spending less money on average. This resulted in an increase of only 1 percent in money spent on games throughout the U.S. The research includes every dollar spent on games including digital and mobile, online skillgaming, pre-owned, import, and DLC.
Overall the research points towards and industry currently experiencing many changes. While there are more people spending more time playing video games than ever before, those people are spending less money and spreading their expenditures across multiple devices, leading to a minimal increase in spending overall.
Have you noticed your gaming habits or those of your friends changing this year?
The new Far Cry 3 trailer focuses on the various components that make up the game’s multiplayer.
The trailer showcases two new modes called Firestorm and Transmission, various player abilities such as battle cries which boosts the performance of teammates, the ability to call in barrel bombs or nerve gas to decimate the opposing team, chopping dudes in the neck with a machete, and of course humiliating opponents through the use of tea-bagging.
Wondering what separates Far Cry 3 from the average shooter? Check out our previous Far Cry 3 coverage here.
Far Cry 3 is set to release on Dec. 4.
In the latest issue of Game Informer (that you can read digitally here) senior associate editor Jeff Cork wrote a massive feature on the upcoming release of Far Cry 3 from Ubisoft. As a newcomer to the series, all that associate editor Tim Turi knew was that Jeff was incredibly excited for the game's December release. In the video below, Tim tries to figure out why.
Watch the video to learn about what separates Far Cry 3 from the average shooter.
You’ve read the cover story. You’ve watched the trailers. Now, get a closer look at the three men whose stories define Rockstar’s next open-world epic.
If you’ve somehow managed to miss the news, this latest Grand Theft Auto doesn’t have one hero; it has three. What’s more, their sagas are intertwined throughout the entire game. During most of the game you can switch instantly between characters, experiencing the events of GTA V from three very different perspectives.
To give the game dramatic heft and variety, these characters are vastly different in temperament, background, and skills. By constantly moving from character to character, you’ll learn each one’s motives and experience the world from their point of view. Read on to discover more about each of the protagonists. While most of this information is available in our cover story, we wanted to give you a quick-and-easy summary of the game’s three heroes.
Michael
This is the character many assumed was the main character of Grand Theft Auto V. Michael is a middle-aged ex-bank robber, ensconced in his gilded cage in Rockford Hills, GTA’s approximation of Beverly Hills. Judging by his house, he was quite good at his former profession. He’s now living in quiet retirement with his wife Audra, daughter Tracy, and son Jimmy.
A big house, an attractive younger wife, a fast car, and two children – sounds like paradise, right? Sadly, Michael has found the good life lacking. In reality, his wife can barely tolerate him, and spends her time spending his money throughout the city’s finest boutiques. His daughter and son have little time for him. For Rockstar, Michael represents an interesting paradigm: he’s basically “won” the game that so many GTA protagonists have played over the years. He escaped from the criminal life with his fortune and freedom intact. Yet, he’s miserable and bored, trapped in a loveless marriage he can’t leave because he’s basically in witness protection.
From what we’ve seen so far, Michael appears to be thoughtful and calculated, and likely to keep his motives hidden. These traits were likely the ones that allowed him to survive his criminal career.
Like any aging criminal of fiction, his retirement isn’t as permanent as he thinks.
As part of our month of ongoing coverage of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto V, we assembled a crack team of GI editors to discuss the game in a special edition podcast -- including cover story author Matt Bertz.
Regular GI Show host Matt Helgeson welcomes Matt, Jeff Marchiafava, and Dan Ryckert into the booth for a lengthy and detailed discussion of what we've seen of the game so far. Jeff and Dan, who haven't seen the game in action but are longtime GTA fans, have a lot of questions and speculation about the game to add to the Matts' impressions of GTA V.
Rockstar Games has released a brand new trailer for Grand Theft Auto V.