Welcome everyone to the New Gamer Nation Weekly News Update. This week we have winners of the B.A.F.T.A. Awards in their video game section; Mass Effect 3′s ending controversy; Another handheld console is on the way, meanwhile the new X-Box isn’t…Yet; and we have release date for a Diablo III, and a couple announcements on other upcoming games. Hit that pause button, we got your news here.
B.A.F.T.A. Video Game Awards.
It’s time for Valve can celebrate with cake, because Portal 2 won the Best Game Award for the Brittish Academy of Film and Television Arts. Along with that award, Portal 2 also won Best Design and Best Story. Another big winner of the Award Ceremony was Battlefield 3 with Best Audio Achievement, The GAME Public Award, and Best Online Multiplayer.
The rest of the other winners of the night are included here:
Best story: Portal 2
Best original music: L.A Noire
Best audio achievement: Battlefield 3
Best design: Portal 2
Best game innovation: LittleBig Planet 2
Best strategy: Total War: Shogun 2
Best mobile & handheld: Peggle HD
The GAME public award: Battlefield 3
Best action game: Batman: Arkham City
One to watch: Tic Toc Toys
Best browser based game: MonsterMind
Best Artistic Achievement: Rayman Origins
Best Sports And Fitness: Kinect Sports Season 2
Best Online Multiplayer: Battlefield 3
Best Debut Game: Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
Best Family Game: LittleBig Planet 2
Performer: Mark Hamill
Best Game: Portal 2
It’s an impressive list of games that won. And worry not Nation, soon enough we will hopefully have our own ceremony soon enough, stay tuned for details. So what do you think of the list? Do you agree with it?
Source: B.A.F.T.A.
Mass Effect 3 Controversy
One of, of not THE, most anticipated games of 2012, Mass Effect 3, was released, and while reviews coming in seem to be raving about the game, there seems to be a lot of controversy surrounding the ending of the game. Some of the gamers playing the game want Bioware, the developer of the game, to change the ending, going so far as to create a Twitter Page, a Facebook page and an online petition demanding the developers to change the ending.
Thursday, Bioware Community Spokesperson, Chris Priestly posted in a Bioware Forum, the development team is listening to the outcry:
“We appreciate everyone’s feedback about Mass Effect 3 and want you to know that we are listening. Active discussions about the ending are more than welcome here, and the team will be reviewing it for feedback and responding when we can. Please note, we want to give people time to experience the game so while we can’t get into specifics right now, we will be able to address some of your questions once more people have had time to complete the game.”
Does that mean Bioware is going to change the ending of the game or does it mean they’ll add a patch or DLC sometime to address the matter? How do you feel about the ending? Should the ending change? However you feel about it, stay tuned in the coming week for the official New Gamer Nation review of Mass Effect 3.
Bioware Forums
New NeoGeo Handheld Confirmed
A new handheld console has been confirmed to be released by NeoGeo, called the NeoGeo X. SNK confirmed the release of the console for later this year, possibly in the second quarter. The NeoGeo X will feature an SD card slot, a 3.5-inch LCD screen, A/V output and internal stereo speakers, and launches with 20 pre-loaded games. Blaze and original platform creator, SNK Playmore will manufacture the device. “The NeoGeo console has always been a personal favourite of mine and I am delighted to be involved with the development of this new handheld console,” commented Blaze’s Jason Cooper. “We hope to re-ignite the excitement many of us felt 21 years ago, in a more affordable manner, to a much wider audience.”
There is no set price for the console, however rumors of the console costing £500 were shot down. It wouldn’t be the first time NeoGeo released an overpriced console, remember when they launched their own home console for $650, with game cartridges costing around $200? And this was 1990. So we’ll see how much it’s going for. Also the list of games pre-loaded onto the console are as follows:
Art of Fighting
Baseball Stars
Cyber Lip
Fatal Fury
Fatal Fury Special
Football Frenzy
King of the Monsters
Last Resort
League Bowling
Magician Lord
Metal Slug
Mutation Slug
Mutation Nation
Nam 1975
Samurai Shodown
Sengoku
Super Sidekicks
The King of Fighters ’94
The Ultimate 11
Top Players Golf
World Heroes
So what do you think? Are you excited for this console and the list of games on it? Can this really compete with the Nintendo 3DS and the Playstation Vita?
Source: Eurogamer
Next Xbox Will NOT Be At E3
It looks like Nintendo’s Wii-U will be the only new console that will be showcased at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, as Microsoft stated they don’t have any plans to showcase a new console. Group PR Manager for Microsoft Studios, Ryan James, stated to Game Informer, “While we appreciate all the interest in our long-range plans for the future, we can confirm that there will be no talk of new Xbox hardware at E3 or anytime soon. For us, 2012 is all about Xbox 360—and it’s the best year ever for Xbox 360. The console is coming off its biggest year ever—a year in which Xbox outsold all other consoles worldwide.”
So, either Microsoft is going to release the next console on their own terms, or maybe the lack of “talk of Xbox hardware” means we will see a console under a different name. Only time can tell, but hopefully they won’t have any child actors at their conference this year. When do you think the next Xbox will be released?
Source: Game Informer
Game Releases
Final notes of the day revolve around the announcements of new game releases. First up on the new game releases is Blizzard’s highly anticipated Diablo III. Due out May 15, Blizzard has made the decision to cut PVP from the game, and release it as a patch, to meet the release date. Also, Blizzard has announced expansion packs for Starcraft 2 and World of Warcraft. Either Heart of the Swarm (Starcraft 2) or Mist of Pandaren (World of Warcraft) will be released this year, however it is unconfirmed which expansion will be out and when.
Source: Blizzard & IGN
At the San Diego Comic-Con, Telltale games announced a Walking Dead game. Now we have a little more details as to when it will be out. The Walking Dead game will be released as a five episode series, much like Back to the Future, with the first episode to be released in April, and the following episodes released “regularly”. The Walking Dead game will be released on Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, PC, Mac and iOS.
Source: IGN
And the final game announcement of the week…Celebrating their 10 year anniversary, The Ratchet & Clank collection has been announced. Ratchet & Clank, Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando, and Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal will be remastered by Idol Minds working closely with Insomniac Games. With full 1080p (720p stereoscopic 3D support), all three games will have their own set of trophies, and the online competitive multiplayer from Up Your Arsenal will be included. The collection is due out this fall in North America, and the Spring in Europe.
Source: Playstation Blog
That’s all we have this week, thanks for reading, leave a comment if you have an opinion on any of the stories we mentioned this week, and until next week, game on gamers.