Bungie’s first title post-Microsoft Destiny dropped this week. Who got their copy? We have some Destiny news, and much more. Below are the top five stories of the week. As always, for the full article, simple click on the hyperlink. Get in, sit down and hold on because here we go!
Number 5
Grand Theft Auto V Steals a New-Gen Launch Date
Michael, Trevor, and Franklin are ganging up again on the industry’s newest consoles. Grand Theft Auto V has now been officially announced for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, with the latter arriving just a tad later.
Los Santos opens in all its 1080p glory November 18th. Meanwhile, PC players looking for trouble in the virtual streets are going to have to wait for a trip this coming January 27th, 2015.
The new GTA V includes denser cities, more wildlife, enhanced damage, and weather effects. The player count for GTA Online is now up to 30, and anyone that pre-orders will get $1 million in virtual, in-game cash. Sorry, no real scores here.
More cars, including classics from the GTA series (such as Dukes and the Dodo Seaplane) and over 100 new songs and remixes come with the PS4, Xbox One, and PC versions. The new cars (as well as new weapons and shooting range challenges) are a bonus for players that have the prologue on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 under their belts. Make sure you’re logged in with your Rockstar Social Club account to register your eligibility
Number 4
Beyond Gotham Becomes First Lego Game To Get Season Pass
Warner Bros. have announced a season pass for their upcoming superhero game, Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham. Season passes have become incredibly popular in the gaming industry as a new way to squeeze more money from consumers; but this will be the first time this technique is used with a Lego game.
The season pass will cost $14.99 and will include 6 different DLC packs. So far we only have information about three of those packs, which can be seen in the original article.
Number 3
Get An NES Themed 3DS XL At Gamestop-Only
An exclusive NES 3DS XL console has been announced at GameStop Expo today. This nostalgic 3DS will be released on October 10th and cannot be purchased anywhere else…. well until people start selling it on eBay and Amazon.
This NES 3DS XL is the current 3DS not the new 3DS console. But there are plenty of collectors who are willing to purchase another decorated 3DS to make this worthwhile for both Nintendo and GameStop
Number 2
Paul McCartney Created Destiny’s Music For Free
Legendary musician Paul McCartney has revealed that he helped compose Destiny’s OST completely free. According to Bungie’s community manager, Eric Osborne, The Beatles’ bassist took on the project for the creative experience, rather than for money. Valued at $650 million by Forbes, McCartney isn’t exactly in need of cash.
Osborne also pointed out that working on a popular video game gave McCartney a chance to reach new people. ”He got a wonderful opportunity to reach an audience that wouldn’t typically be immersed in Paul McCartney,” Osborne said. “They might hear the name–of course he’s everywhere, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the Olympics, obviously he’s touring and recording nonstop–but he sees it as a way to reach a new audience that might not otherwise hear his music.”
You can hear McCartney’s familiar vocals on the song played over Destiny’s credits. Called “Hope for the Future” the track will be available as a single, but you can listen to it right now in the video above.
Number 1
Xbox One Bombs In Japan
The latest sales figures from Japan show that the Xbox One has had an abysmal launch in the country, selling just 23,562 units in its first week. The best-selling launch title was Titanfall, likely because the game came bundled with most Xbox Ones. By contrast, the Wii U sold 308,000 units in its launch week whilst the PS4 sold 322,000.
Microsoft consoles have traditionally done very poorly in Japan but these numbers are low even for Xbox standards. The original Xbox sold over 123,000 units and the Xbox 360 at least managed to sell over 60,000. Across all platforms, these are the worst launch numbers since SNK’s Neo Geo Pocket back in 1998.
In other sales news, the best-selling game of the week was once again Yokai Watch 2 for the 3DS. The game has showed incredible staying power and is already at 2,422,146 units sold. The best-selling new game was the 3DS port of Dragon Quest X with sales of 52,375.
Honorable Mentions
This week had a lot of big news and the news staff and I found it hard to narrow it down to the usual five stories:
- Gears Of War: Tactics Was A Kinect Exclusive RTS
- Batman: Arkham Knight Kicks Off The Summer Game Releases
- Super Smash Bros Demo for 3DS Coming Soon
If you have suggestions for future entries, feel free to email me at jeremy.tyler@bagogames.com