It’s the weekend, which means two things: 1) We’re getting ever so close to the release of next-gen systems (who’s excited) and 2) another exciting entry of the Weekly Wrap-Up is coming your way. Below, you’ll find brief summaries of our top 5 stories from this week, as well as a few stories that were interesting, but weren’t quite that big to make the cut. As always, if you want to read the full story, simply click on the link hidden in the titles. If you have suggestions for future entries, feel free to email me at jeremy.tyler@bagogames.com.
Here we go.
Number 5
Blockbuster Re-Enters Administration: Xbox One & PS4 Pre-Orders Enter Danger Zone
Blockbuster has entered administration again, owners Gordon Brothers Europes have announced.
Speaking to IGN, Gordon Brothers said in a statement:
“The need to significantly reduce costs whilst a buyer is sought will unfortunately result in 32 redundancies at Blockbuster UK’s head office. All stores will continue trading as normal whilst a buyer is sought for the business. In the event that a buyer cannot be found some stores may need to close.”
Arguably the biggest concern however are pre-orders for both the Xbox One and PS4 consoles, due this holiday season. The company says that “any customers with outstanding orders should visit their local store who will deal with the matter.”
Number 4
The Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds 3DS Bundle Coming to North America
Nintendo has announced that it is bringing The Legend of Zelda 3DS bundle to North America, in addition to Europe. The bundle, priced at $219.99, comes with a download code for The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds and a 3DS XL system that is gold on one side and black on the other, which represents the two worlds Link will travel between in the game.
“This beautifully designed Nintendo 3DS XL system continues a tradition that has delighted our fans for decades,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “It’s a special bundle for a very special video game.”
Number 3
Titanfall Not Coming to PlayStation 4
For those of you holding out for a PS4 version of Respawn Entertainment’s Titanfall, well, you may have to give up on it, as EA put any hope of that to bed during its quarterly earnings call that took place today.
Electronic Arts CFO Blake Jorgensen stated that Titanfall is ‘exclusive only for the lifetime of the title on Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC.’ Meaning that, unless the Xbox One and Xbox 360 somehow cease to exist between November 22nd and March 2014 (when Titanfall comes out), you won’t be seeing the title on a competing home console anytime soon.
Number 2
November’s PS Plus Instant Games Collection Getting Two PS4 Titles
The games coming to the PlayStation Plus Instant Games Collection have been detailed and two of these titles are PS4 games.
In addition to ibb & obb, Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arison and Binary Domain on the PS3 side of things, RESOGUN, from Housemarque (Super Stardust) and Contrast will be free to PlayStation Plus members that are playing on the PS4. Of course, those two games won’t be available until November 15th, which is why the first three PS3 titles are there to keep you occupied until then, as well as Vita titles Soul Sacrifice and Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath.
Number 1
Nintendo Closes 3DS’ Swap Note Service Due To ‘Offensive Content’
Nintendo has decided to close what is, to many, one of the best services that the Nintendo 3Ds provides to its users, the Swap Note service.
Since being first available, the service allowed users to send letters to each other in drawing form, very similar to the original Nintendo DS’ pictochat service although it also supported sound recordings, colours and allowed for the attachments of images from the 3DS’ SD Card slot, something that may have led to the closure.
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:
- Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag’s PlayStation DLC Not Coming to Other Platforms
- Activision Slashing Clan Support From COD: Ghosts On Wii U
- Halo: Spartan Assault Coming to Xbox One, Xbox 360
If you missed out on the big news items this week, you can check out our weekly podcast and get an audio update of this week’s madness from our podcasting team. Listen to us as we talk about some things seriously and a few other things not so much. We guarantee this episode will make you shake your fist at times and nod your head at others.