It’s that time of week again when we take a fond look back at the top five news stories from the week. Welcome to the Weekly Wrap-Up. Below is a brief summary, but for the full stories simply click on the hyperlink. Let us know if you agree with our top five. If you have suggestions for future Weekly Wrap-Ups, feel free to email me at jeremy.tyler@bagogames.com.
Enjoy!
Number 5
$220 Million is all in a Day’s Work for Halo 4
We all knew that Halo 4 was going to be a huge success worldwide (maybe with the exception of Japan!) and Microsoft has confirmed this by announcing that Halo 4 has made $220 million on its first day on sale as well as being due to make $300 million in its first week on sale worldwide. In comparison, Halo 3 made $170 million on launch (US only) whilst Halo Reach made $200 million when it launched in 2010 (US & Europe). Microsoft continued to state that the series has now made a combined $3.38 billion in combined life-to-date sales.
Number 4
Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage DLC for Borderlands 2 Comes Nov. 20th
Borderlands 2′s second DLC outing will come in the form of Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage. If you were a fan of the Underdome from the original Borderlands, this is just the thing for you. Even if the Underdome wasn’t your thing, you may want to pay attention to Joystiq’s report of it, as your time with Mr. Torgue won’t be exactly the same as it was with Mad Moxxi. The DLC, which is set to release next week for 800 MS Points/$9.99, will introduce us to (surprise!) Mr. Torgue. A loud-mouthed man, who may, in fact, be the manliest man of all the men…man. Players will take part in arena-style battles and other quests that will take them to new areas, all while Mr. Torque talks away in your ear.
Number 3
Microsoft Giving Away Special Xbox 360s to its Longtime Live Members
Have you been using Xbox Live for the past decade, since its creation on the original Xbox? Do you think you’ve given your all to the service and wouldn’t mind getting something in return for it? Well, you might want to pay attention to Major Nelson’s blog tomorrow for a chance to win a special Xbox 360. Or, you may have already been contacted by Microsoft, who’ll simply send you one of these special Xbox 360s. How Microsoft determines how long you’ve been with the service is unknown, but I think your best bet would be to have been paying for the service for a majority of these past ten years.
Number 2
PlayStation Plus Coming to PS Vita Next Week, Adds Vita Titles to Instant Games Collection
PlayStation Vita owners now have a date to look forward to when it comes to getting PS Plus on their Vitas, as the PlayStation Blog has revealed that the service will be coming to the Vita with the system’s v2.00 software update next Monday (Nov 19th). In addition to a new email app, the ability to transfer content between the Vita and a PC as well as several tweaks to the system’s browser, the Instant Games Collection –which is probably the best reason to invest in PS Plus– is also coming to the system with some heavy hitting titles. Starting on Nov 20th, after the PS Store updates, you’ll be able to download Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Jet Set Radio HD, WipEout 2048, Gravity Rush, Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack! and Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions.
Number 1
Jeff Rubenstein Leaving SCEA
Jeff Rubenstein (seen on the left in the picture above), who served as Senior Social Media Manager at PlayStation (specifically SCEA (Sony Computer Entertainment America)) has officially left the company. Having been with PlayStation for 5 years, his role included the development of PlayStation.Blog to bring gamers all the latest happenings going on with Sony and PlayStation titles. He didn’t state what his next endeavor would be but nevertheless, we wish him all the best!
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. Here are some of the articles for the honorable mention section. Another Sad Day For Silicone Knights, Frantic search through bucket-loads of bricks for actual game discs, Sony ready to punish hackers
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. And finally, check out The Interview with Q, hosted by Matthew Quinlan.