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
Activision and Nickelodeon Sign Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Deal
Activision and television channel Nickelodeon have announced a multi-year deal to develop and publish video games based on the CG-animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles television series which made its debut in September 2012.
“Activision is a leader in the gaming industry and we are honored to have them as the global video game partner for our new hit series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” said Sherice Torres, Senior Vice President of Entertainment Products, Nickelodeon Consumer Products, in a press release. “We are confident that these upcoming games will take gamers through interactive environments and action-packed adventures that truly capture the essence, tone and exciting elements of the Turtles.”
Kurt Niederloh, Vice President of Activision Publishing Minneapolis, Inc., added, “The fans of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are unique in that they span generations and are very passionate. We respect this passion and look forward to working with Nickelodeon to create games that embody the spirit of the property.”
Number 4
Media Molecule Tease New Project as Rumored
As we reported last weeks, Media Molecule have a new project up their sleeves which many are believing could be related to Sony’s mysterious announcement due at the end of this month.
The original rumor we reported on stated that Media Molecule had organised some outsourced help developing LittleBigPlanet 3 although it is worth to note that this new game, simply titled “?” could be another entry into the MotorStorm series.
Number 3
Valve Lays Off Employees From Hardware and Android Departments
Well here’s one company I never expected to be hit with layoffs –of any kind– but it seems that Valve has taken to laying off a number of people, some from their hardware and Android departments.
Gamasutra has reported on the incident, stating that a number of employees have been let go from Valve in what some are calling a ‘great cleansing’. A total of 25 have been said, but it’s unconfirmed at this point.
Meanwhile, Develop added to the news with reports that Jason Holtman, the company’s Director of Business, has also left for unknown reasons.
For a list of employees and positions known to leave the company, simply follow the hyperlink in the article’s title.
Number 2
Sony Make a Point Of Saying The PS3 Still Has “A Long Life” Ahead Of Possible PS4 Announcement
With less than ten days to Sony’s mysterious announcement which many believe will be the reveal of their next generation console, the PlayStation 4.
This may be enough to persuade gamers who don’t yet own a PlayStation 3 to wait to see what the company has in store, but Sony wants to make sure that this isn’t the case as their chief financial officer, Masaru Kato, has told shareholders and analysts that “PS3, in its sixth year, I think has a long life”.
Number 1
Here’s a Prototype of the Next PlayStation’s Controller
What you see above is, apparently, a rough idea of what to expect for the PlayStation 4′s controller. Odd looking, isn’t it?
The image comes courtesy of Destructoid, who notes that it might be plugged into a PS4 dev kit. It certainly does resemble the DualShock controller we’ve all come to know and love, but its analog sticks and what could be a touchscreen wedged into the center of it (is that a speaker?!) leave much to be desired. Or, you know, changed.
Fortunately, IGN was told by one of their sources that the above controller is, in fact, a prototype. Meaning that it could go through several changes before the system’s full release.
Where did this image originate from? Who knows (Dtoid didn’t report that part), but the upcoming Feb 20th announcement from Sony is looking more and more likely to be PlayStation 4 related. Personally, I can’t wait to get an official name soon. Mostly so I can stop debating over what to refer to it as.
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. Five Potential Locations for Assassin’s Creed 4, The Last Guardian Still in Developement, Confirms Fumito Ueda, Namco Bandai expands publishing deal with Codemasters
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
