Shatter Dev: More News ‘In the Very Near Future’

IGN loves Shatter. When it came to PlayStation Network in 2009, we gave it a 9.0, and we’ve since named it the very best game on PlayStation Network. And now, after a three year wait, developer Sidhe has alluded to the fact that more Shatter could be coming soon.

IGN reader Patrick Shannon sent us a link to a presentation given by Sidhe’s Managing Director Mario Wynands. The presentation is called “15 Years, 9 Lessons” and was given at the 2012 New Zealand Game Developers Association. In it, Wynands talks about Shatter, noting that it was “very successful for [Sidhe] on PSN and PC.”

However, he later goes on to note that “there will be more Shatter news hopefully in the very near future.” You can see his brief talk on Shatter at about the six minute mark in the video shown above.

Wynand’s comments fall in line with Shatter-related news that broke last summer, when Wynands told IGN that he hoped to be talking more about Shatter by the end of the year. Regrettably, that timeframe came and went, but it seems that Sidhe hasn’t forgotten about Shatter after all, and we should be hearing more about it soon, hopefully in the form of a sequel.

Do you want a Shatter sequel? What platform or platforms would you want it on? Let us know in the comments below.

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/03/shatter-dev-more-news-in-the-very-near-future

Tales of Xillia 2 Coming to PlayStation 3

The RPG Tales of Xillia came to PlayStation 3 back in late 2011, and although it sold exceptionally well in Japan, it hasn’t yet been translated and localized for release in the west (though there have been some passing hints that it would be).

Regardless, that hasn’t stopped Namco Bandai from announcing a direct sequel to Tales of Xillia -- aptly titled Tales of Xillia 2 -- which will be coming to PlayStation 3 in Japan in “Winter 2012” according to a report on Andriasang. A more specific release date (as well as a price) is set to be revealed on June 27th.

Tales of Xillia 2 will join a series populated by over a dozen entries beginning with Tales of Phantasia, which originally came to the Super Famicom in 1995. Tales of Xillia 2 also marks only the second game in the franchise that’s named as a direct sequel. Tales of Destiny, which came to PlayStation in 1997, received a Japanese-only sequel on PlayStation 2 in 2002 (Tales of Destiny II in the west was actually known as Tales of Eternia in Japan).

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/03/tales-of-xillia-2-coming-to-playstation-3

E3 2012: How to Follow Nintendo Coverage

E3 2012 is finally upon us. This year's show should prove an exciting time for gamers - and especially for Nintendo fans. Nintendo's new home console, Wii U, is set to be fully unveiled, and we'll likely get an idea of what 3DS games we'll have to look forward to in the foreseeable future. Needless to say, you're not going to want to miss a thing. As such, we here at IGN Nintendo wanted to make sure you have all the information you need so you don't miss a single juicy detail.

What's Going On At The Show

Nintendo has four (yes, FOUR) conferences and/or events happening at the show. Read on to short out which is which.

The first event is actually a pre-E3 online 'Nintendo Direct' broadcast that Nintendo literally announced just hours ago. This happens tomorrow, Sunday, June 6, around 3pm PT (that's 11pm in the UK). We'll bring you all the latest details, but the company has already given us an indication as to what's coming - a discussion about Wii U's hardware. What precisely the company will discuss is anyone's guess. Will Satoru Iwata just focus on the controller's changes? Will we get specs? Will we hear about the Nintendo Network? We'll find out very, very soon.

The main event is Nintendo's official press conference, which starts Tuesday, June 5 at 9:00 AM PT. (That's 5pm in the UK!) The show will be streamed live (click HERE for our E3 live video page), and we'll be updating the site with news stories as it happens (and no doubt making comments and such via our various social feeds - see below for more details).

What will Nintendo reveal? We'll find out soon...

That evening the company will be hosting a behind closed doors Wii U developer roundtable. That takes place Tuesday, June 5 at 6:00 PM PT. (So... 2am in the UK. Good luck with that one!) Unlike the main conference, the Wii U showcase will not be live streamed - but we'll try to bring live updates via our Twitter accounts (see below for details) as the event unfolds.

The following day Nintendo will have one final event, this time a software showcase.The possibility of a new game or two being announced at this event are pretty high, so you'll definitely want to stay close to IGN Wednesday evening. This one will take place Wednesday, June 6 at 6:00 PM PT (again, 2am for most of you in Europe) - and again, we'll be bringing live updates via our Twitter accounts during the showcase.

What To Listen To

For all you Koopalings out there, the Nintendo Voice Chat crew will try to produce special E3 editions of our podcast Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. No telling how late these will go up (or how tired and possibly belligerent we'll sound), but it's a top priority for us to keep bringing you our thoughts and commentary as we wade through the craziness that is E3.

Your humble Nintendo editors are here to bring you all the big E3 news!

How to Follow Rich and Audrey

(Live Updates, Photos, Commentary and More!!)

As mentioned, throughout all of E3 we'll be trying to keep you guys in the loop as much as possible via our social accounts. You can follow me on IGN here, and on Twitter here (@gameonaminka). You can follow Rich on IGN here and on Twitter here (@RichIGN). Both Rich and I will be labeling our E3 tweets with this hashtag - #E3NVC - so keep a lookout for those posts as they pop up.

How to Ask Us Questions

Rich and I will be working our butts off to bring you guys all the breaking Nintendo news as it happens, as well as to bring you insight as to what it's like on the show floor. Feel free to hit us up on our social feeds with questions, requests or comments, and we'll do our best to appease as many of you as we can. You can also e-mail us at NVC@ign.com.

That about wraps up what you need to know to stay informed during the most exciting week in the gaming industry. Until next time, Koopalings - Game on!

Audrey Drake is an Associate Editor at IGN and a proud member of the IGN Nintendo team. She is also a lifelong gamer, a frequent banisher of evil and a wielder of various legendary blades. You can follow her zany exploits on her IGN blog and Twitter. Game on!

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/03/e3-2012-how-to-follow-nintendo-coverage

The Avengers Defeats Dark Knight, Harry Potter

Marvel's The Avengers has passed The Dark Knight at the third highest-grossing domestic release of all time.

The Marvel epic has so far earned $538.1 million domestically to the second Christopher Nolan Batman film's final tally of $533.3 million.

Two James Cameron blockbusters -- Avatar and Titanic -- are No. 1 and No. 2 with $760.5 million and $658.6 million, respectively.

On the all time worldwide grosses front, The Avengers is also No. 3 behind, yes, Avatar and Titanic. With a global current total of $1,331.3 billion, The Avengers has surpassed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2's cume of $1,328.1 billion.

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/02/the-avengers-defeats-dark-knight-harry-potter

E3 2012: The Eve of the (Nintendo) Storm

From where I'm sitting, looking out over the downtown Los Angeles skyline from my loft apartment, everything is peaceful. Serene. Quiet. On the weekend, downtown L.A. is a virtual ghost town, absent of all the suits and professionals that occupy it during the week. This city isn't as compact as many others. Thousands commute for hours to get here, leaving shells of buildings with very few occupants when the vast majority of businesses aren’t open. Except this weekend.

Slowly but surely, Los Angeles is springing to life. Thousands are coming into town this weekend, preparing for an onslaught of activity that actually starts tomorrow, not Monday, as it normally would. And at the heart of much of this activity is Nintendo.

(L to R) Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, Satoru Iwata and Reggie Fils-Aime have arrived at E3 2012. (Source: Nintendo)

Led by Satoru Iwata, Reggie Fils-Aime and Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo is seemingly preparing one of the biggest video game showcases we’ve ever seen. Not just from the publisher itself, but in the grand scheme of E3 as a whole. It’s tradition for first party publishers to hold a keynote press conference that lasts an hour or two. Through various means, Nintendo is effectively holding four of these. Four. That’s over four hours of announcements, details and discussion about its current portable platform, the 3DS, and its upcoming console - Wii U. And that’s not counting the various interviews, videos and hands-on impressions that will follow on sites like IGN.

By sheer volume, this seems like it is Nintendo’s E3 to lose. True, the company has much to prove, but it clearly has a lot to say. Tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon, it will discuss Wii U’s hardware through an online presentation. It claims Tuesday will be about software, presumably with a strong emphasis on Wii U. That evening it plans to have a developer roundtable - once again focused on Wii U. The next night, it’s hosting a software showcase. By process of elimination, that one is likely locked on 3DS. Despite the need to bring its home console to the show in full force, the publisher can’t forget its portable audience, less it stumble once more with system.

An older version of Wii U's controller, as shown at E3 2011.

Covering a first party publisher like Nintendo is a busy affair at any E3. There are plenty of games to see, even when one platform is struggling, as Wii did at last year’s show. There are plenty of interviews to conduct. Plenty of opinion and perspective to give. This year is poised to be one of the busiest years in recent memory. Even if third parties aren’t quite ready to showcase all of their software - or hold back titles from being playable - Nintendo  is ready to share its vision, with the exception of formalizing its precise launch plans.

From a bird’s eye view, Los Angeles is quiet. Only a few isolated cars travel down streets designed for hundreds more. But Nintendo is already here, finalizing its plans for the week. It’s preparing to unleash a storm, to bring a flurry of announcements the likes of which it hasn’t done in several years. It’s dedicating presentations to distinct hardware and software elements, adding more events to its E3 agenda than ever before.

Nintendo is ready.

Are you?

Rich is an Executive Editor of IGN.com, the leader of the IGN Nintendo team and watches over all things Resident Evil, Assassin's Creed and WWE. Follow his E3 2012 coverage and commentary on Twitter, Tumblr and IGN.

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/02/e3-2012-the-eve-of-the-nintendo-storm