tl;dr
Kat's Korner- Episode 5
Editorial | September 19, 2012 7:18 pm
By Moo Lissa
Wow. This was a crazy summer, it almost makes me glad it's over. Almost. The summer tournament is over, and rather than ranting this episode, I'd like to thank the people who have helped make it a success. That's all of you- everyone who visits the site, everyone who reads our posts- without you, the staff would be a lot less... busy.
I do want to thank everyone who has donated a prize for the tourney, offered help in some way, or just taken the time to show up- even if they were disappointed in the game selection, and even if they haven't won a prize. Junior, Pureevil, Shadowmachine, and Evol deserve a special thanks, from me as well as from the rest of the site- because of donations and support that I received from these guys, a theme tournament is something that I'll be trying again in the future (Winter tourney- Lost Planet, anyone? Hahaha).
The thing about the summer is that it's a massive dry spell for us gamers. It sucks, when you're waiting for good games to come out, but then when you're out at the pool, mowing the lawn, going to amusement parks or whatever else people do for fun in the summer, it's almost a good thing since you don't have to choose one or the other. But the dry spell is about over, and with new games comes more news!
Nintendo is set to release their Wii U console on November 18th. There will be two launch packages- "the basic," with 8 gb internal storage, for $299 and "the deluxe," with 32 gb storage and a game. The gigantic controllers will have built in touch screens and can be used as a remote, to search for live and recorded shows, and to use the social network "Miiverse" to connect with friends regarding shows they're watching, thanks to the newly unveiled to "TVii." The controllers serve as a 2nd screen in games. They have a huge list of games planned, and have even managed to get big names from other consoles on board like Monster Hunter 3 and Bayonetta 2. Bayonetta 2 will be a Wii U exclusive, btw. Whether this will be enough to rejuvenate their lagging sales will be seen in the coming holiday season.
Be glad we don't live in Japan! Kojima Productions has canceled the 360 version of Metal Gear Solid Rising: Revengeance for Japan. Citing "various reasons," they posted a note on their site, apologizing to all 3 Japanese people with Xbox 360s. Metal Gear Solid Rising: Revengeance will be released on both PS3 and Xbox 360 in North America on February 19, 2013.
Gearbox has managed to dampen my interest in Borderlands 2 slightly further with the announcement of their new contest- Mt. Jackmore. A combination of Mt. Rushmore and the villain from Borderlands 2, Handsome Jack, the point is to shoot Jack's face off a mountain in Pandora. Much like the UR dragon in Dragon's Dogma (you've all played this, right?) this is a cumulative effort that takes a long time and thousands of people. At certain points in the destruction, a prize is awarded to whoever shoots the bullet that brings it to that point. With only 100 bullets (plus the opportunity to invite friends and get more once a day), the game becomes about strategy and perseverance. Prizes that will be awarded range from clothes, game action figures and copies of the game to 16 of the expensive Ultimate Edition Loot Chests. The person who shoots the last shot gets a super prize, as well. So why does this make me say "Gearbox SUCKS!" and why am I not linking you to the game? Because even though Gearbox is based in the US, and so is Mt Rushmore, the contest is only open to people in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway, Denmark, Russia and Australia. What. The. Hell. (Saddy face- I love winning stuff!)
505 Games has announced that they will be bringing their Minecraft-esque game Terraria to consoles. Following Minecraft's success, many game publishers have been considering making the jump to consoles, so this was just a matter of time. Terraria is modeled a bit after Minecraft, but is side scrolling and includes world building, but adds in RPG elements. The release is scheduled for first quarter 2013.
Another PC game jumping on the Minecraft bandwagon may be a game called DayZ. It began as a zombie survival mod for a different game, and evolved into its own game. Jan Kunt, producer for Bohemia Interactive, says it would be "stupid" after the success of Minecraft, not to try something similar.
Minecraft will be getting new DLC soon. The 1.8.2 update will add the hunger mechanic, cave spiders, silverfish and Endermen. There will also be new game content with this DLC, including creative mode, superflat, villages, ravines, and strongholds. Basically, after this update, the 360 version will have all the features that the PC beta version has. Also in the works is the 1.2.3 update, which includes enderdragons, ocelots, cats, iron golems, the jungle biome, new map formats, and basically everything to make the 360 version exactly the same as the PC version. 4J studios is considering a patch in between to help close the gap, but no matter what, Minecraft is set to become even bigger in the next few weeks. Not to leave out your avatar, a Minecraft sheep will be released in the avatar marketplace, for them to shear. Wonderful.
As a last bit of information, 2 contests will be announced in the near future... One will be a riddle solving contest (sponsored by Irish Patriot and conducted by yours truly), and the sharpest (and fastest) tool in the XBA thread will win a Minecraft code. The other is a poker tourney sponsored by (who else?) Mr. Evol, and the best bluffer will win MSP! Keep watching the site for news about those- more information will be posted soon!
Until next time, guys! Thanks for reading!
~Kat
Fine print:
As always, the views expressed in Kat's Korner are mine alone and not meant to be representative of the staff or members of xboxamerica.com. Feel free to agree or disagree and discuss with each other, but there will be absolutely no flaming or personal attacks. Yes, even if they really are stupid, fornicate with their mothers and have several children with their siblings. Suggestions or subject tips are always welcome, and can be left here, in my shout box or pmed to me.
Keywords: tournaments, wii u, bayonetta 2, borderlands 2, DayZ, Terraria, Metal Gear Solid, Europe Sucks, Minecraft Giveaway
