Two messages from Reggie in the span of a week? We’re blessed, guys! This may never happen again.
You can see Reggie’s other message here.
Jason Rubin has become THQ’s new president. The move was announced just minutes ago as part of the company’s new leadership structure. Rubin will work on THQ’s worldwide product development, marketing, and publishing operations.
Rubin is the co-founder of Naughty Dog and founder of the media mashup technology Flektor.
THQ Chairman and CEO Brian Farrel said the following about Rubin’s appointment:
“Jason’s proven track record in the industry speaks for itself, and he is one of the brightest minds in the business. We believe he can be a game changer and can contribute immensely to executing on our strategy of delivering quality connected core game experiences.”
Rubin also commented on his new position:
“THQ has incredible internal and external game development teams, and an exciting slate of games in its development pipeline. The recent transformation of THQ into a creator of wholly-owned IP has placed it in a perfect position to leverage future trends in the game business. I look forward to working with the management team and board to realize the company’s goals.”
Jason Kay has become THQ’s Chief Strategy Officer. Kay was previously involved with Flektor as a co-founder, and worked at Activision, Columbia House and Home Box Office.
Lastly, THQ’s EVP Core Games Danny Bilson and SVP Core Studios Dave Davis have departed from the company.
Farrel thanked both men for their contributions to THQ:
“Danny has made significant contributions to THQ, and we thank him for his efforts. Along with Danny, Dave has been instrumental in getting our strong pipeline into production.”
Source: THQ PR
Tom Create is making a new title for the Japanese eShop titled “Ikki Tousen Smash Heroes”. The action game has players controlling a cat in one of its eighty missions. Six cats are available in total.
You can access the Ikki Tousen Smash Heroes site here.
Nintendo Power has released a public preview of this month’s magazine. Titles featured include Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate, the Castlevania series in general, The Last Story, and an article about the best Wii games.
The issue arrives on newsstands on June 5 and has already started to reach subscribers.
*Note: The Mirror of Fate image was intentionally pixelated. I guess Nintendo Power didn’t want anyone seeing the article yet, which is odd considering all of the details are already out.
About.com has composed a lengthy writeup of Nintendo Power’s Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate article. There are lots of gameplay details to read up on, but it’s most assuring to see that developer Mercury Steam is focusing primarily on exploration, which made the DS games worthwhile experiences.
Head past the break for information (here’s one tidbit: StreetPass/SpotPass are confirmed), a quote from producer David Cox, and a vague release date – it’s coming this year, folks!
Konami is mixing things up for its pre-E3 show this year.
The stream will be located exclusively at GameTrailers this Thursday at 1:30 AM ET/10:30 PM PT. A few bits from the broadcast will be shown during the latest episode of GT.TV, which airs a half hour earlier on Spike TV.
The pre-E3 show will be presented in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French and Japanese.
Fans can look forward to trailers, interviews, and other Konami updates. The company will be announcing a new game set to launch next year. We all know it’s Castlevania, but we’ll just pretend that no one has a clue about Mirror of Fate/Lords of Shadows 2.
A press release about the pre-show has been attached below.
D3Publisher has mysteriously halted its E3 2012 teaser page. It’s unclear as to what happened and if/when the countdown will be returning.
A notice on the site reads that the move was made as a result of “various circumstances.”
Toki Tori’s Game Boy Color release on the 3DS eShop is right on track. Last we heard, it should be available in Europe sometime this quarter, with a North American date not too far behind… we hope.
Two Tribes gave a status update on the title today. The company wrote on Twitter that it has received the first draft manual for the VC game.
Two Tribes said:
“We just received the first draft for the e-manual for Toki Tori GBC for 3DS virtual console! No release date yet, but getting closer!”
Nintendo Power’s big teaser for its June issue was for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate. The magazine has an extensive look at Konami’s new 3DS title in its June 2012 issue.
Based on some of the scans floating around (see above), it appears to be a 2.5D adventure made by MercurySteam.
A few pieces of information have made it out from the magazine, though it mainly focuses on Mirror of Fate’s controls.
Players fight with Trevor Belmont’s version of the Combat Cross. Pressing the “X” button will result in strong attacks while the “Y” button yields attacks with a rider range.
Secondary weapons including an electric bomb and boomerang-like glaive are included. These can be accessed with “A”.
Other actions include blocking/dodging with “L” and grabbing enemies with “R”. Koanmi is promising deep combat mechanics.
Mirrors of Fate will feature the return of light and shadow magic, experience points for combo unlocks (such as throwing foes into the air and to the ground), and more.
Expect more details soon.
Metro: Last Light isn’t in active development for Wii U according to global brand manager Mark Madsen. Madsen clarified that a port “could” happen, though he admitted it would be “correct” to say that it’s not a confirmed title for the console.
Madsen went on to say:
“Not at the moment, it’s not in development. If it does happen, it won’t sim-ship with the other SKUs, but if the opportunity arises we’ll take a look at it.”
Metro: Last Light was among a few third-parties games shown in a sizzle reel at Nintendo’s E3 2011 media briefing. One would think that all games shown in the video would actually be coming to the system. But even though development on a Wii U version hasn’t started, Madsen doesn’t believe showing it was untimely.
According to Madsen:
“No I don’t think it was a bit too early [to show the game at E3]. As we got along in the development process, we just really wanted to focus on what we knew, focus on PS3, 360 and PC. The verdict is out on what we can do to maximise the code for the Wii U, and we’ll see [what happens].”
These comments seem to contradict a statement from Metro: Last Light head of senior communications Huw Beynon. It was said that the Wii U version would arrive later than the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC versions, but Beynon did note that the team has been developing the Wii U title.
