According to a Wired report, Itagaki was given only two and a half months to port Dead or Alive 2 on PS2, so that it could be ready in time for the Japanese hardware launch.

“All of the staff, led by me, fought for a victory with all their energy,” noted Itagaki. “But unfortunately, the result wasn’t what we expected.”

In the interim, a Tecmo Koei staffer asked to borrow a copy of the current build to playtest it. Days later, without Itagaki’s consent or knowledge, the build was sent to a disc-pressing factory for production. Not long after, Itagaki hit rock bottom,as  seeing his work treated in such a manner drove him into depression. He even thought about leaving the industry.

“I thought I would quit making games,” said Itagaki. To cope, he reportedly started drinking constantly and watched repeats of Armageddon with his three-year-old daughter while listening to Aerosmith’s theme song “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.”

Obviously, Itagaki eventually got over it – releasing Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore, which he said matched his vision what the initial product was supposed to be.

Rocksteady more than proved themselves with Arkham Aslyum, so we’re not surprised to see it doing so well. Still, it’s always great to see a licensed effort not take the quick cash-in route.

Players take on the role of undercover cop Wei Shen, setting out to take down an organization deeply rooted in criminal activity, which is none other than the Hong Kong Triads. The city of Hong Kong is realized through its neon-lit side streets and sprawling street markets. A tale of loyalty and betrayal unfolds during Wei’s investigation, leading him to question his own motives.

Sleeping Dogs features a combat system that allows players to pull off an extensive set of martial arts moves, including “bone-crunching kicks and combos, vicious counters and a cinematic set of environmental takedowns making use of countless real-world items from circular saws to phone booths, incinerators to refrigerator doors.” 

“From the moment you pick up the controller and experience the blend of driving, close combat and shooting you know you’re playing something fresh and a bit special,” said Square Enix GM Lee Singleton.

“Sleeping Dogs has one of the best melee combat systems out there – it’s super brutal with devastating takedown moves, and when added to UFG’s proven heritage in driving games, a first class story and the vibrant backdrop of the Hong Kong underworld we get a fiery recipe with fun written all over it.”

Sleeping Dogs is due out Q2 2012 on PC, Xbox 360, and PS3.

Significant strides have been made to increase browser performance and accuracy when viewing web pages. Some sites that previously did not render properly are now supported under the new firmware, we’re told.

Additionally, much like the just-released Vita firmware, this update rebrands PSN to SEN on account detail pages. Users will be asked to accept a revised TOS on sign-in as well, reflecting the name change.

Download PS3 firmware 4.10

Download PS Vita firmware 1.60

No details on the open world effort were provided, though unless on the off-chance it’s a new IP, we’re placing our bets on a sequel to Red Dead Redemption. Given the enormous success of the first title, a follow-up seems like a no-brainer. The only question is: will it land on current or next-gen platforms?

Outside of minor TOS alterations, the change is in name only, PSN as we know it will stay the same. Sony says the move will help further establish “a global comprehensive network platform of services across games, movies, music and more, all accessible from one convenient account.” That said, the company has been beating the integration drum for awhile now, so we’re not too surprised to see this happen.

Here’s the email in full:

On February 8, 2012, your “PlayStation®Network account” will be renamed a “Sony Entertainment Network account” or a “SEN account” in conjunction with Sony Computer Entertainment’s PlayStation®3 system software and PlayStation®Vita system software updates. (Note, this change will not be applied to the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system at this time.)

For general purposes, this account change is a change in name only. Your username or password will not change, nor are we asking you to change them. In accordance with this transition, some necessary naming changes will be made to the TOS and Privacy Policy.

This transition is based on Sony’s goal to enhance its unique digital entertainment offering. As a series of these activities Sony started last September, PlayStation®Network will be aligned with “Sony Entertainment Network.” This helps us get closer to our goal of establishing a global comprehensive network platform of services across games, movies, music and more, all accessible from one convenient account.

Thank you for your continued loyalty and support during this transition.

Sincerely,
The Sony Entertainment Network Team

Deets on each map are provided below. For screens, hit up VGIMG.

Liberation: a militarized Central Park in the heart of NYC, featuring a vast landscape ripe for long-range sniper and LMG kills. Mounted turrets on opposing ends of the map offer overwhelming firepower to anyone brave enough to man them.

Piazza: set in an idyllic seaside village, Italian getaway gone rogue, where blind corners and a complex network of branching pathways pose danger at every turn. Visceral close-quarters combat dominates in Piazza, and attacks from above and below are an ever-constant threat.

Although well-deserved, the promotion isn’t all that surprising, given that Sony has been grooming Hirai for awhile now. In a statement, Hirai acknowledged that Sony is facing challenging times, thanking Stringer for his leadership over the past seven years.

“As challenging as times are for Sony now,” said Hirai, “were it not for the strong leadership of Sir Howard Stringer these past seven years, we would have been in a much more difficult position.

It is refreshing to see a new yet familiar face at the helm of Sony. Here’s hoping that Hirai stepping in will turn things around.

“Steam has always been a great platform for indie games and I have admired the way they have supported non-traditional game development with titles such as Terraria, Bastion, World of Goo, etc,” said Q Games boss Dylan Cuthbert.

He added, “We like PSN a lot but Baiyon and I also simply want to allow more people to experience Eden as it is a truly unique game, even now almost 4 years on it is still fresh and new. We had a blast revisiting it to prepare it for Steam.”

Look for Eden to hit Steam next week. It’ll set you back $9.99 regularly, but in true Steam fashion – to sweeten the deal for eager purchasers – a 20% discount will be applied during the first week.

“It’s true that there are many rumors, but I couldn’t tell you anything,” he told Lepoint.fr.

“The Wii is pressed for time because it is in decline. In our case, we have a lot less pressure. We were the last to leave before releasing the PS3, so we will probably be the last to announce something.”

This comes despite a recent report from MCV, which claimed the PS4 was due for an E3 2012 unveil. We suppose that could still be the case — this isn’t an outright dismissal, but an E3 announcement is certainly looking less likely on the Sony front.

What studio will pick up the mantle? Sony clearly has plans for the franchise, considering Nihilistic is working on Resistance: Burning Skies for the Vita. It’s likely we’ll see future mainline entries picked up by one of Sony’s internal studios, however.

Insomniac is currently working on Overstrike, a 4 person co-op action game funded by EA.

Given the small version bump from the current official 4.0 firmware, which was released two months ago in preparation for the Vita launch, it is likely this update introduces some very minor changes or bug fixes. Time will tell if Sony rolls out an equivalent firmware for retail units. If that’s the case, we’ll likely see it later this week.

Capcom’s officially announced that Resident Evil 6 is in development for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. It’s scheduled for November 20 on consoles, with a Windows PC release “coming later.”

Plot-wise, the title takes place  ten years after the Raccoon City incident in RE2. The government decides to go public with details of the incident in order to curb a recent resurgence in bioterrorist activity. Not long after, all hell breaks loose. An attack leaves the President transformed “beyond recognition,” leaving Leon S. Kennedy – who is standing beside his leader – a difficult choice.

The cast is joined by fan-favorite Chris Redfield, who teams up alongside Leon to face an “unprecedented” threat. Capcom says Resident Evil 6 will mark a revolutionary step forward in the franchise, eclipsing all previous titles in scope and scale.

“Resident Evil 6 represents a giant stride forward in the evolution of the series,” said R&D head Katsuhiko Ichii.

“The development team, led by Hiroyuki Kobayashi, is working tirelessly to deliver the most impressive Resident Evil title ever both in terms of scope and production values. We are all genuinely excited by the title and cannot wait to share it with the world.”

Trailer is above.

Additionally, the PC version has slipped even further. Originally a simultaneous release, it’s now slated to launch two weeks after the console equivalents, on May 29 in North America. Internationally it’ll launch June 1.

No concrete reasoning behind the delay was given, but a two month delay clearly signals that it needed more development time.

“The Stalker team is extremely happy! Why? Because we are continuing work on Stalker 2 after the holidays,” reads the post.

While there’s still a snag, things sound more hopeful than before. GSC spokesperson Oleg Yavorsky tells Edge that the company is in the process of trying to secure funding for the project.

“We are still in the process of seeking funding to back up the project. We are hopeful things turn out well eventually. The team really wants to see STALKER continue,” said Yavorsky.

Ubisoft’s newest entry in the Ghost Recon franchise has seen its ups and downs like a seesaw. It’s newest title is Ghost Recon Future Soldier and was originally supposed to release last fall and have a beta just before release. Unfortunately it was delayed and supposedly going to be ready for release in March of this year. Now, we have some good news and bad news.

The good news is that Ubisoft has confirmed a PC version of the game will be released alongside the console versions. The bad news is that the game has been delayed once again (third time’s a charm!) and is set for release on May 22, 2012 in the US and May 25, 2012 in Europe. The other good news is that the beta has finally been dated for April for consoles (Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) and a PC beta will follow shortly thereafter.

Via Press Release

Yup. Josh Mosqueira is lead designer for the Diablo console project.

While no further details were provided, it’s still nice to receive an official confirmation on this. Although Blizzard’s roots are firmly established in the PC, they have ventured over to consoles in the past. The original Diablo was released on PSOne and in a bizarre move, StarCraft even made it over to the N64. Certainly, Diablo is the most console friendly of its franchises so we’re not surprised to hear it is making the jump once again.

Among the bullet points listed, Capcom wants to “extend platform support,” which suggests the company may be in the early stages of prepping for new hardware. MT Framework has powered several of Capcom’s marquee titles to date, including Resident Evil 5, Dead Rising and Devil May Cry 4.

Howard Stringer remains the CEO of Sony, though it is expected that Hirai will eventually take his post. While other segments of Sony’s corporate umbrella have suffered massive losses over the years, Hirai led the game business to profitability as he filled in the shoes of Ken Kutaragi, otherwise known as the father of the PlayStation. A well deserved promotion, we’d say.

Reportedly, details on the next PlayStation and Xbox are on tap. Earlier reports have pegged Microsoft’s next in line for an E3 2012 unveil, so this isn’t all surprising.

The notion that Sony may be stepping up to the plate as well isn’t entirely expected, considering the company has heavily downplayed talk of a PS4 in the past. In June of last year, SCEA CEO Jack Tretton noted that the PS3 was ‘just hitting its stride.’ Moreover, SCE WWS boss Shuhei Yoshida previously suggested that Sony may launch after its competitors. Things change, though. There’s always a  possibility the timetable has been moved up.

Today, the wheels on that case are in motion as a California judge has approved Activision’s request to proceed with litigation. A jury trial is scheduled for May 7, 2012.

West and Zampella were originally booted from Infinity Ward under grounds of misconduct, which Activision claims EA had a hand in. The duo’s departure led to a mass exodus at the studio, with several team members leaving to join ranks at West and Zampella’s new venture — Respawn, which was funded in part by EA.

According to a report on Joystiq, GameStop has removed listings the upcoming PlayStation 3 exclusive The Last Guardian and had sent out phone calls to customers reporting that the game is canceled.

What could this mean for the game? Sony announced earlier this month the departure of one of the creative leads on the project, Fumito Ueda though the company has promised the game will be finished. But with this new development, the future of the game is now uncertain.

It appears a look through GameStop’s website shows no trace of The Last Guardian either. We’ll update as soon as we find out more.

UPDATE: According to IGN, they have received word from Sony telling them that the game is not canceled and is still in production. But for some reason, you still can’t pre-order the game from GameStop, why did it disappear?

UPDATE #2: According to Side Mission on GameTrailers, it appears GameStop released a statement on the issue. “The Last Guardian has not been cancelled by Sony as we incorrectly stated in an automated call to reservation customers. Because the game did not have a specific release date, GameStop made the decision to remove the game from our system. The Last Guardian will be reinstated for pre-order when a firm launch date is known.”

Source: Joystiq

In one of its lightning deals, retailer BestBuy has discounted the recently released PlayStation 3 3D Display Bundle. It has given you a nice 100 dollars off the retail price (USD).

The PlayStation 3 3D display is now on sale for $299.99. Don’t forget you also get a pair of 3D glasses and a copy of Motorstorm Apocalypse. With this display you’ll be able seamlessly display separate images for two players.

Source: Joystiq

The company made it a point to highlight the success of the PC version. In North America, the PC release of Skyrim outsold all other PC games by a factor of over three to one. An impressive statistic, no doubt.

What’s more, is that Valve says Skyrim is the fastest selling title in Steam’s history. Well deserved, we’d say. Unfortunately, digital sales figures were not divulged – and the provided revenue figure does not include Steam transactions.

This comes amid news that developer Platinum Games is handling Metal Gear Rising. While Sega didn’t directly attribute the apparent focus on that project to the delay, it vaguely noted that the team needed “a little more time.”

Tecmo Koei is wasting no time in giving us a final release date for the latest entry in the Ninja Gaiden series. The catch? It’s only going to be available at GameStop and EB Games. The game is currently being developed by Team Ninja.

This deluxe package will include an art book, soundtrack CD, and “Duel of the Masked” Figure. The extra bonus included especially if you pre-order with GameStop/EB is that you’ll get a five character demo for the upcoming Dead or Alive 5 release. However, if you feel you don’t need the extra goodies, you can always pre-order elsewhere and you’ll still get an opportunity to play DOA 5 with a two character limit demo. GameStop will have access to Ryu Hayabusa and Hitomi, while Amazon grants you Ayane and Hayate.

Look for Ninja Gaiden 3 on stores shelves March 20th, 2012.

Via Joystiq

It’s a bit of a slow news day today, so here’s a look at a crazy jet crash in Battlefield 3 on the new map pack, Back to Karkand. The new update is now available for download on consoles and PC and is free for those who bought new copies of the game and 15 bucks for everyone else.

No further details were spared, only that it’s “in development.”

This comes amid news that comic book writer Bryan Edward Hill has been tapped to pen a film adaption of the franchise, entitled Just Cause: Scorpion Rising. A video game with a laughable plot doesn’t strike us as prime material for the silver screen, but well, we are excited about wrecking havoc in Just Cause 3.

Naughty Dog has come to give us some details about the latest reveal for their newest project; The Last of Us. Naughty Dog spoke to Eurogamer in one of the first previews for the game spilling the goods on the back story about development for the game and answering the big question; is this a zombie game? Neil Druckmann is the creative director and writer on the project and had this to say.

Contrary to evidence in the trailer, however, The Last of Us is “not a zombie game,” insists Straley. Druckmann explains: “If the game was about the monsters, we would have not showed them. The story’s not about them, so [we thought] let’s get it out of the way.”

It appears that inspiration for the game came from the BBC’s Planet Earth Series and that the game has been on going in development for two years now.

Source: Eurogamer

Sony removed the feature via a firmware update last March, amid security concerns. The preemptive response didn’t pan out well for them, but that’s beside the point. Users contested that while they could optionally choose not to install the update, this made the PS3 effectively useless for playing games or accessing PSN.

This angle did not win over the court, however. U.S. District judge Richard Seeborg ruled that the plaintiffs could not prove they had a right to expect the OS feature beyond Sony’s warranty period or continued access to the Playstation Network (PSN). In other words, the crux of the argument was flawed, since simply owning a PS3 does not guarantee access to PSN or licensed software from a legal standpoint.

Thanks, Court House News.

On the outside the game looks like it’s shaping up well. With Platinum Games backing development, the quality should be solid. The clip is of the “blink and you’ll miss it” variety.

No release date was revealed for Metal Gear: Revengeance and is scheduled for release on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Check out the trailer below.

Another fun-fact: the CoD community now exceeds the combined populations of the cities of New York, London, Tokyo, Paris and Madrid.

“Engagement of our Call of Duty audience continues to rise around the world,” said Activision CEO Bobby Kotick.

He added, “Call of Duty as an entertainment franchise has made an indelible mark on popular culture and its broad and continued success is further validation that audiences are now valuing interactive experiences over passive experiences.

During that timeframe, services such as the PS Store, as well as Account Management and Registration will be inaccessible. It’s unclear if all regional divisions will be affected, but if history is any indication, you may want to prepare for the possibility just in case.

No reasoning was given for the downtime, though considering the scope of services that are being taken offline, we’d assume it’s either security-focused or prep for the PS Vita.

Update: Trailer added.

Airing at the Spike TV Video Game Awards right now the debut trailer for Sony’s best kept secret was The Last of Us. Developed by the creators of Uncharted series, Naughty Dog, here are two screenshots for the game from the trailer. Trailer will be posted soon.

Sony Online Entertainment’s latest release of Payday: The Heist will be attempting to steal Christmas. A new update will be coming to the game to give players more to enjoy and spread some Holiday cheer.

SOE has planted a wrapped present for players to find and unlock the latest achievement. If you manage to discover the achievement you will be given the ultimate Santa mask that will equip you with a completely new identity for the Holiday season and a chance to win a gift from Steam.

The OVERKILL Software team has new updates coming for Payday as well in the form of patches.

• Player Drop-in: Join ongoing games and continue stealing those precious gems and dollars without  being locked out
• Improved Combat: Strategize, as fighting and acting have been heavily improved for enemies! The team and enemies now pick better cover and firing positions, and use more intelligent firing lanes for suppression and sniping
• New Masks: Choose one of the four all-new masks that have been added in celebration of the recently released military shooters
• Additional Updates: Improved AI, smoother combat, grouping and aim, and more

For more info, check out www.payday-theheist.com

While it’s been rumored that Valve had planned to drop the episodic approach for awhile now, it’s possible that Valve still refers to it as Episode 3 when dealing with contract work. If voice-overs are being recorded, it would suggest the title is well into development — and finer details like the setting and underlying plot already finalized.

More concrete info would be nice, but when it comes to Half-Life 3, we’ll take what we can get.

Sony’s clarified its one PSN account per Vita policy — according to Sony associate brand marketing manager Crystal MacKenzie, users can create more than one PSN account on a PS Vita by using multiple memory cards. This is due to the fact that PSN settings are tied to the memory card itself, rather than the system.

“Your PSN ID is bonded to your memory card and your memory card is bonded to your Vita,” MacKenzie told Wired. “So if you wanted to change different PSN users but use the same memory card, you would need to go factory reset,”

The approach is still less flexible from what was allowed on PS3 — particularly if you are playing a game from a different region and want trophies to show up on your main account. Also, locking the memory card to a system is troublesome, considering all your saves could be rendered useless if your Vita stops working. On the plus side, for Sony, the secondhand market for memory cards will be non-existent if there’s no way to break the bond between system and card.

2k Sports has announced today that they are planning on releasing Christmas Day game simulations and promotional holiday discounts on NBA 2k12 in honor of the return of the NBA this season. NBA 2k12 will provide fans with simulations of Christmas day games including match ups with Knicks-Celtics, Mavericks-Heat, Lakers-Bulls, Thunder-Magic and Warriors-Clippers. 2k Sports is also partnering with Amazon.com to provide deep discounts on NBA 2k12 starting from today December 8-11.

It looks like those deep discounts will have NBA 2k12 being offered on Amazon.com for $39.99 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. NBA 2k12 will also be sold for the iPhone and iPad for $2.99 and $4.99 respectively. The Legends showcase downloadable content for NBA 2k12 is also now available for download on the PlayStation Network or Xbox Live, Legends Showcase creates a truly unique basketball experience for all fans, featuring a new, cell-shaded art style set in New York City’s iconic Times Square.

With only three more weeks to go, the launch of PS Vita is nigh in Japan. In preparation, Sony has announced that PS3 firmware 4.0 will be released soon. The update brings interoperability between the PS3 and Vita, allowing users to copy media content such as games, music, photos, and videos between PS Vita and PS3, as well as back up PS Vita save data and update firmware via the PS3′s network connection.

Additionally, with this update, PlayStation Plus users can choose to enable or disable automatic updating features on a case-by-case basis. This includes updates for game software, firmware, recommended games, and trophy sync.

Despite being an unlikely crossover, these threads certainly don’t look out of place in the world of Final Fantasy XIII-2, where extravagant outfits of all kinds are aplenty. Revelations is currently available on PS3 and Xbox 360, while XIII-2 is due out on both platforms January 31, 2012.