PlayStation 4 to release on November 15 in US

Sony announced today at their Gamescom press conference the PlayStation 4 will be available starting November 15 in the North America and November 29 for Europe. President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Andrew House said, “The response that we have received has been nothing short of incredible. You’ve made it clear that you’re excited about this platform with more than one million preorders already worldwide.”

In addition, Sony detailed the 32 countries the PlayStation 4 will launch on November 29 along with the UK, including Australia, New Zealand, Russia, and Latin America.

The PlayStation 4 will launch at $399 in North America, and €399 and £349 in Europe.

DLC Dating

Call of Duty: Black Ops: First Strike for the PC

The first DLC map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops, First Strike, was released for Xbox 360 over a month ago. On March 3rd, it was released for the PlayStation 3. On March 25th, it will finally be released for the PC. The announcement was tweeted by Treyarch’s Community Manager Josh Olin this morning. You can pre-order the map pack on Steam now. First Strike will sell for Activision’s standard price of $15, but if you pre-order, you can save 10% and grab the four new multiplayer maps and new zombie mission for $13.49.

Batman: Arkham City Release Date and New Screenshots

Day 1 of PAX East 2011 just wrapped up in Boston and while everything is still being prepped for tomorrow, one of the biggest pieces of news was a release date for Batman: Arkham City. The sequel to the acclaimed Batman: Arkham Aslyum will be available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on October 18th, 2011. The game's visuals are looking beautiful and Rocksteady was on hand to answer a few questions about the game. They stated that Arkham City is actually about five times the size of Asylum and most of it is available to the player from the start of the game. They've also shown that while detective mode is still as robust as it was in the first game, Arkham City will require more actual detective work, rather than just turning it on and following the trail. Five new screenshots were also released which you can see below. CVG.co.uk is already calling Batman: Arkham City the best action game of 2011, but we'll have to wait till October 18th to see.

Hell Freezes Over and the Dead Walk?

The Return of the Duke

After 12 years of proverbial development hell, Duke Nukem Forever is finally being released. On May 3rd, players will be able to experience the game that redefined the term vaporware.

The Duke Nukem series began in 1991 as a side-scrolling shooter. Several follow-ups and iterations were released until its last appearance in 1996 as a first-person shooter, titled Duke Nukem 3D. Then developer, 3D Realms, promised a sequel to be released within the next few years, titled Duke Nukem Forever. However, several unsubstantial release dates came and went. 3D Realms later said in 2001 that the game would be released when it was done, denying to announce any more possible release dates.

The Thing About Release Dates

The thing about release dates is that they can always change. Companies announce games way ahead of time to build not only hype, but community around that game. Community drives word of mouth, which builds onto the hype already created by the game and its company, without any external work. As release dates get closer and closer, hype about a game escalates. Sometimes this can work in the game’s favor, as with the evidence of the hype machine I Love Bees, the alternate reality game that helped market Halo 2. Other times hype can be so overwhelming that it is beyond capable, and the the audience is disappointed. I could name numerous MMO games where this scenario occurred. Through my own experience and being observant of those around me, I’ve learned not to get carried away regarding hype and release dates. For example, Bioshock Infinite was announced earlier this year, but isn’t slated for release until at least 2012. I am looking forward to seeing what Irrational Games' final produce will be, but my anticipating will certainly be quelled by the string of great games coming 2011.