If you weren’t excited about any of the previous fall releases, be prepared because the holiday release schedule has officially started. With few exceptions, the next few weeks are back to back releases with NBA 2K13, Dishonored, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Medal of Honor: Warfighter, Need for Speed Most Wanted, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Assassin’s Creed 3, and Hitman: Absolution.
The last time I sat down and talked about what I was playing was about a month ago. Instead of listing the reasons why I haven’t been able to write a Playlist since, I’d rather just dive into what I played over the last month. There is a lot to talk about.
Vigil Games announced a reward for loyal players who played and completed the first Darksiders game. Players will receive two pieces of gear in Darksiders II; the Pauldrons of the Horsemen a level 5 armor piece that increases Death’s stats and critical damage, for playing Darksiders, as well as the Chaos Fang, a level 1 scythe that boosts Death’s regular and critical damage, for completing the first game on any difficulty.
These items are will be awarded for all players regardless of platform, and are based on achievements through Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, or Steam. Darksiders II releases on August 14 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.
The summer drought of games is ending soon. Both Darksiders II and Sleeping Dogs release in nearly two weeks, followed up by Transformers: Fall of Cybertron the week after. After that, it’s a cascade of games flowing all the way into December. So when will PC and PlayStation 3 players have the time to play Dawnguard? They won’t.
Dawnguard, the expansion for last year’s The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, adds additional content and quests along with an entirely new set of vampire-centric powers. Xbox 360 players have enjoyed the new content since June 26 thanks to Bethesda’s deal with Microsoft for a 30-day exclusive on the platform. But 30 days came and west last week, and there still hasn’t been an announcement or reveal of when this expansion will come for the other platforms. To put this in perspective, the last official number of Skyrim copies sold was 10 million, 59% of those the Xbox 360 version, while 27% of copies sold for the PlayStation 3, and 14% for the PC. That leaves 4.1 million potential players waiting for the expansion, during a time when games are slow and the addition to a one of last year’s hits would be welcome.
Will Dawnguard come to the PC and PlayStation 3 at all? It’s up in the air right now. Vice president of PR and marketing at Bethesda Softworks Pete Hines said in a recent twitter post, “We have not announced Dawnguard for any other platform, nor given a timeline for any such news. If we have news, I promise I'd tell you.” So it’s possible it might not something we see anytime soon, but then Bethesda updated the PC version of Skyrim on Steam with patch 1.7, adding a few bug fixes and stability issues. Could this patch be in preparation of Dawnguard? Road signs point to yes as Hines responded to an inquiry on twitter, saying, “Nothing has been said/announced about it. We should have info later this week.”
Even if Bethesda does confirm Dawnguard for PC and PlayStation 3 and gives a release date, it will have missed its mark. Take for example the last Bethesda published title that had an Xbox 360 timed exclusive addon, Fallout: New Vegas. Dead Money released for the Xbox 360 on December 21, 2010 and didn’t show up on the PC or PlayStation 3 until February 22, two months later. If the same rings true for Dawnguard, we’ll already be knee-deep in games vying for our attention.
The annual videogame trade show sees over 45,000 attendees who fill over 30,000 hotel rooms and generates approximately $40 million in spending on restaurants, taxis, construction work, and booth attendants according to the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The ESA noted last year that the trade show might not return to Los Angeles after 2012 due to conflicts when renewing its contract with the Los Angeles Convention Center. The main argument is a proposed remodel of the convention center to make room for Farmers Field.
However, president of the ESA, Michael Gallagher, mentioned in an interview with the LA Times that, “we have a number of issues that still need to be resolved. If we can't resolve them, we are preparing to go elsewhere.” Other locations where the trade show might call home include San Francisco, New York, Chicago, and New Orleans. The ESA cited the ease of access to the convention center during construction and sufficient show floor space as their top issues. The remodel would tear down West Hall, where Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo usually set up their booth, to make room for a stadium with a new hall built above Pico Boulevard next to South Hall.
“We need assurances on things like square footage, the quality of the space, the ease of loading and unloading equipment, signage throughout the convention center for marketing and sponsorships," Gallagher said. "We love being in Los Angeles, but we also have a show to put on.”
As someone who can almost say E3 is in my backyard, I’d hate to see it move to a different city. I’ll probably have my first experience this year attending a convention out of state for PAX in September, but I hope that the LACC and ESA can find a way to come to a compromise on these issues and keep E3 in Los Angeles for the foreseeable future.
