Truly, nothing can stop the Switch train. If anything puts into perspective just how crazy well the little hybrid that could is doing, and that Nintendo might just be crazy enough to be able to hit that historic 20 million units next year, it’s that the Switch in Japan has recently surpassed the PlayStation 2’s first year in Japan.

Only the best selling video game consoles of all time, the PlayStation 2 finished its distinguished life just shy of 155 Million units before it was discontinued. But in the opening year of the PS2, also released in March, it managed to sell through 3,016,622 units in its homeland. The Nintendo Switch by comparison is sitting pretty with 3,258,083 units of hardware just before Christmas, as reported by Media Create and translated by Dualshockers.

Given the usual rush of spending money following the holidays, and the leaked Nintendo Direct for January, the Switches star is only going to rise from here. Did you get a Switch for the holidays? Let us know in the comments.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Ms. Pac-Man was first XBLA game

Before there was the Xbox Live Marketplace, we had Xbox Live Arcade. Though still a storefront, it placed an emphasis on smaller titles that could be easily downloaded. It’s also the platform for which Jonathan Blow’s Braid debuted and rose to prominence. However, the very first Xbox Live Arcade title was a most unlikely game – Ms. Pac Man. It was essentially offered for free in 2007 for every Xbox with the Xbox Live Arcade disc.

The video game industry insider that goes by the name Tidux on Twitter has claimed that there is some movement in the Sony camp regarding a possible revival of a PlayStation 2 era game on the PS4. While there’s nothing official at this time, such is the nature of alleged inside information, Tidux has said that production on a long awaited IP the PlayStation 3 era started this month and it will be an exclusive to the PlayStation 4.

So while that couldn’t get much more vague, it has of course set the rumour mill a-spinning once again, and wouldn’t you know it people have started asking is it The Last Guardian, the game that is somehow still in development.

So what IP from the PS2 era could be making a return that would have gamers excited? Well the list is quite extensive when you consider the sheer scale of the PlayStation 2’s library of games. But the real question is, do you want more from an IP that already exists, or do you feel it’s time to move forward and create something new?

[Source]

The game was released on September 24th 2013 in North America and on September 27th in Europe for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Nintendo 3DS, iOS, Android and the PC. The game was also released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Given the power differences between the last generation of consoles (PS 3 Xbox 360 etc) and the current generation consoles (Xbox One and PS4) the game will be running on two separate engines, named Impact and Ignite respectively.

• 1. Development
• 2. Career Mode
• 3. Gameplay
• 4. Limited Edition

Development

Over the years the developers of the FIFA series have been trying to create a realistic football sim. The developers have stated that they have included a variety of new elements with FIFA 14, like precision movement, greater midfield build-up and team intelligence. The precision movement brings more dynamic momentum and foot planting, as movement is calculated which each individual step.

Senior gameplay producer Aaron McHardy stated in an interview that, “We’ve been able to change the way the acceleration curves work in the game to be more accurate to the real world and preserve that momentum better. So that’s going to feel fundamentally different when you’re running around with any player on the pit. The game is more like a chess match of creating opportunities building up to the midfield than it was in previous years, which was more about running down the wing and hoping that someone was open for you to pass the ball to. Now it’s a lot more strategic. We want you to think football a lot more than we did in last year’s game.” [reference]

Team intelligence allows AI players to make better decisions and really force the player to play smarter. In an interview they stated, “One of the most memorable moments from the 2006 FIFA World Cup occurred when Argentina strung together 24 passes before scoring a fantastic goal against Serbia and Montenegro,” EA Sports revealed. The attackers knew exactly where they should be to open up the opposition and they executed flawlessly. With Teammate Intelligence in FIFA 14, players will have better decision-making and teams will play smarter on both the attack and defense to bring the beauty of the game to life.” [reference]

FIFA 14 won’t support Kinect. As Electronic Arts Sports boss Andrew Wilson stated in an interview; “We feel the evolution of that will do more for gamers this year [than motion]. We’re not quite at motion yet. We’re running some prototypes, but as yet we’re not seeing anything that universally enhances the core sports experience. Right now we’re still in a position where we see voice as the feature of Kinect that’s most relevant to FIFA. And that’s how you’ll see it this year. We did voice last year. There are new capabilities of voice recognition in the new Kinect the team is trying to utilize to make sure we take that to the next level and give you an even greater level of control through voice in the game.” [reference]

Ignite, the new engine that will be used exclusively for the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, will not be featured on the PC. Steve Frost the Global Communications Manager for EA Sports stated in an interview that. “Ignite will be the engine that drives our sports games on PS4 and Xbox One. It will not be used for FIFA 14 on PC.Ignite will also run NBA Live 14, EA Sports UFC and Madden NFL 25 when EA Sports announced it during the Xbox One reveal. The video uses assets pulled directly from the in-game engines, and was rendered to create this first look multi-product trailer. It’s representative of where we expect our games will be when they launch.”

EA Communications Specialist Brad Hilderbrand also commented. “Yes, given the timing and planning required for the Xbox One reveal event the EA Sports Ignite video was developed in a pre-rendered video format. We’ll be showing off the game using in-game assets at E3.” [reference]

A petition was started to feature female players in FIFA 14, but despite more than 10,000 signatures, FIFA 14 producer Sebastian Enrique stated in an interview that it won’t be happening. “It is something we have talked about but there are no plans at the moment”. For the game to feature female players, “there are lots of things we would have to change though, like the physics would be different, it would affect collisions. There are lot of things that are involved”. This included “new models and hair styles”. [reference]

Career Mode

Career mode has been retooled this time around. It includes a Global Scouting Setup through most countries. You can now search for talent all season long using the same scout, and pick from various clubs around the world as players compete in various football tournaments and battle against the best.

Gameplay

New features coming into play with FIFA 14 include the Pure Shot and Real Ball physics. New shot types include off-balance and rushed shots, with Real Ball now defining ball routes for players to kick with relative force from a distance. With these enhancements, one can now search for the best angle and approach for making shots.

Executive Producer for FIFA 14 David Rutter stated in an interview, “FIFA 14 will play the way great matches are contested with build up through midfield, tension throughout the match as chances are created, and incredible finishing. Opportunities in FIFA 14 will be rewarding and great goals will look stunning.” [reference]

Limited Edition

The “Ultimate Edition” from Amazon UK will receive 24 Ultimate Team gold packs, one per week. Each gold pack features a mix of 12 items including players, contracts, healing, badges and more, along with a special item such as a strong, valuable player or longer contracts.

The Ultimate Edition will include historic kits, Virtual Pro Boosters and an All-Star Team sponsored by Adidas with Barcelona and Argentina star – and cover man – Lionel Messi.

The Limited Edition will feature the same perks as the Ultimate Edition, but will have 2 additional rare items with the gold packs. The Limited Edition will be available to pre-order until August 1st, midnight. The Collector’s Edition features all of the above content along with a special edition Adidas EA Sports glider football, and it will be available till September 26th midnight.

Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart

The game has a few different modes and definitely tries to bring back that good old flashy, over the top  style that wrestling once had.  You can play Exhibition, Xbox Live, Path of Champions, Fantasy Warfare and you can even create your own Superstar.  This feature is pretty damn awesome as you can choose exactly what you look like, choose how you enter the ring, with your song or choose another all stars.  You can choose you clothing, scars, the type of wrestler you are, pretty much everything and it is pretty awesome seeing your own creation come into the ring.  You can be an acrobat, a big man, a brawler or a grappler and all the wrestlers in the game have one of those style so for instance, Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart is a grappler, where Andre the Giant obviously has the big man style.  These all come into play while wrestling even though the controls seem pretty basic.

It’s fairly easy to jump in and learn the controls, at a glance they are pretty basic.  However they are much more complex when you start to see AI doing four suplexes on you in a row on a hard difficulty.  The controls can be mastered to annihlate another player where they don’t have the option to fight back.  I like to keep is easy though as the game was fun playing through on the simplest difficultly, going through the Fantasy Warfare mode.  In this mode you are basically but up against either a Legend or current Super Star and you get to pick who you want to be each match as you progress through a series of matches.  While doing all this all footage of the wrestlers is shown in between each match hyping you up for it just like a Paperview Event.  It was quite fun I must say, all while you unlock new characters depending on who you pick to play as.  The graphics are also really well done with all the wrestlers likeness being on par even with the older retired Legends.  The moves of each wrestler are exactly what they would do in a real match well, whether it’s the way they enter the ring or their finishing move.

Cena versus The Rock

Things can get a little harder in the Path of Champions mode as you must win ten matches and then finally you end up fighting either the Undertaker, Randy Orton or Tag Team battle against Shawn Michaels and Triple H.  During the matches you can be fighting any of the different types including a Standard Match, Tornado Tag Team (2v2), Steel Cage where you you have to climb out of the cage, Extreme Rules Match where you can pick anything up to beat up your opponent whether it’s a steel chair or the ending round bell and lastly is Elimination which is last man standing wins out of four wrestlers.  You can play all these modes in Exhibition and on Xbox Live too.

Not only can you play all these modes in Exhibition and Online but you also have the choice to play Triple Threat which is a three wrestler free-for-all with the win going to the first to get a pin or a KO.  Then there is Fatal 4 Way which is the same thing as Triple Threat only there are four wrestlers and lastly there is Handicap which is basically 2v1.  Xbox Live can get a little laggy at times but it nothing to bad.  You can have up to four players playing locally and online which is a lot of fun to have a buddy over to tag team with.  The only real issue I had with the game were the counters and reversals, which are done by the bumper buttons.  The bumper button will appear on screen a split second after you need to press it, but when you do pull them off they are quite satisfying.  One other thing is trying to get a hold of the complex controls, you see you could easily win a match using the simple controls that are there for you but when an opponent pulls off a grappling combination that seems like it lasts a life time there is nothing you can do to stop it.

Mach Man Randy Savage

Other than the minor complexity of controls that were implemented in the game, it is a lot of fun.  For those of you who would never think of playing previous wrestling games like Smackdown vs Raw or others, this game might be what you are looking for.  I never thought I could get into a wrestling game and WWE All Stars had me hooked from the beginning, wanting to unlock all the wrestlers and arenas to laying the smackdown with my own created player.  I would have to say that if I could only have one wrestling game in my collection, this would be it.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox 360.

Amazing Graphics

One of the top Baseball game franchises is back and continues to dominate the gaming world of baseball in some eyes while competing in others, the game is MLB 11: The Show of which I am speaking of.  It is hard to top this franchise with it graphically being so good and the sense of realism MLB 11: The Show brings to the table.  One thing I just want to get out of the way the that the game has been released for the Playstation 3, Playstation 2 and PSP.  With this Playstation 3 exclusive, right on the front of the box it says Playstation Move compatible and it is definitely a lead on as you can only use the Playstation Move Wand in the Home Run Derby Mode which is tons of fun, but that is where the PS Move Compatibility ends.  Moving on there are not any other major differences than the last, but rather an improvement on all the aspects of the game even adding a new optional stick control mode.

The graphics of the game are just astonishing making you feel like you are right there in the game, sometimes so much that random things happen like a person falling onto the field trying to catch a foul ball.  Each player in the game is so perfectly resembling themselves in real life down to a mole, a haircut, a build, a batting stance and even down to the actual players statistics making bad or good moves resembling their real life game.  You can even start up Exhibition Mode and let the AI go at watching how closely each player resembles their real life counterpart in looks and in gameplay.

Online Menu

A new addition the the franchise is the ‘Pure Analog Controls’ which you can switch to play with these controls with batting, pitching and throwing or individually use the new analog feature with batting for example while keeping original controls for pitching.  This new analog feature is very hard to get used to but at the same time really adds a new element to the game in which mastered gives you more control than ever in a baseball game, it’s just a shame it is so difficult to use.  When it comes to pitching you hold the right stick down until the indicator climbs down and back up again to a gold bar where you want to release the stick at.  Releasing the stick on that exact point will give you a pretty perfect pitch while curving the stick left or right afterwards will sway the ball in the direction.  Now batting in my opinion is a little bit more difficult, as the easy way to describe it is to pull back on the stick once the ball leaves the pitchers hand and push up on the stick to hit the ball, but unfortunately it’s not that easy.  You see in between all that you still have to get the timing down right and make sure ball is being thrown inside the strike zone and know what kind of pitch you are getting which is a lot in such a short time frame to grasp.  If you can get that down, well bless your soul because you will be home runs like crazy.  Now throwing on the other hand is nice and easy to get down, once you have to the ball down on the stick throws home, right to first base, up to second and left to  third.  You can even fake throw just adding that much more realism to the game.

There are the usual modes that return to the game like Road to the Show, Franchise and Season with Exhibition getting you right into the action with up to 4 players that you can play with.  Upon starting Road to the Show you are giving an option on how you player with ultimately grow.  As you progress through the mode you will gain experience which has actually been changed in this years game making a little more sense and balancing things out.  There are also new training sessions available in Road to the Show where goals are set, while the better you do in reaching them the more points you get, but you can also lose points too, not too mention you’ll a rivals scores you have to keep up with. Franchise mode is just like real life, is fact as real as it can get, take trading players for instance, if you want a good you going to need to pay up or trade one of your best making it as real as ever.  Here is a curve ball for you as true baseball fans will be happy to know that the field stats of players actually matter now as oppose to previous games.  The better your fielders stats are the better the will do in the outfield, shortstop or base men.

Analog Pitching

New to this years game is the 4 player online co-op mode in which you can go up against an AI team3 of your friends or actually play another group of 4 players.  This is of course only playable in Exhibition mode to keep things simple with the new co-op play which can also be done locally.  There is also a ‘Challenge of the Week’ mode that lets you earn as much points as you can before striking out three times.  Unless you are willing to pay money you will have to wait until next week to try to rack up points again and even have a chance to win real prizes.  Win or lose playing online will get you XP, but unfortunately there are still lag issues while playing online after all the games released, some lag issues being more game braking than other, it is still there.

There is also a camera system that will even mimic angles seen on a television broadcast.  That combined with the stellar graphics make the game quite an experience.  These camera angles can of course be tweaked as there are many of them.  Creating your character is so in depth you can literally make him look exactly like you granted you have the hours to spend doing so, but the details of creating a character are endless.  There are so many different options in the game but I have not come across one to turn the announcers off as they were no pleasant addition to the after a while.  Other than that the sound of the was actually truly amazing hearing the crowd, I can’t imagine all the little thing the recorded to make you feel like you were in a real arena.  With the analog controls being the heart of the changes made in MLB 11: The Show, the game is basically the same as last years with small improvements in almost every aspect.  This easily makes the game the best in the franchise yet so true baseball game fans sure be sure to pick it up while other gamers might want to test it out to see if it has what they are looking for.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 3.

EA’s has just announced that the cover for Madden NFL 12 will be chosen by you, the fans. There will be 32 teams to pick from with only one making front the cover. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Michael Vick (Philadelphia Eagles), Maurice Jones-Drew, Adrian Peterson and Julius Peppers are just a few notable contestants out of the 32 candidates.  Head over to the voting site here before it ends on April 27th.

Full Press Release below.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) announced today that football fans across the country will have the opportunity to select the next cover athlete for the award-winning Madden NFL franchise. Beginning today and continuing through April 27, fans can participate in a bracket-style voting campaign on www.ESPN.com/MaddenVote and choose among 32 candidates (one representative from every NFL team) to appear on the cover of Madden NFL 12. Fans’ votes will determine which NFL players advance through the seeded bracket, culminating in the reveal of the Madden NFL 12 cover athlete on ESPN’s “SportsNation” on April 27.*

Green Bay Packers quarterback and Super Bowl XLV MVP Aaron Rodgers, former Madden NFL cover athletes Drew Brees (quarterback, New Orleans Saints) and a wave of NFL stars including Michael Vick (quarterback, Philadelphia Eagles), Maurice Jones-Drew (running back, Jacksonville Jaguars), Adrian Peterson (running back, Minnesota Vikings) and Julius Peppers (defensive end, Chicago Bears) are among the 32 candidates.

Tune in to ESPN’s “SportsNation” today (March 21) at 4pm Eastern Time to see the full Madden NFL 12 cover athlete bracket.

“Whether it be from fans, media, agents, or even the players themselves, there’s never a shortage of opinions when it comes to the annual selection of the Madden NFL cover athlete,” said Anthony Stevenson, Senior Product Manager of EA SPORTS. “So this year we’re handing the keys over to the public. ESPN continues to be a tremendous partner of the Madden NFL franchise, and it makes perfect sense for ‘SportsNation’ to be the platform that gives fans the ultimate say in who graces the cover of Madden NFL 12.”

From March 21 — April 27, fans can log on to www.ESPN.com/MaddenVote to vote daily for their favorite cover athlete candidate. Every Monday throughout the campaign, fans can tune in to ESPN’s “SportsNation” at 4pm Eastern Time for the latest voting results and see who will advance to the next round. Fans can also visit the Madden NFL Facebook page (www.facebook.com/EASPORTSMaddenNFL) to fill out their own Madden NFL 12 cover athlete bracket to compete against their friends and co-workers for the chance to win a variety of prizes including Super Bowl tickets and copies of Madden NFL 12. Visit www.facebook.com/EASPORTSMaddenNFL for Official Rules.

“ESPN is proud to continue its tradition of serving fans by collaborating with EA SPORTS and putting the cover vote of Madden NFL 12 in their hands,” said Raphael Poplock, Vice President, Games & Digital Partnerships, ESPN. “We believe ESPN provides the perfect platform for fans to be heard, and encourage everyone to support their favorite representative in this bracket-style vote.”

Candidates from each NFL team were selected and seeded based on a variety of criteria including on-the-field performance during the 2010 NFL season, their visibility within their franchise and community, and their personal career journey.

The Madden NFL 12 cover vote marks the second-consecutive year that EA SPORTS has asked fans to help shape the face of the Madden NFL franchise through a cover athlete voting campaign. Last year, New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees, fresh off a Super Bowl XLIV MVP award, won the fans vote to appear on Madden NFL 11, beating out Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne and Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen.

Madden NFL 12 marks the 23^rd edition of the video game in franchise history. Since its debut in 1989, Madden NFL has over 90 million units sold-in to date. Madden NFL 12, which launches in August, will provide an immersive and authentic experience that fans have come to expect from the award-winning franchise, including all 32 NFL teams and more than 1,700 NFL players.

Madden NFL 12 is developed in Orlando, Florida by the EA Tiburon studio, which also produces NCAA® Football, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR®, and EA SPORTS™ MMA.

* The Madden NFL 12 cover announcement date is subject to change. Visit www.maddenNFL.easports.com throughout the campaign for updates and for more information.

All player participation has been facilitated by NFL PLAYERS, the licensing and marketing subsidiary of the NFL Players Association.

EA SPORTS is one of the leading sports entertainment brands in the world, with top-selling videogame franchises, award-winning interactive technology, global videogame competitions, and breakthrough digital experiences. EA SPORTS delivers personal access to the emotion of sports through industry-leading sports simulation videogames, including Madden NFL football, FIFA Soccer, NHL® hockey, NBA ELITE basketball, NCAA® Football, Fight Night boxing, EA SPORTS MMA, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® golf, and EA SPORTS Active.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is a leading global interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, wireless devices and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS™, EA™, EA Mobile™, and POGO™. In fiscal 2010, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.7 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million units. EA’s homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA’s products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS Active, EA Mobile, and POGO are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. John Madden, NFL, FIFA, NHL, NBA, NCAA, Tiger Woods, and PGA TOUR are trademarks of their respective owners and used with permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

About ESPN, Inc.

ESPN, Inc., is the world’s leading multinational, multimedia sports entertainment company featuring a portfolio of more than 50 multimedia sports assets. The company is comprised of six 24-hour domestic television networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, ESPN Classic, ESPN Deportes) and ESPN 3D, an event-based network. ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNEWS HD are simulcast services. Other businesses include ESPN Regional Television, ESPN International (46 networks, syndication, radio, websites), ESPN Radio, ESPN.com, ESPN3.com (broadband sports network) ESPN Mobile, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Enterprises, ESPN PPV and other growing new businesses, including ESPN on Demand and ESPN Interactive. Based in Bristol, Conn., ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc., which is an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The Hearst Corporation holds a 20 percent interest in ESPN.

© 2011 NFL Properties LLC. Team names/logos/indicia are trademarks of the teams indicated. All other NFL-related trademarks are trademarks of the National Football League.

Uh oh. Well, this doesn’t sound too good.

As TheSixthAxis reports, a Japanese website is stating that Sony Computer Entertainment has halted all development on the next generation Playstation home console, colloquially referred to as the Playstation 4.

Apparently, the Playstation 3, which only just became profitable for Sony last year, has bled the corporation dry, and they are now looking at keeping the system relevant for as long as possible. Also, it seems that Sony seems to believe that the future of non PC gaming lies in the handhelds, and not in home consoles, as they are, for all purposes, betting on the NGP to become the next ‘mainline’ Playstation system. As the quote says:

‘Hiroshige Goto says SCEI suspended PS4 development. They were working on a PowerPC based system at IBM Rochester after the Larrabee fall out, then shelved it. They are betting the farm on PSP2 as they expect handhelds to displace consoles.’

This, of course, raises several questions. Just what was the Playstation 4 going to be? A PowerPC based system developed by IBM? That sounds very intriguing. Why was development halted?  Were the costs of R&D too high for Sony to afford right now, when they just became profitable after so many years of sustaining heavy losses? Does this indicate that the NGP may just be named the ‘Playstation 4?’

What will also be interesting to watch will be how Sony attempts to keep the Playstation 3 relevant to publishers after the gates to rampant piracy were opened following the Geohotz leaks. As long as Sony can keep piracy to a minimum, publishers will continue to support the system, as they are fully comfortable with its architecture by now, and as the system itself is well designed enough to last well into the twilight years of the current decade.

The Playstation line of systems is the bestselling hardware line of video game consoles in history. The first Playstation, released in 1995, sold 100 million units, whereas its legendary successor, the Playstation 2, recently crossed the 150 million units shipped mark. The Playstation Portable, Sony’s first foray into handheld gaming, has sold 60 million units so far, whereas the Playstation 3 currently stands at 47 million units sold.

Whether the Playstation 3, and the conspicuous lack of Playstation branding on the NGP and Xperia Play indeed indicate an end of the most successful hardware brand in gaming history remains to be seen.

That’s right after many Guitar Hero titles being released, Activision has driven the franchise into the ground and has now chosen to shutdown the Guitar Hero business.  With Activision trying to get as much out of the franchise as possible releasing as many games a year as they could added with the competition of the Rockband franchise, Guitar Hero which started it all is no more.  Along with the franchise, 7 Studios has also been closed down which was acquired by Activision in 2009 working on the DJ Hero titles.  Lawsuits have been made and it is a big but inevitable mess.  Next will be the Call of Duty franchise if I had to guess with now three different developers working on that franchise.  This has also lead to the discontinued support for any future DLC for Guitar Hero and DJ Hero after February.

Much like last year’s release of MLB 2K10, a contest arose for anyone getting a perfect game won a million dollars.  It is back this year with a few changes like no age limit, but all that good stuff can be viewed in the post I wrote right here.  But below is the trailer for the ‘Perfect Game’.. so can you do it?  MLB 2K11 is out on March 8th for the Playstation 3, Playstation 2, PSP, Wii, DS, PC, and Xbox 360.