Rumour Round Up – Microsoft’s Plans, iPhone 5 & Turtles
Good day one and all. Welcome to Week 4 of Hard Reset’s Rumour Round Up. This week has had some quite spectacular rumours surface in the ocean of games news, which have been making waves around the net. My aim, as always, is to separate the totally ridiculous from the realm of possibility. However before we kick off with the rumours I have an update!
THQ is in big trouble (Update)
Last week rumours were flying that THQ was suffering heavily financially and the speculation was that THQ would not survive as a business for much longer. There were already opinions on where THQ’s licenses should go. However, THQ is still in business but not all is hunky dory at the company. This week a group of anonymous current and former staff of the publisher sent an open letter to the CEO and Board of Directors demanding some of the top people at THQ be let go. Here are some snippets.
I have long felt the need to explain to outsiders how this beaten-down company has wound up in this position. It is to the point where having it on your resume is not a point in your favor. And that shouldn’t be the case. I’m/We’re sending this note anonymously because some of us are still awaiting final checks and others know how little corporations like employees who air their dirty laundry. We feel the need to say something to combat the partial misinformation being written.
THQ had been known through the years for having a formula. They find a hot license, make a cheap game, barely advertise it, and make money. This formula worked during the Playstation and Xbox and Gameboy days and made the company a lot of cash. Unfortunately, THQ’s old guard executives seem to be stuck trying to manage the company the same way they did back then and haven’t realized the industry has changed.
The issue with THQ has never been one of lack of staff creativity, intellect or business intelligence. It all rests of the failure of its management team and you the Board of Directors.
The whole letter can be read here and it an interesting read.
Now, time for the rumours.
Next Gen Xbox to be 20% more powerful than the Wii U
Another week and another Next Gen Xbox rumour finds a place in this feature. This time, according to IGN again, the next Xbox will be 6 times more powerful than the 360 and 20% more powerful than the Wii U. IGN reports that Microsoft’s next offering will have a graphics card “akin to the [AMD] Radeon HD 6670, which offers support for DirectX11, multi display output, 3D and 1080p HD output.” Also, the new console will release at some point in October or November 2013.
The release date I agree with. I also fully expect the new console to have 3D and 1080p HD as standard. Those graphic card stats sound plausible but I’m not going to start comparing how much more powerful it will be than any other console until I see a working model.
iPhone 5 Getting Released Summer 2012
Apparently the iPhone 5 was the last iPhone Steve Jobs was involved with from start to finish. According to industry insiders, the iPhone 5 was supposed to release back in October 2011, instead the 4S was released. This, allegedly, was because there were production problems with the iPhone 5 which meant it was delayed. So can we expect it this summer? Let’s look at earlier release dates to get our answer.
- iPhone – June 29, 2007
- iPhone 3G – July 11, 2008
- iPhone 3GS – June 19, 2009
- iPhone 4 – June 24, 2010
- iPhone 4S – October 14, 2011
Each year, since 2007, there has been a new iteration of the iPhone. Only the 4S broke the summer release schedule. Expect a new iPhone this year. Maybe it will be announced in the summer but it’s possible that the iPhone 5 won’t be released until the Autumn, to catch the Christmas sales window.
God of War 4 and Syphon Filter 4 to get revealed next month
According to Play Magazine both these titles will be revealed at some point within the next 4 to 5 weeks. According to the mag, Syphon Filter 4 is being developed by SCE London Studio and will” return to the world of shooting, espionage and Gabe Logan’s superb name.” Play Magazine claims that their industry spies are “not often wrong.” Well we’ve seen how ‘reliable’ some industry insiders are. If these two mammoth titles are getting revealed, I would expect a build up to the event, like how Capcom did with Resi Evil 6. I don’t expect trailers for either games to just drop unexpected into the world, but then again Rockstar went for a simple reveal with GTA V. Maybe one of these titles will be revealed in the following month while the other is unveiled at a big convention, like E3. I could definitely see a God of War 4 showing at E3.
Microsoft to get rid of MS Points
Inside Mobile Apps reported this story, citing a source who knew about the Microsoft’s decision. Apparently the points will be phased out by the end of the year (could be what the Mayan’s actually foresaw) and will be replaced by actual real life currency. This move isn’t all that surprising really. All of MS’s competitors use actual currency to sell their digital wares, and Microsoft has introduced real world currency to some of it’s products already, like the Windows Phones which lists actual prices. Having real world prices would also be a lot better for the consumer as then they can actually see how much they are spending on a product. It also means that consumers don’t have to buy more points than they’re going to use, as points are currently sold in bundles.
I can see this happening to make Microsoft’s own digital presence a much more user-friendly and competitive part of business.
Rocksteadys Next Game to be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Manhattan Crisis
This rumour comes courtesy of Paul Gale Network. There is a nice little breakdown on the blog about why this could be both real and also fake.
Real:
- Similar fighting style and similar night based settings, which would allow Rocksteady to update work already done for a TMNT title.
- A new TMNT series is currently in the works and so a game based on a new series could be done.
- A variety of enemies for the Turtles to go up against.
Fake:
- A movie of TMNT is currently in the works and Paramount will probably hold all the rights to any merchandise tied to the series, including video games.
- Rocksteady are more likely to work on a new Batman game or maybe even another DC character.
I want this to be true, I really do. A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game by Rocksteady would possibly be one of the best games ever but my more sensible side knows this is currently too out there to be real. I’m sorry but Rocksteady aren’t working on a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game. That last sentence was painful to write.
Right, that’s your lot for this week. Considering all my rumours are coming via industry insiders, I might try to catch one myself. Does anyone have a net?
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Trending on Twitter: #CowabungaPGN Let’s make this game happen by letting Rocksteady know we want it!
(Just plug in the following: #CowabungaPGN We want Ninja Turtles from @RocksteadyGames!)
Hey, thanks for expressing your interest in this possibility and for linking to my site. This is most definitely a rumor and although there are a few pieces behind it that make it seem “fake” (the fact that Nickelodeon and Paramount are handling the Turtles cartoon/movie), there are a few other reasons that just might make it “real”.
Case in point: Warner Bros. owns DC Comics, DC and IDW just made a cross promotion comic of Star Trek and Legion of Super-Heroes. What else does IDW make? A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series that’s about 6 issues in.
We’ll see what happens and certainly hope for the best. I don’t put rumors up often, but this one sounded too cool to pass up on (and I actually left it up to the readers to decide whether or not I should even share it).
I contacted Rocksteady and hope they get back to me so we can put the rumor to rest…or celebrate that it’s in fact a reality. Like I said though, I’ve got no idea whether it’s real or not, but it sure sounds epic!
Thanks again for your feedback. Cowabunga!