February, the shortest month of the year came and went with a pop, a bang and lots of fireworks, just in that order. This month will go down in history as the month that Sony announced their intentions to bring gaming back to the video game industry, nudging developers to lose the gimmicks and bring on the fun. February wasn't without controversy, though, the Aliens: Colonial Marines launch eventually declined into a conspiracy about cashing in on the license with a crappy game. The whole event unfolded with a reputation-killing saga of developers stepping forward to place blame on either Sega or Gearbox. Jim Sterling kept a close eye on the events that we covered here each week after the release of the game early in the month. All this and more in this Gaming Blend Monthly Recap.
January 27th – February 2nd
GTA V Release Date Confirmed, Orion Dino Horde, Video Games Vs Guns. January ended and February started with an equal bang. Rockstar finalized the release date for Grand Theft Auto V, setting gamers up for a fall release for the title, much to the chagrine of those expecting a spring release. Orion: Dino Horde was announced, adding the ability to play as the dinosaurs in the upcoming co-op shooter, hoping in some way to redeem themselves from the original Dino Beatdown. Video games also come under fire for inciting gun violence, and well..I'll let you check that out for yourself.
February 3rd – February 9th
Witcher 3 Announced, GTA V On Next-Gen Consoles, GameStop Closing Stores CD Projekt drops a bomb and officially announces The Witcher 3 for next-gen consoles and PC. Analysts suspect that GTA V's late release date could prompt it to become a launch title for the Xbox 720 and PS4 and GameStop officially announces the closing of more than 250 stores. Also, surprisingly enough, Minecraft was the top selling game on Xbox Live in 2012, accounting for most the platform's profit throughout the fiscal year.
February 10th – February 16th
Nancy Pelosi Rescues Video Games, G4 Turns Into Esquire, Last of Us Delayed Democratic house speaker Nancy Pelosi actually comes to the aid of video games, dropping a few facts on a Fox News anchor who has absolutely no clue what he's talking about. In the same vein, former gaming station G4 is turning into the Esquire network. Naughty Dog also lets the gaming universe know that Last of Us has hit a bit of delay and won't be released as early as some gamers expected.
February 17th – February 23rd
PS4 Announced, WWE 14 Announced, Diablo 3 Coming To PS3 and PS4 This is it; this was the week that defined February. Sony officially announced the PlayStation 4 and didn't waste any time in doing so. They reserved no hesitations about their plans to bring home console gaming back to the gaming community and to get developers enthused and excited about working on video games again. The golden age of gaming? Perhaps. This news was coupled with 2K Sports announcing WWE 14 and Blizzard announcing that Diablo III will be arriving for the PlaySTation 3 and PlayStation 4.
February 24th – March 2nd
Xbox 720 Always-On, Diablo 3 Adds Offline To PS3, PS4, Deus Ex Human Defiance Trademark Registered After lots and lots and lots of PC gamers asked Blizzard for an offline mode in Diablo III, Blizzard finally decided to deliver the mode...for PS3 and PS4 gamers. How does it feel to have paid $60 for a beta test? Microsoft comes under fire once again for the rumored always-on feature in the Xbox 720 and Square Enix registers a trademark for Deus Ex Human Defiance, however many speculate that it's for the upcoming movie and not the game. Ubisoft also wants to repair their relationship with PC gamers, issuing an olive branch and Sony further verifies that the PS4 is all about gaming, noting that it still uses Blu-ray discs.
