Gamer's Source 2-27-14

That's right folks, not one Gamer's Source, but two combined (because I didn't have time to write yesterdays)! YAY! Welcome to Gamer's Source, a daily news segment with the top five news stories in gaming today. As always, there are opinions and speculation, so feel free to share your own in the comments. Without further ado...



Number ONE!

Lots of new indie games are coming to Sony consoles. Announced on the US PS Blog, Trials Fusion, The Swapper and Vessel are all coming to various Sony platforms. 

Trials Fusion, the famous dirt bike game (in the same vein as Urban Trials) which released originally only on Xbox, will make it's way to PS4 on April 16th. PC title The Swapper will be hitting all three of Sony's current consoles. This eerie puzzle-platformer game will be out some time in late May, with no solid release date announced. And finally, the fluid based puzzle game Vessel will make its way to the PS3 on March 11th. 

Sony seems to continue creating this problem for me where it releases great games that I have no time to play. What a great problem to have.  

Number TWO!!

WiiU has surpassed Xbox 360 in lifetime sales in Japan. As of last week, the Nintendo console sold over 1.63 million total consoles in its life time in the Land of the Rising Sun, compared to 360's 1.615 million.

This is just further proof that Microsoft needs to step up its game in the East. Sony and Nintendo do not suffer here in the West like the Xbox has suffered in Asian territories, and in order to stay competitive Microsoft will need to match its competitors. 

Thanks Eurogamer!

NUMBER Three!!!

Call of Duty Elite will be shutting down tomorrow, the 28th. The stat tracking service is being phased out, mostly due to newer apps that will monitor stats for players in newer games of the franchise, including the recently released Ghosts. For more information, check out this FAQ.

NUMBER Four!!!!

Valve is giving developers the ability to create their own sales on the distribution service Steam. Spotted by a Reddit user earlier this week, the system now allows developers to create sales for individual games or for all games the team has developed. This service will further distance Steam from its console competitors, who are already behind the ball. 

NUMBER FIVE!!!!!

Nintendo is shutting down online services for Wii and the original DS/DSi. All online games that were playable on the systems (and Nintendo published) will lose online compatibility on May 20th, so play while you still can. This is obviously an effort to save money and push gamers to purchase the newer consoles and the newest iterations of these games that will be releasing this year (I'm looking at you Mario Kart) 

Thanks Gamasutra! 

Number SIX!!!!!! 

The new Tony Hawk game is coming....to mobile only. In an interview with Bloomberg news, Tony Hawk revealed the platform for the new game, though there is still a small possibility that a console version may also be in the works. The game is being published by Activision, just like the passed games. 

Number SEVEN!!!!!!!

Top down shooter Dead Nation is making its way to PS4 next week. This comes as no surprise as it was leaked earlier this weak by the PS Blog Asia. The game will cost $14.99, but will be free for PS Plus members, joining Tomb Raider, Lone Survivor and Thomas Was Alone on PS3 and Unit 13 and Monster Hunter: United on PS Vita.

NUMBER Eight!!!!!!!!

Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus may be making its way to Sony's handheld. Spotted on Twitter, the game seems to be rated for the PS Vita, which comes as no surprise as the Trophy list on PSN is a joint PS3/PSN trophy list. This is great news as the game is amazing. 

NUMBER Nine!!!!!!!!!

Microsoft has released a list of the next batch of ID@Xbox developers. Director of the indie developer program Chris Charla released the list, which includes developers PlayDead and The Behemoth. This is great news for owners of the console, as it seems to be going through a dry spell at the moment.

NUMBER TEN!!!!!!!!!!(That's a lot of punctuation)  

GOP Lawmakers have worked out a tax bill for 2014 that includes taking away tax credits from game developers which create 'violent' video games. The R&D tax credit, which most studios rely on to keep development costs down, will be withheld from any company which is developing a violent game. However, the vague wording of the bill does not offer any guidelines as to what makes a game a 'violent' game nor does it detail what should happen to developers who make both 'violent' and 'non-violent' games. 

This is also a major slap in the face for game developers, who had a big win in 2011 when the Supreme Court voted that video games were protected under the first amendment as freedom of speech.

Get on Google now, look up your Congressman and Congresswoman and start sending emails to fight this unfair bill. 

Thanks Gamasutra.

Well that was long. Hope you made it this far. Please leave comments below and spread the word to your friends (especially item number ten) and as always, keep the conversation going.