[UPDATE FROM SEGA]

SEGA has released a response to rumours of a new Sonic for PS4, XBOX One and Wii U in 2015, “SEGA is yet to announce details of upcoming console video games for Sonic the Hedgehog or further details regarding the new Sonic CG TV series. “The recent information coming out of Nuremburg Toy Fair was incorrect.”

SEGA also reminded everyone that “For official and up to date news regarding Sonic the Hedgehog please go to www.sonicthehedgehog.com or follow Sonic on Twitter (@sonic_hedgehog).”

It seems Sonic Adventure 3 may not be coming as soon as we thought. Sorry fanboys.

[ORIGINAL STORY]

Looks like Sonic may be speeding onto a Next-Gen console near you in 2015! A display spotted at the Nuremberg Toy Fair shows a new title for the Wii U, PS4 and XBOX ONE. Of course, the name of the game is TBA. Curiously, no mention of the third Nintendo exclusive title was found.

Nintendo and SEGA entered an exclusive partnership in 2013 to produce three Sonic titles for Nintendo’s home console and handheld. The first was Sonic Galax…I mean Sonic: Lost world. The second was, of course, the dismally un-fun Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. (On a side note, can we get shorter titles for those things? PLEASE?)

The third game is nowhere to be seen. The deal certainly could have changed as it did with the so called “Capcom Five” back in the Gamecube games. Popular speculation seems to be that this is a new game instead.

With the abysmal track record Sonic has had recently, is a new Sonic game a good idea? Or is SEGA just milking it’s half dead hedgehog for all the money it’s worth?

Watch Dogs is a game that a lot of people are looking forward to, so when it was delayed it upset a few people who already had it on pre-order. Rumours about it being cancelled on the Wii U caused more waves and those waves might have had a part of play in this latest incident related to the game, strange as it seems.

It seems that someone claiming to be Ubisoft submitted a Request for Express Abandonment for the trademark on the ‘Watch Dogs’ name to the US Patent & Trademark Office, supposedly signed by the Ubisoft Chief Executive Officer Yves Guillemot. The only problem? Ubisoft says they never submitted this request.

Ubisoft Entertainment submits this Petition to the Director under Trademark Rule 2.146 to prevent the abandonment of Application Serial No. 85642398. A fraudulent Request for Express Abandonment was recently filed in connection with Application Serial No. 85642398.

 

Facts

On February 1, 2014, Ubisoft Entertainment received an email from TEAS@uspto.gov notifying Ubisoft Entertainment that a Request for Express Abandonment had been filed in connection with Application Serial No. 85642398. The Request for Express Abandonment purports to be signed by the Chief Executive Officer of Ubisoft Entertainment, Yves Guillemot.

Mr. Guillemot, however, did not sign the Request for Express Abandonment, nor did Ubisoft Entertainment file the Request for Express Abandonment. The Request for Express Abandonment is fraudulent and was not filed by Ubisoft Entertainment or its representative

Ubisoft say that they are now working with the USPTO to reinstate the trademark and that it should once again be active in the coming days, reassuring the players who have been disappointed once before with a delay that this shouldn’t cause any further delay on the game’s release.

Makes you wonder who would go to so much trouble though to try and remove the trademark from Ubisoft, and why. It’s a lot of effort to go to for the sake of a trolling attempt…

The ESRB’s content description for Dark Souls include details about the game’s bosses.

*WARNING! Potential spoilers ahead!*

One of the best parts of Dark Souls is that terrible moment when you get your first look at a boss. You’ll turn a corner or enter a new area and suddenly find yourself face-to-face with some unthinkable creature that you can just tell outclasses you in every way possible. More often than not, this moment will only last a few seconds (long enough to die), but it’s a wonderful sort of dread that other games frequently struggle with.

That in mind, the ESRB recently released some content descriptors that could potentially spoil that feeling for Dark Souls II. In addition to describing the game’s “dungeon-like setting” and “fantastical enemies,” the group’s descriptors also includes some specific details about the game’s bosses. Among the spoilers is “a giant snake boss holding its severed head,” a “boss creature composed of hundreds of corpses” and a “partially topless” boss character with “hair barely covering [her] breasts.”

Now, to be fair, these aren’t the worst spoilers we’ve ever seen, even from the ESRB itself. Likewise, chances are there aren’t going to be too many Dark Souls fans flocking to the group’s website to check and make sure the game is age appropriate. That said, you really do have to wonder if there could perhaps be ways for the ESRB to be a tad more discerning in what it reveals about the games it rates. Granted, we could also just not report about it, but clearly that’s not going to happen.

Warner Bros has decided that it won’t be releasing downloadable content for the Wii U edition of Batman: Arkham Origins.

Nintendo has cited low demand for the downloadable content as the primary reason for calling off the content, meaning that those who have already bought the season pass will be getting a refund.

Here’s a note found by GoNintendo:

“Thanks so much for your support of Batman: Arkham Origins on Wii U. We are contacting you today because you purchased the Batman: Arkham Origins Season Pass for Wii U. We hope you’ve been enjoying the content that has been delivered thus far. Based on demand for Downloadable Content on the system, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has made the decision to remove its offering of the upcoming new story campaign for Wii U.

“As a result, we will be crediting the entire $19.99+tax cost of the Season Pass back to your Nintendo eShop account. You will still be able to enjoy the content already released thus far.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your support of the game.

Sincerely, Nintendo of America Inc.”

Nintendo always seems to struggle when it comes to third party support on the Wii U, and it seems like things aren’t getting any easier. Can Nintendo turn the Wii U’s fortunes around?

Monolith the Developers of the latest installment to the Lord of the Rings Saga … (oops I’m not allowed to say that any more) Middle Earth Shadow of Mordor have come under fire of late after airing there Alpha build that allowed them to show off their procedural enemy system.
Why have they come under fire you ask? Well take a look at the video:

As you can see the stealth mechanic and some of the assets look very similar to Ubisoft’s Assassins creed series. This provoked at twitter rampage from ex Ubisoft developer Charles Randall saying:

Now no one knows for sure if these allegations are true or if Monolith just took allot of inspiration from Assassins Creed but to be honest there are some assets that stick out like a sore thumb.

The Assassins Creed 2 Tightrope for example:

Middle Earth Shadow of Mordor

Assassins Creed 2

But is this just money for old rope at this point (see … see what I did there) in your opinion do you believe that there are too many copycat games out there nowadays or do you think it’s fine for games to copy elements providing the overall experience is different enough to warrant it being a separate game?

Personally I think that the Nemesis system and Wraith mode really set Mordor apart in enough of a way that the familiar aspects of Assassins Creed only enforce my positive feelings towards the game.

Now Charles Randall did later turn round to say:

This does show that anyone is going to be annoyed if they believe there work has been plagiarised, But that he didn’t mean any ill will towards Monolith.

But the questions still stands is reusing assets and code from an existing game in order to make up the backbone of a new game really classed as stealing? Personally I believe that using existing code to help get a game up and running is almost a necessity in this day and age with the number of bugs and issues that coding from scratch can cause. And ok it is someone else’s work but the last time you bought a kettle for you kitchen or a sandwich for your lunch, did you complain because it was basically the same as any other? Constructively reusing ideas and assets is the only way to push anything forward in the world today, not just in gaming.

And in a final piece of irony Randall also tweeted this:

Funny how he has become the story rather than the Assets implementation itself.