[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.

So a new type of gaming headgear has just come out.

The headset from foc.us is the first wearable transcranial Direct Current Stimulation or tDCS. This device sends a low electrical current to your brain, improving brain power. This is achieved by 4 electrodes located at the front of the headset while the headset rest on the back of your head.

This headset claims to overclock your brain, improving your cognitive performance. The headset can be controlled manually by using either a touch sensor or your iPhone. Later models will include control via Android phones. Currently, you can only change whether it’s on or off, the mode or the current level with the app. There is no way to change the duration of the current.

This cool device will be sold $249 for US customers and £179 for UK customers and the rest of the world. They will ship to Canada, US, UK, Russia, Australia, New Zealand and continental Europe. It comes in two colours black and red.

If you want to check this cool headset for yourself head over to http://www.foc.us/.

Machinima, bastion of 360 no-scope headshots and other YouTube memes was just outed for offering a monetary incentive to their YouTube partners who created positive videos about Microsoft’s new Xbox One console and it’s games. (PredictedCyborg’s original blog about it here)

While I would like to claim I am surprised by this, the sad truth is…I’m not.

(Full disclosure: I am a YouTube Content Creator myself. In fact, I happen to be partnered with the Fullscreen network.)

Here’s the facts about being a YouTube creator.

1) Its Hard – Making videos is hard work. Its even harder to get noticed. making quality content doesn’t guarantee exposure.

2) Its Hard To Make Money – Once you get exposure, making money is hard. You need a lot of views, yes. But you also need to be able to monetize your content in the first place. And if you’ve been following the recent Content ID kerfluffle, you know that easier said than done these days.

3) People Like Money – Ok, maybe I’m cheating this one. But yeah, people like money. Its a rule of life basically.

With this in mind lets move on.

What Machinima is doing, with either explicit or tacit approval from Microsoft (I’ve seen sources reporting both ways – Microsoft is actually behind the idea, or that they are smiling and nodding at Machinima’s bright idea that’s getting the Xbox One good press), is appealing to the base nature of the human animal. Most creators who are part of a network want to make money. My own network, Fullscreen, runs campaigns for us all the time. And yes, they get us extra money. The difference here is that a Fullscreen campaign is usually something silly. As an example, we ran one over Thanksgiving where we could make a video with a silly way to say “turkey stuffing”. They then gave us extra money on those views. What’s the difference between that and what Machinima is doing you ask? Simple:

Machinima is asking it’s own members to state positive things about a product. In fact, the agreement even explicitly states that you may not say anything negative or disparaging about Machinima, Xbox One or any of its games in said video. This engenders in me a feeling of deep distrust towards ANY video that I see on Machinima about the Xbox One. And it calls into question many of their other videos. For better or worse, many gamers these day tun to YouTube “celebrities” for news, reviews and other gaming related content.

An uproar is sure to break out over the next few days about this. So let’s all remember a few things. Machinima is a business. Machinima and it’s partners are in this game to make money. Microsoft is also a business out to make money. Furthermore, the shining image of YouTube creators as paragons of journalistic integrity that so many people are crying foul over is ludicrous. People out to make money aren’t going to have that type of journalistic integrity. Especially when almost none of them were trained as journalists to begin with.

Do I find what Machinima is up to shady? Hell yes.
Am I surprised by it? Hell no.
Should we cry foul at YouTubers over their journalistic scruples? Maybe. Maybe not. Each YouTube has their own goals and morals. Its up to them to establish what they are and aren’t willing to do for money. Be that making videos of CoD headshots, giant dicks they built in Minecraft, taking money from Microsoft/Machinima to pimp the Xbox One, or shaving a goat while wearing a speedo (maybe that last one is just me), they are going to do what they are going to do.
In the end, its up to the viewer to make their own judgement about the creator’s intentions.

(For our XBox One review, look here)