Dealspwn

He's a happy man, but it's not all party-hats and handjobs, y'know...

In a spectacular U-turn, it appears that Microsoft have backtracked on their draconian requirement for the Xbox One to connect to the internet every 24 hours, and on their confusing approach to the issue of used games.

Platforms: 3DS

Developers: Nintendo

Publishers: Nintendo

Nintendo really did release this at the most perfect time. Days after reeling from the gloomy, brutal brilliance at the heart of The Last of Us, stuck in the doldrums of man flu, Animal Crossing: New Leaf has invaded my life bringing with it bright pastel colours, awfully dressed penguins, and an idyllic life so utterly charming that I cannot fail to smile every time I prise open my 3DS.

This is, as the Animal Crossing series always has been, pure, joyous escapism.

In many ways New Leaf is yet further refinement of the original's template. That's the thing with perfection: how the hell do you go about bettering it? Well, you don't, not really. Players will still find themselves browsing for furniture bargain, scavenging whatever fruits and shells and bugs and insects and fish can be scrounged to trade for Bells to pay off their obscene mortgage. You'll decorate your house, build a new wardrobe and stuff it with ridiculous clothes, you'll plant all sorts of flowers and trees, and spend your days nattering with a bunch of anthropomorphic animals. And writing them letters.

Unlike other games of life, though, Animal Crossing: New Leaf cares not for the little fundamentals. You don't have to worry about getting hungry or ensuring you sleep at least eight hours a night. It's a terribly languid game, presenting a world free of cynicism, judgement, and conflict.

But while previous series entries were a little self-centred -- that is to say you only really had any responsibility to yourself and your house -- New Leaf has you stepping into the mayor's mantle as soon as you get off of the train to whatever you named your new town. Like never before, every little action has a little more meaning as you set about shaping the future of your budding hamlet. Instead of always being on the make (in the best possible way), as you could potentially view previous Animal Crossing titles, you'll find yourself going to extraordinary lengths to service the needs of your neighbours.

It's time to bring the rain. Wargaming have announced that Update 8.6 for World of Tanks is now out in Europe and will be rolling out worldwide later this month.

Southeast Asia will see the update go live on June 20th, while American and South Korean players will get the update on June 25th and July 4th, respectively.

Expect a few tweaks to the game's economy, a bunch of new artillery units, new battle-arena Sacred Valley, and the mighty A33 Excelsior. Mmmmm. Tanks.

Originally slate for release this week, 505 Games has announced a release date change for Ashes Cricket 2013, pushing the game's drop date back into July.

Grasshopper Manufacture Head Confident Of Eventual Success

The Xbox 360 has not enjoyed the level of success that its competitors have enjoyed, but in an interview with NowGamer Japanese developer Goichi Suda, known to many as Suda51, spoke of his hope that the Xbox brand, including the upcoming Xbox One, would eventually enjoy higher levels of success.... eventually.

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified has nabbed itself a new trailer taking a closer look at the game's tactical combat UI, known as "Battle Focus". It'll be pretty familiar to anyone who's played a bit of Mass Effect, no doubt.

Additionally, 2K have announced DLC plans already for the game, pledging to "expand the declassified origin story of the clandestine XCOM organisation".

EA's Frank Gibeau has iscussed the dream partnership of DICE with the Star Wars: Battlefront IP, why the studio is the perfect choice to create a new instalment in the franchise, and how DICE will be shaking things up to ensure Battlefront is its own game, not just Battlefield in a galaxy far, far away.

Gamer Network have announced that all of the developer session taking place at Rezzed this year will be broadcast live on YouTube this weekend, so don't fret if you've not bagged a ticket.

Sessions this year include appearances from the likes Chris Avellone (Project Eternity), Ragnar Tornquist (Dreamfall Chapters), The Creative Assembly (Total War: Rome II), and Dean Hall (DayZ Standalone), among many others.

Hotline Miami is back again this year to spill some more claret, and you should be excited. The sequel to 2012's murder-'em-up is titled Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number and will once again be helmed by Dennaton Games and published by Devolver Digital. 

If you don't yet own a 3DS, you're missing out. The console we all feared wouldn't make it a year is now the hottest property around, and that's because Nintendo have managed to turn a platform bereft of original content and sprinkled with poor third-party knockoffs into a console that today seems utterly essential, and a fantastically social device.

There are, of course, a number of reasons for this, but chief among them is that Nintendo has managed to make the 3DS attractive to consumers and industry partners alike through good games.

Christmas 2011 was enormous for the 3DS. The console had barely survived a rough year, with mobile platforms and the tablet market encroaching in on Nintendo's space, and a constant barrage of disappointment over the lack of decent first-party titles and exclusives on the platform. But then two things happened: Mario Kart 7 and Super Mario 3D Land released in time for the festive season (and Nintendo actually marketed them), and the Playstation Vita went into hibernation for a couple of months outside of Japan as the release date got pushed back.

By halfway through 2012, we were saying this about the 3DS:

The 3DS has had a phenomenal few months, mainly achieved through that most simplest of gaming methods - delivering good games. Resident Evil has found a new lease of life on the platform, Nintendo have dusted off old IP in stunning fashion (Kid Icarus), and demoed cracking new IP too (Dillon's Rolling Western), and there's a new model on the way too.

A year on from that and there's even more to celebrate with franchise-bests from the likes of Professor Layton, Fire Emblem, Luigi's Mansion, and Animal Crossing. And these weren't simple, backwards-looking knockoffs (insofar as Nintendo are able to make knockoffs), these were games utilising old IPs but leveraging the 3DS' potential in impressive fashion. 

Humble Bundle with Android 6 | Pay What You Want | Humble Bundle

Humble Bundle are doing another Android offering this week, with all of the games on offer available for the mobile platform as well as PC, Mac, and Linux as usual.

This week's range of reliably excellent titles that you can pay whatever you want for include: Aquaria, Fractal, Organ Trail: Director’s Cut, and Stealth Bastard Deluxe, and if you beat the average (currently $4.66 at the time of writing), you'll unlock the superb Broken Sword: Director’s Cut and Frozen Synapse as well.

Renegade Ops | Gamefly | £1.99
Voucher Code: GFDJUN20UK

Thanks to Alex R for the tip!

Seriously, Dragon Age, they'd better be good

I don't hold grudges much, not really. But I'm likely to hold onto Dragon Age II for a while. Still, we've been given glimpses of open-worlds, bespoke systems, and no replication of the lazy design that peppered Dragon Age III's predecessor. It's benefit of the doubt time, probably.

It'll rather have to be, as it turns out that Mass Effect 4 will be cribbing many of Dragon Age III's central systems to make development easier.

Right, it's not news, not really, but it's really interesting to anyone who's interested in video games as a storytelling medium in any fashion. Basically GameInformer orchestrated a sit-down chat between The Walking Dead's lead writer -- Sean Vanaman -- and a certain Mr. Molyneux. The results are immensely watchable, stuffed with oodles of mutual respect, and some very interesting discussion on the nature of narratives in games, our medium's power to illicit emotion from players.

If you loved Telltale's series, chances are you'll get a kick out of this.

Murdered: Soul Suspect, the mysterious title from Square Enix that sees you working to solve your own murder, is looking very intriguing indeed. Ever wanted to roam around as a poltergeist, possessing people, solving crimes, fighting demons? Well now you can.

There's a quarter of an hour's worth of gameplay goodness after the jump.

Sony UK managing director Fergal Gara has discussed the boost that the Playstation 4 has given the Vita, stating that the handheld was really designed with the PS4 and hinting that Sony might have released it a little too early perhaps, given the difficulties that they've faced.

Sony has confirmed that first-party PlayStation 4 games will retail at $59.99, the same price as new PlayStation 3 releases currently, in the US anyway, matching Microsoft's willingness to sell first-party titles on next-gen consoles at current-gen prices.

SCEA boss Jack Tretton has discussed his company's publicly pro-consumer attitude, speaking about the importance of ownership and flexibility, suggesting that the used games market creates value for consumers.