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Spec Ops Delayed, GTA V Not Dated Yet

On the back of a middling financial report (year-on-year losses mitigated by strong NBK 2012 and L.A. Noire sales), Take-Two have confirmed their release schedule for the next financial year. Spec Ops: The Line has been delayed into the Autumn from its original "spring" launch window, and Borderlands 2, BioShock Infinite and GTA V still don't have firm release dates yet.

We've got a screengrab of the report below, though note that it only lists American release dates for confirmed titles like Max Payne 3 and The Darkness II. Us Europeans can expect to see these games "three days after."

Seeks Partner For Dark Millennium Online

As expected, THQ has posted losses of $55.9 million over the last quarter... but they've come out swinging in their recent financial report. Development is continuing unabated, and they've announced that six new core titles will be hitting between now and 2014. It's a strong showing in the face of rumours that they'd be forced to cut back on their release schedule - though they're seeking a partner for ambitious Warhammer 40,000 MMO Dark Millenium Online as part of a more "realistic" strategy.

We've rounded up the launch schedule below.

Avatar Items, Sweepstakes, Early Demo Access

Microsoft's new Mass Effect 3: Mission Command Facebook App will reward Xbox 360 owners with a modest selection of prizes if they take part in 11 online "missions." While participating won't unlock any in-game bonuses (you'll need to download EA's upcoming handheld tie-in for that), you'll be able to glean an avatar prop once the app reaches a certain player threshold, an avatar T-shirt by downloading the demo and the chance to automatically enter some sweepstakes. Competition prizes include early demo access for submitting your best chat-up line/rejection bombshell next week, the Collector's Edition for recording your best character impressions and even a limited edition Xbox 360 console bundle. Not exactly the heroic, galaxy-shattering objectives we were hoping for, mind.

Of course, since this is basically just a competition/publicity stunt disguised as a metagame, victory is absolutely not assured. Still, it might be worth trying out Mission Command just for the avatar items. Beats spending money on them.

Hidden within EA's quarterly financial report is an interesting comment from their VP Of Investor relations that should set Battlefield 3 fans' hearts racing. Peter Ausnit suggests that new content for Battlefield 3 will be unveiled next week as part of a push to ensure a "constant flow" of DLC for their major franchises.

"We've got plans for all of our major franchises to turn them into more of... games for service that have a constant flow of downloadable content. You're going to hear some announcements from us on Battlefield actually as early as next week in an event we've got in New York."

What would you like from Battlefield 3's next DLC pack? [via CVG]

Naughty Dog have been in bullish form over the last month, with some determined interview quotes and plenty of excitement surrounding their post-apocalyptic new title: The Last of Us. Game Informer published three new screenshots from the title, all of which have been taken in-game, rather than pinched from the trailer. Shots show a bit of combat, a shot of Pittsburgh and some nicely posed middle-distance staring.

David Jaffe has taken to NEOGAF to inform us that Twisted Metal will, to the best of his knowledge, be delayed until March 1st in Europe. This is apparently due to a number of content cuts that SCEE plan to make, including removing some of the most graphic moments from the deranged cutscenes. We've got the full statement below.

Safe In The Short Term

Breaking news: MCV reports that GAME have negotiated a new deal with their lending syndicate that should secure their financial position in the short term. GAME have promised to "operate within lower limits of its existing facilities than was previously available," while coming up with a new long-term strategy that will include input from their lenders.

This newfound security should also allow them to meet this year's covenant tests without incident. GAME are expecting an £18m for the next year before tax, which is actually better than what many analysts were expecting. It will be interesting to see whether the new strategic plan includes new cuts to their overseas operations as rumoured earlier today.

The short version? GAME is here to stay - for now - and we hope that the chain will evolve to meet the changing demands of the games market. We're convinced that there's still a place for traditional retail, not to mention its thousands of employees. The situation mirrors that of HMV last month, and it seems that bankers are still willing to back the high street despite a seriously rough downturn in boxed game sales.

Thanks to the well-deserved success of Rayman Origins, one of 2011's finest games regardless of genre, Ubisoft plans to resurrect the limbless legend's third outing as a revamped downloadable HD version. Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc HD has been dated for a March 21st release on PSN and XBLA, containing the original 15-hour platforming campaign brought up to date with a 60 FPS visual upgrade, new minigames, achievements/trophies and unlockable content.

We've got the announcement trailer after the break.

Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning will hit shelves next Friday, and to celebrate, EA has released a launch trailer that shows off the art design and combat. We can't wait to see whether Big Huge Games live up to their name and deliver a truly expansive RPG experience.

Rock Solid Publicity Stunt

Namco Bandai are going all-out to promote Soul Calibur V, up to and including spraying an enormous graffiti mural onto Shoreditch walls. However, their latest stunt is to permanently carve Miturugi and Pyrrha into the Swedish Tanum mountains, where they will forever be immortalised in granite.

Who wants to make the "rock hard characters" pun? Anyone? Good, so check out the production pictures below if you're interested. Soul Calibur V launches tomorrow and our full review is in the pipeline.

Umbrella's elite squad don't mess about. Each of the six-man unit packs unique combat roles yet are all equally effective in a fight, capable of deploying numerous character-specific attacks against the mutated zombie hordes. Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City's latest trailer shows off these 'Squad Kills' in a visceral and brutal manner, and we're finding ourselves becoming cautiously optimistic about this one like the virtual violence junkies we are.

CEO Takes 50% Salary Cut

THQ are in a spot of bother, to put it mildly. With share prices at an all-time low and threats of being delisted from NASDAQ, on top of horrendous financial projections, the publisher has announced that they'll have to make "up to 240 redundancies" over the next three months - and CEO Brian Farrell has accepted a 50% pay cut in a show of solidarity. You can download and read the regulatory filing for yourself if you don't want to take my word for it.

However, it's worth noting that the redundancies won't affect development personnel, rather, the layoffs will be culled from "selling, general and administrative" staff. Game development should continue unabated.

We'll get more details in tomorrow's financial report - and discover whether there's any truth to the rumours of cancelled 2013 titles.

Mass Effect 3's Valentines Day demo will include limited-time access to Xbox Live Gold, BioWare have confirmed. This will allow everyone to sample the cooperative multiplayer portion of the trial as well as the solo mission. It's currently unclear whether the demo will be playable online by anyone regardless of subscription level, or if it will provide a short-lived code that offers full Gold Membership for a limited time - but it's a welcome gesture nonetheless.

However, BioWare hasn't yet confirmed whether Microsoft will hold back the demo from Silver members for the usual week.

GAME In Talks With Lending Syndicate

EA boss John Riccitiello has expressed concern at the financial health of one of their "major European retail partners"... and it doesn't take an analyst to work out which one he's referring to. GAME are facing major stock and credit difficulties at the moment, with their latest statement suggesting that they're currently negotiating with their lending syndicate for more financial headroom. The wording even suggests that a major sell-off of foreign interests might also be on the cards.

Cyanide Studio have sent us more screenshots and a trailer for the Game Of Thrones RPG, introducing the town of Riverspring. The Unreal-powered visuals are looking fairly reasonable (if a little on the gloomy side), and we hope that Cyanide can do a better job than they managed with A Game Of Thrones: Genesis. George R.R. Martin's epic series definitely deserves a great game.

Assets below, previous Westeros screenshots here.

Reports suggests that the new Final Fantasy XII-2 Ultimania guide books hold a few newsworthy tidbits towards the end, with staff interviews from the producers at the end of the book hinting at further story content continuing the adventures of the some of the characters from the Final Fantasy XIII saga.

Wadjet Eye, purveyors and creators of impeccable point & click adventure games including Gemini Rue and the Blackwell series, have announed that their first 2012 title will be Da New Boyz: Day Of The Jackass. Billed as "A nostalgic throwback to comedy games like The Secret of Monkey Island with the feel and pacing of a Saturday morning cartoon," Da New Boyz will follow a team of wrestlers as they attempt to save their friend from ruthless kidnappers, and should provide near-limitless scope for tongue-in-cheek parody.

You'll be able to buy it from February 29th, and a demo is freely available. Trailer and more details after the break.

"It Has To Be Huge And Fundamentally New"

Epic Games are ready for the next generation. They've said so before, they wowed us with the Samaritan tech demo, and they've now thrown down the gauntlet to console manufacturers by insisting that the any new hardware must be "a dramatic leap in quality" rather than an incremental upgrade. They're spoiling for new tech, and we've got the full story below.

Ubisoft plan to switch their servers from a "third party data centre to a new facility" on February 7th... which could potentially affect online functionality for a number of PC and Mac titles. This includes the 'always on' DRM, rendering the following games completely unplayable during the transition:

• Assassin’s Creed (Mac)
• Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. 2 (PC)
• Might & Magic : Heroes VI (PC)
• Splinter Cell Conviction (Mac)
• The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom (PC)
• The Settlers (Mac)

Other titles may be also be affected in terms of multiplayer, and UPlay will also not be available on PC on February 7th. We don't yet know how long the transition period will last, and I suspect that Ubisoft don't either.

"We Want As Little Barriers To Entry As Possible"

EA has confirmed that Starbreeze's upcoming Syndicate reboot will not ship with an online pass - and all multiplayer functionality will be unlocked regardless of whether you buy a new or preowned version. Apparently they're confident that players will enjoy the cooperative modes enough to not trade it in, which is actually rather refreshing logic to us. Full story after the break.