The long awaited final release of DOTA 2 from Valve has been announced—mostly. According to a post on PC Gamer, DOTA 2 will be finished and “free for everyone” sometime this summer.

For a while it’s been free to Steam users in beta, but according to Valve itself, it’s not really even in beta anymore:

“At this point we don’t really think of Dota 2 as a beta, but we also aren’t ready for everyone to show up and start playing just yet. We are constantly updating the game with new heroes, bug fixes, and new features. We’ve still got work to do before we can support the number of players who’ve shown interest in Dota 2. Right now we’re working on expanding our server infrastructure, which is the primary bottleneck.”

If you want to shell out thirty bucks, you’ll get early access to the game plus a whole bunch of in-game items. But otherwise, the free-to-play game will launch this summer, and you can see if you want to put your hard-earned money into this thing.

[Via PC Gamer]

Today, the release date was announced for the forthcoming PlayStation 3 exclusive Kojima-megapack known as Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection. So what day can we buy this thing? How about July 9? How about YEAH?!

Best of all, the game’s going to cost only fifty bucks, which is pretty solid considering that you get a whopping eight games. Basically, like, all of the Metal Gear games you could want: Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2, Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: HD Edition, Metal Gear Solid 3: HD Edition, Metal Gear Solid 4: Trophy Edition, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD Edition, and Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions. Okay, so that last one isn’t so much a game, but still—lots and lots of content. And you’ll also get two MGS graphic novels. Who doesn’t love reading comic books on their TVs? The answer, obviously, is no one. No one doesn’t love it.

At $49.99, that’s a tough bargain to resist, especially for me, since I never played any of the games past Metal Gear Solid 2. What do you think? Gonna snap it up? I’m considering…

/Strokes chin sagely, deep in thought.

[Via PlayStation Blog]

The PlayStation Vita will soon boast its own, exclusive entry in the Killzone franchise called Killzone: Mercenary. The game’s original release date is GONE—now it’s coming out a week earlier, set for September 10. It’s not often that we can report that a release date’s been moved up, so we’ll take this as the greatest of signs. Hooray for efficiency!

A post on the PlayStation Blog also points out some pre-order bonuses you can get for the game: 48 hours of double-XP, some extra in-game cash, and the M224-A1 light machine gun. Carnage!

From the gameplay footage in the trailer above, Mercenary looks like a pretty bad-ass shooter. I’m impressed. Oh, Vita. It’s nice to think about you again. Maybe one day I’ll release you from the prison that is my desk drawer.

[Via PlayStation Blog]

If, when you hit hour ten of playing Minecraft on Xbox you want a different flavor of open-world mining and construction, you should check out Terraria when it launches for XBLA on March 27 and PSN on March 26.

Even though everyone dismisses the game as a 2D Minecraft, I actually enjoyed Terraria a lot more for some reason. Something about it being 2D made it a lot less… boring. It doesn’t take as long to get down to cool stuff.

The game will cost $15 / 1200 MSP, so save your gold bricks accordingly.

Publisher Sega has just announced that its long-time-coming strategy game from Relic Entertainment, Company of Heroes 2, will head to retail shelves on Junes 25 in North America and Europe.

If you recall the bankruptcy and picking-apart-by-good-intentioned-vultures of publisher THQ earlier this year, this game and its license have been purchased outright by Sega, and was actually the most expensive property in the asset auction. If you’re a numbers person, it went for $26.6 million.

“Our acquisition by Sega has given us the chance to work with a new partner that has a great track record of working with long standing PC franchises,” mentioned Company of Heroes 2 executive producer Jonathan Dowdeswell.

“It gives us great confidence to know that we have a well aligned team working to bring the best experience we can to gamers around the world.”

It’s funny – Sega now publishes another extremely-popular real-time strategy game that’s not Total War. Quick, someone give the idea to an indie developer before this becomes a monopoly!

Now, someone get another indie developer and have him remake Monopoly, because old school Monopoly isn’t much fun. Old school Monopoly is so 1934.

Today Capcom announced that their brand new IP, Remember Me, will come out for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC on June 4. Along with the announcement, there’s a brand new trailer, which you can check out above. And let me tell you: it looks pretty frigging great.

Remember Me was first introduced less than a year ago at GamesCom, and every scrap of information about the new game has seemed pretty bad ass. There are a lot of familiar-looking elements, like fluid combat and third-person action/adventure. But the memory-remixing seems like a very cool concept that will be pretty fun to explore (if developer Dontnod Entertainment can pull it off in an interesting way).

Not only that, but just the setting alone seems worth the price of admission. Enslaved from a few years ago wasn’t the most revolutionary game around, but the setting and backstory were interesting enough to make the game very engrossing—not to mention its gorgeous visuals. Remember Me seems to have that in spades.

Most of all, I’m just excited because we’ve got something new coming. It’s so easy to just put out sequels and spin-offs…every time someone tries something—ANYTHING—new, I sit up and pay attention. Let’s hope that attention pays off when Remember Me comes out on June 4. I’m gonna get my copy. Will you?

And don’t forget to check out our preview coverage of the game if you want a more in-depth look. Blap blap.

Comic book fans have been having a pretty decent time with video game adaptations lately, between the Arkham games, Activision’s decent Amazing Spider-Man tie-in, and the past and future LEGO super-hero games. That’s why interest in Activision and High Moon Studios’ forthcoming Deadpool game is pretty high: Deadpool’s a weird, fan-favorite character who is sometimes aware of his own status as a fictional character, and High Moon makes some pretty solid games.

While it’s been confirmed for 2013, according to a post on Joystiq today, it seems as though the game’s release window got a little more focused. The post cites fan-site Deadpool Bugle for spotting recent comic book ads that mark the game as coming out this summer. While there’s no strict confirmation from Activision on this point just yet, but it seems like a pretty good bet.

I’m looking forward to this game, for sure. I’ve been a fan of Deadpool for a long time, since way back in the late ‘90s when Joe Kelley was writing his series. Anyone who’s read that run knows that Deadpool #13—where he goes back in time and starts screwing around in an old issue of Amazing Spider-Man—is one of the best comics from that period. It’s probably one of my favorite comics ever…so do yourselves a favor and check it out if you can, somehow.

Via Joystiq and Deadpool Bugle

Last week, Rockstar finally announced a September release date for Grand Theft Auto V, a good five months or so later than they’d originally planned it. The big delay, as well as the expectations of Sony and Microsoft’s newest consoles coming out by the end of the year, led many to speculate that GTA V would also come out for next-gen systems, something Rockstar could never announce before the systems themselves have been unveiled.

But according to CVG, Rockstar has denied that reason for the delay—or at least, the company has kind of denied that reason. On the original announcement post, Rockstar offered up a new message, first chiding commenters who have been “abusive” and ignoring “the general rules of common courtesy, decency and behavior” in the wake of the announcement. Then, the company reiterates their stated reason for delaying the game to September:

“To those of you saying or seeing various conspiracy theories about there being some other ulterior motive for this delay, rest assured that they’re all nonsense—literally the only reason we’ve delayed the release is because we want the game to be as good as it needs to be.”

What conspiracy theories, exactly? The fact that Rockstar isn’t specifying what, precisely, is being denied, just makes me WONDER ALL THE MORE. I’m not surprised that the game was delayed, as it seems like it’ll be hella complex and big. But, yeah, I still have a feeling that it’ll be coming out for next-gen systems…making sure GTA V is great on the PlayStation 4 could easily fall under the umbrella is making the game “as good as it needs to be.”

Rockstar via CVG

This morning, Rockstar Games announced that Grand Theft Auto V would be launching on September 17—a far cry away from the previously announced timeframe of Spring 2013. But whatever: we have a confirmed release date. GTA V is finally coming, confirmed for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. As of yet, no PC confirmation after all.

Here’s what the GTA team had to say on the Rockstar Games newswire about the date announcement, and its sudden shift from Spring to Fall:

“We know this is about four months later than originally planned and we know that this short delay will come as a disappointment to many of you, but, trust us, it will be worth the extra time. GTAV is a massively ambitious and complex game and it simply needs a little more polish to be of the standard we and, more importantly, you require.

To all Grand Theft Auto fans, please accept our apologies for the delay, and our promise that the entire team here is working very hard to make the game all it can be. We are doing all we can to help ensure it will meet if not exceed your expectations come September – we thank you for your support and patience.”

You know what? You’ve got it. You can have it. Heck, Aliens: Colonial Marines was delayed at least three times. BioShock Infinite got two delays. Fuse was delayed yesterday! These are all games that people really, really want. Instead of turning a quick buck and getting all their guaranteed sales, developers are making sure that what they release is of the highest quality. I say a few months ain’t bad. Not only that, but there have been rumblings that Microsoft and Sony will be releasing their next-gen consoles this Autumn. So consider Grand Theft Auto V your last game purchase for this generation of consoles.

What a way to say goodbye.

While the last few months haven’t yielded much in the way of news regarding Trion Worlds’ forthcoming SyFy tie-in shooter, Defiance, we’ve gotten way more information about the game as of late. Case in point: today Trion announced the game’s release date of April 2, a little under two weeks before the accompanying TV show premieres on April 15.

If I got SyFy, I’d be far more interested in actually playing this, as the idea of an ongoing TV tie-in is very cool, and awakens the little kid in me. But, since I don’t, it just seems like, well, another shooter.

What do you think? Does Defiance do anything for you?

Via Eurogamer

UPDATE

A post on Eurogamer seems to throw some cold water on this supposed release date news. According to the post, LucasArts has busted out the ol’ “nay no” on this, saying the Facebook post from PlayStation Germany is “inaccurate”:

“We have not confirmed any platforms yet for 1313 and do not ahve any announcements to make at this time.”

GOSH DARN IT.

Original Post

Remember Star Wars 1313? It was officially announced at E3 this past summer, though specifics about a release date and platforms were conspicuously absent. Would it come out for the current crop of consoles, or would this be the first LucasArts title for next-gen systems? According to a post on Joystiq, PlayStation Germany has offered up some clues to some answers.

A post on PlayStation Germany’s Facebook page (since removed) said “Star Wars 1313 erscheint 2013 für  PlayStation 3,” which, of course, signifies that the game is coming to the PS3 sometime this year.

When? Don’t know. Any other current-gen platforms? Probably. But until LucasArts (now owned by Disney, you should remember) opens up more about the game, this is all we have to go on. However, I’d say it’s a good bet that we WON’T see it on next-gen platforms in addition to whatever current-gen systems it comes out for. I think Xbox 360 and PC are no-brainers, while the Wii U is a safe, if not totally assured bet. After that, your guess is as good as mine.

Via Joystiq

A post on the NeoGAF forums from this morning reports that Amazon has emailed customers who’ve pre-ordered copies of Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V with an apparently specific release date. What’s that date? March 26, which lines up pretty well with our knowledge that GTA V is set to come out in Spring 2013. As you can see in the screencap above, the estimated arrival date is listed as March 27, which accounts for the poster’s next-day shipping. The fact that it’s a Tuesday adds to its credibility as a release date, considering that’s the day that all US games come out.

Of course, other posters are extremely skeptical, and rightfully so. They point out that this is the same release date as BioShock Infinite—a date which they just announced only a few weeks ago. There are a couple important reasons why this fact alone seems to destroy the credibility of the alleged GTA V release date above. For one, to launch a blockbuster game on the very same day as another blockbuster game means that you’ll most definitely fragment your market. The gaming industry’s pretty good about making sure big-name releases get at least a few days to be the big man on campus.

But more importantly, Grand Theft Auto and BioShock are both distributed by Take-Two Interactive. Take-Two owns 2K Games, which owns both Rockstar Games and BioShock developer Irrational Games. So…yeah. The idea that the company would be okay with releasing both titles in the same two-week span, let alone on the same day, is pretty absurd. So don’t be surprised if this turns out to be complete bull.

Even still, we’ve reached out to 2K Games for comment. We’ll update this post if we learn anything.

Via NeoGAF

Tonight’s VGAs on Spike TV revealed that Naughty Dog’s post-apocalyptic, PS3-exclusive survival game The Last of Us, will launch on May 7. The game’s been one of the console’s most highly anticipated titles, drawing plenty of cheers during a trailer shown at this year’s E3. The game was first announced during the 2011 VGAs, so it’s fitting that the game’s release date was unveiled during the same event a year later. So there you go.

Get ready for hyper-realistic and horrifying violence in a world not too different from our own. Man, ain’t video games fun?

This morning, Ubisoft published a press release announcing Rayman Legends’ March 1 release date in the UK, along with the announcement that Wii U gamers across the pond will have the chance to play a downloadable demo of the game starting on December 13. Chances are the demo will be the same one that’s available to try out now at GameStop Wii U kiosks. I tried it, I loved it, and I want this game.

A few days ago, reports surfaced that Rayman Legends would have a North American release date of February 26, a Tuesday (the usual day games come out over here). Since UK games are usually released on Fridays, and generally the Friday following the North American release, that lines up perfectly with a March 1 UK release date. Did that sentence make sense?

Anyway, the press release doesn’t say anything about the demo hitting North America, but I’d be a little surprised if it wasn’t available here too. December 13 is only a week away…stay tuned, and keep your eyes on the eShop.

Via Joystiq

A post on CVG today cites the newly launched Pure Nintendo magazine, which reports that Rayman Legends will hit shelves in North America on February 26. Back in October, the game was delayed from the Wii U’s launch day to merely its launch window, which is marked to last through March. For their part, publisher Ubisoft won’t comment one way or the other on the new alleged date, offering this bit of PR speak instead:

“Ubisoft confirms that Rayman Legends is scheduled for release in early 2013. The team is working hard to finalize the game and is looking forward to sharing more details with fans very soon!”

Until we hear more one way or the other, though, consider the February 26 date just a rumor. In the meantime, get yourself out to GameStop and try the demo kiosk. As it happens, Rayman Legends is the only game on there that has a playable demo. I tried it out, and it was coooool.

Via CVG

Update:

A few minutes ago, Take-Two Interactive confirmed that Grand Theft Auto V will, in fact, be coming out in the spring for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. In addition, pre-orders will begin on November 5.

Said Rockstar founder Sam Houser:

“Grand Theft Auto V builds on everything we’ve learned about open world game design. We can’t wait to share it with fans.”

Now…when in spring? That’s the next question.

Original Post:

Some images of alleged promo art for Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V have been swirling around the internet the last few days, and we’re no exception: one of our own posts about the game from last week had a commenter drop some links to the images you see above and below this paragraph, which say that the game will drop in Spring 2013.

Today, reports are saying that the promos below this paragraph come from UK video game retailer GAME in Brighton. The PEGI 18 rating on the art seems to corroborate the source, or at least help to confirm that it originates in Europe.

Either way, this is pretty interesting stuff. It still leaves room for the game to come out in March, which would confirm the speculation about the game’s as-yet unannounced release date. That would put it within Take-Two’s current fiscal year, and would sure make shareholders happy.

We’ll update if more information comes out. Stay tuned.

Via Joystiq and Eurogamer

Only Grand Theft Auto V could generate news by not generating news. Two days ago, they released a new bit of artwork for the new game—in fact, the “first official artwork release”—with only this simple message: “Lots of info coming next month. Get ready.”

A post on Examiner explains that the news will come through Game Informer, as it will grace the magazine’s cover next month, accompanied by a “blowout of information within the magazine.”

Keep your eyes peeled for what kind of information we’ll get. Could we get a release date, finally? Rumors have been pointing to a March date, to keep in line with coming out before the end of Take Two’s fiscal year, and considering how many big titles have been appearing during that season lately (like Mass Effect 3 this year, and next year’s BioShock: Infinite and Aliens: Colonial Marines), March sounds like a winner to me.

Here’s a thought exercise: let’s say GTA V does come out next March, which would bring it close to the other two titles I listed above. Of those three, which are you most looking forward to? For me, it’s a tossup between Aliens and GTA…and I think I’d lean closer to GTA simply because I’m so bad at first-person shooters. Let us know what you think.

Via Examiner

Today, Electronic Arts published a press release to announce that their newest installment in the SimCity franchise will be available for purchase on March 5 in North America, with a March 8 release date in Europe to follow.

The game had previously been set for a February release, so my guess is that the delay has less to do with the game’s development and more to do with finding the most advantageous strategy for week-one sales. Again—that’s just a guess.

Should be interesting! It’s set to be released for both PC and Mac, almost certainly via the Origin digital storefront alongside a brick-and-mortar release.

A post on Facebook has revealed the new, revised release date for Activision’s Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse, a third-person actioner that stars the cast of characters from Seth MacFarlane’s long-running cartoon gag-fest. The game was originally slated for a September release, but now will be hitting shelves on November 20—just in time for Thanksgiving.

It’s set to appear on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, just in case you were wondering. And if you’d like to read up on it, don’t hesitate to check out my preview of the game from August. My conclusion? If you’re a fan of Family Guy, this game might truly tickle your fancy. If not, you might not be quite as charmed. Either way—now you know when to buy or not buy it, whatever the case may be.

I leave you with only this:

Today, Nintendo of America President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime announced that the new Wii U console will hit North American store shelves on November 18, confirming the date that was reportedly leaked at the GameStop manager’s conference a few weeks ago.

Not only that, but Fils-Aime also revealed two different SKUs of the console—the basic, and the deluxe version. The basic version, which comes in white, will include the console, one GamePad controller, an AC adapter for both (no batteries to buy!), a high speed HDMI cable, and the sensor bar–not to mention 8 gigabytes of internal memory.

The deluxe version, which comes in black, has all of the above, plus 32 gb of internal memory, a GamePad charging cradle, stands for the GamePad and console. The deluxe version also comes with the Nintendo Land mini-game collection and enrollment in a program that offers up bonus points for buying digital content—points that allow you to buy more content from the eShop.

*Update! Nintendo released a bit more information after the conference ended, and as a commenter below rightfully points out, there ought to be some external data support for such paltry internal storage. Nintendo says that the Wii U console will support external USB memory, so that means thumb-drives, external hard drives, etc. So, there you go.

The basic version will run $299.99, while the deluxe set will cost $349.99. Neither price will break the bank at all. In fact, don’t be surprised if you see Microsoft and Sony cut the prices of their current generation consoles within the next couple weeks so that budget-conscious consumers won’t totally ignore their products this holiday.

Well? What do you think? I’m stoked—especially since I can totally afford this.

As of this writing, the conference in New York continues to unfold…stay tuned to InsideGamingDaily for updates…