The PlayStation Vita finally has a release date. Sony today confirmed that its next portable gaming system will arrive in North America, Europe, and Latin America on February 22. The system will launch in Australia on February 23. That puts the system's international launch two months after its Japanese debut, as Sony confirmed a December 17 bow for the hardware in its home territory of Japan. 

Microsoft's push to reach a wider swath of gamers with Kinect was re-affirmed today with the announcement of several new kid-oriented projects.

Looking to broaden its family portfolio, Microsoft today announced a Pixar game being developed under the codename "Rush." This collaboration with Disney will allow players to scan themselves into the settings of popular Pixar films, includingThe Incredibles, Ratatouille, Up, Toy Story 3, andCars 2. Gameplay will center around completing time-based challenges, with a release set for spring 2012.

Once Upon a Monster developer Double Fine Productions is taking a second shot at working with the motion-sensing camera, as Microsoft announced today that Tim Schafer and co. are at work on another kid-friendly release called Double Fine Happy Action Theater. Characterized as a series of toys, the Xbox Live holiday release will feature 18 different experiences with which to interact, with no rules or specific goals.

The Xbox 360 maker also revealed a set of new collaborations with Sesame Workshop and National Geographic. The first project, Kinect Sesame Street TV, will deliver a whole season of the popular kids program constructed specifically for interactivity through Kinect. Portions of the current Sesame Street season and archive will also be accessible.

A second Sesame Workshop collaboration codenamed “Project Columbia” will allow kids to interact and immerse themselves in stories with the goal of promoting comprehension. Finally, the National Geographic alliance will see Kinect Nat Geo TV offered on the console.

Blizzard touts this as a chance to "own a very real piece of game history." The servers will hit eBay on October 17 and will be sold in batches over a four-week period. Blizzard suggests that prospective buyers visit its eBay page for more details.

Net proceeds of the auctions will go to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which specializes in battling cancer and other serious diseases. Each server will come housed in a custom windowed case that bears a WOW logo. A commemorative plaque signed by the WOW team will also be included with each server.

This is not the first time Blizzard has capitalized on the popularity of its games for the sake of philanthropy. In May, the studio donated 50 percent of the profits from a $10 in-game WOW pet to Make-A-Wish, a sum that totaled $800,000. That gift followed on froma $1.1 million donation to the same foundation that Blizzard made in February 2010.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations is set to hit shelves on November 15 for consoles, and recent confusion regarding the PC version's release has been cleared up with confirmation from Ubisoft of a December 1 date.

On consoles, Revelations will support various modes of 3D display on 3D-capable televisions. It will also be compatible with TriOviz Inficolor, allowing for 3D gaming on traditional 2D HDTVs. Inficolor glasses are available for purchase on theTriOviz Inficolor website, but delivery to the US is currently unavailable. On the PC side, the game will support Nvidia 3D vision.

Revelations will follow the story of Ezio, who was first introduced in Assassin's Creed II. This time out, Ezio will seek out the haunts of original Assassin's Creed protagonist Altair, visiting such Middle East strongholds as the Ottoman Empire's Constantinople. There, Ezio will once again take up arms against the Templar order.

Additionally, Ono offered first word on the Street Fighter X Tekken Special Edition for North America. The premium package includes the game, as well as a "build-it-yourself" arcade cabinet bank (measuring 5" in height) and a prequel comic Book from UDON. The Special Edition also includes 36 "gems," which are a gameplay mechanic announced today that modify characters' abilities and stats.

That's not all, though. As part of the NYCC session, producer Yoshinori Ono confirmed that work has just begun on a PC edition of Street Fighter X Tekken. Capcom did not offer a launch date for the PC and PlayStation Vita edition of Street Fighter X Tekken.

Capcom did not announce a price for the Street Fighter X Tekken Special Edition and had not responded to a request for comment as of press time.

Next summer's The Amazing Spider-Man movie will serve as a complete reboot for the franchise. Gone are director Sam Raimi and star Tobey Maguire, replaced by Mark Webb and Andrew Garfield, respectively. The series' gaming tie-ins are receiving a similar overhaul, as Activision has turned over development duties on the webbed wonder's movie-based games (most recently handled by current Call of Duty developer Treyarch) to Quebec City-based Beenox.

According to Kotaku, Activision debuted a teaser trailer for the Beenox game at the New York Comic-Con today. Beenox creative director Gerald Lehinay reportedly confirmed the game has been in development at the studio for more than a year already, and the team has focused on making web-swinging through New York City a major part of the series once again. He added that the game will tie into the movie but feature its own story, and teased a new feature intended for the player "to feel like Spider-Man." The trailer gave a summer 2012 release date for the game. The movie is set to hit theaters July 3.

Beenox is no stranger to Marvel's iconic superhero. The studio began working with the wall-crawler for the 2005 PC port of Ultimate Spider-Man, and took over primary development duties for the comic-based games with last year's Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.

Source: Ars Technica, reporting on anecdotal evidence of an uptick in hacked Xbox Live accounts.

What we heard: Between Sony's massive data breach in April and the summer-long shenanigans of LulzSec, cyberattacks have been the story of the year in the gaming industry. Now, there's a question as to whether that story is gaining another chapter, as what appears to be an increasing number of Xbox Live users report hacked accounts.

According to Ars Technica's report, EA's FIFA 11 and FIFA 12 soccer sims are two games frequently cited in the hacking incidents that it has been told about. The typical report involves gamers being notified via email that charges have been made to their on-file credit card.
Upon investigating these charges, the hacking victims find that the perpetrator has downloaded a FIFA game, as well as large number of Microsoft points. These points are then spent on Gold Premium Packs and downloadable content for the game.

To further evidence its claim, Ars Technica points to a variety of forum posts and Reddit threads of individuals reporting compromised accounts.

The official story: "We do not have any evidence the Xbox LIVE service has been compromised," a Microsoft representative told GameSpot. "We take the security of our service seriously and work on an ongoing basis to improve it against evolving threats."

"However, a limited number of members have contacted us regarding unauthorized access to their accounts by outside individuals," the statement continued. "We are working with our impacted members directly to resolve any unauthorized changes to their accounts. As always, we highly recommend our members follow the Xbox LIVE Account Security guidance provided at www.xbox.com/security to protect your account.”

EA had not responded to a request for comment as of press time.

Bogus or Not Bogus: Not bogus that Xbox Live users have experienced hacked accounts. However, it remains to be seen whether this activity is part of an epidemic or merely a spate of anecdotes receiving more play than they warrant. What is clear is that Xbox Live users shouldn't take their online security for granted.

It's hard to argue with Halo Waypoint. Launched in late 2009, Microsoft and 343 Industires' online hub offers Halo players a granular breakdown of their multiplayer exploits across the franchise. Beyond tracking data, it also operates as a community hub by linking up members with one another and hosting a variety of gameplay videos and tutorials.

With Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary slated to arrive for the Xbox 360 on November 15, 343 Industries is also planning a substantial revamp for Halo Waypoint this fall. As part of a New York Comic-Con panel tonight, the Halo factory offered a first look at those updates, which will include a new multiplayer map aid, called ATLAS, that runs on Windows Phone 7, as well as a redesigned look.

To begin, what is ATLAS? "Advanced Technical Assault System," Halo franchise development director Frank O'Connor told GameSpot. Yes, but where is the L? "It's a real term, so we pulled an acronym out of it. So the L is the L in Technical."

As for what it does, ATLAS is a Windows Phone 7 app that will be available this holiday that offers a top-down view of any official Halo: Anniversary or Halo: Reach map (but not custom maps). The map is updated in real-time as players battle it out, which means combatants can keep tabs on their allies and where weapon drops are throughout the course of a match.

"We tried to imagine what a Spartan in the field might actually have if they had an assisted system from the future," explained CJ Saretto, lead producer for Halo Waypoint. They posited that future soldiers would have satellite imagery as well as floor plans for facilities, all annotated with notable information such as where weapon drops and vehicles could be found, what weapons players' allies are wielding, the match's score, and so on.

The maps themselves can either be viewed as satellite imagery or "what might think of as map view from Google Maps."

Of course, all of this information is only useful if players are able to actually view it--not the easiest thing to do with a controller in hand and plasma discharging all about.

"There’s a number of set-ups that we’ve imagined," Saretto said. "We’ve imagined the phone kind of sitting on the coffee table in front of you and you checking it out on occasion if you’re wondering what’s going on. We’ve also imagined a co-pilot style scenario where another person is watching what’s occurring while you’re playing and kind of giving you additional information."

"We also think about, if you’re in a firefight, you've ducked behind a corner, you’re kind of hidden, you take time to look at where your team mates are," Halo Waypoint executive producer Doug Hebenthal added. In other words, steal a glance while the Spartan's shield recharges. Saretto also noted that the app will follow a player as they move through the level, so there isn't a process of orienting oneself in the app.

The ATLAS app appears as if it will give players a leg-up over those who don't own a Windows Phone 7 device. However, O'Connor noted that the app actually has "built-in" balancing, in that every time a player glances down, they are splitting their attention away from the game, a move that always comes with hazards.

When asked whether the team had ideas as to where to take this app in the future, O'Connor replied, "Yes." Fair enough.

"Now that we’ve got all of this very interesting data coming out of the game, there’s a lot of very exciting stuff that we can think about doing with the data," Saretto added. "We just need to figure out, you know, when we’re ready to bring those kind of exciting experiences online."

ATLAS isn't the only change in store for Halo Waypoint. This fall, 343 Industries also plans to launch a new interface for Halo Waypoint, with a primary goal being that the service will be equivalent regardless of whether its being accessed through the Xbox 360, PC, or phone.

"If we just go from a purely aesthetic point of view, one of the things we really wanted to do is make Waypoint look and feel the same across all of the devices and platforms that we support," Saretto explained. "If we’ve got stats in one place, we’ve got it everywhere. If we’ve got Career in one place, we’ve got it everywhere. And we’ve taken the look and feel of Waypoint and made it very uniform and consistent across all of the devices that we support."

Taking the console version as an example, Saretto said that the team has massively overhauled the look, making it easier to search for and find content. He also said that the Halo Career feature, which had previously been available only on the console, will now be accessible through the web and mobile phones.

The Halo Waypoint update will also offer players a more granular look at stats, such as how they do with a particular weapon against a particular enemy on a particular map. "The new interface, particularly on the web, gives you really flexible ways to dig in very deep and see very granular details," Hebenthal added. "But in a way that doesn’t really scare away the more casual user who’s just interested in seeing some of this stuff."

Custom challenges is another new feature that 343 Industries is excited about. The feature is a riff on the daily and weekly challenges that 343 issues. It allows friends to create their own challenges for one another, such as scoring 50 headshots in a multiplayer match within 24 hours. The custom challenge option will be available in Campaign, Matchmaking Firefight, Multiplayer, and Custom modes.

More than just bragging rights, completed custom challenges yield Halo: Reach credits, at a rate that fluctates depending on the difficulty and circumstances of the task. Reach credits can then be spent on cosmetic upgrades, such as new Spartan armor.


Also: Halo: Anniversary has gone gold.

Halo Waypoint's overhaul comes as the service gains competition of a sort in Call of Duty: Elite, which Activision is launching alongside Modern Warfare 3 on November 8. One notable difference between the two services is that Elite will have a $50 premium component. For now, at least, 343 Industries doesn't plan to follow suit.

"As of right now, we’re staying with the model that we currently have," Hebenthal said. "So we don’t have any plans in the short-term to operate premium versions of Waypoint. But, you know, you could see things change in the future as we think about new things that do have value and would stand on their own, think about it that way."

And as one last announcement, 343 Industries also confirmed today that work has concluded on Halo: Anniversary, and the game has gone gold in advance of its November 15 release date. For more on that game, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

A major feature of the show are, of course, the girls who man the booths as well as cosplayers who attend the show dressed in full costume as their favourite game characters.

However, a combination of hot weather (about 30° Celsius) and continued electrical power-rationing in Tokyo meant that the show floor was often a hot, sweaty affair for both visitors and cosplayers.

Here are some of the more interesting news we got from the show floor as well as various interviews over the two days that we were there.

Ni No Kuni

Akihiro Hino, famed developer, president and CEO of Level-5, the company responsible for creating the Professor Layton series and White Knight Chronicles, talked about the upcoming conversion ofNi No Kuni for the PlayStation3.

The game is essentially a turn-based RPG but with animation and art design from Studio Ghibli.

Originally produced as a game for the DS, it has been converted for the PS3 controls and rendered in a higher resolution for the home gaming console.

The Asian (Japanese language) edition of Ni No Kuni for the PS3 is due out on Nov 17, and will be packaged as a Magical Edition.

The special edition will come with a specially designed PS3 console finished in a light cream colour with gold lettering and a little cartoon character from the game on one corner of the console.

Hino said he wanted a simple and elegant design for the console so that users won't get tired of it over time.

Unfortunately, there are no concrete plans as to whether the Ni No Kuni Magical Edition will be released for the rest of the world.

The company is currently in the process of converting the game into English language and expects an early 2012 release for the game.

Hino also added that apart from the updated visuals, Ni No Kuni for the PS3 differs from the DS version.

"The subtitle of the game is Queen of the White Ashes, and while most of the story is the same as on the DS game, the PS3 version continues where the DS story ends. Let's just say that this version of Ni No Kuni is the complete edition," he said, through a translator.

Hino also remarked that the game is a very large scale RPG that will typically take between 40 to 50 hours to complete.

Tekken Hybrid

Fans of Tekken can look out for Tekken Hybrid, which is slated to come out on Nov 22 for the US market for the PlayStation3.

According to producer and series director Katsuhiro Harada, Tekken Hybrid, as it's called, is a package bundled with three products.

It consists of a HD version of the original Tekken Tag Tournament with improved graphics, an all-new 94-minute CG Tekken movie, interviews with the producers and a game called Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue.

Tournament 2 Prologue is similar to the arcade version released in Japanese computer game arcades, with all the moves and the graphics from that game.

The only difference between the arcade Tournament 2 and Tournament 2 Prologue is that there are only four playable characters in the Prologue edition and there is no story mode.

However, according to Harada, Tournament 2 Prologue will be playable in 3D for gamers who have 3D-capable televisions.

Street Fighter X Tekken

Capcom's team led by Yoshinori Ono has also been working with Harada's Tekken team to produceStreet Fighter X Tekken. The cross-over fighting game features the characters from Street Fighterduking it out with characters from the Tekken franchise.

According to Ono, instead of merely being the same game but with added characters, Street Fighter X Tekken will have a number of new features incorporated into the gameplay. For one thing, the game allows up to four people to play together at the same time, whether online or offline (with four controllers on the PS3).

This Scramble mode, as it's called, has two player teams pitting themselves against another team of two players.

While previous Street Fighter games had a practice mode, this mode was always offline against the console's AI characters.

In Street Fighter X Tekken, Capcom has included a new online practice mode, where players can go online to practice with other players. Practice mode will have no penalties and time limits so players can really hone their fighting skills against another real player online.

Players engaging in practice mode can also at any time convert the game to a real battle.

Both Ono and Harada were tight-lipped when asked to reveal how many playable characters the game would have, with Ono saying it's "more than you would expect."

Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Final Fantasy X HD

It's been a busy period for the producers of Final Fantasy, with the company set to release bothFinal Fantasy XIII-2, a direct sequel to 2009's Final Fantasy XIII, and HD remake of Final Fantasy X.

At a press conference, producer Yoshinori Kitase and director Motomu Toriyama revealed story and gameplay details of FF XIII-2, due out in January.

As far as the story goes, the Toriyama and Kitase elaborated that a new character from the future will join returning characters from FF XIII in a time travel story that will take place in several time periods in the FF universe.

This male character comes from a future where a catastrophe has practically destroyed the world and he travels back in time in an effort to stop this event from happening.

In the game, the player is free to travel back and forth in time. For example, the player can travel to the future to perform tasks to level up the character enough to face tougher enemies in a different time line.

Because time travel and changing the future is a central theme of FF XIII-2, the producers have made sure that the game has multiple paths the player can follow, which leads to many possible endings.

In terms of gameplay, FF XIII-2 will have a few differences from FF XII, most notably with the addition of Quick Time Events (QTEs) into the cutscenes to "better engage the player" in the cinematic action sequences of these cutscenes.

Interestingly, players who have saved game data from FF XIII can carry over their saved game data to FF XIII-2, although just what effect data from the first game will have on the sequel was not revealed.

The producers also announced a limited edition package of FF XIII-2 that will be bundled with a specially designed PlayStation3.

Also officially announced at the same press conference was the HD remake of FF X for both PS3 and PS Vita.

However, apart from the availability of the game for both of Sony's home console and upcoming handheld device, nothing else was revealed at the press conference.

Synopsis

Cocoon -- a utopia in the sky. Its inhabitants believed their world a paradise. Under the Sanctum's rule, Cocoon had long known peace and prosperity. Mankind was blessed by its protectors, the benevolent fal'Cie, and believed that tranquil days would continue forever. Their tranquillity was shattered with the discovery of one hostile fal'Cie.

The moment that fal'Cie from Pulse - the feared and detested lowerworld - awoke from its slumber, peace on Cocoon came to an end. Fal'Cie curse humans, turning them into magic-wielding servants. They become l'Cie - chosen of the fal'Cie. Those branded with the mark of a l'Cie carry the burden of either fulfilling their Focus or facing a fate harsher than death itself. A prayer for redemption.

A wish to protect the world. A promise to challenge destiny. After thirteen days of fates intertwined, the battle begins...

Set several years after Lightning and the others saved Cocoon, some survivors have decided to start over by rebuilding on Gran Pulse. Lightning, however, is nowhere to be found and thought dead by many, but Serah believes otherwise. When her town is suddenly overrun by monsters, a mysterious man named Noel appears to save her. Together, the two set off to find Lightning...

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Screenshot













More screenshots

EA confirmed that a multiplayer beta test for Battlefield 3 will commence on September 29 on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. Those who preorder the PC edition of the game through EA's digital storefront Origin will be able to get into the action beginning September 27, as will those who preordered the Limited Edition of EA's 2010 military shooter, Medal of Honor. The beta window will close on October 10.