Journey release date announced

PlayStation Network game Journey launches on 14th March in Europe, Sony has announced.

Journey is from thatgamecompany, the maker of Flow and Flower.

It's described as an "interactive parable", an "anonymous online adventure to experience a person's life passage and their intersections with others".

thatgamecompany began work on Journey right after the release of Flower.

"In these three years, we at thatgamecompany and our friends in SCEA Santa Monica Studio have faced many challenges together and emerged stronger," co-founder Jenova Chen wrote on the PlayStation blog.

"Much sweat and tears have been put into the development of the game, and many people have come and gone.

"So for us, the Journey in the game has also become a metaphor for the development process of the game itself.

"Our team is very close to our own mountaintop; we are just a few short weeks away from letting the world experience what we've poured our hearts and souls into these last three years. I can't describe how eager we are to let everyone finally play the game and hear about your experiences with it."

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BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend Premium Edition announced

Arc System Works has announced the BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend Premium Edition.

It costs ?59.99. Only 200 copies will be made.

The Premium Edition contains:

The Limited Edition version of BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend on PS3, PS Vita or Xbox 360, which includes:

12 high-grade Hahnemuehle Torchon sketch cards for an exceptional reproduction of concepts and technical drawings from the BlazBlue archives.The sought after 'Song Interlude' soundtrack, featuring music from Extend and two vocal arrangements, Childish Killer and Blue-Bloom composed by Daisuke Ishiwatari.

And an exclusive Manga Pack in a beautiful Ragna sleeve, which includes:

The original, first volume of the BlazBlue manga which has received a limited reprint due to popular demand.Volume 2 of the BlazBlue Manga, localised and published for the first time for western audiences.Hazama and Ragna poster featuring an illustration by BlazBlue character designer, Kato Yuuki.

The game launches for PlayStation 3, PS Vita and Xbox 360 on Wednesday, 22nd February.

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Street Fighter x Tekken PC release date announced

Crossover fighting game Street Fighter x Tekken launches on PC on 11th May, Capcom has announced.

That's some two months after the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions release - on 9th March in Europe.

The PlayStation Vita version is still without a release date. More details on it "will be shared in the near future," Capcom said.

Meanwhile, Capcom confirmed the expected addition of M. Bison, Akuma, Ogre and Jin Kazama to the game's 40-plus roster. The quartet completes the game's list of playable characters.

As part of the announcement Capcom released a raft of new assets, including new trailers showcasing the final four's skills.

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Darksiders 2 release date announced

Darksiders 2 launches on 29th June for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, THQ has announced.

Pre-order from GAME, Gamestation and Gamestop in Ireland and you'll get the Death Rides pack. This includes side-quests in the Maker's Realm and Dead Plains areas. Here, you can earn additional experience and loot. You get to aid an ancient Construct, battle The Bloodless and retrieve Karn's lost treasure. THQ said today the content amounts to around two hours of gameplay.

Pre-order with Amazon.co.uk and you get the Deadly Despair pack. This gives you a speed boost for Despair that acts as a permanent perk.

There's another pre-order bonus pack, called Angel of Death, but this is yet to be tied to a retailer. With this you get a unique set of enhanced armour with an angel inspired design, a pair of upgraded matching scythes, and an exclusive visual trail for your companion crow Dust.

In THQ's release no mention is made of the promised Wii U version, set for launch alongside the console later this year.

Screenshots of the Death Ride and Deadly Despair packs, and a new trailer, are below.

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Assassin's Creed 3 release date announced

Assassin's Creed 3 launches on Tuesday, 30th October 2012, Ubisoft has announced.

Confirmation comes from an on-going investor call. No other details were announced, but Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot said the development team had been working on the game for three years.

"We will push the title a lot because it's a fantastic product that the team has been working on for three years," he said. "What we have seen is just fabulous."

Ubisoft had teased that 2012 would bring a "major" new game in the Assassin's Creed franchise. Eurogamer was told this game would conclude the story of protagonist Desmond Miles before the series' doomsday date arrives in real life. That doomsday date is 2012, so we were always going to need the concluding instalment - what we now know is AC3 - this year.

PC, PlayStation 3, Wii U and Xbox 360 versions of Assassin's Creed 3 are apparently on the way. Nintendo mentioned an Assassin's Creed Wii U game when the console was unveiled at E3 last summer.

Assassin's Creed 3 is rumoured to be set during the American Revolution.

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FIFA Street release date announced

Showboating footie sim FIFA Street leaves the dressing room on 13th March for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, EA has announced.

The publisher also seized the moment to unveil the game's new Street Network feature, that lets you record clips of yourself showing off and then share them with friend in-game.

It also allows you to keep track of friends' progress through the game, and will broadcast regular community clips, such as goal of the week.

"Street soccer is all about the one-on-one battle, when you pull off a trick to roast your opponent," commented producer Sid Misra.

"The Street Network brings that real-world swagger into the game by enabling players to capture video of those moments and share them with everyone in their street network to see, and providing friends with a way to compare each other throughout the game."

It's the first outing for the franchise since the underwhelming FIFA Street 3 stumbled onto shelves back in 2008.

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Jak and Daxter Trilogy release date announced

Forthcoming PlayStation 3 HD revamp The Jak and Daxter Trilogy arrives in European stores on 22nd February - the same day as the Vita.

The pack includes touched-up versions of Naughty Dog's PS2 platformers Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Jak 2 and Jak 3.

You can expect 720p HD visuals, stereoscopic 3D support and over 100 Trophies to track down, some of which were unveiled on the PlayStation Blog earlier today:

Pedal to the Metal: Destroy Metal Kor at Nest - Gold Purple Pain: Navigate the Purple Precursor Rings - Bronze The Super Orberator: Collect 2000 Precursor Orbs - Gold Testosterone: Pass the Tests of Manhood - Silver Just the Artifacts Ma'am: Find three Artifacts in Mountain Temple - Bronze What's That Smell?: Escort Men Through Sewers - Bronze The Beast Beater: Destroy Metal Head Beasts - Bronze Gate Crasher Masher: Defend Spargus' Front Gate - Bronze Pedal to the Metal: Destroy Metal Kor at Nest - Gold

The pack will sport a relatively budget €39.99 price tag.

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Darksiders prequel novel announced

The Darksiders series is to get a scene-setting novel tie-in, THQ has announced.

Written by fantasy veteran Ari Marmell and published by Random House's Del Rey imprint, Darksiders: The Abomination Vault is set thousands of years before the events of the first game in the franchise.

The book follows twin Horsemen Death and War as they attempt to scupper a mysterious plot to resurrect powerful ancient weapons and trigger a devastating conflict.

It's due on shelves in May this year, a month before Darksiders 2 is expected to launch.

For a closer look at the Vigil Games-developed sequel to the well-received 2010 Zelda riff, head on over to Eurogamer's Darksiders 2 preview.

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First Final Fantasy 13-2 DLC announced

The first batch of Final Fantasy 13-2 DLC launches on Xbox Live on 7th February and PlayStation Network the day after, publisher Square Enix has announced.

It's a Coliseum Battle titled Lightning & Amodar. These regular add-ons will pit the player against enemies from previous entries in the series, allowing you to recruit them into your party once they've been defeated. A price has not yet been confirmed.

Square also announced plans to release additional story episodes for some of the game's key characters, though wouldn't offer additional detail on exactly what to expect.

One of the game's endings offers up a 'To be continued...' tease. Is Square planning a downloadable epilogue? Or is Final Fantasy 13-3 on the way?

The game, which launches on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this week, won an 8/10 from Eurogamer.

"Hurling money at a development team that has been labouring without firm creative leadership for close to a decade now has led to a game that is, in many ways, as disjointed as its world, as rambling as its lead character," read Simon Parkin's Final Fantasy 13-2 review.

"In those fragments excellence, confusion, beauty, strangeness, wonder and loss may all be found."

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