TGS: Soul Sacrifice Delayed

One of the PlayStation Vita games we've all been looking forward to is Soul Sacrifice, but tonight's PlayStation Tokyo Game Show press conference brought some bad news. The monster hunting co-op game has been delayed until 2013 in Japan -- making the western release even farther off. Keiji Inafune made the announcement at the conference, before showing a new trailer.

Look for new impressions on Soul Sacrifice from TGS soon.

Greg is the executive editor of IGN PlayStation, cohost of Podcast Beyond and host of Up at Noon. Follow IGN on Twitter, and keep track of Greg's shenanigans on IGN and Twitter. Beyond!

Source : ign[dot]com

TGS: Red, Blue Vita Headed to Japan

During its conference at the Tokyo Game Show today, Sony showed off two new colors for PlayStation Vita: red and blue. In addition to the black Vita available at launch and the white Vita announced in May, this marks four Vita colors available so far overall.

For now, the red and blue Vitas have only been announced for Japan. The white Vita will launch alongside Assassin’s Creed Liberation in North America on October 30th.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

The Office Ending with Season 9

Updated with much more info from the press call:

During a conference call today, The Office's executive producer, Greg Daniels, announced that the upcoming Season 9 will be the final year for the NBC series.

Daniels said that "all questions will be answered" as The Office comes to an end, including meeting the documentary crew and finding out who's been filming the Dunder Mifflin crew all this time.

The final season of the show will bring back a lot of familiar faces, according to Daniels. We'll see Roy (David Denman) get married and David Wallace (Andy Buckley) will once again be running Dunder Mifflin. Despite having her own new show on FOX (The Mindy Project), we will see Mindy Kaling as Kelly Kapoor a couple more times.

Of course, it's hard not to wonder if one of those familiar faces might be Michael Scott. Daniels didn't have a definitive answer on whether Steve Carell might guest star, saying, "We would certainly wish for it. We're not going to put so much pressure on Steve by writing something that could only work if he returned. But it would be fantastic if he returned."

Daniels also hopes to bring back some of the show's veteran directors, including Ken Kwapis, who may get the honor of directing the final episode, a neat bookend since he also directed the pilot. Daniels also mentioned that there are some juicy roles the producers are expecting to fill with prominent guest stars and that the fact that this is the last season may lure some talents who have been hoping to work with the show for a while.

Further details on the big surprises coming this season were in short supply, though. Daniels has vowed to keep a lid on the big surprises in store this season, opting to let the audience experience it as it happens rather than reading it online. But for what it's worth, here are some of the tidbits he did share:

* We will finally find out who the Scranton Strangler is!

* Stars Rainn Wilson, Jenna Fisher and John Krasinski have all been promoted to producers this year, and have been involved in the "vision and pitch" of the story.

* Perhaps related to that, Daniels promised it will be a "big year" for Jim and Pam. "The story is not over for them," he said.

* We'll get some "crazy Dwight" stories that the writers have been wanting to do for years.

* Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston was on the set directing an episode. Daniels said he could see him working just outside his window.

A potential spinoff, The Farm, focused on Dwight Schrute and his family, is in development. An upcoming episode of The Office will serve as a backdoor pilot for The Farm, and introduce several new characters, including Dwight's sister, played by Majandra Delfino. The new show will be produced by former Office showrunner Paul Lieberstein. Daniels is not involved in The Farm.

Source : ign[dot]com

How Sony Won Gamescom Before It Even Started

Microsoft should be afraid of Sony. Before the PlayStation publisher’s pre-Gamescom press conference this week, Sony’s foreseeable software future seemed weak. The PlayStation Vita seemed only to have a handful of promising titles for the remainder of 2012 – LittleBigPlanet PS Vita, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, a Call of Duty game we knew next to nothing about, a Persona 4 remake, and a poorly timed Assassin’s Creed tie-in were the PlayStation brand’s best and brightest. But after displaying a strong lineup of exclusive games on both PlayStation platforms, a brilliant new business strategy, and confidence in risky game ideas, Sony’s future couldn’t look better than it does now.

Gamescom will be Sony’s show. This is bad news for Microsoft, who didn’t even bother to show up.

Sony’s Cross Buy announcement undoubtedly earned it a great deal of gamer goodwill. Buying Battle Royale, the new Ratchet & Clank, and Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time on PS3 scores you a free Vita copy. This is an incredible move for Sony. These are three of its most popular and promising titles, and you can play them anywhere, any time, for one price. Cross Buy puts PlayStation fans ahead of the curve, and rewards them for purchasing PS3 games they were likely to buy anyway. It looks amazing on the back of the box, it’s something people will tell their friends about, and it makes a Vita worth owning for every single PlayStation fan. That’s just smart marketing.

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Cross Buy puts PlayStation fans ahead of the curve

Until Dawn, Rain, and Puppeteer all represent something astounding about Sony’s initiative toward supporting innovative ideas. Following Papo & Yo, Journey, and many other clever concepts, this trio of games look unlike almost anything you’ve played. Each of them certainly has a niche appeal, but Sony’s willing to risk a limited audience if it means putting exclusive, original games on its platforms. Add in the casual mentions of Beyond: Two Souls and The Last of Us during the conference, and you’re looking at a large stack of Sony-only goods. Oh, and let’s not forget Media Molecule’s cute and creative Tear Away, either.

For the first time since I bought it, I want to play my Vita. A quirky indie game like Sound Shapes reassures me that more great stuff is on the way, and Sony really came out of the corner throwing haymakers. I want Black Ops Declassified because it looks like a true Call of Duty game. Killzone Mercenary is the Sony sequel I want most on the platform I’m aching to play.

Before I came to Gamescom, I played my Xbox more than any other platform. That changes the moment I get back to my living room. All of a sudden, the future of gaming in my life is dominated by a platform I traditionally ignored for my Xbox 360. The level of imagination and accessibility in these original, exclusive games is so much more interesting to me than another Halo game. Make no mistake: I’m thrilled about Halo 4, but it’s the one and only Xbox exclusive I plan to play this fall; the only other two exclusives I can think of in the next few months are Gears of War: Judgment and Fable: The Journey – of those, I only have faith and interest in the former.

Microsoft missed a great opportunity at Gamescom to tell the world about why it should care about Xbox 360, Xbox Live, the fall update, and how it all connects to Windows 8. More importantly, maybe, just maybe, it could have given us a game worth thinking about, investing in emotionally, or getting excited to play with on Surface, Windows Phone, Windows Live, or any other gaming platform it may have on the way. I love my Xbox 360 -- I just want as much a reason to play it as I now have for my PlayStation devices.

Gamescom belongs to Sony, as does my heart. This is a brilliant sign of things to come, and it was all done before the show had even begun.

Mitch Dyer is an Associate Editor for IGN's Xbox 360 team. He’s also quite Canadian. Read his ramblings on Twitter and follow him on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com