Features// SPOnG's Videogames Review of 2013: April

Posted 30 Dec 2013 09:00 by Adam Cooper

We once again saw next-gen console rumours becoming a big thing again, this time mostly focussing on the still yet-to-be-officially-revealed X-Box successor.

Things were starting to look a bit less rosy for Microsoft following backlash to claims that the console would require a permanent internet connection. Add one ill-advised arrogant-sounding statement from a top Microsoft man and you’ve got a problem brewing.

Not sure it was worth presumably sacking the man over though. Later in the month they would finally reveal an official date for the official reveal of the new console.

Nintendo were having a pretty turbulent time themselves this month with their financials for the last year coming out. Despite Wii U sales having slowed from sluggish to barely-existent the company remained in profit, though not as much so as in previous years.

This was largely put down to the 3DS, which having overcome its own slow start would go from strength to strength throughout this year. Nintendo would again pledge to improve the Wii U’s game library to win people over, but at this point they’ve been saying that for a while.

And fresh new EA CEO Peter Moore stood up to pre-emptively defend his company in light of their likeliness of winning the ‘Worst Company in America’ polls for the second year in a row. He makes some good points, but I’d say EA have definitely done some things to earn their reputation.

On the other end of the spectrum, Minecraft creator Markus Persson, better known as Notch, found himself floating around the headlines this month after a Time Magazine poll named him surprisingly high among the most influential people in the world.

He would later talk about his success in an interview where he would admit that the game’s runaway success was putting a lot of creative pressure on him when it came to a follow-up. Which is understandable considering the 2009 game is still going incredibly strong even now.

This month saw the sad end of venerable development studio LucasArtsfollowing Disney’s purchase and subsequent restructure of the entire Star Wars machine. Work-in-progress promising shooter Star Wars 1313 was cancelled as a result of the move, which Disney instead announcing any future Star Wars games would be handled by other studios.

LucasArts will of course be remembered for much more than their Star Wars games however, popularising the point-and-click adventure game genre with classics like The Secret of Monkey Island and cult hit Grim Fandango.

Speaking of Star Wars, there was a new Star Trek movie out this month. And to go with it, a new Star Trek game. And like most movie licensed games ever, it obviously sucked quite badly. It did however bring us one of my favourite game adverts of the year, the epic rematch between Captain James T. Kirk and the monstrous Gorn.

Aside from that there weren’t many particular notable releases this month, a little disappointing after how packed March was. Maybe we needed the cool-down time. One of our favourites was Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen, a pretty neat little expansion to Capcom’s surprise hit RPG.

There was one game that stood out from the rest this month however. After the success of their Mortal Kombat reboot people were probably wondering what was next for NetherRealm Studios. The answer came this month in the form of Injustice: Gods Among Us, an entirely DC comics-based fighting game that’s seemingly been brewing ever since 2008’s Mortal Kombat Vs DC Universe.