Rumours are a big part of the gaming industry – not a week goes by without some site somewhere is reporting on some game, or some sort of information “leaking” into the media.
Sometimes these dripples of information, and quotes from “industry sources” prove to be nothing but a load of schlock; but every now and then, someone hits the nail on the head and we all sit back and go “heh, guess the rumours were true.”
Lately, there have been a few rumours flying about that just don’t seem to be going away any time soon – so strap on your party hats, folks, as we take a look at 5 rumours that just won’t die.
Grand Theft Auto V mid-2012 release
Rockstar’s next big thing was just recently revealed to the world, and since the release of the first trailer, people have been looking for any indication of when it will be released.
From obscure conclusions drawn from a screenshot in a trailer (pictured above) – to a Walmart listing – everyone is pointing a finger of certainty to late May/early June 2012 release.
The official word: TBA. That’s all Take-Two has to say about it – and that’s all you’ll get at the official level. For now.
Smoke or fire: Fire. It’s been a very long time since GTA IV came out – and I don’t see the point in releasing a pretty polished game trailer for a game only coming out in 2 years’ time.
Xbox 360 successor, Codename “Loop”
What would a rumour list be without next-gen consoles entering into it?
Indeed, recent rumours flying around – coming from “reputable” Microsoft leak site, MS Nerd – have the next Xbox codenamed as “Loop”, a smaller, cheaper and more Kinect-accessible console running off of a Windows 9 base.
The leak site makes mention of a whole lot of tech speak that may very well be true pertaining Windows, but we know what we’re looking for – “Xbox 720” will be smaller, cheaper and is coming in the next 5 years.
The official word: Not a damn peep. Microsoft do not comment on rumour or speculation of unannounced projects.
Smoke or fire: Burning embers. It’s tough to say whether this is true or not, simply because what MS Nerd says makes some sort of sense.
If the timeframe of “next 5 years” wasn’t there I would have called bogus – but that timeframe is vague enough to be plausible, seeing as we’re almost definitely going to be seeing next-gen platforms by 2016.
However, there are a couple of things that raise eyebrows – Microsoft are busy getting Windows 8 out the door; so to expect a new OS from them any time soon may be pushing it a bit – especially considering various rumours speculate a late 2012 release.
Then there’s the concept of smaller and cheaper – to achieve that, it means you’re going to be taking something out, right? Possibly an indication of a digital-only platform? That’s simply something a majority of the world, South Africa included, is just not ready for.
That’s pure speculation, of course.
Playstation 4 dropping as soon as 2012
Okay, to be fair, Playstation 4 rumours have been flying around since Playstation 3 launched – but as soon as the Wii U was announced at E3 2011, looking forward into the next generation suddenly became relevant.
One could probably compile entire documents about the supposed specifications of the PS4, and how many cores and processors it will have – but those rumours are purely naff because it’s obvious that no one really knows.
What is interesting, however, is that industry analysts (the guys who aren’t exactly baiting fanboys or looking for media attention…mostly) actually think that Sony will be getting the jump on Microsoft this time around, and releasing the Playstation 4 sooner than Microsoft’s next console – possibly as soon as 2012.
The official word: Ha. No comment, obviously.
Smoke or fire: Smoke. While it may very well be true that Sony would want to learn from their mistakes in this generation and get a head-start on Microsoft this time around (remember that being a year later than MS this generation caused them severe financial headaches) – 2012 seems rather unlikely, for a number of reasons:
Firstly, running the console business is very expensive, and at the start of each life-cycle, the consoles sell at quite a big loss. In fact, Sony only started making profit on the PS3 at the end of 2008 and through 2009 – that’s almost 3 years of running at a loss. Would you be overly eager to jump right into that situation again?
Secondly, Sony have always said that the Playsation 3 was aiming for a 10-year life-cycle. That life cycle won’t end until 2015. Sure, they don’t have to stick to that by any means, but considering the financial investment mentioned above, they’re likely to stick it out.
Finally, the PS Vita is already slotted for February 2012 – having two major hardware releases in one year, it just seems unlikely.
BioWare’s new game is from their established portfolio
BioWare, being the teasing sort, hinted at a big game announcement at this year’s Spike VGAs.
Usually when BioWare has a game on the cards – people pick up and listen.
Of course, with no real specifics to go on, the internet was immediately set alight with speculation – when they did something similar in 2010, the game turned out to be Mass Effect 3, so obviously this was going to be as big as that.
Dragon Age 3? Jade Empire 2? BALDUR’S GATE 3?!
Look at that picture above – does that look like any of those games to you?
This lone image, courtesy of GameInformer, pretty much cut short any and all chatter of BioWare visiting any of their established IPs. Unless of course you believe it could be Shattered Steel (Interplay did make other games before hitting RPG success, you know.)
The official word: Aside from that image, nothing else will be known until Spike’s VGAs
Smoke or fire: Smoke. That screenshot looks more like Uncharted than anything I’ve seen BioWare working on, so I’m going to hazard a guess and say that they’re going with a brand new IP.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake will be released next year
No, it won’t.
Official word: Square-Enix are coy about it, but that’s just because they know Final Fantasy fans will keep feeding them money.
Smoke or fire: Not even a whisp. Check back next year.
Heard any good rumours lately? EA, Ubisoft and Activision-Blizzard announcing a New World Order? Beyond Good & Evil 2 getting a release date? Share your juicy info on the forums.
Rumour Roundup – 5 rumours that won’t die << Comments and views
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