Weekly Jump Rantings Round-up 07/04/2013

Hello, trust you're all enjoying/have enjoyed your holidays! Here a round-up of some of this week's news:

GAMES

• There are very strong rumours that the next system from Microsoft is to require an always-online connection in order to play games
• This has not gone down very well with gamers across the internet, but Adam Orth, Creative Director at Microsoft, was quick to damage-control, basically saying that "everything is always connected", and that people should move if they live in areas with poor connection, and that everyone should just "deal with it".
• Another rumour is that Microsoft's next system is to be revealed on May 21st, and will come with 2 models: A basic model for $500 and a subscription-based model for $300. A November 2013 release date is also being touted
• Nintendo are reportedly giving away free Wii U dev-kits to selected 3rd-party developers
• This conveys Nintendo's willingness to get 3rd-parties on board and should hopefully encourage development for the Wii U
• Early reviews of the Ouya console have been published - and they're not looking great
• Several reviewers have criticised the interface, and that while there are plenty of fun games, few will work well with the controller
• Project X-Zone will be coming to the 3DS in North America on June 25th
• The RPG crossover will feature characters from franchises such as Devil May Cry, Street Fighter and more from the Sega, Capcom and Namco Bandai universes
• The Pokémon Company has revealed a new Pokemon to be playable in the upcoming games Pokémon X/Y
• Kinda bears a striking resemblance to Mew and Mewtwo, no?

MANGA

• Yen Press has announced it will release the new Highschool of the Dead chapter simultaneously with Japan in the US
• Daisuke Sato and Shoji Sato's manga has been on hiatus since March 2011
• Chapter 30 will ship in Japan with the May issue of Dragon Age on April 9th

ANIME

• The new Dragonball Z film, "Battle of Gods" debuted at #1 on the weekend of March 30-31st in theatres in Japan
• The opening earned an estimated $7 million

• And I suppose this ties in with all 3, but Capcom have revealed a project called "Gaist Crusher"
• They are to be developing a game for it on the 3DS, and also a manga and anime based on it
• Here's the official synopsis:
• In the story, Gaimetal, a metal ore with high amounts of pure energy, was discovered 50,000 meters (160,000 feet) underground in 2047, and mining began all around the world. However, Gaist, metallic lifeforms whose bodies are entirely encrusted with Gaimetal, emerged in 2055 and began attacking people. In 2064, Rekka, Hayato, Kurama, and Siren are among those who suit up in Gaist Gear and battle over 100 varieties of Gaist creatures.

That's it for this week. Well, that's all I can be bothered to do for this week, anyway. Be sure to check out my main blog, Weekly Jump Rankings, where I post and discuss the ToC for manga in Weekly Shonen Jump. Thanks for reading!

Michael Pachter Rant

Ok, I thought I was done for the day, but I just couldn't help myself. Michael Pachter, analyst dumbfuck extraordinaire, recently stated that:

"I think the idea that we don't know the price point yet, but we do know what the console is, is just sad," he said. I think they've completely blown that. It's gonna launch at $249; because it has to. They're dead if they launch at $259, I think they're toast then. I think they're toast anyway."

" Nintendo is in disarray because they waited too long to launch the Wii U. I know that this sounds like (and is) sour grapes because they didn't launch the Wii HD in 2009 or 2010 as I "predicted". They should have, and because they didn't, the decline in Wii and DS hardware and software sales drove them into generating LOSSES. For those of you who aren't financial analysts, losses mean that the company is worth less than it was before. Nintendo stock has dropped by over 80% in the last few years, and the market has appreciated over the same period. I'm paid to advise investors, and none have made a profit owning Nintendo stock. I don't think that many will make a profit over the next few years, because I don't think Nintendo's strategy will return them to profitability."

"I believe (and please feel free to disagree) that a large portion of the Wii audience comprised casual gamers--those who bought one or two games a year the first two years, then put the Wii aside--and that those casual gamers moved on to another platform. The "other" platform may have been Facebook games, smart phone games, tablet games, or one of the other consoles, but once they moved on, they are not likely to come back."

I mean, does anyone even take this guy seriously anymore? Dude, your predicictions are WRONG 99% of the time, you contribute NOTHING to gaming other than wrongly predicting doom, mostly for Nintendo, and you still get paid for all of it. Does anybody see where this makes sense, 'cos I sure don't. He completely ignores the fact that the Wii is the market leader, and has the most sales, and has the audacity to say that Wii U will fail because it's pricing hasn't been announced yet, AND that Nintendo won't return to profitability? Honestly, I could see better predictions from some 12-year-old's blog. How that guy even thinks he's right is beyond me.