Cheers to reader John Magnum for leaving a comment on the post and reminding me it existed.
VG247: “Rumour – Disney Epic Mickey 2 going co-op, multi-platform”, January 3rd, 2012
According to the preserved text, presented in full below, the sequel to the 2010 Wii exclusive is due in northern autumn, will release on PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360, and feature split screen co-op play. The second player will take control of classic Disney character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
VG247: “Marketing survey suggests Disney’s assessing interest in Epic Mickey 2”, August 27th, 2011
Possible gameplay details listed included optional split-screen co-op with Mickey and Oswald The Lucky Rabbit, and the formats listed for the game were Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360.
CVG: “Epic Mickey 2 going multi-platform with co-op?”, January 3rd, 2012
According to the newsletter Epic Mickey 2 will be “available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii” and a second player can get in on the action, with the painting ability given to one player and the thinning ability to the other.
CVG: “Disney survey reveals Epic Mickey 2 - report”, August 28th, 2011
According to the report, the game will have a two-player split-screen option with Mickey and his brother Oswald The Lucky Rabbit playable, while Mickey’s paint and thinner powers make a return.
It’s being lined up for release on Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3, claims the source, making no mention of 3DS, Vita or Wii U.
There are a handful of different ways CVG and VG247 could have approached wording this story (just Google it, and see what other sites did last week), and of course they chose the one which makes them continue to look uninformed/oblivious/lazy/incompetent at their jobs.
In the case of VG247 — not linking to, including tags, or acknowledging that they covered the topic half a year ago, and that it featured nearly identical information.
For CVG — wording their headline as an unnecessary question, when the answer is not only present in the source material and thus in the very article itself, but also, again, in their prior coverage from last August.
Sigh. Happy 2012. Off to a great start.
Oh, lord.
CVG: Xbox 720: Why it’s already here [Dec 26th, 2011]
You used a better name right there. “The next Xbox”. Not only is it less shit, it’s… actually, that’s all you need it to be. Less shit.
Please stop using lazy, lazy names for things that haven’t been announced yet, game journalists. Please. This is me, literally begging you to stop being shit, just once, just in this one tiny area. C’mon. It’s Christmas.
![semprafi:
CVG: “Fortnite: 15 HD screens from Epic’s trailer”, December 12th, 2011
CVG: “50 Hitman: Absolution trailer screens”, December 12th, 2011
CVG: “Rainbow Six Patriots: 13 HD screens from the VGA trailer”, December 13th, 2011
Pressing PrtScn on your keyboard while watching a trailer still doesn’t qualify as “screenshots”, CVG. Or news.
And it never, ever will.
Ever.
[There was a rather tasteless piece of commentary here, but I’ve edited it out. Not because it’s tasteless, but because it was incredibly poorly timed. My apologies.]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lw5eksjunT1qa18woo1_500.jpg)
CVG: “Fortnite: 15 HD screens from Epic’s trailer”, December 12th, 2011
CVG: “50 Hitman: Absolution trailer screens”, December 12th, 2011
CVG: “Rainbow Six Patriots: 13 HD screens from the VGA trailer”, December 13th, 2011
Pressing PrtScn on your keyboard while watching a trailer still doesn’t qualify as “screenshots”, CVG. Or news.
And it never, ever will.
Ever.
[There was a rather tasteless piece of commentary here, but I’ve edited it out. Not because it’s tasteless, but because it was incredibly poorly timed. My apologies.]
Naughty Dog has provided a few new details about its post-apocalyptic PS3 exclusive The Last of Us, revealing the voice acting and development talent working on game.
Although Ellie, the young girl seen slaying zombies in the debut trailer, looks and sounds like Ellen Page, it isn’t.
—CVG, Tamoor Hussain: The Last of Us gets Enslaved lead designer, doesn’t star Ellen Page [Dec 12th, 2011]
Okay. Sure. Let’s do this.
…thus proving once and for all that they are, in fact, 15 year-old girls on LiveJournal.
CVG, Tamoor Hussain: Half-Life 3 logo spotted on “Valve employee” t-shirt [December 2nd, 2011]
Was she? Was she really? No, it turns out. There is not a single mention of Half-Life 3. Not one. No connection was made by McLain’s husband nor by Andy Robinson, who wrote the post Hussain links to.
Also: This is a news post about a fucking tee-shirt. Streuth.
CVG, Mike Jackson: Skyrim can be finished in two hours [October 13th, 2011]
Depends on what you mean by “finished”, though, surely. I mean it’s been five years and I’m still finding stuff to do in Oblivion.
If you read the rest of the article, Mike Jackson makes the story a little clearer:
The studio held one of its apparently traditional speed run contests in which QA man Sam Bernstein took on level designer Jeff Brown in a sprint to the endgame in the epic RPG.
So, the core story, then. Right. Okay. That’s good. That’s important, in fact, because the headline for the article as it stands now makes it look as though Skyrim is significantly smaller than its predecessor.
What Mike has done, ultimately, is write a deliberately misleading headline that doesn’t accurately represent the content of the story. That way gullible fools like me get drawn into the article before they discovery that, oh, it’s not that after all.
I like that nice, solid red with the white logo at the top of the page. Really helps to reinforce that “shitty tabloid rag” feel CVG seem to be going after.
Kotaku: “Wait, There’s a Halo Movie Planned for 2012?”, October 6th, 2011
CVG: “Spielberg to direct Halo movie, claims report”, October 6th, 2011
Eurogamer: “Spielberg-backed Halo movie for 2012?”, October 6th, 2011
VG247: “Report – Halo movie planned for 2012, Spielberg involved”, October 6th, 2011
As professional games journalists, if you can seriously entertain the dubious idea that a Hollywood-level Halo movie, helmed by Steven Spielberg, could be cast, put through pre-production, production and post-production, and released within the next year — and by association, kept a secret all this time — I can’t take you or your site seriously ever again.
And it’s hard enough to take most of these sites seriously as it is.
Having said that, I’ll gladly eat crow should this supposed collaborative miracle actually wind up happening, as some seemingly misinformed foreign marketing materials suggest.
Less than a year of production time for a scifi epic? Nope. Never happening.
![semprafi:
Kotaku: “Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Coming “This Winter,” Capcom Says”, September 20th 2011
RipTen: “Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Won’t Make 2011, Coming “This Winter”, September 20th, 2011
GamePro: “Resident Evil: Raccoon Coming Early 2012”, September 20th, 2011
IGN: “Operation Raccoon City slips to 2012”, September 20th, 2011
JustPushStart: “Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Delayed”, September 21st, 2011
CVG: “Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City delayed”, September 21st, 2011
This is just a tiny selection of erroneous reporting, based on a quick Google search.
Capcom has never, ever said Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City was definitely releasing before the end of 2011; it’s been a vague “this winter” since its announcement. The winter timeframe extends through nearly three months of the following year.
This is straight from Capcom’s press release, announcing Operation Raccoon City. You know, that thing all these sites sourced back in late March?
San Mateo – March 29, 2011 – Capcom® a leading worldwide developer and publisher of videogames, today announced Resident Evil®: Operation Raccoon City, is in development for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft® and PC.
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is collaboration between Capcom and Vancouver based studio Slant 6 Games and is scheduled for release this Winter.”
That says nothing about whether it’s in fact winter 2011, or winter 2012 (which would be early 2012). And Capcom has not clarified that since.
IGN is the only outlet of the above lot that actually didn’t totally embarrass themselves — getting a re-confirmation about the intentional vagueness — but it was a completely unnecessary step to take, since simply paying attention would have sufficed.
Come on, people. When a game doesn’t appear like it’s going to make the release window that you, not the publisher, have set, that doesn’t mean it’s delayed.
[Edit]: Now come the corrections! Kotaku and GamePro are first, having to have Capcom point out to them that they’ve “always said winter”, and nothing more.
It’s the attention to detail that has me to optimistic about the future of game journalism.](http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lrvi1itZZh1qa18woo1_500.jpg)
Kotaku: “Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Coming “This Winter,” Capcom Says”, September 20th 2011
RipTen: “Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Won’t Make 2011, Coming “This Winter”, September 20th, 2011
GamePro: “Resident Evil: Raccoon Coming Early 2012”, September 20th, 2011
IGN: “Operation Raccoon City slips to 2012”, September 20th, 2011
JustPushStart: “Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Delayed”, September 21st, 2011
CVG: “Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City delayed”, September 21st, 2011
This is just a tiny selection of erroneous reporting, based on a quick Google search.
Capcom has never, ever said Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City was definitely releasing before the end of 2011; it’s been a vague “this winter” since its announcement. The winter timeframe extends through nearly three months of the following year.
This is straight from Capcom’s press release, announcing Operation Raccoon City. You know, that thing all these sites sourced back in late March?
San Mateo – March 29, 2011 – Capcom® a leading worldwide developer and publisher of videogames, today announced Resident Evil®: Operation Raccoon City, is in development for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft® and PC.
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is collaboration between Capcom and Vancouver based studio Slant 6 Games and is scheduled for release this Winter.”
That says nothing about whether it’s in fact winter 2011, or winter 2012 (which would be early 2012). And Capcom has not clarified that since.
IGN is the only outlet of the above lot that actually didn’t totally embarrass themselves — getting a re-confirmation about the intentional vagueness — but it was a completely unnecessary step to take, since simply paying attention would have sufficed.
Come on, people. When a game doesn’t appear like it’s going to make the release window that you, not the publisher, have set, that doesn’t mean it’s delayed.
[Edit]: Now come the corrections! Kotaku and GamePro are first, having to have Capcom point out to them that they’ve “always said winter”, and nothing more.
It’s the attention to detail that has me to optimistic about the future of game journalism.
Websites form erroneous assumptions, imply Rockstar involvement with Take-Two-owned domain [Update: It’s XCOM]
CVG: “Rockstar’s mysterious ‘Citizen Skywatch’ site suggests reveal”, August 15th, 2011
However, the whois log for CitizenSkywatch.com also drags Rockstar into the mix with the GTA developer cropping up in a server name … Of course, just because Rockstar’s name pops up on a server title doesn’t mean that Citizen Skywatch is anything to do with, oh we don’t know, GTA V but we’ve certainly got our fingers crossed for a gob-smacking Rockstar surprise this week.
Joystiq: “What is Citizen Skywatch?”, August 15th, 2011
A whois search reveals that the domain is registered to Take-Two Interactive, and that its listed physical address is the same address listed for Rockstar’s official site, so we can safely infer that it will at least be tangentially related to games.
G4TV: “Citizen Skywatch’ Placeholder Has Connections To Take-Two, Rockstar”, AUgust 15th, 2011
There’s no way of knowing what game this might relate to, though the timing of the website’s discovery in relation to the start of Gamescom this week suggests we’ll be hearing more very soon. The Rockstar connection means it probably has nothing to do with BioShock: Infinite or XCOM, two games in which the term “Skywatch” would seem to be relevant. Maybe GTA V…?
VG247: “Citizen Skywatch placeholder linked to Rockstar” / “Take-Two teasing “Citizen Skywatch” [Now removed], August 15th, 2011
The website’s address information matches that of Rockstar. Now, what well known series is Rockstar very strongly believed to be working on right now, which is notorious for its AR marketing including websites for fictitious organisations?
NowGamer: “GTA Studio Launches Citizen Skywatch, But What Is It?”, August 15th, 2011
The domain was registered by Take-Two Games, and is reportedly hosted on the same servers as existing Rockstar websites - while not proof of Rockstar’s involvement, the project could be some sort of ARG for another game title, or something else altogether. … We can’t see any direct link to any existing GTA 5 rumours, but could it tie-up with other Rockstar properties such as Max Payne 3? Or is it something entirely different altogether? A Gamescom reveal perhaps?
Back in April, Take-Two Interactive scooped up the domain for a mysterious new something, called “Citizen Skywatch”. Is it an unannounced new IP? A viral campaign for the XCOM reboot? No one knows for certain, so we must speculate!
Curiously, blogs covering the domain’s story — which just surfaced over the weekend, along with accompanying Twitter/YouTube profile — have taken it upon themselves to somehow gather that this is definitely-maybe-possibly a new thing from Rockstar Games, of all studios. Why’s that? Because Rockstar are noted in the filing, listed amongst the various servers:
Registrant:
Administrator, System ContactMiddleName
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.
622 Broadway
4th Floor
New York, NY 10012
USDomain Name: CITIZENSKYWATCH.COM
Record expires on 26-Apr-2016.
Record created on 26-Apr-2011.
Domain servers in listed order:Name Server: NS.TAKE2GAMES.COM
Name Server: NS5.TAKE2GAMES.COM
Name Server: NS6.ROCKSTARGAMES.COMClearly this means that the GTA creator is keeping secrets. But wait! As it so happens, the company is also listed in the domain servers of other, not-related-to-Rockstar titles from Take-Two, such as:
Gearbox’s Borderlands
Domain servers in listed order:
NS.TAKE2GAMES.COM
NS5.TAKE2GAMES.COM
NS6.ROCKSTARGAMES.COM2K’s XCOM
Domain servers in listed order:
NS.TAKE2GAMES.COM
NS5.TAKE2GAMES.COM
NS6.ROCKSTARGAMES.COMIrrational’s BioShock Infinite
Domain servers in listed order:
NS.TAKE2GAMES.COM
NS5.TAKE2GAMES.COM
NS6.ROCKSTARGAMES.COMFiraxis’ Civilization
Domain servers in listed order:
NS.TAKE2GAMES.COM
NS5.TAKE2GAMES.COM
NS6.ROCKSTARGAMES.COMDigital Extreme’s The Darkness II
Domain servers in listed order:
NS.TAKE2GAMES.COM
NS5.TAKE2GAMES.COM
NS6.ROCKSTARGAMES.COMEven Yager’s Spec Ops: The Line
Domain servers in listed order:
NS.TAKE2GAMES.COM
NS5.TAKE2GAMES.COM
NS6.ROCKSTARGAMES.COM…And I could keep going, because this happens to be the case for a great number, if not most of the sites for Take-Two-published/owned games. [Edit: As Wardrox points out below, it’s more than likely that Rockstar’s server is the next reliable option to T2’s own, and it serves as a backup]
To throw you for an even crazier loop, the domain for 2K Sports? It’s registered to, not Take-Two, but Rockstar Games. ZOMGbwah.
I’m not stating that Citizen Skywatch isn’t a product from Rockstar Games — I have no idea, it very well could be, even if the signs do not point in that direction; seems to fit XCOM themes nicely. But to automatically infer and imply they’re linked to something new from Take-Two because of this is really sloppy journalism. Especially when the assumptions can be so easily debunked with a few quick checks to WhoIs.
[Update]: Just as I said, it’s an ARG for next March’s XCOM reboot. T2’s rolling it out at PAX where you “will be able to step into Citizen One’s Seattle bunker as he recruits new agents into Citizen SkyWatch to expose the government’s attempts to cover up the unknown threat invading our skies.”
It’s a sad day indeed when large sites like this are simply unable to do basic research rather than just vomiting up a story for public digestion. Only joking! It’s the status fucking quo.
