This is actually the first ‘Collector’s Edition’ announced by SEGA America in a long while, while Europeans have been spoiled by SEGA Europe with lots of titles getting amazing packages. If you are intrested in Aliens: Colonial Marines, then this is probably for you if you have $99.99 to spend. So what do you get?
Today, SEGA has revealed a final release date for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC versions of their upcoming Aliens game. The game will be available February 13th, 2013, more than six years after it was first announced on December 11th, 2006, alongside the canceled WRPG Aliens game from Oblivion. By the time gamers will finally be able to play the game, an entire console generation would have nearly come and gone.
Will the wait be worth it? Who knows, but above is a trailer to help you pass the time. The Wii U version of this game still doesn’t have a confirmed release date.
Hit the jump for the press release
If you’re interested in SEGA’s upcoming Aliens title then you’ll enjoy Gamespot’s lengthy new preview.
Randy Pitchford of Gearbox discusses what separates Colonial Marines from other AAA shooters and licensed games, the studio’s love for the Aliens world, Left 4 Dead’s influences, the character growth you can expect, and what it will be like playing it on the Wii U (which he affirms will be the best-looking console version).
You can watch the preview over at Gamespot.
Aliens: Colonial Marines is a very pretty and incredibly ambitious project that hopefully does well for SEGA when it releases later this year.
Craig Harris. If you hear the name you probably recall him from his work at IGN, well he is now working over at SEGA on Aliens: Colonial Marines. He just happened to be on the podcast The Mush Room Podcast (aka not the best podcast ever aka The Swingin’ Report Show) and had a lot to say about the Wii U. One thing he did confirm is that the game wouldn’t be coming out on Wii U if the Wii U was inferior to current gen systems.
“Nintendo… has to release hardware that’s of the expectations of the gamer today … I don’t think we would be bringing the game to a system that would be inferior to current gen. (HD) systems.” – Craig Harris
I guess there is quite a bit of rumors about the power of the Wii U. I’m on the side of those that think it will most likely be better hardware than current generation systems. The issue though, its not going to compete against the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. It’s going to compete against the “Xbox 720” and the “Playstation 4”. I don’t think it will have the power to match those, but we will see.
Xplay has today previewed the upcoming (and expensive-looking) Aliens: Colonial Marines, a game that has gotten no shortage of attention, not only for its status as a sequel to the legendary Alien film franchise, but also for its lengthy development time: something quickly becoming a legend all its own.
This preview highlights some of the game’s environments, details the plot, and shows off plenty of gameplay. It’ll be interesting to see whether this becomes the hit that SEGA desperately seems to need.
Aliens: Colonial Marines is set to release (hopefully) later this year.
Seems that Gearbox Software CEO Randy Pitchford is going to pimp the Wii U version of their long awaited shooter Aliens: Colonial Marines. Pitchford told Vox Games that the Alien shooter will take advantage of the system’s ‘innovative’ tablet controller.
“The Wii U version has so much more to offer. No other platform can do what the Wii U can do. If you love [Xbox] 360 games, you are not used to being in a world where you have this new interface. But once you get used to that, you imagine the possibilities. There are some opportunities that are just not possible on any platform that does not have that device. I don’t want to give spoilers away on some of the things we are thinking of or thing we have actually implemented already, but there are a lot of cool opportunities with that device that are going to make a very unique and compelling experience on that platform,” – Randy Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox Studios
What do I think about this? I think it is a bit of nonsense. Don’t get me wrong, the Wii U might be a good system, but selling me the same game from the Playstation 3/Xbox 360/PC on a Nintendo console with a new ‘second screen’ on my hands isn’t innovative. How is this better for me? Not only that, the game is coming this autumn to PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. The Wii U version is set to come out sometime ‘by the end of the year.‘
Aliens: Colonial Marines just seems like one of those titles that will never come up. We have been covering the game for more than a year, we were promised a spring release date but it seems to have been delayed to fall. No problems, here is a very early look at the box art. Now you know what to look for on those scary game shelves.
Looks cool, that’s for sure.
On a somewhat related note, they showed a 30-second Binary Domain advertisement before this trailer the first time I viewed it on IGN: a promising sign for the marketing of SEGA’s other upcoming shooter.
The recently-delayed Aliens: Colonial Marines will now be hitting the PS3, 360, and PC in the back end of 2012, and though it had also been previously announced for Nintendo’s next generation console, there’s no indication of that version in this trailer.
Though it was never exactly given a firm release date, Gearbox’s highly-anticipated Aliens project had long been pegged for a Spring 2012 release. That’s no longer the case according to G4, who’s reporting today that the game has slipped into the Fall 2012 window.
This means that it will be facing competition from the likes of Bioshock Infinite and Halo 4, plus whatever Call of Duty game Activision’s prepping, so SEGA’s marketing department had better be ready to write some big checks if they don’t want this promising-looking title to get lost in the shuffle.
According to a job advertisement listed at Gameasutra (now taken down), suggest that SEGA and Gearbox Software are outsourcing the level design of Aliens: Colonial Marines to Timesgate Studios. They are known for their work on the Section 8: Prejudiced.
The advertisement that TimeGate put up stated that they are “looking to expand its team of ultimate badasses working on Aliens: Colonial Marines,” specifically wanted people for level design and user interface.
Back in June, Pitchford talked about the studio looking for development partners for the the game. He suggested some of them put some great ideas on the table. Should be interesting to see, Timegate Studios have improved and their game Section 8: Prejudice was recieved rather well by critics. I see this as a positive.
[Source: Gamerzines]
Now, here’s a game that continues to look promising. The long-awaited result of the partnership between SEGA and Gearbox remains a mystery in a lot of ways, but the snippets of information that we continue to receive certainly paint a promising picture. Check out these fresh new screens at the jump as you whet your appetite for the game’s eventual release (PS3, 360, Wii U, and PC) in 2012.
[Source: AVP Galaxy]
Randy Pitchford has been talking to PC Gamer about Aliens: Colonial Marines this month. He talks about what the team is trying to accomplish with the upcoming title. Two things he says the team is tring to create are sections called “Last Stands” and “Gauntlets”. Names they are using to describe intense parts of the game.
“We’ve come up with language to define some of the tools we use for pacing. Gauntlet Run: this is about getting from point A to point B and everthing’s going to be thrown in your way around you.”
“Last Stand: this is when you’re in a defined area and we’re going to be pouring in aliens from all directions. That’s a pacing moment that can feel sometimes like Left 4 Dead or some of those great moments fromHalf-Life 2 where you’re setting a turret here and setting a turret there. These are really interesting wheen you add co-op into the mix.” – Randy Pitchford
Sounds like it’s going to be a changing experience. The thing I kind of disliked about Left 4 Dead was that it was a one trick pony. It seemed like one mode that was remixed a ton of times. This seems like it’s going to have a bit of everything. Hopefully it’s done right.
[Source: PCGamer]
SEGA have been on the ropes with the development of Colonial Marines. Everyone thought it was a dead project but it is back. But will it be a shitty cash-in like other SEGA license games or a good product? Mike Hayes reassures you that they are trying to deliver a top quality product.
“As a general point, when you have a great licence, the amount you need to spend on marketing is significantly less. So the two balance each other out. But that’s independent of how much money you invest in the game, because we know how well tie-in licence games have gone recently, we have to create a game that stands on its own two feet. This is a quality-first approach.” – Mike Hayes, President of SEGA West
Another concerning factor is that Gear Box Software’s newest game, Duke Nukem Forever isn’t doing that great with the critics and seems to have disappointed fans that have waited 10+ years for the release of the game.
[Source:MCV]
Destructoid snagged a pretty informative interview with Brian Martel, Chief Creative Officer at Gearbox Software. In the interview they discuss key elements of the game itself (obviously) such as drop in/drop out Co-op gameplay and new Xeno types like ‘The Crusher’. They also discuss working with such talent as Ridley Scott.
Finally the attention turned to Nintendo’s new console the ‘Wii U’ and the ways it could enhance the Aliens: Colonial Marines experience. The interviewer suggests this might be the most compelling possible use of the Wii-U he has heard so far and I tend to agree. I haven’t see anything that makes me want to rush out and pick up Nintendo’s new console yet, no not even that Zelda tech demo! However the idea of using the controller screen to view the motion tracker, security cameras, hacking mini games or say, my own idea; to see through allies’ head cams would be totally awesome, even more so when they get killed and it snaps to static.
P.S Why does everyone rag on Alien3 like it was a terrible movie? It wasn’t a classic but as far as horror movies go it was pretty cool! Alien Resurrection on the other hand…