Welcome to The Black List, your one stop shop for the stories published on the site this week.

MONDAY JUST ANNOUNCED Hellraid > Techland has issued a new trailer for co-op action game Hellraid. According to the developer, you’ll be able to play this first person fantasy “solo or with friends for hundreds of hours and never get bored”, which is quite a claim. Hellraid will be relying on procedurally generated content to ensure that each session provides a “different experience” with custom “loot and enemies” and “random online challenges.” READ MORE

TUESDAY JUST ANNOUNCED Shadow of the Eternals > Precursor Games has taken to Kickstarter to ask fans to contribute US $1.35m to the development of Shadow of the Eternals. The game is a spiritual successor (code for “we don’t own the IP and therefore can’t make a sequel”) to survival horror classic Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem. Prior to commencing its Kickstarter campaign, the new company raised approximately $150K via its own independent funding drive. READ MORE

WEDNESDAY JUST ANNOUNCED Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures > Two years ago publisher Namco Bandai celebrated Pac-Man’s 30th anniversary with a hopelessly ill-advised mini-game collection. To make matters worse, the game featured the loathsome 3D ‘arms and legs’ incarnation of the character. As a long time fan of the series, I consider this (sadly well established) version of Pac-Man to be an imposter and an abomination. Alas, he is about to make another appearance, this time in Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, a game based on a cartoon series based on a game. READ MORE

THURSDAY 1 JUST ANNOUNCED Gran Turismo 6 > Sony today announced that despite the barnstorming success of the series, it won’t be proceeding with a sixth instalment of Gran Turismo. We should clarify that this announcement took place in a parallel timeline, possibly the one depicted in the new Wolfenstein game, so there’s really no need to panic. Right here in our universe, Sony surprised no one by unveiling Gran Turismo 6 for the PS3. READ MORE

THURSDAY 2 PREVIEW Fuse > Releasing a brand new IP this late in the generation is not something that many developers seem willing to do. Most are holding their new goodies back, waiting for the next gen of gaming systems to hit the market. One developer is bucking that trend. That developer is Insomniac Games. The group behind PlayStation hits such as Ratchet and Clank and Resistance has a new game by the name of Fuse coming out very soon and for the first time in their history, it will be a multiplatform release. I was lucky enough to play quite a good chunk of the game at a recent preview event and I came away with a good idea of what to expect from the final product. READ MORE

FRIDAY TEST TUBE Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen > The original version of Dragon’s Dogma was one of the sleeper RPG hits of 2012. It provided challenging combat and the clever online capability to share my pawn collection… uh… my pawns.  I liked the game, but was disappointed with the bland level design and ‘nothing’ story. As such, I was interested to see what the Dark Arisen edition would have to offer. READ MORE

Welcome to The Black List, your one stop shop for the stories published on the site this week.

MONDAY REVIEW Defiance > Defiance has generated a lot of hype. Arguably it is the first “true” experiment in transmedia. The game (developed by Trion Worlds) and the TV series (produced by the SyFy channel) have been collaboratively developed from the very beginning, and there are even suggestions that developments in the game world will crop up in future seasons of the show. Unfortunately, the game itself is less than spectacular. Although it suffers from a general lack of polish, the things it does do well (especially the MMO elements) are pretty compelling. READ MORE

TUESDAY REVIEW Don’t Starve > Don’t Starve is an interesting experiment and it certainly has a lot to offer. The unique crafting based gameplay may be easy to understand but it also offers a surprising amount of depth. The cartoony world is pleasant to traverse and the creature design is inspired. All these positives do wear off though when you realise that the game (as it currently stands) doesn’t really have a point and there is little to keep you coming back for more. READ MORE

WEDNESDAY NEWS Ubisoft fires Patrice Désilets > Ubisoft has fired the man responsible for the first two Assassin’s Creed blockbusters. As reported by Game Informer, the publisher has confirmed that Ubisoft Montreal creative director Patrice Désilets is no longer with the company. This isn’t the first time the two have parted ways. Désilets resigned in 2010 to take up a position with THQ Montreal. Ironically, THQ was then forced to sell the business to Ubisoft, bringing Désilets back into the fold. READ MORE

THURSDAY JUST ANNOUNCED Wolfenstein: The New Order > One of the FPS genre’s most storied names is about to be dragged out of retirement, with Bethesda Softworks this week announcing that Wolfenstein: The New Order is on its way to systems old and new. While Bethesda does own id Software (the studio most closely associated with the franchise) it has assigned development duties to Swedish team MachineGames. READ MORE

FRIDAY JUST ANNOUNCED The Sims 4 > After the launch of SimCity attracted an avalanche of negative publicity and middling reviews, EA may be rethinking its stance with regard to ‘always on’ experiences, at least in the short term. The publisher this week announced that work had commenced on The Sims 4 and the press release for the game described it as a “single-player offline experience”. READ MORE

Welcome to The Black List, your one stop shop for the stories published on the site this week.

MONDAY REVIEW Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time > When a favoured franchise is taken into new hands, fans tend to worry. Sanzaru had already established its credibility with the HD remake of earlier Sly Cooper games, and the studio certainly doesn’t disappoint here. Thieves in Time is a highly polished platformer with a phenomenal amount of gameplay variety, a satisfying (if formulaic) narrative, and a healthy dose of clean humour. READ MORE

TUESDAY REVIEW BattleBlock Theater > Roll up, roll up ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls for BattleBlock Theater, the cruellest and most jovial show on Earth. Watch as our hero misses a jump and plummets onto hilarious spikes for your entertainment! The Behemoth’s new game is bright and fun-focused, but you need to be willing to turn your brain off to really appreciate it. If you think poo jokes and blowing up your friends are hilarious this might be the game for you. READ MORE

WEDNESDAY NEWS nanoBITES 103 > If you’re still playing Dragon’s Dogma (or its recent expansion), remember to copy your save to an external device before running the latest title update. Capcom has confirmed that the update has corrupted the files of some players. This is just one of the stories in the latest instalment of nanoBITES, our occasional column devoted to small but important new items. READ MORE

THURSDAY JUST ANNOUNCED Call of Duty: Ghosts > Activision today confirmed that Infinity Ward is working on a new Call of Duty blockbuster and emphasised that the game will be powered by a “next generation” engine. The publisher appears to be quite keen on the “next generation” catchphrase, employing it no fewer than 12 times in today’s press release. Dubbed Call of Duty: Ghosts, the game will feature fresh characters and a new setting. READ MORE

FRIDAY NEWS TimeGate woes continue > On our most recent podcast, we discussed the plight of TimeGate Studios, and speculated as to the likelihood of the developer surviving the two week period until our next episode. It appears that our fears were very well founded indeed because it has since emerged that the team partially responsible for Aliens: Colonial Marines has filed for bankruptcy protection. READ MORE

Welcome to The Black List, your one stop shop for the stories published on the site this week.

MONDAY PODCAST Black Panel Podcast 58 > In the latest instalment of Australia’s grooviest gaming podcast, the gang head to Boort to discuss TimeGate troubles, A Link to the Past 2, FarCry 3: Blood Dragon, Guacamelee, Ride to Hell, Gears of War: Judgment and (of course) much more! READ MORE

TUESDAY JUST ANNOUNCED The Evil Within > One of the pioneers of the survival horror genre is back with a new title called The Evil Within. Shinji Mikami, famed creator of Resident Evil has left Capcom and joined Bethesda’s Tango Gameworks team to produce this original horror game. To announce the game a live action short has been released showing some disturbing glimpses of what the game may have to offer. READ MORE

WEDNESDAY NEWS THQ flogs more IP >THQ has sold off a veritable laundry list of game properties to Gearbox Software, Nordic Games and 505 Games as part of its bankruptcy proceedings. The soon to be defunct publisher is set to receive a combined amount of US $6.55m from the sale of its remaining titles, which include well known names such as Darksiders (which went to Nordic), Homeworld (Gearbox) and Drawn to Life (505). READ MORE

THURSDAY NEWS Dead Island torso controversy continues > How much weight should we assign to an apology? Apparently none if it comes from Deep Silver, the publisher of Dead Island: Riptide. Earlier this year Deep Silver was forced to apologise after a backlash against the headless female torso statue it intended to release in conjunction with the sequel to 2011′s Dead Island. READ MORE

FRIDAY REVIEW BioShock Infinite > BioShock Infinite introduces us to an amazing new setting, as well as a set of wonderfully realised characters. It provides us with highly polished first person shooting while also showcasing the creative hallmarks that we’ve come to expect in a BioShock game. Irrational Games has delivered an experience with little to disappoint and a whole lot of class. READ MORE