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.

If the announcement trailer is any guide, the new game will be quite similar to its predecessors. It will, in fact, feature all of the cars and tracks from Grand Turismo 5, so that’s pretty darn similar. Naturally enough, though, there will be a host of new content and developer Polyphony Digital is promising 1200 cars at launch.

If you’re only a casual fan of the racing genre, here’s an extract from the press release to remind you that this “real racing simulator” is not the game for you. “Several thousand aerodynamic parts and custom wheels will be available for almost all cars, and players can personalise their own custom cars to the greatest ever level possible.”

Gran Turismo 6 will arrive towards the end of 2013, just in time to mark the 15th anniversary of the series.

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.

In what can only be described as a small mercy, it looks like Pac-Man will be embarking on a reasonably coherent adventure instead of constantly lobbing tennis balls and popping balloons in asinine mini games. Still, I firmly believe that Pac-Man’s ghost gobbling exploits should take place exclusively on a 2D field of play. The recent Championship Edition titles beautifully demonstrated the range of possibilities inherent in the core gameplay.

The soulless affront known as Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures will ram yet another stake into my heart when it arrives on 360, PS3 and Wii U in October. A side-scrolling variant will be made available for the 3DS.

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.

Precursor has strong links to Silicon Knights, the studio responsible for the GameCube original. Numerous former Silicon Knights staff members, including controversial founder and figurehead Denis Dyack, have joined the new venture. As reported by Polygon, Silicon Knights is now a shell of its former self, having vacated its offices following last year’s disastrous court judgement against the company. It appears that the new venture has acquired a range of assets from the old.

Should the project meet its funding goals, the first of 12 planned episodes of Shadow of the Eternals will arrive on PC and Wii U in August 2014. The opening instalment takes place in 17th century Hungary, where players will investigate the crimes of real world sadist Erzébet Bathory.

Disclosure Policy for Kickstarter and Similar Programs: Black Panel staff and contributors will always inform you if they have backed the project they are discussing.

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.”

It’s been an interesting decade for Techland. Once known for producing second tier racing titles, the Polish developer finally announced itself to the mainstream with its western action game Call of Juarez back in 2006. Five years later, the team enjoyed further success with its open world horror game Dead Island. Earlier this year it delivered the surprise sequel Dead Island: Riptide, widely seen as a significant stumble.

While Call of Juarez and Dead Island were published by Ubisoft and Deep Silver respectively, Techland will be entirely responsible for the release of its latest project. Look for Hellraid to land on 360, PS3 and PC. A release date is yet to be announced.