This weekend many folks are tackling back log titles like Batman: Arkham City, Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned, and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. What about you? Tell us within the comments below.

Jeff Marchiafava: This weekend I’ll be jumping back into the zombie apocalypse with The Walking Dead: 400 Days and more State of deterioration. I even have the urge to revisit one of the vital countless games I haven’t finished. XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Batman: Arkham City are two recent games in my pile of shame, but maybe I’ll go as far back as Skyrim or Fallout 3.

Kyle Hilliard: i actually would like to try to start on EarthBound. For the past few months, i’ve been playing Candy Crush on my phone before falling asleep in bed. The Wii U GamePad stretches to the bedroom, and that i want EarthBound to be my new before bed game. It will become familiar, but i suspect an extended enough time has passed where I won’t remember the vast majority of the sport, making it with regards to a brand new experience.

Tim Turi: I just finished my first sorely delayed playthrough of GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony. I figured I’d cruise right onto The Lost and Damned, but I’ve been sidetracked by Rogue Legacy. The Castlevania-esque gameplay, generational progression, quirky inherited traits, and fun aesthetic have me hooked. i do know what I’ll be playing this weekend.

Liz Lanier: After finishing Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (and punctiliously enjoying it) this week, I’m unsure what to tackle next. I’m thinking i will be able to attempt to tackle the subsequent installments inside the series to arrange for Dual Destinies. But, I’m open to suggestions from GI readers for what game I should play this weekend.

Brian Albert: I watched all three seasons of Game of Thrones recently (and commenced reading the books), so I’m really craving a pretty good fantasy RPG instantly. i have not played The Witcher 2 yet, but i purchased it during a Steam Sale. Maybe here is the weekend I’ll finally jump in.

The Assassin’s Creed series has always freely jumped around the ages, but some fans have longed for a contemporary day tackle the war between the Assassins and Templars. If that’s you, don’t hold your breath in anticipation.

While Assassin’s Creed III gave players a taste of the way a modern Assassin’s Creed might play during its Desmond sequences, I’ve often wondered what a game set within the modern era (or maybe near future) might appear to be. Unfortunately, Assassin’s Creed fans who feel the identical way probably can be out of luck, because Assassin’s Creed is a historical game series, and it sounds as if it might stay that way.

During an Assassin’s Creed panel at Comic Con, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag lead writer Darby McDevitt mentioned how much the Ubisoft team enjoys working with history. “We strive to approach history with a feeling of reverence and a way of groundedness,” said McDevitt. “We adore doing our homework, visiting these locations, and researching real historical details, which we will incorporate into the sport. We adore making game’s in response to real historical places, and that i don’t believe any era may be ruled out, but whichever era we elect to do next we will be able to bring it to life in a pragmatic way. So, i would not expect us to do a fashionable day Assassin’s Creed anytime soon.”

While McDevitt went directly to say that it’d be possible to determine an Assassin’s Creed game set in ancient Japan and crammed with Ninjas, it feels like anyone’s dream of seeing an Assassin’s Creed packed with flying cars or laser rifles should remain just that, a dream.

In the spirit of graphic novels Assassin’s Creed: The autumn and Assassin’s Creed: The Chain comes a brand new installment, Assassin’s Creed: Brahman. The book, that is set to launch q4, happens in 18th century India, under the rule of thumb of imperial Britain.

The team of Brenden Fletcher (Wednesday Comics), Cameron Stewart (Batman & Robin), and Karl Kerschl (Superman and the Flash) have come together to bring new assassin Arbaaz Mir to life. We now have sample pages within the gallery below.

Plenty of games have produced comic book spinoffs, but Dark Horses’ The Last folks comic miniseries actually influenced the event of the sport, or even altered Naughty Dog’s method to the game’s ending. Be warned, there are spoilers.

Dark Horse recently release a four issues miniseries in accordance with Naughty Dog’s The Last people. Created by The Last people writer and director Neil Druckmann and comic creator Faith Erin Hicks, the series was a prequel that detailed Ellie’s history, however it also introduced Ellie’s friend Riley Abel. People who played throughout the entire game have heard Riley name before, but when it hadn’t been for the comic that character would possibly not have existed in any respect.

During an interview at Comic Con, The Last folks director and writer Neil Druckmann told us, “Over the past speech Ellie gives in the course of the game, she lists off each of the those that have died in this journey, and the primary name she lists is Riley. She was the 1st to die. They were both quite bitten even as, but that little snippet within the comic influenced the construction of the sport, because originally we did not have anyone with Ellie when she was bitten.”

Druckmann went directly to describe how the comic influenced the sport in different ways. “Faith wrote this bit within the comic about this game, which was our Mortal Kombat rip off, and he or she described this fatality that befell on this fictional game. In case you find the arcade cabinet within the game, Ellie tells you this story that Riley told her inside the comic. After which during Winter, within the game, there are a couple of artifacts in Ellie’s backpack and you’ll investigate them, and you’ll see how Ellie got a few of them inside the comic, and that was something that came up fairly late in development and we needed to make some changes, but I felt love it really helped tie those two stories together.”

Naughty Dog felt that Hicks’ contributions were so beneficial to the sport that it actually included her name within the game’s credits. Dark Horse’s trade collection for The Last folks comes out later q4, and it appears like it’d be one of many few online game-based comics worth reading.

This month saw lower sales than June 2012, but thankfully, things improved after last month’s terrible performance. The highest ten best selling retail games from last month tell an enticing story. As a reminder, NPD only tracks retail sales within the Usa. It’s valuable as a slice of the image and for identifying trends, but it surely will never be all-encompassing yet.

1. The Last People (PS3)
2. Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS)
3. Minecraft (360)
4. Call of Duty: Black Ops II (360, PS3, PC, Wii U)
5. NBA 2K13 (360, PS3, Wii, Wii U, PSP, PC)
6. Injustice: Gods Among Us (360, PS3, Wii U)
7. Donkey Kong Country Returns (3DS, Wii)
8. Deadpool (360, PS3)
9. Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)
10. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS)

This marks the primary time on this generation that the head three spots were held by first-party platform exclusives from three different parties. All three of those titles were also available digital simultaneously with retail release (or on the subject of Minecraft, before).

Nintendo is boasting 225,000 3DS handhelds sold, making it the most productive-selling online game hardware within the U.s.. Here is up from 155,000 in June 2012 bolstered by a robust lineup that incorporates Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Project X Zone. The previous stormed to the number two position.

Thankfully for Microsoft, handhelds are in a separate category. Which means that the Xbox 360 holds onto its record of being within the top console spot (making this 30 months running).

Microsoft sold 140,000 Xbox 360 consoles, up from 114,000 last month, but down from 257,000 units in the course of the same period last year. June 2011 to June 2012 saw a 49 percent drop. This year is even worse, with a 54 percent plummet.

Total online game sales are down 15 percent year-over-year from $700.6 million to $593.3 million. Thankfully, this an uptick over last month’s abysmal performance of $386.3 million.

Hardware is down 30 percent year-over-year from $201.5 million to $142 million. Console software is down only 10 percent from $328.8 million to $296.1 million, with PC software sales (already a small slice of purchases) only accounting for an extra $17.7 million. Accessories are another time down, this time 9 percent from $170.3 million to $155.2 million. 

Additionally, the Ouya was mentioned inside the NPD Report for the primary time. “June 2012 was the primary month of retail sales for Ouya (not counting direct sales through ouya.tv) and were relatively light for a brand new console,” said NPD analyst Liam Callahan.  “This can be because of the loss of a chief marquee title driving consumers to find the console, low awareness as a result of Ouya being a brand new brand, or low inventory volume as a result of manufacturing constraints.”

Our Take
Sales of hardware and software are still flagging, and it’ll be extremely interesting to get a broader perspective once digital sales are included. The computer segment is large, and plenty of gamers favor to use Steam, GoG, and other digital delivery platforms.

The 3DS is showing itself for the powerhouse that it’s, selling significantly more year-over-year, and carrying the number two spot with an off-the-cuff game. With the inclusion of recent Streetpass games (on the way to continue to inspire people to hold their consoles) and a powerful lineup that incorporates Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Pokemon X & Y, and Mario and Luigi: Dream Team, this year is purely looking better for Nintendo at the handheld front.

The Last people is no surprise to determine within the top spot, but to take action at this time is of particular note. New intellectual properties typically do significantly better early in a cycle. The success of The Last folks is testament to Naughty Dog’s skill. While i could not need to see a sequel to this game for narrative reasons, i’m absolutely watching for regardless of the Uncharted studio does next (yes, that was a touch).