Amid all of the bad news that THQ has been going on lately, it’s quite easily forgotten that this new IP is still on their list. While bigger titles have either been dumped, are ready to be sold off, or be in an otherwise grisly death scene, inSane is still alive.

According to THQ Exec VP Danny Bilson, Del Toro’s game is still being developed with Volition, which recently brought us THQ’s only success story so far: Saints Row: The Third.

While an official release date hasn’t been given yet, Volition is not canceling the game any time soon. This is welcome news for fans of Del Toro’s work and are eager to see his first try at making a game. First debuted at Spike’s VGAs back in 2010, the debut trailer for inSane gave the game a possible release date of 2013.

Whether it remains to be true shall be seen. For now, we’re hoping for the best.

Via Game Trailers.

New York City seems to always get the short end of the stick, and Crysis 3‘s setting is no different. Now overrun by a jungle environment, New York has become a twisted wasteland, a reminder of what the future may look like when Mother Nature decides to take back what was hers.

Check out the new screenshots and art for Crysis 3. Please don’t openly weep onto your keyboard — that might be slightly fatal.

Jaws off the floor too, that’s not too attractive. Crysis 3 is set to release sometime in 2013 on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Via Game Informer.

During an announcement stating that he’ll be doing some analysis of E3 2012 on Spike TV, Molyneux decided to take a shot at Nintendo, saying that the upcoming Wii U console is “slightly lack lustre.”

He also took a cheap shot at both Microsoft and Sony, saying that both companies are “holding their breath” when it comes to announcing, working on, and reasling next-gen consoles. “Sony and Microsoft are holding their breath on next-gen — interesting to see how they pad out another year,” wrote Molyneux during an email exchange with Spike’s Geoff Keighley (via Kotaku). “Price cuts, form factors?

“Nintendo’s slightly lack lustre Wii U is going to have to blow us away with better specs and great 1st party line up.”

Many would definitely agree that Nintendo entirely botched the Wii U announcement at last year’s E3. As a result, the next-gen console’s capabilities are under constant fire. Waning enthusiasm thanks to the confusing press announcement certainly aren’t helping either. A more clear and concise presentation at this year’s E3 would help Nintendo get away from the negative side of things for a change.

Via MCV.

The eyebrow raiser? It’s reportedly for next-gen consoles.

The listing, as spotted on LinkedIn, reads the following (via Eurogamer):

Opportunity to work on MMO like title for next generation consoles. AAA game and budget!

This is to assist in the development of a major brand new IP that is being targeted for the future generation of platforms and will be an RPG based game with a radical new take on how co-operative and multiplayer gameplay feeds into the experience, while blending online and single-player into one complete experience.

The ad listing is looking for a multiplayer level designer, and is ideally somebody who has had experience with four-player co-op games. Something in the vein of Gears of War, perhaps? With less bro-ness and more…swords, we suppose. The development team is reported to be at least 150 members strong, and growing.

A statement issued by the studio regarding the ad listing says that they “are in the business of making great games. We regularly look to hire great individuals to help in this cause. We have no further details to share at this time.”

Hopefully the studio will throw us a bone at E3.

Via Eurogamer.

According to a report by Kotaku, Sony’s Hong Kong affiliate site listed a new piece of DLC for Mass Effect 3. While BioWare has said that it’s already working on something to extend the ending for many unsatisfied players, this DLC pack is not the one we’re waiting for.

Tentatively entitled “Rebellion,” the website (which has since removed the listing), claims that the expansion will be adding two new maps, three new weapons and a couple of new classes.

According to the listing, the new maps are against Reaper enemies only: Firebase Jade’s jungle reservoir, and Firebase Goddess located on Thessia. New weapons were not detailed, but the new classes reportedly include a Vorcha Soldier and Sentinel, and a Phoenix Adept and Vanguard.

In a statement to GameSpot, an EA rep said that there’s “nothing to announce at this time.” That’s not a solid no, but that’s not a solid yes either. We can still hope that there is some truth behind the rumor. If the DLC pack is, in fact, in the works, we might be able to see it as early as next week before the next N7 Weekend Event.

Via GameSpot.

Then, THQ made a depressing conference call that probably would make even the gloomiest person seem like an optimist, first stating that South Park: The Game is now launching in 2013. That’s not to mention their own set of financial problems, and the hunt to find a buyer for Tomonobu Itagaki’s Devil’s Third.

However, amidst all the doom and gloom of the past week, a little bit of happy news came through, especially for Darksiders fans. THQ CEO Brian Farrell announced during the unfortunate call that Darksiders II will be officially launching on August 26th.

Well, we’re hoping that Death can turn the fortunes of the embattled publisher around. Farrell couldn’t help but mention that Darksiders II has been pre-ordered five times more than the original game featuring War and his steed Ruin.

Are you excited for Darksiders II? It’ll be quite the adventure, and THQ hopes that it will right the sinking ship with its release this August.

Via Games Radar.

Bloodforge is a brutally-violent action game that sets the tone even before you’ve finished the basic tutorial. As the game opens, your hero Crom returns to his barbarian village to discover a horde of bad guys has ripped through it, and while trying to save your wife, a foul trick by an evil god leads you to disembowel your beloved. Revenge is what is needed, and a masked shape-shifting goddess soon turns up offering you the chance to get even with your supernatural enemies by traveling to the otherworldly Bloodforge itself.

Bloodforge is a third-person hack-and-slasher with a mythic Celtic rather than the Antiquity of God of War. The game certainly does have some similarities to the adventures of Kratos, from the bellowing fury of the hero to the vastly over-sized bosses.

That it doesn’t quite match up to the best of the genre isn’t surprising; it is a 1200 point XBLA title and despite similarities, it does try to tread a little of its own path, particularly with the gloomy, adult comic book visual style.

Bloodforge is unarguably brilliant in some respects, especially at first glance, but just you wait for the glitches...

Indeed, the graphics are both the best and worst thing about the game. The muted colour palette serves to highlight the bright blood that spatters the hazy world as you dismember grotesque enemy after grotesque enemy. Bodies hang from every rocky outcrop and dead tree, while foul rain or snow drenches everything in sight. At a glance, the game is unarguably brilliant, particularly coming in at a low price point.

Sadly, the giddiness of the camera, which seems fun at first, gives way to full-blown confusion once larger battles begin; without a block function you rely on rolling evades, which sends the camera spinning out of control, making already tricky combat downright frustrating. There are also intermittent glitches and at least one outright error in an in-game menu. All in all I felt slightly motion sick and more than a little frustrated when playing.

That said, the combat is intermittently fun, in a fairly mindless kind of way. As already stated you cannot block, and although there is rune magic and different weapons to pick up along the way, the basic mechanic of random heavy and light attacks interspersed with random evades and the occasional carnage-induced-frenzy will likely be your tactic for all but the boss battles. Nonetheless, it can’t be denied that the extreme carnage and violence you enact to kill your enemies is entertaining, if you like gore, blood and guts at least. And plenty of it.

In addition to a story mode, there’s also the Blood Duel, allowing you to compete against a friend to see who can spill the most blood on a stage.

It was a real challenge to find non-gory screenshots - Bloodforge isn't usually this peaceful, honest

Bloodforge is undoubtedly fun for a single playthrough, but the combat can be repetitive and the camera just too frustrating to unreservedly recommend this, even at this price point. I would strong suggest trying out the demo before making your decision.

The Good:

• Extremely stylish
• Easy to pick up
• Fun for a button mash
• Satisfyingly violent

The Bad:

• Horrible camera
• Combat can be frustrating and repetitive
• Surprising graphical errors
• Derivative

Family Focus
Bloodforge is rated ESRB: Mature (17+) and PEGI: 18+ and as such is not remotely suitable for children. But don’t just take my word for it, let the facts speak for themselves: you kill your wife at the beginning of the game and proceed to decapitate, cleave and disembowel almost every other character in the game.

At this point in time, things seem to be going south in a hurry for 38 Studios, as they have apprently run out of money, and have asked for the state to help with guess what – more money. This only looks to be getting worse, as Keith Stokes, the man responsible for approving the $75 million dollar loan guarantee for 38 Studios resigned today, and the taxpayers of Rhode Island are coming closer to having to pay the bonds issued for this guarantee.

At least they can take solace in knowing that they will own the intellectual property rights for a solid selling title as well as a loosely designed MMORPG that now has no chance of ever being successful.

We have still received no comment from 38 Studios on the matter, but it might be that there is no one left to answer the emails.

The Walking Dead is Telltale’s fastest-selling game series to date, with the first episode of five, titled ‘A New Day’ topping the sales charts as the #1 best-selling title on Xbox LIVE Arcade for two weeks straight, also securing a spot at the top of the sales charts in its launch week on the Steam digital distribution service as well as on PSN. The upcoming second episode of the season, ‘Starved for Help’, is expected to launch across PC, Mac, and consoles this June.

The Walking Dead: Episode One – A New Day is set in the world of Robert Kirkman’s award-winning comic book series. Lee Everett, a man convicted of a crime of passion, has been given the chance for redemption in a world devastated by the undead. Players will experience life changing events, meet new characters and familiar ones from the original comic, and also visit locations that foreshadow the story of Deputy Sheriff Rick Grimes. The Walking Dead offers a tailored game experience – player actions, choices and decisions affect how the story plays out across the entire series.

Episode One – A New Day is the first of five monthly episodes of The Walking Dead games series and is available for 400 Microsoft Points on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360, available now for $4.99 per episode on PlayStation Network, and is available as the first part of a five episode season pass for $24.99 on PC and Mac from the Telltale Online Store and other digital outlets.

To help with that dream becoming a reality, CCP, the development team behind the Eve Online and Dust514 titles are accepting appications for beta registration starting today. Those that are up to the challenge will get an early look at this title and help with making it a success when it is released to the public this fall. If you are interested, you can head over to the Dust514 Beta Registration page and sign up. Note that you do have to own a PlayStation 3 as it is exclusive to that platform.

Look for more updates as they arrive on Dust514 from CCP.