PlayStation 4 launch in May or June

The next-gen Xbox countdown already started and Sony must be feeling the heat coming from its competitor.

The vice president of Sony Home Entertainment just couldn’t help himself, but tease the masses of PlayStation gamers with the upcoming fourth version of the console.


Hiroshi Sakamoto has hinted of a “big announcement” coming either earlier in May or at the E3 2013 in June. This means that if Sony doesn’t announce anything in May, then we’ll witness both companies debut their next-generation gaming consoles in June at E3 2013.

He also added that Sony “expects to deliver great news”, which are going to be a big step forward in Sony’s console roadmap.Sony’s upcoming gaming console is expected to pack NFC and rely a number of its key feature on it. The next PlayStation is also speculated to feature support for Ultra HD displays.

THQ Assets sold and Company Dissolved

Multi-Million dollar company THQ is no more.

CEO Brian Farrell and president Jason Rubin have sent a letter to the employees stating that the company will be broken apart and their assets will be sold to different companies. They are also currently presenting their case to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court...

Their Assets were sold off as so:-

Relic Entertainment and Company of Heroes franchise - Sold to Sega Corporation for $26.6 million

THQ Montreal, including 1666 and Underdog - Sold to Ubisoft for $2.5 million

Evolve aka Metamorphosis - Sold to Take-Two Interactive for $10.894 million

Volition and Saints Row franchise - Sold to Koch Media for $22.3 million

Homefront franchise - Sold to Crytek for $544,218

Metro franchise - Sold to Koch Media for $5.8 million

South Park: The Stick of Truth - Sold to Ubisoft for $3.2 million

The fate of the Darksiders series and it's developer Vigil Games is still unknown. "We will make every effort to find appropriate buyers, if possible." said Farrell and Rubin.

The auction document also contained information about an announced game called "Underdog" by THQ Montreal. Along with this another game "1666" was also found.

The document suggests that High Voltage Software and Volition Inc. are working together on the development of Saint Row 4.

Most employees will be offered jobs by their new owners, but it is a little uncertain as all the positions might not be needed by all the companies.

Employees that are not part of the sale will be left unemployed, though a small number of staff will remain employed at THQ, Agoura Hills, California beyond 25th January to assist in the transition stage.

"While the company will cease to exist, we are heartened that the majority of our studios and games will continue under new ownership," Farrell and Rubin said. "We were hoping that the entire company would remain intact, but we expect to hear good news from each of the separate entities that will be operating as part of new organizations.

"For those THQ employees who are part of entities that are not included in the sale, we are confident that the talent you have displayed as part of THQ will be recognized as you take the next steps in your career," they said.

This is truly a sad day for gamers. What are your thoughts on this? Will the new owners be able to develop THQ's games to their potential and live up to the standards?

Microsoft reports final quarter of 2012 results

Windows sales up, but income is down

Microsoft had an interesting final quarter for 2012 – the three months period that saw the launches of both Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. As a result, the company is reporting record revenues but also a slight decline in operating income.

Sales of Windows saw a 24% increase from the year ago quarter, but the Windows 8 launch is behind the Windows 7 launch, which boosted sales by 76%. Even Vista brought a 65% jump in sales, though in terms of monetary value the Windows 8 launch brought in more cash (Vista replaced 5 year old XP, while Windows 7 is still relatively recent).

The Surface tablet, the flagship Windows 8 device, was not mentioned at all. Microsoft expects Windows sales to pick up as more touch-enabled Windows 8 devices hit the shelves (including the x86 Surface Pro).

Anyway, revenue for the final quarter of last year was $21.5 billion, up 3% from Q4 of 2011. Operating income, however, went down 3%.

The decline can be explained with reduced sales with the Microsoft Business Division and the Entertainment and Devices division. The Business Division is responsible for Office, which is due for an upgrade soon (the dip in sales is the calm before the storm).

The Entertainment and Devices division handles both Windows Phone 8 and Xbox / Kinect. The Xbox 360 is heading towards retirement (as rumors of its successors increase) and WP8 is picking up steam – Nokia, which is most closely aligned with the mobile OS, went back into profitability for its last quarter of 2012.

You can get the detailed numbers on Microsoft’s financial quarter from its press release.