What are Halo Infinity and Spartan Ops?

Two Halo-related domain names have been bought up this week; MarkMonitor has purchased “HaloInfinity.co.uk”, “HaloInfinityMultiplayer.co.uk” and “SpartanOps.org”.
As OXM reports, Microsoft has used MarkMonitor to buy domain names before.  So what leaves the ‘what?’ question, then. Surely it’s all related to the upcoming Halo 4.
Well, Infinity was the name of a human starship in Halo: Grasslands, a novel that takes place after the events of Halo 3. Perhaps that has something to do with it, or perhaps this is an evolution of the Halo Waypoint service. Spartan Ops? Well, Rain’s guess: “My money’s on Spartan Ops being COD’s Spec Ops rip off.”
We wouldn’t say no to that.

Ubisoft reveals Ghost Recon’s Facebook, iOS debut

Ubisoft has announced Ghost Recon: Commander to compliment this year’s release of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.

Commander isn’t a console-bound spin-off, though. Instead its the series’ first Facebook and iOS game, designed as a companion to Future Soldier. Playing Commander will unlock items in Future Soldier and vice versa, much like we’ve seen with the Assassin’s Creed franchise recently.

As VP of digital Chris Early explained to Pocket Gamer: “It’s not just a one-time item unlock. The more you play each of those games, the more benefit you create in terms of the other gameplay experience. So, by playing Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, you’ll be able to unlock characters you can use in the Facebook game, plus currency, experience points, items etc that you can use in the social and mobile game.

“And – conversely – by playing the social and mobile game, if you’re playing at work at lunch, or in a break, you’re continuing the character progression. You’ll unlock items and experience points bonus and currency in Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.”
How you’ll actually play Commander is unclear, though given the format it’s unlikely to be a hardcore TPS. Perhaps instead it will be like the franchises’ 3DS offering, Shadow Wars.

Ex-Lionhead staff defend Fable: The Journey

Lionhead’s Fable: The Journey is looking to be one of the more hardcore-focused Kinect titles released on Xbox 360, but not all gamers are happy with the motion-controlled switch in the latest edition of the series.
Ex-staff from the team have now stepped in to defend the title, which now finds itself without studio figurehead Peter Molyneux. Simon and Dene Carter, who recently left the studio to form indie dev Another Place have come to the game’s aid.
“It’s unfair that game’s getting a lot of stick,” Simon Carter said. “It looks great. What they’re trying to do, by marrying core gaming with Kinect, is obviously tricky. It’s a difficult control mechanism to get into core gaming. I think they’re doing a great job.”

“Why there can’t be room for a Kinect side spin-off of the Fable franchise I don’t know,” Dene Carter added. “That seems a bit odd. I can’t think of any good reason why that would not work. If this was a Mario thing for example, if this was a Mario shooter based on the Wii controller, nobody would go, ‘That’s a terrible thing. That should never have happened. That’s a betrayal blah blah blah vitriol vitriol.’

“But strangely enough Fable seems to be treated very differently from that. We all know it’s a franchise. We all know it’s a brand. The fact somebody wants to do something a bit different with that brand while we’re waiting for the next big game, that doesn’t seem like something people should get too angry about. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it.”
Seems simple enough.
“If they were talking about the core franchise, I would have an awful lot of time for that. It’s more the fact that they’re complaining about a different team doing something different based on the franchise. If it was called Black & White shooter I don’t think we’d have had the same level.”
Simon added: “When Mario Kart came out, nobody was going, what?! There’s no jumping! That’s not the next Mario game! What are you talking about Miyamoto! I hate you! I’m going to burn your house down and kill your children!”
The Journey doesn’t have a release date right now, despite being revealed all the way back at E3 last year.

Killer is Dead coming from Suda, Lollipop Chainsaw dev

Grasshopper Manufacture Goichi Suda’s next is Killer is Dead, Famitsu has revealed, but while the name may suggest it, it is not a Killer 7 sequel.

It could be the next best thing though, as it’s said to mix its gameplay with that of No More Heroes.

Kadokawa Games, the studio behind Lollipop Chainsaw, is developing in conjuction with Grasshopper.

The game turns the player into a condemned man after an assassin. Some early leaks, as reported by Siliconera, say it’ll have a ‘dark side of James Bond’ kind of a vibe with “Bond Girls” present as well.
Killer is Dead is targeting 2013. It’ll ship for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Aion Euro F2P move attracts 750,000

Aion‘s European free-to-play conversion is a success. A month after the move, the game has seen over 750,000 new accounts, with around 20,000 added daily.
Furthermore, the number of daily active users has increased fivefold.
“With only four weeks of running time, AION has seamlessly added itself to the Gameforge portfolio, alongside other internationally successful titles such as Metin 2 and Ikariam.
“With the successful launch of the AAA title AION, Gameforge has heralded the start of a new era for its free-to-play sector”, Gameforge CEO Alexander Rösner says of the accomplishment, promising further triple-A additions in the coming months.
But back to Aion; players now have the 3.0 update to look forward to, which, next to other goods, will offer an increased level cap, new mounts, and new regions and instances.

Minecraft man unveils space sim 0x10c

Minecraft creator Markus “Notch” Persson has revealed his next. Unusually named 0x10c, the space game is still “extremely early” in development, the game’s official site says, though it is known that there will probably be a monthly fee for those wanting to join the Multiverse. The reasoning is explained: “we are going to emulate all computers and physics even when players aren’t logged in.”

Solo play will just have a one time fee.

Following the model that made Minecraft so successful, the game will be released early, allowing the community to have a say and shape the direction of development.

More details available on the official site here.

Pokemon Conquest heading to US

Some surprising (and awesome) news from Pokemon camp today; DS strategy crossover Pokemon Conquest is heading to the US.

This is the previously Japan-only mash up between everyone’s favorite pocket monsters and the Nobunaga’s Ambition franchise, which is a relatively unknown franchise in these parts.

The strategy RPG plays out through six-on-six battles, utilizing the classic Pokemon strengths/weakness systems, and looks a little along the lines of something like Disgaea, or Final Fantasy Tactics. There will be a total of 17 kingdoms to battle in, each one coming with its own general and powerful Pokemon companion.

It hits the US on June 18.