Welcome to The Rumor Killers, our brand new weekly feature where TheGameReviews.com scours the internet in search of the juiciest, most shocking and darn out ridiculous rumors we can find to see if there’s an ounce of truth behind. So stick around, put your reading glasses on and read for yourselves the best rumors of the week. Oh and one last thing, you can get in on the act too. If you find a rumor that we have missed or have inside information that you can share to shoot down a rumor, drop us a line at PR@thegamereviews.com
Final Fantasy Versus XIII on Hold
Final Fantasy is probably still one of the biggest franchises out there, and one that’s extremely important to the Playstation 3. Versus XIII is the spin off title from the main FF XIII; however, it is one that holds as much incentive as FF XIII, so it came with much shock and awe that a rumor was posted that Game Director Tetsuya Nomura said Final Fantasy Versus XIII has been put "on hold." This was according to Japanese Gaming Bible Famitsu. The report also stated that the Versus team would help out in finishing FF XIII and would then go back to versus once XIII is finished.
This is one of those rumors that could actually end up being true, given the fact that the PS3 is crying out for a great JRPG and this is still the daddy of them all, so having as many teams working on one game could seem beneficial to get XIII out of the door; however, this was not the case. Speaking to Eurogamer, Square-Enix said, "Reports that development for Final Fantasy Versus XIII is on hold are false, the truth of the situation is that when free, some staff from the Versus team have been helping with the XIII team on development of Final Fantasy XIII. Development for both titles is continuing as originally scheduled."
So no need to worry Sony fans: as stated by Square-Enix, both games are coming along just fine.
TGR Verdict: Rumor Killed
Resident Evil 5 to be Timed Exclusive to Xbox 360
Resident Evil is still one of the most loved and critically received franchises out there, and one that has been important to any console to have, so you could imagine the heat of this little rumor. It all started over at PlaystationLifestyle.net where they supposedly got some inside information that Microsoft has approached Capcom with money trying to secure a timed exclusive for Resident Evil 5 and that it’s still unknown if Capcom has accepted this offer.
There are a few things that need to be looked at here. First and probably most coincidental of the lot was Capcom announcing that there will be a big Resident Evil 5 announcement at this year’s E3. The timing is a bit off but that doesn’t mean the rumor is true. Second is the fact that Capcom has stated last year that they are going for a multiplatform stance on everything; hence Devil May Cry 4, once a PS3 exclusive, saw a simultaneous release on the 360 and PS3. Going back on that could seem hypocritical. Third, over on the US Capcom Blog, Capcom stated that Resident Evil 5 is still a multiplatform release so really that should have shot down the whole rumor. No. No it does not.
People are over-looking one important fact about that statement: they don’t actually shoot down that it’s a timed exclusive, but tell us what we already know, which is that its set for both consoles. They don’t mention any dates and definitely don’t mention any word of timed exclusives.
TGR Verdict: Rumor Alive and Kicking
Heavenly Sword 2 Axed by Sony
Heavenly Sword was one of those games that you either fell in love at first site, gradually got to like it or played it for 2 hours and thought ’meh.’ The game came out when the PS3 was crying out for games early in its life and one that promised to be a AAA game. It wasn’t the AAA game people had hoped for, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good game. With the game selling over 1,5 million copies worldwide, many of us though a Heavenly Sword sequel was a given, WRONG!!!! According to Kotaku:
“Heavenly Sword 2 has been canned by Sony Computer Entertainment of Europe. The game was axed after months in development because it is no longer seen as commercially viable. Ninja Theory, who have already said they weren’t working on the sequel to their Playstation 3 exclusive, have grown increasingly bitter about their treatment at Sony’s hands, our source tells us. I’m told that the development studio, which once had offices in the same building as Sony Cambridge, have started packing up to move to a new location.”
Oh dear, poor SCEE can’t catch a break. But who pities them? After canning Eight Days and The Getaway, surely they can’t go and cancel another high profile game? Posting over at NeoGaf a Ninja Theory employee stated that "we have been planning to move to larger premises for future expansion for the best part of a year. There is nothing bitter about the move.”
That sorts out the moving part, but what about the actual canning of the game? CVG contacted Sony but where given the “no comment” line, but all that really does is add more fuel to the already blazing fire. How many more games are going to get canned by SCEE? Only time will tell.
TGR Verdict: Rumor Alive and Kicking
Forza 3 will have 2 discs, 400 cars and more
Forza 2 was a commercial and critical success for Microsoft and Turn 10, so there is no doubt that there will be a third. Hearing a rumor that Forza 3 is in production is no real surprise; it’s the details that are dished out with this rumor that has the Internet in a blaze. According to Xbox 360 Fanboy a survey from Microsoft has been leaked, and while it comes details on many new products and features for the Xbox 360, the details on Forza 3 comes up top. According to this survey, the game will feature 400 cars, will have a brand new assists system, and will come with over 100 tracks. But the biggest surprise, and one that will get both 360 and PS3 fanboys raging, is the fact that it will come shipped on two discs.
Now there has been no official response from either Microsoft or Turn 10 but from the leaked survey, Forza 3 is shaping up to be the business. This two discs thing? Only time will tell if that is true, but this is what you have to ask yourself: would you rather sit and wait 10–15 minutes for the game to install and take up to 5GB of your hard drive or would you rather stick a second disk in? I know what I would do but I will let you guys discuss it over in the [url=http://talk.thegamereviews.com/]forums[/url].
TGR Verdict: Rumor Alive and Kicking
Now as stated before, if you have come across and juicy rumors or information on them or simply want an answer form the developers or publishers regarding a rumor simply email us or drop a new thread in the forums and TheGameReviews.com will do our utmost best to get to the bottom of it.
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