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Getting tired of the cheesy Wii U puns yet? Me too... and yet, I still can't resist the urge to use them whenever I have the chance. How bizarre.

Anyway, Mass Effect 3's penultimate DLC, Reckoning, arrived February 26th for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC (February 27th for the PS3 in Europe). As a multiplayer DLC pack, it includes a host of new characters, weapons, and mods. Characters include the Geth Juggernaut, Female Turian Raptor, Talon Mercenary, and Alliance Infiltration Unit. Weapons include the Geth Spitfire Assault Rifle, Venom Shotgun, and Lancer Assault Rifle, and new equipment and weapon mods include the Geth Scanner and Assault Rifle Ultralight Materials. To find out more (including why the DLC isn't for U), hit the jump.

Here we are a full day before the big reveal and we are already unveiling the world premier trailer for Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. I admit that I wasn't looking forward to the high seas pirate adventure, but after seeing some of the story setup I must admit I am intrigued. Sure, likely none of what we see is actual gameplay, but that doesn't matter this early in the game. Fact remains, it looks fantastic and like another must buy for me later this year. It is slated for PC, 360, PS3, Wii U, and next-generation systems.

We are going to be flooded with new information come Monday for the next iteration of Assassin's Creed, but that doesn't mean some crafty people haven't already uncovered some details thanks to a page that was discovered on the official website. Unfortunately, Ubisoft has since rectified the problem, but we have the above screenshot testifying to its existence. The biggest news to be gleaned from the page since the Trailer wasn't working is that the release date is October 29th, and it plans to also release on next-gen consoles. 

Of course, many have been speculating that most of this years "biggest" titles could be on both current and next-gen consoles, which does make upgrading to the next console definitely not seem as imminent. The real question is how long this trend continues. With rising developer costs and an already established fan base, is possible we could see cross-generational games for another couple years?

It also speaks volumes that some people aren't ready to move on. As much as developers like Ubisoft clamor for a new generation, they aren't completely jumping ship either. It has yet to be seen if consumers are ready for a new generation, but so far the developers seem unwilling to drop support in favor of a new console outside of the Wii U, where none of the new games outside of possibly Just Dance will appear on the old Wii console. Oh, we also have a piece of new art to show you as well.

Ubisoft has officially confirmed Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag with the release of the first piece of official box art. It's immediately noticeable that it contains references to Pirates, which confirms pretty much every rumor that has been circulating for weeks. Ubisoft also confirmed an "official" unveiling of the game Monday morning, around 7am CST. Naturally, we will be here to bring you all the latest details about the next AC adventure.

Are you excited? This is the quickest turn around for a numbered venture in the series yet. It is now slated for the Wii U, Xbox 360, PC, and PS3. The rest of the box art is after the jump

The Wii U version of Rayman Legends was supposed to hit shelves just a few days ago, before Ubisoft decided to delay the game so it would release at the same time across all home consoles. Ubisoft has seen a lot of backlash both from fans and their own creative team for their decision, mainly because the Wii U version was already completed and ready for launch. Despite this, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guilemont assures us that the extra seven months is certainly going to be put to good use.

“The Wii U the team is working hard on the Wii U [version] to make sure it continues to improve, so it can become one of the best Wii U games. We hope it can be one of the top games Ubisoft creates...

...What’s very important to consider is that, when a team has more time, they are able to continue to improve the quality of the game. When we saw we had more time, we saw all of the possibilities. Some of the possibilities are the social features that we are seeing today, but also new bosses, new possibilities that will take the game to a level that people will love.” — Yves Guilemont, Ubisoft CEO

While the delay was disappointing to say the least, it's great to hear that the development team is using that extra time to make the Wii U version of the game even better, rather than just contemptuously waiting for it to release.

Tomb Raider is scoring well, with an 88 on Metacritic. For what seems like the first time in a decade, Lara Croft is actually worth talking about as more than a silly Angelina Jolie movie, even if I did enjoy them. The fact remains, while this isn't the classic Tomb Raider we know and love, it is indeed a good game. For a reboot, that's really saying something since it's hard to ever bring back any franchise, let alone add some fundamental changes to the established formula along the way. The new trailer attempts to bring out the survivor in me, and I admit it's gotten me more excited for the game than maybe I should be. Several people have pointed out flaws in the game, but for whatever is wrong with it... it just does so much so well that it's hard to really keep this game down. Lara Croft, you might finally have won me over.

Today there was said to be a mysterious invite only Assassin's Creed event which MCV (a UK magazine) attended. The details from the event are apparently embargoed until Monday, but MVC did say they some of the information may have already been leaked. This all but "confirms" that the game will be Assassin's Creed: Black Flag and will deal with pirates. Above is a supposed map which leaked today, and looks rather legit in it's context. Given the mysterious meeting today, there is no surprise this leaked out. 

According to The Examiner, the game will follow Assassin's Creed III and be linked through the Captain Kidd sidequest. All of this, however, remains a rumor until we get some real confirmation on Monday. I am in the middle of my second playthrough of ACIII, and I have to say I am enjoying it more now than I did in my first run. To me, the series hasn't grown stale yet, and I am definitely curious as to how a pirate styled game could function within the given universe.

Many of you readers may remember Cryamore, an indie game developed by a team of well-versed developers who took to Kickstarter to fund their project. After requiring only $60,000, the team ended up  with $242k, which means fans will see many new items, features, and most importantly, the game will be released on all home consoles.

But what exactly is Cryamore? The Kickstarter page has the answer.

"Imagine the barebones gameplay of Zelda, mixed with atmospheric elements from Metroid, action done in the style of Secret of Mana, the excitement of figuring out what element to use like Megaman, hand-drawn storybook backdrops like Legend of Mana, with comedic tones and a thriving in-game clock system like Brave Fencer Musashi; that's Cryamore in a nutshell."

But there is so much more. Head past the jump for a quick synopsis of the gameplay, and head to the Kickstarter page for all the in-depth information you can find about this exciting adventure.

I'm a Cliffy B. fan, he seems like a fun Nintendo-lovin' guy, and he knows when something could very well change in the industry. Don't take his word for fact though, it's merely his view on the matter, but he thinks that we're very close to the day when Nintendo becomes a software-only company while Sony and Microsoft suffer major blows for similar reasons.

“This business has not been in a state of transition like it is right now since the video game crash of the ’80s. I really think we’re in a massive state of turmoil. I think Nintendo could possibly be faced with the situation of becoming a company that only makes software moving forward. I think Sony and Microsoft are about to come to major blows. But at the same time, people love playing games on their iPad. The PC is going through a wonderful renaissance right now. I think we’re ready to do digital download games all the time…I just want to see what happens. In regards to the industry, it’s like the Super Smash Bros. of business right now, and I want to see if Peach or Mario wins.”

I wouldn't doubt it if Sony or Microsoft went under anytime soon, but Nintendo has enough money to keep themselves in business for a long time. If Nintendo ever did become software-only they'd more than likely lose that magic touch that only their games could accomplish on their consoles.

While it's true the PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 are going to offer a nice hardware boost over their previous systems, Bioware doesn't feel games are going to look noticeably better.

 I think the main thing is that the industry doesn't get itself into a corner where it becomes economically unviable to make a game. The last technology iteration caught folks by surprise - especially the number of people you needed and the skillset jump that was required to do the work that people expected. In the last generation the perception was that it was going to be a ten times improvement over the previous generation.

For the next generation there will be a big leap, but it won't be as obvious. People will do things in a cleverer fashion - and I have to be careful here as there are non-disclosure agreements involved! I think they'll be better prepared, shall we say - but we can't see a ten-fold team increase again as the budgets would just be ridiculous. You'd have to sell 20-30 million copies before you broke even.

Thoughts after the jump.

Look, the truth behind the development of the six year project in Aliens: Colonial Marines is a three tiered tail, but Jim Sterling, after collecting information from several of his inside sources, finally feels confident enough to confirm and reassure the beans being spilled. For those unaware, Aliens: Colonial Marines was a disaster. The "demo" shown last year was a vertical slice and completely pre-rendered material, most of which never made it into the final game, and the parts that did weren't even remotely close to as detailed as we saw. There was also no "demo" of the game released publicly and NDA's restricted the truth about how bad the game is from coming out until the day of release, when it was already too late for pre-order folks to cancel.

There are three major players in this whole mess: TimeGate, Gearbox, and Sega. Sega is at fault for a few things, but nothing overly terrible. They announced the game back in 2007 before development began, which in general isn't a good idea, especially with a series that isn't a normal recurring franchise. Sega's board became aware of the mishandling of the funding they gave Gearbox for the game in 2008 and thus canceled the project entirely. At some point, Gearbox came to Sega offering to get serious about the game and somehow Sega decided to refund the project and give it a green light (sounds like this happened roughly early 2009). The main board member who initially became aware of Gearbox spending the first run of money on other non-Sega projects was no longer with Sega at this time.

Oh, it gets worse. Read on for more.

Kotaku recently had the chance to interview creative director Johnathan Morin about Ubisoft's upcoming Watch Dogs. Knowing that the game is coming out on just about every available console, editor Evan Narcisse was concerned that some console owners would see a different experience than others. When asked specifically whether PlayStation 3 owners would feel out-shined by the game's PlayStation 4 counterpart, this is what Morin had to say:

"No, I don't think so. I think it's more… I mean, of course, new machine means new tools and means an extension of the original vision. So, PlayStation 4 will be great for Watch Dogs. That being said, I firmly believe that creating a game experience starts with what you want to do and achieve as a team. It has nothing to do with tools. The tools are there to facilitate certain things. So the same experience is there on the PS3 and other consoles. Players will have the same enjoyment; they will not feel any letdown."

It's good to know that no one type of player will feel any drastic differences in the game. It's always nice to hear that developers are trying to offer the same experience across the board. Now the question remains whether or not this mindset will translate to in-game content. Do you think Watch Dogs will feature console-exclusive bonus missions?

If you'd like to read the full interview, click here.

Johnathan Blow, creator of hit indie game Braid, stepped on stage at the PlayStation meeting on February 20th to show off his new aventure-puzzle game for PlayStation 4, The Witness. The Witness looks and sounds absolutely gorgeous and many assumed that it would be an exclusive title to PlayStation 4, but Johnathan Blow has other plans.

"Basically, you'll see The Witness on PS4 before you'll see it on the next Microsoft console or on the Wii U, presuming we eventually do ports to those consoles. Ideally we want the game to be in as many places as we can get it, but since we are a small developer and it's a complicated game, we can only do so much at once...

...People are speculating that we did this because of money, but that is not the case at all. We like the console and we like the people we are working with; we were already developing a PS4 port of the game, which prevents us from doing other console ports anyway, again because we can only do so much. So it was only a small step to go from this practical fact of development to a formal agreement signed on paper." — Johnathan Blow

It's exciting to see that The Witness will eventually be available to all who hope to play it, but it's sad to see Sony miss out on another exclusive title for the PlayStation 4. Are you excited for Sony's version, or would you rather wait to play it on the Wii U?

This rumor is making its rounds, so it's at least worth talking about on the off chance it's true. See, Rayman Legends delay has caused a stir and while the Watch Dogs port to Wii U has calmed many fans down, it hasn't inherently made anyone on the Rayman staff any happier about things. Here is reportedly what is going on behind closed doors.

"Two delays and the loss of temporary exclusivity for Rayman Legends on Wii U might have pissed off players, but it's also causing quite a stir at Ubisoft Montpellier.

"Based on several sources, Michel Ancel might be thinking of leaving Ubisoft with his own team once Legends is finished, and start a new project with other people (different company?). He talks about wanting more liberty in creating and organizing his project. This is not the first time Ancel has spoken of leaving, but so far he's always stayed with Ubi."

Oh, it gets much worse than this, as apparently Nintendo and Ubisoft failed to reach a distribution and marketing agreement, which ultimately led to the delay and the ports. Much more after the jump.

Ubisoft's released a packet of new screenshots of Watch Dogs, and man are they pretty! Hype over Ubisoft's new IP started last year when the trailer was shown, and it looks like they're determined to start building up that hype until it launches this holiday season. These screenshots showcase more of the beautiful, realistic environment that, while bearing similarities to Assassin's Creed, feels remarkably new and impressive from the studio. 

Jump inside for the pictures!