Quick update: Best Buy has just posted a listing for Super Smash Bros for Wii U. The current price is listed at $49.99 and no other details have been given. I thought some of you may find this interesting….

Click here for the listing and be sure to give us a follow on twitter. Thanks for reading.

E3 2012 is right around the corner and the pressure seems to be on Microsoft this year as they have had a fantastic 2012 thus far and last year’s conference seemed a bit too focused on “Kinectivity”. The Kinect has no doubt found its way into millions of homes and has helped the XBOX 360 have longevity in this console race, I am just very interested to see what will happen this year at E3….

So, following our other story “If I ran Nintendo, this is how E3 2012 would go down“, If yours truly was in charge of Microsoft, this is how E3 2012 would go down.

The show would have to kick off with Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. The game is going to go on and sell millions upon millions of copies and will be the biggest selling entity for the entire year. Call of Duty Black Ops would be be front and center and Microsoft needs to discuss why it will be best on their home console. Hopefully Microsoft has captured some exclusive rights to multiplayer map packs and be able to boast this fact home during their press conference. The Call of Duty series has done spectacular on XBOX Live and really needs to nail this fact home.

From there, I would sprinkle a couple of “surprise titles” immedietly following Call of Duty. The titles would have to be exclusive titles for the 360 and help separate themselves from Sony’s already stellar lineup. Microsoft needs to establish a couple of key franchises and help steal some of Nintendo and Sony’s thunder.

The lights would dim and a montage of 3rd party content would hit the screen. Everything from Dead or Alive 5 to Resident Evil 6 would be shown and it would be marvelous. The lights would come on and out would come the first speaker.

The presenter would discuss the tremendous success of XBOX Live and announce some sweet new features regarding the ubber-popular network. They would outline the popularity of the online features that are on the 360 and state that this kind of experience can “only be found on Microsoft”. The presenter would then turn our attention to all new XBLA titles and then inform us that some of the “newly announced” titles would be available for download this week.

The future of Kinect would be discussed in the next part of the show but not overly pushed like last year’s E3. Another video would hit and show off some promising Kinect titles in development topped with some sort of price cut for the perepheril.

After the crowd settled down a bit, another presenter would take center stage to discuss the future of the XBOX brand. Although the next XBOX is still a ways off, I would announce that the system is in development and discuss the next home console in some detail. I wouldn’t divulge all the tricks that the new home console would offer but I would discuss enough features to steal some of Wii U’s inevitable thunder.

Concluding the show would be nothing other than Microsoft’s juggernaut title, Halo 4. The creative team over at 343 studios have been very busy crafting their Halo masterpiece and the show would have to end with a GIANT trailer for the game. The trailer would have to get everyone talking for the weeks to come and help propel the series to new levels.

As always, thanks for reading and I will be eager to hear your thoughts.

I think Sony’s mighty Gran Tourismo and Microsofts Forza franchises are going to have some major competition when Project CARS is released. Every time I see anything from this game I walk away impressed and I am left wanting more.

Enjoy the footage everyone.

The good news; Sly Cooper: Thieves In Time has been announced for PS Vita. The great news; here is the first trailer! I am elated that the upcoming Sly Cooper game, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time has been announced for the PlayStation Vita and hope that there is some connectivity with the PS3 version.

Be sure to check out the all new PS Vita trailer and let us know what you think.

E3 2012 is right around the corner. This time of year feels like Christmas time for gamers and E3 2012 will not disappoint. Nintendo is set to pull the curtain off their forthcoming Wii U console and the gaming public will finally get a chance to see what the big N has been working on for the last number of years.

If I was put in charge of Nintendo’s E3 2012 press conference, this how it would go down:

The lights would dim and a hush would fall over the crowd. No speakers would be aloud on stage and no bar graphs would flash before everyone’s eyes (at least not yet). A montage of high profile Nintendo 3DS titles would dazzle everyone’s eyes followed by a couple of surprises for the surging system. The montage would get the crowd excited and out would come the first speaker.

Details…. Details would be given following the montage and would include specific release dates for all the planned 1st party titles for the rest of 2012. After that, another video would hit the screen and the first major surprise would follow (a 3D Zelda teaser??)…. The speaker on stage (whomever that may be) could now boast how the Nintendo 3DS is dominating at retail and how 3rd party support for the system is thriving. Sales numbers would be given followed by another 3rd party specific video montage.

Following all the hoop-la that is the handheld selling machine, another key note speaker would take the stage. A little time would be set aside discussing the success of the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo would state that this “is only the beginning”….

Now this is what everyone will be waiting for…. The Nintendo Wii U.

Lights would again dim and a grand spectacle would begin. A lengthy video montage (kicked off by PIKMIN 3) fully exposing Nintendo’s forthcoming console would please everyone’s eyes and make even the Nintendo haters mildly pleased with them. The video would showcase a ton of Nintendo franchises (including a return of Star Fox, an all new Metroid, Zelda, F-Zero and Mario), as well as all the key players from 3rd parties (Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, Rayman Legends, Assassin’s Creed 3, Killer Freaks, GTA V and a couple of nice surprises). After that a decent time would be set aside for whatever Retro has been working on and would truly display what the Wii U could do.

Although Nintendo has gone on record stating that they would not reveal any launch details, I would give everyone in attendance a very nice surprise and discuss the planned release date along with launch titles.

Another presenter would take the stage and discuss, in detail, Nintendo’s plans for online. The Nintendo network would be shown and show everyone Nintendo is finally ready to embrace (and take on) the big guys in the online realm.

After all the excitement dies down, one more video clip would hit… This time of the conference would be set aside specifically for Super Smash Bros.. The game would be a bit of a departure from the series but still hold true to what made the franchise so popular. Both versions of the title would be shown in tandem (Nintendo 3DS and Wii U) and would end with a release window.

As always, thanks for reading everyone and be sure to tune in for more “If I Ran…”, as I will be discussing what I would do for Sony and Microsoft.

Here are the latest Japanese hardware sales. As we can plainly see, the Nintendo 3DS continues its domination of Japan selling over 46,000 units. Congrats to Nintendo.

Here are the hardware sales below:

3DS – 46,425
PS3 – 12,996
PSP – 12,247
Vita – 6,340
Wii – 6,073
PS2 – 1,212
Xbox 360 – 1,023
DSi LL – 819
DSi – 387

Source

Halo 4 has to be my most anticipated title of 2012 (besides Nintendo Wii U). I still play Halo Reach online and can’t wait to play as Master Chief again. Don’t let us down 343!!

Enjoy.

The Last of Us will simply be amazing. Mark my words, we have a brand new franchise that’s going to be something very special when it’s released. Be sure to check out the trailer and let me know what everyone thinks.

Heroes of Ruin is set to release in Europe on June 15th and North America, June 26th.

Darksiders 2, the highly anticipated sequel to the excellent Darksiders, has a new release date of August 14th and pre-orders for the title have been outstanding. According to twitter, pre-orders for the game is 5 times higher than its predecessor and has to make THQ happy.

Darksiders 2 is set to release August 14th. Are you going to pick it up?