NEWS: Saturday Roundup

Welcome to the Saturday Roundup, a (bi)weekly roundup of all the important news going on in the gaming world.  If you’re sick of gaming websites' content turning more and more casual, trying to pass off a single sentence and a link to a cool picture they saw on deviant art as ‘news,’  you've come to the right place. I aim to consolidate and summarize only the stuff that’s most important to gaming enthusiasts. It’s a mix of hard news, interesting features, and other titbits that I feel like you guys would enjoy. Let’s see what’s been going on this week:

• More Skyrim incoming! Bethesda have released an official trailer for the new 'Dragonborn' DLC pack coming soon to Skyrim. So far, only details for the Xbox 360 version have been revealed - it will release on December 4th for 1600 Microsoft points. Going by Bethesda's previous schedule, the PC version will ship shortly afterwards, and the PS3 version will never see the light of day. I quite enjoyed Skyrim's previous DLC pack: Dawngaurd, so I'm looking forward to this one!
• Video games should not have review scores. This is a sentiment that I, along with many other journalists share, and this pictorial representation of fans reactions to Halo 4 review scores shows just why we should not be tied to an arbitrary little number at the end of every review.

Skyrim: Dragonborn

• Origin, EA game's answer to Steam is getting quite a sizeable update. New features include the ability to stream game's directly onto popular gaming stream service TwitchTV, as well as add non-origin games to the service (and still be able to stream them). Origin has had a very slow start when compared to the feature rich, bloated library of Steam, and this update may just be what it needs to start to chip into Steam's virtual monopoly.
• Far Cry 3 has gone gold. It will also release on all platforms (including PC!) simultaneously, a statement that in this day and age really shouldn't be a selling point of a game. Pick it up Nov. 29th in EU, Nov. 30th in The UK, Dec. 4th in NA.

Far Cry

• The humble bundle is back, this time for Android 4. The popular pay-what-you-want charity drive has run it's course several times already, offering up some of the best indie games out there in one of the most progressive charities I've ever seen. You can choose how much you want to pay, as well as where your money goes. Think charity is stupid? Give 100% of your money to the developers!
• Fans of quirky wii fighter Tatsunoko vs. Capcom hoping for a western release may be right out of luck. Capcom's rights with the Tatsunoko property recently lapsed, meaning they are no longer able to sell the game, even in Japan. As of now there are no plans to renew the rights, which dashes hopes of both a western release and a sequel for the WiiU.
• Diablo III expansion confirmed, Heart of The Swarm release date announced. Blizzard's Q3 earnings report reveals better-than-expected financial results, and announces their expansion plans for two of their franchises. No date was set for the yet unnamed Diablo III expansion, but Starcraft II's Heart of the Swarm was given a 2013 release window.

Will free-to-play save The Old Republic?

• Star Wars: The Old Republic is going free to play on 11/15. The previously announced news that Bioware's struggling MMO would go free-to-play now has a solid release date. Free players will be able to play as any of the game's 8 classes, though some races and a decent chunk of content will be restricted. Access to PvP warzones will be limited for free players, while access to the game's raid-like operations will be completely restricted.
• Still haven't played Bioshock? Now it's free. Gamefly are running a promotion where you can play 2k game's multiple-award-winning FPS Bioshock absolutely free. This was easily 2007's game of the year for me, and has become one of my favorite games of all time. What better way to pump yourself up for Bioshock Infinite than a play through of the game that started it all?
• Wii's dreaded 'friend codes' are now a thing of the past, with Nintendo announcing that the WiiU will drop the lengthy codes in favor of a more practical friends system. Friend codes were annoying because they were laughably long, and required both friends to enter in a unique code for every game that they wanted to play together.
• Lastly, Game Informer has the scoop on some brand new GTA:V details. The game will reportedly have three main protagonists that you will switch between throughout the game. You'll replay certain missions as different characters, as they will each have a unique skillset and playstyle. Los Santos will also be the biggest open world Rockstar have made, with the developer boasting that it will be "bigger than Read Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto IV and San Andreas combined."

GTA:V will have 3 main protagonists instead of one

So that’s the news for this week. Be sure to subscribe to my twitter for up-to-date news and blog updates, check out my new digs over at non-fiction gaming for my regular Wednesday article, and check back here every Saturday for more news!