GTA V Screenshot Breakdown

by Roger Havens

Have you been dying for more Grand Theft Auto V news? Well thanks to the fine folks over at Rockstar Games, we now have 10 new screenshots that we can analyse and comb through. Give em a look and enjoy. Please keep in mind that Rockstar clearly stated that these screenshots are all from current gen consoles. For one, this game looks awfully good for current gen. Secondly, is Rockstar making a next gen version of the game? Is that partly why the game was delayed until September? One can only hope.

Maybe I am just being picky, but Rockstar, where is the brake handles? That question aside, this might show a new gameplay mechanic. As you can see in the background the cops are chasing Trevor, and they are hanging off of the side of the vehicle. Will they be able to jump on to your car if they get close enough? Or will this be a new ability that the players can use similar to Just Cause 2? Either way this should be fun to have in game.

Now here is an interesting picture. There appears to be a filter on the photo giving it the color affect as well as the lens flare on the tail lights. Although this could have been done just for the heck of it, another possibility comes to mind. Will GTA V have a film editor where you can record gameplay and create your own pictures? Just imagine taking a screenshot of your awesome stunt jump and editing the picture to your hearts desire. Awesome.

Here is a great shot to show off the vast world of Grand Theft Auto V. You can see a dirt road trailing up the left side of the screen. A great hill for a bike ride I presume. As far as you can see there are no sky scrapers or big buildings. Which means that Los Santos is somewhere else, maybe over the farthest mountain. Remember Rockstar did say that this game map would be larger than GTA: San Andreas, GTA IV and Red Red Redemption all put together.

You all know how it goes. You hop into your newly acquired green Infernus and speed down the road. Burning cars litter the road behind you. Just another day in your GTA world. It looks like escaping from your carnage wont be any easier this time around. This time Police helicopters have attached spotlights to keep track of your every movement. As we saw in a previous screenshot, cops can also use laser assisted weapons to shoot from helicopters. Should make for some excited cop chases!

This isn't the first time we've seen a mini gun in a GTA game, but still this image gets me very excited. For one, look at the fire effect on the tree. Is there going to be a progressive fire system like Far Cry 2? The fire seems to have spread off of the cop car and is now engulfing the the tree in flames. This could be a new game changer. Also, it is important to note that Franklin is wearing a bandanna to cover his face. Could this be a new ability to help mask your identity from the police?

Skydiving. We've all be there before. But this time around it looks like it will be cranked up to 11. Maybe the sky level will be much, much higher. The plane above looks like there is a door in the back where you can jump out of. Will this be a new mini game? We shall surely see.

Scuba diving will be a new feature in GTA V, but how in-depth will it be? I can only hope that there will be a  plethora of hidden collectibles or treasures. Hopefully just treasures, because I feel that searching for 300 hidden sea mollusks in a coral reef would be a tad bit tedious. Either way I want the under water feature to be fleshed out.

Just look at those colors. "Would you just look at it?" Sunsets look to be a promising vista in this game. The lighting effects are superb. Also as you can see in the background, a couple of buildings are under renovation. I don't know if this will do anything to change up the gameplay or if it is just a part of their world but it will be interesting to see.

This is just an awesome screenshot. Here you can see the protagonist Michael leaning on his Buffalo. Is he waiting for the next mission to start, or will this be the Fallout 3 version of sitting on a chair? The only other thing here is the attention to detail. Random items litter the alleys, and electricity meters are on the side of the building. But this is nothing new to the talented people at Rockstar Games.

And we saved the best for last. Not only is this a beautiful shot of the pier and the buildings in the distance, but you can see the dynamic weather system is in full effect. Lightning strikes in the distance and the sea is being stirred up by the storm. That water sure is pretty. Looks like we will have waves this time. Maybe their will be a mini game for putting out fires from lightning strikes!

                                                                               ~
Thanks for reading through this analysis of a few GTA V screenshots. I hope you are excited for this game as much as I am. Please leave a comment of anything that you noticed and what your are hoping to see in the game.

Roger Havens- Reviews Editor
@Afro_Gear
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4/2/13

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Peeling Back the Layers of the Bioshock Infinite Onion

by Dexter Jaekel

Don't be sad my dear

Since completing Bioshock Infinite late last Friday night, I have been deep in thought about the stellar and mind blowing ending. Here in this Spoiler filled article I will lay all my theories out on the line for you to view. I had spent a significant amount of time trying to locate extra Voxphones to unravel more information about the story. So if you have made your way through the story without finding these Voxphones, then I will help to fill in the details for you. If you have not beaten Bioshock Infinite yet, please bookmark this page for future reading! I think you will like what you are going to read.


SPOILERS START NOW
First things first, Booker DeWitt is Comstock. The reason Elizabeth drowned you in the river was because Comstock was born from the Baptism in the river. In one universe, Booker goes to the river to be Baptised and rejects the Baptism. His lives with his guilt for his misdeeds towards the Indians, which leads to gambling, debt, he has a daughter and the mother dies during child birth, and in order to wipe away the debt he sells his daughter to Robert Lutece. Of course, we see Comstock taking Anna DeWitt into his own universe, and she loses her pinky in the closing portal.

Comstock is born from every universe where Booker chooses to be Baptised. He changes his course of life, meets Rosalind Lutece, and creates Columbia with her Quantum Levitation. His ego gets the better of him and he takes the basis of Christianity and twists it to his favor. This gains him many followers and he is able to populate Columbia. Comstock prophesies to all these followers that his child will pave the way to an even better world. Problem is that all his time working with Rosalind Lutece on her Quantum Levitation, and subsequent parallel universes, caused him to become sterile. It was at this time that he jumped into the Universe of Booker the gambler and took his daughter.

Comstock tries to murder the Luteces because they know the truth about Elizabeth. At this point, they go back to the other universe to get Booker in an attempt right this wrong that they have made. Booker is brought over and immediately looses his memory, due to the fact that in this universe he has no memories of what happened after refusing Baptism, since after that moment only Comstock existed. He then begins to make up an existence and purpose based on some small pieces of his old universe that he is able to hold onto, "Bring us the girl, wipe away the debt."

The Lutece twins are actually not twins. They are in fact the same person. In one universe, Momma Lutece has a boy named Robert Lutece. In another universe, Momma Lutece has a girl named Rosalind Lutece. Through their work with Parallel Universes, the two decide to live together in the Columbia Universe.

The reason why Elizabeth has the power to tear open rifts is because her pinky was left in a different universe. Rosiland Lutece said something about this in one of the voxphones.

The name Bioshock Infinite is a reference to the fact that there are Infinite universes within the game

The scar on Booker's right hand saying "AD" stands for Anna DeWitt. The Lutece's refer to it as his hairshirt. Back in the day, hardcore Christians would wear scratchy and uncomfortable shirts under their clothes to punish themselves for whatever they believe their sins are. They wore them as a painful reminder. So, DeWitt scared his hand as a painful reminder of the day when he gave his daughter away.

The constant use of the song "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" is a pretty obsious metaphor for the whole game. When the game is over, the circle is finally broken.

When the Luteces have you flip a coin at the beginning of the game, you should assume that these Two have asked the other Bookers in other Universes the same question and marked it on the sandwich board. So, if you count the number of tally marks you will see that this is actually the 122nd time that they have tried to break the chain of events. Also, whenever you ring the bells at the top of the lighthouse in the very beginning of he game, you ring the bells once, twice, twice. One Two Two. 122.

The choice between which necklace Elizabeth should wear is an interesting thing. The game gives you this seemingly important choice, and makes you wait for that moment when the game reveals what effect this choice will have on the universe but it never happens. This is interesting. I think what Irrational Games was trying to portray is the illusion of choice. What you should take away from it is the idea that no matter what decision you make, all the parallel universes bring you to the same place. The outcome will ultimately not be changed.

After the credits, you see Booker back in his office. The newspaper indicates that it is the same day that he would have given Anna away. But there is no knocking at the door. The way Booker says Anna's name, like there is some question in his mind as to wether or not it is real, tells me that this is the same Booker that we have been playing all along. All the other Elizabeths faded away at the end of the game, so maybe Elizabeth brought Booker to the new universe that had been created where Comstock never gets to exist and never takes Anna. A world where Booker is now completely ready to be a good and loving Father after learning all the things that it means to be a Father while he was in Columbia.


------------
Rapture is another Parallel universe

This is a theory that passed me by until today. Of course I saw the Rapture part, but I thought that was a clever nod to the original game. However, Elizabeth says that this is "one possible universe." So if this is true, then in another universe, the Comstock version of Booker became Andrew Ryan and created an underwater version of Columbia. The parallels are too strong to ignore.

Rapture is created to feed Ryan's own ego, much like Columbia was created to feed Comstock's ego.

Plasmids are just Vigors by a different name, same as EVE is just like Salts.

Atlas/Fontaine plays the same role as Daisy Fitzroy.

Dr. Lutece plays the same role as Dr. Tenenbaum.

The biggest Mind Blow is that Elizabeth and the little sisters are the same. Elizabeth is like one large and powerful Little Sister. In the original Bioshock, the little sisters were protected by a bunch of Big Daddies. In Bioshock Infinite, Elizabeth is protected by nothing less than the Ultimate Big Daddy, Songbird. Just look at these two pictures of Elizabeth and a little sister. Even the clothing color combination correlates!

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Well that's all I can think of right now. Please feel free to leave any corrections or additions in the comments below.




Written by Dexter Jaekel
Editor-in-Chief of TheTechFixation.com
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Why are Indie Developers so Important in Sony’s Future?

by Greg Woolston

Indie developers have been getting a lot more attention lately. It seems as if they aren’t really indie at all, other than the fact that most are run independently of a large publishing conglomerate looming over their every decision. Independent developers have really been able to take shape with this most recent console generation. I think that a big part of indie development’s success comes from Steam and the ability to make a relatively small game, and get it out to a large audience with minimal investment. Why are these developers so important to Playstation, and why has Sony taken such great steps to get these developers on their platforms?

This is the first image when I searched Journey in Google. That says quite a lot when a screen for the indie game Journey beats out an image of the great American rock band Journey.

Recent news out of GDC has shown that Sony is deeply invested in indie developers and Sony wants to have them develop for their platforms. The Verge outlines how recently Sony has been making steps to entice indie developers to the Playstation platform by making it easier for them to develop, and release their titles. IGN revealed that when Retro City Rampage developer Brian Provinciano wanted to pitch his game it was much easier to work with Sony and Steam, rather than Microsoft. Develop Online indicated that many developers have come forward stating their optimism for working on the PS4, stating that it will be more inexpensive and accessible that it has ever been before. This was also something that Sony highlighted during their February 20th PS4 reveal by inviting Jonathan Blow to debut his new title The Witness. It seems that Sony has something up their sleeve, and the best part is that it seems to be focused on the hardcore gamer.

Many incredible indie games have hit the Playstation recently with notable standouts including Journey and The Unfinished Swan. Both of these games were stand outs for many game of the year nominations with Journey winning a handful. These types of experiences are made for hardcore gamers, and I think that Sony knows that. They want to show their most passionate fans that they are committed to games as well as other media options arriving on their new console.

Their once was a line between a downloadable indie title, and a Triple-A disc based title, but that line grows continually smaller each day. Gone are the days that a downloadable title is looked down upon as inferior because it is sold at a fraction of the cost, and doesn’t have the hard copy disc. This was something that was quite prevalent at the beginning of the console cycle with the Xbox Live Arcade featuring such titles as Limbo. But, it seems that Microsoft has lost its way with indie devs. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t meant as any sort of fanboy fuel. Microsoft still has released Arcade titles to critical acclaim recently, but it doesn’t seem like their focus is with these indie devs.

Sony is making some big changes to help indie games come to their platform. By making the development, marketing, and release process easier Sony will be able to attract some very unique and interesting games to their platforms. A major part of gaming’s future will be in indie development, and getting these very unique and excellent games in gamers hands is what it is all about. Sony understands the importance of indie games for gamers, and I hope that Microsoft and Nintendo catch on so that no gamer will be left without these experiences.

Written by Greg Woolston
Junior Tech Editor

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Why Do People Love Bioshock?

by Dexter Jaekel

So I have a confession to make.... I never finished Bioshock. Please don't throw your stones at me, I have a legitimate excuse, sort of. Whenever someone gets sick right after eating a particular food, most of the time they don't like the idea of eating that food again because they attribute it to being sick (even if it was something else that made them sick).

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$60 Price Point; Too Expensive or Just Right?

by Daniel Goad and Cam Sky

We are trying to enter a new era and all new heights for the quality of the articles that come from TheTechFixation.com. Some of our efforts involve a new line of articles that feature an entirely new idea incorporated into them. In the below article you will be presented with a debate between two highly reputable TechFixation Editors; Cameron Skayman (Cam Sky on TechFixation, @cam_sky on Twitter) & Daniel Goad (TechFixationJedi on TechFixation, @thepausemenu on Twitter). The topic as chosen and structured by these two will be covering "Are Video Games worth an initial $60 cost?"

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Console Wars: Pick Your Side or Not

Console Wars: Pick Your Side or Not

by Greg Woolston

Fanboy wars have raged for decades, and maybe even farther back before consoles or game systems even existed. This is something that anyone has to deal with that plays games on any console, but it goes beyond consoles to any sort of brand that we techies get behind. There are Playstation fans or Xbox fans; iOS fans or Android fans; Windows fans or Mac fans that seem to constantly debate which is better, and each fan will take their brand of choice to the grave. As a tech conscious consumer in today’s digital world, I have become less of a fanboy and more of a proponent for innovation.

The point that I am trying to make hits most closely to home with each new console generation, and with the new generation quickly approaching I wanted to get my thoughts out there to maybe open some minds about trying to avoid being an obsessed fanboy. My first experience with fanboyism came when I got my first console. As a child I had had some experience with the NES and the Genesis, but I wasn’t allowed to get video games until I was 9 years old. Almost 16 years ago my father asked me which console I wanted: a Nintendo 64 or Sony Playstation. I was unable to make a clear decision. We decided to rent both systems, and try the games from both systems. I instantly fell in love with Wave Race, and Star Fox on the 64. However, I also loved playing games like Crash Bandicoot, and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on the Playstation. In the end my father made the choice that he thought the Playstation would be better for me and that more of the games resonated with me. My best friend at the time gave me a lot of trouble for getting the Playstation, and I had no idea why. Why was it that because I got the Playstation I became the enemy? From that moment on, I stood up and defended the Playstation with everything I had. I had become part of Sony’s army at just 9 years old, and I had no idea why.

To this day I have played on Sony’s platforms, maybe it started because of that first fanboy experience that I had when I was 9. When I got a job as a teenager I was able to purchase other systems to try them out, but ultimately always reverted back to my Playstation. I really enjoyed Halo on the original Xbox, but nothing could compare to sneaking around as Snake or Raiden on the Playstation 2. I loved, and still love, the Playstation platform, and the Dualshock controller is my personal favorite gaming controller of all time. The games I wanted to play were on the Playstation. Even with my deep Sony roots I have recently come to the conclusion that the whole fanboy war is stupid, and completely useless. Who cares how you play games? As long as we are getting the immersive gaming experiences that we crave, who has the right to tell us that we are doing it wrong?

Companies try their best to satisfy customers with their products, and offer certain features to retain those customers. Let’s face the facts. All Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo really want is to make money. We can stand by our gaming ideals, and preach that company X or company Y is out there to deliver unique experiences for their customers no matter what happens on the business end of the company. But, all of these companies are run by CEOs that have board members, and maybe more importantly the stockholders that keep hounding them if the company isn't profitable. Why did Sony introduce the Move? Or, whose brilliant decision was it at Microsoft to release the Kinect? Each of these companies saw how much money Nintendo was raking in with the Wii, and  they both wanted a piece of that pie. I have never used a Move controller, but I have spent a lot of time with the Wii and some time with Kinect. As a gamer I have no interest in motion gaming, and I feel that I am not alone. But, these things will exist as long as the parent company can make money off of it.

Getting back on point, we give these companies our hard earned money to get a product that we can get countless hours of enjoyment out of. Purchasing a gaming console can be quite the hurdle for some, especially at launch before any kind of a price drop. Sometimes kids will have to save their lawn mowing money for months before being able to purchase a game. This is, in my opinion, where devotion to a brand begins. We invest in a piece of hardware, and we don’t want anyone to think that what we bought is dumb or inferior. Instead of defending the company that produced my game system, and berating those that didn’t buy from that company, wouldn’t it be better to have discussions about how gaming has improved over the years because different companies exist? What would have happened had Sony and Nintendo been able to work out their joint console? Would Microsoft be in the console race today, or would we have one console that may or may not be state of the art?

When different companies compete for the same customers, we are the ones that receive the most benefits. We get to enjoy the improvements of each console generation, because if one company doesn’t step it up, then the other will innovate in order to win more customers. The conversation going around should be about where this industry can go with competition rather than which company sucks, and which company should be worshiped. With the new console generation I hope to be able to purchase more than just the next Playstation to get a well-rounded view of what is good across all platforms. I’ll have to start saving now. Take my opinion for what it is worth, but in the end take an audit of how childish it sounds to defend a certain company the next time your inner fanboy emerges. Wouldn’t it be better to improve, and gain new friendships around games?

Written by Greg Woolston
Junior Tech Editor

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360 x 2 = Marcus Fenix

As the reveal of Microsoft's next console looms before us, I find myself strangely drawn to my Xbox 360. Recently I mused that if I sold it now I'd get a much better price than I would after the Xbox 720, or whatever it will end up being called, will be announced. But I find myself strangely drawn to the loud white box that sits beneath my television, which has no internal wifi and whose faceplate needs to be taken off in order to open the disk drive and put back on in order to turn it off.
I recently gained access to all three Gears of War games, and have already sunk in a few hours into the first one. It has aged somewhat well with time - the difficulties seem fair, the combat system is impeccable, and it has split screen coop - but the charm only stretches so far.

Gears of War: featuring shiny faced Marcus Fenix

The AI in the game is completely senseless, the color scheme brings the word 'intolerable' to mind, and the levels consist of move shoot, move shoot, with very little variety.
When Gears of War came out in 2006, it was the highest rated shooter to come out for the Xbox 360 at a 94 on Metacritic. It helped define the console as one for hardcore gamers, who could appreciate a shooter. Halo 3, which helped perpetuate this culture, didn't come out for almost an entire year after Gears. And now, as we begin to wave goodbye to the 360, Judgement comes out to wave as well - if there is another Gears game coming out, I'm guessing the series will move on to the 720.

Now with more grunting.

As will the gaming community, I suppose. I will always have fond memories of my 360, and I have yet to make a decision on whether or not I'll trade it in - I certainly won't make that decision until backwards compatibility is confirmed. But, as with Gears of War, over time it will lose more and more of its appeal.
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The Phantom Pain; Why it IS & ISN'T MGSV

Below is the first ever interview with alleged CEO of Moby Dick Studios Joakim Mogren with GTTV about The Phantom Pain.

First off lets enjoy the trailer. For those who have seen it take your time and try and dissect the entire thing. If you haven't seen this yet then by all means take your time.

The image above takes the Phantom Pain logo and superimposes "Metal Gear Solid V" into the lines that are coming off of the logo in the design. This rumour is vague but interesting.

Dr. Kio Marv is the Czech scientist who made the oil producing bacteria OILIX in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. This character from the Phantom Pain trailer is a great lookalike and has an East European accent.

In the two images above Hideo Kojima actually posted on Twitter the progress of his motion capture but left out the details about what they were attributed to.

This image taken from the reveal trailer shows off what looks like a young Psycho Mantis. His age here would help him fit in a Big Boss era timeline while his presence would explain all the fire and ghost animals. The message that flashes up just after this asks, ‘Am I in a dream?’

Metal Gear Solid Ground Zeroes stars a man that looks very similar to the lead protagonist in the trailer and features a man with a burned face. It suggests a link between the two.

This strange figure, possibly a hallucination, bears a passing resemblance to Snake in the Ground Zeroes poster. However, the legs appear to be identical to the armour from Portable Ops.

This character has MGS style armour on and this time the colour and detailing matches Volgin from MGS3.

Raiden?

Early in March 2012 Kojima Productions were looking to hire engineers to work on “the latest Metal Gear Solid targeted for high-end consoles and PC” as well as “next-gen game engine technology for use with the FOX Engine”.

Kojima Productions then posted shots taken with a camera and some rendered using its Fox Engine, and has asked the viewer to decide which are the “real-life” photos and which were from the Fox Engine.

The unicorn from the trailer could very well be the same rendered by Kojima's FOX Engine.

The trailer's protagonist has a few things Snake has:

Mullet? Check.

Beard? Check.

Damaged right eye? Check.

David Hayter raspy breathing? Check.

Scar from Ground Zeroes just under the eye? Check.

The trailer ends with Snake being found, at which point the small child Psycho Mantis rises up, arms held out in a very familiar pose. Shortly after this bit when the trailer cuts to black a voice says “V has come to”. You know ‘V‘, as in five.

American journalist Alex Rubens tweeted this picture of people at the VGAs in Moby Dick T-shirts. The man on the right is Kyle Cooper, a title sequence designer who worked on MGS 2 and 3. He also tweeted, “There are people in the VIP section of the Konami party wearing Phantom Pain/Moby Dick Studios t-shirts”, adding “they don’t look Swedish”.

There are people in the VIP section of the Konami party wearing Phantom Pain/Moby Dick Studios t-shirts.
— Alex Rubens (@alexrubens) December 8, 2012

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There is currently a conspiracy theory that Kojima Production has hired former lead and Epic Games founder Cliff Blezinski. Hideo and Cliffy B are complete BFFs that have been photographed everywhere together but could they really be working together?

According to a post on July 14, 2012 Cliffy B was shown something grand behind closed doors by Kojima himself. Secret stuff.

However unlikely it is still fun to speculate. Although I do not see the resemblance in facial features and characteristics...however Cliffy B does talk with the right side of his mouth as does Joakim, but the teeth and lips are not similar. Voice is not identical. Eyebrows are a match as well as eyes. And the blonde/brown hair sticking out of the bandages could be another clue.
[GameRevolution]

Now check this out. This video below is from the Video Game Awards that The Phantom Pain debuted at. Cliffy B, Stephen Totilo of Kotaku, and Daniel Kaysar are backstage watching the trailer live as we all did. Keep a close eye on Cliffy B; he seems confused and just as lost as Stephen and Daniel, yet he is the one name dropping Hideo and trying to put 2 and 2 together to make this seem like a Metal Gear Game.

Video Game Awards
Get More: Spike.com,Watch Full Episodes,Video Clips

Below is a twitter conversation following the accusation that Joakim Mogren is in fact Cliff Blezinski.

_____________________________________________________

Here are some interesting quotes from the twitter of Joakim Mogren, the alleged CEO of Moby Dick Studios (you can "see" him in the interview up top with Geoff Keighley).

Joakim confesses The Phantom Pain was a Metal Gear "spinoff"

@thebiolover The Phantom Pain was originally going to be a spin off of the Metal Gear series, but due to some problems it is it's own game.
— Joakim N. Mogren (@JNMogren) December 9, 2012

According to Mogren he left the MGSV development team and Hideo Kojima was upset about it and from his tweet it seems they harbour "bad blood"

@daniel_switzer Bad blood with Kojima. He is angry with me for leaving the MGS5 dev team.
— Joakim N. Mogren (@JNMogren) December 9, 2012

 The Moby Dick CEO tweets that The Phantom Pain is NOT Metal Gear Solid V

@solidninja This is not a Metal Gear game.
— Joakim N. Mogren (@JNMogren) December 10, 2012

Joakim says he worked for Bethesda...

@gamesandcomedy Bethesda.
— Joakim N. Mogren (@JNMogren) December 10, 2012

Mogren is asked again if this is Metal Gear Solid V

@felixandrews Yep. This game was originally going to be MGS5, but we had some problem and were told to leave
— Joakim N. Mogren (@JNMogren) December 10, 2012

Mogren claims to have acquired rights to an unknown game from the THQ fire-sale

@jnmogren grabbing darksiders? Everything else is taken i believe.
— k b (@hqxkxbuzzkiller) January 24, 2013

In a confusing declaration Joakim says The Phantom Pain will be a current gen title and not a next-gen game.

_________________________________________________________

Tell us what you think. We want your opinions. What do you believe Hideo Kojma is up to? Who is Joakim Mogren?

Enjoy some screenshots

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