Publisher says gamers can expect news about next-generation console's software lineup at event next month.

Sony's Gamescom showing next month will focus on the PlayStation 4 and its software, the platform holder has said on its Facebook page.

"With the buzz around PlayStation 4 building, 2013 continues to be one of the most exciting years ever for video games fans," Sony said. "A host of next generation titles were unveiled at the PlayStation Meeting 2013 and E3 2013. At Gamescom in August 2013, the focus will be on PS4 and its games line-up once again."

A number of questions about the PS4 remain ahead of its launch later this year, including its official release date and what games players can expect on day one. Competitor Microsoft will also attend Gamescom, where it is expected to reveal further details regarding the Xbox One's self-publishing policy, among other things.

It is not clear what role Sony's other gaming platforms, like the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 3, will have at the show. Gamescom 2013 takes place in Cologne, Germany, August 21-25. GameSpot will be in attendance at the event.

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[UPDATE] Microsoft confirms all prices.

[UPDATE] Following the publication of this story, a Microsoft representative confirmed that all Xbox One accessory pricing information through the Microsoft Store is correct.

"Yes, official pricing for Xbox One accessories at Microsoft Stores is accurate," the representative said.

The original story is below.

The official Microsoft Store has been updated with pricing information for a range of Xbox One accessories, revealing extra controllers will go for $60 and additional headsets for $25.

An Xbox One wireless controller with play-and-charge kit will sell for $75, while the play-and-charge kit alone will go for $25.

It is not clear if the Xbox One accessory pricing information is final. GameSpot has reached out to Microsoft for comment.

All Xbox One units include one wireless controller, though the system will not come bundled with a pack-in headset. Players can still use voice commands out of the box, though, thanks to the Kinect.

Competitor Sony will offer extra DualShock 4 controllers and PlayStation Eye units for the PlayStation 4 at $60 each. The Xbox One ($500) and PS4 ($400) launch later this year.

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Reregistration of company's trademark covers "downloadable electronic game software"; no comment from Nintendo.

Nintendo has reregistered its Eternal Darkness trademark, with the new document covering downloadable games, something the 2010 trademark did not.

Siliconera spotted the United States Patent & Trademark Office filing, which covers "downloadable electronic game programs; downloadable electronic game software."

Nintendo's intentions for the new Eternal Darkness trademark are not known. The company declined to comment when approached by GameSpot.

"We have no comment regarding this trademark matter," a Nintendo representative said.

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem developer Silicon Knights has disbanded. Former president Denis Dyack is currently leading Precursor Games, a Canadian outfit working on spiritual successor Shadow of the Eternals.

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Former Silicon Knights president says industry in a similar position to Hollywood in the early '20s, believes major studios like EA and Activision are not going away.

The business of AAA game development is "not fine," according to former Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack, who told GameSpot in a new interview that the AAA space is undergoing a similar transition to the one that the film business went through in the early '20s.

"AAA is not fine," Dyack said. "I think our industry now is in a position exactly where Hollywood was in the early '20s--the golden era of films. Making movies like Cleopatra or Ben Hur where everyone was employed and they had thousands of staff. And they made fantastic movies; those were great movies; I still watch them today; they're amazing. But studios looked at it and said, 'We're not making money. This is not working.'"

Dyack is not predicting the demise of major AAA publishers like Activision or Electronic Arts, but rather suggesting that companies of their size will adapt their business practices and become more "focused."

"And then those [film] studios didn't disappear; and it's not to say that it's going to be over for EA or any of the studios. They're still going to be around," Dyack said. "I don't think anyone should kid themselves about that."

"But what did happen is they changed the way they worked and it went more towards the model that we have," he added. "Which I would calléa micro-studio or a very focused studio that grows and expands but are not employees of this one group, where it's basically not internal development. It's much more efficient that way. I think that's where AAA may go, or at least game development can go."

Dyack is now chief creative officer at Precursor Games, the studio behind Wii U and PC game Shadow of the Eternals, a spiritual successor to Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. The game's Kickstarter campaign was relaunched last week and has attracted $167,000 of its $750,000 pledge target at press time.

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Wal-Mart subsidiary Asda confirms that it is not stocking the Wii U in any of its 555 retail stores across the UK.

UK supermarket giant Asda, a subsidiary of US retailer Wal-Mart, is no longer stocking Nintendo's Wii U console at any of its 555 retail stores across the country.

The retailer says it will continue to stock selected Wii U titles through its online store, however. "Asda continues to offer customers a selection of Wii U games and accessories through Asda Direct, but these ranges are currently not on offer in Asda shops," said a spokesperson for the supermarket to CVG.

"Asda will stock [Wii U] games on a title-by-title merit basis as they come along through Asda Direct. We will continue to support Nintendo as a format holder partner," concluded the UK's second-biggest supermarket.

Speaking to MCV, Asda says that it only ever offered the Wii U in 100 stores, but that it is removing the console from stores to make way for more successful hardware, including the 3DS.

Furthermore, Asda said that it will continue stocking the Wii U online but is currently out of stock due to a recent sale on the hardware. In previous months, Asda has repeatedly slashed the prices of 3DS hardware to shift stock. The retailer is still accepting preorders for Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4, both of which are due to launch later this year.

Nintendo refused to comment on the situation, but said it was "looking forward" to the Wii U's year ahead.

"Nintendo UK does not comment on specific business practices with individual retailers. However, as we have seen with Nintendo 3DS, software sells hardware, and with titles such as Wonderful 101, Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD and Super Mario 3D World already announced for this year as well as the recently released Pikmin 3 and New Super Luigi U having reached number 2 and number 6 in this week's chart respectively, we are looking forward to the year ahead on Wii U."

A report from early July stated that specialist US retailer GameStop was also gearing up to discontinue stocking the Wii U Basic.

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Rockstar Games releases 12 new images from upcoming open-world game, says first details on GTA Online coming next month.

Rockstar Games today released 12 new Grand Theft Auto V screenshots and announced that it will unveil the game's multiplayer component, Grand Theft Auto Online, sometime in August.

The image batch, labeled as "The Fast Life," shows the game's three protagonists in a variety of settings in Los Santos and Blaine County. One shows Trevor at what appears to be a strip club, while in another, Franklin fires a pistol in the rain while riding a motorcycle.

GTAV launches September 17 worldwide for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. A recent job listing at Rockstar Leeds called for a programmer to help bring the company's "latest titles" to the PC, potentially including GTAV.

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Media Molecule's PlayStation Vita game Tearaway shifts from mid-October to November 22.

Little Big Planet developer Media Molecule today announced that its next game, the PlayStation Vita title Tearaway, has been delayed to November 22.

The game was originally scheduled to launch in mid-October, but studio director Siobhan Reddy explained on the PlayStation Blog that Media Molecule needed more time to finish it.

"We are now in the final stages of development, and have come to the realization that we need a little more time than we anticipated to finish the game; to tie all of the mechanics, story and amazing visuals together into the adventure that we want you to play," Reddy said.

Reddy said Media Molecule is "really, really sorry" for the delay.

"Thanks for being patient, please don't be too cross with us, lots of love, Mm xxxx."

Tearaway, a papercraft platformer, was announced last year and will make use of numerous PS Vita features, including the system's cameras and rear touch pad.

Media Molecule revealed an all-new experimental PlayStation 4 game at the console's announcement event in New York City in February.

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Handheld versions of Nintendo's strategy series Pikmin couldn't work because of control issues, says Miyamoto.

On the eve of Pikmin 3's release on the Wii U, legendary games designer Shigeru Miyamoto has explained why Nintendo canned a handheld prototype of the strategy series for the DS and 3DS.

"The truth is we were doing prototype tests of Pikmin for the DS and 3DS but it turned into unit management with only the touch pen and no matter what it just didn't seem like Pikmin," explained Miyamoto to 4Gamer (translated via ONM).

The problem, according to Miyamoto, is in the game's controls. "We concluded that Pikmin is a game that revolves around action based on its controls and the strategy sits on top of that. Although there are elements that are built on the strategy, there are other overall things that have to be well considered. This complete experience is an important element of Pikmin."

While the Pikmin prototype didn't meet Miyamoto's expectations on the 3DS, the designer says the Wii U's GamePad makes the latest entry in the series accessible. "[Pikmin 3] may seem difficult on first glance, but once you try the controls, it's easy. Even if you find using the pointer difficult, there is a control method using the GamePad similar to the previous GameCube titles that we'd like people to utilize. To that end, we hope people are able to look at this as a carefree, easy action game."

Pikmin 3 will be released in North America on August 4. The game is already available in Europe, Australia, and Japan.

Pikmin 3 landed at No. 2 in the UK charts after its first weekend on sale.

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Cowen & Company's Doug Creutz believes new game from 2K Marin will sell fewer than 250,000 copies in US through end of the year.

A long development for The Bureau: XCOM Declassified won't be rewarded with strong sales, according to Cowen & Company analyst Doug Creutz.

In a note to investors today, Creutz said 2K Marin's game is "unlikely to generate any significant sales." This will be fewer than 250,000 units in the United States through the end of the calendar year, he said.

Creutz's estimation is based on the results of an internal analysis of upcoming titles stemming from the number of preorders for the seven weeks since E3.

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified was originally announced in 2010 as a first-person shooter called XCOM. After numerous delays and years of silence, 2K Games announced in April that the game would be released August 20 under its new name for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC as a full-price, third-person shooter.

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Former Epic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski says canine companion was cut early in the development process.

The original Gears of War had a dog companion, former Epic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski told Kotaku in a new interview.

"Gears 1 had a canine helper with you that was cut early in the game. Guess word got out to Activision," Bleszinski said.

Call of Duty: Ghosts features a dog, Riley, that players can control in various ways. Employees at developer Infinity Ward are split on whether or not they want the dog to die, though the studio has already decided Riley's fate.

Also in the interview, Bleszinski said that "there's some truth" to the idea that cutting features can help ship games. "Sometimes you need to ship with the bare minimum of cool and then polish the cut ideas for a sequel, strangely enough," he said.

Bleszinski left Epic Games last October after 20 years with the company.

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