Early this morning, Notch took to Twitter and saw a post from RockPaperShotgun about Schafer’s desire to make Psychonauts 2 and how he needed “someone to just give me a few million dollars.” Upon reading, the star developer of Mojang decided to take matters into his own hands.

“Let’s make Psychonauts 2 happen,” he proclaimed to Schafer in a Tweet.

To prove he wasn’t kidding around, he later added, “I’m serious.”

After seeing Notch’s remarks, Schafer responded vaguely.

“Oh wait,” he posted. “Hm. This is interesting.”

Eurogamer was then able to get a comment regarding the situation through a spokesperson, who confirmed that the duo were now formally discussing the possibility of bringing Psychonauts 2 into reality.

“Tim and Markus are talking,” said the representative. “Who knows what might happen?”

Later, Notch himself confirmed that he and Schafer were chatting.

“Me and @TimOfLegend are talking to each other via email, and he’s cool with me saying whatever I want about it,” he wrote once again on his Twitter account. “He’s, like, super awesome.”

Despite the hype and buzz this news is sure to generate among gamers, especially fans of the original title, Persson wanted to be sure that everyone knows anything actually happening is still quite a ways off.

“Anyway, please don’t get your hopes too high yet,” he replied. “Everything is extremely vague!”

Schafer himself has yet to make a statement since his initial response.

[RockPaperShotgun]

Neil Druckmann, creative director for The Last of Us, explained the brainstorming process behind bringing back the dynamic duo to the videogame front.

“We dug around trying to find the core of Jak and Daxter,” he said. “Who are the characters?

“We had to reboot it essentially. Every time we got excited about an idea we’d take a step back and look at it and be like ‘It’s not Jak and Daxter, are we just slapping the name on it for marketing reasons?’”

Druckmann went on to state how the process “started feeling like a compromise.” Naughty Dog Co-President Evan Wells elaborated on this statement, saying the final product would have not satisfied fans.

“All the ideas just started to feel like they were going so far away from what made Jak and Daxter Jak and Daxter,” he explained. “Even though we wanted to give fans another Jak and Daxter, we felt we weren’t going to give them the game that they wanted, and that we would end up either limiting the direction that the company had this passion for while simultaneously not creating the game that fans wanted. We just realized we were going to just do everybody a disservice.”

After putting the idea for a new Jack and Daxter on the back-burner, the creative team at Naughty Dog was free to explore the possibility of a new IP. It was at this point that Bruce Straley, director for The Last of Us, came up with the idea for a zombie game upon seeing an episode of the BBC’s “Planet Earth.”

Wells did say that the possibility of another Jak and Daxter game isn’t completely out of the question though.

“Never say never,” he said. “It could happen.”

[Game Informer]

Sony has been delivering emails to PSN account holders regarding the impending change. The message informs recipients that as of the 7th (or 8th, depending on region), all PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita PSN accounts will be converted to SEN accounts, while those PSN accounts held through the PlayStation Portable will remain unchanged.

As for what the transition means for users, Sony has been clear that this will be a change in name only, and that account holders will not be required to take any action related to the rebranding. A quick look at sonyentertainmentnetwork.com suggests that PSN will simply be one component of the larger SEN.

Here is the full email sent to European PSN – soon to be SEN – account holders:

On February 8, 2012, your “PlayStation®Network account” will be renamed a “Sony Entertainment Network account” or a “SEN account”in conjunction with Sony Computer Entertainment’s PlayStation®3 system software and PlayStation®Vita system software updates.  (Note, this change will not be applied to the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system at this time.)

For general purposes, this account change is a change in name only. Your username or password will not change, nor are we asking you to change them.  In accordance with this transition, some necessary naming changes will be made to the TOS and Privacy Policy.

This transition is based on Sony’s goal to enhance its unique digital entertainment offering.  As a series of these activities Sony started last September, PlayStation®Network will be aligned with “Sony Entertainment Network.”  This helps us get closer to our goal of establishing a global comprehensive network platform of services across games, movies, music and more, all accessible from one convenient account.

Thank you for your continued loyalty and support during this transition.

Sincerely,
The Sony Entertainment Network Team

So what are your thoughts on the new name? Do you think SEN rolls off the tongue better than PSN, or vice-versa? Does it matter? Let us know!

Mass Effect 3‘s Achievements list has found its way online, and it includes a few revealing tidbits about the game’s campaign narrative. It also appears that players needn’t play the new Galaxy at War mode  or use Kinect in order to obtain the full 10000 points.

Read on for the full list:

• Driven (5) – Return to active duty.
• Bringer of War (10) – Chase down an assassin.
• Mobilizer (15) – Bring a veteran officer aboard.
• World Shaker (15) – Destroy an Atlas dropped from orbit.
• Pathfinder (15) – Explore a lost city.
• Tunnel Rat (15) – Survive the swarm.
• Party Crasher (15) – Sabotage a dreadnought.
• Hard Target (15) – Call down an orbital strike.
• Saboteur (15) – Disable a group of fighter squadrons.
• Arbiter (25) – Win a political stand-off.
• Last Witness (25) – Extract ancient technology.
• Executioner (25) – Defeat an old adversary.
• Well Connected (15) – Send a warning across the galaxy.
• Fact Finder (15) – Discover an enemy’s monstrous origin.
• Liberator (15) – Stop a Cerberus kidnapping.
• Problem Solver (15) – Evacuate a scientific facility.
• Patriot (25) – Make the final assault.
• Legend (50) – Mission accomplished.
• Shopaholic (10) – Visit a store in the single-player campaign.
• Master and Commander (50) – Deliver most of the Galaxy at War assets to the final conflict.
• Lost and Found (25) – Dispatch 10 probes to retrieve people or resources in Reaper territory.
• Long Service Medal (50) – Complete Mass Effect 3 twice, or once with a Mass Effect 2 import.
• Insanity (75) – Finish the game on Insanity without changing difficulty after leaving Earth.
• A Personal Touch (10) – Modify a weapon.
• Paramour (25) – Establish or rekindle a romantic relationship.
• Combined Arms (25) – Perform any combination of 50 biotic combos or tech bursts.
• Focused (25) – Evolve any of your powers to rank 6.
• Recruit (10) – Kill 250 enemies.
• Soldier (15) – Kill 1,000 enemies.
• Veteran (25) – Kill 5,000 enemies.
• Bruiser (10) – Kill 100 enemies with melee attacks.
• Untouchable (10) – Escape a Reaper in the galaxy map.
• Defender (25) – Attain the highest level of readiness in each theater of war.
• Overload Specialist (15) – Overload the shields of 100 enemies.
• Sky High (15) – Lift 100 enemies off the ground with powers.
• Pyromaniac (15) – Set 100 enemies on fire with powers.
• Eye of the Hurricane (10) – Kill a brute while it’s charging you.
• Mail Slot (10) – Kill 10 guardians with headshots from the front while their shields are raised.
• Hijacker (10) – Hijack an Atlas mech.
• Giant Killer (10) – Defeat a harvester.
• Enlisted (5) – Start a character in multiplayer or customize a character in single-player.
• Tour of Duty (20) – Finish all multiplayer maps or all N7 missions in single-player.
• Always Prepared (10) – Obtain two non-customizable suits of armor.
• Tourist 5 Complete one multiplayer match or two N7 missions.
• Explorer (15) – Complete three multiplayer matches or five N7 missions.
• Gunsmith (25) – Upgrade any weapon to level 10.
• Almost There (15) – Reach level 15 in multiplayer or level 50 in single-player.
• Peak Condition (25) – Reach level 20 in multiplayer or level 60 in single-player.
• Battle Scarred (25) – Promote a multiplayer character to the Galaxy at War or import an ME3 character.
• Unwavering (50) – Finish all multiplayer maps on Gold or all single-player missions on Insanity.

The video showcases several staff members of CD Projekt RED, including Head of Production John Mamais, discussing why the game is an “adaptation” of the PC version and not a “port.”

“What we mean by adaptation is to effectively rebuild the game so that it feels native to the console,” said Mamais. “We’ve rewritten the renderer and created a new rendering pipeline so that we can achieve much better performance with the same fidelity as the PC version.”

Other changes to make the game more console friendly include new camera, controls, and targeting systems as well as a new user interface. The Xbox 360 version will also host “significant new content and other features.”

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition will arrive for Xbox 360 owners on April 17 and has a M for Mature rating.

To see the developer diary in full, simply take a look below.

The statement comes from Mike Gamble, a producer at the company, who was discussing how the game’s writers have worked hard to make its story “the best and most satisfying we can.”

“It’s going to make some people extremely happy,” said Gamble. “It’s going to make some people angry.

“But that’s part of it, right? To invoke the emotion putting some of these stories to bed will naturally bring up.”

Despite the comment, the producer wanted to reiterate that the game’s ending will still vary based upon the actions, decisions, and outcomes made by players in all three games of the series.

“Every decision you’ve made will impact how things go,” Gamble stated. “The player’s also the architect of what happens.”

Anyone afraid that BioWare will end the trilogy without answering all of the questions previously raised won’t have to worry. The developer has every intention to give players the information they deserve.

“You’ll get answers to everything,” Gamble revealed. “That was one of the key things. Regardless of how we did everything, we had to say, yes, we’re going to provide some answers to these people.”

He then proclaimed that decisions made in previous games would make a much larger impact in Mass Effect 3 than they did in Mass Effect 2.

“Because a lot of these plot threads are concluding and because it’s being brought to a finale, since you were a part of architecting how they got to how they were, you will definitely sense how they close was because of the decisions you made and because of the decisions you didn’t make,” said Gamble. “You’ll definitely feel it.”

Mass Effect 3 arrives on March 6 in the US for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

[Eurogamer]

EA CEO John Riccitiello stated that those early sales combined with other strong titles like Battlefield 3 and FIFA 12 have helped to make this quarter a year-over-year improvement from 2011 for the major publisher.

“Star Wars: The Old Republic is developing a committed community of players with more than 1.7 million active subscribers and growing,” said Riccitiello in a press release ahead of the comapny’s earnings conference call.

In a document containing prepared statements for the earnings call, EA revealed that SWTOR was one of the biggest reasons that full game downloads for the company saw a 442 percent increase year-over-year.

“Two million people have purchased the game – from our retail partners and via direct digital downloads on our Origin system,” boasted Riccitiello in the document. “This great launch makes Star Wars: The Old Republic the fastest growing subscription MMO in history. We’re incredibly pleased to see this great game from BioWare off to a very strong start.”

The CEO wasn’t the only EA executive heaping praise on the MMO, President Frank Gibeau also discussed the success the game has had in more than just sales.

“Outside of scheduled maintenance, our servers have been up and running at 99.5 percent of the time – which is a big win in and of itself,” stated Gibeau in the document. “Every major MMO launch has had significant service issues—until now. Star Wars: The Old Republic broke that cycle, leading PC Gamer to write: ‘BioWare hit a big homerun with server stability.’”

The publisher also announced that due to the game’s success, EA will be putting a heavy focus on marketing SWTOR in its fourth quarter. Eric Brown, the company’s chief financial officer, also claimed that the game will be a major factor in the company’s success or failure over the next year.

[Electronic Arts]

The game will be coming to Xbox LIVE Indie Games, GamersGate, GameStop PC Downloads, Green Man Gaming, Playism, and Desura on February 9, with a free demo being released two days earlier on February 7.

Xbox 360 owners will be able to purchase the game for 400 Microsoft Points while the Cell HD PC version will cost $8.95. The latter will include half a million more cells and improved fidelity.

According to New Life Interactive, Cell: Emergence is “inspired by ‘hard’ ’80s arcade games like Defender, Centipede, and Missile Command, [and] offers 17 punishing levels that require players to decipher a level’s ‘cellular automata’ simulation and then battle living processes with speed and dexterity.”

Sheldon Pacotti, lead writer on Deus Ex and Deus Ex: Invisible War, wrote the story for Cell: Emergence. For more information on the game, check out GamerNode’s exclusive interview with Pacotti.

Iwata spoke extensively on the company’s approach to the Wii U as well as future game development at a recent investor Q&A last week. He confirmed that Nintendo plans on releasing in-depth details of the system at this year’s E3 and asserted that the Big N is not competing with Sony or Microsoft for the most technically powerful next-generation platform.

“As we will showcase the Wii U at E3 in June this year, the detailed announcements must wait until then, but we are aiming to make a system which shall not be forced into competing with the others where the contenders can fight only with massive developer resources and long development times as their weapons,” Iwata stated.

Mr. Iwata further elaborated on the need for a balance between graphical fidelity and creative design. He insisted that a series such as The Legend of Zelda would benefit from the increased power of the Wii U and Nintendo’s persistent dedication to fulfill promises to its consumers.

“Take The Legend of Zelda franchise, for example, the fans must be looking for the graphic representations that they do not see as cheap at all when the title is released for the Wii U,” said Iwata. “When it is necessary, we do not hesitate to roll out our resources.”

However, games like Rhythm Heaven do not necessarily require an increased amount graphical power to appeal to its audience, he asserted.

“If we had adopted rich photo-realistic graphics, it would have lost much of its appeal,” Iwata claimed.

The Wii U will be released later this year as confirmed last week and with the news surfacing every day about new features for the Nintendo family of consoles, there are high hopes for the future of the company. If the Wii U can establish Nintendo in the HD generation of consoles then the company’s development possibilities are tremendous.

[EuroGamer]

The Nintendo Network was a shocking and exciting revelation when announced last week, confirming rumors of the service’s existence from December. Skepticism is still present given the console maker’s track record given the skeleton of an online service that was on the Nintendo Wii. Nonetheless, news of possible DLC accessibility through the Nintendo Network has given hope for a better, more modern system.

“If third-party developers would like to adopt this form of micro-transaction, and if this kind of business relationship between the developers and consumers is commonly accepted in Japan, we have no intention to decline it,” stated Nintendo President Satoru Iwata.

Nintendo is not fully behind first-party DLC but is committed to enabling its partners with the ability to offer consumers bonus content.

“Again, we will not turn down such requests by third-party developers as far as they can establish an appropriate relationship with their customers,” Iwata continued.

The Nintendo Network is also supposed to act as a link between the Nintendo Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS. It will allow customers to take advantage of their cooperative capabilities as well as facilitate the developers’ ability to create a better working relationship with consumers.

“Therefore, we plan to ensure a relative level of flexibility for the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U software compatible with the Nintendo Network as long as the developer has built a trusting relationship with consumers, except for the cases that consumers will be too disadvantaged,” Iwata noted.

Going forward, Nintendo understands strong partnerships with third-party publishers as well as an efficient online service are essential to sustaining and increasing their presence in the current and next round of console wars. Hopefully, the Nintendo Network will prove to a successful albeit late foray in the online sphere of gaming for Nintendo.

[Nintendo]