We have an epidemic people. In the past few weeks BioShock: Infinite and Tomb Raider both were officially confirmed pushed to early 2013. One or two delays make sense, and at the end of the day wont really have a big impact on the season, but we now have two more to add to the list.

Last week THQ announced that Obsidian’s South Park: The Game would also be pushed to the early portion of 2013. This ambitious RPG might not have yet been on a lot of people’s radar, but the game has been written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone with Obsidian getting a lot of support from the folks at South Park Studios. So it is likely the game will be a big deal once it gets close to release.

In addition, Gearbox Software announced today via their blog that Aliens: Colonial Marines has also been delayed until the first quarter of 2013:

Our vision has been to create a video game sequel to the original Alien trilogy. Our vision is for the game to be fully featured with an exciting, suspenseful, thrilling and action packed narrative campaign that can be played alone or cooperatively combined with a robust competitive game where human players can take on the roles of Colonial Marines or Xenomorphs and do battle online. The game must be authentic.   

Hopefully the later release date will help Gearbox properly follow through on those visions. Alien: Colonial Marines isn’t just getting a nebulous delay though, an official release date of February 12th has also been announced.

These two new delays have started to make early 2013 seem a little crowded. The normally lack luster post holiday gaming season might just be pretty worthwhile next year.

Remember a few months ago when it seemed like fall 2012 was loaded with tons of awesome, highly anticipated video game releases?

We told you how BioShock: Infinite would be delayed several months and now add another of those high-profile games has jumped ship to early 2013. In an announcement made on Edios Games’ forums, Darrell Gallagher informed us that the Tomb Raider reboot game has been pushed to 2013:

Our priority now is to make sure we fully deliver the very highest quality game. In order to do this, we have decided to move the game’s release date by a few months, from Fall 2012 to the first quarter of 2013.

We’re doing things that are completely new to Tomb Raider in this game and the additional development time will allow us to put the finishing touches into the game and polish it to a level that you deserve. We believe this is the right choice and I guarantee it will be worth the wait. The game is looking amazing and we can’t wait to show it to everyone at E3 in a few weeks.

Unfortunate news for a game that a lot of people were really look forward to. Although we here at The Flickcast think this might be for the best, in a world where Uncharted has set a new standard for action and treasure hunting games, Tomb Raider has a lot to live up to. At the very least the game wont be a no-show at E3 like BioShock, so we wont have to long to wait to see what sort of additions this delay allows.

One of the most endearing parts of Who Framed Roger Rabbit was the imagined world where Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse were denizens of the same  world. It was a real thrill to see classic animated characters from multiple companies come together for one film.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Disney is at it again with their new film Wreck-It Ralph:

The movie features other spoofs of real-life games: Glee‘s Jane Lynch is a Sarge-like figure (Halo) in a sci-fi first-person shooter called Hero’s Duty, and comedian Sarah Silverman voices cutie-pie Vanellope Von Schweetz in a dessert-themed Mario Kart-style racing game called Sugar Rush.

But before Ralph ventures into those worlds, we find him confessing his woes in a support group for fellow videogame villains, and that’s where the first big cameos begin.

So on top of spoofs, the movie will also see actual cameos for famous video game characters. The EW article goes on to name a who’s who of classic villains, including Dr. Robotnik and Bowser. Does this foreshadow an appearance by two of the most famous video game mascots ever, Mario and Sonic?

What is also interesting is that it appears that a zombie, potentially from the Resident Evil universe, also appears. The truth of the video game industry is that there are a lot of mature titles and franchises that kids are drawn too, would a Disney animated feature call reference to them? You can find out when Wreck-It Ralph hits cinemas this winter.

We did it! Last week I implored you to vote for Calvin ‘Megatron’ Johnson in the Madden NFL 13 cover vote, and I am thrilled to report that it work! Yesterday the official unveiling took place on ESPN and Johnson was revealed as the new cover athlete who hopes to avoid the Madden curse.

The spectacle of the announcement might have been a bit over the top, but it was nice to see such a ruckus made of a video game on ESPN 2. Seeing a young, classy star like Johnson win the popular vote was great for fans of the game and more specifically for fans of Detroit who might be finally coming out of their dark ages.

In other Madden NFL 13 news, a new announcer crew was revealed for the game. In the last few years we have had the duo of Gus Johnson and Chris Collinsworth, a solid if unspectacular team. In the new version of the game we will be treated to the CBS ‘A’ announcer team of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms.

These guys are a much better announcer team, and actually work together on a weekly basis. So the game should have a more realistic feel to it on the broadcast side of things. Even though the game is using the CBS team, EA will not be mimicking the CBS graphics packages.

The highly anticipated football sim hits stores August 28th, 2012.

I have a confession to make- I never gave Trials HD a shot. Partly because my Xbox 360 gave me a red ring of death, and partly because of this YouTube video.

But while walking by Microsoft’s booth at PAX East, Trials Evolution was available to play, so I shelved my apprehension and joined three friends to try our hand at the four-player multiplayer, a new feature in this upcoming sequel.

Trials Evolution multiplayer is really really fun. Your goal is to finish the level as quickly as you can, with as few faults as possible. The player with the most points at the end of the heat ends the game. There’s a couple different areas to play in, and if you’re a veteran of Trials HD, you know how different controlling your bike can be. The two Trials HD veterans I played with had no problem picking up the multiplayer and schooling us newbies to the game.

I have a feeling Trials Evolution will soon join the ranks of Mario Party and Smash Brothers as another party game with the power to end friendships.

You won’t have to wait long for the chance to challenge your own friends to Trials Evolutions, as it will be available for download from Xbox Live on April 18^th.

Once the marquee mascot for the XBox generation of gamers, Master Chief has taken a step back in recent years. In hopes to regain the original glory of the FPS, Microsoft announced last year that they were moving a head with a brand new numbered Halo game.

Today Microsoft set Halo 4′s official street date, November 6th, 2012. This unsurprisingly puts one of the most anticipated games of the year in the middle of the juiciest video game release window. The real question now is can this 4th installment recapture the magic of the original trilogy?

FPS games have grown leaps and bounds since Halo: Combat Evolved rejuvenated the genre. Added to that, one of the original Halo’s greatest strengths was it’s story, and it will be hard for the developers to come back with a compelling and authentic Halo story based on where the franchise currently sits.

Of course that is all doom and gloom from a registered PlayStation fanboy. The truth of the matter is, if Master Chief is truly an iconic mascot in the same way Sonic, Mario, Link and Crash Bandicoot Kratos are than Halo 4 will be a rousing success, at least commercially. Heck, I will be rooting hard for this game myself, if for no other reason than to wash away that grimy layer of muck that is Gears of War being the 360s marquee exclusive.

With PAX East over, it’s now the time to countdown to the biggest show in the gaming world: E3. This 2012′s E3 has the potential to be one of the biggest in gaming history. As both the XBox 360 and PlayStation 3 have hit milestones in their lifecycles, could it be time for both Microsoft and Sony to reveal the latest entrants to the console market? Last year’s E3 revealed the Wii U to mixed feedback.

Nintendo appeared to be playing catch up to the power of both the 360 and PS3 by announcing power specs that are comparable to the current generation’s competitors with another gimmick controller. But what could this next generation of home consoles do to change the game and the way gaming is consumed? Truth be told, we don’t know and the rumor mill around the internet has only lead to widespread debate over possible problems caused by these new consoles as opposed to innovations brought on from them.

The next iteration of consoles will most likely not focus on simple graphic upgrades. Looking at games from the XBox 360′s and PlayStation 3′s launches and comparing them to the most recent releases has shown that these systems have not topped out yet in terms of their processing power and graphical capabilities. In the hands of the right developers, cutting edge visuals are still being developed for consoles and it is rare to see drastic differences between even the highest end PC games to their console counterparts. So while it is realistic that these new systems will have stronger processors with higher capabilities, the noticeable degree of improvement isn’t going to be as drastic as with previous generations.

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There’s a lot at PAX East, which takes place this upcoming weekend, to be excited for- the show floor will be jam packed with tons of exciting games, the concerts at night will be rockin’, and there’s endless free play areas for console, PC, tabletop, and card games.

But one other thing you should definitely make some time for is the panels- they’re a chance to catch up with some of your favorite people in the industry, learn more about making videogames a career, or ask your favorite developer or community manager a question. Here’s some of the panels I’m most excited for this weekend.

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There is no denying the popularity of the Call of Duty series. Generally finishing the year as one of the top sellers, Call of Duty games are big business. So the concept of packaging it’s planned DLC as apart of a ‘content season’ is a great way to keep the popular series fresh year round.

This latest round of DLC content contains two spec ops missions. The first taking place in snowy Russia and sees you and a partner on snowmobile’s before storming an enemy diamond mine. Mission two takes you to the streets in India as you work to liberate hostages in a city.

The last bit in the drop is a new multiplayer map called Black Box. The map is focused on an affluent neighborhood that Air Force One crash landed in. You take your battles through the wreckage of the President’s downed plane and the surrounding homes.

We have been giving you a heads up to new content drops since the program was announced, and today is no difference. For your viewing pleasure we bring to you Rob Riggle and the March content drop trailer, after the jump.

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Call of Duty Elite is a service that allows the most hardcore Call of Duty players to lose themselves in some pretty advance stat tracking and multiplayer progression. Now those gamers have even less of a reason to spend any time away from their account with the launch of the iOS app for the service.

The new app will be free for all registered users, and is available on all iOS platforms today. An android version is going to be hitting soon as well.

Immerse yourself in Call of Duty® wherever you go with the Call of Duty® ELITE mobile app. Evaluate your multiplayer progress with in-depth stat analysis. Formulate new strategies based on your recent performance and remotely incorporate edits to your loadouts. Push your changes directly into Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 3 so you’re always ready to play.

Check out a list of features and some screen shots after the jump.

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Check out the latest episode of the Bitcast with JC and WallE as they explore the world of gaming. In the news, the two reflect on the Grand Theft Auto V launch trailer and recap their predictions from the last episode and see who did better. Also discussed are the November 8th PSN releases of Crono Cross, Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI.

In the Topic of the Week section, the Bitcast takes a look at the Free to Play gaming model which is becoming more and more prevelent in gaming today. The two discuss both the merits and concerns of the concept, look at how it has been implemented in existing titles and talk about what it can have in store for the future.

In their Now Playing, WallE has a throwback moment as he looks back at the original Uncharted for the PS3. JC expands further on his time with his review for Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure.

Normally, I like to weave in a little commentary with these posts and also bring you the cool photos, screenshots and trailers you really want. However, today I’m just not in the mood for all that and instead, will just cut to the chase.

Soon we will see the release of another expansion pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops. This next one, called Call of Duty: Black Ops Annihilation, is chock full of cool new ways to blow stuff up.

Plus, it features the ever-popular zombie levels sure to please fans of wasting the undead. We’ve got new screenshots and a trailer for this pack for you today, so click through to enjoy them.

The Call of Duty: Black Ops Annihilation content pack comes to Xbox Live on June 28th. Rock and roll.

By clicking through you certify you are 18 years of age or older. Yeah, they make us say that.

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