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2012 in news: November gets Wii U launch, big hitters

Wii U, Halo 4, Black Ops 2 and Far Cry 3 releases dominated November, after which the core industry started dropping news on GTA 5 and Mass Effect 4. Get the eleventh part of our 2012 news retrospective below.

November, as ever, was the month of the big gun. The most significant release was that of Wii U, which launched first in the US and then in Europe.

For every month in our 2012 retrospective, hit this.

November, as ever, was the month of the big gun. The most significant release was that of Wii U, which launched first in the US and then in Europe. Some bricking issues were swept under the Yoshi-shaped carpet and we had photos and videos of Nintendo looking serious and punters exuding happiness. The console sold out in America and moved 400,000 units in its launch week.

As far as Wii U software was concerned, we were mainly looking at ZombiU. Up the core, and all that.

The year's biggest budget games hit in November. Halo 4 was well received and pulled in more than $220 million in 24 hours. Gamers played it for over 31 million hours in the first five days of availability.

Black Ops 2 released on November 12 to stable reviews and heavy sales, although an estimated $500 million in the first 24 hours at stores wasn't enough for the coveted "biggest entertainment launch ever" press release and analysts estimated unit sales could decline 15% over the previous CoD. One guy didn't listen and played it for 135 hours straight. As you do.

Far Cry 3 sneaked in right at the end of November to hot reviews. Peter Molyneux's Curiosity also hit, and promptly broke. The final part of The Walking Dead signed off on many a GOTY list.

Three men in a rote

With the year's super-releases out of the way, the core industry started looking forward. GTA V got its second trailer and a Game Informer cover, spilling a large amount of new detail about setting and protagonists. Everyone had a little news fit and Rockstar started giving away free t-shirts with pre-orders. Good times.

Grand Theft Auto may have stolen the upcoming show in November, but it was by no means the only big future sequel making noise. BioWare started mentioning Mass Effect 4, assuring it'd be respectful of the original trilogy, and Crytek talked about a new Crysis game for the first time. Rainbow Six: Pariots would "surprise" the industry, Ubisoft said, and Team Bondi's Whore of the Orient was pegged for 2015.

An actor boobed a mention of Modern Warfare 4 then retracted it, and Square said the next Hitman game would offer and entirely new perspective on 47. A Hotline Miami sequel became a thing.

November saw a large amount of numbers being fannied about. GTA V would sell 25 million units in its first year, said a man, and Gran Turismo closed on 70 million life-time sales. Sleeping Dogs managed 1.5 million sales, Assassin's Creed 3 quickly moved 3.5 million copies and 3DS neared 6 million units in the US.

PS3 achieved 70 million total sales and Steam hit 50 million users. Black Friday was successful for both Microsoft and Sony, with 750,000 Xbox 360s and over 500,000 PS3s sold over the retail holiday.

Positive numerals avoided THQ, unfortunately. Michael Pachter warned of imminent and serious danger for the ailing publisher, and shares fell nearly 50% on bankruptcy fears. Credit defaults were resolved, a CFO left the building and the month ended with a humble bundle essentially giving THQ games away. The situation would come to a head in December.

Next-gen rumours were slow in November as everyone was concerned with actual games instead. We did, however, get a great kick of a PS4 details story, and Xbox 720 was said to be releasing in late 2013. Sony said it was still too early to be talking about the next generation, but Ubisoft was on its knees begging for new hardware.

General news saw PS3 get certification in China and Xbox 360 prepare for launch in Israel. The next Army of Two got a March release date. Elite: Dangerous, Godus and Sir, You Are Being Hunted all took to Kickstarter: all would be funded.

The US Official PlayStation Magazine was closed, as were UK mags Xbox World and PSM3. Eurogamer said it was to open a US consumer site. Xbox Live turned ten. SWTOR went F2P.

And that was that. The decline to the Christmas coma started here.

Next: December. For every month in our 2012 retrospective, hit this.

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Patrick Garratt avatar

Patrick Garratt

Founder & Publisher (Former)

Patrick Garratt is a games media legend - and not just by reputation. He was named as such in the UK's 'Games Media Awards', the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award. After garnering experience on countless gaming magazines, he joined Eurogamer and later split from that brand to create VG247, putting the site on the map with fast, 24-hour a day coverage, and assembling the site's earliest editorial teams. He retired from VG247, and the games industry, in 2017.

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