LGWyant

Was the upcoming release date of Rockstar North’s Grand Theft Auto V inadvertently given away by online retailer Walmart.com? The internet division of the retail giant from Bentonville Arkansas currently has an advertisement for GTA V on both XBOX 360 and Playstation 3 for which the shipping date is listed as December 31st, 2012. The release quarter originally given for the newest entry of Rockstar’s flagship series was Q4 of 2013. Quarter four of the fiscal year would put the release date between Jan 1st and March 30th 2013. GTA IV, the last iteration was released on April 29th, 2008. Rockstar doesn’t quite share Activisions predilection of releasing their top series on consistent dates, however this time frame has another reason for being quite likely. Take-Two the parent company of Rockstar North has reported an outlook for Quarter 4 of the fiscal year which it plans for an increase of $1.75 to $2.00 per diluted share. Several analysts including Michael Pachter believe the only answer to Take-Two’s generous forecast is a title selling at least 18 million units. With Bioshock Infinite being the only big name release currently being slated for the target quarter, GTA V begins to look like a lock for release in this time period. As for the Walmart.com release date, it seems to be more of a place holder date than a true release point. Also listed for release the same day is Sanzaru Games title Sly Cooper: Thieves in time. Originally given the same q4 2013 release period, it has since been confirmed with a Feb. 28th release date. So while the December 31st release is quite possible, it is just as likely as any date between then and March 30th.

The Anime/Drama video app was made available on last Tuesdays update, but if you didn’t notice it’s understandable. At the time you had to navigate to the PS3 store and wait for the little logo to pop up in one of the rolling ads that slowly switch out on the store’s front page. After downloading the app, Crunchyroll appears in the same video section with the likes of Netflix and Hulu. It’s similar to those as well with a few exceptions. First it has more quantity and quality than both in the Anime and Drama genres, as well as having current running shows updated up to an hour after they air in Japan. From standout Dramas like My Lovely Sam-Soon, Prince’s First Love, One Fine Day, Pink Lipstick, and Iris to the requisite Anime Bleach, Naruto, Mobile Suit Gundum, Demon King Daimao, Fist of the North Star and yes… even Digimon. The app so far has had a few problems, but Crunchyroll has said they are aware of them and are working on getting things fixed, as well as bringing the feeds up to 720p and 1080p from the current 480p that it’s streaming at. Another issue I found was when signing up you are asked to input your credit card information, but it never states the pricing for keeping the service. After looking up the site on the computer it has a handy comparison chart. $11.95 per month will get you the premium all around content streamed to PS3, PC, Tablet, or Android and Apple devices. A smaller $6.95 will get you either the Anime or Drama collections if you’re only interested in one of them. You’re allowed to preview the app on the PS3 by either watching all the 1st episodes that show on the screen or by entering a credit card you get 30 days to decide if you want to keep it. If you don’t like it just remember to cancel before the 30 days are up.