Sony is inviting gamers to "see the future" next month. The PlayStation maker has released a 45-second teaser video (embedded below) suggesting the company will make a significant announcement on February 20 at 6 p.m. EDT. The "PlayStation Meeting" will be taking place in New York, according to an invite sent to GameSpot by Sony.

The teaser video does not share any concrete information as to what may be divulged at the event. A previous report suggested Sony would hold an Apple-style press event in March to unveil the PlayStation 4. It is not clear if this is the same event.

Analyst consensus is that the PS4, along with the Xbox 720, will be announced in the coming months and released during the back half of this year.

Speculation about the PS4 has run rampant. Previous and unconfirmed reports suggest the system may block, or in some way inhibit, users from playing second-hand games. Still other speculation suggests the console will introduce a new controller that could feature a rear touchpad and a Share button.

Electronic Arts has responded to the schoolhouse massacre in Newtown, Conn. last month that left 20 children and six adults dead. CEO John Riccitiello said last night in a post-earnings financial call that EA was "horrified" by the violence, but noted no link between games and real-world violence has ever been established.

"There's no doubt, we like you, were stunned and horrified by the violence in Connecticut or Colorado or many other places over the years," Riccitiello said. "But there has been an enormous amount of research done in the entertainment field about looking for linkages between entertainment content and actual violence, and they haven't found any."

"And I could give you long stories about how people in Denmark or the UK or Ireland or Canada consume as much or more violent games and violent media as they do in the United States, and yet they have an infinitely smaller incidence of gun violence. But that's not really the point. The point is that direct studies have been done, hundreds of millions of dollars of research have been done, has been unable to find a linkage because there isn't one."

Despite a lack of science-based evidence linking entertainment to violence, Riccitiello admitted that there exists a "perception problem" with games, and this is something to deal with.

"We are responsible, we are mature, and we intend to be part of the solution."

"We understand that while there may not be an actual problem, given all the finger-pointing going on in the press, there appears to be the perception of a problem, and we do have to wrestle with that," he said.

Riccitiello added that the game industry is up to the challenge of fixing whatever perception problem may exist and that companies like EA can actually be part of the solution.

"Ours is an industry with an association that has risen to that call many times before and will as we move forward," he said. "We are responsible, we are mature, and we intend to be part of the solution. Our media reaches literally every American, and that can be used as a voice for good."

"So a quick summary. We are horrified, like you. It's not about games. There is a perception issue. We can be part of that solution, and we are ready to step up to do that."

Since the Sandy Hook shooting, the gaming industry has taken heat from politicians and other groups. Just yesterday, United States senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn) said video games are a "bigger problem than guns" because they "affect people."

Last week, democratic Connecticut senator Chris Murphy said the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting may not have happened if video games did not give the shooter a "false sense of courage."

Previously, republican New Jersey governor Chris Christie said violent games must be examined in the wake of the shooting. Before that, and just a week after the December 14 shooting, the National Rifle Association condemned violent games, saying they were partially to blame for the mass shooting.

A Resident Evil reboot is possible, according to Capcom producer Masachika Kawata. Speaking to Eurogamer, the designer was asked if Capcom would consider changing up the series formula--perhaps making it open-world--after the polarizing reception of Resident Evil 6, to which the idea of a reboot was mentioned.

"If we did [go with an open-world], we would want to preserve what Resident Evil is and what makes it appealing to fans, while also making it accessible to new players. It would almost entail having a slight reboot to get the series into a place where it would work with open-world gameplay," he said. "That's just a personal opinion."

"A lot of decisions would have to be taken before something like that is done to the series, but it is something that…" he added. "There is a possibility."

Kawata is currently working on the recently announced Resident Evil: Revelations port for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii U, due out in May. He said the reception to this game will impact the direction Capcom heads in the future with regard to Resident Evil.

"Once we see Revelations released on consoles, we'll be looking very carefully at how the title is received and what feedback we get," he said. "I think we'll get a lot of input from the fanbase and the media on what it means for Resident Evil, and what it could mean for the future of the series. We'll definitely be looking at that as a signpost for where we need to be going next."

One possibility for the future of Resident Evil, Kawata said, is for Capcom to place greater focus on the horror component, making "something scarier than we have already."

Capcom has previously said a Resident Evil 2 remake is possible with enough fan support.

Electronic Arts has announced that the next entry in the Madden series will land August 27. Interestingly, the game may not be called Madden NFL 14, but rather Madden 25.

According to the official announcement, more information on Madden 25 is coming soon. No platforms for the game were announced.

Nowhere on the page is Madden NFL 14 listed, indicating Madden 25 could be a sister product to Madden NFL 14 or a full-on rebrand to mark the franchise's 25th anniversary.

An EA representative was not immediately available to comment.

The latest entry in the series--Madden NFL--sold 1.65 million copies during its first week, up 8 percent year-over-year. GameSpot's review found it to be a competent yearly update, with old issues returning and little significant innovation over last year's iteration.

GameStop is hoping to not only be a go-to destination for games, but also for phones. The company is now offering unlimited talk, text, and data plans at all stores across the United States through a partnership with NET10.

Those interested can purchase a SIM card at GameStop, place it into any GSM-enabled device, and then activate one of NET10's numerous plans, which begin at $50.

GameStop already sells numerous compatible devices, including iPhones and Android phones.

Cellphone plans may not be the only new area GameStop is branching out to. Last year, CEO Paul Raines said the company is considering selling vintage games, noting the company had already begun acquiring inventory.

A decline in foot traffic saw GameStop sales during the ever-important holiday period sink last year, falling 4.6 percent year-over-year to $2.88 billion.

THQ's drawn out and public demise is not attributable to industry-wide changes, but rather "massive mistakes" made by the company. That's according to former president Jason Rubin, who told MCV in a new feature that though THQ--like all publishers--faced intensified pressure, the company could have survived if certain mistakes were not made.

…I think it is incorrect to attribute THQ's predicament with overall changes in the industry,… Rubin said. …To be sure, all triple-A publishers have been under pressure, but THQ had every chance to survive had it not made massive mistakes."

These mistakes, Rubin said, occurred well before he was brought on board to lead the company in May 2012 and included "incredible losses" associated with uDraw and wasted capital on the canceled Warhammer MMO.

Rubin added that THQ's exit from the children's game business came too late and that Homefront--as well as other "inferior" titles--could have been better. He also attributed THQ's failure to a "generally haphazard and inefficient approach to deal-making [which] left the company with too much negative hanging on its books."

THQ was broken apart and sold to five different companies last week during a bankruptcy auction. For a full breakdown of the proceedings, check out GameSpot's coverage of the event.

Investors are not thrilled with today's Grand Theft Auto V delay. Shares of Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two Interactive and specialty retailer GameStop tumbled today upon news that GTAV would miss its spring release date, instead landing months later on September 17.

At press time, Take-Two shares are down 6.05 percent to $12.27, while GameStop fell 4.15 percent to $22.69. A Take-Two representative declined to comment, while GameStop was not immediately available.

Separately, a Rockstar Games representative told GameSpot today that there is "nothing new" to share regarding potential PC and Wii U versions of GTAV. Rockstar Games cofounder Dan Houser last year said these versions were "up for consideration," though today's announcement left them out.

Aliens: Colonial Marines will feature a $30 downloadable content Season Pass, according to a GameStop product listing. The page states the pass will include four expansions to be delivered by summer 2013. These are to include extra campaign content, additional multiplayer maps, new modes, and further character customization options.

Developer Gearbox Software has not announced an Aliens: Colonial Marines Season Pass, and a representative from the company was not immediately available to comment.

A Season Pass for Aliens: Colonial Marines would not come as much of a surprise. Gearbox's latest game, Borderlands 2, featured a $30 pass that gave gamers access to four expansion packs.

In addition, such initiatives are becoming widespread, and can be found in games like Halo 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Max Payne 3, Gears of War 3, Saints Row: The Third, L.A. Noire, and UFC Undisputed 3.

Grand Theft Auto V has been delayed and will hit store shelves September 17, Rockstar Games announced today. The game was previously targeted to launch sometime this spring for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Explaining the delay, Rockstar said the extra time will allow the company to polish the game further.

"We know this is about four months later than originally planned and we know that this short delay will come as a disappointment to many of you, but, trust us, it will be worth the extra time," the company said in a statement.

"GTAV is a massively ambitious and complex game and it simply needs a little more polish to be of the standard we and, more importantly, you require."

Notably absent from Rockstar's announcement of the GTAV release date today was mention of a PC or Wii U version of the game. The company previously said these versions were "up for consideration." Grand Theft Auto IV originally launched only for Xbox 360 and PS3, but was later made available on PC.

GTAV was announced in October 2011, and a teaser trailer that followed in November confirmed that the game will be set primarily in present-day Los Santos, a fictional town modeled on Los Angeles. Rockstar has also said that GTAV boasts the largest scope of any installment in the franchise to date.

The GTAV game world is reportedly bigger than Red Dead Redemption, GTA: San Andreas, and GTAIV combined.

GTAV features three protagonists, making it the first title in the series to tell its primary story through multiple characters. However, it is not an entirely novel idea for the franchise. GTAIV focused its narrative on the story of Niko Bellic, but ensuing downloadable expansions depicted Liberty City from the viewpoints of two additional characters.

GTAV will have some big shoes to fill. Its predecessor, GTAIV, was a massive success for Rockstar and Take-Two. The game has shipped over 25 million copies, placing it among the top-performing games of all time. In total, the Grand Theft Auto franchise itself has shipped over 125 million copies.

Entertainment Design and Research analyst Jesse Divnich said in November that he thinks GTAV has the potential to sell north of 25 million copies during its first 12 months on the market.

Gamers holding out for a Wii U price cut are out of luck. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said during a recent financial call that due to the system being sold at a loss, a price cut is off the table.

"With Wii U, we have taken a rather resolute stance in pricing it below its manufacturing cost, so we are not planning to perform a markdown," he said. "I would like to make this point absolutely clear."

Iwata also admitted that Nintendo has not done the best job communicating "the value of our product." The executive said Nintendo will try to correct this before it launches upcoming marquee Wii U titles like Mario Kart and Zelda, among others.

Iwata added that unlike the original Wii, consumers have had difficulty instantly understanding the appeal of Wii U. He said those who have purchased a Wii U have shown a "certain degree of satisfaction" with the system, but this has not yet spread to the wider gamer populace.

"But since its value by nature is something that takes time to appreciate and hence cannot be spread amongst society instantly, we have yet to communicate its value to the wider public," he said. "To put it another way, we delivered Wii U to those consumers who we thought would be the first to buy it, but information has not successfully been passed on to those consumers who we think will be the next people to buy it. This must be one big factor with which Wii U could not maintain its momentum."

Also during the call Iwata confirmed that Google StreetView compatibility for Wii U has been delayed. To be titled "Wii Street U," the service was announced in December and was expected to launch this month. It is now targeted to release in mid-February so Nintendo can spend "more time on final development work."

Another service yet to launch for Wii U is TiVo. Previously targeted to launch in January, Nintendo has confirmed with Polygon that the feature will not release until later this year.

Nintendo already has its eyes on what's next. A translation of prepared remarks from president Satoru Iwata today states Nintendo last year began work on technology for "future platforms" that would make software assets more transferable, regardless of the platform. According to Iwata, this would have multiple benefits, including avoiding software launch lineup shortages.

"Last year we also started a project to integrate the architecture for our future platforms. What we mean by integrating platforms is not integrating handhelds devices and home consoles to make only one machine. What we are aiming at is to integrate the architecture to form a common basis for software development so that we can make software assets more transferrable, and operating systems and their build-in applications more portable, regardless of form factor or performance of each platform," he said. "They will also work to avoid software lineup shortages or software development delays which tend to happen just after the launch of new hardware."

Iwata said that previously it was technologically impossible to have the same architecture for handheld and home consoles, but Nintendo's new technology could change this. Iwata's comments suggest games could be shared between a home console and a portable device, though the company is a long way away from implementing any such technology.

"Although it has not been long since we began to integrate the architecture and this will have no short-term result, we believe that it will provide a great benefit to our platform business in the long run," he said.

Nintendo's latest platform is the Wii U, which launched last year and has sold over 3 million units worldwide.

Upcoming racer GRID 2 will be released on May 28 in North America and May 31 in Europe, developer Codemasters has announced.

GRID 2's McLaren MP4-12C GT3 Special Edition, available with preorders from GameStop and Game.

The release date arrives alongside myriad preorder offers at various US retailers. Customers opting for GameStop get the GRID 2: Turbo-Charged Edition, which dishes up two DLC packs: the McLaren Racing Pack and the GTR Racing Pack.

The McLaren Racing Pack plops a McLaren MP4-12C GT3 Special Edition into the in-game livery, alongside a special online event and two new routes on the Brands Hatch GP circuit. The GTR Racing Pack delivers a Nissan GT-R SpecV road car plus daytime variants of the five Yas Marina circuit routes.

Meanwhile, Best Buy is giving out the IndyCar Edition, which hands players the keys to the Dallara IndyCar and the IndyCar Pace car alongside two new routes around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval Circuit.

Amazon US, on the other hand, will provide the Head Start Pack, which buffs up the garage with a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722 GT and offers discounts for the game's car upgrade store and a bonus on Codemasters' social platform RaceNet.

Codemasters also announced that anyone who pre-orders GRID 2 at UK retailer GAME will receive the Brands Hatch Edition, which includes the McLaren Racing Pack and Head Start Pack.

"After four long years, Grid returns not just as a fast-paced street racer, but as an online experience that hopes to rank among the very best that gaming has to offer," wrote Mark in his GRID 2 preview last year.

GRID 2 will be released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

Sony is marking the return of Kratos with an all-new, game-stuffed system bundle. The company today announced the $350 God of War: Ascension Legacy Bundle, which features a 500GB garnet red system (with matching controller), a copy of God of War: Ascension, and the God of War Saga.

This includes God of War, God of War II, God of War III, and the God of War: Origins Collection (which includes PSP games God of War: Chains of Olympus and God of War: Ghost of Sparta).

In addition, the God of War: Ascension Legacy Bundle includes a 30-day trial membership to PlayStation Plus.

The bundle will be available day-and-date with God of War: Ascension on March 12.

Sony just last weekend launched a 500GB white PS3 model, marking the first time Sony had ever released a PS3 in any color other than black in the United States or Canada.

The God of War series has sold over 21 million units worldwide since it launched in March 2005. God of War: Ascension is a prequel to the original, and is the first entry in the franchise to feature a multiplayer component. A trailer for the game will play during the online Super Bowl XLVII stream this weekend.

EA has teased that it will show off Battlefield 4 within "about 90 days" alongside signalling that it's actively developing its main franchises for the next generation of consoles.

During EA's Q3 financial call last night, EA game label president Frank Gibeau mentioned Battlefield 4 as a response to questions about how the publisher intends to avoid another instance of last year's disappointing Medal of Honor: Warfighter. "We have a Battlefield title coming next year," he said, "but we're not in a position right now to talk about our development plans and our SKU plan long term."

"That will come in about 90 days when we get to show you some Battlefield stuff," added Gibeau, hinting that Battlefield 4 could be unveiled around April.

EA's next financial year runs from April 2013 to March 2014, so it's most likely that Battlefield 4 would see a release in the same October timeframe that Battlefield 3 and Medal of Honor previously occupied.

Battlefield 3 and the Frostbite 2.0 engine were publicly unveiled during the Game Developers Conference in March 2011.

Later in the earnings call, EA CEO John Riccitiello suggested that it was already working on next-gen installments for Battlefield and FIFA. "We're also investing Gen4 console technologies and content," he said. "We've signaled that we're working on the next editions of our two biggest franchises in Battlefield and FIFA."

"We look forward to discussing these programs and many others with you when we provide our fiscal 14 guidance in May," added Riccitello.

EA has already announced that owners of Medal of Honor: Warfighter will get early access to the Battlefield 4 beta.

Elsewhere in EA's earnings call was the news that the Medal of Honor franchise has been effectively retired and that Insomniac's upcoming co-op shooter Fuse has been delayed.

Moon and Source Code director Duncan Jones has confirmed he will direct the upcoming movie for Blizzard's Warcraft franchise.

Legendary Pictures' adaptation of Blizzard's world-conquering RTS and MMO series will be a live-action movie with a budget "north of $100 million" , according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Shooting for Warcraft is expected to start later this year for an intended 2015 release. The eight-year-old MMO World of Warcraft, which still boasts 9.1 million monthly subscribers, saw its fourth expansion, Mists of Pandaria, released last year.

"So the gauntlet was thrown down ages ago: Can you make a proper MOVIE of a video game. Ive always said its possible. Got to DO it now! ;)" wrote Jones on Twitter last night.

The script for Warcraft --which is being kept "under wraps" according to The Hollywood Reporter--has been penned by Charles Leavitt, who has previously worked on The Express, Blood Diamond and K-PAX.

Spider-Man director Sam Raimi had originally been down to direct the film, but had to leave the project in favour of the upcoming Oz the Great and Powerful.

PS Vita exclusive Killzone: Mercenary will be released on September 17 in North America and September 18 in Europe, Sony has announced.

Writing on the PlayStation Blog, Guerrilla Games producer Poria Torkan also detailed some information about the upcoming handheld FPS that's been virtually unseen since its announcement at Sony's Gamescom 2012 press conference.

The single-player campaign to Killzone: Mercenary will feature nine missions that are reportedly each close to an hour long, and the game will include an eight player multiplayer mode spread across six maps and three gametypes.

Killzone: Mercenary is using the same engine as Killzone 3, says Torkan.

"Starting just after the ending of the original Killzone, and revisiting many of the events from the Killzone trilogy, the game puts players in the rugged combat boots of a mercenary named Arran Danner. Danner is a former UCA-soldier who has no qualms about taking on paid contracts from the ISA as well as the Helghast," adds Torkan.

Resistance and Ratchet & Clank developer Insomniac Games' first multiplatform title Fuse has slipped from its intended March 2013 release date. The third-person shooter will now be released between April and June, EA has announced.

The release slip was confirmed as part of EA's Q3 earnings report, where EA also said that sales-conquering soccer sim FIFA 13 has scored 12 million sales and Battlefield 3 Premium had notched up almost three million subscribers.

Fuse is a third-person shooter designed around four-player co-op, and it incorporates Insomniac's iconic fondness for innovative weaponry. The game was originally announced as the cheerily-coloured Overstrike during EA's press conference at E3 2011, only to resurface as the aesthetically darker Fuse in August 2012.

Despite the controversial art change, Insomiac has repeatedly insisted that Fuse still retains a sense of humour and fun. Speaking to GameSpot in September 2012, CEO Ted Price said the challenge for Fuse was in "having a sense of humor that isn't campy but isn't so subtle that players miss it. And then integrating it into real-time gameplay so players hear emergent dialogue throughout the game that's relevant to what they're doing but also entertaining."

The Medal of Honor franchise is taking a break. Electronic Arts announced today that after Medal of Honor: Warfighter missed sales expectations, the series is being taken "out of rotation."

It is not clear what this means for developer Danger Close Games. An EA representative told GameSpot this afternoon that the studio has no announced projects.

"We haven…t announced a new project for the Medal of Honor development team, although there are other projects in development in Los Angeles and throughout our other EA studios," the company said. "Medal of Honor is a great franchise with a storied past. We recognize and appreciate the value of the franchise. We…re going to give Medal of Honor a rest while we plan its return. We haven…t made any decision on how or when it will return."

In years past, Battlefield and Medal of Honor games have traded off releasing every year. EA did not say which franchise could replace Medal of Honor in EA's yearly shooter rotation, though the company said more details will be shared on the next financial call in 90 days. Battlefield 4 is currently in development, with a beta to arrive later this year.

Respawn Entertainment, led by former Call of Duty designers Jason West and Vince Zampella, is currently working on a big-budget unannounced game for EA.

As part of its latest financial report today, Electronic Arts announced that FIFA 13 has sold over 12 million units through its third quarter, a 23 percent year-over-year jump. In addition, FIFA 13 digital net revenue topped $100 million for the three-month period ended December 31, up 98 percent compared to last year.

EA's Origin digital platform now has 39 million members, 17 million of which which are mobile users, the company said. By comparison, Valve has more than 50 million members. In all, EA has signed agreements with 86 independent developers for Origin.

Overall, EA's digital business saw gains during the quarter, hitting $407 million, compared to $377 million last year.

In total, EA posted net revenue of $922 million, compared to $1.06 billion this time last year. The company posted a loss of $45 million for the period, better than the $205 million hit the company took this time last year. EA CEO John Riccitiello called the quarter "challenging."

…We are investing for the future wave of growth that we foresee in digital and console,… he said in a statement.

Other financial highlights for the period included the $50 Battlefield 3 Premium offering, which generated $108 million in sales and has now sold 2.9 million copies to date, up from 1.3 million last summer.

EA also called out mobile game The Simpsons: Tapped Out as a bright spot, noting it generated more than $23 million during the quarter. Lastly, the company said Dead Space 3 preorders are outpacing Dead Space 2 and Crysis 3 reservations are up 40 percent over Crysis 2.

Looking ahead, EA said it expects net revenue for its fourth quarter to land at $1.025-$1.125 billion, with net revenue for the full-year expected to hit $3.778-$3.878 billion.

During a post-earnings conference call, EA called Medal of Honor: Warfighter a "miss," saying it sold "well below our expectations." The company also said sales of NHL 13 are down year-on-year, due in part to the NHL lockout that was only just recently lifted.

In addition, the company commented on Star Wars: The Old Republic and its recent free-to-play switch. EA said early checks are proving positive, but it is too soon to tell if the business model change has been successful.

The National Coalition Against Censorship has fired back at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation for removing a string of "violent" games from rest stops earlier this month. The games--including Time Crisis and Beach Head 2000--were removed following complaints by parents and just a month after the deadly shooting in Connecticut.

Executive director Joan Bertin's letter to the Massachusetts D.O.T. points out that games are protected free speech under the First Amendment and therefore cannot be regulated or restricted by state officials. She specifically mentioned the 2011 high-profile Supreme Court ruling as evidence.

"The Department's action in removing certain games because some people object to their message or content is equally constitutionally problematic. There is no legitimate state interest that could be asserted to justify removing specific games to appease the sensibilities of certain motorists."

Bertin added that by removing the games from rest stops, the Department is treading a slippery slope that could lead to other complaints. She said it is no stretch to imagine a person demanding certain DVDs, magazines, or books be banned.

"It is no more acceptable for the Department to remove certain kinds of video games than it would be to selectively remove other materials in rest stops and concessions because some motorists find something in them objectionable," she said.

Bertin concluded her statement saying it is unfair to single out video games, noting that no one is forcing anyone to play the games at rest stops.

"Video games, like other forms of media and entertainment, do not appeal to every individual. What some may feel is perfectly fine may not be right for all," she said. "Those who do not wish to play video games at rest-stops do not have to, just as those who do not. wish to read a particular book or magazine do not have to."