Strauss Zelnick, chairman of T2, feels that things will turn around soon, expressing confidence at the quality of the games from 2K Sports, whose franchises include Major League Baseball and Top Spin.

Such is his confidence that Zelnick even strikes a jab at competing studio, EA Sports. Speaking at the 28th annual Piper Jaffray Consumer Conference, Zelnick remarks:

We pride ourselves on our quality. When we go head-to-head with ‘Brand X’ we out-rate them significantly. We outsell them when we go head-to-head. It’s sort of an unheralded achievement. This is a tough business.

Brand X, as can be easily construed, refers to EA Sports. Zelnick is disappointed that the sports business won’t become profitable this fiscal year, but he believes that once hardware sales gain more penetration in the market, things will turn around.

Of course, this could also hold true for EA Sports, as both studios release games on multiple platforms, so in terms of hardware, neither have a monopoly. As Zelnick implied, the battle isn’t in the number of platforms the games were release in, but in the quality of the games themselves.

That does that jumble of characters mean? We’re not sure, but the posters over at the NeoGAF forums came out with their own speculation, leading to some very interesting possibilities. Here was Autumn Thread’s assessment of what the characters may mean:

• D - Dragon Quest, or Final Fantasy Dissidia (tip from Kagari.)
• K - Kingdom Hearts
• Σ - Sigma Harmonics
• 3 - Kingdom Hearts 3 (though I’m leaning more towards The 3rd Birthday)
• 7 - Final Fantasy 7 (Advent Children Complete, sorry guys.)
• 13 - Final Fantasy 13

We once again remind the readers that the titles listed are just speculation, though the presence of Dissidia and FF13 may perk your attention. Next week’s Famitsu is expected to carry more information regarding the Square Enix event, as will Square’s members-only site for Japan. That’s all the information we have for the moment, though you may want to visit again in case we run into any related updates.

1C Company has reminded us via press wire that they have announced new videogame projects in the console vein of gaming. IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey and Captain Blood will soon see their debut on the next generation consoles and handhelds, though one will still arrive on the PC. These games will make their way to US thanks to Atari’s agreement.

Captain Blood marks the company’s first true attempt in next generation console development by way of one of their internal studios. The project is planned for the Xbox 360 and PC, which is based on the series of novels by Rafael Sabatini about a famous pirate’s adventures in the prime of the Caribbean.

No plot was singled out yet, but information points that treasure hunts, land and sea campaigns, plus ship boardings will populate the gameplay.

Gaijin Entertainment is responsible for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey, a direct console derivative of the popular combat flight simulator for the PC. As it will be created from the ground up for console use, the control schemes will be designed around the gamepad instead of keyboard, mouse, or flightstick.

Improving upon the previous installment, Gaijin is to implement new planes, missions, damage physics and environmental visuals.

This is all tied in to the large scale aerial dogfights the IL-2 Sturmovik series is well-known for, and players can also help shape the progress of the following World War II engagements by providing fighter and bomber support:

• The Battle of Britain (air superiority)
• Stalingrad (air support)
• Berlin (bombing raids)
• Sicily (air support)
• Korsun’ (air superiority)

We hear from the official press announcement that though the game will remain a simulation in nature, arcade control schemes and game modes will be available for play. Nintendo DS and PSP versions will be underway as well by DiP Interactive and DYNAMICSYSTEMS, respectively.

More developments sure to come our way, so we’ll keep an eye out for them. Stay tuned.

A tipster has informed Kotaku that a voice-over casting call has been announced at Breakdown Express, and through the job opportunity’s description we’re treated to hints of new characters, a different timeline, and a new “dark comedy” story in Portal 2, the second in a series created by Valve Software.

As with all stories based on leaked information, however, this gets filed under rumors for now.

Portal 2 development has been officially confirmed by the developers at Valve back in February, but little else was revealed in the way of plot or characters. For many, the lack of spoilers would be a relief. So if you still would rather hear official information divulged instead of leaked details, turn away now.

Eyes still glued to the screen, eh? Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

The partially mistyped document sums up Aperture’s Cave Johnson (yes, the late Cave Johnson of Portal) and his background as founder and chief executive officer of the “applied science company.” It even describes Johnson’s prime characteristics in leadership and facing life, accents, and manner of speech delivery.

But at the end of the passage, it also tells what role he plays in Portal 2:

Goes from sidekick to principle antagonist. [Starts] to lose his grip on his humanity as the story progresses. As he isolates himself from the people around him, he loses touch with reality.

The plot overview might be suggesting that Portal 2 will wind time backwards to the younger years of Aperture, and perhaps become the preface to the events that occurred in the predecessor’s timeline.

Also note that he will become the player’s “sidekick” in the early stages of the game. Whether the player is directly related to Aperture cannot be determined at this point.

The alleged announcement declares a tentative schedule for the voice-over project, which may begin by the end of July 2008. But as we cannot confirm this opening due to Breakdown Express’ subscribers-only access privileges, we’ll have to await official confirmation from Valve itself. That, and perhaps more, as they roll in.

Image excerpt from Kotaku.

For those who haven’t been keeping up, this game features a 13-mission campaign, the Xbox 360-exclusive Kane’s Challenge mode, six new sub-factions, epic units, and over 50 multiplayer maps for online play over Xbox Live, with support for up to four players.

Achievement junkies will be able to sate their craving for more points since the game will be packing 1000 achievement points spread out over four game modes (Campaign, Kane’s Challenge, Skirmish and Multiplayer).

So if you’ve got a hankering for some RTS action, don’t fret. Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath is on its way.

It’s time to put on those flight suits and head to the stars! We’ve recently teamed up with Sierra Online, makers of XBLA game Aces of the Galaxy, in order to bring you a contest where five lucky participants will each win a Sierra Online T-Shirt. All you have to do to participate in the contest is to comment on this post!

We’re not just looking for any plain old comment, however. We want you guys to tell us your most memorable space shooter experience in the span of one QJ comment. It can be that time you achieved Zen from making a Gummi Ship, or that elaborate dance you had through a bullet hell space shooter, or even about your first time playing Aces of the Galaxy. We want you to recount those memorable experiences, and the five best entries will come away as winners.

Before you send in those comments though, please note that this contest is only applicable to folks in North America. Also, the deadline for comment submissions will be on June 20, with an announcement of the winners to follow soon after. We wish you all the best of luck!

Even more news from Microsoft’s Xbox 360 RPG Premiere event, this time for Namco Bandai’s Tales of Vesperia. Namco Bandai has not only announced the release dates for Tales of Vesperia in Japan, North America, and Europe; it’s also announced the impending release of a new Xbox 360 Bundle for Japan.

First off, the release dates for Tales of Vesperia. According to the news release we found on the Japanese Xbox website, the game will be coming out in Japan on August 9, in the US sometime in August, and in Europe sometime in 2009.

As for the new Xbox 360 bundle, it’s called the Xbox 360 Tales of Vesperia Premium Pack and, in addition to the 20 GB version of the console and the associated necessities, it comes with a  copy of Tales of Vesperia, a Tales of Vesperia faceplate, and a copy of the game’s script. The premium pack will retail for 37,800 yen (US 351) and will be released on August 7.

All in all, this news is quite a welcome sight, especially for the RPG-starved console. With a slew of new RPGs coming out for the console, the Xbox 360 is starting to look like the console of choice for next-gen RPG gamers.

After a long and fruitful five-week run on top of the UK Charts, Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) has finally bowed out in favor of Indiana Jones in all his Lego glory. Released two weeks after the premiere of the latest movie, Lego Indiana Jones: Original Adventures (PS3, PSP, Wii, DS, Xbox 360, PC) debuts on the UK Charts on top spot.

Sales of Grand Theft Auto IV has been steadily declining, and this week it dropped a significant 44 . Lego Indy actually outsold it by almost 3 to 1.Ninja Gaiden II , also new this week, debuts on sixth place, while Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit (Xbox 360, PS3) appears on the 11th spot. Here are the rest of the top games in the UK for the week of June 7:

1. Lego Indiana Jones: Original Adventures
2. Grand Theft Auto V
3. Race Driver: GRID
4. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
5. Wii Play
6. Ninja Gaiden II
7. Mario Kart Wii
8. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
9. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
10. FIFA 08
11. Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit
12. Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training
13. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
14. Sports Island
15. Haze
16. Sega Superstars Tennis
17. Carnival: Funfair Games
18. Quake Wars: Enemy Territory
19. UEFA Euro 2008
20. Rock Band

In their announcement, it was made known that The Last Remnant would be making its worldwide debut this winter. That’s right folks: a global release is set for winter! They were mum about information on the game, but promised additional details at the upcoming E3 event next month.

In the meantime, we did find this new trailer for the game, which you can enjoy below. Keep checking back here for more updates to The Last Remnant, especially as we draw ever closer to E3.

This fourth title in Tri-Ace’s Star Ocean series will be called Star Ocean: The Last Hope. From the looks of the trailer, which you can find below, the game will actually look at the time relatively close to the end of planet earth, wherein starfaring voyagers head off to space to search for other hospitable planets to inhabit. We suppose that these voyagers (and the associated technologies, of course) being the aforementioned last hope of the planet.

As for a release date, you can expect Star Ocean: The Last Hope to make its debut on the Xbox 360 in 2009. No word on exclusivity though, so we may see this getting released on the PS3 as well at a later date.