The power sliding in Mario Kart 7 is exquisite. I think it’s my new favorite aspect of gameplay. I can’t see an apex in reality without trying to make my car hop around it in a desperate attempt to see red sparks.

News Blips:

THQ claims it hasn’t canceled its 2014 lineup. This past Sunday -- while you and I were noticing how handsome George Clooney looked during The Golden Globes -- the International Game Developers Association’s Mobile Chairperson Kevin Dent tweeted that THQ canceled all of its planned 2014 games. The Saints Row: The Third publisher responded to that assertion in a press release saying: “THQ has not cancelled its 2014 line-up.” The statement goes on to insist that THQ will pursue a strategy focused on “high-quality core games” while reducing the resources it puts into boxed kids’ titles like UDraw. I think that’s a swell idea. For every Metro 2033, Red Faction: Guerilla, and Darksiders that the publisher produces, it craps out a Let’s Ride! Friends Forever, a SpongeBob’s Boating Bash, and a Nicktoons: Globs of Doom. [1UP]

Capcom Vancouver -- developer of Dead Rising 2 -- is working on a new, unannounced intellectual property. A job listing on Creativeheads.net asks for an experienced design director to work on an “unannounced new IP” with third-person action/adventure elements. I wish you good sales, Capcom, because if this one doesn’t make money, you’ll probably punish us with another dozen versions of Super Street Fighter 4. [Joystiq]

Mass Effect 3 won’t be available for purchase through Steam. The third game in developer BioWare’s sci-fi trilogy is the latest PC title from Electronic Arts -- who publishes BioWare's work -- to forgo the popular Valve download portal in favor of the corporation’s own Origin store. The publisher explained that it’s “happy to partner with any download service that does not restrict [EA's] ability to connect directly with [its] consumers.” According to EA, Valve doesn't provide that direct connection. BioWare Community Manager Chris Priestly only applied the no-Steam stance to the “initial release” which could mean that EA is enforcing a timed-exclusive on the outer-space RPG. More likely, the company wants to leave the door open for a Game of the Year version with all of the DLC included for Steam. By that point, most hardcore gamers will have already accepted their new Origin overlords onto their hard drives. [1UP]

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