Saturday, June 29, 2013

Top 5 Games of E3 2013

E3 2013 has been in the books for two weeks now.  The fallout from this year's show has been big with the incredibly positive buzz surrounding the PS4 and the immense animosity towards the Xbox One- even following Microsoft's change of heart.  E3 2013 saw the first real shots fired in the next round of the console wars.  The frontrunner following E3 looks to be Sony with Nintendo in second and Microsoft in a distant third.  E3 did garner some excitement for the next generation of consoles yet this writer does not see a game that provides a reason for gamers to drop their cash to pick up these new systems at launch.  Those games may be a couple of years down the road, which makes waiting possibly the best choice for most unless you are among the most hardcore.  Most of the games showed off for the next generation of consoles were a lot in line with the games that have dominated the last half of the current generation- shooters and sequels.  It is a new generation; time for Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft to start taking more risks rather than solely resting on their laurels.  Most of these companies are making moves to secure exclusives on their console and ramp up their support for independent developers, one of the few sources of originality in the industry nowadays, but those things alone will not secure victory this time around.  The dawn of the last console generation saw the birth of franchises like Gears of War, Uncharted and Wii Sports to name of few.  Creative risks of that ilk seem to coming from downloadable games or a select few games available for both current and next generation consoles.  The console manufacturers need to start leading by example and move this industry out of the sequel-driven slump it has fallen into.  Do not get this writer wrong, sequels are fine and healthy parts of this industry, but too many unnecessary sequels (Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, Need for Speed) cause stagnation in creativity and disinterest from gamers.  Once the initial wave of games for the next generation release, hopefully we will see some new ideas emerge from the triple A publishers.

No E3 is complete here at Silver Bit without the annual Top Games of E3 list.  Throughout the hectic week that is E3, yours truly makes a tireless effort to watch as much gameplay footage shown at the show.  Without physically being in LA to experience the event, it is hard to find footage for every single game at the show.  Like last year, the only games that qualify for this list are those that had demos on the show floor.  Now let us get on to the Top Games of E3 2013.

Honourable Mention
Batman:  Arkham Origins- PS3, XB360, Wii U, PC
The reveal of Arkham Origins just about two months ago was not well received by this writer.  Arkham City is easily one of the best games of this generation, but Origins seemed to be a quick cash-in by Warner Bros.  After watching the demo showed off at E3, Arkham Origins looks to be more of the same Arkham City greatness with some improvements and that is totally fine.  The combat and open world traversal looks the same as usual, but it is the new investigation mode that should get gamers excited to venture into Gotham City.  Instead of the forced investigation segments from the previous entries in the Arkham series, Origins allows gamers to become the World's Greatest Detective by being able to reconstruct an entire crime scene using evidence collected throughout the investigation and exploration. Seeing the new investigation mode in motion has got this writer excited to lace up the Dark Knight's boots once again.
5.  Murdered:  Soul Suspect- PS3, XB360, PC
Last year, Airtight Games was gathering a lot of attention for Quantum Conundrum, a first-person puzzler similar to Valve's Portal.  Now come E3 this year, Airtight has got gamers intrigued with their newest game Murdered: Soul Suspect.  Murdered places you in the ghostly shoes of the recently deceased detective, Ronan O'Connor.  Caught in limbo, Ronan is tasked in solving his own murder using his new found supernatural powers.  Powers like possession let Ronan interact with the environment around him to find evidence unbeknownst to the other NPCs in the game.  With the evidence collected, Ronan can piece together key information used to open up new areas to investigate.  Ronan is not the only one stuck in limbo.  From time to time, Ronan will run into demons that threaten the ghostly detective.  To dispatch these enemies, Ronan must use stealth and possession powers.  At E3, Murdered: Soul Suspect seemed to get swept up under all the hype produced by the next gen consoles and huge Triple A games.  It is sad considering how unique and intriguing this game is.  Murdered: Soul Suspect will definitely be one to watch come 2014.
4.  Bayonetta 2- Wii U
Nintendo showed off some great games at E3, but none really blew this writer away much like Bayonetta 2.  The Masters of the Insane, also known as Platinum Games, have brought some of the most unapologetically crazy games this last generation and they look to continue that drive into the future with Bayonetta 2.  It is really hard to describe the demo showed off at E3, but did it ever make this writer's jaw drop on multiple occasions.  Watch the demo and you will see what is trying to be conveyed in this paragraph.  You play as a witch covered in clothes made of her own hair as you fight angels, demons or whatever enemy Platinum throws your way with magic produced by using your hair.  It does not make much sense, but sure does it look fun.  While Bayonetta 2 will not be a system seller for the Wii U, it could push some hardcore gamers to pick up Nintendo's newest console.
3.  Transistor- PS4, PC
When Transistor was first announced at PAX East, many were comparing it to Supergiant Games' freshman effort, Bastion.  Transistor does have a couple similarities to Bastion like the isometric perspective and the use of a narrator to describe the action, but that is where the similarities end.  Transistor is primarily a turned-based strategy game, but it does allow you play it like any other action game if you choose.  Choosing to play Transistor like any other action game will be a mistake as you are missing out at Transistor's greatest strength, its planning mode.  In planning mode, time stops and you are able to plan out your moves and attacks on the action bar.  You are given all the time in the world to plan out your battles as you can scrub up and down the action bar and edit it as you want.  You cannot abuse the planning mode as it will need to recharge after every use.  The interplay between fighting in real-time and using planning mode is very intriguing and will easily make one of the standout downloadable experiences on PS4 and PC next year.
2.  Plants vs. Zombies:  Garden Warfare- XBOne, XB360, PC
Nobody thought turning Plants vs. Zombies from a tower defense game to a third-person shooter would be a good idea.  Many thought this change in genre would destroy all the fun and charm that makes Plants vs. Zombies so endearing to gamers and non-gamers alike.  Well PopCap proved us all wrong then because Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare looks flipping awesome!  Easily one of this writer's biggest surprise from E3, Garden Warfare did not look like anything exceptional from the trailer showed off at the EA Press Conference, but the gameplay changed the entire story.  Allowing gamers to jump into any one of the plants from the Plants vs. Zombies games, you fight off hordes upon hordes of zombies with your own weapons and other traps and defences you set up throughout the level. Garden Warfare looks like a team-based shooter that should be a lot of fun to play with others hopefully both on and offline.
1.  Watch Dogs- PS4, PS3, XBOne, XB360, Wii U, PC
Watch Dogs shocked the world when it was revealed back at E3 2012.  The more Ubisoft has shown of their newest IP, the more gamers have been impressed.  Watch Dogs keeps on looking better and better to the point that it has easily become one of the most anticipated titles of 2013.  For a brand new IP to have such huge amount of anticipation is very hard to come by in the sequel-driven environment that the video game industry currently is.  Watch Dogs looks to blend a straight-forward action game with the freedom of a open world Chicago to explore, but this blend is not the reason people are excited for Ubisoft's newest venture.  The reason people are excited to play Watch Dogs is due to the amount of freedom you have to manipulate the world around you.  Playing as master hacker Aiden Pearce, Chicago is your playground and also your weapon.  Hacking into the city to escape the pursuits of the police, cause chaos and listen in on phone conversations are just the tip of what you can do in Watch Dogs.  Couple all that control with the ability to have a friend play co-operatively or competitvely using a tablet, which this writer hopes Ubisoft integrates natively in the Wii U version, Watch Dogs is the game to watch this holiday season.  Ubisoft could have another hit on their hands with Watch Dogs.  Just hopefully Ubisoft does not run this potential series into the ground like they did with Assassin's Creed.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

The Xbox 180

Sometimes plans can change on a dime.  Originally, this writer was planning to write a wrap-up of last week’s events at E3.  During the writing for said post, some news broke that changed a big focus of that article.  That particular piece of news was so big that it needed a whole post dedicated to it.  So the E3 2013 Wrap-Up has been nixed in favour of this writer’s opinions on these current developments.  Do not worry if you were hoping for a post to wrap-up this writer’s opinions of E3 2013, it will be integrated with the Top 5 Games of E3 2013 post that should be up later this week. 

The big new this writer has been alluding to for the last paragraph is Microsoft’s complete 180 on their DRM and "Always Online" policies.  As of Wednesday, June 19th, the Xbox One will no longer require users to connect to the Internet every 24 hours and now allow users to play used games and share their games with friends with no restrictions.  The removal of these features from the Xbox One will come in the form of a day one update.  It is a step in the right direction for Microsoft.  Sadly, this writer does not believe that this supposed change of heart will help Microsoft at launch.  While it does put the Xbox One on an even playing field with the PS4, this announcement is a week too late.  The majority of gamers made their decision on what next-gen console to pick up after watching E3.  At E3, Microsoft had one of the most damaging showings in the company’s history.  The smoke and mirrors that was Microsoft’s press conference convinced some, but the more you peeled back the curtain, the more the Xbox One fell apart at the seams.  From the DRM and "Always Online" policies to their executives’ horrible knack to say all the wrong things (talking about Don Mattrick’s statement to buy a 360 if you cannot or will not use a Xbox One), Microsoft did an excellent job of angering gamers this year at E3.  Funny enough, those gamers answered Microsoft by giving their money to Sony for a PS4.  Microsoft saw how the PS4 was vastly outpacing the Xbox One in pre-orders and the utter lack of positive word of mouth surrounding the Xbox One and knew they needed to right the ship and fast.  Too bad for them, the damage has already been done and Microsoft has lost many longtime supporters over to Sony and the PS4 for their shenanigans this past month.  Their "Deal With It" attitude has come back to bite them in the backside.  No matter what Microsoft tries to right, there is still a huge amount of animosity towards them and the Xbox One.  Gamers are not stupid; they will not forget how Microsoft has mistreated them.  It is going to take a lot more effort from Microsoft than mere policy changes to regain the faith of those gamers.  Microsoft and many of their supporters do not understand that all the animosity surrounding the Xbox One is a culmination of all the crap Microsoft has put gamers through these last few years.  Continually shoving Kinect, Smart Glass and their entertainment ventures down our collective throats has strained the relationship between Microsoft and gamers.  Xbox One was the final straw and the results were undeniably hostile.  To really make this turn of face truly effective, Microsoft should have made the changes in the weeks leading up to E3 instead of after Sony made their move. 

Like this writer mentioned before, people have already made their decision about what console to purchase this upcoming generation so these changes will not affect the Xbox One’s launch in any way.  They will definitely keep the Xbox One from tanking in sales in the long run, but these changes alone will not save this system.  Microsoft needs to drastically change how they deal with consumers because nobody is going to take their cocky "Deal With It" attitude any longer.  While some may be screaming to the heavens that Microsoft is listening to the gamers, this writer believes that Microsoft trying to salvage every little bit of goodwill that they shattered at E3.  If the last month has proven anything, Microsoft does not care about gamers; they care about their money or the lack thereof.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

E3 2013: Nintendo E3 Direct Impressions

2013 has been the year where the Nintendo Direct format has come into true form.  While there are still a few areas where Nintendo needs to work on to improve the Directs as a whole, each Nintendo Direct this year has been like a mini-E3 full of surprises and exciting game news.  With this current success, many gamers hoped Nintendo would bring some big announcements for E3 since they opted out of having an actual press conference this year.  What Nintendo actually delivered was very interesting.

It has taken a couple days to fully process what Nintendo did Tuesday morning with their Nintendo Direct.  All the games showed off at this Direct looked phenomenal, but we all were expecting more.  Yes, Nintendo delivered on Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. along with the reveal of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.  It just felt too safe.  They kept to their regular line-up of popular Nintendo franchises like Mario, Zelda , Pokemon, Smash Bros. and Donkey Kong.  Gamers wanted to see franchises that have laid dormant for awhile now such as Metroid, Star Fox and F-Zero or new intellectual properties.  Personally, I believe mentioning a new 3D Mario, Mario Kart and Smash Bros. would all be at E3 severely hurt this Direct.  If Nintendo just kept their mouth shut, these three announcements could have easily made this Direct an instant classic.  By revealing their hand back in January, it caused speculation to spin out of control to the point where expectations were too high.  The fault of those unrealistic expectations is solely on Nintendo.  Another situation that is entirely Nintendo's fault was the unbearable buffering issues the Nintendo Direct livestream suffered from.  The livestream kept buffering every 20 seconds or so until at least halfway through the Direct.  Maybe Nintendo did not anticipate the volume of people that would tune into the stream, but that does not excuse them from not preparing for these technical problems.  While Nintendo wants to control the message, they need to open up the Directs for other media outlets such as IGN or Gametrailers to broadcast in order to avoid these buffering problems in the future.
Like I metioned before, all the games showed off at this Nintendo Direct were phenomenal.  Super Mario 3D World looks to be an excellent follow-up to Super Mario 3D Land.  While many were hoping for a 3D Mario game more in the vein of Super Mario Galaxy, I believe the more Nintendo shows off of 3D World the more people will be impressed as it looks to blend the best aspects of the New Super Mario series with the features and gamplay of Mario Galaxy and 3D Land series.  Much like 3D Land before it, you will most likely have to actually play 3D World to get the full affect of its greatness. 
Mario Kart 8 could be the Wii U's killer app in my opinion.  The new anti-gravity feature applied to all of the tracks in Mario Kart 8 looks to add new ways to approach your tradition game of Mario Kart.  This grand new feature along with superb online multiplayer could move a lot of Wii U's to the casual Nintendo audience. 
While it was a little bit of a bummer to hear about Retro working on another Donkey Kong game, Tropical Freeze looks just as good or even better than Donkey Kong Country Returns.  The new full 3D camera adds a lot of interesting visuals to a game that was formerly restricted to just a two dimensional side view of the action.  Also the inclusion of new characters (Dixie Kong and a still unnamed third companion) and over five islands to explore (how many levels per island is still unknown) will provide lots of bang for your buck this November. 
Nintendo only showed Monlith Soft's X in trailer form.  Still the more Nintendo shows of this game, the more psyched I get.  After playing Xenoblade, everybody wanted to see these worlds brought to life in high definition.  X looks to answer those prayers and I personally cannot wait until Nintendo starts giving people hand-ons with this possible console defining open world RPG. 
There were a few other games I would love to get to from this Nintendo Direct like Pokemon X and Y, Wind Waker HD, The Wonderful 101 and Bayonetta 2, but that could take far too long to read and there is one more thing I want to talk about.  That one more thing is Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS.  While everybody knew it was coming, that trailer lived up to our expectations and then some.  The introduction of the Villager from Animal Crossing was classic especially the sinister twinkle in his eye.  I personally love the addition of such a quirky character to roster of Nintendo fighters.  The greatest part of the trailer was the reveal that Mega Man will be in Super Smash Bros.  Let me repeat, MEGA MAN IS IN SMASH BROS.!!!  I have dreamed of the Blue Bomber being in the next Smash Bros., but never thought it would actually become reality.  It was such an excellent reveal that I cannot wait to see any sort of information about the 3DS and Wii U entires of the Super Smash Bros. series.

This Nintendo Direct from E3 failed to convince gamers that the hard times this system is currently in will end anytime soon.  The third party support just is not there to really convince people to go out of their way to buy a Wii U over the PS4 or Xbox One.  A lot of games shown off at E3 like Watch Dogs and Battlefield 4 had those second screen experiences that would be at home on the Wii U Gamepad.  Nintendo needs to find a way to court the publishers that are making these games to port them to the Wii U.  There is a solid line-up of first party support from August on and 2014 looks to be a killer year for Wii U, but there are still some problems Nintendo needs to work out before they get out of their current predicament.  I believe a price cut will definitely help, but it cannot be the only solution.  Overall, this Nintendo Direct may have been lacking in surprises, but it was still a solid show.  While the unacceptable technical difficulties did lower the grade significantly, this Nintendo Direct was one of the better showings at this year's E3.

Grade: C+

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

E3 2013: Sony Press Conference Impressions

After Microsoft's multiple slip ups with the Xbox One, it was Sony's E3 to win.  The question was if Sony would be smart enough to take advantage of this huge opportunity to bury their competition.  Would PS4 walk triumphantly with gamers to back them up or pathetically limp all alone into the next generation?  It was one long haul, but those questions were definitely answered.

Sony's Press Conference had the highest of highs, the lowest of lows and everything in between.  The conference lasted just about two hours and it took close to three quarters of the conference to get to the goods.  The last quarter of this conference will easily go down in video game history.  Starting with the showcase of eight indie games on stage (Don't Starve, Ray's the Dead, Secret Ponchos, Octodad, Oddworld: New 'N' Tasty, Galak-Z, Mercenary Kings and Outlast), Sony opened up the floodgates for the announcements PS4 desperately needed.  Leading up to this point, we were subjugated to Sony's classic strategy of boring the living hell out of every living thing watching.  There were a quite a few games showed off for PS4 before this moment, but they were everything Sony showed off before.  It did not hold our attention especially after suffering through Sony confirming on-stage that the Vita is dead in the water, focusing on PS3 games that did not need to be covered and even pushing their Sony Pictures division down our throats (funny considering they took a shot at Microsoft for doing the exact same thing).  Long story short, it was not a good way to spend nearly three quarters of a video game conference.  Once Sony showed off two bombshells from Square Enix known as Final Fantasy XV (the former Final Fantasy Versus XIII) and flipping Kingdom Hearts 3!  While switching Versus XIII to XV was expected, nobody saw Kingdom Hearts 3 coming and it made this conference special.  From there on, Sony went right into the Watch Dogs and Assassin's Creed IV demos that should have been at the Ubisoft conference.  Nevertheless, Watch Dogs stole this writers heart with the best demo of the conference.  Assassin's Creed IV was nothing too special especially with the amount of technical difficulties the demo suffered from.  Sony also showed off Elder Scrolls Online, Mad Max and Destiny.  There was nothing special about Elder Scrolls Online and Mad Max as all they showed were trailers.  For Destiny, Sony brought the first live gameplay of Bungie's new shooter, which was very enjoyable.  The one moment that left just as much lasting effect on those watching than the Kingdom Hearts 3 reveal was Sony's direct shots at Microsoft.  Even though publishers are pushing for DRM on consoles, Sony is standing firmly behind the consumers as the PS4 will be able to play used games and will not require a constant internet connection or to be authenticated every 24 hours.  Sony took a knife and stabbed it directly into Microsoft's heart, but those shots were not the only thing.  Sony dug their knife even deeper into Microsoft's heart with the bold announcement that the PS4 will retail at 399 dollars.  399 dollars for a PS4 is nuts.  The PS3 was almost twice that price at launch.  What an incredible way to end a conference and single-handedly put the Xbox One on life support.

While the last quarter of the Sony Press Conference was near perfection, I cannot give the abysmal first three quarters of the conference a pass.  Personally, I am not going to forget the hour and a half that we wasted just to get to the good stuff.  The Sony Press Conference is the entire two hour show, not the final thirty minutes and I believe many are forgetting that fact.  Although I still have reservations about a few features such as the Gaikai streaming service, this conference did its job and sold the PS4 to the masses.  For that fact alone, this conference deserves kudos.

Grade:  B-

E3 2013: Ubisoft Press Conference Impressions

Aside from their consistent problems finding a suitable host for their conferences, Ubisoft has had some of the best showings at E3 the last two years.  With games like Rayman Legends, Watch Dogs and Assassin's Creed IV in their corner, many were looking forward to what Ubisoft would show off this year at E3.

Well to sum things up, Ubisoft knows how to end a press conference.  Sadly, they do not know how to do much else because this conference was a definite step back from years past.  It was not good or bad, it just was right in the middle.  Only a few things Ubisoft showed really stuck.  The rest went in one ear and out the other.  Maybe these reactions were due to the lack of actual gameplay demos or the continued presence of Aisha Tyler, which was a black hole that sucked plenty of good out of this conference.  Also Ubisoft's conference was significantly hurt by the exclusion of Watch Dogs and Assassin's Creed IV demos in favour of showing them at the Sony Press Conference.  There is no point in having your own conference if you are not going to showcase your own games especially the two biggest titles in your 2013 line-up.  As much as Ubisoft under delivered, it was not as bad as the EA conference.  There were a couple of good points.  The demo for Reflections newest driving game, The Crew was really good.  The inter connectivity of the world and the instantaneous multiplayer were impressive.  There are a few questions this writer has for The Crew, but personally I am intrigued.  The game that saved this conference was the newest Tom Clancy game known as The Division.  The Division had a similar set-up to Watch Dogs' set-up a year before.  Ubisoft had the audience at the conference and at home on the edge of their seat trying to decipher what it was.  The Division is an open-world third-person shooter with RPG elements.  It is set in a world that has spiraled into to complete and utter chaos after the collapse of the stock market and society as we know it.  Set with the task of surviving, the player teams up with others in this persistent massively multiplayer world scavenging items, collecting upgrades and gadgets and fighting off threats to your survival.  While I personally would have loved to see more about Rainbow Six: Patriots, The Division looks like a great new extension of the Tom Clancy universe and another great game in Ubisoft's huge library of games.

As much as The Crew and The Division captured our imaginations, those two games were not able to save Ubisoft's conference from mediocrity.  The absence of the Watch Dogs and Assassin's Creed IV demos and the lack of demos for a slew of trailers beat Ubisoft into one of their most lackluster showings.  At least, this year's press conference was not even close to their infamous 2010 conference. 

Grade:  C-

Monday, June 10, 2013

E3 2013: EA Press Conference Impressions

One of the few constants at E3 has been Electronic Arts.  There conferences have been consistently watchable as they have provided a lot of good information on the great amounts of projects they publish.  As we head face first into the next generation of consoles, will EA soar to brand new heights or continue to falter?

To answer that question right off the bat, EA will continue their abysmal year after such a weak conference.  There was a good number of quality games on display just EA only spent fifteen to twenty minutes of their conference covering them.  Right at the beginning, EA blew off the door with an incredible trailer for Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare that parodied EA's own Battlefield trailers.  Following the trailer, EA gave us an incredible demo for Garden Warfare that easily convinced me of PopCap's newest venture with the Plants vs. Zombies series.  There was the announcement of Peggle 2, but nobody seemed to care because what follow was easily the surprise of EA's conference.  That surprise was... wait for it... Star Wars Battlefront!  Eight years following the release of Battlefront 2, we are finally getting a sequel to one of the best Star Wars games out there.  Also the multiplayer shooter specialists at DICE are handling the next Battlefront so it should be good.  Disappointing enough after the Battlefront reveal, EA's conference took a turn for the worse.  There were still some good stuff in this conference such as Dragon Age Inquisition, Battlefield 4 multiplayer and another reveal that we will get to in a bit, but not enough to keep the absolutely horrible from sucking the life from this conference.  The horrible started when EA moved onto Need For Speed.  The new Need For Speed Rivals looked interesting, but felt too derivative of the past Criterion Need For Speed games.  Then EA decided to make a venture into the realm of movies by showing us a trailer for the Need For Speed movie (we all know how this movie will turn out).  EA's time in Hollywood was not the lowest point of the conference that honour goes to EA Sports, which drove this conference straight into the ground and kept on digging deeper.  From random rapping to nonsensical celebrity appearances to Dana White repeating the same sentence over and over again, EA made a complete and utter joke of their entire sports division.  None of the gameplay shown for these sports games looked anything close to the target video that EA put on a pedestal at the Xbox One reveal.  Even with all the crap EA put us through, there was a light shining at the end of the dark tunnel.  That light was the long awaited reveal of Mirror's Edge 2.  The short trailer was enough to send gamers home happy.  Just not enough to save a conference that was already six feet under.

EA's press conference started out great, but it was all downhill after the Battlefront reveal.  EA tried to bring the conference back to life multiple times but no avail.  There were a few good moments, nothing that could make me personally recommend watching past the first 15 minutes of the conference.

Grade:  D+

E3 2013: Microsoft Press Conference Impressions

The next generation of consoles starts now.  Today is when Sony and Microsoft pull back the curtain on their new machines and next wave begins.  There are going to be tons of huge announcements and yours truly is here to follow them all.  Following each press conference, I will be writing my impressions.  I will take a look at the good, the bad and the utmost ugly for each conference then wrap it all up with a final grade at the end.  Like usual, Microsoft is first at bat.

After such a poor Xbox One reveal, Microsoft needed a home run with this press conference.  Sadly, the house that Bill Gates built got thrown out trying to round third base.  Microsoft kept their entire conference focused on the games, which was a step in the right direction.  The fault of this conference was that Microsoft focused on too many games for their allotted time.  They jumped from one game to the next with no real sense of pacing.  Case and point, the Killer Instinct reveal.  The reveal of Killer Instinct was easily a high point for this conference, but Microsoft just showed off a trailer for the game and went on to the next game instead of taking their time to let the surprise sink in and show off some actual gameplay.  Microsoft did show some gameplay later in the conference as part of their Xbox Live demo, but it felt too little too late.  Games such as Minecraft, Forza 5, Quantum Break, Dark Souls 2, Black Tusk Games' teaser and Battlefield 4 could have been cut from the conference to help properly pace the show and give more time to interesting games like Below, Crimson Dragon and Sunset Overdrive.  Another thing that plagued the Microsoft conference was a slew of technical difficulties.  The audio cut out during the Metal Gear Solid V demo and the Crimson Dragon trailer and the Battlefield 4 demo failed to start.  These mishaps felt like problems that Microsoft could have been prepared for say by doing a dress rehearsal or running back-up demos backstage if something does not work properly.  Out of the sheer number of games and announcements shown at the Microsoft conference, there were a few that caught my eyes and ears such as all the 360 announcements, Killer Instinct, Crimson Dragon, Metal Gear Solid 5 and Witcher 3.  The final reveal at the Microsoft conference was Titanfall, the long-anticipated game from Respawn Entertainment.  Revealing this game would have been a grand finale if Titanfall was not leaked just under a week ago.  Microsoft should have kept Titanfall much closer to their chest in order to avoid such a huge leak.  The leak was not the only problem with Titanfall.  Considering it is made by the same team that developed Modern Warfare 2, Titanfall pretty much looks like a futuristic Call of Duty.  Not a good comparison to have considering how tarnished the Call of Duty name is.

While I have complained quite a bit about the Microsoft Press Conference, it was an okay showing.  At one point, I personally thought they could pull off the unthinkable and give us one excellent conference.  It was not the train wreck this writer expected, but it was not the knock out performance Microsoft direly needed.

Grade:  C

Saturday, June 8, 2013

What I Want From E3 2013

It is that time of year once again.  E3 is nearly upon us and the anticipation is hitting an all time high.  The excitement this year is surrounding the next generation of gaming consoles, the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.  With new possibilities just around the corner, many are hoping for a knock out performance from the Big Three console manufacturers this year.  After last year’s abysmal show, there are quite a few, this writer included, which are not excited for what looks like more of the same generic sequel-driven crap that has plagued the last generation of consoles for years taking over E3 once again.  While my hopes for E3 are at an all time low, there is a slight possibility that opinions can change in a weeks’ time.  This change of opinion will be the result of the fulfillment of the list below.  Welcome to what I personally want from this year’s E3.

Games
Funny enough, the latest trend sweeping the biggest video game trade show in the world is not to show any video games at all.  Sounds ridiculous, but it is a sad reality.  Bigger companies such as Microsoft seem to be more interested in shoving their entertainment ventures down our collective throats rather than showing what the gamers actually want.  Yes, shareholders take a huge interest in E3, but the largest audience for this show is gamers.  As gamers, we do not want to see how the 360 can substitute as a television.  This concept might be bewildering to some, but gamers watch E3 to see the latest and greatest upcoming games nothing more, nothing less.  It would be nice for these game publishers to spend time on actual video games rather than bore us with features that do not concern gamers in the least.

Surprises
In this day and age, genuine surprises are hard to come by.  They are usually leaked somewhere on the World Wide Web well before the reveal actually happens.  These leaks do stir up speculation and provide excellent stories for websites.  The adverse effect is that gamers do not get surprised anymore since everything is spoiled for them on the Internet.  That feeling of astonishment when a game reveal catches you completely by surprise is unlike no other feeling.  Last year, the only real surprise was Watch Dogs and it blew our collective socks off.  Not every surprise is good one, but it is nice to get something unexpected over something we are already familiar with.  

Retro’s New Game
Speaking of surprises, there has been one secret that Nintendo has been holding close to their chest for a year now.  That secret being Retro Studios' unannounced game project for the Wii U.  In the past decade, Retro Studios has quickly earned a high position in Nintendo's stable of developers.  Retro easily filled the void that Rare left when Microsoft bought them.  Consistently creating excellent games for Nintendo systems such as the Metroid Prime series and Donkey Kong Country Returns, it is easy to see the extraordinary amount of anticipation there is for this unannounced project.  It could be anything from the return of an established Nintendo franchise like Metroid, Star Fox or F-Zero or even a whole new IP.  The possibilities are endless.  No matter what this game is, Nintendo has this surprise in their back pocket ready just to blow us all away.  Nintendo fans, myself included, have been impatiently waiting for a year so hopefully Nintendo reveals their trump card this E3 when they definitely need it.

Reasons to Care About Next Gen
The next generation of gaming consoles has been laid out before us gamers in the months leading up to E3.  As much anticipation people have for these new systems, there is just as much or even more skepticism.  Personally, Sony and Microsoft have shown nothing to make gamers care about the next generation consoles.  All the games that have been shown so far have just been sequels with shinier graphics.  There has been nothing shown that could not run on the current generation Xbox 360 or PS3 with proper optimization.  There is no purpose in spending about 600 to 700 dollars on a new game system that can play the same games already coming out on the Xbox 360 and PS3.  The industry has reached the peak of gaming technology as we currently know it.  The strides made in this current console generation were so vast that the jump between this current gen and next gen is barely even noticable.  Game companies can put as many particles and polygons on a screeen as they want, nothing will ever compare to the incredible jump between blocky standard definition graphics and smooth high definition graphics.  Due to that huge graphical jump, the industry could get away with touting visuals over gameplay this past generation.  This time around it will not be so easy as most gamers want to see actual gameplay over a superficial CG trailers that have nothing to do with the actual game.  E3 is the last big chance for Sony and Microsoft to sway consumers to buy their consoles at launch.  Shiny graphics alone will not be able to get the job done.  Sony and Microsoft need to provide consumers with tangible evidence on why we should care about these new machines if they want success this coming holiday season.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

On the Download: Oracle of Ages and Seasons

Some games hold a special place in ones’ heart.  For yours truly, The Legend of Zelda:  Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons are two of those games.  In my younger years, all I played were handheld games.  I did not own a console until the Gamecube, outside of the Sega Genesis I got for my birthday when I was four.  Without a console, I was not exposed to such excellent franchises like Castlevania, Final Fantasy and Metroid until I was much older.  A lot of my exposure to these franchises came from my subscription to gaming magazines like Nintendo Power and later portable entries in these franchises.  Before Oracle of Ages and Seasons, I had never played a game in the Legend of Zelda series.  In the rearview mirror, it was one of the best decisions of my life.  Oracle of Ages and Seasons gave birth to my love of Nintendo and the Legend of Zelda series.  Why am I spending all this time talking about my past experience with these games as they are over a decade old?  Well, last Thursday marked the release of The Legend of Zelda:  Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons on the 3DS Virtual Console.  Releases that this writer has been looking forward to for a while now considering I no longer have the means to play the originals.

The Oracle of Ages and Seasons are parallel stories in the Legend of Zelda universe.  Upon checking on the Triforce, Link is transported to either the world of Labrynna in Ages or Holodrum in Seasons.  Soon after Link's arrival, he meets up with the titular oracles, the Oracle of Ages Nayru and the Oracle of Seasons Din.  Everything may seem peaceful at first, but sadly that peace does not last long as the forces of evil kidnap  the oracles and plunge their respective worlds into chaos.  Armed with his trusty sword and shield, it is up to Link to rescue the oracles and put a stop to the chaos brought about by the forces of evil, Oynx and Veran.  Oracle of Ages and Seasons play like your typical top-down Legend of Zelda as Link completes dungeons to gain valuable items that open more of the world to traverse and allow the hero to solve many skill testing puzzles.  Aside from the different stories, there is one other major difference between the Oracle games.  This difference being that Oracle of Ages focuses more on puzzle-solving while Oracle of Seasons focuses more on action.

For those interested, The Legend of Zelda:  Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons are available on the Nintendo eShop.  For a limited time, you can pick up Ages and Seasons for 5 dollars each.  Once this promotion is over, the games will be available for 6 dollars each.  No matter the price, these games are definite downloads for any 3DS owner.