Bit by Bit: February 2015

February usually marks the beginning of the first quarter game rush.  Despite not being as jam-packed with titles as past years, this February has been a good month for games.  Nintendo launched the New Nintendo 3DS XL in North America with two highly anticipated portable games, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, and some big AAA titles like Evolve and The Order: 1886 dropped.  It's easy to say February was quite an eventful month.  As midterms and major projects will soon be a constant part of life, best to utilize the little free time I have to deliver another exciting edition of Bit by Bit.

Game of the Month
As much as I love the core Pokemon RPGs, I can honestly say Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire didn't excite me that much before their release.  Nintendo and GameFreak have been releasing Pokemon RPGs every year since Pokemon Platinum released for DS in 2009 and I was starting to get sick of the yearly releases.  Although I planned on buying one of the remakes no matter what (sorry, I'm a sucker for Pokemon), I seriously thought Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were going to be as disappointing as Black and White 2.  Much like past entries, differences between the two versions are relegated to minor story alterations and Pokemon exclusive to one version over the other.  While I only played Omega Ruby, my opinions on the game can be applied to Alpha Sapphire as well.

It may have taken a few hours of play, but oh was I ever so wrong about these games.  Applying the 3D graphics of Pokemon X and Y to the third gen Pokemon games may be the most noticeable addition to these remakes, but it isn't the biggest.  First, story has become a bigger part of recent Pokemon games and Omega Ruby makes huge advances in this area.  The story is far more engaging than any Pokemon game before it especially the Delta Episode.  Unlocked after beating the Elite Four, the Delta Episode links capturing Rayquaza into a Hoenn-wide adventure that has major implications on the series as a whole.  Instead of skipping through story moments, I felt compelled to read through all the lines of dialogue for once.  The other big additions change the means of exploring the world and capturing Pokemon.  The DexNav app of the PokeNav makes finding and capturing Pokemon in each route a lot more approachable as it tells what Pokemon are in the immediate vicinity and helps in finding rarer Pokemon.  Also the Soar ability adds a new dimension to exploring as you get to see Hoenn from the skies.  Soaring makes the act of flying far more engaging than the fast-travel of regular flying and allows trainers to go off the beaten path to find Mirage Spots, special locations that offer the chance to catch rare and legendary Pokemon.  After experiencing the wonders of soaring, I hope that it replaces Fly as the prime form for aerial travel in future Pokemon games.

Despite my early skepticism, Pokemon Omega Ruby turned out to be a great game that I gladly sunk my precious time into.  Although I thoroughly enjoyed the game, enough to pick it for Game of the Month over The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, I still feel I am at my wits end with these yearly releases.  I love Pokemon, but Nintendo and GameFreak please give us a year off!

Most Anticipated Game of the Month
It seems Intelligent Systems is dominating my Most Anticipated Game of the Month section this year.  Last month, I gushed over the announcement of a new Fire Emblem for the 3DS.  This month, I am eagerly anticipating Intelligent Systems' new intellectual property, Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.  First announced at last year's E3, Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. along with Splatoon represent the first new properties for the Big N since the early years of the Wii.  Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.'s interesting look and the pedigree of Intelligent Systems sold me on the game initially then the demo came out and everything changed for the better.

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. is one of those games that you can't capture the quality in screenshots or trailers—you need to get your hands on it.  The demo takes players through the first few missions of the game, which slowly teach you the core mechanics of the game.  Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. takes aspects from both Valkyria Chronicles and the newest X-Com and blend them into an extremely engaging turn-based strategy game with turns that play like a third-person shooter.

After getting hands-on with Code Name: S.T.E.A.M., I have a feeling this will be one of those great titles that gets lost in the shuffle because its a new IP and doesn't have much marketing from Nintendo.  I highly recommend 3DS owners download the demo and give Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. a chance.  It is well worth it

Video of the Month
There are times when a trailer comes around that just sells you on a game.  It may only be a few minutes long, but everything contained in that video just leaves you in awe and wonder.  That happened this past month with the newest trailer for Persona 5.

In all honesty, I am still fairly new to the Shin Megami Tensei franchise as I have only played the fourth entry in the main series.  Despite my current unfamiliarity with the franchise, the trailer caught my full attention with its stylish UI, jazz soundtrack and unique gameplay mechanics.  Seriously, traversing through the world like an action-platformer or sneaking up on enemies using cover in a JRPG is freaking awesome!

Thanks to this trailer I want to dive headfirst into the world of Persona.  Be it Persona 3, 4, Q or Arena, I am really excited to get into this series when I have the time.  Also I will definitely be there day one to buy the newest entry when it releases later this year.

First Byte: Fan Expo 2014 Gauntlet Part 2

When I initially conceived this two part series, I did not anticipate how busy school would get this early into the semester.  Although things are crazy as I seem to have a test or project every single week, I am committed to finishing this gauntlet up before any of the games in this final part are released.  If you did not get a chance to read the first part of the Fan Expo 2014 Gauntlet, it focused on the likes of Driveclub, Forza Horizon 2, The Crew, The Order: 1886, Far Cry 4 and Mortal Kombat X.  If you want to read my impressions on any of those games, click the link.  This part will preview the four games that I got over ten minutes of hands-on time playing.

While the majority of the games I played at the Sony Booth left me disappointed, the LittleBigPlanet 3 demo had me excited for more.  The demo was split into two levels, Tutu Tango and the Crypt.  Tutu Tango was a Toggle-centric level that focused on using Toggle's switching abilities to manipulate momentum in different ways needed to advance in the level.  On the other end of the spectrum, the Crypt was a level made entirely for Oddsock that had the dog companion of Sackboy bouncing off of walls and performing precise jumps at a frantic pace perfect for those who love speedrunning.  While both levels were completely different in pace, the controls were responsive and the platforming was spot-on, which are two mechanics not normally associated with previous entries in the series.  Even though the levels were made for specific characters, there were multiple hidden areas that hinted at in co-op play in both levels.  Without creators Media Molecule at the helm, I did not have much faith that LittleBigPlanet 3 could surpass its predecessors.  After playing this demo, LittleBigPlanet 3 has caught my full attention especially when it comes to the single-player portion of the game.

Unlike any game on the show floor, Bethesda pulled out all the stops to engross you in experience of The Evil Within.  The booth consisted of over 20 demo stations all equipped with noise-cancelling headsets and black dividers to keep your attention solely focused on the game.  Thanks to Bethesda's excellent booth design, it felt like I was playing The Evil Within during the middle of the night, which made all the scares that much more frightening.  Unlike any game on the market today, The Evil Within demo brought some true scares as I explored the eerie halls of a derelict mansion.  The atmosphere of the game was perfect as the expert audio design made you feel uneasy at all times and the unpredictable enemy AI, which changes every time you load the game, kept you looking over the protagonist's shoulder constantly.  Much like early entries in the survival horror genre, The Evil Within does not hold your hand as you are free to explore the mansion as you wish.  It also creates tension in a similar fashion by restricting ammo and the use of melee weapons.  From my 20 to 30 minutes with the game, The Evil Within felt like a return to true survival horror rather than the Michael Bay-like action games that some companies are trying to pass as horror these days.  If you are in desperate need of a game that gives you nightmares like the original Resident Evils did over 15 years ago, The Evil Within will certainly fill that void.

Out of all the games at the Microsoft Booth, Sunset Overdrive was the only one I wanted to play no matter.  Ever since I saw the game in action at Microsoft's E3 press conference, I was in love with the absolute insanity developer Insomniac is trying to pass off  as gameplay.  Insane is the perfect word to describe the chaos of Sunset Overdrive's gameplay.  The game flows at an incredibly smooth clip that may be to smooth, in fact, as it can be easy to get lost in the swarms of enemies and explosions.  Like all Insomniac games, the guns are always the highlight of the show with their creative designs and expert handling.  Switching between guns is quick as a flick of the right analog stick, which adds to the chaotic pace of the game.  Apart from the chaotic gameplay, Sunset Overdrive exudes humour and style through humourous character designs, funny one-liners, and unique respawn animations.  All-in-all, my time with Sunset Overdrive was easily one of my highlights at Fan Expo as it was just pure unadulterated fun, and nothing can beat that.

The honour of being the very last game I got to play at Fan Expo belonged to Evolve.  The demo for Evolve was one of the main reasons I wanted to go Fan Expo 2014 in the first place, so there was no way I would leave the show without playing this game.  While I got to play Evolve for a good 20 minutes or so, you definitely need to play the game more than once to get a true feel for its mechanics, controls and subtle nuances.  My first impressions are positive, but just a little tainted due to getting beat before seeing the full potential of the game and the lack of helpful advice provided by the developer/tester advising me.  I played as the Kraken and almost evolved to its ultimate form before I succumbed to the strength and teamwork of my opponents.  The Kraken was very unique to control due to its sheer size in the game world.  Much of my time was spent on the defensive as I avoided combat with hunters and focused on feeding on enough wildlife to evolve.  I felt extremely vulnerable as a level one monster, but became much more competent as I grew in level.  As a whole, Evolve was an incredibly tense game of cat and mouse that was very enjoyable to play.  Hopefully when the game comes out next year, I can get more time with Evolve to hone my skills and possibly avenge my embarrassing loss at Fan Expo.

Silver Bit @ Fan Expo 2014

On Friday, August 29th, yours truly made the trek down to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in the heart of Canada's largest city for this year's Fan Expo Canada.  Fan Expo Canada is a multi-day event annually held at the very August.  Originally the convention was made to bring together fans of multiple genres, mainly comic books, science fiction, fantasy and film, Fan Expo has gone on to include a vast range of popular media such as video games, anime, manga and horror.  Over the years, the convention has grown to fill four whole days with panels, workshops, special screenings, tournaments, meet and greets, after parties, signings and photo ops among a plethora of other attractions.  Fan Expo Canada is easily the largest convention in all of Canada as it fills both buildings of the Toronto Convention Centre to capacity.

It has been four long years since I last went to Fan Expo Canada and a whole lot has changed since then.  I was astounded on how the convention has grown in size especially video game portion of the convention.  Back in 2010, the entire convention was held in the North Building of the Toronto Convention Centre with less than five percent of that space being dedicated to video games.  This year, the video game portion of the convention took up a whole quarter of the South Building and a large area of the North Building.  The video game industry was more than well represented at Fan Expo 2014 and a lot of the thanks has to go to EB Games Canada and their Gamer Zone.  EB Games Canada brought in the likes of Ubisoft, Sony, Microsoft, Bethesda, Disney, WB Games and 2K Games to demo some of the most anticipated games coming out in the next year.  There were well over 30 games on the show floor to demo including Evolve, Destiny, Far Cry 4, Sunset Overdrive, The Evil Within, Mortal Kombat X and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.  Personally, I spent the majority of my time in this section playing all the upcoming games I could get my hands on.  Considering I went for the one day, I only got to play about a third of the games available, but it was well worth all the kilometres traveled and the time spent waiting in lines.  I look forward to sharing my impressions on the demos I played in the coming weeks.  So stay tuned.

I did not spend my entire Friday in the video game section of Fan Expo.  There were tons of vendors selling video games, comics, art books, t-shirts, framed artwork, action figures, plush toys and anything you can think of.  Out of thousands of items available to buy, I picked up two Official Nintendo Legend of Zelda shirts for 40 dollars.  A lot of time outside of the games section was spent taking pictures of all the incredible statues set up on the floor such as giant Lego statues of the Shedder and Lord Business, and life-sized models of Prowl from Transfromers G1 and the Batmobile from Batman: Arkham Knight.  I also got to watch the very first episode of Star Wars: Rebels, the new Star Wars animated TV show set between Episodes III and IV, in the John Bassett Theatre with tons of excited fans both young and old.  It was a completely different experience watching a show with hundreds of other people as you got to hear live reactions from everybody in the audience, not just yourself.  While Rebels is geared towards a young audience, I found it to be very enjoyable for Star Wars fans of all ages.  It will definitely worth a viewing when it premieres on Disney XD this October.

Last but not least, I got to meet the cast of Reviews on the Run and Electric Playground along with famous video game composer and founder of Video Games Live, Tommy Tallarico.  Even though I met most of these gaming celebrities before, I was incredibly starstruck in front of all of them.  Some people idolize athletes, film stars or musicians, I idolize people in the video games industry including the developers, journalists and game analysts.  While I may have awkwardly stumbled over my words while talking to them, they all made me feel welcomed and appreciated.  I would like to thank Victor Lucas, Ben Silverman, Jose Sanchez, Marissa Roberto, Steve Tilley, Raju Mudhar and Tommy Tallarico for making a great Fan Expo even more special for me.  It was an excellent day and I cannot wait to go again next year.

2014: Year of the Delay

Delays are a natural part of any industry.  Nothing ever goes exactly to plan as issues and problems can occur at anytime during production to negatively affect the estimated time of arrival.  In the video game industry, delays come about regularly as developers run into game-breaking bugs that need additional time to receive the necessary attention or publishers search for the perfect release date for their game to succeed.  While there are quite a few games that slip past their original release date each year, 2014 has seen a large amount of major releases delayed until 2015.  So many delays, in fact, each one seems to make 2014 feel more like a barren wasteland for major releases.

The whole of 2013 was solely focused on launching two brand new systems in the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the heralds of the next generation of video games.  With those brand new consoles, the promise of games to justify their cost and hype was not too far behind.  After experiencing many console launches, a drought of games immediately following the release of these systems was to be expected, but to have this lack of major releases extend the majority of 2014 cannot be overlooked.  Although the good amount of downloadable releases may satisfy the most dedicated gamers between major releases, the vast majority does not scour the PlayStation Store, Xbox Marketplace or Nintendo eShop regularly for games to buy.  Sadly that vast majority focuses on the larger retail titles such as Call of Duty, The Last of Us and Watch Dogs over downloadable games like Child of Light, Shovel Knight and Transistor.  The games being delayed until 2015 (Batman: Arkham Knight, Evolve, The Division and Witcher III) are the system sellers for these next generation consoles and delaying these games until following year will cause more people to hold out on buying a PS4 or Xbox One for the time being.  Each time a major release is delayed, it adds more fuel to the argument that the next generation came a year before it was actually ready.

Despite all the negativity surrounding game delays, they are necessary and beneficial part of the video game industry.  Delays offer developers more time to fix bugs, polish mechanics, balance features and refine a game's content, which all result in making a better product.  Rushing a game to market, especially in an unfinished state, to meet a deadline can do a lot of damage to a company's image than actual good.  While the extra time benefits a game, there are some current trends involving delays that can have an averse effect on a game.  These trends include delaying a game just a few weeks before its release (Rayman Legends), over-hyping a game before its delay to go completely silent on it afterwards (Watch Dogs) and setting a release date for a game in order to push pre-orders before delaying it (Batman: Arkham Knight).  These trends alienate the loyal fans that look to support these games through pre-orders, buying collector's editions and paying for season passes by literally pulling the rug out from under them.  Playing with the emotions of the most passionate fans is an easy way to sour their opinions towards a certain game or game company.  Developers and publishers need to let delays be for the betterment of the games and learn to keep their audience's emotions in mind when announcing and handling these crucial situations.

Although it may be a tough pill to swallow, delays are an inevitable part of the video game industry.  They are needed to handle the unpredictable nature of game development, but gamers, publishers and developers all need to find better ways of dealing with them especially as development costs rise and the ability to connect with one another becomes more available.  As a gamer, it is disappointing to see the list of major releases in 2014 dwindle every month as many get pushed to 2015, but all hope is not lost.  There are many other options for gamers to spend their valuable time with than just the larger triple A titles including a wide selection of value-priced downloadable games or a vast backlog of games missed out on from previous years.  While 2014 may be a soft year for major game releases, best use the extra time to discover brand new experiences or rediscover those you missed out on from years past.  The games we are all excited about will eventually see the light of day; we just have to be a little more patient.

Top 10 Games of E3 2014 Part 1

Silver Bit's month long coverage of E3 2014 comes to an end with the annual Top Games of E3 list.  This year yours truly is going to switch things up as this list will be a Top 10 list instead of the Top 5 lists from previous years.  Due to the change, it will be hard to contain all these games in one article.  To solve the problem, I will be splitting the list into two parts with part one covering numbers 10 through 6 while part two covers numbers 5 through 1.  As I could not physically go to Los Angeles to experience E3 in person, efforts have been made to watch as much gameplay footage available online to narrow down the best games for this list.  Like in years past, the only games eligible for this list are those available to play on E3's show floor.  Without any further stipulations, let us count down the first five games in Silver Bit's Top 10 Games of E3 2014.

10.  Mario Maker - Wii U
If there is one Nintendo property that people have grown tired of over the years, it is Mario.  Mario releases may come at an accelerated rate these days, but you cannot blame Nintendo for sticking with what sells especially when they need it the most.  I will admit that Mario's 2D platformers have not added much to the formula since New Super Mario Bros. for the DS.  Mario's recent stagnation in two dimensions makes Mario Maker such a breath of fresh air.  Giving the player full freedom to create whatever 2D Mario level their heart desires in such an official form is a dream come true.  Mario Maker allows players to build levels using classic Mario assets such as blocks, warp pipes, goombas and koopas, two different styles of graphics (original NES graphics and the New Super Mario Bros. graphics) and the ability to instantly switch between editing and playing levels at any time.  Mario Maker is the next logical step in taking 2D Mario games to a whole new level.  There is an incredible amount of potential in placing the creation of new Mario levels in the hands of the players and this writer is excited to see what crazy contraptions come from it.

9.  Evolve - PS4, XBONE, PC
Coming from the minds that brought us classic cooperative shooter Left 4 Dead, Evolve looks to take competitive and cooperative shooters in a brand new direction.  Evolve is a four vs. one multiplayer shooter where the team of four has to work together to beat the one.  It might seem very unfair if the one was not a gigantic monster.  With this unique dynamic, matches involve much more than straight-up firefights.  Playing as the monster involves taking advantage of the moment-to-moment action to decide between striking the opposing team or avoiding combat in order to eat roaming creatures needed to evolve into more powerful stages.  On the other hand, the hunters need to work effectively as a team in order to track down and kill the monster before it becomes too much for the team to handle.  Matches in Evolve become hectic games of cat-and-mouse as both sides wrestle for control of territory and resources while contending with the unpredictable computer-controlled creatures that inhabit each map.  Since Turtle Rock Studios announced the game this past January, Evolve has been nothing but impressive especially with its showings at this year's E3.

8.  CounterSpy - PS3, PS4, PSV
Not much has been seen of Dynamighty's PlayStation exclusive outside the trailer found on PS4 demo kiosks across North America.  Considering CounterSpy is being published by Sony, one would have thought the gaming giant would make mention of it at their press conference.  In fact, the only footage available of CounterSpy at E3 is from the demo on the show floor.  It is a shame because of how great CounterSpy plays.  CounterSpy is a side-scrolling stealth game that has players sneaking through enemy bases in order to prevent nuclear war between the United States and Russia.  Trusted with a silenced pistol and stealth know-how, the player jumps between cover, shooting and taking out enemies on the fly.  In particular, the cover mechanics for the game are very interesting as the camera changes from a side view of the stage to slightly tilted view of the player and their sight from cover.  Overall, CounterSpy looks like a delightful downloadable that deserves a lot more attention than it is currently getting.  Watch some gameplay for it, CounterSpy might just surprise you.

7.  Mortal Kombat X - PS3, PS4, XBONE, XB360, PC
Mortal Kombat has seen its fair share of ups and downs over the years especially during the PS2, Xbox and Gamecube years.  With the success of Mortal Kombat 9, things have gotten back on track for the franchise.  Not to rest on their laurels, Ed Boon and NetherRealm Studios are making big changes to series while expanding on successful mechanics introduced in Mortal Kombat 9 and Injustice: Gods Among Us.  Mortal Kombat X's biggest departure comes in its roster and story as the game takes place 25 years after the events of the previous game.  Since 25 years have passed, the roster will consist of brand new characters such as Cassie Cage (daughter of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade), Kotal Khan (a blood god) and D'Vorah (a human/insect hybrid) along with some returning favourites like Scorpion and Sub-Zero.  Although gameplay remains very similar to past Mortal Kombats with the return of fatalities, special moves and x-ray moves, there are some interesting additions in the form of fully interactable environments and combat variations.  Much like Injustice, combatants can use parts of the environment to launch themselves into the air, set traps for opponents or use as additional weapons.  Speaking of combat variations, each fighter has three different variations to choose from which changes their move sets, strengths, weaknesses and weapons.  With all the new additions and refinements to Mortal Kombat X, gamers all around should be excited to dive back into this fighting game franchise come 2015.

6.  Far Cry 4 - PS3, PS4, XBONE, XB360, PC
Far Cry 3 surprised everybody back in 2012 with its excellent gameplay and vibrant open world.  Two years later, Ubisoft is at it once again with Far Cry 4.  To sum up Far Cry 4's showing at E3 in one word, it would be jaw-dropping.  Instead of having an entire island at your disposal, you now have an entire country in Kyrat.  On foot, in car and through the air, Far Cry 4 gives the player an incredible amount of choice to explore Kyrat however they want.  Gameplay gives the player the same amount of freedom as you can play solo or with a friend, use items and animals found in the environment to your advantage and freely move between modes of travel at any time.  It is hard to describe everything that makes Far Cry 4 such a standout among the sea of shooters releasing this year.  It is best to watch some gameplay footage of Far Cry 4 and see the awesomeness for yourself.

Well, this marks the end of part one.  Hope you enjoyed the list up to this point and feel free to share your favourite games of E3 in the comments.  If you want to continue reading, click this link to see the conclusion to Silver Bit's Top 10 Games of E3 2014

Bit by Bit: E3 2014 Wrap-up

E3 has come and gone for yet another year.  While the event may be over, the analysis of the show and all the games shown off has just begun.  All over the net, you see all the podcasts, reviews and awards dedicated to every aspect of the show popping up in the next couple weeks.  Here at Silver Bit, the month of June usually is solely focused on E3 from the previews to the conference impressions to the wrap-up articles.  In fact, I am watching all the gameplay footage that I can get my hands on to put together the annual Top 10 Games of E3 article which will conclude the month of June.  Before we move onto bigger and better things, let us look back on the show that was E3 2014 in this special edition of Bit by Bit.

Winner of E3 2014
As a whole, E3 2014 was an entertaining and ultimately safe show.  Aside from a few unique experiences, not many gambles were taken to infuse some innovation into the industry.  Although there were a plethora of familiar games showcased, all of them looked incredible.  With the amount of detail and fidelity in the coming wave of next generation titles, I can understand the current lack of new properties as a trade-off to getting a handle on the new hardware.  There were still new properties shown at the event in Evolve, The Order 1886, No Man's Sky and Sunset Overdrive, but they have not been put on the same pedestal that Assassin's Creed, Gears of War and Uncharted were early in the previous console generation.  Apart from the focus on familiar franchises, E3 2014 did an excellent job in showcasing how great 2015 will be compared to the rest of 2014.  All of the games people eagerly desire except Destiny or Super Smash Bros. comes out next year and that fact is just a little upsetting considering there is still no killer app for this generation yet.  Guess it will come with everything else releasing in 2015.

Enough of my analysis of E3 2014, let us get down to which company won at this year's show.  Winning E3 really comes down to personal opinion and how the showcased games appeal to each individual.  This year, the three console manufacturers were neck-and-neck in their showings.  Everybody did a good job in providing gamers with the games they wanted to see and the information they wanted to hear.  As close as this arms race was, Sony impressed me the most at E3 2014.  While I am in the minority, Sony's winning performance last year only came because they did the exact opposite of Microsoft and built their hype for the PS4 around that plan.  On the software side, not much impressed last year.  However this year Sony delivered with the games and content to compliment their highly successful system.  I came out of the Sony Press Conference knowing that I need a PS4 to get the most out of this new generation.  Even though the press conference had that excruciatingly boring thirty minutes, I would take this year's great three quarters over last year's excellent one fourth any day.  Sony could have lost some ground at E3 2014 with a lacklustre showing, but they delivered and solidified their place as number one this console generation.

Surprise of E3 2014
In the last few years, E3 surprises have become few and far between.  With the internet now, the few surprises actually planned for E3 might not make it to the show itself as they are leaked in the months, weeks and even days in advance.  For a surprise to stay a surprise right up until the moment of its revealed makes the moment feel like an event especially on this stage.  There were a slightly more surprises this year in Phantom Dust, Rainbow Six: Siege, Splatoon and Codename S.T.E.A.M., but one stood tall over the rest.  That surprise came at the Sony Press Conference from Adam Boyes along with some help from a girl named Sally.  It would turn out that Sally was not a girl, but renowned adventure game designer Tim Schafer.  Sally's wish for a return to a classic Tim Schafer adventure game came true when Boyes announced the Grim Fandango HD remake exclusively for PS4 and PS Vita.  As niche as adventure games may be, this news got me very excited because I have never played the original and heard so many great things about the game.  Funny enough, I was actually wondering if Double Fine would re-release Grim Fandango on Steam or remake the game for this generation a few months back.  After thinking about it, to actually see Grim Fandango HD become reality was like Sony found a way to read my mind.  It was an incredible reveal that easily was the highlight of the Sony Press Conference and the entire show.

Trailer of E3 2014
The only thing more prevalent at E3 than the plethora of demos that line the show floor are the trailers.  Each game at the event has a trailer to get gamers excited and to permeate the hundreds of screens covering the E3 booths.  Ranging from multi-minute vignettes to short little teasers, the trailers at this year's event varied in quality.  Some tried to be incredibly dramatic while others went lighter in tone and heavy with the humour.  There were quite a few standouts such as The Witcher III's epic story trailer, Sunset Overdrive's hilarious parody of modern shooters and Super Smash Bros.'s Mii Fighter reveal which saw Reggie and Iwata duke it out in spectacular fashion.  Out of those great trailers, The Legend of Zelda for Wii U reveal trailer was the best.  While short in length, the trailer captured key details for this new adventure in the world of Hyrule.  The beautiful cel-shaded anime-inspired graphics and the grand vistas will be the first things to catch the eye, but there are much more to dig into with this trailer.  The confirmation of horse riding, more options to fight on horseback, the blend of modern technology and medieval fantasy and the dynamic open world were among the amazing features revealed through this trailer.  While early in development, The Legend of Zelda for Wii U looks absolutely incredible and this trailer is just the beginning of all the great media we will receive in the near future.