Hump Day Video: Remember Me

For the past few years, Germany's Gamescom has become one of the big video game conventions of the year.  While it may not be as popular as E3, there are quite a few big announcements saved for this August convention.  With EA, Capcom and Sony having their big press conferences at the event yesterday, there is already quite a bit palpable gaming news from the event such as release dates for upcoming games and announcements for a slew of Vita and PSN games.  Even companies like Activision and Microsoft are showing off some new stuff for their big games this holiday as both Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Halo 4 are getting their full multi-player reveals at Gamescom.  There is even a rumour floating around that the next Half-Life game will be revealed at Gamescom.

Out of all the stuff revealed these first couple of days at Gamescom, it is a new IP from Capcom that has caught the eyes of many gamers including yours truly.  Published by Capcom and developed by a French studio known as Dontnod Entertainment, Remember Me is an action game set in a futuristic Paris.  In this future, everybody has brain implants that control and store their memories.  While these implants are used to govern a person's memories, they can in turn be hacked by outside forces.  The protagonist of Remember Me, Nilin is a former memory hunter that has been betrayed by her former employer and left with no memories whatsoever.  Remember Me has a very interesting premise that has futuristic Mirror's Edge/Deus Ex vibe to it.  I cannot wait to see more of Remember Me in the months leading up to its May 2013 release for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.  Right now, I got the announcement trailer and first gameplay footage of Remember Me so you guys can see why you should be excited for Remember Me.

E3 2012: Microsoft Press Conference Impressions

Well the future of gaming is now.  The E3 press conferences are were all the big news happens.  Surprising new reveals, huge game demos, and a whole lot of hype.  That is what makes up these press conferences.  Following each press conference this year, I will be writing my impressions on each show.  The good, the bad and the absolutely ugly along with a final grade to wrap up each impression.  Let us start with the first conference of E3, the Microsoft Press Conference.

It is easy to sum up Microsoft's 2012 Press Conference in two words, inconsistent and disappointing.  In the last few years, Microsoft has fallen into a formula of sorts.  They would cram all the hardcore games in the first 30 minutes of the show then the rest of the show would be dedicated to either Kinect or other boring topics.  This year, Microsoft tried to mix things up interspersing hardcore games with casual Kinect games and new entertainment iniatives.  Instead of keeping things focused, it made the show feel all over the place and confusing.  Microsoft focused too much on the entertainment side of things rather than highlighting the reasons to own a Xbox over a PS3 or Wii U.  It came off extremely boring, uninteresting and completely unnecessary.  Microsoft could have easily did a video much like Nintendo's Pre E3 video last night and highlighted all this stuff.  Honestly I do not need or want to know that I can now search movies on my Xbox by genres.  Really?!  The SmartGlass presentation was interesting, but too long drawn out.  One of the main selling points for Internet Explorer working on Xbox when browsers have failed on other consoles is that you use your tablet and/or smartphone to control it, but that leaves one big question.  Why would I use Xbox's browser with my tablet and/or smartphone rather than just use the browser on my tablet and/or smartphone?  Answer that one, Microsoft.  The best part of Microsoft's conference were the game demos.  Splinter Cell: Blacklist and Tomb Raider stole the show while Halo 4 and Resident Evil 6 both had good showings.  I also enjoyed the little interlude for downloadable games.  While it was only a two to three minute montage of trailers, it was far more enjoyable than most of the conference.  To hit home how low this conference got was the final two acts.  To reveal Dance Central 3, Microsoft had Usher perform his new single, Scream live yet forgot to show off any real gameplay.  The final act at Microsoft's press conference went to Call of Duty: Black Ops II.  Not the reveal of the new Xbox, not a new Microsoft game, no Black Ops II.  It was disappointing and also showed how weak Microsoft's first-party development studios have become as they have to rely on a third-party developer to finish off their show.

Overall, Microsoft's E3 2012 Press Conference was a inconsistent mess that came off more of a disappointing whimper than a triumphant victory over the competition.  There are a couple of moments that were truly great, but they were crushed by all the crap that permeated this conference.  Microsoft has made it very easy for Nintendo and Sony to one up them this year.

Grade:  D+

Off the Newsstand: Game Informer Issue 229

With this rather slow two months for video games, it has allowed me to keep up Off the Newsstand with my reading.  Averaging reading a whole magazine each week.  As long as my subscriptions come at a steady pace, I will be able to post Off the Newsstand every week or two.  Earlier this week, I finished the May issue of Game Informer.  Here are my thoughts.

Not much has been said about Halo 4 since Microsoft revealed the game at last year's E3.  There were a few tidbits of what the game was shaping up to be through various videos made by 343 Industries showing the behind the scenes on Halo 4, but nothing as substantial as this cover story.  Game Informer's cover story is split into two parts.  The first part takes a look at the opening few hours of the main campaign and has the developers at 343 discussing some of the plot points of Halo 4 such as Cortana slowly dying, exploring Master Chief as a character rather than an all-powerful superhero and the mystery of the Forerunners.  The second part takes a look at Halo 4's multi-player now called Infinity.  Infinity has a story of its own as you train a Spartan IV aboard the UNSC Infinity.  Spartan IVs train on the Infinity's combat deck, which like Star Trek's holodeck or the Danger Room in X-Men can replicate any known environment for the Spartans to train on, in red vs. blue matches.  There is a new co-op mode called Spartan Ops, which allows players to complete unique missions and challenges with other Spartan IVs.  Spartan Ops will be updated every week with new missions, new challenges and a new movie sequence to advance the co-ops' story.  The multi-player story even converges with the main campaign as Master Chief will run into the UNSC Infinity and its' crew at some point in his campaign.  At first I thought this story on Halo 4 would not interest me much like last issue's Assassin's Creed III cover story, after reading it I am genuinely excited for Halo 4 especially the Spartan Ops, which I think it an excellent way of keeping gamers engaged with Halo 4 for weeks, months even years after completing the game.  Also packed into this Issue 229 of Game Informer was an in-depth playthrough of Guild Wars 2, some articles on the Game Developer's Conference (GDC for short) like a look at Quantic Dream's new engine for the PS3, a look at the winners of this year's Independent Game Festival and Indie Game Challenge and an interview with Epic's Mike Capps, a look at the controversy surrounding Mass Effect 3's ending and much more. 

Issue 229 is the best issue of Game Informer since February's Issue 226.  The cover story delivers, there are insightful articles on GDC and current issues in the video game industry, previews of the biggest games of 2012 and reviews of the biggest games of the first quarter of 2012 like Mass Effect 3, Xenoblade Chronicles and The Witcher 2.  Issue 229 is definitely worth the 6 dollars to buy it at your local EB Games or Chapters.

Hump Day Music: One Final Effort

Usually I like to tie in the music I highlight on Hump Day Music with what I am currently playing or a big piece of news.  It is just a coincidence that I thought of highlighting what is commonly known as Halo's theme just a week after Microsoft announced Halo 4's release date of November 6th this year.  My little brother is going to love me for this one, seeing his a huge fan of the original Halo trilogy.  This week on Hump Day Music, I share with you my favourite thing about Halo, One Final Effort.

Personally, I have never been a huge fan of first-person perspective in games other than for Metroid Prime and Half-Life, a lot due to those games' amazing atmospheres and the fact you are rarely taken out of that first-person perspective.  I have always enjoyed playing Halo with friends from time to time as it is actually a pretty fun party game, but nothing more than that.  I have played a bit of Halo 2, ODST and Reach, but the only one I have completed is Halo 3.  Funny enough, my favourite version of One Final Effort comes from Halo 3.  This amazing orchestrated piece of video game music really accentuates Halo's gameplay.  One Final Effort makes you feel like you are in a superhero that nothing can stand in your way.  Every moment you hear it play throughout Halo 3, especially in the final mission, you feel like a champ.  This piece of music is an example why Halo's music is held in such high regard by both the gaming industry and gaming community.  It will be nice to hear how Halo's new audio director, Sotora Tojima, interprets this Marty O'Donnell's classic gaming theme for Halo 4.