Amiibogeddon

Every year around the holidays, there is usually one item that everybody wants to get their hands on.  Last year, it was the PlayStation 4.  A few years ago, it was Activision's Skylanders figures.  History loves to repeat itself as this time it's Nintendo's line of Amiibo figures.  If you have not heard by now, Nintendo's Amiibo figures are selling out across the globe due to limited supplies.  Along with that news, rumors about the discontinuation of certain figures, namely Marth, Wii Fit Trainer and Villager, have sent people into a fervor over the Amiibos as a whole.  People are pre-ordering  every figure, buying multiples to cash in on the demand and relentlessly searching for hard-to-find Amiibos.  The Amiibogeddon name may sound really cheesy, but the magnitude of this ongoing craziness is being felt by Nintendo fans who want to pick up their favourite character or collectors who want to own them all.  While Nintendo is the only one that can fix this situation, they are highly notorious for being slow to restock retailers after the initial shipment of their products.

Despite Nintendo's frustrating practices of building demand for certain products, their handling of this entire situation has left a lot to be desired.  First, they completely underestimated the demand for the Amiibos especially the figures involving characters from franchises with a cult following like Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing.  Activision did the exact same thing when Skylanders initially released in 2011.  Since Amiibo is directly inspired by the Skylanders line of games and toys,  it is baffling for Nintendo to not at least learn from Skylander's growing pains.  Second, Nintendo hasn't done anything to dismiss these rumors of discontinuation.  In fact, they have added more fuel to the fire by not giving a definitive "yes" or "no" answer to the question.  All that has been clarified is more popular characters will be in regular stock while certain sold-out figures may be restocked at a later date.  No definition of what characters are deemed popular enough for regular stock, outside of Mario and Link, and no concrete timetable of when these figures will be restocked if ever.  On top of all this wonderful news, the Captain Falcon, Luigi and Pit figures from the second wave of Amiibos have been delayed until further notice.

Not everything surrounding the Amiibos is negative.  As a matter of fact, the figures are really well made and their uses in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Mario Kart 8 and Hyrule Warriors are really cool.  They have a lot of potential that hopefully Nintendo can capitalize on.

The feelings on Nintendo's mishaps surrounding the Amiibogeddon fiasco can be boiled down to one word--frustrating.  These figures were made to capitalize on the toys to life market in order to make back the money lost on poor Wii U sales.  It is puzzling that Nintendo isn't making greater efforts to meet the demand, even with "niche" characters like Marth, Wii Fit Trainer and Villager.  If these figures are making a profit, there should be absolutely no reason to consider discontinuing or limiting the stock for any of them.  While I personally don't believe Nintendo will fix this fiasco before the new year, the longer they wait to actually address the issue, the more they will alienate the Amiibo's target audience.

First Byte: Destiny

Unless you were living under a rock sometime during the end of July, a beta for a little game called Destiny was released to the masses.  While Bungie did give a small taste of Destiny through the PS4 exclusive alpha back in June, the beta marked the first time gamers got a substantial piece of the game to play.  Available from July 17th to 27th on Sony consoles (PS3 and PS4) and July 23rd to 27th on Microsoft consoles (Xbox 360 and Xbox One), the Destiny beta gave players five story missions and one strike co-op mission to complete, the Old Russia wastelands and Guardian Tower to explore and the Control PvP match-type to compete in along with some addition content such as a new story mission and PvP match-type only opened for brief periods throughout the beta.  With the financial backing of publishing powerhouse Activision and the unstained reputation of developer Bungie, Destiny has easily become the most anticipated game of 2014 well before people ever got their hands on the game.  This beta marked a chance for millions of gamers the world over to try this major title without dropping 70 dollars to buy it or spending hundreds to play it at a gaming convention.  The Destiny beta was an unprecedented event, but that leaves one question: did it succeed in convincing those skeptical to buy the game and reinforcing the beliefs of those already excited for the game?  Although the true answer to that question will only be revealed on September 9th when Destiny is released to the public, I will be sharing my initial opinions on Destiny and recap my experience with the beta in this edition of First Byte.

Before launching right into the game, the Destiny beta starts off in a character creation screen.  In this screen, players choose their class (titan, warlock or hunter), sex (male or female), race (Human, Exo or Awoken) and other physical features.  As I am not the most adverse at character creators, I only spent a few minutes creating my unique Exo warlock.  Those interested in tweaking every little feature of their character to perfection might be disappointed in Destiny's focus on using preset features and colours for character creation; however it does keep players from spending an unnecessary amount of time in these menus and moves them into the action right away.

After finishing the character creation, the first cutscene plays setting up the conflict between the Traveler and the Darkness and the players' need to bear arms against the threat of the Darkness.  The first mission starts as my character is resurrected by a Ghost (your character's robot companion played by Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage) and it plays out much like your standard fare tutorial introducing the core mechanics of the game.  Considering you gain one level every mission in the early stages of Destiny, the four other introductory missions are very similar as each one introduces a new element of the game such as special moves, vehicles, public events and new enemy races.  Once you complete the first mission, you are given access to the Tower, Destiny's social and non-combat hub.  While at the Tower, players are able to view messages, buy new weapons, armour and ship upgrades, decode encrypted items, store items in vaults, take on single and multiplayer bounties and interact with fellow guardians.  Exploring the Tower offers players a peaceful distraction outside the intense firefights of missions and multiplayer matches.  The Tower is not the only place guardians are able to roam as players can explore each major setting of the game at their leisure.  In these "explore" areas are loot caches to find, enemies to fight, secret areas to discover and side missions that come in the form of beacons to complete.  Considering I did not get a chance to play the multiplayer portion of the beta, Destiny's open world areas are where I spent most of my time and I spent most of my time exploring Destiny's open world areas and they were a fun way to kill some time.

Although I am not a huge fan of first-person shooters, Destiny got its hooks in me.  Even with the limited selection of missions and activities to do, I kept on coming back every chance I had and I believe it had to do with Destiny's excellent hybridization of expertly polished FPS gameplay with the empowering abilities and skills found in many RPGs.  The gun play is very reminiscent of Bungie's entries into the Halo series as each gun has its own strengths and weaknesses in effectively dealing with different situations from long distance shootouts to up close and personal brawls.  The RPG elements are excellently implemented as players gain levels independent of learning new skills such as hovering, draining health when using your melee or supercharged special moves.  Gaining levels never feels like a grind because there are plenty of opportunities to earn experience through missions, explore mode, multiplayer matches and public events.  Another impressive element of Destiny comes from the enemy AI.  It floors me how well the enemies react to your tactics by moving from cover to cover, flanking when you are busy fighting another enemy or swarming when you make a mistake.  Destiny's enemies are unlike the regular FPS grunts as they offer a considerable yet satisfying challenge for players of any skill level.

While I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Destiny, there are still a few issues I ran into during the beta.  The most prevalent issues came with the side missions and public events in explore mode as I ran into far too many missions and events with the exact same objectives.  The randomized nature of these activities is definitely a factor in this repetition, but Bungie should make a large enough pool of side missions and public events in order to avoid repetition of missions and events altogether.  The other issues I found were more graphical glitches like a enemy teleporting through objects, errant collision boxes the level designers forgot to remove or stuttering during loading screens, which are not that serious.  Hopefully, the beta helped the programmers and designers at Bungie find all the bugs and balancing issues needed to make Destiny a better game come launch.

Skepticism best describes my opinion of Destiny before taking part in the beta.  Due to the incredible marketing might Activistion is putting behind it, there is no doubt that Destiny will be a success upon its release, but would it actually be live up to the hype is whole other question.  The excellent quality of the Destiny beta has completely changed my opinion on the game.  In a year with a significant lack of triple A titles, Destiny will shine brighter than any game on the market this holiday season, possibly challenging Call of Duty in sales.  We will only know come September 9th if Destiny is the revolution in console MMOs that it is being hyped to be, but I do believe we are on the cusp of something special regardless.

E3 2014: The Big Questions

Well the most wonderful time to be gamer is here yet again.  The 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is only a day away and all the buzz and excitement around the event is its peak.  With all the extreme highs and lows of E3 2013, last year's event was a very exciting and entertaining to experience.  Expectations are set pretty high for this year's event as all the hype surrounding brand new hardware is now firmly in the past and the industry can focus on the product it so perfectly crafts-- video games.  Although hopes are in a much better place leading into E3 2014 than last year's event, there are some key questions that need to be addressed in the coming week.  Questions that will be pivotal in moving the industry forward for better or worse.

What is the 2014 holiday lineup?

The last few weeks leading up to E3 has seen some delays for games originally set to release later this year such as The Order 1886 and Batman: Arkham Knight.  The more delays announced, the more worried this writer has been getting.  Aside from the usual suspects (Assassin's Creed, Battlefield and Call of Duty), the lineup of games releasing this holiday season are much slimmer than years past.  With everything still up in the air, there is nothing that truly stands out among the deluge of similar experiences.   Destiny may be the exception as this writer sees this game generating a large of amount of sales due to Activision's aggressive marketing, but Destiny is just one game that releases at the very beginning of the holiday season.  All video game publishers especially the console manufacturers (Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo) need to make their plans for the holidays clear with firm release dates and a mix between sequels and new properties.  The holiday season is the most crucial time for any business especially video games.  To come out of E3 2014 without a solid holiday lineup set will be bad news for console manufacturers that are looking to push hardware sales and game publishers hoping to sell large quantities of software.

What is Microsoft's and Nintendo's plan to fix their current woes?

Out of the three big console manufacturers, Sony is the only one currently on solid footing.  While the Vita and its games may not be selling much, Sony has written off the handheld as a peripheral for the PS4, a non-factor in their current business plan.  As much as eyes will be on Sony to see if they can keep their momentum, there are more eyes peering at Microsoft and Nintendo to see what they can do to fix their current situations.  

Although the Xbox One is selling, it is significantly lagging behind the PS4.  All of the Xbox One's woes come from Microsoft's debacle from a year ago.  Alienating their primary audience with no used games policy, always connected requirement and forcing Kinect on every Xbox One owner was not the best decision for Microsoft to make leading into the next console generation.  With the recent announcements about a cheaper Xbox One and more benefits for Xbox Live Silver, it seems Microsoft has finally learned from their mistakes and is looking to reconcile with those they alienated a year ago.  The effort may come too late to fix anything in the immediate future, but making these adjustments now will benefit Microsoft farther down the road.  Their E3 2014 press conference is the next step in the healing process and Microsoft better make the most of this opportunity because they will only get one shot.  A subpar to decent performance will not be tolerated, Microsoft needs to come out with games and experiences that gamers can only get by owning a Xbox One.  Microsoft was once a great first-party developer, but has significantly scaled back in the last decade.  It is fine time to flex that software making muscles again and show why Microsoft deserves to be making video games.

Nintendo's issues are on a whole different level.  To get an extensive break down of the problems this writer believes is plaguing Nintendo, check out the A Link to the Wrong post from a few months back.  What Nintendo needs to do at E3 is make steps in fixing the elephant in the room-- the Wii U's dismal sales.  Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. will definitely move a ton of units this year, but those two games can only push console sales so far.  Nintendo needs to show consumers why they have to own a Wii U and key part of convincing people to buy their console comes from showing how their games will take full advantage of the Wii U's tablet-like controller.  Nintendo has to hammer home the Gamepad's full potential with every game they show.  Every game does not need a fancy gimmick, they just need to make the Gamepad relevant for gamers.  Speaking of games, time for Nintendo to drop some information on new titles such as the next entries in The Legend of Zelda and Metroid franchises or Shigeru Miyamoto's super secret project along with release dates for already confirmed titles like Super Smash Bros., Bayonetta 2 and X.  Much like Microsoft, the stakes are high for Nintendo this year.  Anything short of amazing will be considered a failure by critics and gamers alike.  Positive buzz absolutely needs to be generated at E3 2014 around the Wii U and the Nintendo brand as a whole or things will continue to slip for the Big N this cycle.

Why should I buy a next generation console?

A year has passed and it seems like we have not made any progress whatsoever with this question from a year ago.  The next generation is here and there is nothing that truly differentiates it from the last.  All we got so far is a massive game drought, shinier graphics and a hike in video game prices.  To make matters worse, most of the quote-on-quote next gen experiences these major game companies brag about are also available on the previous console generation.  The graphic fidelity may not be as spotless and the frame rate may not be that smooth on the PS3 and Xbox 360, but there is little to no difference between these cross-generational games.  These issues give little to no incentive on consumers to drop close to six hundred dollars on a brand new console when there is barely anything that they cannot already get on the consoles they already own.  Every publisher and developer has a huge task this E3 in providing the games and experiences that can only be conceived with the power of these new consoles.  Time is not currently on anybody's side as consumers are already losing patience with these systems.  Moves need to be made this coming week on all fronts to keep consumers from getting too anxious and to ensure people their six hundred dollar investments were worth it.

Seeing as the industry is currently in the middle of a game drought, it is time to get people excited about what is coming in the weeks, months and even years ahead.  E3 is arguably the most pivotal event of year for video game companies.  As seen with the PS4 and Xbox One respectively, E3 can generate enormous amounts of buzz around a product or completely derail a product altogether.  More than ever before, this year's E3 has to deliver with the games announced, the surprises revealed and the excitement generated because it will be the event that launches the video game industry into the next stage of this eighth console generation.  Come June 9th, all eyes will be on Los Angeles, the LA Convention Center and the video game industry as a whole.  Time for the video game industry to put up or shut up.

A Link to the Wrong: Nintendo's Problems

Nintendo's current situation has been well documented for months now.  The Wii U is currently the worst selling console on the market and despite incredible sales, the 3DS is not selling enough to make up for the Wii U's dismal sales.  A part from those points, third-party publishers this side of the Pacific are abandoning Nintendo and their systems like they are a sinking ship.  The talk surrounding Nintendo is in such an ugly place that an article that either praises or dismisses the Wii U is front page news on any video game website every week.  As an avid fan of Nintendo, I personally do not like the battle between positive and negative press flying around all mediums of communication.  Even if the Wii U does not pan out, Nintendo has an enormous amount of money saved from their successes like the Game Boy, DS and Wii to support themselves into the future.  Another point, the Wii U is only in its second year on the market.  There is still time for Nintendo to turn things around with the system.  The 3DS is a prime example of the possible turnaround that could happen with the Wii U.  With all that said, Nintendo's current situation is entirely their fault.  While the marketing for the Wii U has been a mess since the very beginning, it is not the main cause of their situation.  There are a good number of issues that Nintendo as a company has not been aggressive in tackling or have avoided altogether which have created this perfect storm.  These issues are not independent to one of Nintendo's systems; they involve Nintendo as a whole.

1)  No Party for Third-Parties

Nintendo's problems with securing third-party support has been an ever-present issue with their systems since the days of the Nintendo 64.  One would expect this issue to be solved sometime between the three console generations since the N64.  Funny enough, it has only gotten worse.  Third-party support outside of Japanese publishers and Activision is nearly non-existent.  Even Ubisoft, which has been a big supporter of Nintendo products the past couple generations, is severely cutting back their support aside from downloadable titles and yearly Just Dance installments.  Third-party publishers seem to be moving away from Nintendo products because they believe they cannot make a profit on them.  That impression is not one Nintendo should continue to let foster.  The Big N has shown off some of the partnerships they have forged with Japanese companies like Sega, Atlus and Tecmo Koei, but Nintendo needs to make strides with the publishers in which they have had problems enticing in the past.  First-party games, no matter their great quality, can only take you so far.  Third-party games are needed to pad out the times where there are a lack of first-party titles.  Better for Nintendo to aggressively seek fixing this issue now rather than let it fester any longer as it will be hard repairing these relationships later.

2)  Stalling with Online Multiplayer

Nintendo has dabbled in online multiplayer with games like Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart.  Compared to the efforts of their competitors, Nintendo's efforts have been lacking.  More games in their portable lineup have received online multiplayer to great success.  These portable games show the great potential of Nintendo-crafted online multiplayer.  Now Nintendo just needs to start adding an online component to games that should have it.  The lack of online multiplayer in games like Nintendo Land, New Super Mario Bros. U, Super Mario 3D World and Pikmin 3 is a missed opportunity in this writer's honest opinion.  Personally, I am a huge advocate for local multiplayer, but those days have been replaced by playing with others without leaving the comforts of your home.  Nowadays, online multiplayer is expected to be included in most games.  Nintendo does not need to add online multiplayer to all their games, but they need to start adding some sort of online component to those which already include local multiplayer.  I have had great times playing games like Nintendo Land, New Super Mario Bros. U and Super Mario 3D World with my friends locally.  Just imagine being able to recreate that fun at anytime without the hassle of trying to gather a group of people every single time you wanted to play some multiplayer.

3)  Stuck on Gimmicks

Nintendo has never been a powerhouse when it comes to graphics.  Their strength has always been gameplay, but sadly the world has become obsessed with the amount of polygons you can cram on a screen.  It is hard to communicate gameplay without giving people the game to actually play.  Case and point, Super Mario 3D World.  Upon first impressions, everybody thought 3D World would just be a up-scaled port of 3D Land.  Once people got their hands on the game, their opinions completely changed for the better.  Nintendo combated this superficial obsession with cutting-edge graphics by introducing unique gimmicks to their consoles and games from the two screens of the Nintendo DS to the motion controls of the Wii.  Nintendo's focus on gimmicks did pan out with the DS and Wii, but they have become a little too reliant on gimmicks to push their games and consoles.  Gimmicks work only when you design games that take advantage of those gimmicks in new and creative ways.  In the Wii U's case, Nintendo has not made any games that truly take advantage of the hardware within the Wii U Gamepad which has caused it to backfire on them.  Gimmicks are not a bad thing, they just become tiresome when you rely on them far too much.  If Nintendo is going to stick with using gimmicks to separate themselves from the competition, they need to be more careful in adding gimmicks that truly institute creativity and innovation rather than just adding gimmicks for the sake of having them.

4)  Wanted:  New Blood

It is hard to think of the last new franchise Nintendo introduced on such a large scale.  You would have to go back to 2006 with the introduction of Wii Sports.  In all honesty, nobody thought Wii Sports would spawn into a franchise which would include Wii Play, Wii Fit, Wii Music and Wii Party.  Looking at that fact, it has been eight years since Nintendo last introduced a major franchise.  Nintendo has introduced new IPs such as Rhythm Heaven, Professor Layton, Pushmo/Crashmo and HarmoKnight, but they all have been confined to handheld or downloadable space instead of major releases on their consoles.  Although it is only one game, there is hope in the mysterious new IP Shigeru Miyamoto is currently working on.  Hopefully, the possible success of this unknown game could spur Nintendo into taking more risks in developing games outside their comfort zone of Mario, Zelda and Pokemon.  Nintendo can even dive into their back catalogue and make new entries in series such as Star Fox, F-Zero, Earthbound or Metroid to alleviate some of the franchise fatigue affecting their most relied upon series.

First Byte: Xbox One

It has been well over a year since the first and funny enough last edition of First Byte.  Originally starting out as a reoccurring demo impressions article, it is time to evolve First Byte.  It is hard to keep demo impressions coming at a steady pace when you do not play many demos.  Now First Byte will be a first impressions article.  No need to wait for demos, it will cover my first impressions on a game, console or anything video game related.  What a better way to kick off the new direction of First Byte by giving my first impressions on the recently revealed Xbox One, Microsoft’s next generation gaming machine.  There has been a full week of news about the Xbox One so everybody and their mother has an opinion on the third Xbox console.  Without any further ado, let us get down to business.

To get right to the point, Microsoft has not made many happy with the reveal of the Xbox One, this writer included.  The reveal was an absolute mess, but the news that has come out over the past week has not given many a positive outlook over the system.  This negative buzz surrounding the Xbox One has come from Microsoft’s plans for online, new games and used games (three things Microsoft conviently did not touch on during the Xbox One reveal).  First, the Xbox One will not require you to be connected to the Internet at all times.  The one exception being that you have to connect to the Internet at least once a day.  If you do not have an Internet connection whatsoever or your Internet goes down for a day, you cannot use the Xbox One at all.  So Microsoft stays away from the negative connotations of the "Always On" buzz word, but still finds to screw the consumer.  Not everybody has access to or the money to afford the Internet, but they may be able to buy a game system.  While Microsoft has found a way around repeating the same always-online disasters that were Diablo III and SimCity, they are extremely limiting the appeal of the Xbox One with this strategy for online.  Second, new games will require a one-time activation and mandatory installation to the hard drive.  Once the activation has been used, you must buy another activation to use the game on another Xbox One.  No longer can you share games with your friends or use game rental services such as GameFly with the Xbox One.  What a great way to undermine one of the many reasons that people buy home consoles and destroy the camaraderie and free advertisement built from sharing games with others.  Right now, you may be thinking that this activation with new games will kill used games on the Xbox One.  Well that thought leads right into the last point.  Microsoft is working with certain retailers to create a new used game market.  You will be able to trade in used games at the retailers that Microsoft specifies at a later date.  Microsoft and the publishers will be getting a cut of the used sales from these retailers.  The whole debate surrounding the used game market has been well documented.  Personally, I believe that the sharing of new and used revenue between publishers and companies such as Gamestop should have happened years ago.  While this partnership is a step in the right direction, it will be interesting to see how it will impact the amount of trade-in credit a customer receives or the price of used Xbox One games. 

Microsoft can put in all the cool multimedia features, push Kinect as an integral part of the system and create an all-in-one entertainment suite, but the fact of the matter is the Xbox One is first and foremost a video game console.  People do not want all these other features; they just want to play games without any interruption or unnecessary badgering from the manufacturers and publishers.  The Xbox One is the culmination of Microsoft's new direction.  This new direction may seem like an excellent idea in Microsoft's world.  In actuality, it is the complete and utter opposite.  At this point in time, Xbox One looks to be a major step in the wrong direction for the industry.  Instead of finding a happy medium between pleasing both the game publishers and consumers, Microsoft looks to be creating a machine that completely alienates their consumers in favour of appeasing the giant third-party publishers such as Activision, EA and Ubisoft.  It is hard to tell if the Xbox One will be Microsoft's downfall only a week after the reveal, but this system will definitely have an uphill battle in the months and years ahead.

Xbox One Reveal Impressions

The next generation of home consoles is just around the corner.  Nintendo has launched the Wii U, Sony has revealed the PlayStation 4, today was Microsoft's turn to reveal their plans for the next generation Xbox.  Being the last out of the gate meant a lot of eyes were focused on Microsoft to deliver the next evolution of their Xbox brand.  Microsoft's reveal was the Xbox One, the next generation system focused on being a one stop shop for entertainment, sports, social networking and gaming.  The initial reveal was this afternoon with plenty of new information being revealed throughout the day from Question and Answer sessions held after the event.  These impressions are of only the reveal itself.  I will leave my thoughts about the Xbox One as a whole to a later date when things settle down.  

Microsoft started their reveal by showing off the actual console itself.  Right off the bat, everybody saw the Xbox One, the new Kinect and the new controller, which were all had a slick industrial design.  From there, Microsoft showed off the Xbox One's interface.  The interface is very similar to that of Windows 8 with the added touches of the Kinect voice control and the ability to run multiple applications at a time.  The voice controls were impressive as the Xbox One instantaneously reacted to the presenter's commands, a huge improvement over the original Kinect's voice controls because they did actually work.  Microsoft then went into detail about the tech behind the Xbox One.  They separated this segment into three sections: the system, Kinect and the controller.  Microsoft took a quick look at the design and features behind each piece of the Xbox One.  While I personally do not believe for one second that there are forty innovations in the controller, this segment was enjoyable as it was concise and to the point unlike one other console manufacturer that loves to talk for hours on end about their consoles specs by the name of Sony.  The first half of the reveal concluded with a look at the new Xbox Live, which will boast thousands of servers, dynamic achievements and improved cloud storage.  

The second half of this reveal was where everything fell apart for Microsoft.  The first half got everybody excited to see what this new console could create.  Sadly, Microsoft could not show the software to back up their claims.  Nothing shown in the last thirty minutes did anything to excite, it actually made this writer role his eyes and yell at the television in disdain repeatedly.  Microsoft touted that they will be releasing fifteen exclusives for the Xbox One during the console's first year on the market.  Eight of those exclusives are suppose to be brand new franchises yet they had barely anything to show.  Microsoft did show teasers for Forza Motorsport 5, a series that is quickly overstaying its welcome, and Quantum Break, a new game from Remedy that looks like Beyond: Two Souls just with a young girl instead of Ellen Page.  The lack of first-party support at the reveal was very telling of how little Microsoft cares about their first-party content outside of milking Halo for all it is worth.  The third-party games on display were not much better.  EA Sports made fools of themselves by showing off their new Ignite engine along with a montage of what their games will "look" like on Xbox One.  This montage was very similar to the Madden 2006 target video showed off at the 360's reveal.  Personally I found it insulting for EA to try and pull the same crap they did at the beginning of this current generation.  There is no way these graphics will be possible on the Xbox One right out of the gate and people are not dumb enough to believe it.  EA should stop insulting the intelligence of the audience and show actual gameplay footage.  The other third party publisher at the reveal was Activision, who showed off the first gameplay footage for Call of Duty: Ghosts.  Despite Activision's attempts to convince those watching of the huge leap of graphics and gameplay from Modern Warfare 3 to Ghosts, it is more of the same with prettier graphics.  Ghosts was nothing special and the fact that it ended this presentation just left a bad taste in this writer's mouth.  Microsoft also announced a Halo television series and a partnership with ESPN, but honestly there was no reason to have these announcements thrown in with the rest of the game reveals.

Overall, Mircosoft started out strong with their showcase of the Xbox One's interface and features.  The last half of the Xbox One's reveal was a disaster.  There was no software to back up all the tech and features that Microsoft showed off at the beginning of the reveal.  This lack of software extremely hurt the Xbox One's first impression.  It did nothing to convince those skeptical to put down the cash to buy the Xbox One day one.  The fact Microsoft clearly told everyone that they are going to show all the good stuff off at E3 with their countdown clock meant this reveal had no real purpose or focus.  It was more of the same entertainment crap Microsoft has been shoving down our throats for a good two years now.  At one point during the reveal, this writer was ready to jump on the Xbox One bandwagon, but it only took thirty minutes to change those thoughts.  E3 is only a few short weeks away.  Microsoft has a second chance to impress those not convinced by this reveal, but it will be much harder to do so the second time around.  

The Rayman Legends Debacle

This past Thursday was not a fun day for Wii U owners including yours truly.  Just under three weeks before the release of easily the most anticipated third-party game for the Wii U, Ubisoft decided to announce two big changes to the latest instalment in the Rayman series.  Rayman Legends is now going to be multi-platform and has been delayed until September.  Ubisoft's reasoning for the delay was that it was for the fans.  One of the biggest loads of crap I have heard in a while.  It is just like Activision saying that the newest Call of Duty is not exactly the same as previous entries, it is a lie!  If Ubisoft remotely cared about their fans, they would not have waited until the eleventh hour to pull this bait-and-switch with Rayman Legends.  

Going multi-platform is best for business and personally I am totally fine with Rayman Legends going multi-platform because it allows more gamers to experience this masterful platforming game and it will help support Ubisoft Montpellier in creating new games such as Beyond Good & Evil 2.  While a multi-platform release is good for business, delaying Rayman Legends only 19 days before the game was set to release for the Wii U is definitely not good for business.  The delay alienates fans who have been promoting Rayman Legends through social media and other forums on the internet and supporting the game through pre-orders.  It serves as a slap to the face of every Wii U owner who Ubisoft promised would support their new system with quality games. Also a slap in the face to all the developers at Ubisoft Montipellier who have been in crunch since last summer in order to get Rayman Legends complete for its February release date only to have it delayed right when it goes gold.

Apart from all the people Ubisoft upset with this delay, nobody seems to notice how stupid delaying Legends until this September.  What HUGE game releases just got announced to release this coming September?  It is Rockstar's newest entry in their open-world behemoth known as Grand Theft Auto V.  Yes, there will be other games that will most likely release in September other than GTA V, but sales-wise most gamers will be buying GTA over any other game released in September.  Since this delay was most likely made to maximize profits on a simultaneous multi-platform release, releasing Legends in the same month as the biggest game of 2013 is just asking for history to repeat itself.  For those who do not know or remember, Ubisoft made a similar decision when they released Rayman Origins back in  2011.  They released Rayman Origins on the same day as Assassin's Creed Revelations and Saint's Row The Third.  Long story short, Origins got lost in the shuffle of the holiday season and the game did not come close to Ubisoft's sales expectations.  How is putting Rayman Legends in the same exact situation going to help sales especially since Ubisoft easily hurt sales by alienating their entire Wii U audience?  If Ubisoft wanted Rayman Legends to succeed, they would release the game in the summer when gamers are starving for new games instead of feeding it to the cannibalistic holiday season.  I love Rayman, but it cannot compete with the Grand Theft Autos, the Assassin's Creeds and the Call of Dutys.

As much as it hurts to have Ubisoft delay one of the games I bought my Wii U to play, there is nothing I can do alone to change this delay.  All I can do is talk about here, but it comes down to all of us Wii U owners to make our voices heard.  Do not stop at a measly exclusive demo, we want the entire game.  If we can convince Ubisoft to release Rayman Legends for Wii U before September, it will be amazing.  If not, at least we tried.  There are other ways of making our voices heard such as boycotting Ubisoft games or buying Rayman Legends used, but we should not unintentionally hurt the excellent developers at Ubisoft's many studios who sacrifice a lot to make the games we love including Rayman Legends because some idiot in a suit thought more about the money lining his pocket than the customers he ultimately serves.  No matter what happens, I will still buy Rayman Legends on the first day it releases.  Now I will definitely think twice before pre-ordering another Ubisoft game.  Sorry Ubisoft, us gamers do not like to be treated like trash.

For those interested in making your voice heard about this situation, please sign the petition I provide in this link, http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/ubisoft-entertainment-s-a-keep-to-the-original-rayman-legends-release-date-for-the-wii-u?utm_campaign=new_signature&utm_medium=email&utm_source=signature_receipt#.  The more people sign this petition, the more Ubisoft will take notice and hopefully release Rayman Legends when it was originally scheduled to release.  Like Ubisoft says, they listen to their fans.

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron Review

For the longest of times, games based off of established franchises such as Batman or Spider-Man were dreaded for being cheap cash-ins.  Now in our post-Arkham Asylum world, certain developers such as Rocksteady and High Moon Studios have forged a new-found trust in the fans by creating quality license games.  High Moon Studios newest Transformers game, Fall of Cybertron, hopes to continue the loving trust they won from fans with War for Cybertron.  Fall of Cybertron delivers in spades.  It improves on the foundation High Moon Studios laid down with War for Cybertron in every single creating easily the best Transformers game of all-time.

Transformers:  Fall of Cybertron continues right after the events from War for Cybertron.  The civil war between the Autobots and the Decepticons has torn their beloved world of Cybertron apart literally.  Cybertron can no longer produce the life-giving materials that the Transformers need to survive.  With no hope left on Cybertron, the Autobots and Decepticons build their means of escaping this dying planet.  Fall of Cybertron recounts the events leading up to this major exodus.  The story in Fall of Cybertron is absolutely incredible as it takes you through the darkest hours of the Transformers.  For fans of the franchise, High Moon Studios has peppered the dialogue with a lot of references to the expanded Transformers lore and one amazing treat only found in the final mission that had me smiling from ear to ear.  While the ending is rather abrupt in my opinion, Fall of Cybertron provides a great conclusion to this chapter of Transformers lore.

Unlike War for Cybertron, Transformers:  Fall of Cybertron’s campaign can only be played by a single player.  While levels may come off as more linear as a result to the exclusion of the three player co-op, it has offered High Moon Studios some freedom to create a more focused single-player campaign with tons of variety.  You are never stuck doing the same thing for long in Fall of Cybertron.  This variety keeps Fall of Cybertron from falling into the monotony and tedious nature of most modern shooters.  There are even some levels in the game that focus on aspects other than shooting such as stealth, platforming or brawling.  These levels along with one truly epic final level that sees you jump between the Autobots and Decepticons on the fly are easily the highlights of Fall of Cybertron’s campaign.  Fall of Cybertron’s core shooting gameplay is the main focus of the game’s multi-player modes.  Fall of Cybertron’s multi-player is very fast-paced and action-packed as you trade kills and deaths at an incredibly high rate.  After a game or two, you will get the hang of things and start getting some streaks.  Personally, I found Fall of Cybertron’s multi-player to be much more approachable than other shooters and I can easily see myself going back to it from time to time.  A key part of multi-player is creating your own Transformer from the parts you win from playing multi-player.  While I personally did not get a chance to really dive into this feature, there are some very powerful customization tools at your disposal to create a robot similar to any existing Transformer or your own unique creation. 

While Transformers:  Fall of Cybertron is an incredible game, it does have one problem that holds the game back from being on a level with say Batman: Arkham City.  The problem in question is some glitches that pop up every once and a while.  I fell through geometry, got stuck in the floor, clipped through walls while transforming and even had to reset my PS3 because the game froze.  None of these glitches were anything game-breaking, but they did detract from the experience just a bit. 

With an incredible campaign, great gameplay, great gameplay variety and an approachable set of multi-player suite, Transformers:  Fall of Cybertron is hands-down the best video game interpretation of this venerable franchise.  Fall of Cybertron gives the proper amount of respect to the Transformers franchise and its lore while forging its own mark on the Transformers legacy.  Fall of Cybertron appeals to longtime fans and provides an excellent introduction to the Transformers universe for newcomers.  Transformers:  Fall of Cybertron is one of the best games of this summer and of this year.  It is an experience not to miss.

On the Download: August 26-September 1

Well it is the last weekly edition of On the Download for a while.  It has been a lot of fun to put the spotlight on all these unique and incredibly interesting downloadable titles that release weekly and even daily for the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, 3DS, iDevices and PC.  Downloadable games have made their mark in the video game industry these past few years by standing toe-to-toe with even the biggest of triple A console or PC titles.  Some of the most innovative and inventive experiences in video games today come from these smaller downloadable titles.  I have really enjoyed writing On the Download on a regular basis and giving a spotlight to these games that many gamers overlook.  It has been one of my favourite weekly posts to write here on Silver Bit and I hope you all enjoyed reading it.

Now that I am done with the little farewell for now speech, let us get down to business.  Got a packed week of downloadable games to talk about.  Two games I want to talk about quickly here in the intro and the other two I will get into more detail below.  First, this week Telltale Games released the third episode in their Walking Dead adventure series called The Long Road Ahead.  Decisions from the earlier episodes affect the events of The Long Road Ahead and pave a way for new long-lasting decisions that will affect future episodes in the series.  The third episode of Telltale's The Walking Dead game is available on PSN, XBLA and PC for 5 dollars.  The second game I want to mention here is the iOS port of Bastion.  Coming completely out of right field, Supergiant Games announced the game earlier in the week only to release it for iOS this past Thursday.  Easily one of the best downloadable games of 2011 has been re-imagined to work on the iPad.  Bastion only works on iPad 2 or higher and costs 5 dollars.  If you missed out on this remarkable game last year and own one of the newer iPad models, Bastion is a no-brainer.  Download it right now!  It is that good.

For a while there it looked like Rock Band and much of the rhythm game genre was dead, thanks to an over saturation of Rock Band and Guitar Hero games from EA and Activision.  With games like Audiosurf and Symphony trying to revitalize this genre through the downloadable game space, Harmonix has decided to bring Rock Band to the downloadable space with Rock Band Blitz.  Unlike the core Rock Band games for console, Rock Band Blitz does not use special peripherals to play the game. In Rock Band Blitz, you will use the regular controller to switch between each instrument lane and match notes in one of the game's 25 songs, which is very similar to Harmonix's older rhythm games such as Frequency and Amplitude.  Rock Band Blitz offer the same Rock Band gameplay, now all just for single-player.  Without much of a campaign, the main drive to play Rock Band Blitz is due to the online leaderboards,which tracks your top scores on each song.  In addition to the 25 songs that come with Rock Band Blitz, gamers are able to import any song they have for Rock Band 3.  Rock Band Blitz is now available for PSN and XBLA for 15 dollars or 1200 Microsoft Points.

Mass Effect is a huge series with one of the most expansive universes in video game history.  To extend the life of their RPG epic and provide more insight into the rich mythology of this universe, BioWare has developed the Leviathan DLC for Mass Effect 3.  The Leviathan DLC takes place before the final mission on Earth and dives into the dark history of the Reapers.  Commander Shepard hears reports of something lurking in the dark corners of space.  That something being powerful enough to single-handedly slay a Reaper.  What is this powerful being, this leviathan of sorts and is it friend or foe?  It is up to Shepard and his crew of the Normandy to find that out.  Leviathan expands on the events of Mass Effect 3 and provides new characters to interact with, new pieces of information on the mythology to chew on and new weapons and upgrades to play with.  For those not ignorant enough to abandon Mass Effect 3 because of the polarizing ending and want to dive back into this incredible game, you can pick Leviathan for PC, PSN and XLBA for 10 dollars or 800 Microsoft Points.

Launch Station: Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

It has taken a while, but Transformers: Fall of Cybertron is here.  The biggest and most anticipated Transformers game in existence.  The never-ending war between the Autobots and the Decepticons rages on in High Moon Studios' incredibly ambitious sequel to their universally revered War for Cybertron game.  Unless you are the most cynical of Transformers fans or dumb enough to believe the Michael Bay universe is the definitive Transformers lore, there is no real Transformers fan that is not excited for this game.  While personally I did not grow up with G1 (I grew up with Beast Wars), I have the biggest respect for all these characters and this world that to finally see a developer in High Moon Studios do this beloved series justice in the media of video games makes this fan very happy.

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron picks up immediately after the events of War for Cybertron.  The civil war between the Autobots and Decepticons over control of their home world, Cybertron has escalated to a disastrous scale.  After Megatron infected Cybertron's core with the dreaded Dark Energon, Cybertron can no longer produce the Energon needed for the Transformers to survive on their home world.  The only hope for the Transformers to survive is to leave their planet in search of a new home.  Fall of Cybertron follows the events leading up to the Transformers' exodus from Cybertron.  The main mode in Fall of Cybertron is the campaign.  In the campaign, you play 12 lengthy missions split up between Autobots and Decepticons.  Each mission is tailored to a different Transformer that has specific abilities in order to offer more variety to the campaign.  Fall of Cybertron features fully-fledged co-op and competitive multi-player modes.  The co-op multi-player is called Escalation and it serves as wave defense horde-like mode.  The competitive multi-player has players competing in deathmatch and capture the flag-like modes.  The multi-player includes a huge character creation tool that allows players to create their own Transformer out of the parts they gain from playing multi-player.

Personally, I have been excited for Transformers: Fall of Cybertron since Optimus Prime and Grimlock graced the cover of Game Informer back in November 2011.  Over the past nine months since the announcement, my anticipation for this game has been building with every preview and trailer to be released along the way.  I am soo excited to play Fall of Cybertron that I want to play as much of the game as I can before I start school in September.  Transformers fan or not, Fall of Cybertron looks to be an incredibly polished game experience from the excellent developers at High Moon Studios.  If you are looking for a game to pick up this August, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron should be among your top choices.

Launch Station: Sleeping Dogs

Cancelled by Activision in early 2011, it looked like United Front Games take on the True Crime universe would never see the light of day.  Late last year, Square Enix announced that they had picked up the rights to publish True Crime: Hong Kong under the new name of Sleeping Dogs because Activision still owns the rights to the True Crimes name.  Not many games come back from being cancelled.  United Front Games is very fortunate to have another chance to release the game that have spent the last four years working on.  Hopefully it can live up to some high expectations from the publisher, Square Enix, and the fans of the True Crime series.

Sleeping Dogs follows the story of Wei Shen, an undercover cop apart of an operation to take down the Triads from the inside.  Wei Shen must work his way up in the organization by taking part in the brutal criminal activities without blowing his cover.  As Wei Shen dives deeper into the ranks of the Triad, the lines between truth and honour, right and wrong blur severely and he is left to struggle between his loyalty to the police and the trust he has gained from the Triads.  At its' core, Sleeping Dogs is a open world action game.  You are given all of Hong Kong to explore whatever way you want from walking on foot to driving a variety of vehicles.  While the story missions are necessary to unlock certain areas and content in the game, you are able to complete them at your own leisure.  The city of Hong Kong is bustling with side missions to complete, activities such as gambling and street fighting to participate in and even girlfriends for Wei Shen to date.  While you are able to use guns in the game, most of the combat revolves around hand-to-hand combat, which allows players to perform deadly martial arts and brutal takedowns much like Batman in the Arkham games.  Also Sleeping Dogs features some light RPG elements.  Depending on what you do in the game, you earn three types of experience points, Triad XP, Police XP and Face XP.  Each type of experience points measures your reputation with certain groups or as a whole.

Personally, I have never been a fan of the True Crime series so Sleeping Dogs does not quite appeal to me that much.  I am happy that Square Enix did the right thing and let this game that almost got eaten up by Activision see the funding it needed to reach store shelves.  Now it is up to the fans of the True Crime series that have most likely been following the development of Sleeping Dogs since it was announced in 2008 and those interested in the game to support Sleeping Dogs with their hard earned cash.  If Sleeping Dogs proves successful, it might influence other publishers to help save other games from being cancelled in the future.

On the Download: July 15-21

There is a lot to enjoy in the downloadable space.  There are sales on almost every major downloadable platforms, summer downloadable game initiatives are in full swing and unlike at retail, there are a steady stream of games being released each and every week.  And it is all at a click of a button.

Nintendo's 8-Bit Summer continues this week with finally the release of Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters for the 3DS Virtual Console.  Also this week sees the another 3DS Virtual Console game, Tumble Pop, released and Mario Picross go on sale for 3 dollars, but I am not here to talk about those games.  Today I am looking at the game that I have wanted on the Nintendo eShop since the release of Kid Icarus: Uprising.  Kid Icarus: Of Myth and Monsters is the sequel to the NES classic.  Angel Island is in peril once again.  This time around it is the demon Orcos and his minions who threaten Angel Island.  It is up to Pit to find the three Sacred Treasures in order to defeat Orcos.  The levels in Of Myths and Monsters allow players to freely scroll in all directions, which add more exploration elements to the game.  Also Pit is able to use his wings to slow his descent and extend his jump.  Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters is available for download on the Nintendo eShop for 4 dollars.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, in the eyes of most gamers, is the ultimate skateboarding game in existence.  When this extreme sport was just gaining popularity, Activision and Neversoft made a game that did it justice.  Yes, it was a pure arcade-style skateboarding game more than an actual simulation of the sport, but it really did showcase how spectacular of feats these tricks can be.  Sadly when Tony Hawk's Pro Skater got really popular was when Activision decided to shove it down our throats with yearly sequels, which eventually killed the series for a bit.  Funny how Activision has not learned from those mistakes, but that is not the point.  Looking for a fresh new start to the Tony Hawk franchise, Activision and Robomodo have released Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD, a re-release of the best levels from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2, as part of Microsoft's Summer of Arcade.  Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD has the same gameplay from the first two games in the series.  Robomodo is working on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 DLC for the game that will add new levels and new tricks like the revert.  While not every skateboarder or song return from the classic Tony Hawk games, Robomodo has tried to take the best from the first two games in order to provide a nice nostalgic trip for veterans and a fresh start for new players.  Right now, you can only download Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD on XBLA for 1200 Microsoft Points, but it will be coming to both the PSN and PC in the coming weeks.

Hump Day Video: Deadpool: The Game

In recent years, games have found a bigger home at the San Diego Comic-Con than in the past.  Taking up a lot of floor space, many video game related panels take place and a few announcements are made usually pertaining to comic book related video games.  Comic Con also is the first time the public can play a lot of demos for games showed off at last month's E3.

Out of all the video game announcements, the one that took the cake was the reveal of High Moon Studios' newest project, Deadpool: The Game.  Along with the announcement came an amazing teaser trailer for Deadpool: The Game that I will share you with you all today.  This trailer only shows a little tease of what the gameplay should be like, but from what has been shown so far it looks like a great mix of bloody violence with the humour of The Merc with a Mouth.  I personally believe Deadpool is in the fully capable hands of High Moon Studios, the team that brought us the great Transformers: War for Cybertron and its upcoming sequel Fall of Cybertron, as it looks like they fully respect the source material and want to do their best to translate it to this interactive media for all to enjoy.  So here is the teaser trailer from this past weekend from Comic Con for everybody's viewing pleasure.

Off the Newsstand: Game Informer Issue 231

Been a little busy these last few weeks with summer game releases to get a chance to talk about the magazines that I have plowed through these last few weeks. Actually finished my latest issue of Nintendo Power and I do not have that much to read. Guess I will have to wait until my new issue of Game Informer comes in the mail. Speaking of Game Informer, today I am looking at the last issue of Game Informer I read, which actually was released the week of E3.

Issue 231 of Game Informer had all the inside scoops on some of the biggest games highlighted at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo.  I know Game Informer does get a lot of inside looks very early, but this issue was sent to subscribers the week of E3, when some of the games/tech demos in this issue were first revealed to the public.  Therefore causing some leaks and killing some of the possible surprises at this year's event.  Personally, I do not believe it would have been that hard to send the issues out so subscribers and newsstands received the issue after E3 was over. While this gripe may not hurt the quality of the issue, I do think that when this issue was released did steal some of the grandeur away from this year's E3.  The cover story was all about the new Gears of War: Judgment (or what I like to call Gears of War: Reach) being co-developed by Epic and People Can Fly, the team that worked on Bulletstorm.  The cover story has an in-depth look at the story of the game that follows Baird and Cole Train on a mission that takes place 14 years before the original and the new multi-player modes such as OverRun, the combination of Horde and Beast modes.   The cover story was fine and enjoyable; I am not sold on the game at all.  It seems like Epic and Microsoft are trying to milk the series for all it is worth instead of providing possibly a new IP or a sequel to Bulletstorm with more refined mechanics.  Right now, Gears of War: Judgment is in my opinion the Gears sequel that nobody wanted.  Along with the Gears of War: Judgment, Issue 231 contained exclusive previews for the Skyrim DLC, Dawnguard, Tomb Raider, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Dead Space 3 and Assassin's Creed III: Liberation.  Each preview had in-depth descriptions of the E3 builds for each game.  I personally enjoyed the Tomb Raider preview that looked at a few scenarios that I did not see while watching the demos from E3.  Honestly the best stuff from this issue came from the Connect section.  An extremely extensive look at Unreal Engine 4, an article on how cross-platform gaming could possibly change the way we play, a very compelling interview with Robert Bowling, former creative strategist for the Call of Duty franchise, on his departure from Activision and his new game Human Element and a great interview with Jason West and Vince Zampella that sheds a different light on their dispute with Activision are all articles that are worth picking up this issue of Game Informer to read.  To round out the issue are the solid previews and reviews for all to enjoy.

While I do not agree with the release schedule of this issue and how it did take away from the lustre of E3, Issue 231 is a great issue of Game Informer that I cannot fault for things possibly out of the editors' control.  This issue has some of the most incredibly thought provoking and informative articles I have found in any magazine and a great set of exclusive previews to accompany another solid cover story.  It is the full package that is well worth the asking price.

Launch Station: The Amazing Spider-Man

A week after Lego Batman 2 hit the scene, Marvel's web crawler hits the consoles.  Just one week before the corresponding movie releases in theatres, The Amazing Spider-Man hits game consoles.  While there has been a steady stream of quality superhero games in the past few years, gamers are still very cautious with superhero games because they end up as bad as the last Spider-Man game, Edge of Time, more often than not.  With the stinker that Edge of Time was, Beenox has to prove to the gaming world they are not one-hit wonders.  Beenox has to prove that they can make quality Spider-Man games each and every year or Activision will run them out the door and not look back.

Much different than other movie tie-ins, The Amazing Spider-Man game will serve as an epilogue to the movie.  So be warned to those planning to buy it during the first week of release because there will be spoilers.  During the opening mission of The Amazing Spider-Man, cross-species experiments from Oscorp escape into New York City.  In order to combat the cross-species that are running amok in New York City, expert in nano-technology and newest executive at Oscorp Alistair Smythe creates a bunch of robots to hunt them down.  It is up to Spider-Man, which is also a cross-species, from both the escaped Oscorp experiments and Alistair Smythe's army of killer robots.  While Alistair Smythe may be the main villain in The Amazing Spider-Man, the game also includes classic Spider-Man villains such as Rhino, Felicia Hardy, Scorpion and The Lizard.  The Amazing Spider-Man sees the return of the open world gameplay that was made popular in Spider-Man 2 (possibly one of the best movie tie-in games of all-time).  As Spider-Man, you are able to explore New York City to your hearts content.  Swing around, complete side missions and challenges, fight random thugs or take part in multiple different mini-games in addition to the game's main story.  The two major changes to the Spider-Man open world formula are found in the combat and new Web Rush mechanic.  First, the combat has been retooled to be more fast-paced and free-flowing.  The combat in The Amazing Spider-Man is very similar to Rocksteady's Batman games.  Next the Web Rush mechanic makes travelling across New York a little easier.  When you activate Web Rush and highlight the place where you want to go, Spider-Man smoothly transitions to said location.  When Web Rush is activated, control is taken away from the player, but you can break from the animation and go off in another direction altogether.

Personally, it has been hard to tell if The Amazing Spider-Man will any good.  I have not really cared for a Spider-Man game since the last generation of consoles.  I do want to pick up Shattered Dimensions sometime because I have heard many good things about it.  Other than that I am not that interested in The Amazing Spider-Man game.  I do hope Beenox has made a good enough game in The Amazing Spider-Man to get Activision to possibly give them more time to develop future Spider-Man games instead of pumping one out every year.

Launch Station: Prototype 2

Releasing around the same time Sony's superhero adventure Infamous back in 2009, the original Prototype had some game competition.  Ultimately Radical Entertainment's first foray into the next generation did not live up to the hype people placed on this open-world adventure.  The original Prototype fell into video game obscurity.  Honestly do you remember anything about the original Prototype?  Well it must have sold well enough for Activision to give Radical another chance at this franchise.

Prototype 2 follows the events of the original.  14 months after the initial outbreak of the Blacklight virus nearly brought New York to the brink of destruction, a second one has broke out causing mass panic and distress.  In Prototype 2, you play as Sergeant James Heller, a soldier who has been infected by the Blacklight virus thanks to the original's protagonist, Alex Mercer.  Heller balmes Mercer for the death of his family and with his new found powers, seeks revenge against his maker.  Much like the first game, Prototype 2 offers players a whole open-world to explore with their incredible powers.  New York City is broken up into three zones that are increasingly more dangerous.  The Green Zone is controlled entirely by the military, the Yellow Zone is filled with refugees and the war-ravaged Red Zone is overrun by the Balcklight virus and Alex Mercer.  Heller's new found powers offer a lot of ways to experience this virus ravaged world.  Heller can disguise himself as anybody from a refugee all the way to a soldier.  Heller can also absorb innocents and enemies thus acquiring their memories and gaining new abilities.  Heller's shapeshifting powers allow him to unleash incredible tendril powers that allow him to lift vehicles as small as a car to as big as a tank, ensnaring infected beasts and other enemies and even rip large groups of enemies to shreds.  Unlike the last game where you got a huge laundry list of abilities thrown at you every time you leveled up, Prototype 2 gives you a chance to customize James Heller into the killer you want him to be by equipping different perks each time, which you earn by leveling up.

For those that remember the first game and enjoyed it, you will most definitely enjoy Prototype 2.  For the rest of the gaming community, I personally say to try before you buy because I do not think Prototype 2 will really be worth 60 dollars to everyone.  I can see some people who love running around open-world games as over-powered beings of awesomeness enjoying Prototype 2.  In my opinion, Prototype 2 does not look like a game that will ever appeal to me and gamers much like myself.