The Games I Beat in 2024: Q4

October

Game 37: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Developer: Respawn Entertainment
Played on: PS5
Release: 2023

Playtime: 31 hours 30 minutes
Rating: 7.5
Thoughts: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is an amazing game plagued by numerous technical issues. 

Source: Rock Paper Shotgun

Game 38: Tekken 7

Developer: Bandai Namco
Played on: Series X
Release: 2017

Playtime: 5 hours 45 minutes
Rating: 7
Thoughts: Although Tekken 7 excels in its multiplayer and customization, the single-player content leaves much to be desired.

Source: Bandai Namco Europe

Game 39: The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

Developer: Nintendo and Grezzo
Played on: Switch
Release: 2024

Playtime: 23 hours 7 minutes
Rating: 9
Thoughts: Despite some minor performance hiccups, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a refreshing evolution of the top-down Zelda formula.

Source: Nintendo

DLC 3: Tekken 8 — Unforgotten Echoes

Developer: Bandai Namco and Akira
Played on: PS5
Release: 2024

Playtime: 1 hour 34 minutes
Rating: 8
Thoughts: Unforgotten Echoes is a fun little expansion of Tekken 8's excellent story, which doubles as free promotion for the DLC fighters.

Source: PlayStation Blog

Game 40: Balatro

Developer: LocalThunk
Played on: iPad via Apple Arcade
Release: 2024

Rating: 9.5
Thoughts: Balatro offers a masterful twist on poker that's incredibly hard to put down. 

Source: PlayStation Store

November

Game 41: Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier
Played on: Switch
Release: 2024

Playtime: 22 hours 18 minutes
Rating: 9
Thoughts: Despite a downgrade in graphics and performance compared to other platforms, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown plays wonderfully on Switch. 

Source: Nintendo

Game 42: Tekken 6

Developer: Bandai Namco
Played on: Series X
Release: 2009

Rating: 6.5
Thoughts: While ambitious, plentiful, and oddly charming in places, Tekken 6's single-player content is incredibly uneven. 

Source: PlayStation Store

Game 43: Ys X: Nordics

Developer: Nihon Falcom
Played on: PS5
Release: 2024

Playtime: 46 hours 51 minutes
Rating: 9
Thoughts: Be it sailing the open seas of Obelia Gulf or flowing between combat encounters on land, Ys X: Nordics is a joy to play. 

Source: Wccf tech

December

Game 44: God of War Ragnarök

Developer: Santa Monica Studios
Played on: PS5
Release: 2022

Playtime: 37 hours 13 minutes
Rating: 8
Thoughts: God of War Ragnarök is at its best when it pulls players along its linear action and emotional set-pieces. Outside of that, it meanders too much. 

Source: Finger Guns

Game 45: Sonic x Shadow Generations

Developer: Sonic Team
Played on: PS5
Release: 2024

Playtime: 17 hours 46 minutes
Rating: 8.5
Thoughts: While the remastering of Sonic Generations has some technical issues, Shadow Generations is the finest 3D Sonic game in over a decade. 

Source: Sega

DLC 4: Final Fantasy VII Remake — Episode INTERmission

Developer: Square Enix
Played on: PC
Release: 2021

Playtime: 5 hours 51 minutes
Rating: 7
Thoughts: A short and sweet last little romp through Midgar. 

Source: Geeks Under Grace

The PlayStation Vita: Revisted

Upon its release, the PlayStation Vita was a big talking point around the industry. Sadly, it focused on the system's woes when it came to its lack of commercial success and a consistent lineup of games. This unfortunate turn of events has gone to plague the Vita for its entire life. It is remarkable that the Vita is only three years old and the system is already considered dead. Apart from niche Japanese games published by Atlus, NIS America or Aksys Games, and cross-buy indie titles, Sony and third-parties abandoned the handheld by the end of 2014 at the latest.

The Vita's life has been tragic to say the least, but I am not here to rub salt in wound. Since I recently picked it up for myself, I am here to give an honest opinion to those that may be seriously considering buying the system in the near or distant future.

First and foremost, the PlayStation Vita is a well-designed handheld, which is impressive since it is Sony's second stab at a handheld. Originally, I thought the button placement was too close together. After an extensive amount of time with the Vita over the past month, everything feels responsive and fits well in my hands. I only had a problem with the system's d-pad, which is incredibly flimsy due to Sony's decision to meld it to one plastic plate rather than making them separate buttons.

With front and rear touch screens, cameras, and motion controls on top of the traditional button layout, the Vita is filled to the brim with technology. Maybe a little too much technology. Although I fall under the belief Sony packed far too many things into the Vita, it comes down to how the software uses said technology that determines if it's all warranted. Considering Tearaway is the only Vita game out of the 14 I own that properly uses everything in the system, the touch and motion controls mostly come off as gimmicks instead of essential features.

While the Vita may not have be as powerful as the PS3 in the graphics department, the system's OLED screen, found in all original units but not in the Slim redesign, is wonderful to look at. The high screen resolution makes hand-drawn 2D art pop off the screen. It's like watching a painting in motion. Games that lean towards realism in their graphics, such as Uncharted and Killzone, don't fair as well since the Vita can't pump out realistic polygons and textures like its console brethren.

Apart from the Vita's well-documented lacking library, the system suffers from a major problem when it comes to storage. In order to save or download games, you need a memory card for the Vita. Rather than use a universal memory card like a micro SD, Sony decided to force Vita owners to buy their own proprietary cards for outrageous prices. You can find four or eight gigabyte cards for something more reasonable, but you'll run out of room quick if you start downloading PSP and PS1 games to your system. Due to Sony intentionally shortchanging consumers on memory, you might have to fork over another 50 to 100 dollars on top of the price of the Vita to get enough memory to be comfortable with.

For the 100 dollars I spent on a used PlayStation Vita, it was well worth it. I now own 14 great titles I cannot get on any other system, can experience all the PSP games that I missed out on like Valkyria Chronicles II and Patapon, and have a chance to play all my PS1 classics and cross-buy games on the go. For those that are unable to get the Vita for the same price, I suggest you do some research and determine if there enough games, features and applications to warrant spending 200 dollars or more to buy one for yourself.

Overall, the Vita is a great portable system that is superior all other handhelds on the market when it comes to power and beauty. Unless you're a hardcore gamer or own the consoles needed to unlock the system's full potential, the Vita doesn't have the library or the features to be worth spending upwards of 200 dollars on.

Bit by Bit: July 2015

I did promise back in March to be better at announcing hiatuses for Silver Bit, but I honestly didn't plan this at all.  After the craziness that was E3 2015, I didn't have much drive to write Best Games of E3 article because of the lack of playable demos on the show floor this year.  On top of E3 fatigue, I tried to write an article on collector's editions, but it didn't pan out.

Although a lot of July didn't work out as planned, I am hoping to update Silver Bit on a regular basis in August.  Fingers crossed.

Game of the Month
Two games took up most of my time this past month. The first is Radiant Historia, a turned-based RPG that has you bouncing between two parallel timelines in order to save the world from desertification.  I bought the game two years ago and spent a few hours with it before putting it down until recently.  I always enjoyed the gameplay and premise of Radiant Historia, but it's story and timeline-weaving quests are what will keep you gripping your DS or 3DS for hours on end.  In all seriousness, I play Radiant Historia a good hour or two at a time.  Sadly, I hit a grind wall around chapter four that has caused me to put the game down for the time being.

The second game and July's Game of the Month is Tearaway for the PlayStation Vita.  While I planned on waiting until Tearaway Unfolded for PS4 to dive into Media Molecule's critical darling, my curiosity got the best of me especially considering I found the game for 10 dollars new.  As cool as it would be to experience the beautiful paper craft visuals on a big HDTV, I am so happy that I experienced Tearaway on its system of origin.

Out of all the games on the Vita, Tearaway is the system's killer app.  Unlike other titles, such as Uncharted: Golden Abyss or Killzone: Mercenary, where the use of motion and touch controls feels tacked on, Tearaway uses every feature built into the Vita in an intuitive way.  Seeing your fingers pop out of the back touch screen to dispatch enemies or watching your face play a role as the ever-present sun are just magical.  My descriptions don't do Tearaway justice; it is a game that you have to experience for yourself in order to understand how special it is.

Video of the Month
On July 12th, 2015, the video game industry lost a visionary in Satoru Iwata.  Since the tragic news broke, many lovely tributes for Iwata-san have been made.  All these tributes are amazing, but I can't showcase them all here.  I choose to highlight Screwattack's tribute video because it does a wonderful job at blending Iwata's greatest quotes and the video clips that highlight his quirky personality.

Thank you, Satoru Iwata.  You will be deeply missed.

First Byte: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

Two weekends ago, Sony held an event in Las Vegas called the PlayStation Experience.  This event was open to the public and press with the keynote conference and demos streamed on Twitch for those unable to be in attendance.  A lot of big news came out of the PlayStation Experience such as the reveal of David Jaffe's new game Drawn to Death, Bastion, Shovel Knight and Super Time Force all making the jump to PlayStation and Street Fighter V being a PS4 console exclusive.  The next God of War game was even unintentionally confirmed by series director Cory Balrog during a panel at the event.  In addition to the news, the PlayStation Experience gave gamers a comprehensive look at the upcoming projects from all the first and third-party studios working on both PS4 and Vita.  It served as a great way for Sony to continue their upward momentum while simultaneously enticing undecided consumers to buy a PS4 during the holiday season.

The biggest thing to come out of the PlayStation Experience was the 15 minute gameplay demo for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End.  Sony revealed the new Uncharted over a year ago at the launch party for the PS4.  Sony followed up that reveal with a brief cinematic teaser at E3 which revealed the game's subtitle and setting.  While these two teasers got many excited for Uncharted 4, I personally needed to see more to get behind the hype for this game especially since so many games have fallen short of their hype in the past year.  After the gameplay trailer from the PlayStation Experience, my doubts over Uncharted 4 are now nonexistent.  Although it was a 15 minute snippet of gameplay, Naughty Dog packed a lot of information about Uncharted's PS4 evolution into this demo.

The demo starts with protagonist Nathan Drake standing on a cliff overlooking the dangerous terrain the island setting has to offer.  This view and the following movement of the camera shows off Uncharted 4's gorgeous graphics and great water effects.  Drake then enters a nearby cave which provides ample opportunities to see that the game's platforming mechanics in action.  In short, the platforming looks to work just as great as they did in previous entries in the series.  More platforming sections follow once Drake exits the cave, but with an added twist.  He finds a spike which can be used on certain rock formations as an anchor point in order to grab out-of-reach ledges and cervices.  The demo showed a few exciting instances where using the spike while jumping is necessary to reach new areas and save Drake from falling to certain death.

As Drake makes his way around the island, he eventually meets up with some hostiles.  While this encounter lasts rest of the demo, it perfectly showcases Uncharted's next-gen evolution.  Since Drake is usually placed against insurmountable odds, stealth has played a huge part in the Uncharted series.  It certainly takes centre stage in Uncharted 4 as Drake can use the large patches of flora and fauna to get the jump on enemies and for hiding when spotted.  In addition to the stealth mechanics, combat has received some retooling especially the hand-to-hand combat.  These hand-to-hand fights look a lot more fluid and dynamic as Drake and his opponents can use the environment as a part of their offence, transition to different positions like belly-to-back and throw grapples such as an arm drag.  These new combat scenarios can even occur when platforming around a firefight.  During a particular moment in the demo, Drake is trying to climb up a cliff only to be cut-off by a boot to the face.  Drake takes the boot in stride, punches the enemy and throws him off the cliff in a similar fashion to ledge takedowns from past Uncharteds.  Instead of falling to his doom, the enemy grabs onto Drake's foot thus leading to more input in order to escape the enemy's grasp.  Moments like these should make Uncharted 4's combat unpredictable and exciting throughout the entire game.

The last thing I want to touch on from the Uncharted 4 demo is the grappling hook.  While it is only used two times throughout the entire demo, it leaves one amazing impression.  The first time we see it is in the heat of battle as an enemy throws a grenade at Drake's feet.  With only a few seconds to react, Drake jumps to the right and throws out his grabbing hook at a nearby branch with the press of the R1 button.  In that brief instant, he sours through the air directly toward the grenade-throwing enemy to deliver a devastating punch to the face.  In my opinion, this sequence is one of the most exhilarating parts of the demo and perfectly shows the combat capabilities of the grappling hook.  Aside from its use in combat, the grappling hook adds new dimensions to Uncharted's exploration and platforming as it gives Drake more versatility in maneuvering around the environment.

All-in-all, this 15 minute demo has completely sold me on Uncharted 4: A Thief's End.  It looks like a spectacular showcase of the PS4's power and solidifies Naughty Dog's position as one of the elite developers in this industry.  Now sitting upon my list of most anticipated games of 2015, I really look forward to playing Uncharted 4 next holiday season.  If you do not agree with my analysis, the gameplay video of Uncharted 4's demo is included below so you can see for yourself.

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.

E3 2014: Sony Press Conference Impressions

Heading into E3, Sony was in the best position amongst the three console manufacturers as the PS4 has sold over seven million units.  With the immense amount of pressure on Microsoft and Nintendo to deliver this year, E3 2014 was Sony's to lose.  Could Sony pull out another show stopping performance or would they rest on their laurels now that they are number one in the current console war?

To answer that question, Sony killed it again this year.  While last year's conference only came together in the last thirty minutes, Sony kept people excited and interested throughout their two hour presentation.  There was a good thirty minute chuck that almost killed the pace of the entire conference as Sony took time to talk about Free to Play titles, PlayStation Now, PlayStation Plus and the PS Vita.  Although it may have been a dry thirty minutes, it was necessary portion of the conference because it gave important information on the PlayStation Now Beta coming this summer, announced the PlayStation TV for 100 dollars or 139 dollars with a controller and the Lego Movie video game and gave a little life to the PS Vita with games like Tales of Heart R and Minecraft.  The portion of the conference that felt completely unnecessary was the presentation of the PlayStation exclusive show Powers and the Ratchet & Clank movie.  It may have lasted close to ten minutes, but it added nothing to the conference other than a lot of eye rolling.  Aside from that forty minute portion of the conference, Sony hit everything else out of the park.  There were tons of great gameplay demos for The Order 1886, Entwined, Far Cry 4, LittleBigPlanet 3, Mortal Kombat X and Batman: Arkham Knight.  Each demo made this writer and the company watching gasp, laugh, pump their fists and get excited.  These gameplay demos sold a lot of these games as must owns to yours truly.  Along with the great demos, Sony dropped a lot of surprises at the conference like a remastered version of Grim Fandango exclusive to PlayStation, From Software's Bloodborne, Dead Island 2, Magika 2, Giant Squid's Abzu and Devolver Digital games coming exclusively the PlayStation consoles.  Sony also made a big effort in pushing exclusive content and benefits for multiplatform games on their consoles such as the Destiny Alpha and Beta coming first to PS4 and exclusive missions or enemies in Batman and Diablo III respectively.  Sony ended the show in style too as they showed off the first trailer for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End.  After all the controversy surrounding The Last Guardian's false cancellation announcement, this writer thought Sony had to make an effort in showing the game is still alive and kicking.  Although The Last Guardian would have brought this conference to legendary levels, Uncharted 4 did its job in ending the Sony press conference with a bang.

After the end of every conference leading up to Sony's, this writer felt underwhelmed with the lack of legitimate surprises and games that truly captured my imagination.  Apart from the dull forty minute information dump, Sony's conference was a breath of fresh air.  Everything showcased at this conference are the reasons people play and get excited about video games.  Due to Sony's efforts on Monday, this writer is finally feeling much more optimistic about the next generation of video game consoles.  Last year Sony dropped the mic, this year they stole the show.

Grade:  A

First Byte: Microsoft's Power Play

Ever since Microsoft announced the Xbox One to the public about a year ago, the system has been on a roller coaster of twists and turns.  Never seeming to be on solid footing, Microsoft has tirelessly been rebuilding their damaged reputation after alienating most of their audience at E3 2013.  Changing their policies one week after E3 was the first step, but there is a lot more that still needs to be done.  This past week Microsoft made the next significant steps in changing their tainted image for the better with two big announcements.

The first of Microsoft's two announcements concerns a brand new version of the Xbox One hitting store shelves in a few weeks.  This new Xbox One will run for 399 dollars and come without the Kinect sensor.  With this announcement, Microsoft looks to compete more directly with the PlayStation 4 instead of having one hundred dollar difference between the prices of the two systems.  Sadly if you live in Canada, the roles have now been reversed as the PS4 is now 50 dollars more than the Xbox One due to the poor projection of the Canadian dollar this year.  Microsoft's first real jab at taking some of Sony's profits lands on Monday, June 9th which is the first day of E3 2014.  It is not hard to imagine as a result that Microsoft's conference will be directed towards convincing potential customers to pick up this cheaper Xbox One that very day.

The second announcement from Microsoft involves some changes to Xbox Live.  In particular, it involves new free services being added to the free Xbox Live membership.  No longer will streaming apps such as Netflix, Hulu, Twitch and ESPN be behind the Xbox Live Gold pay wall.  This change cuts out the need for consumers to buy a Xbox Live subscription on top of their other subscriptions just to enjoy the same apps which are free to use on other consoles.  To make amends to current Gold subscribers which only use the service for streaming apps, Microsoft is offering refunds to these subscribers up until the end of August.

It has been well documented that yours truly is a critic of Microsoft especially the direction their game division has taken in the past five to six years.  When they do something right, this writer still has to give credit where credit is due.  While I personally have some reservations, Microsoft made two good moves this past week in removing the Kinect to drop the price of the Xbox One and moving streaming apps from the Gold pay wall.  Lowering the barrier of entry to the Xbox One and Xbox Live opens Microsoft's newest piece of hardware up to a broader audience that may have been scared away by the need to own Kinect and subscribe to Xbox Live Gold to get the most out of the system.  Coupling these changes with a plethora of quality exclusives that play to a variety of genres and differentiate themselves from Sony's offerings could help move a lot more Xbox Ones.  The announcement of Halo 5: Guardians this past week and releasing the first gameplay footage of Sunset Overdrive two weeks ago should get some more hype building around Microsoft and the Xbox One.  Now Microsoft needs to capitalize on this wave of good press with a great showing at E3 to continue building momentum for the Xbox One going into the last half of 2014.

As good as these announcements are, there are a few key details Microsoft has not touched which could sour this good news.  First and foremost, Microsoft has not mentioned anything about selling the Kinect separately from the Xbox One as of yet.  Considering Microsoft designed the entire system to run at its full potential when paired with Kinect, it would be silly not to give those people who purchase the Xbox One for 399 the option to buy a Kinect later.  With the Kinect, the next question is the price of the unit on its own.  The smart decision would be to release the unit at or under 100 dollars in order to avoid alienating the customers who purchase the cheaper Xbox One, but it would not surprise this writer to see Microsoft try to make a profit off of these people by pricing the Kinect between 120 to 150 dollars.  The other detail Microsoft has not mentioned yet are the exclusives coming to Xbox One in the near future.  Halo 5 is coming in Fall 2015, the next Gears of War game is in the earliest stages of development and Fable Legends has not seen the light of day since it was announced back at Gamescom 2013.  The only title confirmed for this coming Fall is Sunset Overdrive.  Hopefully at E3 Microsoft will shed some light on what is coming for 2014, but it needs to be something really big or something completely new to get the attention of the masses.  Microsoft cannot keep expecting to push their new system to the heights of the Xbox 360 with two shooter franchises people are quickly growing tired of, a fantasy RPG series that has never lived up to its true potential and a racing series that has overstayed its welcome.  Microsoft needs to show more initiative in being a first-party force on the Xbox One rather than a passive hardware creator that gets third-party exclusive items or DLC every once and awhile as it is the only way to convince the audience they lost to consider buying their system.

With these announcements, Microsoft is inching towards reestablishing a connection with their lost fan base and moving away from the negative connotations currently associated with the brand.  The more good will they can generate towards the Microsoft and Xbox brand, the closer Microsoft gets to cutting Sony's considerable lead in this new generation.  E3 2014 will be very significant event for all console developers including Microsoft as we get see if the promises made of power and new experiences brought on by the next generation come to fruition.  The need to deliver at this year's E3 is huge.  It could be the difference between ending Microsoft's current woes or making them even worse.

Infamous: Second Son Review

Ever since man could dream, they always desired powers beyond their being.  Abilities like flight, x-ray vision and supersonic hearing would all make our hard and sometimes trying lives more manageable and relaxing.  As long as humans have dreamed of these superpowers, ironically the only realm where they can truly become reality is in fiction.  From comic books to television shows to movies, superpowers and superheroes have captured the hearts and minds of people the world over.  Unlike those types of media where you view these unbelievable powers and iconic heroes from a distance, video games immerse one in the world of superpowers and spandex like no other.  In direct control of all the action, you are the one soaring over Gotham's streets, catching bad guys in your webbing or thwarting a villain's plans to rule the world.  The latest game to give you direct control of these wondrous superpowers is Sucker Punch's Infamous: Second Son.

Infamous: Second Son takes place seven years after the events of Infamous 2.  In that time, super-powered humans known as Conduits have been vilified by the government.  Known as Bio-terrorists, they are hunted down and captured by the government's special DUP unit.  Second Son's story begins when protagonist Delsin Rowe comes in contact with three escaped Conduits.  From this meeting, Delsin awakens his dormant Conduit powers which allow him to absorb any power he comes in contact with.  Delsin's new powers get him in trouble with the DUP head Brooke Augustine which leads to Augustine unleashing her concrete powers on the innocent people of Salmon Bay.  Due to Augustine's actions, Delsin and his brother Reggie travel to DUP-occupied Seattle to absorb her concrete powers in order to heal the people of Salmon Bay.  While the narrative hits certain pre-determined points, the player has full control of how Delsin presents himself.  Delsin can either be the goody two-shoes superhero or the revenge-driven supervillain.  This decision directly affects Delsin's actions, appearance, ultimate attacks and abilities available to customize and upgrade.

The story and karma system may provide initial motivation for the player to combat the overwhelming forces of the DUP and customize Delsin's large set of powers, but both are far from Second Son's best features.  The success or failure of every superhero game depends whether the game truly makes the player feel like a superhero or not.  With four powers to play with and tons of ways to enhance and upgrade those base powers, Infamous: Second Son succeeds at putting you in the shoes of a superhero.  The powers easily take centre stage in Second Son as they are your primary tools for combat and exploration.  Each power is suited for different play styles.  For example, neon is best suited for long range sniping and video is perfectly designed for stealthy approaches to combat.  Each power is fleshed out and fun to play, but each person will find a favourite among the four powers available.  This writer's personal favourite is neon because of the incredible speed, the ability to slow down time during combat and the precision sniping.

The powers would not be as fun as they are without a fully realized world to use them in.  The virtual sights and sounds of Seattle are Delsin's playground in Second Son.  Compared to current more grandiose open world sandboxes like those found in Grand Theft Auto V or the Batman games, Seattle can feel a little lifeless and bland at times.  While you are not overloaded with tons of optional missions to tackle or additional attractions to experience all at once, Seattle offers enough side missions, collectables and random enemy encounters to keep players engaged.  Although the lack of variety among side missions can can cause things to get repetitive from time to time, one can easily lose themselves in the ebb and flow of destroying surveillance cameras, collecting blast shards, spray painting buildings and busting drug dealers.  A key reason why the Seattle setting is so engrossing comes from Second Son's superb graphics.  From the stunningly captured faces of all the main characters to the dazzling particle effects to beautifully rendered cityscape during day or night and rain or shine, the game uses the power of the PS4 to make the world of Infamous more believable and photorealistic.  The graphics of Second Son truly shows off the incredible horsepower of Sony's PS4 and brings the city of Seattle to life in a way no game has ever captured before.  Seattle may have its drawbacks, but ultimately it is a well made playground that keeps players moving forward in progressing the narrative and the advancement of Delsin's powers.

Infamous: Second Son may have some great features and content, but there are a few areas where this game falls short.  The tedious nature of the side mission, which sees the same six missions repeated over and over again throughout all of Second Son's world, really holds back Seattle from being held in the same regard as classic open world sandboxes such as Batman's Arkham City, Grand Theft Auto's Liberty City or Spider Man 2's New York.  This repetition limits the replay value of Second Son as all but true completionists will have their fill finishing only the side missions they run into during their first playthrough.  Some may be inclined to play Second Son again to experience the differences between playing as a superhero or supervillain though the story does not excite even the first time around.  Sadly after the opening hours, the story falls into a pattern of introducing a new Conduit with a desired power,  gaining said power and searching for core relays to unlock new abilities.  Along with the repetitive story structure, none of the other major characters are fleshed out to the point of caring about them or downright hating them outside of Delsin and Reggie.  Even Augustine, the antagonist of Second Son, has barely any character development until the final moments of the game.  The lack of character development and repetitive story points makes the plot feel like it is going through the motions to move the player from one objective to the next.  The karma system is no better as it forces the player to one path rather than experimenting between being good or evil.  One action that is opposite of your current path, even if it is an accident, will completely derail the karma combo needed to use ultimate karma bomb attacks.  Also the major choices of the game lack weight as they are always between two extremes instead of multiple shades of grey.

Although Infamous: Second Son may have some flaws in terms of narrative, variety and choice, Sucker Punch's open world adventure succeeds where it counts.  Second Son truly makes the player feel like a superhero or supervillain as they are in full control Delsin's powers and evolution throughout the game.  It also succeeds as a technical powerhouse that perfectly shows off the power of the PS4's graphics processors in the most crucial early stages of this new console cycle.  Overall, Infamous: Second Son is one of the best games currently available on the PS4 and a worthy addition to anyone's library.

Bit by Bit: March 2014

March has always been a hectic month in terms of both gaming and schooling.  March is the month that game publishers love dumping all the games that were not ready for the holiday.  It is also the month, universities love dumping projects, tests and presentations on students as the semester comes to an end.  Much of this month has been spent studying for a test or working on a project in between classes and shifts at work for yours truly.  Even with all the craziness, I have luckily made time to relax by playing a game or watching some television.  Although, relaxation was sometimes mixed with school work as I would do my anthropology readings during commercial breaks.  While March is almost over, April will be just as crazy for this writer as things ramp up for final exams.  Before we move on to the next month, let us look back at the month that was March 2014.

TV Show of the Month
Well, I spent the majority of my game time playing Bravely Default this past month.  As it took up the majority of my time, it is easily my Game of the Month yet again.  Instead of repeating myself by talking about Bravely Default (I will save it for the review hopefully), I wanted to share another facet of my passions this month--television shows.  As I have grown older, my time watching television has cut down to just the shows I want to watch such as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Persons of Interest and Reviews on the Run.  I barely spend time endlessly surfing through channels anymore.  As I gravitate to the shows that interest me the most, there a few I do not get to watch when they first run or they never make it to television in the first place.  One of those shows is Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.  Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is an anime which adapts the story of the original Fullmetal Alchemist manga into glorious 2D animation.  Brotherhood follows Edward and Alphonse Elric on their quest to acquire the legendary Philosopher's Stone in order to restore the bodies they lost when trying to resurrect their deceased mother.  Ed and Al's journey is not an easy one as they get caught up in a conspiracy that engulfs the entire country of Amestris.  I watched the first half of Brotherhood years ago when Funimation started releasing them as 13-episode DVD sets, but never got the second half of the series because how expensive each set was.  Then I got the second season of the 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist series for Christmas.  After watching that series over again, I got this huge urge to finish Brotherhood.  When I found the Complete Collection Two for 30 dollars at The Beat Goes On, I did not hesitate to buy it.  A week and a half later, I watched all the 31-episodes included in the set and it was well worth it.  While I already knew the entire story of Fullmetal Alchemist from reading the manga, watching the same story play out in motion was just unbelievable.  The mix of excellent voice acting, superb music composition and incredibly beautiful animation just made everything feel brand new.  The devilish twists and turns of Fullmetal Alchemist's endgame were perfectly adapted for the animation.  There were moments in the anime that just work better in motion than in the panels of the manga.  I was literally blown away by Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.  While I do not watch many animes, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is among the best I have ever seen and I highly recommend watching it.

Most Anticipated Game of the Month
I have shared my love for Mega Man here on Silver Bit on multiple occasions.  Among the many Mega Man series Capcom has created over the years, the Mega Man Zero games are some of my favourites.  Considering Capcom would rather keep the Mega Man franchise dormant than develop new titles starring the Blue Bomber, Mega Man fans have had to look elsewhere.  In particular, they have gone to the Father of Mega Man, Keiji Inafune himself, to get their fix with Mighty No. 9, but it is not the only Mega Man-like title Inafune has in the works.  Announced at the beginning of March, Azure Striker Gunvolt is a new 2D action-platformer from Comcept and Inti Creates coming to the 3DS Nintendo eShop this summer.  Azure Striker Gunvolt looks very similar to the fast-paced action of Mega Man Zero just with a brand new character to control, psychic powers to acquire and crazy bosses to battle.  As somebody who has fond memories of the Mega Man Zero series, I am really looking forward to what Comcept and Inti Creates has in store for Azure Striker Gunvolt.


Video of the Month
Ken Kutaragi was a dashing young man with a dream to revolutionize gaming.  That dream was the PlayStation, but Kutaragi's dream was challenged by the corporate powers of Nintendo.  The short film Kutaragi's Way from Mega64 chronicles the totally true personal story of Ken Kutaragi's trials and tribulations in becoming the Father of the PlayStation entirely filmed with classic 80s film grain.  Enjoy.

The Seventh Generation: PlayStation 3

The third and final console to look back on is the world's best Blu-Ray player, the PlayStation 3.  All joking aside, the fortunes of the Playstation 3 were the exact opposite of the Xbox 360.  The PlayStation 3 had an extremely rough first few years on the market.  Coming off the incredible success of the PlayStation 2, Sony got complacent with the PlayStation 3.  Sony's ignorance cost the company as the PlayStation 3 fell far behind the competition.  It took a large price drop and a console redesign before the PS3 started moving off the shelves.  While Sony had problems getting consumers to buy the PS3, their first-party development in both the downloadable and retail spaces and their extensive library of third-party exclusives made convincing arguments for owning Sony's third console.  Once Sony turned their string of bad luck around, the PS3 became the console of choice for many gamers this past generation.

Out of the gate, the PS3 was struck with a seemingly never ending string of problems.  The over 600 dollar price tag was far too steep for most people even the most enthusiastic gamers.  Programming for the PS3 was much harder than the other systems of this generation due to the PS3's Cell Processor.  Sony executives were making outrageous claims about the PS3's "monster" sales.  Game developers and publishers from Valve to Activision were voicing their disdain against the system.  The one glimmer of hope in the early days of the PS3 was Blu-Ray's win over HD-DVD as the definitive format for high definition home entertainment.  Despite Sony's PR nightmare with the early years of the PS3, things eventually turned around for the system.  Even with the better standing of the PS3 in later years, there were still a good number of mistakes made by Sony.  One big problem with Sony in general is the company's lack of commitment to an initiative or product if it does not have immediate success.  During the life of the PS3, Sony relentlessly tried to shove two different initiatives down the throats of gamers only to completely abandon them less than a year after announcing them.  These two initiatives were the PlayStation Move and 3D compatibility.  The PlayStation Move was Sony's answer to Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's Kinect.  Much like the Kinect, the Move tried to bring in a casual audience to the PS3 only to alienate the system's primary audience of hardcore gamers.  Sony tried their hand at 3D compatibility with the PS3 when stereoscopic 3D was all the craze back in 2009.  Sony put 3D compatible logos on all their major games and even released an extremely overpriced 3D monitor to get people to adopt stereoscopic 3D into their lives.  Both initiatives were just gimmicks that Sony used to extend to life of the PS3, but neither caught on and Sony ceased to promote them.

While Sony has made a good number of mistakes with the PS3, they have made some good decisions as well.  People made fun of using Blu-Ray discs as the default format for all PS3 games upon first release, but it is the biggest strength of this system.  While Microsoft faced numerous problems with their dual-layered DVDs for the Xbox 360, Sony's Blu-Ray discs are nearly indestructible.  One would have to make a considerable physical effort to damage a Blu-Ray discs.  Also the PS3 never felt the need to chew up games like the Xbox 360.  Apart from the great success of the Blu-Ray format, Sony's first-party efforts during this generation were among their strongest.  From established franchises like Ratchet & Clank and God of War to newfound properties such as Uncharted and Infamous to experimental titles such as Journey and the PixelJunk series, Sony's first-party had an incredible amount of variety compared to that of Microsoft and even Nintendo this generation.  This vast library of first-party titles was complimented by the great number of third-party exclusives especially in the later years of the PS3 such as Metal Gear Solid 4, Valkyria Chronicles and 3D Dot Game Heroes.

One cannot talk about the PS3 without discussing the biggest event in the console's life-- the PlayStation Network Outage.  This outage happened during the spring of 2011 when hackers attacked PSN causing Sony to shutdown all online functions for about a month.  This outage served as the biggest scare for gamers to this date as hackers got ahold of millions of peoples' personal and even credit card information.  The outage is considered one of Sony's greatest debacles, but personally this writer believes it is a significant turning point for the Sony PlayStation brand.  This outage was a wake-up call for Sony.  They nearly hit rock bottom in the eyes of the gaming community due to the outage.  Many people to this day do not fully trust saving their credit card information to any online store including the PlayStation Store.  This outage showed Sony the horrors of not protecting their customers and has brought forth a brand new direction for the PlayStation brand as a whole.  While Sony has not entirely turned the company's consistent problems around after the outage, they have made greater efforts to push games like the slew of Sony exclusive indie games and initiatives such as PlayStation Plus which actually please and benefit gamers rather than bring in the most cash.  Personally, this writer does not believe Sony would be in such a great position with all the good will surrounding the PS4 if it was not for the lessons learned during the PSN outage.

While things started out the worst possible way for the PlayStation 3, things eventually turned around for Sony's third outing in console gaming.  Hard lessons learned from the PS3 has definitely changed the PlayStation brand for the better as seen with the overwhelming success of the PS4's launch.  Although the PS3 may never be considered in the same league as its predecessors,  it is arguable the best console of this past generation.

The Seventh Generation

It seems like just yesterday when all the hype over the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii consumed every facet of video game media, mainstream media and regular conversation.  Like no other console generation before it, video games were about to take a quantum leap in terms of graphics, processing power, interconnectivity and controls among many other things.  This console generation launched the video game industry to unimaginable heights.  Playing video games was no longer a niche activity for children and obsessively intellectual in the eyes of society.  Due to the popularity of this console generation along with ventures into different forms of interactive media (motion and social games in particular), video games made major strides in becoming a serious media in our culture much like films, books, music and art.  While video games still has many more years and possibly decades before it is on the same level as those forms of media, this generation really got the momentum building for the argument that video games as an art form.

Sadly with the eighth console generation already on its way and just about to shift into turbo with the release of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 this November, it is finally time for these consoles to take a backseat for the next generation.  Big things are ahead, but the title for this series of articles is "The Seventh Generation", not "The Eighth Generation".  For the next month or so leading up to the launches of the PS4 and Xbox One, this writer will be taking a retrospective look at the all of consoles of this past generation (Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3).  For the final article of this series, this writer will be listing the essential games from the past generation.  This article will not be your normal top ten list.  Essential games are not necessarily the best rated games of this console generation; they are the games that NEED to be experienced from the seventh generation of video game consoles.

This series of articles has been boiling around in this writer's mind for a long time.  To take this trip down memory lane should be loads of fun.  Enjoy the ride and The Seventh Generation will be back in a week or two with a look at the Nintendo Wii.

Launch Station: PlayStation Game Collections

Yes, it is Madden day, but I do not enjoy doing sports game previews.  There is not much to talk to about other than the incremental improvements that I honestly do not care about.  If you are a football fan, you have probably already bought Madden NFL 13 and have been playing it for the past 24 hours.  You do not need my preview.  Instead of highlighting the umpteenth edition of Madden NFL, I am going to highlight the four, yes four, game collections that Sony released this Tuesday for the PS3.  These games are going for 30 to 40 dollars and include 3 full games at the least.  If you missed any of these games the first time around, these are the collections that you should definitely pick up no ifs, ands or buts.

This collection brings us all the way back to the PS2 days.  The days where Sony had three mascot platformers all competing for your attention in Jak and Daxter, Sly Cooper and Ratchet and Clank.  While Jak and Sly have gotten their times to shine in the HD Collection high, Sony fans have waited quite a long time to see Insomniac's beloved characters join the party.  The Ratchet and Clank Collection runs 30 dollars and includes the first three Ratchet and Clank games (Ratchet and Clank, Going Commando and Up Your Arsenal), a 10th Anniversary Ratchet and Clank Avatar item and early access to the Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time demo.  Along with the obvious HD upgrade to the graphics, there is trophy support for each game and online multi-player exclusively for Up Your Arsenal.

After Sucker Punch made a name for itself with Sly Cooper, this team moved onto the more mature darker superhero game in the Infamous series.  For being a new IP when it released in 2009, Infamous did very well.  Enough to get a sequel in 2011 and a special Halloween-themed DLC.  For those who missed out on this series when it first released, they should look no further than the Infamous Collection.  The Infamous Collection includes both Infamous 1 and 2, the Festival of Blood DLC and all other extra DLC missions, costumes and weapons all for 40 dollars.

Easily the most bang for your buck, God of War Saga includes the entirety of the God of War series leading up to the release of God of War: Ascension next year.  There are five games packed onto one disc for only 40 dollars.  You get God of War 1, 2, 3, Chains of Olympus and Ghosts of Sparta.  Five high quality incredibly cinematic hack-and-slash action game classics that has spanned the PS2, PSP and PS3.  On top of that the God of War Saga includes exclusive bonus content and a one month trial of PlayStation Plus, which is also included in the Infamous Collection.

thatgamecompany has made a name for themselves by releasing incredibly unique and artistically splendid downloadable games exclusively for the PS3.  Their latest effort Journey made waves in the video game industry when it released earlier this March, which easily made it one of the highest selling PSN game of all-time.  Capturing the hearts of many including yours truly, Journey is one of the video games you have to, and I emphasize have to, experience this year.  There is no way to not to experience now considering Sony and thatgamecompany just released the Journey Collector's Edition for the amazingly affordable price of 30 dollars.  The Journey Collector's Edition does not just include Journey.  You get Flow and Flower, thatgamecompany's previous games, three game prototypes created during thatgamecompany's Game Jam and art galleries, commentaries and soundtracks for Journey, Flower and Flow.  That is not all as this package also includes exclusive PSN avatars and a one month trial for PlayStation Plus.

On the Download: August 5-11

While this edition of On the Download is not as big as I originally thought it would be, but it is a packed edition nonetheless.  Got some big games to talk about this week on XBLA, PSN and Steam.  So without further ado, let us jump right in.

After some initial server problems, the newest release in Microsoft's Summer of Arcade promotion is up  on the marketplace.  This game happens to be Hybrid, 5th Cell's (creators of Scribblenauts and Run Roo Run) first foray into developing console games.  Hybrid is an online only multi-player third person shooter.  Hybrid takes place in 2032 where a Supercollider implosion causes a rift between our world and an alternate reality.  From this rift, a new species known as the Variant emerges.  The emergence of this new species causes a world war to break out between the Variants and a group of rebel humans known as Paladins.  Playing as either the Variants or the Paladins, players compete in 3-on-3 matches that will affect this massive online war.  Included in Hybrid are 10 maps and modes for players to compete on and tons of weapons and abilities to customize their character.  For those interested in joining this world war, Hybrid is available exclusively on XBLA for 1200 Microsoft Points.

Ever since the full reveal of the PlayStation Vita at E3 2011, there has been one game that has been everybody's mind.  That game is Sound Shapes, the latest project from Canadian-based Queasy Games that brought acclaimed PSN shooter Everyday Shooter.  Sound Shapes has finally released on PSN and good news, you can play it on both the PS3 and the PS Vita for one price of 15 dollars.  Sound Shapes is a unique blend of side-scrolling platformer with a rhythm game.  Every action in Sound Shapes from playing, composing and sharing levels all make the music in the game.  For those looking for some single-player action, Sound Shapes offers a comprehensive campaign that fuses music and artwork into a classic 2D platformer.  Many great artists from Pixeljam to Superbrothers and musicians from Beck to Deadmau5 contributed to artwork and music used in Sound Shapes' campaign.  As much as Sound Shapes is a game, it is also equal parts a musical instrument that musicians or just regular games can pick up and create their own musical levels.  All the levels you create in Sound Shapes can be shared online with friends and the entire Sound Shapes community.

Sound Shapes was not the only music game released for download this week.  Brought to you by Empty Clip Studios, Symphony is a vertical shooter in which you play through levels composed of your own library of music.  In Symphony, your music is under attack and it is up to you to liberate it.  A mysterious entity is corrupting your music as you play it.  It is up to you to play through your collection of songs in order to discover items, battle bosses, find pages of the Symphony of Souls and reclaim your music.  By completing a song in Symphony, you unlock a new item to customize your ship with in order to tackle higher difficulty levels and score targets.  Symphony also includes 6 difficulty levels and online leaderboards to keep players engaged for a long time.  If you are interested in this unique musical shooter, you can download Symphony off of Steam for 10 dollars.

Launch Station: Resistance: Burning Skies

The PlayStation Vita seems to be in a drop spot at the moment.  Since it launched in February, few games have released for the system.  It is a horrible drought of games for a handheld that really needs all the support it can get.  While no game journalist or Sony fan will admit, it is quite possibly worse than the 3DS drought last spring.  Sony hopes to give Vita owners some relief with the newly released Resistance: Burning Skies.

Resistance: Burning Skies takes place in between the events of Resistance: Fall of Man and Resistance 2. The Chimera have just begun their invasion of the US.  You play as New Jersey firefighter, Tom Riley as he fights off the Chimera invaders in order to rescue his family caught in the middle of the invasion.  Resistance: Burning Skies is the first FPS to be released for the PlayStation Vita so this game has a lot to prove as it is the benchmark for all Vita FPS's to come after it.  With the dual analog sticks, Resistance: Burning Skies exactly like the PS3 entires in the Resistance series.  As Burning Skies is made for the Vita, it features touch controls that handle other actions such as throwing a grenade or using a weapons' secondary fire.  Burning Skies also features the return of a series stable, the weapon wheel, which was absent in the last few games in the series.  Along with the single-player campaign, Resistance: Burning Skies has 8-player competitive multi-player, which includes six maps and three modes, Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Survival.

From what I have seen and read about Resistance: Burning Skies, it looks like a serviceable FPS for the Vita.  It is a must-buy for FPS fanatics and Resistance fans that own Sony's game deprived handheld.  For any other Vita owner, it is easier to save your money for hopefully better Vita games that should be coming later this year.

Vita Wednesday: Third-Party Launch Titles

Welcome the second and final Vita Wednesday.  Last week, we took a look at Sony's three biggest offerings for their new handheld.  This week we are taking a look at the three biggest offerings from the third party publishers like Ubisoft, Capcom and EA.  If you look at the majority of the games launching with the Vita from third-party publishers land in one of two categories.  They are either a port of a recently released console game or a portable entry of an existing franchise that does not do much to make itself stand out from other entries in the series much like Dynasty Warriors Next and Touch My Katamari.  While I personally wanted to stay away from highlighting one of these two categories in this Vita Wednesday post, I will have to due to the lack of anything relatively new released at launch for the Vita.

Just as Street Fighter launched with the Nintendo 3DS, another Capcom fighter launches with the PlayStation Vita.  This time around Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 gets the portable treatment.  As the definitive version of Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 includes 12 new characters, new modes, new stages, re-balanced gameplay and a more robust online mode.  Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 for the Vita has all the modes and features that the console game has with one new mode exclusive to the Vita.  This mode is Touch Mode.  In Touch Mode, you control your fighter through tapping and swiping the touch screen.  If you are looking for a great fighting game for your Vita, no doubt Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is your game.

From the ever-creative mind of Michel Ancel, Rayman Origins landed on consoles with not much of a splash.  Released in the middle of the insane holiday season, this great platformer was fed to the dogs as juggernauts like Modern Warfare 3, Skyrim and Assassin's Creed dominated the last quarter of 2011.  Sad considering Rayman Origins is in my opinion much better game than those just listed.  If you missed out on Rayman Origins back during the holidays, Ubisoft has brought the lovably limbless hero to the launch of the PS Vita.  This Vita version of Rayman Origins has all the features of its big console brother with a few additions exclusive to Sony's next generation handheld.  Rayman Origins for the Vita has a Ghost Mode, which uses the Vita's Near functionality to receive ghost data from friends and race them in game.  Also Rayman Origins for the Vita features touch controls for the game.  With Rayman Origins coming to a handheld near you, it would be foolish to miss out on this excellent platformer yet again.

At the launch of the PSP, there was one game that caught the eyes and ears of all who played it.  It proved to many the potential of the PSP and quickly became it's killer app.  This game was called Lumines, a puzzle game similar to Tetris that perfectly blended music and rhythm with addictive block-dropping action.  Seven years later, Lumines graces the launch of the Sony's newest handheld with Lumines: Electronic Symphony.  Playing with the title, Electronic Symphony features a soundtrack filled with great electronic music.  Electronic Symphony is more focused on straight arcade puzzle action as you vie for the high score and then upload to online leaderboards.  New to Lumines, Electronic Symphony includes avatars that can gain experience, level up and has abilities that can be used to improve your score.   If you are looking to play with others, Electronic Symphony has online multiplayer.  Like every Vita game, Electronic Symphony has touch controls that can be used instead of the d-pad and face buttons.  For all the puzzle game fans out there, Lumines: Electronic Symphony is a game you should not miss if you pick up a Vita.

Vita Wednesday: First-Party Launch Titles

With the launch of the PlayStation Vita, welcome to the first of two Vita Wednesdays.  This week's edition of Vita Wednesday coincides with the release of the First Edition Bundle while next week's edition will coincide with the release of the base model.  For the next two Wednesdays, I am going preview three of the biggest launch games for the new PS Vita.  This week, we will be taking a look at big first-party launch titles.  So without further ado, let us jump into the very first Vita Wednesday.

Naughty Dog hands over the reins to the Uncharted franchise to Sony Bend for Nathan Drake's debut on a handheld.  Uncharted: Golden Abyss is set before the events of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.  You follow a much younger Nathan Drake on an adventure to uncover the dark secret behind the 400-year old massacre of a Spanish expedition.  For those looking for the multi-player from the last two Uncharted games, you are out of luck as Golden Abyss is just a solo affair.  Sony Bend looks to use the Vita to it's fullest as Golden Abyss uses each of the Vita's core features to offer a new variety of puzzles to Uncharted.  Those who are picking the Vita day one will most likely make Uncharted: Golden Abyss their first game purchase for their new system.  With the caliber of all the other entries in the series, that would be a very wise decision.

Sony's answer to Mario Kart, ModNation Racers has made its way into the Vita launch line-up with ModNation Racers: Road Trip.  Much like Mario Kart, ModNation Racers offers a solid single-player circuit to play through, but that is not the core of this series.  The core of ModNation Racers is the huge suite of creation tools.  You can create anything in the game from the racers to the karts to the tracks themselves.  These creation tools are made easier to use with the Vita's touch controls.  With just a few swipes of your finger, you can create a whole track.  One you are done creating your masterpieces, share them with your friends online.  Also you can enjoy all user-created content from the PS3 game on the go with Road Trip.

It would not be a launch of a Sony handheld without this iconic anti-gravity racing series.  WipeOut Pure launched alongside the PSP, now seven years later WipeOut 2048 launches alongside the PS Vita.  Unlike other entries in the WipeOut series, WipeOut 2048 does not take in the long distant future.  It takes place in the year 2048 in the dawn of the anti-gravity racing scene.  This new setting allows for a nice mix between modern and futuristic track designs.  WipeOut 2048 offers players 10 tracks that can be played both solo and with people online.  Also you can play anybody who has a copy of WipeOut HD with the multi-payer crossover feature.  With both ModNation Racers and WipeOut, Sony has racing fans of all ages covered at the launch of the their new handheld.

Launch Station: PlayStation Vita

After a lot of anticipation and hype, the PlayStation Vita has finally been released for the public.  On this Vita Wednesday, those who pre-ordered the Vita First Edition Bundle will be able to pick up their new handheld.  For those who did not pre-order will have to wait until next Wednesday when Sony releases the Vita on its own.  The First Edition Bundle comes with the Vita, a 4 GB memory stick, a hard carrying case and Little Deviants for 300 dollars.  When the system drops next week, the Wi-Fi Vita (the only one available in Canada) will run you 250 dollars and the games will run you as low as 30 dollars to as high as 50 dollars.

The PlayStation Vita serves as Sony's successor to the ultimately failed PSP.  The Vita addresses many of the complaints gamers had with the PSP.  The biggest complaint was the PSP's lack of a second analog, which made certain action and first-person games cumbersome to play on the handheld.  After a good seven years, Sony finally listened and made the dual analog sticks one of the main features of the PS Vita.  While the Vita has the more traditional tactile controls, Sony has added other control options to the machine in a front and rear touch screens and tilt controls.  These controls are made to make the Vita appeal to more casual gamers and to directly compete with Apple.  The Vita also sports the best graphics a handheld can pump out.  They are not PS3 or Xbox 360 quality, but they are pretty close.  Sony has ditched the UMD format for games, going for cartridges for retail games.  That means you will not be able to play any of your PSP games on the Vita unless you download them off of the PSN Store.  You are able to purchase games at retail or like old PSP games you can download them from the PSN Store.  I order to play games or download games, you will need one of Sony's proprietary memory sticks, which is not included with the base model of the Vita.  Included with the Vita are some applications such as Near, Sony's equivalent the the StreetPass, and Welcome Park, a tutorial for the Vita, you can also download apps to the system.  At launch, Facebook, Twitter and foursquare apps will be available to download.

Having grown up playing handhelds, I have a more invested interest in handheld gaming than most gamers.  Having played the PS Vita myself, I will say it is an incredible piece of technology and a great achievement for Sony.  The system is a little bigger than the PSP, but deceptively light.  The touch screens are responsive, but it is hard to judge exactly where your fingers are on the rear touch, which did hurt games that need you to hit the rear touch screen at a precise point.  The dual analog sticks nicely fit your thumbs, but they are just a little close to the other buttons that it feels a little cramped.  While my issues with the machine itself are very minor, I still think Sony did throw too much into this one machine.  It is nice to have multiple control schemes, but when they are made to be optional rather than work together that can confuse certain people especially newcomers or casual gamers.  It will ultimately depend on how developers use the system.  My biggest problem with the Vita is it's memory storage.  While the less powerful 3DS has 2 GB of internal memory and comes with a 2 GB SD Card, the more powerful PS Vita has no internal memory and the base model does not even come with memory stick, which is needed to play games.  This decision alone is one of the dumbest Sony has made ever.  You will have to pay another 20 to possibly 100 dollars on top of the 250 dollars for the Vita, to actually play games on the machine.  While the blinded fans just overlook it, Sony's refusal to include a memory stick is just unacceptable is this day and age where every game includes some sort of save system.  Other than that we will just have to wait and see if Sony will support the PS Vita through thick and thin.  Looking at Japan and lack of regular consumer interest, it might be sooner than Sony thinks.