Thursday, June 19, 2014

Evolution of the Blog Part V

Whats up internet?! Not much here for the past few days. Just dropping this post to let you know whats been going on the last few days, why I've had so many video game posts the last month, and whats coming in the future.

First off, the last few days I just needed a break. Between some personal stuff I've got going on, and all the E3 coverage I had to do, I got burnt out. So, I took about a week off and didn't write anything for anywhere on the internet. I spent some time with my family, and some time playing some video games. Now though, that is over, and we're returning to regular posting schedules.

Now, a question I've been getting is, "why so much gaming stuff when I'm not purely a gaming blog?" Well there have been two reasons for that. The first is that E3 was last week, and the weeks leading up to it are full of video game news and rumors. That put me in a gaming mood, so I talked about it a lot. The other reason is that I have a new baby. He's not technically new at this point, but he's still an infant who can't communicate at all except through screams. So I've been a bit busy helping out my wife around the house and taking care of the baby. As such, in order to generate content I write what I know. I have played video games for 20 years, so I know a lot about them.

As for future content, we're coming back to normal. My next post after this one (that isn't a regular weekly post like It Came From the Internet" will be a post about organic food where I discuss how what you buy from the grocery store isn't really organic and/or is actually worse for you than buying non-organic foods. I skipped the Steam Sales Guide this week because they are having their summer sale Starting today, and going for the next two weeks. Everything will be on sale, so go crazy. I'll probably post my rules just to remind everyone to buy smart, but otherwise you won't see a sale guide post until after the summer sale ends. Otherwise all regular content is returning, and you will see a decline in gaming content to bring back some of my other content. It won't go away because I love games, but things will balance out again. I'm also feeling a top 10 coming on. Who knows, I may even make that a regular weekly thing.

Until Next time, thanks for reading! As always feel free to comment below, or send me a tweet @jma4707

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Who “Won” E3 2014?

As E3 winds down the question on everyone's mind is who won E3? Well, that answer is simple. We the gamers did. The big three all had really good conferences, and the EA and Ubisoft presentations were spectacular as well. There were a ton of really good and exciting games that were announced, and even the stage announcements were great too. So in short, we win. That however isn't the answer that a lot of folks are looking for, so we are going to dive into the big conferences to see who did the best this year. If you want to know my final verdict for the show just jump to the bottom and check it out because this is going to be a long one. Otherwise, I'm going to be talking a bit about each of the conferences, and point out a lot of their high and low points.

Note: For the "big 3" we will only look at exclusives since EA and Ubisoft, and their other partners are 3rd party developers. I will go in order of the conference dates and times, just to keep thing coherent.

Xbox_E3_mainMicrosoft: Microsoft put on a great show this year. They really honed back in on their core gaming audience, and not once mentioned Kinect, tv, movies, a home entertainment system, or any of the other stuff they were so proud of last year. That clearly was a good thing for their popularity and the majority of their audience, but there are still plenty of people out there like me who actually love the idea of the all in one console and the Kinect. I may be in a minority, but I personally love the Kinect. My family uses all of it's functions every day, and it really has become the One thing that ties our entertainment center together. So for me, the other stuff not being mentioned loses Microsoft some points. I am excited though for their gaming lineup. The Halo Collection immediately jumped to my most anticipated game for the year, and they had a couple of spectacular new IP's in Sunset Overdrive and Scalebound. Plus they are bringing back some old favorites like Crackdown, Fable (Legends), and Phantom Dust. Their apparent focus on Indie games is also refreshing for gamers who are loving indie games more and more all the time. Plus the rest of their games lineup is solid, and will back up all the multi-plats rather nicely. So overall, despite the lack of Kinect support, Microsoft did fairly well. Their focus on games this year won them back a lot of good faith, and I think that we'll see the popularity of the One go up as this year progresses and things like the Halo Collection and Sunset Overdrive release.

E3-2014-EA-Pressekonferenz-658x370-b0b3a7a831512097EA: The EA press conference was honestly exactly what I expected it to be for the most part. They spent a lot of time talking about their sports properties, and showing off how good this generation will look and play with the Frostbite 3 engine. I personally think they may be taking it a bit to far, as most of their sports games are starting to fall into the Uncanny Valley of graphics quality. Nevertheless, their sports titles do look good and I'm interested in the new FIFA. Other than that they opened up quite strong with an early look at the new Star Wars Battlefront, which looks spectacular. The showed off some great looking gameplay for the new Dragon Age, and again it looks phenomenal. The graphical fidelity was amazing, and the animation quality was superb. We also got a tease of the next Mass Effect, which really excites me since Mass Effect is one of my Favorite games of all time. The two biggest games that they have going right now though, are Mirrors Edge 2 and Battlefield Hardline. It's hard to say which one I'm more excited for. I loved Mirrors Edge in every respect. It's original gameplay mechanics, its beautiful art style, and its deep story. Battlefield Doesn't have to much of those, but it is the best shooter on the market when it comes to realism, destruction, and solid multiplayer mechanics. The only real letdown for EA was The Sims 4. I don't understand why chose to show this off at the conference. It looks exactly like the previous Sims game, and all the stuff they were saying about personality customization looks the same as what you could do with Sims 3. I feel like they wasted a bunch of valuable stage time on Sims 4, but otherwise they had a great show. Definitely good enough to rival the Big 3.

ubisoftUbisoft: Ubisoft has almost all of my favorite games this year. They started off with Far Cry, which looks phenomenal. The bigger open world, better graphics, and more choices for handling situations makes me want this game even more than I did. The story of it also looks a lot better than previous game, which is good since this is a story driven single player (with coop) game. We got another look at the division with more gameplay and a new trailer which really makes the game look even more in depth and exciting than before. I'm worried that the hype train will steamroll this game, but damn does it look amazing. The Crew is probably my 2nd most anticipated game coming out this year, especially if it actually delivers on it's promise to drive anywhere in the continental US. I want to drive to my house in Tennessee, pull into my driveway, and take some comparison pictures. If you really can do that, believe that you will see them here this fall. I am worried though that they may be saying whole US, but actually only mean big population centers around the country, which is still phenomenal, but not what they have promised. Only time will tell on this one. We also got a really in depth look at Assassins Creed Unity, which is again another excellent game. The graphics are impressive, and I love the new Coop aspects of the game along with improved free running and combat mechanics. Overall a good edition to the AC franchise, and one I'll happily give my money too. Finally, they closed with Rainbow Six Siege. Hot Damn does this game look Impressive! The sheer amount of choice you have with fully destructible and constructable environments is something I'm not sure we've seen in shooters. Perhaps Battlefield a bit, but never in such a targeted way. It also looks visually stunning, and very in depth with some serious teamwork required to pull off incredible maneuvers. If this game is even half of what this reveal showed, it will be something special. Then on top of all that, Ubisoft really knows how to put on a good stage show. Aisha Taylor is a vibrant funny personality who really knows how to milk a crowd, and they really showed off a lot of good stuff. Almost all of their games are ones I will buy at launch, and that's something that I just can't say about any other presentation made.

e3-2012-sony-press-conference-001-750x400Sony: Sony had, I think, the longest presentation, and it certainly was the most diverse. Sony and Microsoft really did a 180 on their presentations this year, with Sony going on for quite some time about new hardware and Playstation TV. This has gotten some flack from people, including me, because Sony has repeatedly said that they just want to be the best gaming console out there. While PS4 is in no way made weaker as a platform, the fact that they are starting to diversify means that they will be devoting less times and money to their games divisions and in turn have a greater chance to falter under all in one experience stuff. Their conference was by no means bad, but it was all over the place. They made it very clear that they are getting a lot of exclusive content for games such as Battlefield, Destiny, Far Cry 4, and a few others. This is good for Sony and PS4 gamers of course, but what is really good for Sony is their exclusive games list. The Order 1886, Uncharted 4, and Little Big Planet 3 are probably the most anticipated Sony Exclusive Titles. All of them look great in their own ways, and many of their upcoming exclusives look really good too. Bloodborne looks like a return to the classic Resident Evil formula for scary games, Let it Die looks like a crazy FPS/RPG multiplayer game that could be an answer to Microsoft's Sunset Overdrive (not in style but in substance), and the fact that PS4 gets No Man's Sky first will be a big draw to the console. Overall Sony threw a lot of big punches at Microsoft and Nintendo that made them stand out in a lot of ways. Like I said before though, a lot of people have given them crap about the big focus they had on TV, Movies, and Hardware. We'll see if they lose some folks over it, or at least notice a dip in the PS4 Sales as (especially) Microsoft and Nintendo claw some of their fans back.

nintendo-digital-event-e3-2014Nintendo: The Nintendo Conference was definitely the weirdest. They did an all digital presentation, so no stage personalities or presenters. Plus they had some goofy animated skits to open the show, and break up some of their titles. Some people liked it, but I personally didn't. The big press conferences are a chance for the developers and the higher ups to come out and connect with us, and the fact that it was all pre-recorded loses them a lot of points with me. They did have a lot of really good games to show off though. The opener with Smash Bros was really solid, and the Mii inclusion into Smash Bros is really cool. It's something myself and a lot of people have wanted for a long time. I do not like the Amiibo's though. I don't like these toy add-ons to video games because when I buy a game I want that to be it. Having to buy a bunch of extra stuff to either play the game, or get the full experience is not cool. It just encourages kids to buy more toys, which this will do a lot. I'm sure they will sell millions of these little things because kids will love them, and that is a good business move for Nintendo (which I certainly don't blame them for). Yoshi's Wooly world looks really artistic and pretty, Captain Toad Treasure Tracker looks both fun and silly, and Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Saphire both look great with their graphical upgrades. I have to say that what I'm most excited for is Bayonetta 2, which will Include Bayonetta 1. I really loved the first game in the series, and have been itching for the second one for quite some time. Otherwise for games they made a lot of promises for 2015, that don't look all the special. Outside of the new Legend of Zelda game, not much they showed wowed me. Hyrule Warriors is just a Dynasty Warriors re-skin, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse looks like just another action platformer, and Star Fox was only teased to us. I do have to say that Xenoblade Chronicles X looks really impressive, but since all we saw was cinematic trailer I'll be reserving true judgement till we know more later.  Nintendo is stepping it up though, and I think all of these titles will help boost the lackluster sales of the Wii U. I think if they combined this line up with 3rd party support, they'd just wipe the floor with everybody else. However, they still haven't got it yet, so we are left with an odd presentations and a lot of promises for next year.

It's really tough to say who the best was. EA and Ubisoft had a lot of good stuff, but as just game publishers these guys don't have to worry about as much diversity and the actual issue of pushing platforms. I think I'll do two winners. One for overall best, and one for the best of the big 3. This should allow me to be more objective as I can both include and exclude the specific circumstances the big 3 have to deal with.

xbox e3Big 3 Winner: (Microsoft) This was not an easy decision. All three really came out swinging. Microsoft and Sony both have a lot of great looking exclusives and much better third party support. Nintendo though has game experiences you truly can't get anywhere else, which goes a long way. Nintendo though, didn't do a real conference. They just pre-recorded a bunch of stuff and rolled a video for people to watch. They could have done that anywhere else and sent some real people on stage for the conference, and I feel like that alone is enough to cost them the win. Sony's shift into a diverse business plan with TV, Movies, and a lot of hardware is really giving them a lot of flack. I don't think it was as bad as Microsoft last year, but if they keep on this path they'll wind up there eventually. They had a lot of great games, but their lack of focus on games at a gaming convention is going to cost them this time. That means that Microsoft is the winner. Phil Spencer came out, put the focus on games and never looked back. They delivered a great stage show, and a lot of really good gameplay footage and trailers. Overall Microsoft really delivered this year, and their commitment to listen to gamers and improve the platform has won them a lot of support. Will they pass Sony? Who knows, but I can guarantee that they will start to close the gap after the conference this year.

e3-ubisoft-620x325Overall Winner: (Ubisoft) Everyone throughout the entirety of E3 (not just the conferences) showed off a lot of really good games. From AAA titles to indie developers we got an orgasmic amount of diversity and excellence. Ubisoft though stands above them all. With The Division, The Crew, the Watch Dogs Series announcement, Far Cry 4, Assassins Creed Unity, and Rainbow Six Siege they wiped the floor with the competition. They have more games on people's most anticipated games lists than any other developer/publisher, and hold 3 of the top 5 game spots for this E3 on the official E3 site. Ubisoft isn't perfect, but they are close to it. Thus, they must take the crown as the overall winner at E3. Congrats guys, you've certainly earned it this year.

Now, I know a lot of people will disagree with me. That's fine, as we all have our favorites and our own ways of interpreting things. What I want you to take away from this though, as it is much more important that anything else I've said so far. We as gamers won this year. This is the best lineup I have ever seen at E3, and games only get better looking and more immersive all the time.  So it doesn't matter if you disagree and think Sony won. It doesn't matter if you think Bethesda is a better publisher than Ubisoft. What does matter, is that we as gamers win.

Check the specifics for the Microsoft Conference, EA Conference, Ubisoft Conference, Sony Conference, and Nintendo Conference. 

This concludes our E3 coverage for the year. Regular content will return after a much needed break this weekend, but you may get lucky and see some let's plays. Thanks for stopping by, and feel free to leave your thoughts on who won E3 (or anything really) in the comments section.

Like my content? Follow Me onTwitter: https://twitter.com/jma4707 

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

E3 2014: Nintendo Conference Round Up

I honestly don't know where to start. Nintendo had by far the the most different press conference, by not really having one at all. It was a pre recorded video that showcased off their new stuff, which is fine. It just doesn't stack up to all the rest of the shows with developers, personalities and such. It was pretty funny at times though, which helped it out a bit because my lord was it short. It was less than an hour long, and featured the least amount of games of any of the shows. So, let's get started with what they did have.

nintendo-digital-event-e3-2014

Disclaimer: As we all know, E3 showcases what the games industry wants to be. Not necessarily how it turns out. I want everything I saw to come out exactly like it was presented, but it may not. The claims that developers and myself make about games may not be true, due to technical or budgetary limitations. 

ssb

Super Smash Bros: They talked quite a bit about Smash Bros and really showed it off on the 3DS a lot. The showcased some new features such as Mii fighters that can be custumized with a variety of classes and special moves, and introduced their Amiibo concept with the game.

mario_amiibo



Amiibo: This new Skylanders type of toy will be coming out later this year alongside the Wii U version of Smash Bros. They will be compatable with Smash Bros and Mario Kart 8 initially, and eventually will get incorporated into other games as well. They allow you to customize some of your favorite nintendo characters, and make it seem like they will level up over time becoming better at the various games you play. No word on whether or not they are necassary or not, but i doubt it. They will probably just be another addition to the nintendo line up.

e3-2014-yoshis-wooly-world-looks-charming-as-heck_mdrg

Yoshi's Wooly World: This game looks a lot like Kirby's epic yarn. However, there are some distinct artistic differences, and of course you play as Yoshi. It will have 2 player coop, and exploration was said to be the main focus of the game. Meaning that they want you play through multiple times as you unlock new abiliteis to explore and find all sorts of collectibles. It will be a 2d puzzle/action platformer, but it will have a much slower pace than most of their other games. Set to releasein 2015, they will probably have more details later.


cttt


Captain Toad Treasure Tracker: We saw a cinimatic trailer for this game, which shows it off as a 3d action platformer. Otherwise, nothing else was said about it other than a Holiday 2014 release date.

The-Legend-of-Zelda

Legend of Zelda: Other than a cinimatic trailer and a 2015 release date not much was said about this game. They did mention that it would now have a true open world experience rather than being sectioned off like previous Zelda games, and then a mechanical spider with a laser attacked Link. At least I think it was Link, he was dressed in blue and also had a laser shooting bow.

Pokemon_OmegaRuby_AlphaSapphire

Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Saphire: These games got a little love with a trailer just showing off the new graphics and updated art styles.

bayonetta

Bayonneta 2: We got a great look at this epic game with a big trailer showing off a lot game footage. We also got a look at what could be easter eggs of you being able to wear costumes that look like other Nintendo characters and give you special abilities. Releasing in October of this year.

Hyrule-Warriors-E3-Reveal-1-1280x720

Hyrule Warriors: This is a Zelda franchise skin on a Dynasty Warriors game. It looks solid, with a lot of excellant gameplay shown. They did confirm that you can play coop with the gamepad, and use multiple characters from the Zelda franchise.

kirbyrainbow

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse: This gamepad, and perhaps DS, only game features you controlling Kirby in an Action platformer. You have the ability to transform him and the level via the Stylus to solve puzzles and defeat enemies. Release date is 2015.

xenoblade

Xeno Blade Chronicles: We saw a very pretty Cinematic Trailer that showed off the future story and cutscenses, but thats about it. It looks really cool, but other than a 2015 release date we don't know anything else about it.

1402336071-eshop

Nintendo E Shop: They closed off the show with a quick look at a lot of games coming to the E-Shop on both DS and Wii U.

Thats it folks. All five major conferences are over. For the most part we had a really strong showing at the show so far, but there are still a lot of individual reveals to come. Stick around till the end of the week where we have a big recap, and I talk at length about who had the best and worse conferences at the show. Until then I think I'm going to go take a nap.

Check the Microsoft Conference, EA Conference, Ubisoft Conference, and the Sony Conference. Come back tomorrow for my take on the show in general, and whose done the best job at presenting the coming years games.

Like my content? Follow Me onTwitter: https://twitter.com/jma4707 

E3 2014: Sony PS4 Keynote

e3-2012-sony-press-conference-001-750x400

Well, I have to say I'm a bit stumped by this one. Sony had the most varied press conference, and had a lot of great content. It just seems like there's been a role reversal between them and Microsoft. TV, Movie, and Hardware discussions took up at least a third of their presentation, and while I'm pretty intrigued by the Playstation TV and improvements to the Vita I keep asking myself what happened to the "we are the console for the gamer mantra". I'll deal with all of that later though. For now, let's break it down.

Disclaimer: As we all know, E3 showcases what the games industry wants to be. Not necessarily how it turns out. I want everything I saw to come out exactly like it was presented, but it may not. The claims that developers and myself make about games may not be true, due to technical or budgetary limitations. 

un-bundle-destiny-qui-revele-une-ps4-dans

Destiny: This was the First E3 trailer we've seen this year for Destiny, and it was exclusively to PS4. As we've come to expect from Destiny, it looks great, and is going to come with a lot of cool stuff. This Thursday PS4 players can play the alpha, and get early beta Access on July 17th. Destiny will also be bundled with a special edition white PS4.

Order-1886

The Order 1886: We got to see a mix of cinematic and gameplay for Sony's new exclusive IP. It looks amazing, with a dark gritty setting, high quality textures, and good looking game mechanics. No word though on the framerate issues mentioned a couple of weeks ago, or what it's final graphical fidelity will be.

entwined

Entwined: This interesting and inventive puzzle game uses twin stick mechanics to guide lovers souls through increasingly difficult obstacles in order to bring them together at the end. It looks absolutely gorgeous, and launches tonight for PS4. It launches later this month for all other Sony platforms.

infamous-first-light-630x354

Infamous Second Son DLC: A new standalone DLC for Second Son was announced to be coming in August of this year. Called first light, it follows the story of a new character in the Infamous universe. While it doesn't need the original game to play, Sony did say it will have exclusive content if you own Second Son.

Little-Big-Planet-3-Confirmed-to-Arrive-on-PlayStation-4-in-November-445998-2

Little Big Planet 3: This surprise showing was a cute/fun look at the new Little Big Planet game. With improved graphics, level complexity and depth, and new characters this platforming puzzle game just got a lot more interesting. They also announced that the entire back catalog of LBP games will be playable in updated graphics right from the start. It also has cool new coop mechanics, and is set to launch this November.

Bloodborne-200x200

Bloodborne: The first look trailer for Bloodborne feels reminiscent of the old Resident Evil Games. It looks scary and tense, but since it was only a cinimatic trailer it could turn out to be anything. I'm sure more infor will come out later. For now, be looking for it in 2015.

fc4

Far Cry 4: We've already seen this at the Ubisoft Conference, but they showed a whole lot more gameplay. It looks great, with the open world elements being even better than in Far Cry 3. Plus they showed us some coop elements to the game, and announced that on all Playstation Platforms, Far Cry 4 can be "shared" by friends. You can invite friends into your game, and they don't even have to have the game. They didn't explain exactly how this works, so it could be just PS+ members, or they might only be able to try it out once. No matter what though, this is a really cool feature.

Dead-Island-2-teaser-trailer-630x354

Dead Island 2: We got an interesting and quirky teaser trailer for the game, which make it look a lot more silly than the first Dead Island. They did say that the PS4 version of the game comes with an exclusive character class, and access to a special 30 day beta.

The-Last-of-Us-Remaster-Hits-PS4-on-July-29

Last of  Us: We all knew that they were remastering the Last of Us for PS4, but what we didn't know is that they are also going to have exclusive Diablo 3 Content on the Playstation Platforms. Diablo 3 players on the PS platforms will get an exclusive Last of Us themed dungeon with special enemies, loot, and more.

battlefield-hardline

Battlefield Hardline: As announced during the EA conference, PS4 users get exclusive beta access to Battlefield Hardline, and the showed a new trailer that appeared largely cut together from the EA footage.

Disney Infinity ps4 exclu 610

Disney Infinity: A special edition of Disney Infinity is coming to PS4 with an exclusive Hulk character. Not really sure what that means. as they did gloss over the rest of this pretty quickly.

Magicka2_medium

Magicka 2: They got their debut trailer on PS4, but really not much else was mentioned about the game.

_75413183_e3sonygrimfandango

Grim Fandango: GF is being remastered exclusively for PS4. Again, this is another topic they glossed over 
very quickly.

0

Indies: Devolver Digital is specifically mentioned, but many indie games are coming to PS4. Devolver has an exclusive PS4 Contract, and many more are potentially headed that way. Again, just like with Microsoft, most of these games are already on PC.

Let-it-Die

Let it Die: This 2015 Playstation Exclusive looks like some sort of multplayer shooter. However, outside of an awesomely violent shooter the trailer hints at this game having RPG elements, nothing else is said about it.

abzushark-610

ABZU: This interesting artistic game comes to you by the same creators of Journey. Rebranded now as Giant Octopus studios. It takes place underwater, and appears to be all about exploration. However, other than a trailer, not much is said about it.

no-mans-sky

No Mans Sky: My first DAMN moment in the Sony Conference. The sheer scope of this game looks mind boggling. Apparently it is a procedurally generated universe, where players start on their own planet, have to explore it, and can find a ship that takes them into space. Then they can explore other planets, and do all sorts of amazing looking combat stuff. It is gorgeous, but really they don't give us to much information. I hope it releases in 2015, and that there is more to it than just exploration. Even if that is the case though it really is beautiful, so I would be ok with wandering around in it for hours.

project_morpheus

Project Morpheus: Just barely teased, they show what games they will have at the booth. Which is sad, as I was really hoping for some in depth stuff.

PSN-logo

PSN: Quite a bit of bragging with the PSN numbers was going on, and to be honest I don't blame them. 1.25 Billion hours is a lot of time that people have spent using your services, so good job guys! Youtube sharing is coming to PSN, and will integrate with the share button. Twitch and Ustream will now allow you to chat with streamers in real time, which as a streamer would be really annoying. However, I suppose some people wanted it. Finally playroom is getting some new toys that will allow you to design new sets and have more backgrounds.

ftp

FTP: Sony announced that they will be getting 25 free to play titles over the next year, and highlighted Planetside 2, Kingdoms Under Fire, and Guns Up as some of their favorites. They never actually said whether or not you would need to have PS+ or not in order to be able to play the FTP games. I would suspect that you do, since this is how their free games model works, but I could be wrong.

1374.0607-playstation-vita_full_600.png-610x0

PS VIta: Sony was quite proud of their little hand held, and were quite pleased with both sales numbers, and how many people used the game streaming feature. They announced that Child of Light and Tales from the Borderlands were coming to Vita soon, and most importantly that the full version of Minecraft is coming to Vita.

PlayStation-TV-headed-West

Playstation TV: This little device pairs with your PS4 to allow you to stream games to another TV in your house. It also works indepentantly with Sony's new PS Now service, so that you can stream older Playstation titles to any TV regardless of what brand or type of TV it is attached to. It comes to you at the low price 99$ and will have a bundle that includes a controller, memory card, and some Playstation Now subscription time.

scorpio_in_mortal_kombat_x-1280x720

Morgal Kombat X: Honestly what do you say about it? It is the next gen Mortal Kombat games with more characters and violance. Aside from Sony getting the first gameplay footage, you don't get any special benefits for having it on PS4.

BN-DD976_pwr060_G_20140610002542

TV and Movie Content: Sony announced that they are making their own line of TV and Cinema Quality Movies exclusively for PS4 and PS+ owners. They are saying that this content is directed at gamers, and that we will love it. Their two debut items are Powers, a superhero crime detective show, and Ratchet and Clank animated movie.  This came along with an announcement for a remastered Ratchet and Clank game to come out alongside the rest of this content in 2015.

metal-gear-solid-5-the-phantom-pain

Metal Gear Solid 5: We got a new trailer with what looked like a lot of in game cutscenes. It's hard to tell since pre-rendered cutscnenes can be made about anything, but given the context of them and what we already know about the game it looks like they are showcasing parts of the story. It looks as beautiful as we've come to expect from these games, and didn't dissapoint.

grand-theft-auto-v-coming-to-new

Grand Theft Auto 5: They made the announcement on the Sony stream that they are launching this fall on next gen consoles and PC. GTA online data can be transferred cross platform is you choose to jump sides when you buy it, but there is no word yet on how this works, or how fast it is. The game promises to have updated graphics and resolution, as well as faster load times and such on more powerful hardware.

batman-arkham-knight-scarecrow-100538-1280x720

Batman Arkham Knight: We got to see a fairly lengthy gameplay trailer that makes the game look more awesome than we could have hoped. Sony also announced that they will be getting exclusive content on the PS4. in the form of Scarecrow levels.

Uncharted-4-Featured-750x400

Uncharted 4: The conference ended with Uncharted 4: a Thief's end. While it was just a simple cinematic trailer, it looked beautiful as all the uncharted games do, and promises to be a new story set after the last game in the series. Which is always nice to see in a world full of reboots.

Well, that about wraps up the conferences. We still have the Nintendo showing tomorrow, and after that I'll be giving my final opinions for what the best and worst parts of the show were. I do have to say that Sony has made me scratch my head, and so far it's a close race between Ubisoft and Microsoft for best presentation. No matter what though, all of these shows have been good which means we all win.

Check back tomorrow for the Nintendo Conference, and follow the links below to see all the other presentations so far.

Check the Microsoft Conference, EA Conference, and Ubisoft Conference. Come back tomorrow for the Nintendo Conference.

Like my content? Follow Me onTwitter: https://twitter.com/jma4707

Monday, June 9, 2014

E3 2014: Ubisoft Presentation

The Ubisoft Conference was an amazing event, and damn do they know how to put on a show. I think I saw all of my most anticipated games for this year at the conference. As with the EA conference highlights are below the video. Enjoy!

Far Cry 4: They opened up with FC4. A very strong start indeed. They showed the first 5ish minutes of 
gameplay, and it definitely is a pretty game. Not a lot more was said about it, but even the snippet they showed is enough to make me interested even more than I was already.

Just Dance 2015: Honestly I don't care for this game much. They did however make an announcement that is worth mentioning. They are promising latency free gaming with mobil devices that will allow thousands of gamers to play Just Dance at the same time. Will it really work? I suppose we'll find out soon enough. 

The Division: Ubisoft showed this game off a bit more in their own conference with a brand new long trailer that really explains part of the story in depth. It really was a beautiful trailer that tugged at my heartstrings for it's genuine presentation. I wish we could have gotten even more gameplay, but they may show it off again at the Sony Keynote.

The Crew: If this game lives up to half of its hype it will impress me greatly. They released a new trailer and showed off a bit of gameplay footage that makes this MMO driving game look even better than it did. They also promised again that it truly would be the entire continental US. I'm skeptical of that point, but I'd love to be able to drive to my house in the middle of nowhere TN and park out front. If they can do that, I'll sell my soul to Ubisoft. They do have beta sign ups for the PC version of the game live right now. Just go here and check it out. 

Assassins Creed Unity: We got to see even more gameplay, this time from the single player perspective. They went on about improved parkour mechanics, and how big this new open world is. It looks very impressive in single player mode, and we even got another new trailer.

Rainbow Six Siege: Holy shit. Is the first though I have after watching the gameplay demo. If this game is even a quarter what they show us in the trailer it will be the best game of all time. Dynamic destructive environments, tactical squad based team play, expansive levels, freedom of choice like I've never seen before even in a trailer, and beautiful graphics are just some of the things this game has. They said it was still pre alpha testing, which makes me a bit leery that this was heavily scripted, but if it is real gameplay then good lord are we gonna get some amazing stuff in the next couple of years. 

So, Ubisoft came out swinging hard enough to compete with all the other big boys and they may be winning. Microsoft really only had Halo to impress us on their own, and EA really only had the next Battlefield. Ubisoft though has got The Division, The Crew, And Rainbow Six to really push the envelope. I suppose a pure gaming studio has got an easier time focusing on games, but still they are holding all the big upcoming games. Stay tuned for the Sony Keynote though and we'll see if they can steal the show back.

You can check the Microsoft Keynote here, and the EA presentation here

Like my content? Follow Me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jma4707 o