What Is a Link To Do?

I've been pretty much debating with myself whether or not I wanted to touch this topic, but I decided I think I will.  I will preface with Jim Sterling's Jimquisition on the matter.

If you don't have the time to watch, I'll just summarize.  Jim Sterling heavily criticize's Eiji Aonuma's reasoning for why, when people heard rumors of a possible female playable character were disappointed they weren't true, they didn't go with a playable female character.  Quoting Aonuma from a GameSpot interview.

"We thought about it," said Aonuma, "and decided that if we're going to have a female protagonist it's simpler to have Princess Zelda as the main character."

This idea was ultimately rejected, because according to Aonuma "...if we have princess Zelda as the main character who fights, then what is Link going to do? Taking into account that, and also the idea of the balance of the Triforce, we thought it best to come back to this [original] makeup."

This answer has apparently caused quite a bit of backlash.  I'm not bothered by it, honestly.  I can understand why some people are, though, because it makes it seem that it's too much effort on Nintendo's part to make up a heroine that could replace Link.  In my honest opinion, though, Link should always be the main character in The Legend of Zelda, because. well, he always has.  Putting him in the backdrop as an NPC makes about as little sense as playing a Mario game as Toad where all Mario does is tell you the Princess is in another castle.

Think for a second.  Remember when Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull came out and it introduced Shia LaBeouf as Indy's son?  Would it still be Indiana Jones if the next  movie came out with LaBeouf as the main character with the original Harrison Ford in only a few scenes?  Indiana Jones belongs in Indiana Jones movies.  Granted, Link's name is never in the main title of a Zelda game, but it's always a given that it's Link you'll be playing as, just as Metroid will always have players playing Samus Aran.  This is where the whole debate should cease as far as I'm concerned.

Some people have yearned for a female Link for some time, but no one has ever yearned for a male Samus Aran.  My point is people accepted Samus Aran as Metroid since its inception, and people should accept Link as the playable character in Zelda.  There honestly is no need for a playable femaleLlink for the exact same reason as there's no need to change Samus to male, or hell, even change Lara Croft to Larry Croft in Tomb Raider.

I get that some female gamers feel they're underrepresented, but asking existing franchises to cater to them is nothing but politics in my eyes.  Even if Nintendo came up with a great explanation for why the playable character is female, say, Link has a daughter, it would only be seen as Nintendo taking a step to become progressive. I am all for a spin off, though.  If Nintendo wants to take Zelda out of the damsel in distress trope and make a game surrounding her own journey where Link is never in the picture, that would be awesome.

I just want to make this absolutely clear, though, just so no one mistakes this blog post as sexist or misogynistic or whatever.  I am against removing Link from Zelda just as much as I'm against removing Samus Aran from Metroid.  I'm a traditionalist first and foremost, and that works both ways for me.

The Legend of Zelda: Out of Breath From Running Wild

Check out this video:

Hundreds of gamers ran towards the playable Zelda kiosks yesterday to try their hands at The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.  As Kotaku states, this kind of stampede hasn't been scene since the Wii was launched in 2006.  Also as Kotaku states, some of these people have waited four hours to play the new Zelda.  FOUR HOURS!  That's a long time of doing nothing to play just a little bit of this new Zelda.  This game appears to be all the rage right now. 

But allow me to curb my enthusiasm a bit.  Now granted, I was impressed from what I saw streamed of the game a couple days ago.  However, if I was there at the E3 floor, I would not have ran against countless others just to try it.  I definitely would have played it given the chance, but not in a manic fashion like that.  Maybe it's because I've grown older and a bit wiser, but I don't view this kind of behavior as smart.  

Sound familiar?

One of the reasons why I don't go out and shop on Black Friday.  People have gotten hurt and even killed in Black Friday stampedes.  People lose their shit when there's something they want real bad and there are many other people gunning for the same thing at the same time.  An incident like what you saw in this video could have easily happened at E3.  I haven't heard of anyone being hurt, and if none were, thank God.  Last thing we need is a story of people trampling each other at E3 trying to play a video game.

"BUT IT'S NOT JUST ANY VIDEO GAME!  IT'S THE NEW ZELDA!"  

Which is funny now that you mention it.  Yes, it's not just any new Zelda.  It's a Zelda that for the first time has broken its shackles of traditional formulaic game design and caught up with the rest of the gaming industry.  "Link has a jump button now." That sentence alone should drive home what I'm getting at it.  Yes, for the first time, Link will now be able to explore a world that is open-ended and delineated, something that games have been doing since, I don't know, at least a good couple of decades or so.  

But catching up with the rest of the gaming world is a very important milestone for Nintendo.  it shows that, after hounding and prodding and nudging - even kicking and screaming, Nintendo will break away from their comfort zone.  As a result, we have a new Zelda that has generated this kind of reception, a kind of "must-play" mantra that makes people risk their well-being just to be the first few to experience it for themselves......

.... even though they've already experienced it in many other games before.  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm sure Breath of the Wild will be a fantastic game of the highest Nintendo caliber (well, I said the same thing about Skyward Sword, and look how that turned out), but nothing in the footage that I saw was really all that new to gaming, just new to Zelda.  This also illustrates a problem I've had with Nintendo fans for some time.  They're so content and complacent with whatever Nintendo hands their way.  Even though games from other companies have achieved so much more in all facets from graphics, to gameplay to storytelling, it seems to be a major deal to Nintendo fans when Nintendo finally decides to catch up.  

"Link has a jump button now."  He finally does, and people were ready to jump each other just to try it.  

Just Say NO to Remasters

According to mynintendonews.com Nintendo might consider remastering the beloved GameCube RPG Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door if fans are vocal enough.  I LOVE The Thousand Year Door, and I feel it's the best in the series; it's the one game that all future Paper Marios should have tried more to be like.  With all my adoration for this game, though, I DO NOT want a remaster.  I DO NOT want Nintendo to waste their time remastering a game that I've already played before.  People say, though, that remastering is a good thing, because it introduces a new generation of gamers to a game that was before their time, and to that I say, there is the eShop for that.

Instead, I want a PROPER sequel to Thousand Year Door.  I want a Paper Mario that has that wonderful battle system that made me love TYD.  I want that fantastic TYD writing back.  You know what I would think would be perfect? A Paper Luigi game!  Remember in TYD when you would occasionally bump into Luigi and he would talk about his own adventures?  Make a game that lets us explore Luigi's journey during the time of Mario's Thousand Year Door!

The remastering trend is seriously getting overdone.  It's the reason why the Wii U only has two Zelda games in its library, and they're both GameCube games.  Instead of people being vocal for a remaster, they should be vocal about getting NEW games.  The Wii U's library is already barren enough without having yet another remastered GameCube game added to it.

Just to be fair, this is my same feeling towards remastering on other consoles.  Both PS4 and XBox One collections are peppered with remasters at least once a month or every other month.  I think remastering a last generation game for the current generation is nothing more than a quick cash grab, and only benefits gamers who never had the chance to pick it up for the previous generation.  This isn't like taking a game from 10-15 years ago where it can actually benefit from the extra power.  That's why I didn't care at all about the Windwaker remaster.  That game was already and still is beautiful.  TYD is still beautiful and wouldn't really benefit much from a remaster.

I've only bought a FEW remasters in my life time.  One, of course, was for ICO and Shadow of the Colossus, because Colossus strained the PS2's guts something fierce so it was nice to play it again on the PS3 without the constant slowdown. Ironically, they capped the frame rate on the PS3 because they said that having a faster framerate would dilute the wonderment.  I also bought Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, but that was FAR more than just a remaster of Metal Gear Solid   I also have Tomb Raider Definitive Edition because I was able to get it for free.

Again, however, I think Nintendo would just be wasting their time remastering a game that still holds up today.  I get the excitement over seeing a much beloved game being brought into today's current generation, but I just want people to realize that it's at the cost of a brand new game.  Remember, the Wii U has been out in 2012, and STILL doesn't have a brand new Zelda...

Resident Evil 7 demo walk through impressions

*SPOILERS DUH*

One of the reveals during E3 was the new Resident Evil, titled Resident EVII.  I love the way Roman numerals work with titles.  It was almost like they changed Biohazard to Resident Evil just because someone saw how well this title would work should the franchise move to its seventh installment.  Also announced was a playable demo that was available yesterday, but the catch is that it's only available for PS+ members, of which I don't belong.  I was so intrigued by what I saw of EVII that I simply had to try it, so I activated a 14 day trial.  For whatever reason, it wasn't available on the US PS store last night, so I had to wait for today for it to pop up.  I downloaded it, went to dinner, and then immediately started playing when I got home.

I had been hearing that the entire game's in first person, which is already starting to polarize some RE fans.  Personally, I am not bothered by it, because it absolutely worked for P.T.  Even though Capcom said they weren't inspired by the ill fated Silent Hills demo, I'd have to call bullshit on that.  Anyway, so far, the first person is working for me.  The visuals are pretty damned creepy.  Everything is decrepit and dirty and slimy and disgusting.  I decided to put on some stereo headphones because the game's audio is so subtle, it's being masked by the PS4's fans.  With the headphones on, I'm finding myself looking around every time I hear something bumped or falling over.  So far, the atmosphere is spot on for a survival horror game.  

The demo starts off with my wrists being bound, and a guy with a knife cuts me free and then the screen freezes up and brings out the title of the game demo.  Once I start, I see myself looking at the floor and then I'm slowly getting up.  I've been instructed by the game to get out of the house.  As I'm walking around taking in the scenery, I come across the kitchen.  Because of my curious nature, I'm opening everything.  The refrigerator spills all sorts of liquids.  A dead bird surprises me when I open the microwave.  A pot on the table is a dinner gone horribly bad.  Even the cockroaches want nothing to do with it and flee via my arm as I lifted the lid off.  What the hell has gone on in this house?

I open drawers, one empty, one locked.  

As I leave the kitchen and enter a hallway, I come across a cabinet that's chained shut.  I take a second and notice how the state of this hallway is in complete disrepair.  Drywall has fallen off revealing wooden innards, and neigh a painting is evenly hung.  My flashlight flickers for a second as it illuminates a massive network of spider webs.  I approach the door and open it slowly.

If only video games had olfactory feedback accessories, I would have been bombarded with a horrible stench.  I see some kind of remains of a monstrosity, but in pieces.  Flies buzz in my ears as if they were actually in my ears.  I hear floorboards creaking, daring me to enter this room.  I find a pair a bolt cutters, and just as I press X to confirm, I'm met with my first surprise as a naked moldy baby doll falls to the floor in front of me, mocking me with a squeak as I utter "Jesus Christ" under my breath.  A door at the end of this room is locked, telling me I need to locate a key.  I know what to do with the bolt cutters, so I go back to the chained cabinet.  

The game prompts me with the inventory screen and I select the bolt cutters and proceed to free the doors from their bondage.  Expecting something to jump out and scare me, I open the doors.  To both disappointment and relief, I find nothing more than a VHS tape.  I take it and add it to my inventory and head back to a TV I saw in the room I started.  As I'm walking back, I'm met with some startling noise of someone or something rattling windows and shutters.  It makes me uneasy.  I'm tensing up in anticipation of the next big scare. 

Still heading back, I notice a flight of stairs that I somehow overlooked so I halt and consider going up.  I decide to ascend and notice a blinking light on a column, an alarm perhaps?  The button is marked "STAIRS", so I'm figuring it raises the stairs.  I don't push it and decide to explore the room further.  I come across the lady mannequins that some idiot in the audience during the reveal felt it was appropriate to whistle, and then a desk and a chair, a drawer some trash bags and an empty rack.  I return to the button and press it. I go to investigate the stairs and nothing happens.  I return to the button and proceed to freak myself out as I somehow keep knocking over this damn mannequin thinking I have someone else in the attic with me.  When I get a grip, I return to the button and press it again.  It says it's not responding, so I head back downstairs.  

I freeze in my tracks as I hear what sounds like a dog growling.  I'm trying to get a location on where it's coming from and just when I think I have it, it stops, so I move on.  I open the door to the starting room and am immediately blasted by white noise, which has me turn the volume down a bit. The TV's on, screen full of static.  I put the tape in the player and it begins play.

It shows a video with two guys in some kind of house talking about making a movie, sounds like it's a documentary called Sewer Gators.  The two guys are arguing over something.  I then realize I have control of the person who was watching the two guys.   I move forward.  My footsteps tell me I'm stepping in something wet; there's puddles of water all over.  The graphics also have taken on a filter to make it readily known that is a VHS movie you're watching.  

I'm approaching the patio of a house and I meet up with the two guys apparently waiting for me to arrive so we can enter the house.  I also notice the windows are barred with chain link fence and barbed wire.  To keep something out or in? Ah, durr... I'm the camera man in this story.  They struggle to open the door, and then one kicks it in.  We enter and the two talk among themselves and I hear one of them wondering what they're doing in this house, because he used to be an anchor.  The other's giving him crap about it.  I recognize the hallway we're walking down.  It was the hallway that contained the locked cabinet. 

The two talk about the owners of the house, Jack and Margarite Baker.  While they speak, I explore.  The pot of dinner is still there, but the cockroaches aren't.  The Bakers have a son, Lucas (fuck, it would HAVE to be Lucas) and there's some pretty bad rumors surrounding him.  I open the microwave and the bird is there. The refrigerator spills nothing when I open it.  I overhear one of the guys cursing as he steps in something, ruining his shoes. I hear one of them call the other Andre, and after calling for Andre a few times, we release he's no longer with us.  He calls me Clancy, and the he I now remember was called Pete by Andre.  We start looking for Andre now. 

We go down the hallway where the stairs were heading into the starting room.  We hear a commotion on the other side of the door, startling us both.  He opens the door and we very slowly enter, calling out his name, shining our flashlight all around and finding nothing.  A sound is heard from the fireplace, so he inspects it and finds a switch.  After hitting it, a secret panel in the wall next to us opens, I press R3 to crouch and we slip in. We come across a ladder, and he urges me to go in first.  

I go down the ladder and then enter what looks to be some of cellar.  I hear water dripping from above and then I just so happen to catch Andre out of the corner of my eye.  He's facing the wall and then I immediately put the controller down and look away.  I know what's coming.  Ever seen the Blair Witch Project?  I pick the controller back up and walk up to Andre where I grab him by the shoulder and turn him around.  He's been impaled on the face on a broken water pipe!  I as Clancy scream, the weight of Andre, now freed from the pipe, falls on me and takes me down and then I see shuffling feet walking towards me, me still screaming but now swearing and I hear crunching sounds, some groans of pain and the tape ends.  

I'm back in front of the TV with an object next to it, a piece of paper.  It looks like it says "YOU" written in blood. I pick it up and read it.  It says, "I SHALL DASH YOU AGAINST THE STONES".  The "YOU" was written over "THEM"  I turn around and it looks like some kind of fuse box opened so I go to investigate.  Of course, one is missing, so that's my next mission.  Find that missing fuse. 

As I leave the room, I hear a door open and close in the background.  Thinking for a second, I think that was just the door I left from, but then I hear footsteps from somewhere.  They sound like they're above me.  I hear a clock ticking.  I'm pretty sure I didn't hear it ticking the first time I went through this house.  I decide to go back up to the attic.  

The mannequin I kept tripping over was no longer there.  I push the stairs button again, still not responding.  I head back down and then through the kitchen, back into the room where the decomposing meat was.  Upon closer examination, it looks like a cow that has been perfectly separated from front to back.  Not sure where to go, I remember the video of Pete who found the switch hidden in the fireplace.  I run back to it, find the switch and pull it.  I slip through the secret panel and go through the hidden room.  The ladder's gone, but a back door key is in its place, so I pick it up.  

Heading back out and into the room, I hear footsteps from the hallway, and I think I looked away as just the wrong time to miss the figure crossing past the door that I saw in the E3 footage.  The music is now playing to set the tone.  It's that kind of music that lets you know something's going to happen.  I go through the door, take a right and try the door just ahead of me.  Nope, locked, so this is not the door that uses this key.  

I head back down the hallway and then hear a noise that sounds like someone's dragging a metal pipe along a concrete floor.  More commotion happening as I pass the stairs, and I decide to go up them again to take a look. Nothing, so I head back down and through the kitchen to the other hallway.  SCARED BY ANOTHER GOD DAMN MANNEQUIN!  WHAT THE HELL! 

So the door at the end of the room with the bisected cow must be the back door.  It is.  I'm prompted by the inventory screen and I select the key. Just as I open the door and see the outside, I hear laughter and the I'm grabbed by a guy, jerked around where I see a man covered in blood, then he says, "Welcome to the family, son!" and punches me in the face knocking me out.

When I come to, it's the movie again of me being bound, which I know now to be Clancy, and the guy, who I now identify as Pete cutting me free.  Then he's stabbed in the back by a hideous creature.  After he done killing Pete, he jumps on me where the tape freezes on a freakish looking face.  The demo ends with a line saying, 'Join the family early 2017!'

Ok, so as good as the demo was, this wasn't Resident Evil.  There wasn't anything aside from a creepy house that connects this demo to the Resident Evil franchise.  Of course, this is just a teaser and it may not be indicative of the actual game akin to what P.T. might have been to Silent Hills.  Who knows what the rest of the game will be like?  All we know is that it'll all be in first person.  

So long as Resident EVII has some classic RE monsters, puzzling solving and combat/item mechanics, I'm good with the game being in first person.  If all we're going to get is a game about a crazy family (which is what the line at the end of the demo suggests) where all you do is stumble around in old houses, then no thanks as it clearly would not be Resident Evil.  We'll just have to see.  

E3 2016: Nintendo Conference

Well, it doesn't sound like their typical conference.  There's also no Nintendo Direct briefing for E3 this year... Their event is called Treehouse Live.  It starts out with Reggie Fils-Aime as he takes a moment of silence for the victims of Orlando, and apparently, Christina Grimmie was scheduled to appear to perform at their booth.  So sad...

Now, Reggie addresses us that every show at E3 is different.  He talks about how the booths are still being prepped, which I find funny, because the only playable one will be Zelda.  He rattles off some tidbits about the history of Zelda, and now shows off a trailer for the new Zelda.  Right away, there is no doubt that this will be the most beautiful and stunning Zelda Nintendo has made.  The graphics and style are simply wonderful. It shows Link jumping off a cliff parachuting down, running through a forest, riding a horse across a bridge, mountain climbing, chopping down a tree to use a bridge, jumping into water, swimming, shooting enemies with arrows, cooking, making blocks out of water.  So much being shown, I can't even keep up.  Combat looks typical Zelda.  The trailer ends with light shining on the Master Sword set in stone.  The game's title will be called Breath of the Wild.

He announces Pokemon Sun and Moon available on November 18, talks about new regions and characters.  He introduces some people from the Pokemon team to play the first live demo for Pokemon Sun and Moon, or I thought.  There's five people sitting talking about the history of the franchise.  This is boring me.  They show some footage from the two games and well, it's Pokemon.  I will be honest and say that I've never played a Pokemon game before, so this honestly has no appeal for me.  Back to talking, they ask the producers questions, and it has to be translated into Japanese, he answers and it  has to be translated back into English.  I just don't care right now.  This is exactly how I feel at this moment.

I know for Pokemon fans, this is good news.  They are talking about the games a lot, but for people with no interest in Pokemon games... they're talking about the games a lot.  I'm going to play some Miitomo while they keep talking. Ok, finished playing Miitomo, ate breakfast and they're STILL talking!  This has been going on for like 25 minutes now!  MOVE ON!  

Crap... I got so bored, I started doing other things and forgot to check back on the "conference".  Finally!  Zelda is being shown.  I'm watching him going through some kind of cave. There's all this rune-like technology everywhere.  Oh, and Link now has a jumping ability for the first time!  Way to catch up with a basic gameplay feature, Nintendo!  He's in an area now called The Great Plateau, which will be the only playable area during the show.  They're showing off a panoramic view of the world and it looks so incredible.  It appears that any place you see you can eventually reach.  He's climbing a mountain right now gathering mushrooms.  Climbing has a stamina gauge, He's now climbing a tree and gathering apples.  

One thing I've noticed is the interface appears to be devoid of any Zelda style.  The text balloons, the fonts, even the world map looks modern and bland.  He picked up a branch that was on fire and set some brush on fire with it.  I'm sure there will be puzzle solving involved with that.  Link's picked up an ax now and is chopping up trees into firewood.  There's going to be a lot of gathering involved.  A creature called a korok has appeared, looks like a water and plant creature with a lily pad on its back.  Link has now found the rock with the Master Sword, woops, that was just a rusty sword.  The water looks pretty good.  He's fighting some enemies with his newfound sword now.  He got a pot lid shield off an enemy.  Combat is easily recognizable as Zelda, and it looks like Link can actually pick up and use different weapons from enemies.  That's actually really cool, giving Link some more combat flexibility. 

 He's now reached the Temple of Time.  They're just having him run around it for now.  I hope they have him go in. He's got a club now and is fighting a monster using some kind of slow motion attack called Flurry?  He's found another chest and got some new pants.  It seems like the game's going to have a lot of loot collecting.  There's some kind of broken down robot he's climbing.  I'm guessing that if he goes back in time, they will be alive and kicking.  Some more wandering around and then the demo comes to an end.  I think they goofed and forgot to turn off the time limit.  *slow clap*

Looks like they got the demo up and running again, and now they have to cover some ground again.  Link is moving some explosive barrels around now.  He's laying them down next to each other and throws a club into the fire and then another to set off a chain reaction.  I got a little chuckle out of it.  So, it seems like you'll be able to play around with objects in many different ways just to have some fun wasting time.  They're going to take a break now and return with more exploration. 

Well, I thought they were going to come back, but the feed I was watching on Gamestop ended, so I guess not.  Even so, I wouldn't have much more time to dedicate to them anyway.  I'm just going to wrap this up then.  This wasn't really a conference at all, not even in Nintendo's traditional sense of not being traditional for E3.  I was expecting a normal Nintendo Direct style briefing.  Instead, we got Treehouse Live and pardon my cynicism, but this wasn't a very good move for Nintendo.  It illustrates, at least to me, that Nintendo is sorely lacking in the games department this year.  To not even talk about the NX is a huge missed opportunity, because here you have a system that's launching next year, and you STILL haven't shown a thing about it.  E3 was that venue.  You'll show it in your own way and in your own time, but there was no better opportunity to show it off other than now.  

So, about Zelda.  I'm glad Nintendo's spending so much time showing it off, but at the same time, what does that say, when they dedicate most of E3 to just one game?  Anyway, I have to say I'm excited for this new Zelda, but at the same time I'm a bit hesitant.  The one thing I think might be a problem for some people is the open world.  It's entirely changed the pacing of the more linear Zeldas and people who like that traditional style of gameplay might not enjoy that in the new Zelda.  My concern is just how much worthwhile stuff there is to do in this massive world.  If you never get bored of things you come across, that would be excellent, but if there's a ton of random collecting for things you don't need and doing things that don't serve a purpose, the whole open world will feel like padding.  I'm definitely going to pick it up for the NX, which is a shame, because that still leaves my Wii U without a brand new Zelda since launch.  

Thanks for reading!

E3 2016: Sony Conference

I apologize for any typos and mistakes I've made.  This my fifth blog today and it's approaching midnight.  I'm dead tired.  

Sony's conference starts with an orchestra and some omen sounding music.  I'm guessing this is a lead into God of War.  This is going on way too long.  Don't these companies know there are literally hours upon hours of people showing off their wares?  Let's get things moving people! Finally! A game is being shown.  A boy is given a knife by a man.  And this man is Kratos.  A bearded Kratos.  FUCKING PEOPLE IN THE AUDIENCE WON'T SHUT THE FUCK UP!  Jesus Christ...  They're running in the forest now, hunting for food.  They come across some monsters and now Kratos pulls out his ax and starts fighting them.  After a bridge breaks, a giant troll attacks them and Kratos is fighting while the boy is trying to distract it.  I don't know... there's something off about this game.  It's missing the excitement of the opening set piece of God of War 3. Now I know what's bothering me.  They're trying to turn it into the Last of Us.  Wander around, enjoy the scenery, have a narrative with an NPC.  I'm bored of this.  Skipping the rest.

More damn orchestra.  Shawn Layden comes out thanking the orchestra for boring people (will, he didn't say that. I did).  And then he takes a moment to talk about the Orlando tragedy.  So sad... There's something about Layden that I don't like.  Maybe its his way of talking but it's annoying and tiring at the same time.  He has that William Shattner cadence as well. 

A trailer is being shown from Bend Studios.  It shows a post apocalyptic world.  It's for a game called Days Gone.  Thanks for not showing any gameplay for it Sony! (Ed. note: Later learned they saved it for the end of the show)

Next up is a trailer for what looks like... THE LAST GUARDIAN!  So... so beautiful!  I'm getting those feels again! They show a few other monsters and a DATE!  OCTOBER 25th! Oh Sony, you tease!  Show me more!

The next trailer shows some gameplay footage for Horizon Zero Dawn.  This looks like one of Sony's best exclusives to date.  The world is so vast and beautiful.  The enemy designs are so unique.  Prehistoric meets robotic.  She's met another character, and it looks like there will be dialogue options during interactions.  She has to make it to the village, but it's very far away so she needs to get a mount.  She finds one, takes it down and starts riding it.  It's like a mechanical bull.  Then, as she passes into a clearing, there are all sorts of bizarre mechanized wildlife.  Then a giant enemy confronts her and she scans it to learn it's weak to fire.  She uses her bow and shoots an explosive canister in front of it.  Oh wow, this battle is crazy!  She whistles for her mount and is now attacking it while riding.  THIS is what you start the show off with, Sony!  THIS is your flagship title, not that God of War shit.  

The next trailer shows a guy flipping a coin in an elevator, walking down a hallway with a woman pleading to save her little girl, but then realizes its an android.  I think this is the new David Cage game.  He's sent in to negotiate a hostage taking, but it went bad.  The trailer shows that you can make different decisions to affect the game.  Detroit: Become Human is the game.  I can't wait for this one.  I love David Cage's games, even though they're not really games.  

A trailer is shown tagged with Full PS VR Experience.  A guy has woken up with a phone ringing.  The woman on the other end says, "If you don't get out, they will kill you.  Get out now."  Some idiots are whistling as the player sees a naked female mannequin.  The game is dark, only a flashlight illuminating it.  The game looks very spooky.  As he explores the house, a figure crosses on the other side of the doorway.  He opens a door only to be met with static from a TV.  A tape is found, and he puts it in the player.  There's a lot of horrific things happening on the tape.  Then, the trailer ends with some music, and the game is titled, "Resident EVII: Biohazard"  Holy shit.. will it veer away from the action heavy direction V and VI took it?  Will it actually try to be scary again? January 24th, 2017.  

Here comes the orchestra!  Here comes the boring guy Layden.  He says REVII will be fully playable in VR.  As in the Ubisoft conference, I'm not on board with VR.  Its releases October 13th at 399.  NOPE.  A video of PS VR titles plays.  The first is a space game called Farpoint.  Star Wars noise is being made and we have a space fighter game.  Battlefront X-Wing VR Mission.  Then there's a trailer that's narrated by what sounds like Mark Hamill's Joker.  Yup, it's a Batman game.  Arkham VR.  

A trailer for FFXV plays showing off chocob riding, the trial of Titan that we saw in the MS conference, and a few other gameplay scenes.  I think I even saw Ramuh for a second.  Now, they're fighting a behemoth.  Crap, and then I just realized this all for VR.  Final Fantasy XV VR Experience.  

A gameplay trailer starts playing, a futuristic title on a space ship.  A guy gets into a ship and then launches out of a hanger.  The gameplay looks pretty crazy.  Lots of fighting, and he crashes and now he's on foot fighting on giant ships.  I just realized what this is.  It's Call of Duty in space.  I know those gun sights anywhere.   Call of Duty Infinite Warfare November 4th. 

The next trailer shows some marines in combat.  Oh, Call of Duty Modern Warfare Remastered.  *yawns*

Layden comes back out to bore me again.  Oh, he's announcing Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2 and Warped to be remastered from the ground up for PlayStation 4.  A trailer for the new Skylanders game is shown, where Crash is a part of.  You know, I'm actually looking forward to playing Crash again.  

The orchestra of boredom plays some Star Wars music and then a video plays to show off Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  Can't wait for this game as I love the Lego games. It looks like so much fun!

Andrew House is introduced with the Boredom Orchestra to accompany him.  I thought he was going to talk about something, but instead all he does is introduce Hideo Kojima AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!  He's showing off his new game.  It shows a trail of dead crabs, hand prints and then a naked man with handcuffs stirring to find a baby and this man looks like Norman Reedus.  What is this?  The music that's playing is getting me pumped too.  Such a mysterious game.  Death Stranding is the title.  I WANT TO LEARN MORE!  The graphics looked amazing and were said to be all in game.  

The next trailer is by insomniac.  AND IT'S A SPIDER MAN GAME!  A MOTHER FUCKING SPIDER MAN GAME BY INSOMNIAC AND NOT BEENOX!  Omg... this is going to be fucking amazing!  Ok, that just woke me the fuck up! *standing ovation* My god, we might finally have a Spider-Man that isn't complete shit!

Shattner ...er... I mean, Layden comes out again to talk about games and gameplay and thanking everyone for being part of the PlayStation experience.  He now shows a demo for Days Gone. The character is on his bike, riding down the mountains where he comes across a gate.  He slips past it and enters a bunker looking for someone or something.  This has a Last of Us feel to it.  He opened a jeep and pulled an oil filter out and screwed it on his gun to make a silencer.  He just fought off a creepy looking monster and now he's on a rooftop and the ground is swarming with them.  He finds the person he's looking for, they have a tussle and they've fallen off the building  The main character leaves the guy for dead and is now running.  They're chasing after him like a living wave.  Man, they just won't stop coming!  He's in some kind of barn now, shooting into them every chance he gets, throwing a molotov and is now on the roof still running.  The demo ends with the character cornered on the top of a silo.  It has potential.  

The show closes with a montage of upcoming games.  

I'll say this much.  As much as the opening of the show bored me, as much as Shawn Layden annoyed me, as much indifference as I have towards VR, Sony's conference was actually pretty solid, aside from that boring ass God of War. You know what, before I go any further, let me just go into a rant about how pissed off that game made me.  The style of the game is completely changed.  It looks more like a Last of Us with occasional God of War fighting segments thrown in.  We don't need the walking around, enjoying the scenery and having a dialogue shit in God of War.  Leave that to other games!  God of War is GOD OF WAR! NOT TEACHING A BOY HOW TO HUNT!  The emotional direction of this game is WRONG.  Does not fit.  Is everyone trying to be Naughty Dog or something? /rant

I'm also really ticked off at Sony for showing very little of The Last Guardian.  Thank god we have a release date but for a game that's supposedly coming out in just a few months, you only give us a couple minutes of footage, and not even a demo?  You had a demo for us last year, so why not this year?  YOU FUCKING TEASE!  Anyway, thanks for giving us a release date.  Now keep it! 

Games like Horizon Zero Dawn and Days Gone look really, really good.  I'm looking forward to learning more about them.  For me, though, the biggest surprise and the game that has me most excited (aside from the Last Guardian) is the insomniac developed Spider-Man.  I have been waiting so long for a Spider-Man game that wasn't developed by Beenox, and after playing and loving Sunset Overdrive, insomniac is the PERFECT fit for the Web-Head.  

Overall, I've have to say that Sony has had the best conference so far.  They pretty much just showed one game after another, not padding their conferences with costumed dancers and long drawn out talks with Levar Burton and showing off competitive gamers no one gives enough fucks about to remember their names, just game after game after game.  Well, aside from that damned orchestra.  

E3 2016: Ubisoft Conference

Oh god... the circus conference of E3 is about to start... Every year, they do something ridiculous or try so hard to be funny... Will that be the case for 2016?  Let's see, shall we?

Yep... They have people dancing in stupid costumes... This has to be for Just Dance.  More people are coming on stage in even more ridiculous costumes.  I got to admit, though, at least Ubisoft tries to have fun with their conferences.  And yes, there's a guy with a butterfly guitar.

And... OH NO NOT HER AGAIN!  Aisha Tyler... *groans*  I love her stand up, but she always makes me cringe EVERY YEAR!  Comedians and press conferences just don't mix with me.  She and Ubisoft offer their condolences and thoughts and prayers for the victims of Orlando.  Good for them! Yup, all the dancing was for Just Dance 2017.

SHE MADE A WOOD JOKE!  *hangs self*  Then, she mocks the French.  They seem to take it in stride.  Also, it's Ubisoft's 30th birthday.  Happy birthday!  Finally, she introduces a game!  It's Ghost Recon: Wildlands.  The cinematic shows that it's going to be on an island jungle setting.  Possibly fighting a drug cartel.

Dominic Butler comes out to talk about the game. It takes place in Bolivia, and yup, they'll be fighting drug lords at the source where the coca leaf is grown. The game will be open world with a solo campaign or with four player co-op.  They also claim it's the largest open world they've ever made.  Another video is shown, this time showing off some gameplay.  It looks nice, and the landscape is vast, but so far, nothing mind blowing.  It looks this is four player co-op.  They start off at different positions and then reconvene at the enemy base.  There's a drone they send out to mark targets.  After trying to sneak around to get the target, he spots them and bolts.  Now it's a full on vehicle chase.  This is actually starting to look pretty intense and fun right now.  One guy was on a motorcycle and then got into a helicopter and now there's a firefight between two trucks.  After they forced the target off the road, they pulled him out of the truck and got in the helicopter.  Mission successful. March 7th 2017 is the release date.

A new trailer is being played now, showing off cryptic messages, dystopian scenarios and even a city engulfed in flames.  I was thinking it might have been a game like Watch Dogs, but as it turns out... it's a South Park game, the Fractured But Whole Jason Schroeder of Ubisoft San Francisco comes out to talk about it.  The game sounds like it's going to feature Cartmann and his friends as their superhero alter egos.  Matt Stone and Trey Parker come out to talk with Jason.  They say the story takes place after The Stick of Truth, which I never got around to playing, so that's something I need to rectify.  They show off the game now, and it looks EXACTLY like a South Park episode.  The footage was showing how the game sets up the character to choose its class.  Wow, the writing is so funny for something so basic as setting up your character.  I have to get this game already!  The writing continues to entertain when Cartmann sets up the new kid's back story.  They're showing off the actual gameplay now.  It looks like it's still an RPG, but it lets you move around while taking your turns. and well, there's this fart time altering mechanic... cuz yeah, South Park.  Also, you get Stick of Truth for free if you pre-purchase Fractured But Whole.  I might have to do that.  And... I did that.
It will be released on December 6th.  They leave to a trailer playing.  It so makes fun of all the superhero movies and even a Netflix tie-in. I can't wait to play this!

Aisha Tyler takes the stage to talk about the Division: Underground.  I honestly don't care about the Division so I'm going to skip this part.

Tyler is now talking about VR and a game Eagle Flight.  Three people Charles Huteau, Palmer Luckey and Jason Holtman come out demonstrate the game. There are like six different people all with Occulus head sets on.  To be honest, they all look ridiculous.  The game itself doesn't look all that impressive.  Of course, I'm sure the effect of VR is lost unless you're actually wearing them.  Doesn't look exciting to me, so in interest of time, I'm skipping this.

Aisha Tyler comes out again.  She introduces Ubisoft Red Storm's David Votypka.  He's talking about VR again.  A video is shown for a Star Trek game.  It has some Star Trek actors like Levar Burton to test out this new Star Trek game.  They're showing them more than they are the actual game, so... skipping this.

A cinematic trailer is now being shown. A giant earthquake is breaking everything up.  The world is a wasteland now.  A few warriors are fighting each other.  It shows generations of soldiers fighting from viking to samurai to knight.  The trailer was for a game called For Honor.  Jason Vandenberghe of Ubisoft Montreal comes out to talk about the game. This guy is INTO his presentation.  Another trailer is shown.  A fleet of vikings attempt to raid a samurai fortress.  Now it shows some gameplay.  The main character is running through battle with things blowing up near him.  He's hacking and slashing with a giant ax.  The melee combat looks, I dunno, slow.  It's brutal, but it doesn't look very fun to me.  Now he's scaling the fortress wall dodging things being thrown down on him.  Killing some guards, ramming some off the ledges, then a boss fight with a samurai where he hacks him to death.  February 14th 2017 is the day.

Aisha Tyler introduces Pete Young of Ubisoft Reflections to talk about a game called Grow Up, a sequel to Grow Home.  A trailer plays and shows a robot flying around a uniquely stylized world. The game comes out in August.

Tyler once more.  Some weird WWE style introduction for a couple guys in funky jump suits.  They talk about a love child between Trials and Blood Dragon called Trials of the Blood Dragon.   The trailer is bonkers, doing a mock 80s toy commercial.  

Tyler brings Frank Marshal to talk about the Assassin's Creed movie.  Skipping.

Aisha Tyler talks about the next game to be shown where she's interrupted by a hacked signal showing nothing other than Dedsec of Watch Dogs 2.  Johnathan Morin comes out to talk about the game.  The character Marcus Holloway walks the streets of San Francisco hacking random things. He meets up with a Dedsec guy to plan out a mission.  Marcus is on a lift and he flips out a drone to do some recon.  I'm actually not really that impressed with what I'm seeing.  He actually put his earbuds in and Rakim's Don't Sweat the Technique is playing for mood music.  He used a little RC vehicle to to do something to a computer, and now there's combat going on.  I love the melee weapon he uses, the billiard ball and rope.  He hacked what he wanted to, and now he's fleeing the building using parkour and makes his escape by ziplining off the building.  It was a cool demo, but at the end of day, seems pretty typical of these kind of games.

Tyler now introduces Yves Guillemot to talk more about Watch Dogs 2.  He brings out Jim Ryan from Sony Interactive. He announces that PlayStation players will get access to DLC 30 days before other platforms.  Another Watch Dogs 2 trailer begins.  It sounds like the song its set to is Run the Jewels.  As a hip hop fan, it sounds like this game's soundtrack is going to be amazing.  One thing I like about the game is that it doesn't seem to take itself seriously all the time.

Yves comes back out to talk about a new IP.  He says this is extreme sports with an open world.  The trailer begins.  It shows a bunch of different athletes doing things from skydiving to mountain climbing to snowboarding and skiing.  It's called Steep, and it looks pretty cool.  I want to play it just for the wing suiting.  Rebecka Coutaz and Igor Manceau come out to talk about the game. The game's set in the Alps, spanning many countries.  The demo starts off with a skydiver landing atop a peak and taking in the breathtaking scenery.  Now he's dropped off to do some wingsuiting.  Having played so much Just Cause 3, I REALLY want to play this!  He threaded the eye of the needle.  Wow, it's moving pretty fast.  One of his friends just wiped out, looking pretty painful.  Now they've switched to a new character doing some snowboarding.  It actually has first person mode, and I'm watching someone ski now.  That looked crazy!  Hehe, there was a scene where they showed a wingsuiter bang into a church bell.  That was hilarious!  It comes out this December.

Aisha Tyler brings everyone out to the stage to say goodbye.

So, I have to say Aisha Tyler didn't really bother me much this year.  Overall, I liked the conference, and I was also surprised by the fact that they didn't end it with Watch Dogs 2, but with Steep instead.  Man, I actually really am taken aback with Steep because of just how open and fun it looks, especially the wingsuiting.  And what I'm most excited about is the new South Park game.  Rarely does E3 get me to preorder a game, but I preordered it the moment I saw it in action.  Nice work Ubisoft.

E3 2016: Bethesda Press Conference

To be honest, this is the first time I've ever watched a Bethesda press conference.  I usually stick with the Big 5 (EA, Ubisoft, MS, Sony, Nintendo).  Let's see what Bethesda has in store!

It starts off with a cinematic of an alien looking shooter where big giant dudes in armor are fighting back, everyone jumping and shooting everywhere.  It's a new Quake game called Champions.  Tim Willits of Id Software comes out to talk about the game.  He rattles off some history about the franchise and its ties to competitive gaming.  Sounds like it's PC only.  Bummer... That's an instant turn off to me.

Pete Hines  comes out to set things off.  I also want to note that he's wearing a rainbow ribbon to support Orlando.  That was nice of him.  He talks about the success of Bethesda with all the different games that came out.  He's talking about upcoming games, such as The Elder Scrolls Legends card game.  A cinematic trailer is shown for the game.  I'm skipping this part.

A video is shown with some people from Bethesda Game Studios talking about the games they've been making, and to show some upcoming stuff for Fallout 4, which I've still yet to play.  Then, there's a huge update for Fallout Shelter coming (which I need to get back into).  It's also coming to PC, and that might be a better way to play, as it was a pain in the butt sometimes on Android.  Next, the video is showing off the Skyrim Remastered version for current consoles.  I actually never got around to playing Skyrim, so I think this might be the time to play it.

President of Arcane Studios Raphael Colantonio comes out to talk about Dishonored 2, or so I thought.  Instead, he shows off a video for another first person shooter set in the future.  The main guy keeps waking up like he's stuck in a Groundhog Day cycle.  Now, it shows him fighting and then there's a shot in deep space.  Oh, it's the new Prey game.  It looks like the old Prey.. .Raphael talks about the game, how you're stuck on this space station, and you have to use weapons available to you as well as mind-altering abilities... Hmm...

A video plays to show off some Doom stuff with a guy thanking everyone for making it a success.  He talks about something called Doom Snapmap, which I guess is a level designing app.  He rattles off some more updates for Doom including multiplayer modes and maps.  Peter Hines on stage again to talk more about Doom. He also says there's a playable demo of the first level available this week.  "On us."  Thank you for making it sound like you're so special, letting us play demos, which have been around for fucking years...

Matt Firor comes out to talk about Elder Scrolls Online, which I don't care about at all, so I'm skipping this part. Skip..skip..skip...damn, when will this end!

Peter Hines comes out to talk about some boring stuff with Blink 182 and a Bethesda VR set up. Morgan Web and Adam Sessler are talking about the playable kiosks they have set up.  This section is really starting to bore me.  Thank god I wasn't watching it live and had to endure this.

Finally, he's moving on to introduce Dishonored 2 by bringing out creative director Harvey Smith.  A video is being shown and shows what appears to be your character tinkering on something. It's going to be based in Cananca (sp?), the Jewel of the South.  It looks like a very pretty city. So far, it's just been fly throughs of the environment, nothing really going on.  After Harvey talks more about the setting and plot, a new video is shown.  Sounds like they have a female playable character now.  There's also a male character that sounds like you could swap between the two, like Assassin's Creed Syndicate.  More talking, and then a new video to talk about the factions, Overseers and Howlers.

This video shows off actual gameplay, as I've noticed a HUD on the screen.  It looks simply gorgeous! The player takes his time, listening to what's going on, and looking at things from a spy glass.  They're climbing around to the rooftops.  There's a silent kill as the player stabs a guard over a railing.  Looks like all the machinery in the city will be powered by wind.  Some actual combat now with guns, and blades, and a power that snatched a grenade out of someone's hand and flung it away.  There's a mesmerize ability that she has to distract enemies to slip by them without being noticed.  There's some trippy stuff going on with the some of these powers.  Now, there's a video showing off another mission in a manor, where there's some time changing stuff going on.  You can actually use a lens device to see what the other temporal world is like.  This allows for some creative puzzle solving.  Overall, it looks fantastic.  November 11th is when the game is coming out.  A new gameplay trailer plays and it looks really great.

Peter Hines takes the stage once more to announce some collector's editions.  Also, if you pre-order Dishonored 2, you also get Dishonored Remasterd for free.  I need to do that!  He closes the show with a bunch of thanks to all the different teams across the globe working for Bethesda.

Clearly, the star of the show was Dishonored 2.  Although I would have loved for someone to play the actual demo, it did show off many facets of the game. I was very pleased with what I saw and it's now making me want to play the first game, so much so that I don't want to wait for the second to come out so I could get the first for free.  I was disappointed to hear that Quake Champions is a PC only game, and all the Elder Scrolls stuff really bored me.  I also was  hoping to see more of Prey as well, because I'm very interested in the game.  I only hope they do the game justice, because the first was very unique and refreshing.  Overall, not really a bad showing by Bethesda.

E3 2016: EA Press Conference

So, catching up on yesterday.

Andrew Wilson CEO of EA comes out to say this will be a new kind of show for E3 because there's so much to do in only 60 minutes.  The show is called EA Play.  It's actually happening in two locations, Los Angeles and London being hosted by Peter Moore. So, let's hope they make the best of it!

After a lot of talk, Andrew brings out Vince Zampella from Respawn to talk about Titanfall 2.  A video plays to show off some gameplay footage.  It looks like a lot of chaotic fun, and is easily recognizable as Titanfall.  Running, jumping, leaping into mechs.  There's also grappling hooks.  Vince talks more about the game, with six new games, more customization and progression systems.  People can sign up for a beta at Titanfall.com and then Vince just says something that gets my ears perked up. "SINGLE PLAYER!"  Yes, EA, this lack of single player is why didn't bother checking out the first Titanfall.  Now, let's just hope it's not a half-assed five hour campaign. October 28th is the release date for both PS4 and Xbox One.  Another trailer is show, I believe he said for the single player campaign.  It shows some pretty cool stuff.  There's also some hinting at a narrative between mech and pilot.  The voice of the mech also somewhat sounds like Optimus Prime. :P

A trailer for Madden 17 plays.  Sounds like it's set to a Pusha T song.  I've never been a fan of football so by extension never been a Madden fan, but I do appreciate them highlighting the Denver Broncos!  Peter Moore comes out to talk about Madden and its "all new" features.  *yawns* Next, he talks about focusing on competitive gaming, which I've also never gotten into.  He introduces some competitive players whose names I've already forgotten.  In the interest of time, I'm just going to fast forward.

Finally! He moves on and introduces Aaryn Flynn from Bioware to talk about Mass Effect Andromeda.  It will, obviously, take place in the Andromeda galaxy.  Now, I'm behind on Mass Effect, because I skipped 3 since it just didn't look all that good to me so I'm honestly not that excited for Andromeda.  A behind the scenes trailer is shown talking about the science that goes into creating the game's universe.  Didn't really see much to excite me, but if they can get the game to focus away from ME3 and be more like the first or even the second, I'll get excited again.

Andrew comes out again to talk about supporting the gaming community through content updates.  He says there's a free trial for many upcoming games available all week long.  Next, he talks about a new initiative called Play to Give.  Basically, it's charity donating through meeting challenges while you play certain games such as Battlefield, Star Wars and FIFA.  That sounds pretty cool.  EA also said they're goal is to donate 1 million dollars.

Peter Moore comes out again.  He's setting up to talk about FIFA.  I have no interest for soccer so I'm just going to skip ahead.

Patrick Soderlund EVP of EA Studios come out to talk a game called Unravel.  Also, he's talking about a new program called EA Originals (most likely inspired by Netflix Originals, Amazon Originals, etc).  Basically, it's EA backing small developers to get their games out in the world, and he says that "ALL" of the profit will go back to the developers so they can keep making new games.

Patrick brings out a guy from Zoink games, Klaus Lyngeled (had to Google that, since the show producer didn't splash his name) to talk about a game called Fe.  There are graphics going on behind him while he talks, and it almost reminds me of Limbo.  It sounds like it's going to be a game about nature and how your actions affect it.  You'll play as a creature and there will be music that you learn to play to access new areas to the forest.  So far, it's been still shots, but now there's a gameplay trailer.  At first what I thought was just 2D is now actually 3D.  The music is somber and relaxing., and the animations are wonderful.  The art style uses lots of purples and blues.  I might have to check this game out.

Iconic Star Wars music now plays.  Jade Raymond comes out to talk about Star Wars games.  Galaxy of Heroes, Old Republic and Battlefront are the current three Star Wars games that EA supports, and next year there will be a new expansion for Battlefront.  New content will be added based on the upcoming films.  Visceral is also involved in making a brand new Star Wars game in 2018.  Respawn will be working on their own game as well.  A behind the scenes video plays and people of EA Star Wars are talking about their experience working with LucasFilms.

Andrew comes back out to talk about Battfield 1.  A quick trailer is shown.  I believe this was the one that was shown several days ago.  Patrick Bach comes out to talk more about the game, and leading up to the live stream play of the game (of course, this was yesterday so that's already happened).  It was a 64 player match, and apparently Jamie Foxx and Zach Effron were players (hurray... )  There will be a focus on destruction, and there will be weather and day/night cycles that will affect gameplay.  You can take control of vehicles such as battleships and zepplins.  Another video is shown.  Again, it's the one we've already seen.

Peter Moore comes out to close the show off and then talk about all the playable kiosks they have.  (Wish I was there!) Andrew comes out as well to say "It's time to play."

So, EA is already at a disadvantage when it comes to impressing me because a good portion of every one of their conferences is dedicated to sports.  I was so bored with their sports and competitive gaming sections that I skipped right over it.  Also, this is a new kind of show for them, leaving ALL the playable stuff out of the show to save for kiosks.  There was a lot of talking filler going on, so I think they could have at least shown off some demos for people who weren't there to actually try it, and I think it was completely superfluous of them to highlight the fact that Jamie Foxx and Zac Effron were part of the 64 player live demo.  Like anyone cares... The highlight of the show for me, though, would be Titanfall 2 just because it has a single player campaign.  I am eagerly anticipating to hear just how extensive it is.  If it's roughly 10 hours, they have a sale at 60 dollars.

Thanks for reading!

E3 2016: Microsoft Press Conference

Apologies beforehand.  I was having a hard time keeping up, so I missed some of the presenters' names

Well, it may not be the official first day since I guess conferences were being shown last night, but it's the first day for me.  Sadly, I got the times mixed up, so I'm just now catching the MS live conference 20 minutes late.   I most likely missed them showing off Gears of War 4.  I tune in to them playing Forza Horizon 3, and from what I've seen, it looks beautiful.  There's lush scenery everywhere.  I love the offroad aspect of it.  September 27th, it's coming out for both Xbox One and Windows 10.  So I guess cross platform development for Windows 10 and Xbox One is going to be a thing...

Next, they showed video for a game called Recore.  They showed off several characters and some gameplay segments.  It looked pretty fun.

SE came out next to talk about Final Fantasy XV and to show off a playable demo.  It's for Titan's trial.  Titan looks very intimidating, absolutely gigantic.  The first thing that came to mind was that this is straight out of Shadow of the Colossus.  Titan's constantly swinging at the players, of which there looks to be three fighting it.  It looks very chaotic, but this is really getting me excited for the game!  September 30th!

A Ubisoft trailer is now being shown for a shooter game, The Division: Underground.

Battlefield 1 is up next. October 21st.  EA Access on Xbox One allows people to play on October 13.  A cinematic trailer for the game is shown with bits of gameplay footage laced in between.  It actually looks pretty damn fun.  If the single player campaign is solid, I might consider this.

Mike Ybarra of Xbox Platform Engineering comes out to talk about more servers to enhance Xbox Live.  He talks about backwards compatibility, New Xbox One Experience, and cross network play.  He also mentioned they're going to bring something to Xbox One that 360 actually was doing when it first came out, being able to use your own music.  *slow clap*  He then talks about something called Clubs On Xbox Live.  Looks like it's a social group for gamers.  There's also an app called for Looking for Group, which helps find similar players among games.  He also talks about Arena on Xbox Live which helps with tournaments and other competitive gaming and a partnership with EA to bring games like FIFA to Arena.

Then a couple of people come out to talk about Minecraft.  *yawns*  They talk about something called Friendly Update and Minecraft Realms, which lets people play with friends even when they're not online.  I honestly never got into Minecraft, so I'm not really impressed with anything I've seen here.  There is John Carmac, however, coming in to play with a VR headset, although I didn't catch what it was.  I can see how Minecraft would be one of the killer apps for VR, though.  There's also a mod-like thing called Add-Ons.  That sounds pretty fun for Minecraft players.

A new Xbox Wireless controller is unveiled through a montage video.  It looks a little more smooth contour wise and it seems like it will have fully customizable aesthetics.

Next is a game being shown prefaced with "From the creators of Limbo."  Already, it's gotten my attention.  It looks dark and mysterious.  The name is Inside.  A guy comes out to talk about it, calling it a "Masterpiece".  He also announces that Limbo is free to all Xbox One players today (odd, because I thought it already was.  I got it for free a long time ago).  He then shows a montage video showcasing a bunch of independent games.  Some look fun, some interesting, some not so much.  One did catch my attention, though, and that's the long awaited Yooka Laylee (spelling?).

He talks about Ark being one of the games for their Xbox Games Preview which is pretty much a pay for Early Access thing, which I don't like.  I don't want to pay for games that aren't finished yet while providing feedback. Those are called game testers, and they should be the ones getting paid.  While I'm going off on my rant, I missed the name of this one game that's being shown.  It looks like a 50s era game.  It's in first person, possibly set in London.  The guy's wandering around an office, looks like he's poking his nose into places where he doesn't belong.  It has an almost Bioshock like atmosphere.  Now, there's people urging him to strike a pinata and when he does, it blows up a into bloody mess revealing what looks like a dead rat.  Then, reality is being distorted, and he's called a "downer".  Then he's being chased, and the demo ends.  The game is called We Happy Few and it's available July 27th, I think?

CD Projekt Red comes out to talk about a new card game called Gwent, inspired by the amount of people who spent so much time playing the card games in the Witcher.  It will have its gameplay and visuals reworked and fleshed out so that it's its own game.  I'm not that much of a fan of card games so I'm not really excited about it. A beta can be registered at playgwent.com.

A Tekken 7 cinematic trailer is shown.  Akuma and Heihachi are having a showdown trading equal blows and then it leads into the actual gameplay.  I haven't played Tekken in a long time, but it looks like they've put in a lot more cinematic-like special moves that remind me of the Street Fighter series. Coming early 2017.  So, it sounds like story mode is going to "transition seamlessly" from gameplay to these cinematic cutscenes, and I don't really like the sound of that.  It just seems like it will be distracting.

A video is now playing to the tune of Jingle Bell Rock.  There's a hand manipulating a phone, and it looks like this might be a new Dead Rising? There's all sorts of holiday themed weapons and vehicles.  IT IS! DEAD RISING 4!!  YESSS!!!!

Someone from Microsoft Publishing comes to talk about all the games they've brought up and the ones they're going to try to get.  Blah blah blah.  She introduces Hideki Kamiya from Platinum Games to talk about Scalebound.  A gameplay video is shown of a co-op battle to fight a crab-like monster.  This looks like Platinum Games' version of Monster Hunter.  This monster is massive, and it seems like you're able to hop on  your own dragons in order to attack it from tactical vantage points.  It also looks like you can transition to different battle stances to access different weapons.  The battle scene changed from a large pool to an elevated platform, and the boss has also changed.  It seems like these fights will have many various phases, so the gameplay is always changing.  Looks like a lot of fun, and a good exclusive to add under Xbox's belt.

A cinematic is being shown that looks like it's about pirates, set to the tune of a pirate ditty.  The game is called Sea of Thieves.  Rare studio head Craig Duncan comes out to talk about it.  And this guy's wearing a Goonies t-shirt!  Awesome!  Hopefully, there will be some Goonies inspiration in the game.  A video is being shown of people playing it for the first time given no tutorials.  So, it looks like a mix of first and third person, and then everyone tries to work together to sail the ship and explore.  There's also some ship battles and it looks pretty impressive.  The ocean looks very real.  I hope it's not a co-op focused game, though.  Give me a solid single player campaign any time!

The next video shows a car wrecklessly driving down a county road with a few people getting out looking to cause some trouble.  A guy is squeeging blood off the hood.  Then it moves to gameplay footage .  It's a zombie game.  People are fighting them together.  State of Decay 2 is the title.

Now we have a video of a futuristic game of soldiers fighting, things being destroyed, ah, a warthog.  This has to be Halo Wars 2.  I played the demo of the first Halo Wars and it was fun.  The cinematic was pretty cool. Dan Ayoub of 343 Industries comes out to talk about the game.  February 21st 2017 will be the release, with a week long beta on Xbox One starting today.  A gameplay footage trailer is shown, and it looks pretty chaotic.  I might have to try to find some time to play this beta.

Phil Spencer comes out to talk about the history of the Xbox and to end out the show.  The Xbox Play Anywhere program sounds awesome, being able to buy a game just once and play it on Xbox One and Windows 10.  I'm really liking the way Phil Spencer is taking this company.  Also, he shows off a shot of the new Xbox One S.  He also says that the next step in gaming is 4K and high fidelity VR.  A video of game developers comes out to talk about this new upgraded Xbox One called Project Scorpio.  The show wraps up with another montage of Xbox games, both AAA and independent.

Overall, it was a good conference.  I wasn't really blown away from anything I saw here, although Dead Rising 4 REALLY got my attention.  I love the series so I can't wait to play another installment.  I love the sound of Xbox Play Anywhere, but I doubt I can take advantage of it with my current PC.  Project Scorpio, as amazing as it might sound, also scares me in a way, the same way PS4 Neo does.  Are we going to start seeing this trend of suped up gaming consoles appearing a few years after their originals?  Do these console manufacturers really expect us to double down on their boxes?  I would love to get a PS4 Neo and Project Scorpio, but two things stand in the way of that.  One, I don't have a 4K TV and two, I probably won't adopt VR.  VR for me is physically intrusive and disconnects me from what's going on around me.  The big push is to make this the next huge leap in gaming, but I can't see it becoming a standard for the reason I just mentioned.

Thanks for reading!

Watch Dogs 2: Hype and Hate

I was once told that two things are certain.  Death and taxes.  I'd like to add a third to that adage. Ubisoft will make a sequel.  A couple days ago, that's exactly what happened.  They unveiled Watch Dogs 2.  No one was really surprised.  After all, this is the first year in many years Ubisoft would not be releasing an Assassin's Creed, so they would need something to fill that holiday void.  

Now, anyone who has followed the original Watch Dogs has keep their excitement at bay, and for good reason.  The first Watch Dogs was hyped to all hell no thanks in part to extremely impressive graphics that weren't even delivered at the PC level.  Many game features that were promised were also scrapped leaving Watch Dogs as a rather disappointing game for many.  

I've never played Watch Dogs myself, so I can't say.  I will say that I was turned off by the game when I heard about the lackluster reviews, how the graphics of the final product did not hold up to what was shown at a prior E3.  Some people said it was just another typical Ubisoft open world game.  I deemed it not worth my 60 dollars, so I passed.  With the Watch Dogs 2 unveiling and a release date of November 15th, 2016, it's beginning to arouse my interest to acquire the game on the cheap and give it a spin. 

What I think is interesting is the timing of this unveiling.  The announcement of the game and the release date have fallen in the same year meaning that quite a bit of work has already been done on the game. This means we're not going to get a year and a half's worth of constant hype surrounding this game.  Six months to talk about it is all we're going to get.  Ubisoft knows what it's bringing and is ready to give everything they've been showing.  Or... are we looking at a rushed game to get this out in time for the holiday season to fill the gap that Assassin's Creed's absence has created?  I honestly hope it's the former.  

Remember the first Assassin's Creed?  It was a fun game, but it was far from amazing.  What it was was a new IP that tested new ideas.  Ubisoft expanded upon the first AC exponentially with the second game.  Watch Dogs 2 could be to Watch Dogs what AC2 was to AC.  We may get everything that's promised. We might find the world vastly improved and the gameplay much more satisfying.  Honestly, though, once bitten twice shy.  Only time will tell.  

And time is telling a rather nasty story right now. It's a story about racism unfortunately.  Watch Dogs 2's newest character Marcus Holloway just so happens to be black, and some people have lost their minds.  I was linked to Jim Sterling's article about this. In a world where the term gamer carries with it the connotation of the angry sexist manchild Gamergater,  these bigots do nothing to help the image.  Personally, though, I take pride in labeling myself as gamer, because I love what I do.  I am a gamer.  I'm not "those gamers".  But I digress.

Highlighting one of the comments Mr. Sterling plucked out, it goes on to say:

"Im gonna start of by saying im not a Racist

Do we really need a black Main character. just as much as a female protagonist?
what’s your thoughs about this?

like more realistically the story should be about a big fat white guy who never leaves his chair or an Asian…."

Usually, when you start off by saying "I'm not racist", you're at least somewhat.  It's not a matter of needing a black character.  It's just a matter of accepting it when one occurs,  We certainly are not seeing black characters pop up in every game theses days.  Rest assured, you'll still have plenty of generic white male characters to play as.  The last part of this quote, I don't even know how to address that... 

What gets me about people being upset over the ethnicity of Marcus is where was the rage in other games when they introduced black main characters?  GTA: San Andreas was one where no one seemed to have a problem with (well, there was the group of black people who felt CJ was a living stereotype, regardless of how well written the character was).  The lead for Prototype 2 was black as another example.  No outrage.  Why pick now to be upset over a black person being the new lead in Watch Dogs 2?  Shouldn't it be very easy to understand that with a new location comes a new character? Aiden Pearce stays in Chicago so San Francisco can have its own hero.  

But people blame SJWs for this apparently.  They feel that Marcus Holloway had to be black to check off a box on some SJW checklist.  How conveniently do we forget that Ubisoft has already displayed a history of diversity with its Assassin's Creed franchise.  Altair was Arab.  Ezio was Italian (ok, so he's white, but European white, not plain American white).  Assassin's Creed III's Ratonhnhake:ton was Native American and its spin off title Liberation featured Aveline de Grandpre, a woman who was also half French and African.  Syndicate also had another playable character who was female.  

Diversity has been happening in Ubisoft's games for a while now, so it makes NO SENSE to be complaining about a black guy in Watch Dogs 2.  It only paints you as a racist should you be complaining about it.  Don't view me as some kind of SJW for saying that, though.  It's just simple fucking human decency that you should be able to accept the fact that a lead doesn't have to be white all the time.  

Seven Years Bad Luck: How DICE Shattered Mirror's Edge

Mirror's Edge for the 360 remains to this day one of my favorite games of last gen.  I still remember hearing people talk about this weird new demo that popped up on XBLA one day.  It was a shooter that wasn't really a shooter.  It had striking and unique visuals.  It was a first-person parkour game.  Running around and jumping from rooftop to rooftop, running along walls and inducing vertigo by climbing pipes scores of stories up was exhilarating.  This game was Mirror's Edge, and it was a game unlike any other.  

It was also misunderstood by some people, and one particular critic, who shall remain namless.  One common critique of the game was that it wasn't a good shooter.  Yes, I'll agree and say the gunplay wasn't all the great.  Floaty aiming, lack of impact.  It was throwaway, and that's exactly what I didw with it.  I threw away the gunplay, because Mirror's Edge is not about guns.  It's about the freerunning.  It's about being in a panic while trapped in gunfire and finding a way out.  The game was also brutal on people who didn't have the patience to learn how to tackle the game's levels.  It was criticized for its trail and error, but that's what kept me coming back, looking for that one route that would let me slip by all the armed guards, that one platform that I could kick off of and reach that ledge.  It was a game that my friend and I really adored and we always wanted a sequel for it. 

Thus began the waiting process.  Rumors of DICE making a sequel went on for quite some time, but instead of giving us our sequel, they made a new Battlefield game.  It's where EA wanted them.  Battlefield was popular, Mirror's Edge less so.  But then, a year or two ago at E3, a teaser was unveiled for Mirror's Edge Catalyst.  A new Mirror's Edge was happening!  It was like waking up from a dream and having what you dreamt materialize right in front of you!  WE WERE GETTING A SEQUEL!

When news of a Mirror's Edge Catalyst beta was announced, I quickly signed up for it, but I had to wonder... A beta?  For a single player game?  That's odd... I was one of the many chosen for the beta and was given a code plus another to give to a friend, so I gave it to my friend whose love of Mirror's Edge equals my own.  We downloaded it!  We played it!  We ... walked away disappointed.  

Something happened  It looks like Mirror's Edge.  It plays like Mirror's Edge... but it's not as fun as Mirror's Edge.  It was changed.  It was changed to fall in line with a certain set of design trends that have become standard fair with today's AAA industry.  For starters, gone is the chapter structure of the game's campaign.  It is instead an open world game.  Now, being set in an open world isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn't really fit in this universe.  Parkour in Mirror's Edge Catalyst is a lot of fun, but when you start running the same delivery missions again and again, it becomes somewhat of a chore.  

What's most likely the biggest offender here is the skill tree system.  "Well, what's wrong with a skill tree?  I like skill trees," you might say.  Let's begin with the fact that the first game didn't have a skill tree and basic moves in Mirror's Edge Catalyst such as quick turning and rolling are locked behind them.  There's no point.  Faith (the main character) is a freerunner and moves such as rolling is something that should already be learned.  It's Parkour 101.  Instead, the skill tree system serves as justification for the open world.  You can't do certain things to access certain areas until you've unlocked certain moves.  And in order to unlock them, you'll be running around the city looking for XP pick ups and running dull delivery missions.  It felt less like Mirror's Edge and more like Assassin's Creed without the Assassining the more I played it.  

There's also the static nature of the open world.  Granted, the game does look stunning from a modern art point of the view, but the city just feels... sterile.  There is barely any kind of buzzing going on.  There are random people perched on rooftops that don't do anything.  There's no one outside of mission givers to interact with.  It feels like you're stuck inside a giant department store's mannequin display.  It's filler.  There's no other way to describe it.  Useless padding.  Why was this even considered?  What is that saying about the current state of AAA games?  It can't be worth our money, worth our time playing, unless we're putting in several hours of pointless wandering and running around?  That may work in games like Assassin's Creed and Grand Theft Auto and Watch Dogs, but Mirror's Edge isn't any of those.  Also, their open worlds actually had life to them.  If you're going to do an open world game, you need to breathe some life in it.  

I'd like to share a video my Mirror's Edge loving friend shared to me that pretty much sums up why Mirror's Edge Catalyst decided to be like other games.  

It's a crying shame really, because Mirror's Edge Catalyst didn't need to be like other games. That's what made the first Mirror's Edge stand out.  It did its own thing.  The reviews have been coming in and while they're mostly positive, they tend to share the same sentiment.  The game didn't need a skill tree, and the open world is nothing but distracting fluff. 

I really would love to end this blog by saying, "No dice, DICE," but I'll still end up getting the game. The story related stuff I did play was classic Mirror's Edge, but I'm afraid too much of the game has been altered making it not worth full price for me.  Quite frankly, if this game came out three or four years earlier, I might not have been that bothered, but this was one of the few original game I've been DYING to have a sequel and then this is what we get? Thanks a lot, DICE.