Really, "evil" Cole? Clearly Sony is having huge issues getting a decent size roster of characters for their upcoming Smash Bros. knockoff. The solution? Borrow liberally from other companies. Though Nintendo's Smash Bros. series is mostly Nintendo characters, they have no problem with guest appearances from the likes of Solid Snake & Sonic, so Sony should really take that idea and and run with it. Here's 10 non-Sony characters that would make great additions to the roster:
10: Abe (the Oddworld series)-Granted the peace-loving escapee slave from the vastly underrated Oddworld series might seem like an odd choice for a fighting game, bit not any less odd than Fat Princess. But with his ability to hide in shadows and psychic powers (and possibly a little assistance fro, fellow Oddworlder Munch), he could be a pretty unique character to use.
9: Gene (Godhand): A somewhat obscure title, but Gene is a perfect fit for a fighting game since Godhand is essentially based around insane linking of combos and whatnot. He'd be a great addition that's crazy but actually makes sense, unlike say Toro Inoue (seriously, who?).
8. Prince of the Cosmos: Ok, this is arguably an even crazier idea, but the Katamari Damacy series is pretty closely tied to Sony's history, with the majority of the titles appearing on Sony platforms. Maneuvers with his giant rolling ball could make for some very interesting combat.
7. The Prince (Prince of Persia): Maybe not an extremely obvious choice off the top of your head, but the Prince is extremely athletic, pretty handy with a sword, and has control over time. Pretty good recipe for a very awesome addition to the roster.
6. Jade (Beyond Good and Evil): Pretty simple idea here-the roster is pretty lacking in girl power, and Jade is one of the few good female protagonists of the last decade. She's also pretty damn handy with a staff and has a few mystical powers to boot.
5. Bayonetta (Bayonetta): Sega's extreme action heroine would also be a welcome addition to the roster in general and up the female quotient. It's also one of the most highly acclaimed action titles of this generation yet it was pretty much ignored. Giving Bayonetta a slot on the roster may give the actual game a second chance as well.
4. Jimmy Hopkins (Bully): The anti-hero of Rocksteady's underrated high-school adventure, Jimmy would be a surprisingly awesome addition with his arsenal of high school weaponry of slingshots., dodgeballs, fire crackers and stink bombs among other things. He might actually be the most versatile addition to the roster if treated correctly.
3. Raz (Psychonauts): Simply put, Raz is an extremely powerful psychic and a really good fit for Sony's fighter. A wide array of powers and abilities would make him an easy match for pretty much anyone else on the roster.
2. Sora (Kingdom Hearts): The Keyblade master and primary hero of the Kingdom Hearts series would be a great fit for any fighting game. He has huge versatility and plenty of abilities and it would just be awesome to see him go up against the like of Kratos, Nathan Drake and so on.
1. Cloud (Final Fantasy VII): Simply put Cloud needs to be in this game, not only is he a great character for a fighting game, but FFVII was instrumental in Sony getting a foothold in the gaming industry. There may never have been a Playstation 2 if not for FFVII and that fact should be represented in this celebration of all that is Sony.
Ok, that's the list. While it seems unlikely that any of these characters would be in the initial roster, there's no reason it couldn't be added as dlc later. That's all for today but I should have another post up by this weekend. Until then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Tiny Evolution Adventure
Ok, sorry for no posts last week, no real excuse except a pretty bad case of writer's block.
Moving on; unless your a Madden fan this isn't really a big week for console gamers, and I've more or less said my opinion of that $60 annual roster update several times over the years so I'm not even going to bother with it.
For PS3 owners looking to really bolster their collection without spending a ton of dough, several of Sony's big franchises come out with collections this week-God of War, Infamous & Ratchet & Clank. Great series to be sure, and while it's hard to judge what is a justifiable price for these collections, just comparing them seems to bring up some issues.
The God of War Saga includes the entire series up to this point, The PS2 games, the PSP games and God of War III. For $40, it's hard to find a much better deal, which makes the other 2 confusing for their pricing.
The Infamous Collection includes the whole series as well up to this point, but that's only 2 titles and one expansion. For the same price as the God of War collection. Now Infamous is the newest franchise and just doesn't have as many games, but it's not like there is a ton of fan service content or anything to justify this. Either it should be cheaper or not have been made just based on the fact that there just aren't enough games in that series yet.
The Ratchet & Clank Collection, while only $30 dollars, is arguably the most mind-boggling of the 3. There are 10 R&C games if you include Secret Agent Clank & the downloadable Quest for Booty. This doesn't even include all of the PS2 era games.I mean at the very least it should include all 4 of those and probably the PSP titles. Hell if you included the whole collection at $60 that'd be one hell of a bargain, but $30 for an incomplete collection of just the PS2 games just seems odd and not completely thought out. Ultimately though, not one of these collections is a bad deal, but just with all them coming out this week, being able to compare what you get in each one, the decisions of what went into each one and the price attached don't seem to have much rhyme of reason to them.
While Bioware has regularly been pumping out free multi-player DLC for Mass Effect 3 since it's release, it took a whopping 6 months to get any new single-player DLC. Maybe it was delayed due to the controversial ending, but either way I doubt many are going to be grabbing this. It doesn't change the ending, it's been too long, and like I said when I defended Bioware's decision to have DLC available from day one-Shepard's story is over and done with, I have no urge to check out some inconsequential side story.
All right that it is all for today, but I fully plan to have another post up tomorrow. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Butter
Unfortunately due to Last Story not actually being in stores til yesterday and me not getting my copy til last night, I have not had a chance to tear into it yet, so hopefully I can give impressions tomorrow or Monday.
When New Super Mario Bros. came out for the DS, it was a very welcome throwback to the old school style of Mario games since we hadn't had a new 2D Mario game since the SNES era. But then we got New Super Mario Bros Wii not long after, which while great fun, was essentially the same game under the hood. Now we have not only the direct sequel to the DS game coming out tomorrow, but the sequel to the Wii version on the Wii U due out in a few short months when it happens. And hey, it's a Mario game, it's practically a given that it will be a solid platforming experience. But "new" it's not. They could've made it very new and still kept it 2D-new suits, original levels, online co-op (instead of just local), etc. But they didn't. Pretty much the only noteworthy thing about it is that it will be the first major release by Nintendo to be available digitally, thereby finally dragging the kicking and screaming into the digital age. Just barely though. I really don't have a whole lot if interest in this, I'll wait for that other Mario title, Paper Mario, which should be far more unique and entertaining.
That's really all I've got for today, I might be able to get in another post tomorrow but until then here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Fix-It Felix Jr.
The Neo Geo has always been a system for gamers with plenty of cash at their disposal. The original cost a whopping $650 back in the day, which in terms of today's money is an even more astounding $1100, with games priced at $200 and up. Ridiculous? Surely, but cheaper than buying arcade cabinets and the Neo Geo was pretty much the only system at the time that could produce arcade ports without any compromise. But not surprisingly the system never really took off despite having a rather stellar library.
Now, most of the classic games are available in various collections or as downloadable titles, but admittedly playing these games on the go hasn't really been feasible except through long and possibly expensive searches through various sources like ebay and vintage game stores. That may change with the release of the Neo Geo X Gold, announced for this December. It's not a bad setup, as you can play it on your TV and it comes with 20 games pre-installed, but $200 seems a bit steep for something that will only play games from over 2 decades ago. Will it get more titles? New titles? how much will those cost? Also if the 3DS isn't doing that great at $170 and the PS Vita is floundering at $249, I doubt the Neo Geo X being somewhere in the middle is going to make much of an impact. I guess we'll see if it's still on shelves next year at a not massively discounted price.
After what seems like goddamned forever, The Last Story, probably the last major Wii release, finally comes out tomorrow. It's already gotten extremely high praise, though those who haven't paid attention might be surprised that it's got a little more in common with games like Mass Effect, being an action rpg with heavy strategy elements, a cover system and even online death matches. I've heard it's a tad short, clocking in at around 20 hours, but as long as it a quality 20, I'll be pretty satisfied. I'll be sure to give impressions in my next update.
That's really all I have for today, I should at the very least have another post up this weekend with Last Story impressions and thoughts on New Super Mario Bros. 2. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Red Dawn
I have never played even a minute of Angry Birds. I'm not elitist or anything, but I don't have any devices that can play it and just haven't had much urge. Admittedly, throwing them all into a collection might be mildly tempting, especially on the 3DS, which seems like a good fit. But how much would you pay for a few free flash games? Well it's a fairly silly $30 for the 3DS, and if you want to play it in HD on your tv (for some unfathomable reason) it's a laughably high $40 for the 360 & PS3. I mean seriously? I understand this is one of the most popular series of games ever, but I think the highest I would even consider paying for this collection of freeware is like $10. They could've easily released them as downloadable titles on each system's respective marketplace for like $3-5 and made a bundle. I'm sure they'll get a few sales because of some spoiled brats, but this is completely ridiculous.
Probably not since the unexpected combination of Disney & Square has there been an odder combination than meshing the characters from a Persona game, a well-reviewed but very niche rpg series, and fighting games. But here we are, and while this probably shouldn't work, most reviews claim it works fantastically. I'm not much of a fighting game fan, but every once and awhile one does pique my interest, this may be one if I can at least try out a demo.
That's really all I have for today, I should get another post in this weekend, but until then here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Playing for Keeps
Ok, I have way to hectic a schedule to see each and every movie that comes out, but be it in theatres or on video, when I go see a recent release I'll try and post my thoughts on it. The original Total Recall, from WAYYYY back in 1990, while hardly a classic, is a hell of a lot of fun and personally my favorite Schwarzenegger film. It's not hard material to remake, just update the special effects, get a fun cast and that's pretty much all you need. Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell the team behind this effort because it's all too serious and yet way stupider than the original, which you could classify as dumb fun. The synthetic army that serves as the main threat is boring and inconsistent. At times the seem impervious to normal gunfire and other times they succumb to it. A lot of the crazy fantasy elements (like psychic mutants) are removed. There are some references to the original, but they are very poorly handled. The most obvious being a scene where in the original Arnold was disgused as a woman in a very elaborate sci-fi getup. They play on this with having a woman who looks very much like the woman in the original in the scene, but they've already given away that it is not Colin Farell because you see the fake identity he uses in an earlier scene which gives it away. It's just sloppy. A completely wasted effort, not worth your time or money.
That's really all I have for today, internet is a little wonky lately due to issues with my carrier, but hopefully should have everything up and running normally by Wednesday. Until then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Think Tank
You would think pirates would be more represented in video games, but aside from Sid Meier's Pirates! Or the occasional smaller title like Age of Booty, very few games featuring Pirates have been released period. So something like Risen 2, an open-world rpg with a very strong Pirate theme, would seem like a welcome breath of fresh air based on concept alone. But anyone who has seen the videos and read the reviews for the pc version that come out a couple months ago knows that it's considered a middling experience is best. Maybe Rocksteady should take a crack at it, seeing how well they did with the very under-represented Cowboy game...
Of course the big release this week is the latest side chapter of the Kingdom Hearts saga, which based on the storyline of Sora & Riku preparing for the return of Xenahort, is hopefully leading up to another full-fledged console game. This latest one has a lot of new gameplay ideas it is trying out such as Dream Eaters, pokemon-esque team mates you create and train in place of your usual Disney sidekicks, and the new Flowmotion system which allows for quickly getting around and doing unique attacks. The oddest choice seems to be the Drop system, where you have a time limit and no matter what you are doing when you run out, you will switch characters. This obviously could be particularly jarring in the middle of a fight and just seems to make no sense. That being said, while most reviews do complain about that, they also praise this as the best portable entry yet, so it's most likely a worthwhile purchase for fans of the series. I'm most likely picking it up myself this week, so I'll give my impressions after I get a few hours in.
That's pretty much it for today. I should have another post up by Thursday, until then. here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Chasing Mavericks
If Kingdom Hearts III was finally announced, but coming out for either the 3DS or the Vita, what would fan reaction be like? Probably not overly positive, as people have mostly been clamoring for a "proper" follow up on a current home console. Despite the ever-increasing market for mobile gaming in general and the strides portable consoles have made since the monochrome Gameboy days, gaming on the go is still seen as a less worthy endeavor. If a franchise isn't considered top-tier, it usually lives out its days in the portable market, just look at series like Kirby, Wario, Fire Emblem, Golden Sun & the Mario & Luigi titles. Popular and critically acclaimed, to be sure, but rarely seen outside of a portable screen if ever. They are considered lesser series, they don't get the same kind of push a Zelda or a core Mario title does. Even titles from big console franchises aren't given prime attention most of the time, handed off to some secondary development team, and usually worse off for it (just see the Vita Uncharted for the most recent example of this). Often, even positive reviews for a portable title usually come with the caveat that it's great for a portable game, implying that portable games are held to a lower standard.
But why is this? I mean sure, portable systems will pretty much never be able to match the home experience in terms of presentation, but there's no reason not to expect an epic experience in terms of gameplay. Super Mario 3D Land was a great game, but there's no reason it needed to offer such bite-sized levels. It could have easily been in scope the same size as Mario 64 or even one of the Galaxy titles.
People seem to think consoles and portables are competing, and maybe that's the case and the problem, portable gaming should be a complement to console gaming. Something where you can experience great gaming that isn't diminished in any way at least gameplay-wise from the console experience. The gaming public certainly has some blame here, but just look at the E3 presentations of the two big players in the portable market-Nintendo & Sony: The 3DS was given its own press conference, but it was behind closed doors, very no frills and not very exciting overall. The Vita barely got mentioned during Sony's conference, which seemed to say they had written it off already when it really needed a boost. It's pretty obvious that until the same companies that make these portable systems treat them with at least half the importance they do their home counterparts, portable gaming will remain a dirty word for gamers.
That's all I have for today, I should have another post up tomorrow talking more about Kingdom Hearts 3D & Darksiders II. Until then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Elemental Balance
I love Final Fantasy, I've been playing it since the NES era. I've played and beaten nearly every FF game that has come stateside. FFVII, while overrated, can pretty much be held responsible for rpgs hitting the mainstream. It can overall stand right up there with series like Zelda & Mario as one of the biggest and most influential franchises of all time.
But while Mario & Zelda continue to deliver outstanding and innovative gameplay to this day (Skyward Sword & both Super Mario Galaxies are generally considered 3 of the best games of this generation), Final Fantasy has pretty much floundered in the current gen. FFXIII is easily the most divisive game in the series, with the majority hating it, and yet Square churned out FFXIII-2 (which addressed a lot of the gameplay issues of XIII, but none of the story or character issues) and has clear plans on FFXIII-3 despite a lukewarm feelings towards the game at best. FFXIV is an unmitigated disaster to the point where they have to try and completely re-launch it. And the oddly named Final Fantasy Versus XIII has languished in development since at least 2006.
So maybe it's time Square Enix gives Final Fantasy what it needs the most-a long break with a serious trip back to the drawing board. I don't know where they got this idea that we need an FF title every year or even every couple of years. Up until this generation we usually got 2 per console cycle with the occasional oddball offshoot like Tactics and that was great. It gave the developers time to really try out new and interesting ideas with every entry. I certainly wouldn't want them to do away with FF entirely, but Square Enix has a lot of very strong RPG franchises they can tap into that can take the spotlight while Final Fantasy hangs back a little and returns when the time is right. I certainly wouldn't be opposed to seeing a new Secret of Mana or Chrono Trigger game, for instance. Or maybe a new property altogether. The bottom line is that Final Fantasy as a franchise really needs to do a drastic 180 and throwing a bunch of randomly strung together ideas at a wall and seeing what sticks is not working...
That's all for today, but I should certainly get one at least one more post in this weekend. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Branded
So yes I did manage to see both Amazing Spider-Man and Dark Knight rises this weekend. Of course, Spider-Man has been out for awhile. And the reviews have varied from calling it a fresh take to completely unnecessary rehash. I enjoyed the original Spider-Man movies, even the much maligned 3rd one, pretty much for the reasons listed here. I certainly felt a reboot wasn't necessary and certainly one made in a rush mostly to hang on to the rights to make Spider-Man movies doesn't seem like a winning formula.
And guess what? It's mostly not. There are ingredients here that have the makings of a good film-The cast overall is pretty good, especially Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man/Peter Parker and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, who he has great chemistry with. But by and large the script/directing is terrible, with Garfield spending half the movie with no mask on, revealing his secret identity at the drop of a hat. Rhys Ifans as Dr. Connors/The Lizard turns from sympathetic to stupidly evil with little rhyme or reason (his "master plan" is rather ridiculous, they really didn't need for him to have one, I'm pretty sure a giant lizard wreaking havoc in New York is enough of a plot), and on top of that The Lizard itself just looks terrible. Like a scaly version of The Thing from the Fantastic Four films.
So to sum up, keep hope for a good sequel, the basic components are there. Hopefully they'll have a smarter story to back them up this time (a fresher more threatening villain that hasn't been used like Kraven, for instance).
Dark Knight Rises had a hell of a lot to live up to, the finale of a trilogy that includes arguably the best superhero movie ever made and the final hauntingly brilliant performance of Heath Ledger as the Joker. Could the finale possibly top it? Well the short answer is no it really doesn't. Bane just isn't as interesting a villain, which is made worse by the metal mask on his face not really allowing Tom Hardy, who is a fantastic actor, to do all that much. The really could've put any big imposing guy in there an it would've worked just as well. That being said, the big set pieces are amazing, and it's still a great finale and a great ride that does actually leave things in a way I would love to see them continue, but I seriously doubt it since they are planning to reboot in several years.
That's really all I have for today, til next time here's your BIG BANG OF THE WEEK:
Depending on how you look at it, if there is one area the 3DS library is pretty inefficient in its rpgs offerings. There are tons of great DS rpg you can play on it, but 3DS offerings are fairly slim. The only original title I can think of is Ghost Recon, which was a launch title, and since then there have been a few frankly overpriced remakes and that's it. So a good Diablo clone would probably be pretty welcome right? Unfortunately based on reviews and the demo I played, Heroes of Ruin is not the salvation portable rpg fans have been waiting for. It's slow and clunky and generic and sure as hell not worth the top tier $40 price tag, If anything it's another argument that most of these games would be better off as $20 offerings where we wouldn't judge them so harshly. Hopefully Kingdom Hearts 3D, which is out in 2 weeks will provide the rpg fix we have long waited for (which based on most early reviews, it does).
And of course finally, Dark Knight Rises is out tomorrow. Expectations are ridiculously high, but I have little doubt Nolan will provide one hell of a conclusion. The bigger question is what's next? It's almost a given that Warner & DC will be scrambling for a reboot to fit in line with an eventual Justice League film, and is that something people will embrace or reject? I could certainly go with a less grim and realistic take on Batman, but it has to be handled with the proper balance. Too bad Joss Whedon isn't available, huh? That must sting...
Anyways, I plan on seeing both DKR and Amazing Spider-Man tomorrow(finally) so expect reviews on both hopefully tomorrow, but no later than Sunday. In the meantime, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Oz, The Great and Powerful
Ok, now I am not a huge fan of the Assassin's Creed series, but I know the basic extremely convoluted plot-Modern dude uses a device to see into his ancestors' (who were all well-trained assassins) lives. There is a secondary subplot about finding the locations of powerful artifacts, but the meat of this story is killing people in ancient times with style. Now, look at the synopsis of the plot of the upcoming film:
The plot of the film "revolves around a man[2] who learns his ancestors were trained Assassins after he is kidnapped by a secret org with ties to the Knights Templar, and sent back in time to retrieve historical artifacts."[3]
Now that essentially sounds like somebody just glanced over the cliff notes, and decided all that nasty killing wouldn't fit the magic PG-13 rating they were going for and instead made it a time-traveling treasure hunt. So where's Nic Cage? Really the only positive note is that the amazing Michael Fassbender is going to star, but he's hardly any guarantee of quality. I'll remain very skeptical until I've at least seen a trailer.
I've previously mentioned that the digital space available on current consoles is a great place to realize epic scale rpgs without a massive budget and costly price tag for the consumer. Looks like someone is finally listening with this week's PSN release of Rainbow Moon, a digital turn-based strategy rpg that according to most reviews, can easily run you 100 hours of gameplay for only 15 bucks. Sure, the graphics look very sub-par, but it's hard to find a better bang for your buck. I'll be holding off on it for now simply because I have no less than 5 big rpgs to get through atm, but I certainly plan on diving into it when I have the time. Most likely this Winter which as I have mentioned looks extremely void of big games and especially rpgs in general.
And finally seems like there is plenty of interest in a $100 console that plays Angry Birds after all. The Ouya console started a kickstarter fund. And reached it's goal in less than a day. Seeing as this is now a reality, I'm very intrigued. It will be interesting to see if can really offer some unique and creative experiences, because that's what I'm always looking for in a new console. Not fancy tech demos showing how impressive hair flows or water ripples, but something that shows new ideas. I'd much rather this be the future of consoles than some $400-600 box that simply offers me prettier versions of stuff I can already play. We'll see if it actually lives up to its potential,
That's all I have for today, but I should get another post up by this weekend. Until then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Toys vs. Nightmares
Ok sorry for no Spider-Man review, emergency came up on the day I was planning on seeing it and record high temps kept me inside unless absolutely necessary. When I do see it (which may be this week, but maybe not) I'll be sure to post a full review.
I did finally get around to finishing off Xenoblade Chronicles. Took nearly 90 hours and there are tons of optional stuff I skipped, so you easily get your money's worth and then some. It also offers a great contender for the adorable badass list in Riki, which I sadly didn't really discover til the final few hours of the game. Now if Last Story would just hurry up and get here so I can enjoy what will probably be the last worthwhile Wii game...
The second rhythm-based action title in as many weeks hits the 3DS. For those who like music games with a plot (which the recent FF title is lacking) this should be right up their alley. I played the demo available on the eshop and while it was fun, these games tend to be on the very short end unless you love going for that perfect score on every stage (which in this game is maddeningly inconsistent anyways), so for me it's a pass for now. I've got Pokemon Conquest to beat and Kingdom Hearts 3D in just under 3 weeks. That'll keep my 3DS low on battery power for awhile.
That's really all for today, I should have another post up by Wednesday, until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Taken 2
Seriously, this is actually a rather loaded month for the 3DS in general. Theatrhythm Final Fantasy is out this week, an unusual game that offers plenty for fans of the series wonderful music and it's getting pretty solid reviews. Then Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure, another rhythm action title, hits the following week, and the 3DS also is getting Diablo-style adventure, Heroes of Ruin and the end of the month brings us Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance which you can check out the demo on the 3DS eshop, which gives an all-too brief glimpse (seriously, it's not even 10 minutes long) to judge anything in my opinion. I'll talk about those other releases in the coming weeks, but I think people can officially stop whining about there not being a steady stream of software as this month alone could keep one busy until the holidays.
The second huge nerd movie of the year, The Amazing Spider-Man opened today, and depending on what reviews you read it's either a nicely done take on familiar territory or territory that's too well-known to cover yet again and even a game performance by most of the actors can't save the well-worn material. Admittedly, there's little reason to do another origin story, after all Sam Raimi's first Spider-Man film was only 10 years ago. They could've easily done a movie without the origin, but I am a huge Spider-Man fan, so I'll definitely be seeing it this weekend and giving my opinions on it. At the very least it should be solid ground for a great sequel.
A $99 console with free games? Looks like it's happening It'll be an interesting experiment to be sure, but I'm not expecting it to put any serious dent in the market. People don't want to play free crappy mobile games on their TV. That kind of misses the point of those games. Also, why are they even trying this when many mobile companies claim they are the next thing and home consoles are a dying breed? If they manage to come up with some great free to play games sure, but if all we see are Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja knockoffs I don't think this'll be anything more than a mere novelty.
That's all for today, I should definitely be back Thursday or Friday with a Spider-Man review at least. Until then here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Why Stop Now?
Gah, I had no intention of not posting for over a week even though I was out of town, but sometimes that's how things happen. I did pick up both Lego Batman 2 & Pokemon Conquest but have only played them briefly. They both seem like worthwhile purchases though, I covered my main complaints about Lego Batman 2 which is more about the Lego series in general in my last post. Pokemon Conquest is great aside from the pacing, where virtually everything counts as a "turn", and you can't say go to battle twice in the same turn or shop for items and fight in the same turn, etc. It really slows the game down, not nearly enough to be a deal breaker but it just seems like a ridiculously arbitrary thing.
Moving to two big DLCs this week, first up is Dawnguard, Skyrim's first (only?) big DLC expansion, which is about vampires. Joy. I mean granted, Skyrim is likely to have a very different take on vampires than most things, but vampires have kind of been done to death the last couple of years. There are dozens of races they could really focus on and expand with the deep lore of the Elder Scrolls series, and vampires just seems like the easy option. Even if I didn't have several rpgs in my backlog to get through I would have no interest in this.
And finally the extremely controversial "extended cut" dlc to further explain Mass Effect 3's controversial endings were finally released this week, and I can't imagine the end result pleasing anyone who was pissed enough to demand a change in the first place. I mean really, you get a slide show and a little extra explanation and that's it. Most people who complained and demanded something else wanted different endings or at least certainly something more than a slideshow. And again, I can't see a point in playing single-player dlc from here on out, any way you slice it, the story is done. Personally I thought the only ending that was improved at all was the "synthesis" ending because that one seemed to have the least amount of explanation to begin with (although that's probably because the results of "control" and "destroy" were pretty obvious). I really don't think this dlc solved anything (I still think the ending should've been a culmination of your choices up to that point, not something you chose at the end) and Bioware will just have to move on.
That's all for today, I will definitely get another post in this weekend, hopefully two more depending on my schedule, until then here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Here Comes the Boom
Granted Lego Batman 2, out today, does finally offer some noticeable changes to the long stagnant Lego games formula that is practically it's own genre now. Full voice-acting, an open-world hub that's huge and characters that play really differently thanks to the powers of heroes like Flash, Superman & Martian Manhunter along with many others. That's great, and admittedly the reason the formula hasn't drastically changed is that even the weaker Lego titles are a blast to play thanks to their simple fun design.
But seriously, this is a game that really shines in multi-player, and it's ridiculous that they haven't done more than finally add split-screen co-op in the last couple of games. This is not a game that taxes hardware, making it 4-player should be a snap, and a game like this seriously screams for online play. I have lots of friends scattered all over the US and it would be extremely fun to play this with them not to mention it would be something aside from the deluge of shooters and sports titles that make up about 99% of online offerings. That being said, it still looks very fun and my wife is a huge Batman fan so if I don't grab it today I will probably grab it soon and I will give impressions when I do get some time in with it.
That's really it for today, but I should have another post today or tomorrow. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Pitch Perfect
I didn't mean to gloss over the release of Lollipop Chainsaw this past Tuesday, but it's been a crazy week as I'm going to California next week and am just taking care of stuff I've been putting off in addition to working a ton. But all the reviews seem to confirm what I guessed-It's a fun quirky title, but sure as hell not worth $60. Much like the great but also not worth $60 Shadows of The Damned, which was a great buy at around $20. Titles like this really make the argument that every game really can't and shouldn't be this arbitrary price of $60. I'll bet if it was $40 brand new it would sell a lot better.
Moving on, Pokemon & Nobunaga's Ambition are both classic Japanese franchises, but you'd never figure the two would make a very good pairing. Much like the initial reaction to Kingdom Hearts, you'd be dead wrong. Pokemon Conquest is a weird blend of Pokemon and old-school turn-based strategy rpg that accroding to initial reviews, works surprisingly well. This is great news because I've been dying for a solid portable strategy rpg since Ghost Recon last year frankly and admittedly with a trip coming up I have a pretty good excuse to buy it. It's supposedly out Monday but I have heard rumors of it slipping to Friday so I'll just give impressions whenever I get my hands on it.
Ok that's really it for today, but I do plan to have another post up tomorrow. Until then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Achievement Unlimited 3
I don't think anyone will argue that Nintendo failed to make a big splash with the Wii U at E3. Were there some impressive games shown? Sure. Does the gamepad have some nifty features that will be put to good use? Probably. But based solely on the E3 presentation, there's isn't a whole lot of reason to wait in long lines in early dawn hours just for a chance to get one.
That being said, drawing back from the E3 presentation and really thinking about it, there are plenty of reasons to pick up a Wii U, if not this year in the near future. Here are my top ten:
10. Finally getting their online act together: Ok, there is almost no real evidence for this yet. In fact it's recently been revealed that in some form or another, Friend Codes will in fact still be a thing. But it's also been promised that they will be part of a much better system. Nintendo can literally offer experiences that if taken on-line you can't find anywhere else. No other company to date offers Kart racing on the level of Mario Kart or crazy fun 4-player fighting on the level of Smash Bros. and there's a lot more potential where that came from. Obviously potential for a Starfox or Metroid title with online capabilities would be humongous. If Nintendo does finally take online seriously and treat it as a major pillar in its strategy, it could pay huge dividends. Speaking of which...
9. It's the ultimate MMO console: I already did a post specifically referring to this idea, and clearly I'm not the only one who thinks this way be Wii U's greatest asset. MMOs on consoles are still a pretty new thing. The gamepad is a way more ideal setup for playing MMOs on your TV than what is currently available. Hopefully games like Dragonquest X will just be the start. We could see a number of either original or well-established MMOs really solidify the Wii U as a system that really has experiences you can't get on anything Sony or Microsoft would have to offer.
8. The best ports: Ok, I have stated and still stand by the fact that nobody is going to wait for the Wii U versions of games like Arkham City & Mass Effect 3. But the E3 presentation of Arkham City did highlight a reason why future ports may be best on the Wii U-The gamepad will make immersion better by not forcing us to go through menu after menu. We can switch gadgets and other things on the fly. Menu navigation can be a pain in even the best games, and that's just the most obvious idea. If games like Assassin's Creed III, Darksiders II, Rayman Legends and so on offer superior performance along with enhanced gameplay, it will be a pretty easy sell for someone who wants the best versions of those games.
7. People are ready for something new: While I wouldn't say people are ready to toss their current consoles in the garbage, for at least the last two years we've been expecting some kind of solid announcement from Microsoft and Sony. It's been a very long generation, and it looks to have a couple more years left in it. That's good and all, but a lot of people are ready for something new and until The PS4 & Xbox 720 or whatever they'll be called actually hit shelves, the new thing will be the Wii U. It will have new games and experiences while at least for the next couple of years he Wii U has the field all to itself.
6. It's an incredibly weak holiday season: The PS3 and 360 have a ton of great games coming. Sometime next year. What's coming this year? Halo 4, Call of Duty Black Ops II, Assassin's Creed III and.... yeah not much else. In previous years during the holiday season, we were practically drowning in AAA releases. This year it seems we are down to a handful. And honestly? That handful isn't all that exciting. The Wii U launch window has a slew of many unique titles that won't be available on other systems even if they don't offer completely unique experiences like the Wii did at launch. Honestly it isn't even the big Nintendo titles that interest me the most. If anything will sell me it's games like Rayman Legends and Project P-100. But again what we are seeing on the current consoles is a lot of the same old same old. The Wii U has one of the more interesting launch line-ups in recent memory and while there are some disappointingly safe bets there's plenty of cool risky stuff too.
5. NINTENDO IS FINALLY IN HD: Granted, for some this may not be that big a deal, but remember the crowd going completely apeshit at seeing the Zelda tech demo last year? Now that it's finally been dragged kicking and screaming into the HD era we will get to see our favorite Nintendo characters in glorious hi-def and for many that's enough. Sure we may get a lazy 2D Mario platformer now, but at some point we will get a shiny new Mario Galaxy successor, an HD Zelda and probably an HD Metorid at some point along with others like Smash Bros. Maybe even an HD Kirby. Nintendo's staple of awesome characters in HD will always be a big selling point.
4. It's getting into the next gen at an attractive price: Ok we don't really know the price point of anything coming out right now, But we know Nintendo has to be somewhat competitive so I think $349 would be the absolute highest and even that might be a stretch. It's virtually guaranteed that the next systems from Sony & Microsoft will be significantly more costly because they will be running insanely high-end powerful engines like Unreal 4 that while pretty, are also very costly to run. Sure, they'll sell the consoles at a loss, maybe even embrace the "subscription" model that Microsoft is testing out now but something like $500 would probably be the minimum at launch you are looking at.
3. It will attract smaller developers: Current gen titles are expensive. This generation has seen unprecedented studio closures and titles need to sell millions just to break even. This will be even more so on the next gen offerings from Microsoft and Sony. One title flopping could easily mean doom. Nintendo has a opportunity here to court smaller developers that make risky original titles because they will comparatively be the low end console. The next Braid or Fez or Cave Story could easily be on the Wii U with it's smaller budget demands and that would be awesome.
By the time I finally get around to playing this, the Wii U will probably be out...
2. It will bridge the gap: Aside from being compatible with all Wii titles, it's already been established that Nintendo will offer a full transfer of saves and Virtual Console games to the Wii U. No it won't play Gamecube games, but when backwards compatibility has been such a sticky issue with Sony and Microsoft, it's nice to see Nintendo jump right out there and say yes, they will do it. Always makes the jump to a new console a lot easier.
1. The Next Brain Age: Is Nintendoland Nintendo's next huge crossover title? It doesn't look like it. But then neither did Brain Age. Or Nintendogs. Or even Wii Sports. Nintendo has a proven record of these titles that no one really thinks will even do all that well and end up selling in the kind of numbers franchises like Call of Duty and GTA can't even dream of. Even if it's not Nintendoland, odds are something will come along that has that huge crossover appeal. I mean why do a new 2D Mario co-op game rather than a new 3D one? Oh yeah, because New Super Mario Bros. Wii sold more than three times as much as Super Mario Galaxy 2. So odds are there's at least one title if not in the launch lineup, that will hit soon after that will really sell everybody, core and casual alike, on the system.
So as you can see, there are plenty of valid reasons not only to not write off the Wii U but enthusiastically pre-order it. Maybe I should call Gamestop now and see if they'll just take my money....
That's all for today, I should be back tomorrow with thoughts on Lollipop Chainsaw and a few other things, until then here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Django Unchained
Admittedly I've been mostly a big ball of negativity about E3. And while not without good reason, that's ignoring the fact that there are plenty of games to get excited about, so here's the 10 games I'm most looking forward to playing hopefully in the not too far off future:
10. Nintendoland: According to Nintendo, this is the Wii U's own Wii Sports. Wii Sports didn't have a ton of depth, but it didn't need to, it was a lot of fun and easily showed off the capabilities of the Wii. Reggie himself said, when you play Nintendoland, you will instantly "get it". I dunno about all that, but it looks like an incredibly fun collection of pick up and play mini-games that holds at least some appeal to everybody, and we haven't even seen half of them.
9. Rayman Legends: New Super Mario Bros. U might have the name recognition, but we've seen it before a lot in just the last couple years (between Nintendo's systems, this'll will be the 4th game with the "new" moniker in 6 years, and it's a marginal improvement at best). Rayman Legends is similar gameplay, but with a great variety of characters and extremely colorful imaginative levels, it will do it better, just like it's highly acclaimed predecessor.
8. Epic Mickey : The Power of Illusion: I think Epic Mickey for consoles looks promising, but I'm far more excited about this 2D homage to the Castle of Illusion from back in Mickey's gaming heyday. It looks great and the 3DS has been surprisingly lacking in platformers overall, so this will fill a big hole for anybody looking for that.
7. South Park: The Stick of Truth: Granted, South Park games of yore have not been anything horribly exciting, but this game really has the look and feel of the show downpat, with heavy involvement from the creators. That combined with the same game studio who regularly brings us epics like Skyrim hopefully means on epic in adventure in the quiet mountain town.
6. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon: I really enjoyed the original title, just felt it wasn't nearly long enough (I'm pretty sure it barely passed the 6 hour mark), so hearing this long overdue sequel will have several mansions along with all new kinds of ghosts is more than enough to get me extremely excited.
5. Project P-100: A lot of people were wondering why this game wasn't shown at Nintendo's E3 press conference, as it seems to getting the majority of the positive press. Granted, it's a little similar to Pikmin 3, but it's got a much crazier fun Viewtiful Joe vibe to it. Which is fitting since much of the team worked on not only that series, but the incredibly awesome Okami as well, which virtually guarantees us an extremely exciting title.
4. The Last of Us: I shouldn't even need to explain why Naughty Dog's newest IP is near the top of my list. The guys behind the Uncharted series deliver amazing set pieces with great characters and always make it look effortless and this new franchise looks to follow that trend.
3. Watchdogs: If there is one game really running away with all the buzz at E3, it's Watchdogs. This futuristic open-world action title looks amazing. In fact, it probably won't be possible on current consoles without a lot of compromise, so don't be surprised if we don't really see this in final form til the new systems are out, but it'll probably be worth the wait.
2. Star Wars 1313: I admit I had pretty much written off Star Wars as a whole. But a dark Star Wars game not featuring a Jedi that has Uncharted-style gameplay? That looks pretty freaking amazing. I really hope this is one we won't have to wait too long for.
1. Paper Mario : The Paper Mario presentation really seemed to capture that elusive feeling of simple, fun pure joy that seemed readily absent from virtually every other corner of E3. I've immensely enjoyed the entire series, and cannot wait for this latest entry, it's easily my most anticipated game of this year.
That's all for today, I will see if I can squeeze out one more post post this weekend. If not, I'm sure I'll post something Monday or Tuesday.
Not based on Nintendo's severely underwhelming E3 presentation, anyways. It just seemed full of opportunities where they could have shown why the Wii U tablet is so essential to a different gaming experience, an it didn't. Pikmin 3, which should've been a showcase title for the tablet, doesn't even need the tablet, it just adds a little functionality. New Super Mario Bros. U just looked like the laziest thing ever with some social content thrown in. And some of the games shown were just like why bother? Arkham City came out a year ago, and Mass Effect 3? Who the hell wants to wait to buy the 3rd game in the series? I'd actually be psyched to buy a Mass Effect trilogy that implemented the tablet for quick commands and menu stuff. That'd be simple and awesome. And I already own the whole trilogy!
The Wii U looks like a perfectly solid system, and I'm sure just by it being a Nintendo system, there will be some can't miss experiences that I will need to own it for. But they really failed to show anything that makes it a truly unique gaming experience with things only possible on the Wii U. Unlike say the Wii at the time it launched, which was so different every game was pretty much unique at the time. Sony and especially Microsoft's conferences were extremely underwhelming so Nintendo pretty much had the ball entirely in their court and they dropped it big time. Also not helping is things like the controllers only having about 3-5 hours of battery life and while it's nice that it can support 2 gamepads, clearly nothing at launch will support that feature because they've already said it practically cripples the framerates of games and no games showcasing this feature were even mentioned.
I was ready and willing to be blown away and at best I'm mildly intrigued. Short of some hugely surprising title or a surprisingly low price I can't see myself buying a Wii U this year and I'll be that's the majority reaction.
That's all for today, I will most likely have some final E3 thoughts tomorrow or Friday (there is a 3DS event later today that will hopefully be awesome). Until then, here's your BIG BANG OF THE WEEK:
As usual Microsoft and Sony's E3 press conferences were full of missed opportunities.
Let's start with Microsoft-Is the 360 even really a gaming machine anymore? I mean seriously, the show was almost entirely about non-gamer things like expanding upon sports broadcasting, more Kinect functionality and just plain bizarre stuff like the Nike trainer program. Of the few games they did show, only a couple are even coming out this year, not giving 360 owners a ton to look forward to. And frankly, Halo 4 looked very blah. It was also a really poor decision to close out the show with Black Ops II, a game that was a known quantity and will be shown many times over the next couple days. Black Ops II on the Wii U would be a nice surprise, on the 360 it's like so what? We know that's coming, show us something new. It wasn't the painful embarrassment of last year, but still a very unexciting and disappointing non-event. I almost feel I could turn in my 360 right now and miss out on nothing since I'm not that big on online gaming.
Sony's press conference was pretty much like last year's where while it wasn't boring, they really needed to blow the doors off and fell far short. They showed a number of vaguely interesting titles, but nothing to blow anyone's socks off. Entertaining mouthpiece Kevin Butler was nowhere to be seen. There were some bright points-The Wonder Book technology actually looks very cool and anything that encourages reading for kids is great. All Stars Battle Royal looks like a lot of fun and will be a nice way to fill the void since a new real Smash Bros. game is supposedly a ways off. And Naughty Dog's new apocalyptic thriller The Last of Us looks amazing, so gamers have stuff to look forward to.
Notice how nowhere above did I mention the anemic Vita? Sony pretty much acted like that as well, barely mentioning it the entire conference aside from an Assassin's Creed spin-off. If there was one thing Sony really needed to do this year it was save the Vita. Show off some fantastic games, drastically cut the price, SOMETHING. But it was given less time and focus than the PSP had in any previous show. It's like even they consider it beyond saving. I can't really see a compelling reason for anyone to buy it at this point.
-That's it for today, I will be at work during Nintendo's press conference which is several hours from now, but I will be watching it as soon as get home and will post my thoughts early tomorrow at latest, but tonight if possible. In the meantime, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Ninja the Explorer
Nintendo had their first of several E3 events yesterday, with a presentation showing of a lot of the features of the Wii U. Most were pretty cool, such as live video chat, using the gamepad as a universal remote and the potential expanded feaures of the "Miiverse". It all sounds incredibly cool, whether or not it will be implemented into gameplay in interesting ways is yet to be seen. Honestly the most troubling words I heard during this whole presentation was "later" &; "eventually". These words accompanied many of the coolest features shown, and of course those words mean those features will not be available at launch, some may not be available for a long time after that if ever.
Hopefully Nintendo will get right on the ball and everything will be rolled out in short order. A lot of great ideas get presented at a console's launch and some are either not what they are cracked up to be or never see the light of day. These features being available shortly after the console's launch would be key, especially the social aspects in my opinion, where it looks like Nintendo is finally doing more than just playing catchup really poorly, they are doing something that is really unique and won't make them look like they are just aping their competitors. Tie that with a competent way to play online and you might have the best online system available which would be an amazing turnaround from the dark days of Friend Codes.
This of course was just the beginning, we'll see a lot more at the actual press conference on Tuesday. But as of right now I'm very impressed with the hardware, just need the software to match it and I'll be sold.
That's all for today, I have a pretty packed schedule today and tomorrow, I will try and do an update on Microsoft and Sony's press conferences possibly late tonight or early tomorrow but at the absolute latest I will do a post on all 3 tomorrow evening. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Les Miserables
We are a mere 3 days away from the biggest gaming show of the year, and there are certainly a lot of things to be excited about-A good look at the Wii U, a new Gears of War game, along with new entries in the God of War series and Sony's blatant but fun looking Smash Bros. rip-off. So even if there isn't much in the way of surpises it should be a very entertaining show. That being said, here are 10 not officially announced but totally plausible games I would love to see at this year's show:
#10: Dragon Age III: This is pretty much all but official, so don't be surprised if it actually makes a showing, but aside from Bioware talking about some loose plans fro the next game, nothing has been officially announced. I know II got a lot of flack for it's loosely strung together plot and lack of locations, but I loved the fast-paced combat so if they can stick that with a solid story and a wide variety of locations we could have a great epic rpg on our hands.
#9: New (full) Ratchet & Clank Game: Now, there is a new downloadable R & C coming out, which is great, but it's already been described as a "bite-sized adventure". I would love to see the next full game at least announced, as this is easily one of the main reasons I even own a PS3. Even a spin-off title starring Quark or Nefarious would be pretty awesome, especially after the mildly disappointing All-4-One.
#8: Rocksteady's next superhero game: There is going to be another Batman game, Kevin Conroy has confirmed he's working on it (also duh, Arkham City is one of the biggest games ever). But the developers have stated they might want to try something else as well. I'd be equally happy with either, a new Batman game from Rocksteady is something to get very excited about, and so would be something new focusing on a different superhero because there's a lot of them that could make awesome games.
#7: New 2d Metroid: Other M left a very bad taste in our mouths with it's terrible characterization of Samus and bland gameplay. But a return to the classic 2D gameplay of old developed by a worthy studio would do a lot to make up for it. The tablet controller could be easily implemented as well. Hell just remake Super Metroid in HD with Wii U tablet functionality, I'm pretty sure us fanboys would just drool over that. Though for the record I'm not opposed to a new 3D entry either, but I feel a new 2d game is more warranted.
#6: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: Uh yeah, probably not quite like the above image. Granted, MUA2 was a mild disappointment, but the Avengers and Marvel properties in general are incredibly hot right now, so what better time to re-invigorate the franchise with a new entry? I could certainly do with a new round of MP Diablo-style gameplay with a large cast of Marvel characters.
#5.No More Heroes III: Suda 51's crazy assassin tournament series is just amazing, and there's no reason for it to end with only 2 entries. Honestly if you own either a Wii or a PS3 do yourself a favor and pick this up because it's essentially like if Robert Rodriguez & Quentin Tarantino teamed up on their best possible day to do a video game. Travis Touchdown is also one of the most entertaining protagonists of this generation frankly, so it'd be a shame if we didn't see him again.
#4: Psychonauts 2: Is it happening? There's been some really open discussion and it seems like the wheels are slowly turning, so it'd be great to at least have an official announcement. This was one of the most original and entertaining games of the last decade and it's death at retail is a great crime. Seems like people over the years have finally discovered it's greatness as the demand for a sequel is pretty huge.
#3: Shadows of the Damned 2: Yet another brilliant but virtually ignored game from Suda 51. What makes me really excited is they said a sequel was being considered anyways, because this is video games' From Dusk til Dawn, just an incredibly fun and funny thrill ride that I'd hate to see stopped so short.
#2: Crimson Skies II: For some reason, flight combat is an extreme rarity on consoles in general. I can't think of many that even came out this generation. Crimson Skies is one of the best I have ever played and it was incredibly popular, so why there's never even been any real word of a sequel is beyond me. I spent tons of hours playing the multi-player an would love to jump into an hd sequel to this.
#1: Kingdom Hearts Console game: Yeah us Kingdom Hearts junkies can get our fix with Kingdom Hearts 3D on the 3DS, but c'mon, it's been 7 years since we've had a proper console follow-up. Enough is enough. STOP TORTURING US SQUARE ENIX. I wouldn't even need any new worlds, new adventures in the old ones would be fine (although for God's sake please leave out any musical levels).
-Ok that's it for today, I will probably try and get in one more post this weekend, but I will certainly be posting as soon as possible on E3's big conferences, which start off with Sony Monday evening. Until then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Zombie Tormentor
Well I didn't mean not to post over the holiday weekend but I had some crazy back to back shifts and was just too exhausted to do much besides sleep (well and get in a little Xenoblade Chronicles, but mostly sleep). But back on track, E3 is a mere 5 days away, with lots of anticipation behind it, hoping to see updates to our favorite franchises, new original stuff and of course new technology. This year may be one of the most crucial for all 3 companies for varying reasons, so here's what I think they need to do in order to win the show this year:
Microsoft: Microsoft's press conferences usually aren't all that exciting, but last year's was pure torture, focusing on casual Kinect titles & integration aimed at a target audience that doesn't even know what the hell E3 is. Arguably the core game meant to bring in actual gamers, Star Wars Kinect, is a huge embarrassment. The show can't be all Kinect all the time, though some titles showing it's actually worth it for more than just Dance Central would be a good idea. This may be the last big year before Microsoft moves on to focusing on their next system, so showing the core audience that really bought into series like Halo & Gears of War a little actual love should be in order. And for god's sake find somebody who doesn't bore the hell out of us to do the presentation, Microsoft has been missing a decent spokesman since J. Allard left the company.
Sony: Sony may actually have the toughest battle here, amid flagging sales of the Vita and troubling rumors about the financial future of the company and what that means for the games division in general. Move has pretty much been a complete bust, unless they can drastically re-invent it, it should probably just be completely written off and ignored. I am also really not impressed by the announcement of a God of War prequel, so impress me, show me why I should care. But obviously what Sony arguably needs most is to reverse the Vita's fortunes. Much like Nintendo's slow start with the 3DS, the high price and lack of quality software have unsurprisingly led to it being pretty much bust. Sony really needs to show that this is not an expensive piece of gimmicky hardware, and showing quality games that really show off the power of the system while not forcing us to use the touch features are pretty much a necessity.
Nintendo: Simply put, Nintendo really has to explain the Wii U. Give a clear definition of what it can do and why we should be excited about it, and it's going to take more than the fact that we will finally have a Nintendo console that is finally going to be getting current gen ports, because that's what the majority of the lineup looks like at this point. A couple surprises for Wii owners would be nice, but frankly I think pretty much the entire show should be focused on impressing us with the Wii U. They've turned around the fortunes of the 3DS immensely, they can pretty much just show upcoming games for that on the show floor and ignore it in the big press conference. They probably won't, but seriously the presentation should probably be at least 90% about the Wii U because they really need to blow off the doors with it.
That's all for today, I should have another post up by Friday, in the meantime here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Indie Game: The Movie
But surely, Microsoft will be around in the gaming space for the foreseeable future, right? Well possibly not, and it has nothing to do with it's financial standing. Lawsuits over technology trying to get a game system banned are hardly new, Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft have all had to deal with them on numerous occasions. In most cases they are completely frivolous and even the legitimate ones are settled pretty quickly because frankly there's just too much money at stake.
However every now and again one gets through that could potentially be huge trouble for a company, which is what Microsoft is facing right now. A judge has ruled that Xbox 360s are essentially banned from being sold in the US due to several infringements on various technologies. This is not a completely done deal, several things, including the President and his advisers signing off on the ruling, have to happen, and it can still be appealed after that. But the real possibility exists of 360s no longer being able to sold after a certain point. How much this would affect the 360s successor is uknown, but I also think that Microsoft could not really afford to not have a presence on shelves for another year or two until that launched if it could launch under the present circumstances.
This of course leads to an interesting situation where not right now of course, but in a few years, Nintendo may be the only console maker around. That could be a very bad thing. No one company should have that kind of a monopoly. Competition is good for business in general. So I'm honestly hoping that if god forbid Microsoft has to drop out because of legal trouble and Sony has to drop out because of financial trouble somebody else will see an opportunity there to move into the space because it will be badly needed.
That's all for today, I should have another post up this weekend. Until then here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Double Edged
Sony's Move peripheral hasn't had a whole lot of exciting software, but Sorcery, which was shown off in playable form a couple years ago when the move launched, looked pretty promising. For awhile though, there was nothing on it, leading us to believe it was little more than a tech demo, which would make sense with such a generic title. Well it finally comes out tomorrow, though admittedly without much press, so we'll see if it's something Sony just shoved out the door at the last minute. Frankly I'm surprised they didn't spend a wad of cash and combine this concept with the Harry Potter license, it could've been an easy hit that way and if it was actually a good game, it could be a showcase title for the peripheral, which it's sorely lacking at the moment.
Doctor Who seems like an obvious license for a great adventure game, but at least on this side of the pond we have very little in terms of digital Who adventures. So hopefully the Eternity Clock, will provide some worthy fun. Despite the box art, as far as I know, it's only going to be available on PSN for download, so don't go into Gamestop looking for a copy. I do plan on at least trying out a demo if there's one, so I'll give my impressions in my next post if possible.
And finally Dragon's Dogma is also out tomorrow, and the reviews have been pretty solid, so if you are looking for a solid challenging open-world action rpg, this seems like a pretty safe bet. At the very least, it's probably one of the last major releases before the Summer, when traditionally there's not a whole lot of new stuff out. I'm still working my way through Xenoblade Chronicles, and have several other lengthy rpgs to get through after that so if I pick this up, it won;t be for awhile.
That's all for today, I should hopefully get another post up be Wednesday. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: 007: Skyfall
This seems like a ludicrously stupid move. Community is like many struggling shows before it, it has a small but dedicated and fiercely loyal fanbase. Most of whom upon hearing this news, probably won't even give the show a chance now that the guy who made it what it is has been unceremoniously shoved aside. Remember the general reaction when Warner Bros. wanted to reboot Buffy without any involvement from Joss Whedon? Look at how most comic book fans are reacting to Before Watchmen, a prequel to Alan Moore's seminal graphic novel he not only has no part in, but specifically told DC he didn't want them to do it, and they just basically told him tough shit. This seems like they want to just throw the show under the bus, so why did they even renew it in the first place?
I'm not going to instantly declare this is the worst thing ever and absolutely refuse to watch, as there's not any particular reason to believe the show will be terrible. It still has the great cast, and while Harmon was the voice of the show, it still took a talented team of writers and directors to make it brilliant with him. But I also won't be surprised if we tune in this fall to see a show we don't even recognize anymore and has way more in common with mainstream crap like Two and a Half Men then brilliant quirky underdogs like Arrested Development.
That;s all for today, I will most likely get in another post tomorrow. Until then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Robot Legions
A little something for everyone this week (except for Vita owners anyways). The biggest easily being the long-awaited Diablo III for PC, which is one of those few titles that PC owners can really lord over us console gamers. I would love to get in that massive lootfest, but on top on having to spend a bundle just to have something that can run it, the whole mess of having the "proper" graphics card and sound card and whatnot and maybe it make me sound simplistic but this is exactly why I'm a console gamer. Barring any massive bugs, you buy a game and it works without having to worry about your setup. So if Diablo III ever does come to consoles (which is heavily rumored) I'll be right there.
This week also sees the revival of another relic with Max Payne 3. Unlike Duke Nukem though, Max doesn't look like he hasn't aged a day. In fact he looks like he's had some pretty hard times. According to most of the reviews, that's for the best though, as they all seem to agree that Max manages to come into the modern generation with grit and style even if the bullet time mechanics are a tad dated. I'd probably pick it up if I didn't have so much on my plate at the moment.
One thing I could use is a new 3DS title, and Mario Tennis Open seems like an obvious option. While usually playing it safe, the Mario sports titles also usually deliver a reliably entertaining time. Most of the reviews so far say this title plays it a little too safe with virtually no frills and a lacking online component. If it was $20 I'd probably be ok with that. $40 is far too much though, I'll gladly just wait for something that offers a meatier experience for the same price (most likely Kingdom Hearts 3D).
Finally, if there was one license you'd think would be given proper serious treatment for a video, it'd be George R.R. Martin's epic saga Game of Thrones. Well unfortunately, this gets the usual license treatment, that being a hastily hobbled together quick cash grab. Most reviews say there is a good if really dark story in there, but it's buried in terrible mechanics. Hopefully with the TV just really getting into its prime, we'll get another game that is actually worthy of the license.
That's it for today, I should be back by Thursday with another post, until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Gangster Squad
