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E3 2017 Hopes vs Expectations Part 2

June 12, 2017 / posted in PC, PS4, Virtual Realm, Xbox One / Comments Off

Ubisoft

Hopes… Hopes… Hm, that the new Assassin’s Creed game looks interesting enough to get me back into the series? That would be nice. I don’t really play a lot of Ubisoft games.

Yet I expect many things here. First, of course, is MADNESS. Even without the oddly terrible hosting of Aisha Tyler, I fully expect Ubisoft’s show to be very weird. Normal would actually be strangely disappointing. I think we’ll get a fair bit of info about the new Assassin’s Creed game and Far Cry 5. There will be some mention about a Tom Clancy game, be it about the recent title (new content, perhaps?) or a tease for yet another entry in the franchise. Possibly something about For Honor or Star Trek: Bridge Crew, though I think it’s too early to hear about another Watch Dogs. Of course, there will be some spectacle around another Just Dance game. And lastly, there seems to be a pretty solid chance of a Nintendo Switch title, though we might not hear much of that until Nintendo’s show.

Sony

Hopefully we finally get some solid details on the Spider-Man PS4 game Sony seems to have been teasing everywhere. Getting some solid information on the Final Fantasy VII remake would be fantastic, of course, but who knows how long it will take that to get made and released. Speaking of Square Enix, it would be great to see a third entry in the rebooted Tomb Raider series, which I’ve immensely enjoyed (I’m hoping Square would be publishing again).

As for expectations, Last of Us 2, Gran Turismo Sport, and the new God of War seem like the surest things in the universe. That Detroit: Become Human game seemed to get a lot of attention last year, so it would be good to see more of that. Maybe Destiny 2 or a new Killzone? There’s got to be an FPS in there, right? Of course there will be good bit of VR promotion for PlayStation VR.

E3 2017 Hopes vs Expectations Part 1

June 10, 2017 / posted in PC, Virtual Realm, Xbox One / Comments Off

EA

My biggest hope for EA is in regards to Star Wars. First off, in terms of the new Battlefront II that they really prove that they’ve learned a lesson from the issues of the prior game. This certainly seems to be the case, with the prominent inclusion of a single player campaign, but that wasn’t the only thing that made 2015’s Battlefront so mediocre. The multiplayer could also use a good deal of mechanical improvements, especially in the case of the vehicles and turrets. At the very least I certainly hope we see gameplay footage.

Beyond that, I want EA to do more with [their stranglehold on] the Star Wars licence than just churning out installments of an FPS and keeping their MMO afloat. I know many people would love to see a new entry in the Knights of the Old Republic series, again, beyond the MMO. Which would be amazing, I’d be ecstatic to see just about anything new related to KOTOR, even just a remake with updated visuals and mechanics. But there’s more to Star Wars games than just FPSs and RPGs. What about a new flight/space sim game, similar to the old X-Wing or Rogue Squadron series? Or a new action-adventure game like The Force Unleashed or that cancelled 1313 game? I just want more quality Star Wars games, and it looks like EA is going to be the only game in town for the foreseeable future.

Of course, I expect pretty much none of that. Oh, I think we’ll see a fair bit on Battlefront II, and we’ll hear that The Old Republic MMO is “still doing great, you guys!” But that’ll be it for Star Wars. Other than that, they’ll talk about how Mass Effect Andromeda totally isn’t as “meh” an entry in the series as the internet has made it out to be, and BioWare certainly isn’t a ghost of it’s former self. I mean, that or they’ll just avoid mentioning BioWare at all. And, yes, they’ll have their ever-present “SPORTS!SPORTS!SPORTS!” segment, obviously. We’ll also hear more about the new Need for Speed game, whose trailer looks more like a Fast and the Furious movie than a NFS game.

Microsoft

My hope? Forget about the Scorpio, just give me a reason to be excited about the XBox One. A system for which I own less games than for the just-launched Nintendo Switch. I know there are still XBox faithful out there, but for me Microsoft really fell flat on their face this ‘gen’. The Halo series doesn’t hold the status it once did and it seems to be the only ‘big deal’ XBox exclusive now. I mean, they swing some timed exclusives, sure, but not much else. They seem to especially be at a low point among my fellow Action-Adventure and Open-World fans, since both Nintendo and Sony currently each have a fantastic title out (Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Horizon Zero Dawn, respectively).

My only expectation is disappointment. I mean, there might be some cool trailers and stuff, but I doubt there will be anything that makes me happy to own an XBox One. I’d guess a lot of time will be spent on talking up the Scorpio, which I fully expect to be officially named the XBox 36O (three-six-oh) in following the genius naming of the XBox One. I bet they’ll be pushing to release some Halo thing for it’s launch.

Bethesda

ELDER. SCROLLS. SIX.

That’s all I want, Beth. It can just be an over-hyped announcement teaser. It can be a screen with nothing other than the words “Elder Scrolls VI”. I will take it. I’d also be thrilled to hear of another Obsidian developed, non-numbered Fallout game.

I don’t really expect that, of course. Though I’m not really sure what, if any, actual Bethesda-developed titles they’d have to talk about otherwise. I’m sure we’ll hear about ZeniMax Online’s Elder Scrolls MMO and their recently released Morrowind content. DLC for the new Prey game, maybe? Perhaps some news on some of the series they publish? I’d actually be pretty excited to hear about a new Wolfenstein game. Probably too soon for another Dishonored, but maybe some DLC news. Also it just feels like the time for news on a new Doom, but that’s a bit of a wildcard.

PC

Nothing. This is where hope goes to die.

I mean, there might be some interesting news, or a cool demo, sure. But these have been… not the best. And I’m a pretty big PC gamer, so I’m arguably the target audience. But hey, maybe this is the year they turn it around!

E3 2014 Highs and Lows

June 26, 2014 / posted in 3DS, PS4, Virtual Realm, Wii U, Xbox One / Comments Off

Another year, another E3! Were there winners? Losers? Was it a party or a travesty? I’ve given ample time for the news and excitement to settle, and my own hype to dissipate. So let’s find out what announcements, trailers, and gameplay still left an impact.
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Elder Scrolls Online Review

June 8, 2014 / posted in PC, PS4, Virtual Realm, Xbox One / Comments Off

eso I’ve been a huge Elder Scrolls fan ever since I first played TESIII: Morrowind in the early 2000s on an original Xbox. These are games I spend ludicrous amounts of time playing, usually getting so sidetracked in the world that it takes me years to get around to completing the main questline. I’ve even gone back and played the earlier titles on the PC and having moved to almost exclusively buying the series’ games on the PC and greatly appreciative of the modding community surrounding the game series.

On the MMO side of things, I’ve been a MMORPG gamer even longer, starting with Ultima Online in the late 90s. I’ve tried out more games in this genre over the years than I could possibly bother to name. The biggest standouts being the aforementioned, Ultima Online, City of Heroes/Villains, Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst, and Star Wars: The Old Republic. The question is, has Zenimax managed to blend the TES franchise with this genre to create a great game? Even a game worth playing?

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E3 Hopes & Expectations

June 8, 2014 / posted in 3DS, PS Vita, PS4, Virtual Realm, Wii U, Xbox One / Comments Off

Another year, another E3. It’s that time of year when the biggest players of the industry come together and try to outdo each other’s big announcements. I have high hopes for what we could see from Nintendo, Sony, and surprisingly, Electronic Arts. Will those hopes be met? Here are the lists of my top 10 hopes and expectations for what we’ll see at this year’s E3.

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Fire Emblem Awakening Review

April 20, 2013 / posted in 3DS, Virtual Realm / Comments Off

fea My past exposure to the Fire Emblem series has been rather brief. This should be unsurprising for a game series that rarely comes over to North America. I am, of course, somewhat familiar with the characters that have made an appearance in the Smash series as well as having played one previous game in the Fire Emblem series. I’m also not much of a fan when it comes to Tactics RPGs and, in fact, my taste for turn-based RPGs in general has waned over the years as I have grown tired of level-grinding. So, I was not particularly looking forward to Fire Emblem Awakening on the 3DS.

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Tomb Raider (2013) Review

March 30, 2013 / posted in PC, PS3, Virtual Realm, Xbox 360 / Comments Off

tombraiderboxartTomb Raider is an excessively well known franchise possessing a total of 11 games, 2 movies, 3 novels, a series of comic books, a 10-Episode Animated series, and an amusement park ride (formally four). While more recent entries in the game series and overall franchise have been met with mixed critical reception, the first two games in the series are best remembered for pioneering the Action-Adventure genre. I, like many people, know of the series more through its pop-culture prevalence over active participation in the franchise.

Now, that’s not to say that I haven’t played any Tomb Raider games. In addition to a handful of demos, I vaguely remember playing one of the original Core Design-developed titles and one of the lesser Crystal Dynamics-developed games. The fact that the Crystal Dynamics demo and game that I played had rather unfriendly controls and were overall mediocre is rather disappointing. I personally love the Action-Adventure genre and would probably rate it as my favorite overall, and I find the ideas of both the games’ Indiana Jones-esque setting and strong female protagonist very appealing.

Due to this I was quite interested, despite some of Crystal Dynamics’ previous work, in their upcoming re-imagining of the Tomb Raider series. All the way up to the March 5th, 2013 release date I followed information on the games’ development and even got to try a demo of the game at New York Comic Con 2012. Having been impressed with the demo and the apparent amount of work that the Crystal Dynamics’ development team was putting into the game, I acquired it upon release.
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PS4 Unveiling

March 12, 2013 / posted in PS4, Virtual Realm / Comments Off

On January 31st, 2013, Sony teased that a major announcement would be revealed on February 20th, 2013 with the tagline “See the Future”. The majority of the net immediately jumped on the idea that this would be the first look at Sony’s Next Generation Console. This was followed by an explosion of rumors regarding features of the upcoming console. Everything from a touchpad controller to an interactive full-wall projection screen were claimed by “anonymous sources”. Now, confirming initial suspicions, Sony has held a Press Conference in New York City unveiling the PS4 to the world.

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E3 2012 – 3rd Parties

July 2, 2012 / posted in PC, PS3, Virtual Realm, Wii, Xbox 360 / Comments Off

For the second part of my E3 coverage, I’ll be going over the third parties. It seems that this year they stole the show, though whether that is a credit to them or a failing on the part of The Big Three, it’s hard to say. I will at least give credit to EA and Ubisoft for significantly stepping up their game from the last two years.
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E3 2012 – The Big Three

June 30, 2012 / posted in DS, PC, PS3, Virtual Realm, Wii, Xbox 360 / Comments Off

Well, E3 2012 has come and gone. Overall, it seems to have fallen short of last year’s show, not meeting the expectations that the beginning of a transition to a new generation of consoles generally brings. Though there were certainly some high points as well as some perplexedly odd and perhaps humorous moments. To start of my review/coverage of E3, I’ll begin with, unsurprisingly, the “Big 3”.
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