E3 2014 Microsoft Press Conference reaction

I am pleased to report that Microsoft's E3 press conference this year was much improved over last years arguably disastrous presentation. Nothing relating to kinect or t.v. was mentioned at this years press conference and Microsoft finally seems to get the picture that games should always be the center focus of E3 and they came to the show guns blazing this time. I will comment on various games shown off at E3 in order starting with COD: Advanced Warfare.

1. COD: Advanced Warfare- It's no surprise that the next iteration of Call of Duty would make an appearance at E3 this year. Debuting just a month ago, the trailer gave players a sense of high expectations and game play changes with COD stepping into futuristic warfare, exo-suits and all. The game play demo, while certainly looking stunning with a true next gen paint job, it still looked to be the same COD running with iron sights ready. Here's hoping the title has more to offer other than just Kevin Spacey when the full game launches this November; but as always I remain skeptical.  
2. Forza 2- This really isn't my area of expertise, racing games are certainly a popular genre but Ralph Fulton did say that the next Forza would feature a new dynamic weather system along with 200 cars and a full day to night cycle in glorious 1080p. So racing fans will have something to look forward to in September when the game launches for Xbox One and 360. 
3. Evolve- Now this one I am super excited to talk about. From the guys that developed the original Left 4 Dead, Turtle Rock Studios, comes the new ip called Evolve. Now evolve has been announced previously, 4 squad members track and kill an evolving monster, but today they showed off more gameplay along with the announcement of a new monster the Kraken. The Kraken is the first flying monster shown off for the game, basically a Cthulhu with laser beams and force blasts, which adds a new dynamic and new options for players eager to try other monsters other than the Goliath. I cannot wait for this game to launch being such a big fan of Left 4 Dead. They also announced that there would be one more monster in the game along with four more squad mates available when it hits this fall.
4.  Assassins Creed Unity- Ubisoft teased the next installment of Assassins Creed with a very gory trailer followed by some intense 4 player co-op featuring some neat acrobatic assassinations and how Paris is a great location for the next Assassins Creed.
5. Sunset Overdrive- Sunset overdrive is a new ip from the guys that developed the Ratchet and Clank games along with the Resistance franchise. It's nice to see Insomniac games return their roots with wacky characters and fun addicting game play. This game is a light hearted and cartoony zombie mutant slayer fest with big guns, tongue and cheek humor and platforming. This game looks to be something special and much more impressive than the recent flop Fuse released last year.
6. What the...I don't even- DLC was announced for Dead Rising 3 that pokes fun of Capcoms own terrible business practices while focusing on their obsession with fighting games. I would probably find this trailer more funny if it wasn't so satirical. They decide to make fun of their business practices just a week after releasing yet ANOTHER iteration of Street Fighter 4. Many people found this hilarious and while it is over the top, I can't really say that I find the DLC particularly cute. 
7.  Some Lovely returns of franchises- Along with some gameplay being shown from Fable Legends and another trailer shown off for Project Spark, there was also the announcement of a new Dance Central which is the only game that had even an inkling of Kinect associated with the Xbox One. 
8. HALO- This is of course the heavy hitter for Microsoft. Along with the announcement that Halo Anniversary, Halo 3 and 4 would be ported to the Xbox One along with a brand spanking new Halo 2 anniversary. All of these games would hit this fall with a $60 price tag all on a single disk, Blue-ray is a nice thing to have right? Along with this was gameplay shown from Halo 2 Anniversary which looks absolutely stunning and another trailer for Halo 5 guardians which teases a return of the Arbiter. The new character is mentioned and shown off in the trailer with the title Agent Clark if I heard correctly. The collection and Halo 5 looks to be shaping nicely and with the collections comes access to the Halo 5 beta in December!
9. Tomb Raider and Division- Rise of The Tomb Raider was announced. This comes as no surprise considering the reboots success and port to next gen. While no game play was shown, fans can expect Laura to climb, shoot, hunt, arrow and enjoy much needed time in therapy. No, I'm not kidding. The Division looked impressive although I'm still not clearly understanding what this game is striving to be. It looks like the developers are trying to make the Tom Clancy version of Destiny with an open world adventure tactical shooter. The game looks impressive and sounds fun but a short game play demo isn't enough to really sell me yet on what this game has to offer. 
10. Soul Bound- The next game from the developers of Vanish, Platinum Games, comes Dragon May Cry featuring Dante. Just kidding, although the protagonist does bear resemblance to Dante, the game seems to be about a Dragon and his headphone wearing trainer as they tackle kaiju sized monsters reminiscent to Shadow of the Colossus. Platinum always makes quality action games and this looks to be no exception. 
11. Phantom Dust and Crackdown return- Last but not least, Rare revealed that they are resurrecting another franchise from the dead, Phantom Dust. While I didn't play the original it was a mix of action and card game mechanics and had a cult following. Crackdown had some ups and downs in the series. The first game was well received, the Halo 3 beta didn't help at all I'm sure wink wink, the second not so much. The series is back with the original creator at the help so this time it looks to be a good online open world experience. Ow my hand. 

That was the press conference. Much improved over last year in my opinion and we'll try to have more articles up as E3 continues.

Microsoft Presentation Afterthoughts

"It's all about the games."
                  -Phil Spencer

I'm hard-pressed to remember another E3 press conference that was so densely packed with games.  Microsoft's conference was back-to-back game announcements, exclusives and indies all over.  Better yet, these were focused for core gamers, no sports games, no dancing games, just one racing game.  Starting out strong with Metal Gear Solid 5, Microsoft jumped to current 360 owners, rewarding gold members with free games up to the release on the One.  Next came lots of great shows of the One's processing prowess with Ryse and Forza.  Better yet was the revival of Rare's classic arcade fighter, Killer Instinct.  Plenty of new stuff was shown as well like Sunset Overdrive, Project Spark, and a better look at Quantum Break.  Classic franchises also got some screentime, like Dead Rising 3 and Witcher 3.  Finally, hell of a send-of with Respawn's Titanfall with a stellar gameplay showing.

Was it all good news though? Not quite, a few bits of info kept the Xbox One from being redeemed.  First off, $499 on launch in November, higher than I and a lot of gamers feel willing to pay.

Second was the redesign on the 360.  4 gig models for $199 (useless), a 250 gig model for $299, and a 4 gig with Kinect for $299 (once again, useless).  Essentially

Finally, no clarification at all from the terrible press drop last friday.

In the end, Microsoft has sort of clamored back onto the saddle, but it still seems like Sony could knock this out the park, we'll see tonight.

Madness? This is Spartan Assault!

Recently Microsoft has announced that Halo would be making its way to windows 8 via windows tablet. The name of the new game is called Halo: Spartan Assault. Halo:SA is a top down, twin stick shooter set between Halo 3 and 4 and is currently being developed by 343 industries and Vanguard games. It is hard to tell how much of the game is being developed by either company but my guess is that it is mainly in the hands of Vanguard games while 343 is providing oversight and story direction. The game's story follows Sarah Palmer who had a small part to play in Halo 4's story but did however have a large part in Halo 4's spartan ops mode. Over the course of 25 missions in the games campaign the player will reenact famous battles fought by the U.N.S.C. via the war games room on the star ship Infinity. The game will be available in July for around $7 on Microsoft tablets, phones and the PC.

Such as the new trend calls for in gaming, this title will feature micro-transaction unlockables to encourage players to spend extra cash. While I am not necessarily against the idea of micro-transactions, I can't say that I enjoy the idea of micro-transactions being the only way to access locked content. It seems like a cheap way for Microsoft to dig into your pocket after you have already purchased a $7 game. I do however like the idea of something new coming from Halo. I wasn't that impressed by Halo 4 so a new type of game could give the series a boost. A twin stick shooter wasn't my first choice but what bothers me is that, for the time being, this game will not be available for the Xbox 360 arcade. People have criticized Microsoft saying that this is just a ploy to try and get people to buy a Microsoft tablet or to push Windows 8 to the forefront. Tell us what you think!

VGR triple show post (Suikoden, Fallout & Sci-fi)

Been a busy few weeks guys, so I've missed a few VGR posts on the blog, but now is your chance to catch 3 fantastic shows.  Trey spearheads a great look into the universe of Suikoden, we take an hour to chill to the sounds of the Fallout Universe, and wrap it up today with a bunch of other great sci-fi tunes:

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VGR - Halo

Today it was me and DJ Trey Fuquay tackled the Halo franchise with works from Marty O'Donnell and Neil Davidage.  Just how many different ways can we play the main Halo theme?  Click to find out!


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