E3 2015 Press Conference Review

With E3 going into wind-down mode, the folks here and Pixel Loadout decided to do a quick review and breakdown of each individual show and conference for this year.  We had some absolutely monolithic announcements to show for this year, but how does everything stack up when it's all said and done?

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This week on VGR, Elder Scrolls Online goes BTP, but what does that really mean? Find out answers to this question with Kevin, Trey, Ryan, Colleen, and regular guest Miguel! Also the new Windows 10 press conference, and a possible new Battletoads.

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So the question on everybody's mind right now (and what's finally getting some definitive answers this week) is how is Destiny, and we here at VGR are finally ready to do some in-depth talking about Bungie's newest shooter / mmo hybrid thingy but not really.  Also some stuff with Mojang and Microsoft, along with other news tidbits.  Miguel and Trey had some fun commandeering the playlist to pack as much Final Fantasy VIII on it, and Ryan defends himself from a merciless assault in regards to mobile gaming.  All and all, a super packed episode, so make sure to check it out!

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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 backsteps on DRM & Always Online

Coming as a shock to some, and expected to others,  Microsoft is switching their stance on some major policies and decisions regarding their new console due out this November.  Microsoft's president of interactive entertainment Don Mattrick shared this on Xbox's news site:

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Last week at E3, the excitement, creativity and future of our industry was on display for a global audience.

For us, the future comes in the form of Xbox One, a system designed to be the best place to play games this year and for many years to come. As is our heritage with Xbox, we designed a system that could take full advantage of advances in technology in order to deliver a breakthrough in game play and entertainment. We imagined a new set of benefits such as easier roaming, family sharing, and new ways to try and buy games. We believe in the benefits of a connected, digital future. 

Since unveiling our plans for Xbox One, my team and I have heard directly from many of you, read your comments and listened to your feedback. I would like to take the opportunity today to thank you for your assistance in helping us to reshape the future of Xbox One. 

You told us how much you loved the flexibility you have today with games delivered on disc. The ability to lend, share, and resell these games at your discretion is of incredible importance to you. Also important to you is the freedom to play offline, for any length of time, anywhere in the world.

So, today I am announcing the following changes to Xbox One and how you can play, share, lend, and resell your games exactly as you do today on Xbox 360. Here is what that means:

• An internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games– After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again. There is no 24 hour connection requirement and you can take your Xbox One anywhere you want and play your games, just like on Xbox 360.
  

• Trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today – There will be no limitations to using and sharing games, it will work just as it does today on Xbox 360.
  

In addition to buying a disc from a retailer, you can also download games from Xbox Live on day of release. If you choose to download your games, you will be able to play them offline just like you do today. Xbox One games will be playable on any Xbox One console -- there will be no regional restrictions.

These changes will impact some of the scenarios we previously announced for Xbox One. The sharing of games will work as it does today, you will simply share the disc. Downloaded titles cannot be shared or resold. Also, similar to today, playing disc based games will require that the disc be in the tray.

We appreciate your passion, support and willingness to challenge the assumptions of digital licensing and connectivity. While we believe that the majority of people will play games online and access the cloud for both games and entertainment, we will give consumers the choice of both physical and digital content. We have listened and we have heard loud and clear from your feedback that you want the best of both worlds.

Thank you again for your candid feedback. Our team remains committed to listening, taking feedback and delivering a great product for you later this year.

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Widely regarded as the most caustic features of the console, the loss of a 24 hour check-in window and the ability to trade-in and share disc based games is a huge boon to consumers.  This does come with some caveats though: discs will once again be required to be in the tray in order to play disc based games again.  This also cuts out some of the functionality of always having access to those games based just on gamer profiles.  Also, this functionality is going to require a day 1 patch before it can be used offline.  On another plus side however, the loss of an always online connection is said to also remove region locking for the console, which I'm sure CDProjekt Red appreciates.

There are a lot of facets to this announcement worth considering.  First off, this speaks volumes of exactly what kind of beating Sony served to Microsoft last week at E3.  Most sites have been comparing it to some kind of boxing or MMA match with Sony delivering a TKO.  Indeed, everybody involved at the blog was amazed at what a direct attack Sony sent out to their main competitor.  In some ways, it takes a lot of guts for a company to go back on what before they believed to be major selling points of their new box.  In another,  it's extremely reactionary and makes you wonder who's bright idea it was in the first place.

In the end, this is straight benefit to the consumer.  Old-school capitalism.  Making the Xbone more competitive to the PS4 means we should be seeing better deals vying for the public eye this holiday season.  The PS4 still holds a lot of cards with it's $100 cheaper price point and it's seemingly total devotion to indie developers.  Still, the gulf isn't nearly as wide as last week.

All of this while 4.45 firmware for the PS3 seems to be bricking consoles.  Good week for Microsoft it seems.

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!

Angry Joe's Xbox One rant

One of the funnier opinions about the upcoming console the Xbox one. They don't call him Angry Joe for nothing.

Xbox One: presentation afterthoughts

It’s been roughly two days since the unveiling of the Xbox One, just enough time to let the announcement be processed and consumed by most around the net.  Interpretations by most have not been favorable to say the least.  While some may claim it to be a typical case of the gaming media being in an echo chamber of negativity, it all keeps coming back around to a very simple truth of the press conference itself:

The announcement was not for gamers.

In some ways this isn’t surprising.  We’ve seen the Xbox 360 shift its intended usage from blade-swapping game machine to blocky ad-delivery Netflix box.  The Xbox One continues Microsoft’s grand plan to dominate and control every facet of media in the living room, hoping that one day all consumers will have open floor space for their cameras whilst you integrate your surface to whatever smartglass app happens to coincide with the program on the screen.  It’s an ambitious goal for sure.  But for hardcore gamers and even mild gamer aficionados alike, this isn’t what we want to hear.

Hard to think I’d quote John Riccitiello, but his recent article at Kotaku says it best:

“The first and most obvious of these pitfalls is if Sony or Microsoft forgets who brought them to the dance in the first place. Gamers.”

At this time, the only attractive features gamers have seen about this console is the console specs, which end up being largely in line with Sony’s PS4 and dwarfing the WiiU, all standard stuff like an 8 core cpu with a 64-bit architecture, 8 gigs of ram, an AMD gpu, 500 gigs of onboard storage, etc.  This and an actual look at the box and controller all are positives in the books for gamers, but thats about it when it comes to the presentation.  Everything else being shown off if you go back and look at the conference are exclusive deals for TV content and Kinect functionality.  

What’s been worse has been almost all the info being presented after the conference that Microsoft of course would not present up front.  Always Online isn’t as bad as was speculated, like kicking you out of a game if the connection drops, but the Xbox One does need to check in online, what’s being speculated at least once every 24 hours.  Used games are somewhere between a small licensing fee and having to rebuy the entire game every time.  Live accounts still have a premium feature, which does share over the One and 360, but will no doubt be required for online gaming and probably other online services like Netflix.  Kinect is bundled with every system and is required to use the console, and will always be on, even if the console isn’t in use.

All of these “features” just serve to fragment the consumer base for a new console.  Gamers would rather see software.  Software is what sells a system, and Forza, Call of Duty and Quantum Break aren’t nearly enough to sell this monolith on its own.  The onus is now on Microsoft to make a phenomenal presentation at E3 in terms.  Comparatively,  Sony is still riding a wave of goodwill of presenting first, as well as advertise the ease of publishing for third-party devs and indie publishers.  Rest assured,  E3 this year will be very interesting, as we haven’t seen a true presentation for a new console generation for years now.

If I had to make a choice now though, Sony is looking far more attractive than Microsoft.