The Friday Wrap-Up 6/12/2015

It's our last Friday before E3 proper for 2015, and it's hard not to be excited with some of the potential announcements on deck.  More so than past years, it seems like a lot of companies are getting in front of the press conference proper in order to get better exposure before the hype machine goes into full swing.  Here are some of the best Pre-3 trailers shown so far, along with some other nifty articles and videos worth a read.

Looking forward to 2015

Much has been said at various outlets about how satisfying a year 2014 was for the gamers and the industry as a whole.  While I'll wholeheartedly admit there was a lot of ugliness to be found last year (social issues, broken games, etc.), I tend to lean on the positive side for a lot of good releases as far as the year is concerned.  I don't think we've hit that sort of "next-gen" point that justifies the sale of new consoles and the like.  With perhaps the exception of Nintendo, the console scene doesn't have that first-parties don't have that "killer-app" the way something like Gears of War was when it hit the 360.

Guns with chainsaws: Apparently the high-water mark of gaming fidelity

I'm hopeful this gets turned around this year.  We have the odd sort of benefit of having a lot of games pushed back from 2014 into this year, leaving me hopeful that there will be even more to pick out.  So here is what I'm looking forward to seeing this year, as well as some wild speculation about what else could be down the road.

Best Game Soundtracks of 2014

Say what you will about the past year for gaming, it was pretty fantastic if you were looking for some tunes to jam to.  Helping to run VGR has more or less made it my job to find the best music in video games, and there's a huge variety to choose from this go round.  If you're looking for some OST's to buy, here's a few I'd recommend.

Honorable Mentions:

Payday 2

While the base game came out last year, Payday 2 has been getting more DLC than most games do, at a pretty regular rate as well.  Great if you were looking to prolong the game, but purchase wasn't even necessary for some, and new heists only required ownership to host.  Simon Viklund continues to put out awesome, pulse-pounding tracks to help set the mood whenever your heist goes loud.  The same trick of making the music rise and fall with the action has yet to get old, and can still give you a tactical edge in game, letting your crew prep when things are about to get dicey.  Another nice addition was the music selector in game, so if Evil Eye just won't stop playing in your head, or you want to pick something from Payday 1, you've got the option.