Quick Look: Clash in the Clouds

So at 8 am today, we finally got some details for the much belated Bioshock: Infinite DLC as promised by the day 1 season pass.  Turns out it's pretty cool.  To start with, we get a wave attack mode called Clash in the Clouds, featuring interesting challenges and extra unlockable goodies like concept art and models.

Later, at some unspecified date, we'll be dipping our toes back into the water with a return to Rapture.  The 2nd and 3rd DLC packs will be a 2-part story called "Burial at Sea" featuring alternate takes on both Booker and Elizabeth, with Liz actually being playable in the 2nd pack.

For today however, DJ and I take a first look at Clash in the Clouds and judge it it's worth your $5.

Check out the trailers for both DLC's here:

-Clash in the Clouds trailer
-Burial at Sea trailer

GameDocs: Tetris - A Perfect Game?

One thing that I love thats taken popularity of late is various sort of documentary looks of current and older video games, whether they be nostalgic looks back or historical deconstructions of franchises.  Today we have a short (but insightful) look at the classic Tetris and a closer look at what makes it work.  Matthewmatosis has a lot of other long looks at some franchises that are also worth checking out, including Metal Gear Solid and The Legend of Zelda.

Matthewmatosis Youtube Channel

A Tale of Three Thieves

Fans of GTA finally get to see one of the most hyped features for the up and coming fifth installment of the franchise.  The much talked about real-time character swapping system gets featured heavily in this new trailer, along with a great deal of other details about the city, side activities, and main mission structure, paradoxically presented by a calm, almost soothing voice.  GTA titles usually end up being crazy ambitious ventures, and this one looks to be no exception.

Lookin' Good - Champs: Battleground

MOBA's have become the new MMO for a lot of dev's when it comes to looking at what might be popular in the future.  Both DOTA and League of Legends have shown that this genre of game is not only popular but also wildly profitable as well.  Not surprisingly, a lot of devs also want to try to breakout the MOBA genre onto mobile and tablet platforms with games such as Solstice Arena and Arena of Heroes, with varying degrees of success.  For my money right now though, adding a dash of of Final Fantasy Tactics to the mix is making Champs: Battleground look like something worth getting in to.  Check out this build demo from IGN.

Mark Cerny and The Road to PS4

I'm always fascinated about looking at video games from a historical perspective and the kind of decisions that have lead to what we play today.  Mark Cerny is a hugely important person in the gaming world when it comes to the success of the Playstation brand.  This sort of all-inclusive history as told by him gives us some fascinating insight to a console's creation process (as well as admitting some failings of such work as well).  While this kind of presentation isn't for everyone, if you have a vested interest into various topics such as the growth of game development teams or the choice to use the Cell processer in the PS3, you might like this.

Last day to fund "Armikrog"

Doug TenNapel, of Earthworm Jim and Neverhood fame, has partnered with Pencil Test studios, and for the last month, have been shopping around a classic-style adventure game done in claymation on Kickstarter.  Today is the last day to help fund this project, and thr group is (as this time of writing) 93% towards their Kickstarter goal.  Armikrog’s art style is something seldom seen in any medium in this day and age, and it’s always cool to see artists take on this unique and very time-consuming art style.  Their video pitch is worth a watch just to see some of the animation, so take a gander.

Scares Return?

  

Many fans of traditional horror games have recently seemed to have made their voices heard. Many fans of survival horror classics would brand games like Resident evil 6 or Silent hill Downpour to be too focused on the action and not have enough emphasis on the scares. Probably the biggest offender in this mix is the addition of cooperative modes into horror settings. Things just aren't as scary when your frat bro on the couch talks about, "Dude! Did you just see that? I just blew that thing's head off!" It takes someone out of the experience and gives them a distraction from the tension. However, new ips that have made waves in recent years such as Amnesia the Dark Descent or Slenderman have shown the gaming market that survival horror games can still make a profit while delivering the nightmares that masochists crave. At E3 we got to see even more scares heading our way with Outlast and The Evil Within. In true survival horror fashion they focused on the fact that you, the player, are alone with no backup and only an asylum full of crazies for company. Personally I love survival horror and action games but I'm glad to see that survival horror is making a comeback. I believe that with the right goals in mind, developers have the chance to show how popular traditional survival horror games can become.

 Anyway I wanted to talk a̵̼̝͕̘͙͔͎̲͛̾̚b̧̜̞̝̱̈̊ͬ͛ͪ̀ǫ̴͖͙̤͚̞̋ͤͅṵ̸̢͇̇̋̔̏̾t̡̺̫̯͎̮͚̓ͦ̏ ̞̜̍̆́̏̎͘t̏ͪ͋̊̍ͧ͌҉̛̝̳̫ĥ̶̭̑̂ͥ̆̅̈́ͩ̏ê͍̓ͬ̈́͟.̯̘͈̞̖͓̻̺̎́̓ͣ̄͐ͫ̚.̶͍̎̉̑.̷͎̳̂̿̐̆̉̚.̤̖̠̐̓̾̄́̇o̹̙ͬh̟̗̘̞̣̰̟̱͂ͩ̎ͣͮ̍ͧ́͡ ̴͍̣͔̱̊̐͂̀̀ͅg̖̹͌̈͋ͪ̎͢͞ó̤ͥ́̕ͅd̸̶̡̯͗̏̓.̢̔ͮ̇ͬ͏̦͇̙̰̭.̗̗͈̯͕͚̟̙̈̈́͒͆ͨ̍͝.̧͎̬̻ͭ̈́͂̇̉̅̃ͩ̀̀͢.ͥͩͮ̃͛͏̳͕̞̜̝͇̺̣̀ş̶̶̹̹͇͈̠̘̙̞̄o͕̬̼͕͕̖̜͍̥ͧ̄m̑͐̕҉͈̹̠̙̯e̵̠͗͝o̵̗͚̭̠̬̤͋́̎́́́n̷̠̹ͤ̔̊̿̊̌ͭ͞ę͕͖̙̤̒̀̓̏̉ͩ̊͐̚ ̷̩̳̮̈͆̅͋̃͗̏h̡̭̱̓̾ͮ̓͞e̡͉͓̹͙͈̦̼̞ͩͩ͐ͅl͙̫̪̟̳͈̄p̤͎̺͙̮͇̹͓ͦ͞ ̹͙̹ͣ̈́ͯ̉͡m̜͇̤͓̱̰̯͉̈̇͋ͣ̚e̴̳̼̯ͧ!̸̠͎͈͕̞̟͔̳̒̈̏̆ͨͅ ̛̯̮̪̫̠̫̩͈̜ͭ͒͛̈́͒͒̿͟Á̜̇̎͆́͝H̠̘̫̰͕̯̟͒̊͒ͯ̅̃̎ͥH̷̡͓̞͙͆̽͊ͯ̎͞H̔͊͗̍̇̄̊̓̓͢͏̥̻̦͖͎̝a̎̉ͤ͢҉̜͇̼̪s͕͕ͩ̌͒̉ͩ̊ͩ̌.̴͈̞͓̬̦͑̄̋̃q̸̡̫͈̘̞̼̺̰̠̾̒̑ͮ̉q̺͉̹͈̤̫͎͔͂̆͘ẉ̢̼̣̟̞ͦ̋ͩ̍d̛̰̥̈́ͬ̈́͆͐̽͌ͫ̅͘m̴̛̟͖͔ͧͬ̅̈́̚q̸̻͙̽̾̈̊͝w͉̳̫͍̮͉͎ͤ͒̽ͤ́ͯͨ͢ḑ̛͕̯ͤ̌̈͊̃̿i̛̦̳ͭ̾̂̇̄͌́q̰̲ͪ̇͐̀͟o̪͚̹͚̙͙͚͌͌ķ̨̳̎̒͆͟w̵͔ͣ̍ͫ̃ͯ͘͢s̛̭͓̻͊ͫͩ̀ͣ̾ͅj̸̜̲ͤ̍̀n̝̱̗̞̮̘̺ͮ̑̅̚ͅ

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.

It is your Destiny

Bungie finally showed game play for their open world action title Destiny during Sony's E3 press conference yesterday. The video above is the entire game play demo for the conference. Overall I enjoyed what they showed. There was definitely a heavy Borderlands vibe coming from the game play and teamwork playing off the different classes. Unlike Borderlands however, at least during that point in the game or for demo purposes, it appears that the player will only be able to use 2 weapons along with having infinite ammo in reserve. Again this could possibly be a build specifically for the conference. Another interesting thing to note was that loot drops would come in the form of an all in one package. This could be used for allowing players to sort loot among themselves in a more organized fashion or that each player receives their own unique loot drop based on level and class. Guns will also appear to be a bit more unique in this universe as they can all individually be leveled up. We saw that  the Thunderlord has it's own set of skills, the final one being the ability to, "burn through enemies with thunderous rounds that will penetrate and detonate." Finally we also got to see a public event in action as a couple of squads take down a boss called the "Devil walker." I thought this was a great demonstration to show how alive this world can be and what you and your friends could do to fight back against the alien forces was awesome. It has yet to be shown how often or where events like this will take place in Destiny but the game has me excited none the less.

Destiny is set to release on the 360, Xbone, PS4, PS3 and PC sometime next year.

...seriously?

I can't tell if I should hang my head in shame or if this is the best announcement from E3 yet.

...

Oh, there was Megaman too, y'know, cause he's cool.  Not quite Wii Fit Trainer cool, but still cool.

Can't wait for some good Smash Remixes of Megaman tunes