Posts Tagged ‘gaming’
Vita Is Dead, Long Live Playstation 3 – Sony E3 2012 Press Conference Analysis
Sony had a fairly decent presser if you’re a PS3 owner. Less so if you’re the owner of a shiny new Playstation Vita handheld.
It’s obvious to anybody with a clue that Sony just like Microsoft, certainly held back a great deal of announcements for next year where like the Redmond based software giant, they’ll announce their foray into the next-generation of console hardware. Unlike Microsoft however, whose presser reeked exclusively of the fetid smell of coasting this generation out, Sony also had to ensure that they put across a strong ‘Vita isn’t dead’ message; a crucial objective given the struggling fortunes endured by the handheld powerhouse recently.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at how they fared shall we?
Playstation Vita – It’s alive! IT’S ALIVE! Oh wait, no, no. It was just a twitch.
This little fella needs all the help it can get. Someone forgot to send Sony the memo it seems.
The market hasn’t been kind to the Playstation Vita. It was supposed to be the machine that was going to triumphantly put two fingers up to the App Store and its ilk with home console quality gaming on the move and the finest visuals yet seen on a handheld device. That however, remains somewhat of a pipe dream; as the machine struggles at retail due to a relatively high price-point and lack of any real killer titles.
Sensible pricing and killer titles – the two key components of any successful console, handheld or otherwise should have been the crux of Sony’s bid to rejuvenate consumer interest in the Playstation Vita. As it was, their attempt to give the beleaguered handheld a shot in the arm, came across as both limp and unsatisfying with no sign of any decently priced bundles, discount initiatives or any real new titles for them to caw about outside of the previously expected Call of Duty and Assassins Creed spin-offs.
This was all we got to see at the presser for one of the Vita’s two great white third party hopes for the Vita. A logo. Soak it in bitch, soak it in.
Really, in retrospect, Assassins Creed 3: Liberation and Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified, is all they had to show for the machine and even then, all we really got was a logo unveiling of the latter and a gameplay video of the former that barely crossed the one minute mark. That was basically the brunt of their whole Vita push during the conference; two games – two spin-off games no less. Now, before you leap down by throat and gut me from the inside with your serrated dual-shock controllers, having two entries from what will surely be two of 2012’s most popular properties obviously isn’t a bad thing, it’s just a touch unspectacular when it isn’t being backed up by ANY other franchises – first party or otherwise.
Where was the God of War Vita title that is supposedly in production? Or the Killzone title that was shown last year? Or the Little Big Planet title that was announced at the same time as the handheld itself was? Where was any real, new first-party investment on Sony’s behalf in the platform other than the Playstation All-Stars port that every man and his dog knew was coming? I find it completely fucking crazy that they would attempt to realign in a positive fashion, consumer perception of their struggling handheld without some seriously compelling first party software to back it up.
Even third-party wise, a great deal of new games for the Vita simply just weren’t seen at the Sony conference and were sorely missed as a result. Instead of being part of the conference, Vita versions of games such as the newly announced Need for Speed: Most Wanted were relegated to footnotes in the respective publisher’s own press conferences. Really, rather than dispelling the fact that the Vita needs more decent, quality software, the slim pickings which were on show did little else then embolden the prevailing thought that the machine really has very little out, or coming out for it.
There are actually other third party titles coming out for the Vita y’know. Honest guv.
They didn’t even have a showreel for heaven’s sake, which would have been useful to at least highlight and remind folks about some of the forthcoming games like Persona 4: The Golden, Street Fighter X Tekken and more besides.
Some people have been keen to point out that this was Sony playing it safe and that there would be more unveils further down the road, but really this wasn’t playing it safe; this was tantamount to Sony putting the Vita out to die.
I mean really, they wouldn’t have had to do very much either to make things considerably better either; it’s already a well-known fact that Vita owners are craving HD collections, so why not feed that need and showcase the likes of Ratchet & Clank and Jak & Daxter HD collections running on the Vita? Sure, it’s double-dipping perhaps, but just about everybody I’ve spoken to would prefer those sorts of experiences in the palms of their hands rather than on their PS3 and let’s face it, the Vita *really* needs those software sales, so it seems like a total no-brainer.
Anybody who believes that these two games wouldn’t be IDEALLY suited to the Vita, needs to be sectioned. Immediately.
Price-wise too, people are reluctant to buy into the hardware because its base price (not to mention the still insane price of Sony’s propriety memory cards) is still relatively high and all of the bundles that currently exist for it are utterly shit and to that end, Sony made no real headway in addressing the issue; unless of course you live in France where quite puzzlingly, they were given a fifty Euro discount off the machine for two weeks.
Absolutely pointless in the extreme.
THIS was about as exciting as Sony’s first party support for the Vita at E3 got. Wonderful. I feel better about that Vita purchase already.
Most alarmingly, this was the ideal (and possibly last) window of opportunity for Sony to reinvigorate the handheld since next year Sony need to be all about the Playstation 4/Orbis, in order to attempt to grab some a share of the next-gen attention that Microsoft will be openly and loudly grabbing for. I mean come on now, the machine is not even a year old and is in need of some real, heavy support and really needs sorting out in order to make the machine even remotely relevant to gamers tightly clutching their 3DS’s and swanky smartphone devices. As it stands, they completely failed in that task and going on their E3 showcase alone, I simply don’t see one or two third-party titles making a significant overall impact to the fortunes of the embattled handheld.
Playstation 3 – First Party Crashers
If the Playstation Vita; a format desperately in need of a boost of first-party support, was sadly missing it then you wouldn’t have to look far to find where it all went. Indeed, PS3 owners were in for a treat as Sony showed off the bombastic triumvirate of God of War: Ascension, Beyond: Two Souls and The Last of Us.
God of War: Ascension held little surprise for the audience but nevertheless showed itself to be a formidable offering. Showcasing some gorgeously violent combat, superb visuals and seemingly what appears to be a very robust and enjoyable multiplayer mode, the game looks to be effortlessly capable of dutifully fulfilling that awkward spot as a worthy follow-up to God of War 3, but not the next ‘real’ canonical entry in the series which is presumably being prepped for the next-generation Playstation home console.
Beyond: Two Souls, the latest title from Heavy Rain code-house Quantic Dream, turned out to be every bit the cinematic wonder that we all thought it would be. Boasting some of the best visuals probably ever to be seen in this current generation of console hardware, the demonstration of David Cage’s newest opus went predictably heavy on cinematic bombast and equally predictably light on any sort of gameplay expose’. With some hugely richly detailed environments, highly sophisticated modeled faces that would put LA Noire to shame and an extremely nuanced and delicately subtle performance by a digital Ellen Page (who seemingly has a supremely polished cranium), the game never lacked anything in stagger-factor whatsoever. However with that said, the lack of any real gameplay was disappointing yet somewhat understandable given the developer pedigree.
Finally, Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us (the one with NOT Ellen Page) painted us a spectacularly grim picture of a post-apocalyptic future; giving us our first look at the game in motion. Visually, the game looks to be on par with the beautiful Uncharted titles that the company is mainly known for, but really, it’s the tense atmosphere and unrelentingly brutal and dynamic combat system that are the stars of the show. Showcasing a makeshift inventory system which allows you to combine every-day items for deadly effect (see the improve Molotov cocktail in the video) and an AI partner that reacts dynamically to the events which unfold (see the helpful stabbing she gives to a soldier wrestling with the main character), the game looks to be every bit as cinematic as it does eminently playable. In short: I can’t fucking wait for it and for me, it was easily the highlight of Sony’s first party offerings for the PS3.
Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about Playstation: All-Stars or Ratchet & Clank: Q Force. Sure enough All-Stars is a solid enough Smash Bros esque mascot crossover fest, but outside of its highly touted cross-play feature with the also announced Vita version of the title, it’s pretty apparent that it lacks both the gravitas and the appeal of its aforementioned Sony stablemates. The same thing applies to the announced, but not shown, Ratchet & Clank: Q Force; with developer Insomniac games promising a return to the gameplay style of old that brought them to the dance. Really the fact that it was only mentioned and not shown in any sort of meaningful capacity, doesn’t exactly say much about Sony’s confidence in the title.
The US version is subtitled ‘Full Frontal Assault’. The UK version is subtitled ‘Q Force’. Just, wow.
Despite this though, they do have one advantage over their three more enticing brethren; both of them are actually coming out this year. So then, despite the spectacular nature of their demonstrations, the sad fact eventually sinks in that you won’t be playing these games this year and it really serves to underline the fact that despite their strong first-party showing, Sony actually have very little for you to enjoy this year.
The Last Guardian. If this guy isn’t next-gen bound i’ll eat my hat; or something vaguely hat-like.
Oh and the very distinct lack of The Last Guardian goodness was duly noted; anybody who expects it to appear on this generation of Sony hardware is clearly kidding themselves at this point; especially given the recent omission from the developer that they are having a ‘myriad of technical issues’ with the highly anticipated title.
Next year then.
Playstation Move – No Motion To Carry It
No decent Playstation Move support at E3? Kevin Butler wouldn’t stand for that shit.
It seems that Sony no longer wants to compete with Kinect, or at the very least, they aren’t too hot on talking about it. Microsoft on the one hand, seem completely hell-bent on including Kinect functionality in just about every title they can and forcing developers to smile and wax lyrical through gritted teeth about it. Sony however, seem a lot less keen to do so and additionally, appear a lot less interested in getting developers to continue sing the praises of the motion control device (the last guy who did was Ken Levine at last year’s E3 regarding Move integration into the forthcoming Bioshock: Infinite).
This year’s E3 presser did little to destroy the illusion that Sony don’t have much to say regarding the Playstation Move and despite some *relatively* solid sales numbers, you would think that they would have had more to show for the device than merely a sequel to 2010’s Sports Champions. In contrast to the previous year, where we had an enthusiastic (but again lone) demonstration of Sorcery, Sony’s presser was lacking – just a trailer announcing the game with minimal fanfare and that was your lot.
At this juncture, nobody should be surprised if Sony doesn’t opt to utilise Move as transitional technology (like Microsoft are doing with Kinect) for the next generation Playstation. They just come across as barely willing to give it the time of day, let alone any attempt to re-create a groundswell of interest in the thing at a developer level.
Playstation Plus – Pay It Forward
More free shit than you can shake a hairy stick at. Bravo Sony!
Playstation Plus has for the most part, never been much of a lure – at least to me anyway. Here was a service that you paid for monthly, quarterly or annually which gave you the odd free game, discounted game or beta access to a game that you didn’t really care too much about. Then E3 2012 happened and Sony went full-tilt with ‘Hey! We have lots of free shit to tempt you with!” and it worked.
A whole raft of games suddenly turned up on the service absolutely fucking free – the likes of Infamous 2, Warhammer 40K: Space Marine and the newly released Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown all together proved to be irresistible lure for many folks (including myself) and really, if this stuff continues (and the monthly game swap out plan suggests it will), I can see my new Playstation Plus subscription enduring for a good while yet.
Brilliant stuff.
Sony @ E3 2012 – Conclusion
Despite the considerable shortcomings with their Vita showing, Sony still managed to come across more like a company that cares about the current generation of gamers than Microsoft does by comparison. The demonstration of three highly anticipated, spectacular first-party offerings did much to bolster the perception that they remain invested in the current generation of Playstation and despite the fact they won’t arrive until 2013, it nonetheless speaks volumes about their support for the existing machine going forward through the next year.
While it was largely impossible to shake the feeling that Sony is saving its biggest guns for next year’s next-gen showdown, they really should have done better with supporting the Vita. It needs every bit of help it can get right now and the almost complete lack of demonstrable first and third party support at the presser, will do little else to mitigate the stymieing of growth that the handheld is current experiencing.
Overall though, the presence of some solid first party love for the PS3, bolstered by the new PS Move incentives wasn’t quite enough in my estimation erase the nasty taste that the PS Vita shafting left in my mouth. Sony should have gone for broke with new software announcements and bundles for their struggling handheld this year, since next year, the focus will irrecoverably have to shift to avoid being upstaged by Microsoft when they lock horns with them for their next-generation debut. Hopefully, we’ll get some more Vita love in the coming weeks and months, but as far as E3 2012 goes, Sony had their chance and blew it.
UPDATED: Here Comes The Sun – Capcom Announces Okami HD For PS3 Exclusive Release This Autumn
Praise the sun!
UPDATE: Eagle-eyed fellow blogger Critical Panda has since discovered that the game does NOT require the PS Move for gameplay and can, instead, be played solely with the traditional controller. The article has been updated to reflect this and a trailer (also discovered by said Panda), has been attached to the bottom of the article. Enjoy!
It’s time to dust off or rebuy that Playstation Move controller you scrubs; Capcom this morning have confirmed that one of 2007’s best last gen titles will finally make it’s bow a generation later with the giddy news that Okami will be remastered in high-definition, exclusively for the PS3 with optionalPlaystation Move functionality.
In retrospect, the PS Move with it’s tremendous accurate motion tracking credentials has always seemed like the ideal platform for such a conversion and now it’s become a reality; an absolutely brilliant, fucking reality.
At this point it does look like it will stay a Ps3 exclusive too, I mean could you imagine trying to play it through Kinect? Instead of the masterful brushstrokes required by the game, the screen would look like someone would have thrown the whole paint pot at it. Still, I would have liked to have seen the game on the 360 nevertheless, even if it *just* utilised traditional controller methods; the more formats Okami is on, the better really.
Details wise, things are pretty thin on the ground as far as the game goes. For instance, we’re not sure if the forthcoming HD remaster will boast the more muted colours of the original PS2 version, or if it will utilise the much more glossy and vibrant pallete of the later released Wii version, though I imagine that they would be using the latter rather than the former, as a point of origin for the visuals on this version of the game. No other PS3 exclusive features have been announced either, but the details that we DO know are the price and a release window; which are £19.99 and Autumn respectively.
Really, this game should have happened earlier in the cycle for the PS3 when Sony needed more decent games to reinvigorate the solid, but not spectacular sales of the Playstation Move. Still, i’ll certainly take this all the same and my hope is that this will pave the way not only for more HD remasters of quality last-gen fodder (Kingdom Hearts i’m looking at you), but also that more cruically, it’ll result in a brand new Okami title for next-generation consoles.
‘Okami HD’ is due for release this Autumn exclusively for the PS3 with additional Playstation Move functionality
Pocket Corner: Pix ‘n’ Love Rush Review (iOS) – Essential Retro Platforming Action With Gameplay And Style To Spare
Colourful! Vibrant! 8-Bit! Cat…like!
Sometimes, just sometimes you want to be taken back to a simpler time. To a time where games didn’t have an abundance of cut-scenes, or jock, po-faced military twats harping on about their alphas and their deltas. A time even, where stories didn’t exist because quite frankly the pretence that they typically provided weren’t needed to give us a compelling reason to play.
No, games back then bought their way into our affections and cemented our gaming addictions by virtue of their gameplay and nothing else. It’s to this simplest and often forgotten of mantras that Bulkypix’s retro styled platformer Pix ‘n’ Love Rush, fully subscribes itself to and does so dripping in 8-bit worship and homage.
Its premise as you might infer is pleasingly simple; you play a twee, cat-like creature lovingly constructed out of bleeding 8-bit pixels who can tackle one of four very different platforming game modes, each with a unique visual theme and gameplay slant.
The first – Classic Rush tasks the player with fulfilling the original videogaming OCD; to get the highest score possible. This is handily achieved by collecting golden icons and shooting nasty, flappy pixel-bats and can be played in five minutes or infinite time variations. Most interestingly, Classic Rush throws a number of different game types at you which randomly change the gameplay experience at any given time. To start with you could find yourself on a static set of platforms for example, collecting the golden ‘plus’ icons dotted around to increase your score and then the entire scene could shift; changing colours and forcing you to jump ever upward to avoid a nasty, vertical scrolling death all the while you shoot evil pixel bats and collect those lovely icons.
Classic Rush will break your brain.
It’s simple but maddeningly addictive stuff and really is wholly indicative of the accessible gameplay bliss seen elsewhere in the game.
Next up is Cursed Rush; a traditional side-scrolling jump-or-die gametype, the game aims to challenge with five different difficulty levels ranging amusingly from ‘Hard’ (very easy, really) all the way up and through to ‘Hardcore’ (medium) and ‘Hardcorest’ (very hard). The harder the difficulty, the smaller the platforms become for you to jump on. Naturally, the objective to fulfil here is old-skool; get the highest completion percentage you can (a percentage ticker constantly increments itself as the level scrolls) by not falling to your death.
Just look at it. I mean, really it’s like Jeff Minter took some LSD and decided to make a platformer. Oh, wait.
The third mode, Rainbow Rush, has your pixel-cat/thing on a forced dash across one of four levelled corridors. Here, your control is reduced to just a singular input; tapping the screen makes the player ascend to the level above them, or if they are already at the very top, it puts the player on the bottom level corridor. Additionally, if a corridor has a gap for you to fall through; you will descend down on the corridor immediately below you or on the top corridor at the top of the screen if you fall off the bottom of the screen. Failure comes in the form of being crushed against the left side of the screen by blocks in the corridors which are usually placed in nefariously twattish places, forcing you to switch levels at a moment’s notice only to be caught behind another load of blocks you didn’t anticipate.
Playing Rainbow Rush? Unless you have Jedi reflexes, expect to see this screen. A lot.
Finally, the fourth mode titled On-Off Rush, forces the player to dash in either direction along the X-Axis collecting little suns and crescent moons against the clock. Depending on the time of day which is switched each time you reach the end of the map, collecting a sun or a moon may increase your score and sustain your multiplier, which in turn extends the time left on the clock, or kill your multiplier completely and prevent you from accruing any extra time.
It would all be for naught if the controls weren’t up to snuff; luckily, the controls are crisp and responsive enough to the point that you can’t really use them as an excuse to hide how shit you are at the game. Quite frankly, it’s the robustness and responsiveness of the controls that makes Pix ‘n’ Rush such an effortless pleasure to play and it’s in the four, very different game modes, that the control system shines and the player is meaningfully challenged time and time again.
Deliciously retro.
Visually and aurally, the game is as stalwart a homage to the 8-bit days of yore as any game has been since that time with pitch-perfect 8-bit tunes and sound effects eliciting a much earlier era of gaming. As well as having butter smooth animations, the pixels are large; bleeding colours and definition like never before as the fancy high-tech displays of today embellish the charmingly retro visual style of yesteryear with retinal orgasmic aplomb. One such example of this retro chic in full swing is in Cursed Rush, where pangs of nostalgia are elicited by the fact that all the action is framed by an old school ‘fishbowl’ monochrome CRT screen, with a game of pong being played in the background.
Pix ‘n’ Love Rush is as much a love letter to the timeless, nostalgic aesthetics of the 8-bit era as it is to the gameplay designs that made them so endearingly addictive. Boasting visuals that are as charmingly captivating as the gameplay that underpins them, developer Bulkypix hasn’t just managed to create an overzleaously cool homage to platformers of the 8-bit era, they’ve also crafted the best touch screen platformer available full, fucking, stop.
If you’ve gotten this far in the review and your iThing/Droid-Thing doesn’t have THIS screen on it; you’re DOING IT WRONG.
Costing the same as a bag of crisps, two if you are an Android owner (unless of course you like Grab Bags), you really shouldn’t turn your nose up at the sheer amount of gameplay and enjoyment that is on offer here; unless of course you‘re some sort of scum sucking pervert.
‘Highly recommended’ doesn’t really cover it.
Community Spotlight: Hate-Me Gaming
A crackling little gaming community if there ever was one.
These days it can be so difficult to find a group of like minded gamers who are both great gamers and great people (in my experience the former rarely breeds the latter). It’s a relief then that community gaming website Hate-Me Gaming are some of the most passionate and welcoming gamers you could ever hope to run into.
Running the whole gamut of what you would expect from a quality, community focused gaming website, the talented chaps over at Hate-Me Gaming do pretty much everything ranging from hosting online gaming sessions, podcasts, video walkthroughs, their own Minecraft machima series and much more that it would be a crying shame not to get involved with them.
Their latest video output, a Day Z video diary chronicling a daring nighttime rescue can be seen below and is well worth casting your eyes across:
Click on their logo at the top of the page to go to their site and join up to one of the most welcoming and passionate community gaming sites around.
Additionally, follow them on Twitter and their YouTube and Facebook pages below:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/HateMe_Gaming
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/hatemegaming
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/hatemegaming
Wii U Get It Right Nintendo? Nintendo E3 2012 Press Conference Analysis
Yeah, they didn’t exactly put on the best E3 hardware showcase it must be said.
It’s clear to me now that Nintendo really didn’t realise the opportunity that they had at E3 2012; essentially their second attempt to unveil their next home console to Joe Consumer and get the ball rolling with some positive momentum five months prior to its launch.
They didn’t realise this simply because despite the fact that the whole conference was geared towards the new hardware, as a showcase for the WiiU the whole thing was horribly botched – dangerously approaching the ineptitude of last year’s dismal and confused showing.
In regards to the software side of things, particularly the first-party stuff, they started off well enough with Pikmin 3 and New Super Mario Bros U, but after that they completely fizzled out; people expected more – they expected one big first party bombshell after another. Ninty’s one great card they have always been able to play is the strength and general level of innovation when it comes to their first-party IP’s – there really wasn’t any of that on show here and troublingly, some real key-players simply were not present at all.
Sure, Pikmin 3 looked good (not great), but everybody expected it; New Super Mario Bros U on the other hand, was a shining example of Nintendo playing it far too safe both creatively and commercially since not only can I not recall a time where Ninty had TWO ‘New’ Super Mario Bros titles on the same show (the 3DS had a New Super Mario Bros 2 title), but the games looked so unbelievably similar it almost beggars belief that the game is being positioned as a ‘killer app’ for the machine when it launches in November.
Pikmin 3 & Super Mario Bros U. Solid, but far too safe to spearhead a new console launch.
Would it really have hurt them so much to do a ‘Super Mario Galaxy Wii U’ – a game that not only in qualitative terms, would likely be up there with the legendary Wii titles but would also do justice to the extra grunt that the Wii U packs? Sure, I get the fact that Nintendo have never been about the graphics, but nevertheless, I feel that it would be an important tick to put in that box if they want to fulfil their quest of getting the alienated core gamer back on board.
Moving on, any sort of new Zelda title announcement was MIA which was cripplingly stupid on two fronts; firstly, it was the most logical follow-up ever to the superb tech demo that was shown last year (what was that about graphics Nintendo?) and secondly, a Zelda title (or at least news of one), is a damn near requirement to stoking the fires amongst not only the Nintendo faithful (who must be overdosing on Prozac by now after that conference), but the core gamer also.
So as an overview – we have a 2D focused Mario title which looks not unlike the previously released NDS/Wii titles; a Pikmin game that everybody knew was coming and boasts minor differences over its nearly eight year old prequel, no new other first-party IP updates (Metroid, Donkey Kong, F-Zero, the list goes on) and finally, we have no news of a Zelda title being anywhere near the launch window of the console (current reports put it as far as 2 years out).
The WiiU showcase was certainly worse off without any mention of the further exploits of this chap.
Oh and don’t think I’ve forgotten about ‘Nintendo Land’ either. Obviously it’s a tad churlish to start shitting on it before we have it on our hands, but the claims of it being the Wii U’s ‘Wii Sports’ ring hollow when the game is effectively 12 or so mini-games with a table focus and comes across more like a ‘Wii Play’ style proof-of-concept set of activities rather than a ‘Wii Sports’ killer app equivalent.
Regarding Nintendo Land, apparently, the Zelda component of it was absolutely awesome, but instead they deigned to show the Luigi haunted house side of things, which looked contrived, un-exciting and unfinished (frame-rates dropped below 15fps at times; worrying considering how little was going on-screen, though I suspect that this was down to unoptimised code more than anything).
Despite their assertion to their contrary, I truly hope that they aren’t pinning all of their hopes on Nintendo Land as some great white hope to epitomise everything that the WiiU is about, because at this stage it just doesn’t have the same impact as a ‘Wii Sports’ or a ‘Mario Galaxy’.
Third-party wise, Nintendo pretty much gave themselves both barrels in the face.
Right so instead of showing off the likes of Aliens: Colonial Marines running with unique features on the console (y’know a game that it isn’t out yet, people are excited about and the developers themselves enthusiastically claim that the WiiU version is the best version), we get a nearly ten minute presentation of Batman: Arkham City Armoured Edition – a game that we all played eight months ago now but now has added touch-screen irritations for you to deal with. Smashing stuff.
Then on top of that, we get a sizzle reel showing off some more third-party games (a lot of the footage looks to be culled from the 360/PS3 versions) and some additional casual cack showreel from Ubisoft (AC3 nonwithstanding) and that was that. Mind-blowing.
For the love of Cthulu why did this need to be demonstrated on-stage at the expense of, y’know, something NEW?
What they should have done, is relegated Batman to that sodding showreel and done on-stage demonstrations of Assassins Creed 3 and Aliens: CM; two games that really take advantage of the additional control methods offered by the machine and whose developers have been singing praises about since last year’s E3. Both titles (AC3 and Aliens) are hugely anticipated games with a lot of buzz surrounding them, yet they found themselves relegated to the showreel. Also, why the hell was innovative FPS ZombiU, a game that received more than a few decent reviews from the showfloor, shown only as a CG video during the presser? It just doesn’t make sense.
People don’t give a shit about rendered movies – they care about the actual fucking game. You would think that this was 2005 or something. And another thing; where in the blue fuck was Platinum Games P-100? A game which has totally enamoured pretty much everybody who played it on the showfloor and would appear to be jewel of the WiiU’s third party crown – and yet, it was nowhere to be seen. Complete and utter madness.
Project P-100, one of very best WiiU titles in development, but apparently not good enough to even be MENTIONED at the presser. Dumb. As. Rocks.
Speaking of 2005, another thing that stuck out like a sore thumb was the lack of any mention regarding their online gaming infrastructure. Sure, Miiverse is quirky and the social innovations that it enables are pretty inspired, but where was the meat ‘n’ spuds of the Wii U online gaming experience? Where was the indelible proof that friend codes are dead forever and people have names/tags that can be sought out? Where was the Xbox Live esque UI allowing you to create online gaming parties and multi-task with downloads? Where was the new look WiiU store? Where were any of these things that were supposed to remind us that Nintendo is trying to make its online offering relevant?
And then finally, the coup de grace was of course the complete lack of pricing, release details or software line-up which was we all thought was going to happen but didn’t when Reggie said at the end of the presser: “and look what we have for you now…” and just proceeded to show a flyby of Nintendo Land. Brilliant. Thanks for that Reggie; I really wanted that – a flyby of a game that I was struggling to muster the enthusiasm for in the first place in lieu of ACTUAL FUCKING LOGISTICAL DETAILS ABOUT THE CONSOLE YOU ARE TRYING TO SELL TO US.
I WANT TO LOVE YOU. WHY DO YOU PUSH ME AWAY?! *sobs*
*Breathes deeply*. Despite what this analysis may lead you to believe, I actually love the idea of the WiiU hardware – the thought of being able to play games on a tablet which can function separately or interact dynamically with the console itself is pretty astounding to me; moreso when I think about the typical strength of Nintendo’s first party offerings in galvanising such an interesting concept. I’m just not *sold* on it based on what I observed at their press conference at this year’s E3.
This apparently will be the game that will have the same gravitas and effect on customers as Wii Sports did in converting them to Nintendo’s cause. SPOILER: It won’t.
They have a lot of work to do if they want to secure the ‘core’ audience that they believe they alienated with the Wii and despite the commonly held belief that Nintendo operate in their own generation, next year will very likely mark the launch of the next home consoles from Sony and Microsoft and Ninty really can’t afford to have a lackluster inaugrual year with this console.
Quite frankly, anybody who feels that Nintendo had a conference remotely approaching anything decent has bigger problems to worry about.
Like not breathing out of their cake-holes for starters.
Gameloft Announces ‘The Dark Knight Rises Mobile’ To Release For iOS And Android Devices This Summer
Mobile developer Gameloft, who seemingly couldn’t develop an original concept or game if their lives depended on it, have jumped onto the latest license bandwagon with their forthcoming release of The Dark Knight Rises Mobile for all manner of iThing and ‘Droid devices this Summer.
Given Gameloft’s penchant for aping popular concepts from home console titles in the past, see if you can guess what type of game TDKR: Mobile is going to be.
Go on; stress that brain. No idea? Look at the brawl-happy trailer below and embrace palm to face:
Looking like some bastard cross between the uninspiring Batman Begins title that came out on last-gen machines back in 2005 and some sort of very vague approximation of Batman: Arkham City, the game looks about as unoriginal and uninspired as you might reasonably assume given the developer pedigree. Oh, and it’s also going to be a pay-to-win free-to-play title with lots of lovely in-app purchases.
Marvellous.
The Dark Knight Rises Mobile is due for release on iOS and Android devices this Summer.
Coming Zune – Microsoft To Unveil Apple iPad Rival Next Week
According to a ‘solid’ source from entertainment website The Wrap, Microsoft is set to reveal a tablet next week that will represent its entry into rival Apple’s stomping grounds with its own branded tech-slate.
Current gossip has it down that the company has scheduled a secretive event for Monday at 3:30 p.m. June 18 in Los Angeles, whereupon it will make a mysterious “major” announcement.
That major announcement is thought to be nothing less than Microsoft heralding their desire to aggressively enter the tablet market with a product of their own. Current rumours are saying that it’ll run on Windows RT; a tablet specalised version of Windows 8 that only supports downloaded software available from the Windows Store. I also imagine it’ll make generous use of the SmartGlass technology that the Redmond giant announced at this year’s E3.
My take? It’ll likely be a case of history repeating itself as it did with the ill-fated Zune Player; the Microsoft tab will likely be the most powerful lump of slate on the market, but it just won’t have that crucial trendy market prescence that Apple possesses in buckets. I expect it’ll sink without a trace twelve or so months after launch given the fact that I just don’t think they’ll be able to offer anything different enough to get folks to invest.
Remember this? Microsoft is hoping you don’t.
Microsoft Doing Old Games On Demand Sale Clearout – 400 MSP Per Game (Including Kameo, Ghost Recon AW etc.) Next Week
Starting next week on June 19th and ending the following week on June 25th, Microsoft is having a jolly old Games on Demand clearance of some of it’s older titles.
Including titles such as Kameo, Perfect Dark Zero, Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter and Prince of Persia going for 400 MSP per pop, it seems like there could be something for everyone from the old guard at this super cheap price… Except for well, Perfect Dark Zero. It was offensively horrendous.
The full list of titles has been compiled below for your viewing pleasure, again, there are more than a few stinkers but i’m sure there is a least one title there for most of us that we wouldn’t mind splashing out the relatively menial sum of 400 MSP for:
- Bionic Commando
- Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WW II
- Bolt
- Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
- Conan
- Dark Void
- FaceBreaker
- Kameo
- Open Season
- Perfect Dark Zero
- Prince of Persia
- Rockstar Table Tennis
- SEGA Superstars Tennis
- Surf’s Up
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
- Virtua Tennis 2009
- Viva Pinata Party Animals
Anything catch your eye?
Sony Releases New God Of War: Ascension Single, Multiplayer Trailers
Following it’s E3 showing, Sony has today released two trailers for it’s first-party golden boy, God of War: Ascension.
The single player video, seemingly comprised of much of the action seen in the E3 demo, shows our hero pretty much doing what he does best; killing improbably huge mythological creatures in various nasty ways.
Take a look:
The multiplayer trailer on the other hand shows a cracking mix of dynamically changing competitive and co-operative play with players working not only to undermine each other, but also banding together to kick the mythological shit out of stage boss too.
It’s still gory as all hell in case you’re worried as you can see in the embedded video below:
God of War: Ascension is due to be released exclusively on the PS3 in standard and collectors edition versions on March 12, 2013.
Capcom Confirms Street Fighter X Tekken Mobile Edition To Arrive On iOS Platforms This Summer
A good few months after the home console release and a few months before the forthcoming Playstation Vita release, Capcom will release a mobile edition of crossover fighter Street Fighter X Tekken for iOS devices sometime this Summer.
In both visual and gameplay terms, the game appears to ape previous Capcom battler Street Fighter IV Volt quite heavily boasting the same, crisp cartoony visuals and the same controller and button layout. Changes to the gameplay will naturally stem from the new tag mechanic and all of the combos that can be generated as a result.
Seems like it’ll be a decent quick-attention seeker then; much like it’s predecessor.
No character roster has been announced yet, but judging by the screenshots seen below, we can at least vouch for the appearances of long-time favourites Ryu, Kazuya, Chun-Li and Nina Williams
Doesn’t look too bad does it? Though it would be nice if Kazzy could stop shooting lasers out of his face, the cheating bastard.
Street Fighter X Tekken Mobile is due to arrive sometime this summer on all iOS 5 platforms except for 3rd generation iOS devices.
BitSnark 