E3 2014 Closing Ceremony/Awards

Written By: Tyler

 

Well, this is it, ladies and gentlemen. There's only one more E3-related post to be made and it's one to celebrate the whole event. I will not be doing individual awards like, "Best Action Game" or awarding games for being the best game on a particular system. Unfortunately, since I'm not there, there are a lot of games I never got to see because I had to rely on feeds.

I appreciate anybody who tuned in and read my numerous articles throughout this entire thing. Now let's get on with this.


Game Of The Show

Winner: Evolve

Before I talk about the winner, I have to explain that I had a hard time choosing this. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go with the game that I am most excited for, because then Metal Gear Solid V would have gotten the nod because I've been excited for that since before it was even announced. Or maybe I wanted to go with the game that had the best presentation... not necessarily the game that I think will be the best, but the game that had the best video. Battlefield: Hardline might have won that because the one video where we actually watch a heist was so intense I couldn't wait. Games like Super Smash Bros. didn't get the nod because I know I'll love it but E3 did nothing to further that... Smash Bros. is Smash Bros. and it will be glorious. So, to get my winner, I kind of put the two elements together and came up with Evolve.

Evolve was not a game that I was super into before E3. I watched the videos, saw the gameplay, but it was during E3 that I came to love it. It just finally clicked with me how original, daring and exciting it is. It's still not the game I anticipate most, because there are a bunch of games in the honourable mentions that I'd rather play, but Evolve totally won me over, and that's reason enough to make it Game of the Show in my eyes.


Honourable Mentions
Sunset Overdrive
Battlefield: Hardline
The Witcher 3
Batman: Arkham Knight
Rainbow Six: Siege
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Super Smash Bros.
Xenoblade Chronicles X
Far Cry 4



Surprise Of The Show

Winner: Let It Die

My logic for why this won is more simplistic than my logic for Game of the Show. I love Suda51 and I didn't know this game was being made. So thus, I am excited to see what the crazy bastard does. It beats out the announcement of Star Fox because I had read articles about it beforehand, and I didn't mention the Zelda announcement because that was pretty much a guarantee. Mursaki Baby looked lovely, and #IDARB has one of the neatest concepts of the entire show. Splatoon is also an interesting concept and the fact it's a cool Wii U game made me care more.


Honourable Mentions
Murasaki Baby
#IDARB
Splatoon
The Star Fox Announcement




Press Conference of The Show

Winner: Nintendo followed by Sony, then Ubisoft, then Microsoft... then a distant EA

When I first wrote about the Nintendo Digital Event (yes I know it isn't technically a press conference), I was more warm about it than hot. But then I have thought about it since and it was an excellent mixture of games and theatrics. It was funny, but all about the games, and Nintendo did a great job.

Sony is my primary system so I was emotionally invested in it, but it lost some momentum throughout, until it eventually came back in a big way.

Ubisoft is a great company with interesting games and their presentation was extremely theatrical. It was kind of a nerdy concert.

Microsoft did a great job and made it all about the games.

EA was boring and they didn't focus enough on actual gameplay.



Disappointment of the Show

Winner: No Metroid

Nintendo killed it anyway, and announced two big franchises, but damn it Ninty, where is my Metroid?


Honourable Mention
No mention of The Last Guardian



Unrealistic Desires For E3

Announcements for Timesplitters 4, The World Ends With You 2 and a new installment of The Last Vikings. I knew none of this would happen but I hoped that they would be announced.


As a closing statement, I would just like to say that I noticed a lot of co-op games, whether it was new IPs, or old IPs that are now implementing co-op, it seemed like there was more of a focus on it, which is thrilling for me because I'm a huge fan of that. I also noticed that they're bringing a lot of "old" games to new systems. In cases such as Grand Theft Auto 5, that's exciting, but what do you think about it? Will you re-buy games you already own just because they're now next-gen? Let me know in the comments below or tweet me @ArtBathednCrime.

With that, I close down my last remaining feed (a Gamespot wrap-up show) and bid you farewell, and goodbye to E3 until next year. Now it's time to go outside. Well, maybe I'll sleep first.

E3 Day 1 (Part 2): The Other Stuff Of The Day

Written By: Tyler

Image from http://e3expo.com

Now that the main press conferences are over, it's down to whatever news trickles out and gameplay impressions. It's time to open up multiple Firefox windows and watch a few different live streams at a time. I will use this post to sum up some of the news and whatnot of the day that caught my attention, and I will divide the post into "News" and "Impressions."


News

Devil's Third Is A Wii U Exclusive
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/06/10/e3-2014-devils-third-is-a-wii-u-exclusive

It looks like Nintendo has picked up another exclusive game, and this one is a more adult-oriented third person shooter, with gore and dismemberment. Whether it'll be something special or a dud will only become clear in time, but it's a good thing for Nintendo that they're getting this.


Star Fox Exists!
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/06/10/e3-2014-star-fox-coming-to-wii-u-miyamoto-reveals-new-projects

I didn't catch the tease in the Nintendo Digital Event because I must have been asleep or something, but this is huge news for Nintendo.


Mario Party 10 Is Coming To The Wii U
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/06/10/e3-2014-mario-party-10-coming-to-wii-u

I haven't actually played a Mario Party in years but a new one always has the potential for fun. This one will have a new "Bowser Mode" that allows the person using the Gamepad to become Bowser and give trouble to the other players.


Fantasy Life Is The Next RPG By Level 5... And It's For The 3DS
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/06/10/e3-2014-level-5-announces-fantasy-life-for-nintendo-3ds

So far, for me, the 3DS has been a combination RPG/Life Simulator machine, and Level 5 is continuing that for me... literally releasing a game that is both. From IGN:

Fantasy Life is a RPG where you'll be able to have different jobs and make a life for your character. You'll be able to set out on adventures to save the world, or take up more leisurely activities like cooking or fishing.

Mario vs Donkey Kong Is Coming To The Wii U
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/06/10/mario-vs-donkey-kong-coming-to-wii-u

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/06/10/art-academy-on-wii-u-gets-october-release-window

Final Fantasy Type-0 HD Is Coming To The PS4 And Xbox One
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/06/10/final-fantasy-type-0-hd-announced-for-xbox-one-and-ps4

There's a remastered version of the Japan only, Playstation Portable RPG, Final Fantasy Type-0 coming to next-gen consoles. There's no release date yet, but it looks cool and it'll be nice to see it localized for the first time ever. Yeah, America rocks!


Impressions
These are the games that I got to see more of today.

Sunset Overdrive -- It still looks like one of the funnest games that was at E3. Just pure craziness, colourful and fast.

Fable Legends -- I think it looks okay, and the co-op should be fun. I still feel the same way as I did when I saw it during the press conference. It's probably going to be solid but I'm not unbelievably hyped for it by any means.


The Division -- Even though all I saw was the same video that we saw at the press conferences, it had developer commentary over it. I'm really excited for it still and love how it has RPG elements like loot drops and whatnot. They explained the multiplayer a little bit more, and it sounds like it's going to be fluid and not be a typical, generic MMO.

Heavy Bullets -- I had never heard of this game before so I was curious about it. In my mind, I expected a grim cover-based shooter or a really silly shooter, but it's a lot different. The first time I saw the visuals I was caught off guard, but not really in a good way. It's colourful, and the concept of the game -- very limited bullets so you have to aim well -- is interesting but from the video I've seen, I'm just not feeling it.

Xenoblade Chronicles X -- It looks like an evolution of the first Xenoblade Chronicles, which isn't a bad thing. The combat looks deeper, the variety in weapons is nice, the world still looks huge and oh yeah, giant robots. I can't see anybody who loved the first one hating this.

Homefront: The Revolution -- I'm sure it'll be decent, but it honestly just looks like another shooter to me.

Driveclub -- The video I saw was not the most exciting thing ever, since it didn't have online connectivity. All they did was drive, but everything looked pretty already. I am not a big racing game fan but I hope this ends up being good, especially considering all the delays.

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor -- This still looks like one of the best games coming up, mostly because of the way relationships and the world changes based on your actions. If this game lives up to what they're promising, this will be truly special, and seeing the demo of it just confirms the potential.

Destiny -- I saw some multiplayer footage of Destiny, and the mechanics look solid. It looks and feels like Halo in a lot of ways to me, at least looking at the video. I can't wait to try this bad boy out.

Some footage I wanted to see but missed: The Order: 1886, No Man's Sky



Okay, I have work early in the morning and I've already stayed up too late. I know that the day isn't over yet, but I will have to catch up on the rest of Day 1 tomorrow and maybe do a quick little shout-out to today in my Day 2 post.

What have you liked about Day 1 of E3? Let me know in the comments below or tweet me @ArtBathednCrime.

News Round-Up For February 2 - 8: Shit Gets Delayed, Microsoft Says The Net Sometimes Lies

Written By: Tyler

Hello people, I am back for yet another News Round-Up. Every week I do a run through of some of the most important news of the week... or at least the news that is a) important to me or b) easy to make fun of. Let's see what this week had for us.


It Turns Out That People Like Minecraft
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2014/02/03/minecraft-sells-14-million-on-pc-series-total-over-35-million

Notch confirmed that the PC version of Minecraft has sold 14 million, with the total sales on all platforms figured to be over 35 million. Despite the fact that Notch thinks Mario Kart isn't a real game (GRRR), I have to give praise to the game for how innovative it is. It's hard to deny that Minecraft is a cash magnet, with how many copies it has sold and how much attention it gets on Youtube just by making a video about it.

I mean, I'm only reporting the news to get more views for my blog. Did I mention Minecraft?


Is Duke Returning In A Game That Isn't A First-Person Shooter?
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-duke-nukem-game-teased-for-playstation-and-pc/1100-6417484/

According to this article he is. The game was teased for Playstation and PC, and won't be a first-person shooter. The game is going to be called Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction and it will have experience points and tech trees. To be honest I don't like the idea of Duke leaving the FPS genre but I do welcome evolving with RPG elements thrown in.

I guess it doesn't matter though, since I'm 28 now and by the time it releases I'll be dead.


Titanfall Developer Has Fears of the Upcoming Launch For The Greatest FPS To Ever Exist
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-dev-has-a-bit-of-fear-over-game-s-release/1100-6417483/

The Titanfall developer is excited for the release next month of their wildly hyped FPS but they are also a little scared because they want the launch to be smooth.

I won't even make an EA joke here because I feel for Respawn.
But EA sucks.


Microsoft Is Going To Release News on Xbone Free Games Soon
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-one-free-game-promotion-news-coming-soon/1100-6417482/

So news that isn't really news. Or is it news within news? News within news within news? Yes Internet, you know where I'm going with this:

Wait, I think I screwed that up. I mean Newsception! That's what I mean! Whew that was close, almost looked like an idiot.

New Lord of the Rings Game Is Only Single Player, Also Not On Wii U
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-lord-of-the-rings-prequel-won-t-have-multiplayer-not-coming-to-wii-u/1100-6417481/

Promising LotR game Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor isn't going to have multiplayer and it's not going to be on Wii U. I don't know why I wrote that out again. I guess I just feel obligated to say something about it. Hey, I did say it was promising at least.

Microsoft Says That They Aren't Planning On Making Xbones $399
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-exec-responds-to-399-xbox-one-rumor/1100-6417473/

They also said you can't believe everything on the internet.

Somebody Leaked The Games That Are Available In the Playstation Now Beta
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/playstation-now-beta-games-include-killzone-3-shadow-of-the-colossus-few-more/1100-6417469/

In another shocking turn of events, someone on the internet couldn't be trusted to keep a secret and leaked the list of games that you can play if you're involved in the Playstation Now beta. 

I'm not going to support foolishness like leaks so I won't be posting a list of the games. I'll just post a link to a site that does. You're welcome Sony.


Bungie Says They Won't Have Mounts in Destiny, Also Kinda Blasts PETA
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/bungie-s-destiny-won-t-feature-animal-mounts/1100-6417485/

Bungie said that Destiny wouldn't have mounts because the heavy-armor of the Titans kept breaking their backs and PETA would go berserk, which I can't imagine being the case. I mean really now, the people who made Mario Kills Tanooki (IT WAS JUST A JOKE, NOT DAMAGE CONTROL) would never ever kick up a fuss.
 


Ubisoft Abandons A Watch Dogs Trademark, Game Is Cancelled
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ubisoft-abandons-watch-dogs-trademark-what-does-that-mean/1100-6417495/

But don't worry they have five more! The game is still coming! It'll be okay, just take a moment to curse me for the title. 

Okay, ready? Now move on.

UPDATE: Then it turns out that whoever abandoned the trademark did it without the knowledge of Ubisoft.  

UPDATE VERSION 2.0: They reinstated the trademark. Quit playing with my heart.


Hyper Light Drifter Delayed
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2014/02/03/hyper-light-drifter-delayed-until-holiday-season

Alex Preston stated that "[the money received from the Kickstarter exceeded expectations so now the game has to go from Awesome to Awesomer]" and he cited health issues. So on a serious note, I hope all is well with him because you don't fuck around with your health.


ReRoll Looks To Generate (Most) Of the World, Might Catch You Doing Dirty Things
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2014/02/03/ex-ubisoft-ea-devs-reveal-ambitious-rpg-reroll

So... I'm just going to pull down the blinds on my window now...

In all seriousness, ReRoll is extremely ambitious, with them sending drones up in the air to generate the environments of the world, all within reason of course. If this succeeds, it could be pretty awesome, or at the very least memorable for that reason alone.

It isn't really going to catch you doing dirty things, by the way.

Or is it?

 


Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes Isn't Going To Be A Very Long Game
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/mgs-5-ground-zeroes-campaign-may-only-take-you-two-hours/1100-6417524/

AND I DON'T EVEN CARE, JUST GIVE ME MGS5: GZ RIGHT NOW. Take me as you wish, Metal Gear.

Even the rain is full of nanomachines!

Jordan Amaro basically stated that length has nothing to do with quality, and brought attention to Dear Esther and Journey, which I definitely agree with, but those are also cheaper... oh who am I kidding? See my comment above the picture.

UPDATE: It seems that lots of people have commented on this. Kojima himself said he believes people will be satisfied and that Phantom Pain will be hundreds of times larger, while the Shadows of the Damned director said that creators having to justify the length of their games is a problem with the industry.

Again, I actually agree with these people to a certain extent. I think people complain way too much about length in games, even if they offer 10 hours of gameplay. Games got more expensive because our technology is better. If people want these triple-A titles with amazing graphics and whatnot, they have to be prepared to pay for that.

However! A possible $40 dollars for two hours is a little much, even if it is Metal Gear. Drop the price and the controversy goes away, especially considering we still have the actual full game coming too. 100 buckaroos for one game? Unfortunately I'll still get it because I fiend for MGS like a junkie.


Kinect Based Tech Is Protecting Borders
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/kinect-based-tech-being-used-to-protect-korean-border/1100-6417491/

So apparently Kinect is being used for something, um, useful? It's protecting the border between North and South Korea. You can do your fantasy football league, talk to the Kinect and now you can use it for security!

Finally found its use. Dem feels.

 
 

Yasumi Matsuno Talks About His New Game, Unsung Story
http://www.destructoid.com/final-fantasy-tactics-director-talks-new-game-269947.phtml

Unsung Story is a biographical game about this very blog!

No, it is actually a turn-based RPG with a job system and no main character. Given his expertise in such things, it's very easy to be excited for this.


The Uncharted Movie Is Still Going To Happen
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/uncharted-movie-still-happening/1100-6417526/

While the Uncharted movie is still going to happen, the director of Identity Thief and Horrible Bosses is the most recent name attached to the project.

But I think we've forgotten one man:

Uwe Boll, our savior.

Super Mario Is In Happy Meals
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/help-nintendo-post-a-profit-by-eating-these-super-mario-happy-meals/1100-6417539/

In the UK they're going to have a Super Mario Happy Meal for a limited time, and this is the only time ever I've been jealous of the UK. Give me Happy Meals, I live in North America!


Warface, Crytek's New Free-To-Play Shooter Came To Xbox 360 This Week...
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2014/02/04/star-wars-the-old-republic-getting-two-expansions-in-2014

...But it's not really free. You need Xbox Live Gold in order to play it.

I'm going to save you some time. Don't play this game. The stupidity doesn't stop at the name, so you're better off playing something else.


Microsoft Planning Two Updates -- One in February And One In March
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2014/02/05/upcoming-xbox-one-updates-to-fix-party-chat-add-features

The first update, which comes Feb. 11, will fix party chat and some other issues. The update in March is going to get the Xbox One ready for Titanfall.

EA Talks About Their Free-To-Play Remake of Dungeon Keeper
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ea-responds-to-dungeon-keeper-free-to-play-criticisms/1100-6417571/

EA has responded to the hate that players have thrown at their remake of the classic PC game Dungeon Keeper. But I won't quote it here, and instead I will just say... EA, please just...

Stop while you're, um, ahead?

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain May Not Be Released Until December, 2015
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/metal-gear-solid-v-the-phantom-pain-might-not-come-out-until-december-2015/1100-6417568/

Konami has stated that depending on the development stage, the release date for the game I'm most anticipating may be pushed back until next year, at least.

To which I reply down on my knees, face in my hands, crying enough manboy tears for twenty people. I could deal with a Watch Dogs delay, but Metal Gear is just going too far. Something must be done. Sign my petition.

Editor's Note: Petition doesn't exist. Well not mine, maybe someone made one.
Editor's Note: I'm actually the editor too. Which is why there's no editing done in any articles.


Speaking Of Delays, Titanfall For the 360 Is Delayed And Will Now Be Released Two Weeks Later
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2014/02/06/titanfall-delayed-on-xbox-360

Sorry guys.


Rust Removes Zombies In Latest Patch
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2014/02/06/rust-update-removes-zombies

Because there are too many ways to die already, the developers of Rust have removed zombies with their latest patch. Since they were the only game to have zombies, this leaves a large hole for all you zombie fanatics, but don't worry, I got your back.

Naughty Dog Are Considering A Sequel To The Last of Us... Or New IP
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2014/02/07/naughty-dog-contemplating-the-last-of-us-2

I pretty much sum it up in the title, but after developing the DLC for The Last of Us, they are taking a breather. However, they are brainstorming ideas... some of which include a sequel to the hit The Last of Us.

I'll give this one to you. You're welcome.

Take-Two Talks About Development For Various Platforms
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2014/02/07/take-two-ceo-tablet-gaming-not-quite-there-yet

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick (cool name!) has talked about a variety of platforms over the past week. In a nutshell he said mobile gaming isn't quite there yet but knows there's a future, the Oculus Rift is interesting and he is hesitant about developing for the Wii U.

Developers not wanting to make games for the Wii U, in 2014? Man... join the club.

You can go where the red arrow is Take-Two... wait your turn.

Sledgehammer Games Developing The 2014 Call of Duty
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2014/02/06/sledgehammer-games-developing-2014s-call-of-duty-release

It was reported this week that now the Call of Duty games will be on a three year cycle, so three different CoDs, three different developers. I full expect innovation. The influences that I expect to seep through in the future CoDs are; Minecraft, River City Ransom, Bubble Bobble, Final Fantasy and Shadow of the Colossus. Or or or, let's just have it take place in Silent Hill. Yes, let's do that one.


BREAKING NEWS -- THERE ARE A GROUP OF PEOPLE TERRORIZING EVERYONE ON RUST
http://www.destructoid.com/rust-if-you-see-the-penis-brothers-take-off-your-pants-270096.phtml



Proof of why video games are superior to everything.


Flappy Bird Is Going Away (Thank God!)
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/flappy-bird-creator-taking-game-down-but-not-because-of-legal-issues/1100-6417612/

Or it may already be gone. Kurt Vonnegut once said that if God exists than music is the best proof of him/her. I disagree, Kurt, you wonderful bastard... Flappy Bird going away is proof of God.

Anyway, the developer said he just can't take it anymore and the game is going to disappear. He won't be selling it anymore, so it'll almost be like Flappy Bird never existed. Only it did... and people kept talking about it, over and over and over and over and over and over and over.

Bye Flappy Bird!

Don't Worry, The Division Is Not In Trouble
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ps4-xbox-one-game-the-division-not-in-trouble-dev-insists/1100-6417600/

I didn't even know it was suggested that the game was in trouble. Had I known, I probably wouldn't have been alive to write the News Round-Up for this week. I guess most people would say that'd be a good thing, but I digress.

So don't worry, The Division is still going to come out, and it's still going to be awesome. The two studio approach doesn't mean shit, and it's just "classic team size management." So rejoice, because you will still get to see the light shine through the bullet holes in the signs you shoot. Yay next gen!



Well that's it for this week. Geez these things are long. Can you believe that I edit this post every day? Yes, I put real work into being this crappy.

If there is any news I missed, feel free to write this thing your damn self. Or just reply in the comments below or on my Twitter @ArtBathednCrime. Thank you for reading!