My First Cast

Hey everyone! I just posted my first ever SC2 cast on my youtube channel. I finally got around to fixing the kinks in my stream and so far so good. I hope you enjoy the game. It is a Platinum League Protoss vs Terran on Derelict Watcher.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UI-KB0lXpGQ

Give me feedback, give me suggestions of other games you would like to see me play personally as well. I am currently working my way through the new Tomb Raider so be on the lookout for a review of that in the coming weeks. As you can tell, I did not do a week in review for this past week. I will do a huge post next friday/saturday that will cover this coming week and the past week. So check out the cast and keep a watch for more great videos and content.

Until then:

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Indie developers and the innovation they bring

          The recent years in the gaming industry has seen a massive boom in the number of independent studios developing games due to the ease of publishing. Many of them are trying new and innovative ideas that many AAA developers are either scared to try to simply wont do due to their distributor pulling the plug on new ideas. What I mean by this is that in a way, the ecosystem that is the gaming industry needs to rely on these indie developers and their games to come up with more innovative mechanics in gaming. The indie developers have the opportunity to take major risks in their games that will yield a big reward if it works or a minor hit to them if it fails. AAA developers with huge budgets simply do not have this luxury. Take for example and indie development studio of say around 5-10 employees, all who have an investment in the company, create a new game that involves a never before of fairly obscure and non-polished mechanic. The game itself is not of the highest graphical fidelity and they don't have a budget for decent voice acting or soundtracks, but they end up creating a short story (around a 4 hour game) that gameplay wise depends heavily on their new idea. With all the resources out there these days (kickstarter, indiegogo, steam greenlight) they have scrape up enough money between themselves and the interest of others in the community to finish the game. The game becomes available for people to download for a small fee (Lets say $5) and that's the end. The team continues to improve the game (patches, bug fixes, etc.) and life goes on for the developers. Now the community reaction to the game is mixed. Some people like the new play-style featured, some do not. In the end the developers make their money back and move on to the next project.

          Now lets take that same scenario and see how it works within a AAA developer. Lets set this up as a AAA studio that in recent years has started to fail to meet their financial goals and now is forced into developing a game that is do or die for the company. The development and product team is well over 100 employees with many branches (you need code developers, QA team, design team, animation team, voice acting, writing, etc. you get the point, LOTS OF PEOPLE INVOLVED). During the design and brainstorming phase of what kind of game they want to make, a decision is made to explore the use of a totally new mechanic that someone comes up with. Months and months pass for development and testing and eventually the game is released to the public after tons of money is spent by the company for development, marketing, and distribution. The game gets mixed reviews and eventually fails to meet financial projections needed to keep the studio afloat. Reviews of the game say the new mechanic introduced is what ultimately harmed the game. Had the studio created another game in the same vein of other games they have created in the past, they might have had a better chance to break even or even surpass what was needed to stay afloat.

          The scenarios I just described may not happen exactly like that but I wanted to make the point that indie studios, while not creating the absolute best or most graphically intensive games are needed in the industry to keep pushing innovation. AAA developers can not take as big of a risk as an indie developer can because of the money and manpower that is needed for each type of game. As a real world example I like to look at the indie game Thomas Was Alone, developed by one man over the course of a few months in his spare time. Mike Bithell created the whole game on his own and hired Dave Houdsen to create the soundtrack and Danny Wallace to voice the narration. The game is a puzzle-platformer about colored blocks who each have their own unique ability that will help you solve each level. Small, short, side-scroller, not much else to it except the narration and sound. The way this indie game really uses narration and sound to immerse the player in the environment is incredible and, as I have stated in my own review of the game, really makes this game amazing. Now for Mike Bithell, as stated, this was a game made in his free time, he had no one to answer to, no one to tell him these ideas would not work and no one invested in him that he needed to please in order to release the game. He took a risk and it worked out for him, if it failed, I'm sure it would just be another life experience for him to put under his belt and he would move on. AAA studios CAN NOT DO THIS! They cannot just put out a game and hope it does well, it HAS to do well in order for everyone involved to continue to make a living. The people working on the Call of Duty games cannot just go "hey, you know what we should do in the next installment? Lets add (a mechanic that totally changes the experience) and push it out and hope it sells!" They would be absolutely insane to even think that could be a good idea. If Mike Bithell goes, "Hey, I want to add (a mechanic that totally changes the experience)" to Thomas Was Alone, he can do that because there is a smaller risk to him that he can walk away from if it fails and just move on to the next.

          The main idea I want to get across is that indie studios are needed to push gaming to the next level. The innovation that indie studios can generate is what makes them so great and so essential to the industry. AAA studios will always pump out multimillion dollar games that will sell an incredible amount but for refreshing and obscure experiences, the indie studios will thrive in the vast and ever growing community and deliver a consistent amount of content and innovation. This is not about AAA vs Indie, this is about the future and the landscape of the industry and how new mechanics will forever be tested and how they will be received. Sure some will fail but the ideas brought fourth are priceless to the industry. So support the indie developers so that they may continue to evolve gaming to the next level and keep pushing boundaries that will eventually make their way (if they are good enough) to the AAA titles we all love.


Until next time

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Week in Review 7/20/2013

A little late this week but its time for the week that was:

Lead SimCity developers leave EA and form indie studio

Former SimCity Creative Director Ocean Quigley, Gameplay Lead Dan Moskowitz and Lead Architect Andrew Willmott have formed a new indie studio called Jellygrade. They refer to themselves as “recovering ex-AAA game developers.” They have begun work on a new game aimed at the iPad with a new engine about “a simulation about the dawn of life on earth; about lave, water, rock and the emergence of the first primordial creatures.” Not sure how I feel about this move. iOS games are great for new studios but with the experience these guys have I feel their talents might go to waste. On the other hand, the new SimCity was TERRIBLE and plagued by many bugs and EA’s mighty fist ruled over the playerbase to milk as much money as possible out of consumers. I will keep an eye on what the guys at Jellygrade do in the future and hopefully Maxis and EA can get their shit together with a new team to develop a new SimCity sometime in the near future to make up for the latest disaster of an installment in the series.

Ubisoft: “No new games unless they can be made into franchises”

Ubisoft’s VP of sales and marketing, Tony Key, came out this past week to say that the studio won’t give the go-ahead to any new game unless they believe it can be built into a franchise. “There’s no more fire and forget – it’s too expensive.” This is a double edged sword to me. On one hand, new IPs that do get the go-ahead will be given plenty of resources to create the game and with that comes higher quality, on the other hand this could end up in what I call the Assassin’s Creed syndrome. That series has become stale to me, and I really have lost interest. So while franchises are good and if you have the right idea, you can create an amazing world, that world could grow boring by the time game 3 and 4 hit consumers. Plus another note against franchises is the lack of innovation and imagination. While Ubisoft’s upcoming lineup looks great (Watch Dogs, The Division) I don’t know if I would like multiple games from those universes.

Mad Max gameplay trailer debuts

The game set in the world based on the movie that inspired the post-apocalyptic genre, the new Mad Max trailer showed some awesome footage of what to expect. I got a Fallout feeling from the trailer which is great as Fallout really was Mad Max DC. Hopefully this game fills the void that is missing right now in the genre. Other games tried (RAGE) and failed but I am looking forward to see what Mad Max brings to the table to push innovation. Watch the trailer below:

Officially licensed Firefly game announced for 2014

FIREFLY ONLINE! Yes, fans rejoice, maybe if the interest is there they can bring back the show…. Wait…. Oh no…. no no no….. “the social online role-playing game based on the cult TV series Firefly, is currently in development and slated to launch on iOS and Android-based smartphones and tablets during the summer of 2014” NOOOOOO. The hopes and dreams where astronomically high and then came crashing down in one sentence. Bad move in my eyes, make a full fledged PC/Console game and you will have hordes of people throwing money at you! In my eyes this a huge mistake and a missed opportunity.

Steam Summer Sale winding down

The Steam Summer Sale is almost over and it has been a blast as always. I’m sure the encore deals will be the big ones tomorrow so look out for those.  I picked up quite a few games and I cannot wait to get through them and do some more reviews. I currently have started the new Tomb Raider which is fantastic so far and then I will probably dive into some indie games like Don’t Starve, Monaco and Faster Than Light, so be on the lookout for more content from me. Leave some comments and tell me what you picked up!

That’s all for this week. In other news from me, I finally got my recording software to work so I will be uploading some gameplay videos very soon (SC2 will be my test video). Once I get settled down I will start streaming and if I start to gain more views and an interactive community, I will start reaching out to some industry people to get some interviews going.

Until Next Time

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Game Review - Thomas Was Alone

     I recently finished this Indie Puzzle Platformer and it would be absurd to think of this game as anything less than an amazing artistic achievement. This little indie platformer, created by Mike Bithell has brought out more emotion in me than some recent AAA titles. The narration, the mechanics, the soundtrack are all top notch.
     In the game, you control multiple polygon shapes which represent out-of-control artificial intelligence entities inside a program. As you progress, you have to use each ones abilities to help each other to their designated exits of each level. The game narrative gives each shape a name and personality which helps distinguish each shape from each other, whether it be the eponymous Tomas, who you start off as, who has generally average abilities (he is a small rectangle, skinny, quick and can jump a relatively decent height) or the the stubborn Chris (short square, referred to as "fat" by the narrator, cannot jump high at all) and so on as you meet other shapes along the way. The game itself is only about 3 hours long but I was so immersed in the world that was created and the characters that developed before my eyes that for as short as it was, it made me wanting more and more. The end of each level was met with excitement of starting the next just to hear the next part of the story of these little blocks and their hardships and joys. I felt real emotion for these colored blocks, a real attachment to them, as if I was trapped in this environment alongside them all, wanting to help out the blocks who were portrayed as scared and wanting to stomp the blocks that were trying to sabotage the whole ordeal (there was not fighting involved in any way, only death by water and spikes that would send your block back to start the level over or to the last checkpoint, what I am referring to is the narrative that portrayed some blocks out to be curious or scared or stubborn or envious made me connect with each individual block in different ways.) By the end, I was not looking at the colored blocks as blocks, I was looking at them as personalities, as emotional entities that differed from each other in all sorts of ways.
     A game about jumping colored blocks moving from level to level made me feel such and emotional connection that at the end of each level I didn't just want to, I NEEDED to move on to the next level to make sure they were alright. The environments and level design were crafted beautifully and really played a big role in what makes this game work the way it does. The levels are challenging but not to the point where you will ever feel the need to give up for a night or smash your controller out of frustration. It is a unique way to tell a great story in a relaxing setting. The narration is voiced by actor Danny Wallace who is outstanding. He has done work on the Assassin's Creed games and his work on Thomas Was Alone earned him an award at the British Academy Video Game Awards for the Best Performance category. The soundtrack was produced by David Housden which was stellar and the way it is "procedurally-generated" in game adds to the feel greatly.
     For one man to craft a game that is so simple yet so emotionally complex, is amazing. All credit goes to Mike Bithell who created this game in his spare time and made me believe for a little while that I was playing through a game that was much much more than simply jumping blocks. Do yourself a favor and grab this game when you can, then sit back one night and relax as you get lost in the narrative.

http://www.thomaswasalone.com/


As for me, I will have a video posted soon (I know I keep saying this but I am really trying. My screen capture software needed some tweaking and I *fingers crossed* should be able to upload some gameplay videos soon). I picked up a lot from the Steam Summer Sale so far, so I will be doing some more reviews once I start making my way through some of the (relatively) newer games (Tomb Raider, Don't Starve, Faster Than Light and probably a bunch more)

Until next time

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Week in Review 7/12/2013

Its time for another look back on the week that was. A few announcements and releases this week. Nothing really major in the console wars. And a farewell to a great man.

GTA V gameplay trailer released

And with this 5 minute gameplay overview, Rockstar has reeled me back into the GTA series. GTA V is looking to breath new life back into what, in my opinion, has become a repetative/stagnant series. Beautiful graphics are only the tip of the iceberg of the trailer, the new features and mechanics look very promising.
You can read more about my first reactions here

DOTA 2 comes out of Beta and gets an official release on Steam

Finally after a year+ of Beta, DOTA 2 gets officially launched on Steam. New players should be flooding those servers. The MOBA wars are in full effect now with League of Legends still as strong as ever (even stronger now with the announcement that the US government now recognizes LoL professionals as athletes so they can get Visas) so the E-Sports community will continue to grow and have healthy competition among brands. Great to see E-Sports start making a mainstream push (crossing fingers for ESPN broadcasts).

Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus announced

Sony put out a couple of teaser images leading up to the announcement the next installment of Rachet and Clank will be coming out this holiday season. Any fans of the series will be interested in picking this up and I am sure Insomniac will not disappoint.

Ryan Davis of Giantbomb passes away

I would also like to give me condolences to the families and friends of Ryan Davis from Giantbomb. He was one of the great personalities in the industry and he will be sorely missed. Tuesdays will never be the same. The big man is shaking babies up in heaven now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMEg6mfTfF4

Steam Summer Sale kicks off

Day 2 has kicked off as of this writing. PC gamers look to Steam as their summer sale is in full swing with major discounted games across the board. From AAA titles like Bioshock: Infinite to indie games such as To The Moon, be sure to keep checking back to get your hands on some of the latest titles for dirt cheap. (I already picked up Don't Starve and Scribblenauts Unlimited yesterday and Faster Than Light and FEZ today!)

That's all for this week. Until next time:

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Steam Summer Sale is Here!

Its that time again to get out your wallets and just hand them over to Steam. The Summer Sale kicked off today and its time to update your library with some great games. I have a few that I have wanted to check out but didn't want to spend $40+ on. I will possibly do some reviews on some newer games that I will pick up if they go on sale such as Deadpool, Company of Heros 2 and possibly Dark. Anyway, here is a nice survival guide to reference so you do not get caught up and overpend on games you will never play:

1. Set a balance before the sale begins. Put that amount in your Steam Wallet. Some deals might seem very appealing to you, just don't spend more than you can afford (ex: don't spend money on a game over using that money to buy food!).

2. Make a wishlist of the games you want. You can check it to see if anything you actually want is on sale. This is great to manage your spending.

3. Stick to Daily/Flash deals until the final day.

4. READ REVIEWS! Don't buy games you won't play or are just buying on impulse.

5. Buy everything as a gift. Add them to your inventory only when you go to play them. Gift the ones you don't end up wanting to friends.

6. Have fun with all the new games you purchase!

For the first day we have a few good deals right out of the gate. Bioshock Infinite at 50% off is a must get in my opinion. I picked up Don't Starve and Scribblenauts Unlimited. Hotline Miami is a great indie game and well worth the $2.50. Left4Dead 2 is a no brainer at $5, extremely fun with friends.

All this said, tonight I will be doing my first Starcraft 2 cast so be sure to check out that when it is uploaded. I will also start writing my review for the indie platformer Thomas Was Alone which I just completed last night and I must say, for a game featuring blocks, blew my mind by how enjoyable it was.

Until next time

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GTA V gameplay video released

Today, Rockstar released a 5 minute video covering the gameplay in the upcoming Grand Theft Auto V. These 5 minutes blew me away with how much they have improved upon since the last installment. I must say, I did have my doubts about GTA V ever since it was announced as I have thought some of the more recent titles have been pretty lackluster in the sense that they never added anything new to the game and just seemed like the same exact thing with a new character and updated graphics. I thought the same would be the fate for GTA V, just another environment on a newer engine with the same mechanics and more repetitive nonsense. But from the looks of this video it seems that I am delightfully wrong! For starters we now have 3 main characters who at any point you can switch to and play who each seem to be very diverse from one another. The weapon system was overhauled and Rockstar seems to be going for the Red Dead Redemption method of a weapon wheel as opposed to the old style which was very clunky and more of a burden to change between weapons. The missions seem interesting, they showed off that you are able to choose who you want to send on missions so that could add to a lot of re-playability to see which character is better at what in certain scenarios. All the new things you can do in the open world, they teased hunting, using the stock market, buying real estate, car customization, golfing, scuba diving, and even character customizations such as tattoos. And finally, to top it all off, Rockstar left us all on a cliffhanger teasing the multiplayer. If pulled off right, the multiplayer can be great and a brand new way at how newer GTAs in the future are handled. I believe Rockstar is set up to pull off yet another great rendition of the series after a few dull titles. The newer mechanics were much needed and they seemed to have addressed many of the complaints from GTA IV. Overall, this trailer really got me excited for the game and I cannot wait to see more.


With all this said above, I would also like to give me condolences to the families and friends of Ryan Davis from Giantbomb. He was one of the great personalities in the industry and he will be sorely missed. Tuesdays will never be the same. The big man is shaking babies up in heaven now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMEg6mfTfF4

As always, feel free to leave comments and check out my other pages:

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Game Review – The Walking Dead: 400 Days DLC

Telltale’s The Walking Dead season 1 was one of the best story driven games I have played in recent memory. 400 Days is the DLC released this week as a precursor to season 2. I believe the characters seen and the choices you make will tie in with who you will run into in season 2.

The playthrough is only about an hour and a half long but Telltale delivers throughout. You get to play as 5 characters who each have a short story tied to them. You can choose whoever you want to play as in any order, and it all comes full circle at the end to present you with some tough choices of possibly who you will see in Season 2. Unlike in Season 1 where you only play as Lee Everet throughout, these short mini-episodes have to pack the action while introducing and giving you insight into these new characters. Short but sweet is how I would like to call them. Telltale does a great job a creating interesting storylines and intertwining each characters tales that you as a player can appreciate when you pick up on the subtle hints in each story. So, although you don’t get attached to anyone like you do Lee and Clementine in Season 1, I did become very interested in finding out more about the 5 characters introduced and I hope to see more in Season 2 to flesh out their stories.

            The gameplay does not change at all, it is still point and click with conversations put in for you to make decisions which affect the outcome. The only weakness I can see is some minor technical problems such as bad lip synching in some places and every now and then the scene cutting seemed to be abrupt and harsh. Otherwise, this was a brilliantly written game to hold fans over until Season 2. The music was once again perfect for the situation and the voice acting was superb. I am already looking forward to Season 2 and what Telltale has in store for us all.

4/5

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Week in Review 7/5/2013

A few big things happened this week concerning the console wars and gaming in general and I will run them down right here:

Don Mattrick leaves Microsoft and joins Zynga as CEO

The face of all the problems that Microsoft has had with Xbox is jumping ship... to another Titanic... The former Xbox head is said to be the new CEO of Zynga, a troubled online social gaming company. Overall, this is a good move for both companies in a way, Microsoft gets to play cleanup on the Xbox One apocalypse and introduce a new face into the scene that will hopefully right their ship and Zynga gets an experienced CEO who has worked on many turnarounds in his 30 years in the industry.

Xbox confirms you can use QR codes to scan info into Xbox One

A nice little feature that a lot of people have asked about since Xbox One's announcement have been confirmed. Not much, but it is a step in consumer relations that could go a long way in the end if more of these little features that the community wants get introduced. LISTEN TO YOUR CONSUMER AND YOU WILL BE REWARDED.

Games Critics Awards winners announced
The E3 awards were announced and Titanfall cleaned house (Though one of the stipulations for these awards are that games need to be playable on the floor so that eliminated games like The Division, Metal Gear Solid V and The Witcher 3). 6 awards including Best Original Game and Best of Show went to the Microsoft exclusive that got everyone talking. The biggest surprise to me though was even against a new generation of consoles, the Oculus Rift took home Best Hardware. With their HD prototype on display to use for event goers, the Rift looks to be the next level of gaming. Totally immerseive and impressive demos give hope to a bright future for the PC.

Battlefield 3 goes free for all PS+ members

Nice move by Sony after Microsoft delivers... Defense Grid... as free to play on Xbox live after promising titles such as Halo 3 and Assassin's Creed 3 at E3 as free to play and then not delivering. Another win for Sony, another stumble by Microsoft.

Final Fantasy VII now available on Steam

Great news, bad port? From what I hear there is still an always on DRM that square-enix put on this back when it was originally ported to PC a year ago. Not quite the HD remake everyone was hoping for. I will have to pick it up if not for just the nostalgia factor of replaying what I believe was the best FF ever.

Telltale's The Walking Dead: 400 Days DLC launched

One of the best games of last year, Telltale is back with another episode in their Walking Dead game to hold us over until Season 2 comes out. I have not gotten around to playing this yet but I plan it very soon and writing up a review in the coming days. Pick it up if you liked Season 1, so far from what I have read, it does a nice job at delivering a compelling story once again.
Launch Trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAjBDmh0lbs


Thats all for this week. Hopefully this weekend I can get around to setting up my stream or at least record some videos (probably just a test run of me playing SCII) and start laying out some framework for a contest I have in mind.

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The Rest of E3 aka The Future Looks Bright

There were tons of cross platform games announced and previewed at E3. I am just going to dive right in and give my initial reactions:

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (PS4, XBOne, PC) - More of the same but now with 100% more Pirates! Nothing special jumps out at me at first glance. Fans of the series will probably love it and defend it to the death but I really feel that there wasnt enough time between AC3 and this, seems kind of like a cash grab to me.

Arma3 (PC) - If you never heard of the ARMA series, go look it up NOW! Unlike the Battlefield and Call of Duty series, ARMA is a military simulator. Always pushing graphics to the extreme with each new itteration, I will deffinetley be picking this up (I am Beta testing now for it and so far it is incredible!)

Batman: Arkham Origins (PC, PS3, XB360) - Love the Arkham series and I am really excited for this. Batman has always been a big part of my life. I read the comics, I watch the movies/TV shows, I even have the full set of the DC Superheroes Lego line! Hopefully they stick to the formula and make another great installment in the series.

Battlefield 4 (PS4, XBOne, PC) - 1 word. FROSTBITE. The things they have showcased with the new Frostbite 3 engie look IMPRESSIVE. The destruction looks great, the multiplayer looks great, the graphics look top notch, the environment looks amazing. 100% must get if you are a fan of the series.

Black Gold (PC) - With World of Warcraft seeming to be starting its decline as top MMO in the land, Black Gold will try to capture that title. From the trailer this MMO seems VERY WoW like in graphics and that could be a good thing for them. I have yet to see gameplay so we will have to wait for more to get a real grasp on whether this is the mythical WoW killer or just more cannon fodder.

Call of Duty: Ghosts (PS4, XBOne, PC) - Tweak the graphics a bit, add a few new multiplayer maps, slap on a story and put it on the shelves. The next anual CoD is just another in the line of boring, yet somehow still relevant and massively popular, shooters that will be around for 1 year until the next is churrned out.

Command & Conquer (PC) - The C&C series has a special place in heart. The original C&C back in 1995 was my first ever RTS and I loved the entire series.... up until Westwood went under and EA took over. We will see what comes of this as it is a reboot of the entire series but it is set in the Generals universe and is F2P although the developers have ensured that it is not "Free to Play but Pay to Win" as is the formula with a lot of current F2P games out there. I will follow this, hopefully get into the Beta but I do not have high expectations for this.

Dark Souls II (PC, PS3, XB360) - Fits right in with my online handle IM_GONNA_DIE. Hopefully Dark Souls II grows on what it accomplished in the first installment. I love the lack of hand holding and the dificulty of the first game. A few things could be improved so lets hope they listened to the community and deliver a quality game once again.

DayZ [Standalone](PC) - The DayZ mod for ARMA2 was awesome! Now the standalone game is looking more and more promising. 100% must buy for me on release. This is looking to be the be all end all of zombie survival games.

Destiny (PS4, XBOne) - Holding out hope for a PC release but I wont be totally dissapointed if it doesn't happen as I will just pick it up for PS4. The extended gameplay footage we got to see at the Sony presentation looks really promising. I have faith in Bungie so the bar is set high for this. Cannot wait to see more.

Dragon Age III: Inquisition (PC, PS3, XB360) - Bioware's chance to make up for DA2. I never got into the Dragon Age series and so far all we have to go off of is a cinematic trailer so I will watch for more info and then make a more informed statement.

Dying Light (PS4, XBOne) – No gameplay footage of this yet, but from what we do have to go on makes this game look like Left 4 Dead meets Mirror’s Edge. Although it is being developed by Techland, the same people behind the Dead Island series, I will be on the lookout for some more info.

Elder Scrolls Online (PS4, XBOne, PC) – I am still not totally convinced by all that’s been released on this so far. I love the Elder Scrolls series. I have been playing since Daggerfall and all the installments have been nothing but spectacular. The Elder Scrolls venture into the MMO realm has me worried though that it will be just a cash grab by Bethesda. I’ll hold out hope for this but I am not  setting the bar high.

Final Fantasy XV (PS4, XBOne) – I haven’t played a Final Fantasy game since IX on PS2. Maybe I will give this a shot in the future. The graphics look great but I will wait for some reviews before making a decision.

Kingdom Hearts III (PS4, XBOne) – I’ll be honest. Even though I owned a PS2, I never played any of the Kingdom Hearts. I am promising myself though that I will pick up this franchise when I pick up my PS4 (and Sony releases I and II to Gaikai).

Mad Max (PS4, XBOne, PC) – Love the movie, lets see what direction this game goes. Too early to tell what will come of this.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PS4, XBOne) – I stopped playing the Metal Gear series after Snake Eater only because I never got a PS3. Of course I will be picking this up but I am apprehensive about this only because Metal Gear in an open world could be hindering, plus the gameplay trailer shown during Microsoft’s presentation had to be fast forwarded through what some may say “boring parts”. I want to love this but it could turn into Assassin’s Creed FUTURE real fast, lets hope the story is, as it always has been, amazing.

Mirror's Edge 2 (PS4, XBOne, PC) – YES! Love love love the first Mirror’s Edge and I am really excited for this release. Must have at launch.

Outlast (PS4, PC) - AWESOME! I love the horror genre and this game looks so cool. Like Amnesia meets R.E.C. (the movie) I am loving the trailer.

Plants Vs Zombies 2: Garden Warefare (XBOne, PC) – Totally not what I expected for a sequel to a small, fun, indie game but I am impressed and ready once again to dive right in an kick some zombie ass all over again.

Project Spark (XBOne, PC) – Very impressive presentation. I have my eye on this game. I have high expectations for this from what I saw in the reveal. Spore on crack and then some.

Rise of the Triad (PC) – Fun, fast FPS. Looks like it has potential to be a great multiplayer with the fast paced nature of the gameplay. Very Quake or Unreal Tournament like.

Star Wars: Battlefront 3 (PS4, XBOne, PC) – Probably the biggest announcement for me. I put in so many hours into the first two Battlefront games and I have extremely high expectations for this now and from all the info releases, the stars seem to be aligned for this game. Being developed by DICE (Mirror’s Edge, Battlefield series) and using the new Frostbite 3 engine, I simply cannot wait for this game.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PS4, PC) – Great series, always pushing graphics to their limits, great story. High hopes for this. If you haven’t played any of the others in the series, get to it so you will be ready come launch day of this one.

Thief 4 (PS4, XBOne, PC) – If you like Assassin’s Creed, Metal Gear, Splinter Cell, or any other stealth games, then this is a must have. The series that started to perfect the stealth genre as far as I am concerned returns and hopefully the push the bar even higher. I expect greatness from this.

Titanfall (XBOne, PC) - This seemed to be the Big console exclusive for Microsoft. I will be picking it up for PC but it really was impressive. The balance of the game is something I would like to see in action as you can be a foot soldier with certain abilities or you can climb into a mech which looks awesome and since E3 has ended this game has received a ton of awards including best game at E3.

Tom Clancy's: The Division (PS4, XBOne) – This game looks promising. From what was shown, it gave off the impression of an open world PvP environment with great physics. We will see if Ubisoft delivers but everyone is hyping this up right now.

Transistor (PS4, PC) – Produced by Supergiant games who made Bastion, I am totally looking forward to this. Bastion was amazing and so far everything I have seen on Transistor is promising. Keeping this one in scope.

Watch Dogs (PS3, PS4, XB360, XBOne, PC) – The hype for this is growing daily. This open world action adventure stealth game is very ambitious and I can’t wait to sit down with it and immerse myself in the world.

Overall, this was a great year in general for gaming and the future looks very bright for the industry. We will see in the future how things pan out in the console war but as far just pure gaming goes, no matter what console you are getting, there are TONS of great games that will be released that you can sink hours upon hours into. I personally cannot wait for this fall and next year when all these games are released, I expect to see all of you online as well playing with me, having fun, and admiring the art that is being developed before our very eyes.

HyperSmash.com

Sony at E3

I was BLOWN AWAY by Sony's presentation. They really focused on the gamer in their presentation and I really fell in love with this system. They basically took everything that Microsoft stumbled through and screwed up on and assured the consumer that it would not happen with Playstation. They didn't have to compete with Microsoft, as far as I'm concerned they went about their business normally and let Microsoft fall on their own sword. Now there were not a whole lot of exclusives shown (a few console exclusives (eg. will be coming to PC as well) were shown as well but I will also cover those in my next post) but the power of the machine and the policies that Sony has in place speak for themselves. Lets go down their exclusive list:


Deep Down - Looks like a Dark Souls type of game. Superb graphics. I will be on the lookout once gameplay footage is revealed.

Galak-Z: The Dimensional - Not much was shown on this side scroller shooter but what was shown looked good. Nothing new or innovative seen yet.
   
Infamous - Second Son – Hey I wont complain about another infamous. Looks cool, looking forward to it.

Killzone Shadow Fall – Another in the Killzone series. Looks visually impressive and the gameplay seems enjoyable. Nothing special but seems worth it if you enjoy the series.

Knack – Looks like a fun light-hearted game (see Psychonauts). I need to see more but so far I like what I see.

The Order 1886 – Not sure if I am interested in this. I mean it looks like it has potential but as soon as futuristic weaponry is introduced in period piece games I seem to think it will be bad but who knows. Making the enemies Werewolves is a nice departure from the Zombie fad though. Ill hold out further judgment until I see more (gameplay) from this.

Secret Ponchos - The reveal trailer looks cool along with what sounds like a great soundtrack. Reading further into this game, it seems like it will center around PvP which is great if you are into that and the top down view gives the game that Diablo-esque feel to it when playing. F2P on PS+ (but I'm sure there will be items and such that require money). Lets see if it holds up.
   
As I said before, I will cover the other games shown (The Division, Transistor, Outlast, Destiny, and Kingdom Hearts III) in a later post, but from what was seen, I can hands down say that Sony has my support in the next gen. No region lock, no always online, no mandatory Playstation Eye, ability to use used games, and a lower price point than Xbox One are all appealing to the consumer (NOTE: I am writing this as a reaction to E3, so the Microsoft 180 reversal of policies does not apply to this write up)
   
Hopefully I can find the time to write up the rest of the games featured at E3 tonight or tomorrow morning so be on the lookout for that. I have ideas for some contests coming up in the near future (I have a few game keys to give away!!!!) so that will be fun. See you all next time! Hypersmash.com

Microsoft at E3

After seeing Microsofts reveal of the Xbox One a couple of months ago and all their policies that came along with it, I, like many others, felt that Sony had a slight edge going into E3.

Microsoft I feel, is moving away from gaming, NOT far, but just testing the waters of other means of entertainment through the Xbox One. Now that’s not necessarily a bad thing for them as innovation comes with taking risks and Microsoft is taking a huge risk with all the other non-gaming related features packed into Xbox One. Who knows what the future holds for them but I was just not drawn in by their television features to be impressed enough to buy it on that merit alone.

Also, Microsoft's policies regarding DRM, always online, used games, and Kinect were a slap in the face to the consumer. Yes, since E3 they have addressed these issues and are trying to do some PR clean up but I only feel it is because of pre-order numbers and the general backlash that the gaming community had for them. E3 should have been the time to address the issues, not 2 weeks after and the whole lying to the consumer "DRM and always online are core to the product and what the product was built around. We cant just flip a switch and turn them off."..... Two weeks later "We turned off DRM and always online!"

Anyway, onto what this should be about, the games. Below I have listed most of the exclusives and my impressions of the gameplay videos and trailers. (exclusive to ONLY Xbox One, so you wont see Titanfall, Project Spark, etc. as they are also confirmed for PC and I will cover those games in a later post.)

Below- this was teased by Capybara Games Studio and looks like a beautifully designed indie game. I would need to see more gameplay but right now it looks like it could be great. The soundtrack by Jim Guthrie seems impressive and it doesn’t look like it will disappoint. This is a game that even though is an exclusive, I could see it in the future being ported over to PC. (Other games by Capybara have ended up on Steam)

Crimson Dragon – Eh. Not interested. It looks good, but I feel like it is just Panzer Dragoon updated. Hopefully for fans, it wont be linear (it is listed as a "Rail Shooter") but a semi open game world.

Dead Rising 3 – One word about the trailer…. Disappointing. I loved the first 2 dead rising games. They were fun without being extremely serious. They were games that were ment for the players to just pick up , go out and have fucking fun with it. I feel like the dead rising 3 trailer focused more on it being a serious game and really taking that fun, relaxing, hey lets go kill some zombies feeling out of the game basically jumping on the current zombie bandwagon of lets make a story driven game where the zombies are overpowered and make the players really fear the environment… oh and lets throw in airstrikes that the player can call down using smartglass… (how you have access to airstrikes is beyond me, in the first two games you played as civilians.)

D4 – an episodic murder mystery. Not much shown but I do believe it will be using a lot of Kinect features to play… Sorry, ill pass on this. (Although since E3 a bit more has come out on this and it does seem interesting.)

Halo – As far as I am concerned, Halo died when Bungie stopped developing it. Though I am sure it will be great for the fans of the series.

Killer Instinct – Now this is something that I need to address. Everyone seems to be on the similar mindset of THIS IS AMAZING! IVE WAITED SO LONG FOR THIS! … Stop… Now this has been in development with Rareware and Double Helix. For those who don’t know here are the games double helix has pumped out:
    Silent Hill Homecoming – Bad
    G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra – Bad
    Front Mission Evolved – Eh
    Battleship – Bad
    Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters – OK
    MX vs ATV Reflex - their best outing
So.., lets hope that Rareware has more say than Double Helix in this but I am wary of this. Also even though it was announced as Free2Play you only get one character for free, the rest you have to pay for. Not cool. If it was a $40-$50 title and you get every character and a little more then sure that's fine but masking it as Free2Play is kind of shady if you ask me. Its not that I have a problem with F2P games, I don't, I play a few now, but I am against the F2P but if you want to win or have any fun past the first 15 mins you have to pay.

Quantum Break – This seems… Interesting… I wonder what its about though and no gameplay! They have mentioned that it will tie in with a television show but I don’t see that working out well (eg: ask how Defiance is working out…)

Ryse: Son of Rome – Looks cool. I feel though like its Microsoft's attempt at making a God of War clone. (Not that I am saying that no game from here on out can be set in ancient Roman times/tied with Greek Mythology, just look at the gameplay!!!!) The footage shown seemed like one long cinematic with button pressing to keep you awake.

Sunset Overdrive – This has potential to be great. I loved the teaser for it and I am really interested in more. Keep your eye on this game as it is developed by Insomniac who made Spyro, the Resistance series and Ratchet and Clank so they have a great track record.

So there you have it. Overall, Microsoft showed some good games but only a few of which I was really interested in and even then, the big hitters like Titanfall and Project Spark are being released on PC which I will post my thoughts on later.

My next post will be on Sonys presentation and I will run through their announced exclusives. Feel free to comment and give me some feedback. Stay tuned! HyperSmash

An Introduction

Hi everyone, my name is Dan and online, I go by the name Im_Gonna_Die. I am here to talk about what’s going on in the world of gaming.

A little about myself, I am 27 years old and I have been gaming for the majority of my life, starting off with the original NES and some early PC shooters such as Doom and Hexen.

Right now I primarily am a PC gamer, I have my own rig that I built myself but I do plan on jumping into the console scene when the next generation hits while still keeping my focus on PC, I would like a console for some exclusive titles as well as other features. (Netflix, virtual consoles, etc…)

As you all know, E3 recently finished and this was a big year for me to follow since I am considering getting a console over this coming holiday season. That and my attempt at breaking into the gaming industry to bring content such as reviews, interviews and streams to all of you so all the new games being released was big for me as well as some of them will be what I will cover on here and on my youtube channel.

Now I will leave you with links to my youtube channel and my Steam ID as well as my Battlenet ID.  Check it out and I will be back soon posting about my thoughts on E3 and what games look good and what companies did well.

Steam ID:

http://steamcommunity.com/id/IM_GONNA_DIE

Battlenet ID:

IMgonnaDIE#1872

Youtube Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan/videos

Thanks Everyone!