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****I want to preface this post by taking some time to announce that I have officially joined the team over at IndieJuice! My first post was published last night which you can read here about my thoughts on Ubisoft's handling of the upcoming game Watch_Dogs, and I was also a guest last night on the Indiejuice Podcast which was recorded live on twitch and will be available to listen to on the website sometime this weekend (I think Saturday) but I will post that here once it is up. I am extremely excited to be part of the great team over there and I hope to contribute quality posts and generate some good discussions.****
Another week gone as we get closer and closer to E3! Some exciting things coming out of the industry in the build up to the biggest gaming convention in the world. I personally am looking forward to seeing the press conference from Sony as they were (In My Opinion) the top dogs at last years convention while Microsoft has some making up to do which they sort have started to in the lead up to the event.
And with that, let's take a look at the week that was:
Microsoft to sell XboxOne without Kinect
AKA Microsoft admitting Kinect sucks. Hey, they had to do something to boost sales right? PS4 has been dominating the market since launch and Microsoft only "won" one month since which was March and that was because of Titanfall. Well the hype around Titanfall has died down and PS4 got right back on top in April so it seems that Microsoft needed to do something drastic and this seems to be it. By removing Kinect, you are basically telling developers that you don't believe in your own hardware to a certain extent. Sure the price point of an XboxOne has now dropped to a competitive $399 but is that what was really holding back sales? I don't think so. If you look at the XboxOne and PS4 releases you will see that Sony clearly has the edge when it comes to games and quality. I think removing Kinect was a step in the right direction, but ultimately Microsoft needs competitive titles to move the system and right now it does not have very many. This years E3 is HUGE for Microsoft. You did the damage control, now tell me why you won't screw up again and what's in it for me.
FarCry 4 Announced
Actually excited for this release. Ubisoft had hinted at the title and I believe had confirmed its existence a few months ago but that's as far as that went. Just yesterday though, they officially announced the game in which "players find themselves in Kyrat, a breathtaking, perilous and wild region of the Himalayas struggling under the regime of a despotic self-appointed king." So I expect another super insane villain (and snazzy dresser according to the box art) with a great story and an interesting new environment. The game launches on November 18 of this year for PS4, PS3, XboxOne, Xbox360, and PC (though the PS3 and Xbox360 version have me worried about the graphics on their successor systems, but we will see). Hopefully (Likely) we get a cool video at E3 this year and I can't wait to see where they take the franchise next. (Also I eagerly await Blood Dragon 2!)
Watch_Dogs to run at 900p on PS4 and 792p on XboxOne both 30FPS
This was the topic of my post over at indiejuice so go check out the full article here. I will keep this brief but basically Watch_Dogs has been handled very poorly by Ubisoft. A game that they were boasting about being a true next gen experience is just not going to hit that mark at 900 and 792p and 30FPS. Frankly, the whole ordeal has been embarrassing and even though I am going to play it (on PC of course) the hype is lost with me. I hope I enjoy it but I wouldn't be surprised if its a let down. We will all see in a couple of weeks.
Halo 5 coming Fall 2015
Ah Ha! So this is what Microsoft needs to get back in the game! Right.... but just one thing, its being released a year and a half from now! Sorry Microsoft but you'll have to do better than that. I am sure the game will sell well and will push a few more consoles out the door but its SO FAR AWAY! The one good thing to take from the announcement its that 343 is promising 60FPS (no word on resolution though) so at least it should look stunning on XboxOne. Overall, I am just over the hype for Halo. Ever since Bungie left, Halo has been just another shooter. Come on Microsoft! I may not have an XboxOne but that doesn't mean I don't want healthy competition! And right now, you are like a high school soccer team compared to Sony being F.C. Barcelona!
That's all I have for this week. Be sure to check out indiejuice tomorrow when my podcast episode is posted and go check out my gameplay videos for Blizzards Heroes of the Storm and Carbines Wildstar! I will leave you all with the launch trailer for Transistor, a game launching on Tuesday from the creators of Bastion. Enjoy!
Thanks for reading and until next time:
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Dreamhost rebate
Showing posts with label PS4. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PS4. Show all posts
Friday, May 16, 2014
Friday, February 7, 2014
Week in Review (Back on track!)
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Where to start? Well 2 weeks ago I actually had my whole week in review typed up and ready to go... and then never posted it! It has been a crazy couple of weeks where I was bogged down by tons of work so I was unable to do much of anything (except when I did have time, I FINALLY got around to beating Mass Effect 2 which was a masterpiece in storytelling). Anyway, I have the time now and I even recorded some Starbound footage last night that I will be posting shortly so be on the lookout for that and lets get right into the week that was:
Dungeon Keeper mobile embodies everything wrong with EA and F2P
Way to ruin another piece of my childhood EA! Dungeon Keeper was an amazing game when it came out in 1997. I had tons of fun and spent many hours building up my dungeon and destroying anyone who dared enter and try to steal from me! Fast forward to present day and this abomination has been unleashed on us. At first reports, I was intrigued of a port of an old classic, but the more and more information I read about Dungeon Keeper Mobile, the more and more I get angry. EA has put up pay-wall after pay-wall into the game which really sours the experience. Look, I get micro-transactions to an extent. The company is releasing the game for free so there should be some way for them to make a few bucks here and there. I understand micro-transactions that give a little boost to the experience or make the game a little bit easier (I probably won't play your game though, but I see why companies do it). The way EA has weaved micro-transactions into this game are truly despicable. The game is unplayable without paying more and more. Reviewers everywhere are wrecking EA and gamers are furious. If you want, give it a quick try but be warned, you will be basically forced to have to pay to actually get anything of substance out of the game. I feel after this I should make a video about my feelings towards the F2P model and what games get it right and what games, such as Dungeon Keeper Mobile, get it horribly, horribly wrong.
Titanfall requires Origin on PC. Beta details coming soon
No surprise here. Titanfall will be exclusive to Origin on PC. No Steam release which makes sense for EA considering they have done the same with Battlefield 3/4, Dead Space 3 and Mass Effect 3. EA wants to bolster Origin's lineup and get Origin on as many computers it can. I have my gripes about Origin but that won't keep me from getting Titanfall. The game is very high on my list of releases this year and I cannot wait to play. That being said, Respawn has announced that the details to get into the Beta will be coming soon, so I will patiently await that info and try to get in to get a head start.
Outlast releases on PS4 (Free for PS+ members)
Not a totally new release but it is another title to launch on the PS4. I already picked it up and installed the game so tonight or tomorrow night I will be live streaming it in my pitch black apartment with my girlfriend. Should be fun, and from what I have heard it is immensely scary so I can't wait to get into it.
Steam unveils Steam Music
Interesting addition to the Steam family. It was noted as coming late last year when Valve unveiled SteamOS and their concept for Steam Machines. Steam Music seems like just another app that gives more versatility to the SteamOS as a whole. A desktop and controller based app that can stream your own music while playing games or while just sitting around or throwing a party. Steam is moving into the living room and I hope it pays off in the end.
That's all for this week. Like I said, I will be trying to stream some Outlast either tonight or tomorrow so catch me on Twitch (twitch.tv/im_gonna_die) and watch me cry out with terror! I also will be uploading my Starbound video soon and I have a couple of videos I want to make concerning topics in the industry.
Thanks for reading and until next time:
Like it: https://www.facebook.com/TheOnlySurvivor
Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan
Follow it: Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
www.hypersmash.com
Where to start? Well 2 weeks ago I actually had my whole week in review typed up and ready to go... and then never posted it! It has been a crazy couple of weeks where I was bogged down by tons of work so I was unable to do much of anything (except when I did have time, I FINALLY got around to beating Mass Effect 2 which was a masterpiece in storytelling). Anyway, I have the time now and I even recorded some Starbound footage last night that I will be posting shortly so be on the lookout for that and lets get right into the week that was:
Dungeon Keeper mobile embodies everything wrong with EA and F2P
Way to ruin another piece of my childhood EA! Dungeon Keeper was an amazing game when it came out in 1997. I had tons of fun and spent many hours building up my dungeon and destroying anyone who dared enter and try to steal from me! Fast forward to present day and this abomination has been unleashed on us. At first reports, I was intrigued of a port of an old classic, but the more and more information I read about Dungeon Keeper Mobile, the more and more I get angry. EA has put up pay-wall after pay-wall into the game which really sours the experience. Look, I get micro-transactions to an extent. The company is releasing the game for free so there should be some way for them to make a few bucks here and there. I understand micro-transactions that give a little boost to the experience or make the game a little bit easier (I probably won't play your game though, but I see why companies do it). The way EA has weaved micro-transactions into this game are truly despicable. The game is unplayable without paying more and more. Reviewers everywhere are wrecking EA and gamers are furious. If you want, give it a quick try but be warned, you will be basically forced to have to pay to actually get anything of substance out of the game. I feel after this I should make a video about my feelings towards the F2P model and what games get it right and what games, such as Dungeon Keeper Mobile, get it horribly, horribly wrong.
Titanfall requires Origin on PC. Beta details coming soon
No surprise here. Titanfall will be exclusive to Origin on PC. No Steam release which makes sense for EA considering they have done the same with Battlefield 3/4, Dead Space 3 and Mass Effect 3. EA wants to bolster Origin's lineup and get Origin on as many computers it can. I have my gripes about Origin but that won't keep me from getting Titanfall. The game is very high on my list of releases this year and I cannot wait to play. That being said, Respawn has announced that the details to get into the Beta will be coming soon, so I will patiently await that info and try to get in to get a head start.
Outlast releases on PS4 (Free for PS+ members)
Not a totally new release but it is another title to launch on the PS4. I already picked it up and installed the game so tonight or tomorrow night I will be live streaming it in my pitch black apartment with my girlfriend. Should be fun, and from what I have heard it is immensely scary so I can't wait to get into it.
Steam unveils Steam Music
Interesting addition to the Steam family. It was noted as coming late last year when Valve unveiled SteamOS and their concept for Steam Machines. Steam Music seems like just another app that gives more versatility to the SteamOS as a whole. A desktop and controller based app that can stream your own music while playing games or while just sitting around or throwing a party. Steam is moving into the living room and I hope it pays off in the end.
That's all for this week. Like I said, I will be trying to stream some Outlast either tonight or tomorrow so catch me on Twitch (twitch.tv/im_gonna_die) and watch me cry out with terror! I also will be uploading my Starbound video soon and I have a couple of videos I want to make concerning topics in the industry.
Thanks for reading and until next time:
Like it: https://www.facebook.com/TheOnlySurvivor
Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan
Follow it: Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
www.hypersmash.com
Friday, October 25, 2013
Week in Review - 10/25/2013
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Another week gone by. I am still behind on getting content out (My girlfriend and I are apartment hunting so I really have no time for gaming but once we are settled in I will be stepping it up BIG TIME) but I hope to stay on track with the weekly reviews. This week we see a few new releases, some drama with devs and I got lucky and was able to pre-order a PS4 launch bundle through Amazon. Lets get right to it:
TotalBiscuit's "WTF is Day One: Garry's Incident" drama with the devs
If you don't know who TotalBiscuit is, he is one of the largest game critics on Youtube and he has a first look series called WTF is... This week, his series took a look at a game called Day One: Garry's Incident. Now TotalBiscuit is brutally honest in all his reviews and is well respected (I weigh his opinion more than most other reviewers) in the community by most. He has given negative reviews before and he will in the future. Where the drama comes in with the WTF is Day One: Garry's Incident is that after the negative review and the popularity of his channel making it the highest viewed review of the game, the head of WildGamesStudio had the video marked for copyright infringement and removed. The TL/DR was posted by TotalBiscuit on his Twitter account. A few days after the incident and the video made by TotalBiscuit explaining the story and slamming Youtubes copyright policy, the devs over at WildGamesStudio had the video put back up and issued a hasty appology and short explanation. Even if it really was a sincere appology from WildGamesStudio, they come out of this looking extremely bad. People do criticize TotalBiscuit all the time but I think it is safe to say that everyone can agree on his points he made about this drama. I will be writing a full article soon detailing my thoughts on the matter and the subject of Youtubes copyright policy so be on the look out for that. Also if you don't now, go follow TotalBiscuit on Twitter and watch his videos, he is a great community figure and puts out quality stuff.
Path of Exile officially launches on Steam
Did Diablo III dissapoint you? Did you like Torchlight but still left wanting the gritty feeling of Diablo II? If you answered yes to these, go on Steam right now and add Path of Exile. The game came out of beta this week and released as a Free2Play game on Steam. Now I usually do not like the F2P model as most of the time is is Pay2Win rather than Free2Play but Path of Exile is truly a F2P game. All the in game purchases are meerly cosmetic and do not have any affect on the gameplay. Path of Exile is a really awesome dungeon crawler and in my opinion it is truly what Diablo III should have been. Go grab it and tell me what you think! I will probably make a quick gameplay video sometime soon to show it off so keep checking for that.
Titanfall release date is March 11, 2014
One of the most anticipated next-gen games got its release date! I am very excited to play this game on release on PC and the more content that comes out, the more excited I get. Respawn seems to be right on the ball when it comes to Titanfall. The gameplay looks fluid and interesting (I love fast shooters) and it seems like the game is gearing up to try and overtake the Call of Duty/Battlefield market of competitive shooters. Only time will tell on how it will play out but early playable demos at cons and the tons of content Respawn is releasing look extremely promising. The real question is do I want to dish out eh $250 for the collectors edition????
Bioshock Infinite DLC coming on November 12
Announced earlier this morning, players can get excited about returning to Rapture on November 12 when Burial at Sea: Part 1 is released. I love this series, I love Infinite, and this DLC comes out 4 days before the PS4 is released in the US which gives players a few days with it before the heavy hitters come out. Smart move by 2K and Irrational considering this DLC would probably get buried (no pun intended) if it was released after the consoles release. 4 days should be plenty to complete what is said to be between 4-6 hours of gameplay back in Rapture. I will see you all back where there are no gods or kings, only man.
Thats all for today guys. Like I said above, there was a small release of more PS4 launch bundles from Amazon and I was lucky enough to pick one up. This weekend is the WCS Season 3 finals for Starcraft II which I will be watching closely and Batman: Arkham Origins was released today but I will be waiting a little bit to pick that up and review.
Thanks for reading and until next time:
Like it: https://www.facebook.com/TheOnlySurvivor
Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan
Follow it: Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
www.hypersmash.com
Another week gone by. I am still behind on getting content out (My girlfriend and I are apartment hunting so I really have no time for gaming but once we are settled in I will be stepping it up BIG TIME) but I hope to stay on track with the weekly reviews. This week we see a few new releases, some drama with devs and I got lucky and was able to pre-order a PS4 launch bundle through Amazon. Lets get right to it:
TotalBiscuit's "WTF is Day One: Garry's Incident" drama with the devs
If you don't know who TotalBiscuit is, he is one of the largest game critics on Youtube and he has a first look series called WTF is... This week, his series took a look at a game called Day One: Garry's Incident. Now TotalBiscuit is brutally honest in all his reviews and is well respected (I weigh his opinion more than most other reviewers) in the community by most. He has given negative reviews before and he will in the future. Where the drama comes in with the WTF is Day One: Garry's Incident is that after the negative review and the popularity of his channel making it the highest viewed review of the game, the head of WildGamesStudio had the video marked for copyright infringement and removed. The TL/DR was posted by TotalBiscuit on his Twitter account. A few days after the incident and the video made by TotalBiscuit explaining the story and slamming Youtubes copyright policy, the devs over at WildGamesStudio had the video put back up and issued a hasty appology and short explanation. Even if it really was a sincere appology from WildGamesStudio, they come out of this looking extremely bad. People do criticize TotalBiscuit all the time but I think it is safe to say that everyone can agree on his points he made about this drama. I will be writing a full article soon detailing my thoughts on the matter and the subject of Youtubes copyright policy so be on the look out for that. Also if you don't now, go follow TotalBiscuit on Twitter and watch his videos, he is a great community figure and puts out quality stuff.
Path of Exile officially launches on Steam
Did Diablo III dissapoint you? Did you like Torchlight but still left wanting the gritty feeling of Diablo II? If you answered yes to these, go on Steam right now and add Path of Exile. The game came out of beta this week and released as a Free2Play game on Steam. Now I usually do not like the F2P model as most of the time is is Pay2Win rather than Free2Play but Path of Exile is truly a F2P game. All the in game purchases are meerly cosmetic and do not have any affect on the gameplay. Path of Exile is a really awesome dungeon crawler and in my opinion it is truly what Diablo III should have been. Go grab it and tell me what you think! I will probably make a quick gameplay video sometime soon to show it off so keep checking for that.
Titanfall release date is March 11, 2014
One of the most anticipated next-gen games got its release date! I am very excited to play this game on release on PC and the more content that comes out, the more excited I get. Respawn seems to be right on the ball when it comes to Titanfall. The gameplay looks fluid and interesting (I love fast shooters) and it seems like the game is gearing up to try and overtake the Call of Duty/Battlefield market of competitive shooters. Only time will tell on how it will play out but early playable demos at cons and the tons of content Respawn is releasing look extremely promising. The real question is do I want to dish out eh $250 for the collectors edition????
Bioshock Infinite DLC coming on November 12
Announced earlier this morning, players can get excited about returning to Rapture on November 12 when Burial at Sea: Part 1 is released. I love this series, I love Infinite, and this DLC comes out 4 days before the PS4 is released in the US which gives players a few days with it before the heavy hitters come out. Smart move by 2K and Irrational considering this DLC would probably get buried (no pun intended) if it was released after the consoles release. 4 days should be plenty to complete what is said to be between 4-6 hours of gameplay back in Rapture. I will see you all back where there are no gods or kings, only man.
Thats all for today guys. Like I said above, there was a small release of more PS4 launch bundles from Amazon and I was lucky enough to pick one up. This weekend is the WCS Season 3 finals for Starcraft II which I will be watching closely and Batman: Arkham Origins was released today but I will be waiting a little bit to pick that up and review.
Thanks for reading and until next time:
Like it: https://www.facebook.com/TheOnlySurvivor
Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan
Follow it: Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
www.hypersmash.com
Friday, September 20, 2013
Week in Review 9/20/2013
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This week has been fairly quiet since everyone has locked themselves in their places to burn through GTA V which came out on Tuesday. So far reviews have been very positive and it is looking to be a serious contender for Game of the Year. We will see where is really stands once the initial hype dies down (which may not be soon because of the delayed release of multiplayer coming out in a week and a half which everyone is looking forward to). Other than that here are this weeks big stories:
Former Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi dies at the age of 85
I posted about this yesterday. Mr Yamauchi was an visionary and with him at the head of Nintendo, helped to revolutionize the gaming industry with his interest in taking a small time card company in Japan and steering it towards electronic gaming in the 1980's. He was a bright icon in the industry and the cultural impact he had on the world will never be forgotten.
Grand Theft Auto V makes $800 million in one day
The single biggest opening for a video game of all time. GTA V's first day sales SHATTERED the record that was held by Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 last year which was $500 million. You can read my review roundup for GTA V here. I can see the game reaching the $1 billion mark by next week and all praise goes to Rockstar who has shown that they have the ability to keep the franchise fresh and interesting. I had my doubts about this installment but it seems Rockstar delivered and has re-invigorated their series and raised the bar on open-world games.
Blizzard to shut down Diablo III auction house on 3/18/2013
A step in the right direction for the game that may have been a success when you look at the numbers sold but ultimately was a failure when it came to the gameplay and design of the game. The big dissapointment of Diablo III to me was the auction house which basically made you pay to get to the end game / high level play. It was next to impossible to advance through Hell difficulty without using the auction house and while Blizzards intentions were to make a little extra money off of the playerbase, it ultimately broke the game to where there was a huge drop off after players completed the game once (like me). With the new expansion and the removal of the auction house, Blizzard is looking to bring back the charm and lasting value that was seen in Diablo II. Will it work? Is it too late? Who knows, but it is 100% the right move by the company.
DOTA 2 adds LAN support
Bold move by Valve but the right one. Huge news for DOTA as an e-sport because now it is the only MOBA game to feature LAN support which means a better and infinitely more reliable tournament setup. Valve is proving once again they are the big dog in town and they will continue to further their brand and games to give gamers the best possible experience.
PS4 supports HDMI video capture
Excellent news to hear from Sony. Now capturing video from the PS4 will be 100% high quality without having to jump through hoops to do so like users had to do with the PS3 and still could not get any higher than 720P. More high quality streams will pop up and hopefully the PS4's streaming capabilities will help the community grow. I look forward to seeing tons of content from the playerbase.
That's all for this week. In other news from me, if you have not heard, my best friend Phil has joined me and has started to contribute his own articles. He wrote up a few updates on the League Of Legends World Championship, his trip to Baltimore Comic Con and his experiences with LoL. Later on he will be attending the LoL World Championship finals in LA so be on the look out for something from him on that. I had some free time yesterday and tried to work out some more kinks in my stream to no luck. I promise I will work hard to try and bring it to you guys in the next few weeks. I played a little more through Tomb Raider, I started Sleeping Dogs, and I am looking forward to Watch Dogs later in November. I have been following people streaming GTA V and it is diving me crazy that I cannot play it. Hopefully the PC version will be announced sooner rather than later. Other than that, I am probably going to have a quiet weekend and then get back to it on Monday. We will see what the days ahead bring!
Thanks for reading and until next time:
Like it: https://www.facebook.com/TheOnlySurvivor
Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan
Follow it: Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
www.hypersmash.com
This week has been fairly quiet since everyone has locked themselves in their places to burn through GTA V which came out on Tuesday. So far reviews have been very positive and it is looking to be a serious contender for Game of the Year. We will see where is really stands once the initial hype dies down (which may not be soon because of the delayed release of multiplayer coming out in a week and a half which everyone is looking forward to). Other than that here are this weeks big stories:
Former Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi dies at the age of 85
I posted about this yesterday. Mr Yamauchi was an visionary and with him at the head of Nintendo, helped to revolutionize the gaming industry with his interest in taking a small time card company in Japan and steering it towards electronic gaming in the 1980's. He was a bright icon in the industry and the cultural impact he had on the world will never be forgotten.
Grand Theft Auto V makes $800 million in one day
The single biggest opening for a video game of all time. GTA V's first day sales SHATTERED the record that was held by Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 last year which was $500 million. You can read my review roundup for GTA V here. I can see the game reaching the $1 billion mark by next week and all praise goes to Rockstar who has shown that they have the ability to keep the franchise fresh and interesting. I had my doubts about this installment but it seems Rockstar delivered and has re-invigorated their series and raised the bar on open-world games.
Blizzard to shut down Diablo III auction house on 3/18/2013
A step in the right direction for the game that may have been a success when you look at the numbers sold but ultimately was a failure when it came to the gameplay and design of the game. The big dissapointment of Diablo III to me was the auction house which basically made you pay to get to the end game / high level play. It was next to impossible to advance through Hell difficulty without using the auction house and while Blizzards intentions were to make a little extra money off of the playerbase, it ultimately broke the game to where there was a huge drop off after players completed the game once (like me). With the new expansion and the removal of the auction house, Blizzard is looking to bring back the charm and lasting value that was seen in Diablo II. Will it work? Is it too late? Who knows, but it is 100% the right move by the company.
DOTA 2 adds LAN support
Bold move by Valve but the right one. Huge news for DOTA as an e-sport because now it is the only MOBA game to feature LAN support which means a better and infinitely more reliable tournament setup. Valve is proving once again they are the big dog in town and they will continue to further their brand and games to give gamers the best possible experience.
PS4 supports HDMI video capture
Excellent news to hear from Sony. Now capturing video from the PS4 will be 100% high quality without having to jump through hoops to do so like users had to do with the PS3 and still could not get any higher than 720P. More high quality streams will pop up and hopefully the PS4's streaming capabilities will help the community grow. I look forward to seeing tons of content from the playerbase.
That's all for this week. In other news from me, if you have not heard, my best friend Phil has joined me and has started to contribute his own articles. He wrote up a few updates on the League Of Legends World Championship, his trip to Baltimore Comic Con and his experiences with LoL. Later on he will be attending the LoL World Championship finals in LA so be on the look out for something from him on that. I had some free time yesterday and tried to work out some more kinks in my stream to no luck. I promise I will work hard to try and bring it to you guys in the next few weeks. I played a little more through Tomb Raider, I started Sleeping Dogs, and I am looking forward to Watch Dogs later in November. I have been following people streaming GTA V and it is diving me crazy that I cannot play it. Hopefully the PC version will be announced sooner rather than later. Other than that, I am probably going to have a quiet weekend and then get back to it on Monday. We will see what the days ahead bring!
Thanks for reading and until next time:
Like it: https://www.facebook.com/TheOnlySurvivor
Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan
Follow it: Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
www.hypersmash.com
Friday, August 30, 2013
Week In Review 8/30/2013
Another week gone. Its time for the wrap up of the week that was. Not too much went on considering all the real big news was revealed at Gamescom last weekend which I covered already, but there were some pretty cool things this week.
Buying a PS4 game through your Smartphone causes your PS4 to wake up, download the game and go back to sleep
Pretty cool feature to have if you ask me. Nice to know that I can be browsing on my lunch break at work, find a new game that looks interesting, buy it and have it ready for me to play the second I get back home. Nice going Sony for implementing this feature and I am sure something similar will be announced for the Xbox One as well.
Nintendo Announces 2DS
Trying to get ahead in the handheld market, Nintendo unveiled the 2DS this week. Basically its a 3DS without the 3D features at a lower price and no hinges. There has been some backlash over the design of the device but honestly, its not as bad as everyone is making it out to seem. Sure it looks a but bulky because it cannot fold like the 3DS but Nintendo is marketing the device towards children (even though I feel a majority of adults will buy the thing) and what was the most broken part of the 3DS? The damn hinges! I'm sure if people are used to holding a tablet device, the 2DS will fit right in and at a lower price point than the 3DS I can totally see Nintendo once again gaining a huge influx of users in their handheld market. I know I will be picking one up for sure because I was never into the 3D aspect of the DS and with tons of great games already out for the DS with tons more to come in the next year, this is the perfect opportunity to dive back into handheld gaming.
Bethesda "pushing" to let you play The Elder Scrolls Online on Xbox One without Xbox Live Gold
The first major push back to the system that I have heard of. Good for Bethesda trying to break down the paywall that Microsoft has in place but also looking from another perspective you can tell that maybe Bethesda is worried about how TESO will sell considering they announced the game will be subscription based. That means you pay for Xbox Live AND TESO every month instead of just one source. Though I feel nothing will happen on Microsoft's side and they will stay strong on the Xbox Live stance, it is refreshing to think that maybe developers are trying make their games more accessible, even though in this case, it doesn't really make that much of a difference because you will still have to pay for TESO...
Watch Dogs to receive exclusive effects and features on PC
Finally! A good console port to PC! More often than not these days, PC gamers have been getting pushed to the side by developers in favor of the consoles. Yes PC has the most games but lately there have been a ton of very poor console ports that do not let the PC users adjust graphical and sound settings to their fullest potential on their rigs. I just recently built a new gaming rig and even with the overkill hardware I have in there, some games just won't look good no matter what because the developers decided that adding in graphical features for the PC release was not worth it. Thank you to the team behind Watch Dogs at Ubisoft for considering the PC gamers and their ability to really push graphics to the next level.
That's all I have that really caught my attention this week. Like I said, it was a fairly slow week due to all the major things that came out of Gamescom last week. A few new trailers were released, so if you have a few minutes I highly recommend checking out War Thunder Heroes, the new GTAV trailer, and Everybody's Gone to the Rapture trailer. I will post them below for you all to enjoy. Also, if you haven't yet, go check out my last post where I covered violence in video games. I have gotten a ton of responses from it and I appreciate everyone that has taken the time to read through it. And I know I say this every week but I will be making a few videos for my youtube channel to check out and as I have said previously I have a few ideas for CONTESTS I want to put together but I need you all to follow me on Twitter and like my page on Facebook (sorry but social media is a must these days. I promise once I get more followers and likes I will do some major things) for a chance to win some awesome games!
Trailers:
Thanks for reading and until next time:
Like it: https://www.facebook.com/TheOnlySurvivor
Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan
Follow it: Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
www.hypersmash.com
Buying a PS4 game through your Smartphone causes your PS4 to wake up, download the game and go back to sleep
Pretty cool feature to have if you ask me. Nice to know that I can be browsing on my lunch break at work, find a new game that looks interesting, buy it and have it ready for me to play the second I get back home. Nice going Sony for implementing this feature and I am sure something similar will be announced for the Xbox One as well.
Nintendo Announces 2DS
Trying to get ahead in the handheld market, Nintendo unveiled the 2DS this week. Basically its a 3DS without the 3D features at a lower price and no hinges. There has been some backlash over the design of the device but honestly, its not as bad as everyone is making it out to seem. Sure it looks a but bulky because it cannot fold like the 3DS but Nintendo is marketing the device towards children (even though I feel a majority of adults will buy the thing) and what was the most broken part of the 3DS? The damn hinges! I'm sure if people are used to holding a tablet device, the 2DS will fit right in and at a lower price point than the 3DS I can totally see Nintendo once again gaining a huge influx of users in their handheld market. I know I will be picking one up for sure because I was never into the 3D aspect of the DS and with tons of great games already out for the DS with tons more to come in the next year, this is the perfect opportunity to dive back into handheld gaming.
Bethesda "pushing" to let you play The Elder Scrolls Online on Xbox One without Xbox Live Gold
The first major push back to the system that I have heard of. Good for Bethesda trying to break down the paywall that Microsoft has in place but also looking from another perspective you can tell that maybe Bethesda is worried about how TESO will sell considering they announced the game will be subscription based. That means you pay for Xbox Live AND TESO every month instead of just one source. Though I feel nothing will happen on Microsoft's side and they will stay strong on the Xbox Live stance, it is refreshing to think that maybe developers are trying make their games more accessible, even though in this case, it doesn't really make that much of a difference because you will still have to pay for TESO...
Watch Dogs to receive exclusive effects and features on PC
Finally! A good console port to PC! More often than not these days, PC gamers have been getting pushed to the side by developers in favor of the consoles. Yes PC has the most games but lately there have been a ton of very poor console ports that do not let the PC users adjust graphical and sound settings to their fullest potential on their rigs. I just recently built a new gaming rig and even with the overkill hardware I have in there, some games just won't look good no matter what because the developers decided that adding in graphical features for the PC release was not worth it. Thank you to the team behind Watch Dogs at Ubisoft for considering the PC gamers and their ability to really push graphics to the next level.
That's all I have that really caught my attention this week. Like I said, it was a fairly slow week due to all the major things that came out of Gamescom last week. A few new trailers were released, so if you have a few minutes I highly recommend checking out War Thunder Heroes, the new GTAV trailer, and Everybody's Gone to the Rapture trailer. I will post them below for you all to enjoy. Also, if you haven't yet, go check out my last post where I covered violence in video games. I have gotten a ton of responses from it and I appreciate everyone that has taken the time to read through it. And I know I say this every week but I will be making a few videos for my youtube channel to check out and as I have said previously I have a few ideas for CONTESTS I want to put together but I need you all to follow me on Twitter and like my page on Facebook (sorry but social media is a must these days. I promise once I get more followers and likes I will do some major things) for a chance to win some awesome games!
Trailers:
Thanks for reading and until next time:
Like it: https://www.facebook.com/TheOnlySurvivor
Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan
Follow it: Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
www.hypersmash.com
Friday, August 23, 2013
Gamescom
Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
So my last post covered the pre-Gamescom press conferences from Sony, EA and Microsoft. Now that the show is officially open to the public, I figured I would detail all the other announcements and new gameplay/trailer videos coming out of the European expo from the developer studios. First I will cover games and include their trailers, and then I will touch on some news topics that have generated some buzz within the community.
TITANFALL
Just because of how awesome this game looks, I have to start with Titanfall. This game looks MASSIVE! Xbox fans rejoice at what is looking to be the first big blockbuster game of the next-generation. I am extremely thankful to Respawn (the developers) for making a PC version of the game so I will be able to enjoy it as well. Hopefully this giant lives up to the hype surrounding it and if its as good as its looking, this will really help Microsoft sell some Xbox One units in the coming months.
DIABLO III: Reaper of Souls expansion
No matter how you feel about the direction Blizzard took the Diablo franchise with the latest installment, one thing is certain... They really know how to make kick ass cinematics! Now, while there have been many negative reactions to Diablo III, and it was a mixed bag of reception when the game was released, I think Blizzard has still managed to create an enjoyable experience TO AN EXTENT. I will come right out and say that I ENJOYED Diablo III. Did I love it? No. But I did enjoy playing it and while it never lived up to the MASSIVE hype I had for it because of Diablo II and how timeless that game was, going back to the series that I have grown with was a nice experience. There are many things I hate about it: I.E. making the end game pretty much force you to use the real money auction house to gear up with microtransactions, the story was a bit lackluster (but so was Diablo II and the original story), gameplay mechanics and the option to redo skill trees at any time really took away from the replayability that was there in Diablo II. All this said, I am looking forward to what Blizzard has added to the world and I will once again jump in and I expect another ENJOYABLE experience but nothing more.
MURDERED: Soul Suspect
After a bit was shown at E3 earlier this year, Square-Enix revealed a new trailer for the upcoming action-adventure murder mystery game developed by Airtight games who brought us the wonderfully fun game Quantum Conundrum last year. This game, however, if far and away removed from the fun/light-hearted setting of Quatum Conundrum. The dark and gritty setting sees you play as detective Ronan O'Connor who is gunned down by a mysterious assailant. You then have to use you wits in the ethereal as a ghost to solve the mystery all while tangling with the demonic diziens of the other world. Cool concept, and the dark setting have me intrigued. I am looking forward to more information about this one.
RYSE: Son of Rome
Everything I see from Ryse just isn't sitting right with me. Sure it looks beautiful, but all new games are looking visually stunning. Looking deeper and trying to figure out mechanics and gameplay style, Ryse just seems like it brings nothing new to the table. The multiplayer arena was shown in a trailer along with some cool Co-Op options involved but I am just not excited for this. I will keep my eyes open for early reviews once this Xbox One launch title hits and maybe that will sway me but right now, this is another generic hack/slash in the same vein as the God of War series.
KNACK
This PS4 launch title looks like its geared up to be the next in line for a fun loving game with great story and character development a-la Jack and Daxter or Ratchet and Clank. KNACK is like if Pixar took a great story and instead of making a movie, just made a video game. Very small snippets of gameplay were shown so there is not much to go by on that aspect, but the story does look fun and the characters seem enjoyable.
CHIVALRY: Deadliest Warrior
One of the most fun online experiences I have had in a long time has been playing Chivalry: Medieval Warfare. The announcement of the Deadliest Warrior expansion has me worried. Torn Banner created such a great game (while it still has a lot of bugs that need to be worked on) that was insanely fun for me and my friends that I have a bad feeling it will all come tumbling down with this expansion. First of all, they have teamed up with Spike TV (more than likely for monetary reasons) to incorporate a new set of weapons and factions (Spartans and Samurai!) based on the TV show Deadliest Warrior (not the most historically accurate show). Second, what made Medieval Warfare great was being able to feel immersed in an epic battle to defend a castle as an archer or pillage a town as a knight or battle gladiator style in an arena, but now that immersion has been taken away. I can't help but feel silly in a weird way of a knight battling a Samurai or a vanguard taking on a Spartan warrior. I'm sure I will still grab this on release but I only pray that they have some ways to keep the historical timelines separate (Samurai vs. Samurai etc.) and also i hope Torn Banner isn't looking at this as just a cash grab because that would be disappointing.
BATMAN: Arkham Origins
More more more more! I love me some Batman and Origins looks to pick up and carry the caped crusaders torch further. More villains (Black Mask, Deathstroke, FIREFLY!) and a great story to back it up have me excited. October 25th needs to get here now. The only apprehension I have is that the series may start to become stagnant but I don't see that happening as long as the story is great and hell, with all the source material to pick and choose from, I don't see anything stopping the Bat train.
KILLZONE: Shadow Fall
The PS4 launch title and what has now become a staple series for the platform looks great but as I said about Ryse for Xbox, everything in next-gen looks great. Will Shadow Fall add something new and innovative to shake up the series? It really doesn't look like it. Either way, I will keep an eye on Shadow Fall and the multiplayer does intrigue me so maybe after it is out for a bit I can better assess this title
WATCH DOGS
With the hype at fever pitch now, this new franchise from Ubisoft has got to be at the top of everyones list as a must have. Gameplay videos and everything being released looks very impressive and I cannot wait to get my hands on it. Here's to a bright future for a new IP that is looking to change the industry with its unique story, environment and gameplay.
Other games shown at the expo that are big hitters have been:
Dead Rising 3, Destiny, Dying Light, Assassin's Creed IV, Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts, The Division, and Thief. Each game has its merits and the next-gen is looking incredibly strong so be on the lookout for an onslaught of content and new games in the coming months. Everything looks fantastic so far but only few will become benchmarks for the next generations and live on as legendary games in the eyes of the community. No one know for sure who will come out on top and lead the way once the console wars officially kick off but one thing is very certain and that is it is an AMAZING time to be a gamer and it's only going to get better!
Onto the news part of Gamescom!
The Division Confirmed for PC
First up there was the short video released by Ubisoft that CONFIRMS the release of THE DIVISION on PC! I never really had any doubt that this game wasn't going to see a PC release but I am pleasntly surprised that is will be soon. While they did not go into detail about when it will be released in comparison to the console versions of the game, I can't see it being THAT far behind the others. For a time after this game was first announced at E3, it was a factor motivating me to purchase a next-gen console but now I don't have to fear that and I will be picking it up on PC.
GFWL is DEAD!
Coming off the announcement that Batman: Arkham Origins will be dropping the Games for Windows Live service, Microsoft has revealed that they plan to discontinue the service as a whole on July 1, 2014. I HATE GFWL so I only see this as a great thing. With the recent addition of the former Steam Director, Jason Holtman, to the Microsoft team, GFWL will die and another service will probably come about from them. Hopefully the shake up over there will lead to a better platform.
Elder Scrolls Online
Bethesda announced the new MMO based in the Elder Scrolls world will use a subscription based model and use cash shops in game. Mixed feelings about this one because while I LOVE the Elder Scrolls games, this seems more and more like a cash grab to Bethesda than an actual attempt to bring the world to the players in an enjoyable setting. The subscription model seems to be going away for a lot of new games (Guild Wars 2 is one time pay to buy the game, even World of Warcraft has mentioned moving away from the monthly subscription model!) but on the other hand, if it is handled the was WoW was handled and if that is still a viable option, it could keep the content up to a considerably high standard which is what made WoW so great when it started. Although the early beta footage looks pretty generic and it doesn't seem to bring anything new to the table in terms of MMO's, I will always be interested in Elder Scroll games so I will continue to follow the development closely.
Minecraft coming to PS3/4 and Vita
What many thought to be a console exclusive for Microsoft, the insanely popular Minecraft was announced for the Sony lineup as well. Very big for the little indie game that really broke open the market and a slight blow to Microsoft.
TwitchTV now also included as a streaming service for PS4
When this as announced during the Sony press conference I had to pause for a second because it was said so casually when it really is a big deal. Going into the conference it was well known that Twitch was going to be used by Microsoft and the less popular Ustream was going to be used by Sony for streaming services on the new consoles. Well what the hell happened to that!? Yet another blow to Microsoft and a boost for Sony (it was never said that Ustream was dropped so will there be an option to use either on the PS4?) in the market and GREAT news all around for Twitch (I hope their servers don't start Armageddon though)
There was a ton more content covered at Gamescom and its proving too much for my hands to handle (RSI/carpal tunnel damn you!). Maybe if I have time next weekend I will make a long video covering everything that went on at the event (including e-sports. Starcraft WCS Season 2 finals going on right now!) but for now I think I covered the most buzz-worthy announcements and hottest games.
Thanks for reading and until next time:
Like it: https://www.facebook.com/TheOnlySurvivor
Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan
Follow it: Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
www.hypersmash.com
So my last post covered the pre-Gamescom press conferences from Sony, EA and Microsoft. Now that the show is officially open to the public, I figured I would detail all the other announcements and new gameplay/trailer videos coming out of the European expo from the developer studios. First I will cover games and include their trailers, and then I will touch on some news topics that have generated some buzz within the community.
TITANFALL
Just because of how awesome this game looks, I have to start with Titanfall. This game looks MASSIVE! Xbox fans rejoice at what is looking to be the first big blockbuster game of the next-generation. I am extremely thankful to Respawn (the developers) for making a PC version of the game so I will be able to enjoy it as well. Hopefully this giant lives up to the hype surrounding it and if its as good as its looking, this will really help Microsoft sell some Xbox One units in the coming months.
DIABLO III: Reaper of Souls expansion
No matter how you feel about the direction Blizzard took the Diablo franchise with the latest installment, one thing is certain... They really know how to make kick ass cinematics! Now, while there have been many negative reactions to Diablo III, and it was a mixed bag of reception when the game was released, I think Blizzard has still managed to create an enjoyable experience TO AN EXTENT. I will come right out and say that I ENJOYED Diablo III. Did I love it? No. But I did enjoy playing it and while it never lived up to the MASSIVE hype I had for it because of Diablo II and how timeless that game was, going back to the series that I have grown with was a nice experience. There are many things I hate about it: I.E. making the end game pretty much force you to use the real money auction house to gear up with microtransactions, the story was a bit lackluster (but so was Diablo II and the original story), gameplay mechanics and the option to redo skill trees at any time really took away from the replayability that was there in Diablo II. All this said, I am looking forward to what Blizzard has added to the world and I will once again jump in and I expect another ENJOYABLE experience but nothing more.
MURDERED: Soul Suspect
After a bit was shown at E3 earlier this year, Square-Enix revealed a new trailer for the upcoming action-adventure murder mystery game developed by Airtight games who brought us the wonderfully fun game Quantum Conundrum last year. This game, however, if far and away removed from the fun/light-hearted setting of Quatum Conundrum. The dark and gritty setting sees you play as detective Ronan O'Connor who is gunned down by a mysterious assailant. You then have to use you wits in the ethereal as a ghost to solve the mystery all while tangling with the demonic diziens of the other world. Cool concept, and the dark setting have me intrigued. I am looking forward to more information about this one.
RYSE: Son of Rome
KNACK
This PS4 launch title looks like its geared up to be the next in line for a fun loving game with great story and character development a-la Jack and Daxter or Ratchet and Clank. KNACK is like if Pixar took a great story and instead of making a movie, just made a video game. Very small snippets of gameplay were shown so there is not much to go by on that aspect, but the story does look fun and the characters seem enjoyable.
CHIVALRY: Deadliest Warrior
One of the most fun online experiences I have had in a long time has been playing Chivalry: Medieval Warfare. The announcement of the Deadliest Warrior expansion has me worried. Torn Banner created such a great game (while it still has a lot of bugs that need to be worked on) that was insanely fun for me and my friends that I have a bad feeling it will all come tumbling down with this expansion. First of all, they have teamed up with Spike TV (more than likely for monetary reasons) to incorporate a new set of weapons and factions (Spartans and Samurai!) based on the TV show Deadliest Warrior (not the most historically accurate show). Second, what made Medieval Warfare great was being able to feel immersed in an epic battle to defend a castle as an archer or pillage a town as a knight or battle gladiator style in an arena, but now that immersion has been taken away. I can't help but feel silly in a weird way of a knight battling a Samurai or a vanguard taking on a Spartan warrior. I'm sure I will still grab this on release but I only pray that they have some ways to keep the historical timelines separate (Samurai vs. Samurai etc.) and also i hope Torn Banner isn't looking at this as just a cash grab because that would be disappointing.
BATMAN: Arkham Origins
More more more more! I love me some Batman and Origins looks to pick up and carry the caped crusaders torch further. More villains (Black Mask, Deathstroke, FIREFLY!) and a great story to back it up have me excited. October 25th needs to get here now. The only apprehension I have is that the series may start to become stagnant but I don't see that happening as long as the story is great and hell, with all the source material to pick and choose from, I don't see anything stopping the Bat train.
KILLZONE: Shadow Fall
The PS4 launch title and what has now become a staple series for the platform looks great but as I said about Ryse for Xbox, everything in next-gen looks great. Will Shadow Fall add something new and innovative to shake up the series? It really doesn't look like it. Either way, I will keep an eye on Shadow Fall and the multiplayer does intrigue me so maybe after it is out for a bit I can better assess this title
WATCH DOGS
With the hype at fever pitch now, this new franchise from Ubisoft has got to be at the top of everyones list as a must have. Gameplay videos and everything being released looks very impressive and I cannot wait to get my hands on it. Here's to a bright future for a new IP that is looking to change the industry with its unique story, environment and gameplay.
Other games shown at the expo that are big hitters have been:
Dead Rising 3, Destiny, Dying Light, Assassin's Creed IV, Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts, The Division, and Thief. Each game has its merits and the next-gen is looking incredibly strong so be on the lookout for an onslaught of content and new games in the coming months. Everything looks fantastic so far but only few will become benchmarks for the next generations and live on as legendary games in the eyes of the community. No one know for sure who will come out on top and lead the way once the console wars officially kick off but one thing is very certain and that is it is an AMAZING time to be a gamer and it's only going to get better!
Onto the news part of Gamescom!
The Division Confirmed for PC
First up there was the short video released by Ubisoft that CONFIRMS the release of THE DIVISION on PC! I never really had any doubt that this game wasn't going to see a PC release but I am pleasntly surprised that is will be soon. While they did not go into detail about when it will be released in comparison to the console versions of the game, I can't see it being THAT far behind the others. For a time after this game was first announced at E3, it was a factor motivating me to purchase a next-gen console but now I don't have to fear that and I will be picking it up on PC.
GFWL is DEAD!
Coming off the announcement that Batman: Arkham Origins will be dropping the Games for Windows Live service, Microsoft has revealed that they plan to discontinue the service as a whole on July 1, 2014. I HATE GFWL so I only see this as a great thing. With the recent addition of the former Steam Director, Jason Holtman, to the Microsoft team, GFWL will die and another service will probably come about from them. Hopefully the shake up over there will lead to a better platform.
Elder Scrolls Online
Bethesda announced the new MMO based in the Elder Scrolls world will use a subscription based model and use cash shops in game. Mixed feelings about this one because while I LOVE the Elder Scrolls games, this seems more and more like a cash grab to Bethesda than an actual attempt to bring the world to the players in an enjoyable setting. The subscription model seems to be going away for a lot of new games (Guild Wars 2 is one time pay to buy the game, even World of Warcraft has mentioned moving away from the monthly subscription model!) but on the other hand, if it is handled the was WoW was handled and if that is still a viable option, it could keep the content up to a considerably high standard which is what made WoW so great when it started. Although the early beta footage looks pretty generic and it doesn't seem to bring anything new to the table in terms of MMO's, I will always be interested in Elder Scroll games so I will continue to follow the development closely.
Minecraft coming to PS3/4 and Vita
What many thought to be a console exclusive for Microsoft, the insanely popular Minecraft was announced for the Sony lineup as well. Very big for the little indie game that really broke open the market and a slight blow to Microsoft.
TwitchTV now also included as a streaming service for PS4
When this as announced during the Sony press conference I had to pause for a second because it was said so casually when it really is a big deal. Going into the conference it was well known that Twitch was going to be used by Microsoft and the less popular Ustream was going to be used by Sony for streaming services on the new consoles. Well what the hell happened to that!? Yet another blow to Microsoft and a boost for Sony (it was never said that Ustream was dropped so will there be an option to use either on the PS4?) in the market and GREAT news all around for Twitch (I hope their servers don't start Armageddon though)
There was a ton more content covered at Gamescom and its proving too much for my hands to handle (RSI/carpal tunnel damn you!). Maybe if I have time next weekend I will make a long video covering everything that went on at the event (including e-sports. Starcraft WCS Season 2 finals going on right now!) but for now I think I covered the most buzz-worthy announcements and hottest games.
Thanks for reading and until next time:
Like it: https://www.facebook.com/TheOnlySurvivor
Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan
Follow it: Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
www.hypersmash.com
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Pre Gamescom Conferences
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Gamescom has officially kicked off and the European mega show, as always, leads the way with new information from the industry. Yesterday, before the expo officially opened its doors to the public, we were all treated to press conferences by EA and Sony. EA showcased their upcoming titles and new features they hope to implement with their next generation of games and Sony officially announced the release date of the PS4 while also showing a few new features of the PS4 not shown at E3 along with a more attractive line up for the PSVita. Microsoft held a private conference and has stayed relatively quiet thus far, possibly still reeling from their PR nightmare that was E3 (better to keep their mouths shut now and just nod yes at the consumers demands). They do have a very solid exclusive line up announced but will that be enough to sway people back to the Xbox while Sony kept riding their wave further down stream? Here are my takeaways from the conferences:
Microsoft
Had to watch a cam video of this conference since Microsoft did not do a formal public press event. A few games were shown but nothing new in that department. Microsoft made a big talking point on Indie development and the self publishing platform for Xbox One. Things like no fees for publishing and the announcement of providing Development Kits to indie studios at no cost until the consumer version of Xbox One is brought up to the standard of being a Development Kit itself was nice to hear from them. Then they showcased a few games like the new Fable Legends and gave a teaser video for The Fighter Within which is using the new Kinect, a small video for The Division showcasing the use of the companion device (smartglass/tablet), the mention of their partnership with Mojang and the availability of Minecraft while showing new footage for Cobalt from Mojang, and then it ended with Call of Duty: Ghosts. Kinect was then brought up with all the new features and how it is a great improvement to the Xbox360 version of Kinect. Kinect Sports Rivals was then shown off with the feature of creating your very own personalized champion for the game. Microsoft then touched on their partnership with EA, announcing that Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare and Peggle 2 will be released first for Xbox One before being released to the rest of the consoles. The partnership also included exclusive features for FIFA 14 which is huge for the European market. That marked the end of the presentation from Microsoft. As I said above, it was a very informal very quiet presentation that alleviated some apprehension about the console and gave the consumer some thoughts to re-evaluate the company moving into the holiday season.
EA
EA came out to showcase their big games for this year and next, and how their games have evolved using the next-gen systems. Even with all the controversy that has surrounded the company in the past due to bad business practices and poor execution, EA seemed to be coming into Gamescom with a little bit of momentum due to their recently released Humble Origin Bundle that was made available last week. The publishing giant has started to play damage control and seems to be on its way to redemption, but only time will tell. First up for them was a showcase of The Sims 4. Just another entry in the beloved series that will push the limitations of the player to greater bounds. The new F2P Command & Conquer was shown briefly as a multiplayer event (most scripted gameplay EVER). Seems like they might try and make an e-sport out of this title (2 "casters" were providing play by play). A developers blog was shown for Dragon Age: Inquisition and this next-gen title is starting to look more and more impressive. Hopefully the game will fix what the previous installments in the series have failed at and will be an enjoyable experience. New features and information was then revealed for the much anticipated Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare. The ability to play as the zombies and an all new "Boss Mode" was shown. I couldn't be happier at the opportunity that has been given to Popcap. the original PvZ was an amazingly fun and hilarious game and for them to be given the backing of a big publisher and more money to work with is great news for them and I wish them the best of luck on future titles. EA Sports UFC was then presented showing off the dynamic body rendering and the brutality of the fights on the engine. For fans of the UFC, this is looking like a visually impressive release that will further blur lines of reality vs technology. Need for Speed Rivals was then looked at. As I am not much of a racing fan (barring Burnout) I can't say much for the title although the graphics look stunningly beautiful and the customization options seem endless. Next up was Titanfall and wow wow wow this game is looking great! The Xbox One (and PC!) exclusive from Respawn is poised to be first big heavy hitter on a next-gen system. More information on FIFA 14 was then shown. Things like FIFA Legends and the showcasing of online play look to bring players a more social and involved experience with the top selling sports franchise game on the market. Finally to close out the conference was Battlefield 4. The beta was announced as being early October with the formal release on October 29. The main attraction was the showing off of more features that the Frostbite 3 engine can do including what they call "levolution" which creates dynamic environments for players (a very ambitious goal). Start up the debate on Battlefield vs Call of Duty once more.
Sony
Sony had plenty to present in their conference. Sony really focused on the "Playstation ecosystem" they have created using the PS3, PS4 and PSVita. The show opened to a navigation of the PS4 OS showing the fluid movement between games and other processes. The real show then kicked off with the showcase of the new Grand Turismo 6 coming in December for PS3 along with a full length feature film that was inspired by the GT series being in development. Little Big Planet has been given a free to play game for PS3 called Hub which seems to involve a lot of social interaction between players. Also announced was Sonys relationship with Rockstar for Grand Theft Auto V and timed exclusives for the PS3.
The next part of the conference focused on the PSVita. Firstly a price drop was announced (down to $199) then came the games:
Batman Arkham Origins
LEGO Marvel
Football Manager
Borderlands 2 (really impressed that this made it to a handheld console, really shows where technology is)
A few indie games (Starbound, Fez, Future Lab)
Then Sony touched on indie development within the Playstation ecosystem and showed off a few of those like Murasaki Baby (interesting art style / very Tim Burton esque), Big Fest (great concept for discovering music, especially unsigned bands), Rogue Legacy, Hotline Miami, N++, Volume (made by Thomas Was Alone creator Mike Bithell) Guns of Icarus Online, and Wasteland Kings.
Finally, Sony moved on to the PS4. Harping on their talk of indie development, the first game shown was Everybody's Gone to the Rapture from the indie studio The Chinese Room who created Dear Esther. This visually beautiful game is looking like a spiritual successor to the Myst games of the past. Next shown was Rime from Tequila Works. This artsy adventure game looks like if Ico and The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker had a child. Moving to the more notable games, a trailer for the re-imagination of the 1989 classic Shadow of the Beast was shown, then came new footage for Infamous: Second Sun followed by Killzone: Shadow Fall. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag was then shown along with a new feature that can be used between the PS4 and PSVita called remote play. Basically the feature lets you play your PS4 games on the Vita which to me is a very attractive feature and really shows off what Sony means when they talk about the "Playstation ecosystem". Remote play using the Vita is a great integration tool to sell more of the handheld device. After that feature, Ubisoft came out and showed a bit more footage of the much anticipated Watch Dogs along with an announcement of a feature film in the works
With all the games set for the PS4, they announced some rather unexpected features. At E3, it was said that Ustream was going to be the featured streaming host for the PS4, but at this event, the directors announced the use of TwitchTV coming to PS4. What was thought to be a Microsoft exclusive has now been integrated with the competitor. This to me, was HUGE for Sony. Ustream is good at what it does but Twitch is by far the most popular and most recognizable streaming service available, so to see that snatched up is a big win for Sony when it was thought that the streaming giant was going to be held exclusively by Microsoft. For all you Europeans out there, Sony announced plans to work with service providers to bring broadband packages to Europe which may alleviate the dreadful internet speed that is seen in some parts of Europe, a big win in the EU market. Other points brought up were the price drop for the PS3 (12GB for $199) and the statement that there have been over 1 million pre-orders for the PS4 which is fantastic news for the company.
So that was a run down of the major announcements made before the expo officially kicked off to the public. Tomorrow I will cover all the other games announced and various news coming out of Europe (News for the new Diablo III expansion, Destiny, The Elder Scrolls Online, and plenty more).
Thanks for reading and until next time:
Like it: https://www.facebook.com/TheOnlySurvivor
Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan
Follow it: Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
Hypersmash.com
Gamescom has officially kicked off and the European mega show, as always, leads the way with new information from the industry. Yesterday, before the expo officially opened its doors to the public, we were all treated to press conferences by EA and Sony. EA showcased their upcoming titles and new features they hope to implement with their next generation of games and Sony officially announced the release date of the PS4 while also showing a few new features of the PS4 not shown at E3 along with a more attractive line up for the PSVita. Microsoft held a private conference and has stayed relatively quiet thus far, possibly still reeling from their PR nightmare that was E3 (better to keep their mouths shut now and just nod yes at the consumers demands). They do have a very solid exclusive line up announced but will that be enough to sway people back to the Xbox while Sony kept riding their wave further down stream? Here are my takeaways from the conferences:
Microsoft
Had to watch a cam video of this conference since Microsoft did not do a formal public press event. A few games were shown but nothing new in that department. Microsoft made a big talking point on Indie development and the self publishing platform for Xbox One. Things like no fees for publishing and the announcement of providing Development Kits to indie studios at no cost until the consumer version of Xbox One is brought up to the standard of being a Development Kit itself was nice to hear from them. Then they showcased a few games like the new Fable Legends and gave a teaser video for The Fighter Within which is using the new Kinect, a small video for The Division showcasing the use of the companion device (smartglass/tablet), the mention of their partnership with Mojang and the availability of Minecraft while showing new footage for Cobalt from Mojang, and then it ended with Call of Duty: Ghosts. Kinect was then brought up with all the new features and how it is a great improvement to the Xbox360 version of Kinect. Kinect Sports Rivals was then shown off with the feature of creating your very own personalized champion for the game. Microsoft then touched on their partnership with EA, announcing that Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare and Peggle 2 will be released first for Xbox One before being released to the rest of the consoles. The partnership also included exclusive features for FIFA 14 which is huge for the European market. That marked the end of the presentation from Microsoft. As I said above, it was a very informal very quiet presentation that alleviated some apprehension about the console and gave the consumer some thoughts to re-evaluate the company moving into the holiday season.
EA
EA came out to showcase their big games for this year and next, and how their games have evolved using the next-gen systems. Even with all the controversy that has surrounded the company in the past due to bad business practices and poor execution, EA seemed to be coming into Gamescom with a little bit of momentum due to their recently released Humble Origin Bundle that was made available last week. The publishing giant has started to play damage control and seems to be on its way to redemption, but only time will tell. First up for them was a showcase of The Sims 4. Just another entry in the beloved series that will push the limitations of the player to greater bounds. The new F2P Command & Conquer was shown briefly as a multiplayer event (most scripted gameplay EVER). Seems like they might try and make an e-sport out of this title (2 "casters" were providing play by play). A developers blog was shown for Dragon Age: Inquisition and this next-gen title is starting to look more and more impressive. Hopefully the game will fix what the previous installments in the series have failed at and will be an enjoyable experience. New features and information was then revealed for the much anticipated Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare. The ability to play as the zombies and an all new "Boss Mode" was shown. I couldn't be happier at the opportunity that has been given to Popcap. the original PvZ was an amazingly fun and hilarious game and for them to be given the backing of a big publisher and more money to work with is great news for them and I wish them the best of luck on future titles. EA Sports UFC was then presented showing off the dynamic body rendering and the brutality of the fights on the engine. For fans of the UFC, this is looking like a visually impressive release that will further blur lines of reality vs technology. Need for Speed Rivals was then looked at. As I am not much of a racing fan (barring Burnout) I can't say much for the title although the graphics look stunningly beautiful and the customization options seem endless. Next up was Titanfall and wow wow wow this game is looking great! The Xbox One (and PC!) exclusive from Respawn is poised to be first big heavy hitter on a next-gen system. More information on FIFA 14 was then shown. Things like FIFA Legends and the showcasing of online play look to bring players a more social and involved experience with the top selling sports franchise game on the market. Finally to close out the conference was Battlefield 4. The beta was announced as being early October with the formal release on October 29. The main attraction was the showing off of more features that the Frostbite 3 engine can do including what they call "levolution" which creates dynamic environments for players (a very ambitious goal). Start up the debate on Battlefield vs Call of Duty once more.
Sony
Sony had plenty to present in their conference. Sony really focused on the "Playstation ecosystem" they have created using the PS3, PS4 and PSVita. The show opened to a navigation of the PS4 OS showing the fluid movement between games and other processes. The real show then kicked off with the showcase of the new Grand Turismo 6 coming in December for PS3 along with a full length feature film that was inspired by the GT series being in development. Little Big Planet has been given a free to play game for PS3 called Hub which seems to involve a lot of social interaction between players. Also announced was Sonys relationship with Rockstar for Grand Theft Auto V and timed exclusives for the PS3.
The next part of the conference focused on the PSVita. Firstly a price drop was announced (down to $199) then came the games:
Batman Arkham Origins
LEGO Marvel
Football Manager
Borderlands 2 (really impressed that this made it to a handheld console, really shows where technology is)
A few indie games (Starbound, Fez, Future Lab)
Then Sony touched on indie development within the Playstation ecosystem and showed off a few of those like Murasaki Baby (interesting art style / very Tim Burton esque), Big Fest (great concept for discovering music, especially unsigned bands), Rogue Legacy, Hotline Miami, N++, Volume (made by Thomas Was Alone creator Mike Bithell) Guns of Icarus Online, and Wasteland Kings.
Finally, Sony moved on to the PS4. Harping on their talk of indie development, the first game shown was Everybody's Gone to the Rapture from the indie studio The Chinese Room who created Dear Esther. This visually beautiful game is looking like a spiritual successor to the Myst games of the past. Next shown was Rime from Tequila Works. This artsy adventure game looks like if Ico and The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker had a child. Moving to the more notable games, a trailer for the re-imagination of the 1989 classic Shadow of the Beast was shown, then came new footage for Infamous: Second Sun followed by Killzone: Shadow Fall. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag was then shown along with a new feature that can be used between the PS4 and PSVita called remote play. Basically the feature lets you play your PS4 games on the Vita which to me is a very attractive feature and really shows off what Sony means when they talk about the "Playstation ecosystem". Remote play using the Vita is a great integration tool to sell more of the handheld device. After that feature, Ubisoft came out and showed a bit more footage of the much anticipated Watch Dogs along with an announcement of a feature film in the works
With all the games set for the PS4, they announced some rather unexpected features. At E3, it was said that Ustream was going to be the featured streaming host for the PS4, but at this event, the directors announced the use of TwitchTV coming to PS4. What was thought to be a Microsoft exclusive has now been integrated with the competitor. This to me, was HUGE for Sony. Ustream is good at what it does but Twitch is by far the most popular and most recognizable streaming service available, so to see that snatched up is a big win for Sony when it was thought that the streaming giant was going to be held exclusively by Microsoft. For all you Europeans out there, Sony announced plans to work with service providers to bring broadband packages to Europe which may alleviate the dreadful internet speed that is seen in some parts of Europe, a big win in the EU market. Other points brought up were the price drop for the PS3 (12GB for $199) and the statement that there have been over 1 million pre-orders for the PS4 which is fantastic news for the company.
So that was a run down of the major announcements made before the expo officially kicked off to the public. Tomorrow I will cover all the other games announced and various news coming out of Europe (News for the new Diablo III expansion, Destiny, The Elder Scrolls Online, and plenty more).
Thanks for reading and until next time:
Like it: https://www.facebook.com/TheOnlySurvivor
Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan
Follow it: Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
Hypersmash.com
Friday, August 16, 2013
Week (half month?) in Review 8/16/2013
Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
After a short break, I am now back with the Week in Review! This is more like a half month in review since i missed the past few weeks so i will cover the big stories. Lots of exciting things happening and tons more to come. Next week is Gamescom in Germany which will lead into some spectacular September releases and the holiday season. With the time getting closer and closer to the release of the PS4 and XboxOne, there will be a lot of new information and announcements in the coming months. With all that said, lets take a look at what has been going on:
Alliance Wins The International 3 earning $1.4 Million
Let me first start this off with saying that I love e-sports and I have really enjoyed watching the scene grow in the past few years. I mainly follow Starcraft 2 and because of that community I always seemed to have a kind of smugness against watching MOBAs. League of Legends never appealed to me mainly because of their community which I view as immature (Yes SC2 is full of immature people as well, I am very aware!), I tried to play Heros of Newerth a while back and hated it, and then DOTA 2 which was long in Beta was just there and I never touched it because of the experiences I had in other MOBAs. The International 3 was the first time I actually really sat down and tried to enjoy watching as a competitive sport. Wow is all I have to say. The production value was through the roof, the casters were amazing, the experts were wonderful, and the players were top notch. Even though I know little about the games mechanics, I found myself totally invested into the games being played and rooting for players and teams that I knew nothing about (some teams like Alliance, Na'Vi, Team Liquid, and Dignitas have an SC2 division). Overall, this was an absolutely amazing tournament and congratulations go to Alliance for taking home the $1.4 million prize. The sky is the limit for DOTA with Valve revealing that the concurrent views hit a peak at over 1 million at times. I see DOTA 2 overtaking all others by next year as the top and most popular e-sport in the world.
GTA V coming to PC sooner than expected?
Nvidia revealed that a PC version of GTA V is coming to us a lot sooner than thought. On their quarterly conference call, a director mentioned that PC gamers are out there upgrading their rigs to prepare for the release of next gen titles coming this fall "including blockbuster franchises, such as Call of Duty: Ghosts, Grand Theft Auto V and Assassin's Creed IV." -Chris Evenden, Senior Director of Investor Relations- Does this confirm a holiday release for GTA V on PC? Rockstar has not said anything yet on the matter but with all the reports surrounding a PC release, soon than later would be wise for them.
Bioshock Infinite DLC brings the players back to Rapture
The fine people at Irrational games released information about the upcoming DLC for Bioshock Infinite and released the first set to coincide with the announcement. The Clash in the Clouds DLC was released and information about the future was revealed. Clash in the Clouds is a series of arena style combat challenges set in Colombia. Playing through these is a fun little hold over until the real heavy hitter is released. The two part Burial at Sea DLC is bringing players back to Rapture the night before its fall. With the first part set to be released before the years end, the story driven content will see the players once again taking on the role of Booker in part 1 and then in part 2 you get control of Elizabeth. Fans of the series are jumping for joy at the announcement. I for one, cannot wait for this. Bioshock 1 was one of those games that I can look back on and consider it a life changing experience in gaming alongside the likes of Half-Life. Being brought back to the place where it started, this DLC is something I will 100% be picking up the second it is released.
XboxOne removes requirement of Kinect always on
Change after change after change. Microsoft revealed that they have scrapped the requirement of Kinect being always on with XboxOne. This completes the total reversal of policies on XboxOne after the initial reveal. As a consumer, this is great and now I have legitimate reasons to seriously consider buying XboxOne. The PR nightmare that Microsoft created for themselves seems to be almost over. The damage was done though and that shows through pre-order numbers. But now with all the changes, I expect to once again see the console war in full swing, the only things separating XboxOne from PS4 is now hardware and exclusives. Time will tell the real damage done to Microsoft but I believe they will be revived and back in the fray creating healthy competition and driving the gaming industry further up the technological path. The only thing that still has me worried about XboxOne is that it still seems that Microsoft is trying to make it an entertainment console and I feel that may have an affect on the gaming industry as games are one of the many focuses of the product.
Batman: Arkham Origins drops GFWL on PC
THANK GOD! Games For Windows Live has been a disaster! The services has caused headaches for PC gamers getting ports of console titans. The first 2 games in the Batman Arkham series used the service on their PC ports and from my experience have been a nightmare. I had installation problems, saved game problems and backup problems because of GFWL. I shudder at the thought of new games using them, sometimes I really have to take a moment to consider if it is really worth getting the game just because of GFWL. That all said, October 25th cannot come soon enough for me to get my hands on this game. I love the series and hopefully this one stays true and will be another great installment.
Jason Holtman, former Steam director, moves to Microsoft to focus on PC gaming
Man Microsoft is really trying to make up for the past few months! Rumors following the appointment of Jason Holtman seem to signal the end of Games For Windows Live as Valve’s former director of business development for Steam is set to focus on PC gaming for the tech giant. Things may start looking up for Microsoft and only time will tell if the former Steam man can create another challenger in the PC gaming market. Exciting times are coming and Jason is now carrying the torch for Microsoft.
The Humble Origin Bundle is released
I touched on this briefly at the end of yesterdays post but here it is again. No matter how you feel about EA and Origin, if you don't already have the games included in the bundle (Battlefield 3, Dead Space, Dead Space 3, Crysis 2, Burnout Paradise, The Sims 3, Mirrors Edge, and Medal of Honor) then you are insane not to pick this up. Still bitter about it being EA? No problem! All the money goes directly to charity! EA is not seeing a dime from this. Don't like Origin? No big deal! Most of the games (except Battlefield 3, The Sims 3 and Dead Space 3) come with Steam keys as well! As of this writing, the average price you need to pay in order to get all these games is $4.80, and if that is still keeping you from grabbing this then you are lost. You win by getting amazing AAA releases at an EXTREMELY low price, EA wins by making them all available for that low price and getting some positive PR for once, and the charity's win with your donations, there is no loser. GET IT!
That's all I have. There was a lot more that went on but I feel these were the more prominent and more important stories. Like yesterday I posted about the new GTA V and The Witcher 3 trailers, there was also the release trailer for Space Hulk, the release of Saints Row IV and right at the time of writing this a new trailer for Thief was released. Awesome stuff coming out and even more things incoming next week with Gamescom being held in Europe. I have more content I am working on, some videos, more articles (as stated yesterday, I am beginning to write for whatculture.com), and I have some ideas for contests (I have a few game keys I want to give away) but I won't start contests until I get more Twitter followers so be sure to click the link and follow for chances at those keys!
Thanks for reading and until next time:
Like it: https://www.facebook.com/TheOnlySurvivor
Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan
Follow it: https://twitter.com/IMxGONNAxDIE
www.hypersmash.com
After a short break, I am now back with the Week in Review! This is more like a half month in review since i missed the past few weeks so i will cover the big stories. Lots of exciting things happening and tons more to come. Next week is Gamescom in Germany which will lead into some spectacular September releases and the holiday season. With the time getting closer and closer to the release of the PS4 and XboxOne, there will be a lot of new information and announcements in the coming months. With all that said, lets take a look at what has been going on:
Alliance Wins The International 3 earning $1.4 Million
Let me first start this off with saying that I love e-sports and I have really enjoyed watching the scene grow in the past few years. I mainly follow Starcraft 2 and because of that community I always seemed to have a kind of smugness against watching MOBAs. League of Legends never appealed to me mainly because of their community which I view as immature (Yes SC2 is full of immature people as well, I am very aware!), I tried to play Heros of Newerth a while back and hated it, and then DOTA 2 which was long in Beta was just there and I never touched it because of the experiences I had in other MOBAs. The International 3 was the first time I actually really sat down and tried to enjoy watching as a competitive sport. Wow is all I have to say. The production value was through the roof, the casters were amazing, the experts were wonderful, and the players were top notch. Even though I know little about the games mechanics, I found myself totally invested into the games being played and rooting for players and teams that I knew nothing about (some teams like Alliance, Na'Vi, Team Liquid, and Dignitas have an SC2 division). Overall, this was an absolutely amazing tournament and congratulations go to Alliance for taking home the $1.4 million prize. The sky is the limit for DOTA with Valve revealing that the concurrent views hit a peak at over 1 million at times. I see DOTA 2 overtaking all others by next year as the top and most popular e-sport in the world.
GTA V coming to PC sooner than expected?
Nvidia revealed that a PC version of GTA V is coming to us a lot sooner than thought. On their quarterly conference call, a director mentioned that PC gamers are out there upgrading their rigs to prepare for the release of next gen titles coming this fall "including blockbuster franchises, such as Call of Duty: Ghosts, Grand Theft Auto V and Assassin's Creed IV." -Chris Evenden, Senior Director of Investor Relations- Does this confirm a holiday release for GTA V on PC? Rockstar has not said anything yet on the matter but with all the reports surrounding a PC release, soon than later would be wise for them.
Bioshock Infinite DLC brings the players back to Rapture
The fine people at Irrational games released information about the upcoming DLC for Bioshock Infinite and released the first set to coincide with the announcement. The Clash in the Clouds DLC was released and information about the future was revealed. Clash in the Clouds is a series of arena style combat challenges set in Colombia. Playing through these is a fun little hold over until the real heavy hitter is released. The two part Burial at Sea DLC is bringing players back to Rapture the night before its fall. With the first part set to be released before the years end, the story driven content will see the players once again taking on the role of Booker in part 1 and then in part 2 you get control of Elizabeth. Fans of the series are jumping for joy at the announcement. I for one, cannot wait for this. Bioshock 1 was one of those games that I can look back on and consider it a life changing experience in gaming alongside the likes of Half-Life. Being brought back to the place where it started, this DLC is something I will 100% be picking up the second it is released.
XboxOne removes requirement of Kinect always on
Change after change after change. Microsoft revealed that they have scrapped the requirement of Kinect being always on with XboxOne. This completes the total reversal of policies on XboxOne after the initial reveal. As a consumer, this is great and now I have legitimate reasons to seriously consider buying XboxOne. The PR nightmare that Microsoft created for themselves seems to be almost over. The damage was done though and that shows through pre-order numbers. But now with all the changes, I expect to once again see the console war in full swing, the only things separating XboxOne from PS4 is now hardware and exclusives. Time will tell the real damage done to Microsoft but I believe they will be revived and back in the fray creating healthy competition and driving the gaming industry further up the technological path. The only thing that still has me worried about XboxOne is that it still seems that Microsoft is trying to make it an entertainment console and I feel that may have an affect on the gaming industry as games are one of the many focuses of the product.
Batman: Arkham Origins drops GFWL on PC
THANK GOD! Games For Windows Live has been a disaster! The services has caused headaches for PC gamers getting ports of console titans. The first 2 games in the Batman Arkham series used the service on their PC ports and from my experience have been a nightmare. I had installation problems, saved game problems and backup problems because of GFWL. I shudder at the thought of new games using them, sometimes I really have to take a moment to consider if it is really worth getting the game just because of GFWL. That all said, October 25th cannot come soon enough for me to get my hands on this game. I love the series and hopefully this one stays true and will be another great installment.
Jason Holtman, former Steam director, moves to Microsoft to focus on PC gaming
Man Microsoft is really trying to make up for the past few months! Rumors following the appointment of Jason Holtman seem to signal the end of Games For Windows Live as Valve’s former director of business development for Steam is set to focus on PC gaming for the tech giant. Things may start looking up for Microsoft and only time will tell if the former Steam man can create another challenger in the PC gaming market. Exciting times are coming and Jason is now carrying the torch for Microsoft.
The Humble Origin Bundle is released
I touched on this briefly at the end of yesterdays post but here it is again. No matter how you feel about EA and Origin, if you don't already have the games included in the bundle (Battlefield 3, Dead Space, Dead Space 3, Crysis 2, Burnout Paradise, The Sims 3, Mirrors Edge, and Medal of Honor) then you are insane not to pick this up. Still bitter about it being EA? No problem! All the money goes directly to charity! EA is not seeing a dime from this. Don't like Origin? No big deal! Most of the games (except Battlefield 3, The Sims 3 and Dead Space 3) come with Steam keys as well! As of this writing, the average price you need to pay in order to get all these games is $4.80, and if that is still keeping you from grabbing this then you are lost. You win by getting amazing AAA releases at an EXTREMELY low price, EA wins by making them all available for that low price and getting some positive PR for once, and the charity's win with your donations, there is no loser. GET IT!
That's all I have. There was a lot more that went on but I feel these were the more prominent and more important stories. Like yesterday I posted about the new GTA V and The Witcher 3 trailers, there was also the release trailer for Space Hulk, the release of Saints Row IV and right at the time of writing this a new trailer for Thief was released. Awesome stuff coming out and even more things incoming next week with Gamescom being held in Europe. I have more content I am working on, some videos, more articles (as stated yesterday, I am beginning to write for whatculture.com), and I have some ideas for contests (I have a few game keys I want to give away) but I won't start contests until I get more Twitter followers so be sure to click the link and follow for chances at those keys!
Thanks for reading and until next time:
Like it: https://www.facebook.com/TheOnlySurvivor
Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan
Follow it: https://twitter.com/IMxGONNAxDIE
www.hypersmash.com
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