I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more “meh…” gaming press conference than the one Microsoft had for the new Xbox One console. Sure, they did the ABSOLUTE smartest thing of all three major game companies by ACTUALLY showing their console (+110 points!), but every reveal after that was either predictable (EA Sports is making their games and DLC exclusive to the One first, we’re getting all new game engines for their core sports titles, there was no actual gameplay footage shown… -40 points!) or underwhelming (Forza Motorsport 5 looks like the last Forza unless you slow it waaaay down and see stuff you’d expect like better lighting and more textures in a game series that already looks fine, thank you. – 15 points!).
Not to mention the first 25 or so minutes being saddled down by talk about too many features core gamers could care less about (well, the more servers thing adds 20 points because without them, Xbox Live would turn into rush hour traffic on the L.I.E. every day. Hmmm… making me sleepy and not care about the new Kinect functions that SHOULD have worked like that in the first model? Yeah, that’s a nope. (and -30 points!). Oh, and Call of Duty: Ghosts getting a new graphics overahaul is a no-branier (but only worth +5 because it has a dog in the game who’s an active squad member {woof!} and the fish in the water move out of your way… but you’ll be too busy to notice that, I bet). As for the interactivity and character customization now possible in Ghosts’ multiplayer? Um… Whee? Other non-FPS games have done both for a while, but whatever (annnd that’s a -10 for trying to pass off those new features as innovations)…
(Trailer from HDPLAYR)
The only highlight for me was the announcement of a new Remedy game, Quantum Break (+20 points!), but the trailer was disappointing because it used live-action footage that switched unconvincingly to in-game visuals that, while impressive, really didn’t show off much other than the game has a big sea tanker smash into a bridge and cause a hell of a lot of chaos. Um, OK? I guess E3 will be the big reveal for the actual games they want to show off, because what they DID show at this reveal wasn’t very revealing for actual gamers that I know… Well, with that “later this year” release “date,” we’ll all see soon enough, right?
In case you’ve never played it, 
Watching and listening to series Producer Hideo Baba talk about his beloved Tales franchise will make anyone want to pick up a controller and play whatever lands on these shores. The latest in the long-running franchise (which started on the Super Famicom back in 1995), Tales of Xillia breaks new ground for the series by combining the distinctly different art styles of the series two key character designers (Kosuke Fujishima and Mutsumi Inomata), blending them flawlessly in a larger and prettier overall game. Toss in “Empress of Pop” Ayumi Hamasaki singing the theme sone, a refined battle system and the usual Tales quality bumped up to a nice PS3 shine and you get a game fans should be more than pleased to play…
