E3 2012: Nintendo Wii U: Still Skeptical? Some Perspective To Roll Around In Your Heads

Posted on June 5, 2012 by geelw

Nintendo’s E3 Press conference was interesting, but a bit backward. They should have opened with the park theme and closed with Pikmin 3, but ah well. Still, a LOT was revealed, but even more questions were left unanswered, most importantly, a price point and actual release date. Also, some important franchises were nowhere to be seen, HOWEVER, that doesn’t mean they aren’t in the pipeline. Nintendo isn’t dumb enough to think they don’t need to work on these core fan experiences at all, folks. I know they’re coming, but I’m patient enough to wait until they’re ready to roll out what’s ready to show.

it’s actually a smart thing that third-party tiles, most of which have NEVER been played by those who ONLY own Nintendo systems (which is a lot of folks, by the way) will take up the slack while Nintendo gets to work on whatever Zelda, Metroid, Super Smash Bros. and whatever other key games we didn’t see this year. Sure, those jaded multi-console owning gamers and game journalists (who should all know better) are griping that they’ve played Arkham City or Mass Effect already, and sure that is a point of consideration for those folks. But I’m gathering that the Wii U content will end up being superior in a few ways thanks to the new controller, as it allows developers to go back and add things that can enhance the experiences enough to make them worth going through again whether you’ve played them on another console or not.

Just a thought…

Back later – I’ve got some games to see…

E3 2012: ZOMBIU: Ubisoft Gives Us Survival Horror As It Should Be.

Posted on June 5, 2012 by geelw

Ubisoft is definitely the publisher to watch in terms of creating Wii U experiences that will draw in the core as well as casual crowd, and here’s one for the horror fans out there. The title reminds me of ZOMBI 2, Lucio Fulci’s classic gore-fest from 1979, released here as ZOMBIE (if it’s intentional, it’s a great touch), and after seeing some actual gameplay, I think this one is about as good as it gets for a launch or launch window release. I absolutely love the idea of a one-life survive as long as you can experience with a real-time inventory as it adds an almost rogue-like feel to the experience.

I also love the fact that when your character dies (and he or she WILL die), you lose all your gained skills and your all important survival kit, which needs to be retrieved by the next person you play as. This makes the game a far more frightening experience as you’ll be constantly fighting to survive every single foot you travel and make it to whatever ending awaits. I’m also betting bragging rights about who made it through the game and lost the least amount of characters will be a big thing for a while. Color me thrilled…

E3 2012: Platinum Games’ “Project P100”: Classic And Current All In One Must-Buy

Posted on June 5, 2012 by geelw

As soon as I saw this trailer and then the actual gameplay reveal on Spike TV, I got really excited and had to put my first thoughts down. The team at Platinum Games has basically created a modern day mash-up of the ancient Game Boy classic Mercenary Force and Lucasarts’ awesome Zombies Ate My Neighbors on the SNES, added their own stylistic brilliance with Wii U functionality and is setting this loose on Nintendo fans for their approval. I like this one a lot, so it’s a must-buy in my book. Go Platinum!

E3 2012: Sony Press Conference: Beginning And Ending With Superb, A Bit Of Flab In The Middle.

Posted on June 5, 2012 by geelw

For the first time in a while, Sony opened things up with a complete shocker no one knew a thing about. This time, it was BEYOND: Two Souls, the upcoming game from Quantic Dream. With incredible visuals and Ellen Page as the lead character, the clip ended up leaving SO many questions unanswered, but that’s how David Cage wanted it. I did find it pretty amusing that after Cage touted how stunning Page’s performance was in the game, her digital character was mute for the bulk of the clip shown.till, it’s a must-buy I’ll be tracking until it’s released. God of War: Ascension finally got a live single player demo that showed fans really had nothing to fret about at all, as Kratos is as brutal as ever, the enemies are all deadly and the trademark QTE kills are even gorier than ever. Pre-orders are already being taken for this one, even though it’s not in stores until March 2013, so make that a priority if you’re good about hanging onto receipts.

The Vita got some props with a few new titles announced and a bit of cross platform play from PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale that was slick and flawless. While it looks like a TON of fun, I’m still not sold on the Super Smash Bros. influenced game completely, as I think not having old PS mascot stalwarts such as Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon (both owned by different publishers these days) makes for a lesser experience (Fat Princess? Really?). And where’s Solid Snake? Then again, Uncharted’s Nathan Drake and Big Daddy from BioShock will please some folks out there, as they were announced as new fighters in the game as part of a quick teaser.

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E3 2012: Microsoft Press Conference. Something Old, Some Things New – It’s All Good (Mostly)…

Posted on June 5, 2012 by geelw

As far as exclusives go: Halo 4 looks like a Halo game (a great thing if you’re a fan), The new Forza is a bit more Burnout and Need For Speed, there’s a another Gears of War coming next year (no number this time) and among other things, Microsoft is bringing Internet Explorer (hopefully virus-free or else) as well as device support to the Xbox 360 very soon. This is of course, great news for those who want all that stuff, but me, I just want to play GAMES on my consoles. I don’t need ESPN, more movies and music channels, an automatic pizza delivery button or whatever else they’re offering, but I won’t stop YOU from getting all that coolness.

Speaking of games, Splinter Cell: Blacklist was nice (albeit with a not so subtle political message) that new Tomb Raider demo looked amazing and fluid, I’m never going to use that Nike Kinect functionality ever and that Call of Duty Black Ops 2 demo is showing that Treyarch knows how to get that old engine running what they want to flawlessly while shutting up the haters in the process. There’s also a God fo War-inspired XBLA game coming (that didn’t look as insane as Sony’s God of War Ascension) plus some other stuff I’ll get to writing about at some point. Overall, an OK press conference with less exclusives than Sony’s (I’ll post that shortly), but we’ll see what Nintendo has up later today and perhaps think about picking a “winner” afterward…

E3 2012: Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power Of Two Trailer: A Pair Of Aces.

Posted on June 5, 2012 by geelw

It’s too bad the first game isn’t coming to the PS3 and 360, as I can see it doing well (with the same new game camera system the sequel has), but even without it, there will be an instant appeal to Disney fans looking for something they can hop into with the kids or a friend who wants a cool co-op experience and a non-violent one at that. Granted, the musical numbers will probably have too many people having to listen to their kids singing songs from the game on long car trips, but hey – it’s less annoying than having the kid keep quoting lines from a Gears of War or God of War game, right?

E3 2012: DmC Trailer: Ninja Theory Nails It, Capcom Knows It.

Posted on June 5, 2012 by geelw

It’s great to see that Capcom has kept this game going despite the ongoing (and always lame) bile-fest from so-called fans that didn’t see how hard the law of diminishing returns hit the franchise back when the fourth installment was released. It was time for a new look and a new take on the character and fortunately, developer Ninja Theory has stepped up to the plate to deliver the goods. Now, it’s all about getting the game done and shipped and perhaps some sort of demo that assures those who need it that this one’s going to be not only FUN, but fresh and funny where needed. Keep it going, guys, keep it going!

E3 2012: LEGO Lord of the Rings Trailer: Insert REALLY Obvious Lego-las Joke Here.

Posted on June 5, 2012 by geelw

Travelers Tales has had this LEGO thing all sewn up tightly for a while, but with this game and LEGO Batman 2, they’re doing their best work to date. Between the funny, family friendly gameplay and always cute visual style, there’s something for any gamer with a pulse who happens to love to laugh. WBIE knows that the LOTR franchise had enough legs to stand up to this sort of kookiness, so kudos to them for getting this one out for just about every console or handheld available. Now, about that greatly improved War in the North sequel I hope is being worked on (wishful thinking, but hey… I can always dream, right?)…

E3 2012: BEYOND: Two Souls. Quantic Dream’s PS3 Exclusive Surprise of the Show.

Posted on June 5, 2012 by geelw

Take one of the most innovative console developers and their award winning tech, add in a great actress with huge fan appeal and mix well under cover for a while, let bake and pop off the lid unexpectedly at a huge press event. BEYOND: Two Souls is going to be fantastic for a few reasons, the least of which being it takes place over a period of fifteen years in the main character’s life. The game is also something a lot more action driven than Heavy Rain, but Page’s character is clearly a “normal” human who happens to have some sort of powerful spirit that enables her to do some superhuman things (and attract the notice of a well-armed SWAT team). Other than a probable 2013 release date, nothing else is know about the game, but this first look at the game and amazing trailer should be more than enough to make you want to buy a PS3 just to play what’s bound to be an instant classic.

E3 2012: Ubisoft E3 Press Conference (NSFW). DEFINITELY A Step Forward.

Posted on June 5, 2012 by geelw

To me, this was hands down, Ubisoft’s best games lineup to date. Yeah, yeah, we all knew Assassin’s Creed III was going to be great (it’s even better than I thought), Far Cry 3 continues to be gorgeous (and even MORE outrageous with each new reveal) and the new Splinter Cell: Blacklist looks fantastic. ALL of these were superior game experiences I’d buy as well as recommend in a heartbeat. But it was the new IP that made me jump out of my seat (and more than once at that).

Rayman Legends was perfect, nostalgic fun on the Wii U, and that up to five player thing is going to make a LOT of families happy (as well as any gaming party where a little levity is needed). But then there’s Watch_Dogs. Wow. Not only does the game address some things I’ve been whining about for YEARS (our loss of security in this “always online” era), it’s actually one of the best looking games I’ve ever seen, blending cinematic techniques and gameplay seamlessly while surprising me with gameplay that shifted to a new character at the end of the demo.

Oh yeah… I don’t give a hoot about Just Dance 4, but you can’t deny the game has been HUGE on the Wii and sit JD3 last year, the PS3 and Xbox as well. So I’ll give then that and dock point for the boring Shootmania e-sports part I wish they’d relegated to the show floor instead of torturing the audience with for so long. I do want to see MORE on that Avengers game, though – even though it’s not hitting the PS3 or 360, it might be fun to play, as the trailer showed old school versions of Wolverine, Storm, Magneto, Venom and Spider-Man doing their stuff in CG form (but no actual gameplay, boo!). Update: Ubisoft also plans to “port” it’s Wii U titles to other mobile devices as a means to offset development costs, so I guess we’ll see where that goes and if it’s a success other publishers will mimick at some point….