Jimmy Fallon Is Still Quite The “Spaz” As A Live TV Gamer. Oh Well…

Posted on June 18, 2013 by geelw

That said, I like that he’s so enthusiastic when he plays games even when he’s awful at them. Still, he did whip Microsoft’s Phil Spencer at the new Killer Instinct (it sounded like a flock of woodpeckers over on Jimmy’s arcade stick) before zipping over to Forza Motorsport 5 for some slow-ish racing action. No, the game wasn’t slow at all, kids. Fallon just drove that fake ride like I’d drive a real car on a real road (and I can’t drive – although I’ve actually driven a few times). As for how the games looked, well see for yourself, but DO play the video in HD. It’s hard to tell on a standard def TV or much on a HD set, as you kind of need to be in the same room to get the full effect of “next-gen” visuals. Still, Spencer was light on the details (well, five minutes is not a lot of time to do a segment on two games) and may have made a slip of the tongue (or not) by stating “The Xbox One has THREE times the power of the Xbox 360!” to Jimmy as he was tolling around and smashing the front of his expensive looking digital car. The problem with that three tmes thing… well, it’s TEN times the power elsewhere (Oops).

Well, the article says ten time the “computational power”, but still… it’s an awful mistake if it was one and given Microsoft’s PR stumbles these last few weeks, it’s another of the last things the company needs when it comes to damage controlling a sticky situation. Oh well… at least Spencer got the $499 price right on the nose. Fallon’s earlier spot on bad games was pretty funny as well. Hmmm… I think I need to send him a list of stuff one of these days (and maybe loan out stuff he can’t find), as I have 2000+ games here and probably more than a few stinkers in my kusoge pile…

E3 2013: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Your Next Year In Gaming May Just Be Spent Here…

Posted on June 14, 2013 by geelw

Poland’s CD Projekt RED Studios is one of my favorite game developers because you can clearly see through their games that they really love what they’re doing and are determined to make everything they work on as great and immersive as humanly possible. This dedication to craft has made the first two games in The Witcher series stand out as watermarks in game design and art direction, so it’s no surprise that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is upping the ante in many significant ways on its way to being possibly one of the best modern multiplatform RPGs to date. Set for a 2014 release on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the game, while still a work in progress looks absolutely stunning in screenshots and even more incredible in action to the point that you have to wonder what magical powers keep the dev team pouring out such ridiculously perfect work.

All my overblown hyperbole aside, this is a game that’s going to let it’s powerful anti-hero Geralt of Riva go anywhere and have layered adventures in a richly detailed world (35 times larger than the one in the already epic-sized one in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings) full of danger and no doubt quite a few memorable NPC encounters that add even more choices to how the game is played. The new combat system should please old and new players alike and yes, given that the game is assured a Mature rating, Geralt will get to play “pin the tail on the monster” in battle, slicing foes into bits or using his powerful spells to take them down with relish. We’ll probably also him get in some deftly edited romantic time with a few ladies, as the game has also never shied away from the man’s desires (nor those of some of the ladies he encounters in his travels).

Of course, fans of the series buy these games for more than Geralt’s sexytime antics. The story has always been the core of every game in the series and it’s guaranteed that this one will be another memorable chapter in Geralt’s history. Expect the always super voice acting and soundtrack packed with some lovely scored tunes and I’m betting even non-gamers will want to sit and watch this played just to take in the visuals or get wrapped up in a story filled with drama, mystery, well-timed humor when necessary and occasional bursts of violence. But let’s not get too far ahead here – I’ll run updates on this one as the developer puts them out. CDPR has a system seller here, there’s no doubt in my mind about that one bit…

E3 2013: Oh, Microsoft… You’re Making This TOO Easy…

Posted on June 14, 2013 by geelw

(video swiped from YouTuber Rinoa Leonhart)

So, the Xbox One. Yeah, THAT Xbox One. Did you know it has the computational POWER of ten Xbox 360’s? No? Well, Microsoft says so and while it’s probably true as the sky is blue (under certain circumstances) and the sun always rises even if you can’t see it (always, so far). Amusingly enough… I was planning to post that clip above BEFORE this article appeared (you WILL laugh at some point while reading it, trust me), but I got busy tinkering on a review and man, I feel as if they’re writing my lame comedy material for me and I don’t even OWN a Kinect.

At this point in damage control mode, you have to wonder when they’ll just start sending out white or black vans rolling around neighborhoods to grab random strangers off the street and MAKE them play a game just to show off how much POWER their system has. POWER, I tells ya… Granted, you still can’t use it offline unless you’re online first (subject to change based on day of the week and a update to the licensing agreement) and that new Kinect is always on even if you shut it “off”, but POWER! Wondrous working POWER… *Crack*, BOOOOOM!!!

OK, OK… I’ll knock it off now… Jeez…

E3 2013: Microsoft Xbox Conference: On the Surface, It’s Got Merit…

Posted on June 12, 2013 by geelw

…But things go very far south very quickly if you’re not who they want to be in on their new console. Check out this pre-order info page and if your eyeballs aren’t rolling on the floor trying to find your jaw, you’re the guy or gal they want. Also note that currently, Japan and wow, every other primarily Asian county isn’t even on the list of supported territories, but given the Xbox and Xbox 360 not doing anywhere as well there as they did elsewhere, it’s going to be extremely interesting to see what exactly does happen if and when the Xbox One rolls out in these areas. Thanks to MXE Videos for this clip, as Microsoft has yet to run the full version of this on their own YouTube channel, instead preferring to chop it into smaller segments to show off the games and their respective reveals. I think it works best as a whole meal myself…

E3 2013 Humor: Meanwhile, Back At Microsoft HQ…

Posted on June 11, 2013 by geelw

Or something like that… Well, I thought it was funny!

Yeah, how about that Xbox One and its assorted restrictions? The console is SOUND and so are some of those games. But, man… the suits failed to see that actual people aren’t all the same when it comes to how they want to play games and what they want to do with those games when they’re done with them or simply want to try something someone is playing or has played without the need to raise their hands and get a damned bathroom pass from that Kinect. Fix that (and the always online disguised as not really always online) and maybe you’ll see more happy consumers…

(thank you TigerStylus101 for the video!)

E3 2013: Swery 65’s D4: Episodic Detective Xbox One Exclusive? Well, 2 out of 3 Isn’t Bad…

Posted on June 10, 2013 by geelw

Nope, I’m betting my entire WARP games collection this has no relation to Kenji Eno’s great, languidly paced horror game D or it’s more mature and outrageous follow-up D2, but it’s from one of my favorite game creators, so it’ll get played… provided it eventually comes to a console I can play it on, grrrr. This is the ONE and only thing I despise about this “exclusive” thing, especially in this coming cycle where a lot of games will indeed be VERY “exclusive” as in you can’t play at all unless you meet too many requirements. Bleh. Swery-saaaaaaaaaaaan! PLEASE get this on other systems as soon as possible. ALL your fans deserve to play it – not just a select few!

E3 2013: Star Wars Battlefront Teaser: EA Rolls the DICE And Comes Up With A Future Winner…

Posted on June 10, 2013 by geelw

This super early teaser means there’s nothing ready to show at all as far as gameplay goes. Still, I totally called this one on a game industry board a few months back to some skeptical replies even though it was SO obvious that the same developer that brings you the Battlefield series would absolutely love it if they were handed this license to work their magic on. Are you kidding me? Frostbite 3 engine, Star Wars license, chance to redeem the license AND bring gamers one really insane FPS action across multiple consoles? Nope, that’s not going to be passed up at all, folks. That said… there had better be a solo play mode like the other Star Wars Battlefront games made for less powerful consoles in the past or to paraphrase Uncle Owen “There’s going to be hell to pay!” Well, not from me, necessarily… I can see plenty of fans of those old games wanting to dive in and play Solo (ha ha)… OK, OK, I’ll quit it with the puns while I’m ahead.

Er… I am ahead, right? No? Rats…

E3 2013: Dragon Age: Inquisition – Open World And A Few Familar Faces…

Posted on June 10, 2013 by geelw

You can’t keep a good (well, so bad she’s good) witch down it seems. If that is indeed, Morrigan we’re looking at, well – the game is sold already to many Dragon Agers out there who love the character and her evil ways… The open world focus HOPEFULLY means no recycled maps (one of Dragon Age 2’s notorious downfalls) and a lot more to see and do than in previous entries and even better, it’s coming to current gen as well as next-gen consoles (but not the Wii U, oops), so it’ll be played by more when it launches next year…

E3 2013: So, There’s a Need For Speed Movie Coming? NFS Rivals Has A Rival!

Posted on June 10, 2013 by geelw

Well, EA’s upcoming racer Need for Speed Rivals (above) looks really great and that live gameplay demo at the press event was really quite cool as it went from single player to multiplayer modes seamlessly. Still, I’m not quite sold on the upcoming movie in production, as I think that money would be better spent on making the game as good as it gets and to other SKUs along with the one coming for Next-Gen consoles. Well, what do I know, right? Eh, we’ll see what’s what – the comment in the behind the scenes vid below about the film being an accurate representation of car culture is a TOTAL hoot, as it comes right before a crazy crash that probably would kill a driver in real life… oops.

Well, this should be interesting, as the game looks like it’ll keep racing fans OUT of theaters, not send them into one to catch this because they’d rather PLAY instead of watch… we shall see…

E3 2013: Ryse: Son of Rome Trailer: Crytek’s Xbox One Action Game Is No Roamin’ Holiday…

Posted on June 10, 2013 by geelw

I’m no history buff, but I figured the chiming in would start as soon as the this gameplay trailer was all done. Crytek is making a stellar-looking exclusive here, the nitpickers have been at it about thee shields not being accurate, the English-accented Roman soldiers (what, you want to read subtitles or get stabbed in the head?) the gameplay having too many QTE’s (quick time events, for the uninitiated), and this sequence basically being paced like the Omaha Beach sequence from the old PS2 game Medal of Honor Frontline (ouch!). Oh well – you’ll never please ’em all, I guess. I think it looks mighty awesome, although thanks to the Xbox One’s rather silly and restrictive always connected/online-only focus on making sure everything’s “connected”, I can’t play this at all (and neither can millions of others who may want to drop five hundred clams on that new console). Ah well… the “future” is here, right? RIGHT? Er, SPQR?