I've got a bit of a mixed bag for you today. First off, let's talk about games!
I've been a game collector for over 10 years now (and a gamer for over 30). It's been my main hobby, and the focus of most of my spending money, for a long time. But sometimes in life you have to tighten that belt up a bit. So here lately I've been saying that my game collecting is on hiatus. Times are tough, money's tight, and I just can't necessarily afford to go spending anything on games I know are just going to sit on a shelf. That's why it's nice to see so many games right now dropping so low in price. Of course, it seems to happen at the end of every generation. Gen 7 is winding down, and many of its games are getting to be pretty cheap. But I've even noticed it with gen 8 already! Just the other day I found a number of Wii U games that had come down quite a bit in price. Not any of the really big titles, of course, but still some solid stuff.
If you own any of the gen 7 consoles, or a Wii U, now would be a great time for you to get out there and do some bargain hunting. Be sure to check your locally owned independent game stores first, as that helps your local economy and is just more fun, but if you don't find anything you like there you can always do Amazon. It's a good time to be on the look-out for cheap games! Oh, and by the way, I did manage to pick up that Mass Effect 3: Special Edition for Wii U that I talked about in a previous post, and I got it for very cheap.
Now on to movies! I'm a Netflix subscriber. I've had it for a number of years now. In fact, I no longer have cable in my house, and I don't even really miss it. Netflix and the internet give me pretty much everything I need. That said, I haven't used my Netflix much lately. I barely watched it at all for the past couple of months. I've been watching a ton of stuff on the net. But, the other day I got on Netflix just to see what was new, and wound up adding almost a dozen movies to my instant queue. Mostly horror flicks. Over the next few weeks I'll be checking them out. I've got some supernatural horror, ghost stories, monster movies, etc., as well as some suspense thrillers and that sort of thing. I've got a few Asian horror movies, a lot of Hollywood stuff, some independent movies also, it's a pretty good mix.
If I find anything in there that really stands out, I'll be sure to mention it here. If any of you have any recommendations, I'm always open to them! Let me know in the comments, or on Twitter.
Lastly, I'd like to promote one of my favorite podcasts. If you're into the paranormal at all, or even just like to be entertained while hearing about some really out-there stories, please check out Mysterious Universe! If you follow me on Twitter you might have seen me talking about them there last week. I've been listening to MU for a few years now. No one else I've ever listened to strikes just the right balance between being serious about the subject matter and being humorous and entertaining. These two guys, Ben and Aaron, are among the top in their field. They're funny and engaging, but also know when to let the creepy stories they talk about just be creepy. Far too many of the paranormal podcasts and radio shows I've come across feel the need to constantly joke about the subject matter in a way that makes me feel like the hosts aren't being respectful.
It's one thing to be a skeptic, skepticism is healthy, but why would I, as a listener, want to listen to a show where the host comes off like they're laughing at me for listening to their show? When I listen to Mysterious Universe, I always feel like they're laughing with me. I'm not sure how to put it any better than that. There are plenty of other paranormal shows on the internet, and I do listen to a number of them, but MU is always my first recommendation to people.
That's it for today! Thank you for reading! If you have any recommendations for me, be they movies, games, or paranormal podcasts, leave a comment here, or follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Friday, July 26, 2013
Go outside! Also, World's Finest.
I thought I'd step away from video games tonight and talk about something different. I don't know where you are located right now, but if you're near the Cincinnati area like I am, the weather has been fantastic lately! I'm talking mid-70s during the day, mid- to low-60s at night, and just enough cloud cover to keep the sun out of your eyes. For late July in the Ohio River valley, this is unseasonably cool, but I don't think anyone's complaining. So I urge you all to find something to do outside. If you follow me on Twitter, you've seen me tweet about it a few times this week. It's given me a great opportunity to get my lawn mowed without dying of heat stroke. And just a few minutes ago I was sitting out in my driveway, enjoying the last of the daylight as I read a book.
I used to do outdoor things more often, when all my friends still lived nearby. We used to do bonfires and outdoor parties on a pretty regular basis. You know how it goes, though. As you get older and your group all spreads apart with families of their own, it gets harder and harder to do that sort of thing. So it's been nice finding a reason to go outside this week and just enjoy it. I even spent a good part of the afternoon a few days ago walking around my town.
So go outside and do something while the weather's nice. Take a handheld system if you must. There are a ton of great games on 3DS right now, and the Vita's starting to get more and more all the time. But I'm guessing you want to hear more than just me talking about how nice the weather is. Okay. Let's talk a bit about the recently announced Batman/Superman movie.
I've been waiting for this to happen for a long time. It's been brought up before, more than once, I believe. Remember the Will Smith version of I Am Legend? Yep, a movie theater sign showed a World's-Finest-style Batman/Superman logo in that movie. So you know Warner Bros. has been wanting to try this for some time. And the thought that this could lead into a Justice League movie would be very exciting, except for one thing: I hated Man of Steel! You may have read my post on this a while ago. The movie was so heartless! I didn't care for any of those characters one single bit, and frankly was just waiting for the movie to be over. The only redeeming quality, in my opinion, was the action. The fight scenes were done well. Other than that, I was thoroughly unimpressed. So to hear that Zack Snyder is going to direct this new movie, along with David Goyer writing and Henry Cavill playing Superman, was disappointing to say the least.
Now, let me be clear. I loved 300, and Watchmen was decent, so I know Snyder can make good movies (didn't like Sucker Punch, though). As for Goyer, he did The Dark Knight. I don't need to say much more than that. It was one of the best Batman stories ever told. Unfortunately, he also did The Dark Knight Rises and Man of Steel, two movies that I really didn't care for much. The Dark Knight Rises was well written, it just didn't live up to its predecessor for me, nor did it feel much like Batman. Cavill I only know from Man of Steel, but I've been told he was good in other movies.
So I'm not ragging on these guys exactly, I just know from my experience that I don't always like the way they handle superheroes. They, and DC/Warner Bros. in general, seem to go for too much realism in their movies. With Batman that can work. With the other heroes, not so much. I much, much prefer Marvel's way of doing their movies. The Avengers was a comic book come to life on screen! That's what I want out of my superhero movies! I read comics because I like comics! I watch superhero movies because I like comics! The Dark Knight was great, and it's fine to do one like that now and again, especially with a hero like Batman who's very grounded in reality compared to most superheroes, but I hate to see DC fall into the trap of trying to make their movies some kind of high cinematic art. Comic's are a compelling medium already. Let your movies be comics on the screen, like Marvel does. Stop trying to turn them into a product that's very different from their source material just to please critics. In doing so, you run the risk of turning away your pre-existing fans.
That's it for tonight! Thanks for reading, be sure to tell your friends and follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI! Now I'm going to go back outside and enjoy the night.
I used to do outdoor things more often, when all my friends still lived nearby. We used to do bonfires and outdoor parties on a pretty regular basis. You know how it goes, though. As you get older and your group all spreads apart with families of their own, it gets harder and harder to do that sort of thing. So it's been nice finding a reason to go outside this week and just enjoy it. I even spent a good part of the afternoon a few days ago walking around my town.
So go outside and do something while the weather's nice. Take a handheld system if you must. There are a ton of great games on 3DS right now, and the Vita's starting to get more and more all the time. But I'm guessing you want to hear more than just me talking about how nice the weather is. Okay. Let's talk a bit about the recently announced Batman/Superman movie.
I've been waiting for this to happen for a long time. It's been brought up before, more than once, I believe. Remember the Will Smith version of I Am Legend? Yep, a movie theater sign showed a World's-Finest-style Batman/Superman logo in that movie. So you know Warner Bros. has been wanting to try this for some time. And the thought that this could lead into a Justice League movie would be very exciting, except for one thing: I hated Man of Steel! You may have read my post on this a while ago. The movie was so heartless! I didn't care for any of those characters one single bit, and frankly was just waiting for the movie to be over. The only redeeming quality, in my opinion, was the action. The fight scenes were done well. Other than that, I was thoroughly unimpressed. So to hear that Zack Snyder is going to direct this new movie, along with David Goyer writing and Henry Cavill playing Superman, was disappointing to say the least.
Now, let me be clear. I loved 300, and Watchmen was decent, so I know Snyder can make good movies (didn't like Sucker Punch, though). As for Goyer, he did The Dark Knight. I don't need to say much more than that. It was one of the best Batman stories ever told. Unfortunately, he also did The Dark Knight Rises and Man of Steel, two movies that I really didn't care for much. The Dark Knight Rises was well written, it just didn't live up to its predecessor for me, nor did it feel much like Batman. Cavill I only know from Man of Steel, but I've been told he was good in other movies.
So I'm not ragging on these guys exactly, I just know from my experience that I don't always like the way they handle superheroes. They, and DC/Warner Bros. in general, seem to go for too much realism in their movies. With Batman that can work. With the other heroes, not so much. I much, much prefer Marvel's way of doing their movies. The Avengers was a comic book come to life on screen! That's what I want out of my superhero movies! I read comics because I like comics! I watch superhero movies because I like comics! The Dark Knight was great, and it's fine to do one like that now and again, especially with a hero like Batman who's very grounded in reality compared to most superheroes, but I hate to see DC fall into the trap of trying to make their movies some kind of high cinematic art. Comic's are a compelling medium already. Let your movies be comics on the screen, like Marvel does. Stop trying to turn them into a product that's very different from their source material just to please critics. In doing so, you run the risk of turning away your pre-existing fans.
That's it for tonight! Thanks for reading, be sure to tell your friends and follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI! Now I'm going to go back outside and enjoy the night.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
More Strider/Soulcalibur II jumps on the bandwagon
If you read my last post, you'll remember that I was complaining about 3rd party developers ignoring Nintendo. The new Strider was my prime example. Well, just a couple of days after I made that post, Double Helix, the developers of the new Strider, said that a Nintendo version would be done if the demand was there for it. Now don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not claiming any influence in that decision. But I'm very happy to hear about it. If you're a Nintendo fan like me and would like to see the new Strider on the Wii U, be sure to tweet @DoubleHelixGame and @Capcom_Unity. Use the hashtag #StrideronWiiU.
I know, Twitter campaigns don't work, blah blah blah. It doesn't take much time out of your day to send a couple of tweets, and these companies can't know what we want if we don't tell them.
In related news, Namco Bandai has announced an HD remake of Soulcalibur II, which was an awesome game. But, once again, it's not for Nintendo! This one is really mystifying to me. Here's a bit of backstory for those who don't know. Soulcalibur II was originally released back in 2003 for GameCube, PS2, and Xbox. Each version of the game got an exclusive character. The Xbox version got Spawn, Todd McFarlane's comic character. Very cool. The PS2 version got Tekken's Heihachi. Kind of an odd choice, putting a fighter who just uses his fists into a fighting game known for using weapons, but still decent. The GameCube version got Link. Now, the GameCube was not one of Nintendo's greatest successes. It was, in fact, the third place console in sales during gen 6. Despite that, it was the GC version of Soulcalibur II that sold the most. People loved being able to play as Link! I knew a lot of guys that had the game back then, and not a one of them had any other version. Even today, when you go to retro game stores, the GC version isn't exactly rare, but you see it far less than you do the PS2 or Xbox versions. People kept their GC Soulcalibur IIs!
So now it's getting redone in HD, and we won't be able to play as Link? Boo! Boo, Namco! This remake is coming out on Xbox 360 and PS3. I have read that Spawn and Heihachi will be appearing in both versions of the game. So, after reading that I did understand a bit more why Nintendo wasn't getting this. If it were on the Wii U, Nintendo would expect their version to have Link in it. But if that happened, Microsoft and Sony might complain about Nintendo getting an extra character. And of course, there's no way Nintendo would allow Link to appear in the 360 or PS3 versions. But still, platform-specific bonuses like this happen all the time. See Kratos appearing in Mortal Kombat on PS3. It happens. So why is Namco ignoring Nintendo?
It's not like they have a bad relationship. Namco is helping to co-develop the two new Super Smash Bros. games coming for Wii U and 3DS! If Nintendo trusts Namco enough to let them co-develop one of their biggest franchises, I'd guess they're pretty tight. So why would Namco not try to recreate the success of the GC version of Soulcalibur II by making this remake on Wii U with Link?
Okay, enough of this. My apologies for waving the Nintendo banner for a second post in a row. I promise next time I'll find something else to talk about. As always, thanks for reading! Please tell your friends about the blog, and follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI.
Today's music: Listening to my Reds beat up on the Giants in a double header!
I know, Twitter campaigns don't work, blah blah blah. It doesn't take much time out of your day to send a couple of tweets, and these companies can't know what we want if we don't tell them.
In related news, Namco Bandai has announced an HD remake of Soulcalibur II, which was an awesome game. But, once again, it's not for Nintendo! This one is really mystifying to me. Here's a bit of backstory for those who don't know. Soulcalibur II was originally released back in 2003 for GameCube, PS2, and Xbox. Each version of the game got an exclusive character. The Xbox version got Spawn, Todd McFarlane's comic character. Very cool. The PS2 version got Tekken's Heihachi. Kind of an odd choice, putting a fighter who just uses his fists into a fighting game known for using weapons, but still decent. The GameCube version got Link. Now, the GameCube was not one of Nintendo's greatest successes. It was, in fact, the third place console in sales during gen 6. Despite that, it was the GC version of Soulcalibur II that sold the most. People loved being able to play as Link! I knew a lot of guys that had the game back then, and not a one of them had any other version. Even today, when you go to retro game stores, the GC version isn't exactly rare, but you see it far less than you do the PS2 or Xbox versions. People kept their GC Soulcalibur IIs!
So now it's getting redone in HD, and we won't be able to play as Link? Boo! Boo, Namco! This remake is coming out on Xbox 360 and PS3. I have read that Spawn and Heihachi will be appearing in both versions of the game. So, after reading that I did understand a bit more why Nintendo wasn't getting this. If it were on the Wii U, Nintendo would expect their version to have Link in it. But if that happened, Microsoft and Sony might complain about Nintendo getting an extra character. And of course, there's no way Nintendo would allow Link to appear in the 360 or PS3 versions. But still, platform-specific bonuses like this happen all the time. See Kratos appearing in Mortal Kombat on PS3. It happens. So why is Namco ignoring Nintendo?
It's not like they have a bad relationship. Namco is helping to co-develop the two new Super Smash Bros. games coming for Wii U and 3DS! If Nintendo trusts Namco enough to let them co-develop one of their biggest franchises, I'd guess they're pretty tight. So why would Namco not try to recreate the success of the GC version of Soulcalibur II by making this remake on Wii U with Link?
Okay, enough of this. My apologies for waving the Nintendo banner for a second post in a row. I promise next time I'll find something else to talk about. As always, thanks for reading! Please tell your friends about the blog, and follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI.
Today's music: Listening to my Reds beat up on the Giants in a double header!
Friday, July 19, 2013
New Strider? Great! Not for Nintendo? Boo!
You may not have heard yet, but Capcom has announced a brand new Strider game! The trailer looks pretty fantastic. I love it any time a game comes out that is 2D and has an old school style, even if it's not based off of an old series. But here's the thing I have an issue with. This game is coming for Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, and PS3. No Wii U. Sorry Nintendo. Even though your NES was the first home system Strider appeared on, you don't get this game. Even though Capcom is bothering to make versions for the now-last-gen 360 and PS3, both of which aren't quite as powerful as your current system, they're still not bothering to make it for you.
Are Wii U sales really that bad? I know the month-to-month numbers are very low, but I was under the impression that the Wii U still has better lifetime sales than the Xbox 360 and PS3 did at this point in their lifetimes. Plus, it's July! This is always a slow time of year for the industry. We've only really had two blockbuster AAA releases all year, Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us. Sales are slow all around. Or is it something more than that? Is there a grudge in place here? There are many third party publishers that used to work closely with Nintendo, companies like Capcom, Konami, Square-Enix, Tecmo-Koei, and EA, who now are not. Or in some cases they'll put out a couple lazy ports then complain it's Nintendo's fault when they don't sell well. Is this all because of the way Nintendo used to treat the third parties back in the NES/SNES days? I can't imagine these publishers, companies whose main goal is to make money, would lose out on profit just to spite Nintendo. It can't be denied, however, that Nintendo used to be pretty heavy handed with the third parties. But hey, newer third parties, that weren't around or weren't as big back in those days, do this too.
Could it be, as so many people around the internet say, that third parties don't like to put stuff on Nintendo's systems because their games are always outsold by Nintendo's own games? Nintendo's first party games do tend to sell more than anything else on their systems. Let's look at one example in particular. When the Wii U launched, EA made a Special Edition version of Mass Effect 3 for the system. The Mass Effect series was very popular in gen 7, selling huge numbers on both Xbox 360 and PS3. It was very cool to see it appearing now on a Nintendo console. How did is sell? Abysmally, by all accounts. Why was this? Was the draw of New Super Mario Bros. U just too strong? Well, that might have been part of it for some people. Let me tell you my opinion on the matter. I love the Mass Effect games. I very much enjoyed the multiplayer on ME3. I had plans to buy it on Wii U so I could continue playing the online for free (my original copy is for 360, and I don't currently have Gold). It was listed at $60, which I thought was a bit high for a year old port, but I loved the game so much I was considering it. Then some information came out. The Mass Effect Trilogy, a bundle of all three games, was announced as coming out at the same time as the Wii U version, but only for Xbox 360 and PS3. It was to sell for the same price as ME3 on the Wii U. On top of that, EA also said that there was no plans to bring the ME3 DLC to Wii U at all. Upon hearing all this I abandoned my plans to buy ME3 Special Edition. I may still pick it up eventually, if I find a cheap, used copy.
How could EA expect Mass Effect fans to be happy with a $60 year old port with no DLC support, when the entire series was being re-released, with DLC support, for the same price on older consoles? And then they had the nerve to complain that it didn't sell well and blame Nintendo for that! The tinfoil-hat-wearing part of me thinks it was all a conspiracy. They wanted sales of ME3 to be low so they could use it as an excuse to stop making games for Nintendo.
Okay, I'm going to stop myself here, before I get into fanboy territory deeper than I already have. Bear with me, folks, please. Yes, I do accept the fact that I can be a fanboy at times. But, that said, I do own all the systems, and always find great games to play on each. I love me some Halo, Fable, and Gears of War. I love Uncharted, Infamous, Jak and Daxter, and plenty of other Sony games as well. To this day the only controller I feel comfortable playing a Tony Hawk game with is a DualShock. So why should I care what games show up on which system if I have them all? Nintendo just happens to be my favorite. Even before the NES days, Donkey Kong was one of my favorite games on my parents' old Atari 400. Nintendo is always going to be my favorite company. They've given me so many happy memories. I just hate seeing them brushed to the side of the current game industry. Many out there might say they're doing it to themselves. I say Nintendo is still making the exact same kind of quality, fun games that they have been for more than 30 years. So it bugs me to see an old school series like Strider coming back as a modern 2D game, but not on Nintendo systems. Especially since the 360 and PS3 are getting a version.
That's it for my little rant. If you're a big Sony or Microsoft guy, don't let it scare you off! I like those systems too, I promise! Before I finish, let me also say that if you're a fan of horror movies, get yourself to the theater and see The Conjuring! I just got back from a screening before I started typing this out. It was one of the best horror movies I've seen in years! Great atmosphere, lots of good scares without relying too heavily on jump scares or so-called "cheap" scare tactics. Some really nice practical effects, and most importantly it didn't fall victim to dumb-ending syndrome. So many otherwise-good horror movies have been ruined by the writer not knowing how to end them properly. This was a very well written movie based off of a supposedly true story. Go see it with a bunch of friends!
As always, thanks for reading! Be sure to follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI!
Are Wii U sales really that bad? I know the month-to-month numbers are very low, but I was under the impression that the Wii U still has better lifetime sales than the Xbox 360 and PS3 did at this point in their lifetimes. Plus, it's July! This is always a slow time of year for the industry. We've only really had two blockbuster AAA releases all year, Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us. Sales are slow all around. Or is it something more than that? Is there a grudge in place here? There are many third party publishers that used to work closely with Nintendo, companies like Capcom, Konami, Square-Enix, Tecmo-Koei, and EA, who now are not. Or in some cases they'll put out a couple lazy ports then complain it's Nintendo's fault when they don't sell well. Is this all because of the way Nintendo used to treat the third parties back in the NES/SNES days? I can't imagine these publishers, companies whose main goal is to make money, would lose out on profit just to spite Nintendo. It can't be denied, however, that Nintendo used to be pretty heavy handed with the third parties. But hey, newer third parties, that weren't around or weren't as big back in those days, do this too.
Could it be, as so many people around the internet say, that third parties don't like to put stuff on Nintendo's systems because their games are always outsold by Nintendo's own games? Nintendo's first party games do tend to sell more than anything else on their systems. Let's look at one example in particular. When the Wii U launched, EA made a Special Edition version of Mass Effect 3 for the system. The Mass Effect series was very popular in gen 7, selling huge numbers on both Xbox 360 and PS3. It was very cool to see it appearing now on a Nintendo console. How did is sell? Abysmally, by all accounts. Why was this? Was the draw of New Super Mario Bros. U just too strong? Well, that might have been part of it for some people. Let me tell you my opinion on the matter. I love the Mass Effect games. I very much enjoyed the multiplayer on ME3. I had plans to buy it on Wii U so I could continue playing the online for free (my original copy is for 360, and I don't currently have Gold). It was listed at $60, which I thought was a bit high for a year old port, but I loved the game so much I was considering it. Then some information came out. The Mass Effect Trilogy, a bundle of all three games, was announced as coming out at the same time as the Wii U version, but only for Xbox 360 and PS3. It was to sell for the same price as ME3 on the Wii U. On top of that, EA also said that there was no plans to bring the ME3 DLC to Wii U at all. Upon hearing all this I abandoned my plans to buy ME3 Special Edition. I may still pick it up eventually, if I find a cheap, used copy.
How could EA expect Mass Effect fans to be happy with a $60 year old port with no DLC support, when the entire series was being re-released, with DLC support, for the same price on older consoles? And then they had the nerve to complain that it didn't sell well and blame Nintendo for that! The tinfoil-hat-wearing part of me thinks it was all a conspiracy. They wanted sales of ME3 to be low so they could use it as an excuse to stop making games for Nintendo.
Okay, I'm going to stop myself here, before I get into fanboy territory deeper than I already have. Bear with me, folks, please. Yes, I do accept the fact that I can be a fanboy at times. But, that said, I do own all the systems, and always find great games to play on each. I love me some Halo, Fable, and Gears of War. I love Uncharted, Infamous, Jak and Daxter, and plenty of other Sony games as well. To this day the only controller I feel comfortable playing a Tony Hawk game with is a DualShock. So why should I care what games show up on which system if I have them all? Nintendo just happens to be my favorite. Even before the NES days, Donkey Kong was one of my favorite games on my parents' old Atari 400. Nintendo is always going to be my favorite company. They've given me so many happy memories. I just hate seeing them brushed to the side of the current game industry. Many out there might say they're doing it to themselves. I say Nintendo is still making the exact same kind of quality, fun games that they have been for more than 30 years. So it bugs me to see an old school series like Strider coming back as a modern 2D game, but not on Nintendo systems. Especially since the 360 and PS3 are getting a version.
That's it for my little rant. If you're a big Sony or Microsoft guy, don't let it scare you off! I like those systems too, I promise! Before I finish, let me also say that if you're a fan of horror movies, get yourself to the theater and see The Conjuring! I just got back from a screening before I started typing this out. It was one of the best horror movies I've seen in years! Great atmosphere, lots of good scares without relying too heavily on jump scares or so-called "cheap" scare tactics. Some really nice practical effects, and most importantly it didn't fall victim to dumb-ending syndrome. So many otherwise-good horror movies have been ruined by the writer not knowing how to end them properly. This was a very well written movie based off of a supposedly true story. Go see it with a bunch of friends!
As always, thanks for reading! Be sure to follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI!
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
The Video Game Years
For those of you keeping track, yes, I meant to have this up last night. Sorry.
I'd like to talk to you today about a very cool show over at Retroware TV. There are plenty of great shows on Retroware, from Pat the NES Punk to 16-Bit Gems, The Game Chasers, and more. Now imagine all of those guys getting together to talk about the history of the games industry, year by year. Picture VH1's I Love the '70s/'80s, but for video games. The guys from Retroware, plus special guests from other major classic gaming sites, tell not only the history of what happened each year, but also their own stories on how it impacted them. They started in 1977, the year the Atari 2600 came out and started gen 2. Each year gets a number of 10-or-so minute episodes dedicated to it. They are currently up to 1981. Personally, I can't wait until they get to 1985 and start talking about the very early days of the NES.
A month or so ago they had an Indiegogo page set up asking for donations for the show. Up until that point they had been putting them together in their spare time for no money. But considering the amount of editing and technical work that had to be done for each episode, they didn't want to keep asking people to work on them for free. The Indiegogo goal was met very easily, and Retroware has promised to keep producing the show as long as they can. They've said they'd like to get as far as the Dreamcast, which came out in 1999. That's a lot of episodes!
So please, if you like learning about the history of the video game industry and want to be entertained while you do it, get over to Retroware TV and check out The Video Game Years! The show is very well made and the guys at Retroware are clearly having a great time making it. And watch their other stuff while you're at it, it's all quality.
Before I'm done, I want to quickly touch on the new head of Microsoft's Xbox division. Don Mattrick's replacement has been named, and it's Julie Larson-Green. Julie's been at Microsoft for almost 20 years and was one of the people who made Windows 7 happen. Now she's in charge of Xbox. I know a lot of people are upset that a woman with no video game experience has been put in this position. Stop that. She's clearly an intelligent person. Give her a chance to show what she can do. It's not like she won't be surrounded by people that do have video game experience that can help her learn the industry. And honestly, could she be any worse than Mattrick?
As always, thanks for reading! Please tell your friends about the blog, and be sure to follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI!
I'd like to talk to you today about a very cool show over at Retroware TV. There are plenty of great shows on Retroware, from Pat the NES Punk to 16-Bit Gems, The Game Chasers, and more. Now imagine all of those guys getting together to talk about the history of the games industry, year by year. Picture VH1's I Love the '70s/'80s, but for video games. The guys from Retroware, plus special guests from other major classic gaming sites, tell not only the history of what happened each year, but also their own stories on how it impacted them. They started in 1977, the year the Atari 2600 came out and started gen 2. Each year gets a number of 10-or-so minute episodes dedicated to it. They are currently up to 1981. Personally, I can't wait until they get to 1985 and start talking about the very early days of the NES.
A month or so ago they had an Indiegogo page set up asking for donations for the show. Up until that point they had been putting them together in their spare time for no money. But considering the amount of editing and technical work that had to be done for each episode, they didn't want to keep asking people to work on them for free. The Indiegogo goal was met very easily, and Retroware has promised to keep producing the show as long as they can. They've said they'd like to get as far as the Dreamcast, which came out in 1999. That's a lot of episodes!
So please, if you like learning about the history of the video game industry and want to be entertained while you do it, get over to Retroware TV and check out The Video Game Years! The show is very well made and the guys at Retroware are clearly having a great time making it. And watch their other stuff while you're at it, it's all quality.
Before I'm done, I want to quickly touch on the new head of Microsoft's Xbox division. Don Mattrick's replacement has been named, and it's Julie Larson-Green. Julie's been at Microsoft for almost 20 years and was one of the people who made Windows 7 happen. Now she's in charge of Xbox. I know a lot of people are upset that a woman with no video game experience has been put in this position. Stop that. She's clearly an intelligent person. Give her a chance to show what she can do. It's not like she won't be surrounded by people that do have video game experience that can help her learn the industry. And honestly, could she be any worse than Mattrick?
As always, thanks for reading! Please tell your friends about the blog, and be sure to follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI!
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Nothing today
I had planned on doing a post today, but I think I've changed my mind. America has a lot going on today. Not that I'm claiming all of America reads this blog, I see the numbers and clearly they don't. I just think today might not be the day I need to be writing about video games and movies.
For those of you that do read, I should have a real post up hopefully Tuesday. Thanks for your patience. And let me just say, at the risk of bringing politics into this blog (something I desperately don't want to do), that no matter which side of the current national argument you fall on, let's try to remember that we're all one people and we need to keep things as positive as possible. Peace.
For those of you that do read, I should have a real post up hopefully Tuesday. Thanks for your patience. And let me just say, at the risk of bringing politics into this blog (something I desperately don't want to do), that no matter which side of the current national argument you fall on, let's try to remember that we're all one people and we need to keep things as positive as possible. Peace.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Odds and ends
I don't have any one topic I want to talk about today, so I'll just cover a few things briefly.
I saw Man of Steel a couple of nights ago. I pretty much hated it. I know it's been getting mixed reactions, some people love it, some hate it. I just can't understand how anyone liked it. The characters in this movie were all boring and unlikeable, with the possible exceptions of Jonathan Kent and Jor-El. I'm not going to go into specifics since I don't want to spoil anything for those of you that still want to give it a try, but I will say a few things. The acting was bad. Or maybe just the direction, as the people in the movie are all competent actors. But Superman was so wooden! He never seemed to care about anything. He made Christian Bale's Batman seem cheery! And the movie never seemed to give me any reason to care much about any of the characters, especially Superman, and even more especially Clark Kent. Some of the Kryptonian lore was very off from the comics, too. I just couldn't find much at all to like about this movie, and I couldn't really recommend it to anyone.
Next I'd like to talk to you a bit about Nintendo and their practice of region locking their systems. This means if you have, say, a US 3DS, you can't play any import games on it. Nintendo are the only hardware maker that still do this. The PS4 and Xbox One (and I believe the PS Vita) are completely region free. Any import games you buy for those systems will work just fine. You might not be able to understand the language, but the game will play. I don't know why Nintendo is holding to region locking so strongly. They've given some excuse about conforming to each countries rating systems for games, but that seems flimsy. It hasn't stopped Sony or Microsoft. So, if you care at all about importing games, please let Nintendo know! Send tweets to @Nintendo and @NintendoAmerica with the hashtags #NintendoRegionFree and #EndRegionLocking. If you have a Wii U, be sure to post on Miiverse about it as well. I believe there are a couple of online petitions floating around also, you could look for some of those.
Sorry for the short post. Hopefully next time I'll have more in-depth things to talk about! But, as always, thank you for reading. Be sure to follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI!
I saw Man of Steel a couple of nights ago. I pretty much hated it. I know it's been getting mixed reactions, some people love it, some hate it. I just can't understand how anyone liked it. The characters in this movie were all boring and unlikeable, with the possible exceptions of Jonathan Kent and Jor-El. I'm not going to go into specifics since I don't want to spoil anything for those of you that still want to give it a try, but I will say a few things. The acting was bad. Or maybe just the direction, as the people in the movie are all competent actors. But Superman was so wooden! He never seemed to care about anything. He made Christian Bale's Batman seem cheery! And the movie never seemed to give me any reason to care much about any of the characters, especially Superman, and even more especially Clark Kent. Some of the Kryptonian lore was very off from the comics, too. I just couldn't find much at all to like about this movie, and I couldn't really recommend it to anyone.
Next I'd like to talk to you a bit about Nintendo and their practice of region locking their systems. This means if you have, say, a US 3DS, you can't play any import games on it. Nintendo are the only hardware maker that still do this. The PS4 and Xbox One (and I believe the PS Vita) are completely region free. Any import games you buy for those systems will work just fine. You might not be able to understand the language, but the game will play. I don't know why Nintendo is holding to region locking so strongly. They've given some excuse about conforming to each countries rating systems for games, but that seems flimsy. It hasn't stopped Sony or Microsoft. So, if you care at all about importing games, please let Nintendo know! Send tweets to @Nintendo and @NintendoAmerica with the hashtags #NintendoRegionFree and #EndRegionLocking. If you have a Wii U, be sure to post on Miiverse about it as well. I believe there are a couple of online petitions floating around also, you could look for some of those.
Sorry for the short post. Hopefully next time I'll have more in-depth things to talk about! But, as always, thank you for reading. Be sure to follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI!
Saturday, July 6, 2013
V/H/S 2 and The Last Exorcism 2
First off, a belated happy Fourth of July to you all! I hope you got to see some good fireworks. In my area it rained all week, so I didn't get much of fireworks this year.
Today I'm going to talk about a couple of horror movies I saw recently. Both are sequels to movies I rather liked, V/H/S and The Last Exorcism. Both of these movies were handcam movies, which I enjoy. V/H/S was an anthology movie with a pretty unique premise, at least in my experience. It centered around a group of guys who were payed to break into a house and steal a VHS tape. When they break in they find the house's owner dead and piles of tapes all over. The stuff on the tapes make up each segment of the movie. It wasn't a perfect film, but I enjoyed it. V/H/S 2 didn't let me down. The story in this one follows a PI hired by the mother of one of the guys from the first film to find her missing son. They go to his house and find a pile of VHS tapes. Just like before, those give us our segments. I'm not going to go into details about the segments, but most of them are pretty cool. Both films give you a nice mix of styles, with each segment being written and directed by different people. If I had to choose, I'd say the first one was slightly better overall, but the sequel has the best segment. A handcam story about alien abduction? I've been waiting for one of those for years, ever since I saw Incident in Lake County back in the day! A bigger budget version of that could be the most terrifying film ever made. The short in V/H/S 2 comes close to it, but it's just a short. Anyway, if you're looking for some good horror flicks, the V/H/S movies are pretty cool.
Now for The Last Exorcism 2. The first movie was another handcam flick, about a preacher who performs exorcisms, but doesn't really believe. In the movie, he's filming a documentary about what will be his last exorcism, hence the title. Of course, this one just happens to involve an actual demon. I'm not going to go into specifics, I can't without spoiling it, but it was a good movie with a cool ending. Horror movies, especially in recent years, have crap endings far too often. This was the problem with The Last Exorcism 2. The sequel follows the story of the possessed girl from the first movie as she attempts to get on with her life. The sequel is not a handcam film like the original, just a traditional movie. That's fine, I don't need all my horror films to be handcam. My problem is that it features some inconsistencies from the original, plus has a really, really stupid ending. So while I would highly recommend the original, I can't do the same for the sequel. It's not terrible, just not very good. Definitely a disappointment to me.
As always, thanks for reading! If you want to recommend me some good horror movies, leave a comment below. You can also follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI.
Today I'm going to talk about a couple of horror movies I saw recently. Both are sequels to movies I rather liked, V/H/S and The Last Exorcism. Both of these movies were handcam movies, which I enjoy. V/H/S was an anthology movie with a pretty unique premise, at least in my experience. It centered around a group of guys who were payed to break into a house and steal a VHS tape. When they break in they find the house's owner dead and piles of tapes all over. The stuff on the tapes make up each segment of the movie. It wasn't a perfect film, but I enjoyed it. V/H/S 2 didn't let me down. The story in this one follows a PI hired by the mother of one of the guys from the first film to find her missing son. They go to his house and find a pile of VHS tapes. Just like before, those give us our segments. I'm not going to go into details about the segments, but most of them are pretty cool. Both films give you a nice mix of styles, with each segment being written and directed by different people. If I had to choose, I'd say the first one was slightly better overall, but the sequel has the best segment. A handcam story about alien abduction? I've been waiting for one of those for years, ever since I saw Incident in Lake County back in the day! A bigger budget version of that could be the most terrifying film ever made. The short in V/H/S 2 comes close to it, but it's just a short. Anyway, if you're looking for some good horror flicks, the V/H/S movies are pretty cool.
Now for The Last Exorcism 2. The first movie was another handcam flick, about a preacher who performs exorcisms, but doesn't really believe. In the movie, he's filming a documentary about what will be his last exorcism, hence the title. Of course, this one just happens to involve an actual demon. I'm not going to go into specifics, I can't without spoiling it, but it was a good movie with a cool ending. Horror movies, especially in recent years, have crap endings far too often. This was the problem with The Last Exorcism 2. The sequel follows the story of the possessed girl from the first movie as she attempts to get on with her life. The sequel is not a handcam film like the original, just a traditional movie. That's fine, I don't need all my horror films to be handcam. My problem is that it features some inconsistencies from the original, plus has a really, really stupid ending. So while I would highly recommend the original, I can't do the same for the sequel. It's not terrible, just not very good. Definitely a disappointment to me.
As always, thanks for reading! If you want to recommend me some good horror movies, leave a comment below. You can also follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Don Mattrick leaves Xbox
Apparently Don Mattrick has resigned as the head of the Xbox division for Microsoft. If you're reading this blog I'm sure you know about the issues going on over there in the past couple of months. Microsoft first announced their new system, the Xbox One, would have all kinds of restrictions in order to block used games and such. Don Mattrick, as the face of the Xbox division, had many chances to try and spin it to look good for consumers. Instead he kept sticking his foot in his mouth, saying things like, "People without internet can just stick to Xbox 360." I'm paraphrasing there, but that was the gist of what he said. And of course he and others from Microsoft went on to say that these restrictions couldn't easily be changed.
Shortly thereafter, the restrictions were changed.
Many people have been wondering if Mr. Mattrick would be keeping his job. As someone who keeps kind of close tabs on the game industry, I can say that Microsoft's image was definitely hurt by what happened. I've heard plenty of people say, even after the restrictions were done away with, that they had no interest in getting an Xbox One, specifically because they didn't trust Microsoft anymore. So it wouldn't have been a surprise to me to hear that Mattrick had been fired. Instead, he has resigned his position at Microsoft to become the new CEO of Zynga! If you're not familiar with Zynga, they're the company that makes Farmville and numerous other popular Facebook games.
So I have to wonder two things. One, did Mattrick leave Microsoft voluntarily? It's possible they might have wanted to get rid of him, but gave him the option to "resign" on his own to save face. I guess lucky for him Zynga was hiring if that was the case. And two, why would Zynga want this guy? Zynga already has kind of a bad reputation as being the maker of annoying Facebook games, and also has been accused of too-closely copying other games. Why would they want a guy who's proven himself to be less than stellar in the PR department like Don Mattrick? Only time will tell where this is all going to go. It may be interesting to see what Mattrick can do with Zynga.
In the meantime, Microsoft has yet to name Mattrick's replacement. Apparently for now all of Mattrick's former top men will be reporting directly to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. I can't help but wonder if they'll bring someone in who will try to fix the damage done by the Xbox One restrictions. I'm not sure how they could do that, exactly, or even if I really want them to, but it'd definitely be interesting.
Thanks for reading, folks. As always, tell your friends about the blog, and be sure to follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI. And leave some comments below if you like!
Shortly thereafter, the restrictions were changed.
Many people have been wondering if Mr. Mattrick would be keeping his job. As someone who keeps kind of close tabs on the game industry, I can say that Microsoft's image was definitely hurt by what happened. I've heard plenty of people say, even after the restrictions were done away with, that they had no interest in getting an Xbox One, specifically because they didn't trust Microsoft anymore. So it wouldn't have been a surprise to me to hear that Mattrick had been fired. Instead, he has resigned his position at Microsoft to become the new CEO of Zynga! If you're not familiar with Zynga, they're the company that makes Farmville and numerous other popular Facebook games.
So I have to wonder two things. One, did Mattrick leave Microsoft voluntarily? It's possible they might have wanted to get rid of him, but gave him the option to "resign" on his own to save face. I guess lucky for him Zynga was hiring if that was the case. And two, why would Zynga want this guy? Zynga already has kind of a bad reputation as being the maker of annoying Facebook games, and also has been accused of too-closely copying other games. Why would they want a guy who's proven himself to be less than stellar in the PR department like Don Mattrick? Only time will tell where this is all going to go. It may be interesting to see what Mattrick can do with Zynga.
In the meantime, Microsoft has yet to name Mattrick's replacement. Apparently for now all of Mattrick's former top men will be reporting directly to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. I can't help but wonder if they'll bring someone in who will try to fix the damage done by the Xbox One restrictions. I'm not sure how they could do that, exactly, or even if I really want them to, but it'd definitely be interesting.
Thanks for reading, folks. As always, tell your friends about the blog, and be sure to follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI. And leave some comments below if you like!
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Game & Wario
Sorry I haven't updated lately. I've been having problems with my wisdom teeth, and it's had me in no mood to do much of anything. I'll try to do better.
I'd like to talk a bit about Game & Wario. In the past I've written reviews for games, or at least what I called reviews. I'm not going to do that anymore. I've never really liked reviews. Everyone has different tastes. Who am I to say what is good or what is bad? All I can really do is say what I like and what I don't. So I'm going to do that now with this game.
I've seen some reviews from around the web for this, and most of them haven't been spectacular, but I've really been enjoying the game. If you've played any of the numerous WarioWare games you'll know what to expect with this one, but at the same time you won't. It's a bit different. That might be why they didn't actually call this a WarioWare game. Instead of numerous crazy microgames, you're given a series of minigames to play. About a dozen are single player, and a handful more for multiplayer. Each game is much more involved than the microgames we used to see in Wario games, and they feature multiple difficulty levels. Playing through and beating all the games on all the difficulties will take you some time.
Nintendo tried to incorporate the Wii U Gamepad into the games, clearly, with many featuring touch and tilt controls, but there's not much groundbreaking here. The real gem is the minigame called Gamer. This is the one minigame that really shows what dual screen gaming can be. You play as the kid 9-Volt. You're supposed to be in bed, but you're playing a handheld game. On the Gamepad screen is the game. These are the traditional WarioWare-style microgames. They all use just the d-pad and A button. On the TV you see 9-Volt's bedroom. You have to pay attention for clues that your mother is about to come in and check on you. If she catches you up, it's game over. And she can come from all over. At times she even comes out of the TV like the little girl in The Ring! If she comes in, you need to hold ZL and ZR to pretend you're asleep. If you do this too long, though, you'll actually fall asleep and it's game over. The entire time this is going on you need to also concentrate on the microgames on the Gamepad. Fail too many times and it's game over! So you really need to split your attention between the Gamepad and your TV. It's a very cool game that gets really tough, and it shows what kind of stuff the Wii U is capable of brilliantly. It's just a shame this is the only minigame that does. All of the others are fun, but they're not anything we haven't seen before on the DS systems.
When all is said and done, I would recommend the game to those who are a fan of the WarioWare series, or those looking for something fun to waste time with on the Wii U. And you can spend a lot of time on it. There are 240 collectibles to get, each requiring a token to spend in a virtual vending machine. You only get the tokens from playing the minigames, so you'll be playing a lot if you want to unlock everything. Considering how much time you can put into it, I'd say the game is a pretty good value at $40.
Have you played it? Let me know what you think in the comments below. As always, thanks for reading. Tell your friends if you enjoy the blog, and follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI!
I'd like to talk a bit about Game & Wario. In the past I've written reviews for games, or at least what I called reviews. I'm not going to do that anymore. I've never really liked reviews. Everyone has different tastes. Who am I to say what is good or what is bad? All I can really do is say what I like and what I don't. So I'm going to do that now with this game.
I've seen some reviews from around the web for this, and most of them haven't been spectacular, but I've really been enjoying the game. If you've played any of the numerous WarioWare games you'll know what to expect with this one, but at the same time you won't. It's a bit different. That might be why they didn't actually call this a WarioWare game. Instead of numerous crazy microgames, you're given a series of minigames to play. About a dozen are single player, and a handful more for multiplayer. Each game is much more involved than the microgames we used to see in Wario games, and they feature multiple difficulty levels. Playing through and beating all the games on all the difficulties will take you some time.
Nintendo tried to incorporate the Wii U Gamepad into the games, clearly, with many featuring touch and tilt controls, but there's not much groundbreaking here. The real gem is the minigame called Gamer. This is the one minigame that really shows what dual screen gaming can be. You play as the kid 9-Volt. You're supposed to be in bed, but you're playing a handheld game. On the Gamepad screen is the game. These are the traditional WarioWare-style microgames. They all use just the d-pad and A button. On the TV you see 9-Volt's bedroom. You have to pay attention for clues that your mother is about to come in and check on you. If she catches you up, it's game over. And she can come from all over. At times she even comes out of the TV like the little girl in The Ring! If she comes in, you need to hold ZL and ZR to pretend you're asleep. If you do this too long, though, you'll actually fall asleep and it's game over. The entire time this is going on you need to also concentrate on the microgames on the Gamepad. Fail too many times and it's game over! So you really need to split your attention between the Gamepad and your TV. It's a very cool game that gets really tough, and it shows what kind of stuff the Wii U is capable of brilliantly. It's just a shame this is the only minigame that does. All of the others are fun, but they're not anything we haven't seen before on the DS systems.
When all is said and done, I would recommend the game to those who are a fan of the WarioWare series, or those looking for something fun to waste time with on the Wii U. And you can spend a lot of time on it. There are 240 collectibles to get, each requiring a token to spend in a virtual vending machine. You only get the tokens from playing the minigames, so you'll be playing a lot if you want to unlock everything. Considering how much time you can put into it, I'd say the game is a pretty good value at $40.
Have you played it? Let me know what you think in the comments below. As always, thanks for reading. Tell your friends if you enjoy the blog, and follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI!
Friday, June 21, 2013
Xbox 180: the fallout
Now that Microsoft has decided to do away with all of the anti-consumer restrictions on the Xbox One you would think everything would be okay. But, no. Apparently there is a group of people out there that really liked the policies. I touched on this in my last post, and about the fact that the family sharing was going away with the restrictions. To the people that think that all-digital and game licenses are the future: Just get a gaming PC. PC gaming has been like that for some time now. Services like Steam have grown quite popular delivering people digital downloads of games. And I totally get why some people are into that. It can be very convenient, I'm sure. But console gaming is a different entity from PC gaming. We console gamers continue to want the right to loan our games around, to buy cheap used games, and to have meaningful libraries of games on our shelves. Not pointless discs that eventually won't do anything anymore because some server shut down. Seriously, this isn't meant as an insult or an attack or anything, check out PC gaming. You'll probably really like it!
As for the family sharing issue, I think Angry Joe said it best (NSFW). The people that raised their voices to get Microsoft to change their policies aren't the ones that took family sharing away. Microsoft chose to do that themselves. There doesn't seem to be any reason for it, either. Did they just do it out of spite? They could still implement this feature for digital versions of games if they wanted to, they're just not. So if you want that back, let them know. They're clearly listening. Then again, we never got the full details of the family sharing. There were rumblings about it not letting you share the full game, rather just a demo version, which would be kind of dumb considering most games have demos anyway. Ah, whatever, we'll likely never know for sure.
Lastly there's the conspiracy theory going around. Yes, I'm breaking out the tinfoil! Did Microsoft plan this whole thing? Maybe they announced the restrictions knowing everyone would hate them, hoping that when they reversed their decision everyone would celebrate them for listening to their customer base. It's something that's not completely without precedent. If that was the case here, though, I don't think it worked. In my experience, both online and in my daily life, people are still pretty upset with Microsoft. Going from, "We're gonna screw you good!" to, "Okay, we decided not to screw you," isn't going to make people like you. Oh sure, we're all very happy that the decision was made, and I do plan on getting an Xbox One myself eventually, but it still makes Microsoft look bad. As I said above, console gamers are not PC gamers, and we tend to have long memories. We're not going to just forget that Microsoft tried to impose those restrictions on us. And there's still the fact that Xbox One costs $100 more than PS4, mostly so they can bundle the Kinect in with it, which is something most people don't want in the first place.
I'm not trying to be super negative, here. It was a big deal for Microsoft to change their policies to suit their customers, and, as long as it wasn't a ruse the whole time, they deserve to be applauded for that. I just can't help but think that it's too little, too late. The PS4 is cheaper, has more exclusives, doesn't force a camera on you, and never tried to tell you how you can use your own games. Combine that with all the fantastic looking games coming from Nintendo this year, and Microsoft may have a rocky start with its Xbox One. Only time will tell, though. The PS3 had a rough start, and it eventually wound up passing the Xbox 360 in sales. The 3DS also had a slow start, and it's currently the best selling video game system world wide. We'll just have to wait and see.
As always, thanks so much for reading! Be sure to tell your friends if you like the blog, and follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI.
As for the family sharing issue, I think Angry Joe said it best (NSFW). The people that raised their voices to get Microsoft to change their policies aren't the ones that took family sharing away. Microsoft chose to do that themselves. There doesn't seem to be any reason for it, either. Did they just do it out of spite? They could still implement this feature for digital versions of games if they wanted to, they're just not. So if you want that back, let them know. They're clearly listening. Then again, we never got the full details of the family sharing. There were rumblings about it not letting you share the full game, rather just a demo version, which would be kind of dumb considering most games have demos anyway. Ah, whatever, we'll likely never know for sure.
Lastly there's the conspiracy theory going around. Yes, I'm breaking out the tinfoil! Did Microsoft plan this whole thing? Maybe they announced the restrictions knowing everyone would hate them, hoping that when they reversed their decision everyone would celebrate them for listening to their customer base. It's something that's not completely without precedent. If that was the case here, though, I don't think it worked. In my experience, both online and in my daily life, people are still pretty upset with Microsoft. Going from, "We're gonna screw you good!" to, "Okay, we decided not to screw you," isn't going to make people like you. Oh sure, we're all very happy that the decision was made, and I do plan on getting an Xbox One myself eventually, but it still makes Microsoft look bad. As I said above, console gamers are not PC gamers, and we tend to have long memories. We're not going to just forget that Microsoft tried to impose those restrictions on us. And there's still the fact that Xbox One costs $100 more than PS4, mostly so they can bundle the Kinect in with it, which is something most people don't want in the first place.
I'm not trying to be super negative, here. It was a big deal for Microsoft to change their policies to suit their customers, and, as long as it wasn't a ruse the whole time, they deserve to be applauded for that. I just can't help but think that it's too little, too late. The PS4 is cheaper, has more exclusives, doesn't force a camera on you, and never tried to tell you how you can use your own games. Combine that with all the fantastic looking games coming from Nintendo this year, and Microsoft may have a rocky start with its Xbox One. Only time will tell, though. The PS3 had a rough start, and it eventually wound up passing the Xbox 360 in sales. The 3DS also had a slow start, and it's currently the best selling video game system world wide. We'll just have to wait and see.
As always, thanks so much for reading! Be sure to tell your friends if you like the blog, and follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Microsoft pulls an Xbox 180
Boy, I'm glad I posted my feelings about the Xbox One when I did! If you haven't heard already, Microsoft has announced a complete reversal on it's Xbox One policies. You will no longer need to check in to Xbox Live in order to play games, and there will be no restrictions on used games. This is fantastic news, as it addresses two of my major problems with the system.
And, of course, there's still the Kinect. But since Microsoft has said we'll be able to turn it off (but not disconnect it) I could see just doing that and covering it up with something while I play. When I'm not playing the Kinect will be disconnected.
There's one negative to all this, though. Apparently the option of sharing a game with up to ten people on your family list has been taken away. I know a lot of people are grumbling about that, but I'll gladly give that up if it means the bad things go with it.
Video game fandom is full of arguments, has been since gen 2 and probably always will be. I know there are some out there that will maintain that the original Xbox One policies weren't bad, and that by reversing them Microsoft are holding us back. In some ways I can understand that argument, but I can't help but see this as a major victory. Here's where I run the risk of sounding all preachy and hoakey, but it's more than just a victory for gamers. It's a victory for consumers in general. We should have the right to use the products we buy as we see fit. Now obviously Microsoft was completley in their rights to make the Xbox One with restrictions like they were going to, but we as consumers told them in no uncertain terms that we didn't like it and weren't going to buy it, and they listened.
So yes, I will be getting an Xbox One. Eventually. The thing's still $500, after all! It's tough to keep up with three consoles at once. Nintendo will continue to be my priority. I'll have to make a decision between PS4 and Xbox One, and right now I'm still leaning towards PS4, but time will tell.
As always, thanks for reading! If you like my blog, please tell your friends about it, and be sure to follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI.
- With the online requirement gone, there is no longer any worry about games not working in the future. Twenty years from now if I feel like firing up my copy of Halo 5 I will be able to do so, as it should be!
- With used games working the same way they always have, I can now loan a game to a friend, sell it to an independent retailer (or buy a game from one), list it on Craigslist, or do whatever I want with it.
And, of course, there's still the Kinect. But since Microsoft has said we'll be able to turn it off (but not disconnect it) I could see just doing that and covering it up with something while I play. When I'm not playing the Kinect will be disconnected.
There's one negative to all this, though. Apparently the option of sharing a game with up to ten people on your family list has been taken away. I know a lot of people are grumbling about that, but I'll gladly give that up if it means the bad things go with it.
Video game fandom is full of arguments, has been since gen 2 and probably always will be. I know there are some out there that will maintain that the original Xbox One policies weren't bad, and that by reversing them Microsoft are holding us back. In some ways I can understand that argument, but I can't help but see this as a major victory. Here's where I run the risk of sounding all preachy and hoakey, but it's more than just a victory for gamers. It's a victory for consumers in general. We should have the right to use the products we buy as we see fit. Now obviously Microsoft was completley in their rights to make the Xbox One with restrictions like they were going to, but we as consumers told them in no uncertain terms that we didn't like it and weren't going to buy it, and they listened.
So yes, I will be getting an Xbox One. Eventually. The thing's still $500, after all! It's tough to keep up with three consoles at once. Nintendo will continue to be my priority. I'll have to make a decision between PS4 and Xbox One, and right now I'm still leaning towards PS4, but time will tell.
As always, thanks for reading! If you like my blog, please tell your friends about it, and be sure to follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
My problems with the Xbox One
Okay, by now you've probably read all kinds of things about the Xbox One. I doubt I have anything new to add, so I'm going to keep this relatively short.
I'd love to hear what you think! If you're all for the Xbox One, tell me why. Post in the comments below. Of course, if you agree with me I'd like to hear that too. Tell me what system or systems you plan to get this generation. And don't forget to follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI. Thanks for reading!
- Required internet connection: First and foremost, I'm a game collector. I love to play games, but I also love having shelves full of old games that I can pull out and play at any time. The Xbox One is not designed for people like me. The fact that you have to connect to Xbox Live once a day to authenticate, or else your games won't work, means that at any time Microsoft decides to shut down the Xbox One's servers all the games you spent all that money on, the entire system itself for that matter, all become useless. All that money, gone. Now, I know Major Nelson has said they won't do that, they'll change it at the end of the generation so the games will still be playable. Of course he said that. What else would he say? I'm sorry, but Microsoft has given me no reason to trust that that will be true. From a business standpoint it makes much more sense for them to say, "Nope, can't play those games anymore. You should buy our new system! We'll be offering downloadable versions of all the old games there. You'll just have to pay for them again!" Kind of like what Sony is doing with the PS4. The big difference is that my PSX, PS2, and PS3 will still work.
- Used game blocking: This is not just a video game issue, but an issue for all consumers. If I buy a game and decide some time later that I'm done with it, I should be able to sell that game. Whether it's to a major retailer, an independent retailer, on an internet auction site, or just to a friend, I should be able to do whatever I want with it. Now, I'm a collector, so I don't sell my stuff, ever, so this isn't a big problem to me personally, but it's the principle of the matter. There's also the fact that I buy a lot of my games used, and I like to do it from independent retailers. It's my understanding that I won't be able to do that on Xbox One. Only major retailers that sign up with Microsoft's program will be able to carry used games. Not cool.
- Kinect integration: It's always on, it's always watching, always listening. You can't disconnect it or your system will stop working. Why? Oh, because Microsoft wants to collect large amounts of personal data on you and your family, that's why! The new Kinect can see in the dark, can read the emotions on your face, can even tell how fast your heart is beating! Did that new Call of Duty ad get you excited? Kinect can tell, and it's going to send that data off to Activision. Then there's the whole PRISM scandal. Look, it's not my intention to get all political on this blog. If you want to know more about that you can look it up for yourself. Suffice it to say that any kind of camera that's always on and always connected to the internet I don't want in my house. Yes, I know they said you can turn it off, but it still has to listen for voice commands, and you still can't actually disconnect it from the system. If you could do that I'd probably be okay with it.
I'd love to hear what you think! If you're all for the Xbox One, tell me why. Post in the comments below. Of course, if you agree with me I'd like to hear that too. Tell me what system or systems you plan to get this generation. And don't forget to follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI. Thanks for reading!
Thursday, June 13, 2013
E3 2013 final impressions
Another E3 has come and gone. Now that the smoke has cleared I'm going to give my impressions of each conference and some of the other news released.
Microsoft: B for their actual show. They showed a lot of great looking games. For their E3 as a whole, though, F. The games they showed are meaningless as long as they're on the Xbox One (I promise I'll put up a post detailing my thoughts on that system soon).
EA: C. Sports, sports, sports. I know some people wait eagerly for each new iteration of Madden or FIFA, and that's fine. The new games they showed did look good. I've just never cared for sports games much. The other stuff they showed was nice, though. Battlefield 4 looks great and I can't wait to give it a try.
Ubisoft: B+. Assassin's Creed was one of my favorite new franchises of gen 7, so I'm really looking forward to ACIV. Watch Dogs looks like it could be just as good. And of course I've been waiting for Rayman Legends for a long time now. Still a little upset with Ubisoft for delaying it so long just to accommodate the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, but I have to give Ubisoft props for showing Nintendo so much support. Just make sure that Division game comes to Wii U!
Sony: A. Sure, there was a moment of panic there when they wouldn't stop talking about TV and movie services, but they killed it with their whole used games/always online policy! The PS4 looks like it'll be a powerful system with great tech and a lot of cool games. Combine that with the fact that they won't be trying to screw me with restrictions and a required live camera in my house, and a price $100 less than the Xbox One, and I'm ready to get one as soon as they're available. It'll be the perfect system to supplement my Wii U.
Nintendo: A. My favorite company came through for the most part with a lot of great looking games that I can't wait to play. I just would've liked more wow-factor, more surprises. Here's to hoping the fantastic looking 1st party games will provide the boost to system sales necessary to get more 3rd party support also.
So that's my feelings on E3 this year. Over all a very satisfying show, much better than the last two years have been. What did you think? Leave some comments below and tell me!
If you enjoy reading my blog, please tell your friends about it, and be sure to follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI. Thanks!
Today's music: Sonic the Hedgehog
Microsoft: B for their actual show. They showed a lot of great looking games. For their E3 as a whole, though, F. The games they showed are meaningless as long as they're on the Xbox One (I promise I'll put up a post detailing my thoughts on that system soon).
EA: C. Sports, sports, sports. I know some people wait eagerly for each new iteration of Madden or FIFA, and that's fine. The new games they showed did look good. I've just never cared for sports games much. The other stuff they showed was nice, though. Battlefield 4 looks great and I can't wait to give it a try.
Ubisoft: B+. Assassin's Creed was one of my favorite new franchises of gen 7, so I'm really looking forward to ACIV. Watch Dogs looks like it could be just as good. And of course I've been waiting for Rayman Legends for a long time now. Still a little upset with Ubisoft for delaying it so long just to accommodate the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, but I have to give Ubisoft props for showing Nintendo so much support. Just make sure that Division game comes to Wii U!
Sony: A. Sure, there was a moment of panic there when they wouldn't stop talking about TV and movie services, but they killed it with their whole used games/always online policy! The PS4 looks like it'll be a powerful system with great tech and a lot of cool games. Combine that with the fact that they won't be trying to screw me with restrictions and a required live camera in my house, and a price $100 less than the Xbox One, and I'm ready to get one as soon as they're available. It'll be the perfect system to supplement my Wii U.
Nintendo: A. My favorite company came through for the most part with a lot of great looking games that I can't wait to play. I just would've liked more wow-factor, more surprises. Here's to hoping the fantastic looking 1st party games will provide the boost to system sales necessary to get more 3rd party support also.
So that's my feelings on E3 this year. Over all a very satisfying show, much better than the last two years have been. What did you think? Leave some comments below and tell me!
If you enjoy reading my blog, please tell your friends about it, and be sure to follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI. Thanks!
Today's music: Sonic the Hedgehog
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
E3 2013 - day 2
Today was Nintendo's day to shine! It all started off with their big Nintendo Direct this morning, where they talked about a lot of games. Then there were presentations and developer videos throughout the afternoon, and a Pokemon panel in the evening. Well, they definitely shined, but I don't think they shined very brightly. Let me explain.
The Direct was cool. They showed a lot of stuff that we knew they were going to show. The new 3D Mario game, Super Mario 3D World, looks like a ton of fun. It's essentially a sequel to the 3DS game Super Mario 3D Land, and that was great. I was especially happy to see that it's multiplayer, and instead of giving us a second, generic Toad we finally have Peach back as a playable character! Mario Kart 8 looked great as well. I'm pretty sure one of the tracks I saw was set in Lego City. I wonder if Chase McCain will show up in the game? We also got new info on Pokemon X/Y. They even pushed up the release date a couple of weeks. We saw new video for Bayonetta 2, including gameplay, which was nice, and another trailer for Monolithsoft's X, which was little more than a teaser. We found out Retro's mystery project was another Donkey Kong Country. It looks like it'll be an awesome game, but I can't help be just a little let down. I would rather have seen a 2D Metroid, or have Retro work on an entirely different series, but that's okay. I know the DKC game will be good. We saw more footage of The Wonderful 101, and also a sizzle reel featuring 3rd party games with nothing new in it. The high point for me was the footage of the new Super Smash Bros. games, one for Wii U and one for 3DS. We knew they were going to show them, but I didn't realize we were going to see so much. The game doesn't come out until next year, after all. We got to see a handful of the old favorite characters, plus saw the Villager from Animal Crossing get announced. But the big shock was when Mega Man showed up! If you haven't seen the trailer yet, go find it, it's fantastic! Mega Man is going to fit into Smash Bros. real well.
So, as I said, the Direct was cool, and they showed off a lot of neat stuff, but aside from that Mega Man announcement none of it was a surprise. Well, I guess Retro's DKC sequel was, but it seems that left most people a little flat. I really wanted them to drop a bomb on us! Tell us Portal 3 was coming to Wii U next year! Tell us Grand Theft Auto V would launch on Wii U alongside the PS3 and 360 versions! Give us something we don't see coming! Plus, I would have loved to have heard them talk more about 3rd parties. They say Nintendo is sitting on a lot of money. Maybe it's time to spend some to secure some exclusive 3rd party deals. You know, the kind that actually stay exclusive! I'm looking at you, Rayman Legends and Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut. There was also little talk about 3DS games. Since the 3DS is selling so well, you would think they'd want to show some good stuff for it, but even though we know there are a lot of good games coming Nintendo barely mentioned them.
Moving on, the rest of the day brought a small trickle of new info through the E3 showcase and developer videos. We found out the Wii Fit Trainer would be a character in SSB. Interesting choice. We got to see some gameplay with her and she doesn't look bad, honestly. She's no different from Mr. Game-and-Watch or R.O.B. We also got to see more video of the Villager, and he actually look pretty cool. The other cool thing that stood out for me was this Mario Kart TV thing. Apparently Nintendo is setting it up where you can save a highlight reel from your races in Mario Kart 8 and upload them to Miiverse. It sounds like a much simpler version of what Sony and Microsoft are doing with their systems. Sounds good to me, I hope it takes off and Nintendo starts adding this option to all their games.
So that's about it. I was happy with pretty much everything I saw from Nintendo today, but I still know they can do better. Apparently they still have a couple of game reveals tomorrow, and I read online there are two more Directs planned for the weekend. I'm sure I'll post again if anything big comes up. Until next time, enjoy E3!
By the way, if you enjoy reading this, you can follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI.
The Direct was cool. They showed a lot of stuff that we knew they were going to show. The new 3D Mario game, Super Mario 3D World, looks like a ton of fun. It's essentially a sequel to the 3DS game Super Mario 3D Land, and that was great. I was especially happy to see that it's multiplayer, and instead of giving us a second, generic Toad we finally have Peach back as a playable character! Mario Kart 8 looked great as well. I'm pretty sure one of the tracks I saw was set in Lego City. I wonder if Chase McCain will show up in the game? We also got new info on Pokemon X/Y. They even pushed up the release date a couple of weeks. We saw new video for Bayonetta 2, including gameplay, which was nice, and another trailer for Monolithsoft's X, which was little more than a teaser. We found out Retro's mystery project was another Donkey Kong Country. It looks like it'll be an awesome game, but I can't help be just a little let down. I would rather have seen a 2D Metroid, or have Retro work on an entirely different series, but that's okay. I know the DKC game will be good. We saw more footage of The Wonderful 101, and also a sizzle reel featuring 3rd party games with nothing new in it. The high point for me was the footage of the new Super Smash Bros. games, one for Wii U and one for 3DS. We knew they were going to show them, but I didn't realize we were going to see so much. The game doesn't come out until next year, after all. We got to see a handful of the old favorite characters, plus saw the Villager from Animal Crossing get announced. But the big shock was when Mega Man showed up! If you haven't seen the trailer yet, go find it, it's fantastic! Mega Man is going to fit into Smash Bros. real well.
So, as I said, the Direct was cool, and they showed off a lot of neat stuff, but aside from that Mega Man announcement none of it was a surprise. Well, I guess Retro's DKC sequel was, but it seems that left most people a little flat. I really wanted them to drop a bomb on us! Tell us Portal 3 was coming to Wii U next year! Tell us Grand Theft Auto V would launch on Wii U alongside the PS3 and 360 versions! Give us something we don't see coming! Plus, I would have loved to have heard them talk more about 3rd parties. They say Nintendo is sitting on a lot of money. Maybe it's time to spend some to secure some exclusive 3rd party deals. You know, the kind that actually stay exclusive! I'm looking at you, Rayman Legends and Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut. There was also little talk about 3DS games. Since the 3DS is selling so well, you would think they'd want to show some good stuff for it, but even though we know there are a lot of good games coming Nintendo barely mentioned them.
Moving on, the rest of the day brought a small trickle of new info through the E3 showcase and developer videos. We found out the Wii Fit Trainer would be a character in SSB. Interesting choice. We got to see some gameplay with her and she doesn't look bad, honestly. She's no different from Mr. Game-and-Watch or R.O.B. We also got to see more video of the Villager, and he actually look pretty cool. The other cool thing that stood out for me was this Mario Kart TV thing. Apparently Nintendo is setting it up where you can save a highlight reel from your races in Mario Kart 8 and upload them to Miiverse. It sounds like a much simpler version of what Sony and Microsoft are doing with their systems. Sounds good to me, I hope it takes off and Nintendo starts adding this option to all their games.
So that's about it. I was happy with pretty much everything I saw from Nintendo today, but I still know they can do better. Apparently they still have a couple of game reveals tomorrow, and I read online there are two more Directs planned for the weekend. I'm sure I'll post again if anything big comes up. Until next time, enjoy E3!
By the way, if you enjoy reading this, you can follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
E3 2013 impressions - day 1
This is just going to be a quick post, because it's late and I need to get to bed so I can get up early tomorrow for Nintendo's show.
Microsoft: The games look awesome, I have to say. Too bad they come with all the restrictions.
EA: Same as ever, lots of sports games. Star Wars: Battlefront will be cool, Battlefield 4 looks great!
Ubisoft: Not a lot of surprises from them. ACIV and Watch Dogs look fantastic, that Division game looks really cool as well.
Sony: Shots fired! Shots fired! Yeah, they showed some cool games, and it's great to hear Kingdom Hearts III is finally coming, but the highlight of the event was when Jack Tretton put Microsoft in their place. Looks like I'll definitely be getting a PS4.
I'll do a more detailed post when I get the time. For now I'm just looking forward to what Nintendo has to show us tomorrow!
Microsoft: The games look awesome, I have to say. Too bad they come with all the restrictions.
EA: Same as ever, lots of sports games. Star Wars: Battlefront will be cool, Battlefield 4 looks great!
Ubisoft: Not a lot of surprises from them. ACIV and Watch Dogs look fantastic, that Division game looks really cool as well.
Sony: Shots fired! Shots fired! Yeah, they showed some cool games, and it's great to hear Kingdom Hearts III is finally coming, but the highlight of the event was when Jack Tretton put Microsoft in their place. Looks like I'll definitely be getting a PS4.
I'll do a more detailed post when I get the time. For now I'm just looking forward to what Nintendo has to show us tomorrow!
Monday, June 10, 2013
E3 2013!/Been a while, eh?
So, it's been about three years since I've posted anything here. Maybe it's time I start doing this more often again. So let's get right into it with E3!
E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, is a once-a-year event held in Los Angeles, CA. At E3, the industry's biggest game publishers and hardware makers show off their big releases for the year. That description probably makes it sound boring to those not in the know. Think of it as gaming's Superbowl. This one week out of the year all eyes are on the games industry. Even major news outlets like CNN and USA Today cover E3. It's like nothing else. Picture a huge convention center filled with booths featuring all the biggest releases you're dying to play, but probably won't be out yet for another few months to a year. Also, giant banners, displays, statues, spectacle of all kinds to grab your attention. And then there's the booth babes! On top of all that, stage presentations from the biggest names in gaming, showing new releases often for the first time, and dropping those bombshells we never see coming! Remember the Zelda: Twilight Princess reveal back in 2004? Anyway, chances are you already know all about E3 if you're reading this blog, so let's move on.
This year is going to be a big one. With Sony and Microsoft both releasing their gen 8 consoles there's going to be a lot to cover. First and most important is straightening out the details about how exactly these new systems function. We know some things from Microsoft already. The Xbox One will require an internet connection to play games. It can only play offline for 24 hours before it stops playing games. Also, Kinect has to be connected to the system at all times, though they've said you can turn it off. And lastly, publishers will be allowed to decide whether or not they want to allow used games to function. All three of these things are very, very bad, in my opinion, but I'll get into all that in another post. What I hope to learn from E3 is just which publishers will be allowing used games and which won't, and if there'll be some kind of fee involved. Also, will just any store be able to carry used games? There's been talk of only "participating retailers" being able to deal in used Xbox One games. What exactly does that mean? Microsoft has a lot of explaining to do tomorrow morning. The big question is, will they actually answer any of those questions or will they just try and dazzle everyone with shiny new games? I'm guessing the latter, unfortunately. The fact that Microsoft has cancelled it's post-show press event, where it answers questions from the media, is a bad sign.
I also really want to hear what Sony plans to do. They've been pretty tight lipped about the PS4. Sure, they've said some things like, "PS4 will be able to play used games," but technically so can Xbox One. It could all be obfuscation from Sony's PR department, looking to avoid the kind of backlash Microsoft has gotten. I really, really want to hear good things from Sony, because as it stands now I have no intention of getting an Xbox One.
This leaves us with Nintendo. When last I posted here, the Wii was still rolling along. It didn't take me long to get tired of motion controls, so for most of gen 7 I played Xbox 360. Looking back on it now I can better appreciate the Wii. It actually had a really good library if you just took the time to find games with minimal motion controls, or that used the Classic Controller. But this is now, and the Wii U is Nintendo's reigning console. I'll save my thoughts on the Wii U for another post. Let me just say for now that I'm really liking it! If the PS4 has the same kind of restrictions the Xbox One has, I'll be happy sticking with just Nintendo. So you can guess that I'm pretty excited for their event on Tuesday. They're doing things a bit different this year, though. Instead of the normal stage presentation, they're doing a series of Nintendo Direct broadcasts. I suppose I can see why. It would be tough for them to stand up against two new console reveals. I guess from a business standpoint this is the best thing for them to do, but I'm going to miss the atmosphere of Nintendo's live presentation this year. But hey, in the end it's all about the games, right? And they look to be showing off some good ones this year. With no new console information to have to worry about they can focus strictly on software. Can't wait to get some news on the new Super Mario game, Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros., and of course the multiple new Zeldas heading our way!
The hypetrain is a-rolling! Get on board! The week we wait all year for starts tomorrow morning! E3! I'll be making more posts over the course of the week, I'm sure, trying to keep up with all the news. Hope you all get some news you like!
Today's music: Super Mario Sunshine
E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, is a once-a-year event held in Los Angeles, CA. At E3, the industry's biggest game publishers and hardware makers show off their big releases for the year. That description probably makes it sound boring to those not in the know. Think of it as gaming's Superbowl. This one week out of the year all eyes are on the games industry. Even major news outlets like CNN and USA Today cover E3. It's like nothing else. Picture a huge convention center filled with booths featuring all the biggest releases you're dying to play, but probably won't be out yet for another few months to a year. Also, giant banners, displays, statues, spectacle of all kinds to grab your attention. And then there's the booth babes! On top of all that, stage presentations from the biggest names in gaming, showing new releases often for the first time, and dropping those bombshells we never see coming! Remember the Zelda: Twilight Princess reveal back in 2004? Anyway, chances are you already know all about E3 if you're reading this blog, so let's move on.
This year is going to be a big one. With Sony and Microsoft both releasing their gen 8 consoles there's going to be a lot to cover. First and most important is straightening out the details about how exactly these new systems function. We know some things from Microsoft already. The Xbox One will require an internet connection to play games. It can only play offline for 24 hours before it stops playing games. Also, Kinect has to be connected to the system at all times, though they've said you can turn it off. And lastly, publishers will be allowed to decide whether or not they want to allow used games to function. All three of these things are very, very bad, in my opinion, but I'll get into all that in another post. What I hope to learn from E3 is just which publishers will be allowing used games and which won't, and if there'll be some kind of fee involved. Also, will just any store be able to carry used games? There's been talk of only "participating retailers" being able to deal in used Xbox One games. What exactly does that mean? Microsoft has a lot of explaining to do tomorrow morning. The big question is, will they actually answer any of those questions or will they just try and dazzle everyone with shiny new games? I'm guessing the latter, unfortunately. The fact that Microsoft has cancelled it's post-show press event, where it answers questions from the media, is a bad sign.
I also really want to hear what Sony plans to do. They've been pretty tight lipped about the PS4. Sure, they've said some things like, "PS4 will be able to play used games," but technically so can Xbox One. It could all be obfuscation from Sony's PR department, looking to avoid the kind of backlash Microsoft has gotten. I really, really want to hear good things from Sony, because as it stands now I have no intention of getting an Xbox One.
This leaves us with Nintendo. When last I posted here, the Wii was still rolling along. It didn't take me long to get tired of motion controls, so for most of gen 7 I played Xbox 360. Looking back on it now I can better appreciate the Wii. It actually had a really good library if you just took the time to find games with minimal motion controls, or that used the Classic Controller. But this is now, and the Wii U is Nintendo's reigning console. I'll save my thoughts on the Wii U for another post. Let me just say for now that I'm really liking it! If the PS4 has the same kind of restrictions the Xbox One has, I'll be happy sticking with just Nintendo. So you can guess that I'm pretty excited for their event on Tuesday. They're doing things a bit different this year, though. Instead of the normal stage presentation, they're doing a series of Nintendo Direct broadcasts. I suppose I can see why. It would be tough for them to stand up against two new console reveals. I guess from a business standpoint this is the best thing for them to do, but I'm going to miss the atmosphere of Nintendo's live presentation this year. But hey, in the end it's all about the games, right? And they look to be showing off some good ones this year. With no new console information to have to worry about they can focus strictly on software. Can't wait to get some news on the new Super Mario game, Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros., and of course the multiple new Zeldas heading our way!
The hypetrain is a-rolling! Get on board! The week we wait all year for starts tomorrow morning! E3! I'll be making more posts over the course of the week, I'm sure, trying to keep up with all the news. Hope you all get some news you like!
Today's music: Super Mario Sunshine
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
