Overview forgames

The deets

I was catching up on postings from one of my favorite video game sites -- The Dreamcast Junkyard.  I also read the comments of each blog post because there are just enough of them to read ‘em all.  I like reading them because of their interesting facts and info.  Well, a recent post had some really, really good comments regarding details on games.  And when I mean “details,” boy howdy do I mean them!  What started as a discussion about very meniscal details regarding a racing game (that part was kind of boring) it turned to conversation about fighting games.  And in some parts a debate between two commenters would break out.  It was amazing to read the details each one brought to the conversation; so much that it’s worth mentioning here.  There were a few commenters there, so the two to look for are CD ageS and Wry Guy.

Here is the link to the blog post.

I also archived it here, you know, in case the site or post were to ever disappear.

Dreams of Krybor

What the heck is this image a reference to?  Listen to the latest episode of Retronauts to find out.

E3 2014: Nintendo Digital Event

It was only a matter of time before Nintendo got into the Skylanders and Disney Infinity market.  With the new Super Smash Bros. game is the ability to use toy figurines and place them into the game.  For example, a Mario figurine was used to place Mario into the game to help take the opponent down.  They are calling this Amiibo and will include a number of characters from Nintendo’s catalog of franchises.

Hyrule Warriors is a game being made by Tecmo Koei, and as you’d guess, it’s a Dynasty Warriors game set in the universe of Zelda.  Kirby and the Rainbow Curse was cool to look at because they are using stop motion/clay animation for the visual appearance of the game.  It was really impressive.  In relation to this, for this digital event, it looks like they hired Seth Green’s studio, Stoopid Monkey (the guys who make Robot Chicken), to make a few animated shorts that stared Reggie and a few Nintendo characters.  These shorts were pretty funny.

The most outstanding game for me was Mario Maker.  With it, you can build your own Mario levels.  The video showed how you can resize things like pipes, move them around, and place enemies and items in certain spots.  The other game I was interested in was Splatoon.  This one has two teams, each with their own colored ink.  Your job is to cover the arena with your ink with your ink gun.  You spray the ink as a person, but you can change into a squid and use other abilities like swimming fast through your own colored ink.  Looks like a competitive game with some good strategy ideas.

Below is a list of all the games they showed during the digital event:
- Super Smash Bros. for 3DS
- Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
- Captain Toad
- Yoshi's Wooly World
- Bayonetta 2
- Hyrule Warriors
- Kirby and the Rainbow Curse
- Xenoblade Chronicles
- Mario Maker
- Splatoon

E3 2014: Sony Press Conference

Sony’s conference started out slow compared to Microsoft’s, but began to accelerate as it went forward.  The first presented game was Destiny.  With it would come a special white PS4 bundle.   That’s neat.  Next was a trailer for The Order: 1886.  While it looked nice, it’s not meeting the expectations compared to the hype that followed that game.

What caught my attention the most was No Man’s Sky.  Holy crap, give me that game!  I need to see more and get it when it’s released.  The new Mortal Kombat X game looks super sick.  I liked how the trailer focused on the moves and showed them off.  Some gruesome stuff was in that video.

I didn’t think they would do it, but I’m glad they are planning to bring the PS Vita TV to the US.  It’s a super slick -- and tiny -- box that you connect to your TV and can play Vita games with a PS controller.  It will also have access to PlayStation Now and the regular movie and TV streaming services you’d expect it to have from a box like that.

The real kicker was finding out that the green light was finally lit to re-release the ‘90s point-and-click adventure game Grim Fandango!  About time!  They were setting it up as if they were going to release all of Tim’s classic adventure games like Full Throttle and Day of the Tentacle.  But if they are going to only release one from the vault, they picked the right one.

E3 2014: MS Press Conference

Out of the gate, Microsoft has a humble approach to their press conference by noting this show is only for games.  Meaning: WE KNOW YOU DON’T CARE FOR THE TV STUFF, APP SNAP, AND OTHER NON-GAMING THINGS SO PAY ATTENTION TO THE GAMES SIDE THAT WE NEGLECTED LAST YEAR!  They also thanked gamers for all of their feedback (complaints) they were making about the console since it launched.  Phil Spencer said something like “You’re helping in shaping the greatest gaming console.”  He also thanked all of the developers for doing what they do.

From Playdead is the game Inside that caught my attention first.  Interested in seeing more of that game soon.  Interesting they are bringing back Phantom Dust.  I was always interested in that game and was planning to get it, but probably not anymore now that everyone is going to jack-up the listing price on eBay.  Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare looked real pretty, but not sure if I care for it.  Was more leaning towards Tom Clancy's The Division.  Heck, I was even interested in the Halo: The Master Chief Collection.  It seems a lot of care and attention went into creating this collection.  I don’t really care for collections when they just cram a bunch of games together and not improve or add to the games or overall experience.

The highlight was all of the stuff under the ID@Xbox banner.  You know, their indie games stuff.  In that quick montage of all those indie games, I was excited to see Hyper Light Drifter, Cuphead, and Mighty No. 9.  Cuphead especially because of it looking like a cartoon from the ‘30s.  Interesting choice of visual style.

Overall, I was impressed of what Microsoft had to show for their console.  Glad to see them listen to their audience and make the console the people demand.  The indie showcase almost makes up for them stopping the XNA program.

Watch Dogs

Glad to see Watch Dogs finally get released.  It’s a shame not every review I’ve seen giving it high praises -- because I’ve been looking forward for this game for a while -- but good to see mostly positive stuff from both players and other critics.  I don’t really care for open world games, but I’ve always been a sucker for cyberpunk themed games, and having it set in a big city like Chicago caught my attention because I don’t believe I have played any games that take place in that location.