E3 2013 - Dragon's Crown trailer

dragons-crown-logo-600x300-ss01 With E3 being the big event filled with new games to take in, you will find yourself missing out on a few of them. One in particular, after looking back at this year's E3, is a game called Dragon's Crown for the PlayStation 3 and Vita. After seeing a few interviews, and of course the trailer that was released for E3, I now have this urge to get a new PS3 or even get a Vita just for this game. Have a look at the trailer below.

Dungeons and Dragon's arcade game? Anyone? Back in the day, when arcades were everywhere, games like these emptied my pockets. Remember the X-men arcade beat em up?  Dragon's Crown looks to bring back those types of games and I can't wait to get my hands on this, invite a couple of friends over, and just go all out.

Atlus, thank you for this.

 

Dragon's Crown will be available August 6 for PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita.

E3 2013 Impressions: Console wars has begun!

E3 2013_ss2 Well the E3 dust has cleared. Actually, it's been cleared for some time now. This E3 is one of the most important events in gaming history since this E3 marks the start of a new generation of consoles. Sony and Microsoft has finally shown what each of their new consoles will bring to the table, and by the end of the year(hopefully), we will have the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One out in the market together with Nintendo's Wii U, which was released last year. E3 this year felt like christmas came early. Tons of games were announced and I don't know where to start.

Just like previous E3, press conference starts way before the E3 doors open, and these press cons are the big chunk because that's were all the reveals start happening. This year is extra special with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One revealed before the event To make it even more special, this year Nintendo decided to not have their yearly press conference with the rest. Most probably because they knew all the attention will be focused on the other consoles, no matter what they do. But Nintendo had announcements to do still, so they opt'd for the easier route, an E3 Nintendo Direct that revealed a gameplay trailer for the exclusive Wii U game Bayonetta 2 and first look at the new Smash Bros. game for the Wii U and apparently for the 3DS as well.

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Each year, we always ask after each press conference: Who won this year's E3? That's always the case. This question further fuels the divide between consumers to pick a console side, and for this year I'd have to say Sony won by a landslide.

Microsoft tried...

It's easy to why this is so. Microsoft took the risk. They attempted to change the game by forcing more DRM policies and get a better control of the used game market. The 24 hour online check-in for the Xbox One and the restrictions on borrowing used games outraged millions. I for one was confused to why Microsoft decided to make such a move. Many were left with so many questions with Microsoft leaving half-baked answers creating more questions. The reveal was a complete mess and come E3, they hoped to ease the reaction by filling their press conference with nothing but games. Great move, we saw amazing demo's from Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid V, a small take of a new Xbox One exclusive Quantum Break, we were also treated with Dead Rising 3 being an exclusive, a small teaser to Halo, and the world premiere of Titanfall, which is one of my personal favorites this year(quick in and out mech gameplay = win).

But after all the impressive presentation on what games are coming to Xbox One, it felt like everything was normal again, until Microsoft sticks a $500 price tag on their new unit, and all of a sudden all the worries start coming back in, as if the press conference never happened. With a price like that, plus all the games mentioned, it was hard to consider the unit.

Then comes Sony. With an impressive presentation as well. But it wasn't the games that blew viewers away. Sony gave what gamers wanted to hear, and as much everybody says Sony has won, they just did one thing - announce that the PlayStation 4 isn't going the same route as the Xbox One. When Jack Tretton, President and CEO of Sony Entertainment of America announced they fully support used games, the crowd went wild. I laughed so hard because it was obvious what they are doing. Then followed that there will be no online check ins to use your PS4 offline, another big blow to their competitor. It made my day though, but yes, Sony has won the battle at E3 because of announcing that they would be retaining the same policies pretty much used on consoles today.

Right now, I'm actually shifting to the PlayStation 4 just because it will come out $100 cheaper. The games I'm mostly curious on are actually multi-platform. But it's still too early to tell. We have months to go before released and we don't know if there will be a drastic change.

But enough about who won. There were a lot of titles revealed, but a few of them got me excited to make the conversion to next-gen early. Here are some to name a few:

Titanfall

Titanfall is the first game of Respawn Entertainment, the new studio of Jason West, Vince Zampella, best known for their work at Infinity Ward on Call of Duty. It's a FPS mecha and FPS shooter that is purely focused on multiplayer. From what I've heard, they will be integrating Single-Player elements into multiplayer. But that's not what pulled me in. The amazing detail, the quick mobility of your soldier, and the mech gameplay makes this game worth getting for the Xbox One.

Metal Gear Solid V

Microsoft started their press conference with Metal Gear Solid V. The demo shown during that presentation blew my mind. Hideo Kojima is aiming for an open world MGS and gave us the first look of that goal in action. I don't mind Kiefer Sutherland replacing David Hayter as the voice of Snake anymore, this game is just a must buy.

Super Smash Bros. Wii U

I'm sorry, if there's one game that would force me to get a Wii U, it's this one. This is what Nintendo should have revealed together with the Wii U, not Nintendo Land. This is a great start, but this will definitely help Nintendo in the months to come, sales-wise.

Destiny

Destiny is the next game for Bungie after they retired from making Halo games. It's no surprise its another shooter, but it's an online shooter that has MMO elements in it. It was hard to get what they were aiming with this game, but I got it once they released their first gameplay demo of the game during Sony's press conference. The game will be available for current and next-gen consoles.

Tom Clancy's The Division

Ubisoft wow'd E3 with the reveal of Watch Dogs in their press conference, but now they bring yet another IP that did the same effect to me. The Divison is an online shooter that incorporates RPG elements in its gameplay. Watch the gameplay below and you'll understand why I want this game now. Also notice that they incorporated tablet gaming into the game.

As always, this year's E3 was a treat to watch . Don't think that's the only good thing to come out of E3 in terms of games. Final Fantasy XV has been revealed, as well as Resident Evil's creators new title that aims to revive the survival horror genre. Check out our E3 posts for more.

E3 2013: The Evil Within - Survival horror's comeback?

the-evil-within-wallpaper-artwork-1 The Survival horror genre has seen better years. It was once a genre that was in par with everything else, but now we live in a world filled with action, first person perspective, and high fantasy, with the horror genre taking a back seat showing itself mostly on the indie side. Thankfully, a group of talented folk wants to change that.  Bethesda has teamed up with Shinji Mikami(creator or Resident Evil) to create The Evil Within; their attempt to bring back the real meaning in a survival horror game. So far, it looks promising from afar.

GameSpot E3 stage demo - Evil Within 

During the whole E3, the demo shown below is the only gameplay shown in almost all outlets. Bethesda and Tango seem to be only talking about the game only at a certain point, which is fine since we get to finally see the game in action.

Everything he said gives me hope that they might just do what they set out to gain from this title; the return of survival horror into the spotlight. The setting is pretty generic for a genre like this. An investigator named Sebastian and his partner go a gruesome mass murder. Their investigation results them entering an asylum and of course, it turns out to be a really bad idea.

One thing that caught my attention is that the gameplay will put the player in positions were you will need to make the best out of your surroundings and really conserve what you pick up along the way. Guns blazing won't always be the best choice anymore with the limited ammo, which got me excited, because that restriction alone puts a lot of emphasis on the word "survival" in survival horror. not only that, the tension will always be high.

The Evil Within - Live Action teaser trailer

Sadly, there's no demo that has no interview or commentary. I was hoping one comes out soon so we all can experience the atmosphere of the game, because if there's one thing that's important with a game like this, it's the scary atmosphere. The teaser trailer really gave us the idea that it will be scary, disturbing even, so I shouldn't be that worried.

The Evil Within is set for next year for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC.

 

E3 2013: The Order: 1886 Reveal Trailer

The-Order-1886-01 The folks over at Ready At Dawn studios and Sony Santay Monica is finally working on a new IP.

If you don't know who Ready At Dawn are, they were the studio behind the Wii port of Okami and the two God of War games on the PSP and SCE (Sony Computer Entertainment) Santa Monica handled the console entries for God of War. Now they're working on a new IP called The Order: 1886 which looks to be what I can describe as a steampunk old style London mixed with some Van Helsing and Japanese anime guns.

The-Order-1886-02The trailer revealed did not show a shred of gameplay but I am guessing and hoping that this is a Third-Person shooter that has an emphasis on action and less cover. While the trailer does not show actual gameplay, the cinematics were said to done using in-game graphics rendered in real time. Not much else is known about the game but since it's the season for video game news, I'm sure we'll get an update soon.

The Order: 1886 will be a PS4 exclusive. Hopefully this will be one of those games that helps carry the console.

E3 2013: Nintendo 3DS Developer Direct - Super Smash Bros.

nintendo_developer_direct_smash_brosThe game director for the Super Smash Bros. series, Masahiro Sakurai, gives us a more in-depth look at the new upcoming Super Smash Bros. Game for the 3DS and Wii U. We get a better a better look at both versions of the game as well as the changes in the new game both visually and gameplay wise. Some older characters have updated looks and new moves to set this game appart from previous entries.

Sakurai also talks a bit about some of the new characters such as The Villager, Mega Man and the Wii Fit Trainer.

A bit of good news from this is the confirmation that both the 3DS and Wii U will have the same roster of characters but will have a few unique stages depending on which version you get. Like the 3DS will have more handheld themed stages and the Wii U will have more home console theme stages.