Nintendo World Championships 2015: Great Fun, Great Business Decision

I have to admit I'm riding pretty high off the good fun that was Nintendo World Championships, henceforth titled as NWC for the remainder of this article, but that is just part of why I thought it was utter genius for multiple reasons. I've not seen anything in gaming for quite a while that was as overwhelmingly positive and just pure clean fun. At the same thing though it was nothing short of an amazing bit of promotion and marketing while securing Nintendo's spot as the king of fun in the gaming world.

The event itself I anticipated to be a boring affair that I would have shut off after twenty minutes or so; after all I don't really like watching people play games as I'd rather be playing. Of course the announcement of Mother being released stateside, today no less, made me instantly sit up and take note. After that it was an instantly capturing set up as the competitors would play through several rounds and after each round a number of losers from the previous round would face off to allow one of the underdogs to continue. Each round, both the main stages and the underground stages were different games and so not only was the competition fun to watch, but there was a level of anticipation as we all waited to see what game would be played next.

It opened with Nintendo's newest gaming darling, Splatoon. The ink splattering multiplayer was an absolute highlight and watching the teams play the constant messy tug of war was a lot of fun. It also managed to handily highlight how fantastic Splatoon could be in the right tournament setting (while also making me instantly bemoan no voice chat).

The losers of the first round played a speed run of Zelda and it was pretty amazing, but we all knew that.

Next up we saw a brand new team based 3DS game Blastball announced and played by the individuals. It looked like Metroid Fusion crossed with Soccer and seemed to be a lot of fun. What was quite genius about the placement though was that this game would have easily been lost in the shuffle of E3, but because of being played live by people in competition having fun it fell front and center.

Losers faced off in what was probably the most tense and fun match of the entire competition, outside of the final stage itself, a Super Metroid run through of the Mother Brain fight and the escape from Zebes. If anything this should be a complete neon light blinking to Nintendo MORE METROID.

No surprise here, but Mario Kart 8 was up next and in 200 CC no less. In blisteringly fast speeds we saw two rounds of competitors putting the game through its paces with the losers facing off in a surprise Balloon Fight challenge.

Smash Brothers was up next with a surprise fantastic showing by a Shulk player and the final two of these players, one of which clawed his way through the underground challenges to get back in the fight, went on to the final stage.

I had my breath held for a Super Mario 4 announcement I was sure was coming, but instead they announced Super Mario Maker would be the next game that would compete in. Originally I was disappointed, but I should have known Nintendo would have something special in store. Each contestant took turns playing through stages created by folks at the Nintendo Treehouse, and the contestant that got the furthest in each stage or finished the quickest would receive a 15 second head start per round in the 4th level that both would run through at the same time.

It was amazing. The stages were devious fun and watching one player discover it with us for the first time and then giggling with the glee when the next had no idea was coming captured the feel of what it is like on both ends of a Mario Maker stage. If you watched this scene and didn't have your mind instantly spinning trying to come up with a level of your own, I'm not sure you really like Mario.

At the end Shigeru Miyamoto himself handed over the trophy and signed 3DS systems to the winner and runner up. Everyone was cheering, I was practically dancing with joy, and a fun time was had by all. What was truly impressive by the whole NWC was that not only did they create an intensely fun competition, but they basically started E3 which means most everyone was watching. They hyped one of their big upcoming games, showed off a brand new game, made a jaw dropping Virtual Console announcement, and hyped everyone for their upcoming conference.

I've not seen something so cool in gaming in a long time. Well done Nintendo. Well done.

Daniel's E3 Predictions 2015: Microsoft

Xbox had a lot to prove a couple of years ago after a disastrous E3 almost toppled the console. Since handing the reigns over to Phil Spencer he and the company have focused on one thing: games. The dedication has paid off as Microsoft is slowly catching up with the PlayStation 4 and beating them some months in sales numbers.  Cutting the required Kinect, aggressive price cuts, constant high quality updates for the console and a focus on quality exclusives have launched this console from a laughing stock to, what I believe, is the best of the two big consoles currently. I think that this year that trend will continue with the head of Xbox stating this E3 will show their best lineup of first party games ever. With all the writing on the wall, I tend to agree with him.

• Battletoads will be announced and will be being worked on by Rare. What kind of game it will be is anyones guess, as the game is so old that bringing it into modern gaming will be like a completely new IP.

• The oft rumored Gears of War Trilogy on Xbox One will be announced with a Beta rolling out for all Gold members at the show or in the coming months. Gears 4 will be hinted at, and maybe a CG trailer, but we won’t see anything else.

• We will see gameplay of the big trailer reveals of last year namely Crackdown 3 and Scalebound. Hopefully they both still come out 2015, but unlikely considering we haven’t seen anything yet.

• Microsoft will either cancel Phantom Dust proper or stick by their statement that it’s still in development by showing a small amount of gameplay and announcing a new developer. Will likely be bumped to 2016 and will be a free to play game.

• This is guaranteed by the newest trailer, but we will see an extensive playthrough of Rise of the Tomb Raider. It will be awesome.

• A new Forza game will be announced with a 2016 release date and trailer only.

• Fable Legends release date announced with a physical edition available that will unlock a number of characters and items for those who want to commit up front. As they’ve previously disclosed everyone else can grab the game for free, perhaps we will also see an idea of pricing but doubtful.

• Quantum Break will get a short gameplay demo with announcement it won’t be coming till early 2016.

• Halo 5 campaign demo shown with an announcement that the Beta is being rolled out again to everyone with more options available.

• This one is pure fantasy: Xbox announces a sequel to Lost Odyssey and a rebirth of True Fantasy Online. JRPG fans weep tears of joy.

• An indie showcase reel is shown with some time exclusives.

• Since Phil Spencer is interested in keeping it on first party we will see a brief parade of all the coming first and exclusive timed DLD that Xbox has up it’s sleeves.
• Kinectimals 2, because we have to have a slow part somewhere in the conference.

What do you think of my predictions? Any of them likely to come true? Any you want to see come true? Hit us up in the comments below. I’ll be back later this week with my PlayStation predictions.

Trailer Reaction: Fallout 4

The Hype is real ladies and gentleman.  Fallout 3 was such a different type of game and I put a lot of hours into it exploring the wasteland's of DC.  And then Bethesda went off and wandered around the frozen tundra of Skyrim.  When they returned from there we all wondered what they were working on.  They went silent for a time but leaks and rumors swirled that the next project was Fallout 4.  Then Bethesda said were having our own E3 press conference.  First thing I know I thought of was 'Were getting a Fallout 4 announcement.'.  The hype began to build.  The earlier this week we got a site that just showed this and a count down timer to Wednesday morning.

This was it.  It was really happening.  Fallout 4 was going to be a reality.  That morning the timer would run out and we would get a 30 second teaser announcing it and maybe learn more during there press conference.  The timer ran out and I waited to see what they would show.  

What the heck!  That was 3 minutes of game footage.  What is going on.  Oh wow this game looks fantastic.  Shut up Bethesda and take my money now.  Whew.  

That was not what I was expecting at all and it put a smile on my face.  In reality it was a brilliant move by Bethesda.  Now the buzz is all about this game and now even more people are going to watch the E3 press conference.  The trailer hit all the beats that I want to see in a Fallout game.  The new setting looks amazing.  A city like Boston with the history it has and all the great landmarks is going to make a great backdrop in a post nuclear war setting.  Plus I'm hopeful that with this much getting dumped in a trailer they are much further along.  I would not be shocked to see this come out this holiday or possibly early next year.  Overall this did exactly what it was intended to do.  It got us hyped up for this fantastic new game and ready to wander back into the wasteland.  

This one gets a thumbs up from me.

Ernest's E3 2015 Predictions: Microsoft

So it’s that time of year again.  The kids are out of school, the weather is getting warmer, and the video gaming community is boarding the E3 hype train.  Next stop video game overload!

Every June gamers start to get pumped up for this grand spectacle of all things new and shiny in the video game world.  All of the big companies will be vying for your tweets and mindshare for 5 days this year (1 more day of awesome new stuff). With new surprises awaiting us around every corner we are going to spend the next few days making our predictions and talking about the things we are already hyped up for.  Today I’m going to start with my E3 Microsoft press conference predictions.

Let me start by saying I am an Xbox guy.  I have been since the original Xbox came brought Master Chief into my world.  So needless to say when the head of their company Phil Spencer says this year will be the best game lineup ever well I tend to get a little pumped up.

Gears of War 4 Gets Revealed - This one is almost a foregone conclusion now that Blacktusk studios changed their name to The Coalition and pretty much said they have Gears Stuff to show off.  The real question is will it be Marcus Fenix in this one or someone new.  Fingers crossed its Marcus. 

Battletoads – Phil Spencer has been teasing this one for a while now.  From his shirt during the Windows 10 announcement to showing off Battletoads in Shovel Knight.  The real question is who is working on it?  Most are guessing its Rare but I think those guys having something else.  No I think this is a smaller game with an indie studio.  Maybe even Yacht Club Games.  The Battletoads were amazing in Shovel Knight and what better way to re-introduce that trio to the world.

 Crackdown Demo – Here’s hoping.  We got the official announcement last year with an awesome CGI trailer.  Now back it up.  The first Crackdown was a great game and with some of the same guys working on the new one let’s hope they bring it back to the fun it was.

Scalebound – We will find out more about this game at this conference.  While it won’t be a full gameplay demo we will see more of it.

No Call of Duty this year -  Something tells me that Xbox is wanting to focus more on their own FPS franchise Halo 5 this year so they won’t want to spend time showing off another futuristic shooter in Black Ops 3.

Halo 5 – Lots of Halo 5 info. Duh

They are bringing back True Fantasy Online – A guy can dream right.

Overall I think this year will be a lot like last year.  Games, Games, and more Games.  Don’t expect Phil and the crew to let up on this focus.  It’s been working for them over the last year and there starting to gain some ground back.

Pre Conference Score: b+

Daniels E3 2015 Predictions: Nintendo

Ah E3, or the Electronic Entertainment Expo for the overly formal, is on its way and with it a deluge of gaming information that will last us the rest of the year and shape what we will be playing into the crucial Holiday months and beyond. It is a veritable Christmas in June for gamers all over the world, as we gather on the internet to declare who won, what game looked the best, and make fun of announcers who screwed up. One of the most fun things to do leading up to this event, in the same way one might attempt to guess the outcome of a football game using educated opinions, is to attempt to predict what we will see. Using everything I’ve seen and read this is my best guess at what we will see at E3. We’ll start with my biased favorite, Nintendo and I'll be giving you my predictions of the other two leading up to E3.

Nintendo

If you ask my opinion Nintendo simply won E3 last year. Its pre recorded special direct was well paced and even humorous while managing to avoid all the downfalls of a stage performance. In addition it had the exciting Smash Brothers Tournament and a stellar eyes on of most of its big games with Treehouse coverage stealing the show the rest of the week. It looks like the Big N intends to attempt to catch lightning in a bottle twice as they’ve already announced both a tournament aping the Nintendo World Championships they had 25 years ago and a continuation of their fantastic Treehouse coverage. Below are some reasonable bets and absolute fantasy predictions of how their conference will go down.

•        Expect to see more details on already announced games including a dedicated release date of Xenoblade Chronicles X, Yoshi’s Wooly World and Mario Maker with the last two featured in the conference.

•       This one is a wild hopeful card, but the next Metroid is finally announced being made by Retro Studios. Prime? 2D? Both? I don’t care, just for the love of gaming Nintendo make a Metroid.

 

•      New amiibos will be announced and sell out before the announcement sentence is even done.

 

•      Nintendo unveils their new rewards program to replace Club Nintendo.

 

•       Indie sizzle reel showing the hottest Nindies up for release.

•      We see Star Fox as it's supposedly still coming out 2015. Hopefully announced to fill the Holiday spot as Nintendo needs something to fill the gaping hole left by Zelda.

 

•      More Splatoon DLC is announced, maybe available the day of the show, Lucas Smash fighter is given a release date and the first character from the Smash Ballot is announced as a playable figher. It’ll be an inkling to further promote Splatoon if Nintendo is smart.

 

•      We will see more of the Zelda U title and be told it’s coming early to mid 2016.

 

•      Nintendo’s first mobile game is announced and available for free on Android and IOS during the show.

 

•      Animal Crossing for the Wii U is announced.

 

•      Nintendo decide they like money and the first full fledged Pokemon RPG title is announced for Wii U.

 

•      Mother 3 is announced as a Virtual Console title and everyone finally shuts up about it.

What do you think about my predictions for Nintendo this year? Likely? Crazy? Let us know in the comments below and tell us what you want to see from the Big N this year at E3.

Pre Conference Score: A-

My Top 5 Anticipated Games of 2015

Top 5 Anticipated Games of 2015

2014 was a great year for video gaming.  We got to play some great titles like Super Smash Brothers, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Forza Horizon 2 and that’s just scratching the surface.  With that in mind it looks like 2015 is already shaping up to be an even bigger year.  So narrowing down my most anticipated games of the year to just 5 was really difficult.  In the end the titles that won out are the ones that I am excited to get any new info on and pore over every new trailer and screenshot.  These are the games that I will not be afraid to drop my money on before a single review comes out.  So without further ado and in no particular order here they are.

1.      Batman Arkham Knight

Since 2009 Rocksteady games has been putting out the best Batman game we have ever gotten to play.  These games have truly made you feel like you are Batman.  The newest entry in the series looks to add even more as Rocksteady have ditched last gen and focused solely on the newer consoles to maximize what they can do.  And in all the trailers and screenshots we have seen that.  Gotham looks amazing, beating up nameless street thugs looks gorgeous, and the villains are all here.  Oh and did we mention you get to drive the BATMOBILE.  That alone would have been enough to get me excited but the with the main focus being on Scarecrow and the unknown new villain Arkham Knight it looks like we will see a Batman pushed to his limits.  On a side note, can we get a remastered collection of the other 2 games in the series?  I would like to replay them without having to get out an old console.

2.    The Witcher 3

The Witcher has always been a role playing game that I admire.  There is no good choice bad choice scenario in the games.  There all just shades of gray.  From the previews and footage we have seen of the game so far it looks like there will be more of a focus on the hunting of monsters.  The story of the Witcher is also always been a more mature and political story and with this one bringing in new characters from the book and Geralts past we are going to be in for another wild ride.

      3.       The Division 

The Division takes place during a apocalypse type situation where you play as a agent of the Division and are tasked with keeping the peace and helping find a cure.  This psuedo MMO looks incredibly detailed and with that really cool Tom Clancy future tech thats been shown of with the holographic maps just adds that little touch.  The defining factor for me on this game is how much fun is it going to be solo?  It looks like it's going to be an amazing game to play with friends but as we found with Destiny if you cant get a group going the game loses a little bit of its charm.  Fingers crossed this isnt the case on this one.  Ubisoft traditionally does a great job of balancing out the single player with it's multiplayer so we may be looking good.  More info on this game would be nice though because so far very little has been shown off or talked about.

      4.       Zelda WiiU

Its a new Zelda game.  What else do I need to say?  Okay if you insist.  From the small snippet we were shown at the Video Game Awards this year it looks like this one will be taking more of a open world feel.  The thought of tackling the dungeons in any order you want is very exciting and something that I don't believe has been done in Zelda before.  Here's hoping they open the floodgates on this title at E3.  

      5.       Star Wars Battlefront

There has not been much more than some concept art and some very early footage from the game.  However this is Star Wars Battlefront were talking about here.  I spent more time on Battlefront 2 on my original Xbox than any other game on that console.  Add on top of that DICE will be working on the game.  My mind is already running wild with thoughts of epic battles of teams of 32 players in the forest of Endor.  The force is strong with this game

Honarable Mention

The Flame in the Flood

Just listen to that music.  So amazing.  I'm a huge sucker for music that goes hand in hand with the game.  This rouge-like game of a journey down a river looks incredible.  The pedigree behind the creators is amazing so I'm very excited to give this title a shot.  The fact I'll be able to play it on my Xbox One is icing on the cake.

Soundtrack Review: Journey

So I wanted to start writing a few times of week for this blog and I wanted to start with a few paragraphs on one of my favorite things about video games.  The music.

I love video game music.  All of it from 8-bit music to the huge sweeping orchestra’s we have in games today.  So for my music entries what I’ll do is pick a soundtrack and talk a little about it and what makes it special to me.  I’m going to kick it off this week with Austin Wintory’s haunting score to Journey.

The clip above is the music from the ending of the game and it perfectly captures the loneliness that Journey can sometimes evoke.  This sound track is at home in a game or would be right at home in a motion picture.  Austin Wintory crafts a score that immediately grabs you and embeds itself as an essential part of the game.  Anytime I hear any song from it I am instantly transported back to that world and my experience with that game.  And that’s what a great score does.  Just try listening to the track ‘I was born for this’ and not be moved by that song.  I cant recommend this soundtrack enough.

 

I give the Journey Soundtrack a 9 out of 10!