E3 2014: The Fallout

 

After watching all the presentations at E3 2014 I thought it best to let a few days go by before I gave my thoughts. I hold some small regrets from last year’s E3 over my excitement at Sony managing to win fans over with the PlayStation 4 announcement. I reflected on that one and made a post about it but, in short, it was that Sony was being praised for doing things that should be standard. This is the reason I decided to wait it out for a few days and let myself really sink in this year’s E3. I didn’t want to let my excitement for some company announcing games I like to influence my opinion. Instead I wanted to view the presentations on how they promoted exclusives, the way they used trailers, gameplay demos, etc. and judge them based on the presentations rather than siding with a company that presented games that I like.

E3 2014 was not as exciting as I felt it could have been. I feel that, for an event that is essentially a hype train, it could have done a lot more to impress. Now I’m sure there are fans who were excited about their favorite console or seeing their favorite franchises and such but that’s not what I mean. Those fans will always be pleased when they see their favorite games announced. I was that way when I saw the Mortal Kombat X trailer because I’m a Mortal Kombat fan. That’s not the point I’m trying to make. I won’t go into full detail of their presentations and only touch up on how I felt about each one. Keep in mind these are my personal views and I don’t expect everyone to agree with me.

As a disclaimer I’m focusing on exclusives when I mention games revealed and I won’t mention all. I am aware of many games presented but the problem is the vast majority are multiplatform titles and none of those serve to promote a console. You see a trailer for Destiny or Arkham Knight and it doesn’t matter the console you own you’ll still be able to get it. Also, HD Remasters, which were shown, I find problematic. Remastering has become a nickel-and-dime tactic but that’s going to be expected. So I’m avoiding bring those up when I can. So with that here are my opinions of each press release.

MICROSOFT

I found their presentation to be very lackluster and there were no real exclusives that completely amazed me. Sunset Overdrive was a decent exclusive as well though I didn’t find it to be as intriguing as others may have. Open World seems to be a new trend and, though this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it may end up becoming oversaturated. Platinum also announced an exclusive Scalebound which looks to be an interesting concept but since it was a CGI trailer it really didn’t tell what the game was like. It only showed the concept of there always being a bigger enemy.

I will give Microsoft credit, though. They did manage to focus on games and that’s definitely a step forward from last year when they were adamant about pushing the Kinect, hand gesture and talking to your machine, sports and television. Microsoft stepped up from last year but they still had nothing that showed why the Xbox One is the go to system. Forza and Halo are great selling games but they could have pushed something extraordinary and they failed to do that.

SONY

I admit I was expecting a little more with them but they seemed to fall into the same camp as Microsoft; A very dull presentation. This was made even worse by the fact they actually took a page from Microsoft’s E3 2013 presentation and spent a lot of time focusing on television. Sony had a presentation that was almost two hours long and with the television announcements it really made it feel like that. As for exclusives, they did present Uncharted 4 which served for some hype for the PlayStation 4.

My theory on the issue is that Sony walked into E3 2014 a little too confident. The fast sales of the PlayStation 4, I think, really gave them a confidence that is still too early to claim victory. This showed in their presentation and they had very little of interest to talk about. Overall, Sony’s presentation would be just as boring as Microsoft’s but I have to say they were the worst of the two mainly because of their lull in the middle to talk about television.

NINTENDO

Nintendo was smart choosing to go on the day after Sony and Microsoft. This allowed them to have the entire day focused on them. They did not, however, have a full stage press conference like the other two. Instead they focused on a digital event which was a pre-recorded video not unlike Nintendo Direct. Nintendo has been hurting a lot lately with the pathetic sale of the Wii U and how they pretty much ignored it for almost all of 2013. Though, in hindsight, 2013 did help kick up the 3DS sales which, at the time, were hurting drastically as well.

This year they chose to focus almost entirely on the Wii U and it was a wise decision. Nintendo managed a better show than the other two companies by showcasing a ton of exclusives including some new IPs as well as staples including Kirby, Yoshi and The Legend of Zelda. Was it an amazing event? No, it had its lulls too but it did show that Nintendo was actively listening to what fans wanted and willing to give them even a taste of things to come. Having Adult Swim’s Robot Chicken come in and do animations as well didn’t hurt any.

SUMMARY

The three console manufactures had some good things showing but I’ll have to say that this year was the year Nintendo outshone Sony and Microsoft. It wasn’t so much in what games were shown because that’s always going to be up for debate. It was how it was presented and Nintendo managed to bring a show to the audience without requiring the main stage to do it with the exception of the Smash Bros. tournament.

Nintendo went into E3 understanding they weren’t the top dog and so they brought the best of what they could offer even announcing some games in early development which is something Nintendo is not known for. Sony and Microsoft should have done this as well. Microsoft is still struggling to fix its image with the Xbox One and, though they did focus on games, they did not treat their press conference as if their console’s life depended on it. Sony felt a little too proud and they really should have went in swinging hard instead of assuming the would be victorious.

EA & UBISOFT

I should note that it wasn’t just console presentations but some publishers as well. Ubisoft showcased a lot of their upcoming titles including a very depressing trailer for Tom Clancy’s The Division. Their showcase was decent but nothing super special. I’ve not much to say about Ubisoft otherwise. I’m not entirely sure why we even needed an Ubisoft presentation.

One of the worst presentations, in my opinion, was EA. Sure they had the Dragon Age trailer but they showcased three trailers: Mirror’s Edge, Mass Effect, and Star Wars: Battlefront. The problem with these three trailers is that they didn’t show anything of the games. They claimed it was behind the scenes footage. I don’t buy that and find it to be lazy. Behind the scenes footage could have been used as extras for the games themselves rather than trailers. Seeing these trailers did nothing for me and it felt as if EA was showcasing hubris and going on the belief that people will buy these games no matter what they show.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Ultimately, Nintendo had the better showcase and Sony and Microsoft were rather uninteresting. Sony and Microsoft had a lot of titles scheduled for 2015 leaving Holiday 2014 rather empty and this is not a good thing. Nintendo had 2015 titles too but they showed a lot of games that are scheduled for Holiday 2014. It’s ok to showcase future titles but have enough to keep customer interest especially during the holiday shopping season.

That’s my opinion on the matter. Take it for what it is.

My Hatred for Story DLC

 

I have developed a massive hatred for paid story DLC. It’s just a practice that seems really shady to me.

Before the Seventh Generation of consoles you would buy a game. That purchase was the entire game. Complete multiplayer, complete story, complete everything. The internet was just not what it is today so the only real way to continue a story was to release expansion packs. Often, those were complete games too that just required the base game to get up and running.

Such is not the case anymore. There are still a few titles that still toy with expansion packs, largely MMOs, but the majority of titles that exists today deal with DLC. Initially I had no issues with DLC but now it has begun to bother me.

Before the Seventh Generation studios made money off the initial purchase of a game. PC Games didn’t have that restriction so much even with the way the internet was but even they released expansions rather than DLC. It worked well for them and the customer. Video games were required to be complete upon release and this would make money. Even the beginning of Generation Seven started that way but as broadband became more widespread it changed.

Now you have a situation where games are released incomplete in one way or another. Final Fantasy XIII-2 was released with much story content restricted to DLC. That DLC was used to explain situations in the main game that were otherwise confusing or seemed to go nowhere. Mass Effect 2 released story DLC that, though wasn’t directly involved the main story, carried on canonical situations that are part of the entire trilogy’s story. DmC did a similar thing with Vergil’s Downfall DLC.

I could continue on but the point I’m making is that there are many games now that release story DLC and are essentially leaving the main purchase unfinished. Then most of these games are charged a full $60 or more for their purchases. So you pay for the game plus the DLC per release. Some offer a Season Pass or something similarly named that allow you to get the DLC as it comes out without paying separately but even this is still a problem for me. If you want a complete game you end up paying around $80 or more. This is even exacerbated in PAL regions where the price of games are already in the hundreds.

I do not believe you should have to pay $60 for a game with an incomplete story only to be told to get the rest of the story as DLC for $5-$20 a pop. The entire game should be finished. If you do mess up as the case was for Fallout 3 and Mass Effect 3 that story fix should be free as it was for those games.

I've no problem with paid DLC for map packs, costumes, items, etc. Call of Duty releases map packs mostly. None of that bugs me although the prices for the Call of Duty maps is a bit much. A lot of fighting games release costume packs and that's fine too. Though there are issues with fighting game DLC as well which usually involve paid DLC characters.

I do not tolerate nickel & diming tactics and that's all Paid Story DLC is. If it's a game I really want that bad I'll seek it used if that's the case. If you can't be bothered to release a complete product then I can't be bothered to hand over my money to the developer/publisher. I do not sympathize with the "Developers need money to keep making games" ideal when they don’t care too about the customer to give them their money’s worth. I do understand that, in many cases, this is also the publishers fault. In that case it’s just collateral damage then. I apologize to the developer but if the publisher wants to swindle me out of story content then I either will buy it used or not buy it at all. Either way the company doesn’t get money from me.

I am more than willing to let a developer or publisher lose money if they can't bother to release quality, fully finished products. This is not counting for bugs of course unless it's like the issue Skyrim had on the PS3 or Assassin's Creed Liberation on the Vita. If the game is released so unplayable that it requires a patch upon release then it should be pushed back for that system to fix the problem. Not released with a Day One patch to fix it, left broken for months, or just deciding to not fix bugs in favor of DLC. (I’m looking at you Warner Bros.)

So, in conclusion, if I'm going to pay $60 for an unfinished story then I do expect the story DLC to be free to complete my purchase. I don’t buy into the attitude of “It’s such a small price to pay” or “If you can’t afford it rethink your priorities.” You know what? I can afford a $3 gallon of milk but I’ll buy the $2.50 one instead. I can afford the more expensive item but there’s need to waste money like that. It’s not about being able to afford anything. It’s about getting what you pay for. Gamers really need to rethink their position and realize that they are consumers and consumers are the ones who make the decisions not companies and game developers and publishers are no exception.

Parents and the M Rating

 

(Note: ESRB and MPAA ratings are used but there are equivalents in other countries.)

As the Christmas season ends another group of kids will get their hands on multiple games and some will be exposed to M rated games, maybe for the first time. With that, there seems to be an issue that, despite how often it’s brought up, still seems to be a problem. The issue is the M Rating for video games. M means for mature audiences and comes with a major age warning which is age 17 and older. This means that the game may be inappropriate for anyone under the age of 17. This is equivalent to the R rating for movies.

I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir here and anyone who has a big interest in gaming will know the argument that M rated games are not for children. However, often times, parents still buy their kids these games. Often with the concept that games are still just kids toys and couldn’t possibly be bad. Then they get surprised and shocked when they find the game has intense violence or nudity.

Grand Theft Auto V is a good example. The game has hardcore depictions of graphic violence, nudity and non-appropriate scenes in it. The game is, naturally, rated M for Mature but parents still purchase this game for their children and some go on to complain about the content.

I don’t know why this idea that M rated games would be considered OK for children. They’re not and never will be. That’s what the rating system is for. It’s there to allow parents to make responsible decisions as to what their children are exposed to. It really should be utilized and the tools are there just for that.

The front of the box will always show the rating. If you flip the box over then there will also be a short description of why the game got that rating which includes important information as to what level of violence, is there any substance abuse, nudity, etc. The tools are there at the box, on the shelf, at the store.

This isn’t the only toll at hand however. There is also the ESRB website which allows you to search any game title. This will allow you to see the rating, a short description and an in-depth description. This can be done from any mobile device or computer and should also be utilized. The website is there so you can make informative decisions as to what children are exposed to.

Now, keep in mind, that I am not saying what a parent should allow their child to watch or play. That’s not, at all, my intention. I’m merely saying that parents should be aware of what their children are exposed to. If you don’t have a problem with them seeing graphic violence or nudity in a  video game that’s your choice. If you do, however, then you really need to research what kind of game your child wants.

The link to the ESRB website can provide valuable information as to what kind of content is in a game and don’t forget that you can view rating and rating information on the box of any game you buy so keep that in mind when purchasing more video games for children.

Link to ESRB’s website http://www.esrb.org

Accepting Criticism

Recently there was an incident involving Youtube personality, Totalbiscuit, and his review of Day One: Garry’s Incident. What happened is that he got a review copy of the game and then gave it a negative review which then prompted developer, Wild Games Studios, to have the video taken off for copyright violation. Later, after much backlash, they sent out an apology and allowed the video to be put back up. Now, Wild Games Studios has claimed that it was due to a monetary issue and not because it was a bad review. That claim itself has been brought into question and there are, no doubt, many people who don’t believe them. In the end they did issue an apology and that is what really matters but this got me thinking about the level of criticism that seems to exist among video games.

There have been a few games that have received massive criticism within the past few years and in both direction but the attitude is rather unfair. It was the issue of Day One: Garry’s Incident that made me think about it. It’s not the first game to have had this issue and I’m sure it won’t be the last.

Now many games get a poor or high rating or somewhere in between but for the most part the reviews are left alone. However there are issues that seem to exist among both developers and the gaming  community as a whole and a big issue is the ability to accept criticism. Many games that gamers believe are perfect tens get overly angry to levels that just aren’t healthy when their beloved game gets a lower rating or a not-so-perfect review.

This attitude between gamers and companies really does need to stop because it really is just one of the reasons that people have such a negative view of the entire gaming culture. We need to accept criticisms and accept that other people will not like the same things we do. If Grand Theft Auto V gets a 9/10, which is still a good score, and you think it deserves a 10/10 then so what? You’re still going to enjoy the game despite someone finding a flaw in it. The same goes for a game like The Last of Us. We all are going to like different games for different reasons and will also dislike games others like. That’s how subjective mediums work.

In the case of a game like Day One: Garry’s Incident, and going on the assumption that it was the negative review that angered Wild Games Studios, then that’s another issue on a similar level. Developers aren’t always going to make games that people will like. That’s just how it goes. Sometimes the publisher will rush the game, sometimes the game will be extremely buggy and sometimes the game just isn’t all that good. One of the risks you deal with in reviews is that the submitted game will get a bad review.

I think developers can do a better job learning from this than fighting back. A good idea is to see why the game got a bad review, see what was wrong with the game that was submitted and then move forward from there. Keep what works, fix what doesn’t and try new ideas to improve upon it. Anyone at an art school can tell you that critique is important and a good way to improve. Video games can learn from this too. Improve on things that work and learn from things that don’t.

I really believe if both sides start taking a more mature standpoint on video game criticism then we can help the medium grow and be further accepted in its own right. I think it’ll work but it takes effort from everyone and nothing happens without effort.

I Believe in the Wii U

It’s been almost a year since the Wii U’s release and it would be a lie to say that it hasn’t had a bad first year. It’s first year run was a gaming desert with only a select few titles released. I remember when the system came out and its dismal sales lead many people to decry that the Wii U was a failure and that Nintendo should stop making consoles and go third party. Things seem to be slowly shifting and according to an article on MCV Wii U; Wii U sales are up.

I was an early adopt of the system and I had to deal with the dry spell myself. There were games that I did enjoy playing but most of them were multi-platform games. I did have a lot of fun with Lego City Undercover and Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate though Monsters Hunter 3 Ultimate was a port of Monster Hunter Tri for the Wii. Regardless of the fun I had with those games it’s hard not to acknowledge for a time that the Wii U was, for lack of a better term, collecting dust.

I didn’t give up, though. This was a system I had bought and I planned (and still plan) to support it. Games like Pikmin 3 and The Wonderful 101 have proven to help the system somewhat but it seems, at least to me, that it was The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD that has helped the system.

I admit I was skeptical that an old game such as The Wind Waker would help the system but it seems like that is what happened. Sales for the month of September were up 200 percent. I’m sure the Wind Waker has helped but I won’t say it’s the sole reason. I have good reason to believe that the $50 price cut on the Wii U Deluxe Set also helped as it, obviously, makes the console cheaper.

Seeing this is nice but I’m not going to just say the Wii U is going to have smooth sailing. It’s got an uphill battle to go and with the upcoming release of the Xbox One and Playstation 4 I see that it’s going to be a little more difficult for the struggling system. However, I have faith that the Wii U will do better as more and more games get released. The install base will grow if the system can produce quality products that people will want and, despite what many Nintendo haters say, there has always been a market for Nintendo IPs. Nintendo will be able to pull the system out of its slump as they’ve even acknowledged it and have began to release a steady stream of quality titles with more coming out for the 2013 holiday season.

It’ll be interesting to see where this goes but, as I’ve said already, I do believe in the Wii U.

Gamer Rant: Teen Jailed for Comment on LoL

 

So before I start here’s the link to the news article.

http://dailycaller.com/2013/06/27/texas-teen-makes-violent-joke-during-video-game-is-jailed-for-months/

Now then, I have to say I’m rather upset at the situation that has gone down and I think it’s gone a little too far when it comes to how secure we want to be. I understand we don’t want to tolerate hate speech or threats and we need to take everyone of them seriously but this is a bit much.

Justin Carter, a 19 year old in the state of Texas was arrested for making a sarcastic comment online while playing League of Legends. Someone decided that the comment was offensive enough to make a phone call to the police.

Now,  I will just say that the kid was doing your typical online banter in an online video game. That’s it! Nothing more but a stupid comment said while playing a game and if anyone has played an online game in the past few years they’d hear so much worse.

The issue here is that instead of just deciding it was not worth pursuing they actually arrested the guy! To make this worse, it also looks like he may get an 8-Year Sentence for it. So he’s in jail and may get a longer sentence all for saying something online that is nowhere near the caliber of what has been said on Xbox Live.

I’m sorry but I have a major problem with this. He just made a sarcastic comment while playing a game. Nothing more. I guess hate speech will not be tolerated at all. It’s just stupid. Normally I would have something more thought out but I just can’t get past the utter stupidity of wanting to arrest a kid for something so trivial.

Perhaps this will set an example to all the people on Xbox Live then. Every racist, sexist, overtly violent comment and message sent over Xbox Live should be treated the same way. Each one of those people is just as guilty. But, alas, that won’t happen.

Look, I’m not about hate speech or threats, I understand the negative impact they have. However, we do have freedom of speech in the United States and that freedom should not be anymore infringed than any of the other amendments. I will defend hate speech largely for that and that only. That doesn’t mean I agree with it but if I’m willing to defend hate speech, despite the fact I don’t like it, you can bet that I’ll defend a sarcastic, joking comment.

We’ve become a society where being offended is not OK and simply walking away from the problem isn’t enough for us. Nowadays we want people arrested for the slightest infraction because we’ve become unable to deal with the problem in any other more appropriate way.

I’ll just be talking in circles here so it’s best not to continue. If you read this spread the word about it and make sure this gets out these because if things like this are allowed to continue then I don’t know what will happen. I fear that we’ll be creating a new witch hunt.

Why the Xbox One Should Fail

Now, I’m sure by this title, many will cry out that I’m being a anti-Xbox and I’m sure I’ll be called a Sony Fanboy or a Nintendo Fanboy over this. However, my reason for why I feel the Xbox One should fail is not because I hate Microsoft or prefer the other consoles. My reasoning is a lot different.

Let’s travel back in time to the 80s. The Nintendo Entertainment System had a few games released for it that required the use of 3D glasses. These were the standard red/cyan glasses that were popular at the time. Games like Rad Racer and 3D World Runner utilized the 3D glasses but for the most part they failed at their job. The 3D didn’t work very well but thankfully the games were playable without the glasses. A simple press of the Select button allowed this.

The Sega Master System also had a 3D glasses peripheral added to it. The peripheral allowed select games such as Maze Hunter 3D, Zaxxon 3D and Missle Defense 3D to be played. The 3D did work fairly well on this system but there was nothing to really hold it up. The peripheral was pretty much dropped to the wayside and you couldn’t play the games without them.

Nintendo would attempt to bring back the 3D gaming experience again in the mid 1990s with the release of the Virtual Boy. A sort of virtual reality, 3D gaming experience. It was a big failure, gave headaches to those who played it and had very mediocre games.

Nintendo finally hit gold with the Nintendo 3DS. This portable console allows the use of 3D gameplay without the need for special glasses. It utilizes a similar mechanic to those holographic cards you can get in hobby shops. Now, it’s important to know that initially even this system was at risk of failure. The 3D effect was, and is, little more than a gimmick. If Nintendo hadn’t come out with some major games to pick up the console it probably would have failed. All games utilize the 3D effect but at a 100% optional level.

It’s safe to say Nintendo eventually landed a success with 3D from a certain point of view. It can be argued that it wasn’t the 3D that was successful but the games. That’s a very valid argument and is pretty much right. The thing is, some games such as Fire Emblem Awakening actually are enjoyable with the 3D effect on. So now it comes down to preference more than just people outright not wanting to use the 3D.

Now I come back to the Xbox One. It wants to do cloud gaming, it wants to do mandatory installs, it wants to utilize online connectivity.

This isn’t about the DRM or the bad stuff that Microsoft wants (and has now rescinded) but about the benefits this stuff has to offer. Sure cloud gaming can be uses as a form of restricting the owner from owning an actual copy but let’s look at it from a more optimistic point of view. Not having physical space tied up can allow for some greater worlds, especially in the persistent world and MMORPG markets.

Getting away without having to use the disc is a great option to speed up load times. Imagine being able to return to a loading speeds on par with instant cartridge loading. That would mean more time gaming and less time waiting.

And online connectivity is good when it comes to patch fixes and updates that can increase a game’s length time. Anyone who has played an MMORPG will know about these. Sometimes they’re bug fixes, sometimes balance issues and sometimes new content.

Now, I already know the bad from all this. I’ve made a past article that mentioned the fear I’ve had over these things. This is to focus on some positivity but with the need for negativity.

With that….

We’re just not ready for it yet. It’s that simple. The infrastructure isn’t there to support cloud gaming like we would want it to. The ability to trust our internet reliability is often nil. I actually get asked to reset the modem multiple times on a daily basis. Worse though is that we cannot trust their servers either. Any kind of crash, DDOS attack, etc. can severely hamper our ability to enjoy the game.

Mandatory installs on a console isn’t there yet either. Sure, you could use installs of some data but not the whole game. Especially with the miniscule size that the Xbox One is coming with in that 500gb hard drive. Such a small hard drive for game installs will become tiresome after a while.

Online connectivity for patches and updates and DLC is at a decent spot right now, largely from how much we’ve learned from it and with the recent Sony update having bricked some consoles even that isn’t entirely stable yet.

This is exactly the reasons the Xbox One needs to fail. It’s exactly why OnLive failed. These failures are good though! You see, by these consoles failing they allow us to learn. We see where they failed and why they failed. Then we take steps to improve upon those to allow for an eventual success.

This is why I feel the Xbox One needs to fail. It can benefit all gaming and technology by learning not only just the technical aspect but the public relations and consumer aspects as well. You could argue that Xbox could have learned from Sony’s PS3 disastrous launch but sometimes we have to beat our head a few times on the same wall before realizing we’re not going to break through.

Let’s hope the future will be so bright.