I’m furiously working on my write-up of the Xbox One press event and hope to have that online in a couple of hours. For now, let’s tide you over with this fantastic trailer for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. It’s supposed to be actual gameplay footage and, if it is, it looks amazing. Maybe this next generation of consoles isn’t such a bad thing, even if MGS5 looks a bit like Red Dead Redemption.
Monthly Archives: June 2013
E3 2013: You Can’t Spell EA without Shooters and Sports
Peter Moore opened EA’s 2013 EA press conference by saying that Electronic Arts was going to show off 11 new titles for next-gen consoles during the event. What he neglected to mention is that EA was showing off 10 games that were shooters or sports games and Mirror’s Edge 2. Did you know that you can’t spell “Electronic Arts” without “shooter” or “sports?”
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E3 2013: Microsoft’s Xbox One Plays Games but for a Big Price
After getting all of the ugly business about DRM, used games, TV, apps and always-connected Kinect out of the way before E3, Microsoft got down to the business of trying to actually trying to sell the upcoming Xbox One as a gaming console.
For their E3 press event, Microsoft came at us with scads of games, both multi-platform and exclusive to the Xbox One to make us forget about all the bad press about the last few months leading up to today’s big showing. Well, until they announced the launch price.
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Building (Critical) Consensus: The Last of Us
As the current console generation slowly grinds to a close, the quality of games has gone up a notch this year as developers are able to get every last bit of performance out of the technology. The result is games that are visually stunning while still having a compelling narrative and fun gameplay.
While we’ve had couple of early game of the year contenders in Tomb Raider and BioShock Infinite and a couple more coming up later in Grand Theft Auto V and Beyond: Two Souls, this week’s big release just vaulted to the top of the list. Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us came in with massive hype because of who was developing it, even if it could have ended up being just another zombie game.
Instead, as seems to be the case for Naughty Dog releases during this generation, The Last of Us may not just be the game of the year but the best game released on the PlayStation 3 and one of the greatest games ever made.
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Microsoft Has Lost the Console War Before It Started
The Microsoft keynote event at E3 is about to begin and it doesn’t really matter. Over the last few weeks, Microsoft has repeatedly shot itself in the foot when promoting their upcoming Xbox One. They think that they can do no wrong with their next-gen console but the reality is that the can do nothing right.
Microsoft is walking into E3 thinking that they’re Justin Bieber, they’re on top of the world and full of swagger. They are Justin Bieber but everyone sees them as Justin Bieber, self-important douche, with a bit of Amanda Bynes’ delusional separation from reality.
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The TSA Doesn’t Like Chewbacca or His Lightsaber
Even Han Solo’s best friend can’t get through airport security without some serious scrutiny. Peter Mayhew, who is best known for being the man inside the Chewbacca, was given some extra attention from the Transportation Security Administration over his lightsaber cane.
Apparently, they were quite concerned about the safety of the plane with Mayhew and his not-a-real lightsaber aboard. Initial media reports said that fans pressured the TSA to let Mayhew and his cane through security after a lengthy check but the TSA denies that was the case.
Source: The Associated Press
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The State of Gaming in 2013 (Infographic)
The 2013 edition of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, also known as E3, officially kicks off tomorrow but the show really kicks off today with the big keynote presentations by the big names. Importantly, we’re about three hours from Microsoft’s Xbox One presentation and about twelve hours from the PlayStation 4 event.
We’ll have full recaps of the two keynotes tomorrow but let’s head into E3 with this look at the current state of gaming. This infographic looks at how gamers play, what they spend their money on and their thoughts on the next generation of consoles.
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Geek Links of the Week
Ubisoft and Obsidian have started showing off South Park: The Stick of Truth ahead of its rumoured August release. I know the reviews for The Last of Us are epic but I’m still more excited for this one. [Game Informer]
We’re big fans of the Canadian gaming industry around here so it shouldn’t surprise you when we mention good news about it. The industry added $2.3 billion to Canada’s GDP and full-time jobs grew by 5% in 2012. [GamesIndustry]
The final issue of Game Developer magazine is available for free online in case you’re interested. If you’re a regular here, I think you’d find it interesting. [Gamasutra]
Old-school mechanical keyboards are making a comeback. However, there’s a lot more to mechanical keyboards than pushing a key and your computer receiving a command. There are some important things that you should know before going out and buying one. [Lifehacker]
There are some questionable choices and massive omissions but here is the Writers Guild of America list of the 101 best written TV shows of all-time. [Pajiba]
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Five Dream E3 Announcements for the Xbox One
Having written my dream announcements list for the PlayStation 4’s keynote at E3, I thought that it would only be fair to give Microsoft’s new console equal time with their own list of dream announcements for the Xbox One.
Now, I’m not an Xbox guy. I’ve never owned either of the Xbox consoles but at one point considered getting the Xbone before the official unveil. However, that unveiling had nothing that appealed to me. So for my dream announcements for the X1, I’ll try to balance between dream announcements for those firmly in Xbox’s camp and those still not sold in the Xbox One.
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Five Dream E3 Announcements for the PlayStation 4
Sure, I could sit here and wax business about what I think Sony will announce for the PlayStation 4 because it will make sense from a business perspective. And as interesting as I like analyzing the business implications of the actions of the video game industry, I love to loosen up my tie, roll up my sleeves and just game.
So rather than go through the rumour mill for the five most likely announcements that Sony will make at its big E3 press event, here are the five announcements that I most want Sony to make for the PlayStation 4.
et geekera 