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Tag: E3

  • Microsoft To Focus On Games At E3

    Microsoft To Focus On Games At E3

    Microsoft was wise to announce the Xbox One before E3 last year. It opened up the annual trade show to focus exclusively on games since it got all the TV and sports out of the way at the May event. With E3 2014, will Microsoft continue its focus on games, or will we see a Doritos Xbox One app instead?

    Speaking to a fan on Twitter, Microsoft’s Phil Spencer said that gamers wanting to see games won’t be disappointed at this year’s E3. The company’s press conference will focus less on executives announcing stuff and more on the games. In more encouraging news, Microsoft also has had to cut stuff to come within 90 minutes. In other words, Microsoft has a lot of stuff to announce at E3 and can’t fit it all into their press conference.

    So, what’s going to happen to all the content being cut from the press conference? Will Microsoft host something like a Nintendo Direct where they speak directly with fans about upcoming games and products? It’s certainly a possibility, but Spencer is remaining mum at the moment. All he says is that there are plenty of places at E3 to make announcements:

    For the Xbox One fan, this is incredibly exciting news. Much like the PS4, the Xbox One has been hurting for content since launch. It did just get Titanfall this month, but that’s only one game. While the Xbox One may appeal to the shooter fan now, Microsoft is going to need a lot more variety to appeal to more people going forward. At E3, we may just get some variety from Microsoft’s publishing partners around the world.

    Besides focusing on just games, Microsoft also needs to avoid the kind of controversy that handed Sony an easy win at last year’s E3. It’s unlikely that we’ll ever see a return of Microsoft’s originally planed DRM, but it’s hard to say what will anger gamers and what won’t. If Microsoft continues to claim that Kinect is essential to the Xbox One, gamers may get angry over what they see as Microsoft forcing them to buy a peripheral they don’t want or need.

    We’ll likely find out more over the coming months as Microsoft’s E3 press conference usually suffers from a few pre-show leaks. We might even learn a thing or two about the unannounced games we’ll see at the show – like a Halo 2 remake.

    Image via IGN

  • EA’s E3 Press Conference Finally Gets The Abridged Treatment

    E3 2013 seems like a distant memory now. It’s hard to even remember what happened. Thanks to the fine folks at VideoGamer, we can at least remember what happened at EA’s press conference.

    The latest, and final, E3 abridged video captures just how boring EA’s E3 presence was. Beyond Mirror’s Edge 2 and Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, everything else was business as usual. Spending over 20 minutes on EA Sports didn’t help matters either. Still, the folks at VideoGamer did what they could with the material, and the end result is pretty good.

    It’s been a while since E3 2013, but you may be one of those people who like to be fashionably late to the gaming news cycle. In that case, check out these previous abridged videos for Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and Ubisoft.

  • Ubisoft’s Weird E3 Press Conference Finally Gets The Abridged Treatment

    It’s now been more than a month since E3 wrapped in early June, but the folks at Video Gamer have been able to wring just a little bit more hilarity out of the world’s largest gaming event.

    Like always, Ubisoft had a weird press conference that was devoid of any coherence in favor of bad jokes and headache inducing strobe lights. In other words, it’s ripe for mockery. It might be a little late, but Ubisoft’s abridged presser was well worth the wait.

    We’re only missing EA now, but I don’t know if you could actually make fun of that one. It was very business as usual with little to poke fun at. Still, if anybody can do it, the guys at VideoGamer can.

    If you missed out on the previous abridged spoofs, you can check out Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo tomfoolery at their respective links.

  • Learn All About Final Fantasy XV From Its Creator

    Square Enix had two surprise announcements at E3 – Kingdom Hearts III and Final Fantasy XV. Both games are being overseen by Square Enix superstar Tetsuya Nomura, and he was at E3 earlier this month to talk about the titles.

    Fans of both franchises will be pleased to know that Nomura sat down with Square Enix North America for an hour long interview about Kingdom Hearts III, Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix. He touches upon everything from the development of the original Kingdom Hearts to what he’s planning to do with the latest title in the franchise. As for Final Fantasy XV, he addresses the long and troubled development of the title from back when it was known as Final Fantasy Versus XIII. It’s a fascinating and frank look into the mind of a man who usually prefers to tease fans with cryptic answers instead of straight answers.

    Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix will be out on September 10 exclusively for the PS3. Kingdom Hearts III and Final Fantasy XV will be available for both the Xbox One and PS4 when they’re ready.

  • Conan O’Brien Visits E3, Hilarity Ensues

    Conan O’Brien, by his own admission, is not much of a gamer. He does, however, like to play and review games for his brilliant Clueless Gamer sketch. It was only fitting then that he bring his Clueless Gamer antics to the biggest game show of them all – E3.

    In early June, Conan hit up E3 to offer up his early impressions of the Xbox One and the PS4. He also roamed the show floor looking for whatever he could get into.

    Conan also got a chance to talk to Shigeru Miyamoto and ask him about his obsession with moustaches.

    For more on E3 and talk shows, check out Jimmy Fallon’s Video Game Week.

  • Watch Dogs Gets A Live Developer Walkthrough

    At E3 2013, Sony really pushed its partnership with Ubisoft. That led to a 33 minute developer walkthrough of the E3 demo for Watch Dogs. If you wanted to know more about Ubisoft’s near future open-world game, this is the place.

    Watch Dogs on the PS4 looks great, and we can assume that the Xbox One version will look just as good. Both consoles are finally comparable so we might start seeing the end of those silly comparison videos that like to point out how one version has more AA than the other.

    If you want more Watch Dogs, check out this leaked video of the game’s very interesting multiplayer.

    Watch Dogs will be out on November 19 for the PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360 and PC. The PS4 and Xbox One versions will launch with the consoles.

  • Nintendo’s E3 Direct Gets The Abridged Treatment

    Nintendo didn’t hold a traditional E3 press conference this year. It instead opted to speak directly to fans via its Nintendo Direct video series. Now its Nintendo Direct has been condensed to 5 minutes from its original 45 minute running time.

    The masterminds at VideoGamer have put together its final E3 abridged video aimed directly at Nintendo. Nintendo fans are going to get the biggest kick out of it, but it has that unique universal humor that all gamers can appreciate.

    If you’re new to VideoGamer’s wonderful abridged series, check out their abridged Sony and Microsoft E3 press conferences.

  • Shigeru Miyamoto Demos Pikmin 3’s Mission Mode

    Pikmin 3 will have at least three modes when it launches later this year. The first is the single player campaign, the second is a multiplayer mode, and the third is called mission mode. It’s the latter that was shown off during E3 2013.

    Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto showed off Pikmin 3’s mission mode as he attempted to obtain a gold medal in the new challenge event. In the mode, the player will have to control all three captains and their respective Pikmin to gather as many objects as possible within a certain time limit.

    Spoilers: Miyamoto got the gold medal in the game that he closely worked on over the past few years. It doesn’t seem that surprising, but it is when you consider how many developers are actually bad at their own games.

    Pikmin 3 will launch on August 4 exclusively for Wii U.

  • Here’s 12 Minutes Of Thief Gameplay From E3 2013

    Prior to E3 2013, it didn’t look like we would be seeing much of Eidos Montreal’s reboot of the classic Thief franchise. We got a CG trailer, but that’s no substitute for actual gameplay.

    Those wishing for gameplay can now rest easy as Square Enix brought a playable demo to the Sony booth at E3 2013 last week. The game was running on the PS4 hardware and it’s looking pretty nice.

    As for gameplay, the original Thief was a huge inspiration for last year’s surprise hit Dishonored, and the Thief reboot seems to have been inspired by some of the gameplay elements introduced by its protege.

    Thief fans were rightly concerned with the direction the reboot would take, but it looks like the guys at Eidos Montreal have another hit on their hands. Die hard Thief fans will probably remain skeptical, but just remember that Deus Ex fans thought the same thing about Human Revolution.

    Thief will be released in 2014 on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

  • Watch This 30 Minute Q&A About The Last Of Us

    The Last Of Us is a smash hit – critically and commercially. Some are even saying it’s the best game of this entire generation. Now you may be wondering how the developers at Naughty Dog did it.

    Among all the PS4 hype at E3, Sony took some time out to host a Q&A with the guys at Naughty Dog to talk about The Last Of Us. It’s 30 minutes of everything you would possibly want to know about the developer’s PS3 swan song.

    The Last of Us may be the last great game to hit the PS3, but there’s plenty more to be excited about with the PS4. Check out coverage of E3 last week to see all the latest games hitting Sony’s console.

  • Killzone: Shadow Fall Gets A 21-Minute Live Demo

    Game trailers are the primary vehicle to sell a game for developers and publishers, but it’s not always effective. Can you really trust a trailer to accurately portray a game? Killzone developers Guerilla Games learned this the hard way when it showed a demo of Killzone 2 on the PS3 at E3 2005 that was too good to be true. It turned out the trailer was target footage instead of in-game footage. At E3 2013, Guerilla Games didn’t make that same mistake.

    At Sony’s E3 booth, the publisher showed off a 21-minute demo of PS4 launch title Killzone: Shadow Fall. Like Killzone 2 and 3 before it, Shadow Fall will be used to sell the PS3’s visual capabilities. All the visuals in the world won’t mean anything if the game isn’t good though. You can now partially decide that for yourself with this demo:

    With the launch of the PS4 and Xbox One, Killzone: Shadow Fall will be duking it out with Battlefield 4 for the title of best looking game. After the E3 demo, it looks like Battlefield 4 has that particular distinction in the bag, at least on the PC. As for PS4, Guerilla might be able to squeeze a bit more power out of the PS4 than DICE.

    Either way, both titles are going to look amazing and will set some pretty impressive benchmarks right at the launch of the next-generation.

  • There Can Be Only One In This Pikmin 3 Multiplayer Battle

    Pikmin never really focused much on competitive multiplayer, but Nintendo did play around with the idea in Pikmin 2. Now the company has revealed that it’s expanding on those ideas in the latest title – Pikmin 3.

    The first competitive multiplayer mode being shown is called Bingo Battle. As its name suggests, players will have to complete their bingo card with objects they find in the environment. What makes this particular demo even more charming is that it pits Bill Trinen and Shigeru Miyamoto against each other in a fight to the finish.

    I’m not a huge fan of Pikmin, but that looks incredibly fun. Of course, a lot of that is thanks to Miyamoto as he genuinely looks like he’s having fun while playing his game. If only more developers would be as excited to talk about and play their games.

    Pikmin 3 will be available on August 4 exclusively for the Wii U.

  • E3 2013: Super Mario 3D World Camera Tilt Demoed

    Though it did not hold a major press conference at this year’s E3, Nintendo had an impressive showing this week. Dozens of first-party titles were announced and previewed for both the 3DS and Wii U consoles.

    However, even now there don’t seem to be any current or upcoming Wii U games that use the console’s GamePad effectively. At least, not to the extent that it changes gameplay in a fundamental way, which the original Wii console certainly did. An E3 demo for the just-announced Wii U Mario Kart game, for example, uses the touch screen mainly as a horn for karts.

    Even with their new Wii U Mario game, it seems Nintendo hasn’t found a “revolutionary” way to use the Wii U GamePad. A new highlight video put out by Nintendo shows that Super Mario 3D World can use the GamePad to tilt the view of gameplay on a TV. Of course, the same thing can be accomplished using an analog stick.

    Super Mario 3D World is based on the style of Super Mario 3D Land for the Nintendo 3DS. The new game will feature multiplayer support for gamers to play as Luigi, Toad, and Peach. It also features new cat costumes, allowing Mario and others to claw up walls and pounce on enemies:

  • E3 2013: New Pokemon X & Y Gym Leader, Trailer Released

    Though it did not hold a huge E3 presentation like Sony or Microsoft, Nintendo did announce and preview dozens of games this week. In addition to (finally) showing off some more first-party titles for the Nintendo Wii U, the company also previewed a strong lineup of upcoming 3DS titles.

    The most anticipated of those titles is, undoubtedly, Pokemon X & Y. Nintendo this week announced new Pokemon, connection details, and battle modes that will be included in the new game. Today, the Pokemon reveals were capped off with the reveal of some of the character in the games.

    Players will be able to choose to play as a girl or boy, changing the lineup of the “four friends” that will accompany gamers on their Pokemon-collecting journey. Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor are the names of three of the friends, and players will meet either Serena or Calem, depending on the gener they choose.

    The leader of the Santalune City Gym has been revealed as Viola, a photographer who “specializes in Pokemon photography.” New Pokemon called Litleo (norma- and fire-gype), Flabebe (fairy-type), and Scatterbug (bug-type that evolves into Spewpa and Vivillon) were also named.

  • Check Out These PS4 Developer Interviews From E3 2013

    Over the past week, you’ve been bombarded with trailers and gameplay videos for all the newest games hitting the PS4, Xbox One and Wii U. Only Nintendo thus far has released any developer interviews, but Sony is coming in from behind with more developer interviews than you can shake a stick at.

    On the E3 show floor, Sony was livestreaming developer interview after interview for pretty much every major game coming to the PS4. Those interviews have now been broken up into smaller, digestible chunks for your enjoyment. Check them out:

    inFAMOUS Second Son

    The Order: 1886

    The Evil Within

    PlanetSide 2

    Mad Max

    Knack

    Need For Speed Rivals

    If you want to see more of E3 and the games, check out our extensive coverage.

  • E3 2013: No Multiplayer For ‘Mad Max’

    E3 2013: No Multiplayer For ‘Mad Max’

    Though it doesn’t seem to have set E3 on fire, the makers of Just Cause 2 revealed this week that they are working on a Mad Max-branded video game for next generation consoles. A teaser CG trailer for the game was shown during Sony’s big E3 presentation.

    It’s easy to see why the game has been overlooked. The Mad Max property is aging, and it’s hard to get excited about a game that doesn’t have a release date when games such as Titanfall and Infamous: Second Son are just arount the corner. Even so, Just Cause 2 was one of the best-received games of 2010, and that game’s crazy, violent, and fun gameplay, as well as its immense open world, would seem to fit perfectly with the post-apocalyptic wasteland of Mad Max.

    What the Just Cause games were missing, however, were multiplayer modes. PC modders proved that last year when they modded multiplayer functionality into Just Cause 2. Chaos, Mayhem, and ridiculous fun resulted:

    Unfortunately, Avalance studios has now confirmed that Mad Max will be missing a multiplayer mode as well. Warner Bros Games design director told GameSpot this week that Mad Max will feature a “very strong single-player experience” and that the game will focus on Max’s loner persona.

    Sure, the lonely Mad Max and the sprawling wasteland may make the game feel like The Road Warrior – and that’s a good thing. But a huge opportunity has been missed to give gamers some over-the-top “Two men enter, one man leaves” Thunderdome action.

  • PS4 Interface Previewed in Leaked Video

    PS4 Interface Previewed in Leaked Video

    Though Microsoft began promoting its Kinect-controlled user interface as soon as the Xbox One was announced three weeks ago, Sony has remained coy about what gamers will see when they turn on their PlayStation 4’s.

    Now, a new video has made its way onto the web that shows Sony’s vision of a next-generation console experience. The video’s quality is not great, but it’s clear that it is an ad prepared to show off the online features of the PlayStation 4.

    Unsurprisingly, Sony has modified its interface to incorporate more images and Pinterest-style posts. It fits the trend Sony started with its revamped PlayStation Store last year and resembles Microsoft’s style of user interface design.

    The ad is about more than the interface, though. It shows a gamer using the PS4 to play multiple games, give a “thumbs up” to another gamer’s recent trophy acquisition, and watch videos shared with other gamers.

    In addition, it shows many of the features promised by Sony at its big PS4 announcement in February. The gamer in the ad choses to download the multiplayer portion of game, which downloads in the background while he plays another game. Meanwhile, another gamer sits in a diner while watching videos from the PlayStation Network on her smartphone. She then downloads a PS4 launch title (Killzone Shadow Fall) remotely to her console through a phone app.

    The ad, which also features the word “connected” in stark white letters near the end, does show that the PlayStation 4 has been designed with connectivity and social features in mind. If Sony’s big E3 presentation is any indication, the company’s next task will be to reassure people that the PlayStation 4 won’t be required to use these features, or connect every day like the Xbox One.

  • E3 2013: Star Wars Battlefront Is In Good Hands

    It was revealed a few months ago that EA had secured the exclusive license to make Star Wars games on consoles going forward. The publisher said that it would be putting three of its best teams on said Star Wars games. The first of those three games was revealed this week during E3.

    During its E3 press conference, EA revealed that DICE is working on Star Wars Battlefront. The title will be the latest in the super popular Star Wars Battlefront franchise that was originally handled by Pandemic on the PS2, Xbox and PC. Here’s a short teaser trailer:

    So, who at DICE is making Star Wars Battlefront? EA’s Patrick Söderlund says that Battlefield executive producer Patrick Bach and DICE General Manager Karl-Magnus Troedsson both jumped on the chance to apply their specific talents to the popular franchise.

    The game is now in development at DICE Stockholm by a team that was begging for the chance to work on the game. Söderlund says that the folks at DICE were saying things like “we would kill to make this game” and “please give us this game” when they were made privy to the talks between EA and Disney.

    Söderlund goes onto say that this was a rare occurrence as DICE tends to work on either new IP or their own franchises like Battlefield or Mirror’s Edge. Of course, working on a new entry in what is arguably the most beloved Star Wars franchise ever made definitely has its appeal. If they can pull it off, DICE will be seen by many Star Wars fans as the savior of the franchise that has been on the verge of death for the past few years.

    Beyond DICE’s Star Wars Battlefront, we actually don’t know what the other Star Wars games in development are. All we know is that Visceral and Bioware will be making Star Wars games as well, but those are probably too early in development to even tease at this point.

    [h/t: CVG]

  • E3 2013: Mirror’s Edge 2 Is Finally Happening

    EA had a pretty predictable E3. We saw Battlefield 4, this year’s stable of EA Sports titles and the previously leaked Xbox One exclusive Titanfall. In fact, EA really just had one big surprise – the return of Mirror’s Edge.

    At the end of its press conference, EA announced that DICE is currently developing Mirror’s Edge 2. The sequel to the 2008 cult hit has been a long time coming, and many fans undoubtedly were happy to see the return of Faith. The first trailer was unfortunately lite on gameplay, but what they did show looked good:

    After the announcement, EA began to speak a bit more openly about what it will be doing with the long overdue sequel. Unlike the first game, which was a linear level-based first-person parkour runner, the sequel will be an open-world action-adventure game. What does that exactly mean? EA isn’t saying, but the publisher is saying that it will be predominantly about running. It also says that the sequel will remain true to what made the first game so special.

    Well, that all sounds nice, but what took so long? Dead Space got two sequels in the time it took for Mirror’s Edge to just get one. According to EA’s Patrick Söderlund, the ideas DICE has for the game required the power of next-gen consoles:

    “The interesting part is that it was a game that could only be built in [next-generation] Gen-4 and that was cool – I liked that. Because what they’re doing, you can’t do – it’s not possible on the current generation.”

    The trailer says that the game will be released when it’s ready. Without applying a solid release date to it, some people may complain that they have to wait even longer for something that they’ve been waiting years for. Söderlund assures gamers that the wait will be worth it in the form of a better game:

    “It is obviously something that we know a lot of people want and fans have asked us for for many, many years. But more importantly, it’s a game that DICE wanted to build. They think that the first one was a great first attempt but it didn’t really deliver on the true vision that the guys had for that IP.

    I think we missed completely on the game being too difficult, people keep falling down and the notion of constantly running away wasn’t maybe greatly perceived. On top of that there were a bunch of other problems with it, but again we look at what’s great with it, we do more of that and we fix the things that were broken.”

    Mirror’s Edge 2 will be released when it’s ready for the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. In the meantime, you should check out the first Mirror’s Edge again. The game still holds up incredibly well compared to its peers.

    [h/t: CVG]

  • E3 2013: Watch Dogs Multiplayer Features Revealed

    Despite the few first party titles announced by both Microsoft and Sony, it appears that Watch Dogs is currently the most anticipated next-generation launch title. Ubisoft revealed the game to much fanfare at last year’s E3, and this year many of the game’s details were shown.

    One detail that wasn’t shown very much during Ubisoft’s long gameplay trailer released this week is how Watch Dogs will deal with multiplayer. A tablet app was shown providing assistance to a player in a tight spot, but that isn’t the only multiplayer feature the game has.

    Instead of providing separate, instanced multiplayer arena for players to shoot each other, Ubisoft has gone with a Dark Souls-style invasion mechanic that could keep things interesting throughout players’ single player experiences.

    Players will be able to scan nearby to find “targets” who they can hack, placing a virus on their smartphone. Players being hacked are notified, and have only a limited amount of time to do some counter-hacking and find the invader to put a stop to it. Both invaders and those invaded will see the other player as a non-player character while still seeing themselves as the main character, Aiden Pearce, on their own screen.

    Invading a person doesn’t necessarily mean hacking them. Players can simply watch others play or wait for the right time to grief them somehow (though Ubisoft claims that won’t be possible while a person is on a story or side mission). Other multiplayer “missions” will involve protecting other players.

    Ubisoft has stated the multiplayer functionality can be turned off. However, as Dark Souls fans can attest, random invasions can keep players on their toes and provide just enough spice to make a single player experience great.

  • E3 2013: Tom Clancy’s The Division Announced, Previewed [VIDEO]

    While the most anticipated games from each E3 normally come from one of the big Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo conferences, Ubisoft this year saved its big reveal for its own press conference.

    Continuing with its “scare the crap out of everyone” presentation style established in announcements for Watch Dogs, Ubisoft used the example of a pandemic to show how “fragile” our society is. After setting up the scare, the publisher followed up by announcing Tom Clancy’s The Division, a new cooperative multiplayer shooter coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One next year.

    The game is an “open-world RPG” in which players will take on the role of a secret agent in New York City just 3 weeks after a pandemic has caused society to collapse. The landscape is ruined, with looters and “clans” vying for control of the streets.

    A gameplay demo during the Ubisoft presentation showed that teaming up is heavily encouraged, and that players will also be able to participate in the game via a tablet app. PVP elements between rival secret agents were also teased near the end of the demo.

    With all that said, The Division seems similar to Defiance, the shooter/mmo/TV show that has failed to take off in a big way this year. Aside from the third-person perspective, gameplay in The Division also seems similar to another of the most-anticipated games of next year: Bungie’s Destiny. Both feature multiplayer, open-world gameplay and seem to focus on Borderlands-style loot-seeking.