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I get that FF15 as been a long time in the oven & that it will still probably be a hefty game experience, but seriously, what happened to the lovely days of 3 or 4-disc JRPGs?

They're completely superfluous when an average blu-ray disc can hold 50 GB of content.

It will be interesting to see if Nintendo does anything about the WiiU's price considering that for $50 more than the deluxe version you will be able to get a PS4.
Nintendo definitely had a nice showing for fans, but all of their system sellers aren't coming until 2014 unfortunately for both the company and gamers.

As far as Sony goes, I get the focus on the PS4, but I was personally hoping for a vita price drop to get some movement for that system.

FFXV looks good, but I can understand why some people might be upset with it being such a departure from past games being so action focused. It wouldn't surprise me to find out that square simply didn't have the resources to support versus XIII and XV and so just combined the two to keep from losing the resources put in to Vs XIII and pushing XV years out.

Excited to get a confirmation on KH3, but I would liked to have seen more to actually have something to talk about the game. A glimpse at a new character or world would have been nice to whet our appetites.

There's been enough discussion about microsoft's bad press already, but I think that they'll be hurt most by the price. The average consumer / parent won't even know about DRM, but they'll definitely notice the $100 difference in price. I wouldn't be surprised to see a WiiU price drop before the holidays making it even more appealing compared to the XB1. The included kinect likely justifies the price, but for those who don't plan to use it, that's hardly a consolation.

I think understand Microsoft's strategy, even as a gamer I don't agree with some of the tactics. They're looking beyond the games, but who can blame 'em too much? Consoles aren't the center of the universe as they once were (more on this later), and traditional videogame sales have been decreasing the last couple of years. Lately the majority of the time people have been using the consoles for non-gaming stuff than playing games. They're looking for the living room.

They're betting that the game-related inconveniences won't break them; that the people who'd buy XB1 are buying it for the multimedia stuff. Some Smart TVs now have voice- and motion-control, and that's what the Kinect would make people's TVs. Making Kinect integral part of the package would guarantee developers that they're not wasting their time if they include it in their programs.

The new XB1 OS would be more what computers specialize: multitasking - while waiting for your game match, people could watch movies/TV/cable/satellite/DVR (yeah there's an HDMI input to connect your source) or surf the web on side-by-side windows, with no need to close/stop/logout off apps/windows/programs when switching between tasks, all the while leaving OS updates running in the background, etc. Which are what computers do. It wouldn't be too surprising if they later could wirelessly connect PCs to TVs thru XB1.

So y'see, they're going after not only gaming consoles but everything else in the living room. The Smart TVs, the Apple TVs, the computers, etc. But here's the problem (and the PS4 is kinda facing the same issue), as this article sums it up well:

“[The Xbox is part of a] grandiose strategy. Microsoft built its dominance through the ubiquity of its operating systems on PCs. Initially with DOS, and subsequently with Windows, the company established itself as the platform for users and developers. Now it is vying to control access to information from the living room. Three pieces of hardware have long been perceived as potential winners in this battle: the PC, the video game console and the satellite/cable set-top box. Microsoft already dominates the PC market. In 1997, it invested $1 billion in a 7.3% stake in Comcast, the US cable company, in an attempt to build a “Windows-based gateway to the television [although it subsequently sold it]. And the Xbox is designed to cover the third potential route to the market, to make sure that whichever of the three pieces of hardware win the battle, Microsoft has a place at the table.”

Against that background, the Xbox One reveal makes sense. It was all about following that grand strategy of owning the living room. The focus on television ahead of games makes sense if the job of the Xbox One is to own the living room. Yet the strategy that Microsoft seems to be following (TV! Sports! Space!) seems misguided, both tactically and strategically.

Tactically, Microsoft needs to get an installed base fast. To do that, you need a product that solves a need. The problem the Xbox One solves best is a gaming one: “how can I play great games on my 42” screen?” The other problems it solves (“how do I control my television with my voice?”, “how do I stream television content through the same box I play my games on?”) are not problems that consumers know they have, so they are unlikely to rush out to spend several hundred dollars to solve them. The Xbox 360 was a games device first and foremost, yet more than half of the time spent on the console is now spent consuming other media. Score one for the Trojan Horse tactic. That’s why it seems so odd that Microsoft have abandoned the tactic so well in the last generation.

But the real problem with the Xbox One is about the strategy, not the tactics.

Xbox One is a 1990s strategy

The Xbox One is the latest step in a strategy conceived in the 1990s. The ambition was to control the living room. That seemed like a laudable objective back when the world seemed likely to be heading towards bigger, more dominant, more impressive screens in every room of every house.

That’s not what’s happening any more.

Since Bill Gates first set out the control-the-living-room strategy, two things have upended the old order. Firstly, all of us have a powerful computer within 5 feet of us at every hour of every day. The smartphone has altered how we consume content . The second is the emergence of the tablet as a media consumption device.

Smartphones and tablets are often called the second screen. I think we can expect that to flip over time. The first screen, the screen we turn to first, the screen that is personal and connected to us, will be a portable, personal screen. It will be a phone or a tablet or both. Households will still have huge TV screens for sports events, for shared TV experiences, for HD gaming. But instead of the future being that every room in the house will have a screen, it is that every person in the house will have a screen. The future battle is not for the control of the living room: it is for control of the direct relationship between creator and consumer via this personal screen.

It’s like Microsoft is fighting to be the person who controls the fixed line phone in an age of mobile telephony.... Look around at a living room filled with four family members each engrossed in their own personal device, buying and sharing and playing and watching, glancing up occasionally at the big screen. And they will realise that a strategy forged in the late 1990s might not be so relevant in 2013.

It's no longer about the living room anymore. If they just want to be primarily a gaming device, then they could fight for that. But if they want to fight for the living room............ Confused

Last edited by v1cious on Thu Jun 13, 2013 12:36 am; edited 2 times in total

The big elephant in the room no one wants to talk about: Nintendo didn't announce anything for this year. I mean yeah, there's the new Mario, but that doesn't even come out until December. I'm not saying there aren't any other games, but there just isn't anything compelling enough to make anyone want a Wii U. Granted Donkey Kong and Wonderful 101 look good, but neither of those will move consoles. There's a very slim chance that WII Fit U could blow up, but it's becoming abundantly clear that the casuals have long since moved on. It's just unfathomable that someone would rush this thing to market without any kind of game plan. I would be very surprised if Iwata still has a job next year.

For now, I'll just assume that the system will be as poverty as the first year of the 3DS was.

I'll likely forget about all this once I start playing Bayonetta 2 and X.

DKL wrote:

For now, I'll just assume that the system will be as poverty as the first year of the 3DS was.

I'll likely forget about all this once I start playing Bayonetta 2 and X.

I'm bound to agree with this. But remember that they did some drastic measure to rescue the 3DS from an otherwise grizzly fate. A price cut announcement was one of them, and this kind of promotion was not once hinted in the direct.

Appart from maybe Bayonetta 2 and Wonderful 101, X just might be about the only saving grace. Heck, the lack of mention of this title alone upsets me that people would turn a blind eye on it.

I'm definitely not buying ps4 until, at the very least, the end of ps3's lifecycle. Sony can't even keep their free online feature. Yeah, sure, free games with ps+ but are they going to suit my taste? I prefer to spend money on something I would enjoy for sure than getting something free but might not be to my taste. Sure Microsoft bombed but Sony is getting greedier too. Although I have a feeling that Microsoft will change their DRM and always-online policy, especially after those blows from Sony. And this would only benefit the gamers cause those xbone exclusive games are quite dope. Yay for capitalism.

Other than that, great E3 though. Can't wait to see those next-gen games in action through streaming. And of course I'm glad both MS and Sony support streaming

Last edited by v1cious on Thu Jun 13, 2013 12:59 pm; edited 1 time in total

DKL wrote:

For now, I'll just assume that the system will be as poverty as the first year of the 3DS was.

I'll likely forget about all this once I start playing Bayonetta 2 and X.

Yeah, but will the investors? Nobody's said anything about the 3DS because it's actually selling well enough, but the Wii U has zero buzz; I'm talking historically bad numbers (around 40k a month). If this situation continues, heads are gonna roll.

MGS5 and Xenosomething were the highlights of the show for me. I was disappointed by the relative lack of promising new announcements, but those games look impressive and ambitious enough that I'm willing to set aside those misgivings.

And Todd, could it be that... you hate Quantic Dream as much as I do? That you also think that David Cage is a loathsome hack who doesn't deserve anything more than a career in dime novels? Oh, please say yes. Please say yes, Todd. It is so lonely hating David Cage in a world of gamers.

belvadeer wrote:

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this E3 has somewhat renewed my faith in the video game industry. Only time will tell how truly magnificent these releases will be. I will add one new comment though, and say it's nice Peach is finally doing something other than getting kidnapped for a change.

You know this is like the 234230458349th game Peach is playable in, right?

v1cious wrote:

Yeah, but will the investors?

I don't personally hold stock in the company, so I'm actually not very interested in what those dudes think >_>

You then get into the sticky issue about whether or not Nintendo and its studios will be able to make more things given the financial realities of the home console, but it's like, whatever...

(funnily, development costs probably won't be as ridiculous as next-gen stuff)

Just please come out with something that will entertain me for the next 30 seconds.

E3 showings did just that, so hit me up again after that stuff comes out... if the well hasn't dried by then, then cool.

If it does, then I move onto the next thing.

(contrary to my grand plan of getting into PC gaming, that never happens because I'm too lazy and will likely end up with a PS4, XB1 or both)

EDIT:

Also, oh my gawd, Rune Factory 4:

http://www.siliconera.com/2013/06/12/rune-factory-4-has-a-batch-of-new-english-screenshots/

Ultimately, I'm not gonna buy either system for at least a year anyway.

Even if E3 made everything look hollowingly clear, what really matters is the long-run. PS4 is the obvious winner now, but what if there's a crippling defect it may have of Red Ring of Death proportions once it's out on shelves? Who's to say that Microsoft might eventually dislodge the stick up its ass about DRM's in future installments? What if Nintendo will create a porn game? Who knows? Don't rule it out! One of those emails might get answered someday.

I'll give it a year, see how each platform plays out, then make a decision come 2015ish, provided I'm still into video games at that point (knowing me, bloody likely). For now, I'll just enjoy the heat from the flames.

Besides that, I need Dragon Age 3 for what I have now. God, another damn year!

ikillchicken wrote:

terminus24 wrote:

We have a system that doesn't require online, it's called the Xbox 360. Really?

Yeah. I couldn't believe that. It's bad enough that they're trying to force this online requirement on people...but when people express their concerns they basically just condescendingly dismiss them and essentially tell those complaining "Don't buy it then". At this point they're just showing active contempt for their potential customers.

I agree, its sad that the people without internet won't even be able to read this.

Loving E3 this year, if only because its reaffirming my faith in the gaming industry. Sony, despite the fact that it could've taken the 'easy way out' and copied Microsoft's (absolutely completely 100%) HORRIBLE decision to restricted used game access/use Kinect to an insane extent/require connection to internet at least every 24h/$500 price tag/etc etc etc..... They didn't.

It's like christmas and my birthday all rolled into one.

Anyways. Just saying: so extremely happy that Sony decided to go a different route and respect, honor, and most importantly- pay attention- to their most important fans, the gamers.

*rant over*.
Of course, a list of the things I'm most excited about from E3 this year besides PS4:
- FFXV. Brilliant, beautiful and so absolutely amazing that Versus wasn't cancelled. Also glad its rebranded and completely separate from XIII, since I don't really believe the two had any connection any longer. Good move square.
- KH3
- X: might just be my reason to buy a Wii U. Although hoping in the back of my mind it'll get a PS4 port. (of course will never happen, but a gamer can dream, right...)
- Bayonetta 2- loving the new hair. Game looks awesome.
- Destiny: not an MMO fan, NOR a shooter fan- but Destiny has turned me, I believe. The demo in the Sony press conference. To die for.
- BlazBlue ChronoPhantasma localization: Yes! Although I knew it was coming, nice all the same.
- Hatsune Miku Project F localization- yes, it was announced a week ago, but I'll include it here in any case.
- Various new trailers: new Xillia, new TokiTowa, and oh so many more.

Overall, a successful E3, in my eyes at least.

gatotsu911 wrote:

And Todd, could it be that... you hate Quantic Dream as much as I do? That you also think that David Cage is a loathsome hack who doesn't deserve anything more than a career in dime novels? Oh, please say yes. Please say yes, Todd. It is so lonely hating David Cage in a world of gamers.

Oh, you're hardly alone in that, my friend. Matt and Pat (Two Best Friends Let's Play) playthrough of Heavy Rain highlighted that game for the badly-acted, plothole-filled, runs-on-stupid nonsense that it truly is. Pat nailed it in his "Top 10 Games of 2012" when he pointed out how obsessed David Cage is with graphics letting us emotionally connect to the story/characters, and yet Telltale Games' The Walking Dead, with its very simple yet effective comicbook-style graphics, gave us a FAR more emotional connection to the characters than Heavy Rain ever could. At the end of The Walking Dead, players were crying. At the end of Heavy Rain, anyone who actually pays attention to the whole plot realizes the ultimate revelation is a complete contradiction of established FACTS in the story. David Cage needs to go back to Creative Writing classes before he gives us another game.

v1cious: dude, seriously? I've had huge doubts about Wii U up until this point too, but come on, Mario World, Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Donkey Kong, Wonderful 101, Xenowhatever, and Bayonetta 2, all good stuff. Considering the final few years of the Wii it felt like we were lucky if we managed to get 3 worthwhile games each year, I'd say Nintendo is definitely stepping up their game finally.

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