This week’s coverage of E3 continues with a look at the rest of the games that didn’t necessarily make it into a conference. Click on the links for a look at Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. Tomorrow: An overall look at E3 as a whole.
Chris: Here’s some bullet points about games that weren’t featured much at the three major conferences, but need to be addressed anyway:
— Borderlands: The Presequel! was announced two months ago, but we got our first look at gameplay at E3. And lo and behold, it looks…a lot like the rest of the series. I don’t know why I can’t seem to connect with Borderlands, but I’ll be passing on this game just like the post-sequel.
— Tales of Xillia 2 showcased a new trailer with almost four minutes of footage and a surprisingly dark tone, including a character’s father being gunned down by a firing squad. There wasn’t any blood shown, but it was still more evocatively graphic than I expected from this series. Still, all it does is build my excitement for August that much more.
— It’s difficult for me to get excited about Electronic Arts’ conference. I get what they were going for with their developer interviews on games that don’t have much to showcase yet, like Mass Effect, but they might have been better off not mentioning them at all.
— As far as EA Sports goes, I don’t play any of their series anymore with one exception: golf (which is no longer Tiger Woods for the first time in 15 years). Next-gen graphics will probably make courses look spectacular and the conference mentioned that there would no longer be load times between holes, which should help keep folks more immersed.
— We didn’t get a release date (or a release year) for Kingdom Hearts 3, but we did pick up a little more info: that tease for 3 at the end of the 2.5 Remix trailer was actually the beginning of the game. I have to admit, even something so simple makes me more interested, probably because it’s fun to imagine what could happen after those brief lines of dialogue.
— The only details we got on Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem were that the game is right on schedule and that if the developers said anything else, they’d probably be fired. Mysterious is cool and all, but…we need details! Will Persona characters be included? Is it a strategy RPG or a traditional RPG? Should I even care when we won’t get this game until 2016? (Okay, I answered my own question.)
— Should I be excited about a full version of the Final Fantasy VII motorbike minigame? My instincts are telling me no. My heart says no. My brain says no. That doesn’t leave many options.
— The PS4 Grand Theft Auto trailer looked fantastic, but here’s my problem: GTA V wasn’t mediocre because of its graphics. It’ll go down as one of the prettiest games on the PS3. So…pass.
— Super Ultra Dead Rising 3 Arcade Remix Hyper Edition EX+ Alpha. Apparently Capcom is willing to poke a little fun at itself (although not willing enough to fix its issues). Still, this DLC looks like a lot of fun, and it almost makes me wish I had an Xbox One. Okay, not really. But I’d like to play it!
Shaun: It’s hard for me to form a coherent thought — or care — about any of this with no Final Fantasy XV or Kingdom Hearts 3 at the show. Two of my most anticipated games, neither of which were included. What is my life for? Who cares about anything else?
Far Cry 4 seems cool, I just wish I wasn’t FPS-ered out. I’ve played so many at this point that unless it’s something that has a really unique setting and story, like Halo or Borderlands, I just don’t care anymore.
I’ve mentioned it already, but I don’t really care about Assassin’s Creed anymore, especially since they lost track with their overarching narrative. At this point, maybe just keep it in the past, because who honestly cares about the present anymore? Is that even still a thing? Or did Desmond die? Who knows. I don’t.
But it doesn’t help my desire to play this game when Ubisoft is making ridiculous claims about why they didn’t program any female avatars in the game. If female characters don’t fit your vision, or you don’t believe it will generate the sales you need, then you’re sexist, but at least own it. The unfortunate truth is, other than some notable exceptions, you probably have real world data to back up your assertions.
But all this BS about it takes a lot more animations and time? Please. Give me a break. If you were a start-up company with a handful or programmers, I would MAYBE buy it (and even then, a maybe). You’re one of the largest game development companies in the world. Let’s cut the crap.
God. I’m getting as fed up with Ubisoft and their games as I am with EA
I agree with your comments about Ubisoft. They could’ve even pretended they didn’t do it because it wouldn’t be historically accurate or some BS, but they didn’t even try. If you can recreate revolutionary war era Paris and have 100 “active AI” NPCs on the screen at once, YOU CAN MAKE FEMALE AVATARS.
Plus them deciding they need TWO annual cash cows this year instead of one frustrates me. I’m definitely not buying both… and maybe not even buying one.