The Rise of the Playstation 4: Sony: E3 2013

Sony begins by thanking all of its long-term fans, as usual. Tretton, the CEO, introduces the conference to statistics about the PS Vita. Sony hopes to make the Vita, "the ultimate companion device to the PS4".

They continue on with the Puppeter, Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, Gran Turismo 6 all in a row. I'm assuming that these games were meant to show that Sony hasn't forgotten about the the PS3 is still strong and will continue with support.

Continuing on, Batman: Arkham Origins was spiced up with a quick trailer with more scenes of the main Batman villain, Black Mask. It seems as though the reveal was more to introduce the fact that WB and Sony are now partnered up again, which I assume was . Arkham Origins and GTA V were also shown to have 

The Next Generation:

Priced at $399, this console looks to be the fan favorite this year at E3.

The PS4 has been announced with a $399 price tag along with several bundles! It is worth noting that despite the PS3 launch being unsatisfactory, this game system will launch at a price that is $200 less than the PS3. Sony clearly has gone back to basics with this system. It is sleek, and much smaller than the original PS3. Also, it appears to be much smaller and less heavy.

A few minutes later, we were introduced to The Order: 1886, a PS4 exclusive, made by Ready At Dawn Studios (makers of God of War: Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta). A game that looks like it takes place in early 20th Century England. Not much information was given on this title, but if it's anything like

Afterwards, we're shown trailers of Killzone: Shadow Fall(available on release), Driveclub(available on release), and Infamous: Second Son (2014), the last of which, I'm surprised didn't get its own section.

EDIT: New gameplay trailer of Infamous Second Son.

Transistor by Supergiant Games is revealed with a 2014 release date. These are the creators of the award winning indie-game, Bastion. The game's trailer shows a female protagonist, Red, as she traverses through a sci-fi themed world. The game seems to have a little strategy to it as well.

Next, Indie Games get some respect. I'm a huge fan of the work that indie developers do, so it's a great pleasure to lay out these games that will be coming through
- Don't Starve
- Octodad

Just another day for the Octodad.

- Secret Ponchos
- Outlast
- Ray's Dead
- New'N'Tasty
- Galak-Z

Square Enix:

Final Fantasy VERSUS XIII hasn't been forgotten! The game is still being worked on, and more information will be revealed at a later date. But for now, we are left with a trailer that shows the beauty of a new world and the interactivity between Noct, our main character and the environment. The enemies are a part of that environment, interestingly enough, and it appears that there are no longer random battles (or maybe there are).
"The legend meets it's match, but the world is ever changing for the fifteenth coming."
  - With this announcement, FINAL FANTASY XV has been confirmed as the name of the title,      replacing the original Final Fantasy VERSUS XIII title. Final Fantasy XV will be released for the PS4 and Xbox One.

Shortly after, Kingdom Hearts 3 was announced. Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix, the re-release of Chain of Memories, the Game Boy Advance title, and Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, the remake of Kingdom Hearts 1 with bonuses.

EDIT: Today, Day 1 of Square Enix's presentation, we received some information of what Final Fantasy XV is all about, and why it is where it is. New gameplay has also been revealed just moments ago. You can see the newest gameplay here.

Final Fantasy XV is an action-based RPG with with not much turn-based gameplay, but they want to keep the Final Fantasy feel.

Noctis (Noct for short), the main character is apparently, "a person with cool characteristics." Noct himself, although appearing to be the ultimate level-headed hero, is not like that at all. Makes me think of Zack from Crisis Core in that he's not exactly, cool-headed, but looking at his appearance would assume so.

Using your party is still important. The gameplay revealed a massive amount of cooperation. Although this is the case, Noct can still fight on his own. However, Square wanted to emphasize that in some spots, using your team will be most advantageous to you.

The trailer showed Noct's abilities to teleport himself. Square Enix hopes to use this to make the game more interesting with the fantastic aspect, but keep it grounded in reality - in that, he's not invulnerable, nor can he fly.

Square also gives the reasoning for their decision to put FFXV on the next-gen consoles, and not for pre-gen titles. Tetsuya Nomura, the director of FFXV, has decided that the core idea would best fit the newest system, as new things could be achieved with it. Also, they use a tool called Dialect X11 to create the game. Square keeps into account the ability of the console to handle the quality that Dialect X11 delivers. The consoles that were best able to do this were the Xbox One and PS4 as of now. This could mean that, if PCs can handle the game's specifications, that Final Fantasy XV can come to the PC.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag receives further gameplay (more than what Microsoft showed, noticeably) of the explorative aspects of Cuba. The gameplay mechanics are still the same as they were in AC3 with a few twists (the use of two guns that allows you to fight at range after alerting the enemy. It looks like the guns finally have chambers, so they can shoot multiple times before reloading). Also, within naval battles, you are able to leave the Captain's Wheel at will and board enemy ships to get up close and personal. There may or may not be rewards to doing this.

Watch Dogs was next, further adding to the already present hype. There is much more presentation this time around with regards to the control that you have of the technology present at the moment (Cameras, Cars, etc.). There really is no limit to your control. We are promised an extra hour of gameplay and an extra costume upon preorder of the game.



Sony has partnered with Bethesda Softworks and will support Elder Scrolls Online, "the next chapter in the Elder Scrolls Saga". The trailer of the game can be found here.

Sony introduces a world premiere of Mad Max with a brutal trailer, adding to the 140 games that are in development for the PS4.

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT: Time for the jabs to Microsoft. There are no restrictions on used games, and no daily authentication.  All Playstution Plus memberships will apply to the PS4, and members will receive one title every month for free.

Finally, Destiny. We immediately get thrown into a gameplay presentation that puts us in front of a dilapidated wall that encircles a barren wasteland. Shortly after, the main player is joined by a Warlock, an archetype of soldier that you can use in this game. The gameplay introduces the Ghost, a small aid that helps you navigate through dark areas. As the gameplay continues, the duo runs into an engagement with the Fallen. These appear to be agile enemies, very similar to the Elites of Halo. Adding to the similarities is the Battle Rifle-like gun that is used by the presenter. Shortly after clearing through a few waves of Fallen, they fight a larger monster called Rixis, Archon Slayer, which drops a gun upon being defeated. This looks like a page out of Borderlands, which is impressive. After they end up on the other side of the wall, they meet up with another archetype of soldier, called a Titan, that seems to be a heavy weapons user. But the introduction of the Titan quickly becomes overshadowed by the "Public Event", which joined the new party of 3 with a larger group to take out a mini-boss type enemy. This gameplay was phenomenal, combining the traditional Bungie aspects and a new formula.

Continue reading for my Highlights from the Sony Press Conference

Ubisoft Press Conference: E3 2013

Ubisoft starts their conference off with an awesome performance of Rocksmith 2014 instead of using the standard music intro. Wise use of a game and an introduction. Aisha Taylor returns to host this conference with her spicy lingo to introduce a trailer of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist. Splinter Cell: Blacklist brings the Splinter Cell series back with a new story with new elements, and brings back the classic Spies vs. Mercs. The title drops August 20th. 

Next up is a trailer for Rayman Legends. Aisha promises that this is the "best Rayman to-date". The game has over 120 levels and multiple bosses. It will be available on September 23rd.

The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot is announced next. This game is in Closed Beta, and you can sign up now at www.themightyquest.com. The game is comedic in nature. The trailer was pretty interesting. I will try this out post-haste and get a full review out. The funny trailer can be seen here.

South Park: The Stick of Truth was next, but just like last year, it was merely a funny skit and the same old gameplay that we've been shown already. It has been announced for later this year in the Holiday season.

Now, for the next generation games:

Yves Guillemot, CEO and co-founder of Ubisoft, comes to introduce The Crew from Ivory Tower. A trailer is shown first that impressively makes it looks unlike any racing game that I've seen, where even "the cars you drive by in traffic can become your rivals". While this sounds similar to Need for Speed or MotorStorm, the rivals that you meet in those games are actual players. That said, another player can come from ANYWHERE on the map of the United States at anytime. Players can customize their vehicle from the engine and up, to ensure that their car is appropriate for the mission. The gameplay demo includes four players that explore these capabilities, and show that even if one person is in New York, another is in Las Vegas, and another is in Miami, they can come together in a cooperative mission extremely simply. After completing one of the cooperative missions, the four man crew was presented with a new challenge - the presence of a rival crew. This is truly an interesting, if not revolutionary title.

You and your crew embark on an adventure across the United States. Ride with your crew and face other rival crews in this revolutionary open-world racer.

Just when the conference is getting good, it gets better with the presentation of an "illusion-shattering" trailer of Watch Dogs. This trailer was absolutely terrific.

Just Dance 2014 announced. Of course, what would an Ubisoft Press Conference be without this.

Rabbids Invasion was announced as a TV Show by Ubisoft Motion Pictures. Aisha informs us that, using the Motion Camera on the Kinect will allow us to interact with the TV show - therefore, we are effectively "playing our TV". Interesting appeal to the children.

The moment that I (and several others have been waiting for).  Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag begins with a brand new trailer that shows the bond between protagonist Edward Kenway the people that appear to be his crewmen. After a bar brawl, a naval battle ensues, pitting Edward against another band of villains. Assassin's Creed IV promises to deliver a "brutal pirate experience", but the brutality is not the only thing that this game has to offer. Apparently, this era was chosen due to the nature of pirate. "They are symbols of freedom". The game promises to be the most open-world Assassin's Creed to-date. But that's not all. There is direct footage from the game in trailer form, introducing the Jackdaw, Edward Kenway's vessel, and the aspects of exploration.

Next, Trials was announced in two forms. One for the Xbox One, Trials Fusion, and one exclusively mobile devices, Trials Frontier. The combined trailer can be found here.

Finally, Massive Entertainment is called upon with a very interesting trailer of Tom Clancy's new IP: The Division. It displaying the effects of a flu that spread on Black Friday in New York City. It was quite ambiguous, but then, gameplay was shown that displayed three soldier-like individuals that sported advanced technology. In the gameplay, they make their way to the police station, where they fight against several individuals that have camped out there. The game brings a sort of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier feel, but overall the game looks beautiful.

Continue reading for my Highlights in the Ubisoft Press Conference

Xbox: A New Generation of Games Revealed

Ryse: Son of Rome

E3 begins the Xbox One portion of the conference. They promised only games in a recent statement. They begin with Ryse: Son of Rome (Xbox One Exclusive) by Crytek. This game looks beautiful first of all. The gameplay puts you at the head of a Roman army as Marius Titus as he storms an enemy castle. The combat is much like a hack-and-slash title, but God of War-like with the command prompts once enemies are weak.The gameplay shown at today's conference can be found here. Personally, as a fan of this time period, this game looks very promising.



Continuing on, Killer Instinct is reborn with new graphics exclusively for the Xbox One as Killer Instinct 3. It's back and looks terrific! The game's trailer is quick and shows three of the original characters, Sabrewulf, Jago, and Glacius revamped!

It's baaaack...

EDIT: IGN released further information on Killer Instinct today (6/11/13). Microsoft apparently plans to make Killer Instinct free on release...however only Jago, the masked ninja, will be available for play. The rest are actually paid for. This is obviously not going to go well for them...I wonder why they would revive a series...and then make you play Jago vs. Jago all day, if you don't want to pay.

Forza 5 was shown some love with gameplay, which displayed its incredible graphics. Microsoft also showed some love to the indie games with the announcement of Minecraft: Xbox One Edition.They continue with Remedy's Quantum Break, which was previously announced on May 21st with the Xbox One Reveal. Microsoft emphasizes the connection with the TV show version and the game version (but once again didn't show much of anything interesting).

Project Spark is a user-driven game.

Microsoft continues by announcing Project Spark, a very creative platform that utilizes Kinect and Xbox Smartglass to format your own world! While many people use their Kinect for scrolling the menu (if they're not a recreational child gamer), this appears to be a very fun and extremely useful application of what Kinect can really do. Could this be the evolution of Kinect that Microsoft was talking about?

Global streaming at your fingertips.

Xbox Smartglass was shown some support. The interactivity with the Xbox One proves that the Smartglass is an excellent ally in games such as Ryse and Killer Instinct 3. During this portion of the conference, they announced that Microsoft has partnered with Twitch to allow complete editing of gameplay and live streaming when desired. This will undoubtedly bring new streamers to the online community, and, as a result, bring gamers together worldwide.


Continuing on, Xbox One no longer uses Microsoft Points, and instead uses real currency. Also, there is no longer a 100 friend limit. Adding on to the good news was the announcement that one Xbox Live membership will operate for all of the accounts on that box.

Capcom Vancouver came out next to announce Dead Rising 3! They promise that the game has no load times. We're introduced to a new protagonist, Nick Ramos. The gameplay shows the use of multiple weapons, as is usual per the Dead Rising universe. Driving has been changed so that zombies prohibit movement when driving through them in great numbers. This game was also shown some interactivity with Xbox Smartglass through cool features, such as the demonstrated "Artillery Strike". You can check out all of the zombie-killing brutality right here.

Battlefield 4, although getting off to a rocky start in the conference, presented some beautiful looking graphics, due to the updated Frostbite Engine. The game runs at 60 FPS.

Black Tusk (Vancouver) partners with Microsoft, along with 4 other producers, to create brand new Triple A titles. Microsoft extended their thanks to the old icons such as Master Chief and Marcus Fenix.

A brand new Halo experience was announced for a 2014 release that will utilize all that Xbox One has to offer. No further information was given at the time. I assume more will come out this week. The game runs at 60 FPS. Interestingly enough, 343 did not call it Halo 5. I wonder what this means.

The GameInformer postershot of Titan Fall

The conference closes out with a trailer of the new Xbox One, PC, and Xbox 360 exclusive, Titan Fall by Respawn. The gameplay puts you in the control of a soldier in a sci-fi universe. They fight alongside the "Titans", large autonomous mechs, that are extremely dextrous and agile, which is different from the usual nature of a mech. The pilots and titans have a relationship apparently. This game was the highlight of the conference, and definitely deserved to be so. Respawn, the creators of the first Modern Warfare, says that this game was made to be "unlike anything that has been created."

Finally, the price of the Xbox One was given as $499. A fair price, given the Cloud, Smartglass, Kinect, and sponsored companies that will offer their services.

Continue reading for my full review of the conference:

Konami Pre-E3 Press Conference

Konami urges activity in schools with Dance Dance Revolution: Classroom Edition. Impressive. Bringing their technology to outside of the gaming world. They're expanding.


Metal Gear Phantom Pain:

1984 is the period. Hideo hopes to focus on more "subtle" aspects of his game.
Kiefer Sutherland has been announced as the voice of Snake, to match the age of Snake (late 40s). He is the actor of Jack Bauer in 24.
The world will be more open-world, which is very new to Metal Gear. This brings to mind, with me, the few scenes of Metal Gear such as, the Metal Gear fights in the various games, maybe Snake taking pictures of Metal Gear Ray in the prologue of MGS2. These various scenes made me feel a little more afraid to be spotted. Definitely going to bring some new element of tension (enemies can be behind you instead of always in your sight). This will absolutely make the game more difficult, if you like full stealth walkthroughs.

A new Castlevania: Lords of Shadows 2 trailer has been revealed, which I will put up as soon as it is available. I will leave it to the Castlevania experts to decipher, if they will. This game looks very intense, and I may have to give it a try.

Overall, this was an excellent pre-show. To the point.

-Tsurugi Noba

EDIT: A friend of mine has given a full review of Castlvania: Lord of Shadows 2. Read more for the full review!