I recently had a discussion with my friend before he went back into the Negaverse for the next couple months about Smash Brothers, and the idea of build up for a game. Yes, it’s nice that we got the King Dedede’s reveal, but it is also somewhat expected and could have likely been announced early on, even if the model was incomplete. But no, the information needs to be a trickle in order to cause buzz about it which… actually this is a dumb topic that sounded better before I realized this friend has friends who are big in games as competition. Those people are dumb, they’re called games for a reason, dawg.
From CES, which just so happened to be a larger event in regards to those video games than I recalled it being in 2013, there were a pleasant amount of little niblets to wean the supple new year’s… I dunno. Anyhow, the prices of Steam Machines have been revealed with the range being from $500 to $6000, a move that causes a decent amount of head shaking for two reasons. One, would a not super powerful machine that would be easy to upgrade be a neat idea, even if it played games on lower settings. Two, who would buy a $6,000 computer pre-built? If you’re that much of a tech-head, you may as well make it yourself. I mean, making computers is kinda easy and fun if you’re weird like that (I am).
Meanwhile, Sony finally dripped more details about the Sony Gaikai deal with the streaming, and it will result in a beta beginning this month and a streaming service that will span all the media. More specifically, a library of PS1-PS3 games will be available for streaming on Playstation 3/4/Vita, tablets, televisions themselves, and freaking smart phones. It sound rather impressive, though one question popped into my head, “why is this not on PC?” From a technical standpoint, it would have among the better results, but then those people who don’t own Sony systems would just be able to enjoy the Xenogears and a Shadow of the Colossus, and that Uncharted 2… Which I will probably end up reviewing this quarter.
What will not be up for streaming, but still looks like one keen bean is Alien Isolation, emphasis on the lack of a plural, as it only houses a single alien and is a stealth horror title from the people behind Total War. Also it is going to be a larger title for every console aside from the Wii U, has been in development for three years, is coming later during this one, and is supposedly great. However, considering I was rather foul towards Outlast, which this game strikes me as similar to based on a bit of gameplay. But at least they got the 70s futuristic aesthetic down pat and *insert Colonial Marines quip here*.
But if Isolation is not your thing… yeah, that is actually a really good subtitle. Left 4 Dead’s developers are supposedly working on a sci-fi equivalent to their most known title under the name of Evolve. A title we know little about, and has been cooking very long considering these people got a sequel out within a year. Yet what has been an even longer wait was for Inazuma Eleven, a soccer game by Level 5, is arriving in North America. The shape the franchise will don is up for debate, but seeing as how the game was translated into English and then probably four other languages because, y’know, soccer/football is big in everywhere but the place where it’s called soccer. Oh, and they are also localizing that missing Guild 01 game. Cool, now where my Fantasy Life at? What do you mean hiding?
In the meantime I merely have numbers about how good the systems are doing, well, for the most part. Point is that the PS4 sold 4.2 million, while the XB1 sold 3 million. Also, the PS4 has yet to launch in Japan… “It is too early in the generation to select the dominant console, however a combination of ease of use and console price greatly determine the commercial response to the systems and industry at…” Screw it, I’ll just let the Mother from Nyarko-san tell you fools who take this too far right or left. Besides, there is no reason to not make your game for both as the technology is more similar than ever.
As for the Wii U, more games are coming out for it and really they just need to say bonk it to the gamepad, make another Gamecube controller for the thing, and cut their losses as the big screen was a kinda dumb idea to begin with. I mean, it is the reason for the system being $300. But we can likely expect a non-Nintendo studio to likely butt on in, as Next Level Games, the people behind Mario Strikers, Punch-Out!!, and Luigi’s Mansion 2 claimed that they are exclusive to Nintendo until further notice. While none of their titles particularly diddled my dandy, Nintendo picking up quality studios is a very good thing, at least unless they make them stay exclusive to Mario Sports games.
But what is almost as sad as being a studio who effectively built a franchise that has been morphed beyond recognition in the past decade and a half, is trying to sell a game that might as well have failure written all over it. Get Even is an FPS from the makers of Painkiller: Hell and Damnation and Deadfall Adventure, which plants to mix single player and multiplayer. Something I recall being stated many times, but seldom if ever actually worked, and the fact the game is aiming for realism thanks to 3D scanned environments and models makes this game looks like it is trying to win a race with bricks for shoes.
A simile I would use for the works of David Cage, with the inspiration to this rant being how Beyond: Two Souls sold a million! Meaning it was a failure… Yay! As somebody who watched every title in the 2000+ David Cage saga, I want to remake all of them because what is presented can easily be described as a waste. They are terrible idea locked in this utterly foolish sense of reality that comes from the mind of a French man who doesn’t have much unique in his mind, is not a very good writer, and has way too much money. Seeing as how Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe are big names, the game couldn’t have made back its money, meaning that maybe somebody will bring in somebody who knows how the fuck teenagers work for Quantic Dream’s next Oppus. “Seriously, teenagers are the easiest to write” said the nineteen year old.
Now I’m going back to play Pokemon X, as I gradually realize just how horrible a game is if one were to do an objective review of it, at least the larger aspects of it that are easy to overlook in a traditional playthrough. Point is that breeding Pokemon sucks ass unless you do stuff the game never mentions or even really hints at.