Post E3 2014 Impressions - Big Games, Big Indies, Vita In The Details

Big Games, Big Indies, Vita In The Details

I think we knew it was going to happen. The day that an independent developed title would win an E3 conference. It happened and a lot sooner than expected.

No Man's Sky is being developed by Hello Games, who previously developed the solid Joe Danger titles. The reaction for their latest title was huge, even catching the developers off guard. No Man's Sky is a big title that has existed in the hearts of gamers forever. Featuring space travelling, planet exploration, ship battles within a huge procedurally-generated galaxy. Even with these details, the game is surrounded in mystery. The game is launching as a PlayStation 4 exclusive in the future. I cant wait.

Bungie has created phenomenal worlds in the past. The creator's of Microsoft's Halo universe, have gone 3rd party and alongside Activision, are developing and creating a half a billion dollars of a new universe for everyone to play in. Destiny will be arriving at the beginning of September, only a few months away. Launching with exclusive content for PS4, Destiny appears to be a tactical shooter, with loot and exploration a plenty. I'm a sucker for these types of game's. I can't wait to see what all they hype surrounding this title will be. It will launch not only with exclusive content for Sony's next-gen platform, but be bundled with a white PlayStation 4 as well. Tempting!

Finally, The PlayStation Vita was shown a little love at the big show. The devil was in the details when it came to the portable. Some exciting games are coming out this year for it including: The explosive Freedom Wars, the addictive Minecraft, the beloved Child of Light, the legendary Gim Fandango and the family friendly Disney's Infinity 2.0. Not too shabby. Also, PlayStation TV will be released fairly soon allowing Vita titles to be played on your big HD screen. I can't wait to play Killzone: Mercenary on my big screen! If history serve's, expect bigger announcements for Sony's portable at Germany's gamescom. It was there that Killzone: Mercenary, Tearaway and Borderlands 2 where all announced. So, let's keep our fingers crossed. Maybe, Sony Bend has something big for it soon. Hmm...

Finally, Bandai-Namco are developing the latest Super Smash Bros. title for Nintendo. Not only are Sonic The Hedgehog and Mega Man ready for battle in this instalment, but Pac-Man as well!

Pac-Man! Pac-Man! Pac-Man!

This announcement made me smile the biggest out of everything unveiled. I can't wait to play it!

Here's to E3 and here's to next year's!

Pac-Man Turns 34 Years Old

Time to party like it's 1980!

Pac-Man turns 34 years old. His official birthday in Japan, his home country, is May 22nd, 1980. So, in my neck of the woods of Saskatchewan, being 15 hours behind Japan, I can celebrate his birthday on May 21st, 1980.

Hmmm... So you could technically celebrate Pac-Man's birthday on both days, making it a two day event. Party hard, play the game, watch the cartoons, BBQ, celebrate hot weather and all of that.

What I love is that my birthday is May 24th. So it becomes this all week celebration of good times!

So here's to Pac-Man! The game that literally started it all with the world's fascination with digital gaming!

inFAMOUS Releases It's Second Son

If you can get a PlayStation 4, now's the time.

Games be coming. Games be out now.

Tomb Raider was just released a little while ago. A port of last year's fantastic PS3 return of Lara Croft, the next-gen edition looks and plays incredible. A great title to show off the abilities of the new PS4 controller.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is a bridge gap title between two different hardware generations. Simultaneously in development between previous and next-gen, Hideo Kojima's latest masterpiece is a beefy prologue to next year's The Phantom Pain. It is a ton of fun to play. Clocking in at only 4GB as a PSN download, it's the perfect game to leave on your PS4's hard drive without fear of it eating space.

Finally, it's out. The next big first party experience ignites with inFAMOUS: Second Son. A big sprawling, open world superhero extravaganza. Gorgeous visuals. Plays sweet. Damn, I love the story and the characters involved. As lead character Delsin Rowe you explosively use your powers around the city of Seattle, Washington. Deslin and his interaction with his older brother Reggie are gold. Well written, funny and emotional stuff. I love playing this game. It's big, really big.

Go out now, find a PS4. Get these game's and a Vita while you're at it. Remote Play works pretty darn good with them.

METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES INCOMING

T-Minus 2 days for the North American launch for MGSV:GZ. Simply stated, I am jacked up for its release!

Kojima' epic series includes some of the finest game play, storytelling and production value gaming has ever seen. His deep mythology of narrative, spanning multiple generations of characters, decades and alternate world history rivals even the most beloved Hollywood franchises.

So time to celebrate Ground Zeroes release with a replay of the classics, from Metal Gear Solid to the masterpiece that is Peace Walker.

Sweet!

Boss, is that you? Boss? Boossss!?!?

Metal Gear News - Quick Round Up

I have to drop a big fat, "Thanks!" to The Snake Soup for the following 411. The Soup is a Metal Gear fan site that has been on the internets for years and years and some more years. So, yo! Check it out!

KFC Introduces THE BIG BOSS!

Well holy shit! Just in time for Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes comes the Colonel's answer to freedom. BIG BOSS! A double chicken burger, looking much like the Big Mac but f'that! We're talking about THE BIG BOSS here! Looks like I'm getting one of these alongside my purchase of the game on Tuesday.

Boss? Are you there? Boss? Boss? BOOOSSSSSS?!?!?!?!?

Kojima's Twitch Interview Online

The latest from the man who built Snake/Big Boss. Over 50 minutes long, get the scoop from the legendary Hideo Kojima himself.

Check it out, YO!

So, yes. Big Boss returns this upcoming Tuesday in stores across North America. Then there's the  mysterious release date for MGSV: The Phantom Pain, which may not be out until 2015. Crap... However, for now, I'll enjoy Ground Zeroes and that new Big Boss chicken burger.

Tomb Raider 2014: PS4 Style

Lara Croft is one of the video game’s most iconic characters. Since her 1996 debut on the Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn and PC, it has been a love or hate relationship. Core Design’s adventure series had a strong start with Tomb Raider 1 to 3. The original trilogy featured fun, high adventure galore from battling dinosaurs to entering the depths of Area 51. Then things started to go downhill after that. Their final 3 Lara Croft adventures just plain sucked. Oh, we’ve had our ups and downs with Croft, but the ups have been very positive recently thanks to Crystal Dynamics.

They rebooted the franchise once already, way back in 2006 with the delightful Tomb Raider Legend. I loved that game. I played the crap out of it on my Nintendo Gamecube, Sony PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. The story, characters, gameplay, music, everything came together with an explosive satisfying experience. The team would make two other entries, an anniversary remake of the original adventure and a direct sequel to Legend entitled Tomb Raider Underworld. A solid adventure but felt a tad bit underwhelming (Ha! See what I did there!) compared to the new kid in town, Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series (dun-dun-duuunnnnn!!!!).

So, Crystal Dynamics rebooted the series once again in 2013 with a game simply titled Tomb Raider and what a spectacular adventure it is. They took everything awesome about Tomb Raider and ramped it up. They also didn’t piggy back on Naughty Dog and simply rip off their great ideas of action-adventure-Indiana Jones things and stuff. Featuring action and adventure galore of course, but this new Tomb Raider emphasised on a fairly addictive and enjoyable “survival game” experience.

Now in 2014, the next-gen Tomb Raider experience happened on the PlayStation 4 and X-Box One. I recently finished the game on my PS4 with an 80% completion file (Must… work... towards 100%). Damn, what a great game to have at this point in the early, early days of the next-gen consoles. It looks phenomenal and plays sweet.

I especially love the way the game utilizes all of the PS4 control inputs. You use the touch pad on the controller to navigate the game’s in map and look at collected treasured relics with relative easy. If you purchased a camera, one can use voice commands as well. This game is probably the best way to show off all of the new extra bells and whistles of the PS4’s controller experience. Very nice indeed.

This game is simply incredible. A fantastic reboot made better on the PS4 with full 1080p and 60fps. The old love is back again and better than ever.

Pac-Man News Round Up

It’s the state of the Pac-Man Union. The 1st yearly quarter update of what is going on with the awesome yellow man. So what’s up?

Pac-Man Museum

The perfect way to get your Pac-Man Fever on is the just released Pac-Man Museum. Available for the PS3, X-Box 360 and PC, the museum features a fantastic collection of Pac’s greatest hits from the original arcade games Pac-Man, Super Pac-Man (yeah!) and Pac-Land (hell, yeah!). Plus, Pac-Man Championship Edition and the latest arcade sensation Pac-Man Battle Royal. Sweet!

There are more treasures to be found in the package. Purchase now and you’ll receive Ms. Pac-Man as a free download until the end of March. Otherwise, it’s a $4.99 download. The collection will run you $19.99 which appears a bit high. However, the collection is packed and feature Battle Royal which is a fantastic party game for Pac fans and non-gamers alike.

This is a great package to bring old and new fans together.

Pac-Man and The Ghostly Adventures

Still the #1 rated kids show on Disney XD, the “Mouse House” has ordered a second run of new episodes. The series has finally hit DVD retail shelves in volume chunks. Burger King just ran a successful kid’s meal campaign featuring the series. Plus, a video game based on the new hotness, hit several platforms before the Christmas season with delightful results.

The new series appears to be a huge success. More toys and apparel are coming down the pipeline. Bandai Namco and Avi Arad’s relaunch/re-imagining of the iconic character  has hit gold.

My little girl and I love the new Pac!

Pac-Man Storms IAAPA 2013

The Pac is an icon. His most beloved arena is of course where it all began, the arcade. Now we have more Pac-themed amusements headed our way to Chucky Cheese and theatre arcade’s.

The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions held a trade show last November showing off developers latest and greatest interactive amusements. Fun stuff indeed! The best part? Bandai-Namco’s storm of Pac-Man games and goodies.

Embedded below, is a video featuring all of the excitement. Co-hosted with a bunch of hotties who help demonstrate the new goodness, this only helps an already Awesome video… Awesomer! ;)

Enjoy!

Well that’s it. 2014 is going to be sweet! Its fantastic to see such an iconic 80’s arcade character remain so popular with children and adults of all ages.

Now it’s time to play a bit of Pac-Man World on my PS Vita!

Chomp! Chomp! ;)