E3 2013

[deoxys]

It's that time of year again, folks. E3 is only now a week away, so now's your chance to drop some last minute predictions and discussion before the Video Game Crash of '13. Also, after much thought, I decided against doing a live update thread a la Reed this year because I'm bad at it and can't live up to his legacy, so unless someone else wants to take the torch I suppose we'll just have a normal discussion this year.

That all said, here are my predictions:



Microsoft



- 15 NEW IPs! GEARS OF WAR 4, HALO: SPARTAN ASSAULT (Master Chief's version of Halo Reach), NEW EPIC GAMES IP, GENERIC BROWN AND GRAY MILITARY SHOOTER, DARK EDGY RACING GAME, AND A WHOLE PLETHORA OF NEW KINECT TITLES

- hey guys sorry about that whole thing with the rumors about not playing used games that's not actually a thing that's happening ahhahahahaha also it's not always online

- what? you wanted us to announce Xbox Gold members get new benefits and Silver get to play multiplayer games free and use Netflix finally? Hahahaha, you're cute. We're getting rid of Silver and upping the cost of Gold to $70/year!

- SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS SPORT SPORTS SPORTS

- Illumiroom on Xbone! For an extra $10/mo!

- LOOK AT CALL OF DUTY PLEASE

- CLOUD GAMING CLOUD GAMING CLOUD GAMING

- XBONE $399 AND $499 THANKSGIVING LAUNCH

Spoiler: show

Sony



- FACEBOOK FACEBOOK FACEBOOK FACEBOOK FACEBOOK TWITTER TWITTER #TWITTER

- If you wanna do the neat things like watch your friends play games and take over for them you're gonna have to pony up for PS+

- RACING GAMES KILLZONE KILLZONE RACING GAMES

- Jak and Daxter pls

- PS4 LAUNCH THANKSGIVING $499 AND $599

Spoiler: show

Miscellaneous



- METAL GEAR 5555555555555555555555555

- FALLOUT 4444444444444444444444

- DRAGON AGE 3333333333333333333333333

- MIRRORS EDGE 2222222222222222222222

- DESTINY 111111111111111




NINTEND-NO SHOW (Nintendo Direct stream instead)



- SMASH BROS 4! ALSO ON 3DS BUT SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT! PLAY THE DEMO AT BEST BUY!

- PLEASE BUY WII U

- MARIO KART 8! PIKMIN 3! EARTHBOUND REMAKE!

- ZELDA! NEW ZELDA GUYS! LOOK! GRAPHICS!

- ANIMAL CROSSING U!

- KIRBY! NEW 3DS GAMES YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT! NEW WII U GAMES YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT!

- LUIGI LUIGI LUIGI LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI GUYS IT'S LUIGI'S YEAR

- POKEMON X AND Y ALLLLLLLLLL DAY ERRY DAY SPOILERS (HELLO SWEETIE!)

Spoiler: show

[Amras.MG]

Deo, Nintendo does have a show, it's just hands on instead of mutual masturbation. They're doing the Best Buy thing in addition to the Nintendo direct and their small show.

[deoxys]

Well yes, they're demoing a few of their games they're showing on the Nintendo Direct at Best Buy, but they're not doing an E3 conference, which is a first. It's still kind of a no show in my opinion.

[Amras.MG]

Right, but they have a time slot and everything, so they definitely have an E3 show. I'm of the opinion that gameplay is better than a Molyneauxian media blitz, anyways.

[deoxys]

http://stickskills.com/2013/06/03/ru...ue-of-legends/

>League of Legends to Xbox One

>League of Legends

It's funny because I almost jokingly added this as happening to my post.

But really... that just makes no sense, this has to be fake.

[Talon87]

Originally Posted by Amras.MG

Right, but they have a time slot and everything, so they definitely have an E3 show. I'm of the opinion that gameplay is better than a Molyneauxian media blitz, anyways.

You're being more than a bit pedantic at this point. It was clear to begin with that Deoxys knew about the Nintendo show even before you spoke up. Now it's ten times clearer and yet you're still saying, "Nintendo has an E3 show. Don't crack jokes about them being an E3 no-show because they totally have an E3 show." No they don't. They have a show scheduled at around the same time as E3, sure, which de facto means they're "doing an E3 show" that weekend too ... but Deo is well within his right to proclaim the fact that Nintendo is a no-show at this year's E3. Because they are. Because they are not attending E3.

What you're doing right now is so pedantic it would be like if you said to me "I'm attending TED this year" and when I said "No you're not " you answered back "Why yes I am! I'll be streaming my own lecture to my friends on Livestream at the same time as the TED conference, so that means I'm at TED this year too." Even if you were Stephen Hawking and you were seriously giving a lecture to the public about your specialty, it would still not mean that you could claim you were at TED this year.

[deoxys]

Took the words right out of my mind mostly, Talon. Wasn't really going to pursue the discussion any further but yeah, you pretty much said it better than I could. Essentially not having a big conference and instead showing a small stream direct to the internet a few hours before their conference would have been tells me personally that they don't have enough food to put on the table this year to justify an hour long conference. I imagine what will happen is they will show off 5 or so new titles and talk about them for about minutes each and then say that a few of these will be available to play at E3 and Best Buy locations that weekend via their partnership.

While that's great and all, it still sets off a red flag to me that they are cancelling their one big moment in the spotlight/15 minutes of fame with all eyes on them they get once per year in favor of something smaller.

[Amras.MG]

You guys are being assholes. I was under the impression that they were literally having an E3 show in the E3 convention center, in addition to the stream and the Best Buy stuff. Is that not what's happening?

[Loki]

My heart tells me they won't make any more Gears of War. The story is over and they don't need a new game.

My brain tells me they (Microsoft and Epic) have a cash cow that still makes them money, there's no way they'll not want to get more.

My heart hopes my brain is wrong.

[deoxys]

Originally Posted by Amras.MG

You guys are being assholes. I was under the impression that they were literally having an E3 show in the E3 convention center, in addition to the stream and the Best Buy stuff. Is that not what's happening?

Sorry... I'm not trying to be an ass. I can see why you'd think Talon's post could be construed that way though (hence why I said he mostly took the words out of mind...). I was mostly trying to explain it as best as I could, apologies.


Yeah, they're not having a show at the E3 convention center this year. They're relying solely on the stream and the Best Buy promotion to announce their new games.

Originally Posted by Raptor Jesus

My heart tells me they won't make any more Gears of War. The story is over and they don't need a new game.

My brain tells me they (Microsoft and Epic) have a cash cow that still makes them money, there's no way they'll not want to get more.

My heart hopes my brain is wrong.

All I can say is that's what people said after Gears 3, and then came Judgment. Let's be honest, Microsoft doesn't have many exclusives going for them, and Gears is one of their best known franchises. I'd like to see Epic move on and do something new, but it would be easier for Microsoft to invest in franchises they know will sell than to take risks with a new IP. Chances of a GoW announcement are probably pretty high.

Also Fable IV.

[Talon87]

Originally Posted by Amras.MG

You guys are being assholes. I was under the impression that they were literally having an E3 show in the E3 convention center, in addition to the stream and the Best Buy stuff. Is that not what's happening?

Apparently it is, so I'll apologize for that accusation of pedantry. Which is what I took it for, given what I had heard. I had read months ago that Nintendo announced they would not be attending E3 this year. It seems that they issued a correction to that announcement and said:

We decided not to host a large-scale presentation targeted at everyone in the international audience where we announce new information as we did in the past. Instead, at the E3 show this year, we are planning to host a few smaller events that are specifically focused on our software lineup for the U.S. market. There will be one closed event for American distributors, and we will hold another closed hands-on experience event, for mainly the Western gaming media.

So you're right that they will be at the convention center, which is not what I had read before. I'd read that they were doing everything offsite via their Nintendo Direct program and via playable demos at Wii U kiosks at Best Buys throughout the country. Which they are also doing ... but in addition to an actual E3 presence.

Apologies.

[deoxys]

Originally Posted by Talon87

Apparently it is, so I'll apologize for that accusation of pedantry. Which is what I took it for, given what I had heard. I had read months ago that Nintendo announced they would not be attending E3 this year. It seems that they issued a correction to that announcement and said:

So you're right that they will be at the convention center, which is not what I had read before. I'd read that they were doing everything offsite via their Nintendo Direct program and via playable demos at Wii U kiosks at Best Buys throughout the country. Which they are also doing ... but in addition to an actual E3 presence.

Apologies.

Right, they will be there, but not to do a show -.- They will be exhibiting new games, but they won't be talking about them except for a small Nintendo Direct stream.

[Talon87]

I didn't think they'd be there period. That was what I had heard. (And, judging from stuff I'm finding online, it was what was initially reported. Probably because it's just that sensational. "NINTENDO BOYCOTTING E3!? WHAAAT!?") I guess I missed the memo from a worried Satoru Iwata that, no in fact, they would still be at E3.

I think you can still say that they're not having a show (as they factually are not), but I can also see why someone might take issue with the allegation that they're a "no-show", as "no-show" usually translates in most people's minds to "did not attend" and not "did not put on a show". And ... well, it's clear to me now that they are attending the event, even if most of their presence there will be closed off to the public.

I think it's a smart move on Nintendo's part not to have a show this year. E3 shows almost inevitably backfire in any number of ways.

1. When you show up with little, it creates bad PR.
2. When you force yourself to show up with the next big title, it forces you to rush genius and you wind up squandering tons of valuable resources on a franchise title that isn't going to be remembered as anything more than a +1 in the long tired list of Mario / Zelda / Pokemon / Metroid / {whatever} titles.
3. When you actually do show up with the next big title, not forced or rushed or anything, while fans do get excited for it, they also kind of expect it. That is to say, the strong E3 showing doesn't magically translate to 2x or 3x profits for you. More like 1.0875x profits or something. ^_^; Considering the risks involved with an E3 presentation, the possible rewards just aren't lucrative enough.

So like he says, since Nintendo isn't unveiling a new console to the world this year, why bother with a big E3 show? Even if they had one blockbuster title for 2013, that'd still be an hour-long show centered around 10-15 minutes spent on the blockbuster and 45-50 minutes centered on bullcrap like Nintendogs 4, MiiVerse Horizons, or Cooking Grandmama.

Look at it this way. One of Nintendo's biggest games in 2013 (if not its single biggest) is going to be Pokémon XY. But since GameFreak is trickling information to CoroCoro et al bit by bit each month, that means that Nintendo has to either:

1. reveal a crapton of stuff at E3 that will excite audiences, but it's stuff that GameFreak didn't want revealed until we got closer to the game's launch date; or else
2. re-reveal all the old stuff and then everyone bitches and moans about how none of this is new

Well isn't that dumb? ^_^; Isn't that like being caught between a rock and a hard place? So Nintendo's smartly saying, "You know what? Fuck that shit. Pokémon XY is going to sell amazingly anyway, so why force a bunch more revelations to pad a show at E3? We'll just do our own thing via Nintendo Direct and we'll maybe reveal two or three new things to the public. Enough to make them satisfied that Pokémon XY showed up at E3" (sort of) "but not enough to steal GameFreak & CoroCoro's thunder for September."

[Loki]

Honestly, making a new title specially for the XBox One I feel would be better than bringing in older titles, especially when backwards compatibility is not happening. It would be giving them a fresh start. And if the guys who made GoW made a new franchise with similar graphics, combat, etc, fans would still likely buy into it.

GoW was IMO the unofficial flagship title for XBox 360 (since a lot of people kept comparing HALO 3 to HALO 2 and didn't like it as much for whatever reason), so it wouldn't be horrible if they just made something new for XBox One. Will it harder to get people to buy it, sure. There's always going to be someone who doesn't jump over, but continuously adding to a finished series is just as likely to push people away as well.

Fable IV is.... uh... Didn't Peter Molyneux already leave Lionhead? And after playing Fable 2 and a bit of 3, I don't really see how successful it could be considered. Fable 1 wasn't really as amazing as they wanted it to be. Fable 2 was slightly better, but way too short a game and started to feel immature. And Fable 3 tried to be serious with the whole "You're the King!" deal, but then you went around town farting on people. I don't know. Keeping Fable around is another "People know this name! That's good enough!"

[deoxys]

Originally Posted by Raptor Jesus

Honestly, making a new title specially for the XBox One I feel would be better than bringing in older titles, especially when backwards compatibility is not happening. It would be giving them a fresh start. And if the guys who made GoW made a new franchise with similar graphics, combat, etc, fans would still likely buy into it.

GoW was IMO the unofficial flagship title for XBox 360 (since a lot of people kept comparing HALO 3 to HALO 2 and didn't like it as much for whatever reason), so it wouldn't be horrible if they just made something new for XBox One. Will it harder to get people to buy it, sure. There's always going to be someone who doesn't jump over, but continuously adding to a finished series is just as likely to push people away as well.

Fable IV is.... uh... Didn't Peter Molyneux already leave Lionhead? And after playing Fable 2 and a bit of 3, I don't really see how successful it could be considered. Fable 1 wasn't really as amazing as they wanted it to be. Fable 2 was slightly better, but way too short a game and started to feel immature. And Fable 3 tried to be serious with the whole "You're the King!" deal, but then you went around town farting on people. I don't know. Keeping Fable around is another "People know this name! That's good enough!"

Peter Molyneux left, but I'm pretty sure Lionhead is still around and still working on things. Given that Fable has always been a big Xbox exclusive franchise (and, er, PC, too) regardless of how terrible Fable 3 was, I wouldn't put it past them to make a Fable 4.

As for Epic Games... I mean yeah, maybe they'll surprise everyone with Unreal Tournament 4 or something themselves, or yeah, maybe a completely new IP. They have a new engine and I'm sure that whatever the next game from them is, it's going to be made with Unreal Engine 4, and that alone will probably be enough to move consoles given how groundbreaking it is.

[Tyranidos]

Nintendo is going to be at E3. They will have a few small shows for consumes, retailers, and shareholders. They will also have a showfloor with game demos in addition to the Best Buy thing. The only thing they aren't doing is a press conference, which I'm fine with, because press conferences have been consistently worse every year.

[Jerichi]

Why has Nintendo gotten so bad at releasing consoles with launch titles people actually want to play? Three consoles in a row without a Mario Launch Title? *shakes head*

[Talon87]

Originally Posted by Jerichi

Why has Nintendo gotten so bad at releasing consoles with launch titles people actually want to play? Three consoles in a row without a Mario Launch Title? *shakes head*

Uhhhh ...

[Muyotwo]

Originally Posted by Jerichi

Why has Nintendo gotten so bad at releasing consoles with launch titles people actually want to play? Three consoles in a row without a Mario Launch Title? *shakes head*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Super_Mario_Bros._U?

[Loki]

Oh Jeri. You so funny.

[Jerichi]

>New Super Mario Brothers U.

Hardly counts. It's literally the same game they released on the Wii three times and on the DS and 3DS at least twice. They just made it a little prettier and added in a new set of levels.

[Loki]

That sounds like every Mario game.

[deoxys]

YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI

[Talon87]

Originally Posted by deoxys

YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI YEAR OF LUIGI


2dHXXXQS-Mw

Yeah, I saw that trailer earlier today on a rare trip to Polygon. (Was where and when I discovered the new trailer for Ace Attorney 5.) Honestly, the trailer for New Super Luigi U turned me off the game. Why? Well ...

First and foremost, I don't like that everything is a time trial run with this game. 100 seconds per stage? Lame. If I wanted to barrel through levels without having fun dicking around abusing power ups or enjoying all the scenery, I'd go and play Sonic the Hedgehog games. Nintendo: when are you going to learn that the reason my generation, the children of the early '90s, so, so loved Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World was because of three things?

1. the expansive 2D stages
2. the powerful flight-enabling items
3. the ridiculously large time limits

1 + 2 + 3 = the magic formula. Without the stages being expansive, flight and near-infinite time don't matter. Without powerful flight -- not the crippled bullshit of Mario 64 or Super Mario Galaxy -- it just isn't the same. And without the near-infinite time limit, you can't enjoy the magic at your own leisurely pace. That last one's every bit as important as the other two, Nintendo! And you fucked it up here with this Luigi title. Next!

Second, I don't like how the game looks like a shameless expansion pack to New Super Mario Bros. U. I know Jeri was complaining about NSMB U counting as a Mario launch title for the Wii U when Muyo and I jumped down his throat for forgetting about it, and I can definitely see his point that it's basically an expansion of NSMB Wii which in turn was an expansion of / same-engine sequel to NSMB for the Nintendo DS. But still, I feel like the degree of expansion-itis is at its most extreme here. This trailer pretty unabashedly shows off NSL U side-by-side with NSMB U and you can't even tell the difference for some stages. Now, maybe that's because they actually were all NSL U stages and Mario is, contrary to what they claimed in the trailer about his complete absence, an unlockable character once you beat the game? I dunno. But just from the look of it, it seems like this game is nothing more than a few bonus stages for NSMB U with the option thrown in to now play as a higher-jumping, worse-braking Mario.

Third, this game seems like it's intended for the casuals hardcore given the inclusion of that one assistant character for Luigi. The one who Player 2 can play as. According to the trailer, they don't take any damage. WTF. So they can basically walk right over piranha plants, get hit by fireballs, whatever, and it doesn't matter. That's ridiculous. I guess it's cool for the 3 year olds in the room, but come on, man: I was playing Super Mario Bros. on the NES when I was 5 years old. Fireballs and piranha plants are not beyond your typical 5 year old. So who exactly are we including this character for? Well, whatever. I've seen Shinya Arino a.k.a. the Kachou play plenty of platformers ... I know just how badly some people are at these games. ^_^; Still. Even if we say "Be happy for the casuals, Talon. Now they too can play a Mario game!", that still doesn't mean that I have to like it, that I have to want to own this game. If it's going to be designed to be Easy Mode City so that the casuals don't get their panties in a twist, then that indicates the stage design won't be very fun or inspiring. In which case ... I'm just better off replaying Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World for the hundredth time.

[Gemini Spark]

As a friend of mine would say... WEEGEE TIME.