Written By: Adrian Valdez
Microsoft Conference Information and opinion.
It’s E3 time and if you are a gamer you are probably going to be glued to your tv screens for the next few days. Today was E3 day 0 where the two 8th gen titans held their press conferences to show the world what we should expect within the next coming year. When we think about the main 8th gen systems a certain patterns have begun to show themselves and left many (including myself) worried about this generation. Issues with games coming out broken, an extreme focus on remastering old games for the new hardware instead of making a new game (even if it is a sequel to a last gen game). But after today I think it is safe to say those days will soon be behind us (at least on the new game department).
Im going to start with The Microsoft Conference,
We finally got a glimps at Halo 5 gameplay, and I have to say the game looks good. They maintain the feel of Halo that we have all loved but have it nicely wrapped up with beautiful visuals. We also got a release date of October 27 2015 so prepare to throw your wallets at the screen.
Forza 6 was revealed and got a release date of september 15 2015. As a car fan I always love to see how these companies take our experience to the next level, and forza 6 does not let down. What we saw were beautiful visuals and everything you could ask for in a racing game. I will be throwing my wallet at the screen the day it comes out.
We got a glimps of Rise of he Tomb Raider and got a release date November 10 2015 The game looks really cool and is very nice to look at and its great to see.
Gears of War Ultimate Edition was announced it is a full 1080p Remaster of gears of war.
The indie game segments of Microsofts conference was one of my favorite segments.
We got a look at a game called Ashens, an action rpg the visuals from the trailer looked interesting. As an indie game lover I can not wait to see how this game turns out.
Now we take a dive into the past with a game the screams classic cartoon. The music, The artwork, the animation its all there. They even nailed down the slight blur. This platformer looks amazing and I really can not wait to get my hands on it. It will be released for the Xbox One and PC.
A new title was also announced called Recore.This is a game that takes place in what seems like a mech filled world, where the source of power comes from these orbs in their body. This sounds interesting but when you hear about who is developing this game the interest meter will go off the charts. Keiji Inafune Mr Megaman / Mighty No 9, and retro studios. These are two people/studios who have released great games in the past and that leaves me hopeful for this games success.
Dark Souls 3 was announced with a release date sometime during 2016
Rare announced Rare Replay a collection of 30 classic rare games all for the low price of 30$. This is a dream come true for anyone who was around for the erra when rare was king. We will finally get to play some of our favorite games on 8th gen systems, and I can not wait.
Rare also announced The pirate theme multiplayer game called Sea of Theives
Xbox One is finally getting backwards compatibility. in order for it to work all you have to do is pop in your 360 game into the drive and it will download onto the hard drive. This feature is currently very limited in the games that work flawlessly but over time like with the 360 to xbox the library of games that work will grow.
The final big announcement was Microsoft’s partnership with Valve VR to add a new layer of experience to the console. We got a demo of minecraft and the uses the Holo Lense has within the game.
Overall Microsoft had a pretty nice line up, it wasnt anything groundbreaking , but they kept their word that they would show us new Ips and they did. This is the beginning of a great console life span for the Xbox One.
Sony’s conferense followed a similar trend. They started strong with revealing The Last Guardian… Yes they finally gave us this game and so far it looks great. The visuals are really nice and I’m just really happy to have this game coming to life.
Next was my personal favorite announcement that night. Guerrilla Games’s Horizon Zero Dawn. This game takes place after modern civilization as we know it is over. and Machine creatures rule all. If you have ever seen a kill zone game you know that they look amazing, and this game does not let down. I can not wait to be able to play this game.
Street Fighter 5 got some new character reveals and I can go days talking about the little things you notice in the reveal, but today we will keep it at the character. Cammy is making her return from street fighter 4 and you can really see the age becoming a factor for these characters. The second character reveal was birdie…. He’s not the same birdie you remember from your child hood though. This man has gained some weight.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake is finally a thing. They are not only bringing Final Fantasy 7 to the next gen platforms, they are remaking this game. The tiny bit of visuals we get from the trailer looks amazing and I know any fan of that game can not wait for its eventual release.
Sony also announced that a kickstarter for Shenmue 3 had started and everyone was stunned. Shenmue is coming back 14 years later? Fans of this series had dreamed of this day for soo long and now they finally have the opportunity. The game met its 2 million dollar goal effortlessly.
Sony revealed a partnership with activision to become the new home for Call of Duty. We also got some gameplay of Black Ops 3. The game honestly felt like more of the same. It took what Titan Fall did and brought it to CoD. While the multiplayer didnt impress me the revamped campaign experience was a nice change. now you can play with friends online and offline in the campaign up to 4 people at the same time. I would be lying if i said it did not look like a fun time.
Finally The conference ended with some gameplay of Uncharted 4. There isn’t much to say its uncharted they got the formula down, and I’m sure it will be great.
Overall Sony had a great conference this year I left wanting to play most of the games revealed. Like i said with Xbox we are looking at the beginning of a great lifespan for these systems.