Friday, July 18, 2014
June NPD: PS4 Leads US Sales For 6th Straight Month
Despite that Xbox One sales were "more than double" in the US compared to May (not too surprising as the $400 Kinectless Xbox One launched in June) the PS4 was still on top by a good margin. The Wii U started gaining momentum in late May thanks to Mario Kart 8 and that momentum continued into June. Compared to last June Wii U sales were up 233%. The 3DS saw a 55% boost compared to May.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
May NPD: PS4 On Top Again, Watch Dogs Leads Software
The NPD May data is in. Watch Dogs led the software charts as the best selling game in the US. Mario Kart 8 finished second despite releasing right at the end of the month. Titanfall dropped to 8th after leading a couple of months in a row. Here is the full results for software:
1. Watch Dogs
2. Mario Kart 8
3. MLB 14: The Show
4. Wolfenstein
5. Minecraft
6. The Amazing Spider Man 2
7. NBA 2K14
8. Titanfall
9. Kirby: Triple Deluxe
10. Call Of Duty: Ghosts
As for hardware, once again the PS4 was the top selling console in the US. 3DS finished second. The Wii U got a big increase in sales thanks to Mario Kart 8. The PS Vita also a sales boost in the US thanks to the Borderlands 2 bundle.
Sony commented on PS4 sales again, mentioning that games like Watch Dogs sold best on PS4 and that the PS4 was the #1 console for sports games. Playstation brand marketing senior vice president Guy Longworth said,
"PlayStation continues to be the best place to play for innovative IP, as PS4 was the preferred platform for May’s biggest releases, including Watch Dogs and Wolfenstein: The New Order, and held four of the top five spots for next gen software sales. PS4 is the leading next-gen platform for sports, highlighted in May by the best-selling sports game, MLB 14: The Show."
Nintendo also commented on the May NPD sales, saying that Wii U sales were up 90% compared to last year in May.
Microsoft has remained silent regarding sales of Xbox One.
1. Watch Dogs
2. Mario Kart 8
3. MLB 14: The Show
4. Wolfenstein
5. Minecraft
6. The Amazing Spider Man 2
7. NBA 2K14
8. Titanfall
9. Kirby: Triple Deluxe
10. Call Of Duty: Ghosts
As for hardware, once again the PS4 was the top selling console in the US. 3DS finished second. The Wii U got a big increase in sales thanks to Mario Kart 8. The PS Vita also a sales boost in the US thanks to the Borderlands 2 bundle.
Sony commented on PS4 sales again, mentioning that games like Watch Dogs sold best on PS4 and that the PS4 was the #1 console for sports games. Playstation brand marketing senior vice president Guy Longworth said,
"PlayStation continues to be the best place to play for innovative IP, as PS4 was the preferred platform for May’s biggest releases, including Watch Dogs and Wolfenstein: The New Order, and held four of the top five spots for next gen software sales. PS4 is the leading next-gen platform for sports, highlighted in May by the best-selling sports game, MLB 14: The Show."
Nintendo also commented on the May NPD sales, saying that Wii U sales were up 90% compared to last year in May.
Microsoft has remained silent regarding sales of Xbox One.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Destiny Alpha Impressions (PS4)
Unless you've been living under a rock, you have probably heard of Destiny, an upcoming open world MMORPG/FPS by Bungie, the creators of Halo. Publisher Activision has been hyping the game like crazy. They believe its going to top games like Call Of Duty and Halo and become the king of shooters. They have 10 year plan for the game and have spent over 500 million dollars on the game. There is a lot hype but how well does it actually play?
The alpha had several different things to try, a bit of the campaign mode, The Tower (a hub area), and the Crucible (a PvP mode). Here is what I thought of it
Pros:
It was easy for me to forget this was an alpha when playing the game. The graphics were really impressive especially for an alpha build. The fact that Destiny's alpha build can compete with games like Killzone Shadow Fall in terms of graphics is amazing. The world was very detailed and realistic looking. I have heard a lot of people have said the game didn't look very good in trailers and online (I can understand I watched some of them) but it looks much, much better when actually playing it. I didn't experience many technical issues which a is a big achievement for a game's alpha build.
The exploration in the game was a lot of fun. One of the campaign missions had you exploring a decent size area. This area was fairly large and had lots of side quests. It was fun wandering around the beautiful open ended area.
The RPG elements of the game seems well done for the most part. Lots of character customization options, several classes to choose from, skill trees etc. Nothing that really stands out to be honest, but everything here was solid and what you would expect from a RPG.
The shooting mechanics were well done. Aiming and shooting was tight and responsive. The guns have a bit of a weighty feel to them but not too much. There were lots of different kinds of guns to choose from, some with different elemental properties. The enemy AI was fairly smart and there were a lot of different enemies. Overall the combat was well done.
The Crucible is a PvP mode (think COD, Halo etc.) There was only 1 game type to try in the alpha (a capture the flag type mode). I don't really like games like COD, but for those that do you will probably like the Cubicle. It seemed decent and a good distraction from the main game.
Cons:
Destiny seems too difficult. Sometimes there are too many enemies at a time which can feel overwhelming, you take too much damage and your health doesn't recharge fast enough.
The Tower is a hub area where you can buy weapons and armor, accept quests, from a Fire Team (a group of people to play with) and more. Interestingly in this area you play from a third person perspective. Because you don't have a map, the Tower is almost impossible to navigate. There are people you can talk to pull up a map but thats kind of a pain. The Tower has potential, but its so hard to navigate its almost game breaking.
Speaking of maps, I didn't see a map in the campaign either. That is going to be a problem if they don't add one.
Another concern is the loot in the game. Its supposed to be a "loot and shoot" type game right? Well where is the loot?! There weren't really any cheats or anything filled with guns and ammo like Borderlands or something. You can buy and unlock weapons and armor but I didn't see any that you could find.
The game does a poor job explaining the game to you. I mentioned I couldn't find any loot, but maybe you can. If so I didn't know because the game didn't tell me. I also talked about how there wasn't a map. Again there could have been a map but the game didn't tell me.
Conclusion:
Overall Destiny seems like a very good game based on what I played in the alpha on PS4. There weren't many problems (and the problems it does have can be easily fixed) there are mostly just questions. Will the game have a good story? How big is the world going to be? I think if the open world and story turn out to be really good then Destiny is going to be huge because everything else is in place for something great.
The alpha had several different things to try, a bit of the campaign mode, The Tower (a hub area), and the Crucible (a PvP mode). Here is what I thought of it
Pros:
It was easy for me to forget this was an alpha when playing the game. The graphics were really impressive especially for an alpha build. The fact that Destiny's alpha build can compete with games like Killzone Shadow Fall in terms of graphics is amazing. The world was very detailed and realistic looking. I have heard a lot of people have said the game didn't look very good in trailers and online (I can understand I watched some of them) but it looks much, much better when actually playing it. I didn't experience many technical issues which a is a big achievement for a game's alpha build.
The exploration in the game was a lot of fun. One of the campaign missions had you exploring a decent size area. This area was fairly large and had lots of side quests. It was fun wandering around the beautiful open ended area.
The RPG elements of the game seems well done for the most part. Lots of character customization options, several classes to choose from, skill trees etc. Nothing that really stands out to be honest, but everything here was solid and what you would expect from a RPG.
The shooting mechanics were well done. Aiming and shooting was tight and responsive. The guns have a bit of a weighty feel to them but not too much. There were lots of different kinds of guns to choose from, some with different elemental properties. The enemy AI was fairly smart and there were a lot of different enemies. Overall the combat was well done.
The Crucible is a PvP mode (think COD, Halo etc.) There was only 1 game type to try in the alpha (a capture the flag type mode). I don't really like games like COD, but for those that do you will probably like the Cubicle. It seemed decent and a good distraction from the main game.
Cons:
Destiny seems too difficult. Sometimes there are too many enemies at a time which can feel overwhelming, you take too much damage and your health doesn't recharge fast enough.
The Tower is a hub area where you can buy weapons and armor, accept quests, from a Fire Team (a group of people to play with) and more. Interestingly in this area you play from a third person perspective. Because you don't have a map, the Tower is almost impossible to navigate. There are people you can talk to pull up a map but thats kind of a pain. The Tower has potential, but its so hard to navigate its almost game breaking.
Speaking of maps, I didn't see a map in the campaign either. That is going to be a problem if they don't add one.
Another concern is the loot in the game. Its supposed to be a "loot and shoot" type game right? Well where is the loot?! There weren't really any cheats or anything filled with guns and ammo like Borderlands or something. You can buy and unlock weapons and armor but I didn't see any that you could find.
The game does a poor job explaining the game to you. I mentioned I couldn't find any loot, but maybe you can. If so I didn't know because the game didn't tell me. I also talked about how there wasn't a map. Again there could have been a map but the game didn't tell me.
Conclusion:
Overall Destiny seems like a very good game based on what I played in the alpha on PS4. There weren't many problems (and the problems it does have can be easily fixed) there are mostly just questions. Will the game have a good story? How big is the world going to be? I think if the open world and story turn out to be really good then Destiny is going to be huge because everything else is in place for something great.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Who Won This Year's E3?
Last year's E3 was not even close with Sony winning easily by doing an amazing job showing off the PS4, Microsoft making one screw up after another with the Xbox One and Nintendo just didn't really do anything exciting. Who won this year? Read on and find ou!
Last place- Microsoft (my Microsoft press conference grade: D+)
This year Microsoft's press conference was focused entirely on games. Sounds good right? Well unfortunately they didn't show hardly any gameplay of the exclusives they showed and what little they did show wasn't the least bit impressive. They also showed way too many third party games which don't have any significant advantages on Xbox One. Most of the exclusives they showed are a ways off from releasing so 2014 is looking bleak for Xbox One. When your biggest game of the year is a remake you have a problem.
Overall Microsoft's press conference wasn't an embarrassment like last year but it wasn't very good.
Second place- Nintendo (my Nintendo Digital Event grade: C)
Once again Nintendo didn't have a regular press conference and had an online Nintendo Digital Event. The Digital Event itself was poorly presented with too many cheesy jokes. I want to see games not jokes. The biggest problem though was that it was too short at 45 minutes long.
Although Nintendo's Digital Event itself could have been better, they did do a very good job showing off games. They focused mostly on Wii U exclusive games. Nintendo showed actual gameplay for most of the games they showed. Most of the games they showed seemed very impressive. They did a good job showing games we already knew about like Super Smash Bros. Nintendo also announced some interesting new games like Splatoon. Nintendo also revealed the new Zelda for Wii U which looks amazing. They didn't show enough Wii U games though to get back in the console wars. Nintendo also barely showed any 3DS games.
Overall Nintendo did a great job showing Wii U exclusives but they just didn't show enough. Also the 3DS was almost completely ignored.
First place- Sony (my Sony E3 press conference grade: B)
Sony mostly focused on PS4 exclusives. They did make some other interesting announcements like Playstation TV, an open beta for PS Now and some interesting exclusive content for third party games (and of course they mentioned fact the third party games they showed will look better on PS4). They did a good job showing gameplay for known PS4 exclusives like The Order 1886 and No Man's Sky but what got the Sony the win this year was their impressive showing of new announcements and one certain trailer at the very end of the show. After Sony showed some Infamous Second DLC (which looks pretty cool) LittleBigPlanet 3 was announced out of nowhere for PS4 and has been given a November 14th release date. It was one of the best and most surprising announcements at E3. The live stage demo was very impressive. Another new game that looks awesome (and probably incredibly hard) was Bloodborne for PS4 by the developer of Demon's Souls and Dark Soul's, From Software.
That certain trailer I mentioned was for Uncharted 4: A Thiefs End. It was fantastic to say the least. What a great way to end a E3 press conference.
Although it was a good press conference for the most part, Vita owners such as myself are angry that Sony barely even mentioned it.
Overall it was a very good press conference. The future of the PS4 looks very bright.
Conclusion:
Sony definitely won this year. Microsoft's press conference was surprisingly very disappointing. Nintendo put up a fight but didn't show enough Wii U exclusives. They showed a lot but not enough to overtake the PS4 or hold its lead over Xbox One much longer. And where was the 3DS? Sony once again had a great press conference and didn't have much trouble winning E3 this year.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Nintendo E3 Digital Event Grade
Last year Nintendo decided not to have a big press conference like their competitors. Instead they had a Nintendo "Digital Event" which was streamed online. This year they also had a Nintendo digital event.
The Wii U is in trouble. Its not selling well. The PS4 has already passed it in sales even though it came out a year later. The Xbox One is catching up and could pass it soon. Nintendo had to show impressive content for the Wii U to get back in the console wars. Read on and see what Nintendo showed at their Digital Event
First the good stuff:
Nintendo did a good job showing gameplay for big upcoming Wii U games. They showed a good bit of Super Smash Bros and it will release this year. Super Smash Bros looks as fun as ever. Nintendo showed gameplay of Yoshi's Wooly World for Wii U. It seemed very artistic and fun. They showed a trailer of the new Zelda for the Wii U. It looked incredible and will more than likely sell a few systems. They announced a brand new title featuring Toad as the main character, Captain Toads Treasure Tracker. It looks a lot like Mario Galaxy which isn't a bad thing. It will release this holiday season. They showed gameplay of Bayonetta 2 and it will release this October. It looked like an interesting action packed game. Bayonetta 2 will include the first Bayonetta which is a nice bonus. Nintendo announced a LBP like Mario game for Wii U called Mario Maker that lets you create your own Mario levels (so now Nintendo's ripping off LBP too?!). They also showed a brand new IP, Splatoon a very unique online shooter. It looks much more interesting than other shooters like Call Of Duty Advanced Warfare. Nintendo showed a trailer of Project X, now known as Xenoblade Chronicles X .They also teased a new Star Fox for Wii U.
Nintendo mostly showed software but they did announce Amiibo, Nintendo's NFC figures. They will connect to the Wii U Gamepad and do certain things in some games. They didn't show much but it did seem interesting.
Now the bad stuff:
The 3DS is what's keeping Nintendo afloat. Its sold around 45 million units compared to the 6 million of Wii U. They showed just 2 games for the 3DS, Pokemon Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby versions (releasing this November) and Super Smash Bros 3DS which comes out October. Obviously the 3DS is going to sell well this holiday season but what about 2015? Just 2 games we already new about? Really?
The Wii U is obviously getting some good games but Im not sure if what was shown was enough. No Metriod? No mention of Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem? No new 3D Mario? I could go on and on.
Microsoft and Sony probably both showed too many third party games but hey at least they have third party games on their consoles. Nintendo has nothing. They showed literally no third party games expect Bayonetta 2 (the only reason its on Wii U is because Nintendo funded it).
Finally the presentation itself was garbage. Too much cheesy crap in between gameplay footage and announcements. Also it was only 45 minutes long.
Nintendo did a good job showing off upcoming Wii U games, however I don't think they had enough new announcements for Wii U and didn't show hardly any 3DS games. Not having any third party games isn't going to help either. Also Nintendo, please have a real press conference next year.
Grade C
Sony E3 Press Conference Grade
Last year Sony easily won E3 thanks to Microsoft's terrible E3 and they did an excellent job showing off the PS4. Sony talked about how the PS4 was a games console for gamers and that it could play used games and didn't have always online DRM and all that other crap. They did a fantastic job showing off the PS4. The amazing E3 showing propelled the PS4 into first place where it remains over half a year later .
Last year was focused on the PS4 itself, but this year Sony needed to focus on exclusive games for the PS4. Read on to see how they did this year:
First the good:
Sony first showed Destiny which is not exclusive to PS4. However its going to look better and will have exclusive content on PS4. They announced a PS4 Destiny bundle which will release September 9th. They showed some other third party games as well such as GTA 5 (yep it's coming to next gen consoles) an awesome gameplay trailer for Batman Arkham Knight, the first gameplay trailer for Mortal Kombat X and more. As CEO Andrew House mentioned, all these games will either have exclusive content or will look better on PS4 (or both).
Now I know what you're thinking, "Microsoft showed a bunch a third party games too and you complained like crazy"! Yes I did, but unlike Microsoft, these games have significant advantages on PS4. Besides looking better there is some really cool exclusive content for some of these games. For example Far Cry 4 has a really cool feature on Playstation: you can invite your friends to play online with you even if you don't have the game. Pretty cool eh? I hope other games will take a page from Far Cry 4 here.
Although they showed some third party games, Sony's E3 press conference was mostly about exclusive PS4 games. They showed an impressive gameplay trailer for The Order 1886 and announced that it will release February 15th. Entwined is the game the new Sony studio, Pixelplus has been working on. It looks very unique and gorgeous. Entwined is available right now on PS4. They made a surprise announcement of a really big PS4 exclusive coming November 14th that made the crowd go nuts: LittleBigPlanet 3 for PS4. They had 4 people playing the game on stage. You can tell they were having a blast with the game. It was easily the most impressive showing for any game at any press conference this year at E3. Sony announced a brand new IP for PS4 called Bloodborne (previously known as "Project Beast") by the creators of the Souls games. They showed a gameplay trailer of the infinite (yes thats right its infinite) open world sci-fi space exploration game No Man's Sky for PS4. There were some other surprise announcements such as Magicka 2: Learn To Spell and a new IP called Let It Die (both for PS4). They also showed abzu, a beautiful looking game for PS4 by Giant Squid Games and led by the art director of Journey.
Sony showed some more cool stuff besides games. PS Now will have a open beta on PS4 July 31st. Over 100 PS3 games will be playable including Dead Space 3 and Ultra Street Fighter 4. PS Vita TV will be coming to the US at $99 (it will be called Playstation TV here though). There will also be a bundle that includes a Dualshock 3 controller, a memory card and Lego The Movie Game. They showed off some other cool stuff as well such as a new TV series based on the comic book series Powers and some more cool stuffs.
Sony ended the press conference on a high note by showing a trailer for the new Uncharted, Uncharted 4: A Thiefs End. Uncharted 4 will have Nathan drake as the main character and looks like this is going to be the conclusion to his story. It is sure to be one of the biggest if not the biggest game of 2015.
Now for the bad:
My main complaint is that Sony showed next to nothing for the PS Vita. Many people including myself were hoping for a new AAA game for the Vita but that didn't happen.
Although Sony announced the open beta for PS Now they didn't say much about when the full thing is going to launch or anything about pricing for the service. Sony also didn't say much about Project Morpheus.
Most of the third party games they showed were impressive and have cool exclusive features and look better on PS4. Unfortunately some of them, like Dead Island 2 for instance, looked like crap and they didn't say much about how it would be better on Playstation.
Sony had a very good E3 showing. Although the Vita didn't get much attention, they showed a ton of impressive PS4 exclusive games and had a great press conference overall.
Grade B
Last year was focused on the PS4 itself, but this year Sony needed to focus on exclusive games for the PS4. Read on to see how they did this year:
First the good:
Sony first showed Destiny which is not exclusive to PS4. However its going to look better and will have exclusive content on PS4. They announced a PS4 Destiny bundle which will release September 9th. They showed some other third party games as well such as GTA 5 (yep it's coming to next gen consoles) an awesome gameplay trailer for Batman Arkham Knight, the first gameplay trailer for Mortal Kombat X and more. As CEO Andrew House mentioned, all these games will either have exclusive content or will look better on PS4 (or both).
Now I know what you're thinking, "Microsoft showed a bunch a third party games too and you complained like crazy"! Yes I did, but unlike Microsoft, these games have significant advantages on PS4. Besides looking better there is some really cool exclusive content for some of these games. For example Far Cry 4 has a really cool feature on Playstation: you can invite your friends to play online with you even if you don't have the game. Pretty cool eh? I hope other games will take a page from Far Cry 4 here.
Although they showed some third party games, Sony's E3 press conference was mostly about exclusive PS4 games. They showed an impressive gameplay trailer for The Order 1886 and announced that it will release February 15th. Entwined is the game the new Sony studio, Pixelplus has been working on. It looks very unique and gorgeous. Entwined is available right now on PS4. They made a surprise announcement of a really big PS4 exclusive coming November 14th that made the crowd go nuts: LittleBigPlanet 3 for PS4. They had 4 people playing the game on stage. You can tell they were having a blast with the game. It was easily the most impressive showing for any game at any press conference this year at E3. Sony announced a brand new IP for PS4 called Bloodborne (previously known as "Project Beast") by the creators of the Souls games. They showed a gameplay trailer of the infinite (yes thats right its infinite) open world sci-fi space exploration game No Man's Sky for PS4. There were some other surprise announcements such as Magicka 2: Learn To Spell and a new IP called Let It Die (both for PS4). They also showed abzu, a beautiful looking game for PS4 by Giant Squid Games and led by the art director of Journey.
Sony showed some more cool stuff besides games. PS Now will have a open beta on PS4 July 31st. Over 100 PS3 games will be playable including Dead Space 3 and Ultra Street Fighter 4. PS Vita TV will be coming to the US at $99 (it will be called Playstation TV here though). There will also be a bundle that includes a Dualshock 3 controller, a memory card and Lego The Movie Game. They showed off some other cool stuff as well such as a new TV series based on the comic book series Powers and some more cool stuffs.
Sony ended the press conference on a high note by showing a trailer for the new Uncharted, Uncharted 4: A Thiefs End. Uncharted 4 will have Nathan drake as the main character and looks like this is going to be the conclusion to his story. It is sure to be one of the biggest if not the biggest game of 2015.
Now for the bad:
My main complaint is that Sony showed next to nothing for the PS Vita. Many people including myself were hoping for a new AAA game for the Vita but that didn't happen.
Although Sony announced the open beta for PS Now they didn't say much about when the full thing is going to launch or anything about pricing for the service. Sony also didn't say much about Project Morpheus.
Most of the third party games they showed were impressive and have cool exclusive features and look better on PS4. Unfortunately some of them, like Dead Island 2 for instance, looked like crap and they didn't say much about how it would be better on Playstation.
Sony had a very good E3 showing. Although the Vita didn't get much attention, they showed a ton of impressive PS4 exclusive games and had a great press conference overall.
Grade B
Monday, June 9, 2014
Microsoft E3 Press Conference Grade
Microsoft had a terrible E3 last year. Possibly one of the worst ones ever. You probably already know what Im talking about (always online DRM, no used games, huge focus on entertainment features rather than games etc).
This year the theme at Microsoft's E3 press conference was all about games, hence the title "Xbox Game On." Did Microsoft show off enough exclusives games to get back in the "Console Wars"? Read on and see!
First the good:
Microsoft's E3 was definitely much more focused on games than last year. In fact thats all they showed at E3, games, games and more games. They showed more details on games like Sunset Over Drive and Forza Horizon 2. They also announced some new games. One of the biggest new announcements was definitely the Master Chief Collection for Xbox One. The Master Chief Collection will have all mainline Halo games remastered in HD, the original versions of the game, Halo 2 multiplayer with over 100 maps and more cool stuff. Microsoft is doing a remake of Phantom Dust for Xbox One. A new game in the Crackdown series was announced. Microsoft announced their Japanese exclusive game they paid Platinum Games a bunch of money for, Scalehound. They also announced a new Fable game Fable Legends.
Microsoft also showed a lot of indie games. Although many of these games are also coming to PS4, its good to see them doing a better job getting indies on Xbox One.
Now for the bad:
Microsoft had a huge focus on third party games. They spent nearly a hour showing games like Call Of Duty Advance Warfare, and Assassin's Creed Unity. They went on and on about how Xbox One gets some of the paid DLC for some of these games first. They had too much of a focus on third party games. Games that can be played on PS4 (and will look better on there too).
Microsoft didn't show much gameplay for a lot of their exclusives games. Sunset Overdrive got a lengthy gameplay video, but other than that most of the other games didn't get enough love. Most of them just got a trailer and no actual gameplay.
Almost all of their exclusives they showed looked unimpressive. Scalehound looks stupid. The main character seems incredibly cocky and unlikeable. The artstyle made me want to throw up. Sunset Overdrive looks very cheesy and unoriginal. Fable Legends looked very underwhelming compared to other upcoming RPGs. Project Spark looks ridiculously similar to LBP. To be fair they did not show a lot of gameplay of most of these games, but from what they did show most of the games didn't seem very impressive.
You have most likely noticed I haven't said anything about Halo 5. Thats because they barely mentioned it. All that was shown was a brief trailer and no actual gameplay. No release date either. They briefly talked about the story but its still unclear what its about. This is a huge blow as Halo 5 is the biggest game coming out for Xbox One.
Another problem is we don't know when most of the Xbox One exclusives are coming out. Hardly any release dates were given and it looks like most of them will release in 2015 or later. The biggest game coming out this year for Xbox One is a remake (Master Chief Collection).
Microsoft's E3 was definitely better than last year's. Although they showed a lot of games many are third party games which will also be available on PS4. They didn't show enough gameplay for most of their exclusives and what was shown was unimpressive. 2014 is looking bleak for the Xbox One because most of the games didn't get release dates and aren't coming out this year. On the bright side Microsoft is headed in the right direction by focusing more on games.
Grade D+
This year the theme at Microsoft's E3 press conference was all about games, hence the title "Xbox Game On." Did Microsoft show off enough exclusives games to get back in the "Console Wars"? Read on and see!
First the good:
Microsoft's E3 was definitely much more focused on games than last year. In fact thats all they showed at E3, games, games and more games. They showed more details on games like Sunset Over Drive and Forza Horizon 2. They also announced some new games. One of the biggest new announcements was definitely the Master Chief Collection for Xbox One. The Master Chief Collection will have all mainline Halo games remastered in HD, the original versions of the game, Halo 2 multiplayer with over 100 maps and more cool stuff. Microsoft is doing a remake of Phantom Dust for Xbox One. A new game in the Crackdown series was announced. Microsoft announced their Japanese exclusive game they paid Platinum Games a bunch of money for, Scalehound. They also announced a new Fable game Fable Legends.
Microsoft also showed a lot of indie games. Although many of these games are also coming to PS4, its good to see them doing a better job getting indies on Xbox One.
Now for the bad:
Microsoft had a huge focus on third party games. They spent nearly a hour showing games like Call Of Duty Advance Warfare, and Assassin's Creed Unity. They went on and on about how Xbox One gets some of the paid DLC for some of these games first. They had too much of a focus on third party games. Games that can be played on PS4 (and will look better on there too).
Microsoft didn't show much gameplay for a lot of their exclusives games. Sunset Overdrive got a lengthy gameplay video, but other than that most of the other games didn't get enough love. Most of them just got a trailer and no actual gameplay.
Almost all of their exclusives they showed looked unimpressive. Scalehound looks stupid. The main character seems incredibly cocky and unlikeable. The artstyle made me want to throw up. Sunset Overdrive looks very cheesy and unoriginal. Fable Legends looked very underwhelming compared to other upcoming RPGs. Project Spark looks ridiculously similar to LBP. To be fair they did not show a lot of gameplay of most of these games, but from what they did show most of the games didn't seem very impressive.
You have most likely noticed I haven't said anything about Halo 5. Thats because they barely mentioned it. All that was shown was a brief trailer and no actual gameplay. No release date either. They briefly talked about the story but its still unclear what its about. This is a huge blow as Halo 5 is the biggest game coming out for Xbox One.
Another problem is we don't know when most of the Xbox One exclusives are coming out. Hardly any release dates were given and it looks like most of them will release in 2015 or later. The biggest game coming out this year for Xbox One is a remake (Master Chief Collection).
Microsoft's E3 was definitely better than last year's. Although they showed a lot of games many are third party games which will also be available on PS4. They didn't show enough gameplay for most of their exclusives and what was shown was unimpressive. 2014 is looking bleak for the Xbox One because most of the games didn't get release dates and aren't coming out this year. On the bright side Microsoft is headed in the right direction by focusing more on games.
Grade D+
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