The video game-inclined among you will know that it’s currently E3, the huge annual interactive entertainment expo in Los Angeles that generally shows off where the industry is going to be going for the next year or so. It’s a good opportunity to see what games are coming down the pipe and, at times like this, shortly after a new generation of hardware has been released, it’s a great chance for publishers to show off their most impressive games and convince us all to upgrade to the new consoles.
Well, at the time of writing Sony’s press conference is yet to happen, but Microsoft’s spectacularly failed to make me want an Xbox One. To their credit, they did keep their promise and made their presentation entirely about games — there wasn’t a single mention of Kinect, Snap, entertainment apps or any of the other shit that clutters up the One’s user interface — and to their further credit, they showed off three games that I’m interested in: a new Crackdown game, a new Platinum Games joint called Scalebound, and… and… uh… you know, I’ve actually forgotten what the third one was already, such was the impression it left on me. Oh right, Phantom Dust, a reimagining of a first-gen Xbox title that I never played but which my colleague Mike likes very much.
To Microsoft’s further credit, they showed an impressive sizzle reel of indie games that were coming to the platform “soon”, though that’s less of a selling point for me in that the vast majority of them will almost certainly be available on other platforms too — if not consoles or handhelds then certainly PC.
But it’s not really enough for me. Three games isn’t enough to make me want a new console, and the Xbox One is still failing to impress me overall — particularly as I’m not entirely sure I trust Microsoft and its partners to not ram all its games full of microtransaction pay-to-win bollocks. The other stuff on display was technically impressive, sure — the new Call of Duty looked predictably spectacular — but the same sort of completely soulless, predictable, overly-gritty nonsense I described here a while back. (The game in question in that post, incidentally, was the Thief reboot; by all accounts a crushing disappointment in many respects despite being, again, technically quite accomplished.)
The other issue I had — and its a problem that’s been growing over the course of the last few E3s — is how much reliance there was on non-interactive, pre-rendered trailers. Sure, they give a feeling for the game’s mood and some context to what is going on, but they are ultimately meaningless. They’re not quite as bad as live-action trailers, but as someone pointed out on Twitter the other day, imagine if the movie industry promoted its upcoming titles with video games that bore little resemblance to the movie in question. (Actually, this sort of happens already with mobile games, but still.) I’d much rather the announcement of these games was delayed until there was something to actually show — but that would leave the press conferences looking rather lightweight, highlighting the fact that, well, there really aren’t that many games coming out for next-gen systems in the immediate future.
So in summary, then, I will not be picking up an Xbox One in the immediate future. PlayStation 4 remains to be seen — getting some awesome Japanese stuff on there will be an insta-win for me — but in the meantime I’m more than happy to continue playing what I’ve got on the PS3, Vita, PC and even, in some cases, PS2.
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I’m more than little chafed about Scalebound, as Platinum is among my top favorite studios. Their support of the WiiU is one of the primary versions I’m so anxious to hop on board with that system – but one new game, an unproven IP at that, certainly isn’t enough to make me jump onboard a new console that I don’t really want in the first place, no matter how venerable the dev is. I’m going to have to play the game one day – but I’d be happy to wait 5 years until the system is $200 or under, and I can grab the game for $20. If there’s one thing that collecting games has taught me – it’s only stuff like Xseed releases that are limited press, need to be picked up right away. Patience yields great rewards.
Phantom Dust is another interesting venture for MS, but I’m very skeptical that the game will actually be any good on the XBone. I’m a big fan of the original. It’s unique in all the right ways; however, the very structure of the original would open itself wide for abusive F2P practices in today’s marketplace. I don’t know how familiar you are with the original game, but it’s essentially a collectible card game. You collect varying attacks that drop randomly like cards, equip them as you would build a deck, then you take that “deck” in to 3rd person versus battles. It’s awesome – but I can scarcely imagine a structure for a game that more loudly begs to be exploited with microtransactions in today’s climate. Microsoft has proven that they have absolutely no qualms about ruining full priced games on their new console by jamming them full of F2P structures (Crimson Dragon is simply depressing) – so I’m quite convinced that this new Phantom Dust will be F2P in retail’s clothing. Of course, time will tell, but I’m not optimistic.
You’re probably right. I was trying to be positive. 🙂 But yeah, it’s a moot point; there’s not enough to make me want to splash the cash on a ‘bone just yet. And there’s certainly precedent for MS to pull F2P bullshit in titles like Phantom Dust — though surely, surely they must have paid attention to the negativity surrounding it in Forza. (Perhaps not, though, because F2P in mobile is widely criticised, yet it still continues unchecked.)
In CSI – 3 DIMENSIONS OF MURDER there is a story covering a Game Trade Show that I think you would enjoy. You get to investigate a murder that shows an ‘underbelly’ element of the Gaming Industry. See if you can get hold of a cheap copy or 2nd hand copy so you don’t have to pay too much. I’m afraid in order to get to Case 2 though, you will have to play Case 1 – there are 5 Cases in all. It will at least give you a laugh, and maybe you can let off a bit of steam re the more infamous tricks of the trade. 😀 You will find that it isn’t as advanced technically as the later CSI games, but it will play on a Windows 7 when tweaked via Troubleshooting/ Reset to Earlier Version. If you get black screen with white square or vice versa, you will need to reset your Quicktime back to version 6.1 as, due to it’s overwriting when Updating, the earlier versions can’t access the info they need. Luckily the later CSI don’t need Quicktime – I think 3 DIMENSIONS OF MURDER is one of them but I’m not 100% certain without checking my CSI blogs. I haven’t played it for a while. I don’t know if there are any MAC versions of this game. Let me know if you do try it and if it gives you a laugh. 😀
Case 2: FIRST PERSON SHOOTER
The victim, with bullet wounds to the chest and head, and dressed in combat gear with a modified M4 Assault Rifle in his hand, is laid out on the floor of a booth, in the showroom at the Computer Game Trade Show. On the wall behind him in the same pose is the action figure for Gut Wrench III War Game. Surrounded by flashing screens depicting the game, and with an open weapons display case on a side wall, he doesn’t seem to have stood a chance. But is he a victim?!
I’ve actually been meaning to try the CSI games at some point; their developer, Telltale, is now among one of the most respected “story games” developers in the world, so I’m interested to take a look at their earlier work. That sounds like fun!
They are all really good games. The only one that deviated from their 3D CG format was CSI NY which was more comic like and a straight HOP game – still okay but not very popular for die-hard CSI fans. CSI Miami is good, and the last 3 of the series are excellent. The story is always integral to the game, drives the game, and you are relatively free to investigate, though you do need tooccasionally complete some sites before you can move on. Can’t wait to hear what you think of them. 😀