Review - Sony E3 Press conference

Sony

So once again Jack Tretton takes the stage and start off the conference, talking about PS3 and Playstation Vita, promising more than 85 titles, big, small and indie before the end of the year, including some remakes like God of War 1 & 2 HD (so we get to buy these for a third time) and Final Fantasy X & X-2. 

The show starts off a little slow, but whoever planned this conference needs to get a raise, they quickly finish with trailers and info on Vita, Ps3, GTA 5 bundles and, well, everything not PS4. And before you know it Andrew House takes the stage and introduces the PS4 design. It looks good, but it also looks kind of safe, like , there's no groundbreaking design here, its a rectangular box, tilted backwards, but it still looks good, so, cant complain really.

Naturally since they left it out at the reveal, they have to go through features, and what the Playstation 4 can do, remember, Microsoft used 45 minutes of their 1 hour press conference to do this, so we expected to sit through alot of tedious talking, wich is fine normally but at this point it was about 3:30 AM here so I was kind of tired. Less than 10 minutes later, not only did they finish, not only are they starting demo reels of games, but they straight up announce a first part brand new IP.

Now at this point, all competitors should be sitting upright front and center taking notes, because now it's becoming clear that this press conference will be one to remember. And what a show it was, where Microsoft showed games, games, games, Sony showed gameplay, gameplay, gameplay, and i might be wrong here, but it felt like more games altogether. Sony came out, saw an opportunity, and it felt like, since their press conference was delayed, that they revealed more than was originally intended to really establish dominance this generation.

Shuhei Yoshida might be the most adorable presenter known to man. And the line of Indie developers playing their games as they're being introduced was a great touch that some might not catch, but they showed you eight games, running on Playstation 4, live in only five minutes. the variation, pacing, presenting, timing, this press conference was nigh on perfect, so congratulations on that Sony.

Highlight games in the show were The Order (1886?) which looks like a steampunk olden London third person shooter, kind of like Damnation, only hopefully, good. And god help me, Knack looks pretty beast, speaking of February reveals, compliments to Sony for Blasting through those in quick succession, moving on to new reveals and more gameplay of the game's able to show it. 

Final Fantasy XV looks great, as a Final Fantasy fan i will endlessly support the franchise, ever hoping for a new blockbuster like Final Fantasy VII, but this one looks seriously good. Kingdom Hearts 3 had me jumping out of my seat, with what looked like scripted, in-engine gameplay. I guess we all kind of saw it coming, but the reveal was fantastic all the same.

Favorite part of the conference was Jack Tretton's speech completely devastating Xbox One, after the show Microsoft commented that they did not compare consoles or press conferences because their's was a machine for the future while Sony's console was for right now. Well with all the restrictions on X1 It feels more like the console of the past, making the same mistakes Sony did with PS3, just 10 times worse, PS3's only mistake was taking too much focus off games and making a media machine with expensive hardware, making the price ludicrously high, but never limited or restricted. X1 is like a remote control with 10 buttons, but you can only press 5 once and they're locked forever. 

Overall, great show, masterfully executed, the Assassins creed freeze is natural with an unfinished game on an unfinished console. Paying less than $5 a month for online is reasonable and it comes with so much content you get your money back literally the first day you pay, and it also comes with Jack Tretton's promise that it will help improve online down the road, so we all benefit individually and as a whole. Microsoft will have to seriously rethink their strategy, although I don't think that is feasible at this point if they're to make a November release window. It just might be in their best interest to postpone the release until early 2014 with a new strategy, but hey, what do i know. Good luck to both companies and i look forward to both of their releases.

Review: Resident Evil Revelations (PS3, Xbox 360, PC & WII U)

Resident Evil Revelations is a port from the 3DS release in early 2012. Now, a year and half later, we get the highly praised game on all consoles.

Resident Evil Revelations comes fully polished and upgraded from its original release. The cinematic looks gorgeous and it stands shoulder to shoulder with the best looking entries in the series. However, The lack of a sprint button has not gone unnoticed, but that could arguably have added to the tension when you try to run past monsters, conserving ammunition.

Get the fishes to jump on land and enjoy a relaxing target practice

Resident Evil Revelations gave us a distinct feeling of the early PS1, thanks to the 'find a key to open a door to find a key' style of play, but done very well in this game. When you do find a key with the relevant symbol, you think back to a door or a safe you found early on and choose to go back, often rewarded with a new weapon part or a weapon in general.

Another thing that helped was how the game used its location. Just like the very first game, there seems to be way more rooms in this ship than you'd think space would allow, and you really get the feeling that you are exploring every nook and cranny, there's even a 'hidden' area full of bonuses, but you have to actually remember to revisit it to get the loot.

Just like the first game, the location itself seems to be a character in the game, ever changing around you and it even has a finite number of enemies. When you take the time to clear the way back to a door you now possess the key to unlock, all enemies you dispatch will be gone when you return later for a story mission. Unless there has been a natural evolution of enemies, then new types appear everywhere.

About to become a very wet 'Jill Sandwich'

The story is so-so, taking a backseat to the thrills and hoarding of the gameplay and unfortunately not really standing out, in short, our heroes are lured on the ship by a bio terrorism group called Veltro that was supposedly wiped out the previous year. Knowingly or not, lines like "I think they're here for you, because you're such a flirt" are reminiscent of the first game's "Jill Sandwich" and feels more like a wink at the audience than a serious, rather than a misguided attempt at serious dialogue.

The voice acting is cringe worthy at times, whether it's about Parker being unable to decide on a Russian or Scottish accent, or Quint's high pitched squeaky voice. There is a remedy to this however, because in options, language can be set to Japanese, making the dialogue flow way more smoothly and voices suit the character better.

The big draw for us, however, is the online raid mode. Our favorite inventory system was from Resident Evil 5 with a hoarding mentality, playing early chapters over and over to hoard ammo and treasures, and have them carry over, now we can have that plus a coop mode with friends over the internet, with challenges and unlockables galore.

Game score : 4.5/5

"Truly a return to form for the Resident Evil series" - Gameviews Editor Tommy Karlsen

Gameviews recommendation: 85%

This is a complete and full release of the best Resident Evil game since Resident Evil 4, at half the price, absolute only reason not to buy this is if you have it on 3DS or survival horror / third person shooters don't appeal to you.

Raymond - Badass - also, totally not a bad guy

Trailers: Destiny for PS4 & Xbox ONE

The highly anticipated and much speculated next project of Halo creators Bungie, Destiny is starting to take shape with only 3 seconds of in game video shown at Sony's press conference in february. 

Now they've released a new trailer, and it looks pretty good, it comes with a promise of a worldpremiere gameplay video at Playstation's press conference at E3. So enjoy and visit http://www.destinythegame.com/ for more information.

Screens: Tearaway

Screens: Soul Sacrifice Screenshots and artwork

The upcoming, highly anticipated Soul Sacrifice on Playstation Vita has recieved new screenshots and artwork. This title is looking more and more beautiful and creative and GameViews are working on a preview and review of the game so look forward to that.

Screenshots:

Artwork:

Trailers: Killzone: Mercenary Gameplay Trailer

And coming right along with the new concept art photos is a brand new gameplay trailer.

Death Of A Handheld?

What kind of impression does the general public have of the Playstation Vita these days. Do we really need it? Has it been abandoned? The Nintendo 3DS arguably gives the handheld market all it needs for now, so is the Playstation Vita obsolete so quickly in it's life cycle?

Since launch just over a year ago, it has been a rocky road for the little powerful handheld. With games like Persona 4 Golden, Dead or Alive 5 Plus, Little Big Planet Vita, Gravity Rush and a few others highlights, many would say there are not enough games for PS Vita. In fact, there are many games for it, there's just a lack of triple A titles.

Most of the great games on Vita are ports, from other releases. The console started off with such a momentum, perhaps that is what made us all expect more and faster. So the question I would like to pose; is there a reason to hang on to your Vita?


Yes, I do believe so, there are still a few exciting games on the horizon, the remote play functionality on the upcoming Playstation 4. Games like Soul Sacrifice, Killzone Mercenaries, or how about Warrior's Lair, a isometric view diablo-esque loot driven dungeon crawler?

Some would say it's a used genre that does'nt need more games, I would disagree. Personally I would say it's an unexplored genre that seems like a great fit for a handheld. It is time consuming, but you can play it in short bursts over a long period of time, every time you boot it up you will have a little more loot and better gear because of earlier sittings. Imagine how often you'd play Tiny Wings, but every time you start it has better armor, bigger wings and a badass battle axe. You know, because that is what a little bird really wants...

Honestly I think there is a lot to look forward to on the Vita. One could say it's quiet before the storm as E3 is right around the corner and there is no reason to announce new games now when you can get the attention of a much greater audience in a few weeks. Although I'm sure Sony's major focus will be on the Playstation 4, I sincerely hope there will be announcements of new games and reasons to be excited for this holiday season for all handheld enthusiasts out there.