E3 Rumors: The Big Three Have Things Up Their Sleeves

Here we go again, the proverbial rumor mill is a turning, as we're about a month away from this year's E3. Tons of talk are around the industry's big hitters; Sony, Microsoft, & Nintendo. Let's throw out some tidbits that we know of presently.

First up, SONY will be revealing their iteration of their PS4 platform, a PS4.5 or PS4K* ,*as unofficially coined by Kyle Bosman of The Final Bosman of Gametrailers fame, This PS4.5 will boast a beefier inside to tackle 4K gaming and most likely accompany their Playstation VR, launching in the fall.

Secondly, as in any arms race, the competition will also compete so MICROSOFT has also been rumored to be revealing a more powerful Xbox One. Rumors are swirling if this new iteration to the Xbox platform will also help with introducing people to Augmented Reality games with the Hololens.

Lastly, but not at all least, NINTENDO is working on their own newest iteration of console codenamed the NX. Nintendo's NX is said to be on pair with current Xbox One and PS4 specs. This will be Nintendo's answer for their Wii U mishap. Will the NX have some gimmick just like the WIi U did, and the Wii before that?

My impressions, while yes I and everyone else will be waiting anxiously for Nintendo's newest console to play the breath taking Legend of Zelda title that's in the development, - although it has been revealed that there will be a Wii U version as well - more importantly the introduction of a new console this early in on their respective console generations makes Sony and Microsoft will be breaching new territory. I personally loved PC gaming but I hated the constant upgrading and keeping-up-with-the-Joneses to play the latest titles at the settings that I wanted. With the newest systems that will allow newer gamers to experience the best gaming possible, up to that point anyways, I really hope it doesn't send tidal waves throughout the industry. Will there be many other gamers left out due to their current hardware? If anything, this year's E3 is the big highlight of what's going on, what's going to happen and what everyone is going to be complaining about in a few months. lol

Console's Showdown: Strengths/Weaknesses & E3 Approaching

Sony's PS4

Currently has

• Strong emphasis on Gaming, slick interface, Indies, Netflix & other apps don't need PS+, 1st Party Exclusives & 3rd Party Support

Current Good Exclusives: Infamous: Second Son, Killzone: Shadowfall, flower, Resogun, Towerfall: Ascension, Don't Starve

​Needs work with

• 1st Party Games
• Robust Features
• Robust Online system

Future Exclusives to Look Forward To: The Order: 1886, Drive Club, The Last of Us Remastered, future Uncharted title in dev

Microsoft's Xbox One

Currently has

• Strong emphasis on entertainment, slick interface, Live & TV services, 1st Party Exclusives & 3rd Party Support

Current Good Exclusives: Forza Motorsport 5, Dead Rising 3, Ryse: Son of Rome, +Titanfall, Killer Instinct, Powerstar Golf, Zoo Tycoon, Xbox Fitness, *Peggle 2, *Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare *Timed Exclusive, +Microsoft Exclusive

Needs work with

• Games
• Price
• Indie support
• Robust Features

Future Exclusives to Look Forward To: Kinect Sports Rivals, Halo 2 Anv., Quantum Break, Sunset Overdrive, Halo 5, Fable Legends, future Gears of War title in dev, rumored Halo 3 & 4 HD ports/Forza Horizon's sequel/Crackdown 3

Nintendo's Wii U

Currently has

• Strong emphasis on Gaming, 1st Party Games

Current Good Exclusives: Super Mario 3D World, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD, Pikmin 3, New Super Mario Bros. U, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, The Wonderful 101, Nintendo Land

​Needs work with

• Games
• 3rd Party Support
• Robust Features
• Robust Online system

Future Exclusives to Look Forward To: Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros Wii U, Bayonetta 2, Hyrule Warriors, X, Zelda HD title in dev

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Current Good Multiplatform Games: Battlefield 4, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, NBA 2K14, Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare, Call of Duty: Ghosts, FIFA 14, Rayman Legends, NFS: Rivals, Strider, Lego Marvel Super Heroes

Future Multiplatform Games, most spill into PC too, To Look Forward To: Child of Light, Wolfenstein: The New Order, The Elder Scrolls Online, Watch Dogs, Destiny, Evolve, The Evil Within, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, Alien: Isolation, Dying Light, The Crew, Project Cars, Mad Max, Mirror's Edge, Batman: Arkham Knight, Tom Clancy's The Division, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Looking forward to E3, it's coming up pretty soon. What will we see there, what's going to be announced and what is going to send ripples in the current console showdown? Games, lots of games since last E3 was all about the hardware, this year's E3 is all about the games!

Titanfail 360: Microsoft's Silence Causes Concern

The latest must-have game is a somewhat questionable purchase on a last-gen system.

With Respawn's Titanfall on Xbox One already out and kicking, it's within two weeks now and we've still  not seen any footage of Titanfall on the Xbox 360. In an industry that loves to tease or build up hype by showing off footage or even screens months-if not years- in advance from the game releasing, is this a sign of caution or a sign of greedy marketing? Microsoft assures us that the Xbox 360 version of the game will be good. When does it become a common courtesy to consumers and not a legal action in hindsight? Do publishers, developers and hardware manufacturers have the right to not show any footage of a game?

Other than having the information that Bluepoint will be handling the Xbox 360 version of Titanfall, very little information is known. This is oddly suspicious as in either that version pales in comparison, there's not a whole lot of difference between the Xbox One and Xbox 360 versions or rather they would like to show you the "next-gen" version of the game to sell Xbox One consoles as a marketing strategy. I'm thinking the latter since Microsoft pulled this marketing move previously with Halo: Spartan Assault and to tell you the truth as a Halo fan, that game isn't anything special. That game didn't come out onto Xbox 360 until a week after the Xbox One version launched. Considering that the Xbox 360 player base is vastly larger than the Xbox One player base, I think people have the right to know what's going on with the Xbox 360 version of Titanfall.

Strangely enough, this also applies to the Xbox 360.

Now I have a lot of faith with developer Bluepoint, as their previous ports were good - porting over HD collections of such classics as the Metal Gear, God of War and Ico & The Shadow of Colossus Collection - but no screens, no video, not even a press release of the Xbox 360 version has me wondering can they do this? Can companies hold off information of a product, a product that many people have probably already paid or set aside pre-orders for, and still follow acceptable business acts? What happens if the game launches and it's in serious disarray? Will we have another Batlefield 4 case on our hands? Time will tell, and that time is closing ever but so very slowly. I can't wait til the 25th and I can get my hands on my Xbox 360 copy of Titanfall - and hopefully this blackout of Titanfall on Xbox 360 is just a marketing move by Microsoft and not hiding an unplayable game.

E3, stick a fork in it.

E3 is done, not so much as the expo is finished forever, but E3 has come and gone. This year has shown us a ton of new information of games, consoles and the industry as a whole. From the unveiling of Xbox One's games to PS4's actual look and price, we've seen a lot. There were a lot of discussions carried out about who won E3. I think it's kind of absurd to have this black and white notion towards the event. On the other hand though we, as human beings, strive for competition and well it's in our DNA with "survival of the fittest" after all. Right off the bat many would call Sony the winner, they've obviously listened to everyone about our doubts with digital DRM, limitations on used games - which is for some the only way they can afford the hobby - and suspicious that under all that power of a system a big fat price will correlate.

The new Xbox One/PS4 controllers

However Sony's big E3 press conference was heavy on the talk and not enough on actual gameplay of the coming next-gen games. On the contrary though Microsoft's E3 press conference was the exact opposite - as previously they stated they'd be bringing part 2 of their Xbox One to E3 focusing on just the games. They showed lots and lots of gameplay footage of next-gen games but never once talked about their perspective moving forward towards a connected digital gaming "utopia". Some would say dystopia, the Kinect ever watching you - what a great time to announce a device like that with the NSA being such a hot topic these days - limiting the consumer's rights to resell their product and having an online check to make sure you're not a gaming pirate.

No seriously, I legally bought this game!

Arrgggghhhh, pirates are awesome though? At least that's what the latest trend from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and what we see with Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. Of course in that sense the damn Empire deserves the justice as they've got it way better off than the common folk, (the British are in a luxurious lifestyle and the common folk are struggling to meet ends meet). Us gamers are the common folk and the big gaming companies are the governing British Empire. It's even comical to listen to the big timers at Microsoft tell people to play a Xbox 360 if you don't have good enough internet for the Xbox One. Ouch, that's kind of harsh.

In a small sense I can see that reasoning, heck in less favored gaming communities people are still playing on PS2s. There was actually one PS2 game shown at E3 this year and can you guess what the title was? Yup, it was the latest edition of FIFA, soccer is the world's sport after all. I think Sony talked to the common folk better off than Microsoft did and that's why they "won E3". What do people want, no limitations, good games and a fair price. Yup Sony announced no DRM and no limitations for the used games market, showed off some next-gen games as well as the price of $399 for the console. Everyone in attendance at Sony's press conference cheered and gave applause. It wasn't until the next day when we found out that Sony had lied to the masses and ironically previously were being adored for it. Sony's letting the DRM and used game situation be put in the hands of 3rd party publishers. Hmm, where have we seen this move before? Sony and Microsoft are fairly similar here, both requiring a membership to play online, both specialize in media other than games (they're both entertainment boxes), and both haven't really told us enough for a reasonable purchasing decision.

As you can see, they're about the same.

With Sony's PS4 price at $399 many were happy with the price point Sony had envisioned for the launch of their next-gen console - especially after their disastrous $599 reveal from their PS3's days. What wasn't talked about was discovered later on - we are the internet after all - with the fact that the Playstation Eye, a tweaked version of the previous Playstation Eye, will not be included with the purchase of the system. Well with a purchase of this new device, that was discussed at Sony's PS4 reveal event earlier this year, retailing at an estimated $60 we now have a PS4 costing $40 less than the Xbox One. That's not as big of a sense as $100 feels is it. It's obvious that Microsoft's Xbox One console, bundled with the new tweaked Kinect as well, helps make up its $499 price tag. The inclusion of this device shows the reassurance to developers that the platform is there, as previously developers could only develop for a limited optional device that probably less than half the Xbox 360 userbase didn't have. Some great games were shown off for the Xbox One but that lingering yeah what about the DRM situation was on everybody's mind. One thing's for sure I think I'll be grabbing a PS3 or WiiU since they'll be cheaper alternatives with a stack of exclusive games - Uncharted sereis, Mario Galaxy series and more - that I have not yet experienced.

Weekend Gaming, ready set GO!

It's Friday and all that means is start the weekend, what game or games are you playing this weekend?! For me I'm going to continue to blaze through the tricky streets and cliff adjacent tracks in Codemaster's GRiD 2. There's so many things that can go wrong while racing; an opponent runs into you, you oversteer right into a cliff face, you mess up that last corner before the finish line, mess up a corner on a perfect lap, etc etc. Good thing there's flashback, a feature that Codemaster's introduced into the racing genre with the first GRiD five years ago. Yeah, it's kind of a staple in the racing genre now as other competing games allow you to undo that horrific crash which has probably lessened many frustrated gamers out there - I know it's helped me out. I might pick up and play some Halo 4 matches as it seems 343 Studios has tweaked the weapons to feel a bit more competitive. It's nice that that community is still staying strong. Yes community, flashbacks, weekend, I'm getting at E3 and you'll soon see why.

Well or you could drive too close to a cliff.

It's the weekend yet all I can think about is next week. It's funny, it seems the days before E3 always go slower while E3 rushes by in one quicker than normal week. On Monday we're going to see keynote events from Microsoft which will show off their Xbox One intended games, Sony which will show the games - oh man I can't wait to see some Destiny gameplay - and more importantly their system, and the next day Nintendo will have their Nintendo Direct - the first year Nintendo will not actually have a press event - which people will be able to download on Nintendo products. You wonder if after all three go ahead and show their stuff - don't forget EA & Ubisoft will show as well - if anyone company would be willing to use a flashback to undo what they just did. I'm predicting this will be Microsoft as they've just revealed some astounding limitations that their Xbox One will have in regards to its consumer (the paying one too).

Of course the second to best thing about E3 is the gaming community that follows after it. The discussions while it's taking place, the viral videos many will link, and of course the aftermath where everyone talks about who won E3. We have a competitive nature towards everything, it's not just racing. Someone has to win it, someone has to be the one to cross the finish line before everyone else. It's always fun to see who's going to bring the goods at these things. I'm hoping we'll see some real innovation here, this year it's all about the consoles entering the market. Not only will there be the Xbox One, Sony PS4 but also the Ouya, possibility of a Steambox reveal and we just learned Mad Catz wants in on the console market with the project M.O.J.O.. That's a bit severe in my mind, this happened last time when the Sega Saturn tried to join the mix with the N64 and PS1 and it didn't go well for an overcrowded market.