Finally!

Mojang has finally confirmed the Release Date Month for Minecraft on the Vita, which will be August, the same month that the XBone and PS4 editions will be released on their respective platforms.  It's actually kind of a big deal because of the way that it all works out.  The details of it are as such:

• Minecraft: Playstation 3 + Vita Edition will be available on the PSN in August.
• It will include all the features from the most recent Playstation 3 version, including online play on Vita.
• This means everyone who has bought Minecraft: Playstation 3 Edition from PSN will get it on Vita for free. Those fluent in Sony-speak might refer to the deal as “Cross-buy.”
• We are working closely with Sony Computer Entertainment to look into ways to enable upgrade from the Blu-ray disc version of Minecraft: Playstation 3 Edition to Minecraft: Playstation 3 and Vita. We’ll have more info on this closer to release.
• Minecraft: Playstation 3 + Vita Edition will cost $19.99.
• It doesn’t matter if you buy for PS3 or Vita first, you own the game for both platforms.
• Saves are transferrable between the Playstation 3 and Vita versions of Minecraft. You will be able to craft at home on your Playstation 3, then continue on the bus/toilet with your Playstation Vita.
• All of the DLC you’ve purchased for Minecraft: Playstation 3 Edition will work on Playstation 3 + Vita Edition.

So, basically, the Vita version of Minecraft is the PS3 version, except on the Vita.  I personally think they could have based the game on the PS4 version as, yes, I know it's a very technical game technically, but I don't think it's so much that the Vita could not handle the PS4 version.  However, I suppose the PS3+Vita deal is the sweeter end of it, because of the way the PS4 version is set up.

• Minecraft: Playstation 4 Edition will be released on the PSN in August. It brings significantly bigger worlds and a greater draw distance than Playstation 3 + Vita Edition.
• It will include all the features from the most recent Playstation 3 version.
• Minecraft: Playstation 4 Edition will cost $19.99.
• If you’ve bought Playstation 3 Edition from the Playstation Network you will be able to upgrade for $4.99.
• You will be able to upgrade for a minimum of a year after the release date.
• We are working closely with Sony Computer Entertainment to look into ways to enable upgrade from the Blu-ray disc version of Minecraft: Playstation 3 Edition to Minecraft: Playstation 4 Edition. We’ll have more info on this closer to release.
• Players with Playstation 3 Edition or Playstation 3 + Vita Edition saves will be able to import their worlds to Playstation 4. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to transfer your saves from Playstation 4 to Playstation 3/Vita. There are technical reasons for this; we can make worlds bigger without too much stress, but shrinking them causes all kinds of problems.
• Cross-platform play will not be possible between Playstation 3 + Vita Edition and Playstation 4 Edition.
• Many, but not all, of the DLC skins and texture packs you’ve purchased for Playstation 3 Edition will be available for use in Playstation 4 Edition. We’d like to say all your DLC would transfer but some of the items are trapped in licensing deals that are too boring to get into here. We’ll have more on this soon.

So if you buy the PS4 version as an upgrade, you can pull your files over to it, but then they are locked to your PS4 copy of the game since you can't send them back.  Again, I think the Vita version could have been the PS4 version, but then you miss out on the cross-play/Cross-buy with the millions of people (yeah, millions) who have already bought it on PS3.  I'm personally trying to remember if Minecraft has ever been on sale, because if it has and I didn't buy it because I was waiting for the Vita version, I will be momentarily upset with myself, but then recall that "who the hell thought it would be Cross-Buy" was my thinking, and justifiably so.  It's a pretty great move regardless.

In any case, it's goddamn Minecraft on my Vita.  I have literally been waiting for this for years, and it's finally becoming a reality in a scant few months.  I'll finally be able to build shit whenever I want to and enjoy the Lego Box that is the game, when I have completely and totally lacked the ability to do so until now.

Now, here's just hoping that the PS3 version of the game isn't stuck on, like....the Adventure Update.

good lord, that update was a while ago and there's so much more stuff in it and hnnng this is why I'll never be satisfied

Microsoft with Another Power Play

In probably one of the more pandering ways they could have announced it, Microsoft has finally pulled the Kinect as a pack-in starting in June, meaning the XBone will start being sold as a stand-alone console in June for $399.  It's surprising in all the same ways that it's not - I really thought Microsoft was going to be stubborn on this one, but I guess the allure of phantom sales was too strong for them.  The XBox One is now, officially and literally, nothing unique at its base, and that is honestly more than a little disappointing, even for someone who just straight-up has never been interested in an XBone.

The whole of this little experiment as I'm charitably calling it has been rather interesting to witness.  From its inception, the XBone has been this malleable box of variable evil in the eyes of many and that's solely because of the poor messaging and the poor attitude from Microsoft with regards to everything about the system.  Once they fell flat on their face, the following could best be described as "Flailing wildly, grasping at any and all articles of your clothing to drag themselves back to you, prostrate and begging for your time and affection" which is...well, not everybody cares for it, we'll say.

Objectively, nothing is wrong with any of this.  The XBone has now (or will, in June) become a system that is truly about what a console should be: something you can pull out of a box, attach cables to, do the set-up on and then just get to playing your damn games.  There's no Kinect to calibrate (or even think about unpacking) and no -direct- need to plug an ethernet cable into it (or set up Wi-Fi) because of some nebulous DRM scheme.  (Okay, you still need to do that to make the console more or less -functional- but, you know, baby steps)  It is just a system reminiscent of the one we've had for the last decade but shinier and with some extra bells and whistles of some immeasurable value because of their inherently subjective nature.

Is that a bad thing?  No.  Not in so many words.

I have never been a fan of the XBox in any of its incarnations, and I had no love for the XBone when it was announced because, as it was announced, it was a product incapable of being loved.  It was a standing monolith of spite personified, primed and ready to exclaim "Fuck you!" and punch you in your reproductive parts upon being unboxed.  I can't even say, as most are willing to do, that they were trying something new on the Digital side of things because they weren't - they were attempting to push some sort of Frankenstein's Monster version of Games for Windows Live on the system and telling you to sit down and enjoy it for all the 'benefits' that being tied unceremoniously to a server structure an inordinate amount of miles away will provide to you, because shit is futuristic, yo.  It was never going to work out.  It was never going to be a thing heralded from on high by all or even some.  It was destined to be as it was - loathed and mocked for treading on the grass with the "No Trespassing" sign on it.

The Kinect, though?  It had potential.  Perhaps insomuch as MSPaint has potential in being a program in which you can create photorealistic images of shit, where it is only barely on this side of impossible to actually make that happen, but potential nonetheless.  I have a hard time believing anyone who says they -don't- want what Kinect is technically promising, but can't dream of delivering, on top of what it can actually do with some reliability.

Much like Tablet computers, there's something innately futuristic about motion controls and voice commands that is ingrained as awesome future shit to me.  Maybe it's just the Star Trek stuff I watched growing up, but it does tickle parts of my brain that come right to attention when that premise shifts up.  The jumping around, waving your arms about to protect an imaginary goal from soccer balls with dodgy (at best) detection when not instantly calibrated before hand?  Yeah.  I can see people not caring about that.  But walking into a room and saying "XBox, on" and having that shit turn on, waiting for your next command?  Yeah.  That's the shit I can get behind.  Were it only as natural as it could be (rather than having to put on your super authoritative voice most of the time) it would be -really- cool, if just for the novelty.

But I am convinced that with some combination of -something- like the Kinect (maybe even the Playstation Eye 3.0 or whatever) and a controller of some sort (Maybe a Move Wand(s) ) that there could be something immensely cool or enjoyable about motion technology where it concerns gaming.  It might be a couple generations off, but there has to be something out there for it.  I was personally banking on Microsoft stubbornly keeping the Kinect around (even as a toss-away thing because they weren't requiring it) to have it as an option for developers to use.  For someone to finally get -that- idea and implement it and it gets big because, fuck, everyone has one.  That's unfortunately just probably not going to happen anymore.  With the Kinect stuck as it was last generation, it's going to get much the same support as that did (read: almost none) and we'll all just sort of point and laugh derisively at it and what is attempted.

Now, is this move going to make a difference?  Not...much of one, I don't think.

The damage has been done.  In some ways, the Kinect was holding the device back.  In some ways, the extra $100 was holding it back as well.  Some pretend that these were the only two albatrosses about the neck of the XBone and now it's free to soar the sales charts and reign King Supreme and that's just not going to happen.  The time for the XBone to soar was back when it released, and if there's another time, it's a solid year, perhaps two away. The initial rush of consoles purchased has happened and the PS4 reigns on top of that pile.  The stragglers are the ones reluctant to pay $400 for a Next Gen system for whatever reason, so bringing the XBone down to that price parity....doesn't really do a whole lot.  Were there people that were just -really- waiting for Microsoft to do just this?  Sure.  Not the 'masses', however, since it honestly wasn't something you -should- have expected.

Even still, a stigma is just a -hard- thing to shake.  The PS3 had the "no games" thing for a while as well as the "stupid price" thing, and it all just cast the machine in a negative light long after those issues had been rectified.  It's going to be the same way with the XBone, especially because all they've done is put themselves directly next to the PS4 for comparison....where it will only be seen as lacking.  The XBone without the Kinect is just a less good PS4 without the benefit of PS+ and all the fun stuff that Sony has been working on.  Microsoft's exclusive lineup isn't going to draw in any -new- customers, either.  Halo 5 isn't going to make a Playstation diehard eschew grabbing a PS4 in favor of an XBone.  Gears of War anything isn't.  Forza didn't. 

No matter how you see it, this move with the Kinect just seems born of desperation and short-sightedness.  I will be heartily surprised if it makes the thing sell like a PS4 for any amount of time, and who knows if it's going to help in the long run if Sony continues to do their best with services and Exclusives that you -can't- just expect?  The Order is new and exciting because it's -new-, and if Microsoft wants to grab a few new people, they're going to have to put new things on the plate.  That's what'll sell an XBone over a PS4 way down the line when both have seen a price cut and parents are finally starting to relent, deciding to grab one of these things for the system.  But who knows if -that- is the next move Microsoft is going to rattle over towards?

seriously, I just don't see the point and I really wanted to see them take a stance on the goddamn Kinect

Playstation Now Officially Announced, Some Details

It's been known for a while now that Sony intended on using Gaikai for something more than Remote Play between PS4's and Vitas - to stream full games to the PS4 as a sort of 'solution' to the end of not actually including a PS3 in the PS4 architecture.  There was talks of bringing such a service to the PS3 and Vita as well - after all, it wasn't a matter of the system's power itself by any means, but it wasn't that heavily stressed.  Still, that has very much changed with today's announcement as the service is slated not only for PS4, Vita and PS3, but Connected Bravia TVs (that you can sync a Dualshock with), Tablets and Smartphones, apparently.  I imagine you'll be using a sort of controller with those last two, as virtual controls seem less-than-serviceable (but will be included anyway), but those things do exist and I suppose they'll only continue to keep getting made.

Unfortunately, there was not an avalanche of details - a lot of the information is still vague and off a ways, but it's still confirmation and there's still some to be known here.  While they are aiming for all those different platforms, the PS4 and PS3 will be the main focus to start with, so I imagine when the 'full roll-out' happens at some point in Summer(!), it will just be for those, with Vita joining the service before the end of the year, hopefully before the end of Fall.  A Beta will also be held towards the end of this month, and whoever gets in will likely be the envy of all - I'm not quite sure what I'll do in the unlikely event that I get a Beta invite, however.  I'd -love- to try it but, well....I won't be able to use it, plain and simple.  So I would kind of feel bad if I got an invite, since I don't want to hand it off to someone else, but using it will mean I'm unfairly hogging a chance that someone with serviceable internet can make use of.  I guess we'll see, but I highly doubt I'll get an invite as I usually don't get invited to anything.  (Shut up, Haplo)

One of the pricklier topics about the method chosen for this whole Backwards Compatibility solution, however, has always been how it will handle the actual games portion and your 'ownership' of them.  Will you be able to buy and steam?  What about the games that you've already purchased, will you be able to stream them?  Is it just going to be a subscription thing?  Is that going to be included in Playstation Plus?  Unfortunately, this is one of the many topics that wasn't covered completely, but it wasn't ignored either.  Well, not -totally- ignored.

The service itself, as noted, is called Playstation Now, which will be something that you can subscribe to.  It's seeming like it will be separate to Playstation Plus, but hopefully, there will be some sort of discount to it if you're a Plus subscriber already.  Maybe.  That's just speculation on my part, though.  As for the methods of 'ownership' of the titles included, well, it's sort of a mish-mash of all the theories present.  I'm going to take an answer to a comment of the article for ease of use and explanation:

Hey boomstickbhg – With PS Now, you can rent by title for specific games, or you can choose a subscription that delivers additional value with a wide variety of genres. For example, you can try out a game by rental first, before deciding to actually purchase the full game and download it to your console. We believe this streaming game service will add tons of value to dedicated game consoles in addition to packaged and downloaded games, and in doing so, we will open up a new world of possibilities across PlayStation platforms.
Of course, one of the big reasons we are offering a closed beta is to get feedback on all aspects of the service, including of course the experience with rentals and subscriptions, so we look forward to hearing more feedback from our community as we move through the beta.

So you can rent a game individually, you can buy a subscription that grants you access to a library of games, and you can purchase games individually if you like them.  I imagine the "download it to your console" means you can try PS4 games and download them to your PS4 and similarly for PS3 games on your PS3, but not a combination thereof.  It does inconveniently leap over the question of games already purchased and the playing of them on consoles -other- than what they're available for (like playing PS3 games on PS4 as the main example), but I'd assume that's still something they're playing with.  It's likely hard to have a system set up to flag games from another source (your purchase history) and they likely don't want to promise something that they can't deliver on before knowing they -can- deliver on it.

At least, I find it hard to picture Sony, who has been the darling here lately, telling you that you have to rebuy your copy of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon through the PS Now library (or subscribe) just so you can stream it on PS4.  Which is, of course, ignoring the whole "Physical Media" thing entirely, but the Passport Program has shown that Next-Gen consoles can recognize an older gen game enough for a check.  (Since you have to have your PS3 version of a game in your PS4 to play the digital PS4 version and I assume the same for 360->XBone)  Stranger things have happened, I suppose, but I want to give Sony a little rope here since I'm relatively safe in assuming they won't try tying a noose with it.  It wouldn't be a death knell to the service, but it would be a sizable blow - especially to everyone who just wants to stream a bunch of shit to their Vita.  Like me.  In the fantasy world where I can do that.

While it wasn't a -lot- of details, it's far more than anyone expected to have this early I imagine, and that's a good thing.  The preamble of it sounds good, but we're all just waiting for the real meat of it.  When the Beta launches at the end of the month, I'm sure we'll get a few more details as well as some impressions, but until then, we're just stuck with what we've got which is a lot of hope and speculation.  Not like that's much different from how the situation was before today, of course.

I literally just realized the possibility of playing Blood Dragon on my Vita's OLED and I may have squealed a little

Oh. Well Then.

Not too terribly long, I got all bent out of shape over Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, since it was reported that the PS4/XBone versions were going to be digital-only and that's kind of a bad thing.  For reasons that I went into with a lot of words that ended up boiling down to "The Gaming world just isn't ready for this nigh-evangelised 'Digital Future' but more importantly I'm most definitely not ready for it, goddamnit" because I really really want to play every single MGS game ever always.  All of that remains true, of course, because Internet Infrastructure has not magically become better in the weeks since, nor is it showing any signs of magically coming to ultimate power any time soon either.  Unfortunately and fortunately.  (Since even if Infrastructure got better, I'd probably still be fucking stuck)

Good news has come out for everyone, however, as not only does Ground Zeroes have a release date for North America, but it has pricing and release details that are a bit different than previously reported for good ol' Europe.  First off, the game comes out March 18th, 2014 across PS3 and 4, the 360 and the XBone.  PC players...get to keep waiting for REVENGEANCE, I assume.  (Please buy it when it comes out.)  Much like Europe, there's a bit of a price variance not only between current and last gen platforms, but physical and digital as well.  The PS3 and 360 versions retail at $30 for Physical and $20 Digital which is pretty much what I figured would happen in that it's exactly the same as the European price, except they switched denomination markers.  Sorry Europe!

The good bit comes in, however, when you see that, yes, the Digital Versions for the PS4 and XBone versions of Ground Zeroes are $30 for some reason, but there are actual physical versions of the game as well which will retail for $40, a full $20 more for a prettier version of the game on a disk instead of a digital PS3 purchase.  In another complete 180 from previous reportings, there's apparently going to be something extra in the Physical versions, though if that's just the Next-Gen ones, I don't even know.  Regardless, there's going to be a box with a PS4 disk in it that has Ground Zeroes on it that I am going to one day stare at and debate whether or not I should purchase it.  On the one hand, I'm very, very glad that it's going to be something I -can- buy and play, but on the other hand, it's a prologue that could be shorter than the Tanker section of MGS2, and it's $40 when a digital version of the PS3 version is half that for reasons, and while I -want- to play it in stunning visuals with the Dualshock 4 and all that, I'll need to convince myself a little more.  Also, I'll be concerned about a package deal for Ground Zeroes and Phantom Pain whenever that ends up coming out.  (Likely around a year later, I'm guessing)

Still, it's good to know that I have the option if I decided to go that route because I likely will because I have no will-power.  Though I have to wonder what the extra bit in the cases is going to be, because I highly doubt it's going to be the Exclusive DLCs mentioned for both systems.  The Deja Vu mission for Playstation and the Jamais Vu DLC for XBox both look great, even though I swing more towards the Jamais Vu one because REVENGEANCE, and it kills me to think that I -won't- get to play it.  It's...not the same as more REVENGEANCE, of course, but it's close.  At least Konami is still acknowledging the game and hopefully the hopes of a sequel will end up panning out, because I will buy the absolute fuck out of it.  On the other hand, more 'exclusive' DLC for the Boxed versions on top of platform-exclusive DLC?  That's...that's going a bit crazy with it.  Though we are not exactly surprised, I should think.

crazy conspiracy theory, "David Hayter Voicepack DLC" - it'll never happen, but goddamnit if we're not all hoping

DO NOT TOY WITH MY EMOTIONS, SEGA

When Sega bought Index, everyone had at the very least an uneasy feeling about the whole matter and weren't really all that afraid to voice it.  As someone -not- in Japan who enjoys RPGs, it's got all the potential of being the worst news you could stand to hear, since Atlus (one of Index's main companies) is one of the big last bastions of RPGs and Sega is one of the few big companies that clearly does not give a shit about everywhere that isn't Japan anymore.  Technically, this meant that Sega has the power to decide what came out of Atlus and how and where, but we all really, really hoped that they simply wouldn't exert that authority and would instead just allow Atlus to do what Atlus does which is making money.  Which is likely something Sega would like them to do.  It's what we all want, clearly.

Thankfully, that's what Sega says they're intending on doing.  They say they're going to let Index (which basically means Atlus) operate independently and continue just doing what they're doing.  Which would have meant a -lot- more if it had been stated before the massive Persona announcement event last weekend, but, well, Sega's thing has never really been good timing.  Regardless, it's comforting to know that, beyond Persona Q, Persona Ultimax Suplex Hold or whatever it's called, the strangely convenient Persona:  Dancing All Night that's being co-developed by one of Sega's studios that does rhythm/dancing games and Persona 5 that Atlus will be free and able to do whatever they please.  Which apparently goes on to have an even deeper meaning than it appears on the surface.

You see, in addition to claiming that Atlus has free reign over their own affairs, Sega has basically said that if Atlus wants to take a crack at some old, under-utilized Sega IPs, they're absolutely free to them.  This is the part where rational thought leaves your body and you consider an Atlus-developed Phantasy Star V and somebody has to call over somebody else with a mop.  And then you go "Oh, they actually wouldn't do that because Phantasy Star is just the online series now" and be a little sad.  But then you'll go "WAIT SHIT VALKYRIA CHRONICLES" and start thinking about a Valkyria Chronicles game with S. Links Officer Bonds and here comes the mop again but then you start to wonder if Atlus can nail the specifics of a third-person shooter/turn-based strategy game since that's a little outside of their realm.  So then you just think about Skies of Arcadia 2 and you're cautious now and sure enough, you wonder the same thing about Valkyria Chronicles, but with the Ship-to-Ship combat and such.

So basically what I'm getting at is that it would be pretty awesome, but I don't know how awesome.  I have the utmost faith in their ability to create a compelling story with compelling characters that have compelling motivations and actions with compelling direction, but, well, I've never played a Persona game for the dungeon-crawling.  That may be a sort of blasphemy and I understand that, but I'm well within my rights to be a little wary of the situation because the games in question - Valkyria Chronicles and Skies of Arcadia - are very particular games, and require a delicate touch by those familiar with it, -or- a company that's so damn good at mechanics that they can spoof them well enough while tightening and improving them.  Atlus is probably capable of that!  I just haven't seen it happen, and I can't say that I would enjoy a Valkyria Chronicles 4 if it was any less of a game mechanics-wise than 2 was since it was my last dip into the series.

Still, it's good that Sega is attempting to assuage fears, even if I'm just going to say "Pfft, whatever Sega, you goddamn liars" and reserve my judgment til such a time when Atlus has released their last four Persona games and are working on another one or SMT V or something that concludes 'business as usual' for them.  Or, you know, actually working on a Sega IP even if I'd be biting my nails the entire time it was being developed.  But I'm still mad at you, Sega.  I'm going to be mad for a while because you keep hurting me, and no amount of Persona is going to make up for the Yakuza-shaped holes in my heart and gaming collection.  Though since you have access to Atlus USA, you know you can fix that.  They know it.  They just don't care.

honestly, if Atlus could just remake Phantasy Star I-IV I would buy the ever-loving shit out of it

Toukiden Is On the Way West

The last time I said anything substantial about Toukiden was over a year ago when it was revealed, from which it eventually released, sold and did all that over in Japan with nary a word of western shores in its sights.  For some reason, I had thought Toukiden being localized was a foregone conclusion so when I heard that it was officially announced, I was a little confused at first.  "Didn't we know this already?," I said and it turns out that we did not.  So, good news everyone, Toukiden is releasing in North America (on carts! also digitally) as Toukiden:  [The?] Age of Demons.  (I'm seeing conflicting reports on whether or not the 'The' is there.  It is superfluous anyway.)  As far as I know, Toukiden isn't a real word, but it's damn fun to say, and a lot easier to figure out how to pronounce than Ys:  Memories of Celceta, which I learned from experience last wednesday, but that's a topic for a different night.

That's the good news about the situation.  The bad news begins to to the tune of the knowledge that the game is yet another Monster Hunter clone, but an actual really real one this time, not something that's just called a Monster Hunter clone because of poor reporting.  However everything in that trailer above screams Monster Hunter, from the segmented maps, to the giant monsters, to the four-player co-op with the bars on the upper left side literally like the MH UI (though not unique to that game) to the hub town and you get the point.  It's Monster Hunter with a side of Monster Hunter on a Monster Hunter plate in a Monster Hunter restaurant that calls itself Toukiden from KOEI and it's more than a little disappointing.

I'd personally hoped for something a little....less like that, clearly.  While my enjoyment of the KOEI games is well-known here, I don't necessarily want them to only make hack-n-slash games, so while that's what I expected with this, I would have been happy to have been wrong in most cases.  Perhaps with a proper Action-Adventure title, something along the lines of a Ninja Gaiden game, but actually fun, would have been great.  As it is, I'm assured that Toukiden will at least be a little more fast-paced than Monster Hunter which is one of my issues with it, and I'm hoping there's more variation to the game than "go here, kill monster", but I don't know what to expect and I don't want to spoil it for myself by reading impressions on the Japanese version of it.  It will serve me better to simply blindly pre-order and buy it and hopefully not be disappointed.

That is part of the other half of the bad news.  The game is releasing in February of 2014 which is right dead-smack in the middle of Christmas II which just so happens to include March this year, meaning they decided to release it the Sega way; at a time where it has the least chance of being bought 'just because'.  I'll be buying it because KOEI has so many fucking games to localize and I don't want them to be able to use their own shitty logic to leverage less and less localization projects because I fucking -want- to play these things.  I want Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends on my Vita, preferably with Dynasty Warriors 8 built into it, because I still don't know how DW8XL being on Vita/PS4 is going to work when DW8 proper is on PS3 and the selling thing of Xtreme Legends in the past has always been connecting the two games to expand on the original.  Despite my whinging, it does look like a nice game and seems capable of tricking everyone into forgetting that it's not actual Monster Hunter, but rather something close enough like it that they can just play it instead.  Because damned if a Monster Hunter wouldn't help matters.  CAPCOM.

I just want to run around maps and cut things and not worry about small areas and hrrrgh

PS4 News Ahoy!

So, the other night while I was relaxing and recuperating from nonsense, the Spike TV PS4 Launch Event was taking place and there were a few things announced that...you know have some bearing and importance on folks.  From what I heard, it was nigh-unbearable to watch or, if you went in with low-expectations because Spike TV, it was merely trying to watch when it wasn't just...announcements or trailers.  Which was a lot of the time!  As usual, the correct choice proved to be simply sitting by the wayside and allowing the news to come to me, rather than going after it and wading through the dreck associated with it.  Still, it did afford us -some- things that were rather interesting, so I should get into them a bit before we forget the event took place at all and move on with our lives.

Above is the teaser for the much-expected, but still appreciated Uncharted game for the Playstation 4, simply referred to as "Uncharted" at this point in time.  Some are taking that as the end-all be-all title and insisting it's a reboot or something from a different character's perspective (since the voice-over is done by a different character) and to be fair, there could be something there.  However, common sense just states that it will simply be revealed (likely at the Spike VGAs....or VGXs?  They're changing the name for some reason) as Uncharted 4: Subtitle goes here and be that.  Given the context of the teaser, I have my own little pet theories about what's going to go on in the game and what it's going to be called, but I'll keep them to myself for now because it's a bit early to be going off on wild tangents about what it could be from a minute or so of voice-work.

That's pretty much all we get of Uncharted 4.  Just that clip.  For now.  Again, hopefully come December we'll get a shiny new trailer like we usually do during the VGAXs along with a proper name instead of the "Working Title: Uncharted" that we've got, but that -is- rather close....so perhaps not.

There was an announcement for some PS3 news in the form of The Last of Us Story DLC, called "Left Behind".  It's one of the pieces of DLC included in the Season Pass if you bought that, like I did because I am a whore.  I, uh...I didn't look into it beyond that.  Because I still haven't played The Last of Us yet.

....stop looking at me like that.  Stop judging me.  I know TLoU is going to attack my feels and I need to build up a tolerance to that, especially with how down I was for those months.  You know which ones.

Another note of import is that inFamous:  Second Son has a really real official release date of March 21st, 2014, rather than the date in February, whatever that was.  This news was accompanied by the above trailer which shows off Delsin's Photokinesis in-depth...while confounding me on how it's actually supposed to be Photokinesis.  It looks a lot like it's just their take on electricity alongside some (admittedly beautiful) neon effects and advanced maneuverability benefits.  Which is fine by me!  I'm honestly not complaining, I just didn't figure they would be able to make Photokinesis an actual offensive power, since it's just the control over light (in this case, neon lights), which I thought would be like a blinding flash type deal, meant to be used in conjunction with another power.  Of course, I really don't know how power switching is going to work, so I guess it's best that it has offensive capabilities!

Everything in that trailer just reminds me that I am super happy that I pre-ordered the Limited Edition and that I'm going to get a PS4 for that game.  I am -trying- with all my might to resist getting one before January because I just don't -need- one before then because I've literally got like 15 PS3 games I haven't even -started-, but the PS4 is so goddamn shiny and Remote Play sounds amazing and hnnnng.  Still, they should be easier to come by in January/February, hopefully, and perhaps a patch will be out by then that fixes some of these annoying early problems people have been facing.  I say all this because I pretend it makes me feel like I can resist the temptation.  Like if the store I went to today actually had PS4s out and visible, I would've went "Heh, see you in January~" 

The rest of the news was basically that TowerFall Ascension is coming to the PS4 as soon as its Ouya exclusivity expires (I think), Destiny's Beta launches on PS3 and PS4 first, and Metal Gear Solid 5:  Ground Zeroes is getting exclusive Nostalgia-based DLC on PS3 and PS4.  All of those points, I could probably expound upon some, but I don't know a damn thing about TowerFall Ascension and I don't need to look into -another- PS4 indie at this point, I don't care about Destiny and I'm still very irked about the situation of the PS4 (and XBone) version of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes.  Since it means I will probably not be playing Ground Zeroes, which annoys me greatly.  Still, that was all the news that came out and, well, it's not bad.  Could've been a few more 'ground-breaking' things, but as it stands, nothing here is just 'eh', even if I don't particularly care about half of it.

I would have just straight-up bought a PS4 if I saw one, is what I was getting at

3DS Finally Set to Catch-Up in December

Way back when the Nintendo Wii U was being discussed in terms of Online Functionality and the like, a couple things were made of note for the future.  Those were, specifically: the Nintendo Network which was Nintendo's apparent attempt to bring their console into the future present-day 2010 with an account system rather than the Friend Code system that was pre-historic when it was new, and Miiverse which I only -tonight- figured out what it was, thanks to even more research than I'd done previously.  Which was more than a cursory glance.  They were things to make note of because not only were they Nintendo's main forays into a connected ecosystem, but they were guaranteed from the start to -not- be Wii U exclusives.  Not only mentioned for 'future Nintendo consoles', but teased for the 3DS as well as integration through web browsers and mobile devices.

It was announced that those additions are finally being made to the 3DS in December when the Nintendo Network and Miiverse come to the 3DS proper.  The Network is pretty self-explanatory, but Miiverse is a different beast entirely.  At first, I was under the impression that Miiverse was the WaraWara Plaza that you see whenever you boot up your Wii U, which would be really neat on the 3DS, but that's not it.  Miiverse is, for all intents and purposes, an Activity Feed that goes a little above and beyond.  Games, so long as they're programmed to do so, can display choice Miiverse posts not only between people, but during specific times during a game.  The video example shows 'helpful hints' from others popping out after repeated deaths and also little notes for every level on Super Mario whatever.  It's meant to be ubiquitous instead of something that you just have to 'check', and I admit it sounds cool....but none of the game already out will be patched to support it, I'm sure, so it's nothing to get excited for now I don't think.

The sudden killing of Swapnote also makes a little more sense as Miiverse has individual tabs for specific games and whatnot, which can be used for 'official word' from developers and whatnot instead of sending out notes through SpotPass.  I mean, sure there were child predators using it and succeeding in Japan, but that's like shutting down Skype for doing the same thing because you know it happens.  Still, Miiverse is not going to fill the same niche as Swapnote, especially since I don't think you can make private posts to one person in particular(?), but no one can be choosey on the Nintendo front unfortunately.  It is neat, however, to see that the Nintendo Network is coming to the 3DS officially and it'll be 'unified' with the Wii U (purchases and whatnot are still tied to the consoles, but Friend Codes will be dead, dead, dead so baby steps) since it means I can finally set up a NNID for whenever I end up picking up a Wii U on the cheap.  Since I'll want one for the Wii games at least, if not the allure of playing some N64 games on what amounts to a handheld device.  Since...that's going to happen eventually?  Right?

I mean, I hope so, because I would love to play some Ogre Battle 64 on that nice little tablet

The PocketStation is Back...?

If you know what the PocketStation is, it's likely because you had to look it up at some point in the past, since exposure of it outside of Japan was...rather limited.  Essentially, remember the VMU for the Dreamcast?  Of course you do, because you're a good person and you owned a Dreamcast because the Dreamcast was awesome.  The VMU was the memory unit for the console and had a little screen and buttons because certain games had little mini-games that you could do while you were out and about to earn you rewards in the main game.  A more recent example would be the PokéWalker included in Pokémon Heart Gold and Soul Silver - you transferred a Pokémon to the device before you went about for a walk or what have you and that built up points that you could spend on searching for items or Pokémon that you had a chance to catch right there on the walker, all of which would be transferred back to your DS game.

Anyway, the PocketStation is conceptually the same thing as these, presumably because the PocketStation and VMU were likely fashioned off of one of the other - I'm not sure which since I believe the PocketStation was announced first, but the VMU was released first.  At least, it seems that way.  Regardless, they both serve to fill the exact same purpose for two different devices, and the PocketStation is getting a breath of new life on the Vita.  The app will allow you to play the Mini-Games for the PSOne games that you own, meaning that all those little bits of extra content that were previously out of reach due to emulation are now possible....for the people in Japan.  There's no real indication if this will come out of Japan, and while I would be willing to believe it will, I have no idea why.  It never came out here before, but unless there's translation work needed in the mini-games, everything should be fairly universal.  NA PSOne games were apparently programmed with the functionality since it was assumed that Sony would eventually localize the device, so it would be cool to finally be able to tap into that, if only for the novelty.

I can't help but be a little underwhelmed, however.  It's neat and it's novel and I respect it, but it's something that's just sort of -there-.  It's a known quantity.  When there were teases of a PocketStation-like announcement, I was hoping for something a little grander.  Personally, my hope was for some PS4 games to have space set aside to be able to send a little mini-game to your Vita that you could play on the go if you weren't able to Remote Play your PS4 game.  I understand it sort of flies counter to the things they've established in that the Vita can totally just -play- your PS4 games, but it would be neat if I could, say, transfer some inFamous:  Second Son-inspired mini-game to my Vita, play it, and come back with some experience towards a power, or maybe something a little more esoteric.  Maybe it would've been something that lets you pick an 'element' from your house or nature or what have you (which would fit into a pre-set canned list, of course), bring that back and give Delsin that suite of powers.  Take a picture of a neon light and give him the Photokinesis set, or take a picture of a tree to give him some sort of Ecokinesis.  You see where I'm going with this.

That would have been cool.  Sure, it's basically just the PocketStation concept done with a modern-day set of paint so to speak, but it would've been enjoyable.  It's a throw-away thing, obviously, but the novelty would've been nostalgic enough of the PocketStation without literally just emulating that.  Still, I'll be pleased enough to download it should it come out in North America (for free, as it is in Japan) and enjoy it, but I just will wish that it was something more.  But who knows, maybe it's just something tossed out there to get people familiar with the concept again and maybe someone will do what I wanted and modernize it.  Stranger things have happened lately, you can't deny that much.

basically it all just goes back to me wanting inFamous on my goddamn Vita COME ON

Rainbow Moon Shines on Vita This December

It's been a while since I've talked about Rainbow Moon, and there's still a while yet before I'll be able to really talk about it again.  It was announced all the way back in September of 2012 that Rainbow Moon would be receiving a Vita port, since a lot of folks interested in the PS3 version asked about it.  A Vita port of the game just made sense, considering it's a Strategy RPG and a handheld device is perfect for that, and the developers agreed...but made it known that it wasn't going to be quick.  The game engine was built from the ground-up for the PS3 for best performance and would have to be completely re-tooled for the Vita.  It was a daunting thought, one that almost no studio would be willing to undertake, but Sidequest Studios did and we should all praise them for it, for the commitment if nothing else.

Still, that statement that it wasn't going to be a quick port could not have been more true as we will still not see the game until December 3rd of this year, a full year and change after the announcement was made.  The hope is that, with all the time they took in working it onto the Vita means that it'll retain its locked, smooth framerate and such, so the wait will hopefully be worth it.  There are also a bunch of updates to the game that will be baked into it at launch (and patched in to the PS3 version) to bring them up to complete parity, since Cross-Save is also going to be supported.  That way, anyone who has already bought and played the PS3 version will be able to bring their save on the go, as intended, which is an amazing boon.  It's also another incentive for owners of the PS3 to buy the Vita version as well, with the original incentive being a discount on the price for PS3 version owners.  The discount is hopefully going to be 50%, at least that's what Sidequest is shooting for, and I dare not even consider how the PS Store team will make that work, but I don't have to worry about it myself since I have not bought Rainbow Moon yet and am holding off on this Vita version.

As a result of not having played it yet, I don't really know a lot -about- it, and the above video does very little to elucidate on its merits and mechanics.  From what I can gather, it seems like a wonderfully deep Strategy RPG that looks gorgeous and runs smoothly in its PS3 incarnation, so I can only hope for the same with the version that you can hold in your hands.  All of that means, of course, is that this is the part where I shrug my shoulders and go "Well, I'm buying it" because, really, I was sold long, long ago on the PS3 version, I just never bit and patience has proven to be a virtue as my buying will go to the version that I actually really want.  I always like having a good strategy RPG around and while I do have that in spades...well, one more can't hurt, right?

it looks all sorts of flashy and such which is good, and I can't -not- support hard work I mean come on

I Haven't Talked About The New Harvest Moon Yet

No, no, I don't mean Rune Factory 4, but I haven't gone deep enough into that quite yet either.  Just last week, Harvest Moon: Connect to a New Land was announced for the 3DS, further solidifying my purchase of the system even if I would really just prefer them making Harvest Moon/Rune Factory games for the Vita.  It seems silly to be getting excited for a new game when I'm -still- excited for Rune Factory 4 and I haven't even really played A New Beginning just yet, but, well, we all know that I am excessively prone to silly things.  This is no exception.  However, there are some very big, very real reasons to be excited for Connect to a New Land just from what little information has been shared for now.

First off, they seem to be taking some of the improvements from A New Beginning and keeping them baked in going forward, which is always a good sign.  Specifically being able to pick a Male or Female protagonist at the beginning is still relatively new to the Harvest Moon series, strange as that seems, so to see the trend almost become 'standard' now is good.  I personally hold no interest in playing the female character of a Harvest Moon game simply because I play the games to woo virtual people and I'm just...well, I'm not interested in wooing the virtual dudes in Harvest Moon and Rune Factory games.  However, having that option baked in to the game's very design means that you're definitely set to get at least five characters, male and female, who are wholly interesting since their inclusion is partly being interesting enough to date.  Rune Factory never has a problem with having interesting characters, datable or not, but Harvest Moon games have had fairly small casts in the past which is helped some by ideas like this since, at the very least you get -more- characters.

Keeping with the 'More is better' theory, CtaNL will be featuring a "Safari" area which will hold a host of exotic animals that you will be able to tame and bring back home with you in case the animals you get in Harvest Moon proper just aren't enough for you.  Which...in all honesty, might be true.  There has been expansion in that field (heh) with the last few games, taking the potential roster a bit away from the traditional Cows, Sheep and Chickens, adding in Ducks, Alpacas (At least one game, if not more) and probably at least a few more things that I can't really think of right now since I haven't played ANB for more than twenty minutes.  All in all, the amount of animals that are tamable in Harvest Moon games is said to be doubled in New Land, but I'm hoping they're using a bit of an inflated figure to start, since double of five is just ten.  Which is...not a big enough number to tout as "double" or "twice as much" since you can just say ten.

Some other information from the Famitsu article that broke the news and details of the new game also mentioned what is very, very obvious from the name of the game itself - you'll be able to visit other people's ranches.  It's unclear as to how this'll be managed - the theories seem to be an Animal Crossing-esque Street Pass method where your Farm 'State' is saved and loaded elsewhere so that someone can visit it as it was in that state, ala the Dream Suite (for your town) and the Happy House Academy Showcase (for your house specifically) or just straight up Wi-Fi traveling to the other and co-habitating the same space, perhaps working side-by-side and whatnot.  That alone is rather amazing, since it's basically one of the big things Stardew Valley had on the Harvest Moon games it was clearly inspired by - multi-player farming, as inane as that might sound to you.  Which it shouldn't.  Because farming is serious business.

The game will also feature something called a "Trade Station" which will allow you to buy and sell particular things from and to other countries (unknown if this is in-game countries, or real-world countries) as a new little facet to the business numbers side of the game.  Because as we all know, you're not doing all this farming and animal rearing for your health and happiness - there's gotta be some cold, hard green involved, yo.  Farmer's gotta make bank so he can upgrade his house and get a few of the locals under their belt as a little pick-me-up between field chores.  And to buy new things like new animals and new barns and plants and tools and such, you know, responsibly growing what is generally accepted as a business to a very nice enterprise.  But also the opulence and the making it with the locals.  Mostly that.  Maybe.

The game likely won't be out in the states until late 2014, if not 2015 since it's still in development and will assuredly hit Japan months before a localization is even announced, but I think the series has expanded a niche enough in the states and elsewhere that it's a safe bet on coming out over here.  If nothing else, I'm sure a few particular people at XSEED would love to localize the game, and we would all absolutely love for those people to handle it as well.  Because XSEED does great work, you see.  And also @Hatsuu has the absolute best tweets about Rune Factory and Harvest Moon in general that I always just love reading.  So I want more of them.  As should everyone.

you'll be able to raise a friggin' reindeer in New Land, I don't even

This is Why I've Held Off Pre-Ordering inFamous: Second Son

I've been thinking about it here lately, and I said to myself, "Self, why don't you have inFamous:  Second Son pre-ordered?  It is literally the game you're buying a PS4 for, and it would probably be cool if you...you know....got on that."  My answer had more or less, to this point, been "Oh, I keep forgetting."  Much like I kept forgetting to pre-order the Ys: Memories of Celceta Limited Edition and the 'Grand Wizard' Edition of South Park: The Stick of Truth, both of which have been rectified.  Who knew that, in that same vein, all I was doing was biding my time for a Collector's Edition?  I, uh, didn't, even though I damn well should've considering the amount of worrying I did over getting an inFamous 2: Hero Edition after I stupidly forgot to pre-order one.  Now that this has been announced, however, I know what I'm doing Tuesday when I buy Hometown Story.  Aside from also buying Pokemon X.  And...possibly Valhalla Knights 3 because XSEED.

With all the Collector's Editions that I buy, I try to rationalize just why I am actually buying them and some are far easier than others.  inFamous 2's Hero Edition was rationalized because of the badass statue (which is, of course, badass) and the utilitarian purpose of the Messenger Bag that came with it.  (I have never used it because I worry it'll break or something.)  I rationalized REVENGEANCE's Collector's edition because swordlamp is the light (no pun intended) and it ended up working well because, even though I haven't even plugged in the lamp, it still looks badass and REVENGEANCE was fucking amazing, please go buy it.  Or wait for the PC version and buy it there.  Muramasa's was delightful if just for the little pouch that I'm not using currently, but I definitely -could- be and will at some point, not to mention that Muramasa itself was pretty good.  And so on and so on and so forth.

This one?  I'm essentially paying extra $20 (retail $79.99 for the Collector's Edition) for a Beanie that I'm never going to wear, decals that I'm never going to place, pins that I'm simply going to display and a patch that I will similarly simply display.

All of that will, of course, come with inFamous:  Second Son.

So basically what I'm saying is worth it.

February is a brutal wait, but goddamn if I don't have a ton of fucking games in the meanwhile

Some Encouraging Project Spark News

It seems that Project Spark, Microsoft's game-building game, will not require XBox Live Gold to play in any of its versions on the 360, PC or XBone.  Seeing as that is a Microsoft Studio title, as first-party as can be, that's quite a surprising development, but not an unwelcome one.  It also makes a lot of sense to do which I posit is most of why it's surprising.  Despite me being a little disappointed in Project Spark, or what little of it has been shown off, I'm still nonetheless interested in it, especially now that the XBone left Crazytown and is a viable, purchasable console now.  Because I am just a whore for the concept of creating things even though I'm terrible at actually executing the creation thereof.

Of course, that's kind of where the rub is - everything points to being able to play Project Spark without XBox Live Gold.  Semantics are a wonderful, terrible thing, of course, so one could actually infer that silver members can only do that - play the game.  Play other creations people have made.  The worry, then, is that you will still need Gold to actually be able to create and share your little games that look suspiciously like Fable even though it's supposed to be set in space or something.  It would certainly make sense, since it makes -more- sense than Microsoft being cool where it concerns this game.  It's not that we want to be cynical, that we don't want to believe, but, well, I think we've all touched the fire one too many times, and we're pretty sure it's still going to burn.

We're watching you, Microsoft.  Keeping an eye on you in case you go all Crazytown again.

yes, it was a short post but what else is there to say about a game that has like three minutes of footage out there

This is Interesting - Square Enix Collective

 

Crowd-funding is the way to go these days, it seems, what with Mighty No. 9 getting funded in a weekend (and going on to gross over $4 million) and Zeboyd Games taking Cosmic Star Heroine to Kickstarter on top of the other hundred Kickstarter stories I could link here, so it makes sense that other companies, even the big ones, are taking notice.  The notable differences here is that the company involved is Indiegogo instead of Kickstarter and Squeenix isn't actually making a game, but rather encouraging everyone else to do so.  If you're lucky and have a good idea for it, you can even use an old Eidos IP as your basis with Squeenix's blessing....since they're the ones publishing it anyway.  We don't know -what- IPs just yet, of course, but I imagine there's one that's off the table...because of its terrible, awful, no-good, very bad announced iteration that I still refuse to believe is real.

What this collective process is is basically an additional step before going up on Indiegogo that'll get you a little bit of a running start.  You detail your pitch and a community gets to vote on it.  If it's voted for favorably over a given length of time, it's then submitted to Indiegogo so that people can actually contribute to its funding, thus granting it a little visibility beforehand to ensure that word-of-mouth occurs.  It's basically Steam's Greenlight service, except you then add the crowd-funding aspect to it after it's approved, and the extra step should, in theory, help it get noticed.  Which should then, in theory, help it get funded since Indiegogo is...much less known than Kickstarter.  With the end-all goal of being helping out the projects to actually get funded, of course so they can get out there.

It's just an interesting thing all around because of Squeenix's backing and because of their decision to allow for the use of old IPs that they're (apparently) not using.  Most companies tend to just sort of sit on IPs that they're not using nor plan on using and it's a shame because you think back on the games that spawned from them and remember just how fun they generally were, at least if they were.  The only problem with the set-up is that it's just Eidos properties right after you see the Squeenix involvement and laugh because there are so many properties under Squeenix's label that -honestly- need attention.  Proper attention.  Whereas I can't really think of any Eidos properties beyond the ones that are getting games made for them currently.  (Deus Ex, Tomb Raider......Legacy of Kain, technically)  Still, I'm sure there'll be some with potential when we get a list.  After all, what would be the point otherwise?

Of course, it's not -just- a project to have indies make new iterations into standing series, since you'll be able to post just about any idea you could want on the Collective.  The only issue with that, however, is that with Squeenix publishing your game, it's up in the air as to whether or not they're going to want the IP to it or if you'll be able to negotiate that.  Obviously they're going to get a cut of it as well, and you as the indie simply have to decide whether or not what Collective offers is enough that you'll want to give up that much to make it happen.  Personally, I'm assuming there's going to be a very real 'wait and see' approach to this at first which is...less than ideal for this type of project.  The other caveat is that, I'm guessing Squeenix is only publishing, meaning you're not going to get to assume some sort of help with development or funding - after all, you're getting your money from Indiegogo members.  Still, it's an interesting prospect, and there's certainly some things that can come from it!  I look forward to seeing what people attempt, myself.

hello yes, I would like to reboot Robotrek please, it would be awesome

DRAKENGARD 3 IS BEING LOCALIZED

In a Playstation Blog post, Sakura Minamida did the one thing that I have been hoping for for a while now:  Announced that Drakengard 3 is heading to North America.  Part of me wants to say that it's not surprising, especially after being buoyed a bit last week with that website registration, which is actually a site now, but it is surprising.  It always seemed like one of those "Never going to happen, but wouldn't it be awesome" things, but, hell, that's what this whole year has been like.  Still, this is Squeenix we're talking about, and they're almost on the same level as Sega in the whole dream-killing, terrible decisions game.  God knows we're all damn lucky that Drakengard 3 wasn't a fucking tablet game.

Details at this moment are scarce, really.  The game will be released on North American (and European, I believe) shores sometime within 2014, I'm assuming the latter half of it, and it'll be for PS3.  The above trailer, as you can see, is subtitled instead of dubbed, which, if they were going to keep that way might indicate a Digital-Only release (if you believe KOEI's lies) but obviously the game isn't really in the throes of Localization just yet, so if they're going to dub, they probably haven't even hired Voice Actors yet.  Furthermore suggesting a physical release is the fact that the game is available for pre-order 'exclusively' through the Squeenix Store for $50.  Now, call me crazy, but I don't think Squeenix is crazy enough to take pre-orders this early for a Digital-Only release of a game. 

What this does question, however, is just how accessible the game is going to be.  Perhaps a physical version is only available through them directly, otherwise it's digital-only dub or not?  Or maybe this is just a ploy to gauge interest to determine how much effort needs to go into the game's localization.  Or maybe it's just Squeenix being weird because that's what they do.  I'm not one for internet purchases like this, but it's Fucking Drakengard 3 so of course they're going to get my $50 before the end of the week.  And hell, if the game goes up for pre-order at GameStop at some random point in the future that is 2014, I might just reserve a copy there too.  I'm just fucking excited and happy about this happening that I want to make it worth-while.  Most of all, I just want the damn game that bad.

Now, remember kiddos:

If it does happen?  You better buy the fucking game.  I don't care who you are, I don't care what you want.  If you're looking for a pure action game, I can tell you that this won't be it.  But what it will be is a very particular type of game that has grown amazing over a long-running series.  A particular type of amazing game that I will make you buy.  If you buy the game, that will be the end of it.  I will not look for you, I will not pursue you.  But if you don't, I will look for you.  I will find you.  And I will slam your head against your keyboard until Amazon has ordered a copy for you.
(I won't.  Please just buy the game.)

 It's happening.  Thus, it is on.

really, it's not on but please buy Drakengard 3, I know I tell you guys to buy a lot of games, but especially this one

The Sleeping Dogs Universe is Set to Expand

I loved Sleeping Dogs.  I loved it so much that it was my Game of the Year last year by a clear majority, and I found myself gnashing my teeth for another go at it, even if it was just a straight-up replay of the game in its entirety.  With Squeenix being...well, Squeenix, I had started to wonder if we'd actually see anything else from the series, however, but always hoped and assumed that news would be forth-coming.  That hope has paid off, as United Front Games are working on a game called "Triad Wars" which will be set in the Sleeping Dogs universe.  However, there is...a couple things that get me worrying because as you all know, I am sort of prone to worrying about literally everything.

The trademark filed for the game, as far as I know, is simply "Triad Wars" and not "Sleeping Dogs:  Triad Wars", which is well, kind of the thing you -don't- want to do.  I hope it's a sub-title and it makes the most sense to be, what with it being set in the same universe and keeping that brand recognition is key, but I don't know how trademarks work in terms like that.  "Triad Wars" on its own is incredibly generic and that leads into another point that deserves a little worried thought to it.

This is Squeenix we're talking about.  Granted, it's United Front Games developing, but Squeenix has the whole thing by the balls, you can bet, and we all know where Squeenix has been buttering their bread lately.  Or at least trying to.  And failing pretty uniformly.  Chances that this game, since absolutely nothing about it was announced by the name (potentially just half of it) will be a mobile/tablet game are far too high for my liking because they're present at all.  The idea is that it'll be a PS4/XBone game, of course, but I'm not putting anything past Squeenix, especially when the trademark, as stated, is simply for something called "Triad Wars" which will go well right next to all your other iOS games.  I can't name any of course (aside from Angry Birds), but you know what I'm getting at.

Assuming that we're not expecting the worst, one can only dream of what might actually occur in a Sleeping Dogs sequel, especially one (hopefully) sub-titled "Triad Wars".  Wei Shen obviously spent the majority of his time trying to shut down some of the Triad factions and members, but you can't always get rid of all of them, and the game could take place in the aftermath of the first game during a rebuild time or something along those lines.  Of course, it could also be a prequel that shoes off the establishment of the Red Poles in the Triad and their respective rises to power.  Or it could even be a game that runs concurrent to the events of Sleeping Dogs while Wei is running around, stirring up the pot and trying to get them all taken down.  The possibilities for another Sleeping Dogs game are honestly a bit astounding and it does manage to get me excited and hopeful despite a complete information blackout until 2014, apparently. 

It's going to be a long, hard wait, but at least I have plenty of things to keep me occupied while I wait for news about the game.  Fingers crossed for a PS4 game to play alongside the Tomb Raider sequel so that I can tell Squeenix that I really do actually support their non-Final Fantasy projects.  Since, you know, they apparently need to be told that.  Excessively.  Loudly.  So that they can't say the best/fastest selling iteration of an IP's sales are "not what they expected".  Because they're dumb.

just give me some more environmental finishers and we're all peachy, United Front Games

Steeeeaaaaam.....Machiiiiiiiiineee...

Practically required listening for this post

Last week was a rather fun one with all sorts of Valve announcements rocking the internet and driving all sorts of hype through ceilings.  It was, in fact, a week-long event with three announcements scheduled for Monday, Wednesday and Friday to allow for proper amounts of speculation and wonder in between conferences.  Speculation that all revolved around Half-Life 3, of course, due in no small part to the whole three announcements thing, and I'm sure that Valve is acutely aware of that fact.  Those rascals.  As someone who doesn't do the whole PC Gaming thing, all of this was a mere curiosity to me even if I do plan on getting into the scene at some point in the future when I have money to throw into a fairly decent rig (or even a -super- decent one) if only to check out a few odd exclusives here like Recettear and such that have no chance of jumping ship anywhere else.  Still, I can't help but take a look at the announcements and work through them as an outsider, but I'm going to tackle them in a way that...makes a little more sense than the order they picked.

Wednesday's announcement was that The Steam Box is now the Steam Machine and it is real.  Not only that, but they will come in all sorts of shapes and sizes because there are several different hardware manufacturer's that will make their own box, basically, even if they all have the exact same innards to start.  Or...maybe they will.  It's all very vague, if you haven't noticed.  I was originally thinking that there was going to be two different 'builds' or 'tiers' of it - one that acted mostly as a stream-between Box to get your games in Big Picture (and probably optimized a little better) versus a box that just -plays your Steam games-, but it seems like it's more or less going to be an amalgamation of the two.  It's hard to really pin down, however.  The only thing that's confirmed is the former bit about the streaming, but I can't imagine that Valve is going through all this trouble to release a dinky little bridge for people who want to use Big Picture, but can't be assed to...set it up properly through their PC.

How will it do this, you ask?  By using what was announced on Monday - SteamOS.  That's right, a Linux-based Operating System specifically for Steam to help you get all your digital content attached to your Steam account (and things on your normal PC) to your fingertips in one way or another.  Obviously, Steam Machines will run SteamOS natively, but you'll also be able to download it elsewhere if you feel like it; hell, you can probably just make your -own- Steam Machine based off of how open this thing seems to be.  What it's going to do, however, is try its best to optimize the parts for Game performance where a PC generally cannot do that, even a specialized one, because of the overhead from other programs and such.  Being Linux-based, it'll be able to natively run games that support Linux, but as we know that's not -every- game.  Or a good majority of them.  For the games that won't run natively, you can hook it up to your PC and stream the game through your house, but just how much of it all runs on one thing and the other is something that I just can't fathom.  It would be nice if it could just use the Machine's components and Windows' process so that I could actually play the scant few games in my library (assuming they're not Linux-compatible), but that sounds too wonderful to be true.

Finally, there's the question of -how- you will play all of this, which is where Friday's announcement of a Steam Controller comes into play.  This baby (viewable at the top of the page) is built specifically for PC gaming and will be compatible with pretty much every game in the Steam catalog, even (hopefully) games that don't have controller support cooked into them.  Of course, even knowing and seeing the controller, the issue remains of -how- you're going to play it....because the controller looks very, very unwieldy to me.  The trackpads stand out first thing, of course, but there are apparently people who've played with them already and said they work quite well, much to my disbelief.  What bothers me, however, is the placement of the face buttons, because they just seem so...weird.  Even the beta models of the controller have them taking up the touch-screen area as large keys, and that seems just as bad.  Hopefully it plays a little more intuitively than it looks, however.

The long and short of it, however, is that with those three announcements, Valve has more or less officially thrown their hat into the ring.  It's not a complete thing, as their investment is basically just as much at it's been aside from getting hardware makers to make hardware for them and if they have to discontinue them then, well, it's no big loss since a PC basically -is- a Steam Machine already with SteamOS being a thing and the controller being compatible with whatever.  Big Picture mode still exists, so what the Steam Machine/OS seems to be is an attempt to create something cohesive to mold it all together in one package which is a smart move, but you have to wonder if it'll be able to go off as seamlessly as it's arranged to do.  Depending on how many games end up running Linux natively (since I don't plan on hooking one up to this junk heap one way or another) I might just find myself owning one of these things to get my PC gaming fix....which I haven't even really dipped into yet.  But the Zeboyd catalog, Recettear and a few other things are all very tempting and ensure that I'll get into PC stuff, one way or another.

Update!:  So, now we have specs for Steam Machine prototypes.

The 300 prototype units will ship with the following components:
GPU: some units with NVidia Titan, some GTX780, some GTX760, and some GTX660
CPU: some boxes with Intel : i7-4770, some i5-4570, and some i3
RAM: 16GB DDR3-1600 (CPU), 3GB DDR5 (GPU)
Storage: 1TB/8GB Hybrid SSHD
Power Supply: Internal 450w 80Plus Gold
Dimensions: approx. 12 x 12.4 x 2.9 in high

As we all know, that is a bunch of gibberish to me, but consensus from conversations about it that others have had seems to suggest that this....this is all very bad.  By virtue of being disgustingly good.  Because it will cost a lot of money, you see.  Like a lot.

really though, who -isn't- going to get the clip of the lyric and make their machine boot with that

I Called It - Gravity Rush 2 Teased/Announced at TGS

Now, I'm not going to claim to be some sort of clairvoyant for seeing this one coming, but it needs to be said that, at every grumble about "oh no, Sony isn't committing enough First-Party to the Vita, blah blah blah", I said, without hesitation "you have no idea what you're actually talking about".  Or some variation of that, really.  And it all basically ended with "There's God of War coming in some fashion (likely beyond the HD Collection), Uncharted: Golden Abyss 2, hopefully an inFamous game and of course Gravity Rush 2.  Which will probably be announced at TGS, what with it being very Japan-focused and shit.  And Gravity Rush being a Japan-centric kind of game."  So, yes, I called it and I am going to gloat about that, because I don't even care whether or not I should gloat about it.

Anyone could see this coming, really - Gravity Rush was the title that was trotted out whenever the Vita was talked about, either because it looked amazing before it came out, or because it was amazing after it came out.  It did good numbers - it was never going to set the world on fire, given the hesitance to embrace the Vita by the community at large which is gradually shifting - but for what could have been expected of it, it did great, and being packed in for the Vita's first year of Plus made it accessible to everyone, thus ensuring it's a Vita game that's synonymous with the system.  So, a sequel was always expected, not just hoped for, and it was always going to happen.

The thing to wonder about now is just what's going to happen with it.  Absolutely nothing -about- the game was announced, just that teaser, so details could range from anything to everything.  The one thing that I almost worry about is whether or not the game is solely going to come out on the Vita.  One of the major whinging factors about Gravity Rush was that it was -only- on the Vita (because people don't understand the concept of exclusives) and were constantly clamoring for a PS3 version.  With nobody really wanting to commit anything to -one- system anymore, it seems, I worry that Gravity Rush 2 might be PS4/Vita which isn't bad per se, but it's missing the point.  Gravity Rush 1 -or- 2 doesn't need to be on a TV and I think that it might actually suffer from it, if not in the controls (the gyroscope, mainly, the touch controls I can take or leave) but for the sheer....feel of it, I guess.  It just fit perfectly on the Vita, and I worry that I might feel a sort of disconnect simply playing it on a DualShock 4 and staring at my TV.

It would also take the wind out of the sails of the announcement completely, since it would almost be confirming what everyone's griping about, with Sony "not committing" enough to the Vita.  A PS4 version would almost completely negate the Vita version in the ways that people....not 'care' about, but complain and speak smugly about, which just leads to a lot of annoyances and is completely not the point of the game or anything entirely.  It'll just mar something that could otherwise just be great personified and that irks me more than a little bit.  It all hinges on whether or not Sony wants to show a little loyalty to the Vita, versus scatter-shot release habits to 'ensure' that it's so much profit that nobody even knows what the fuck.  Which...seems like an unfortunately easy decision.  But we'll just have to see.  Not directly announcing it for the Vita with the teaser is making me just a...tad bit wary, I should say.

I still called that shit, and I want that on record, bitches

Assassin's Creed: Liberation HD Announced, Nobody is Surprised

Ubisoft announced quite a few things yesterday, but the one bit that caught my eye was the announcement of Assassin's Creed: Liberation HD, a port of the previously Vita-exclusive game for PS3, 360 and PC.  I guess it shouldn't be surprising, since it was actually a pretty good game and being solely on the Vita wasn't doing Ubisoft any favors, but I can't help feeling like I should be even the tiniest bit angry about this, being the staunch Vita supporter that I am.  I mean, here's one of the few 'mainstream' exclusives worth a damn and that exclusivity (plus being made retroactively the 'shitty' version by comparison) just went out the window.  One of the big things you could point at for just about anyone enticed by the idea of a Vita but needing a tipping point and make jazz hands over, and now not so much.  I -should- be bothered by it.

Clearly, I'm not, though.  I'm not quite sure what it is about Liberation on the whole, but it's effectively in the "Would not play again" portion of my brain and I just don't know why.  Shortly after I reviewed the game, I mentioned having a bit of fatigue over talking about it and it simply turns out that that never really went away.  Even bringing this post up last night as I intended to do it up (instead of finishing it tonight) brought about a strange weariness that, stacked on my everyday exhaustion simply proved to be too much.  That I'm managing tonight is nothing less than a miracle of sorts, or something a little less dramatic if you're into that sort of thing, I suppose.  Still, it's something weird to say the least - it's not often that you'll find a game that I don't want to talk about as with a good game, I can extol its virtues and with a bad game, I can loudly rant about its inadequacies.  Liberation is somewhere in the middle and I really only have one guess as to how it managed that.

I was....not a fan of Liberation's Multi-Player and that's putting it mildly.  To be entirely frank, I think it was an abomination unto common sense, and how it was ever presented as a good idea is foreign to me.  It seemed as if it was designed in the depths of the underbelly of some Zynga sweatshop, and brought before a Ubisoft exec by some mole-person scraping across the ground so as not to offend the sensibilities.  Shaped in a grotesque fashion, it was surely something to be rejected, to be shunned and mocked, but instead, the exec shrugged and presented it as something proper, allowing the caitiff to return to his duties with a rare sense of satisfaction, and undeserved at that.  A lot of pointless clicking and posturing that was all erased as soon as a faction the Assassins won a 'match' where everything was then reset so you could waste time with it yet again.  Somehow, someway, it managed to make its way into the final product that was Assassin's Creed: Liberation, and that is definitely a grievous injustice upon humanity that will hopefully be righted in the future somehow.  I should hope that it's simply stricken from the HD remake, but I highly doubt that it will be so, you know....enjoy that, whoever is going to buy that.

Of course, there are actual improvements being made to the game beyond the obvious of making it prettier to look at, even if it wasn't much of a slouch on the Vita.  Facial animations will be retouched, the frame-rate (that I didn't have much of a problem with, to be honest) will be locked at something proper, gameplay tweeks to combat and free-running and apparently each mission has been tweeked a bit as well.  Joystiq makes mention of new missions, but I don't see any information about it beyond that, though I do recall a few areas in the game where another mission for story-pacing would have been appreciated.  Likely that's the type of thing that will be done....or simply other missions along the Citizen E vein since those are cheap, easy and interesting.  I doubt I'm going to pay much attention to it, however - the chances of the new content coming to Liberation on the Vita, even as paid DLC, is slim and I doubt that I'd pick it up even if it were offered.  I simply have no intention on playing the game ever again.

That's not to say that you shouldn't either, of course.  I stand by my original assessment of "Just as good as any other Assassin's Creed game, for better or worse" because I would also never really go back and play those all over again either.  I tend to finish them off as best as I can (fuck you, Brotherhood and your online bullshit) and then wash my hands of them entirely which...doesn't say a whole lot of my opinion on the franchise as a whole, it would seem.  That's just my opinion and my way of playing it, of course, and seeing as I keep coming back, I must have -something- that I like about it all.  Perhaps some day I'll figure that out.  Maybe after I buy Assassin's Creed 3 for $20 somewhere and play through it despite likely not enjoying what it has to offer if my pattern recognition isn't off.  Or maybe somewhere else along the line!  I kind of mussed up the point - Liberation was pretty cool so I hope the people who can play it now without a Vita (also known as people who are missing out) will enjoy it despite its flaws that every AC game is requisite to have.

I think it's the drop-stab, because that never, ever gets old

Oh My God, So Many Announcements

I very, very briefly toyed with the idea of doing a post predicting just what could have been announced at the Sony Japan Pre-TGS Conference, but I decided on the idea that it was mostly going to be an event where the PS4 release date was going to be announced, see some Yakuza Ishin and Final Fantasy 14 on PS4 and basically be it.  Just the bog-standard Japan version of the "Here's the PS4, look how awesome it is" speech that we've all gotten by now and Japan hadn't, really since they didn't even get a release date just yet.  -Maybe- there'd be a big PS4 game announced.  Maybe.  I certainly didn't expect any big announcements or...really announcements of a sort at all.  As we all know by now, I am terrible at predictions and, as such, there were a ton of fucking announcements made at the conference and I don't even know what to think about half of them.

First up, what we all expected:  the PS4 launch date.  It is...certainly not what we expected, to say the least, as the Playstation 4 will launch in Japan on February 22nd, 2014, months after the NA and EU launch.  Those few months don't even change up the launch list all that much:

• Assassin's Creed 4
• Battlefield 4
• Call of Duty: Ghosts
• Doki-Doki Universe
• Dream Club: Host Girls on Stage
• Driveclub
• Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends
• FIFA 14
• Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn beta
• Hohokum
• Killzone: Shadow Fall
• Knack
• Natural Doctrine
• Puzzle 4 Sudoku
• Tottemo E Mahjong Plus
• Resogun
• Strider
• Watch Dogs
• Yakuza: Restoration

There are some notable exceptions of course - the Final Fantasy 14 Beta is a good thing, especially when you consider that PS3 owners get to play the Beta for free as well as transfer over their characters.  Joystiq may be being dumb here, however (Which has happened before) as the comments there and other places seem to indicate that it's a full-blown upgrade deal.  If you've bought the game for PS3, you won't have to re-buy it on PS4 and will be able to carry over your progress regardless.  With how good and friendly Square has been about FF14: A Realm Reborn (something I had never anticipated on saying), it certainly seems possible that you'll be able to upgrade and carry-over for free.  If nothing else, it simply makes the admittedly already-enticing FF14 all that much better which is also something I never figured on saying and just what the hell has happened in my life?

Yakuza: Restoration and Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends making the PS4 launch cut, however, will make quite a big deal in Japan.  Restoration was previously only figured on for PS3, but now is hitting the PS4 and possibly Vita - again, there's conflicting reports here and I base them on Joystiq just not having good people staying up late to watch the thing.  Either the game is going to be released on the Vita (as DW8:XL and a few other games (especially KOEI ones) or they just made it a point to once again mention Remote Play which is not the same thing at all and is something we already know because if a game is released for the PS4, unless it makes use of the Camera extensively or something, it can be Remote Play'd.  I -get- that it's a selling point, but you don't have to mention it with every game, especially when it leads to confusion like this.  Speaking of KOEI games, however, I have to wonder just what Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends is going to be like, as unless it has the base content of 8, it's....literally not a full game, as XL games are Expansions.  Quite a weird choice if it's going to be as light as previous XL games unless they bring 8 to Vita and PS4 as well.

Strangely enough, at the event where the Japanese PS4 release date was announced, there's a strong case to be made for the theory that the Vita was the big draw.  Vita news began with the announcement of a new, thinner model that follows in the footsteps of the PSP and its revisions.  The Vita-2000 (like the PSP-2000) will eschew the sexy OLED screen for a (hopefully not much less sexy) LCD screen, include 1 gig of onboard storage and come in six different colors for Japan at least.  Pricing doesn't seem to be much cheaper, since it comes in around $200 with conversion rates, but Japan -loves- different color models, and with a different screen, the profit margins on the device likely make it much, much better for Sony as a product.  I'm not sure how to feel about it - the Vita isn't that old to need a redesign and I fucking love the screen on mine, but there might not be that much of a difference.  Regardless, I'm not getting rid of mine anytime soon and, like others, the newly announced 64 gig memory stick will be mine ASAP, meaning that my Vita will be recommended -that much more- heavily by me if you can imagine that.

The Vita also saw a few games announced for it as well, and while it was nothing exactly huge - TGS is right around the corner after all, and I'm still saying you can expect Gravity Rush 2 there - there's still things worth a mention.  Soul Sacrifice Delta was announced as an updated version of Soul Sacrifice that is apparently much more than just an updated version of the game as Japan does sometimes.  It promises "all new elements" (I've heard talks of a straight up 'neutral option' that is neither Sacrificing or Saving a target in terms of your 'humanity' which is interesting enough) and the like that will increase the appeal of the brand overall.  I'd buy the hell out of it.  Alongside that, Phantasy Star Nova was announced as a collaboration between Sega and Tri-Ace in which is seems like Tri-Ace is doing basically all of the developing of the game.  It'll be based on the world of Phantasy Star Online 2, but offer a Single-Player story alongside an online Co-Op Multiplayer mode for up to four people.  Best odds are on Soul Sacrifice Delta being the one of these coming West, but we can hope for both.

Lastly, and most curiously, something called a Playstation Vita TV was announced and if there's anything that I just look at and don't know about, it's this.  What this is, essentially, is a Playstation Vita without the screen or the controls because you plug it into a TV for the screen and you control it with a controller; both Dualshock 3s and 4s will apparently work with it.  It is, for all intents and purposes, a console version of the Playstation Vita, meaning if you don't want to game on the go, simply don't want to play a handheld in your home, or you just want to play Vita games on a big screen TV, this is your go-to device.  You'll be able to put carts and memory sticks in it just like a normal Vita, and the touch-screen inputs can be mirrored with a press of the L3 and/or R3 buttons (the analog sticks when you push them down) of your Dualshock, which is...inelegant, but for minor uses, fairly inoffensive.  Games like Gravity Rush, Uncharted:  Golden Abyss and Zero Escape:  Virtue's Last Reward that make extensive use of all the Vita's features, however, might literally be un-playable on it as there's a compatibility list floating around out there which always means there will be some exceptions.

Still, at ~$99, the Playstation Vita TV is damn enticing for anyone who wants the Vita experience without actually buying a Vita.  Originally, I didn't know -why- you'd want to do this, but the more I think about it, the more that it begins to make a little sense as to why you'd want to buy one even if you -have- a Vita.  For one, the allure of playing Persona 4 Golden, with its lovely colors and silky smooth frames on a rather large TV is enticing admittedly.  Secondly, and perhaps the -real- reason why I'd consider it myself, is that for $99, you basically have a secondary PS4 box thanks to Remote Play.  Have your PS4 set up in the living room, but you want to play inFamous:  Second Son in your bedroom?  Hook up your Vita TV and Remote Play it on your bedroom TV, easy as that.  Combine that with the media capabilities the Vita already has (Youtube, Netflix apps, Video player, some browser-video viewing ability, etc.) and what they might get in the future as a result of more exposure (perhaps Crunchyroll, Hulu Plus, and the likes of other programs that are on the PS3 already?) and it might just be something that kicks the Apple TV, Roku and the Ouya all to the curb in one fell swoop.  Like the Ouya needed any help in doing that.

It makes you wonder what Sony's going to announce at the Tokyo Games Show when -that- is their pre-show conference.  Aside from the obvious bits that I mentioned (Gravity Rush 2), I was literally drawing blanks as to what to think about this conference and TGS both.  I don't really expect them to show up at TGS with nothing else, as that'd be really silly, but, hell, I'm always wrong with this kind of thing.  But when crazy, weird shit like this can happen, it really gives you hope and excitement about what's just around the corner, or at least, it certainly gives me that.  I wonder if it'd be too early to announce Soul Sacrifice 2 with the Delta announcement just made...

that 64 gig stick is going to be ridiculously priced, but it'll be worth it so that I can carry my Final Fantasy and Persona collections around hopefully