Two Days in a Row!

Were the picture better, you could see that this actually houses my old 16 gig stick.  You have served me well, friend.

So, yesterday Drakengard 3 CE ships.  Today, I receive my 64 GB Vita Memory Stick.  I am convinced that tomorrow will bring something equally amazing, or I will have something absolutely terrible befall me, because this shit just isn't average.  Good fortune avoids me like the plague, so two days of it in a row is especially suspicious and makes me worry about just what the universe has in store for me.

But for now, I'll suspend my concerns because I have a fucking lot of space to work with.

I have noticed that, despite the constant concerns I've had with my old 16 gig stick and the space therein, on upgrading I discover that I don't have a veritable bevy of goodies with which to fill my new expanse.  This is likely due to my insistence on buying physical and having space to work with is -always- a good thing, but it's sort of made me want to just buy up a bunch of stuff -just- to fill it out, which is admittedly kind of a bad idea.  But my list of things to add to my Vita looks something like this so far:

• Soul Sacrifice (Free Digital version)
• Soul Sacrifice Delta
• Velocity Ultra
• PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate HD (I might not even bother)
• Stealth Inc. A Clone in the Dark
• Atelier Meruru Plus: The Apprentice of Arland
• Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
• Vagrant Story
• Unit 13
• Lone Survivor: The Director's Cut
• Street Fighter X Tekken (Might not bother)
• Modnation Racers: Road Trip (Won't bother)
• Smart As... (Don't know about this one)
• Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
• Limbo
• Urban Trial Freestyle (Probably won't)
• Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (Had it once, probably won't get it back)
• Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD
• Sine Mora (Might Not)
• Gods Eater Burst
• BlazBlue Continuum Shift EXTEND
• Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention (Deleted it for space a while ago)
• Wipeout 2048
• New Little King's Story (Deleted for space)
• Atelier Totori Plus: The Adventurer of Arland
• Mortal Kombat
• Corpse Party
• Corpse Party: Book of Shadows
• A few more PSP games including the earlier Personas
• Final Fantasies VII-IX and X-2

....okay, so it looks like a lot and actually if I try to fit all of that on my stick, it probably won't fit. Aaaaand I skimmed over a few things like all of the Atlus RPGs I've bought on sale.

But if you compare that to the list of physical games I have (which I won't bore you with), then it -really- doesn't compare.  And those are the games I kind of want to have digital versions of now...just to have them.  Persona 4 Golden, for example or Dynasty Warriors 8 Complete, just so I can play them whenever.  It's....a slippery slope now, because yes, I already have these games and I already own them, but owning a digital version -too- would be nice.  I feel like I finally understand why Chance buys up multiple versions of games he likes, because that compulsion is welling up inside of me now.  I must resist.

I'm going to be a little more expectant of Playstation Plus, however, as I'll actually be able to download the games I get like...right away.  I won't know what to do with myself!  Aside from have games.

Like, fucking all of them.

but the Vita has no games, right

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

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

I Am Beat

As I write this, that Spike TV Playstation 4 event is going on and I'm just not even paying attention because I'm going to play catch-up afterward.  Really, I'd much prefer to sit here, chat with a few people, play a little of this and that and just unwind because I am just worn down from today.  In that "every part of my body is sore, why is this happening" sort of way that I hope none of you are familiar with, though I suspect at least a few of you are.  I do confess that I also wish I had a PS4 to play around with right now as some do, but I don't need one yet outside of the "but it's newwwwwww and awesoooooome" need, and I have about 24 PS3 games that I need to play through which is simply not going to happen, unfortunately.  Not soon enough, rather, as I'm not planning on migrating to a PS4 completely, even when I obtain one in (hopefully) January.  I'm not convinced I'll be able to say no to one if I see one in the wild, however....

For all those reasons above, I'm more or less taking the night off.  I don't need to - I have about six posts that I've started and simply not finished, which explains some of the holes in updates lately - but my body and my mind simply will not allow me to do anything other than recuperate.  Hopefully this event that's going on will give enough bits of news -and- information that I can expound on in a few posts to help me catch up on my count.  It's silly to worry about, but last year's number was awful and I'd like to at least make this year's bigger even if I'm not going to hit my first year again.  One of these years, I suppose.  Until then, enjoy the PS4-related goodness!

okay, so Uncharted 4 was announced, there, I said news

The Official Playstation 4 Unboxing Video is Awesome

There's almost very little to actually say about this Unboxing video.  It gets right to it and doesn't pad time with explanations, it doesn't leave you wondering "Oh, but what about this little thing", it just shows off what's in the box with a nice, slick presentation.  A nice, slick presentation that may seem rather familiar, but good nonetheless.

Not too much longer before the front-lines of PS4 buyers will have their console in hand.  I won't be among you, but know that I salute you brave folks who are prepared to weather the craziness of a console launch.  My only launch was the Vita and it was worth it because handheld launches are...you know, lighter than consoles.  And I didn't even really get it -at- launch so much as I got it on launch day or the day after.  The point remains that I simply would not be able to manage, and that's why I'll be letting the chaos die down in the coming months before a PS4 is mine.  It will be all the sweeter from the time of anticipation...or at least that's what I'm telling myself.

anything using Daft Punk as inspiration scores some major points at base, really

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

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

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

BigFest Looks Like It Might Be Something

BigFest is one of the games that was just announced at GamesCom and like most of the Vita announcements, this one was Indie-Oriented - but in a far different way.  It's being developed by what I can only assume is an Indie team, "On the Metal" apparently, but it's one of Sony's ideas simply handed down to the team to develop, or so the (European) Playstation Blog says.  At its core, it's essentially a Theme Park Game (You remember those, right?) in which the idea is to run not a Theme Park, but a music festival, setting up booths and the stage, customizing the set-list and such and making sure everything runs smoothly so that your visitors are happy.  It's a management Sim which, I have been begging for on the Vita because Sim games on a portable just make sense and only now is it finally appearing as such, but not quite in a way I would've anticipated.  Though it is in one that I'm willing to give a try with.

The reason why this game beats Indie at its core is not because of the developer or the concept, but because of the content.  Music Festivals need music - that is the point of them - and the actual music that you'll be using will not be canned music from a database or pre-arranged songs unique to the game, but tapped directly from an independent source rife with bands who are not signed with record labels.  Actual Indie bands, not, you know, bands that adhere to the "Indie Scene", since that was a thing for a little while.  Music-snobbery aside, that along makes it a fascinating prospect; one that many are already interpreting as a way for Sony to gather some intelligence for their Music Division which would be a brilliant idea, so long as it's done through a workable, enjoyable game in the process.

There's not a whole lot about the game that's really known at this point - it's only announced for the Vita and it makes the most sense there, and there's some (hopefully alpha) footage of it shown in the above video, but that's about the gist of it.  And really, that's the bulk of what needs to be said of it at this point - It's an interesting looking game with an interesting looking concept that will hopefully be executed well enough to draw attention to itself and the crux of its creation.  Don't really need to go off into a tangent about this or that related to it.

Or at least, that's what I'm telling myself because I've had a headache for ten hours and I can barely focus and I just want to go to sleep.

I do hope that it's successful (and Football Manager) if just to bring more Simulation games to the system KOEI

I Guess I Can Talk About the PS4

It amuses me that the PS4 had such a strong showing at Gamescom and I have completely and totally neglected it to talk about the Vita.  I could technically still talk about the Vita tonight, in some of the exclusives that were announced for it, but I will post-pone that because there was some very very important information dropped about the PS4 that deserves mentioning and speaking on.  I think part of my issue with it is that I'm just trying not to think about the PS4 because I can't get one at launch (well, I could but semantics) and I have just so many PS3 games that I want to play first.  So I basically just keep thinking that the PS4 isn't going to come out until some far off date in the future that I don't have to worry about.  Still, I suppose it's close enough that I should....you know, stop doing that.

Anyway, the biggest news, clearly, is that the release date of the Playstation 4 is November 15th in North America, November 29th in Europe, where "Europe" means "PAL Territories" and numbers at 20 countries at least, as well as Latin America for the 29th.  That is, of course at the $399 Price-point that was mentioned beforehand and without any bundles unless you count the ones that Amazon and GameStop are putting together.  However, much like the Vita with Trophy Park, every Playstation 4 will launch with The Playroom pre-installed which is basically like Trophy Park in that the whole point of it is to show off the new features of the Playstation 4 in a fun, cute way.  Of course the one downside with that is the fact that some of the games require the PSEye....which actually isn't bundled in with the PS4.  But it's a free game that most people will probably ignore anyway because they'll grab a shiny new thing with their console and play that instead, so it's likely not a big loss.

They also announced like a metric damn ton of Indie games for not only the PS4, but the Vita and PS3 as well (as some will be releasing on all three, but most seem to be moving forward with PS4/Vita which is A-Okay), and it'll stun you to know that that list right there?  In that Playstation Blog post?  It's incomplete.  There's more games than that that were announced later and not edited in.  Were it that I could find a place that compiles the full list definitively, I'd link it here, and it probably exists but I don't think my poor heart could handle it.  Of course that is also neglecting to mention the -other- games that were announced, the ones that some would call right, proper games (because they're not Indies), like the Shadow of the Beast reboot, Rime from Tequila Works and Everybody's Gone to Rapture from thechineseroom (which may ore may not be Indie?) who are famous for Dear Esther and the up-coming Amnesia:  A Machine for Pigs which is a semi-sequel to Frictional Games' Amnesia: The Dark Descent.  Hell, there's probably other games, but I think you get my point.

One of the things that I personally loved about the PS4 news is not only the Playstation 4's UI, but the way that it was presented.  Shuhei Yoshida showed us the UI in probably the most brilliant way one -could- do such a thing at the start of the show, which is included above.  It is pretty much diametrically opposed to the way they were initially planning to show it off (?) maybe, I don't know, it says leaked and looks legit, but I just don't know anymore.  Technically, they probably -will- run with that commercial eventually, but the point is that we've had a good impression made with Yoshida.  The reasons are two-fold.  First off, Yoshida actually shows us the interface in motion as opposed to carefully selected shots for the trailer with far too much zoom, and secondly, he shows us how it performs under the conditions that we'll likely use it in.  We're far more likely to be reclining in a comfortable chair or couch or bed, lazily flitting through the menus and whatnot than we are to be sitting on the edge of our couch, earbud in place, constantly ready and vigilant and excited to purchase and download a game to assist a friend who is in similar conditions.  It shows that it simply works when all we want to do is relax and play video games which is just....the whole idea, really.  Doesn't really make for an exciting -thing- of course, but it in turn generates excitement -because- it works.

The launch window line-up, as if we haven't talked about games enough, was also more or less pinned down, coming in both Retail and PSN flavors.  It's easiest to just Copy/Paste, thus I shall do so.

Retail:

• Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag (Ubisoft)
• Battlefield 4 (EA)
• Call of Duty: Ghosts (Activision)
• Driveclub (SCE)
• FIFA 14 (EA)
• Killzone: Shadow Fall (SCE)
• Knack (SCE)
• Just Dance 2014 (Ubisoft)
• LEGO Marvel Superheroes (Warner Bros.)
• Madden 25 (EA)
• NBA 2K14 (2K Games)
• NBA Live (EA)
• Need for Speed: Rivals (EA)
• Skylanders: Swap Force (Activision)
• Watch Dogs (Ubisoft)

PSN:

• Basement Crawl (Bloober Team)
• Blacklight: Retribution (Zombie Studio)
• Contrast (Focus Home Interactive)
• Counterspy (SCE)
• Doki-Doki Universe (SCE)
• DC Universe Online (SOE)
• Flower (SCE)
• Hohokum (SCE)
• Minecraft (Mojang 4J Studios)
• N++ (Metanet)
• Pinball Arcade (Farsight Technologies)
• Planetside 2 (SOE)
• Pool Nation Extreme (Cherry Pop Games)
• ResoGun (SCE)
• Super Motherload (Xgen Studios)
• Tiny Brains (Spearhead)
• Warframe (Digital Extremes)
• War Thunder (Gaijin Entertainment)

Basically, if you're looking for straight-up Playstation First-Party Exclusives to sway your decision one way or the other for whatever silly reason, you're basically looking at Knack, Killzone: Shadow Fall, Driveclub, DC Universe Online, Planetside 2 (both of these are 'kind-of' because they're on PC too) and Hohokum.  Everything else is presumed to be either third-party or third-party exclusive which isn't too bad.  That also isn't taking into account inFamous:  Second Son which hits in February 2014 and The Order: 1886 which will also likely release sometime in the early 2014 window.  You should really care about inFamous: Second Son and there is going to be another post explaining why, and definitely The Order: 1886 as well because it looks awesome.  This is also not taking into account whatever Naughty Dog and Sony's other First and Second Parties have up their sleeves.  Basically I'm saying you're to expect some big things on top of this massive wave of titles as well.

I'm pretty sure that that is a good swath of the Playstation 4 news from Gamescom and am comfortable with the knowledge that even if it's not and I missed some other things, that that is even more of a testament to the size of the event than I could emphasize here.  Because there is a -hell- of a lot of news in this post, and I honestly can't imagine there being a whole lot more.  Because that much awesome would hurt my brain, you see.

I just can't get over that UI video, it's just so simple, but goddamnit if that's not what I want to see

PSA: There is an Amazing Vita Sale Going On

Completely out of the blue, the Playstation Blog announced a sale this previous Monday that would go live this past Tuesday and carry over into next week's store update on Tuesday where different titles are switched in.  As someone who loves his Vita so much who wants other people to similarly love their Vitas, I would be remiss if I didn't bring it up at least once, so that is what I'm doing here.  The sale is the Japanese Games Sale which is appropriate because a lot of the games that are really good on the Vita are Japanese (though there are notable exceptions, of course) and quite a few of them are included in the sale in one vein or the other.  Of course, it would just be easiest to sort of...show what the sale is and -then- talk about it first.

August 13th – 19th

Game	Regular Price	Sale Price	Plus Price
Soul Sacrifice	$35.99	$24.99	$17.49
Gravity Rush	$35.99	$24.99	Free
Sumioni: Demon Arts	$14.99	$10.49	$7.34
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus	$39.99	$27.99	$19.59
Guilty Gear Accent XX Core + R	$14.99	$10.49	$7.34
Atelier Totori Plus	$39.99	$27.99	$19.59
Silent Hill Book of Memories	$29.99	$14.99	$7.50
Touch My Katamari	$14.99	$7.49	$3.75
Ridge Racer	$24.99	$12.49	$6.25

August 20th – 26th

Game	Regular Price	Sale Price	PS Plus Price
Street Fighter X Tekken	$39.99	$27.99	$19.59
Muramasa Rebirth	$34.99	$27.99	$20.99
Metal Gear Solid HD Collection	$29.99	$20.99	$14.69
New Little King’s Story	$19.99	$13.99	$9.79
Dead or Alive 5 Plus	$39.99	$19.99	$10.00
Ragnarok Odyssey	$29.99	$20.99	$14.69
Dynasty Warriors Next	$34.99	$17.49	$8.75
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3	$39.99	$19.99	$10.00
Super Monkey Ball	$29.99	$20.99	$14.69

As stated, the first batch of titles will be only be on sale until next Tuesday, where another batch of fantastic games will take over and threaten your wallet with all the fury of a thousand purchases.  Or something along those lines. 

One thing that I do want to emphasize so much that I started a new paragraph for it is that I want you to buy Soul Sacrifice.  As you know, I really enjoyed it and I want a sequel which is only going to happen if more people buy it.  So buy it.  At $17.49, it's practically a steal (even if some of the other games in the sale are literally a steal) and it has hours upon hours upon hours of content to keep you coming back for more, not counting the batches of free DLC that have come out for it.  Which I don't even think are -done- by the way.  So the game is there and then some and I cannot say enough that I want you to buy it because I love it and I know that I'm not going to be alone in this.  It's one of those games that I will eventually Platinum because I just want to really badly, even if it's going to take a ridiculous amount of effort.

Other things I'm going to pick up personally include Atelier Totori Plus, which Chance assures me is very cute and well worth the sub-$20 pricetag on it and Touch My Katamari because that name, the demo is amazing and I have just wanted it for a while, so $3.75 is absurdly reasonable.  I briefly considered Guilty Gear, but I don't like Fighting Games as a rule, and I already have BlazBlue attached to my account and I really want to play that...when I have 3 gigs free which isn't going to be anytime soon, I can assure you of that, unfortunately.  If I liked Diablo-like games, I would certainly pick up Silent Hill:  Book of Memories since I enjoyed the demo for it and....even as it stands, I still might.  It's a weird, neat little game and it's something that I want to like, and am assured by some sources that it's something that is indeed likable, but I just haven't reconciled that with my brain just yet.

The following week is when it gets a bit ridiculous.  Muramasa: Rebirth just came out not too long ago and for $21, you're getting a crazy good deal.  Similarly the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection for Vita, while it lacks Peace Walker, is still twice the price it'll be on sale for and even if you're just looking for one or the other, it's simply easier to buy both because they're both fantastic games.  Just pretend you're getting one for free if you need any more convincing than that.  While I have my complaints and whinges about Dynasty Warriors Next, sub-$9 is a good price for just about anything, and it -is- based on Dynasty Warriors 7 which was the best Dynasty Warriors game before 8 came out (which I have yet to play even though I bought it on release day auuuugh).  So if that's something you're interested in at all, it might not be a bad idea so long as you're not a Trophy addict.  Honestly, there's not a bad game in the second week of sales aside from perhaps Super Monkey Ball (which I don't think I've heard a single positive thing about) and New Little King's Story which is purely dependent on your tastes, I believe.  (Have heard mixed things about it, myself)

Regardless, the prices are amazing, the games are great and it's a sale that is geared specifically towards getting you to enjoy your Vita more than you already do.  Unless you already own like -all- of the games in the sale in which case you are probably enjoying your Vita just fine enough.  Because you also likely have Persona 4 Golden which means you're not even reading this because you're still playing it because it's so good.  So please, if you're one of those folks complaining there aren't enough things for the Vita (or know someone who is saying that) direct your attention to the storefront for the next two weeks and gorge yourself on something great for a price that won't hurt.

but no seriously, at least buy Soul Sacrifice

Sony, This is Not How You Do a Price Drop

The 'Super Slim' Model of the PS3 isn't anything new, having been around since September, so just under a year, and it's quite obvious that it's going to be the last way to get a PS3 unless, you know, you do some online shopping or find a store that just so happens to have a regular Slim (or even rarer, a late-model 'phat').  Initially, this posed something of a nagging issue as the Super Slim was introduced at the exact same price-point of the regular Slim with neither of them taking a price-cut.  People started questioning the worth if it and, well, rightly so, since there was no real price difference or anything.  Traditionally there...are changes and such when this type of thing goes down.  But whatever, everyone just sort of ignored it and assumed the price would quietly be dropped down at some point and any late-comers could grab a PS3 on the cheap-ish to enjoy some of the great exclusives that the PS3 offered this generation.  It's only now, almost a full year later, that we see a Super Slim model at a lowered price-point and it is, uh...less than ideal.

The new 12 Gig (Solid State/Flash memory versus Hard Disk Drive) Super Slim will debut at $199.99 in North America and even it is not a new thing on the market.  This model of the Super Slim was previously exclusive to European and Hong Kong regions and for some reason it didn't die a horrible death of obscurity in the meanwhile as Sony moved further and further into digital ventures.  If it's not patently obvious, I question its existence in the first place and further wonder why it's re-emerging since it seems....quite a bit senseless if I'm being honest here.  Clearly, I'm not in the minority of people questioning it either, but what really bugs me is that it effectively kills any chance of a proper PS3 being put on sale for any less than the $270 pricetag it's currently sporting (generally with bundles and the like).  As someone who is basically in the market for a new PS3 because I am just tired of worrying about my 80 gig, I was hoping to find a nice budgeted version at some point considering I have spent about $570 on -just- PS3s (my original purchase, plus a YLOD replacement refurb) and the idea of setting that further up to $840 is...distasteful to say the least.

The common defense I'm basically seeing for the thing is that the Flash Memory isn't in the same place where the HDD bay is, so you can theoretically buy this model, buy a 1-2 TB drive and slap it right home.  Easily.  So easily that Sony even gives you instructions on the topic and whole-heartedly encourage the process.  The issue here is that, yes, you could spend about $70 on a 1TB and have precisely twice the space of a 500 gig that will run you $270, but I don't care I don't wanna fiddle with shit.  Selfish reason, granted since the pragmatic approach would be to do just that if it's even possible (I don't see why it wouldn't be), but just because you -can- do something doesn't mean you should, nor should you -have- to when it comes to circumstances like these.  Yet the problem is that you're still paying the same price regardless when the hope was...you know, for something less.  Which says nothing for the recently-deserved fear of consoles with higher-capacity HDDs becoming useless after Firmware updates until, you know fixed versions come out which you'll have to plop in through Safe mode and blah blah blah, nonsense.

Maybe it was silly of me to think that there was going to be a proper price-drop for the system in the looming wake of the PS4's release, considering there's going to be a 500 Gig GTAV Bundle for $270 (which, hell, I might just look into because I'm getting GTAV anyway and it's just a pack-in game with a new system and 500 gigs of space) coming out in September which is just...months (perhaps even -a- month) before the PS4 releases proper.  Of course, the PS3 is going to be a necessity regardless of the PS4's launch given the unfortunate lack of backwards compatibility (which is completely understandable, but still).  That is likely the reason for a non-drastic drop and instead something along the lines of this 12-gig silliness.  Much like the 4 Gig XBox 360, it honestly has no place in this world (even if the 12 gig is 'better' because you don't have to pay for proprietary memory like the 360) and it....just annoys me that it exists.  Oh well.  Never let it be said that I'm not willing to call Sony out on stupid things, I suppose.

honestly I kind of just want a new PS3 with lots of space so I can download my PS+ games for the stupid amount of time it'll take and not worry about the thing catching fire...or just using the warranty if it does

Even More Indie Confusion

Brian Provinciano of Retro City Rampage fame is one of the many suspicious of Microsoft's new plan.

It seems Sony's still the only one out there getting it right in terms of Indies, though Microsoft recently announced that they're making strides in the right direction....if you believe spin at its face, that is.  Essentially, what Microsoft has announced is that Self-Publishing will be possible for games on the XBone and on top of that, every single XBone console will eventually double as a dev kit.  This would allow you to run down to the store, buy an XBone, take it home and work whatever voodoo that involves to turn it into a dev kit/debug unit.  Because it's not going to be as simple as flipping a switch and 'woooo suddenly I'm a game developer'.  Not to mention that allowing you to be able to mess with the innards of the XBone as you would anything with code and such with reckless abandon would open all sorts of unsavory doors, so there's obviously some bits that haven't been mentioned just yet.  Apparently this was supposed to be big news at Gamescom, but it just so happened to leak out beforehand.  Mysteriously.

"Suspicion" seems to be the operative word in terms of reactions among both consumers and Indie Developers alike, and it's not unwarranted, of course.  Even without Microsoft's numerous foot-in-mouth moments subsequently followed by furious back-peddling in what comes off as a desperate display of "PLEASE LOVE US", their previous attempt at the Indie Scene with XBox Live Indie Games was less-than-stellar in concept and execution.  An annual fee allowed you access to the development tools with which you could eventually create a working game for the service that was then checked by other XNA developers (I believe) for QA purposes (pretty much, I just heard Zeboyd asking/talking about "Peer Review" for the XBLIG versions of their games before release) before being unceremoniously placed into the roster next to the rest of the games similarly added without much regard to grouping or visibility.  Of course, that is kind of how these things go, things like the App Store and such that allow 'self-publishing' in this way, which is akin to "Yeah, just kind of put it out there and make sure we get our cut for storage" which is...less than ideal.

Whether or not Microsoft's plan for the XBone will be like XBLIG but 'better' or something else entirely that might actually be good has yet to be seen and will likely remain under wraps even beyond Gamescom.  It's highly doubtful this system will be able to go up and running by launch, of course, and first-hand experience is really where it's going to count, as well as how Microsoft handles the marketplace thereafter.  It -does- sound like Microsoft is making strides in that area in a sense as they previously announced that all the games will be in the 'games' section of the store, thus no "XBLA goes -here-" and "XBLIG goes over -there-", but really that was never the biggest problem.  The biggest problem with indies on the 360 was that you...basically never knew when the games went up because they went up 'whenever'.  Sony has the right of it here, I think - Games go up Tuesday, Mobile games go up Wednesday.  If you're even a little familiar with your Playstation devices and such, you know that, so you'll know to check new releases and you'll be able to find all the new games, indie or otherwise, held within.  Then they also have an Indies Section that, well, actually has visibility as well.

Something else that's curious is that Microsoft seems to be promising full compatibility of the wide spectrum of extra essentials to Indies as well.  Specifically, Mark Whitten, VP of the XBox Division had this to say:

"Our vision is that every person can be a creator. That every Xbox One can be used for development. That every game and experience can take advantage of all of the features of Xbox One and Xbox LIVE. This means self-publishing. This means Kinect, the cloud, achievements. This means great discoverability on Xbox LIVE. We'll have more details on the program and the timeline at gamescom in August."

This is new in terms of Microsoft's treatment of indies for the most part.  Even Kinect integration, something that obviously could have happened on the 360 seems new unless my googling has failed to inform me of a time when XNA developers were allowed to work with the device for 360 purposes.  Additionally, add me to the list of people who believe that you don't just get to say "the cloud" and we fucking know what you're talking about.  Does it mean cloud saves?  Cloud storage?  Cloud computation, as some XBone games are touting already even though that kind of requires internet which was something of a problem as we have discussed?  Will you be able to have some sort of cross-compatibility with Windows 8 thanks to "THE CLOUD"?  Any of this is something you could mention instead of just saying "THE CLOUD" as a thing of reverence.  Regardless, it'll be interesting to see just how many Achievements you can add to your indie game and how updating it can or cannot change that, since that's something that has been played around with quite a lot by actual developers (in terms of adding DLC which adds Achievements/Trophies to the overall list).  Actually, it'll just be interesting to see how it handles updates in general, considering some of Microsoft's difficulties with that.

Meanwhile, on the Nintendo side of the world, Nintendo has made a strange move in telling Japanese Indies to shove it.  Or, more succinctly that they're just not accepting Japanese applications for development on the Wii U, despite Nintendo's moves to make the device friendly to Indies of all types.  It's especially weird that they're not taking applications from Japan of all places, considering that's where they're based, but there are some reasons at play here that do sort of make it a little more understandable.  I don't know a lot about the Japanese Indie Scene, but I have to imagine that a good portion of it is likely Visual Novel-based, since that's really big in Japan, and I have to also imagine that a good portion of -that- is...well...not what Nintendo is looking for, I'll say.  I mean, maybe I'm wrong on that, and it's definitely possible that I -am-, and that the Japanese Indie Scene is just rife with platformers that blow Nintendo's own out of the water or something, but I'm just saying that that's possible.  Still, it's just a weird move, especially amidst all the other drama surrounding Indies.

So yeah, it's just kind of amusing to see all this going on and Sony just kind standing off to the side with the bulk of Indie Developers just looking on going "Okay".  I'm not sure what all moves they actually made in wooing the scene as heavily as they did, but it paid off with dividends and it's continuing to do so.  If nothing else, this is all at least a good exercise in realizing the importance of goodwill.  Sony's gained it massively, Microsoft pissed all theirs away and Nintendo is somewhere comfortably in the middle.  Who knows how this'll all play out when plans are actually outlined and put in place, but I wouldn't expect something of a large-scale event occurring.  It takes a lot of work to shift developers away from something, but most of the time it takes something negative to something else, so unless Sony screws the pooch at some point, they might just be around for a while.  Still, with a little competence, a little humility and a little courting, Microsoft could endear themselves back eventually.  I just don't see that happening, though.

well, something negative or truckloads of money, but

Freedom Wars Sounds Excellent

If you haven't heard of Freedom Wars before today, it's rather understandable, given that the game has only been formally announced for Japan with a vague launch window of "2014".  However, there are some reasons as to why you should know of Freedom Wars, and the sooner that's done, the better.  Firstly, it's a Vita game, which is obviously the reason -I'm- excited about it and bringing it up as a topic for discussion.  Secondly, it's a very nice-looking Vita game, which is probably where you start to care a little.  You're probably thinking, however, "Well, It's announced only in Japan and it's a Vita game, so I guess it's not coming out over here", to which I say you didn't let me finish.  The third thing about Freedom Wars is that it's being developed by Sony Japan Studio, which means it's first-party through and through.  Which means it has a very, very high chance of being localized.  As in, it has almost no chance of not coming out over here.  Interested yet?  Thought so. (The only correct answer was yes.)

Freedom Wars was originally teased as "Panopticon" thanks to the large structures of the same name that allow humans to exist in a desolate world.  The inhabitants of them, at least some of them, are branded 'Criminals' from birth and given a million-year sentence that they're expected to work towards shaving off so that they can have..you know, life as a free person.  I'm not quite sure how it actually works yet, but it's an interesting concept and is exactly what the game revolves around.  Your 'work' is going up against rather large monsters for different purposes, and that's what the game is set around. Of course, I'm not sure -why- beyond, shut up it's a video game, but I'm sure an in-universe explanation will come up at some point.  Like....you know, when the game is released and explains it.  Or something along those lines.  That's not really important, nor is it the point, though.

In what I'm attributing as a nod to Phantasy Star Online because it fills me with glee, you'll be getting a mechanical assistant, but thankfully it's a little bit more useful than a floating robot that hangs around your shoulder and/or back.  You robot companion, an android rather, is called an "Accessory" (for some reason) and is with your character not only to provide support in these missions that you have to do, but also to monitor you and ensure you don't do anything that would -add- hours to your sentence, rather than subtract them.  From what I can tell in the trailer, they're essentially the same as your Criminal, but likely they don't have the same sentence, nor do they have aspirations of being free I assume.  They're androids, after all, but perhaps that is a striving goal, I don't know.  It's certainly not the most original approach, but it's used because it has the potential to be interesting.

Siliconera recently explained "Volunteer" missions which certainly sound pretty neat, though I hope they're only a single of many types of missions you'll be able to undertake in the game proper.  Volunteer missions are essentially divided into three sections: Sortie, Engagement and Recapture.  More appropriately, it's a Seek-and-Rescue deal, where you look for captured citizens and bring them back to the transport zone while dodging and/or temporarily disabling Abductors.  The post mentions that Abductors regenerate themselves, so it would seem that you cannot actually 'destroy' them, or at least not in Volunteer missions which is...odd, to say the least.  I'd assume you -can- destroy them at some point, which I hope is involved in another type of mission, as stated, but this sort of mission is different from what you might expect given the way Freedom Wars looks, and it's refreshing enough at least.  Besides, Seek-And-Rescue seems like an odd fit for this game if that's all it is, thus I'm believing that it's not quite.

Something that definitely stands out with Freedom Wars is the "Thorn Whip" that Criminals and their Accessories have access to.  They appear as a sort of black and red energy thing that wraps around the character's left arm and work like a grappling hook from Just Cause 2 or, more appropriately, Lost Planet.  It's something that allows you to not only climb up buildings for recon purposes, but it allows you to attach and pull yourself to the Abductors to break off parts of them while you're engaged in combat with them.  Which is something else that leads me to believe that there are other mission types, specifically along the lines of a traditional "there is a giant thing, murder the shit out of it" mission structure that you expect from a hunting game.  Or...well, most games, these days.  Not that that's bad, and indeed with Freedom Wars merging this Thorn Whip and neat looking guns and melee weapons, the battle system seems like it'll be something rather neat to witness and experience.  Certainly has caught my attention.

The game is still a ways off, of course, in that it won't be out in Japan until next year, and likely not the first part of it, but it's still a game and it still looks rather enjoyable.  For those that continue to say that Sony's Vita support is lacking (despite the wonderful work at bringing indies to the device) this isn't the ultimate comeback, but it's part of it assuredly.  When you begin to consider that there are more than likely sequels to Gravity Rush and Uncharted: Golden Abyss in the works, not to mention a God of War iteration of some fashion at the least, the picture becomes that much better.  And really, that's just some of the things that we know about.  There are assuredly other things in the works (Soul Sacrifice 2, please, not like I have to really -ask- for that) so this just comes across as an affirmation of that.  Remember that the deluge of Nintendo first-party support for the 3DS didn't start until this year, really, and also make a note that not a whole lot of it has been new, where the Vita has seen at least three other brand-new retail IPs born on the device in first and second-party hands.  So take heed and take heart, because the Vita's nowhere near as bad-off as the internet likes to say it is.

basically this game looks awesome and other games on the Vita look awesome because the Vita has awesome games

The E3 Recaps

Almost more fun than E3 itself is the spin that people take on the events afterward.  I'm sure I don't have to remind anyone of the famous "Never" bit from Giant Bomb from years back, and there are innumerable other examples I could throw down right here.  That's not the point.  Or...it's mostly not the point.  The point is that I'm trying to lead-in to talking about the E3 recaps from VideoGamerTV, one of those Youtube groups that has all sorts of folks uploading to the same channel, I believe.  Probably.  Gonna be honest, I didn't look into them at -all- aside from collecting the recap videos because I'm at a surplus for Youtube channels I watch yet my time is heavily, heavily budgeted already, so I don't need or want more.  The recaps are hilarious, thus I'm going to talk about the recaps.

The Playstation one above was the first one of the three I saw and was quite fantastic the first time I went through it.  Of the three, it's probably the least out-and-out funny, but that's more than likely because it doesn't -need- to be funny.  One of the things it plays up pretty heavily is, of course, Sony's triumph at E3 and it does so in a way that, while humorous, really sort of captures the mood or the thinking of the majority of us that was likely going on while it was happening live.  So I didn't have to stop the video and belt out a peal of laughter at any point, but it -was- still entertaining the whole way through.  Definitely worth a watch, if just for the Indie section alone.

"Do you guys like Indie Games?  Because we've got all of them.  Fuckin' all of them.  Count it:  all of them."

If there can be anything said about the Microsoft video, it's that it 99% -only- covers the actual E3 presser, which is pretty much a good thing overall, I should say.  No sense bringing that negativity into it, though there are just a couple bits where a little snark is thrown that way if you're thinking along those lines.  It is a shame that the video was taken from a laggy livestream, thus making the video choppy as hell, but, well, that was likely the E3 experience most people got anyway, so, true to form again.  If I had to pick a favorite part of that video, it'd definitely be the bit where they tried to make sense of the "Driveatar" because.....yeah.

Good luck with that.

I've gotta be honest.  My whole reason for doing this post was just so I could post the Nintendo abridged one.  It is by far the best of the three and it is -still- funny even though I've watched it half a dozen times.  It's just stellar and really kind of captures the feeling that it might not exactly be all the games we -wanted-, but they're games we'll play and enjoy all the same.  Really, the whole thing, aside from the Wind Waker bit which I just didn't understand, is all fantastic.  It just didn't feel right -only- posting this one even though it's the one I enjoyed the most.  So really, if you haven't watched the other two, at least watch this one.

"Crotch!"

E3: The Grades

It's kind of a hack thing to do, or at least reeks of self-importance, to actually give 'grades' for E3 showings and the like, which makes me not want to do it.  But at the same time, I'm not being super-duper serious about it, so you can basically take whatever I say, run it through the Whose Line Is It Anyway? points system, and you basically have exactly what my grades are worth.  (Hint:  The worth is zero)  I mean, it's not like I'm going to be -super- silly about it, but definitely not going to sit here and pore over everything to get a completely and totally 'informed' opinion and also try and be objective about it.  Because, obviously, I -can't- be objective about it.  So having fun with it is the next best choice.

Microsoft

Microsoft went into E3 with a -lot- of things being expected of them.  Expectations of explanations regarding their still-confusing and Draconian-sounding DRM schemes that are hard-built into the console itself.  Expectations of explanations regarding their equally-confusing -not- Draconian-sounding "Family Sharing" ideas that are apparently a thing but have yet to be explained in a way that allows you to see the catch, leaving them simply as things that seem to defeat the entire purpose of the Draconian DRM.  Expectations of a clear, concise message about any one thing.  Expectations of a lot of games to be shown.

And, well....we got games, at least.

Unfortunately, it's not quite as easy as just saying "They had a bunch of games and they were all awesome and it was great!" because, well, that's just lying.  There -were- a lot of games and while some of them were technically impressive, most of them...well, weren't.  Killer Instinct's revival was quickly mired with the double-tap of news that it's free-to-play with just one fighter where others are purchased and it's being developed by Double Helix Games who have...a less-than-impressive catalog of projects.  Dead Rising 3 eschews the campy B-movie quality of the previous games in lieu of a....*sigh*  'gritty', heavier experience that will be published by Microsoft Game Studios, meaning a multi-platform port is at least a year off of release.  Ryse:  Son of Rome has QTEs for the sake of having QTEs, I suppose, because they complete themselves with incorrect inputs, leading some to think they're just for bonuses or something.  And Project Spark, pretty much the -only- game I really care about, is pretty much LittleBigPlanet, only done with what appears to be the Fable engine.  (Seriously, does that not look like Fable?)  (Seriously the second, "Build, Play, Share?  Really?)

Titanfall is something that I am told is awesome but I haven't quite checked it out for myself yet.  However, I will err on the side of calling it awesome.

Grade:  D+.  Microsoft brought the focus on games in a big way, which is appreciated, but that's pretty much all they did.  Showing MGSV on stage gets you points regardless of anything, and I am all for cribbing ideas and running with them as Project Spark is doing, but I'm not too optimistic on the execution - especially since I will never, ever play it.  Their continued insistence against explaining anything coherently was pre-cemented by cancelling all their E3 meetings beforehand, meaning the only things we -did- get were along the lines of the rather unfortunate PR disasters that Microsoft employees seem to be tripping over themselves to perform lately.  In the end, even though they brought the games, nobody really walked away happy except for the diehards, and those people would be happy if the XBone kicked you in the nuts every hour on the hour.

Sony

Where moods were dire for Microsoft's entrance into E3 because of what we knew, outlooks were similarly bleak for Sony's conference for the most part, with only a few spots of hope here and there.  "Well if Microsoft is being super restrictive with their console, it's obvious that Sony is going to go the same route!," was the cry from the rooftops.  There was an abject refusal to believe that Sony's device would be any less restrictive from the consumer stand-point than Microsoft's on a widespread basis, because nobody could see a reason why it would be on Microsoft's device and not Sony's.  Well, mostly nobody.  Yet even those of us that chose to believe there was some sense left alive in the industry were hard-pressed to assume that Sony would come out and absolutely kick in Microsoft's teeth from a PR stand-point.

So, really, all of us were wrong about something where it concerned Sony.

The absurdity of the night has started to sink in for all of us in the passing days, of Sony getting deafening cheers and applause for simply saying "Yeah, the PS4 is going to work like the PS3 today in terms of used gaming and game lending and internet requirements", but the onus is on Microsoft for calling all of that into question in the first place.  Despite the absurdity of it, Sony's stance on gaming is nonetheless a victory for us all, even with the proponents of a "Digital Future" and the few Microsoft supporters stating that the XBone is simply a generation too soon.  In no uncertain terms, we are not on the precipice of this digital future nor are we a generation away from it, because global infrastructure is simply not there.  Nor is it close.  We are not to the point as a -people- on a worldwide scale where the internet is a provision or a right.  To suggest otherwise is foolish, and to acknowledge that the games industry, like most industries, is a worldwide on makes it that much more obvious.

That's more of a topic for another night, however.

As for Sony's games showing, well, it's something of a hard thing to pin down.  It's easy to overlook in a sense, but Sony bringing up a score of Indie Developers to show off an impressive list of Indie games that will be playable on the PS4 (continuing the absurdly strong relationship that's been heavily emergent in the last few months) easily adds enough games to the list to suggest that maybe they did, in fact, show off the most games at E3.  Perhaps it's because these Indie Games are known quantities at this point, it's easy to overlook them, or perhaps it's something else, but no less than eight Indie Games were featured on-stage on top of the other games shown, while I'm willing to bet a number of them are going to go PC/Playstation-only as well.

If your call for games actually means "New games that we haven't seen before" then Sony's list comprises only four titles:  The Order:  1886 which is a new IP, Mad Max which is a single-player multi-platform offering from Avalanche Games set in the universe of Mad Max with little to no relation to the movies, Final Fantasy XV (Which is actually Final Fantasy Versus XIII rebranded) and Kingdom Hearts 3.  However, I don't think you can be disappointed with the content of that list, even if you're disappointed with the length of it.  Because it's perfectly valid to be disappointed with the length of the list - I am.  I'm disappointed specifically because there's nothing Vita-related on the list.  The Walking Dead Season One with 400 Days DLC doesn't count, to me, even though I'm going to buy the ever-loving shit out of it.  I expected, I wanted something, even if it was just a new Uncharted, or, dare I even speak of it, another portable iteration of God of War (beyond the ports of the first two games in HD) and we didn't even get that much.

It's...disappointing.  I would imagine TGS is the place for the Vita by and large anyway, but now all my expectations fall squarely on that event.  Yet from that, I don't expect Uncharted or God of War of course (though Uncharted -was- shown off during the initial Japanese reveal of the Vita ways ways back) but rather Gravity Rush 2, the inevitable port of Monster Hunter 4, Dragon's Dogma Quest, Phantasy Star Online 2 and dare I dream of Final Fantasy Type-0 Vita.  Japanese games for a Japanese event, of course, which leaves me wondering where Western games -can- be announced aside from...simply announcing them.  Which is a viable enough option, of course, and if an inFamous title for the Vita were announced tomorrow from official channels only, I wouldn't give a shit about that fact, but the fact that finally, an inFamous game on Vita.  Still, in comparison to the huge relief for the PS4, my mis-givings really aren't that big, and ensured I walked away from Sony's E3 with an entirely positive mindset, as did most.

Grade:  A-.  The combination of a $100 system undercut preceded by a merciless beatdown of Microsoft's over-the-line XBone policies ensures that this E3 will be the latest E3 that we always, always talk about.  They didn't slouch in showing off games, certainly, though they didn't have many reveals which is, of course a bit unfortunate, but in the grand scheme it's not really a mark against them.  I'm personally bummed by the lack of presence of the Vita in the presser, but I can understand it in a sense.  At the end of the day, though, Sony gave us not only a presser that was memorable on its own merits and because it had a clear, concise message to it, but also a presser that was memorable because it needs to be.  Standing against ludicrous digital policies while not eschewing the digital marketplace wholesale is important for growth as is continued acceptance of the physical marketplace with the knowledge that we simply are not ready to not have that option.

Nintendo

Nintendo's strange idea to completely eschew a normal presser event at E3 in favor of little Nintendo Direct-like events certainly raised a few eyebrows, and everyone had their own reason for believing why Nintendo did it.  Some simply saw it as a way to cut the 'fat', so to speak - keep the press stuff to press events and give the gamers the games so to speak.  Others expected a little something....more.  Something as a more tangible reason for doing so.  Needless to say, the latter camp was in for a bit of disappointment, since all Nintendo really brought were games, which isn't bad in of itself, but the games were ones that....were not surprising in the least.  I admit, perhaps it's a bit silly to say that Sony had four reveals but that's not a problem, versus Nintendo's three that -are- a problem, and it may have a smidgen of bias inherently, but I'll try to explain what the difference is from my point of view.

Who saw Sony announcing/revealing a Victorian-era steampunk game about hunting werewolves in London?  Anyone?  Nobody?  Okay.  Who saw Nintendo announcing/revealing a new Mario game, a new Yoshi game and a new Donkey Kong game?  Everybody?  Okay, the guy in the back honestly didn't expect another Donkey Kong and that whole row didn't expect a new Yoshi game, but the level of surprise is much, much lower.  It's something of a strange position to be in because nobody dislikes Zelda, Mario, Pokemon or any of the other first-party games, and there's not necessarily a 'fatigue' setting in (as some people say for, like, yearly franchises or what-have-you), but there's a whole combination of reasons that set people to be disappointed when Nintendo makes games using the same stable of characters again and again.

The easiest way I can explain it is basically this:  What Nintendo is doing is like if Naughty Dog were still making Crash Bandicoot games today.  Would today's Crash Bandicoot games be awesome?  Probably!  Am I suggesting that Nintendo's series should have been left back at the NES or SNES days?  Of course not.  There's just....a middle-ground approach.  You can't build a console specifically around old characters with new ideas, despite Nintendo's success at doing just that (though, it's not doing a whole lot for the Wii U at the moment).  You have to introduce actual, physical new things through your first-parties and have the intention of running with them.  To my knowledge, Xenoblade Chronicles and Pushmo are the only -real- examples of this at the moment (both first-party, both with sequels out or on the way) but Xenoblade Chronicles is -just barely- because of that stupidly tiny printing Nintendo made.

Leverage this against Sony's PS3 First-Party efforts which have brought us inFamous, Uncharted, The Last of Us, LittleBigPlanet (started as second-party, is now first), MAG and Starhawk (among others) as new to compliment the returning God of War, Sly Cooper, Killzone, MotorStorm and Gran Turismo games.  The old and the new work off of one another and add a little bit of spice to everything, so to speak.  If Nintendo would just have a couple of their studios -not- make a Zelda game, -not- make a Donkey Kong game, but instead make a new series that they could, you know, -then- make between the others, we'd all be much, much happier with them.  So it's pretty much for that reason why we have a Nintendo offering that has a -lot- of first-party games....yet reactions are so mixed.

Still, from Nintendo's presentations, we got a name for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 2 as it's now formally called The Legend of Zelda:  A Link Between Worlds, announcements of New Yoshi's Island, Super Mario 3D World and Donkey Kong Country:  Tropical Freeze alongside footage of  Pikmin 3, Mario & Luigi:  Dream Team, Super Smash Bros. (the new one), New Super Luigi U, Xenoblade's Sequel, Mario Kart 8, The Legend of Zelda:  Wind Waker HD, Bayonetta 2 and The Wonderful 101.  Which is, of course, not -bad- by any stretch of the imagination, and I'm personally hoping Xenoblade Chronicles getting a sequel means the rest of us will be able to play Xenoblade Chronicles for less than $100 Used in the future, but I admit that may be a bit optimistic.  And we got all that without the blather and without the filler of a presser (I think, at least), so, hey, bonus points right there.

Grade:  B-.  I want to be harsher on Nintendo, but I cannot, nor will I fault them for showing games, even if the games aren't exactly the ones I (or others) want.  Except Bayonetta 2.  I want that.  I haven't even played Bayonetta 1 yet (Yes, Chance, I know) but I want to be all over that.  And Xenoblade sequel, but I want to friggin' be able to play the original first in -some- fashion.  I can only hope that Nintendo has something of an epiphany with the Wii U's potential in the near future and springs up a few new series that fans can complain about having too many iterations of twenty years from now.  Or even just goes weird with something like the rumored StarTropics revival that was apparently false  Just do -something- to shake things up a little.

Squeenix gets an F-- for failing to show Drakengard 3 and Type-0 Vita