Western fans of Namco’s long-running Tales RPG series have reason to celebrate. Tales of Xillia now has a firm release date. It will arrive in North America on August 6, 2013, and in Europe on August 9, 2013.

Tales of Xillia has been a huge success in Japan with over 740,000 copies sold since its release there on September 8, 2011. The game is a collaborative effort of both of the main Tales development teams, Team Destiny, with artwork by Mutsumi Inomata, and Team Symphonia, with artwork by Kosuke Fujishima. It allows the players to pick one of two main heroes from each development team, Milla Maxwell or Jude Mathis, respectively, at the start of the game. The game’s soundtrack  is composed by longtime Tales composer Motoi Sakuraba. The game will feature the series’ trademark action battle system.

Tales of Xillia will feature a premium collectors’ edition for the dedicated fans.

In addition, Namco is also preparing an elaborate limited premium edition of the game for both North America and Europe. The collectors’ edition includes the game, a 100-page art-book  a soundtrack CD, and a figure of the Team Destiny heroine, Milla Maxwell. The collectors’ edition will retail for USD $100. It will be available on the online store for European customers and at retail for the US and Canada.

Tales of Xillia will be available exclusively for the PlayStation 3.

First appeared on Nerdy But Flirty

This game is freakin’ awesome.

What game, you ask? Why, Guacamelee! of course! Guacamelee is an indie, 2-D platformer from DrinkBox Studios that melds features of Metroid, Outland, Castlevania, the cartoons of our childhood, and a healthy dose of The Emperor’s New Groove into one solid, action-packed game.

Inspired, vaguely, by Mexican culture, the game doesn’t take itself too seriously and hopes you don’t either. Players control Juan, a wannabe luchadore. Or, in my case, they play player number 2: Tostada, a luchadora. But I’ll get to that feminist stuff later.

Lovers of old-school platform gaming will delight in the many, many callbacks to other games, from Mario to Zelda, Megaman to Castle Crashers.

Gameplay

The core gameplay revolves around moves used in both combat and platforming. They’re color-coded and have awesome names, including the words derpderp and goat, so you know I was a fan. Enemies include all types of skeletons. Big ones, small ones, giant ones, fishy ones: the undead are out in full force.

Moves involve smashing, grabbing, and pile driving enemies into pieces, along with a dimension switch mechanic similar to that of Outland.

The puzzles and boss fights were actually pretty challenging, which is such a refreshing change of pace from the norm of repetitive battles or constant guidance. Guacamelee! features the Metroid-style open-world, which grows even larger as you gain new powers and backtrack to old areas. Sometimes my mind was just blown by what I was doing. These are the kinds of games I love: the ones that are challenging enough to give you a sense of accomplishment when you play well.

The game was probably about five hours long for a normal person, but I’m a loot maniac and a sucker for treasure hunting, so it took me about seven hours to get 80% completion. I felt that this was a good length for a game with such a thin story, but I’d love to see more levels added as DLC in the future.

The game offers boss fights that are actually challenging in the old-school way: learning to read your opponent, memorizing patterns, and learning by dying repeatedly until you figure something out. I missed this! And it is the perfect kind of game for a handheld like the Vita so that was another excellent decision, especially with the ability to cross save and cross play.

As for combat itself, the game has a surprisingly robust combo system! I got to the final level of combos before I finally walked away, but I managed to impress myself with the length and complexity of combos I was able to learn. And they helped! The further you progress into the game, the more combat tactics will come into play, as wave after wave of enemy, some with shields and some in other, untouchable, dimensions, delivereth the smacketh down on you.

Plot

“But Sarah, you ALWAYS put plot before gameplay in your reviews! What’s up?”

Well, I’m glad you asked.

You see, I want you to understand that this game is amazing and that I loved it, so I put the happy stuff first. The best part of this game truly is the actual gameplay, followed closely by the art and ambiance.

The plot, on the other hand, is the same tired, boring old trope dressed up in its fiesta best: rescue the princess from the bad man.

This is an indie game, so I could go light on the criticism here. Guacamelee! clearly isn’t out to change the world. It’s fun and challenging. So why did I have such a hangup? Well, along with the plot, there’s the way women in the game are portrayed and talked about.

Once again, I want to reiterate that I think this game is fantastic, but this was definitely the sour note in the chorus. I’m still pretty stoked that I get to be Tostada at all, so I’m not taking it out on the studio. This is more like the “I’m complaining because I care about this game and want it to go to college and grow up to be a productive citizen” kind of deal. It’s also just odd, because the hilarious dialogue made it clear that these folks know how to write.

The one interesting thing about the plot has to do with the ending of the game. There is no real resolution or discussion of what happened to Juan, who is treated like a second class citizen because, inexplicably, he is not a luchador. But there is no moral at the end, no need to say, “Hey you guys, it’s not fair that you love me now that I’m a luchadore!” That doesn’t happen. He just revels in it until the end, not seeming to care that he had to conform to their standards to be accepted. It seems especially odd because the beginning of the game had lots of foreshadowing that something’s not quite right with Juan, but it is never looked into – we only get a brief flashback that doesn’t explain much. That, along with a few other choices near the end, were pretty bold, so there was some great potential here for intrigue.

Art and Sound

The art is lush and gorgeous. I spent an inexcusable amount of time checking out the backgrounds and moving slowly through the game to let my eyeballs soak in the bright, beautiful glory that is Guacamelee!‘s art. I especially loved the little touches like Aztec shields and swords on ancient warriors and the motif of the hero holding the woman on a mountain top. The color schemes and little signs in the background were also perfect touches. The details were gorgeous, and I loved finding the HUGE amount of Easter eggs in the game.

The music was very Mexican-sounding, though that doesn’t mean it’s authentic. I found it rather repetitive and annoying after the first thirty minutes or so, which is unfortunate and made me feel bad for not appreciating horns more.

Another interesting choice was the lack of voices as well as the lack of voice or written speech for Juan, the protagonist. I probably wouldn’t have noticed that Juan didn’t speak, except that people kept asking him questions, and sometimes pretended that he had answered…but mostly reacted as if Juan kept silent. It was pretty strange.

On the other hand, putting on ridiculous voices and reading the other character’s lines was immensely entertaining. And, as I mentioned, the dialogue was mostly fantastic, with characters making me laugh out loud at some of the things they said. For example: “Like an orphaned cabbage, you rolled straight into my trap.”

Multiplayer

Playing with friends is fun and natural. There is something supremely satisfying about brawler style fights with friends along for the ride. I also loved solving puzzles cooperatively: that moment when you figure something out and you get the hi-five going – you can’t get that by yourself…easily.

Sharing the screen was the right way to go, and as I’ve mentioned, I was overjoyed that player two is a female character. The only time it gets difficult are with moves that come later in the game, especially with dimension flipping. Fortunately, only one team member needs to make it to the next section, as it will automatically teleport the other player to the beginning of the next area if one person makes it.

In Conclusion: Go Get It!

My hangups with the plot and trope-d out women are nothing compared to the amount of sheer FUN I was having. Guacamelee! is not only eye candy, it’s challenging in a refreshing way. I can’t wait to dive back in with my friends!

Guacamelee! is out now for the PlayStation 3 and Vita for $14.99.

Warner Bros. Interactive have finally announced, what we all wanted to hear, Batman will be returning to a prequel to both Arkham Asylum & City, with Batman: Arkham Origins. The game will focus on a younger, a less sharp Batman and his initial encounters against various supervillains within the Batman & DC lore. Game Informer also says, “Developer WB Montreal is using Rocksteady’s custom modified Unreal engine to create the game.” Although Rocksteady isn’t helming the developing, Warner Bros. has enlisted Eric Holmes, as creative director on the game, and who has also worked on Prototype and Hulk: Ultimate Destruction.

Additionally, Warner Bros. has announced a handheld Arkham game, a spin off, titled Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate. Apparently, the game is styled after Metroid games, and takes place after Origins, on the consoles story. Blackgate is being developed by Armature Studios, who is behind the Metroid Prime Trilogy. Both games will hit shelves October 25th, Arkham Origins on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, and PC, and Blackgate on Vita and 3DS.

“The mind of the subject will desperately struggle to create memories where none exist…” – Rosalind Lutece, Barriers to Trans-Dimensional Travel, 1889

Bring us the girl and wipe away the debt. As you soar into the floating city of Columbia for the first time you see exactly where Irrational Games’ ambitions lie; Amongst the clouds with this incredible city. The game manages to achieve all of it’s ambitions and more, with a story the likes of which we haven’t seen since the original Bioshock, varied and new first person gameplay and a stunning, truly realised world for the player to explore. This game does what it’s predecessor did in 2007; it changes and challenges the gameplay and story of this console generation and reinvents them to become a truly incredible experience.

The game world is in almost direct contrast to that of Irrational Games’ original Bioshock, we see a rich and colourful city in the prime of it’s existence  whilst also involving the player in Columbia’s breathtaking descent. Columbia has it’s own set of rules, it is a fully realised world with a vibrant cast of characters that really make the world feel real. People walk around, reacting both to the player and surrounding events, with clever and involving conversations that reflect the world around them. The game is set in alternate reality 1912 and shows off the views and values of an America steeped in religious rule, patriotism and severe xenophobia. The content in game is quite harsh in contrast to the vibrant city and challenges the player to look at society today with reference to the game. Every area of the game feels different and diverse, from the squalid Shantytown to the opulence of the streets above and then into the skies of Columbia aboard the many airships and floating platforms, never ceasing to pull the extraordinary narrative along with each detailed environment.

The streets of Columbia

As the player enters Columbia they are introduced to the basic gameplay elements of Vigors (akin to the original Bioshock’s Plasmids) and the variety of weapons through a carnival, set up as part of the celebrations for Comstock, the game’s antagonist. In your first hour you will experience combat with some basic guns, vigors and the transport method doubling as a melee weapon; the skyhook. The skyhook allows for some incredible firefights and a new mobility unseen in gaming. Just hop aboard a skyline and you can drop behind enemies, into cover or zip around the area quickly all the while returning fire from attackers. The game’s AI is also quite clever, with enemies and “Hard Hitters” (different, more tough enemies such as the handyman and motorized patriots) able to use the skylines and move around like the player. Then the game takes it up a notch, in story, gameplay and emotion with the introduction of Elizabeth.

Elizabeth. This one character serves as the core of the story and gameplay. From the moment you meet her she barely leaves your side, constantly adding to the game. In combat she will help you by finding health, salts and ammo and also cash outside of combat. She also has the ability to open ‘tears’ in the environment, pulling items from other worlds and reality into being in the locale. She also adds real emotion to the gameplay. You begin to rely on her and think about combat situations with her abilities in mind. In the few short absences she has from the player you genuinely miss the character. Her powers and dialogue always make the player feel more invested in the story, her presence never once takes anything away from the experience. Her AI is also incredibly well done, she will explore and interact with the environment, once again bringing areas of the game to life and you will want to sit in one spot and see all the animations and dialogue the developers have crammed into each of the game’s areas.

Elizabeth

I have talked about the story a lot so far, the narrative really pulls the whole experience together. The story crafted by Irrational Games masterfully weaves the setting, values and original story together into a story that will keep the player invested in the game’s fifteen plus hours of gameplay. Without revealing too much, the story centres around the protagonist, Booker Dewitt, tasked with travelling to Columbia to rescue Elizabeth to pay off his gambling debt. The city is ruled by “The Prophet” Comstock, who has kept Elizabeth locked away for years. Bring in the Vox Populi, a resistance movement of the lower classes and racial outcasts, fighting against Comstock’s extremely one sided rule.  The story has the occasional lull in sections, but they always followed by something amazing soon after, only increasing the effect of the succeeding event. Once you dive into the narrative the tale morphs and evolves at a cracking pace up to the jaw dropping finale, where players will be left thinking long after the credits roll.

Overall the game is an amazing experience. Irrational Games have done an amazing job of bringing the world of Columbia to life. The story, gameplay and above all the work that went into Elizabeth help this game to exceed all expectations and in turn reinvent the FPS genre amongst it’s many more stale counterparts. The game is incredible in scope and story, well worthy of any gamers time, earning it’s well deserved place amongst some of the finest games of the generation.

In my mind, this game deserves no other score than, Go and Buy it NOW!

DATTEBAYO!  Uzumaki Naruto or Naruto Uzumaki has made his return again, in the next installment of Naruto’s almost annual fighting game, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3. And just as the game before it, was big, this one is even bigger than before. The series roster has increased again in playable characters being the highest in the Ultimate Storm series to date, numbering around 80 playable characters. This game, like its previous iterations, truly evokes the emotion from the player, displaying the series on a better plateau, than the anime and manga can since the animation and drawings for the game are truly first rate from CyberConnect2. Mind you, the game isn’t without its faults, but its still truly a splendid game, and made me remember why I love the manga, and this gaming series from CyberConnect2.

The gameplay has once again received a facelift, in the form of each of the 80 characters, having an ‘Awakening’ mode like various, albeit few characters had before. With each of them, having an awakening mode, gives everybody a trump card in their back pocket during fights in story, head-to-head, or online battle. The controls of are still simple as they were before, allowing for one-button combos, modified with directions. So any veteran from games of yore will be in comfort zones, only learning a few new nuances. And anyone new, will learn the game fast and be up to speed as others, but not more experienced than the more experienced players. That goes for the online mode, is slightly a lagfest, and it either, you play a lag match and get manhandled due to the lag in-between button input, or you’ll fight a

match, as if the person is right next to you. So it’s an leave it or take it element.

As before, the game includes quick time events during certain events during the course of the single player experience. Which to the shegren to some, still are enjoyable, and allow for the over the top battles, that many have seen in the manga or anime. Also with the story gameplay, the game also allows for decisions at certain points of the game, allowing for the player to change the way the story is played out before them, giving you, the player, a different look at the battle. But the game follows more so, directly after Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, with the end of the Battle against Pain and leading all the way up to the games version of the conclusion of the Shinobi World War. This is due to the World War still ongoing in the manga, and it being completed before the World War, was even halfway done.

Another new gameplay element that was added is ‘Mob Battles.’ Think of these battles, which are more than a handful, as Dynasty Warriors, solo but with Naruto Universe abilities. The gameplay is different and allows for rather cool mechanics of fighting against more than one opponent with the help of assist characters, if they are story related. Also, if you fill up your bar, after consecutive hits and assists, you can complete a quicktime move allowing you to jump from enemy to enemy, dealing massive amount of damage, against boss characters, and killing the minions easily.

Graphically, the game hasn’t taken much of an jump from previous iteration, but it did a great job of cleaning up the lines, and making the game more crisp and fluid during various chaotic moments in the game. But as the game is made first in Japan, the lip syncing is synced to the Japanese language, and as the characters talk, with English dub, you can clearly see the lip syncing, is completely far off, and quite comical when you see lips moving after a character has made an boisterous rant. This is seriously one of my few pet peeves, since I didn’t play, Generations previously. As you travel through various areas to advance the story, the areas feel and look make sense, and look great for the game and material.

The game from the quick battles, to the over the top boss fights against Kurama the Nine Tail Fox, it’s a Naruto game, that even Naruto would enjoy, BELIEVE IT! gotta love those bad translations of Japanese material. Ultimate Ninja Storm 3, is a game that if you haven’t played, or a returning vet, is worth the pick-up. Its solid, fun and definitely a fun ride, and at one point, I’ve got a little choked up at a couple points. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja 3 is available now on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Also, for those who pre-ordered Ultimate Ninja Storm 3, you also got a special character Naruto in the form of Goku from Dragonball Z, so its quite fun… look at him!

As the fans file into the stadium, players are warming up, the coaches talk to various players, trainers giving last minute treatment to players, and then everything settles in, and in a few moments, the umpire will yell, “PLAY BALL” and the first pitch will be thrown! I give you Sony’s exclusive Major League seasonal game, MLB 13: The Show. I’ll preface this review as; I haven’t played a baseball game since MLB All-Star on the N64 back in 99 or 2000. So I can say, without a doubt, definitely a fresh look on it. And I can say I love this game, and all its 9 innings of glory. I don’t exactly enjoy watching baseball, unless its in-person, but this game makes playing, whatever position you fancy, as simply just down right fun.

I’ll start off with what everybody wants to do, play baseball. Be it defense or swinging the lumber. The game makes each experience, be it, in the regular season for the majors in a franchise or minors with Road to the Show, or playing with a RTTS player in the majors, a fluid and seamless experience. The game just makes everything fun. For playing a team versus team game, pitching, if you haven’t played any of the previous The Show games, it takes some getting use to. But once you find the one that suits you, you’ll love it. I’ll say this, Pulse pitching, which entails, a circle around a smaller one, that pulsates, and its fun, but it can be annoying to get the mechanics down, especially with the lower rated pitchers. Fielding is easy, with various indicators for the ball while it’s in the air, and easy to use controls for getting the ball to the necessary cutoff man or base. And also, controlling multiple runners on base is simple and easy. Also, a great note you can customize the game to all the mechanics of gameplay, to fit our style and need. Going along with that, you can run an franchise controlling every aspect from bring guys up from AAA to postseason runs, the game will have you playing hours, and potentially years if you choose.

Let’s move onto the gameplay of the mainstay and titular of the game, Road to the Show. This is the bread and the butter, super fun, and amazing. You start with creating a baseball player, with all the sliders to your content. And then you can either choose, to get put onto a MLB teams AA or AAA, or allow yourself be drafted. As I said, up above, you have settings that you can change to fit your play style. As you progress in your career, you get monthly goals, experience for playing and various correspondences between you and your management. But the gameplay remains the same, as if you were playing a team versus team, but you’re locked into a single player, your player. As you play, the game allows you to fast forward through games, and only playing in plays that you can directly affect or while batting. This cuts down on the time of watching or playing 9 whole innings. The base running is simplified with an up or right to advance running, and down or left, to return to previous base. As you play, you’ll learn nuances and baseball related skills to continue to progress. Its solid, and minus a few camera problems, like when you’re running to snag a fly ball in the outfield, and its over your head, the camera naturally, get closer to your player, but sometimes, when you’re running, the camera will have a slight seizure and cause you to miss an easy out.

The presentation and the sounds of the game are simply astounding and full encompassing. Three of the best instances, when you play RTTS as a Minor League player, the stadiums aren’t full, the atmosphere isn’t all encompassing as I said before, but you get the feel of being, in the start of your career. While when you get to the “Show” it’s simply loud, you hear the crowd, and when you make a play or an amazing stand as a team, you’ll hear the roar of the crowd. And when you’re playing team game, you can hear that same in a team versus team game. The commentators:  Matt Vasgersian, Eric Karros, and Steve Lyons are great and talk about the action, either in RTTS for just you, or end of inning recap or during your full game, but they tend to get dry rather quick. But as you play, in whatever mode, you get the atmosphere of being at the park, from the sounds of the ball being hit, the glove catching the ball, the umpire making a call, and the roar of the crowd after a bad call.

The game’s graphics are great, and look amazing, minus the grass, which looks like a weird version of astro-turf for gaming. But player’s faces, those of the professionals look like they’re real counterparts. I’ll admit, if they could add in the ability to see uniforms ruffling from movement, and also, the crowd… the day I see a crowd, that actually look like people and not some weird, graphical code dump for the crowd, it’ll be the day. But the game and its graphics, to its gameplay and its fun, to climbing your way up either in a Franchise or RTTS, MLB 13: The Show is worth the price tag and just simply fun and amazing. And I’m happy I picked it up!

Darkstalkers Resurrection is a downloadable title featuring two standout fighting games from the 90s. This dual HD bundle features Night Warriors: Darkstalkers’ Revenge and Darkstalkers 3. These are the two marquee titles that define the series.

The combat is a mix between Street Fighter and the VS. series (X-Men vs Street Fighter; Marvel vs Capcom; etc.). It’s a very fast pace brawler and has a legion of devoted followers ever since it was originally introduced.

The characters are definitely a highlight. Characters such as Morrigan, who is a succubus, Demitri, who is a vampire, Hsien-Ko, who is an undead girl who is partially her also dead sister, Victor, who is Frankenstein’s monster and my personal favorite B.B.Hood who is red riding hood…if she was an assassin bent on taking out the Darkstalkers using guns and knives. All these characters evoke a certain charm that is not found in other games.

Darkstalkers Resurrection has many features including tons of in-game goals to accomplish, a new online mode, tutorials for each character and a slew of options to tweak the visuals and gameplay. There are also tons of unlockables to obtain via the Vault system which encourages you to play the game more and complete tasks in order to unlock exclusive artwork and character endings.

The online mode is very solid featuring GGPO netcode which means nothing but smooth connections for the majority of every match.

Needless to say, I would highly recommend checking this downloadable title out if you’re into old fighters, new fighters, old school horror icons or just want a change of pace from the norm. Plus, at $15 (PSN)/ 1200 MSP (XBL) it’s practically a steal for these arcade perfect ports of two great fighting games.

Getting that JRPG itch? Feeling the need to grind for hours on end before advancing the storyline? Have the need to do tackle 10, 20, or even 30 side missions that have nothing to do with the main story? If you have experienced any of these symptoms then you might be suffering from acute Japanese Roll Playing Game withdrawal. I prescribe a 60 hour does of Ni No Kuni and you call me when you find your life again. Ni No Kuni is a sprawling JRPG for the PS3 that, while good, is not for everyone.

Ni No Kuni is about a boy named Oliver who loses his mom when she saves him from drowning. In his grief a fairy from another world appears and proclaims that there might be a chance to save his mom if he can save the other world and defeat the Dark Djinn. The story itself is pretty run of the mill, its not bad but it doesn’t have that charm you usually get from anything from Studio Ghibli. And the characters just aren’t that interesting.  There is so much exposition in this game that your head will spin long before you reach that halfway point. I know that a lot of JRPG games have a lot of exposition but in this game it just seemed so much more excessive. There’s also the fact that the reveal “surprises” that the player can figure out an hour before they actually do so. Supposedly shocking moments leave you yawn with boredom. I did not care for the story but at the very least it is terrible.

The real meat of this game is the battle and capture system, it’s almost like a mix between Pokemon and Final Fantasy XIII. You control one of three humans in battle and can switch between any of them on the fly. Each human has control of one of three “Familiars” or monsters.  All in all you can choose and switch between 12 characters in battle. Once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty fun. All monsters have a sign, which is almost like a type in Pokemon that are stronger and weaker to other signs. In all honesty though you can completely ignore that, I did and I got through the game just fine. The biggest problem I had with the game is the grinding system. For anyone unfamiliar with the term “grinding,” it’s when the player goes around engaging in battles over and over again for the purpose of gaining more levels and making you characters stronger. Now, normally I like grinding in JRPGs but you reach a point in Ni No Kuni where you can’t just grind, you have to find the right monster to grind with. If you don’t find these monsters or know where they are, grinding becomes extremely more difficult. And with a recommended level of 84 to beat the final boss, you NEED to grind.

Studio Ghibli nailed transferring their art style into this game. It’s a visually stunning game and huge with a large variety of environments to gawk over. The colors pop and the graphics are crisp. Music is also a big part of the game, from traveling on the seas to flying dragons, the music matches every scene and really punches home the epic or poignant situations. Voice acting is good, though sometimes a little off beat with what you might expect to hear. I didn’t expect the daughter of a sage that lives in a middle eastern inspired town to have a proper British accent but maybe that’s just me.

While Ni No Kuni is a good game, it’s just doesn’t have that extra push to be great. The visuals and music are stunning, but the story can never see to measure up. There’s plenty to do and you can spend way beyond 60 hours trying to do everything. Sadly, this game is definitely not for everyone. JRPG fans may enjoy it but if that genre isn’t your cup of tea, or you’re looking for a game to test the waters, this game isn’t for you.

The Sony Conference event, started off light, and on time, with an cavalcade of the history of PlayStation brand through the years; from the PlayStation to the current generation, PlayStation 3. Everything was intermingled with the Dual Shock controller, being focused at some point and other PlayStation item as well. But within the first few seconds after the MC or main presenter, Andrew House began, he announced that Sony is indeed bringing the PlayStation 4, with the release window of Fall of this year. As he continued to speak, he talked about how the developer as well as the consumer is the focal point of the PS4. He additionally wanted it to be known, that the PS4 would be an central hub for all entertainment purposes for next generation.

The specs of the PS4 have definitely come back down to earth, from the cell processors and its raw power to a more easily programmable, but still power X86 CPU and an Advanced GPU, which easily allows 1st & 3rd party developers to get the most out of it. Sony is additionally giving, what all developers wanted, 8GB of unified memory and a supercharged architecture, again, which is catering to the developers, since Sony learned from previous PS3 development, and the grips most developers, that weren’t 1st party had to deal with. And from the out of the gate, a larger internal storage, which will come in handy with what will be explained next.

Sony has completed an massive infrastructure of involving mobile devices and primarily the Vita as the on the go version of the PS4, with turning your PS4 into a server of sorts. With the mention of the Vita, the games from your PS4 with the of Gaikai Cloud computing, which was acquired by Sony last year, is allowing for your catalogue to be on the go with you, mainly with the Vita but with other devices as well. With the Vita on the go, being more integral than before, it was shown by transferring, a new game for the PS4, called Knack, to the Vita as it was played, without missing a beat or any downgrade of graphics to the Vita’s clearly smaller screen. Also, Knack, slightly reminds me of the 360 launch game called Kameo, but that may just be me.

Next, is the new PS4 controller, which is simply called Dual Shock 4, its almost the same design as before, but with a touchpad where the Sony logo and Start & Select buttons were on the Dual 3. This gives the controller, a look of being a bit heavier, but it’s one of those things, people were saying the Dual 3 was too small, and cumbersome. With the touchpad comes, the integrated share button, right on the controller. It looks to be out of the way from accidental sharing, but convenient. Also, the light on the front of the controller, is continuously sending information to an almost Kinect like device, which is a stereo camera, which will track the controller as your playing.

The Share button takes me into the complete social integration as well other steps Sony is taking to further advance the PS4, with 5 words, each explaining the functionality of the PS4. First was Simple. Allowing for developers, be it, big companies or Indies to develop more easily for the PS4, and for the consumer to simply share and gain games for their PS4, more easily than ever before. Second, was Immediate. This was explained in the way of, a second chip, specifically, for background downloads, updates while playing a game either online or offline. Also, allowing for almost immediate, see what I did there, pick up and play from a suspended state of the game, even when its turned off. Third was Social. This is the heavy integration of the Share button.

The PS4 will be partnered with Facebook and Ustream, to allow for a better PSN profile, almost Facebook like, but Sony tailored. Also, with the Ustream and Gaikai, you can stream gameplay or upload screenshots or bits of gameplay directly to Facebook and other social media, and allow for immediate access by your friends on the media site as well as, your PSN friends, all the while retaining your anonymity, if you want. With the ability to stream, you or your friends can sit in on one another, if the person allows it, to watch them play, or even “pass the controls onto them” for help if need be. Also you can leave comments while they’re playing, be it helpful or even trash talk. Fourth was Integrate, allowing for the consumer to continuously, regardless of location or device do almost anything with the PS4. Finally was Personalization. This feature, is like smart shopping where, over time collected data from your purchases, from the PlayStation Store, or actual disk, and give you games and content, already fully downloaded to your PS4, and you’ll have to do is hit the buy button.

Moving back to Gaikai, Dave Perry, mentioned that, over time, the PS4 will have the catalogues of the PS1, 2, and 3, able to play digitally on the PS4, with the use of its technology. Also, with the service, they are adding, the Free to Try ability, giving the consumer, the ability to play actual full games, not a shortened version or a downgraded version, and buy at any point and time during that trial, and all without hassle.

After the beginning, they began to show games, videos, and live demos, from both 1st party and 3rd party. First up was Guerilla Games, with live gameplay of Killzone: Shadow Fall. The game is brighter than previous versions, and looks amazing. Next was Evolution Games, game Drive Club, a team based driving game about challenging the World as a team or Club, with a heavy integration in mobile devices for the challenges. Next, was Sucker Punch, bringing us back to the world of Infamous, the game calling Infamous: Second Son, and I was giddy with joy over this announcement, and I can’t wait. After which, Braid developers, Jonathan Blow, with the next game for the PS4 at launch, with The Witness, this has 25hrs of unique puzzles, and the music amazing with a Celtic feel.

Quantic Dream, creators of amazing Heavy Rain, showcased its pushing of the PS4 with a live demo of rendering facial and eye design and emotions with amazing lighting and textures, and small nuances. Media Molecule, the creators of Little Big Planet, shows full use of the Move with an sculpting and allowing your dreams to be created. This gave way to a recorded live performance of a show featuring “puppeteers” of a musical performance. With that, House mentioned that it had full support from, almost, if not, every major 3rd party developer for the PS4.

Capcom, with Yoshinori Ono, showing a gaming engine code named Panta Rhel, built specifically for the PS4 and a game being developed in conjunction with Panta, called, Deep Down (Working Title), showing beautiful lighting, character models, and amazing action, that seemed to be what real time action will be. Square Enix, showed the tech demo running the Luminous Engine by Hashimoto Yoshihisa, and the other Hashimoto, Shinji saying a new Final Fantasy title is in opening stages of development and more information released at E3. Ubisoft Montreal, showing an live demo of Watch Dogs running on the PS4. And the game looks amazing, and can’t wait till I get my hands on it. Blizzard, with Chris Metzen, announced that Diablo 3 will be coming to both the PS3 & PS4. And finally, the last announcement was from Activision’s Eric Hershberg, bringing Bungie’s new IP Destiny, to the PS4 as well as, the PS3, with exclusive content to the Sony family. All gameplay trailers, demos and videos will be on our site as well.

Sony came out hard hitting in this press conference. Showcasing that they have learned from their previous mistakes in the current generation, and looking forward to showing why Sony’s PlayStation was always a bright star, and not a waning one, as they were saying Sony was. Sony, came out saying, contest us now Microsoft, we will see you on the field of battle come this console launch. And Sony certainly means business, this generation.

After much speculation and intrigue, Bungie has today revealed their latest game, Destiny.The game has no release date yet but will launch for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, as well as “future generation technology”. Bungie has revealed a large amount of information in regards to how this new game will play, and what we can expect to see from this ambitious new project. Destiny is a “shared world shooter”, a social and co-operative game drawing from aspects of an MMO (but is not one itself, as stressed by the developers), requiring no subscription, only a constant online connection. It will seamlessly search for players in the vicinity exploring, completing the same mission and incorporate them into the world, allowing chance meetings, partnerships and help in missions, battles and goals. The game will also support lobbies with friends and direct invites, but focuses more on a living and thriving online universe filled with happenstance and action. You can play the entire game solo however also. Non-combat based social hubs also exist, where players can relax and engage in competitive activities against one another.

One of the many vehicles that will be a feature of Destiny

As stated, Bungie developers have stressed that this game is not an MMO. Engineering lead Chris Butcher has said, “These are living, open worlds with evolving stories, changing time of day…and every one is full of players. Destiny is an always online experience, but it’s not an MMO.” The idea of using MMO elements in this game is clever, it will allow for a social experience without as much of an emphasis on guilds and organised raids, all the action will unfold differently depending on when you’re online and who you meet. The matchmaking is reminiscent of the 2012 game “Journey” where every time you come across another player you are intrigued and curious, and the newly forged ‘partnership’ can turn the tide of the game, lasting for many missions or simply vanishing into the world as quietly as they had appeared.

Now onto the storyline. The human race has been reduced to a single city after the ‘golden age’ in which humans took to the stars rapidly, with vast technological expertise. They were hit by a so far unidentified enemy, reducing them to almost nothing, saved only by the ‘Traveller”, a large sphere hovering just above the earth. The last of humanity live below the Traveller, in the last city. As they begin to rebuild and branch out they find that their old planets are now occupied by strange new creatures and forces, and now must defend the last hope of humanity, the city, from extinction. The player is a ‘guardian’, a powerful human able to wield some of the Traveller’s power. Rather than like in Bungie’s previous title Halo, the humans aren’t a dominant force in the universe. The universe is designed to be scary and imposing for the last of the humans, with imposing aliens fortresses and environments like the citadel. Bungie’s new graphics engine will also help to shape the atmosphere of the game, with increased lighting and graphical capabilities to change how worlds are perceived by the player.

The Citadel (concept art)

The player, as a guardian, can play as one of several different classes. The three confirmed so far are the Hunter, the Warlock and the Titan. Players will create and customize their own character, gaining new armor and weapons throughout the game. They will have their own personalized character in this huge galaxy. The tower, the players home, will serve as a hub for the character, where you can gear up your guardian and organize adventures and lobbies of friends. You will also be able to buy and customize vehicles and star-ships, and space combat has been hinted at but not confirmed. The developers have said they want the characters and universe, however dark and imposing to create a sense of hope for the players. ”At its core, Destiny is a hopeful world. It’s a place worth spending time in. It’s a place worth fighting for.” says the story lead, Joe Staten. The world and game design here is aimed at keeping players invested week after week, month after month with new goals, rewards and content to experience.

Three of the classes from Destiny, the Hunter, the Warlock and the Titan (left to right)

The mission and game structure featured in Destiny will be open and in contrast to the multiplayer co-operative play for the main storyline the game will also feature competitive multiplayer modes, with credits and rewards being universal across the story and competitive parts. Even with a strong and expansive storyline the game will feature a variety of side missions and activities, from exploration to bounty hunting, all awarding the player with rewards and credits. All these missions and sections are playable with friends via direct invite and you locale will be populated with other online players that may tag along on your quest with you.

Destiny represents an ambitious and brave new step into the future of gaming, and will incorporate Destiny not only on home consoles but on iOS and Android devices, laptops and handhelds such as the vita to keep the player connected into the universe of Destiny. It’s large scale universe, bold new steps to change the first person shooter genre, and the seamless incorporation of single player and multiplayer are incredibly exciting and hopefully we see some more of this game in action in the near future. Bungie’s reveal seems to have excited many fans of Halo and Sci-fi already, and only time will tell whether they are capable of realising the dream that is Destiny.

Bungie’s full ViDoc is below: