PlayStation Experience 2015 Keynotes: Thoughts on VR

Today was the start of PlayStation Experience. A 2 day event taking place in San Francisco to showcase some of PlayStation’s best, brightest and upcoming games. The most exciting part for me though was getting to hear more about PlayStation VR. What we knew about PlayStation VR coming into the event was the specs, release window (Q1 2016) and that fact that this device COULD cost alot, (think console price) these things were discussed earlier this year at E3, where PlayStation also showed off some pretty cool looking games. I expected to see more of those today, I didn’t.  What I was hoping for during this mornings keynote was a solid release date and a compelling reason to purchase this device day one. What I got was a a feeling of uncertainty for PlayStation VR.

 

The Modern Zombie Taxi Co.

During the VR portion of the keynote I was hoping to hear about that “must have app”  the game that will sell this probably expensive device, I didn’t really see that. What I did see was The Modern Zombie Taxi Co. and Job Simulator which both look like fun bite sized distractions but nothing that I could sink my teeth into and get lost in. Eagle Flight by Ubisoft a dizzying look at how it must feel to fly like an eagle. 100 ft Robot Golf, which looks like 100 ft robot golf…and seems fun enough but all of these are arcade type of games.

What was absent were experiences that have high fidelity visuals and a vast world begging to be explored. Even though I’m sure some of those games are in development and like mentioned above we have seen bits of during E3 this year but the fact that they weren’t shown or even talked about during this keynote was a bit discouraging. Sony is running out of time to explain to us why VR is important. But luckily it does seem as though PlayStation is all in and betting big on VR . Making the lack of the “must have app” even more maddening.

 

It wasn’t all bad though. Some positives from the VR portion of the Keynote were things a quick trailer for Golem from Hirewire Games, Ace Combat 7 and REZ Infinite. They look great. And really the promise is there with VR you can see the glimmering of hope.

 

 

Don’t get me wrong no one is more excited then me for VR and especially PlayStation VR. Will I buy one day? Yes. Will I have fun with it? Most definitely, but for PlayStation VR to become mainstream and not just another PlayStation Move, it needs to appeal to more than just the tech junkies and gamers that need to have something day one. (I fall into both of those categories) There is still time during #PSX2015 to show us something and since we don’t have a solid release date it’s not all doom and gloom for PlayStation VR, and its not like I didn’t want to play the games I saw. I just expected a little more since the had the stage and a lot of people watching. Let me know your thoughts on the VR portion of the keynotes in the comments.

-Tony-

Image Credit: PlayStation Blog

Link’s Hijinks

Nintendo gives a comedic look in to the life of Link with its new webcomic Link’s Hijinks. You can find it here on the Play Nintendo website or below. The comic is base around Majoras Mask and was originally created for a Japanese manga magazine by Seitaro Komatsu. Hopefully we’ll see more soon!

-Tony

DVR feature heading to Xbox One

In 2016 Xbox One owners will be able to use their console as a DVR. Xbox announced this feature during their briefing today at Gamescom.

-Users will be able to record shows in the background.
-stream recorded shows to any windows 10 device.
-schedule recordings remotely
– the feature is subscription free

Looks like a great value add for Xbox One users.

Now if only I had cable still.

Stay tuned for more from Gamescom

-Tony

What Gaming Taught Me : Metal Gear Edition

Well well, what do we have here? Another fantastic entry in our weekly feature What Gaming Taught Me! 

Kick back, relax, grab a Mountain Dew or whatever the kids are drinking these days and have a read of……

What Metal Gear Taught Me!

You can’t run from your problems.
In the original Metal Gear there might have been times when you felt overwhelmed by the enemies on the screen. So much so that you might think after taking out one or two of them that the best plan is to flee before you get killed. Running to the next screen might seem like a good idea but if you ever have to return to that previous screen you’ll see those same enemies waiting for you. And worst of all the ones you killed, umm yah they’re back now too. This taught me at an early age that it’s best to deal with your problems then and there.

Think outside the box….
Or in this case inside the box. Metal gear shows that sometimes you need to find a way that MIGHT be a little different than the norm to solve a problem. What’s the best way to sneak around an enemy compound? Well a box of course. To solve a problem like that indeed shows some out of the box thinking.

Nothing lasts forever 😦
David Hayter is a name most Metal Gear fans know very well. He’s been the voice behind Snake for over a decade. It wasn’t until the latest game in the franchise (Metal Gear: Ground Zeroes) that he was replaced, by Kiefer Sutherland no less. Most of us couldn’t image Snake without Hayter and I’m still not happy about it, but I guess nothing can last forever.

Dress to impress.
Metal Gear Solid on the OG PlayStation had TONS of unlockables. One of my personal favorites is the tuxedo suit. After beating the game twice, on the third playthough Snake would take off his swimming gear in the famous elevator cut scene and reveal that he was wearing a tuxedo! At that moment I thought to myself if Snake can suit up for a dangerous life-threatening mission, surely I could dress to impress in my daily life as well. Thanks for the fashion tip Snake. SUIT UP! 

And there you have folks. Has there been any lessons that Snake and company have taught you??

-Tony-

What Gaming Taught Me : Super Mario Edition

As with anything in life you learn as you go, right? And most of us have been gaming our whole lifes so we MUST have picked a few key life lessons along the way don’t you think? That’s why it gives me great pleasure to introduce our newest feature here at The Midnite Edition. “What Gaming Has Taught Me” (please hold your applause)

This weeks entry is based on the Super Mario Franchise.  Grab a soda sit back and read……..

What Super Mario Taught Me!

Unannounced 3DS Title: What could it be? *Updated*

*Update: It’s a new IP called codename S.T.E.A.M

When Nintendo’s schedule for E3 was announced there was a 90 minute 3DS presentation on tap. During this presentation it was said that Nintendo will be showing off an unannounced title. Of course rumors started to swirl as to what game could possibility need 90 minutes of time to talk about.

Could this be the Majora’s Mask remake that has been teased over and over by Nintendo? Could this finally be a new Metroid game? Or is this something completely new all together? Either way that presentation is at 6 PT today. My thoughts are that it is a new Metroid.

Whatever it is I hope it’s a case where the game is announced and then Nintendo says “and it’s available now” and the room erupts with excitement. That is something that I has been noticeably absent throughout all of E3 this year. I feel that if anyone could pull that type of announcement off it is Nintendo. They must have 3DS devolvement down to a science by now. 

What game do you think it is? Taking all bets!
-Tony-

The Virtual Console: Where’s the Games

I’m going to start off right away by saying I love Nintendo. They are a great company and have the best franchises in the industry in my opinion. That being said I’m also their biggest critic. I want them to succeed and be the Nintendo that the fans deserve. So if I see a misstep in their strategy I’m the first to point it out. Ok now that we got that discloser out of the way here comes the rant 😉
 
Every week I eagerly await Thursday morning. When Thursday roles around I jump online first thing to see what Nintendo will allow me to download on my Wii U and 3DS. Mostly it’s the virtual console titles that I am interested in. Nintendo has a fantastic backlog of titles that can be released at any moment. So why is there so many weeks where I find nothing, I repeat nothing that I want to download. In my opinion this is unacceptable.  Let’s face it as much as I love the Wii U and the companies first party titles they are not coming out fast enough. So how do you keep customers happy during this time? Give them more of the classics that made them fans in the first place. This shouldn’t be this hard. We already have a fantastic library available on the Wii. I was hoping second time around we wont have to wait so long. It boggles my mind that the Virtual Console service is such a barren wasteland. There has been times where weeks in a row I have no interest in any games released. How does this happen you’re the company that created Mario?!   
 
The SNES had some of the best games and there are hardly any of them on the service. Don’t even get me started on N64 games. I want to play Mario 64 again. And on the gamepad.  That would be so awesome. I know Nintendo is said to be adding GameBoy Advanced games in April and I welcome those games. But shouldn’t they have all the games that are already on the VC for the Wii get released on the Wii U by now. Like seriously N64 GAMES PLEASE!

Alright I’m done being angry now I’m going to put my Wii U into Wii mode so I can play Mario 64.
 
-Tony-

Project Morpheus: The PS4 VA Headset

After much speculation Sony has FINALLY announced the much rumored VR headset for PlayStation. The prototype with the code name Project Morpheus, gives us a look as what could possibly be the future of PlayStation.

PlayStation Head, Shuhei Yoshida said that (virtual reality) “may well shape the future of games” he also stated that the company will be looking at the headset as a medium and not just a peripheral. Project Morpheus will be making its way into devs hands shortly, with a few partners already said to be on board.  
 
Dr. Richard Marks of PlayStation research and developed mentioned that Sony is thinking outside of gaming as well. Stating that he has been working with NASA to create a “virtual walk on Mars”
 
 
No official specs or price has been announced.

With the Oculus Rift, PlayStations’ Project Morpheus and Microsoft rumored VR headset it looks like gaming could get even more interesting later this year.
 
-Tony
Source : IGN

Mario at the Muesem: My ideas for a Mario 64 Sequel

Look, we all want a direct sequel to Mario 64, it would be glorious. There is no doubt about that. But what exactly would that look like? How about I “paint” you a picture of an idea I had.   (eh, see what I did there)
 
You start in the Mushroom Kingdom in the court yard to Princess Peach’s castle. But instead of going into the castle you explore around a bit and find another building around back. That building is The Royal Mushroom Kingdom Museum (name patent pending). Why a museum you ask? Well you know a world with such a “colorful” heritage such as the Mushroom Kingdom MUST have a museum to document many great moments in its history as well as to showcase the kingdoms many   creative (toads probably) minds.

 Mario walks into the museum and what do you find? Paintings/worlds a la 64. But there is a difference. Remember that Van Gogh-isq stage in NSMBU? Of course you do, it was the one area where you really feel the game getting creative and really thinking outside the box. Well what if some paintings in the museum were similar to famous works of art. Like that level in NSMBU or could you image a Picasso themed level or M.C.   Escher? That shizz would be cra…sorry. Not all levels would be rip offs of famous painting of course, there would be original ones and maybe even some that are levels from other Mario games. You could throw in a couple of 8bit inspired levels maybe even a modern interpretation of different levels in the Mario series. I know if I was a Toad artist and I heard/saw of a marvelous Italian plumber saving our kingdom from a giant monster that kidnapped our princess it would be something I would want to document it in my own works of art, but with my individual take on what I heard/saw. This could make the levels feel familiar but also different.
 
The levels themselves would probably play just like Mario 64 in the fact that you would look for X number of stars and would really focus on exploration and reliability. The bottom line is that a premise like this would really allow for creative level design, something that would be vital in keeping the formula fresh.

Oh and one more thing. Say you’re looking at the last painting or at least you think it’s the last painting. Mario jumps in and it starts with what you (the player) thinks is the final boss battle with Bowser. All of a sudden Bowser unzips his own skin and it’s really King Boo in a costume and traps Mario in the painting. All of a sudden the lights go out and the museum becomes haunted…..(see where I’m going with this) BAM Luigi steps up to take out all the ghosts (Luigi’s mansion style) and save his bro from the painting.
 
I hope my explanation makes sense. I am trying to write this frantically at work on the company dime. Let me know what you guys think? What would you add to this idea? Does this sound like something that would be a cool or am I totally out to lunch?
 
-Tony-

Retro Fun: Ice Hockey

Every moment of everyday we are surrounded by amazing technology. From phones and tablets to smartwatches and game consoles with realistic graphics tech is all around us and is a good part of our daily lives.  But it’s only when we take a step back can we really fully enjoy the simple things. I was reminded of this last week while gaming at a friends house. Usually we would play some recent game that one of us just picked up, but this time was different the game we were playing was the 1988 NES classic Ice Hockey.

Sure the graphics didn’t come close to anything readily available today. And sure the controls felt limited (only A and B buttons) and bit clunky. But that all added to the excitement and fun. Sitting there playing 1 on 1, not online but in the same room right beside someone, locked in an intense battle. There was even moments I jumped off the couch screaming from a goal either made by me or a goal I carelessly let in after a few minutes of back and forth. It has been awhile since I felt that kind of energy from playing a game. I miss having those kinds of moments as they grow fewer and further between. Now don’t get me wrong I enjoy current games as well and there are plenty of great titles out there now. But this was a different feeling. It actually almost shocked me how much fun I was having with such a basic game. 

I guess my thought process behind this post is to remind myself not to get caught up in grinding in games or achievement and trophy hunting to the point of frustration.  Games to me are about entertainment and enjoyment mostly. And if I have to jump back to retro games (which I do often) with a buddy beside me on a couch to get that enjoyment back, so be it.

Leave a comment on your thoughts on the subject. Do you engage in retro gaming and couch co-op from time to time, or is it all about the latest and greatest graphics?

-Tony-