E3 2014: New & Improved 2014 Edition!

Not to be all self deprecating, but if you're looking for up-to-date information about the 2014 Electronics & Entertainment Expo, you're probably in the wrong place.  Dr. Potts and I, while very avid fans of video games and other geek/nerdy/fun related activities, I would be hard pressed to say that either of us have our finger on the pulse of the video game and related industry.

Presently, if you want to find out about all things E3, you could head over to the official homepage or to Gamespot's, I'm assuming, up to date listings of things going on.  Even the Humble Bundle people are getting in on the action and for the three days that the convention graces the southern region of California.

Wait a damn minute!  E3 doesn't start until tomorrow (Tuesday June 10th), "officially," yet EA Games is doing a "special" conference right now.  Microsoft, Ubisoft, Sony and EA are hosting conferences throughout the rest of the convention (Thursday June 12th) while Nintendo will not be present, but instead have a live digital presentation, similar to their presentation last year.

The Wikipedia page for E3 has a current list of games that will be presented, but on E3's page for live video feeds starting tomorrow, there are, presently, three "Unannounced Game," so there "might?" be additional games added to this list later on in the week.  So, similar to what I did with last years article post-E3, these are the games that, on first glance, I am pseudo-excited to find out (more?) about from this years convention.

• Alien: Isolation (PC) - The Creative Assembly
• Assassin's Creed: Unity (PC) - Ubisoft Montreal
• Batman: Arkham Knight (PC) - Rocksteady Studios
• The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth (PC/ 3DS?) - Nicalis
• The Evil Within (PC) - Tango Gameworks
• Game of Thrones (PC) - Tell Tale Games
• Lords of the Fallen (PC) - Deck13 Interactive / CI Games
• Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (PC) - Monolith Productions
• Mirror's Edge 2 (PC) - EA Digital
• The Order: 1886 (PS4) - Ready At Dawn / SCE Santa Monica Studio
• Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call (3DS) - Square Enix

Yes, an iteration of  Super Smash Bros. is going to be presented by Nintendo, but the couple of times that I've played SSB, I wasn't impressed and I didn't have a lot of fun, so I will join the very small minority of Nintendo fans and not be interested with this game.

There are probably more games that I will have an interest in, but this was only after a cursory glance and run through.

That's really all I have for you all today.  I might do a pseudo-half-assed recap on Friday, or I might so something else completely expected.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Instrumental

Things that Kind of Went on at E3, 2013

If you've come looking for an article filled with information that you can find elsewhere, then you've come to the right place.  I'm just writing what I want about an event that I've never been to and have only read about.  And because here we cover predominantly video games, I feel somewhat obligated to bring up that little convention that just wrapped up yesterday down in SoCal.

So now, I bring to you, our wonderful reader:

I've actually read quite a bit this year before, during and after the megalopolis known as E3.  For some reason I had thought that the Electronics & Entertainment Expo was an all week affair, although I guess it only ran from Tuesday June 11th through Thursday June 13th, because the companies putting the expo on didn't want to get in the way of serious gaming time from Friday through Monday.  Maybe?  Keep in mind, during the next couple of paragraphs, that my knowledge is limited, I did not attend E3 and all I will be discussing are things that I liked that I read about.  So now you're getting second or third hand information and not information from a direct source.

That all being said, I would like to say that the thing that surprised me the most about this years E3, was that Rare and Double Helix Games are developing a new Killer Instinct game as an Xbox One exclusive.  Sigh.  Killer Instinct was the game that got me into fighting games, and when I say "fighting games," I should elaborate and say that I only fiddled with other fighting games (Street Fighter II, Tekken, Mortal Kombat) and I never mastered any of them, KI included.  The Joystiq article has the most concise review, being the trailer, then a few sparse words.  There wasn't any mention of who is going to do the music (if it's going to be Robin Beanland from Rare who did the original soundtrack along with Graeme Norgate).

The PS4 was finally (?) revealed this week as well.  Gizmodo has a pretty decent article comparing the PS4 and the Xbox One with a special guest appearance by the Wii U.  Speaking of the Wii U, the Penny-Arcade Report brought up Nintendo's lack of big show press conference-type activities that are the norm for this convention.  Basically what I came away from E3, was that I probably won't be owning any of the current next-gen consoles and I'll be sticking with my PC and 3DS for new games.  However, if I do end up buying a gaming console, it might be the Wii U as I really just want a dedicated video game console, not an all-in-one, that's what my PC is for, and I already have one.

David Wong over at Cracked.com wrote a great article about how certain powers in the video game industry view its consumers.  Not everything he brings up is from E3 this week, but enough is directly related to how the video game industry advertises and sells itself, hence my inclusion of it here.

Lastly I'm going to list a few of the games (and the system that I would be playing them on) that managed to catch my attention, which is just another way of saying that if I won't be able to play it, I don't care too much, such as Tom Clancy's The Division which comes out on the PS4 and Xbox One or Super Mario 3D World for the Wii U.

• The Evil Within from Bethesda Softworks (PC)
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds from Nintendo (3DS)
• Dragonage: Inquisition from Bioware (PC) 
• [Although I still haven't played the first in the series].
• Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 from Konami (PC)
• [Haven't played anything from this series either].
• Batman: Arkham Origins from Warner Bros. Games (PC)
• Not mentioned at E3 was Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate (3DS) from Armature Studios
• Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure (3DS)
• The Elder Scrolls: Online from Bethesda Softworks (PC)

That's really it.  That's all I know, maybe a bit more, but that's all I feel like I'm able to share about something that I've only read about.  So with that, happy Friday and y'all have a pleasant weekend.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

The Spark I Once Had Seems to Have Died