Call of Duty Ghosts Multi-player reveal trailer

WARNING: Explicit Language in the song which is “Survival” by Eminem

Looking Forward to the Transition to Next Gen Consoles: Part 3

E3 is next week so I am going to preview what’s left to come to current generation of consoles and make a few predictions moving forward.

Things I Expect:

• EA will show off its next generation of sports titles, this will be a good look at the new Ignite Engine they talked briefly about at the Xbox One reveal. Games on display barring any surprises will be Madden 25, NBA Live ’14, Fifa ’14, and UFC. And other games from EA will most likely be Battlefield 4, and Need for Speed Rivals for next generation and for current generation it is likely going to be games like the new version of The Sims. I’d also be expecting a new game or two for next generation consoles only.
• Ubisoft has said that they will have a full display for games including hotly anticipated games such as Watch_Dogs, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Blacklist, Southpark: The Stick of Truth, and Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag.  Ubisoft is also expected to unveil new games for next generation consoles Playstation 4 and Xbox One.
• Microsoft is said to have their event entirely games based, so it will be interesting to see what they offer. Can they build off of the momentum of Forza Motorsport 5 and Quantum Break? Both those games were pretty solid at the reveal judging from the trailers. I am interested in hearing more about Quantum Break.
• Call of Duty: Ghosts is another game I want to see more of, we got a glimpse at the Xbox One reveal but I want to see an actual demonstration at E3. Between this game and Battlefield 4 there is no shortage of war games already even before E3.
• Speaking of Battlefield 4 I am also looking forward to that game, we’ve seen some sick screenshots my favorite one is this one but the thing that worries me is that it won’t look as good during actual gameplay. I mean sure on the PS4 and Xbox One it should look that way, but EA has a bit of a reputation to glorify screen shots to make them look better than the actual game, and also the same goes for their trailers. So I optimistically say, we’ll see.

Bold Predictions:

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Patriots gets announced as a next generation exclusive. This game looks to good to be held back by by technology limits. The listing for the game has been removed from Gamestop and it appeared to be very ambitious so I cannot imagine the series is dead.

There will be a new sandbox IP at E3 for next generation consoles, I say this with no confidence, but the lack of sandbox titles to this point leaves an opening for one to be announced but I have no knowledge that leads to me feeling confident in this prediction. In fact I would not be shocked if it was wrong.

Things I am looking out for at E3:

Will NBA Live have to deal with NBA 2k14 at E3? It would be a safe bet that it would, and that could do them a world of good especially if NBA Live impresses people. However the NBA Live series has been a disappointing series for awhile now so I honestly don’t expect it to be great, but I think there is a reasonable expectation for it to be respectable. NBA Live missed its last two release cycles, one was expected because they wanted to work on the game, the other was because the demo was so poorly perceived that EA decided not to release it to retailers though copies of the game did get out to a few people.

Will EA Sports’ new Infinity Engine impress? This is how people are going to judge EA’s future and sadly there are a lot of people who want to see EA fall on its face because of a deal struck all the way back in 2005 with the NFL license. As if that wasn’t enough people were outraged that EA could possibly put a online pass on its products. But overall all joking aside, EA really needs to come out strong overwise these gamers will have a very negative outlook at their upcoming products, and the skepticism will be felt throughout the world wide web. But let it be known I will be open and honest about what I think of the games because I feel like it is only the right thing to do, for both the company, and the gamers. If something stinks I will say it, if something is good I will say it, it’s really that simple.

I am wondering this as well, which of the two war games looks better after E3, I think they are both looking very solid coming into the event so there should be a good competition between Call of Duty: Ghosts and Battlefield 4 in Los Angeles. I am excited to see how they look and how they’re progressed over time. The game with the edge after E3 may very well end up being the better selling product which may or may not result in the highest rated product, I guess we’ll see.

Will there be that one game that catches people off guard? Last year Ubisoft blew my mind with Watch_Dogs and I am hoping for another game like it. One of those games that are relatively unknown until the show and then everyone is surprised that is was announced because it was a relative unknown and unforeseen, because lets be honest the gaming industry blogs are unreal with how accurate their sources are and Watch_Dogs snuck by and looks to be a contender for game of the year here in 2013.

I am also interested in hearing about any new current generation titles, especially considering that the next generation consoles are coming soon, so any new IP’s might be in trouble in terms of sales with video game budgets being smaller than they were in the past with a tough US economy still causing havoc. So to pluck down money on new games for old consoles will not be easy but with the game is able to be hyped good enough it will be interesting to see if gamers buy it.

Stay tuned, because tomorrow we finally dive into the topic of next generation consoles.

Xbox One Impressions

 

First off let me apologize for not getting this up sooner, I had to leave for a doctors appointment as soon as the show ended so I could get this up any sooner.

Anyway my impression of Microsoft’s unveil is favorable, I liked what I saw from them at first I was a little underwhelmed but as I thought about it after the show I warmed up to the idea of an all in one system that allows us to change channels, surf the web and so forth. I just hope it isn’t too complex to set up.

EA Sports also made an appearance briefly showing off Madden 25, NBA Live 14, FIFA and UFC with next generation and it looked pretty good, the small glimpses were not enough to show off the graphics or even gameplay for any of the games. But the Ignite Engine sounds very promising, it emphasizes smarter AI, better crowds, and more realistic visuals.

One thing that might tick off EA Sports customers is that it appears that FIFA Ultimate Team will be a Xbox One exclusive according to Andrew Wilson. On that subject I have to say that I hope that if the EA Sports games go exclusive for any mode it is just Ultimate Team and not things like the newly unveiled Connected Franchise or Owner mode for Madden 25 and beyond. This could be a huge problem if the EA, Microsoft love fest includes more game modes.

In terms of games this unveil did not have much, however I enjoyed two games in particular, Quantum Break, and Call of Duty: Ghosts. Quantum Break is a game that no one has any info on but it looks amazing visually as it should on the next generation consoles at this point. Quantum Break will be an Xbox One exclusive.

Call of Duty had an inside look at how the game was made, one of the things I liked was that you have your own dog that you can use to sniff out bombs and other stuff in the field. The game is also expected to be on current gen and next gen consoles as well as the PC.

Overall I was impressed with Microsoft today, I didn’t expect the console to have the power to do so much as an all in one device, I admit that is pretty impressive, it makes the console great as an all around device. However I think if Microsoft prices it to be more than the PS4 it can be a terrible mistake on their part.

What did you think of the conference? What games impressed you?

Call of Duty: Ghosts trailer

This is an interesting trailer, it shows no gameplay at all but it has a lot of masks, so there is an indication to me that there is something to hide. Whether it is something in the past or something during this game as it unfolds. We’ll have to wait and see. And this game is probably due in late 2013 if it is anything like the typical COD release cycle.