Nintendo at E3 2014

I spent the majority of yesterday glued to my computer watching the Nintendo Digital Event livestream and I've got to say I was pretty impressed. I don't want to get into the whole 'who won E3' debate, but I want to give you my own thoughts on some of Nintendo's announcements.

Smash Bros- Let's get Smash Bros out of the way as this was clearly the focal point of Nintendo's conference, and rightly so because if this isn't a system seller, nothing is.

We discovered that Mii's will be playable characters and it was pretty much expected. It's allowing you to inject some of your own personality into the game, which is a design ethic that Nintendo has been proudly delivering throughout many of their recent releases.

Pac Man was also revealed to be a playable character, again not very surprising seeing at the game is being developed by Namco Bandai. And after all was said and done we got treated to a stunning anime of Link dueling with Pitt, which then turned out to be another character reveal for...Lady Palutena.

My first impressions were "Really??? This is what they're saving till last." Then I saw the amount of effort they had put into this reveal, as previously mentioned the stunning anime, with the well scripted dialogue reminiscent of Kid Icarus Uprising. Lady Palutena then silenced doubters by showing off one of the most impressive movesets of any member of the Smash Bros roster, leaving enemies obliterated and me appropriately stunned.

I was a little disappointed to find that Smash Bros has been delayed from July until October, but I'd rather that the game was polished and performing at its best. We learned that the 'amiibo' toys are going to be an released alongside the game (more on those in a moment), there's also a gorgeous line of Gamecube controllers being released alongside Smash Bros (I'm going to be so bankrupt), and they've even brought back the digital trophy collection last seen in Smash Bros Melee.

There was little gameplay footage during the Digital Event but there didn't need to be any. The Smash Bros Invitational was going to provide a whopping 2 and a half hours of live footage, I'm watching it now as I type, and suffice to say I can't wait for October to arrive so I can finally join the fight.

Amiibo- Ever since Smash Bros Melee was released on Gamecube fans have dreamed of collecting their own Nintendo figurines. Now the dream has finally been made a reality in the form of Nintendo's line of amiibo toys; wallets ready.

The toys can be used in conjunction with Smash Bros, along with other future Wii U/3DS releases, and they allow the character to leap into the game to beat the living daylights out of your opponents...that's when I became confused.

I thought these figures were going to be similar to Disney Infinity and Skylanders; where introducing the figure will allow you to PLAY as the character and not just watch them on screen. They're almost like a virtual pet as you can train them by introducing them to various games, and customise their movesets and abilities to make them your own. Either way the amiibo look fantastic and it's going to be interesting to see how they fare against the likes of Disney Infinity and Skylanders.

Splatoon- The Wii U finally has a first party shooter...but it's not Metroid. Splatoon is a third person shoot em up where two teams of four try and graffiti a variety of levels with their own colour of ink. The team who has gained the most territory ultimately wins, but covering ground also allows you to transform into a Squid so you can quickly traverse your ink and get to where the action is to fend off your opponents.

It's nice to see Nintendo delivering a new IP and I'm really excited to play this one. The art design has a great sense of attitude, reminiscent of Jet Set Radio, with the gameplay style of one of my own personal favourites; De Blob.

Zelda Wii U- We were treated to a cutscene of the brand new Zelda game for Wii U and it was nothing short of stunning. There wasn't much information provided but we do know it's going to be an open world adventure, it has a similar art direction to Skyward Sword and I don't know about you but the weapon designs look amazing. It's scheduled for release sometime in 2015, it's going to be a long wait...

Hyrule Warriors- ...In the meantime however, we have Hyrule Warriors, which I was quite skeptical about this considering it's a hack 'n' slash title rather than a traditional Zelda adventure. The reveals were very persuasive however, as Nintendo revealed there will be four playable characters (Link, Zelda, Impa and fan favourite; Midna), and there will also be two player co-op. Since Smash Bros has been delayed this is arguably Nintendo's biggest release until then, let's hope it delivers the exciting experience it promises.

There's a ton of other stuff I could go into but this blog is already long enough.

Nintendo have come under a lot of criticism as of late, but whether you love them or hate them, they delivered a fantastic performance at E3 2014. In fact the show's still going on as they're still making new announcements throughout the whole of the convention, but will it be enough to persuade the masses to go out and buy a Wii U? Only time will tell.
      

Day 14 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: God Eater Burst

I said I would try to find something unusual and I think God Eater: Burst for PSP fits that description, along with freaking awesome!

God Eater: Burst takes the Monster Hunter formula and mixes in anime cutscenes, a kick ass soundtrack, engrossing story-line, the option of having AI controlled characters fight alongside you (something I would have really liked in MH) and best of all, your own customisable character that wields a buster sword/cannon capable of devouring enemies to steal their abilities.

The game is set in a world that has been overrun and destroyed by the hideous aragami (big nasty monsters) and it's up to you to get out there and exterminate them. Like MH you have a specific monster to aim for in order to complete the mission and you can craft new armour and weapons from your fallen enemies, some of it looking especially cool. Some of the missions can be tackled on your own, or with AI controlled allies, but the game is best played with a friend so you can add some strategy and more cohesive teamwork to your game.

The weapon you carry is capable of devouring cells from monsters so you can steal their abilities. For example having your weapon take a bite out of a giant snow monkey will give the power to use ice based attacks. Keep in mind that enemies do not surrender their powers easily, so you'll have to be cunning if you want to wield new abilities without getting clobbered in the process.

God Eater: Burst is a fantastic game and every PSP owner owes it to themselves to seek it out. Whether it's for the great story-line (which I refuse to spoil), engaging multiplayer, addictive gameplay or just because you can find it for less than £10, it doesn't matter. It's awesome, play it.

Day Nine: Play Expo

I've been going to Play Expo for the last two years and I've recently picked up my tickets for this years event in October. It's held at Manchester's Event City venue, which is a stones throw away from the Trafford Centre, and for a whole weekend it's crammed with games as far as the eye can see.

Last year Nintendo were there to show off Zelda: A Link Between Worlds about a month before it's official release in the UK, along with Sonic Lost Worlds and a playable demo of the upcoming Mario Kart 8! I imagine Nintendo will be back this year and seeing as Super Smash Bros Wii U has a planned Winter release they'll hopefully be bringing it along.

Ubisoft were there last year with Assassins Creed 4 demoing on PS4, also about a month before the PS4 was on sale, so as you can imagine there was queue that rivaled the Great Wall of China. The same can also be said for the Oculus Rift which was attracting a lot of attention, hopefully they'll be back this year as I wasn't prepared to wait in the queue last time around, and Namco also made an appearance to torment gamers with Dark Souls 2.

Then of course there's the retro games with several hundred machines on offer from the Atari 2600 to the PS2; so I was certainly spoiled for choice. This was accompanied by a huge selection of arcade cabinets and pinball machines, ensuring that everyone who attends goes home happy. There's also little hubs set up for people to play tournaments on Super Mario Kart, Doom and plenty other titles so if you want to have a little competition you're covered.

There's also a large number of stalls selling games for pretty much every platform imaginable, along with some great gaming merchandise and handycrafts as well, I picked up this Blastoise T-Shirt last year.

Cosplayers are also welcomed with a load of people turning up in fantastic outfits and there's usually talks with various designers sharing their cosplaying tips.

This year is already shaping up to be something special as they've just announced the screen.play feature, which is promising meet and greets with Hollywood movie stars, photo opportunities, film props and movie cars. 

The thing that I'm looking forward to most though is the Classic Gaming Championships, and the final is going to be held at Play Expo. I'm going to enter the heats at NERG in July so wish me luck, I'm probably going to need it. 

Day Six: We Love Katamari

We Love Katamari is so bonkers it's brilliant.

The idea is simple, roll a ball into various objects and try and make the ball grow as big as you can, but why would anyone find that fun? Well, the game starts off in a very modest way as you pick up small objects like sweets and paperclips...eventually you'll be rolling up planets and universes. 

You can also add to the fun by playing the whole game in co-op mode with a friend, which really adds to the challenge as you have to be in sync with one another to perform the various moves required to progress through the game. Myself and my wife spent many hours playing We Love Katamari and even though the concept of the game is very simple it never gets old.

The game also has a ton of characters to unlock, the only thing that differs about them is their appearance, but it's still fun seeking out where the characters are hiding in each level. You can also unlock outfits and accessories for your characters by completing various challenges, for instance rolling up a certain number of objects in the fastest time possible, which adds to the replay value as you try to break your previous record.

The last thing I feel I need to mention is the soundtrack. It is possibly the most eccentric soundtrack I've ever found in a video game because you find a mixture of everything. J-Pop, J-Rock, Disco, Orchestral Music, Scat Singing and Beat Boxing, the tunes are seriously catchy and you'll be singing them for months on end. To be honest if you weren't interested in the game I would strongly advise you to pick up the soundtrack, it's that good.