BJ's E3 Predictions

Oh thank heavens, E3 is right around the corner.

And this year, Nintendo isn’t putting on a press conference again, and Sony, Microsoft, EA, and Ubisoft are ALL putting THEIR press conferences on in a single day. So essentially there will be lots to talk about in a couple weeks’ time.

So, I may as well throw a few predictions out there.

I will put out my predictions, officially, in chronological order of when each press conference is going to be.

Microsoft

• I will be pleasantly surprised if Microsoft actually brings games to E3 again this year.  Let’s see, probably it’ll be half games and half all the cool media things you can do on the Xbox One again.  Nice one Microsoft.  Sorry to see you won’t sell the Xbox division to Nintendo, as they will need all the help they can get.

EA

• We’ll find out more about Star Wars Battlefront (I. am. SO. stoked.), maybe more on their latest sports games (and see the guy who sold out Shenmue to Microsoft, Peter Moore, for half the presser), and maybe one or two major surprises. Maybe.

Ubisoft

• I’m only going to watch this for Aisha Tyler, one of the funniest ladies out there, and I will just hope that Ubi starts to put out an epic lineup. But it’s Ubisoft so I won’t expect it.

Sony

• Well… Sony really needs to pull more than a few exclusives out of its hat. Luckily Sony realizes this and is probably going to pull out the mega-exclusive. People have been requesting Shenmue to be on PlayStation systems for months now (myself being one of them) and I think the time is right for Sony to announce that they have cinched one of the greatest exclusive deals ever.  It will net them tons of goodwill, and a TON of new hardware sales.  Just do it Sony. Just do it.

Nintendo

• We know of only a few games that are known to be coming out later this year: Smash Wii U (Winter), Smash 3DS (Summer 2014), Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (November 2014)… and that is about it.  So, Nintendo will very likely bring the games.  What kinds of games, you ask? Well…
• There is a mystery 3DS game that they were talking about with an upcoming 90-minute event.  However, I don’t think they would spend 90 minutes on a single, solitary mystery 3DS title, but more than likely we’ll see three, so my predictions on this one are thus:
• I think Metroid is overdue for a reboot. Metroid could very well still be the ‘mystery 3DS title’ they were talking about (possibly Metroid Dread, which would no longer be vaporware).
• Another franchise that is overdue for a reboot is the (Famicom) Wars franchise, because Advance Wars kinda took a nosedive after they attached the Advance Wars name to the dreadful Days of Ruin.
• And one more franchise that is in dire need of a reboot is the Star Fox franchise.  There are far too many games that are fair-to-middling in that franchise, and Star Fox 64 3D, while a great game in its own right, just doesn’t do it for everybody.  So, it could be that a Star Fox game could still come out and be retooled for the ‘modern gamer’.
• Next, I think we’ll finally see the end of 3DS system-wide friend codes, and friend codes in general.  Sayonara, you didn’t serve anybody well.
• Another radical idea is that Nintendo will FINALLY take the universal eShop accounts to its most logical extreme: FULLY universal eShop accounts, tied in with Club Nintendo, that allow you to redownload ANY game you have previously bought, not just on your most recent systems.
• Add on to that the idea I have that you can do a one-time migration, through Club Nintendo, that you can get rid of the games you don’t want anymore for some much-needed eShop credit. (I mean come on, who on Earth would want to redownload that godawful Lego City game for the 3DS unless you actually LIKED that trash pile?).
• One final prediction, NOT having anything to do with the NFC stuff that everyone and their mother would be talking about, is that I would like to see Iwata try and promote the heck out of Japanese television show Game Center CX outside of its native Japan.  No Retro Game Master, or whatever that dreadful steaming pile was.  Just Game Center CX, subtitled for those of us who like that, dubbed for those who like that, but please don’t try to make GCCX into Iron Chef again. Please, just don’t.  GCCX is absolutely NOT Iron Chef, nor should it ever be.

Hyperkin's RetroN5 and new RetroN: Wow!

Okay, we finally have a release date and price for Hyperkin’s oft-delayed, much-anticipated RetroN5: The week of June 6th, for $140.  Now if you have been following this storied saga, it was going to cost $99 or so MSRP, but I guess all the delays caught up with them and they’ll have to charge a tiny bit more.  Don’t worry, it’ll be cheaper on Amazon… if Amazon decides to stock it.

Now, the reviews coming out thus far have been… mixed at best.  I’ve been looking at reviews of other clone consoles too and I haven’t seen anything to make me consider upgrading from my RetroN3 to anything else just yet.  It may be that the RetroN5 is my replacement, but I do not know yet.  I definitely know I will be watching the reactions of real people to the RetroN5 before I make my final decision, though.

One other thing about Hyperkin: At the Midwest Gaming Classic a couple months back, Hyperkin didn’t sit on the announcement of a new RetroN system just because the RetroN5 was heavily delayed.  They announced the new RetroN x86, which is based on the Commodore VIC-20, is Linux-based and will play just about any old PC game you have the original discs/disks for with very little tweaking.  They didn’t give ANY further details other than that it’s ostensibly coming out later this year, but I cannot wait to mess around with that whenever that does come out.

Welcome back!

Wow, more than three months went by like that.  Sorry about that.

Why wasn’t I blogging regularly?  Well, when your potential topics just run dry for several months and you have NO idea what actually to write ABOUT, it makes things really hard sometimes.

Anywho, I’m going to take another week-plus to reconfigure yet again, after 1 or 2 more posts that I feel the need to write up while I’m working on rebuilding this blog, yet again.  Sorry about all the constant reshuffles, I need to figure out what exactly I need to specialize in in the gaming space, rather than just writing about gaming, so that’s why I need some extra time to work out the kinks here.

Wonderful Wednesdays: Democracy 3 First Impressions (aka "Something something bubbles")

A review copy of Democracy 3 has been generously provided by Evolve PR.  The fact I got this for free does not, and never will influence what I say about the game or games below.

Welcome to Wonderful Wednesdays!  As promised last week, here are my first impressions of Democracy 3!

First off, you have an eerily accurate representation of various state governments, and you pick one, you set up the conditions for your win or loss along with the political affiliations, and then you’re thrust straight from the frying pan into the fire (I just started with the default conditions for my first game for what that is worth).  

First you’re greeted by a humorous line or two about the bad things politicians do in the loading screens (the loading screens are absolutely perfectly themed to the game, you guys), and then you get a lot of information about the state of the union to start off with. (The state of the union was pretty bad, with tons of crime problems and problems with the air quality.)

Then, after you’ve sufficiently gotten all the information you need, you are put into the main interface of Democracy 3. There are lots and lots of bubbles, so I was glad I had the tutorial enabled for this first playthrough; however, even then the tutorial barely covered the intricacies of this game.

Now, the idea of political capital to change things like subsidies, et al. is a great idea, but it just feels weird to play Democracy 3 with this and have barely any explanation in the in-game tutorial as to what to do.

Now there is one thing that I’d like to offer to Cliff Harris, the man behind Democracy 3, as a bit of constructive criticism here.  There are way, way too many nested menus, dialogue boxes, and the like, none of which actually tell me what I can do to fix (insert problem here).

By this I mean I was trying to fix the problem of pollution, but I kept clicking on things that took me to even more menus and I never felt like I was getting much of anywhere even then to curb that problem sufficiently.  Same with, of all the possible things, military spending.  It took me several in-game turns to curb military spending, and by then I was in deep debt trouble because I took so long to curb military spending. As a result, I intentionally kept some wildly unpopular policies with the rich guys in place so that my game would end early with an “assassination”.

However, on the whole, I think that this game is absolutely fantastic, and a truly eye-opening experience for me, because now I know way more about the intricacies of political dealings than I ever really wanted to know.  I think, if the price was right and with a few minor tweaks, like maybe a few more tool tips to explain what each new policy did in terms of effect and popularity with various groups without having to implement them (even if you CAN cancel for free), that this could be used for civics classes in high schools all over the country, and maybe even all over the world.

Democracy 3 is available now on GOG.com, Steam, and Cliff Harris’s own website, positech.co.uk for $24.99 or your regional equivalent.  The “Social Engineering” DLC expansion is another $4.99 or your regional equivalent on top of that, so if you like the idea of fixing problems using the populace then I say go for it.

Mario Mondays: The Top 5 Reasons to Be Excited About Nintendo in the First Half of 2014

Welcome back to Mario Mondays!  Today I’m going to be as positive about the future of Nintendo as I possibly can be and give my top 5 reasons to be excited about Nintendo for the first half of 2014.

5) Nintendo’s first real forays into free-to-play gaming.  Free-to-play games have had a real stigma with regard to how exploitative their business models have been (*cough* EA *cough*), but I am not really surprised that Nintendo has started offering free-to-play titles. What Nintendo is surprising people with, however, is the game Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball, coming out in April.  It’s essentially one of the biggest surprises ever in that you actually can haggle down the price that you would normally pay through interesting means.  Plus, I had heard about this (because it’s been out in Japan for awhile) and I didn’t think Nintendo was going to offer it here.  Shows what I know, I guess.

4) Nintendo in ‘Panic Mode’ actually brings great games to the party.  There are so many great games coming that I am going to be really interested in playing that I don’t think I have any time (or the money really) for any of it.  Maybe we’ll actually get the Game Center CX games localized properly by Nintendo and have them over here in proper form with the Japanese audio, finally.  Same with the Famicom and Super Famicom Fire Emblem games.

3) The 3DS is still going super strong.  With games like Steel Diver Sub Wars (which is out now), the aforementioned Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball, Mario Golf World Tour, Kirby Triple Deluxe, Pokemon Battle Trozei, Yoshi’s New Island, the new Professor Layton game, Inazuma Eleven (which is FINALLY out Stateside), and more, the 3DS is becoming more and more and more of a great value.  And that’s not including all of the great games that are already out for it like Fire Emblem Awakening, Pokemon X & Y, and Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, and that’s just scratching the surface.

2) Nintendo’s first-party retail Wii U titles.  There are still going to be slight gaps, especially the month of March, which seems to have very few games announced for that month, and the Nintendo Downloads may or may not be kinda sparse during March.  Who knows.  However, with the sheer strength of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (out this Friday and probably just difficult enough to get gamers who wish to tackle it through the month of March no problem), Mario Kart 8, and what’s coming out later this year, including the new Smash Bros., it’s going to be a great time to be a Nintendo gamer, no question.

1) NES Remix 2.  The first NES Remix on the Wii U was wonderful fun (the episode of Game Center CX that focused on the first NES Remix was proof positive of that), but there were several games I frankly don’t want to see or play ever again after playing the challenges here. Namely, Clu Clu Land and Ice Climber.  Thankfully, this time there are way better challenges, way better games to work with, and depending on how the challenges work, some dark horses that will become hidden masterpieces of the latter NES library.  If this game does well, I think we’ll get SNES Remix next.

Flashback Friday: Hyperkin: What's Coming and My Thoughts On What's Next

Today, I want to talk a bit about the retro gaming company, Hyperkin.  Yeah Hyperkin has their hands in modern console accessories to a degree, but their main focus is on retro gaming.  Whether that is old console gaming controllers and accessories, or amazingly cool retro systems like the Supaboy and the RetroN5, they have their hands in a lot of different pies.

So, why am I talking about Hyperkin today?  Well, I want to talk about Hyperkin today because they have come out with some incredible new stuff that will be coming out in the coming months.  They are putting out (no joke) a Pixel Art Controller that looks like a pixellated Super Nintendo controller that plugs into your PC or Mac to play emulated titles (and games that require a halfway good D-pad...) for a mere $20 later this month that Hyperkin has been pushing in the Walmart Get On The Shelf campaign, which is basically Walmart's version of Steam Greenlight, except with even more chaff that must be separated from the wheat.

In addition, the RetroN5 that plays NES, Famicom, Super Nintendo, Super Famicom, Sega Genesis, Sega MegaDrive, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance (whew!) cartridges over HDMI with some really cool new additional extras that were only the domain of emulators before this, and it's coming out for $99.99, with a tentative release date (at least according to Amazon.com) of October 31st.  If that's the case... I think I know how I'll be spending MY Halloween week.

So, after all of this craziness, what's next?  Nobody knows, really, but I want to give the guys at Hyperkin 8 suggestions of what they can do in the retro gaming space that will blow everybody's minds.

1) A universal lightgun that works with a ton of different systems (including PC for emulation purposes) and a ton of different games that works REGARDLESS of what kind of TV or other display you have.  Number 1, it's about time.  Number 2, this could be the way we all get to experience great light gun games like Area 51 and Duck Hunt all over again.

2) A retro console that emulates the N64.  Lots of people want this (especially if you look on Hyperkin's Facebook page), and if Hyperkin gets a license to do this from Nintendo, that could make things very interesting going forward for retro games consoles.

3) A retro console that does the impossible: Brings the Sega CD, the Sega Saturn, the Sega Dreamcast, the Playstation 1, the Turbo CD system, the PC Engine CD (the Japanese equivalent of the Turbo CD), and the Amiga CD32 together in one 90s-tastic CD console.  I'd certainly want to get one of these, as my space is really limited anymore.

4) A Dreamcast VGA adapter that doesn't cost the moon.  Please.  Especially for those (like myself) who are way late to the Dreamcast party.

5) A retro gaming-centric monitor.  It could be combined with not only the RetroN 5, but also the universal lightgun peripheral I mentioned above.  Has potential, certainly.

6) Another huge opportunity in the retro gaming space is to have Hyperkin create flash cartridges like the Everdrives of the world that can put the legally grey ROMs into products like the RetroN5 and have people be able to play them on their TV.  This is much, much more questionable, but if anyone can get those retro console games wrested from the vaults and available for purchase individually or in groups, it's Hyperkin.

7) More portable retro consoles.  I hope Hyperkin eventually gets the Sega license to do a portable Sega Genesis.  You can't possibly do worse than At:Games or even the venerable Sega Nomad...

8) Maybe even retro portable consoles get refabs and rereleases like the Game Boy, the Lynx, the Game Gear, etc.

EDIT: I said in my introductory post that some Flashback Fridays posts would be edited.  This is one of those posts.  There have been some new developments, up to and including a RetroN5 delay, as well as some new Nintendo 64 controllers from their Cirka brand, AND brand-spanking-new Genesis “RageStrong” controllers from Hyperkin themselves!  Of course, I am going to be taking a look at these things eventually.

Wrapping Up Nintendo: The Reboot Edition #1: Super Hype Expectations... And They Delivered!!

Welcome to Wrapping Up Nintendo: The Reboot Edition!  This was a feature on my other blog that I want to bring back, but before today I didn’t get the chance to because Nintendo hasn’t trotted out a Nintendo Direct in 2014 whatsoever until now.

Oh boy oh boy oh boy.  Today’s long-awaited Nintendo Direct was worldwide in scope, and it brought a fair few surprises with it!

I’ll be talking about games that were featured in the North American Direct, but I will mention a few of the neat little bonuses in other regions too.

First they started with a bang. New trailer, and it’s Smash Bros.  It was immediately obvious it was Little Mac from the Punch-Out games, and Little Mac “punches in” to the Smash roster for the new Smash game. Sadly it’s still coming out just in 2014, but I really, really like what they did with his moveset and his little KO meter straight out of Super Punch-Out!

Then they started in on the Nintendo 3DS titles. First up they finally firmed up Mario Golf World Tour’s release date (May 2nd), AND they have created an RPG-like mode called Castle Club as has been the case with the handheld Mario Golf titles in the past!

Next they also firmed up Kirby Triple Deluxe’s release date (May 2nd also), and they showed just a little bit more, including new mechanics for the various copy abilities, collectibles, and 3DS-specific Streetpass features, including a friendly Waddle Dee in the background that gives you better items if you’ve Streetpassed someone who owns the game!

Next is Yoshi’s New Island.  It looks really, really good and it looks eerily like the original Yoshi’s Island, except for the Mega Egg Dozers and Metal Egg Dozers.  Now here is where North America deviates slightly from UK/Europe: There was no Yoshi’s New Island 3DS XL bundle announced for North America at the time this posts as far as I am aware.  But I’ll be honest, even as a gigantic Yoshi fan, it looks seriously lackluster and somewhat Photoshopped, so I’ll let you lot in Europe keep that bundle there.

Next up was some 3DS eShop games. First up, a brand new Steel Diver that uses an FPS-like perspective, Steel Diver Sub Wars.  It has a free version with less submarines and missions and a paid version that is the full version, and is out now.

Next in eShop land was Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball, which is the first real major Nintendo foray into “free-to-play” games and while I’ve known about this because of NWR and Daan Koopman for quite some time now, I am almost absurdly happy that this quirky game is coming Stateside.

Finally in eShop land was Pokemon Battle Trozei, which is (finally) a sequel to the very well-received and really underrated Pokemon Trozei on DS.  That’s coming out March 20th.

Next they tossed it over to NoA and they first discussed Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy (and the companion Emmy Altava, whise last adventure is Azran Legacy), which is coming out February 28th.

Next they talked about what little third-party support they have. First is Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate for NA in early 2015.  Too bad the 3DS’s Circle Pad is frankly awful for that sort of game.

Next is the final Guild.01 game (FINALLY), Weapon Shop de Omasse, coming out February 20th.

Next up is one game series I’ve been curious about for forever and five days, Inazuma Eleven.  Inazuma Eleven is FINALLY coming to these shores today!  Rumor has it it’s $20 so please buy this.

Next they talked about the Indie Game Showcase which they’ll talk more about on their YouTube show Nintendo Minute, and a whole slew of indie games on 3DS and Wii U.

Finally is Child of Light.  It’s a puzzle platformer, a genre I totally suck at.  Plus it’s from Ubisoft, they of the “we don’t believe in Nintendo so we’re killing Rayman and Watch Dogs” variety, so that’s two strikes agains them. It’s coming out in a month or two but I really don’t care.

Then they turned the presentation back over to Iwata, where they showed the latest trailer for Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, out February 21st.  It essentially confirmed that that scary octopus from Donkey Kong Country Returns makes a comeback, and that was really about it.  Thankfully in this case they didn’t spoil anything majorly important.

Next they followed up on NES Remix (which is a GREAT game with utterly horrendous game selections like Ice Climber and Clu Clu Land) with a brand-new volume of NES Remix, NES Remix 2, out April 25th (cannot come soon enough Nintendo).  It includes a Nintendo World Championships-esque mode (awesome), Super Luigi Brothers (a Luigi version of the original Super Mario Bros. that plays like a manga, going from right to left), and quite possibly the best possible game selection (and a vast improvement over the original title).  The great thing about this is it’s coming out in April and I cannot possibly be more excited about it!!

Also, slight deviation once again, this time between NA/Europe and Japan.  You see, in Japan apparently they like their games on physical media, and they are getting (no joke) a physical release of both the first NES Remix AND the new NES Remix 2 (there called Famicom Remix 1 + 2).  I hope Nintendo sees fit to release something similar Stateside, and maybe they’ll include the Game Center CX episode(s) with official subtitles, who knows.

The game selection for NES Remix 2 are as follows:

• Ice Hockey
• Wario’s Woods
• Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link
• Super Mario Bros. 2
• Dr. Mario
• Kirby’s Adventure
• Super Mario Bros. 3
• Kid Icarus
• Punch-Out!!
• Metroid
• NES Open Tournament Golf
• Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels (also known in Japan as Super Mario Bros. 2)

Seriously, how can that possibly be any better?! Well except for Ice Hockey and Zelda 2 and maybe Wario’s Woods, although if Wario’s Woods is anything like Wrecking Crew from the first game, it’ll come out as being a hidden gem of sorts.

Next, GBA games (FINALLY) on Wii U Virtual Console starting in April. The games they detailed in the NA/Europe Directs were Metroid Fusion, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga (YES!!!), Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3 (YES YES YES!!!), and more.

Again Japan deviates from this ever so slightly.  

In Japan they’re getting a much more locked-down release schedule.  On April 3rd they’re getting:

• Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World
• WarioWare Mega Micro Games
• Kirby and the Amazing Mirror (not nearly as good as Kirby’s Adventure / Kirby’s Nightmare in Dream Land IMHO)
• Golden Sun (I am SO jealous)
• F-Zero: Maximum Velocity (a GBA launch title I specifically remember playing)
• Advance Wars 1 + 2 (which was exclusive to Japan, maybe they’ll actually break from tradition slightly and give us Americans that package dealie.  I certainly would buy it as I adore Advance Wars, and Fire Emblem for that matter)

And then on April 30th, they’re getting:

• Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga
• The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
• Mario Tennis Power Tour
• Wario Land 4
• Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land (the superior Kirby GBA game IMO)
• Metroid Fusion

I have a sneaking suspicion that there are going to be some really fun Nintendo Channel Game Center CX challenge segments for Kacho Arino in that April timeframe.

Next is Mario Kart 8, and they showed a trailer with 8 characters that you would not expect: Bowser’s Koopalings are in fact confirmed to be playable!  Which is great if you like playing as a villain, I personally might try playing as them once or twice.  Certainly can’t be any worse than Mario Kart 7’s woefully bad controls on the 3DS that you cannot even so much as rebind. Launches on May 30th.

Next is some info on what is known as “X”, the new title from Monolith Soft, makers of Xenoblade Chronicles.  Now we have a real name, and a glimpse of the (admittedly cool looking) battle system.  The real name is Xenoblade 2, and it is coming later this year.

Finally is the most insane game of them all: Bayonetta 2.  Holy crap this looks crazy, and I definitely will pick this up. I’m a huge fan of quirky games and if given an opportunity to buy a quirky game I will definitely do so.  I haven’t regretted a single quirky game I have bought (even paying the piper to import Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! for DS).

This concludes the North American coverage, but I still have a few things I want to mention.  First, in the Japanese Direct, there was a Monster Hunter 4 3DS XL announced to be coming out with Monster Hunter 4 in Japan.  Also in the Japanese Direct, apparently there’s something cool with the Game Center CX 3 game for 3DS that is on the eShop now.  And in Europe, there is one game that I am absolutely jealous we don’t have here: Nintendo Pocket Football Club (of course here we’d have to call it Nintendo Pocket Soccer Club or something).  This game looks insanely cool (almost like Nintendo’s answer to Sensible Soccer and that ilk), and if Inazuma Eleven actually does well in North America, we might actually get this here.

This concludes the presentation, for realsies.  Also, Nintendo, please schedule your next Nintendo Direct a touch earlier than 5:00 PM Eastern Time for us Americans.  I’d love to not have to spend several hours factchecking and then putting it up after Midnight. Thanks in advance.