You can get the episode from iTunes, Hipcast, or direct download. Also, here’s an RSS? Please download the episode if you can! It’s a big help.

The post VGCC at E3 2014: The Final Day appeared first on Gamesline.

• Mii Fighters are a very welcome addition to Smash 4. I expected something very basic and based around Wii ___ games, but Sakurai went above and beyond as always. Getting to see Iwata ORA was also a gift.
• All the Robot Chicken stuff was confusing, but got a couple laughs out of me. A few jokes were stronger than others but I’m appreciating Nintendo trying to incorporate humor into their digital events. It feels less robotic.
• Amiibo was also revealed, which is the Skylanders-esque figure line from Nintendo. You can transfer Smash Bros characters to and from your game, and bring them to your friend’s house. Each character can equip items that will boost abilities depending on what you use. Obviously, you can still use item-less characters. pro-Smash ain’t dead.
• Yarn Yoshi is now Yoshi’s Woolly World. Remember how upset everyone was about how bland Yoshi’s New Island looked? Well you’ll be fine. Get Woolly World. It’s absolutely gorgeous and plays like a dream.
• The Captain Toad segments were the best part of Mario 3D World, and hearing that there will be a full game filled with puzzle challenges starring the pint-sized spelunker excites me and surprisingly a lot of people. I’m surprised but happy I’m not alone in my excitement.
• Open world Zelda! I imagine Miyamoto saw Skyrim gameplay and started swearing up and down the halls yelling “WHY DIDN’T WE DO THIS?!!?! FUCK!” The game looks beautiful though.
• Yo can I see Mega Rayquaza already? Thanks in advance.
• I’m glad Bayo 1 is coming with Bayo 2. I beat Bayo 1 already but now I can clear it with some SSSTYLE and CUHRAYZEE COMBOS.
• I played Hyrule Warriors on the floor. It feels so good clearing huge hoards of creatures, and there’s some real polish that I haven’t seen in any of the other Dynasty Warriors games I’ve seen glimpses of. Not to say that Dynasty Warriors is bad, but this is Nintendo quality.
• New Kirby Canvas curse is real nice.
• No opinion on Xenoblade but I’m sure everyone else in the world is stoked. Sorry.
• Mario Maker seems fun but hopefully there’s a bit more to it than what we saw. I dunno, I guess I’m not creative enough to get as much mileage out of it as some people.
• Splatoon may be my favorite new IP this year besides Sunset Overdrive. I’m SO ready to ink all over fools and swim circles around the competition. Eat MY PAINT, ASSHOLE.
• Little things Nintendo didn’t mention: Fantasy Life which seems neat, Mario Party 10 on Wii U, and Layton v Wright is FINALLY confirmed for US.
• Palutena is also playable in Smash. I need more info on her to get really excited, but her reveal trailer was super nice. Dark Pit alt costume for Pit?
• And last but certainly not least…PAC MAN BABY YEEEEEAAAHHHH

I was happy with a few games from each presser, but I was happy with EVERY game Nintendo showed off this year. Fuckin A+.

The post John’s Nintendo Thoughts appeared first on Gamesline.

EA

who cares hardline looks like ass, also gimmie Battlefront fasteeeerrrr.

Ubisoft

• My seat was friggin awful, I was right behind the swoopy camera and I couldn’t see the main stage. Sorry, Aisha.
• Far Cry 4 looks better than I thought. I just hope the villain isn’t handled shittily. There was a brief moment I thought the main character was a white dude after all that talk and I was super pissed at Ubi but I got a better look during the Sony conference and was happy.
• The Just Dance stuff Ubi showed off is filed under “shit I will never use but I respect from afar”. Just Dance Now is SUPER neat.
• I’m really not hating The Division. The more I see the more I wanna play it with some friends. There’s something promising about that game, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.
• I feel similarly about The Crew that I do with Division. I wanna cruise around with my chums in our dumbass car gang. I think the best idea would be to get the slowest, dumbest looking car and just crash into people. That’s what I’d get The Crew for.
• Shape Up looks like way more fun than it should be. Maybe this is the lack of a new Warioware talking but I want some new minigames and Shape Up looks like the best place to look right now.
• Assassin’s Creed is the only game Ubisoft showed that I wanna say ENOUGH to. Done with stubble white man, done with same gameplay, very bored, let me sleep.
• Valiant Hearts is, as I quote from one Will Westwater, “the kinda sad indie game people are into these days”. I’ll give it a look but man, I’m kinda d0ne being bummed out these days.
• Rainbow Six is the third and final entry in my “let’s all play this together” list. Ubisoft wants me to play their games with friends, so SURE, I’LL BITE.

Anywho, I’ve still got a lot to talk about. Check back soon for my thoughts on Sony, Nintendo, and what you’ve all been waiting for, what I think about Super Smash Bros for Wii U.

The post John’s EA/Ubisoft Thoughts appeared first on Gamesline.

You can get the episode from iTunes, Hipcast, or direct download. Also, here’s an RSS? Please download the episode if you can! It’s a big help.

The post VGCC at E3 2014: Day One Podcast appeared first on Gamesline.

In the demo I was shown, the Rainbow Six team (consisting of five, weirdly enough) went up against some baddies holed up in a suburban residence, holding your generic blonde woman de jour hostage. This is the literal extreme of the damsel in distress cliche, and I hope the final game lets you rescue a family or a dog. Some diversity in the victims would be nice.

The demo began with the Siege dev team showing off both sides of the conflict: attackers and defenders. At the start of each match, during the prep stage, the Rainbow Six send drones in to scout the place, while the criminals place defensive items like barbed wire or barricades. The drones are crucial, because if you rush into the house without an idea of where the hostage is, you’ll get stomped. There are no respawns, and our demo lacked both regenerating health or any kind of med-pack. It’s a very tactics-heavy setup.

Once the Six team found the hostage’s location, they began to move into the house. In a (probably heavily practiced) sequence, the developers showed all the various ways the attacking force can push their foes; namely, with guns and explosives. Shortly after the attackers’ inevitable victory, the demo switched to following the defending team. Barbed wire and reinforced walls became crucial in this segment, but, as with all games, how the mechanics work in practice will be another thing entirely.

After the demo, attendees were given a hands-on look at the game. And hey, that included me!

Siege plays like a fairly standard first-person shooter. That ever-slippery, hard-to-define “feel” is alive and well here; “this game feels standard” is such an incredibly subjective thing to say, but I didn’t find anything particularly egregious nor memorable about the simple act of playing Rainbow Six. Instead, the structure is what makes the game entertaining.

Despite (arguably) being a group of professionals, every single one of the attendees burst out with laughter and cheers when a match ended in a particularly entertaining way. Our last match ended with a tense, white-knuckle standoff between the last members of each team. This game is emblematic of the best that multiplayer gaming can embody, with a series of emergent anecdotes bolstered by plentiful explosions and friendly fire. Ubisoft’s faux-banter may not have been far off, I can easily see my friends and I getting way into this game.

It’s not hard to imagine a marketing campaign dominated by a series of proud developers, boasting about an “uncompromised” vision for the new Rainbow Six. This game will not reward the camper, nor the Blitzkrieg fanatic. For the people who are looking for a new SWAT game, this will absolutely scratch your itch. And for those of you looking for that next big co-op game to play with your friends, give Rainbow Six: Siege a look.

The post VGCC at E3 2014: Rainbow Six: Siege Hands-on Impressions appeared first on Gamesline.

Yes, from the folks who brought you Far Cry 3 comes Far Cry 3: Except Now With Elephants. Based on the stuff we’ve seen from the Ubisoft conference, it appears that all the iteration for this sequel comes in the storytelling department. The simple act of playing Far Cry 4 feels almost egregiously familiar, right down to the stealth that doesn’t quite work and illusion of choice that doesn’t quite work either.

The demo I was shown was an outpost assault with three different options: a stealthy approach and two bombastic assaults (one where you ride an elephant and the other with a helicopter). My game was set to the elephant, which actually worked out all right for a little bit. I smashed through the door and immediately started whacking my foes with the elephant’s trunk. I got a decent chuckle out of the whole thing, which quickly came to an end when I got off the elephant to better assault my enemies. Not entirely sure how many upgrades the player character had, but I did not manage to last very long either way.

After that crushing defeat, I took the stealthy route, and promptly died almost immediately. The enemies had a tendency to blend into the environment, lacking the brighter reds matched against the green jungles from the previous game, so I didn’t spot a bad guy before he sounded the alarm. The following reinforcements consequently riddled my body full of holes. It has all the promise of Far Cry 3‘s encounter system, but without any real control over my character, I feel like I didn’t quite get the full experience.

The stealth approach also made use of the new grapple feature. It’s a contextual button press that allows you to scale certain walls. I had a spot of trouble getting it to work, only finding the right spot after some help from my Ubisoft rep.

According to said Ubisoft rep, the game was running on a PlayStation 4. He may have been telling the truth, since I think I saw a PS4’s now-trademark glowing white stripe in that dark protective case. Plus, the visuals weren’t exactly spectacular. It ran just fine, but the textures looked a tad grungy. Think somewhere between the Xbox 360 and PC release of Far Cry 3. The game is supposedly early in development, but with a November release, you would think any visuals they’re showing now will be close to the final release.

Look, the most exciting part of Far Cry 4 for me was that trailer with Pagan Min. He looks like one hell of a villain, and it’s always nice to see a non-white protagonist in games. If you dug Far Cry 3’s style of open world, you might also really dig Far Cry 4. We’ll have to see on November 18th.

The post VGCC at E3 2014: Far Cry 4 Hands-on Impressions appeared first on Gamesline.

• I would kiss Sunset Overdrive. The trailer, the colors, the weapons, AUGH I’m in love. I’ve wanted to see a shooter with some personality for some time, and Sunset Overdrive easily delivers. I’m also a huge sucker for easy to use traversal mechanics that actually get you places. Big ups to Insomniac for getting a rise outta me.
• Call of Duty looked good for what it was. It was neat to see some mechs and jet boots, but I know it’ll still feel like Call of Duty, so of course I’m not holding my breath.
• Mike’s excited for Forza. He’s REALLY excited for Forza.
• On the same coin, I’m REALLY excited for Evolve. I need some buds to play that ASAP, and I have a feeling I’ll make a killer medic. There’s an open beta is fall and hopefully I’ll have an Xbox by then.
• The Dead Rising 3 DLC…well there were Servbot heads all over the place so it’s like they KNEW how pissed I was last year. Good on ya Capcom. I just wish this release was on PC so I could actually play it….hrm.
• The Halo stuff was really neat! I like Halo 3 so it’ll be nice to get all of those games at once. Big collections like this are a good thing for the average Joe.
• Out of all the indie games we saw, Cuphead, Fru, Mighty No. 9, and Below were the ones I wanted to see more of. Cuphead especially. I hope that’s playable somewhere.
• New Tomb Raider! I’m more excited for my friends who enjoyed Tomb Raider than for myself, but it’s nice to see a lady protag again. Nice to see you back Lara.
• The Division looks better than I remember it looking, but god damn does that fake banter suck. I get it, co-op, but nobody talks like that.
• People are excited for Scalebound and I couldn’t care less until we actually see gameplay. Kamiya is a good sign but that trailer didn’t tell me anything other than that you can control monsters.

Other than that, eh. Assassin’s Creed, Crackdown, Fable, and Project Spark aren’t appealing to me, but if they’re on the floor, maybe playing them will change my tune. Microsoft didn’t knock it out of the park, but they got their runners home, and that’s what really counts.

The post John’s Microsoft Thoughts appeared first on Gamesline.

You can get the episode from iTunes, Hipcast, or direct download. Also, here’s an RSS? Please download the episode if you can! It’s a big help.

The post VGCC at E3 2014: Day Negative One Podcast appeared first on Gamesline.