GamesCom 2014

[Icemage]

So a bunch of presentations today at GamesCom. I'm still trying to digest all of the news but quick recap of what was shown, based my reading of liveblogs and various videos released:

Microsoft:
> Assassin's Creed Unity
> FIFA 15 Bundle for 399 EUR (Kinectless)
> Indie games ID@XBOX:
>> Cuphead (2D 1940s animation style sidescrolling shooter in the vein of Mega Man)
>> Space Engineers (Minecraft on an asteroid?)
>> Super Hot (FPS meets Braid's time manipulation)
> Smite (MOBA)
> Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
> COD bundle, Kinectless, 499 EUR/$499 (lol?)
> Rise of the Tomb Raider timed exclusive to XB1 (possible megaton, depends on what type/length of exclusivity)
> Quantum Break footage (it's a third person cover shooter with time manipulation...)
> Screamride (looks like a weird hybrid between Roller Coaster Tycoon and PAIN)
> Forza Horizon 2
> Ori and the Blind Forest
> Master Chief Collection

Sony:
> LittleBigPlanet 3
> Bloodborne (From Software, exclusive)
> The Tomorrow Children (Q Games, unknown gametype)
> The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (some sort of murder mystery game, timed exclusive)
> Volume (stealth game from creator of Thomas Was Alone, timed exclusive)
> Hollowpoint (2D sidescroller in the vein of Shadow Complex, timed? exclusive)
> Day Z (timed console exclusive)
> Hellblade (Ninja Theory, combat adventure, timed exclusive)
> Rime (Tequila Works, exclusive)
> Destiny (PlayStation-specific content is timed exclusive... sigh)
> Shadow of Mordor
> Kojima trolling
EDIT 2: Apparently Kojima and Guillermo Del Toro are collaborating on a new Silent Hill game. I said WUUUUT?
> SharePlay - new PS4 feature coming in FW 2.8 that lets you temporarily share your games with other players online who don't own the game and play local multiplayer modes even though you're online. I'm guessing this is piggybacking off of Gaikai's streaming technology (?)
> Morpheus VR
> PS Now beta for Europe
> PlayStationTV (lol)
> Until Dawn (originally PS3 Move game, now seems to be a choose-your-own-adventure horror game on PS4)
> DriveClub
> Tearaway PS4 (gee, twist the knife on the Vita some more Sony, lol)
> WiLD (PS4 exclusive from Wild Studios / Michel Ancel) (open world online multiplayer survival game where you can play as humans or beasts??)

Nintendo:
No conference, but did release a games video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnHgEqzKwSI

> Hyrule Warriors
> Sonic Boom
> Mario Kart 8
> Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
> Art Academy
> Splatoon
> Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
> Bayonetta
> Super Smash Brothers
> Yoshi's Woolly World
> Mario Maker
> Mario vs. Donkey Kong
> Xenoblade Chronicles X
> Super Mario 3D World
> Kirby
> Mario Party
> The Legend of Zelda


---

Interesting move from Microsoft to try and get Tomb Raider as a timed exclusive. It's a powerful brand, but I'm surprised Square-Enix was willing to compromise considering the hardware landscape (unless large amounts of money were involved).

Microsoft did the bare minimum for their conference. While they made no major mistakes, they're falling into the "Microsoft doesn't support new IPs" trope that has dogged them for years. (EDIT 3: I should clarify and point out that none of the big stuff they showed was a new announcement)

My grade for Microsoft: C-

Sony came out swinging with a TON of game reveals, doing what they've always done: bringing new IP at the start of a new generation. Even more surprising is that they didn't need to lean on what people actually expected: Uncharted or No Man's Sky.

My grade for Sony: A-

Nintendo's footage is interesting in that it's all actual gameplay/in-game engine. There's a disturbing reliance on platformers in the mix, but the presence of Mario Kart 8, Bayonetta 2 and Xenoblade helps. At least they have real games you can play right now, however.

My grade for Nintendo: D+

EDIT: Added the games list for Nintendo's video

Icemage

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: GamesCom 2014

Actual gameplay and supporting both your platforms merits a D-, but hypothetical gameplay/CG trailers or ignoring you have a handheld gets you a higher score.

Okay.

Silent Hill and WiLD are interesting, I know I can count on Kojima and Ancel to deliver on gameplay, plus the talent they attract is icing on the cake. Well that and WiLD isn't shackled to Ubisoft, so I can permit myself to buy that if they decide to tell us what it is. I think it's wasted on PS4 exclusivity though. That game is begging for PC.release.

[Malacite]

Re: GamesCom 2014

WTF Kojima doing Silent Hill??!?!?!?

Ultimate mind-fuck incoming!


Tomb Raider thing is a surprising dick move by SE, they seem to be coddling MS more and more lately which just strikes me as bizarre.

[Icemage]

Re: GamesCom 2014

Actual gameplay and supporting both your platforms merits a D-, but hypothetical gameplay/CG trailers or ignoring you have a handheld gets you a higher score.

Okay.

Game conferences are for game announcements. We already knew about every single title shown by Nintendo. They avoid getting an F for not faking it, but that's not the same thing as actually having an effective presentation. If someone wasn't going to buy a Wii U going into GamesCom, that video is not going to change their mind. Also, Zelda in 2015? LOL. I sincerely doubt. The Zelda team is many things at Nintendo, but producing games in a timely fashion isn't one of their hallmarks even when they aren't dealing with the same graphics growing pains the rest of Nintendo's teams have had (and probably had some of their staff poached to complete other projects over time, as happened with Pikmin 3).

If I'm going to grade Sony with respect to the Vita, then yes, they get a big fat F- on that front. But no one cares about the Vita, so apparently Sony doesn't care either (quite rightly, as the PS4 is by far the more valuable of the PlayStation platforms at the moment).


Icemage

[Malacite]

Re: GamesCom 2014

Just finished watching the demo of Silent Hills... it's too late at night for me to actually play something like that but even just having watched it I was scared in a way I haven't been in a very long time. It played out just like a Steven King novel...

Kojima & Del Toro you magnificent bastards I am so pre-ordering this and I can not wait to stream it day 1. Probably going to lose weeks of sleep over it too rofl.

Eat a dick Capcom, RIP Resident Evil Silent Hill is BACK (Deadspace too for that matter).

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: GamesCom 2014

Game conferences are for game announcements. We already knew about every single title shown by Nintendo. They avoid getting an F for not faking it, but that's not the same thing as actually having an effective presentation. If someone wasn't going to buy a Wii U going into GamesCom, that video is not going to change their mind. Also, Zelda in 2015? LOL. I sincerely doubt. The Zelda team is many things at Nintendo, but producing games in a timely fashion isn't one of their hallmarks even when they aren't dealing with the same graphics growing pains the rest of Nintendo's teams have had (and probably had some of their staff poached to complete other projects over time, as happened with Pikmin 3).

If I'm going to grade Sony with respect to the Vita, then yes, they get a big fat F- on that front. But no one cares about the Vita, so apparently Sony doesn't care either (quite rightly, as the PS4 is by far the more valuable of the PlayStation platforms at the moment).

Icemage

What surprises are Nintendo supposed to keep for Europe when they do digital events the whole world sees every other week or so?

[Firewind]

Re: GamesCom 2014

FIFA15 Kinectless bundle seems to be gunning for the EU market, and Tomb Raider seems to be trying to gun for the UK in particular. Both games are console sellers over here.

Still a massive dick most from MS. This is worse than the Bayonetta 2 thing. Nintendo are the only reason we are even GETTING Bayonetta 2 and between that, Splatoon and Hyrule Warriors, the Wii U is starting to look pretty damn tempting.

And people laugh at Playstation TV. Its actually a really nice little thing. It seems to be for families and casual gamers that don't want to or can't afford a full console and there's a lot of damn good games available for it. It also doesn't compete for shelf space. I personally wouldn't be buying one but I can clearly see the market that it is aimed for, which s the casual console gamer market that Nintendo sees to have abandoned entirely. That said, Sony is showing us games and giving us a reason to buy the PS4 so I can't knock the presentation.

Nintendo continued to show us actual games. As in, this is actual fucking gameplay, not touched up prerendered videos that seem more like glorified tech demons and are nothing like the final product. There's a disturbing reliance of releasing the same fucking Mario games every year. Seriously, people give EA shit about this, but Nintendo is untouchable? It's like they drag Mario out of a dungeon every year to make him do the same old dance instead of letting the poor guy live with some fucking dignity.

That said Mario Maker seems to be a genius move. "Yeah, you know ROM hacks? Well we're selling it now! Kaching!"

But Nintendo's video makes me actually ant to buy the console because I know what I am actually getting. Plus Hyrule Warriors

[Malacite]

Re: GamesCom 2014

So it looks like Advanced Warfare is taking a page out of Titan Fall's book and adding in a lot more mobility which is cool. I just worry that the game will be even more of an unbalanced nightmare than MW2 was.

Halo 5 Guardians beta footage/details was underwhelming at best, no new weapons or armor abilities announced - lame.


Battlefield Hardline got 2 sweet new videos put up today. The single player actually looks like it'll be worth playing for once, and the multiplayer is looking more and more like a modern counterstrike with destruction elements - LOVE IT!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GrW-4bA82U

[Icemage]

Re: GamesCom 2014

What surprises are Nintendo supposed to keep for Europe when they do digital events the whole world sees every other week or so?

And when was the last time we heard about anything new from any of the Nintendo Directs? Months ago? OK. (by my rough recollection the last new game we heard about was Splatoon back at E3 in June). Even Microsoft managed to keep a few aces up their sleeves for GamesCom, and they have had the hardest PR battle to fight.

Nintendo's GamesCom presence is much weaker than their E3 presence was (Treehouse was an inspired approach, even though digital delivery preaches to the choir).


Icemage

[Malacite]

Re: GamesCom 2014

So I just saw on Game Trailers that Phil Spencer confirmed that MS did not pay for any exclusive rights to Tomb Raider, and that it could still be coming to PS4 and PC - just likely not before 2016 which is pretty lousy.

[Firewind]

Re: GamesCom 2014

If you trust a word he says, then I've got a lovely bit of land on the far side of the moon you might be interested in.

[DakAttack]

Re: GamesCom 2014

If you trust a word he says, then I've got a lovely bit of land on the far side of the moon you might be interested in.

Dibs. I always liked the dark.

[Icemage]

Re: GamesCom 2014

So I just saw on Game Trailers that Phil Spencer confirmed that MS did not pay for any exclusive rights to Tomb Raider, and that it could still be coming to PS4 and PC - just likely not before 2016 which is pretty lousy.

Hm? Phil Spencer (head of Xbox) said he DID pay for exclusivity, but that it has "a duration". If you're going to paraphrase, at least paraphrase accurately.


Icemage

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: GamesCom 2014

And when was the last time we heard about anything new from any of the Nintendo Directs? Months ago? OK. (by my rough recollection the last new game we heard about was Splatoon back at E3 in June). Even Microsoft managed to keep a few aces up their sleeves for GamesCom, and they have had the hardest PR battle to fight.

Nintendo's GamesCom presence is much weaker than their E3 presence was (Treehouse was an inspired approach, even though digital delivery preaches to the choir).


Icemage

Given I have to explain what E3, PAX or Gamescon are to most people, even gamers, I think preaching to the choir is all this stuff exists for. For the generation coming up on YT and Twitch the Direct/Treehouse approach is the best way to deliver it, which is ultimately going to be more beneficial to everyone in the long run than making fancy events to pander to the press and retailers.

It doesn't even pander that well considering the disadvantage the press is presented. Here, have a crowded convention hall and stand in long lines and never see as much as those that stayed at home and watched it in thier boxers.

[Etra]

Re: GamesCom 2014

SPLATOOOOOOOOOOOOON!




I feel justified in buying a Wii U now.