The Lounge: Gamers' Division

[Sheldon Cooper PhD]

Agreed. RE5 wasnt horrible,  but the Co-op was a turnoff and well, this one puts Leon and Chris in the same game.

Good Lord yes.

[GamePunk429]

I'm really happy that they announce RE6, especially with the talks that they were thinking about rebooting the series. I like what I see as it seems that they are trying to have a good mix of old with new in this one. Most of the environments I saw Leon in seem retro to older games. I personally like the mix of action and scary elements in the game and felt that RE4 was a perfect mix of that. RE5 while I enjoyed the game immensely, seemed to just be strictly an action game.

I hope that they bring back some of the series older characters and explain whats going on with them (Claire Redfield, Rebecca Chambers, Billy Coen, Barry Burton). It seems like they forgot about a lot of the series characters with the last couple of games. Claire and Rebecca especially need to make a comeback, I could understand them not bringing back Billy as he was basically a Chris Redfield clone. But I think Barry is an important character that needs to make a comeback as well.

[JordAnime]

I'm not overly excited about it though, here's why:

Shinji Mikami is no longer with Capcom. 

He's the man who created the series, demanded RE2 be redone completely because it wasn't coming along well enough, and then had RE4 remade several times because it also wasn't coming along well enough, and hell an entirely new franchise came out of the mix, Devil May Cry was the earliest Resident Evil prototype.  The problem is that Capcom doesn't have any bold thinkers now.  They've got developers that are too afraid to mix it up too much.  I'm pretty sure Shinji Mikami would have rejected Resident Evil 5 as it was released.  You can tell that they added the co-op element about midway through development and had to alter the game significantly, but did it make it any better?  No, it probably made it worse.  It could have worked OK as a side-game, but the fact that it was a big Resident Evil game was just disappointing. 

Capcom is just kind of following trends, RE6 looks a bit inspired by Dead Space but the problem is Dead Space was heavily influenced by RE4!  Also the rumor that it'll feature some form of cooperative gameplay is unnerving. 

In other news, I played the Final Fantasy XIII-2 demo...it seems...OK?  I dunno, it's definately more open than the first from what I can tell but the excellent production value seems to be muted.  Still for gamers who missed things like towns and side quests from the first game they're back in full force.  Seems like the story has nothing to do with the first really either...eh...whatever I'll be getting it anyway.

[GamePunk429]

@Jordan I agree the co-op for RE5 was by far its weakest aspect, but it was still a stellar game in my opinion. I enjoyed it almost as much as I did RE4. But the pinnacle of the series will always be RE2, what a phenomenal game.

I am planning on trying to force my way through FFXIII after I beat skyward sword. I hear that FFXIII-2 is supposed to be a lot better and fixed most of the issues from the first game. I will give it a shot as I do with all FF games, but it will be awhile before I most likely get to playing it as I won't get it until I beat XIII.

I have such a giant back log of games I need to beat it's pretty unnerving, I'm trying not to buy any new games until I start hacking away at it. But my gaming time is seriously limited with my grown up schedule and push towards overall health and fitness. I usually only have about 2-3 hours of free time a night, 2 of those normally taken by a Blues game, 1 by a guys night. I on average get about 6-8 hours of free nothing time a week, which I find a lot of times I watch movies. Hopefully I can ramp up some gaming time here in the future.

[hisak]

Nintendo Investor Meeting just finished.

New 2D Mario title announced for 3DS to be released within the fiscal year. The words "New Super Mario Bros." weren't mentioned but I wouldn't be surprised to see that name stick around.

But the bigger news, first-party DLC might be happening! There's also a new online interface that's going into effect, but I'm a bit fuzzy on the details.

Giant Bomb has a better write-up of the news if you're interested.

[JordAnime]

Well it's clear they let slip the new 2D Mario game because of the bad financial news.  Still, they've been growing so rapidly the last eight years, ever since the DS it's not too shocking to see them shed some of it, considering how out of vogue the Wii is at this point, and how they needed to basically "relaunch" the 3DS. 

Still, the news of a new 2D Mario platformer for the 3DS is exciting, even if Super Mario 3D Land was basically a 2D platformer in terms of level design.  Also, the Nintendo Network sounds like Nintendo has finally decided to enter the world of online infrastructure, even if it needs serious elaboration. 

[hisak]

Guys, I'm so shocked by this news I can't even stand. Activision is releasing a sequel for its new IP.

That said, Skylanders seems to have turned out a lot better than any of us expected, so good for it.

[JordAnime]

Well on the plus side, I guess it creates a bigger audience for the 3DS which has undergone a very wonderful turnaround.  I picked up Resident Evil Revelations, I played the beginning without the circle pad, then managed to pick one up after hunting from Gamestop to Gamestop(apparently I'm not the only one that thought the thing wasn't a waste of money).  It's not as good as Resident Evil 4(go figure), but it does sort of bridge classic RE with the more modern action of Resident Evil 4 and 5, I also highly recommend using the circle pad pro, it makes the controls very dreamy.  Overall, I'd say it's a big step in the right direction after RE5, and I'm hoping RE6 takes some good lessons from it.

I also beat Final Fantasy XIII-2.  It's a better designed game than XIII, there's a good deal of freedom, extras, and choice; but the story and presentation in XIII are much superior.  Though I'm happy to report most of the music is excellent, some of it isn't, but I was worried that the trio of composers would create something of a mess.  Oh, but there is the problem of the "ending"...it's pretty awful.

[GamePunk429]

Well I fell off playing Skyward Sword as it just hasn't really interested me that much unfortunately. But I bought a new laptop and now am able to play Starcraft 2 which I bought, and all I have to say is.

DAMN THIS GAME IS AWESOME!

Starcraft 2 is possibly the best RTS game of all time bar none. The gameplay is still classic feeling but they have sped it up and increased the strategy so that it doesn't seem like you're just farming to build the biggest baddest army then just crushing your opponent. There is a a ton of strategy and different units that each can completely change a battle. The story so far is fantastic and they method they are using of telling it is perfectly executed. I cannot wait to beat the campaign and get onto the multiplayer.

After this I plan on attempting to beat FFXIII again, hopefully I can get through it and I am interested in checking FFXIII-2 out eventually.

[Geneaux486]

I made a Mass Effect 3 thread.  If there's anyone else around here who's a fan of it, go there and we'll get our talk on.

[GamePunk429]

Slowly but surely plugging away at Final Fantasy XIII, hopefully I can stay intrerested enough to beat it this time. I usually only get about an hour or two in every other night (mainly because if there is a Blues or Cardinals game on I am going to watch that). But so far so good, the battle system is fun and I have reached chapter 11 so the linearity I believe should go down a little bit.

Though I am disappointed that Final Fantasy XIII-2 doesn't have a proper ending (ends with TBC). Makes me kind of not want to get the game as I don't want to buy a game that is not complete. DLC should be to add to or enhance the game, not to pay more to finish the story. In fact I am really getting tired of DLC completely, seems that companies are just being half assed with their games now so that they can siphon more money out of you through DLC.

[Hyruleansoldier]

FF XIII-2 doesn't even manage to wrap the story up at the end?  I HATE to be continued.

It sucked when they did that in the first Golden Sun game although that game was so brilliant it didn't matter that much (and the sequel managed to be even better, and 10 times bigger still).  And of course actually wrapping things up at the end.

Speaking of which, I still need to beat Golden Sun: Dark Dawn.

[GamePunk429]

Well I have found that once you reach the part of FF XIII where the game opens up and allow you to sidetrack a bit it has become much more enjoyable. I have been able to do a few missions and a bit of grinding. Definitely makes the game more enjoyable when you have a world to explore. They definitely dropped the ball with the first 20 hours of the game.

I hope that I can stick with it and beat this game and that FF XIII allows for more exploration. Which from what I have read it does.

[hisak]

Not especially surprising news, but Nintendo has announced that a new Super Mario Bros. game for Wii U will be shown at E3.

However, it sounds like it's built around the NSMB Mii tech demo that was at E3 last year, which is strange timing considering that there's also a 2D Mario coming to 3DS by next April. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some miscommunication on this side of things.

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

The Wii no longer prints money for Nintendo, as they've reported a 37.3 billion yen loss.

The loss is the first in Nintendo's history as a public company, but it's not entirely unexpected. A weak Yen overseas, declining Wii sales and a loss-making 3DS have hit the company hard, but Nintendo are confident they can make a profit on the platform from September this year. Improved sales of the unit, coupled with the launch of Wii U see the Big N forecasting a more profitable 2012/13.

Super Mario Wii U and Pikmin 3 have also been officially confirmed for E3 2012. At long last, Pikmin!

[hisak]

Super Mario Wii U and Pikmin 3 have also been officially confirmed for E3 2012. At long last, Pikmin!

Both news bits are a bit old, but it's still nice to see. I think the investors' conference is tonight, so we might get some news out of there.

[hisak]

Keeping ridiculously depressing rumors out of the E3 thread.

http://www.gamekyo.com/newsfr46962_sega-europe-devrait-annoncer-sa-fermeture.html

Sega Europe to announce its closing?

On the eve of E3 2012, we are able to inform you, according to our credible sources, that Sega Europe will be finally closed in the coming months as well as all the local branches in Europe like Sega France. This is partly a consequence of the ineffectiveness of Sega's strategy over the past several years of developing games by western developers. At the same time, Sega will also announce, according to these sources, they will no longer develop AAA games on consoles, but will focus on digital games for cell phones and notably tablets. Sega's last big title developed by Creative Assembly will be presented at E3 2012 in a few days. Furthermore, remember that Sega has announced they will not be at Gamescom 2012.

If this is true...

EDIT: Confirmed false. The bullet has been dodged.

[hisak]

Today in Games That Could Have Been Announced At E3:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evRYEFzAY8w" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evRYEFzAY8w</a>

[hisak]

Rayman Legends has a Black Betty level, check it out. Every world in Legends will reportedly feature a musical level, and half of those will be licensed songs. Normally I'm not a fan of that last thing in platformers, but Black Betty rocks, so.

[hisak]

Nintendo's announced a sequel to Pushmo, arriving next month, giving me a reason to get Pushmo.