AVcon: Adelaide's Anime & Video Games Convention 2014

Last Friday I made the 7 hour bus trip to Adelaide to attend AVcon 2014! This year was my 3rd time at this great convention and every year it's bigger and better. Even though long bus trips aren't usually much fun, I was actually looking forward to it as it would be a good opportunity to catch up on some 3DS games and gaming podcasts (still haven't finished Fire Emblem...).

If you haven't listened to IGN's PlayStation podcast, "Beyond!", you totally should.

Sony Press Conference Impressions | E3 2014 | Quick Thoughts

The PlayStation conference is over, and, to be honest it was a disappointment...

Earlier in the day Microsoft come out with game after game, exclusive after exclusive. Some really fantastic looking games for the Xbox One. I sat down to Sony's conference to find out why I bought a PS4, I love the games their fantastic studios make, but apart from Little Big Planet 3 and Uncharted 4 (2015) there is nothing that can't be played on Xbox One. 

After today I honestly wish I owned an Xbox One instead of a PS4... 

And the time they spent on stupid statistics and TV was just painful.

Maybe we'll see some PS4 exclusives at Gamescom or TGS...?

Sony Press Conference Predictions | E3 2014

Microsoft had a really strong showing at their E3 press conference and now in a few hours it will be Sony's turn to prove why you need to play your games on PlayStation. They have been riding their huge wave of momentum since last years conference, the question is can they keep it going? Let's hope!

Here are 4 of my Sony E3 2014 predictions!






1) Okay, this is more of a wish than a prediction. I am a huuuge fan of Gravity Rush on the PS Vita and I want a sequel on PS4. Even though I know it's more suited to be shown at Tokyo Games Show, I want to see it now.

2) PlayStation has always had amazing first party games, but today we won't get more than 2 newly announced PS4 exclusives that will release in 2014. (Please be wrong).

3) Whoever is replacing Jack Tretton as the host will apologies for not being as cool. They then will attempt to do a "mad as" back flip.  

4) Vita will be mentioned, but only in regards to indie games.

Drewby is really keen to see what he'll be playing on his PS4 later this year. Not long now!

Microsoft Press Conference Impressions | E3 2014 | Quick Thoughts

When Microsoft said they were going to talk about games, games and more games for 90 minutes they really meant it. So many exclusive games only available on Xbox One. Forza Horizon 2, Sunset Overdrive, Dead Rising 3 DLC, Dance Central, Fantasia, Fable Legends, Project Spark, Ori and the Blind Forest, Halo 5, Halo Collection, Inside, Scalebound and Crackdown 3 are all games only coming to Xbox One! Let alone the amount of 3rd party games with exclusive content!

I would love to play a lot of these games, but there are 2 that I really want to play. The first being "The Rise of Tomb Raider", a sequel to the 2013 reboot. It was only a short trailer with no gameplay, but I was ecstatic when Lara removed the her hood. She's hardened up from the events from the previous game and she's back to kick arse!

The second is a game called "Scalebound". This is an exclusive Xbox One game made by the crazy Japanese developer Platinum Games. From the short trailer we see a kick arse protagonist fighting against huge dragons. This is defiantly something I need in my game library! 

As someone who doesn't own an Xbox One, I really do feel like I will be missing out on a lot of great games. Hopefully Sony will have a strong showing too, but they're going to really bring their A game to compete with Xbox's showing.

Good stuff, Microsoft.

1 down, 2 to go! Let's hope PlayStation and Nintendo can bring the goods!

Ridiculous Microsoft Conference Predictions | E3 2014

Microsoft's E3 press conference is only a few hours away. Last year they had a great showing of exclusive AAA games, but PlayStation one upped them by announcing that their console was $100US cheaper. While I could just wait to find out what the company has in store for Xbox One, it's always fun to have a guess at what will be shown. 

Here's 4 totally inaccurate and ridiculous predictions for Microsoft's 2014 E3 conference!

1) Earlier this year Phil Spencer was promoted to head of Xbox and this will be his first E3 in this position. He'll be wanting to win the crowd over, and what better way to do that than to crack a joke. What he'll say is totally unknown, but it'll most likely have something to do with Don Mattrick.

2) Halo 5: Guardians was announced a couple of weeks ago but no gameplay was shown. With Halo being their biggest franchise they'll want to show it off in a big way, and what better way to do that than an epic on stage fire fight. Once a quick explanation of a new online mode is finished a team of 20 spartans will run on to the stage and shoot a cardboard cut out of Don Mattrick until it's nothing more than a pile of dust. The crowd will burst into applause. 

3) A representative from Rare will apologies for making lame Kinect games. As a token of apology, they will invite Grant Kirkhope to come to the stage to give him a one-two jab in the Rare representative's family jewels. It will be followed up by an announcement for Kinect Sports 4. 

4) With the removal of Kinect from Xbox One their new slogan will be "It's a PS4 in 720p". 

It might seem that I was taking a jab at Microsoft, but I think they're going to have a great show! We'll see in a couple of hours!

Mega Man 2/Dr. Wily's Castle | Soundcloud Discoveries #4

As a Nintendo fan who missed the NES and SNES era I've been meaning to dip my toes into older classics that I have missed. Capcom's Blue Bomber has always been high upon that list, but it wasn't until all the hype surrounding Smash Bros that I decided to give the Mega Man series a shot. With that I handed over some digital cash for a copy of Mega Man 2 on Nintendo's e'Shop and jumped in to defeat the Robot Masters. Gameplay is hard as nails like I expected, but what I didn't expect to like so much was the music. Even though its limited through being an 8-bit game on old hardware it still gets the heart racing! One track from the game I absolutely love is the Mega Man 2 Title Theme/Dr. Wily's Castle Stage, and by the amount of remixes of the song on Soundcloud I'm not alone on my opinion.



Here are 4 covers/remixes of the track that have been thumping in my ears for the last couple of days.







If you enjoyed any of the music be sure to send some love to the creators!

iDrewby thinks Mega Man tunes should be played in clubs and pubs. Sure beats Justin Bieber.

NFC Nintendo figures

Late last week during their financial results briefings, Nintendo's president, Satoru Iwata announced that the company will be releasing a line of near field communication figurines (like Skylanders and Disney Infinity) that will interact with games on the Wii U and 3DS towards the end of 2014. Apparently the figurines will be able to write game data "across many titles", so unlike Activision's Skylanders, Nintendo's figurines could potentially all have a tone of applications. 

I think this is a great idea for pushing Nintendo characters to a different audience that would otherwise not pay attention to their games, especially young children. Having these toys on store shelves will give Nintendo a greater presence to the general public and to parents who don't buy videos games for their kids. The Wii U is in an extremely bad position right now and if Nintendo doesn't give people a reason to buy one the company will soon be in a bad place. Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros (my most anticipated games this year) are coming soon, but if they can't give a significant push to Wii U sales not much will, unless the company experiments and comes up with something new. This is a good step towards that, but at the moment that is all we know until E3.

I hope this works out for Nintendo, like Disney they have a tone of franchises and characters that people have a strong connection with. Everyone knows who Super Mario is, he maybe even more recognisable than Mickey Mouse. Now that's saying something. 

The question I have with these figurines is what influence will they have within Nintendo's games? Will they add small features like being able to take a save file to a friends house, contain a download code for a game or add content only available via the figurines? As someone who isn't a kid, I really don't want buy toys to place around my room (even if they are cool Nintendo characters). If I'm forced to buy them to unlock content in Smash Bros I'll be pissed, as will be many other people. I just feel if Nintendo want us to care about these figurines they need to implement them in games we care about, and that worries me. Hopefully they'll come come up with a smart and fair way for them to enhance our gaming experience. Only a month to go until E3!

What do you think of Nintendo's NFC figurines?

Hoenn, I'm coming home

Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire are two games that are very close to my heart. Not only were they my first step into the world of Pokemon, they were also the reason gaming is such a large part of my life today. Choosing Mudkip as my starter, catching the legendary Kyoge, defeating the Elite Four, traking down Latais and working with my friends to complete the Pokedex are memories from my childhood that I will treasure forever. It is these games that pulled me into gaming and introduced me to other Nintendo franchises and eventually to the PlayStation and Xbox. Though 10 years has passed the Pokemon games still take up a large portion of my play time. When I bought my copy of Pokemon X last year I put 17 hours into it on the first day. That's a crazy, especially for me! I'm the type of person who takes a week to finish a 10 hour game, I typically like to gradually chip away with smaller play sessions. Not Pokemon though, you know when you're enjoying a game when you put it down at 4 AM not because you're tired, but because "you just should". 

My ticket into the world of video games

Ever since Heart Gold and Soul Silver (remakes of Gold & Silver on the GB) were released I thought about how awesome a Ruby and Sapphire remake would be. All those familiar locations recreated to look better to match up with the modern day. Though when Black 2 and White 2 for the DS come out it changed my thought pattern. These games were sequels rather than the same game with a new coat of paint the series had come to expect. What if the Ruby and Sapphire "remakes" used this approach? Revisit the Hoenn region and meet familiar characters while experiencing a whole new story. Though to be honest any excuse to revisit these games would get me excited.

The other day I bought a brand new iPad Air and my favourite thing to do on it is play Pokemon Emerald. I was so excited when I found out you can run a GBA emulator without jail breaking your device. But that was nothing compared to how I felt when I checked my Facebook this morning and seen my wall spammed with "Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire". Oh my Jesus balls, it's finally happening! I've been waiting for these games for years it was really surprising for them to announce them randomly like this. If Nintendo hinted the games it would have been too obvious and wouldn't have had the same impact, so kudos to them for doing it this way. 

I'm aboard the hype train! " Doot doot"!

According to the short teaser trailer a "epic new adventure is coming" and we're going to "explore a dramatic new world". To me this indicates that these will be sequels rather than simple remakes of the original titles, which I'm thrilled about. With all the new additions brought into the Pokemon series over the last decade I think it would be difficult to keep the new titles true to the originals. Let alone all the work it would take to recreate everything in 3D, in someways a whole new presentation with the same story would be wasted potential. We're still not sure what the games look like, but it's safe to assume they will be presented in a similar fashion to X and Y. A good reason to get excited for E3!

After 10 years I'm finally heading home. I'll see you in November, Hoenn.

Expect to see plenty of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire on Life's a Game in the upcoming months.

My concerns for Mario Kart 8

When Mario Kart 8 was first revealed at last years E3 Nintendo Direct the game looked phenomenal. All the trailers leading to its May 30th release didn't disappoint either. The stages, characters and graphical presentation all look great, but I can't help thinking about the last two iterations in the series and how disappointing I found them. Mario Kart Wii tried new ways to push the series forward and appeal to the Wii's casual audience but ended up being an unbalanced frustration of a game with a watered down battle mode. Mario Kart 7 for the 3DS was a good game mechanically but you could see the short cuts they took in order for them to get the game out before Christmas (not having a quick race opinion is disgrace, especially for a on the go game). 

My favorite game in the series is Mario Kart DS. Sure, some people didn't like people abusing the snaking mechanic online, but the DS title is by far the most content packed game in the series. It featured Grand Prix, Battle Mode, Online races, 8 player multiplayer and brand new mission mode. I played that game regularly from its release in 2005 all the way until 2010 when the 3DS come out. That's 5 years I played that game, the others didn't even last one.

So what do I want out of Mario Kart 8 for the Wii U? First of all I want the items to be balanced during races. 12 player races are back and this issue needs to be addressed, because being hit by shells every colour of the rainbow isn't fun. Second, battle mode needs to be great again. The last two games only had the option for timed matches and didn't let you turn it off. Half the fun of battle mode is frantically racing around looking for that last person to smash them with a red shell you've been saving while not getting hit yourself and time limits take all this away. 

Like most people I'm really hyped for Mario Kart 8. It's a game that has the buying power to help the Wii U move units. I'm just nervous that history might repeat itself, even if Nintendo can't afford it.

Add Drewby on Miiverse @"Mo_Joe" to give him a race when MK8 is released!

Miiverse Madness #2: "Peach, I think you're on heat"

Warning!: Contains stupid, crude humor. This is only a bit of lighthearted fun. If you are easily offended, this may not be for you.

Nintendo's social network, Miiverse is a handy utility for gamers wanting to communicate with other users, but my god, the administrators are so strict! Lets see if we can get some crude (somewhat tasteless) pictures past their defenses!

This week I through a hand full of cheeky submissions into the Super Mario 3D World community. The beauty about this community is that you're able to use stamps that you have found throughout the game in your posts. Majority of posts here are either a cluster of random stamps or a simple illustration with no relevance to anything. Example shown below.

A picture can say a thousand words.

Will my posts be as innocent as Mario waving to a bunny jumping out of a warp pipe? Heavens no!  

Drewby's Super Smash Bros Nintendo Direct thoughts

Early this morning (here in Australia) the Super Smash Brothers Nintendo Direct was broadcast live across the world. Your typical average Joe might just say it was about a well dressed Japanese man talking about crazy cartoon characters beating on one another, but it was much more. For us Nintendo fans it was 39 minutes and 03 seconds of exciting information and reveals about the latest iteration(s) in our favorite series that pulls together iconic and beloved gaming franchises. During the course of the broadcast we learned a lot about the two games coming to the Wii U & 3DS such as release schedules, details on modes, character improvements, inclusions and much more.

Through out this post I'll go through what was discussed and share what I thought about it.

Smash Bros Nintendo Direct (I'm Excited)!

I'll be honest, waiting for the Smash Bros focused Nintendo Direct feels a lot like Christmas, only without the tasty food and festive atmosphere. I cannot wait to discover what information gets spilled out for the internet to break down and discuss, because we really don't know a whole lot about the two games. Sure, we know some characters, stages and the 3DS version has some sort of single player component but that is about it. It is a safe bet that new characters with be revealed (I'm guessing three :P) along with stages and couple of new Final Smashes.

Though, what I am hoping for is for Sakurai to walk through some of the game modes and explain what their idea is for online gaming. Has a lot of thought gone into it or is it an after thought? At this stage I would be happy to hear that it works. Also some gameplay demonstrations for new mechanics would be cool, we've seen screen shots now it's time to see it in action.

Unfortunately the Official Super Smash Bros Twitter account tweeted that a release date will not be announced, only a broad release frame. The translated quote, “We’re not at the stage where we can announce a concrete release date yet, but in [today's] broadcast, we will share a broad release frame,”. While it would be awesome to get a release date, it appears that it isn't to be. I guess it will give us something to look forward to another day! 

So yeah, I'm keen and you're probably keen too! Tomorrow I'll have another post up going through whats shown and my opinion on it all. Hopefully I'll see you there!

Be Drew's Smash Brother by starting a conversation with him on Twitter @iDrewby.

Miiverse Madness: Will It Be Removed? [02-04-14]

Since I purchased my Wii U on launch day back in 2012 I've really enjoyed it as a gaming platform, and one of the features I use quite often is Miiverse. To bring anyone up to speed who isn't familiar, Miiverse is Nintendo's inbuilt network service bringing people together allowing them to communicate and share gaming experiences with other Wii U users. Though, like everywhere on the internet, people are often ignorant and stupid. Because of this Nintendo have very strict administrators looking to find and remove any inappropriate content. 

Although, I question some of their decisions...

I'm sorry Nintendo... Was it because I spelled "community" wrong? 

The reason this one was removed is a bit more understandable.

It really was "the tits".

So for a bit of fun each week I'll post something subtly inappropriate on Miiverse trying to avoid the admin's wrath for as long as possible.

For the first weeks submission I tried to disguise a penis as Captain Olimar's space ship (mature, I know). Evidently other users caught on straight away, opps. 

And so did the administrators...

So each week I'll upload my attempts of beating Nintendo's Miiverse administrators for your viewing pleasure.

Why not join in? Give it you best shot to get past the administrators and leave a screenshot in the comments or @iDrewby on Twitter!

6 Games I'm Keen For In 2014

It would appear that the video game industry assumes we all appreciate an empty wallet. New consoles at the end of 2013 and a huge amount of promising titles to be released in 2014. Here's my quick list with a hand full of games in 2014 that have my wallet frothing.

Super Smash Bros

Publisher: Nintendo       Developer(s): Nintendo, Sora, Bandai Namco           Platform: Wii U & 3DS

Oh boy, Super Smash Bros. A series that pulls together all of my favorite gaming franchises to make an uber meta franchise I cannot get enough of. The atmosphere is captured perfectly as the games act as fan service to Nintendo fans showing tribute to characters, music and locations throughout the Big N's history. Last year leading up to E3 Smash for Wii U & 3DS was all I wanted to hear about, and when the first trailer dropped something wonderful happened inside of me (too explicit to write here). The new characters, graphical and mechanical refinements look great so far, but Sakurai still hasn't spilled the beans on everything, so there is still plenty of information to look forward too! By far the game(s) I am looking forward to most in 2014!

Note: Now that Smash Bros will be on a portable console, when the game is released there isn't much point starting a conversation with me. Unless it's about Smash, of course.

Love the theme music, too!

Infamous: Second Son

Publisher: Sony Entertainment            Developer: Sucker Punch             Platform: PS4

I'll be honest, I am still making my way through Infamous 1 & 2, but from my experience with those games we're all in for a treat with this installment. Controlling Delsin as we explore Seattle using an array of powers, kicking everyone's arse as we shape our future as either good or evil. Yes please!

Mario Kart 8

Publisher: Nintendo       Developer: Nintendo        Platform: Wii U

Boy do I love myself some Mario Kart, but I've never truly loved the series since Mario Kart DS. Mario Kart Wii was a poorly balanced mess and Mario Kart 7 seemed to be rushed to save the 3DS before Christmas. To spite the last two iterations in the series being disappointing I have faith in this game. It isn't being rushed to meet any holidays and the gameplay appears solid from videos online. Also the "F-Zero" magnetic track mechanic looks like it is giving the developers plenty of freedom to be creative and create amazing race courses. I dare say many beers will be consumed while playing this game!

The Crew

Publisher: Ubisoft            Developer(s): Ivory Tower, Ubisoft Reflections        Platform: PS4, XB1, PC

When I first heard details of a game with a map the size of America and that you're able to drive around the whole thing I was intrigued. Then when I found out you can form a "crew" with friends and take on other crews I was sold, it sounds so cool! Defiantly have a solid eye on this game.

South Park: The Stick of Truth

Publisher: Ubisoft            Developer(s): Obsidian Entertainment, South Park Digital Studios       Platform: PS3, 360, PC

Lately I have been on a bit of a South Park binge and this game will pretty much be a really long interactive episode. The RPG elements look interesting but it's the comedy aspect the show captures so well that I am looking forward to the most. The games comes out this week so not long!

Hatsune Miku: Diva F2

Publisher: Sega            Developer: Crypton Future Media        Platform: Vita, PS3

Hatsune Miku: Diva F is one of my favorite Vita games, I love vocaloid music and the pretty music videos played with each song. Not to mention the gameplay is really addictive! I spent more than enough time playing this when I was meant to be doing something more productive. A sequel with more songs is coming late March so I'll be sure to import myself a copy.

Other games I'm looking forward to

Evolve

Publisher: 2K Games           Developer: Turtle Rock Studios         Platform(s): PS4, XB1, PC

Destiny

Publisher: Activision       Developer: Bungie          Platform: 360, XB1, PS3, PS4, PC

X

Publisher: Nintendo       Developer: Monolith Soft            Platform: Wii U

Shovel Knight

Publisher: Yacht Club Games           Developer: Yacht Club Games        Platform: Wii U, 3DS, PC

Child of Light

Publisher: Ubisoft     Developer: Ubisoft Montreal     Platform: PS3, PS4, 360, XB1, Wii U, PC

Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z

Publisher: Tecmo Koei    Developer(s): Team Ninja, Spark Unlimited, Comcept    Platform: 360, PS3, PC

There are still plenty of titles I would like to try this year like Bayonetta 2 and Kirby: Triple Deluxe. What games are you keen to play in 2014?