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Game On or Game Over: E3 2014

Microsoft versus Sony, Battlefield versus Call of Duty and Forza versus Gran Turismo. These are some of the rivalries that can get people talking about console wars. “Game On or Game Over” is your place to get inside the minds of Nicholas and Andy as they seek to find the true meaning of gaming and tackle some of gaming’s most controversial subjects. Both are award winning authors – although the awards haven’t been mailed or created yet — but trust them. Would they lie to you?

Andy: Ah here we are a year later from our first Game On or Game Over column. Looking back over the past year of gaming has been fun, and looking forward to where gaming is headed it certainly seems like there are great things to come. Our very first article focused on the week after E3 when Microsoft back-peddled on several of their, shall we say, less than desirable policies. People complained about Microsoft focusing a lot of their press event on all things not games. Sony then countered as a good rival should with basically a big FU to Microsoft. Nintendo for the most part seemed like they were doing the doggie-paddle in a very deep ocean try to stay afloat.

Last year there was a lot of buzz about the new generation, this year it’s been about the meat behind the systems. The next generation is here, now it’s time for developers to start answering the bell and putting out games to make owning a console worthwhile. Let’s be honest though, there was a lot that went on at E3 this past week and I’m still trying to digest all of it – I wouldn’t be surprised if I missed something. Before I really delve into my thoughts though along with the positive and negatives, what did you think about this year’s E3? Anything really stand out to you, either positive or negative?

Nicholas: You’re certainly not alone there mate. Like you, I’ve been trying to digest all the news and trailers from the past week and I’m sure that I’ve overlooked or skipped something. I know I’ve talked about this in the past, but E3 just didn’t seem to have that ‘wow’ factor that I felt in previous years. Maybe in comparison to last year with the announcement of the new consoles it just doesn’t hold-up, but even game-wise I wasn’t blown away with a lot of the big announcements. I won’t lie, I haven’t had the chance to sit down and watch each of the major conferences, but just reading over the news and trailers that Steve and the gang have been posting while there, a lot of it didn’t faze me.

Starting with the positives however, I personally felt like E3 2014 was Nintendo’s year. Like I mentioned above, there were some fairly large announcements and reveals from the competition – EA announced Battlefield Hardline, Square Enix announced Rise of the Tomb Raider, we saw Microsoft reveal about 50 Halo games in the making and Sony provided more details about Destiny, but none of it really seemed that interesting. Hell, I didn’t even bother looking into further details about The Crew either. Nintendo’s announcements however = totally different story. Seeing the new trailers for the upcoming Super Smash Bros. games, the details about Yoshi’s Wooly World, Mario Party 10 and Captain Toad’s Treasure Tracker, I’m extremely keen for them!

In addition to those games above, I was also really pleased to hear more about Forza Horizon 2 and the inclusion of the Nurburgring track for Forza Motorsport 5. The challenge for FH2 is that it’s a sequel to what was one of my favourite games of the last generation so it has some massive shoes to fill, but if the developers stick to the mantra, “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” then it should be fine. Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the re-release of Grand Theft Auto V on the current gen consoles. This is something I’ve been personally hoping for ever since they were released and I’m glad to see Rockstar came through with it.

Microsoft and Sony seem to be focusing on making games bigger and more advanced, and while that isn’t a bad thing, I appreciate the fact that Nintendo are just trying to make games fun. I look at the trailer of Yoshi’s Wooly World and it brings back memories of playing Yoshi’s Story as a kid. Same goes with Super Smash Bros. Wii U and the original back on my N64. We’re going to see some great games for the Xbox One and PS4, but for me it’s what’s coming out for my Wii U and 3DS that I’m really keeping an eye out for – a celebration of why I loved gaming so much to begin with. How about yourself though, what were some of your stand-out announcements from the show?

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Andy: Stand-out announcement? Hmm, that’s a tough one for me to be honest. This year’s E3 was “off” for me, in that there was something missing where I never had that “holy sh*t!” wow moment I’ve had in the past. For a large part it was because almost everything that was talked about this year had already been announced/leaked in the weeks leading up to the event. I liked some of the stuff I saw and certainly got some additional information of things that had already been talked about or leaked. I’ve said before that I’m not a Nintendo fan – it’s not that I dislike them in any way, I just haven’t paid much attention to them since I received my original PlayStation back in the day. With that said, they announced some pretty cool stuff and it looks like, judging by internet chatter, they have turned a lot of heads and gotten people talking positively about them again. Now their next step is to deliver on those promises and get back on track.

Developer-wise, I like the look of Assassin’s Creed Unity, The Witcher 3 looked amazing and Batman Arkham Knight was pretty astonishing as well. Dragon Age: Inquisition was very impressive and got my interest now. The Crew and Forza Horizon 2 both looked pretty good as well. Sadly I never gave Forza Horizon a real chance, but fully intend to give the second a try now that I’m more familiar with the series after playing Forza 5. For me though the one game that really stood out to me and cemented itself on my “keep an eye on this” list was The Division. I’ve made no secret my love for post-apocalyptic games and while this game may not be full blow post-apocalyptic it’s right on the fringe and something that got me excited. After reading Stevivor’s own Leo’s preview of Evolve I’m also looking at that. I also really liked what I saw with Far Cry 4. I loved FC3 so I have high hopes for this installment and really hope it can live up to those expectations.

Sony and Microsoft’s individual conferences were a wash for me. They both did exactly what I thought they would do… but in a much more ‘beat the consumer into submission style’ than wow us with greatness. While there was a lot of talk about games at E3 there was a much more disturbing trend that I haven’t seen really garner a lot of press or comments. I didn’t count personally, but how many times did each of them say “exclusive DLC” or “timed DLC” and even “exclusive Beta”. Honestly it left me with somewhat of a bad taste in my mouth. It’s frustrating that as a gamer, I pay the same amount for a game that another gamer does for a different system and from that point of purchase one of us is getting screwed out of content that’s is already made, or will be made. I understand that there will always be exclusive titles from first-party developers like Forza and Uncharted because they help sell systems, I get that. But, having third-party developers like Ubisoft create exclusive content for a game on one system versus the other is ridiculous. It only short changes gamers in the end and that’s a practice I wish we, as gamers, could somehow get to stop.

It’s easy to get lost in the glitz and glamor of E3 though. It’s a veritable gamer orgasm everywhere you turn. New shiny games, announcements, promises and some members of the game media trying to bend over backwards to pat developers on the back and say how awesome every game will be. Being that you and I, at times, can both be cynical looking back at E3 was there anything that left you with a bad taste in your mouth, or questioning why certain things were done, or games that you saw that you just shook your head at?

Nicholas: You raise a seriously valid point about this greater trend towards exclusive content in cross-platform games. Like you, I completely understand why companies like Microsoft and Sony want to have their own unique titles, but it seems like a really bastard move when they try and get developers/publishers to create exclusive content just for their platform. This isn’t something we’re only just starting to see though – I remember Assassin’s Creed 2 had a Black Edition that was released exclusively for PS3 that featured exclusive content, and we’ve seen this as a repeat trend since. It can be just as easily argued that it’s to push sales towards one console than the other, but in the end gamers are losing out. I’ll never buy a PlayStation 4 because there’s one hour of additional content in the PS4 version of a game than the Xbox One copy, and I wonder how many households own both consoles that would see decisions like this make a real difference to overall sales.

As for what I found disappointing, the only thing that really stood out was highlighted in an opinion piece Steve wrote about Sony’s potential reliance on microtransactions for the generation ahead. We discussed microtransactions in the past and I don’t think they have a place in the gaming industry as far as console games are concerned. Whether they are full games like Uncharted 4 or something small and simple like Journey, I’d rather pay $5-$30 for the game (or more if it’s a full title) and know that I have it all, than download it for free and have to spend $2 unlocking levels as I progress along. If this is the start of what Sony has in store for gaming, it’s going to be a very grim future indeed. You’ve only mentioned one thing above though, was there anything else from E3 that left you a little unimpressed?

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Andy: Aside from the exclusive DLC stuff I talked about above there is one thing that really stood out to me for all the wrong reasons. We actually did a Game On or Game Over article on this a while ago, but it seemed worse than ever at E3 this year. I’m talking about remakes/remastered games. It’s frustrating that as we’re coming up to the one year mark of the new consoles being released that we are seeing announcements about games we have already played being “remastered” for the new consoles. I didn’t get a brand new console with new cutting edge technology to play games I have already played and in some cases still own. I have been a big advocate of the Metro games, I think they’re fantastic – but the Metro Redux man I just can’t get excited for that. On top of that way too many games are sequels. I was hoping we’d see more brand new IPs but it seems like not many developers want to take chances right now and try something new.

OK, I know I’ve been pretty negative about E3 so far, so let me change it up a little bit. Putting aside my glass is half empty outlook, removing talk of publishers and developers there was a trend I noticed that actually has me pretty excited. For the first time in quite a while there was a noticeable amount of co-op games on the horizon. For the longest time the co-op game has been largely ignored leaving us with either single player or multiplayer team deathmatch type stuff. Games like Assassin’s Creed, Destiny, The Division and Fable Legends all have a co-op component. I know you’re not much of a multiplayer type of guy, and to be honest I feel myself fading away from the TDM/Domination type of MP. Yet, I will always love co-op games. There’s a certain allure of going through a campaign with a buddy, the teamwork and challenge of it is a blast for me.

Being that I am still trying to fully digest everything that went on at E3, since you live on the other side of the world from me, there’s a good chance you saw some stuff I didn’t. Were there any overarching trends that you saw that got you excited for the upcoming year of games? Or, maybe a trend that you saw that made you sit back and shake your head?

Nicholas: To be honest, not really. I think living on the other side of the world actually acts as a hindrance for us when it comes to events like this. Having such a significant time zone difference makes watching and following the presentations actually quite difficult, and while I know a lot of people woke up in the early hours of the morning to catch some of the announcements, it was something I couldn’t see the value of (sorry, I love my sleep too much). There was nothing really that stood out to me from E3 this year that raised alarm bells (apart from Sony and their free-to-play vision), and I think the topic of remakes is an area we won’t agree on. Hearing that GTA V was going to be re-released on Xbox One and PS4 was one of the greatest announcements of the entire conference for me – I never got around to finishing the game on my Xbox 360 and like I’ve said in the past, I’m not willing to go back and play with old tech once something new rolls around. If some developers are planning to re-release some of their hit games on the new consoles then I actually wouldn’t be too disappointed to be honest – it might even give me a chance to experience some games I missed. As far as trends that are getting my hyped for what’s the come – this is also a ‘no’ area too. Teaser trailers always look nice, but it just seem like developers are trying to make their games bigger and better, and don’t get me wrong – that’s awesome, but it’s nothing unexpected really. I’m yet to see any radical or exciting shifts in the industry… yet.

The notion of there being a serious lack of new IPs is an interesting case though. Yes, the new consoles have been out for almost a year now, but one year isn’t really much when it comes to developers becoming familiar with new technology. I’ve heard previously that games like The Crew have been in development for over six years, but I think it’s difficult to assume that all development studios have the resources to invest so much time in creating a new game. We did see the launch of Watch Dogs just under a fortnight ago and while some people are enjoying it, a lot of comments suggest that it’s ‘another typical Ubisoft game’. Is it fair to say that developers just aren’t used to what they can do on the new consoles? Do you think we’ll need to wait another year or two before they’re confident enough to truly explore the possibilities? Hell, we’re seeing newly announced games (like Forza Horizon 2) still being developed for the last generation. Do we need to completely shift into the new generation before we see any real change?

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Andy: The issue of the lack of new IPs starts with the culture of video game development really. Just look at the past couple years of gaming, it seems like new IPs are becoming less and less prevalent. So many of the games being released have a number or the word prequel now. Then of course you have reboots of past franchises. Sure we’re getting new games, to a point anyway, but the characters, setting, and premise are unchanged. It’s about developers and publishers being content with selling copies and not taking risks. While I’d like to give developers the benefit of the doubt seeing the umpteenth installment of Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty and Uncharted is evidence that those who make the decisions are comfortable in the known versus the unknown. Here’s the thing though, I see this as a negative, I’ve talked about it before but I’m a hypocrite because I will no doubt be getting one or two of these types of titles. So, even seeing the issue I am part of the problem because I still buy them. It’s one of the reasons I am starting to play more and more indie games because they are the only games that consistently think outside the box and try something different.

We talked before about developers making games for past generation consoles as well as the “next gen” consoles and I still think that only hurts what a game could be. While I understand the desire to sell as many copies as possible, sooner or later there has to be a moment when creating one game for all systems just isn’t feasible. I wish that time was sooner. It’s a slippery slope though as I’m sure those developers don’t want to alienate fans, but when features are removed or toned down because a completely separate console is holding things back that gets disappointing. This new in a cycle though I can understand the apprehension of gamers not wanting to adopt a new console yet, but hopefully this is a trend that goes away fairly quickly. That said, we are seeing it to some extent with games like Assassin’s Creed Unity and Evolve which are next gen only titles so there are a few out there already.

To wrap up this week’s column I wanted to get your thoughts on something that we see after every E3. It’s like clockwork and I’ve never understood the rationale behind it. We all know that the first day of E3 is reserved for press conferences and media briefings. Microsoft and Sony both get on stage and puff their chests and publishers do their thing as well. The day after I always see articles and videos about who “won” and who “lost”. What do you think about those discussions and how they relate to E3? Aren’t the gamers the true winners when all three (Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo) can put together strong E3 presences?

Nicholas: You know, that’s a really interesting point. At the very beginning of the article you talked about how Sony were the ‘winners’ of last year’s E3, and I even said in my first response that Nintendo (at least in my opinion) were the stand-out of the three this time around, but when you really think about – who cares? As you’ve said, why does one company need to ‘win’? I can understand that the companies themselves want to out-do each other because this is their industry and these are their competitors, but as gamers, what do I have to gain if Microsoft has a better presentation than Sony, or alternatively, what do I have to lose if Sony comes off better than Microsoft? As someone who owns only an Xbox One at the moment, a great line-up from Microsoft means I’ll have a good year ahead, but that shouldn’t mean anything for a PlayStation 4 owner. Similarly, if there are a lot of good games for the PS4 ahead, that shouldn’t affect me either.

I think a major part of this whole ‘winners’ vs ‘losers’ discussion comes down to people simply being passionate about their favourite brands. Like all the hubbub that went on 12 months ago when the new consoles were first announced, people just want to be able to say “mine’s better”, and that’s all it boils down to. Nintendo revealed a lot of promising titles last week, as did Microsoft, as did Ubisoft, as did Sony and as did the other companies too. It shouldn’t be a case of which won because as gamers, we all did, and that’s what E3 really needs to be about.

Perhaps I’m wrong though? *puts on his Mario cap* Let’s a go Nintendo!

Tune in next time for the next instalment of Game On or Game Over. If you have any ideas for our next article, feel free to contact Andy or Nicholas on Twitter.


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About the author

Nicholas Simonovski

Events and Racing Editor at Stevivor.com. Proud RX8 owner, Strange Music fan and Joe Rogan follower. Living life one cheat meal at a time.