Hey guys these are some of my top 5 overlooked games of E3. Change title to top 5 new challengers of E3.
 
 

During my week of E3 I consumed a large quantity of information. I watched premiere trailers, interviews, press conferences as well as read many articles on all things E3. I constantly saw a select few titles rise to the top of the fish bowl to claim the biggest amount of interest. Titles like Skyrim, Bioshock Infinite, Mass effect 3, Uncharted 3 and Batman Arkham City seemed to be the most popular titles among a few of the elite games to premiere. The list I present to you is not my top five games of E3 but rather my new top five games on my radar. In order to qualify, the following titles had to either impress despite undesirable circumstances or make enough noise to pique my curiosity.

5: NeverDead :Uniqueness is a rare quality that we don’t see enough of in this Shooter focused, MMO grinding world. NeverDead is a game where the protagonist is a man who is cursed with immortality. The game looks cheesy and very Japanese, which is odd considering that the studio behind it is very western. The game play itself is a third person action game which isn’t unique at all until you add the fact that main character is occasionally seen hopping on one foot or running around without a head. I don’t believe this game is going to be amazing but I believe that if you enjoyed the humor of Bayonetta then this may be one to keep a close watch on.

http://www.giantbomb.com/e3-2011-neverdead-trailer/17-4281/

4: Tomb raider: Lara Croft has always been a pretty shallow character with the exception of her physical traits. She has always been portrayed as a big breasted babe with guns who smashes ancient pottery even though she is always trying to put some strange artifact in a museum. The recent game play and interviews have led me to hope that we will finally see an expansion of her character. Tomb Raider focuses on a vulnerable 21 year old Lara who finds herself shipwrecked on a mysterious island with hostile inhabitants and dangerous predators. The gameplay shown puts an emphasis on the pain that Lara will have to overcome if she is to escape the island. We haven’t seen any combat yet but Lara’s E3 appearance has done more then enough to whet my appetite. Lets just hope that the mostly quicktime event moments will not be an overwhelming part of the experience.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2011-tomb-raider/714828

3. Resident Evil : Operation Raccoon City : I was really ready to write off the Resident Evil Franchise after RE5. The game play mistakes of Resident Evil 5 were terribly archaic and made me think that Capcom had not learned. Then I saw that the new Resident evil was going to be developed by Slant Six Games, who gave us hits like Socom Confrontation.(If only there was a sarcasm font) This spelled disaster for the franchise until I saw a lot of gameplay for it. The game play appears to be a third person version of Left 4 Dead, a game I continue to enjoy to this day. The game will feature characters that are tied to different classes such as medic, recon, assault and demolition. Both opposing forces will have specific objectives to complete that clash with each others success. Furthermore, the game will feature Bio Weapons that have no allegiance along with the horde of zombies that player will have to survive. Capcom has also stated that game will not be cannon and seen as a “what if” scenario. The major thing that has really excited me are interesting game mechanics like once a player is infected they will have a few seconds to live before they turn on their teammate, while at the same time offering invisibility to the zombie horde.  I hoping that enough time and care is put into this game to stop it from becoming another cash whore for Capcom.

http://www.ign.com/videos/2011/06/08/e3-2011-ign-live-resident-evil-operation-raccoon-city?objectid=91261

2. Dragon’s Crown: There is not much to tell about Vanillaware next console game. The game looks pretty like every other game Vanillaware has worked on. The game is side scrolling, which again, is consistent with Vanillaware’s style. This difference between this game and past is two fold. It is a multiplayer game and it will be for the PS Vita and PS3. It is yet to be confirmed if it will have any transfarring capabilities but it doesn’t seem outside the realm of reality. The only thing I am disappointed with is that it currently is slated for Sony consoles only. Even though I would much rather play it on the Xbox, I will most likely not wait to see if that ever become a reality. Seriously watch the trailer below.And your eyes may melt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a_g7lUliQU

1. Prey 2: Everything that ever had to do with Prey I did not like. It wasn’t an abortion, it just wasn’t very good. Prey 2 takes everything but the name and genre and throws it out the fucking airlock. The environment is no longer a bland series of claustrophobic corridors in a space ship but instead a dark, sudo sci-fi western inspired, open world shooter. Also it has parkour elements. Just think about that for one moment. Go on. I’ll wait………..back yet? Okay. Doesn’t that sound amazing? You play as a bounty hunter with crazy gadgets and will dynamically get new tools and abilities to capture your bounty. The game also allows you to approach a bounty from multiple angles and doesn’t force you to engage in pure combat . An example of this is you could ask a scumbag and his friend for information on a target or you could blow the friends head off and demand the information. You can go in guns blazing or you can use an associate of the target as a bartering chip. I urge anyone to look into this game because as far as I am concerned we could be witnessing a new challenger for your wallet next year.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2011-prey-2/714963

This is part of an article I posted on a new blog that me a my friends created. If you enjoyed the read, please support me and my friends and  visit: 

 
During my visits to gaming websites I often see comments and articles about the digital only age being a great concept and how gamers should be excited about it. I often found the excitement for this idea to be very bizarre. The world of purely digital has been a god send for things like movies and music but I feel that when it comes to video games it should not be seen as the second coming of Jesus and more like the end of consumer freedom. The Digital age affects so many aspects of the industry and I will hopefully be able to address each one by the end of this article but my main focus will be how it affects gamers/consumers.

One of the best things about the digital age is that it turns your console of choice into a sophisticated dispensary of quality product. No longer does a gamer have to find a disc or cartridge and instead are given the ability to experience any piece of purchased content at anytime. I can’t get enough of Netflix, Pandora and streaming things from my computer. It is amazing how much time was wasted searching for or worrying about these kinds of things. Furthermore, gamers do not have to worry about keeping their content from being damaged. The introduction of cloud saving and the concept of a purchasing history, means if the data is ever damaged in any way, their will probably be a means of recovery.

The major bonuses of going purely digital for a game company is there are fewer losses from the used gaming market. Whenever a used copy of a game is sold, game developers see it as one less copy that was bought. Game developers have often viewed the used game market as bad as pirating a video game. The purely digital age also allows developers to cut costs because they no longer have to produces storage for their product. Memory in a storage center for millions of users is less expensive then it is to make personal data storage for each individual user. The lack of personal data storage also cuts costs on shipping and makes more shelf space in a retailer. These are all good advantages for the industry and it is easy to see why a game developer and some retailers would find this attractive but I find a few problems this creates for a consumer.

While I sympathize with game developers losing money because of the used market I feel that as a consumer I should have every right to sell a product that I have purchased. It seems ridiculous for me to have some proceeds of mine or a companies profit to go to a game developer just because they created the game. If lets say I bought a video game for 60 dollars and sold it to someone else for 60 dollars but I had to give 10 percent of that profit to the developer. In what realm of rational thought is this fair? Living in a digital age means I no longer have the freedom to recoup my losses for a poor judgment. This also leads to my inability to purchase more products because I lack the fund to do so. Games are expensive, I know because I have purchased many and can honestly say that if I wasn’t able to sell games then my spending habits would decrease in ferocity.

The digital age not only affects my purchasing but it also affects my ability to try. Video game demos are good and all but they are often not a true representation of what the end product will be. Game demos are made to sell the end product so of course a developer will not show you all the messed up jank about their game because that will make a consumer less likely to purchase. I have often just borrowed a game from a friend to see if I liked it and whether or not I should buy it at all. The digital age restricts me from doing this and forces me to go thru the hoops of spending time at a friend’s house for the sole purpose of seeing if the game is up my alley. If I truly enjoyed borrowing the game then I would most likely want to purchase a copy for myself, which means another sale.

This also complicates matters if I want to turn a video game experience into a shared experience. If the new Super Smash Bros were to come out only digitally this would lead to me not being able to bring this experience over to a friend’s house. For that last scenario assume I have a small space and that my friend knows more attractive people…..wait….no need to assume, it’s already true. How do I share my multiplayer party game if I have to bring my game console with me wherever I go? Hell I am doing the developers a favor by exposing their awesome game to more people. The digital age forces gamers to consider who will buy those kinds of games amongst friends.

The final part of this is a little superficial and does not apply to everyone. When I was a child I often relied on video game sales associates for their advice for quality product. If it wasn’t for a gamer telling me what games were good, I would have missed out on games like Star Fox64, Final Fantasy 7, Power stone and many more. The digital age means that I have no reason to go into a store and buy things. Now that I am older I can simply do the research myself but I have to feel bad for all the kids who could be purchasing the next digital cartoon network game when they could be buying the next Super scribblenaughts or the next final fantasy. Going digital forces parents to do research on good quality games or just buy whatever crap their child thinks will be good.

Lastly the coming of the digital age means the death of the midnight release. I know that this subject is not important to everyone but hear me out. The option of the midnight release is great because it gives a place for gamers to meet and discuss video games. Yes they could do that on the internet but sometimes it feels good to have an exciting and occasionally stimulating experience about video games. It can lead to competition, rivalry, friendship and dare I say love. Granted any love formed from waiting in front of a Wal-Mart for a copy of Final fantasy 20 will most likely be weird geek love where there is a lot of cos/role playing involved but its still love. These experiences have to be fun to some people otherwise we wouldn’t wait for a store to release a game. The Digital age means advancement and a lot of good things but it also means a lot of changes that have the potential of hurting the Video game community as well.

Okay so it has become a tradition of sorts for games to be delayed in the fall do to a large amount of triple A titles.
 Here is what I believe the schedule will be for high profile games between September and January of next year.
 
1. Gears will remain on target for September.
When Gears 3 was delayed from April to September a friend of mine asked me how I knew that it was going to be that time frame. If you look at Microsoft's history, now that they don't have a Halo game in September, Gears 3 made sense to fill the void. They also wouldn't want a November release in order to avoid competition with any third party releases.(CodMW3)
 
2. Batman will not be pushed back from October. 
Sending Batman into November would be suicide for the next installment . Expect a PR storm in the coming months.
 
3.Battlefield 3 will be released on October 11th or 18th.
Dice and EA want to challenge the presumed release of CodMW3. However they would most likely aim to try and lighten the sails before the game came out. Much like they did with Medal of Honor. (Even though Medal of Honor sucked) 
 
4. Next Call of Duty game will be released on 11/08/11
Every year, Activision puts out a new COD game and it is always around this time. They have share holders to please and COD= money. The only way this will not happen is if the Ex-Infinity Ward case directly affects the Franchise itself. Like Vince Zampella owning the IP or something.
 
5. Mass Effect 3 will be delayed till 01/24/12
As much as I want a new Mass Effect I don't think it will happen this year. They have not gone thru the traditional steps in PR to secure a window of November or December.
There as been no GTTV episode, week long reveals on popular Video game sites, no reveals to the press or Game informer cover. We are already in April and have hear nothing about it. The only ting they have done is release the trailer for the Spike game awards. This really isn't a bad thing and it just give more time to work on the game.
 
6. Last Guardian will not be released this year in the U.S .
They pushed back the Shadow and ICO pack to the fall. Sony already has enough stuff for fall and they were effectively using this package to promote hype for Last Guardian. They will probably throw in a demo into the Shadow/ICO pack.
 
7.Uncharted 3 will arrive on time.
They have shown the game a little. They have less fear from COD because they are not ENTIRELY the same audience and they have already announced a date.
 
8.New Assassins Creed will be announced in May and will be released in either in late October or after COD.
No comment.
 
9. Ghost Recon will arrive in September/October or will arrive in February..
Ubisoft needs money. They pushed it back to do more work on it . Not many third party shooters want to fight COD besides Battlefield.
 
10. Long shot Prediction Capcom will release either DMC or Resident evil : Operation Raccoon city in January.
Call it a Hunch.
 
I could always be wrong but I have a gut feeling about all this. I look forward to seeing how my prediction fare.
 
Agree/Disagree: Post a comment

This space is not intended to promote these videos. I just like posting thing on any account I have such as Facebook or myspace.

Both of these were projects for different collegue courses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfP499Y-m7U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xSFN9s7ZNs

Note I am aware of the second ones historical error. It was an honest mistake so lighten up people.

Later

I am well aware of how many times this has been brought up.

The first reaction to this news seemed to be driven by fear. The thought of valve coming out with a game so early considering the first ones release seemed like a very un-valve thing to do. The idea that maybe they had became a bunch of sellouts came across. I reject these ideas fully. Look at Rockband or MLB the show, these franchise continue to either innovate or change themselves and these come out every year. On the other hand if you look at EA sports titles and the Tony Hawk series they are bad examples of a yearly franchise. The fact is you just have to trust your developers. The creators of RockBand seem to get their audience with song selection but they also try and reach new audience without whooring themselves out. Games like Beatles rockband have made me more interested with the actual band and Lego rockband seem to help hit another section of the game pie. Valve is valve. They have been known for their attention to detail and they realized that most people would hide in corners in left 4 dead. In response to this they have set up counter measures. I think we shouldn't think how this game could be horrible but give them feedback on things should be omited from or added to the sequel. Personally I would like to see 5 v.s 5 and an option to play as the old characters. I also think the special infected should be able to control normal zombies while they wait to respawn. The last thing I think needs to happen is more levels not 5 stages per act and 5 acts.

I am not a psychic just a gamer with a lot of time on his hands. These are all guess and do not contain any insider knowledge.

Nintendo Press Conference:
I think nintendo will continue to keep up there track record of failure.
1.They will spend 20 minutes on how many DSi's, Ds's and Wii's they sold last year and this year.
2.They will  preach about how they are bringing new experiences to bigger audiences, particularly older and female ones.
3.They will annouce a release window for Zelda Ds game ie Spring 2010.
4.New colors for the DSi.
5.Assure us that Mario team is at work.
6. Announce new Wii (insert stupid title here) game with dumb ass attachement.
7. Remind us that Wii sports Resort is coming soon.
8. Show third party support : Red Steel 2, EA sports games, Harry Potter Movie game. e.t.c.
9.Tease a new Mario game.
10. Proclaim the awesome power of the Wii motion Plus and show games that will support it coming this year.
11. Show new Dsi games but no real dates.

Nintendo Wish:
I would like them to say that they are taking some of there money and hiring new studios to work on new or Old IP's. Seriously bring back 2d metroid for the Dsi.
Also I would like to see WIi virtual console games playable on the DSi.

Sony Press Conference:
I think Sony will be predictable with a few suprises.
1. God of War game playable on the show floor and release date with new trailer.
2. Uncharted 2 scheduled for Fall 2009
3. MAG shown a little.
4. New Ratchet game talked about.
5. 20 minutes of them saying how many PSP's, PS3's and Ps2's they sold. (God for bid they forget about the PS2)
6. Show a new psp that has a release date of no earlier then winter 2009. This new version may be a series 4000 or it could be a new PSP with built in waffle maker.
7.Team Ico game annouced with trailer.
8. PS3 price drop but not really. I think a PS3 slim will be annouced with a bigger hard drive and they will drop the price of current models to get ready for PS3 slim which will come out August or September.
9.New studios added to the PSN movies.
10. Home improvements on the way. I am sure the 8 fans out there will be thrilled.
11. PSP titles Dissidia, Assassin's Creed and Little Big Planet will be annouced.
12. New Twisted Metal Game.

Sony Wish:
Seriously sony give me a reason to love you. Your system has a few interesting things going for it but If I my PS3 was a women she would have left me by now because I hadn't touched her in so long. Annouce an exclusive THIRD PARTY GAME. Kingdom Hearts 3 ,FF7 remake ,anything. Also get with the times of your online service.
Make it not so difficult to play with friends online.

Microsoft Press Conference:
I think when it comes to hardcore gamers they will not disappoint.
1. Halo 3 ODST gameplay trailer with release date.
2. Peter Molyneux game teased with trailer but not shown.
3. Microsoft to show third party support by touching on games like Bioshock 2, Mass Effect 2, Modern Warfare 2, Assassins Creed 2.
4. Forza 3 with Trailer annouced for November,
5. New avatar custumization including possible store where you can buy new items. Yeah for this one I can't wait to have my avatar decked out with a polo shirt that caust me 160 MS points.
6. 1 v.s 100 release date followed by a bunch of casual games.
7. Summer of arcade annouced for July: Will include Marvel V.s Capcom 2 , Teenage mutant Ninja turtles, Golden Eye, Zuma 2 and a few others.
8. They will annouce how many Xbox live users there are.
9. Drop the price of the 360 by 50 dollars.
10. Importance of DLC touched on.
11.Mass Effect 2 will be exclusive.
12. 2nd possible Halo game teased.
13. They will steal a beloved Sony franchise out of Sony.
14. Announce a few JRPG's as well as remind us of Magna Carta 2 and FF13.
15. GTA episode 2 teased

Microsoft Wish:
I'm not expected gold from them but I would like to see one important thing. I would like to see a Zune portable gaming device. I know it is stupid for them to consider breaking into the market of hand helds that is clearly dominated by Nintendo but seriously imagine the ability to play XBLA games like Castle Crashers or TMNT woth a friend while you wait in line for your movie to start. If they marketthe idea right they could come out on top. I could see them making a budle that is expensive but comes with a Zune 2 and 1600 MS points. O well a man can dream.

Overall E3 predictions.

1. Half Life 2 episode 3 annouced/ Portal 2.
2. Beyond Good and evil 2 shown.
3.EA annouces Dead Space 2 and shows al ot of Dead space Extraction.
4. Ea sports talk about "New amazing" features in new titles.
5. Square Enix shows Kingdom Hearts DS and PSP games and brings FF13 japanese demo.
6. Capcom annouce remake of classic game. Please be Mega Man X with better graphics but still 2D.
7.Elder Scrolls 5 possibly.
8. Dead or Alive 5 shown.
9. New Ghost Recon shown.
10. Rare will tease a new game for 360.
11. Namco bandai to show new Naruto, Dragon Ball and other stupid games.
12.Capcom will focus on possible New Street Fighter Characters, Lost planet 2 demo on Xbox live, Dark Void release date and Onimusha game possible annouced.

I wonder how accurate I will be.

Since  I work at game stop I have acess to playing a bunch a games and this year was no exception. If you are gamer looking for something to play (or a normal persn looking for a gift) these 10 titles are games you shouldn't pass up.

1. Dead Space : This game exceeded every expectation I had but most important all was the best experience I had. Graphics are some of the best I have seen , the audio is bone chilling and the enemies are varied and horrifing. The best thing about this game is its immersive qualities. The lack of a Heads up display and the fact that everthing happens in real time makes this game one you can't put down. I actually felt i was on that ship dismembering for my life.Even if you are not a fan of the survival horror genre you must pick up this game. This is the best game of 2008.

2. Left 4 dead: This was the ultimate online experience I had all year. What could be better then you and a group of friends killing every zombie in sight? The answer is you and a group of friends playing as zombies and throwing up, strangling clawing or smashing every human player in sight. The only way to play is as a team for this game.

3.Grand Theft Auto 4: This game has the most impressive story I have seen all year. Niko Bellic is a bad guy you want to get to know and the game itself is hours of fun.

4.Braid: This xbox live arcade game takes mario and time manipulation and makes an experience that can't be beat. The puzzles in this game make you feel smart and break your perception of reality. This game is an original.

5.Gears of War 2: Let me start with one statement first. I hated Gears of war 1. This game fixed every problem I had with the first Gears( The online unfortunately is riddled with problems).  Beautiful graphics, good story, great co op, impressive add ons, more monster and weapon variety make this game hard to pass up.

6.Patapon: If you have a psp go out and find this game. This game is a rythm squad rpg side scroller. Seriously, How many games can say that? Its fun, cute , addictive and has many hours of content. Watching my minions go into fever mode and start dancing makes me want to dance myself.

7.Super Smash Bros Brawl: It didn't break boundaries. It doesn't have Jaw droping graphics and the strory mode is horrible. Why does this game make my list? Because it does everying I wanted the game to do. This is the ultimate wii party game not like mario party and those other posers. This game is pure Fun.

8.Castle Crashers: Nostalga is why this game is on my list. Castle Crashers proves that you don't have to reinvent the industry to come up with a good game.All you need is solid game play, good art style, addictive music and a story that makes you laugh.

9.Fallout 3: This Game is Big. Really really big. Great graphics and endless side missions. I've yet to beat the game but already I'm hooked.

10. Prince of Persia: Some wont agree with this one but this game truly deserves to be on this list. It has its faults but the game is beautiful as well as simple. Its presentation is amazing and the story is pretty good. The combat is easy but also very rewarding.

Thats my top ten hope you enjoy and I might be doing some more game reviews in the future so stay tuned.