Metal Gear Solid: Will The Franchise Be Solid Without Hideo Kojima?

     This month we have gotten an official confirmation that game developer and producer Hideo Kojima and Konami are splitting up. If you've been somewhere in space for the past year or have been an employee of Konami the writing on the wall has been huge. We got the message that Kojima was planning on moving away from Konami for a while. It was apparent in interviews, the cancellation of Silent Hills, Metal Gear Solid V, both The Phantom Pain and Ground Zeros being Kojima's last titles, Kojima shutting down his studio, and let's not forget an New York Times journalist pretty much spilling the details.
      So apparently Kojima and Konami have already moved on to better things. Kojima is starting a new independent studio with Guillermo Del Toro and Sony and Konami is already staring the ball rolling by looking for a new director for the next Metal Gear Solid game. The problem is can Konami find someone to do the series justice. Can they even find someone who will make the games just as good as Kojima?
      If you are new to the Metal Gear Solid series, you need to know one thing. It is Kojima's child. It is his artist masterpiece. With Kojima's departure you have people worried or whether the series can go on or at least be as good without Kojima being a part of the project.

      Ironically they have done something like this in the past. Konami had made a American only sequel to one of the Metal Gear games in 1990, Snake's Revenge. Kojima had absolutely no involvement in making the game. A matter of fact he didn't even know about it until a developer working on the game told him about it. The game didn't fair well as the company made it by completely taking out everything that worked with the first game and just mad a generic shooter, pretty much like Contra, except not good. Luckily this made Kojima to make a true sequel, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake for the MSX2 computer.

     I would like to believe that Konami had learned their lesson since then, considering the fact that they made sure Kojima has been involved in every Metal Gear title since then, and this would be the exact time to show it. Will they pull it off? It is a possibility they could or it's a possibility that they won't. One thing is sure is that whatever director they go with it will be tricky and they will have their work cut out for them. Again, it is hard to imagine the series without  Kojima being involved. It's almost like Nintendo without Shigeru Miyamoto or Wes Craven without the Nightmare series. For one thing, we will know that the series will be different. Hopefully it will not be that different. Hopefully a good different.

Characters We Probably Won't See As DLC in Super Smash Bros... Maybe

     It's December which could mean only one thing, no not Christmas, the Super Smash Bros themed Nintendo Direct is almost here. Nintendo announced that for the month of December, there will be a Nintendo Direct dedicated to Super Smash Bros. We could be treated to new characters or new stages for upcoming DLC. Since the recent announcement of Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII being added to the roster, you could almost add any popular character to the list, that's ever been on a Nintendo console or handheld, almost. While these characters might be cool to be added, they most likely won't. Goku and Shreik need not apply.


King K. Rool

 

If you don't know King K. Rool was the main antagonist for the Donkey Kong country series as well as Donkey Kong 64. He would torment the Kong family by stealing DK's bananas in the first game and would later on kidnap DK and Diddy in the later sequels. In Donkey Kong 64 he even went so far as to threaten to blow up Donkey Kong's home DK Island. When Rare was purchased by Microsoft that was the last we've seen of K. Rool and his Kremling klan, I mean clan, as the more recent Donkey Kong games moved on to more enemies that DK had to defeat. So, when Smash Bros was released for the 3DS, we were treated with seeing some familiar characters returning, the Kremlings in Smash Run. With the inclusion with Kremlings, it would seem more likely that their ruler would be making a long deserved comeback since Donkey Kong 64, right. Well he did, as a costume for the Mii brawler. Since K. Rool's appearance had been reduced to a costume, it is most likely that he might not be added.

Crash Bandicoot


Yes, the former Sony mascot has been in a couple Nintendo titles. Crash and Mario had an intense rivalry during the late 90s and early millennium as both of them adventured into 3D for the PlayStation and Nintendo 64. His inclusion would have been huge as their rivalry during those times almost as big as Sonic's who is in the game. As with all things popular they become unpopular and the Crash series fizzled out with lower sales. We haven't seen Crash in anything since his last game in 2010 so we most likely won't see him in Smash either.

Banjo-Kazooie


If you were a kid in the early 00s and didn't have Banjo-Kazooie for the N64, your parents didn't love you. Banjo-Kazooie were characters in their own game during Rare's golden era of making games for the N64. Them being added like a lot of the characters here would be just for nostalgia reason, which are justifiable. They had a ton of games that made for Nintendo before Microsoft bought Rare. For that reason, they are most likely not going to be added unless Microsoft wants to loosen their grip and loan them out for a while?

Heihachi Mishima


Unlike the other characters listed, Heihachi, and other Tekken characters were actually considered to appear in Smash Bros, but due to software limitations during the developing stages for Smash Bros on the 3DS, as well as Masahiro Sakurai not know what to do for a movelist, Heihachi was dropped. That's probably why we got Ryu instead. Sakurai did give him a nod by making him a costume for the Mii fighter instead.

Ridley


OMG, he is not going to be in the game as a playable character. Give it up!

This Is A Linkle/Female Link Post

     A while back we were introduced to a "new" character for the up and coming Hyrule Warriors Legends game for the Nintendo 3DS, Linkle. Up until Linkle's debut she was just a concept art for the Hyrule Warrriors game. She was believed and written to be a female version of Link, the protagonist of the Legend of Zelda series. Now that she's an offical character in the game, Linkle is more of her own established character instead of being the female version of Link. This isn't more about Linkle's, but what she represented before she was made a full fledged character.
    Linkle represented an interesting ideal that whether the protagonist Link in the Zelda could be female. If you are new to the Zelda series the games and the Hyrule timeline spans across years with a new a different incarnation of the main characters Lunk and Princess Zelda. In almost each game you have a different Link and Zelda. This was introduced to the game Skyward Sword where Zelda was the reincarnation of the goddess Hylia and at the end of game both Link and Zelda's souls were destined to be reincarnated whenever Hyrule is in trouble. Linkle leads to a interesting theory that there could be a female incarnation of the

legendary hero. 

     It was a rumor that around Linkle's discovery as a concept art for Hyrule Warriors that the incarnation of Link that would be introduced in the upcoming Zelda Wii U game could possibly be a woman. The question is if Nintendo decided to switch the character of Link, and possibly Zelda, would it be a good decision?

     If Link was a woman in a possible Zelda game, it would be in fact good. Story wise, it would be interesting. It has never been said that the spirit of the hero has to be passed down to a male incarnation. It could add more to the Zelda mythology of the spirit of the hero being passed down to one person to another. It would be great as it would breathe new life to the supposed characters. It would be interested to see a Prince Zel and a female Link interact with the threat that could affect Hyrule.

     It could be important as it could symbolize what the character Link is suppose to be. Link is suppose to represent the link between him and the player. It is apparent that more women are playing video games as a hobby. It would be good for a girl who is new to not only video games, but new to the Zelda series to be able to play as a character that represents her.

What do you think about having a female Link in a Zelda game?

10 Weirdest Video Game Costumes Ever

Let's face it. Some outfits and costumes characters wear in video games are awesome. Some of are inspired to dress up as them this Halloween. When designing these costumes, designers can't do no wrong in making video game characters look totally cool, right? Wrong.

Dairy Bastard (God of War)


If you played God of War, you'd know that it is a very violent and brutal game. You're violently attacking cyclops and Greek gods apart in a quest for revenge. Kratos is a badass. You don't want to mess with him, maybe dressed up as a cow? In this costume, Kratos' blades of chaos are replaced with milk jugs of death? He also has unlimited magic and collects twice the amount of orbs, but his strength is reduced in half. Challenge of the Gods.

Nintendo Outfits (Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Wii U Edition)

You know what's worst than getting your ass kicked by Heihachi? Getting your ass kicked by Heihachi in a Mario costume. These costumes come with the Tekken Tag Tournament for the Wii U which not only your favorite Tekken characters dressed up as Nintendo characters, but it comes with power-ups like Mega Mushrooms which adds a little more strategy to fights, and a little comedy.

Alien Zack (Dead or Alive 5)


Fighting games sometimes offer fun costumes for character to fight in or just to see how . Nothing more fun and outrageous than Zack's alien costume. Zack gets two set of this costume offered as DLC. Zack as a character himself isn't new to outrageous costumes.

Tofu (Resident Evil 2)


When playing Resident Evil 2, you get to play a parody of The Fourth Survivor minigame called The Tofu Survivor where all the players of HUNK are all replaced with tofu. You get this by unlocking The Fourth Survivor and clear the Leon A/Claire B storyline 3 times with an A ranking. The tofu costumes reappear in Darkside Chronicles where the zombies are replaced with tofu.

Donut Drake (Uncharted)


The objective of a master thief is to get your pockets fat by stealing whatever you can. Apparently Drake heard otherwise. You get to play a much fatter version of Drake in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. You get this skin by .

Evil Panda (Onimusha)

Onimusha is a game where you play a badass warrior. Nothing says badass like a evil panda suit. You get this by collecting 10 Flourites and ending the game.

Princess Heart (Silent Hill 3)


Silent Hill is a scary game made by a Japanese development team. Sometimes Japanese culture can rub off. Princess Heart costume Heather gets to play that is seems straight out of some magical girl anime or something. It even comes with a cute transformation sequence. It's more than just a skin. Heather can use the sexy beam to kill monsters that will try to harm her.

Rainbow Kuma (Street Fighter x Tekken)


This outfit is based off of R. Mika from the Street Fighter Alpha series that Kuma can wear. It's a nice spin not only because of Kuma's moves, but it's also a nice reference to another Street Fighter character, Zangief who Mika not only met and fought with a few time, but also Zangief was known to wrestle bears in his meantime.

Cheerleader Riptor (Killer Instinct)

When Rare rebooted the Killer Instinct franchise it offered some retro costumes as DLC. You get to play as Jago and Orchid in their classic costumes from the original games. You also get this. Nothing says spirit like a raptor in a cheerleader outfit. It seems appropriate since Riptor is a female. I wonder if someone at Rare is a Raptors fan.

Street Fighter Animal Costumes (Street Fighter 4 Ultra)

Again, when developers come up with DLC they tend to make things fun and sometimes outrageous. These costumes are nothing but. I admit these are kinda cool but their weird nonetheless. It's especially funny to see Makoto as a chipmunk and Hikan as a octopus.

What are some weird video game costumes have you encountered?

Goosebumps: Does It Suck?

I haven't done a review in a while, so over the weekend, I went out to see Goosebumps. For those who are new to Goosebumps or who wasn't born in the 90s, Goosebumps was children's horror book series penned by R.L. Stine. The books were scary. Really scary. The books launched a ton of spin-off book series like the Give Yourself Goosebumps books, which were almost as scary since you choose how the story goes, and a TV series, which was just as scary as the books. The books generated a ton or sales and money for R.L Stine and has stuck with a lot of people either as nostalgia or as we're still getting nightmares about evil lawn gnomes. Which is more than an apparent reason why there is finally a movie based off of the books and series, right? At first hearing that there would be a movie, I had two things run into my head. First excitement. I loved reading the books and watching the TV series growing up as a child so it's no shocker I would be stoked for this. Another thing was the notion of whether they would do justice to the series. To many of us, Goosebumps is in a part of of childhood memories. We grew up on this. We would like to see if things were done in a faithful way. Was it? Was it cool, of did it suck?

Story

Let's start off with story. The whole premise of the Goosebumps movie was that all of the monsters in R.L Stine's books are real due to him creating them with his super imagination.They are all unleashed on the town and it's up to him and a bunch of teenagers, who let the monsters out in the first place, to put them back before they ruin the town. The whole plot of the movie is almost like Jumanji for the millennials or better yet a nice little spin on the intro of the TV series. The pacing of the movie is a bit odd. The first half which introduces characters and set up their traits is a bit slow and it does lag on a bit. When the exciting stuff happens in the second half when the monsters are out and the protagonists have to go after them it's quick. I mean really quick. The first half felt longer than the second half. Also, what bummed me out were that there were some famous Goosebumps monsters that reduced to just cameo appearances, some that were used for promo. As many books Stine made you would've figured out that they would featured more than the ones they chose. One example was that they could've shown more of the monsters going on a rampage on the town and one of my favorites, the Haunted Mask, could've been that character making mischief attack people as the run from the chaos kinda like Gremlins. On a positive side there are some Easter eggs in the film. See if you can find them.

Comedy

As I stated earlier, Goosebumps stories were scary. People had nightmares about them. So what do you do when you have some of the scariest books of kid literature ever? You make a comedy out of them. I think you can say that the Goosebumps movie is a form of satire on the series. It pokes of its self. The monsters were portrayed in a sort of comical form as you would think they would be in the books. Overall, there were some jokes that worked and some that didn't and were forced. An example was all the scenes with the main protagonist's (Zach Cooper played by Dylan Minnette) mom played by Amy Ryan. They did try to do the cool mom thing but they couldn't. Perhaps they should watch Amy Poeler in Mean Girls and see how it's done. Jack Black is standard Jack Black, weird fat guy that does something funny once in a while, like in almost every film he's in. Take that as you may. The highlight of the film's comedy was Ryan Lee. He basically stole every scene he was in and was gold.


Final Verdict

Goosebumps was alright for what it was overall, a kids movie. It was good, but it could've been great. Some jokes were great, some could've been better. They had a lot of material to work with and utilized than the stuff they used. Despite that it was sorta enjoyable. Audience beware, you're in for a okay scare. It gets a 3 out of 5.

Pulling the Plug on the PlayStation Vita's Successor Part 2: Should Sony Quit Handheld?

     If you haven't read my post last week, number one, shame on you here's a link and number two I'll give you a brief explanation if you're too lazy to click, again shame on you! It was recently announced that Sony will not be making a successor to the PlayStation Vita. In the last post I gave reasons why the decision was obvious. To keep it short, it all came down to sales, lack of quality games and exclusives, and basically Sony sweeping it under the rug. Yes, Sony is done with making handheld console and games, but should they?  Welcome to part 2.
     Again, the Vita turned out to be a huge bust, but if they wanted, Sony could've tried again with the next system. If you want to look at Sony not giving up and do a successor to the Vita, you can look at it from Sony's rival Nintendo. Nintendo has had its list of failures as well as successes. You can't forget the Virtual Boy which was the company's biggest failure to date. The Wii U and 3DS even started out badly. Both suffered lack of sales compared to their predecessors and a good line of games to play at the start. It wasn't until Nintendo decided to launch a series of campaigns to help turn things around and boost sales did just that. There have been a increase of sales of sales for the Wii U and 3DS in the past year.

     But let's look at things from a realistic view. Sadly there is no place for Sony in the handheld market anymore. Nintendo still dominates the handheld market. Mobile gaming is on the rise. Sony, sadly has become a relic. From a techonlogical stance, there isn't anything Sony can do to keep up. They did try to do something with touch screen technology but it ended up looking and feeling awkward. It is obvious that Sony has decided to focus on other things as well. Again like Nintendo, they could;ve turned things around of they wanted to, but the truth was and is that they didn't and they saw it as pointless to do so and move on.

What are your thoughts on the subject. Should Sony make another handheld system?

Pulling the Plug on the PlayStation Vita's Successor Part 1: Why The Vita Failed

Handheld Gaming. It was and, in some ways due to mobile gaming, is a huge thing. I, myself prefer playing handheld games compared to games on console for the sole purpose that I can go anywhere. From anyplace in the city to anyplace in the house, I can play games. We have come a long way from when the Game Boy came out where we had to play an 8-bit game on a tiny screen, IN PROPER LIGHTING to systems like the Vita with amazing graphics and in 3D like the Nintendo 3DS. It's amazing to see how things can go in the future, except with the Vita...
     If you haven't heard, over the weekend it has been announced that there will be no successor to the PlayStation Vita. As shocking as it seems, not really, there are reasons why it probably wasn't a hard decision as to why Sony decided to pull the plug on making another PlayStation handheld.
     Let's start with the most important, sales. Sales is the huge factor as to why we will not have a successor. When the Vita first came out, it sold over 325,000 units in Japan, which was ok, but sales started to slump in the following weeks. Overall, in the first quarter, February 2012, it has sold 1.2 million units worldwide and over 2 million in software, compared to the PSP's 2.2 million in 2007, but most importantly short compared to the Nintendo 3DS' 3.61 million in its first quarter. Sales continued to go down for the Vita after its first year. As of now, it has sold approximately 4 million from its launch to December 2014 compared to its rival the 3DS' 53 million (17 million in 2014) and its predecessor the PSP's 80 million.
      The second is the probably the second most important, games. The Vita did not have a strong library of games to play. They didn't have that many exclusives that people wanted to play. What they had to offer nobody wanted and what they tried to get they couldn't deliver. What they had you could've played on the console games and were much better versions. Why would you play Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD on the Vita when you can get it in better resolution on the PS4? Having games, importantly a strong exclusive gaming library is important to get people to solely play that system. Nintendo has learned this when the Wii U suffered in its earlier years when it had nothing to play and noticed sales picked up when they finally gave us an abundance of games to play later on.
      Lastly, Sony did not care. They barely did any marketing for the Vita and the games they had to offer. When sales kept plummeting, they barely did anything to help pick things up. At least with Nintendo and the 3DS' sales which were less than the DS's managed to turn things around with doubling down on pushing the system out and giving us better titles to play with. Sony just did nothing hoping that people will eventually play the Vita and just quietly pushed it under the rug when less and less people picked it up.
      We know why it probably was a good decision for Sony to pull out of the handheld game and not make a successor. Another question could be despite how the Vita fared, should they? That's for Part 2. Stay tuned.

     What do you think contributed to the PlayStation Vita's demise?

The (Recent) Delaying of Mighty No. 9: Should We Delay The Outrage?

     Mighty No 9 is a 2D platformer where you are an Android who's mission is to save the world by stopping a number or robots who have been corrupted by a computer virus and find out who is the villain behind all of this. If this sounds like a Mega-Man game it must only be due to the guy who is making this game was also responsible for making the Mega-Man series, Kenji Inafune and his company he founded after leaving Capcom, Comcept. According to Inafune, Mighty No. 9 is a spiritual successor to the Mega-Man games as it mirrors them in terms of story, gameplay, and up until a few early sketches the main character himself.
     With the Mega-Man series being in the state it is now with Mega only making guest appearances in other games and the only news of a new Mega-Man game being made is of Capcom cancelling it, people have been clamoring to play this game. It shows when by how much money people have been throwing money at this game. Since 2013, the game has been funded by the fans and public on Kickstarter not only once, but a few times. The first time it met its $900,000 goal in two days back in 2013. With further stretch goals and donations from Paypal, over $4 million have been donated to the game to be made. It seems undeniable the people are highly anticipating the final production of the game and can't wait to play it, except that they will. It has recently been announced that the game has been delayed and will probably come out in 2016. The delay seems to be based on how to exactly release a proper demo of the game. This is a statement from their website:

"Although the demo had been finished and was ready to go, we ran into some very last-minute and unexpected complications with distributing the demo exclusively to all our backers through Steam. We’ve also been listening to your feedback about preferring to have a demo that is not time-limited. Given the complications with giving you the demo, we came to the conclusion that it would be better to make the demo DRM-free without any time restrictions.

Because this demo is exclusively for you, our backers, we still needed to have a way to get the demo to each of you individually and we’ve been looking into all the options. We’re currently working with our partners at Humble Bundle to prepare the demo for delivery through their service.

Unfortunately this change in our plans means that the release of the demo is going to be slightly delayed as we are currently working on retooling the demo for a DRM-free release. Comcept and all of our partners are working hard to get the demo ready and in our backers’ hands as soon as possible. We sincerely apologize for this delay, but we hope you’ll like the resulting changes!"

     As expected the fans and backers are angry about this sudden news and you can't blame them. They have invested money, literally millions, in this game and so far they really haven't gotten to see the result of their money. They will have to wait even long to play this game that they put their hard earned dollars in. Should they be mad? Again,it is justifiable they should be a bit upset waiting longer to play Mighty No. 9, but in a sense they should expect this.
     It takes a lot of time to make a game. Not just hours but months and even years to not only make it, but to perfect it. People need to realize that there is a lot going into this game with little resources. It takes longer when you don't necessarily have the proper resources to make something and you're doing it with no support from a major company, especially the most important one: money. Other than the donations on Kickstarter, Inafune had almost no support when coming up with the idea to make this game. He understands the admiration people had for the Mega Man series and the wants of playing games like that. That is the reason why he went on Kickstarter to make this game. The fact that Inafune and the production company has to go on Kickstarter in order to fund the game speaks volumes on how passionate they are on making this game. Overall, we need to be patient. We know it's going to be good in the end, hopefully.

What are your thoughts?

Why Watch Video Games When You Can Play Them Yourself?

     Jimmy Kimmel has been under some scrutiny recently. It all began when on his show he made a few jokes about Let's Play videos on YouTube. His comments haven't been kind about it. He stated that he doesn't get why they are popular and why people watch it. He also has said if why watch someone play when you can play it yourself.

     "Watching another person play video games is like going to a restaurant and have someone eat your food for you. If you like 'em, play them."

      The response from the gaming community has not been nice. Gamers have taken to YouTube, Twitter and other forms of social media they could and posted some nasty remark. Some have gone far as to give him threats and even wishing him to get cancer. Whether Kimmel knows it or not after all of the vocal response to his comments towards the gaming community of YouTube and Twitch, there is more to Let's Plays and Twitch streams than just watching other people play.
       People do watch Let's plays as a means to test out the game. They want to see if it is fun or good enough to buy for themselves. It works almost as better than reading a review online or in a magazine. You see the not only the game in action, but you see someone's reaction to playing the game.
      Aside from watching it as a decision to buy the game or not, and most importantly, Kimmel isn't realizing is that Let's Plays are a form of entertainment. People are not mainly watching just to see someone play a game. People watch it as a means of entertainment. It's more about who's playing the game. People love watching other people react playing games as it can be sometimes comical. Watching YouTubers like Pewdiepie and Markiplier react to what's happening in the game is indeed funny. It's more about the person's personality than the gameplay itself. That is the reason why these people have millions of views and subscriptions.
    This isn't an attack to what Kimmel said. This is more of an explanation as to why people watch Let's Plays. Of course it's normal how Kimmel, and others, react to Let's Plays. They don't get it and it's perfectly fine that they don't. It's not for everybody. Of course you would not get it and ask why would people watch Pewdiepie making weird noises playing Minecraft and Markiplier making funny faces everytime he plays Five Nights at Freddy's. The answer would be that people enjoy it and it's more than just watching someone play a game. However they can at least inform themselves and try to understand why it's popular. At least that's what he tried to do when after the outrage he invited YouTube celebrities Markiplier and MissesMae on his show and actually allowed himself to get educated. Whether he changed his views on Let's Plays is up to him.

Should Nintendo NOT Make Anymore Movies?

     It was revealed a while ago that head of Nintendo's creative design and king of your childhood Shigeru Miyamoto in an interview with Fortune has stated that Nintendo is considering to making movie deals again. What does this mean? It could very well mean that we could be seeing full feature movies based on your favorite Nintendo games and characters on the big screen again *cough*Legend of Zelda*cough*.

“As we look more broadly at what is Nintendo’s role as an entertainment company, we’re starting to think more and more about how movies can fit in with that—and we’ll potentially be looking at things like movies in the future,”

     This is not really a big surprise. There have been rumors circulating about Nintendo expanding past video games and opening up to other form of entertainment. There was the rumor that was later confirmed to be untrue of a Legend of Zelda series being made for Netflix. There was also news of another possible Super Mario Bros. movie in the works with Sony, due to the recent Sony hack. This should be cause of a celebration, right?

     Some people might not see it that way. Of course we haven't forgot Nintendo's first venture into Hollywood, the 90s live action Super Mario Bros. The Super Mario Bros. movie is herald as one of the ultimate bad video game movies ever, almost as bad as anything Uwe Boll can do. At the time of its release it was a box office bomb and met with terrible reviews. The cast weren't too thrilled with being attached to the movie as well. Actors John Leguizamo and Bob Hoskins have publicly talked badly about it and the directors. Dennis Hopper hasn't had kind words to say about it either considering it was his Mommie Dearest. Nintendo however has been a good sport about it, even going further to say on the official Mario website that Mario can do anything except make movies. But even with a blunder like Super Mario Bros., should Nintendo make movies again.

     Surprisingly they have. A few years ago an animated full feature movie based upon the popular Animal Crossing movie was released in Japan. Recently there was an animated short movies based off of the Pikmin franchise. Even though there were movies being made, Nintendo has been very cautious of how these movies were distributed. The Pikmin movies were only exclusive on Nintendo's eShop and The Animal Crossing movie has only been shown in Japan.

     Bottom line, Nintendo has been careful with how they've done things outside of games and it seems that they have learned their lesson since the Super Mario Bros. movie. Also, they know that despite how bad it was fans still want movie adaptations of their other franchises like Metroid and The Legend if Zelda. It's nothing wrong with learn in from your mistakes and trying again. That's what exactly what Nintendo has done and that's what they're going to do. There us still a bit they will have to learn and hopefully one of the things is that they learn to work with the right team of people. A movie is just as good as the people who made it. Now let's hope Square Enix comes around to making movies again.

What are your thoughts? 

Six Things That Should Be Added in Super Mario Maker 2 (Or DLC)

     Super Mario Maker is almost here. For those who have been living under a rock, Super Mario Maker is a custom create your own Mario level. Over the past few weeks we've been getting more and more glimpses of what we will be in store for until the game comes out. It features a ton of stuff that you can use to make the ultimate Mario level, or troll people and make the hardest levels ever. Super Mushrooms, ? Block that you can put anything in, and Bowsers oh my. You can even customize enemies and objects however you want by making a giant totem pole of Goombas or any other enemies or have enemies like Lakitu and Bullet Bill cannons shoot out power-ups and coins and have ? Blocks sprout enemies. You can even add wings to objects and enemies to spice things up. With so much to customize you can never get bored designing levels, or can you? Here's a list of things that could make the next installment, if there will be one, better or make the current game better by hopefully adding these things as DLC later on.

New Level Templates

For Super Mario Maker, we've gotten the basic level templates of any basic Mario game. An overworld, A castle, and an Airship level template (because how would you include a Super Mario Bros 3 game design and not design an Airship level). What was missing was ice, desert, sky, and fire level templates. These would be interesting to add to a sequel or later as DLC as it could make the World dynamic and make this feel a lot more Mario. Also if we get a desert level template we can get everyone's favorite enemy, Angry Sun.

Super Mario Bros 2(USA & JP) Styles

Super Mario Maker pretty much featured most of the stuff from the Mario games that everyone loves from the series. Sadly, Super Mario Bros 2, the American and the Japanese versions are missing. I know that there was not that much of a difference between Super Mario Bros 1 and 2 other than difficulty, but there were stuff from it that could be beneficial. The wind mechanic and the poison mushroom would've been great add ons for the game, as they would also be even better ways to challenge people to get through their levels, or to really troll them. Super Mario Bros 2 mechanics would've been fun to put in as the game was fun. Adding Subcon spaces and stuff like vegetables to pick up and hurl at enemies could bring something fresh to the gameplay of non-SMB 2 game styles. It would've been nice to see a New Super Mario Bros version of Birdo.

GameBoy Era Games

This is more of an extension of number 2. Again, I know that even with the inclusion of Super Mario Bros 2, not including Super Mario Land or Super Mario Land 2 would be a bad thing as they are releasing Maker as a part of Mario's 30 Anniversary and these games, though not as influential as SMB3 or SMW, are a part of that history. Some of the levels were tweaks of already basic Mario levels and if included it would put of bit of style and flair to the already available levels cave and underwater. It would be nice to recreate something like the Moon Zone and Mario Zone levels. Also, the Sky and Water Pop levels were fun and you could have a bit of fun with that with the moving screen features in the Mario games available. Plus think about the power ups. Wouldn't it be nice to see the return of Bunny Mario?

More Bosses and Mini Bosses

In a way, Super Mario Maker does feature bosses in the form of Bowser and Bowser Jr. In the next installment Nintendo can up the ante by giving us more bosses or minibosses. Adding minibosses could give gameplay a bit more variety and make things more interesting as they served as a mini challenge between actual boss fights. Besides you could get tired of having Bower and Bowser Jr. be the boss of the level everytime. Also, if you want to be creative, you can practically make the first Mario game in the series to have a Boss Rush mode. There are a lot of minibosses and bosses to choose from in the series, even in the 2D games. Boom-Boom and Pom-Pom, Big Boo, Kamek, and Birdo. If they decide to add the Gameboy era games or Super Mario Bros 2 (USA) we could very well see the return of obscure bosses like Tatanga or Wart.

Koopalings!!

Bowser Jr. Isn't enough. We need the Koopalings to be DLC or in Super Mario Maker 2 pronto. The Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World parts of the game feel empty without them, especially with the Airship level editor.


Luigi, Toad, Peach Mechanics

I know that we can play as Luigi and Peach (and eventually Toad?) through the Amiibo function, but wouldn't it be great to play as them as you would in Super Mario Bros 2? Even with Mario, it would be cool to be able to have Luigi's traction and jump, be able to float around like Peach, or do whatever Toad does in the game. These mechanics, in some form haves existed in not just Super Mario Bros 2. Almost any game that featured Luigi (Ex. New Super Mario Bros series) have used a different gameplay mechanic to set himself apart from how the player plays as Mario. These mechanics could bring something interesting when designing levels as you can get really technical designing levels as can really play around with difficulty. You can make a level that could be easy of difficult depending on what character mechanic you use. You can also see what dynamics that goes into making a Mario game.

What do you think should be added in a Super Mario Maker 2 or at least should be DLC? 

Does eSports Need ESPN?

Even though it has been here for years, eSports is starting to get its recognition and is starting to come into the mainstream. With million dollar prizes that seem to grow and grow each year and tournaments getting almost as big coverage to match. It is even being covered on sports channels like ESPN. You can say thing are good, but they are not.
     Ever since eSports tournaments have been broadcast on channels like ESPN, there have been some form of backlash against it. There have been backlash again sports fans asking why are they watching people playing video games. Even one of the former commentator, Colin Cowherd, has gotten headlines for bashing the channel's decision to show tournaments.

"Here's what's going to get me off the air. If I am ever forced to cover guys playing video games, I will retire and move to a rural fishing village and sell bait. You want me out? Demand video game tournaments on ESPN because that's what appeared on ESPN2 yesterday."

     Sadly even the president of the channel, John Skipper, has some not really positive remakes about it. The president has publicly commented on eSports by saying that it is not a sport.
     It's one thing for fans to be against it and probably another when you some of the commentators have something negative to say about it, but it's the worst when you have the head of the network bashing it. I can talk about how, just like any sport, eSports can be just as demanding and its participants train just as much as athletes in sports, but that's another story. So, the question is that should these tournaments pack up their things and go somewhere else? Do they need to stop airing on ESPN?
      eSports have been getting quite the number of hits online on Twitch and other streaming sites. Just last year, Dota 2's international tournament pulled in almost 20 million viewers, along with League of Legends and its 32 viewers online. With these numbers, and them growing each year as last year Dota only had one million. It is obvious that these tournaments are not going to be losing any sleep if they don't air on TV. Also, considering the fact that people prefer to watch things online than on TV, It would be wise not to pass up a deal with Twitch, or any other streaming service to solely broadcast tournaments online.
      I do understand that these eSport tournaments need a network like ESPN to get spread awareness and get a bigger and broader audience, but the respect is clearly not there. It's one thing to bash, it's another to do so blatantly and try to make money off of it. It's hypocritical that the president sees eSports this way but doesn't see a problem collecting all of the money it makes for the company. Maybe eSports does need to stay after all. To make a point that Skipper and the channel's fans that criticized the airings are out of touch and eSports is here to stay and that it's not just a sport. It's something more.
   

Sony, YouTubers, and Digital Media Part 2: Do YouTubers Belong Outside of YouTube?

Last week I talked about a video YouTuber Joshua Ovenshire, Jovenshire, made about concerning Cable, Digital Media. To recap, Ovenshire made a case that due to PlayStation Vue, we might see the final nail in the coffin for cable as its service can offer channels you want for a cheaper service. What I had to say about is that the service Vue, will not be the cable killer. Cable still has its hooks in everything that even with the popularity of the Netflixes and Hulus it won't be going away. We have a service similar service compared to Vue, Sling TV and that did nothing to Comcast. Vue could be the potential to something, but we won't see the death of Cable anytime soon.

     In the second half in the video Ovenshire made an opinion that as Digital Media is growing and TV is dying, channel executives will start needing YouTubers, Vine stars, and other internet celebrities in order to create content for their shows online. I know considering that Ovenshire being a YouTuber himself he would think this way. 

      I'm not going to deny that YouTubers and YouTube are done and are doing things with networks. Grace Helbig has a talk show on E! Timothydelaghetto has been on the comedy improv show Wild N Out and Epic Meal Time have a show on FYI . It has always been like this since Fred had his deal with Nickelodeon to do a series and a few movies. However I don't know how he came to the conclusion that as channels make the transition online equals a high demand for YouTubers and Vine stars to work for these channels.

      There is still a big stigma with how networks and Hollywood is willing to work with internet celebrities as they still see them as regular people that just film themselves on camera doing whatever and upload it to YouTube. And there is a valid reason why. There hasn't been a YouTuber or a Vine star who has found any success outside of YouTube. Epic Meal Time haven't had good luck with shows outside of YouTube as they had a couple with G4 and Revision3. Both fell through. Hopefully Epic Meal Empire won't? Helbig's show is on thin ice as it is being proven time and time again on E! unless you are a Kardashian, or if your talk show doesn't have the words Chelsea Handler on it nobody will be willing to watch it. Also Lucas Cruikshank, Fred, after all the deals he's done as Fred is right back to where he started, on YouTube. Not acting as Fred, just doing vlogs. These people have millions of people watching their content on YouTube but are simply failing to get these fans and viewers to follow them outside of YouTube or enough for them to transition into something beyond YouTube.
     Again there is no connection that as content is migrating to digital formats that these companies are going to rely on YouTubers and Viners. There is the fact as there have been deals where we've been getting shows premiering on Hulu and Netflix, due to the audience that use these formats, these networks and people who have been doing online content have been doing the same things they have always done by hiring talent, overlooking internet celebrities all together. There might be deals in the future, but not in the way or not as many as Ovenshire thinks there will be.

What are your thoughts?

        

Sony, YouTubers, and Digital Media Part 1: Is Cable Truly Done For?

     YouTuber Joshua Ovenshire A.K.A The Jovenshire, from Smosh Games, made a video concerning the recent announcement Sony made at E3 this year. Starting soon, Sony announced that it would be expanding its service, PlayStation Vue to more cities, Los Angeles and San Francisco. PlayStation Vue is a service allowing its users to purchase single cable channels and stream on the PlayStation 4. In the video, he states that PlayStation Vue will be a big deal as, what he claims it will change media forever. Ovenshire is acknowledging the current trend with digital media. It is popular with the younger demographic as this generation is starting to prefer watch content online compared to watching shows on TV. There are less and less young people watching TV. But the question is will this move on Sony be or will it be the beginning of the end of cable?
     First of all, cable isn't going anywhere. It is true that people are preferring to watch shows online, companies like Time Warner and Comcast have their hands in things have they have in so deep that not even Superman can loosen their grip. Cable stations are, slowly but surely, adapting to digital formats and have been doing so in order to compete with the Netflix and the Hulus. Ironically, cable companies are working with these services like Hulu in order to get people who prefer watching things online to watch their channels. Also, the offer Sony is making to its customers isn't new. It is very similar to Sling TV. Sling TV, like what Sony is hoping to do, is an online TV service the offers channels for $20 a month, cutting out cable. Sling has barely made a dent competing with Comcast's second quarter earnings. Sony may have a harder time as not that many people are buying PS4s for TV.
     Ovenshire might be on to something. Eventually we might see cable go, but it's going anywhere soon. Vue service offers more channels than Sling, yet Sling is cheaper with its $20 compared to Vue's $50, but I highly doubt that PlaySation Vue will be the cable slayer, especially considering how Sling has fared and the number of people who buy PlayStation 4s to do things other than playing games. For something to make people who really jump from its gonna have to be a much better service provider.

Hating Pewdiepie

     Recently we have heard that famous YouTuber Felix Kjellberg, or who you may know as Pewdiepie, earned $7 million dollars last year. That is $3 million more than what he has earned the previous year. Pewdiepie is the most popular YouTuber uploading content daily with millions of people watching it and have over 37 million subscribers. Pewdiepie has earned this not only through ads, but through sponsorship with companies. Not everyone is happy about this. He has gotten a ton of backlash and outrage over the recent news of his earning. The outrage was loud enough for Pewdiepie to make a video addressing this. In the video Pewdiepie said the following:

“Money is a topic that I have purposefully tried to avoid for the five years that I’ve been making videos, because I just feel like it’s not important to anyone.”

"Whenever it comes out how much I made a certain year, people just get so shocked. A lot of people were also very, very angry. They thought it was unfair. They thought I just sit on my ass all day and I just yell at the screen."

"To see so many people upset about this whole thing is sad."

     It is understandable to see why people are upset about hearing this. You have some people who slave away at their 9 to 5 jobs and make nowhere near 7 million dollars, some don't even barely make enough. You slave away at your job and you hear this person not only makes videos of him playing Minecraft and making goofy noises while doing so, but people are willing to throw a boat load of cash at him. It's enough to send you up the wall in a fit of rage.
     I know it is easy to write these people off as haters, but should we? No. Again, you can easily understand why people are mad, but I don't think people understand what goes behind what he does. Yes Pewdiepie does make weird noises while playing video games, even he has said that was true, but surprisingly there is a lot that goes in to doing what he does. There's more to his videos other than him playing games and making funny noises. There is a ton of research and looking into the demographic of a particular game he has to look into instead of saying I'm just gonna play Game X. There is a lot of time going into knowing what people want to watch. Not only that, but to keep them entertained. Pewdiepie is suppose be a very entertaining personality on YouTube and that is what people like about him and is what keeps his views and his bank account in the millions.
     I'm not going to tell these people who are upset about this to just shut up and get over it as in some ways they can be outraged. However what I can do is ask people to try to understand why he is making as much as he can. I'm sure if they do, they probably wouldn't be as mad as they are.

What are your thoughts on this? What are your thoughts on people who are upset about how much Pewdiepie makes?

Terminator Genisys: Does It Suck?

     This week the new installment in the Terminator series, Terminator Genisys, has come out. To recap, Genysis is the fifth installment in the series. The first movie, directed by James Cameron, was a hit. The second one T-2: Judgement Day became a bigger hit. The series kinda fell short with the third film and Salvation which was suppose to be the reboot of the series. Now we have Genisys, but will it live up to the standards of the previous films or will it be just as bad as the other two? Will it suck?

Story

     Based on the trailers and what you probably have read about the movie the plot of Genisys is that the story takes place when John Connor has won the battle in the future, but Skynet sents a Terminator back in time. Kyle Reese is sent back in time to 1984 in order to save Sarah Connor. The only difference is that while Kyle is sent back in time, the whole timeline somehow gets fucked up. How fucked up? Probably as bad as the reaction when we found out Genisys will be the name of this movie. Anyway, the timeline is all screwy. Sarah Connor is no longer the innocent and helpless woman she was in the original Terminator movie, and doesn't have the bad 80s hair either. She is accompanied with a Terminator buddy, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger a la her son in T-2. So now it's up t her and Kyle to set everything right and end Skynet. Oh and John Connor is the terminator out to kill them.
     The plot seems to be a love letter to the Terminator franchise, well the ones everyone loves. Since the whole timeline is messed up, you get to see certain events in the past Terminator films happen differently like Arnold fighting himself and among other things. It does make you want to go back and watch the old films and see how intuitive the director Alan Taylor and its writers Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier were writing and making these scenes.
     The story is almost reminiscent of the first Terminator movie as Genisys takes a look into our society and looks into how much we depend on technology to do practically everything. In the 80s it was Apple, Betamax, and video games. Today is smartphones, iCloud, and Oculus. Talking about this might be in a future post?
     I know that Taylor had major concerns about the trailer spoiling the movie, especially with the reveal that John Connor is the antagonist in the film. I wouldn't say it was a major spoiler. You did need to know who the antagonist would be in the film that Sarah and Reese would have to fight against in order to stop the threat of Skynet.

Action

     Let's get down to the nitty gritty. This is what we all look for in Terminator films. In almost Terminator films we always look forward to things getting wrecked and exploding. It is an action film after all. In Genisys we do get to see some cool and elaborate action scenes. Buses flipping over, helicopter dogfights, and you do get plenty of car chase scenes that are a staple of every movie. Seriously, intense car chase scenes are in every Terminator film. The action scenes are cool but they aren't as as cool as some of the previous Terminator movies. Even Rise of the Machines had to good ones where you asked how did they pull that off.

Performance

     Genisys featured a lot of newcomers, with only Arnold being the only big name (sorry Jai Courtney, not yet). I never seen Jai Courtney, who played Kyle Reese,  in other films but he did an ok job. Emilia Clark, of Game of Thrones fame, did a good job of playing Sarah Connor. I was surprised at how she did the role with knowing her playing Daenerys Targaryen. We got to see a different side of Sarah Connor that we usually see of her in other adaptations. We see her channel a bit of Linda Hamilton and a bit of what John Connor is usually like in the Terminator films, being tough yet asking why was she chosen to be the savior of humanity. If you haven't noticed, Arnold plays a different terminator in every movie. In this one you see him play a more quirky model often being used as comic relief in most scenes. It was almost like he was playing a T-800 version of Cameron from the Sarah Connor Chronicles series. There was another big name in the movie. Matt Smith, whom you may know from Dr. Who, was kept under wraps and there was a reason for this as his role was Skynet. This is almost a first in the franchise as we finally get Skynet personified. Helena Bonham Carter in Salvation doesn't count because that version's appearance was based off of people the protagonist has encountered in the movie.  I wasn't really impressed with his role. He played Skynet like a cold expressionist manner that almost like a parody of a Bond villian instead of being a cold impressionist AI bent on the destruction of humanity. Helena Bonham-Carter did a better job.

Effects

     The special effects in the movie were good. A lot of the action scenes required special effects, but it wasn't a let down or a hindrance to the action. It wasn't over the top. Kudos on them finally perfecting young Arnold. Take lessons Salvation.

Final Verdict

     So here's the part you've all waited for. Does Terminator: Genisys suck? Not so much. The movie has all of the generic stuff you get in a Terminator movie which is not a bad thing. Honestly, I was impressed about how the movie turned out. I was one of many that thought it would be absolutely horrible and it turned out not to be so. It's not in the range of the original and T-2, but it's a lot better than Salvation and Rise of the Machines. I'd give it a 3 out of 5. Hey, if you seen the movie like I did we will all know why the hell the movie is named Genisys...

Did you see it? What are your thoughts?

LGBT in Video Games: Has It Gotten Better?

     Recently it has been announced that an upcoming game for the Nintendo 3DS, Fire Emblem: Fates, will allow same sex marriages. This is a big thing considering last year we had the big incident with another 3DS game, Tomadachi Life. If you don't remember, there was a bit of controversy when Nintendo made a statement that it was going to fix a glitch that would allow people to marry the same sex in Tomadachi Life. Nintendo later on, after seeing the backlash, apologized and said that they will include same sex marriages in later games. Reflecting on this, I have to wonder if as a gay man and an avid lover of video games, has things gotten better for me? Am I being represented?
     Same sex relationships isn't the new frontier in video games. It has been in games like Dragon Age and Mass Effect. Just after the Tomadachi Life controversy Square Enix allowed same sex relationships and weddings in its Final Fantasy XIV MMO. There was even a pride parade supporting this. This seems very profitable in games that let you customize your character, but what about games that don't?
     As being represented in games we have come a long way. Over the years, we have had gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender characters represented in games. Has it gotten better? In some ways it has. The roles of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders in video games has progressed over time. The most obvious example has been The Last of Us. The Last of Us was one of the games where they had people who were LGBT, not only Ellie and Riley, but also characters Bill and Joel. Mortal Kombat X was the most recent game where one of the new characters Kung Jin was implied to be gay in a cinematic and was later confirmed to be gay by one of the creators. These characters were written as people you can see being real genuine people instead of stereotypes that often end being portrayed in video games, but in media as well.
     While this is still good, the progression is still slow and being represented in games still seems to be a closeted thing. Gay characters are in games, but mostly they end up being supporting characters and rarely do we ever get them to be protagonists, people we control in the first place and the majority of the game. Don't get me wrong, it is nice to see people who are gay in video games, but I would like to see me being represented more than just a supporting character.
     I'm not going to lie as society progresses, we see more demand for art and media to progress as well. We are starting to see this in games, just like we're seeing better female representation in games thanks to Anita Sarkessian who has been advocating feminism and pretty much has been laying down the issues of negative female tropes in video games. Just like that,we are starting to see the ball roll a bit faster. When we see more games with protagonists who are gay, that's where I can see progress.

E3 2015: All The Other Extra Crap

Welcome to part 4. During this week I gave my two cents about this year's E3. I've done critiques on Microsoft's, Sony's, and Nintendo's conferences and events. These were only the tip of the iceberg and it wouldn't be fair to not talk about the other games that were presented. So here's the other crap that was at this year's E3.

Doom 4

Doom is back and it's back with a vengeance. Before E3 we got a teaser of Doom. At Bethesda's conference, we got to see the whole thing and it looks amazing. It feels like old Doom with updated graphics and that's all you can ask for. I can tell that iD had that idea in mind in order simplify things and just try to remember why people played Doom in the first place.

Kingdom Hearts 3

This E3 we got to see more of Kingdom Hearts 3, as a way for Square Enix to tell us that they haven't forgot about the game. Compared to last year's trailer, not much is new or different other than they shown a bit of the stages, which it seems to be that you will have a little more freedom adventuring around as you can scale mountains and jump off them and more Disney attraction summons. Hey we're getting a new Kingdom Hearts game, so that the only good news here.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

We are going to be instore for some epic moments if the game is just as intense as the E3 2015 trailer. By the looks of it, The Phantom Pain will be very story driven which is a great thing. Director, writer, and almost everything else Hideo Kojima describes the story as being "too dark." and a revenge story. If it is true that this will be Kojima and Konami's final game together, Kojima will be leaving on a high note.

Earthbound Beginnings

We are finally getting Mother in the US. The game on The Wii U Virtural console. Unfortunately I never played Earthbound, but fortunately I've had an admiration to want to play it ever since Ness debuted in Super Smash Bros. The only sad thing is that it won't be able to play it on the 3DS despite them releasing Mother and Earthbound on handheld years ago. Nintendo, what's up with that?

Super Smash Bros Direct

Christmas came early. More Smash Bros goodies! First of all, Roy is back! Roy has been a fan favorite and it's good to see him as DLC. He plays a little different but people who mained as him won't be too upset. Next is Ryu. I'm a bit surprised that Ryu was added into the game, but I shouldn't as Capcom and Nintendo have been BFFs in the past. He is a great addition to the roster and his stage looks amazing. What they added to DLC is new stages, including ones from the N64 era. I'm excited about this. My wallet is crying

Mirror's Edge Catalyst

We're getting a new Mirror's Edge game, huzzah! It pretty much plays like the other Mirror Edge games which is still good. The only difference is that this time you don't have a gun. You have to rely on your fighting skills to ward off the bad guys. This is a nice spin to the gameplay as the whole point of Mirror's Edge is that they want you to be fully engaged in the gameplay and want to make it almost as if you're in the game itself. We didn't really get to see the fighting gameplay so that's a bit of a bummer, I can't wait to see more of this game.

Nintendo E3 2015 Digital Event: The Good, The Bad, and The Woolly World of Yoshis

Hi guys, more E3 goodies! Welcome to part 3 of my thoughts on what was presented this E3. Microsoft wowed us, Sony's press conference was cool, How did Nintendo do this time around?

Good

Star Fox: Zero

Star Fox is back! We've been waiting to hear, and see, more of this game since Shigeru Miyamoto sorta announced it a while back. We see it now and it is glorious. There are a few changes to the gameplay. You will need to use the gyro on the gamepad in order to steer your airwing. The "new" feature on the airwing is that it can transform in to a walker mode, enabling you to go around in certain areas in the game and even defeat certain bosses in a different way that you would in flight mode. Also new is a new transformation mode for the landmaster where it flies around and a new gyrowing where you can explore by dropping a little robot to search an area.

Super Mario Maker

Nintendo has been taking notes form the Kaizo Mario videos on the internet. What's more fun than playing a Mario game than making a Mario game? That's kinda what Super Mario Maker does. At first when I saw this game last year I wasn't really interested in it, but hearing about what they added in the game just make this game sound like something I need to get. Super Mario Maker leaves you and your with complete control making a Mario Stage. You can do crazy trollish things like put enemies in blocks and even put coins or power-up in cannons and even Lakitu clouds to give someone the biggest mind fuck ever. It's also cool to see enemies that weren't in earlier games be designed with those graphics, like an 8-bit Boo or Super Mario World Chain-Chomp.

The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes

This game looks fun. Being inspired by the Four Swords games, Triforce Heroes will incorporate multiplayer by having you play multiple versions of Link in order to solve puzzles in dungeons and save Hyrule. The game also features costumes that have features like having you not take damage with every hit.

Fire Emblem Fates

The theme of Fire Emblem is strategy. You make the wrong moves and something bad happens. Fates plays with that theme and makes it more drastic by having certain outcome in the game's story, more than the other games. Visually-wise the trailer and the game looks cool.

Xenoblade Chronicles

The trailer looks epic. Nuff said.

Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer

This is a nice spin-off of the Animal Crossing series. You are an interior designer and you have to coordinate your neighbors' homes from the inside out. What sets it apart from the main Animal Crossing series is that it gives you more customization when designing your house, allowing you to move carpet and other things where in the previous games the carpet would just be there and you can't move it.

Yoshi's Woolly World

This game gets cuter everytime I see it. You can even compare it to Kirby's Epic Yarn for the Wii, it's its own game. I've been praying for a completely different Yoshi game that wasn't a rehash of Yoshi's Island and we got it here. I can't wait to play this. Also this is the only game that makes me want to buy Amiibos.

Mario & Luigi Paper Jam

This game looks cool. They took the magnificent artstyle of Dream Team and combined it with the awesomeness of Paper Mario: Sticker Star, sorry for being the only one who liked that game, and made this. My biggest worry is that the Mario & Luigi series is usually off and on so hopefully this will be an on. They have so much potential not to mess this up.

Bad

Metroid Prime Federation Force

When we heard that maybe we could see a new Metroid game, we weren't expecting something like this. This just feels like your generic 4-player co-op shooter with Metroid stamped all over it. Quit fooling around and give us a real Metroid game. We deserve it.


Meh

Hyrule Warriors Legends

I know, why would I put this on the list? Well,it's cool that the game has gotten enough popularity that Nintendo decided to make a 3DS version, but I feel like even with the new Wind Waker stages would be enough to get people's attention, and make things feel new and fresh, especially given the fact that Techmo went all out with the Wii U version's DLC. Where can they go to now?

Genei Ibun Roku FE

This is the Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem crossover. It looks very beautiful, but it looks like one of those generic pop and anime. Not sure if that rubs me the right way. I'm sure the gameplay is good, but I can't get over how anime-ish the game seems.

Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival

This looks like Animal Crossing's answer to Mario Party which was Nintendo's answer to Monopoly, except that Mario Party was a bit funner and have minigames.

Mario Tennis Ultra Smash

The Mario Tennis series just keeps getting duller and duller. No amount of mega mushrooms will fix that.

The link for Sony's Press Conference is here!
The link for Microsoft's Press Conference is here!