I'll Huff and I'll Puff!

The Wolf Among Us just released the final episode of it's first season this past Tuesday, so it's about time I give you my thoughts on it as a whole.

I chose to play The Wolf Among Us strictly because of its lineage; it's another episodic adventure game made by Telltale in the same vein as their excellent Walking Dead series. I knew nothing about the graphic novels the game is based on. In fact I knew nothing about the plot or characters at all before playing it. So it speaks to the strength of that world just how quickly I was sucked in.

The Wolf Among Us takes the world of fairy tales and merges it with our own to establish an intriguing setting. And these aren't the Disney's versions, mind you; the characters in TWAU are based on the original stories; the dark, twisted, and often disturbing versions that some people may not be familiar with.

Back Story

The setup for the game's universe is that all of these fairy tale characters existed together in their own world, known as the Homeland. However, they were driven out of their lands and into ours by an evil force a few hundred years ago. After the Great Exodus the Tales decided to go into hiding together in New York City.

TWAU strikes a fantastic balance of characters, from the universally recognizable to some you may have heard of and even some that will be completely new to you. Seeing these characters revealed and getting to witness how their personal histories and reputations interplay with one another is simply captivating.

As pure as the driven Snow...

In order to not expose their existence to the Mundies (their term for human beings) the less humanoid Tales are required to use Glamours, magic spells sold at a premium that can make even the strangest of Tales appear human.

Just another seedy bar patron, right?

If a Tale can't afford a glamour or is caught outside without one they are at risk of being shipped off to The Farm, an isolated community for Tales from which they aren't allowed to leave. Needless to say, many Tales view being sent to The Farm as a prison sentence, a sentence the more "privileged" Tales would never have to deal with. 

Meet Colin, one of the Three Little Pigs. He's not so little anymore

As you can imagine this policy, as well as a few others, causes some serious drama that drives everything in the game's universe. But that's all back story.

The Game

Nice tats, bro.

In The Wolf Among Us you play as Bigby Wolf, AKA the Big Bad Wolf. Back in the Tale's Homeland he was one of the most feared creatures of them all. And yes, all of the old fairy tales about the Big Bad Wolf involved him specifically. He was an almost unkillable monster that preyed on vulnerable Tales at every opportunity. However, in the events leading up to the Great Exodus, Bigby managed to redeem himself by saving many of his fellow Tales. And when the Tales arrived in our world everyone was given a clean slate, a chance to start fresh in this strange new world.

Since Bigby was so powerful he was given the duty of Sheriff; he is responsible for the safety of all Tales, many of whom still despise and fear him. This makes for an incredibly complicated character; Bigby struggles to keep everyone in line while also trying to show compassion. He wants to prove that he isn't the same monster they cowered from years ago. And the choices you make over the course of the season influence how well Bigby pulls this off as well as how people react to him.

Get ready for a Bloody good time.

The main plot revolves around a series of brutal murders where Tales are the victims. Bigby is tasked with finding out who is responsible and bringing them to justice. However, with the complicated class politics and sordid histories among the Tales, this is no easy task.

The game love to put you in the middle of heated exchanges between characters, forcing you to deal with the situation. You can side with one while alienating the other, or you can attempt to play diplomat and find an amicable solution. But sometimes that just isn't possible and you can wind up pissing off both parties instead.

The game's strong plot and outstanding performances drive you along toward it's conclusion, but it's the art style that really steals the show. The game's look is obviously similar to the team's Walking Dead series, but it's setting affords the developers a chance to use a wider range of color palettes compared to TWD's mostly brown or otherwise dark and grungy aesthetic. The Wolf Among Us's universe also gives Telltale a chance to play around with more fantastic character designs beyond the human and zombie cast of their other series.

Well aren't you just adorable!

Conclusion

The Wolf Among Us is a fantastic series and now that the entire first season is available there's never been a better time to jump in. You can pick up the entire season for $25 on Steam, XBox Games Store, or PSN. You can even get it for your iPad if that's what you'd prefer. Also, if I haven't convinced you yet, you can download and play episode 1 of the series for free on most of the platforms I've listed above.

If you're a fan of great stories, fantastic worlds, and beautiful visuals, then The Wolf Among Us is the perfect place to find all of that and more.

The investigation awaits.

E3 2014 Impressions

Well, E3 2014 is in the books. What was the overall impression from the show?: Meh. It's not that it was a bad E3, there just wasn't anything Earth-shattering to come out of it.

Usually you expect a ton of news and at least one mind-blowing revelation to come out of the expo, and that just didn't happen this year for a couple of reasons. First of all, it seemed like a lot of companies decided to try and get out ahead of the show proper and they made their biggest announcements a week or two before the show started. The reason for this is obvious, typically there is so much news coming down the pipe that it's easy for a lot of things to get lost in the shuffle, and then no one hears about them. Secondly, the biggest complaint/running joke that arose from this year's convention was about how it seemed like the vast majority of games being shown aren't due until at least 2015, if not beyond that.

This chart disproves that sentiment, but that doesn't change how the show felt.

Either way, the show's over. And that means it's time that I give you my impressions of it. Since the press conferences themselves weren't that interesting, I'm just going to share my thoughts on a few topics and then I'll talk about some of the games that caught my eye, and I will accompany them with their respective trailers. So, without further ado:

Biggest Disappointment

I suppose I should just get this one out of the way up front, there was no Fallout 4 announcement. Not only was this disappointing for me as a fan who is dying to play a new Fallout game, but I honestly feel like Bethesda really dropped the ball on this one. Because there really wasn't anything that stole the show this year, Fallout 4 could have been it. Hell, it would have been it. There is so much anticipation for this game that all they would've had to do was show a teaser trailer at one of the press conferences and then do a short gameplay demo during the show. They wouldn't even have had to make it public; just allow some media guys to play it or watch someone play it so they could write up a preview or two and, BAM, game of show. Oh well, I guess Wasteland 2 will just have to tide me over for now, but that a subject for another blog.

Coolest Trailer/Most Interesting Games

In no particular order, here are some of the things I feel like you should see that came out of the show. Some of these game I doubt I'd ever be interested in playing, they just had some very creative trailers, and the rest are games that I can't wait to get my hands on!

Inside

The next game from Playdead, the creators of the critically acclaimed Limbo, Inside looks just as dark and brooding as the game that put them on the map. Watching the trailer you definitely get the sense that these games came from the same minds, but there's enough about Inside's visual style alone to set it apart.

Limbo had a monochromatic color scheme and the game was all silhouettes. Inside makes use of color, but it's all very desaturated, lending it a very ominous tone, similar to what worked so well for Limbo. It also seems to emphasize depth in a way that Limbo didn't. The way that a number of shots in the above trailer use negative space to create a sense of scale in the environment is truly striking.

Dead Island 2

I don't have any particular interest in playing the Dead Island games; the first one seemed like it had some cool ideas, but was very messily put together. However, this was, without a doubt, one of the funnest trailers to come out of the show. I legitimately found myself smiling and chuckling over how ridiculous this trailer is. If the final game can hit this tone and tighten up the gameplay and hammer out the glitches, than Dead Island 2 may be worth a look once it's released.

I can only imagine that the name on the gilded dog tag is "Douche"

Tom Clancy's The Division

The Division is a third-person shooter set in a post-apocalyptic New York City following a mysterious viral outbreak that wiped out most of the city's population. Not the most original concept to be sure, and the game itself may wind up being another run-of-the-mill cover shooter, but the trailer that Ubisoft put together for this year's show was certainly one of the most artfully done. It's difficult to describe, but it's message is conveyed clearly; give it a watch and just enjoy the show.

Even if the game ends up being forgettable, at least it has one of the coolest in-game maps I've seen.

Alien: Isolation

I love the Alien movies! They are some of my favorite films of all time. That being said, I've never been a big fan of any games based on them. Most of them have been first-person shooters, and even the decent ones just didn't seem interesting to me. And, following the tragically bad Aliens: Colonial Marines, this game needs to be good in order to save face for the property as a whole. 

At the very least the team at Creative Assembly is trying something different. Rather than make another rote, mindless shooter starring space marines, Alien: Isolation is trying to play up the horror and slasher flick tone that the Original Alien film nailed so well. You won't be mowing down hordes of Xenomorphs with plasma rifles; there's only one in the whole game, and you stand no chance of fighting it. Instead you must hide and use a combination of wits and patients to throw the predatory beast off of your trail.

If the guys and gals at CA can pull this off without the game devolving into frustrating trial-and-error gameplay, we may have one of the best Alien games headed our way this October.

I'd say it's time to shit. I mean hide! Time to hide.

The new Mass Effect game

Ok, I need to talk about this one simply because I'm such a huge fan of the series. At E3 Bioware and EA put out the above video that they called a teaser trailer, but it was really more of developer diary. It's mostly a video of some of the guys at Bioware talking about their ideas for the next Mass Effect. They do show a few images, but they made sure to label them as "conceptual prototypes", meaning that a lot of what they showed may change significantly in the final version, or it may not be in there at all.

I wasn't really surprised by this, I know the next ME is a ways off. What did surprise me, however, is the fact there was no announcement of some sort of "Mass Effect Trilogy: Ultimate Edition" that'll be coming to the new consoles and PC with all of the DLC included and updated graphics. It seems like a foregone conclusion that they would make that, and I am just surprised that they didn't announce it; especially when you consider how bare-bones EA's press conference lineup was.

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Speaking of Bioware, Dragon Age: Inquisition looks fantastic! This is my most anticipated game of the year and, after finally getting to see a real gameplay demonstration, I have to say that the game seems to be coming together nicely. You can check out some of the gameplay below:

Hopefully DA:I will live up to expectations and be the Dragon Age game that fans of the series want it to be. Speaking for myself, October 7th can't come soon enough.

Well that's not a good sign...

Mortal Kombat X

The action in this trailer is nothing short of bad ass! Personally I could do without the dumb rap song that in no way, shape, or form fits the game but hey, marketing. Either way, I am pumped to see what NetherRelam Studios has in store for the next iteration of this legendary fighting game franchise. And, thankfully, we got to see some real gameplay of it at the show, check it out below:

 I think this would hurt so bad, your brain wouldn't even let you feel it.

Rise of the Tomb Raider

After playing last year's excellent reboot of the classic Tomb Raider franchise, I've been very curious to see what Crystal Dynamics has planned for the indomitable Lara Croft next. Well, this year's E3 marked the announcement of the upcoming sequel, Rise of the Tomb Raider. A lot of people have been pooh-poohing the name, but whatever; if the game can meet the high bar set by the original, than they could call it Rise of the Fart Raider for all I care.

There wasn't any gameplay shown, but I was still excited to hear the official word that the game is in development.

Far Cry 4

Ok, as long as I'm making a list that includes amazing trailer, this one had to make the cut. The Far Cry games have really hit their stride over the last couple of games, with Far Cry 3 receiving much critical and fan acclaim for it's open world and engaging gameplay. FC3 also introduced a captivating villain in Vaas. Unfortunately, most people agree that his potential was squandered early in the game.

Hopefully that won't be the case this time around with FC4's new villain, Pagan Min. The above trailer makes for one hell of an introduction to this psychopath and leaves you curious about not only the player's relationship with him, but also how far he will go and what his motives are. If the game can hold to it's current release date, we'll be discovering the answers to these question this November.

Honorable Mention

Just to wrap this up before I find myself talking about every trailer that debuted at the show, I should go ahead and list a few final trailers that caught my attention, click on the names to see their videos:

The Order: 1886 (Stylish 3rd-person shooter with an interesting setting.)

White Night (Creepy-looking horror game with striking visual style.)

Mario Maker (Looks super cool. if Nintendo can flesh it out and give creators the tools they'd want, it'll be spectacular.)

Destiny (The latest from Bungie, the team responsible for the Halo franchise. Looks really great so far, hopefully it can live up to its creator's legacy.)

Final Thoughts

So, maybe E3 2014 wasn't a mind-blowing event. We still got to see some fantastic looking games coming from talented people, ranging from small indie dev teams to massive AAA-title making factories.

If anything, this year's show proves that the video game industry is alive and well and will be pumping out cool stuff for years to come, and I couldn't be happier to be along for the ride.

E3 2014 Preview

The Electronic 3rd is nearly upon us!

E3, the biggest video game convention of the year, is only a few short weeks away. That means that it's high time I start talking about my expectations for what we may see this year. 

2013 felt like a bit of an off year for E3; the show was mostly focused on Sony and Microsoft hammering out the final details for their consoles before launch. Which was famously followed by a lot of backtracking on Microsoft's part due to the backlash they received over a number of their proposed policies regarding the Xbox One. 

Meanwhile the games themselves seemed to take a backseat. It just felt like the really cool stuff that's going to justify the existence of this new generation of hardware simply wasn't ready to show yet. Granted, that is pretty typical of a launch year E3, but it's also the reason why this year feels so exciting. Now that the new consoles are out of their "launch window" we should start to see the real next-gen games coming to the forefront. The one that aren't simply uprezzed versions of 360 and PS3 games. There will obviously still be some overlap, but it definitely appears that the newer machines are the lead platforms for these games, and they're being ported down for the old consoles, instead of the other way around. 

And, with that, I will run down a brief list of the games I'm most interested in seeing. Some of these have already been confirmed to be at E3 and some haven't, so please bear that in mind.

Fallout 4

Will it happen? God I hope so. And I am pretty confident that we will see the next Fallout at this year's show. The timing feels right and there's simply too much evidence that it's coming for the game to be a no-show again... right?

Let's run through all of the evidence that points to a new Fallout being announced this year:

1. Timing: its been 3 years since Skyrim was released, and about a year and a half since Bethesda finished the final piece of DLC for the game, Dragonborn. There was a post on Bethesda's official blog in April 2013 talking about how they were finished making new content for Skyrim and that this will free up the team to work on their "next major project". The Elder Scrolls Online just released earlier this year, so it would be silly of them to step on their own toes by even talking about the next proper Elder Scrolls release so soon. Fallout is the other big franchise that Bethesda is known to develop in-house and, assuming that it's being built on a modified version of the Skyrim engine, 3-4 years seems like the right amount of time it would take to make this game.
2. Sightings: Back in mid 2012 there were several stories claiming that Bethesda employees had been spotted scouting locations in and around the Boston area, leading to speculation that this would be the setting for the next Fallout game. It also helps that Boston makes a lot of sense as a place to set a Fallout game. The Commonwealth, which was mentioned several times in Fallout 3, is the in-lore name for the state of Massachusetts in the post-apocalypse. The fact that FO3 was developed by Bethesda makes these off-handed mentions feel like hints to the future of the franchise.
3. Leaks: Then, just a few months back in December, Kotaku ran a story detailing a script that had been leaked from a casting call. Although this script never mentions the word Fallout, it does refer to a number of places in the Fallout universe and even includes the infamous tag line: "War. War never changes."

Combine this evidence with a rabid fanbase that has been absolutely chomping at the bit for a new entry in the series, and it seems that Fallout 4 is a shoe-in for this year's E3.

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Okay, let me start this one off by saying something controversial: I liked Dragon Age 2. Now, before you raise your pitchforks and light your torches, give me a moment to contextualize that. I liked DA2, I didn't love it. The game definitely had it's flaws, mainly stemming from the fact that it seemed rushed out the door entirely too quickly. However, there were a lot of things that I enjoyed about that game. Things that I'd like to see return for the next game in the franchise, Dragon Age: Inquisition.

First of all, I loved the combat in DA2; some would argue that it was dumbed down from Dragon Age: Origins, but I honestly felt like it was simply more streamlined and focused; that it made the combat feel better overall. And I will be a sad boy if the Force Magic specialization doesn't return; fewer things are more fun than using gravity itself to smash your foes around the battlefield.

Secondly, I really enjoyed having the snarky, smart-ass dialog choices as your third option within the dialog trees. Usually in games like this, including Bioware's own Mass Effect franchise, you have a choice between "good guy" and "bad guy" dialog with at third "neutral" option thrown in as well. The problem with that, is why would anyone choose the boring-ass neutral response? There's never any real reason to. But in Dragon Age 2 the third option was actually valid and fun to use. These options would have your character respond with a joke, or some sort of sarcastic comment, and it lent an entirely different tilt to his/her personality. This felt like a really unique thing that no one had pulled off properly before and it would be a shame if Dragon Age: Inquisition leaves it on the cutting room floor.

Here's to hoping.

All that being said, what they've shown of DA:I looks amazing. And the way that the developers speak about the game and how they're approaching it makes me think that this team is in the proper mindset to deliver something truly spectacular. The team has said that they've taken a lot of inspiration from Skyrim, and that this game will be quite massive in scope. Considering the amount of time that they're taking to make it, almost two years already and the game isn't due until 2015, I'd say that Bioware and EA seem to be giving this game it's due attention, and I can hardly wait to see it in action at E3.

New Mass Effect

If you know me or follow my blog, than you know that I love Mass Effect. It is my favorite video game franchise of all time; it speaks to me. Mass Effect embodies all of my favorite things about gaming and sci-fi: spaceships, futuristic guns, choices with consequences, an intense story, and sexy alien ladies.

"How you doin'?'

So I have to at least mention the possibility of a trailer for the next entry in the series. I doubt that it'll be much more than a teaser trailer, but maybe they will have at least put an official title on the game. That is assuming that there's anything ready to show at all.

(Not official screenshot, fan art by Baolong Zhang.)

Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

I never played the original, but The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings was the first big game I bought after getting my first real gaming PC, the one I still use today. It's one of the reasons that I've done most of my gaming on the PC since then. Witcher 2 absolutely blew me away; the world was so twisted and dark compared to most games and movies that use the medieval fantasy setting.

That's why I'm excited to see what's next for this series. They've release a few trailers, and it looks stunning. If the team can hit the same level of quality and polish as the previous game, then The Witcher 3 will be a game for the ages. They're saying that this will be the final game in The Witcher series, and it certain looks like CD Projekt Red is aiming to do it justice.

Something tells me that thing ain't friendly.

Destiny

Destiny is the next game from Bungie and, while I never played much of their Halo games, something about their latest venture has caught my attention. It could be the art style reminding me of Mass Effect, or maybe I'm just hungry for this type of game. Whatever it may be, Destiny looks pretty spectacular and I'm excited to see more of it at the show.

Everything Else!

When it comes to E3, more often than not, the most exciting things to come out of the show are things that you didn't see coming at all. I'm excited to see what new games get announced and what new features are going to be coming to the PS4 and Xbox One. Will Microsoft announce a price drop in order to increase their install base and try to catch up to Sony? Will Nintendo or another company steal the show from the two heavyweights with something truly mind-blowing? Only time will tell and, thankfully, we don't have long to wait.

A Time of War

E3 Press Conferences

E3 took place earlier this month and I was planning to post something during or shortly afterward but, unfortunately, the stomach flu and some other things prevented me from doing so. However, I'm kind of glad because so much has changed since the show that it's worth talking about it all at once.

Leading into E3 all eyes were on Microsoft and Sony to see what further details would be released about their upcoming consoles, the Xbox One and Playstation 4. Microsoft had been catching a lot of flak for some of their policies regarding the Xbox One. Specifically the restrictions they would be placing on used games and the requirement of having to take your console online once every 24 hours to prevent yourself from being locked out of playing games.

That's "sic" yo!

People were looking for Microsoft to justify these restrictions by explaining how these policies would be a positive thing for customers and by showing some amazing, exclusive games for the system. During their conference, Microsoft seemed to have a rather stand-offish attitude about the whole controversy and simply restated their policies and assured everyone that THIS is the future. They also announced the price: $499; a bit steep, but not outrageous for a brand new console and certainly not the "$599 US dollars" announcement that made a joke of Sony when they announced pricing for the PS3 years ago. They did show a few interesting games, but we'll get to those in a bit. Overall MSoft's E3 press briefing felt just as scripted and awkward as most of these conferences do.

For your consideration

Later that night was Sony's event. Everyone was interested to see what they had to say about the PS4 coming on the heels of all the backlash that Microsoft had gotten. Most people expected them to follow suit with Microsoft and announce similar used games and internet restrictions.

Oh how wrong we were

Sony started out simply enough by stating their continued commitment to the PS3 and Playstation Vita, which is expected from this type of conference. However, after they got past all of that is when the bombs began to drop. The first huge moment was when they announced that their policies regarding used games would remain the same as they are now; i.e., you can trade or give any game to a friend or sell it back to a retailer without any extra cost or hoops to jump through. This was in direct contrast to Microsoft's policies and was a slap in the face of what they were trying to do. And, just to twist the knife a little more, following the show Sony released this OFFICIAL video regarding used games:

We cordially invite you to suck it, Xbox

Keep in mind, this isn't some fan made video mocking the Xbox One; those guys are big shots in Sony's American and Japanese game divisions who were on stage making announcements about the Playstation 4 themselves.

As if this wasn't big enough, Sony went on to announce that the PS4 would NOT require an internet connection for games that have single-player components. Not once a day, not once a month, not EVER.

The floor was already littered with the jaws of onlookers, but Sony wasn't quite finished yet. Jack Trenton, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA), took the stage to announce the price of the console: $399. A full $100 less than the Xbox One; the final bomb had been dropped, and it was a doozy.

Please excuse me while I blow your mind.

How could Sony afford to undercut Microsoft by that much? It's since come to light that they did it by removing the Playstation Camera(Their equivalent to the Kinect) from the standard PS4 package. This is a brilliant move in some ways but ultimately dooms the PS Camera to being just a niche product that most people probably won't own, but that's a topic for another time.

The Aftermath

Microsoft was understandably shaken by the moves made by Sony and they struggled for the rest of the show to explain how their way would ultimately be better for the consumer in the long run. This led to some pretty embarrassing moments like this one where Don Mattrick, the man leading the Xbox One charge, basically told the world that if you don't have a constant internet connection then you're not the type of person that we're selling this new generation to.

No internet? What are you, a savage?

Ouch. Microsoft spent the rest of E3 getting absolutely slammed in the media and on the internet for their attitude and policies. And it was reflected in the pre-order numbers where the PS4 was outpacing the Xbox One by at least 3:2, if not better in some regions.

You could almost hear the death bell tolling for the Xbox One even with months left before launch, but then something remarkable happened.

The "Xbox 180"

Just days after E3 ended Microsoft announced that they heard their customers speaking and that they were officially changing their previously stated policies for the Xbox One. The console will only require an internet connection once during the initial set-up, and there will be no restrictions on used games.

Despite all of the bad press, this was still an unexpectedly dramatic move for Microsoft. The idea of a company completely changing course months before their proposed product is even in stores is simply unheard of. It was an undeniably smart move, though. This change in course shows that they are listening, at least to a certain extent, to their customers and are willing to adapt to what the public wants.

Uh, hey, you guys remember all that shit I said? Yeah just forget about like half of that.

But will this move be enough to save the Xbox One in sales this holiday season? Only time will tell, but in a way it feels like it may be too little, too late. A lot of people had already put in their pre-orders for PS4s before MSoft corrected themselves, and a lot more people still feel burned by the attitude and arrogance that the big M has shown over the past few years.

Personally, I've owned both of the previous Xbox systems, and I'd love to carry my profile and achievements over to the new one, but I can't help but feel weary about the whole situation. What happens if Microsoft backpedals and reintroduces these unpopular polices a few months after launch? What happens if most gamer migrate to the PS4 and the Xbox One is a commercial failure and is discontinued after a few years? I owned a Sega Saturn and a Dreamcast; so I know what it's like to be on the losing team. I'd hate for it to happen again.

Games, games, GAMES!!!

Ultimately, at the end on the day it'll all come down to games. Whoever has the better, more interesting exclusives will rule the day this console generation. Then again, who knows, most games are coming to both platforms so maybe they can coexist and continue providing healthy competition for one another. Here's to hoping!

As far as the games of E3, that'll be the topic of my next blog. Until then, Game On!

The Xbox One

After a far-to-long hiatus, The Mottman Prophecies is back and this time it's going to be about my reaction and thoughts on the Xbox One.

Xbox One-The Reveal

Just under one week ago Microsoft held a press conference to finally announce their next console, the Xbox One. There have been a variety of reactions since the event, but it seems like there is a lot of negativity surrounding the console and Microsoft's plans for the future of gaming. I've been mulling over the details from the conference, as well as those that have come to light since the show, and I'd like to take some time to express my thoughts on the biggest talking points that everyone's been focused on.

The Name

One of the biggest points of debate surrounding MSoft's new console before it's announcement was what it would be called. Don Mattrick, President of Interactive Entertainment for Microsoft, savored the moments leading up to the reveal before finally announce the name, Xbox One. And honestly, I'm not a fan. "Xbox One" simply doesn't grab me the way the name "Xbox 360" did. I understand the thought process; they want this console to be your One stop for all your home entertainment needs, but the name just isn't very striking.

"Xbox 360" was a brilliant name for it's time. Microsoft was a generation behind Sony in the console wars and calling it the "Xbox 2" would've immediately made it sound inferior to the Playstation 3. So the name "Xbox 360" allowed them to level the playing field with Sony by using the number 3, and the number 360 brings to mind cool images of extreme sports and energy drinks. It also implies that the console would be a well rounded machine since 360° makes a full circle.

Some thought they'd continue down the road of the Xbox 360 and call it the Xbox 720. I would've been fine with that decision, but I understand them not wanting to continue with that line of numbering since it would eventually lead to ridiculously high numbers that would quickly become meaningless. But the name Xbox One almost sounds like a step backwards for the company as a whole.

There were a few other names floating around the rumor mill, the two most popular of which were "Xbox Infinity" and "Xbox Fusion". Infinity would've been a cool name for the console and they surly could have done some interesting things with the infinity symbol(∞) in their marketing efforts. Now, Xbox Fusion was my favorite rumored name and I was really hoping they were going to use it. Fusion is just a very cool word; it sounds high-tech and brings to mind images of mad scientists performing crazy experiments in a lab, with explosions! But alas, it was not to be.

My final concern with the name "Xbox One" is it's potential for brand confusion in the future. It may not affect us now, but a few years down the line, whenever you're talking about the history of Xbox, you may need to constantly clarify whether you're speaking about the Xbox One, or the original Xbox. It's been commonplace to refer to the original Xbox as the Xbox 1 because of Sony's naming convention for their Playstation consoles. Now Microsoft has tossed a wrench into the gears with the name of their upcoming machine.

However, all of the concern over the name is probably going to amount to nothing in the end since the name of a console doesn't necessarily have any bearing on it's success. I remember thinking the name "Playstation" sounded pretty stupid when I first heard it. It sounded like a baby's plaything; some sort of bouncy contraption an infant can sit in and grab at plastic monkeys and giraffes to entertain itself while the parents take a much needed break. But the Playstation was a massive success, it established Sony as a true powerhouse in the video game industry and the brand name lives on today.

That wasn't the case with the Atari Jaguar which had arguably the coolest sounding name of any video game console. The Jaguar was an embarrassing flop and it spelled the end for Atari as a console manufacturer. The Jaguar failed because the console itself was shit, the Playstation succeeded because it wasn't shit. So, no mater how much stink is raised about the name of the Xbox One, it's success is going to depend on important factors beyond what words are stamped on the casing.

One of these was a MASSIVE failure...

The Games(or lack thereof)

One of the biggest complaints coming out of the Xbox One press conference was how much time Microsoft spent talking about television and the other features of the console and how few games they actually showed.

When Sony had their Playstation 4 press briefing a few months ago it was all about games; they showed triple-A titles, indie titles and generally focused on what gamers wanted to see from them. Sony seemed to "get it". They made it clear that they understood where they'd gone wrong with the PS3 and were making a concerted effort to right the ship. 

Microsoft talked about television... a lot. Then they showed a fairly nonsensical trailer for a new game being made by Remedy(Max Payne, Alan Wake), had EA talk about their sports franchises, and ended the conference with a look at the new Call of Duty game, Call of Duty: Ghosts. Microsoft promised 15 exclusive game for the Xbox One in it's first year, which is a great bullet point. However, just how many of those games are going to be "technically more than a tech demo" for the Kincet, remains to be seen.

Now don't get me wrong, I was a big fan of Alan Wake and I'm very interested to see what Remedy does next, but that trailer showed me nothing and didn't excite me at all. But EA showing sports games? Did we really need that? Of course those franchises are coming to the new consoles and of course they're going to look prettier that last generation's games. How about showing me some new IPs or sequels to more interesting IPs that I would actually give a shit about. 

I have similar feelings about them showing the new Call of Duty, but I understand. It's the biggest franchise in gaming right now and it has been particularly successful on the 360. It was a big deal for them to have Activision there and be able to announce exclusive content for the Xbox One version of the game. But did we need to end the whole show with that? Why not end it with a trailer for one of the "15 exclusive games coming in the first year" that they mentioned? Even it was just a teaser trailer, it would've at least left us something more interesting to talk about than "Hey, there's a new Call of Duty."

With all that said, I'm hoping that they were just saving the games for E3 since they waited until just 3 weeks before the big show to announce their console. Hopefully they simply wanted to get all of the bussinessy talk about television and fantasy football out of the way now so that they can really impress with non-stop games at E3(*fingers crossed*).

Used Games

Oh boy, Microsoft really stepped in it here. One of the most heated rumors about Microsoft's new console before the announcement was whether or not it would lock you out of playing used games.

I almost never buy used games. This is because I know that retailers such a Gamestop will often only reduce the price of the game by $5 or $10 and they keep 100% of the profits. None of the money goes to the people responsible for making the game(the developers and publishers), and when I buy a game I want to make sure that I'm supporting the people who created it. 

So I understand the attempts by publishers to incentive people to buy the game new or to at least create a way that they can get something from the sale of a used game. That's why the implementation of Online Passes made sense to me. If a person bought a used game and wanted to access any of it's online features they'd have to pay and extra $10-$15 that would go to the publisher/development studio. Gamestop gets it's money, the game makers get their money, everyone's happy. However, not long before the big Xbox conference, EA announced that it would be discontinuing Online Passes for new games. I didn't understand why until news came to light that, whenever you put a new game into an Xbox One, it will register that game to your Xbox Live account and that game will no longer be playable on any other Xbox One unless a person pays a fee to unlock the game.

I Suddenly understood EA's decision to get rid of Online Passes. The new consoles(or at least the Xbox One) will have built-in features to "deal with" used games. I fully understand why Microsoft would try something like this but I have real concerns about it's potential to alienate not only games, but also major retailers such as Gamestop. Let me be clear; I have no love for Gamestop. They're a terribly corrupt corporation that takes advantage of people with shady sales tactics and will stop at nothing to increase they're profits. However, they ARE the largest games retailer in the world, and if Microsoft pisses them off we could easily see them forcing the Xbox One into the backseat while they push the PS4 to every customer who walks through their door. This could heavily influence how this next generation of consoles will play out. Unless Sony has similar plans for handling used games, it would be wise of Microsoft to not get on Gamestop's bad side.

The mixed-messaging about how used games would be handled following the press conference didn't help matters either. First we heard that there would be a fee associated with used games, then Xbox support denied it, then Major Nelson came out and gave what may have been the most honest answer: as simple "We're not sure yet." If anything, Microsoft should've had all of their ducks in a row before anything was said about this issue.

The "Always Online" Debacle

The other big rumor preceding the Xbox One's announcement was whether or not it would require an always-online internet connection. This quickly became a huge point of contention for people when speculating about the new console. Not every gamer has a good or consistent internet connection and some don't have one at all. What about people on military bases who have very limited or no access to the internet? Would these people be completely shit-out-of-luck when it came to the new Xbox? 

One thing was certain: Microsoft needed to be clear and concise about this issue. They weren't. Microsoft needed to take a stand one way or the other. They didn't. Instead, what we got was a coy statement that "The Xbox One doesn't require an always-online internet connection, but it does require an internet connection." 

After some back-and-forth and a lot of debate, Microsoft's Phil Harrison stated that the console doesn't require a connection at all times, but it does need to be connected once every 24 hours at least, which may as well be an always-online requirement for gamers who don't have access to the web whenever they want it.

One big question that I haven't seen addressed yet is how the registering of new games will work without an internet connection. As I stated before, the first time you put a new game into your Xbox One and sign in, the console will register that game to your Xbox Live account. So, does that mean that the console WILL require a connection the first time you put a disc in the tray? If your console isn't connected and you try to play a new game, will it simply not allow you to play until you establish a connection to Live? This is a serious question that I haven't been able to find an answer for, but hopefully we'll be getting more answers soon.

Final Thoughts

Now, I know that my attitude throughout this blog has seemed pretty negative, and it has been. But I don't want to be misinterpreted. I'm a big fan and supporter of the Xbox brand, and I have been since the Xbox 1(oops, there I go, I mean the original Xbox) and I want the Xbox One to be a roaring success for Microsoft and gamers alike. I've owned other consoles, like the PS3, but it mostly sat collecting dust as I played most new releases on my 360. But I simply can't ignore my feelings about some of the decisions that Microsoft has made and how they've handled a lot of the confusion that their lack of consistency in messaging has caused.

But with all of this behind us, we must now look forward. E3 is just a few weeks away (June 11th-13th) and we are sure to learn a great deal more about not only Microsoft's new console, but Sony's as well. We're guaranteed to see games that are going to blow our socks off, games that are going to get us hyped for the new consoles.

So, with that my friends, I encourage you to take a "wait and see" approach. Wait and see what new details come out of E3(Prices, anyone?). Wait and see what games, specifically the console exclusives, are revealed. Wait and see where your hearts and minds take you, and start putting some cash to the side so that you'll be ready to go, this holiday season!

-Jeff Mott