Posted Fri Jun 19, 2015 at 05:49 AM PDT by Justin Clark
E3 forever.
And so, with the last day of the show in the books, time to make one more sweep for the goods. Here we go.
'Final Fantasy VII' Remake May Tell A Different Story
One of the big headscratchers stemming from the Square Enix conference was the fact that the plain-jane 'Final Fantasy VII' port everybody grumbled about last year is apparently still happening. Seems redundant, yes? Well, Gamespot may have subtly gotten an answer to that, when they asked the remake's director, Tetsuya Nomura, whether to expect any narrative changes from the remake.
“We’ve announced an HD port version on the PlayStation 4, and then we have the remake coming to PS4. You’ll have this extremely, very, very pretty FFVII existing on the same plane. We feel that if that happens, it’s like, why have the same exact game?"
Why indeed, Tetsuya. Why indeed. I suppose now would be the time to warn him about the coming flood of "Does Aeris live?" questions in the next two years.
Source: Gamespot
'Tearaway Unfolded' Is Getting A Companion App
'Tearaway' is one of the best platformers ever made, and only we few, we happy few who still own a PS Vita know that currently. The other thing that we know is that the game relies heavy on the Vita's touchscreen and camera, which, while it's still very welcome, made the PS4 port a little concerning. Apparently our worries were unfounded: Media Molecule is introducing a companion app which seems to do everything that the touchscreen and camera did on the Vita, including making the paper cut out level elements, and having your pictures instantly show up in game. Don't know if anything will ever top just looking at the screen and showing up in the sun like that 'Teletubbies' baby, though. No word yet on which mobile platforms, but the pics in the announcement post show a Sony tablet, so, Android's probably a given.
Source: Media Molecule
WiiU 'Fatal Frame' Trailer Slips In Under The Radar
Nintendo's Digital Event got a decidedly mixed reaction. I thought it was perfect, but I am but one man. And yet, for some reason, Nintendo decided to give one of their most anticipated titles, the new 'Fatal Frame' a brand new trailer outside of the event. We can speculate on why--the Digital Event did lean pretty family friendly, after all--or, alternately, we can shut up, and enjoy the superb creepy on display here.
Source: Nintendo
You Seriously Need To Watch This 'Mother Russia Bleeds' Trailer
It only got a brief shout out during the indie montage of Sony's conference, but we now have a full trailer for Devolver Digital's 'Mother Russia Bleeds'. The closest I can come in words to describing it is 'Streets of Rage' + 'Hotline Miami', multiplied by meth. Even that doesn't do justice to the insanity on display in this minute long trailer:
Source: Devolver Digital
Don't Expect Nintendo To Hop Back On the VR Train Anytime Soon
Anybody around and of gaming age in the 90s probably remembers the Virtual Boy being a thing for a hot minute. Or, more specifically, they remember having a red-and-black power drill of a headache from the Virtual Boy. The thing was kind of an abomination, so you can maybe understand why Nintendo head Reggie Fils-Aime might be a little less than welcoming to the idea of VR becoming a thing in the industry.
Here's what Reggie had to say when asked by Polygon what he thought about VR coming back in vogue: "We have knowledge of the technical space, and we've been experimenting with this for a long, long time. What we believe is that, in order for this technology to move forward, you need to make it fun and you need to make it social."
"I haven't walked the floor, so I can't say in terms of what's on the floor today, but at least based on what I've seen to date, it's not fun, and it's not social. It's just tech."
He then went off to have Hungrybox's WiiU bricked, and laugh like a supervillain all day.
Source: Polygon
Kinect Isn't Dead, Microsoft Swears
You probably noticed a lack of unreliably touchy Kinect titles at E3, leading folks to believe that Microsoft had given the thing the unsung and long overdue Texas funeral it deserved. Well, according to Xbox exec Aaron Greenberg, there's still life in the old girl yet.
"We are absolutely continuing to support Kinect," Greenberg told GameSpot in no uncertain terms during an interview. That said, the support is mostly going to be "innovating with Kinect in a different way."
That different way , at least for now, appears to be entirely tied to the user interface, meaning features tied to the Xbox One's new UI, and some sort of integration with Cortana, Microsoft's cooler version of Siri, but that's down the line.Greenberg added that, essentially, they're going to "support Kinect where it makes sense."
Source: Gamespot
Yes, You Can Vote On Which Xbox 360 Titles Make The Backward Compatibility Cut
In essence, Microsoft is handling the actual specifics of getting previous gen titles all sorted out for Xbox One, but that doesn't mean they're not listening to their audience. If you head over here, and sign in with your Microsoft account, you can leave feedback on which titles should take priority, and all MS has to do is reach out to the publisher to get the all-clear.
Right now, 'Red Dead Redemption' is in the lead. As it should be.
Source: Microsoft
'Horizon: Zero Dawn' Has The Open-World All-Star Team Working On It
If you've played 'Killzone', you might have some justified concerns that Guerilla Games might be way over its head, making a massive open world game full of dinobots. They apparently have the same concern, and have brought in some heavy hitters. Specifically, they've brought in some veterans from Bethesda and CD Projekt RED.
So sayeth the game's art director, Jan Bart Van Beek, "This is a lesson learned on how to [avoid] the same mistakes that everyone's going to make when they first [develop] an open-world game." Good call, guys.
Source: Gamesradar
What Is Dog May Never Die In 'Fallout 4'
Because 'Shadow of the Colossus' has given every gamer a healthy fear of what tragedy might befall any endearing animal in a game, Bethesda would like to take this time to assure you that, no, your canine friend in 'Fallout 4' cannot be killed.
That said, this doesn't mean that Dogmeat can't get hurt. Apparently, if he sustains enough damage he might limp off or faint for a brief period. But yes, you can save your tears, he'll always be there.
Source: Bethesda
How Big 'Shenmue 3' Gets Depends Entirely On You
One of the big question marks floating around 'Shenmue 3' is how exactly a project that, last time it was around, cost upwards of $40 million to make, is getting by on a Kickstarter that's only asking for $2 million. Well, by the sound of it from a Polygon interview with Sony head Shuhei Yoshida, the scale it more dependent on your Kickstarter dollars than you think, though not necessarily the way you think.
"This is not a Sega project, they are doing this as an indie studio and Yu has a small team," Yoshida said. "It's indie development which is why he chose Kickstarter to seek funding. Once it is successful SCE will give a lot of support to the game, including financial support. That's no different than what we've done with other games like 'Sportsfriends'."
"In terms of final development cost, I think Suzuki is being flexible depending on the funds available," he said. "I don't think he's setting this up to be this massive open world game. I think he's waiting for Kickstarter to end and then see."
Point being: PLEASE GIVE.
Source: Polygon
We're Still Not Getting an Official 'Star Fox 2' Release. Sorry.
For those not up on their Nintendo lore, you might not know that a 'Star Fox 2' was made for the latter days of the SNES. We're not talking vaporware and nebulous announcements; The game was, for all intents and purposes, done. It was cancelled only as a sacrifice to Nintendo's commitment to developing for the N64. If you're crafty enough, the ROM for one of the almost-there builds is still floating around out there. Considering the 'Star Fox Zero' takes a few of its cues from that game--most obviously in the form of the Walker vehicle shown in the trailer--and that this is also the week we got the original 'Mother'/'Earthbound' game on the Virtual Console, some folks were wondering if maybe we'd see the game get an official Nintendo-sanctioned release. And the answer is "probably not," if Miyamoto has anything to do with it.
"In my memory, I enjoyed ['Star Fox 2']but I'm not sure I would release it," he said. "I'd rather have people play a new game."
Oh well. Better question: Do we ever get to play 'Mother 3'? Like, ever?
Source: Polygon
And that, folks, is all the straight up news fit to print. But it's not enough to hear blurbs about all the fun, is it? Tune in later on, as we snatch up all the video previews/playthroughs, and interviews you can possibly stand about the big show's best and brightest.
The latest news on all things 4K Ultra HD, blu-ray and Gear.