Epic and Legendary Dynamic Controllers for Disabled Gamers

Confused by the title? Then I suggest checking out PressHeartToContinue on YouTube. Thanks, Dodger, for the titling scheme. It's fun. (I hope she doesn't think I'm ripping her off...)

Anywhoooooooo...

Lots of stuff going on. First and foremost, I hope everyone enjoyed by AC:R review. I'm playing through a lot of my older games that I haven't finished yet, and I hope to be reviewing more of them soon! I will probably be doing Dragon Age: Origins next, but keep your eyes peeled. I've also started playing SWTOR again. If you've played and dropped it, I suggest picking it back up. There have been a lot of improvements since launch, and I've found it fun again after my hiatus. You can go F2P with it, but I really recommend picking up a game time card, because F2P is nerfed pretty bad.

Let's break down some gaming news!

New Xbox Inbound!

Microsoft is going to be announcing their next console on May 21! Set your calendars, kiddos.
So, what can we expect from PS4's main rival (so far)? No one really knows, of course, but there are plenty of rumors: more Kinect, probably same controller, some sort of second screen (adding on to SmartGlass), blocking used games, and (now infamously) always-on internet connection. We'll just have to wait a few weeks to see how much of those rumors come to fruition. I, for one, was pleasantly surprised by the PS4...and might be leaning that way. Personally, I don't care too much about an always-on internet connection, but I do understand why some people are upset about it. My more pressing concerns are the continuation of a subscription model for XBL and the use of Microsoft Points. My god...make it stop. People spell it "Micro$oft" for a reason, guys.

The event starts on 5/21 at 10am PST, and can be streamed at xbox.com, on Xbox Live, and at spiketv.com.

Speaking of the PS4...

Sony released a developer video highlighting some features of the new controller. I thought it was kind of neat. Check it out!

And Speaking of Contollers...

A little-known or publicized issue in video games is accessibility for disabled persons. However, Josh Straub, a former GameInformer intern, is currently leading the fight to increase awareness of this issue. He's recently entered his organization, DAGERS, into a competition in order to win some funding. Though I am not disabled, I think this is a really important issue. To me, it feels like something that would be really easily addressed by developers and hardware manufacturers, but it just doesn't happen. Please vote for DAGERS and help further Josh's noble cause, or visit the DAGERS site to donate directly.

Flying Fluid Dynamics, Batman!

I know pretty much nothing about programming or physics. But, I do recognize when these things come together and make sweet, sweet technological love. Case in point: a couple of really smart people at Nvidia have found another way to simulate water. And it's a beautiful thing.

Skyrim goes LEGEN-wait for it-DARY.

The inevitable GOTY of Skyrim is on it's way. I haven't touched any of the DLC yet, so I'm thinking I want to trade up. Seems worth it.

PHAT LEWTZ, BRO!

There's a new PC title in the works at Ubisoft that has kind of piqued my interest. This little gem is called The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot. Check out the trailer. Just do it. I actually laughed out loud. I'm seeing a neat mix of humor, Diablo-style combat, and dungeon building with a social twist. And it's F2P, so you might as well try it. I'm guessing there will be micro-transactions, but the game's only in Alpha right now and such details haven't been released yet. Do you even dungeon crawl, bro?

That's all for now. Gnome, out.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations Review - Ezio Shows His Age

I'm a long time fan of Assassin's Creed. I didn't have a 360 or PS3 when the original game released, but by the time the game became an Platinum Hit, I was able to pick it up.

I fell in love.

I now fully understand the that it's was a flawed glory. However, my first play sessions with AC1 were amazing. I literally stopped and just looked. It was one of the most beautifully rendered games I had seen.

This took my breath away in 2008.

This franchise is now four installments older and (generally) wiser. In fact, I recently completed my time with the fourth major installment, Assassin's Creed: Revelations. While I found the experience to be fun and fulfilled my AC itch, I came away with mixed feelings.

AC2 and AC:B focused on Ezio's vendetta with the Borgia family. That was a great story line filled with intrigue, betrayal, and other duplicity (not to mention incest!). AC:R fast-forwards to Ezio's later years, after spending decades as the Mentor of the Assassin Brotherhood. He has found himself deeply interested in Altaïr's connection to the Pieces of Eden. As someone who has played all the console entries of the series, this was interesting for me. Though the Altaïr segments seem fragmented with little to connect them, it was great to see the ways that he had influenced the order for the centuries to come. Additionally, the story concludes in a way that aligns both Altaïr and Ezio as peers and precursors who know they are ultimately meant to deliver a message to a man they know nothing about.

With that said, Revelations felt extremely short. It took me little over 20 hours to complete 1000G gamerscore worth of achievements, including multiplayer and excluding any DLC. Much of this time was spent achieving 100% sync within all missions, collecting MacGuffins (memoir pages, data fragments, treasures, etc), and managing my Assassin empire. Personally, I focused on the story missions up through Sequence 4, at which point I stopped to do all of my collecting and such. Once I decided to return to the main story, I completed the remaining sequences in about 2-3 hours. Stripping away all of the side missions and objectives, one could conceivably complete the main story in 5-7 hours. While I am not one to criticize the length of a game's main storyline, the length of this entry did not seem proportionate to those that came before. There are a few great twists involving Subject 16 and a wrongful death, but these come and go so quickly.

Bombs are an interesting addition to Ezio's arsenal, but really do very little to change his effectiveness.  Distracting guards is all well and good, but Splinter Cell this is not.

Despite the brevity of the main quest, Revelations is packed full of so much optional content that you will not be without something to do. Assassin missions and city district control metagames are expanded greatly, including the ability to install assassins in foreign cities, assign your more advanced recruits as den masters in Constantinople, and even defend your dens against Templar assaults. As fun as these are, I did run into some control issues. Many times, I found it difficult to know exactly which assassin I was installing in which place. The den defense minigame was also not without it's faults. Units did not feel very different from each other, and the difficulty spiked rather quickly, though it was not insurmountable.

Though the shock has worn off and I have acclimated to the current generation's graphical fidelity and capability, Revelations is still generally a good-looking game. From a distance, that is. When you get close to character models, such as Sulieman's hands when he is playing chess with his uncle, things get awfully...well...lumpy. It's the only word I can come up with. Facial animations are definitely not the best of the Ezio trilogy, either. Part of the issue is also the locations themselves. During the game, you spend time in Constantinople, Masyaf, and Cappadocia. All three of these places are generally monochromatic. There is so much brown in Constantinople, you'll think you're playing Borderlands 1.

Never thought I'd say this, but I miss the purple and green of Florence.

The voicework on display here is on par with the rest of the Ezio games. Ezio's grizzled and gravelly voice does much to show his age. Also, the inclusion of John de Lancie as Desmond's father was a great addition.

Desmond's dad, everyone. *brohoof*

Multiplayer went through some changes, as well. The biggest change is that there is a story to multiplayer. You take the role of an Abstergo agent using the Animus to train your combat skills in order to hunt down assassins. Messages from Vidic are unlocked along the way, giving you more insight into the minds at Abstergo.

Instead of unlocking abilities as you level up, there is now a currency system in place and new unlocks have to be purchased using this new currency. I have mixed feelings on this system, but it does allow you to have more control over what you get and what you don't. You can relegate less desirable abilities for later and focus on the more useful ones that fit your playstyle. Character personalization is back with some added features, such as taunts. There are a few new game modes, but they don't evolve the existing formula much beyond what it already was.

Overall, Revelations continues the tradition of each AC game creating it's own voice. That voice may be well worn with the ravages of time, but it is still unique. Though the setting harkens back to AC1 while the story and features feel more like AC2 and AC:B, Revelations uses this juxtaposition to bring Altaïr, Ezio and Desmond together in a more cohesive manner than has been done previously. The lauded "answers" that were promised in the AC:R marketing seem to be relatively minor, to be honest. More of my questions have been answered in the first hours of AC3 than they were in Revelations. I had a good time with this game, but I would not say it's a must play for all. If you're a big fan of the series, I'd say play it. But, it's not entirely necessary.

Final Score: 8/10

Logo!

Booyakasha!

Thanks to the wonderful talents of my good friend Anissa Bryant...I have a logo!

Please take the time to visit her art page to see her other work.
https://www.facebook.com/AnissaBryantArt

She's currently attempting to do one sketch or drawing every day. As far as I know, she's not missed a single one. If she did, she made up for it later.
http://anissabryant.tumblr.com/

She has some pieces available for sale as well! Check out her Etsy page here:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/AnissaBryant

Gnome, out.

Farewell and Thanks For All The Games

In case you've been in an ice cave with your feet frozen to the ceiling (watch out for the Wampa!), the gaming world experienced a great loss last week. Disney, who purchased LucasFilm in Oct. 2012, has decided to close LucasArts. Gamers my age and older fondly remember LucasArts for many things, especially point-and-click adventure games like Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island, and Grim Fandango. Aside from this, many other gamers will be more familiar with the myriad Star Wars games the studio developed and distributed: KOTOR, the Battlefront series, Rogue Squadron, Jedi Knight/Academy and many others.

I am personally devastated by this news. Granted, LucasArts has been struggling for years. Lagging game sales, mediocre reviews, and revolving leadership have been telltale signs that something has been amiss for some time. It seems that many of the people involved had a feeling something like this was coming, and were not terribly surprised. Regardless, gamers are generally quite upset about this course of action -- including myself.

Let's pause for a second.

I completely understand that Disney is a for-profit business. In fact, they are a business that has not had a good track record with video games. This business obtained a video game publisher. Publisher has not been performing well for a while and was not showing any signs that this was going to change. The business had to make a choice. Should they keep a failing developer/publisher open and risk hemorrhaging money, or close it and cut it's losses? The "business" decision is clear.

Am I upset? You bet you shiny metal ass.

Did Disney make a good, sound business decision? Sure.

Here's the official statement made by Disney about their decision:

"After evaluating our position in the games market, we've decided to shift LucasArts from an internal development to a licensing model, minimizing the company's risk while achieving a broader portfolio of quality Star Wars games. As a result of this change, we've had layoffs across the organization. We are incredibly appreciative and proud of the talented teams who have been developing our new titles."

Basically, LucasArts is dead and Disney is planning to licence third parties to make games for franchises that LucasArts had previously owned. The question now is: what's going to happen to all of these beloved franchises?

At first thought, and going by the fact that Disney has officially stated that the two current Star Wars games that were in development have been cancelled, things don't look good. It appears that many of the franchises which made LucasArts a gaming staple will be lost. Personally, I didn't grow up with most of the LucasArts adventure games. I played a revamped Monkey Island back on my PS2, but that was about it. Largely speaking, I was exposed to most of their later Star Wars games. Even at that, I'm incredibly sad about losing much of the studio's legacy.

Disney's track record with video games also fills me with dread. Even after two moderately successful Mickey Mouse games, they still closed Junction Point. Warren Spector be damned, apparently. Add in the reports that Disney never completed setting up LucasArts employees with benefits, it feels like Disney is dead set against in-house game development and publishing.

(See what I did there?)

...then I think about it more. And maybe this isn't the worst thing ever. Licensing old LucasArts franchises instead of in-house development might work out better in the long run. If you look at the history of the Star Wars franchise, at least, the best games were NOT developed by LucasArts; only published by them. Jedi Knight II was developed by Raven, Battlefront by Pandemic, KOTOR by BioWare, and X-Wing by Totally Games. These are arguably some of the best Star Wars games ever made. On the other hand, Force Unleashed was made in-house by LucasArts and got very mixed reviews. Star Wars Kinect was also developed in-house by LucasArts...and we all know how that turned out.

Though the official statement is that the current in-development games Star Wars 1313 and Star Wars: Frontal Assault are canceled, perhaps there is a chance that someone else will pick them up. There certainly seem to be some conflicting reports about this. After all, it's not completely unheard of. Sleeping Dogs began development as True Crime: Hong Kong. At some point, Activision decided to cancel the game, but Square Enix picked up the rights to it and saw it through to completion and publication. The end product received generally positive reviews, but it was not exactly a stand-out. While this precedent is not exactly promising, it does point to a possible path for these canceled Star Wars games that were generating quite a bit of buzz.

As for the old-school LucasArts adventure game IPs, the road might be a bit rougher. As pointed out by some of the editors at GameInformer, the financial returns on the adventure game franchises like Monkey Island are not huge. So, the chances of these game seeing the light of day again are questionable. Maybe Disney will refuse to sell these or license them out to avoid losing money; but at the same time, Disney could sell them if they see no long-term value in them. We can hope for the latter.

...I'm so...nervous...
(and maybe a little constipated)

One way or another, the reality is that LucasArts is now only a legacy of the video game industry. Some people are now starting to guess (read: dream) what developers may try to license and develop some of the previous LucasArts properties. As far as Star Wars games go, I think this list is pretty well thought out. I love the idea of DICE taking on the Battlefront formula, but I think RockSteady would be a great fit for both Jedi Knight and Star Wars 1313. Since they are not doing the new Batman game...well, my mind wanders. As far as the adventure games go, I think Tell Tale and Double Fine are obvious choices for most of these. Perhaps Ron Gilbert will try to reclaim some of his babies, someday. Let's not forget that Kickstarter may turn out being an unexpected wrinkle in all of this, too.

Gnome, out.

The ESRB: Bringing Out the Big Guns, or Pandering to the Masses?

We all know violence in video games has been an issue for a long time. I won't bother linking any documents here, because you're a big boy/girl who can use Google for him/herself.

Through all of this, one of the things that seems to be forgotten by most people who are not as closely associated with the gaming industry as people like I am is the Entertainment Software Ratings Bureau. Just as films have a ratings board, so does the gaming industry. There is a clear rating system and reasons for why a given title got the rating it was given. Even Europe has PEGI, which fulfills the same function.

As a parent, I've always felt that we parents should be involved in the games we and our children play. Even parents who are not gamers, it is in your child's best interests that you at least somewhat understand what they are playing. The reason being that even though not true causal link has been observed between violent games and increased aggression in people, all media has an effect on us. These effects can be either positive (e.g. increased hand-eye coordination, problem solving, or even fighting dyslexia) or negative (increased levels of frustration mixed with adrenaline can lead to some lashing out -- ask any gamer and they have probably thrown a controller in frustration at some point). Regardless, there has been a ratings system in place for decades to provide parents and other consumers a guideline about the content of a game. But, most politicians are either unaware of this system or think it is ineffective.

As a result, the ESRB has decided to make a change to marketing requirements for games. To summarize, trailers for Mature-rated games will soon be required to provide a clear ratings statement at the beginning of said trailers. It is being likened to the green "this preview has been approved for all audiences" ribbon at the beginning of most movie trailers:

The general consensus I've noticed in comments on various sites is that this change is regarded as pointless. Personally, I really like this change. Making this disclaimer appear more like the MPAA rating screen will likely make the ESRB rating screen more accessible. More Americans are used to the MPAA rating system and making the ESRB rating resemble it as best as it can will somewhat equate the two in the minds of an audience. In these examples, though, there are not details or reasons for the rating like there are in the MPAA screen or as they appear on a game box. I hope to see that in here, too.

One of the possibly unintended side-effects of this is that game developers and distributors may start to do a gaming-version of a "red band" trailer. This hasn't appeared to have any effect on the movie industry, though with the emphasis on violent games in today's culture, the gaming industry better step carefully before doing something like that.

There are some other ramifications of these new rules, such as allowing game websites to now show ESRB ratings next to ratings by other ratings boards like PEGI. I can understand not wanting ratings that are not necessarily equivalent to be shown next to each in order to minimize confusion. However, as the article states, many websites weren't showing ratings at all. Lifting this regulation now allows websites to show all ratings, which is better than showing none whatsoever.

Glad to see that the ESRB is trying to change up their game. Kudos!

Gnome out.

Player? I hardly know her!

My wife and I got the collector's edition of Tomb Raider last week. I'm busy digging into AC3 (finally), but she's been having a blast with it. I can already tell, even without touching it, that I'm going to love it when I get around to playing it.

Lara Croft has always been an interesting character and gaming icon. She's had her ups and downs, certainly, and it seems that Crystal Dynamics has found a formula for her that works in the modern gaming market. Sure, it may borrow heavily from Assassin's Creed and 3rd Person shooters, but there is a reason those games work and are popular. I hope to see a bit more focus on tomb raiding in future games that is more along the lines of the original games, but that will have to be a balance CD will have to strike on their own.

As a character, though, I can still see a bit of Old Lara in New Lara. They do seem like very different people, though. At the end of the game, Lara expresses a motivation for her raiding of tombs that seems different than what is has been in the past. I'm still waiting for the coy and aloof Lara we came to know, but maybe that will never happen. I'd just hate for her to be stuck as a tragic heroine forever.

New Lara in all her gritty and bloody glory. This girl takes a serious beating and keeps on going.

I think the gaming world's eyes are on Lara right now, since she is one of the only widely-recognizable female protagonists in gaming, and her reinvented persona/image has everyone curious. It seems developers are already getting the third degree about female protagonists. OXM recently discussed a female protagonist with Epic Games. According to the interview, Epic doubts that they will be making a female protagonist the focus of any future Gears entries. For one, I think this is a shame. While I don't think a character has to be "butch" to counteract the stigma that they have to be sexy to be entertaining, I think GoW3 did a good job of providing an alternative to the traditional model.

A bikini and a belt? All the protection an adventurer needs!
Also, what is up with that right wrist!?

The issue of female characters in video games is not just about sexiness or clothing (or lack thereof), though. Their portrayal and personality is equally important, if not more so. A game could be chock full of women clad is reasonable clothing or armor, but if they remain weak, subservient, or otherwise less interesting than their male counterparts, the effort is wasted. For an example of this, we need to look no further than Metroid: Other M. Samus Aran is arguably runner-up in terms of popularity and notoriety (ignoring the fact that hardly anyone knew she was a woman in the first Metroid game, due to her armor). Due to the distinct lack of sexualization of her character, she has been one of the more respectable and empowered women in video games. The Metroid Prime trilogy is one of my favorite examples of how a female protagonist should be portrayed in a game. However, Other M got harangued by critics because the upgrade/progression "system" in the game undermined decades of her character development as a strong woman. Though she is outfitted with all the tools she needs to do her job from the first moment the player takes control of her, she is limited in their use by her male CO. Abbie Heppe from the now nearly-extinct G4TV explains:

In the world of Other M, Samus stumbles upon her old Galactic Federation squad mates while answering a distress call on a seemingly abandoned vessel. Among the people she encounters is her former captain, Adam Malkovich. In the most contrived manner possible, Samus loses her special abilities. How? She opts not to use them. Why? She wants to show Adam she can follow orders.
Yes, that’s right. The woman who in the first five minutes of the game gives the squad access to the ship by using her missiles is restricted from using her abilities -- some which could open a path or save her life in the future -- until a bland male character dictates it to her. She does this because she likes him, but only as a friend.
No matter what way you rationalize this mechanic, when you're 10 minutes into the lava sector and you can't use your Varia Suit yet, you will understand how painfully stupid this plot device is.

In short, you're asked to forget that Samus has spent the last 10-15 years on solitary missions ridding the galaxy of Space Pirates, saving the universe and surviving on her own as a bounty hunter. Instead, Other M expects you to accept her as a submissive, child-like and self-doubting little girl that cannot possibly wield the amount of power she possesses unless directed to by a man.  (http://www.g4tv.com/games/wii/61992/Metroid-Other-M/review/)

While I tend to believe this was not necessarily an intentional decision made developer Team Ninja, it does make me believe that developers sometimes do not fully consider the impact of their storytelling and design decisions.

That's it, Samus. A thumbs-down will show them you mean biz-nass.

Despite the debacle that was Metroid: Other M, the current gaming generation has produced many attempts at female protagonists. Games such as WET, Velvet Assassin, Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation, Heavy Rain, and Bayonetta have all attempted this with varying results. However, my favorites have been Mirror's Edge and Heavenly Sword. Faith and Nariko are both strong women who are only moderately sexualized, though Nariko is more sexualized than Faith. Previous generations also gave us Cate Archer of No One Lives Forever and Jade of Beyond Good and Evil. Again, two moderately sexualized characters with strong, independent, and commanding personalities. All four of these characters starred in good games, too. The formula can work. But, it's up to the developer to make it happen. This is all part of the reason I hope Remember Me can make it big, and why I'm happy Tomb Raider has turned out as good as it has.

Nilin will hack your brain while kicking your ass. Sure, she may be wearing really tight clothes, but she's no Bayonetta.

Case in point.

Besides often being over-sexualized and portrayed as weak, women also tend to get the crazy roles in video games. I was reminded of this when I came across an announced project by Keiji Inafune, wherein he has invented a fictional niece for himself. As his niece, you are forced to take part in a terrorist's twisted games in order to save your "uncle's" theme park. But, here's the kicker: It's an otome game, so there will be plenty of flirting and melodrama.

It's definitely not the weirdest otome game I've heard of, but it's up there.

That's all for now. Gnome, out.

Start Your Engines! (now with gifs)

ZOMG PLAYSTATION 4!!!!!!!1!

Mind = blown

Okay, so maybe the announcement wasn't that mind-blowing, but it certainly wasn't as lackluster as some of Sony's recent E3 press conferences. There weren't any giant crabs, massive damage, or RIIIIIDGE RACER references. I'm a little curious where Jack Tretton was, but I'll live without seeing him.

So.....PS4. It's real, and it'll be here before Christmas (most likely).

Kevin Butler is amazed, even though Sony just sued him.

To sum up the event, I'd have to say that Sony certainly seems to think social media is the next brave frontier for console gaming. I don't want to say they're wrong, but I will agree that there is some promise in the foundation they have laid.

Let's start with the hardware. I'm not a technical expert by any means, but 8GB of GDDR5 RAM is...incredible. From the press conference, it seems this memory will be used for a vast number of things, such as background downloads, saving game state for quick startup, massive particle counts, etc.  Apparently the PS3 only had 512GB of a lesser flavor of RAM, so this leap is gigantic. Then, there is the new controller:

Meet the DualShock 4.

Not too different, really. The big changes are the blue light on the front (we'll come back to that in a bit) and a touch pad between the face and directional buttons. Smaller changes include more rounded edges and slight redesign of stick and shoulder button shape/contour/texture. The blue light will be used with a sensor bar that will apparently come with the console so the controller's position in 3D space can be tracked, similar to Move.

Well played, Sony. But, you forgot three things: price, release date, and the console. Sure, you want to save it for E3. I get that, but isn't this the same problem Nintendo had with the Wii U? I'll trust your judgement for now, but you better wow me. I've got my eyes on you.

What's next? How about interconnectivity? CrossPlay and second screen sound as if they will be getting expanded upon exponentially. Vita may one day act a lot like Wii U's gamepad, acting as not only a second screen, but a way to play games away from your TV. Sony also plans to keep using tablets and phones as other means to expand gameplay and social interaction.

Speak of the devil: Social. This is one of the most terrifyingly intriguing aspects of the whole PS4 experience. One of the new features of the controller I left out is the "Share" button. I think I really like the concept of sharing my gaming experience. Not only can you tell your friends what you're playing while you're playing it, you can also share video of your gameplay session to social media (hereafter referred to Facebook and Twitter, because we all know that's where this is going). On top of this, the plan is that you'll be able to stream your gaming, having friends comment on your stream while you're playing, and even take control when you chose to let them. My initial reaction to all of this is generally positive.

It's even enough to soften up Ron Swanson.

I've wanted to share a lot of my gaming experiences with friends, but never had the means. PS4 has it built in. The idea of streaming gameplay to friends and letting them take control feels like long distance hot-seat play ("Dude, it's my turn!" or "You suck, let me kill this boss for you."), which sounds like a great way to connect friends and family over long distances. But, then the doubt sets in. I don't want someone to take over my game, whether I allow them to or not. There is also a security concern, which must be kept in mind when you consider PSN's history. Then, the added level of interconnectivity with other devices starts making me feel a little technophobic. It feels too much like a slippery slope leading to less and less human interaction while we're all burying ourselves in device screens. This is how the world will end...

That's the first PS4 arriving to stores.

Another focus of Sony's meeting was their partnership with Gaikai, the leader in streamed gaming that Sony purchased last year. What does this mean, exactly? Immediacy, essentially. Sony's plan is to make portions of games available for instant streaming to act as demos. Great! PS4 will also try to predict your gaming tastes and habits so the it can proactively download what it thinks you'll be interested in next. Again, I'm a little conflicted.

Ooh, that's good. Don't like that. But, this is awesome. Wait...no...damn it.

As far as games go, not much was shown off. We got confirmation that Watch Dogs will be on PS4, as well as Bungie's new IP, Destiny. There's a new Killzone and Infamous (which looks pretty sweet), too. Media Molecule showed off what I think is one of the most clever uses of Move (or Kinect, even) so far: 3D sculpting, basically. I can't see what they use that to create.

The biggest surprise, though, was that Diablo III is coming to PS4 and PS3. Some D3 fans seem to be none to happy with this. But, Blizzard seems to be getting back into the console game, folks! Perhaps they'll finally make Starcraft Ghost (fat chance), or the mysterious "Project Titan" will be on consoles. Only time will tell...or Blizzcon, maybe.

My cautious optimism for the PS4 was a good stance to take pre-announcement, and has only increased. I think the majority of the PS4 specs and features sound great, especially the massive RAM, what that means for how the console will perform, and what the Gaikai partnership can provide. More details on games, the physical machine's appearance, release date and price would have been great. I'm guessing Sony's holding on to all of this until E3, the sly devils. For now, we'll just have to save our pennies for "Holiday 2013."

The question that has to be begged now is, what does Microsoft have waiting in the wings? More Kinect? More exclusives? Will they also be focusing on immediate access to games and social integration? How will the next Xbox hardware stack up? The ball's in your court now, Microsoft.

Haven't you done enough damage, Kratos? Geez.