E3 Day 2 Updates

Alrighty then! What I consider E3 day 2, which by the way is considered Day 1 by the general public, is over. A few interesting tidbits came out today that I want to share with you, some of which is new information, some of which is corrections to other information.

The biggest news is this. This was actually something I heard Jack Trenton say during the Sony Press Conference, but I wasn’t sure enough that I interpreted it correctly to make it news. Now it has been confirmed. Playstation Plus is now required for online play on the PS4. Now I can hear you all getting negative, but let me add to this a bit, and clarify things. Yes, it is required, you do have to pay for online play now, but it’s still a better deal than Xbox Live Gold. First, it’s $50 rather than $60 per year, second you still get all the PS+ benefits, including bunches of free games. Third, even if you don’t pay for Playstation Plus, you retain access to all your media services on the PS3 like Netflix and Amazon video and all that, whereas all those things require Xbox Live gold with Microsoft. Now, if you’re still going “But, but, but you have to pay to play online and that sucks!” I still understand, I still get where you’re coming from, but consider this. You may very well get what you pay for. Almost all online games on the PS3, not all, but almost all, are plagued by lag. With this new model, that may no longer be the case. So it can be considered a negative, but I urge you to try not to do so, at least not too much.

Secondly, a couple of interesting corrections. Both Final Fantasy 15, and Kingdom hearts 3 are apparently not PS4 exclusive. This strikes me as slightly weird, as it will be the first time a Kingdom Hearts game is on Xbox anything, but so be it, I guess. Me, I’m gonna get that one for the PS4. That’s where it started, that’s where we’ll conclude it. Otherwise I don’t mind much.

Here’s a funny one, though. Elder Scrolls Online is also going to be on Xbox One, so I do have to concede that little point I made about the PS3 taking in all the MMO’s. Ah well. Once again, that’s fine. Remember, we got solid numbers for PS4 exclusives, even if we haven’t necessarily seen them all yet. 40 within the first year of release. That’s still awesome.

A couple of quick additions regarding specific games. First, Killer Instinct is going to be a Free to Play game that will give you 1 character, namely Jago, and allow you to play as him in every way. You can play the full single player, you can take him online, all that with no additional charge. Then, if you like him, or just the game in general, you can buy additional characters of your choosing. Alternatively, they are going to release a complete edition that you pay for up front and all things will be unlocked. Killer Instinct also has some new mechanics, including something called Instinct Mode, which you can use as a combo cancel, even on an ultra. In the example, the player did a combo, transitioned into an ultra, canceled into Instinct mode, hit another basic combo, and went right into another Ultra. If I understood correctly, all this became one giant combo. Ah, Killer Instinct, I do love thee.

Additionally, a little more information on Titanfall. Apparently not every character in every scenario is controlled by a person. There are AI pilots and AI titans, (humans and mechs), to fill out the battlefield so you always have the challenge of a team battle. The match itself, in terms of the number of player-controlled characters in the demo during the conference, was a 7 on 7 match. So still not bad at all. Figured that’d be worth mentioning to make sure an awesome concept like Titanfall is as clear as it can be.

There were other things shown off today, including Watchdogs and Beyond, but I don’t feel there was any truly significant information besides the fact that I was right about what I suggested in one of my Audioboo posts, which was that the mobile companion for Watchdogs is not Smartglass, it’s its own app. This allows it to work with any version of the game, which I agree with. You can use it to both help your friends, and if you want to, hinder them, and even try to hack into them to totally ruin their day. I kid actually, they want to keep it fun. Any death caused by another player is just reversed, and you’re put back into your story without any kind of penalty. It’s kinda a competition between players that can happen at any time.

What else happened today? Well, the Nintendo Direct video played today, but there wasn’t much to it. Apparently only about 9 games are coming out for the Wii You within the next year, and most of them put out by Nintendo. There was a new Bayoneta 2 trailer, which we expected, a trailer for the new Smash Brothers game, which we also expected, Mario 3D Land, Mario Cart 8, Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze, the HD remake of Windwaker, a game just called X, a game called XY something or other, and one more. It was also announced that Megaman would be in Smash Brothers, but if you’re curious, there was nothing else about Smash Brothers. Nothing about newly added mechanics, just Megaman. And that was it. Absolutely the expected from Nintendo, and nothing more. They were right not to hold a press conference, because they just didn’t stack up, not even to Microsoft. Just a bit more proof that the Wii You is going down.

And that was pretty much the day. I will keep combing around tomorrow and Thursday, watching footage and whatnot, and bringing you more of this if there continues to be more to bring. See ya then!

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