E3 Schedule Guide!

Are you excited for E3? If you want to know the upcoming schedule for the event and games being announced, check out teh article.

If you are excited for E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) like myself, I’ll put the whole schedule below so you can plan your day. If you don’t know about E3, it is a huge convention expo dedicated to Video Games and shows off upcoming games from different companies. You can watch the trailers, play demos that won’t be released for months, and see amazing new games in Los Angeles, California. If you can’t go but want to see the event, you can watch it online on Twitch.

I’ll only be posting the time it starts in America. The time is PDT.

EA (Electronic Arts) 12PM – Saturday, June 10th

If you like Fifa, there will be FIFA 18. Most likely they will announce all their yearly sports series. More importantly, Star Wars Battlefront 2 will have more trailers. Hopefully more news about the story and new game modes will bring people interest after how poorly the first one reviewed. The story is set to be canon and part of the Star Wars story after Return of the Jedi.

Rumors: A new 3rd person shooter from Respawn, developers of Titanfall and a potential rival to “Destiny” from Bioware.

Microsoft 2PM, Sunday, June 11th

Most exciting news from Microsoft will be their new project Scorpio. Not a new console, but an upgraded version of the Xbox One. It will have 4K resolution, better CPU, GPU, and more memory than the PS4 Pro. Overall, it’ll just be a better version of the Xbox One. If you haven’t gotten one yet, perhaps save your money for this one.

For games, a new Crackdown game although Crackdown 2 reviewed poorly and a Sea of Thieves are confirmed for the show. No rumored big IP (Intellectual Property) but it could still be hidden until the show which is pretty exciting.

Bethesda 9PM, Sunday, June 11th

Rumors: A sequel to the Wolfenstein story based first person shooter and The Evil Within from the same designer for Resident Evil 4.

Don’t be looking for any news on an upcoming Elder Scrolls or Fallout game. Most likely there will be news regarding Skyrim for the Nintendo Switch and Quake Championship.

PC Gaming 10AM, Monday, June 12th

Usually the PC Gaming show is pretty dull. It’s mostly about new technology coming to PC. They are generally dragged out and most of their trailers are already shown before hand.

Ubisoft 1PM. Monday, June 12th

Ubisoft has a pretty good schedule this E3. A new Assassin’s Creed that may be a series reboot called “Assassin’s Creed: Origin.” Of course, Far Cry 5 will have some upcoming trailers and The Crew 2. No Beyond Good and Evil 2 unfortunately.

Rumor: Mario Rabbids which had a potential leak a week ago. A collaboration between Nintendo and Ubisoft.

Sony 6PM, Monday, June 12th

So far, Sony has been pretty good with hosting a good show and having plenty of games to be excited for. Final Fantasy 7, Kingdom Hearts 3, Death Stranded and Shenmue 3 will not be released this year but there may be a trailer. Last year, God of War and Spider-Man had trailers but hopefully they receive an announcement date.

Of course, The Last of Us 2 is on everyone’s mind. After the teaser trailer at Playstation Expo 2016, avid Playstation fans are hoping for a gameplay trailer. Hopefully there will be a more VR games. As of right now, the PSVR needs more solid games such as Resident Evil 6.

Nintendo 9AM, June 13th

Nintendo will not be having a conference but will have another Nintendo Direct that mostly focuses on Splatoon 2 and ARMS which I mentioned in previous articles. They will also include a Nintendo Treehouse which is an extended direct which will go more in-depth for the new games. Last year, it was a bit long and felt repetitive after it only showed The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Rumors: Super Nintendo Classic Edition.

TLDW: POKEMON DIRECT June 6, 2017

The Pokemon Team and Nintendo held a Direct specifically for Pokemon today. They announced:

Pokken Tournament DX:

An updated version of Pokken for the Nintendo Switch. It will come with 5 new characters. 4 Pokemon that were only released in Japan’s Arcade: Darkrai, Empoleon, Scizor, and Croagunk and the new addition is Decidueye from Pokemon Sun and Moon. They will also include new support Pokemon as well. The game will also include a 3v3 mode, Daily Challenges, and everything will be unlocked. If you are attending E3, you can play the demo available there. Pokken Tournament DX will release September 22, 2017.

Pokemon Ultra Sun and Moon: Not much was revealed but it is an alternative story from the original Pokemon Sun and Moon. There will be new Pokemon, moves, and a new form for Solgaleo and Lunala. The forms are shown on the image below and you can see influences from Necrozoma, the Legendary Ultra Beast Pokemon. The game will be released November 17th, 2017 worldwide.

Pokemon Gold and Silver will be released on Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console on September 22nd. The Pokemon can also be transferred into the Pokemon Bank which will allow you to transfer them into the current generation games.

For the Entire stream and my source, you can check out the Nintendo Direct below.

NINTENDO’s Online Service Date Announced!

Nintendo’s Upcoming Network Plan

If you own a Nintendo Switch and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, you’ve been appreciating the free online multiplayer. Well, a countdown to the end has begun. Nintendo will release its premium online service: Nintendo Switch Online by 2018. Similar to Playstation Network and Xbox Live, this will be a paid monthly service.

Pricing^*

1-Month Membership

$3.99 (USD)

3-Month Membership

$7.99 (USD)

12-Month Membership

$19.99 (USD)

Enjoy online services for free until the paid service’s official launch in 2018.

Features:

An Online lobby and voice chat through a dedicated phone app. You can invite friends to play online, set play appointments and chat with your friends. The phone app will be released during summer 2017 for free in a limited form.

You will also gain access to “Classic Game Selections” that will include online play for certain games. Whether these last as long as you have the subscription or you have to pay for them, remains to be seen. You’ll also have more deals for eShop. This will not be replacing the Virtual Console.

Opinion

In the end, it is cheaper than PSN and Xbox Live currently but the Switch still has limitations. There is no Netflix or common apps that most modern consoles have and only a few games for the Switch warrant the online service. Whether or not Splatoon 2 or Mario Kart 8 Deluxe holds your attention online will dictate how valuable the service will be. While popular online franchises like Call of Duty or Battlefield may release on the Switch in the near future, Nintendo doesn’t have the back catalogue for most gamers to invest in the service. We’ll see how popular the Nintendo Online Service will be. I think it’ll do well depending on the “Classic Game Selection,” especially if they offer the games fans have been asking for. This includes the Super Nintendo, N64, and GameCube titles.

Sources:

Nintendo

IGN

Far Cry 5 and the Importance of Settings

Far Cry 5 will have a full reveal trailer this Friday, May 26th 2017. Based on pictures and confirmations by Ubisoft, the game will take place in Hope County, Montana, a fictional city. Based on the promotion picture, you can see churches, the iron cross, guns, sinner scarred into a prisoner and the image imitating The Last Supper from Leonardo Da Vinci. Obviously, this game’s setting will be controversial but I don’t want to talk about the obvious anger that will come from this game. I want to talk about the importance of setting and what appeals to audiences.

Most games don’t use Americans as villains. Especially not games made for a world-wide audience. Most modern games based in America with villains generally are set in the past such as the Mafia series, L.A. Noire, and Red Dead Redemption to name a few. Rarely are Americans the villains, especially not White Americans. This will be a new set of villains who may have a focus on Christianity which is a new archetype that is rarely explored as well.

Choosing Montana is an interesting setting because most games rarely take place in open American land. Most open-world games such as GTA or Saints Row are often based in New York, L.A, or Chicago. Montana is new state most games have never touched and the new setting can appeal to players who may have been tired of the wild areas such as the Himalayas in Far Cry 4 or the jungle of Far Cry 3. This game will take place in a country most players are familiar which can attract older and newer players.

I personally enjoyed Far Cry 3 and Blood Dragon but had no interest in 4 or Primal. The sequels felt too similar to one another. However, being based in America now has definitely caught my attention. I hope this game brings new ideas to the franchise besides skinning animals to buff your character and taking territories. While it was fun in the first two, I am already tired of the formula and fans are too based on sales of Primal and 4. Expect to hear people complaining on social media soon about the game soon. The teaser trailer is below