Tag: Games

PlayStation Experience 2017 Exhibitors and Playable Demos

PlayStation Experience 2017 starts in December 9th and 10th, 2017 in Anaheim, California. The event focuses on PlayStation game developers and upcoming games for the system. Most of the larger spaces will be for first party developers for PlayStation while smaller areas are focused on 3rd party developers and Indie games. They will have spaces directly for PSVR games and PlayStation Vue. Capcom Cup, the Street Fighter V qualifier tournament, will be held during the event as well. There will be a giveaway cards if you try out game demos, free items and goodies from vendors, and you can go to Video Game Awards for $20 more if you purchase a ticket for PlayStation Expo which is nearby the venue. As somebody who worked at PlayStation planning last years event, I’m sure it’ll go well. Unfortunately, it will also not come back to San Francisco. Although the list of developers and games you can play are below, unique announcements for the Press Conference.

Below is a list of developers and the list of all demos at the convention.

Developers:

  • 11 bit studios
  • Ackk Studios
  • Activision Publishing, Inc.
  • Adult Swim Games
  • Aksys Games
  • AOne Games
  • Aquiris
  • Arcade Distillery
  • Arika CO.,LTD.
  • Armor Games Studios
  • Artifact 5
  • Ask an Enemy Studios
  • Atlus/Sega
  • Batterystaple Games and Fire Hose Games
  • Bend Studio
  • Bit Kid, Inc.
  • Blue Mammoth Games
  • Bungie & Activision
  • Capcom
  • Cleaversoft
  • Cococucumber
  • Crows Crows Crows
  • Dan & Gary Games
  • Dangen Entertainment
  • Deep Silver
  • Devolver Digital
  • Double Fine Productions
  • Drinkbox Studios
  • Electronic Arts
  • En Masse Entertainment / Bluehole, Inc.
  • Endnight Games
  • Epic Games
  • Finji + Infinite Fall
  • Firesprite
  • Friend & Foe AB
  • Grab Games
  • Grip Digital
  • Highwire Games
  • Hopoo Games, LLC
  • Household Games
  • Humble Bundle
  • iam8bit
  • Iggymob
  • Impulse Gear
  • Insomniac Games
  • ISVR
  • Japan Studio
  • Lienzo
  • Limited Run Games
  • London Studio
  • Mad Mimic
  • Media Molecule
  • Mommy’s Best Games
  • MunkyFun
  • Muse Games
  • NapNok Games
  • Naughty Dog
  • nDreams
  • Neowiz
  • Paranoid Productions
  • Playdius
  • Playism
  • Polyarc
  • Polyphony Digital
  • Quantic Dream
  • Rebellion
  • RocketPunch Games
  • Samurai Punk
  • San Diego Studio
  • Santa Monica Studio
  • Sirlin Games
  • Spooky Squid Games
  • Starbreeze
  • Studio Surgical Scalpels
  • Sunsoft
  • Supermassive Games
  • Survios
  • Team Meat
  • The Voxel Agents
  • Toadman Interactive
  • Tribetoy
  • Trion Worlds
  • Ubisoft Entertainment
  • Ultizero Games
  • USC Games
  • Versus Evil LLC
  • White Lotus Interactive
  • Wish Studios
  • Zoink Games

Demos for PlayStation 4 and PSVR:

  • 20XX
  • A Duel Hand Disaster: Trackher
  • Aegis Defenders
  • At Sundown
  • Boundary
  • Brawlhalla
  • Call of Duty: WWII
  • Chasm
  • Children of Morta
  • Code :Hardcore
  • Crossing Souls
  • Dead by Daylight
  • Dead Rising 4: Frank’s Big Package
  • Deadbolt
  • Destiny 2 – Expansion I: Curse of Osiris
  • Detroit: Become Human
  • DJ Max Respect
  • EarthNight
  • Fantasy Strike
  • Far Cry 5
  • fault milestone one
  • Fight Knight
  • Fighting EX Layer
  • Flipping Death
  • Fortnite Battle Royale
  • Frantics
  • Gang Beasts
  • Gran Turismo Sport
  • Guacamelee! 2
  • Guns of Icarus Alliance: PS4 Edition
  • Hidden Agenda
  • Horizon Chase Turbo
  • Hover
  • Iconoclasts
  • Immortal: Unchained
  • Kingdom Come: Deliverance
  • Knights and Bikes
  • Knowledge Is Power
  • Lost Soul Aside (PSX 2017 Special Version)
  • Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite
  • MLB The Show 17
  • Monster Hunter: World
  • Moonlighter
  • Mothergunship
  • Mulaka
  • Night in the Woods
  • No Heroes Here
  • Omen of Sorrow
  • Pig Eat Ball
  • Pinstripe
  • Riverbond
  • Russian Subway Dogs
  • School Girl/Zombie Hunter
  • Shadow of the Colossus
  • Shape of the World
  • SkullPirates
  • Sonic Forces
  • Sonic Mania
  • Strange Brigade
  • Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition
  • Super Daryl Deluxe
  • Super Meat Boy Forever
  • Tera
  • That’s You!
  • The Adventure Pals
  • The Cat and the Coup
  • The Church in the Darkness
  • The Forest
  • The Gardens Between
  • The Night Journey
  • The Swords of Ditto
  • Tokyo Xanadu EX+
  • Tower 57
  • Trove
  • Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection
  • Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
  • Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
  • Under Night In-Birth EXE:Late[ST]
  • Vane
  • Walden, a game
  • War Theatre
  • Way of the Passive Fist
  • World End Economica
  • Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
  • YIIK: A Postmodern RPG

PlayStation VR

  • Anamorphine
  • Bow to Blood
  • Bravo Team
  • Dark Eclipse
  • Farpoint
  • Golem
  • Gungrave
  • Knockout League
  • League of War: VR Arena
  • Medusa and Man
  • Moss
  • Resident Evil 7 biohazard
  • Shooty Fruity
  • Sprint Vector
  • The American Dream
  • The Inpatient
  • The Persistence
  • X Animal
  • Xing: The Land Beyond

Sources: 

PlayStation

EA is buying Respawn Entertainment

EA (Electronic Arts) has recently put a bid to purchase Respawn Entertainment. They would have to pay $151 million in cash for Respawn, up to $164 million in long-term equity, and a maximum of $140 million in performance milestone payments. The deal is worth $455 million. EA outbid the South Korean publisher: Nexon. Respawn is known for developing Titanfall. Titanfall was published by EA but they are an independent company. They spawned from  Jason West and Vince Zampella, who are ex-game designers from the Call of Duty series.

Electronic Arts is known for changing the games in different ways after purchasing the development companies. Games such as Mass Effect 3 and Plants vs Zombies 2 are different styles than their predecessors and were reviewed worse. People attribute EA’s influence to cause the sequels to be worse games. Respawn has acquired great reputation for releasing free DLC and updates for Titanfall 2. Fans are worried that EA will ruin the good faith that has been down by Respawn. EA has also gained a reputation for acquiring developing game studios and shut them down. Fans are also worried that they will eventually shut down Respawn and prevent Titanfall 3 in the near future based on EA’s track record. Below are a list of EA’s acquirements and closed game companies.

  • Visceral: Formerly EA Redwood so technically an EA branch. Developers of Dead Space series and found in 1998. Shut down in 2017.
  • Origin Systems: Created of some of the Ultima series and Wing Commander. Acquired in 1992 and shut down in 2004.
  • Bullfrog Productions which was found by Peter Molyneux. They are also known for Syndicate (1993), Magic Carpet (1994) and Theme Park (1994). They were acquired in 1995 and dissolved in 2001.
  • Westwood: Created Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon (1991), Dune II (1992). They brought Dungeons and Dragons licensed games to video games. They were bought by 1998 and shut down in 2003.
  • Mystic Entertainment: They released another well-known MMORPG Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning in 2008. Sold to EA in 2006 and dissolved in 2014.
  • Maxis: Instrumental in porting SimCity to the PC. Bought by EA in 1997. Created The Sims(2000). Shut down in 2004.
  • Kesmai: Created the MMORPG forerunner Island of Kesmai (1985) and multiplayer online air-combat game Air Warrior (1987). Bought by EA in 1999 and shut down in 2001.
  • Pandemic Studios: Created Star Wars: Battlefront(2004), Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005), Full Spectrum Warrior (2004) and Destroy All Humans! (2005) among others. Bought by EA in 2008. Shut down in 2009.
  • DreamWorks Interactive: Created Medal of Honor (1999). Bought by EA in 2000 and re-branded as EA Los Angeles. Re-branded again as Danger Close Games in 2010. Folded into Dice Los Angeles in 2013.

Sources:

Kotaku

Forbes

Should Companies give Players more for Achievements/Trophies?

Since the Xbox, in-game rewards/achievements have become integrated parts of games. Players can earn them by beating portions of the video games, finding secrets, or completing the entire game. The main appeal is the ability to share your “score” on your game profile and compare it with others. Whether it be Xbox Live, PlayStation Network or Steam, achievements are generally well received and a standard feature in games. However, they provide no value to players besides a score number until recently.

Recently, Sony announced changes to Sony Rewards program that would reward players for earning trophies from PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 games. Silver trophies are worth 1 point, Gold is worth 25, and Platinum is 100. To earn points, you must create a Sony Rewards Profile that connects to your PlayStation Network account. Sony Rewards program offers members points for purchasing games, movies, or other entertainment to earn concerts, merchandise, video games, and gain access to unique sales and deals. Members can only start earning points for their trophies after connecting the Sony Rewards profile to their PlayStation account. All previous trophies earned will not give players anything.

Often, gamers have questioned the value of achievements. They have become so common in games that they become almost an afterthought in players minds rather than a goal. It can be argued that the score recognition is no longer as interesting to players. Whoever owns more games will usually have more points or trophies than others so the comparison to friends loses luster. While there are communities of gamers interested in achievement hunting and increasing their gamerscore, the number of people interested overall has decreased.

Business Opinion:

Providing a small monetary value to trophies is a good movie by Sony. It incentivises more players to earn more trophies which means they must buy more games. It adds a point value into purchases similar to restaurants for trophies. By connecting it to Sony Reward Program, users feel a stronger connection to Sony and creates a more rewarding feeling for buying certain products from them. It creates a brand community connected around purchasing Sony related products. I wouldn’t surprised if Microsoft uses a similar model in the feature.

Sources:

Polygon

IGN

Monster Hunter: World adds Quality of Life Changes for New and Old Players

Monster Hunter: World is finally an mainstream console game for PS4, and Xbox One for the Monster Hunter series since the Nintendo Wii. Many fans have been hoping for a main console version since the recent trends of 3DS releases. Producer Ryozo Tsujimoto is changing the controller layout and adding new game functions to appeal to potential new audiences.

With a hope of breaking further into the Western audience and making it easier for new players,  Ryozo Tsujimoto, stated

“We’ve taken a broad look at what we can revise and change and improve in Monster Hunter. Like maybe the bits that were harder to understand or not as smooth. We can improve those things so that players who didn’t get on with the series until now and weren’t able to get past some outer shell of the clunkiness, or difficult-to-process information.”

Fans of the games can keep their controller layout but new controls have been added similar to modern games. Running or dashes can be changed to clicks on the stick rather than R1. Third person shooting in Monster Hunter: World can now be controlled with the thumb-stick similar to third person shooters.

“It’s made the guns so much smoother that even the director was saying he normally only plays a couple of different sword weapons, but this time around, he’s added the guns to his repertoire because they’re just so much easier to get on with and so much more fun,” Tsujimoto said.

With the move to bigger consoles, the map has increased as well. With more vertical space and broader horizons, green clouds of insects will lead players to areas of interest or create trails to follow monsters. Tsujimoto said “it isn’t like a UI GPS marker. It blends in with the world, and yet it functions as something which tells you, ‘This is where you should be going next.”

Monster Hunter: World will also include better starting area. Many players have complained that it takes too long to get into the exciting parts of the game. This often pushed newer players away from enjoying Monster Hunter as you had to find resources for new weapons and armors that often felt dull. Executive Director, Kaname Fujioka, said

“We’ve put a lot more action up front so that even when you’re opening with the story scenes and the tutorial scenes, they’re actually live-action gameplay,” he said. “They get you kicking off playing the game much faster than simply watching cut scenes happen or, you know, talking to people and seeing pages of text.”

Older fans of the series won’t have to worry if Capcom is changing the formula. Tsujimoto stated that “We want to make the game that you love better than ever and bring more people on so it’s got even more fans.” Although there have been complaints that the Monster Hunter series will become too easy, I believe Tsujimoto has the right intentions to improve the game for all types of fans.

Opinion:

Monster Hunter: World seems like a great jumping off point for interested players in the Monster Hunter series. I believe everyone has a common agreement that the game, monsters, weapons, and setting was appealing but the hurdle to climb was too high. I  With the new controls change and the promise of improved changes to the intro, I would definitely start playing Monster Hunter games. Monster Hunter: World releases January 26, 2018.

Polygon