Oh! I Play This Game... Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon

Did you ever wonder what the Ghostbusters movies would look like in the Mario universe? Well, it looks like Luigi's Mansion. Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon is an action adventure and puzzle game by Nintendo. It was released on March 24, 2013 exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS. This is the second game in the series which focuses completely on the lovable Super Mario Bros. sidekick Luigi. Luigi is tasked with clearing out various buildings of ghosts using a special vacuum cleaner known as the Poltergust 5000. It features both a single player story mode as well as a multiplayer mode which lets you team up with friends and work together to complete various challenges.

Story - 7

The Evil King Boo!

After successfully containing the ghost infestation in the previous game for Professor E. Gadd, a scientist who studies spectral forces, Luigi returns to his duties helping Mario. E. Gadd begins studying the ghosts and creates a way of controlling them called the "Dark Moon". Using the Dark Moon the professor is able to keep the ghosts in a docile, friendly state, and uses them to help with his research. This peace is short lived. The evil King Boo comes to E. Gadd's labs in Evershade Valley and shatters the Dark Moon into 6 pieces. Fortunately Gadd is able to retrieve one of them before King Boo's Boo minions hide the remaining pieces in various large buildings. Without the moon to control the ghosts, they return to their mischievous ways and begin haunting the surrounding areas. Once again Professor E. Gadd must enlist the help of Luigi to set Evershade Valley right.

Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon is a very cute and fun game. The story is fairly shallow, but it still makes for a very enjoyable experience. The entire game feels like a children's parody of the Ghostbusters films. At times you could even say it satires the survival horror video game genre as well. Though the plot lacks depth, it does not lack fun dialogue. Luigi and Professor E. Gadd interact quite often throughout the game. Luigi, like Mario doesn't have much to say, but E. Gadd's dialogue is rife with terrible puns. Overall the story is quite enjoyable, but like most games in the Mario franchise, it lacks good storytelling.

Audio - 8

Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon has a fun soundtrack that does a good job at setting a light but intense atmosphere. Most of its music is a combination of deep string and wind instruments, complimented by higher wind instruments in the background. This creates a light, but still eerie atmosphere, and sets up a good number of unpredictable jump scares. As for voice acting, since it is a Mario franchise title, it doesn't really have much verbal dialogue. However, this does not stop Charles Martinet from reprising his role as Luigi. Just as he does with every character he voices for Nintendo, he breathes life into Luigi, giving him his fun and quirky personality. Though there is a lack of voice actors in Luigi's Mansion, the few that are there are great in their roles.

Video -8

The Quirky Professor E. Gadd

The graphics for Dark Moon are not amazing. In fact, if I were to compare it to games on the leading consoles, or even the PS Vita, I would consider it pretty bad. This is factored into the score, but I am taking into account that this is still very good for the 3DS' capabilities. On the other hand, though the graphics may be on the poor side, like all Nintendo games the character designs are fantastic. Every ghost's personality is evident in the way it looks and acts. This gives the game the fun, cartoony feel that it is meant to have. Since the game is also on the 3DS it also has a 3D feature available. I only played a few hours in 3D, but it was very enjoyable seeing ghosts jump out of the screen. However, I must caution you to read the warning on the back of the box. Do not use the 3D feature for children under 7 years of age. It can cause damage to young eyes that are still not fully developed.

Gameplay - 9

Unlike most Super Mario games which are more focused on platforming, Luigi's Mansion spends its time on problem solving. Throughout the game you are confronted with many challenges, such as tracking ghosts through the various mansions, by passing locked doors by finding keys or ways around, memory puzzles, and puzzles that require you to utilize your gear effectively. Another aspect of the gameplay is capturing ghosts. Once you're used to it, it becomes fairly simple, but at first it is quite a challenge to figure it out. 

When you are sucking up a ghost with the Poltergust 5000, you must first stun the ghost by pointing your flashlight at it, then aim at the ghost with the vacuum. Once you have the ghost on the reigns, you must move in the opposite direction that it is trying to go to tire it out. If you hold it for too long you suck it in and get no reward, but if you time in right you can get bonus coins.Coins are used to upgrade your gear. After you have collected a certain number of them, your Poltergeist 5000 becomes stronger, and your Dark Light device can be used more. The Dark Light device allows you to reveal invisible objects that ghosts have hidden. It also allows you to stun some ghosts, including Boos. 

All New Ghosts on the Loose

In total there are 5 different "mansions" to explore in Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon. They range from large estates, to buildings over archaeological dig sites. Each of them are very unique and provide fun and interesting gameplay. On top of this, it also features a completely new set of ghosts. Some of them are large and brutish and deal more damage to you, others are more mischievous and can turn invisible or hide in objects. Aside from the single player story, you can also embark on the ScareScraper. The ScareScraper is a skyscraper which you can take timed challenges with up to three of your friends. You can hunt down ghosts as a group, race through each floor to find the exit, or track down the mischievous Polterpups. Each challenge can be set on various difficulties and can range from five to twenty five floors to explore.

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All in all, Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon finishes with an 8/10 which sounds about right to me. It is a great game, and lots of fun for the whole family. Dark Moon is appropriate for all ages, but it may be too difficult for children under the age of seven or eight. I recommend this game to any 3DS owner. I hope you enjoyed this review of Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon. Let us know what you thought of the game in the comments section below. Don't forget to subscribe for notifications whenever we post new content.

Tales of Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is a fantasy RPG released on January 22, 2013 for the Playstation 3. Ni No Kuni was actually first released on the Nintendo 3DS in Japan on December 9, 2010. After two years, the game was finally released for us all to enjoy. Ni No Kuni strongly comes off as a game specifically for children from the strange creature following you, like a new generation Pikachu, and the fact that the protagonists are children. I was hesitant to try the game at first, but once I started I couldn't stop.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is an epic adventure of a boy named Oliver. After a tragic accident, the boy falls into a depressed state only to find that his stuffed toy, Mr Drippy, is actually real! The self proclaimed Lord High Lord of the Fairies tells Oliver he is a wizard, and helps the boy in his quest. Mr Drippy is the main source of humor, having a bizarre dialect and being a complete goof, as well as being the player's permanent source of help.

The first spell Oliver learns, from the help of his Wizard's companion, takes him into a whole different world filled with magic, creatures, and an interesting assortment of characters. Soon after arriving in the new world, Oliver learns about Familiars, creatures that roam the world, and obtains his own Familiar. Both Oliver and the Familiar level up, becoming stronger, by fighting the other creatures all over the world.

As the story progresses, the player obtains the ability to “Charm” the creatures of the world and turn them into Familiars. Almost every creature the player encounters can be a Familiar. To some players, this can be a reminiscent of another game, Pokemon. So much, in fact, that the Familiars can evolve through use of special stones. The bare mechanics are similar in the way that creatures level, learn new skills and can also learn new skills through items. However, there are deeper mechanics separating this game from the Pokemon games.

When a Familiar evolves it goes back to level one, through a process called Metamorphosis.For those wondering why you would want to evolve, since the Familiar becomes level one after having already been level twenty or thirty, the creature is able to strengthen their abilities and learn stronger skills. When the Familiar reaches it's second Metamorphosis, the player also has to pick a path for the Familiar. For example, my favorite Familiar, Purrloiner changes into Cutpurrse and then has to be changed into either Puss in Boats or Puss in Bouts.

Each Familiar also belongs to a specific genus, or group, of Familiars. Each character in the party has a favored genus which, when used, increases the strength of the Familiar itself. Each genus also has a favored type of food which, when fed to the Familiar, increases their base statistic. Purrloiner likes chocolate, which increases the feline Familiar's strength.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is a cute game for the ages 10+. I thoroughly enjoyed the game, finding it to be one of the best RPGs on the PS3. The overall story is sad, a boy traversing through two worlds to save someone important to him, while he tracks down the Dark Djinn Shadar. While tracking the evil man through the fantasy world, Oliver meets people who have been “heartbroken”, meaning that a piece of their heart was taken by Shadar for defying him. Using his magic, Oliver now not only has to save the important person, but people around the world too! Shadar's evil magic does not only lie in the fantasy world, but also affects the people from Motorville, Oliver's hometown.

The game is beautifully animated, the characters are interesting though can seem lacking at times and the battle system is unique. The only very annoying part about Ni No Kuni is catching the Familiars themselves. RNG,which means Random Number Generator, is a cruel mistress for any RPG. Every time you defeat a creature, there is a percentage chance that you may catch the creature, changing it into a Familiar, after reaching a certain point in the game. RNG is the number that is randomly generated after the creature is defeated. Some players are extremely lucky in catching Familiars while others hunt Familiars for hours with no success.

There is one thing that really bothered me when I finished the game however. While being used to New Game + options, that wasn't the problem in this case. While the player can't return to the game with all the spells learned or Familiars caught, there is content locked to the player until after finishing the main storyline. This to me, seems to be a waste of time because the story, once over, is well... over. What more could attract the player when the main story is over, unless you are a perfectionist who needs to complete every single tiny aspect of the game, then this is for you.

Overall the game is a complete success in drawing in gamers once the game has started. The outside may make the game look childish, but it can touch the hearts of many. Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch thoroughly earns a score of 9/10. The game is absolutely wonderful and I enjoyed the journey enough to want to spread the word. Everyone should own Ni No Kuni. There is a beautiful world waiting out there, waiting for gamers to explore.

Breaking News: Conker's Return, Xbox One Debunk, and Future Titles.

Anyone remember the vulgar, drinking, red squirrel named Conker? Christopher Seavor, project leader of the Conker games, Conker's Bad Fur Day and the remake named Live & Reloaded, tweeted on May 25th about the need for a Wii U development kit for his studio. Christopher Seavor was not only the project leader, he voiced Conker and left Rare to start his now current studio, Gory Detail. It's possible that we could be seeing a return of the red squirrel sometime in the future for the Wii U.

Everyone has heard the shocking rumor that the Xbox One will be charging their players full retail price for any used game they happen to pick up. According to an article written by Brian Crecente of Polygon, the Xbox One wont require gamers to pay a fee to reactivate a used game, but it will require a regular online spot check to verify the authenticity of games being played. While this doesn't tell us much, Polygon's sources have also stated the company is also experimenting with special exemption codes that could be given to particular people without internet, such as active-duty soldiers serving in war zones.

Only to add to the confusion, during the week of Xbox One's unveiling, Microsoft officials gave conflicting answers about used games and online requirements. According to the official Q&A from Microsoft, the Xbox One does not have to be always connected, but does require a connection to the internet. Microsoft's Phil Harrison said that the console would require an internet check every 24 hours, only to be “debunked” later by Microsoft stating that is one potential scenario. It would seem that Microsoft has not settled on the time between checks, but there will still be some form of online check required to play games.

As far as used games go, according to Polygon's sources, the Xbox One will automatically authenticate a game using an encrypted code built into the disc when it's installed on the machine. That authentication is then verified regularly through an internet connection. When an Xbox One owner sells one of their games, or it is installed and played on another system, the game is then unauthenticated on the original machine until the disc is brought back and used to re-authenticate the installation. Polygon's sources also stated that there are no plans to charge gamers a fee to sell or reactivate a game. Microsoft's Larry Hryb released a blog, talking briefly, on the subject but did not state whether or not fees will be required. 

Monster Hunter 4 got its Japanese release date and trailer on May 31^st, being set for a launch on September 14^th along with two 3DS XLs that will come with the game. The trailer shows some terrifying monsters the player will come up against. Monster Hunter fans, be sure to check out the trailer below to see the new world and terrors that await you.

Nintendo's E3 2013 site is live, teasing which games you can expect to see from E3 Nintendo Direct on June 10^th. Noted on the site as 10 days, now 9, remain until the conference which will include the latest news and announcements from Nintendo, starting with the presentation on June 11^th. E3 coverage will continue with trailers, interviews, and more. A silhouette tease gave gamers a look into possible future titles, including Mario, Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Pikmin 3, The Wonderful 101, and New Super Luigi U. Nintendo also previously announced that this Direct will replace the traditional E3 conference, confirmed to include Smash Bros., Mario and Mario Kart. After the presentation, there will be a Wii U software showcase at E3 where COO Reggie Fils-Aime and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto will speak.

Scrolls, a new game from Minecraft studio Mojang, is just on the horizon after having been revealed more than two years ago. Scrolls is the followup to the smash-hit Minecraft. Mojang announced that an open beta will begin on June 3^rd and has also provided a mini guide that explains the basic mechanics. Scrolls offers opportunities to battle against the computer, but there will also be challenge and ranked matches against online opponents. Each player will build a custom deck from their library of scrolls and increase their abilities with items purchased with gold earned from online matches or in another currency called shards. While looking a lot like Magic: The Gathering, the presence of in-game currency suggests it will be a single purchase game. Check out the official site and the trailer below.

A lot of indie games have come to life with the help of Kickstarter. Double Fine has recently launched a new Kickstarter project to help fund Massive Chalice. Massive Chalice is described as a tactical strategy PC game on an epic fantasy time line, from the creators of Psychonauts, Brutal Legend, and Iron Brigade. Being launched only a few days ago, Double Fine has already acquired a large majority of the funds needed to back their project, currently at $635,036 out of $725,000. DoubleFine's Kickstarter project, check the site out to see more about Double Fine, an overview, and to donate money if you so wish.

That's it for this installment of Breaking News. This week there will be two reviews as well as a new weekly review starting Wednesday. Monday will be a review on Ni No Kuni, followed by another review on Tuesday and At My Limit on Thursday. Stay tuned, subscribe and comment to let us know what you think.

At My Limit: Overstrike blew a FUSE

R.I.P. Overstrike... You will be missed.

Many of you may not have even heard of this game. Overstrike was revealed at E3 2011. It was beautiful. The trailer looked like a fun, campy, actiony, shooter with Team Fortress style graphics, and funny unique characters. Y'know what just see for yourself.

Doesn't that look like fun? Doesn't it look awesome? I got so excited for this game. It has everything that's missing from most shooters today. It looks like fun, and it looks like its not taking itself seriously. On top of that, it is developed by Insomniac, the company that brought us the fun and lovable Ratchet and Clank. How could it go wrong? Well, a few months ago, I heard about FUSE.

FUSE was released last week, and it is a 3rd person shooter with guns that use advanced technology. These guns can do any number of things, like freeze people, light people on fire, and cause small singularities that explode. At first I just thought that this was yet another shooter that would come and go with a small fan base but not actually cause any impact on gaming culture. Then I heard that it was developed by Insomniac and EA. This made me worry a little, but I dismissed it thinking it must have been a side project. Then, well, I saw the trailer.

The exact same characters, the exact same weapons, but it isn't the same game. Its like they sucked all the fun out of the game and replaced it with everything it takes to be a Gears of War clone. This made me so depressed. Well, not really, but I was sad ok! I even played the demo in hopes that the characters would at least feel like they did in Overstrike, and they didn't. I have yet to play the final product, and I want to like it, but I do not have any faith that I will enjoy it as much as I would have enjoyed Overstrike.

What is it these days with game companies taking a concept that is unique and fun and making it just like everything else? When did color, and goofy but fun character designs become something we should be ashamed of? Why does every character have to look like a bad ass? What do you think? Should games start to stray away from this norm? Would you still play games that have slightly goofy characters? Let us know using the comment box below.

That's it for this week's At My Limit. On Saturday I'll be bringing you more gaming news with another Breaking News. Also next week Zach and I will both be posting reviews, and we'll be adding another new post to our schedule. Don't forget to subscribe for notifications whenever we post new content. And especially don't forget to reply to the questions we asked in this post!

Soul Sacrifice... Oh! I play this game!

Soul Sacrifice is a action adventure game developed Sony Computer Entertainment Japan. It was released on April 30th, 2013 for the Playstation Vita. The original concept was created by Keiji Inafune, the co-designer of the Megaman and Dead Rising franchises. Upon the release of the game, Vita sales tripled in Japan. Soul Sacrifice can be compared to games like Monster Hunter or Dark Souls, though the combat is significantly easier.

Story - 9.5

Librom, the Sorcerer's Journal

Captured by an evil sorcerer you are going to be sacrificed to fuel his immortality. You are thrown into a cell to await your demise, but you soon run across something quite peculiar: a talking book. This book, who calls himself "Librom", offers to help you escape and defeat this evil sorcerer. He explains that he is the journal of a deceased sorcerer, but not just any journal, a magic journal. Through reading his pages you can actually experience the events written within. Any knowledge you gain inside the world within the journal stays with you when you come back to the cell. As you read Librom, you learn spells and abilities that will help you defeat the evil sorcerer. You flip through the pages, one after another, learning more and more about the world you are experiencing, the past of this mysterious sorcerer, and gaining the knowledge you need to make your escape.

Overall the story is very well written, and quite emotionally charged. The story is told from the perspective of the sorcerer who wrote Librom. There are several chapters to the main story, and between twenty and thirty side quests for other adventures. Soul Sacrifice starts off slightly slow, and confusing, but as you play the characters develop well and you find yourself quite attached to Librom's author. The story is told mostly through narration as you read through the pages of the journal. It is done well, but it would be nice to see more actual interaction in or outside of the journal to help flesh the story out more.

Audio - 6

There are literally know big name voice actors in Soul Sacrifice. I can't even find information as to the cast for the English version. The voice acting for this game is not bad, but its not really that good either. Librom and the msyterious sorcerer who wrote the journal are the only voices that really stand out at all. I really wish I could find who played them, but it seems that they're pretty new to the voice acting industry. The music is also pretty un-noteworthy. The boss battle theme added to the intensity the first few times, but after that it was just background noise and I hardly noticed it.

Video - 8

Like the audio, the video is fairly disappointing, but has more redeeming qualities. In the few cutscenes that do exist, there are no mouth movements. When Librom speaks he has mouth movements, however, his lips randomly stop mid sentence. The game does have very interesting and beautiful environments going for it. They range from waterlogged castles and deep forests, to molten volcanoes and quaint towns. The enemies and bosses are grotesquely beautiful to look at as well. All of the basic enemies are all deformed versions of actual creatures, like cats, birds and mice. Bosses are twisted versions of mythical creatures, like elves, centaurs and hydras. Though it has its downsides, the overall appearance of the game is still nice to look at.

Gameplay - 9

The gameplay is one hundred percent action oriented. There is no real exploring, or roleplaying, just spell slinging and sacrificing. Soul Sacrifice is made up of a series of quests, mainly to hunt down large monsters. When you accept these quests you choose which spells to bring with you. As you use your spells, they lose charge, and as things die, their souls become exposed. You then have the choice of what to do with them. You can either save them, and regain some of your health, or sacrifice them and regain some charges for your spells. This also yields experience depending on which option you choose. If you sacrifice, you gain "magic" experience. Magic levels give you boosts to your spell attack power and make you good at killing things faster. Life levels give you better defensive abilities and effect the potency of your healing spells. You can have a combined total of 100 levels divided between the two trees.

Save or Sacrifice, You Choose

When you start Soul Sacrifice, you may also customize your name and appearance. You may choose between several different heads, and various costumes. This is especially important because there is an online multiplayer feature, where you can team up with other "sorcerers" from around the globe to hunt down more difficult monsters. You can party with up to 3 other players and fight monsters that you do not see in the single player mode. The the multiplayer lacks story, but is quite fun.

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Overall, I think Soul Sacrifice is a very enjoyable game. If you have a Vita, get this game. It is definitely one of the most fun games on the Vita. Soul Sacrifice is rated M for Mature for blood and gore, suggestive themes, and violence. I would consider this one of the borderline Teen games. It has a lot of blood and gore, but it doesn't really look realistic. The atmosphere and story is dark, and there are minor sexual conversations that fly by, but there's nothing you don't really see watching Lord of the Rings. I'd say that this game is ok for someone at least 13-14 years old, with your own parental discretion of course.

Soul Sacrifice gets a final score of 8.1, but personally I'd say its a 9 on the fun-o-meter. I really enjoyed this game, and if you enjoy games like Monster Hunter, you will too. Don't forget to check back on Thursday for another At My Limit where I'll talk about the game Overstrike, and what it turned into. Also check back on Saturday for Breaking News and you'll be sure to get new info on the upcoming Xbox One. Next week, Zach and I will both be reviewing games. If you have a Google account, you can subscribe for updates whenever we post new content.

Breaking News: The $200k Game, and a Future Star Wars Battlefront.

As many of you know the Xbox One was announced earlier this week. I'm not going to be focusing on that today, but you can click here for my special report on it, or here for my personal commentary on the presentation.

Back in January Atari announced they were going bankrupt. Soon after they tried to auction off their complete catalog of games as a whole and failed. Earlier this week, they announced they are going to be auctioning off their game franchises in July. This time they will be auctioning the titles separately. The auction will take place over 4 days. To read the full story click here.

Need for Speed Rivals was teased this past week. It will feature seamless transitions from single player to multiplayer gameplay, using a system they call "Alldrive". I expect that it will work similar to the system Journey used. Rivals is going to be an open world racing game. You will be able to choose whether to be an underground street racer, or a cop and each faction will unlock different cars. This will also be the first Need for Speed game in 7 years to feature Ferraris. Click here for more information.

Bungie's upcoming title "Destiny" showed off a new trailer this week. It shows a few human and alien vehicles, some enemies, and the dynamics intended between the 3 different playable classes: Titan, Hunter and Warlock. Destiny will be an MMOFPS (massive multiplayer online first person shooter). More information, and a full gameplay trailer will be revealed at Sony's panel at E3 on June 10th. You may watch the new trailer below.

EA games clarified that they intend on not only supporting the upcoming next generation consoles, but they will also continue to produce games for the current generation until at least 2017. The CFO of EA games, Blake Jorgensen also teased a potential revive of the Star Wars Battlefront series. When asked about their rights to produce Star Wars games Jergensen also stated that they want to develop games that are independent of the movies, but they will try and piggyback off the movies' success. We will have more Star Wars games to look forward to as the new movies approach. Here is the original story.

Those of you looking forward to the racing game Grid 2 might want to save up a lot more money. In the UK you can buy a 125,000 pound ($188,700) special edition of the game. This special edition includes the PS3 version of the game, a PS3, a special in game BAC mono supercar, a special BAC brand helmet, racing suit, gloves, and boots for your personal enjoyment, and a limited edition BAC mono supercar to enjoy around town (and yes, it is street legal). Not only that, but you'll also be invited for a tour of the BAC factory, and you get a meeting with the techs to customize your mono before you leave. For the full story click here.

Battlefield 4's release date was officially announced for current generation consoles. It will be released on October 29th in the US, and November 1st in the UK. You can watch the 17 minute gameplay trailer for battlefield 4 below.

That's it for this installment of Breaking News. This week I'll be reviewing the PSVita game "Soul Sacrifice". Don't forget to check back on Thursday for another At My Limit. This week I'll be talking about the disappointing transformation the game Overstrike went through before its release. If you haven't already check out my posts about the Xbox One and tell us what you think of the new console. You can also subscribe for notifications whenever we post new content.

At My Limit: Are We Getting Xboned?

Yesterday I made a post about the Xbox One. I did my best to be as kind to it as possible. Today, the gloves are off, I'm going to tear this console a new one. The presentation was awful, the game line up thus far is really bland, and the console itself seems to be, well, not a console. I know that E3 is right around the corner, and Microsoft will probably show off their games, but that doesn't seem like that great of an idea either. At E3, Nintendo will probably be showing off the newest installment to the Smash Bros. franchise, and Sony has their supposed exclusive Final Fantasy game to get people to buy their console. Microsoft's plan seems a little flawed to me.

Microsoft Exec Don Mattrick Showing Off the Xbox One

Lets start with the presentation itself. People talked, a lot, but not a lot about games. They seemed to have a bigger focus on television then on gaming itself. They talked about the new Halo TV series that's being directed by Steven Spielberg. They talked about how they were partnering with the NFL so you can watch football on your Xbox and manage your fantasy football team. They had interviews with sports athletes regarding the Xbox One. They talked about how you can use your Xbox as a TV more. Is this a gaming console or a fancy DVR? It almost feels like Microsoft wants to compare gaming to Hollywood and say "see we can do that stuff too!" It seems like its trying to make gaming the little brother of the movie and television industry, chasing the heels of its older brother, trying to aspire to be like him.

What about the games they announced? Oh yeah, Madden, like I haven't seen that before. Forza 5, looks just like every other racing game from the current generation, shiny cars going really fast. How about this new game from Remedy? They did some cool survival horror games in the past. Oh, wait, this trailer is so vague I can't discern anything about the game. Wait, is that a live action cut scene? Yeah, that's a real step forward, its not like we can't render near human images that move on computers... oh wait. Finally, at the end of the presentation they talk about a big title for their console. I get excited, what could this be, something that actually makes this console look appealing? Nope, its just footage for the next Call of Duty game, and its not even stuff that's exclusive to the Xbox One. And with this new Call of Duty, they use such advanced AI that fish move out of the way when you approach them!

The Xbox One User Interface

The rest of the information on this system is just as abysmal. Yeah, we can use fancy voice and motion commands to do everything. It makes us feel like we're in some awesome sci-fi movie. I give it a week before that loses its glamour. All right, we can use Skype, or Netflix, or surf the web, or watch youtube videos on our new game system. Wait, can't I do all those things on say, an iPad, iPod, Smart TV, or computer? Hell, even the 3DS can surf the web and use Netflix, and it isn't even the most powerful handheld on the market right now. Seriously, this console is trying to make itself appeal to me by showing me that it can do everything my other stuff can do. What else can it do? Can I put it on the floor and have it roll around my house vacuuming like the Roomba?

What about these restrictions on gaming? You have to pay a fee if you want to use a game registered on someone else's account? So basically, your trying to piss off used game retailers, rental stores or websites, and people who like buying their games used all at once. Oh, and being required to connect to the internet every day because of the cloud? This is a great idea, every person who would have one of these consoles has to have a stable internet connection. Ever want to have a console accessory that you can't ever disconnect? Well then the Xbox One with Kinect 2 is for you, because you can't operate the system without having this bad boy connected, its that revolutionary. And if it couldn't get worse, you aren't supporting standard definition televisions? What are you Microsoft, some multimedia snob that can't have your games played on anything but the best?

You did a real nice job putting your foot in your mouth too Microsoft. Having the Xbox Live General Manager advertise the ability to support always online games. Then having him say that he hopes that developers take advantage of this feature. That sure doesn't seem like there's any ulterior motives there. Or how about putting restrictions on indie developers on your console. It must suck up so much money to have aspiring game developers make small games for you. Oh, and when you addressed the lack of backwards compatibility, it was totally smart to say "If you're backwards compatible, you're really backwards." Also, nice arbitrary figure saying that only 5% of gamers actually play games from previous generations. I am the 5%.


Well, if you've made it through my long winded, sarcastic rant, I congratulate you. So far the Xbox One, or Xbone as the public has dubbed it, does not impress me in the least. Maybe E3 can bring some hope to the console, but they need to really show off a big exclusive to win my favor. At this point, even if I got an Xbone for free, I'd either sell it or it would collect dust. Even the Wii U has more appealing titles than this. Saturday I'll be doing a full edition of Breaking News, you can click here for yesterday's special report detailing the Xbox One presentation. The ball is in my court again next week, and I'll be reviewing Soul Sacrifice. Feel free to comment telling us what you think about the Xbone, and who you think will come out on top this console war.