Sony just kicked Xbox’s Butt R.I.P Microsoft

So E3 yesterday was a big event. It was great we heard from Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony. I also released my prediction about the Xbox’s chances moments before the reveal. All I can say is WOW I mean…WOW. Sony basically watched Microsoft dig its own grave and effectively shoved them into it on E3. Microsoft might as well rename it D-Day on their calenders. The day the real gamers packed up their controllers and headed over to Japan and with them they shall take the interests of the non gamers who deem it necessary to purchase a console. I’m not even going to talk about Wii U because…I mean it’s Wii U what’s there to talk about?

I can’t lie to you, I’m pretty upset Microsoft. I mean I’ve been a die-hard Xbox fan since the original console broke free in 2001. I got that console as a Christmas present and began dutifully building my game reserve including titles such as Halo (obiviously), Madden, Legacy of Kain, Advent Rising, and the like. Ever since then I was Xbox all the way. I worked hard to save up enough money to get my 360, then proceeded to get Halo 3 and 4, Gears of war 1-3, dead space, lost planet, stranglehold, and more. I paid for my Xbox Live subscription and played the games online and watched netflix. I even got the Kinect and three games for it. I marveled at how I could wave my hand and it would cycle through the options. I could speak and it could hear and take commands. I loved my Xbox and I loved my 360 so when I heard news of a new Xbox console on the horizon after oh so many years I was quite enthused to say the least(why am I talking like that? Its late forgive me).

However news of the Xbox1 was all bad in my eyes from the boxy VCR style design to the “always online” issue(has to be connected to the net every 24 hours), to the no games from friends(has to be through the cloud system, you must be signed in to get to your game). It seemed like they put all of the resources not into making a better system(the xbox’s pure power pales in comparison to the PS4’s) but into making a box that would suck up the money from your wallets, pockets, and couch cushions. FOR SHAME Microsoft. That’s exactly where my prediction came in. My line of thinking was that if Sony was smart they’d focus on what historically sells consoles, power, games, and compatibility. Everybody buys used games, its just the way things are. Its not really hurting the companies pockets because at the end of the day the amount of people that buy the used games would never buy the games at full price anyway. They are literally only buying the games because they are used and at a reasonably lower price. Yet Microsoft insisted on going with a “perception profit” style instead of a “realistic profit” style. Realistically the reception of this E3 has been nothing short of the worlds roughest knockout blow.

Uh yeah sony’s the one doing all the flips

See Microsoft forgot what this entire industry is really based on, gamers. Nintendo didn’t forget with the Wii who apparently they are trying to emulate in terms of grabbing an audience that doesn’t really use consoles. Yet in reality most of Wii’s sales were motivated by gamers who loved the new spin. The new spin just happened to be something that was extremely accessible to those who don’t usually play video games. This whole Television thing is not going to do Xbox one any good. Why pay extra for something I already have a box for?

So basically Sony let everyone question their motives on why they were staying silent and they let Microsoft feel smart by talking and talking. Then they took the stage and delivered death blows to their competition. “Yes you can buy used games.” The crowd exploded which is funny because that’s really the bare minimum we really want to know about backwards compatibility but because Microsoft set the bar so low its just something that needs to be cheered for. We can take our games to our friends house and play them on the Ps4. Which after the amount of time they’ve spent making everything a co-op and everything multi-player you’d also think THAT was bare minimum as well. Then we get to the price…Xbox’s hefty 499 price tag for something that everyone is already have MORE than second thoughts on is going to be a huge obstacle to conquer whereas PS4 right now has all the positive press and media generated AND a 399 price tag. A hundred bucks cheaper and an already better looking deal if the Xbox was exactly the same price, that comparison alone is enough to warrant switching your preferences. If there was anyone in the middle they’ve probably shifted to Sony just based off the price.

The only thing that can save Xbox at this point is the games. However to tell the truth they are on their fifth halo their fourth Gears of war…I don’t know if there is anything left for them to do that will be so amazing that I’d have to get THIS console. Even still Sony announced Kingdom Hearts three. KH3! PEOPLE! First that game is one of the best ever with one of the best sequels ever. If you go back and watch the original intro movie the graphics more than stand up and that was on the ps2. Imagine what they are going to do with the ps4! That’s just one game people, they also have series over at Sony that will be coming back bigger and better on the ps4. Xbox has a few good games coming but none so much that will make it so that those who must make a choice between the two will choose them.

Xbox…you just got KNOCKED OUT.

Sony walks the boulevard of broken microsoft dreams while pondering how to save a life

I’ll be reserving my ps4 as soon as I get the money. So sad I really was looking forward to you Xbox1 but…I just can’t throw away money like that. R.I.P Microsoft gaming…maybe try the hand held arena?

P.S Nintendo has a new Zelda coming out for the hand held based on a link to the past also the Smash Bros for the Wii U has been announced.

P.P.S or whatever you’re supposed to say. As I finished writing this and casually clicked over to my Facebook page I saw an update from IGN saying that “Mad Max” has been announced for the PS4…ok Sony…now you’re just being mean the ref already counted to ten why are you still hitting him?

Says it all

Thanks for reading.

Sincerely

Brian Bell-Wiseguy Industries

Xbox One Follow Up-The Prediction

Ok so if you haven’t heard the Xbox One was shown awhile ago at a large demonstration in Seattle and London. I was following the show and made an article which you can view here. With the rest of the world tuned in on their television sets Microsoft rolled out their plan for the new Xbox console which can be broken down to Television and Xbox equals Chocolate and Peanut Butter.

Ugh it always goes straight to my hips, then my gums bleed out, but its totally worth it

They spoke about the new Kinect which will come with the Xbox, the compatibility with the television, and the Halo show. However in their little presentation they neglected to mention some of the flaws (outside of the name) but our friendly neighborhood Sony was more than happy to tweet shady remarks about them until we could finally see them ourselves. However before we get into strictly Xbox problems, the need to address the state of the gamer nation is high so this I shall do.

Ok the trend of the industry moving away from the gamers has been long documented. We’ve seen it and especially with the advent of the Wii, we’ve lived it. I mean they really were able to capitalize on people who never would have played games before. That’s great, whoop-ti-doo great for you Nintendo really, but who do you think introduced these foreigners to the games in the first place. That’s right, the hardcore gamers. If you piss off these people NOBODY will buy your product because WE are the experts, not your fancy advertisement campaigns with your clever phrases and puns. Not your millions of dollars that you spent developing the product. No it is US the Gamer Nation that holds the fate of your company in our hands…and we…are a butterfingery bunch. Why the slightest aggravation could cause us to lose our grip!

Just try us

Even deeper down the rabbit hole you’ll find Gamestop which uses the slogan “power to the player”. Yeah I remember when that actually used to be TRUE for them. I’d get a game maybe it was already scratched, maybe somehow it got scratched the same day I bought it, either way it was “Power to the player” and I got another disc. Now they try to swindle even more money out of you by requiring that you buy an insurance policy. That’s right they now want you to pay for something they used to do for FREE. The reason this messes with me is because it is one of the MAIN reasons I went to them because lord knows I wasn’t selling them any of my games. However this is just another facet of the move away from hardcore gamers. Microsoft sees this and is going right along with it so now that you have that back story, let’s get into the issues with the one they call….the one…for whatever reason.

Dude just call it the first thing that comes to mind and lets move on

KINECT MANDATORY

First off it comes with the Kinect which sounds great BUT that’s probably going to drive the price up. Now if later on I discover this is not the case and the price is around the same price as the 360 was (plus inflation) then I shall retract this statement. However any way to make an extra buck seems to be Microsoft’s saying these days so I doubt I’ll be doing that. Also the reason that the Kinect comes with it is that it will be MANDATORY for ALL GAMES. Now that doesn’t mean that you will have to use it as a controller in every game. I’m sure they won’t have you leaping about the room to the next Final Fantasy game. However it will be used for everything from turning on the Xbox to in-game controls by reading your game controller. It can be a good or bad thing however I’d love to have a choice in the matter. Don’t get me wrong I totally went out and bought a Kinect and thoroughly enjoyed all three games I ever played on it. It’s a great concept and it’s nice to see that they have enough dedication to it to do something like this. Yet it just seems to be a bit of a stretch just like…

The Xbox1 Look

Ok so many people around the net noticed this so I’m glad I’m not the only one. Does it look like a 90s VCR to any of you? For those of you who don’t know what a VCR is…grow up and stop making me feel old. The Xbox1 looks big and clunky, a direct opposition to what they pushed with the curvy (kind of) 360. I loved the look of the 360 and to replace it with this mess just seems crude. It looks like a generic box, and not much fun. Usually in advertisement you DO judge a book by its cover and this one looks like some boring book about the growth cycles of worms.

Sounds fascinating!

Internet Connection

So apparently you will HAVE to have the internet to use this system. Every 24 hours it must be connected to the internet which SUCKS. I mean seriously to play a game that I bought, with my money, from your company, I have to then pay another company 25 plus bucks a month to get access to play it??? What sense does that make? None and yes it’s been confirmed that even offline activities will require this. This leads me to believe that Microsoft has a very narrow view of economics. See if you buy something one time that means you saved up for it. Even if you couldn’t afford this Xbox every month, you can afford it maybe once a year or maybe once every two years, but now that you have to factor in the additional internet costs…it’s just not going to work for a lot of people. Especially for people outside of America who you do realize, are also an entirely large market. I know people take it for granted that internet access is there for everyone but that’s just the problem, when making a multi-million dollar investment, you can’t just assume.

No Used Games

As per their new philosophy of get every penny out of their pockets no matter how much it pisses them off, they’ve outlawed used games. Simply put you will have to pay for every game even if your friend brings over his copy of the game. Say little Johnny is all excited about Halo 5 and you plan on going through it on the co-op modes which by the way for YEARS they’ve been making so much more intricate because we’ve demanded it. Ok so he brings the game over you pop it in and because you are connected to the internet they immediately recognize that this is not a game that you have paid for and they shut your share happy butt right down.

Pictured: Bill Gates

Yep not so much fun for you and little Johnny is it? This is a shameless attempt on Microsoft’s part to stem the tide of people moving from brand new purchases to second-hand gaming. See games have always been on the expensive side but ever since they jacked the price up to $60 a game people have been throwing money at Ebay and Gamestop to get their games. Ever since that explosion happened the console creators that be have been scheming to get their paws on some of that sweet sweet cash. It wouldn’t be good enough to cut down the price about five dollars to see more people buy directly from them. They want to make it so that we the gamers have no choice but to crawl to them with our hands out begging.

sigh…it’s never enough is it?

No Backwards Compatibility

This one just doesn’t make any sense. I tried to make it make sense by saying “maybe they think everyone will just buy second-hand” but even that doesn’t fit because nintendo released Zelda on Gamecube and Wii and both did extremely well on both systems. This has been the case for many systems, Sony was still releasing titles on the ps2 for quite a while after the ps3 was released. Xbox one really through me for a loop. I’m supposing (if one will allow a supposition) that this was merely a side effect of the programming used to keep people from playing second-hand games. I mean we haven’t forgotten that red ring mess Microsoft so you are really going to have to prove yourself this time, and this mess isn’t helping your cause at all. I’m a die-hard gears of war, Halo fan but man this is ROUGH territory right here.

So Microsoft I love my Xbox 360, I loved my Xbox, and I really thank you for everything you’ve done with both. I mean I had about 90 games on the Xbox and 2 original Xbox consoles with 8 controllers. I sold all of it for the 360 and currently have about 50 games on that. I really do hope that I’ll find some reason to get this Xbox1 but as a gamer…I can’t see it. However I’m still going to keep my excitement and hope up for this console because I want it to be great.

C’mon get it together pleaaasseeee!

Prediction

Yet my official prediction for this system hinges on the oh so little knowledge of the competition. I really know nothing about the Wii U and plan on keeping it that way. The ps4 isn’t backwards compatible either but its a more powerful system but they still never fully utilized the ps3’s full potential. I’d say the fields are pretty even and after ps4 is rolled out we’ll really see. Right now I’d say Microsoft is going to take a loss, they’ve put the ball in Sony’s court, if they play along and do what Microsoft did then the gamers are screwed and we won’t have a choice. But if Sony gives in and keeps the used games as an option then Microsoft loses everything.

Thanks for reading! I hope you found it informative and entertaining as usual you guys are the best!

Sincerely,

Brian Bell – Wiseguy Industries

The 3 most promising Survival Horror console games 2013

I haven’t always been a fan of the survival horror genre…but that was only because when I was younger my parents wouldn’t allow certain games in the house. So yes I missed out on the first resident evil, silent hill, ok and the second resident evil. However eventually I was exposed to a little known game called “The Suffering” and my life changed. Resident evil 4 came after that and solidified my love for the genre so much so that I went back and played catch up with some of the other games. Since then my affair with these games has been a strained one. Many games claiming to be survival horror are at best action games with a few cheap jumps thrown in there. A few stand above the rest like Dead Space (oh how I love that game) Alan Wake, and Siren 3(I was lucky enough to play on a friends ps3). Now it seems with the critical failure of RE6 people realize they need to get back to their roots with this thing and now we are seeing a few games with some really good promise on the consoles and on the PC they are REALLY exploding(but we’ll cover those later). So without further ado let’s get into the list with…

#3 Until Dawn

This game takes the age-old tale of promiscuous teenagers in a cabin and a killer and puts you in control. Seems straight forward enough, the thing is they’ve made this game 2 player and it looks pretty interesting. You use a flashlight and a torch via the Playstation’s move controller which seems like a newer take on the Alan Wake formula. The thing about that is it can be tricky. If you had told me before Alan Wake was teased(forever ago I know) that a flashlight would be my only weapon, I don’t think I would’ve had too much hope for that title. I mean variety is one of the best parts of any game but Alan Wake pulled it off with various upgrades and a few choice other weapons. So with this one I’m holding a little torch of hope.

inSANE

Ok you got me…so not much is known about this game but from what we DO know, it looks like it will be amazing. See its a game by none other than academy award winning and freaky creature creator, Guillermo del Toro.

That’s correct Del Toro is getting into the video game field and the first game he’s making is a survival horror game. With his track record I’m sure at the very least the story will be compelling. The gameplay however is still up in the air as I’m not sure who the developer will be. Its still in production but he’s looking for a developer. The game is rumored to be based off the writings of H.P Lovecraft. Lets hope this one makes it!

#1 The Evil Within

Created by the originator of the Resident Evil series, this games trailer alone got me excited. I randomly clicked on the video while browsing facebook and was extremely impressed with what I saw. The game looks extremely dark, the trailer itself is scary and doesn’t look like the thrills will get old either. Everything looks eerie and the atmosphere is really what gives you the most scare in any horror venue be it a Stephen King novel or a haunted house. Here’s the plot of the story I found

When Detective Sebastian and his partner rush to the scene of a gruesome mass murder, a mysterious, powerful force is lying in wait for them. Witnessing the killing of fellow police officers one after another, Sebastian is then attacked and loses consciousness. Waking up in a land where monsters are wandering about, he has to fight his way through a world of death and his close friend’s madness in order to understand what’s going on. Sebastian has to face his fears in order to survive on a journey to discover what lies in the shadows of that mysterious force.

The plot seems like it will put you right back into the ORIGINAL survival horror driver’s seat. This means low ammo, hard times, and extreme scares. I can’t wait for this one to terrify me!

That’s my list for now I’ll keep you updated! Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,

Brian Bell-Wiseguy Industries

Batman: Arkham Origins Trailer

So recently the Batman Arkham Origins video game trailer was released. For awhile now there’s been a lot of speculation as to what this game would be about and who the villains would be. Well thankfully they’ve finally released a trailer.

Now a lot of people will be disappointed in the voice acting selection however a quick browsing of the IMBD page and you will see that Kevin Conroy is indeed back as batman, however the lack of Mark Hamill is saddening. Instead they’ve moved Troy Baker (Robin,Two-face from Arkham City) over to play The Joker, he’s a good voice actor so we shall see.

The reason they’ve changed voices is that this is supposed to be a younger batman. Just starting out I believe about two years in. Batman has not yet garnered the respect or help of the Gotham PD. Gordon is just a captain and Black Mask has decided to put such a large price on this new Batman’s head that head hunters from all over the world come to cash in. This includes Slade and Deadshot. The game again takes place over one night, Christmas eve.

It seems like this world will be even bigger and interactive than the last one. Each game seems to build upon what the last one established. Sometimes in video game trilogies this ends up adding too much extra gimmicky stuff and the last one is people’s least favorite. Hopefully the designers have treaded that thin line between too much and not enough growth.

Overall I’m pretty excited for this game, the Arkham series is the only series besides Gears of War that I’ve actually reserved and grabbed a place in line for. It’s never disappointed me so I look forward to this one!

Here’s a list of the voice actors from IMBD-

Cast

Nolan North … Oswald Cobblepot / The Penguin / Roman Sionis / Black Mask (voice)

Troy Baker … The Joker (voice)

Kevin Conroy … Batman – Older (voice)

Fred Tatasciore … Bane (voice)

Roger Craig Smith … Bruce Wayne / Batman (voice)

Martin Jarvis … Alfred Pennyworth (voice)

David Kaye … James Gordon (voice)

Chris Cox … Floyd Lawton / Deadshot (voice)

I’ll be updating this as I get new info!

Thanks For Reading!

Sincerely,

Brian Bell-Wiseguy Industries

Obscure Origin stories: Sonic The Hedgehog

It’s funny that a lot of the real origin stories for beloved characters remain buried under years of speculation, when the truth is out there lurking, hidden in the brush, but there nonetheless for those who will look for it.

It’s in there, go ahead, don’t be a wimp!

Well this time I’ve searched the depths of the “Internet” to bring you the origin story of one SONIC THE HEDGEHOG. Ok to be honest I read it in a comic book when I was younger but I didn’t fully remember all of the details so I DID search the internet a little. It was released as an advertisment/mini comic book.

I actually like the story. It has Sonic starting off on his homeworld of Mobius, that’s the name of the place every Sonic game takes place. Well, until perhaps 1998 whenthey revamped the story for Sonic Adventure, however this origin story still fits.

In the beginning of the comic Sonic is being chased by one Dr. Ivo Robotnik AKA Eggman. Sonic is too fast which leads Eggman to crash his ship in his haste to catch him. Sonic then attacks all of the Badniks he has with him, releasing the animals inside. After Eggman flees the other animals suggest they should go see Dr. Ovi Kintobor surely the good doctor could help sort this guy out? No silly animals don’t you see what they did there? With the names? Dr Ovi Kintobor is just Dr. Ivo Robotnik spelled backwards!

Right so how did this happen? How did Ovi become Ivo? Well without further delay, here’s the full comic I dug out of the internet just for my too cool readers!

I actually really like this story. It explains why he’s collecting the rings and why he’s this bright blue color. The fact that Eggman is contributing to his own terrible condition by making Sonic drop the rings he’s only collecting to help him is great in my eyes. I’m a sucker for tragic bad guys and heroes who want nothing more than to save them(i.e Batman and two face’s relationship in the animated series). If you didn’t know the origin to Sonic before, well, now you know!

Oh also there’s something floating around called the Sonic Bible which is basically the same story but its a novel and talks more about Sonic’s family. I might upload that later if you guys want me too :).
Thanks For reading!

Sincerely,

Brian Bell-Wiseguy Industries

Most Underrated Xbox Title of All Time!

Advent Rising!

System: Original Xbox

Price: Well when I bought it used it was $2

I remember when I first picked this game up for 2 dollars at a pawn shop in college. My friends and I came back from band practice (all music majors at the time) put it in the Xbox and sat back to see what a crappy game I’d purchased.

Immediately we were blown away by the composition of the music. I mean epic is basically the bare minimum for the term you’d have to use to describe it. It caught us so off guard we actually laughed.

This wasn’t what we expected.

STORYLINE

Almost immediately we were thrown into a new world where the stars were no longer the limits and humans were being sent out as ambassadors to meet an entire species that thought of them as holy creatures. Soon after they meet them, the aliens that want to destroy them attack their ship. The main character Gideon uses previously unknown psychic powers to help stop the attack and then he is sucked through a wormhole. That’s where the game really starts.

I’m big on character driven stories. I think everyone subconsciously is, I mean you can’t really care about what’s going on in a story if you don’t care about the characters. In advent rising they really push the dynamics between the characters. Gideon is the younger brother of a hot shot war hero. His brother basically gets him a job just off of his charisma and Gideon is left wondering if he is completely worthless. There are many other characters that add to the drama and feel of this game. Overall this storyline just gets 5 stars from me, this is what I love to see from my video games. Take it seriously, develop those characters and subplots!

Characters

Gideon Wyeth (voiced by Will Friedle) — The main character of the game. He is a member of one of the last human outposts.
Ethan Wyeth — Gideon’s hotshot older brother. Because of his celebrity following the Independence Wars, he is assigned the role of pilot for the mission of first contact with the Aurelians. He used his connections to instate Gideon as his co-pilot.
Olivia Morgan (voiced by Vanessa Marshall) — Gideon’s fiancé, a scientist assigned to Luriam space station.
Marin Steel — A decorated pilot from the Independence Wars, she encounters Gideon as he attempts to escape Bahr Han on her ship. She is captured by the Seekers and unsuccessfully imprisoned on the island of Teran, having developed her own psychic powers.
Kelehm Farwaters (voiced by Dwight Schultz) — A ninth-tier Garhgon (an Aurelian religious caste), he has trained himself in the telekinetic arts. Kelehm belongs to “the old faith” which states that the discovery of humans is part of a prophecy and the Aurelians will gain greater psychic power through them.
Enorym Tenspur (voiced by Michael Bell) — Ally to Gideon and the most highly trained of the Aurelian elite fighters, Enorym serves as a commander of the elite Felidic warriors. Enorym leads an assault on a Seeker ship shortly after Gideon learns how to use his psychic powers.
Bud – A troublemaking Marine that starts a bar fight with Gideon and later challenges him and Ethan to a training match. After losing, Bud fires a blaster at Ethan. The player then has the choice of either using a stungun to disable Bud or picking up a blaster and killing him, which determines whether his squadmates help you or abandon you in a later gameplay segment.
K’Chell — A Seeker ambassador who interrupts the planetary ruling council and demands that the Aurelians hand over Gideon and Marin. When Kelehm refuses, K’Chell kills him, then escapes to the ansible to inform the Seeker armada.
Sevan — A council member on Aurelia, he leads a rebellion to give the humans to the Seekers and avoid retaliation. After staging a coup, he co-opts the council, gives Marin to the Seekers, and puts Enorym on trial for treason.
Banath — Originally serving as Enorym’s best warrior, he is revealed to be a double agent for Sevan. Having planted a Seeker ambush inside the ansible, Banath becomes visibly angry after Enorym orders him to escort Marin back to the Aurelian capital. He returns with a dropship manned by other rebels after giving Marin to the Seekers and announces his betrayal by killing one of Enorym’s warriors. Gideon kills Banath shortly after Enorym is put on trial.

GAMEPLAY

As Gideon you’ll be able to utilize his kinetic abilities. One of my favorite parts of this game is the fact that he is just learning them. Now clearly this something many games use in order to make your character weaker in the beginning so the game will be harder. However in Advent rising they really mean he is LEARNING and he doesn’t stop ever. You get new and exciting moves and upgrades all the way through until the last stage. The greatest part of this game is they always throw something new at you and honestly its not even when one thing gets old, they just do it. Oh you’ve got a gun? Here take this Kinetic energy, oh you’ve got kinetic energy? How about SHOOTING FIREBALLS out of your hands? Oh I see you’ve got a Jeep- HOVER CRAFT!

Pictured: The head developer

One of the more interesting parts of this game is the control system. They have made use of a “flick targeting” control system that utilizes the second joystick. It’s very cool once you get used to it. Basically you flick the stick in the direction of the offending enemy and all of your attacks then go directly to that foe. This really comes in handy as its a large cartoony looking world. A third person shooter like that would have been a hair pulling experience trying to aim.

The enemies are intelligent and vary in size and abilities. They all have several specialized attacks of their own. While one tries to over power you with its extra limbs, another might try to snipe you from a distance, while yet another will try and Rambo you with automatic weapons. All in all the controls and enemies you fight make for very exciting and fun game-play.

Here are the actual controls for the game.

GIDEON CONTROLS
Left Thumbstick Walk. Run. Click In to Toggle Crouch/Stand
Right Thumbstick Flick Targeting
A Button Jump. Pull Up From Hanging Position.
B Button Melee Attack
X Button Arm Left-Handed Weapon (Hold). Dodge From Hanging Position. Activate.
Y Button Arm Right-Handed Weapon (Hold). Reload Weapon.
White Button Throw Grenade. Toggle Grenade (Hold).
Black Button Select Alt Fire Mode (With Right or Left Trigger)
Left Trigger Fire Left-Handed Weapon
Right Trigger Fire Right-Handed Weapon
Combo #1 X + A = Charge Jump
Combo #2 Any Direction + X = Acrobatic Moves

Also there are vehicles! These are pretty cool
SCYTHE VEHICLE CONTROLS
Directional Pad Enter or Exit Driver Side (From the Left). Enter or Exit Turret Side (From the Right).
Left Thumbstick Up = Forward. Down = Reverse.
Right Thumbstick Turn Left/Right. Aim Turret Chain Gun.
A Button Jump
Right Trigger Turbo. Fire Turret Chain Gun.

SHIPS/SHUTTLES CONTROLS
Left Thumbstick Forward = Thrusters. Down = Slow.
Right Thumbstick Steering
Right Trigger Thrusters

ANTI-AIRCRAFT TURRET CONTROLS
Right Thumbstick Aim
X Button Activate/Release
Right Trigger Fire

GRAPHICS

Now the graphics are the only reason why any one would ever doubt this game. The director made the choice to have elongated limbs which made them look more like comic book characters. This is an artist’s choice, however it gave them a weird gangly look (the game was originally supposed to be a comic book which may explain why he wanted this so badly). The frame rate does lag in certain areas doing certain things, however it is never enough to detract from the game as a whole. Plus I mean look at it! It still looks AMAZING for an original Xbox game. It plays well and by well I mean its extremely exciting.

Music

Ok I have to come back to this music because…well it’s part of me! I love music and truthfully a game with poorly composed music will make me put it down just as quickly as bad graphics.

But here are two examples of the total and complete epicness of the music for this game.

Here’s another one which is used a few times during boss battles but they have more themes as well.

The music was composed by Emmanuel Fratianni and Michael Richard Plowman and performed by Laurie Robinson and Tommy Tallarico. Here’s the list of songs for the entire soundtrack.

Advent Rising Original Soundtrack (57:21)
No. Title Length
1. “Muse” 3:08
2. “Poeta” 3:36
3. “Bounty Hunter” 3:05
4. “Aurelia” 3:03
5. “Greater Lights (feat. Charlotte Martin)” 3:52
6. “Glorious Human” 1:46
7. “Stolen Transport” 2:15
8. “Canyon Encounter” 2:04
9. “The Rise Of Aurelia” 2:01
10. “Edumeas Last Stand” 2:04
11. “Aurelian Conflict” 2:04
12. “The Aurelian Movement” 2:21
13. “Luriam Down” 1:04
14. “The Human Movement” 2:09
15. “Human Demise” 1:35
16. “Seeker Assault” 2:05
17. “Midst Of The N’Kul” 0:34

18. “Seeker Horde” 1:04

19. “Fiery Arrival On Aurelia” 0:55
20. “Power Within” 2:11
21. “Fortified Strength” 1:01
22. “Mastery Of Self” 2:20
23. “Return To Humanity” 2:16
24. “The Seeker Movement” 2:09
25. “Seeker Unrest” 2:05
26. “Conquest” 0:36
27. “Greater Lights (Jay-J’s Shifted UP Mix)” 3:58

WHY ISN’T THIS GAME HAILED AS AWESOME?

Well apparently there was a terrible marketing strategy of people being able to win one million dollars if they were able to decipher secret messages in the games various levels. Due to issues with security they had to shut down the contest which cost them quite a lot of money and advertisement. Also the first reviews for this game were way off, giving them five out of ten. Later they went back and fixed that with reviews like 8 out of ten or 7.8 out of 10 (IGN). Without advertising its hard to really get as big as you should be able to. However there is a core community online that knows about this game and they LOVE it. Its getting bigger and bigger by word of mouth, unfortunately it may be a little late for the company that produced it. However there are sites and Facebook pages online dedicated to this game and to creating a sequel.

SEQUEL

Will there be one? Who knows, it’s one of those things, teased forever but it’s anybody’s guess. Some things weren’t meant for sequels (Hangover I’m looking at you). However this game clearly was written to be given at least two more entries. Especially taking into account the terrific ending that happens AFTER the credits. Oh and that’s not just a cutscene there is GAMEPLAY after the credits. Yeah I had walked away (like a BOSS) after thinking I had beaten one of the best games ever made.

My face when I saw what was going on.

Suffice to say that last part was the icing on the cake. I mean that really let me know how much one, they respected this genre, and two knew about cinematic qualities being infused with video games. It was an amazing teaser for the next game which unfortunately never came out. Yet there are still those who are pushing for it.

On the plus side they have produced a line of comic books that I haven’t read but apparently they follow up so if you want to check those out here.

RATING

If you couldn’t already tell this is getting five out of five stars. The story is excellent, the music is amazing, the gameplay is exciting, fun and always advancing. It does a great job in making you feel what Gideon is feeling and all of these things merge together at the end to make one amazing experience.  The replay value is VERY high on this as they’ve included a way to upgrade different abilities. Also if its ever NOT fun to dive through the air and force blast an enemy into a lake of lava please stop the planet because I’ll be getting off.

So the bottom line is, if you haven’t gone out and purchased this game, do it. Seriously it’s like 2 bucks and an original Xbox is like 30 bucks now(because its not backwards compatible sucks I know.)

Thanks for reading everyone! I’ll keep  you up to date with new Xbox One news as well as PS4 news when they start delivering it. As always I’ll be bringing you old school reviews!

Thanks Again!

Sincerely

Brian Bell-Wiseguy Industries

XBOX ONE REVEALED TODAY DETAILS HERE!

Today is the big day! Xbox one is finally revealed in dramatic form in Seattle and London. Ok now some of these things (like Steven Spielberg’s connection with Halo, awesome) I will have to address in separate Blogs that I will link to in this article when they are up. However right now I will list everything that I can at the moment.

CONTROLLER

First there is a “new” controller that basically looks exactly like the old one but black and a little sleeker.

The real upgrades to the controller take place on the inside.

The triggers are apparently very responsive and the directional pad has been reworked for touch sensitivity as well.

Everything else pretty much looks the same, the joysticks are concave now which seems like it will give you a little more control.

The images on the start and back buttons are different but seriously relax people, they’ll probably do the same things as before.

The bumper’s are still there (remember the black and white buttons? Good times…)  With this controller Microsoft opted to keep the traditional controller and focus on other upgrades for their new system.

SYSTEM

The Xbox One is powered by an eight-core AMD processor and a very powerful graphics processor. Codenamed “Durango,” the console, gaming site Kotaku reports, will have 500GB of storage space, 8GB of RAM and USB 3.0 connectivity right out of the box. It also now has Blu-Ray capabilities! This will give us cleaner cut scenes and of course access to a wider movie base as everything is moving toward blu-ray (been moving toward it). It has wi-fi built in also which wasn’t featured in the original 360 but was later added into the Elite version.

All of this power will make for games with amazing visuals and equally amazing gameplay. Hopefully the story lines will be as awesome, graphics aren’t a band-aid for poorly written material.

KINECT

Kinect is now an extremely integral part of this system as it will not work without it. That’s what I said it WILL NOT WORK unless your Kinect is attached, but take a deep breath and chill reader, it comes with one.They have completely upgraded Kinect and it can now take 1080 video as well as notice subtle movements. It is also compatible with the Xbox controller. By moving the controller you can do different activities in the game which makes it possible to utilize the Kinect even in traditional games. They’ve also upgraded the speaking functions allowing for a wider range of voice commands utilizing the Kinect’s microphone. Another addition is the Kinect’s upgraded light to object meter and camera. It now has the ability to work in a completely dark room. Microsoft is really pushing the Kinect’s limits in order to captialize on one of their more popular add-ons. Seems like a good idea, Nintendo tapped into an entirely new marketplace with the accessibility of the Wii’s control. Perhaps just using your hands and voices will appeal to that same consumer base? We shall see!

GAMES

They haven’t revealed many games and the ones they have are the ones that are on every system such as FIFA soccer and NBA live. Microsoft execs have stated that there are 15 games in production right now and 8 are Xbox exclusive. They are probably saving these reveals for the E3 event and are focused more on the actual gaming systems special functions.

I’m sure however it’s safe to say that fan favorite trilogies such as Halo and Gears of War will be back for the Xbox1. Also I just saw the trailer for Batman Arkham origins that may be playable on Xbox1 depending on the release. Even still it may get a Xbox1 and 360 release so we can look forward to that.

I for one would love to see Prey 2, I loved the first game and even though the second one seems quite different, I wouldn’t mind seeing what Tommy has been up to.

SPECIAL FUNCTIONS

Xbox one will allow you to chat with friends on Skype(owned by Microsoft) while watching a movie on the new Blu-ray system or watching live TV, or surfing the web. In addition to adding more voice recognition functions, they’ve added a lot of integrated app functions. This means when you download an app such as ESPN, you can get the updates while you play. You can also hook your cable up to the Xbox and record shows as well as get show recommendations based on what you usually watch.

The real focus of Microsoft has moved from purely gaming to entertainment as a whole. Microsoft is attempting to send the entire entertainment industry through their product. From your cable television programs to their own programming that will be coming soon, you can send all sorts of entertainment through it.

Well I guess they had do something because as I hear Apple is coming with something similar later on, and people by Apple stuff just because it says Apple on it.

Microsoft has built deeper Smartglass support into the console, letting you use your smartphone or tablet to display secondary information. However this is the only thing that has been released regarding  news of Xbox one’s compatibility with tablets and mobile devices. Hopefully we’ll hear about that more later on. However for the present time that is the only thing that is a little disturbing. I’ve had the Xbox live app on my phone for awhile and I would love to see an upgraded version of that soon.

It’s clear that Microsoft has decided to attempt to grow not only with their games, but with entertainment as a whole. With this new Xbox they are attempting to give the consumer the ability to do everything from watch television to record videos, through their product. It seems like an exciting situation and I can’t wait to find out the (hopefully) amazing things that will be done with it.

The release date is sometime in 2013 though they failed to be more specific about when.

Sony didn’t stay quiet as they threw a little “shade” Microsoft’s way via twitter.

Well we await your full announcement with bated breath Sony!

Oh and Spielberg is Executive Producing a Live Action Halo series for Xbox Gold.

Ha! More on that later! Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,

Wiseguy Industries