Old Republic pays tribute to Carrie Fisher

Not exactly an event I wanted to return on but felt ignoring the passing of Carrie Fisher in favour of yet another Nintendo Switch rumour would be wrong. More so in the light of her mother Debbie Reynolds also passing.

Fans across the Star Wars fandom have been paying tribute but a certain one has our attention. Thousands of Fans have been amassing in Star Wars: The Old Republic's version of Alderann (the adoptive homeworld of Fisher's character) to pay tribute to the late actress, writer and activist.  PC gamer is reporting that high-level players have been wiping out the mods to allow low level (and new) players to reach the ancestral home of the Organa family. Players have also organised a petition asking for a statue based on Fisher's likeness be placed where the players are paying their respects.

Abe's Take.
Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia is a shared childhood memory for all the GK-UK team, Our hearts go out to her daughter Billie Lourd who had lost too much over the last week.

Editorial notice: Yes we are aware of the "issue" with the SWTOR tribute and ATM don't care about the implications on the films.

Look back: Super Mario World

Yesterday was the SNES' American 25th birthday. Lots of the web celebrated the glorious day but to us in the GK-UK office because... well the US SNES was an ugly, blocky, purple monster with disgusting Parma-Violets sweets (that I also hate) for pad buttons.

Whilst we wait till next April for the EU 25th for our full celebration I've decided to give a quick look back/review at my personal SNES highlight Super Mario World, which along side Street Fighter II  was one of the most played game on me and my brother's shared SNES.

Super Mario World is the first game I have a clear memory of completing and I remember 4 year old me sinking so many hours in to it searching for hidden routes, the alternate Yoshi, and competing in home made challenges against my brother (such challenges I am certain will soon become drinking games).

SMW is an all round fantastic SNES game as the graphics, gameplay and music are all top tier. The sprite work is nicely detailed whilst maintaining the bright colours that instantly invoke memories of Saturday morning cartoons. The work that went into the art clearly paid off as the title still looks great today (for an 16bit 4:3 game in an 1080p HD 16:9 era). The music and sounds are all highly effective any body who played the game in their youth will react to hearing the Haunted House theme with a cold sweat. In fact take a listen (the below is an 60 part playlist of the entire OST, so enjoy) All the music was composed by Nintendo's own musical genius Koji Kondo, using only a electric keyboard. One thing that stuck out to me was the ways they manipulated the music to the level/events with cave levels featuring the theme slowed and echoing, where as in underwater worlds the music is more waltz like creating a wave like feel, and any time you hop on an Yoshi Bongo's accompany the main track.

The games difficulty starts nice and easy before adding in more and more levels of complexity, the difficulty curve is nicely balanced and creates a rewarding sense of progression. Super Mario World added in several new abilities for the man of 'stache included the "feather cape" which whilst initially seems to be a simply reskin of the Raccoon tail and Tanooki suit but gave greater control of Mario/Luigi's flight allowing players to gain more air by swooping down and pulling back up (a skill that would go on to serve games in other titles such as the Arkham Games) plus you know, capes are cool. The other addition that ended up sticking around was everyone's dinosaur pal Yoshi. 

Yoshi gave players a larger jump, an extra hit of damage, the ability to snatch enemies at range, and an heartless ejection system: that would save Mario from a pitfall drop whilst sending his loyal dino to his doom. Yoshi also possessed unique abilities depending on the colour of the Koopa shell he was holding in his mouth. Red shells gave him fire breath, yellow shells gave Yoshi ground pounds and blue (purple) shells gave Yoshi wings, Rainbow shells gave him all the powers, and finally green shells did... well nothing you spat them back out. these abilities could also be overridden by riding one of the alternative colour Yoshi hidden in the special world. These guys would ignore the shells colour and instead granted abilities based on their own.

Super Mario World is available on the SNES, GBA, Wii, Wii U VC and New 3DS VC

NX Round Up

So here we are back from our holidays, political shenanigans, Diablo III, and our multiplayer fueled nightmares! So thought it wise to play catch up with some of the info thats been whipping around for the last month.

It seems the NX is starting to get a lot less mysterious and we'll start with some confirmed news before descending into into the murky depths of rumour-land.

Dragon Quest is coming...
Now I know what you're thinking "Haven't I heard this before?" and yes, yes you did. Last year during Square-Enix's Dragon Quest event they confirmed both Dragon Quest X and Dragon Quest XI will be arriving on the NX. The internet gasped at the first confirmed games was actually third party then in the same amount of time it takes to get an angry phone call SE back peddled and said they was considering the two titles for the mysterious system.

Well now SE has backpedaled on that backpeddle (wouldn't that be forward-peddled?) and have since (re)confirmed that the final version of Dragon Quest X will launch on NX and PS4, along with Dragon Quest XI. Juding from the game directors comments the NX version of Dragon Quest XI wont be a port of either the (2D&3D) 3DS version or the rather pretty PS4 version but an third game to share the DQXI name. However SE plans on releasing all three versions simultaneously as they don't want spoilers from one version to ruin the other two.

Sonic's Coming to the NX
It's not surprising that the NX would get a Sonic game as Nintendo appears to be the blue hogs home away from home. It is surprising that its the same game that is also hitting the X1 and PS4.  There's even a trailer for "Project Sonic 2017" which is "totally not" Sonic Generations 2

Ubisoft
Ubisoft might just be the most vocal of the third parties when it comes to the NX. They was the first to announce (and stick to) an NX game (Just Dance), they was the first to confirm they had seen it, and now they have some more teasing for us. Ubi is clearly excited by what the NX is and what they could do with it.

"We announced that we're developing Just Dance for NX and we have other surprises that we will announce later, but we also believe Nintendo has the power to reinvent the way families are playing. Nintendo is a fantastic powerhouse of brands that are really cherished by a lot of fans and families... I am still impressed by the reoccurrence of success and appetite even today for the Nintendo franchises on the current system" - Alain Corre

Shame they don't feel like sharing.

Third Parties
The other third parties have been a little more... reserved. Bethesda says they may make NX games but its "too early to say" which considering their history of not working with Nintendo seems to be more of a "no-maybe" . EA on the other hand is still playing a little coy with statements like "we never said we wont develop for Nintendo" and stuff like this

"Nintendo is such an instrumental part of our whole industry. They deserve to be successful, and they deserve to be a major player in the business, given their pedigree. It's not only the machines that they've built, but also the IPs they've brought to market. There are very few companies like Nintendo. Whenever they bring something to market that we see an addressable market for, we'll be there. Given that they haven't announced [a new console] officially or shown it, I can't comment specifically" - EA VP Patrick Soderlund

Here's a quick tip for you EA: Don't go into the NX half-hearted and independently to the other systems, You cannot again do something like drop ME3 on Wii U then announce ME: Trilogy on the other systems and tell Wii U gamers "if you buy enough of part 3 will let you buy 1,2, & 3".  If the NX can handle an ME: Remaster and a Battlefield then do it!

Eurogamer's report. 

Ah welcome to the first grimy layer of Rumour-Town. This story comes from Eurogamer who has "multiple sources" confirming the NX to be an handheld first console that can connect to an TV. The device will supposedly come with two detachable controllers (euro gamer states this is to play split screen in handheld mode, whilst others including us believe this is so the device can be docked) and will be powered by an Nvidia Tegra X chip. We say "AN" because eurogamer's sources couldn't confirm if the retail units would be powered by the X1 or the unrevealed X2. The report gos on to say the NX will use 32GB cartridges for games, whilst running an all new custom OS which combined with the system's all new architecture means backwards comparability wont likely be happening (at launch).

The difference between the two X chips? X1 is less powerful than the PS4 whilst the X2 is said to be more slightly powerful than Sony's (current) box.

Nvidea Cancels Shield Line.
Continuing on with the rumour line. Nvidia has officially  canceled the Shield line of tablets and gaming devices. The shield range was conceived as a way of showing of the power of the Tegra chipset to other manufactures (such as self driving car companies) whilst making some money off them. So why would they cancel they cancel the new line that was set to show off their brand new very powerful "system on a chip" the X2? They'd only do that if they had something bigger up their sleave. This lends an enormous amount of weight to the Eurogamer report.

MVC adds to Eurogamer's Report.
Trade publication MVC confirmed EG's NX story whilst adding their own extra details, namely the games that'll launch in the first 6 months. According to MVC the NX will see mainline (non-spin off) entries in Zelda (Breath of the Wild), Mario (Miyamoto suggested as much) and Pokemon franchises (surprising). MVC also confirms that Nintendo all ready has "support" from  Sega, Square Enix, Ubisoft, Activision and Warner Bros.

Obviously 3 of those names we've all ready talked about as they have all ready confirmed. Call of Duty seems an obvious choice from Activision although its had stuggles on a Nintendo console, however Destiny 2 could possibly grab Nintendo fans in a way CoD has failed to. Warmer Bros contribution would either be a GOTY Arkham Knight or a late Injustice 2 port.

Monster Hunter
This is the darkest rumour in the realm as it seems to be exclusively told via whispers. "Monster Hunter 5 will be exclusive to the NX and will launch November 2017" the reason we're talking about it here is it simply makes sense. MH is a big hitter and releasing an all new exclusive will help Nintendo shift 1,000,000 NX in Japanese NX in a day. Adding to that Capcom seems to be existing by producing exclusives on every system.

Abe's Take
There you go all the rumours that we (think) we missed whilst we was gone. My feelings on the NX have not quite realised just yet. As an 3DS successor it sounds great but as an Wii U one it seems... side-ward thinking. Of cause its possible another rumour is true the NX is a multi device platform and this is the first handheld version.

EA @ E3

EA is first taking on E3 this year, with its own take on Nintendo's direct. EA's take involved 2 separate shows running side by side in the US and UK. I'm panic writing this article "live" so it will be rough as hell.

EA CEO Andrew Wilson starts by confirming Star Wars, Titanfall 2, Battlefield and Mass Effect Andromeda. Wilson says there are now over 2 billion gamers, cant help but feel that includes mobile.

First up we're getting a look a Titanfall 2 with Vince Zampella. First we get to see some multi player New pilot powers (teleport, grapple hook), Titan powers that look like they have been lifted from the avengers including hulk shock waves, and Iron-man chest laser. There will be 6 new Titans

Commenting on the earlier single player leak, "for those 4 people who didn't see the leak". Its all the same footage, we have aliens, awesome robo-human teamwork and anime buster swords. All in all its largely what you'd expect from the Modern Warfare guys.

Next up is a Madden trailer... which to an UK citizen looked... fine I guess (sorry for our US readers). Usual sports game updates, better season, more realism and better commentary. However it appears Madden (and probably Fifa) is EA's attempt to lure more people into pro gaming. With three teirs of eSports. The first is basically fan ran events with custom rules, the 2nd is one ran by partners with them establishing rules, and finally and top tier EA ran tournaments.  

Now EA is showing off an eSports bit... and it comes off a little silly (to me) with programmers being treat the same way as Boxers are before a fight. EA is hosting an Madden championship with an $1,000,000 price.

Next up is Bioware... I'm going to privately scream.

"you are the alien" is the central theme for Mass Effect Andromeda, 90% is apparently going to be all new (in universe) so all new tech, all new planets and all new races. Looks like we're not getting a new trailer but we do have lots of behind the scenes footage which is filled with gameplay and movie clips. It dose look really really nice, which is to be expected on a current gen exclusive frostbyte powered game.

EA is introducing "EA Play To Give" which appears to be in game challenges that once completed send a donation to charity for a total of $1 million.

Next up is Fifa 17 (more but different screaming), EA is saying this years entry is "revolutionary". An every excitable "football fan" Hunter is telling us about football fantasy in the playground vs video games. The following trailer is showing off what appears to be a fairly dramatic story mode following said football fan "Hunter". the character talks and looks nicely animated, it doesn't appear to support custom characters. Apparently "The Journey" (which is the name for Fifa 17's story mode.) is so in depth it requires them adding the managers in game.  

More of the usual sport title updates, more interestingly is them showing off the "new rookie talent" rendered in the Frostbyte engine.

The success of last years Unravel has inspired EA to create its own Indie label - ironically named "EA Originals" despite the self serving name, EA is actually going to pump all of these profits from these titles back to their developers. The first title in this label is "Fe" which frankly looks like your typical artsy indie title, it dose however look like it could be an interesting experience much like Beyond Eyes from last years xbox E3.

Next up is Star Wars. First up is Battlefront 2 which will "reflect fan demand" and also feature content from the new films (assuming ep 7 and rouge one), In 2018 Visceral action adventure original story. a brief alpha clip was shown and it looked very nice on a desert world. And finally Respawn's game will be set in a "different era" and will be a third third person action game (the behind the scenes video showed a mo-cap light saber dual at Respawn).

Finally we have Battlefield 1.first up is a short in game teaser for what appears to be the single-player, which is all very very nice looking. Battlefeild 1 will feature more natural and intuitive destruction, The maps also feature dynamic weather which will directly affect how you play. The game will also feature Behemoth vehicles such as the Blimp, Armoured train and Warships.

Next up os the rest of the tease and boy dose it look good, the effects seem suitably overwhelming and intense,

Feature: What We Want in XenoVerse 2

There was a lot of great games last year but one that came out of nowhere was DragonBall Z Xenoverse. DBZ games have a history of being somewhere between not good and rather good. Xenoverse was the first truly great (yet flawed) DBZ game.

For those who don't know DBZ Xenoverse was a pusdo-MMO (think Destiny) fighting game which saw you create your own DBZ fighter and go all Doctor Who traveling through the DBZ timeline and fight to correct its history. It was pure fan service wrapped in an enjoyable combat and fantastic visuals. After the story was complete there was a whole host of what if missions to be played in co-op and all for epic loot.

There was flaws however; The loot was RNG horror not unlike Destiny's first year, the story skipped out various parts of the series including rather bafflingly the entire Andrord Cell arc (sure it had the Cell games), the competitive multiplayer was pretty broken thanks to Super Saiyan's infinite energy and the entire Z-souls (special buffs and abilities), and finally simply playing with friends was a needless headache of sever cycling.

Yesterday news broke that it will be getting a sequel this year. Here's the trailer and might I say that the art style is brilliant, clearly the decision to limit this one to current gen is paying off.

So we saw some interesting things, lots of things from the anime that the first game missed are back (Namek, History History of Trunks) and what appears to be the generic hero from the first game in hologram statue form and the new player character looked a little the old ones child.

More Story
The story of the first game was pure fan service but did skip random sections for no apparent reason. whilst the trailer showed some more the teaser site actually holds my interest here. The teaser site had various promo artwork for the DragonBall, DragonBall Z and DragonBall Super (the brand new show) shows but also their movies. Another area the first game mostly skipped.

Fix the Saiyans
Not so much for balance, Super Saiyans are ridiculous OP in the shows anyway, there was other issues that annoyed fans.

1. Becoming a Super Saiyan simply meant equipping and using a skill.
2. The transformation only affected your hair colour not its shape, 
3. You could only become Super Saiyan 1-2, you couldn't become an Super Saiyan 3 or 4. (admittedly this would of require the game to alter you characters model mid match) 
4. No tails, this was a complaint of the minority but fairly valid point as almost every Saiyan in the show had a "tail story" except Goten and both Trunks. 

Fix the LootThis was something that got old very fast. Some missions had special requirements that had to be completed for you to get certain items BUT that didn't grantee you actually getting the item. Playing the same mission over and over is expected in this sort of thing but to spend an hour and walk away with 30 Hurcule wigs did not feel good.

Clothing
There was some pretty annoying issues with the clothing in XV, that just wouldn't go away.

1. Remove the stats or lets us customise them all. In the first game clothing drastically altered your stats but the top level gear is based on characters from the show and as such we couldn't make our characters unique (There was a LOT of orange Dogi in online lobbies)
2. Battle damage - seriously this is a staple of the franchise and certainly would add some dramatic flair to battles. 
3. Weapon skills didnt require the player to have said weapon equipped, hurt the immersion somewhat.

Better Balance
Super Saiyans ruled online, that was fine they are Japan's Superman after all. However the Z-soul system quickly turned sour, if you didn't use one of 4 certain Z-souls you had lost the match before it had began. That being said playing as Earthling getting creative with Kao-Ken and Potential Unlocked to defeat the glowing gits was immensely satisfying.

MentorsThe Mentor system was cool in the first title but didn't actually feature much training, it was usually 4 fights spaced out over time. Most of these training sessions was defeat foe in x time, it wasn't overtly thrilling, some missions did throw unique objectives at you but they was few and far between. Hopefully the seemingly younger protagonist means more meaningful training.

Abe's Take
I know there's a fair amount there and it sounds like the game upset us but we really did enjoy the hell out of the first game, It even handled its first two DLCs fantastically (the third one was more a content drop). The game came THIS CLOSE to being brilliant and that's very unusual for Anime games.

So I'm heading off now to pretend to shoot lasers from my hands!

FEATURE: Don't buy New Gen Yet!

That's a pretty provocative title isn't it? It's not meant to rile up current gen owners (like myself), The X1, PS4 and Wii U have some amazing games both from internal studios and external ones but if you're not here with us yet (or are looking to jump ship), please just wait a few months.

So lets get round to that title and to why, Right now there is plenty of great deals on next gen systems but there is also non-stop swirl of rumours making those deals... not that much of a deal. We're at a cross roads right now. With things like new systems, VR, hardware updates and who knows what else at E3 all geared to throw the status quo straight out of a window.`

Wii U
Lets start with the most likely of the three. We know Nintendo has a new system on its way, currently codenamed: NX. What do we know about it? Not a whole lot if we're talking facts, we know Nintendo will give the world an real look at it during June's E3 event. This obviously makes the Wii U a slightly shaky purchase right now. We're only 90% certain that the NX is a home system to replace the Wii U. The only "certainty" according to rumour and analysts is that it'll launch in November.

Risk: High, its unknown if the NX will play Wii U games.

PS4
Now moving on to the middle likely one. This October Sony is launching it's VR headset for the PS4 but it wont plug directly into the console. instead the headset connects to a box (that actually looks like an baby PS4) that boosts the consoles specs to handle the demands of VR.

Why you should hold of? There is repeated reports of an updated PS4 being launched this year, unlike previous revisions like the PS2 slim this one is said to be an upgrade. Either names the PS4.5 or PS4K. The rumour says this version of PS4 will have the VR's extra grunt built into the console making the PSVR set up a little bit more entertainment center but these reports claim that this version of ps4 will (somehow) output games at 4K instead of 1080p.

Risk: Moderate to High, I personally don't think Sony would go the annual update route as this would start annoying customers as exclusive content starts appearing. I do however believe that they would release a PlayStation-VR, an PS4 geared towards VR having the extra grunt built in but coming with the PS-Move controllers instead of a DS4.

Xbox OneHere we are at the last one and the most confusing. Rumours began to swirl around when head of Xbox Phil Spencer said he didn't want to wait for a generational leap to improve Xbox one. This instantly lead people to believe Microsoft would release modular hardware updates so users could upgrade their machine for more performance. Spencer shot that idea down saying "I don't want fans opening up the Xbox with a screw driver". This led fans to believe that MS planned to release a similar to the rumoured PS4.5, A Xbox 1.5 if you will. Again Spencer shot this idea down.

So right now we have an concept "more xbox one power" but no idea how, the only remaining concept would be MS using cloud streaming to augment the Xbox one's processes.

Risk: Low to moderate. MS plans are unimportant right now as they have stated they want their games to be both backward compatible and forward compatible, we shouldn't see .5 exclusive releases. Hell from the sounds of it we could even be seeing some PC games come to X1.

Abe's Take
This article is hard to write as I don't like telling people to not get involved in gaming, right now there is some mind blowing, fantastic titles but I've also bought devices only for a better version to be announced a few months later. It's best to hunker down and wait till E3.

6 Predictions for today's Direct

Greetings one and all, merry Nintendo Direct day! To celebrate the return of the fan favourite Nintendo news delivery in a web format, we are going to run down some predictions for today's show. Some are based on evidence and others because I may of sneezed just a little too hard.

Lets start with some sane ones based on the evidence and not a hyper sneeze.

Twlight Princess HD 
There has been so much evidence of this game that it would be more of a surprise for it to not feature in today's show. With it's decedent Zelda U absent this year and unlikely to appear in this Direct as I'd expect it would get its own direct special.

Minecraft Wii U -
This is a newest entry of the evidence ones. Today the PEGI ratings board has apparently outed the Indie mega hit Nintendo debut. It's been a long time coming as Minecraft has made a certain sense for Nintendo's system. The game's art style would look glorious in 3D and the Wii U's Gamepad just 'fits' it perfectly. Now throw in amiibo support and you've created a licence to print large amount of money. Matching Nintendo's love of surprises according to the PEGI board Minecraft Wii U even has a release date... TODAY!

Pokemon Z 
This one has also been a long time coming and the timing seems about right. The Pokemon company has revealed an new legendary Pokemon Zygarde for their next movie. The new series of the anime is called Pokemon XY & Z and finally today Pokemon game director Junichi Masuda has asked that people watch today's presentation. It is possible that today's Direct will cover Pokemon Mystery Dungeon.

Now lets move on to the INSANE portion of this festive day. These are unfounded fever dreams of predictions.

F-Zero
Lets kick this off with a twisty one. Perhaps developer Shin'en's long gestating "F-Zero like" game "Fast Racing Neo" has been re-branded by Nintendo as F-Zero Origins and will launch early next year.

Metroid
Another Direct "leak" veteran that always pops up whenever the term "direct" is whispered. In a effort to appease the fans upset about Metroid Prime: Federation Force Nintendo will release the Prime trilogy exclusively for New 3DS.

Microsoft X Nintendo
This is the biggest brain destroying sneeze idea. Minecraft is the first part of a multistage deal between the two gaming giants. Under the deal both Nintendo and Microsoft would finally get to re-release Goldeneye for the Virtual Console and Rare Replay. Nintendo would be able to access the other Nintendo Rare games for the VC and certain HD ports such as Banjo - Kazooie HD for Wii U. Microsoft would be able to produce their own amiibo for Minecraft and other cross projects. To celebrate the deal Banjo will come to Smash Bros.

Abe's Take
The "sneezers" are all unlikely to impossible but that's part of the fun of these Directs, the guessing, the teasing and a little bit of letdown, After all its impossible for Nintendo to deliver everything these things as they tend to focus on the next few months.

Lets Talk: Is Microsoft handing the keys to the Kingdom to Sony?

Since there is no interesting news, I blame Fallout 4 lurking over the horizon for that.
I've decided to rumble on about something for a little bit. Today I'm asking "is Microsoft playing too defensive?" You see during the 360 era MS dominated Sony by grabbing exclusive rights to games, advertising and early access DLC. Which made the PS3's early years with out any major exclusives an hard fight but an stellar comeback and MS's giant PR nightmare of the X1's reveal changed all that.

After loosing ground on Sony for a year Phil Spencer declared they was going to stop paying for exclusive content, advertising and games. Instead taking that money and reinvesting that money in their own studios and funding new games from other developers (instead of buying exclusive rights to existing games). At the time this very Nintendo-like approach was applauded by many as it meant more games and IP for Xbox One but the end to what many called the "money war",

During the 360 era MS aggressively pursued what it called "partnerships" with publishers locking in early DLC access, games and advertising. Many a Sony fan often claimed Xbox was "buying the market" and it was unfair. This caused a tit for tat bidding war that saw each console getting extras for different games making it hard of third party fans to own either system.  MS ending the "money war" could of changed that but something else happened.

Sony grabbed every exclusive contract going and not only drastically tilting the multi-format game in their favour but also meaning most adverts (both digital and physical) of these titles being PS4 branded. With Mircosoft only advertising its exclusives this Christmas; two of which aren't full exclusives Tomb Raider an timed exclusive and Fallout a multi format with early mod access. This creates a very poor image system that it shares with Nintendo "it only has its own games". Which is very untrue for the Xbox. Its an image Microsoft can not afford after their rough start and "resolution gate" (which is admittedly dying after Battlefield Hardline knocked BOTH systems down an HD peg). To show this advertising issue lets remember that by Sony's own admission their first party PS4 Christmas (the most important time in game sales) line up is incredibly light, yet its dominating in terms of advertising.

Following the Street Fighter V PS4/PC exclusive announcement Phil Spencer confirmed Microsoft wont "invest" in games that would compete against its own IP. The foolish idea an Free-to-play title can compare to the biggest fighter out there aside this create's competition where it's not needed, I highly doubt the all but forgotten Killer Instinct would of experienced any real drop in revenue when SFV launched 3 years later. This "us vs them" attitude certainly explains why Sony now has the early access DLC rights to this years competing shooters Black Ops 3 and Battlefront, which launch less than a month after Halo 5 (which will feature no-cost DLC maps).

The problem here seems to be they went from "playing to win" to full retreat. In reality what MS should of done is to continue its bidding for these contracts but instead of playing to win, they should of just "played to draw". Sure the first few times they might have to pay of parity between the platforms but it wouldn't of been long before Sony said "look we're both paying for nothing, lets just not bid" and both sides would have more money for original content.

Will the Nintendo style first party first approach work for Microsoft? Well we don't know yet as there doesn't seem to be any of these new first party titles out yet. MS is still trading on the last of its deals Tomb Raider (game), Fallout (early mods) and next year's The Division (DLC). This new generation of first party titles not only have to be good to lure players to the Xbox One but they also have to represent the console in advertising, which means they have to be ready on time as delays will create gaps in their marketing. You only have to look at the Wii U to see the damage that those gaps can cause. Microsoft has a tough fight ahead of it as it must effectively fight its allies (third parties).

Battlefield Report: Splatoon Impressions

And we're back after all the crazy shouting that was the UK general election which members of or team was involved in trying to poke people into voting or simply hiding from the Internet "poo-storm" that politics creates. Our return has coincided with Splatoon "test fire" day.

It's not common we get to do prerelease impressions here on GK-UK as we try to make sure we have the same access as you guys at the same cost. So here's our early impression of Spaltoon

For those who don't know Splatoon is Nintendo's new online multiplayer focused IP. Whilst it's third person camera and controls are similar to other third person shooters. Much like it's Mario Kart and Super Smash Brothers games, Nintendo has put its own on spin on the genre. Instead of being kills focused, players are tasked with spraying the environment with their weapons and the winner is the team with the most ink on the field.

At first things like squid transformations seem really bizarre additions until you realise that it acts the same way as sprinting in modern FPS games, You travel faster, harder to hit (your most;y invisible in your ink), jump further and also allows you to climb walls covered in your team ink and even reloads your ink tanks.

As you can see the battle quick coats the environments in bright colours. The change of focus and bright colours instantly make Splatoon feel distinct. It took a few matches for me to adjust to this games take on the genre (much like playing Smash and Kart for the first time) but soon I found myself really enjoying the battle, the last minute or so become an intense frenzy as both teams assault each others ink hoping to gain the edge (I lost one match by 0.2%).

There are some decisions that seems weird (and i'm sure will be used on forums as a complaint) on the surface that now I can see why. Splatoon features randomised teams, no voice chat and (in full release) maps rotating in pairs every hour. At first blush these seem crazy but after an hours worth of play I understand. With players spraying Ink on surfaces it's easy to see what you have to do with out needing to talk to your teammates, "is it your colour? No - spray/yes - move one" and the gamepad shows you in real time where is sprayed, whose sprayed it and what's uncovered. The D-pad allows you to signal for help which team mates can leap straight to you via tapping your icon on the gamepad. The time locked levels and randomised teams are an attempt to stop one team repeatedly stomping repeatedly and gives everyone the same chance to learn the levels.

This game oozes charm and is surprisingly intense, this stress test handled reasonably well with only occasional lag (I ran into one instance in a hour) and the server getting full (for this test there is only one server but full release will have a server for each territory - EU, US & JAP).

This beta experience along with Splatoon's lower price tag with additional maps, weapons, game modes, and costumes coming every few weeks after launch for FREE makes this a very easy preorder.

Splatoon can currently be Pre-ordered at Amazon for £29.00

Sale Titles Impressions

Picked up some titles in the sales. Due to the sales closing soon instead of review's I'll post impressions on the titles I've acquired

360 Sale - ends Monday
Foul Play currently £3.49

Fans of Castle Crashers, Side Scrollers and fans of characters named like Baron Dashford really should check out this side scrolling beat em up. The entire game is the "true" life stories of demon hunter Baron Dashford told though a stage show, complete with. All the bad guys are in-fact actors dressed in costumes. This game bleeds charm directly into your eyes.


Eternal Sonata currently £7.49

Fans of JRPG's and more precisely the 'Tales of...' games will enjoy this slightly odd VERY anime. The combat is turn based, though combat is free form. You are free to run around, attack, Use items and magic as you want within the time limit. The story is very much in the realms of anime. The game appears to be in a dying man's dream world. The art style doesn't look lifeless/doll like like a lot of anime games. The characters an nicely animated and designed.


3DS sale - ends Thursday

Steam Dig World currently £3.99



Steam Dig World can only be described as an Westen themed, Steampunk, metroid-vania, Terraria title. You'll explore a mine to find materials to sell and craft upgrades. as you explore the mine you'll discover caves which may hold upgrades like sprints and charge jumps that let you explore new areas. Much like the game's inspirations how it sounds and how it plays are different.