GTA V, PS4, Xbox One and Why It's Coming

  

              Possibly the biggest game to drop this year was Grand Theft Auto V, it pulled in roughly $800 million in the first day alone and rounded out the $1 billion mark just 3 days after.  Just take a second to let that sink in for a bit, that is enough to buy the Chicago Cubs or build the Real Madrid Island Resort and is more money than any movie has ever made in an openning weekend.  Clearly this game is fantastic, everyone I talk to said that they love the story, the characters; even the graphics look great considering that the hardware is eight years old.  It seems Rockstar took all the things we wished they put into GTA IV, added it to the things we already liked and topped it up with some fresh shiny features.   

                I am dying to get my hands on this game, I LOVE the Grand Theft Auto series.  The amount of time that I spend glued to the screen playing Vice City would probably make an optometrist cringe and might have something to with the thickness of my glasses, but that is beside the point.  San Andreas and GTA IV were also excellent games, so naturally I was particularly excited for the release of GTA V.  I stayed up to date (or so I thought) with the news and watched all the trailers and videos but somehow I seemed to have missed one small detail.  The fact that there was a version planned for the PS4 or Xbox One…

               

Destiny: Bridging the gaps between MMOs and FPS

               When it comes to first person shooters most people tend to think of the Call of Duty franchise and the Battlefield series.  When you think of MMOs your mind usually gravitates to games such as World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 2 and maybe even Final Fantasy XIV.  These games define their genres; they have their own followings, diehards and haters.  Before I continue let it be known that I am going to make some very broad generalizations with the two styles.  The first person shooter usually boasts more in-your-face gladiatorial action than your typical MMO, but lacks the volume of content that a MMO can pack into a game.  That is something that a few developers seemed to have set out to change with this new generation of gaming consoles.

                Cue in Bungie (yes the Halo guys), with the reveal of their upcoming game Destiny, they are bridging the crevasse between the two genres.  This game to me looks like it is going to take the enjoyable things from each style; content, action, story and customization.  Hopefully by combining the two they can eliminate the feeling of repetitiveness you get from playing hours of CoD multiplayer, along with the feeling of dread you get when thinking about the time you need to invest in a new MMO. 

Elder Scrolls Online: Does It Have A Chance?

It is roughly 1000 years before the Dragonborn set foot into Skyrim and Tamriel is in turmoil.  The Ruby Throne sits empty in the Imperial City and four alliances fight over who is to rule.  The Daedric Prince Molag Bal has taken this opportunity to help plunge Tamriel into darkness.  He is working with the Tharn family who has allied with the Imperials in an effort to put Tamriel back under Imperial rule. 

Elder Scrolls Online allows the player the choice of the nine different races, which in turn will decide which alliance they become a part of.  Let me explain:

World of Warcraft and Your Last Day

As I write this the Vale of Eternal Blossoms is being destroyed. Mr. Hellscream has tossed the heart of Y’shaarj into the Polls of Power setting in motion a series of events that will ultimately being about his defeat.   

A last look at the Golden Lotus quest hub.

As we all sit patiently waiting for the maintenance to be completed and patch 5.4 to be implemented what I want to know is what did you do with your last day in 5.3?  Did you fly around taking as many pictures as you could of the Vale? Or did you simply go about your daily routine thankful that there is some new content on the horizon?

Titanfall: A Microsoft Exclusive

Whether you are someone who follows the gaming industry very intently or just a causal gamer, it is almost a guarantee that you have heard of Titanfall.  Taking home over 60 awards at E3 including Best of Show, Best Online Multiplayer, and tons of critics’ choice awards.  I mean with jetpacks, heavy weapons and giant military exoskeletons known as Titans, it is hard not to be a little excited to learn more about this game.

A Titan and it's Pilot

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, Well Not Yet..

I have mentioned before that I would like to do a sort of review in progress for Final Fantasy XIV but right now I have run into a roadblock with that.  After learning that my best friend picked up a copy of Final Fantasy for the PS3, it really sparked my interest in the game.  I knew I wanted to play it but I wasn’t in a rush to get my hands on a copy, so needless to say I didn’t pre-order a copy.  Well as you can imagine that has come back to bite me in the behind.  Of the two Wal-Marts, two EB Games and the Future Shop in my city there is absolutely zero copies for the PC available, and no one seemingly has any idea when they are getting any back in stock.  Whether or not Square Enix has put a kind of hold on shipping out new copies (similar to the halt they have imposed on the digital downloads) or whether just that they are back logged, is anyone’s guess

To say that I am slightly disappointed is an understatement.  After watching my friend play it and hearing about the cool things he is doing just makes me want to jump right in there and be a part of it.  For now I will have to get by with watching videos on YouTube and reading the many reviews until they are restocked.  Is anyone else experiencing this in their communities or is this something that seems to be localized to me?     

Xbox One Release Date and What it Means For You

It is official the Xbox One has a release date.  Microsoft has announced that the system will hit shelves November 22^nd just in time for the holiday season, but what does this mean for the console war? Let’s take a look.  

Battlefield 4: A Day One Launch Title

I just want to mention that I am very excited about this game.  At first glance I assumed that this was just going to be Battlefield 3 with better graphics, but the further I got into researching this game I realized that I couldn’t have been further from the truth. 

Just a note before I begin, the majority of this post will focus on the multiplayer side of the game, I will take a more in depth look at the single player campaign in the future.

Day One Launch: Call of Duty: Ghosts

For the next week or so I plan to write a daily post about a few of the confirmed game titles that will be launching alongside the Xbox One.  As of right now there is 23 launch titles confirmed with 4 of those being Xbox Live downloads and the remaining being retail sales.  Today I will be focusing on the newest installment in the Call of Duty series, Ghosts.

Man's best friend

Trading my 360 for an Xbox One and a Little Nostalgia

Walking into EB Games with my Xbox and all my games jammed into two plastic grocery bags felt a little strange.  Not being able to place the feeling I suppressed it with thoughts of how financially responsible I was being and how this one is destined to collect dust in some dark corner once it’s upgraded predecessor hits the shelves.  

Arriving at the counter I hand over my bags to the manager and explain to him that I want to put this towards the new one and he begins to connect my system to the small TV to make sure everything is in working order.  Then it hits me again and this time I realize what it is, nostalgia, and a little nervousness.  That is when I remembered that the last time I would have traded in a gaming system I was roughly 14 years old and it was at a Digital World, not overly far from where I was at that moment.  I still remember walking into the back of the store to literally a hole in the wall with a half door where I waited nervously to see how much money my PS2 and the original Xbox would fetch me (and being a tad bit disappointed…).