Impression of the BIG 3 @ E3 2014 !!!

So its that time of year where Video Game fans get all hypo and giddy about potential new video game updates & announcements, well I do anyways lol E3 is here!

Now that Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft have all there next gen (well current gen now) consoles on the market the focus this time around E3 will be about ..... GAMES, GAMES, AND GAMES... we hope!

So over the next week or so I am going to give my views on whats happening at this years E3, don't get offended with what I say or with what I may miss out but appreciate any comments.

Here was E3 the Schedule (thanks to a member on NeoGAF) for the big guns as always it seems MS go first with gap fillers from EA and Ubisoft before Sony caps off the first day, Nintendo like to let the dust settle from the first day and have there own say the day after to prove that last isn't always a bad thing!!

The first day was as per expected a mix of highs, lows and just plan WTF!!!! So of we go!

Microsoft

Pre E3 Conference - After a complete shambles of last years E3 announcements, DRM in out shake it all about, Sports, TV, Sports, TV oh and the odd game they needed to pull something out of the bag this time around. After going back on everything they stated at last years E3 I was definitely more interested to see what MS would come up with his time around, it was touted to be solely just about GAMES!!

Post E3 Conference - Er, hmmm, Ok they showed games! They opened up with............

Exclusive Content FIRST ON XBOX ONE !!!!!!!!!!

NO it wasn't Kevin Spacey well it was kind of lol it was....... Call of Dutzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Im not going going to lie I loath the series (hence why an image of Kevin Spacey and not the new Logo) and before you berate me Ive played most up to Black Ops where I stopped as it was the same old thing over and over, best bit was that Kevin Spacey is voice acting in the game.

Another Forza game

A new Forza game was announced "Forza Horizon 2" (First Exclusive xbox one game shown) for that loved the other forza games this did look incredibly detailed but tbh I havent been interested in driving games for quite some time, well simulation games much prefer arcade racers.

A quick snippet of the new game by Turtle Rock Studios called "Evolve" which looked very good but another FPS zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz dont get me wrong I enjoy the odd FPS but when there over saturating the market nowadays its hard to get excited by them.

Another Assassins Creed Game

Then a new wait for it !!!!! A new ......... Assassins Creedzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz yup another franchise that I care nothing for but for those I have to say it did look incredible visually, oh and its now co-op up to 4 players yay >_> !!!

So far so boring right! Then finally something of somewhat interest well for me anyways, the new Dragon Age game by Bioware

"Dragon Age Inquisition" only thing shown FMV but it was quite spectacular as you'd expect from Bioware but with the comments " Premiere Content on Xbox One" yes its a cross-platform game lol

So far only one exclusive up to this point shown which wasn't a new IP !!!

New IP from Insomniac Games

Then MS showed something new from Insomniac Games "Sunset Overdrive" with what was a cool informative flashy trailer it sparked into a live demo that showed of this colourful crazy world, I found myself loosing interest it just reminded me of a faster paced Dead Rising game with better controls, maybe a bit harsh but that's what I felt from that demo but you'll all get to experience it on Oct 28th.

Talking of Dead Rising lol straight after the live demo of Susent Overdrive came new DLC content for Dead Rising 3, which looked just as bonkers to celebrate Capcom's 31st anniversary. Actually found this more interesting than the new IP!!

Onward with a crappy new dance game and ANOTHER FABLE thing which allows you to play as villains whoop then "Project Spark" which is a game making tool to something that piqued my interest finally!!

"Ori & The Blind Forest" a new IP that looked incredibly gorgeous, the game looked like a action platformer but kept me mesmerised by its visual style! No details on this other than a trailer but this was enough to spark interest.

Next order of the day was to show that MS "IS" interested and all for indie games by showing a montage of games coming to Xbox One, after this came the debut trailer for the new Tombraider game called "Rise of the Tombraider"

Concept Art

After thoroughly enjoying the First new game in the rebbot of the series I was definitely interested in seeing this, only no dates or gameplay in fact nothing of information other than the Title confirmation! Then the announcement of another Xbox One exclusive "Phantom Bust" turns out its a remake of the original Meh!!!

Ubisoft then takes the stage and shows off one of my most anticipated titles for the PS4 YES MS showed off another Cross platform title but I didn't care.

Incredible Detail

"The Division". The game looks incredible, the level of detail is sublime and the trailer definitely took my anticipation up a notch for this game, MS also had to get across the point of "Extra Content" First on xbox one!!!!

Another Xbox one exclusive was announced it was a game from the very talented developers "Platinum Games" trailer roles all I can think about is Monster Hunter crossed with Drakengard nothing that wow'd me don't get me wrong the FMV looked great but nothing we hadn't already seen earlier with say Dragon Age! The game is  called "Scale bound"

The the final game shown was another exclusive for the Xbox One and another sequel "Crackdown 3" which again I cared nothing about, a final montage video of all the clips and it was finally over. Thank fuck!!!

Sony 

Pre E3 Conference - Well after last years E3 of publicly trying to get the leg up over MS by giving a IN YO FACE price point for the PS4, Games, Games, Vita, they even had the cheek to do a mock You tube video on how they lend games. I was keen to see how they would go about this years E3 specially as MS were going to be all about the games!

Post E3 Conference - BOOM Sony opened up with a counter title to MS Call of Dutzzzzzzzz, they opened up with.........

Bungie new IP

"Destiny". With an overly long intro to the destiny universe to then showcasing the new ltd edition WHITE PS4 that will ship with the game in September this year. I myself loved the first HALO game and so have been keeping a fairly close eye on this game and can say its looking pretty great so far, although cross-platform Sony is running lead on this title and offered up early beta access that kicks of next month.

Next up was another game that I have been looking forward to seeing more of and that title is "The Order 1886".

This PlayStation exclusive was finally given a game play trailer and while not overly heavy on combat it gave a sense of tension, 'whats going to happen next' just like the original Resident Evil did many years ago on the PSOne, not to forget that it looked incredible to, definitely one I want to see more of soon.

After some technical issues the next game shown really took me by surprise, "Entwined" it was simple, colourful and mesmerising, it was all about 2 creatures who fell in love that when brought together took on the shape of a dragon, you control each of them individually with each of the analogue sticks.

The game after being announced went live on PSN for PS4, with PS3 and VITA to come shortly after. To which I will be picking up shortly!

The next exclusive for Sony was a DLC story for Infamous Second Son, this would expand the story of Fetch, the most interesting thing about this DLC is that you wont need the game to play this but get extra content if you do.

Continuing with exclusives Sony showed the next instalment into the Little Big Planet universe with "Little Big Planet 3". Now initially I wasn't over bothered with this as I found the first on PS3 to be enough for me. However after watching the live demo and introduction of new characters I found myself more interested in LBP3.

Oddschock, Toggle, Swoop and Sackboy

The new characters of Oddschock a dog that can run much faster than the others, Toggle a giant that can move heavy objects or shrink to get through small gaps and Swoop the bird like character able to blow air or lift other characters over short distances and Sackboys new feature a gun that shots airbursts out to move smaller objects, these all give a new dimension to the multiplayer aspect and working as a team so was interesting to see even if the live demo was done badly lol. Yoshida then came onto stage to announce that all 7 Million plus user made levels will be available at launch for LBP 7 with better visuals.

Shuhei Yoshida wasn't just there to announce the LBP content he was there for something special, the announcement of a new exclusive title to PS4 by developers "FROM SOFTWARE"

Bloodborne

The new title is called "Bloodborne" touted to be the spiritual successor to Dark Souls and what you would come to expect it looked incredible and brutal, one i will definitely be watching out for.

Sony then showed actual game play footage of Far Crzzzzzzzzzzzzzz 4 with the only thing of note that you can invite friends via PSN to play with you even if they don't own the game, lets hope more titles take advantage of this feature!

"Dead Island 2" was up next and confirmed by Sony but tbh after the bore fest of the first one I wasn't really interested in this, the trailer was quite amusing though

More Zombies

Then a few tid bits of information regarding exclusive content in cross platform games, The Last of US content is coming to "DIABLO 3" Clickers and all, "Battlefield: Hardline" beta is coming to PS4 first, "Disney Infinity" new Marvel content hits PS4 first and "Destiny" will include exclusive map and co-op adventures.

 

Boyes then mentioned that PC focused publisher Paradox Interactive Studios are working on PS4 games (not sure if exclusive or not) the first that was shown was "Magicka 2" not my bag but the trailer was funny, but after this was something un expected another exclusive for PS4.

Released back in 1998 on PC

Yup "Grim Fandango" its getting a HD update exclusively for PS4 I never got chance to play the PC version but it is another game taken from E3 that I will be looking out for, Tim Schafer even made an appearance via video to show it off.

 

Indie titles were next up , "Broforce", "Titan Souls", "Not A Hero", "Hotline Miami", "The Talos Principal". Sony still pushing there commitment towards indie developers. They then showed ANOTHER PlayStation exclusive from the crazy mind of Suda 51.

More random Violence

"Let it Lie". The game showed of more of the usual bonkers violence you can expect from Suda 51, I really enjoyed Lollipop Chainsaw so will be keeping an eye out for this. Continuing on with exclusive content to PlayStation a game by the art director of Journey and Flower with his new studio Giant Squid. 

Again a mesmerising trailer of the new game titled "ABZU" which looks like a must if you liked Flower and journey. Continuing with the theme of exclusives this time a TIMED exclusive ( hits PS4 first) .

Explore Space

The game called "No Man's Sky" was another incredible looking indie title that wasn't on my radar but is now, with the promise of exploring infinite worlds deemed none to be the same its looking promising, every player will start on a completely different planet to have there own exploring experience.

Then Sony got in a mention towards the PlayStation Camera which will be an integral part to the upcoming Project Morpheus (VR Headset) which I feel is another gimmick just like 3D support is, the new SCEA CEO cam on stage to inform us all how well PS4 is doing numbers here numbers there!! Oh You Tube is now coming to PS4 for instant video uploads to your channel! New "Playroom" DLC and more Free-to-play games are also on there way.

 

While still boring me to death at this point the new service from PlayStation "PS NOW" is going to be going into open beta end of July meaning with just a dualshock 3 controller you can play games on SMART TVs and it ll soon be coming to VITA.

Over 100 Titles in the works

Not wanting to leave out the PS Vita it was stated that there are over 100 titles in the works for it including "Tales of Hearts R", Chile of Light", "Minecraft" (Full Console Game) to mention a few. After that very brief segment on the vita something new was announced, well not new if you live in Japan!!!

PlayStation TV

Yup "PlayStation TV" will officially launch in North America and Europe around Autumn time, this little device will allow access to PS Now, play VITA and PlayStation titles. It can also be paired with the PS4 allowing a second PS4 terminal in the household will definitely be keeping a look out for this.

 

A brief pause of services they are offering with the announcement and game play footage of "Mortal Kombat X" to then go back to upcoming services with the introduction of original TV content coming to PSN, the first delve into this is a series called "POWERS" sounded mildly interesting, they also announced a "Rachet and Clank" Movie with Insomniac Games involvement and a HD remaster of the first game!

Looks even better!!

Then something that almost everyone wanted to know a release date for "The Last of Us" Remastered, it was rumoured to have been coming the end of the year and many fans disheartened at that, but Sony put everyone straight by announcing not long to wait as it will be out 29th July 2014. I myself loved the PS3 version that I will delve back into the game for the remaster!!

 

Up next were 3 big hitters trailers, "MGS V" (was meant to be exclusive showing but leaked early), "GTA V" confirmed for PS4 and the pic of the 3 for me the incredible looking "Batman Arkham Knight" (exclusive Scarcrow missions). To then FINALLY close down a long winded show with.........

UNCHARTED 4

Just when all hope had been lost "Uncharted 4" was shown and boy was it worth the wait even for such a small trailer it looked incredible and has made the hype for this title even higher!!

 

Finally it was Nintendo turn!!

Pre E3 Conference - What to say about last years E3 well tbh I don't remember much from that conference other than the fact the Wii U there next gen console had been out for a year had nothing of value to show for it and there was 3DS stuff.

 

Post E3 Conference - With the other big 2 out of the way and a information leak on a few new Nintendo titles just before there event we got there opening piece which I have to say is the best opening piece of the 3, a animated version of Reggie stating there wont be any new Mario, firing fireballs at someone in the animated crowd for mention "Mother 3" to then switch to the real Reggie..... wait and Iwata....... WTF kicking the shit out of each other !!!!

 

 

Thing is it was done really well and was there build up to the showing of new characters in the upcoming "Super Smash Bros" for Wii U those characters were........ "Mii" no not myself well actually it could be, it was the incorporation of your own generated characters called "Mii's" with a job choice of "Fighter" "Brawler" and "Gunner" thing is the most interesting part for me was the fight as the game itself zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

 

 

So after that bore fest my link actually went down and I joined in partly through another un interesting piece, the introduction of "Amiibo" which to sum up is like skylanders spend loads of money on figures that can be used in different games that support them yay >_> !!!

 

Up next was something again I'm not interested in that's "Yoshi Wooly World" another platformer for Wii U, then another game "Captain Toad Treasure" which looked like Super Mario 3D World but with toad as a main character, wait whats this a new Zelda game ......zzzzzzzzzzzzzz sorry Zelda fans I lost interest after OoT blame Majora's Mask for my lost interest in the series! So far so un interesting for me from Nintendo only thing keeping me going is the possibility of something being shown on "X" (Xeno U).

Not sure on the new look Bayonetta!

A few more titles of slight interest were shown the sexy "Bayonetta 2" (still not used to lack of hair) the game looked great and I loved the first one then something happened they showed her in a Samus suit and Link outfit WTF!!!! A good point to take not of is that the first game comes bundled with Bayonetta 2 so will no doubt be picking this up! The second game of slight interest was "Hyrule Warriors" which is basically "Dynasty Warriors" with Zelda characters, I quite enjoy the Dynasty warriors games so this is on the radar plus I need something to justify having my Wii U. Yes you heard me right I only have 4 main Wii U games "Super Mario Bros Wii U", "Zombie U"(came with zombie U bundle), "Mario Kart 8" and "Wind Waker HD" (came free with MK8) of the 4 I only play MK8!!!!

 

A now title was shown called "Splatoon" shoot paint everywhere in teams, the team who covers the most area wins.......couldn't be less interested or excited at this point and slowly loosing all hope of "X". The announcement of a new Kirby zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz for Wii U, a "Mario Maker" Game for Wii U this allows you to build classic Mario levels like Little Big planet only its solely Mario levels!! There might of been other stuff but I'm falling asleep at this point tbh..... oh yeah Mainmoto-San made an appearance, usually I would be interested but due to a certain magazine leaking information of the games he could of spoke about all was said keep an eye out for the games I'm producing. It looked like he was playing "Star Fox" in the background well he most likely was as it was on of the leaked games lol but one again I wasn't interested in!

 

So ere coming to a close my hopes and dreams fading when Reggie says we have one more thing to show you..................OMFG YEEEEEEEEEEES 

Xenoblade Chronicles X

Finally the only thing I cared about from Nintendo current crop of games "X" now known to be "Xenoblade Chronicles X", the trailer didnt disapoint the incredible world, characters and music almost brought a tear to my eye, it was wonderful to finally see more of this the must own title for the Wii U and only reason I have kept hold of my console!! 2015 cannot come soon enough! This game trailer alone with the odd comical animation made it worth while sitting through the bore fest of a conference. Something to mention though Nintendo has set up "Tree House" which is going on through E3 and will include game play of titles interviews and the like !

 

So there you have it my run down on this years big 3 @ E3 on the grand scheme of things theres something for everybody but for me Sony had more that I was interested in yet less that was available this year! 2015 is shaping up to be a superb year for gaming if you like sequels!!!!!!!!!!!



My Final Fantasy Tattoo Collection ........ (So Far)!!

Its been over a year since ive posted anything on my blog, so I thought I would kick things off again by sharing my Tattoo collection seen as its related to something I love FINAL FANTASY!


So most of you that know me know I love Final Fantasy! So much so I decided to name my son after one of the most iconic characters in the series, ZACK from FFVII. This then spurred me to celebrate his birth just like I did with my daughter to get his named tattooed onto my arm! But this time I decided to combine my 2 loves further, My son and FF and the result was this!!

I decided to use the most Iconic image for my Favourite of the Final Fantasy series, the Meteor logo from FFVII! So after having this done I was so impressed it got me thinking at how bland my daughters tattoo was and that I should maybe get something added to hers to follow suit! After not much umming and ahhhing I decided to use the image from my second favourite FF game and this was the result!!

The image I choose was the FFX logo which fitted nicely round my daughters name. Again with such great results I couldn't help think what else I could get done to show my love for the series. Now that I had got tattoos for each of my kids I wanted to get something done for my wife. And I found the perfect image

Yup another Final fantasy tattoo this time the FFVIII logo, this was fitting as FFVIII is the only Final Fantasy game that my wife has really enjoyed and that we have enjoyed playing together, well I was there to help her boost the summons lol!! So after talking with the Tattooist who is also a fan of Final Fantasy about how cool the games and art are we decided to do a sleeve dedicated to the God father of the Art from the Series "Yoshitaka Amano". His work is so incredible and with so much art to choose from it was a no brainer really !

So began my Final Fantasy sleeve in the style of Yoshitaka Amano! The next piece I got that started the sleeve was my favourite summon of the Final Fantasy series ODIN. This piece is one of my favourites and to do it justice it needed to be fairly large so it was decided that it was best suited to my shoulder, the results were amazing, so while having this done we chatted about what to have done next.

 

 

So next up was this incredible image of Gilgamesh, one of the more iconic bosses within the Final Fantasy series which fitted superbly on my lower arm, so you by now have probably guessed the routine of what happened next at each tattoo session the next tattoo was talked about and planned.

 

My next two tattoos that we decided on to continue the sleeve with were another iconic enemy within the Final Fantasy Series the powerful Behemoth and one of the coolest characters within the series VIVI from FFIX.

 

So I know what your thinking while having VIVI done you planned your next tattoo weeeeeell yes we did, but what happened next was completely random. I attended a Kingdom Hearts pre launch event as I like that series too, while waiting in line to get some merchandise signed I had an Idea to do something completely random the result...........

 

 

Yup thats me getting my back signed by "Shinji Hashimoto", now your thinking wha...who..!!! Well you know that FFVIII tattoo I had done, well Hashimoto-san was the producer of that game. So while in the cue waiting to get merchandise signed I thought heck why not get my FFVIII tattoo signed (sorry wifey). After a few random looks they happily obliged! "Yoko Shimomura" (composer of numerous Square-Enix titles found it quite funny too as you can see lol

 

 

So the end result was the signature of "Shinji Hashimoto" inked in on my FFVIII tattoo which was such an Honor to have as he's worked on the series that I love. So back to adding tattoos to my FF sleeve right........ kind of lol

 

 

I say kind of as the only reason I got this image of Lightning for the FFXIII series was so I could get it signed by the developers of the FXIII series due to me being invited to a IGN pre launch event of Lightning returns, "Motomu Toriyama" ( Director) & " Yuji Abe" (Designer) were attending this event and after getting my FFVIII tattoo signed I wanted to continue to get the signatures of those who have worked on the series that I love.

 

 

So after a lucky break in the crowd as the directors were leaving I thankfully managed to get the Lighting tattoo signed but only by "Motomu Toriyama" as they were in a rush to leave due to being mobbed by everyone!!! So back to now filling my sleeve with awesome "Amano" artwork.

 

 

So next up was this great piece from FFIII now this was chosen due to being one of only a handful of images that would fit on my elbow in between the Odin and Gilgamesh ones, I have to say it came out great like the others. So the same pattern continued We had agreed my next tattoo.

 

 

I managed to get this awesome image of FRAN from FFXII, as she is one of my favourite characters from the entire FF series I had to have her on my sleeve and she fits nicely in the crease of my arm. So another Final Fantasy Event hit the radar which I managed to get to attend, this time is was a special launch with GAME who allowed for the first time ever to release a game earlier than the street date and that game was Lightning Returns. So by now your getting the picture of who might attend and what my happen right........

 

 

This is "Yuji Abe" (Designer) & "Yoshinori Kitase" (Producer) of the FFXIII Lightning Returns game, they attended the special GAME event, so I had to show them my tattoos and ask them if they could sign my Lightning tattoo........and they too oblidged

 

After these signatures there was a break due to deciding what to get done next in the gaps I had on my right arm, while deciding I managed to get tickets for the Infamous Second Son Pre Launch event only to find out that the voice actor "Troy Baker" was going to be there who did the voice for "Snow" from the FFXIII series, while in the cue to getting my "The Last of Us" PS3 game signed as Troy did the voice for the character Joel in it, I had another spark and decided that I would get him to sign my back ............

 

Yup that's "Troy Baker" signing my back and the after effects of getting it Inked in, as you can see it was asked of him to keep it close to the Lightning tattoo seen as he voiced for the game, but it didn't look quite right so I got his in game character "Snow" added to the signature to make more sense of it all.

 

 

So with the "Snow" image finally added to "Troy Baker" signature it finally finished off that particular piece and I could concentrate on the rest of my sleeve, now the next piece of art from "Yoshitaka Amano" art I wanted to have done had been spoken about for a while with the tattooist, but we both wanted it to be a large area to show off the detail.

 

Just so happens after playing around with some cut out images I managed to convince the tattooist the space was big enough on my right for arm to show off the detail, I'm so glad I did as this is one of my favourite pieces so far of one of the more famous characters from the series the "Chocobo". While having this tattooed and on a few previous tattoo occasion we discussed where we would go next when this arm was finished, we spoke about doing characters from a single series on my left arm, or potentially something on my legs. After much discussion we thought it best to stick with the "Yoshitaka Amano" theme of the right sleeve and continue it to the left. Thinking it would be some time before i started my left arm out of the blue the next tattoo happened!

The reason I say this came out of the blue is that I was meant to be getting the Chocobo coloured in but due to it not being fully healed he had to do something else so I suggested starting the left sleeve, again finding another image that we previously spoke about "Kain" from FFIV. The tattoist did such an amazing job I can't wait to continue and finish the sleeves!

So while I was getting ready to publish this post a funny thing happened.......

Yup that's right I got more ink done, Apologies for the blood but they are fresh off the bat so to speak, above we have the awesome characters of Rikku (top) and another FRAN (bottom) again tattooist doing a superb job!!


So this is where I leave my current status of Tattoos, not all are finished, requiring more colour or just a touch up but me being me cant help but add more wonderful images to fill out the sleeves before I complete one lol!!