Tag: xbox one

The Dork Knight Rises in Watch Dogs

Aiden Pearce Dork

Aiden Pearce is a dork. He’s also “The Vigilante”, the hacker who takes matters into his own hands on the streets of Chicago in Watch Dogs, the new hit from Ubisoft. Watch Dogs is a fun, enjoyable take on the open-world genre, even if it lacks in genuine originality or innovation. But the more I’ve played, the more I’ve enjoyed my time in our newest digital sandbox.

Except where Aiden is concerned. The gameplay of Watch Dogs is pretty damn good, but the story and Aiden’s character are pretty horrendous. Slight spoilers for Watch Dogs ahead: Continue reading The Dork Knight Rises in Watch Dogs

The Eternal War: A Look at the Repeating Console Cycle

Sega Logo

I’ve been reading Console Wars, a new book by Blake J. Harris that chronicles the rise of Sega during the 90’s. It’s a delightful book, full of endlessly fascinating details, such as how Target’s lenient return policy allowed customers to return years-old NES’s in order to get credit towards a SNES. Needless to say, this didn’t sit well with Nintendo and it led to Target pulling Nintendo products from the stores for a time. I lived through this era and reading the behind the scenes drama that went on has been very enjoyable. My nostalgia bones are all tingling right now. Continue reading The Eternal War: A Look at the Repeating Console Cycle

The GamerSushi Show, Ep 82: Meteorology Cast

gamersushi show ep 82

Hello podcast faithful, it is time for another GamerSushi Show.

I don’t really have that much to say about this cast, because, as you’re about to find out, it was pretty random. After a lengthy intro about the weather, Nick, Jeff and Eddy go off on whatever tangent pleases them at the time. Eddy spends most of the cast trolling Jeff, and the results are fairly hilarious.

So, listen, rate and see you next time!

0:00 – 12:09 Intro
12:10 – 15:55 Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes
15:56 – 22:49 Xbox One
22:50 – 41:24 Titanfall, RPGs, EVE Online, Fucking Dark Souls
41:25 – 43:46 Outro

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Random Encounters IV

Beyond Jodie

1. The outrage over the VGX, while some understandable in parts, is also overblown in others. Look, it’s Spike TV; you really shouldn’t expect something elegant for video game awards. But that doesn’t mean you should sit there and be insulted or talked down to. My suggestion is let Geoff Keighly host by himself. He is capable and serious enough to do it. Also, three hours is way too long. Have the awards, have the world premieres and trim it to an hour and half, maybe two. Cut some of that crap. A new character for Donkey Kong? Cut it. Pewdiepie? Cut it. Be smart. Know your audience.

2. It’s a good thing that that the Xbox One and PS4 are selling like hotcakes. Despite what some articles would have you believe, there is no clear winner and there won’t be for several years and even then, who cares? Pick your console and enjoy it. Don’t let anyone ruin your fun and don’t ruin anyone else’s.

3. That said, I love my PS4 and I have zero interest in the Xbox One. It sounds like it is exactly what some people want and bless them all. But it doesn’t really speak to me and as I have less and less time to play games, I need to start being more rigid in what I can play. Money isn’t the issue, but time is and I need to prioritize the kinds of experiences I want.

4. I hate to be That Guy, but now that I have a next-gen console, I am really looking forward to seeing next-gen sequels to beloved franchises. Imagine what the next Fallout or Elder Scrolls or Mass Effect will look like. Imagine what they will be able to do with the new power at their disposal. Even God of War, a franchise I am tired of, could be given new life with the power of PS4. Same with Halo on the Xbox One. It’s all potential right now, but the mind reels at what we could have in our hands in the coming years.

5. I really enjoyed streaming Final Fantasy VII with Eddy back when that was happening, but I’ve never really streamed anything myself until getting a PS4. And wow. The ease of it and the experience of people watching along, commenting and cheering you on is pretty incredible. Make no mistake: streaming is the killer app for the PS4. I know the Xbox One will have it eventually sometime in 2014, but for those people who say it is not a big deal, you clearly have not tried it on the PS4.

6. Recently started Beyond: Two Souls and while I am only 2 hours into the game, I am really impressed. The story, told in a non-linear fashion, has kept me interested more than I expected and the jumping around the timeline is a smart way to keep the player doing different things, thus preventing the gameplay from becoming stale. The QTE’s have also been streamlined in a smart, elegant way. Look forward to playing more.

These are the things on my mind these days. What about you? Anything you want to get off your chests? The doctor is in.

The GamerSushi Show, Ep 79: The Top 10 of 2013

the gamersushi show ep 79

We are back from a month long break to drop a cast on you before we talk another month long break. Hey, it’s the holidays, can you blame us?

In this three-man yuletide cast, Eddy, Anthony and Jeff talk about the PS4 and the Xbox One, the VGX and then do a live formulation of our top ten games of the year. Nick and I weren’t able to make it but I’d say that our views are fairly represented (except about The Last of Us, but that’s a battle I gave up on long ago).

We’ve never done a live top-10 discussion, but it worked out rather well, especially after our Top 20 Games of the Generation article kind of listed us out.

Hope you enjoy the last cast of 2013 and remember to rate and enjoy the Holidays! See you in early 2014, Sushians!

The GamerSushi Top Ten Games of 2013

1. Grand Theft Auto V
2. Bioshock Infinite
3. Tomb Raider
4. The Last of Us
5. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
6. Resogun
7. Pokemon X/Y
8. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
9. The Wolf Among Us
10. Fire Emblem: Awakening

Honorable Mentions: Super Mario 3D Worlds, Saints Row IV

0:00 – 5:03 Intro
5:04 – 18:46 Next Gen Consoles
18:47 – 41:06 VGX
41:07 – 1:11:09 The Top Ten Games of 2013
1:11:10 – 1:12:59 Outro

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The Xbox One Community Gives Microsoft Some Feedback

xbox feedback

If there’s one way to mercilessly QA-test your new product, it’s by releasing it into the wild. Rest assured that, no matter how many man-hours your company put into testing a device, giving it to a million people will mean that any bugs, issues or glaring oversights will pop up in short order.

Since the Xbox One released on November 22, the gaming community has had plenty of time to fool around with it and figure out what it’s missing. A website called Xbox Feedback has sprung up where suggestions for future updates to Microsoft’s new console can be found.

Personally, I find the lack of some of what I would consider no-brainers (such as being able to check the battery charge on the home screen or the difficulties with party chat) pretty mind-boggling. Even though the Xbox 360 got bogged down with a UI that it was never really built to support, it still had a lot of user friendly tools and tricks. I personally appreciated the ability to set the controls to every game for inverted as a system-level option because I am a weirdo.

What do you guys think about Xbox Feedback? Any suggestions you would add to their current list? Do you think this website will actually gain any traction?

Source – Xbox Feedback

Digital Foundry Tests Dead Rising 3, Finds it Lacking

dead rising 3 digital foundry

Launch titles for a new generation of consoles have a lot to live up to. They have to be discernibly different from the previous generation, look better, carry all sorts of bells and whistles and run smoothly.

Given that this is the first hardware refresh in eight long years, perhaps the expectations leading into this gen are too high. Some people might have been expecting 60 frames per second and 1080p on every game, but recently it came to light that the early games of this console cycle will rarely be hitting that mark.

In fact, Dead Rising 3 falls far below it, as Digital Foundry found out on behalf of Eurogamer. The Xbox One launch title runs at 720p and is supposed to be a consistent 30 fps, but sometimes it dips down to the lower twenties and high teens. The dip is especially noticeable in the large outdoor areas now that Dead Rising 3 is a contiguous open-world and boasts a larger variety of zombies than the previous titles.

Dead Rising 3 does have a crazy amount of effects like per-object motion blur (which the original game had as well, believe it or not) and seems to be a vast improvement over the performance the game displayed at E3, which was apparently choppy and tearing frames all over the place. It seems that Dead Rising 3 definitely puts the Xbox One through its paces.

What do you guys think? Did Dead Rising 3 promise what it can’t deliver? Did we expect too much going into this next generation of consoles? Is 1080p at 60 fps still another cycle off?

Source – Eurogamer

Roll Call: The Next Generation?

Next gen

Wow. Even though my excitement about the next generation has been restrained—I mean, come on, we all know that launch lineups are traditionally lame—my enthusiasm has hit a sudden peak in the last day or so, due to the launch of the PlayStation 4 this week, and the Xbox One later this month.

I haven’t been a day-one participant in a console launch since the Nintendo Wii, back in 2006, and the PlayStation 2 before it back in 2000. It’s crazy to think that I haven’t had this experience in 7 years (almost to the day), but here it is, just a sunsets away. And while I was just semi-pumped before, paying off my system last night and seeing all the deals from places like Target and Amazon are getting the fire stoked anew.

Basically, I can’t wait for the next generation. And it’s about to be here.

So my question for you guys today is this: who’s jumping in right away? What are you getting? PS4? Xbox One? What games are you getting? Let’s do a bit of a roll call. Go!

#RyseFacts Tweet About Crunches Backfires

rysefacts crunch

Ryse: Son of Rome is an upcoming Xbox One third-person action title being worked on by Crytek, makers of Crysis, Far Cry and hopefully at some point in the future a Y: The Last Man video game because that fits with their motif.

Since the game has been in development for several years and changed direction a few times, it stands to reason that the team would have been through a crunch or two. According to the Ryse Twitter account, the team has been served some 11,500 crunch-time dinners during the game’s development.

Besides being a rather large number, it’s also an odd thing for a game’s Twitter account to bring up. Sure, crunch happens, but I don’t think it’s a stat the public needs to know about. People who are much better at math than me totaled that up to about 58 days of crunch during the game’s development time (assuming the Crytek team is about 200 people). Continue reading #RyseFacts Tweet About Crunches Backfires

The GamerSushi Show, Ep 73: Rinkydink Curdlesnoot

the gamersushi show ep 73

Aaaand…we’re back. After our traditional Summer break we return to the mics to bring you the latest installment of the GamerSushi Show where we talked about how much we missed eachother. Not really, it’s mostly dick jokes, video games and the Benedict Cumberbatch name-generator, which is where I got the title for this episode.

When we recorded the cast last Wednesday, I had just come back from PAX, so I give an in-depth breakdown of what I saw and played. Well, more accurately I have to be gentle lead through the discussion, but we all know I’m bad at just talking about stuff.

Seeing as how we’re back, you should definitely listen to the cast, rate the cast, and enjoy the cast. We’re back on the regular schedule, more or less, so we’ll see you next week!

0:00 – 11:44 Intro
11:45 – 20:39 Dark Souls
20:40 – 42:59 PAX Prime
43:00 – 54:18 Microsoft and the Xbox One
54:19 – 1:13:24 Nintendo’s Missteps
1:13:25 – 1:30:06 Saint’s Row IV
1:30:07 – 1:31:46 Outro
1:31:47 SEKRIT PODCAST STUFF

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GamerSushi Asks: Next Gen Plans?

PlayStation 4

We’ve been in this current console generation for so long that I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to anticipate the release of a new system — the way I eagerly latch on to any news about release dates, original IPs, sequels and features. Something about it takes me back to when I was a kid, playing a Nintendo 64 for the first time in a mom-and-pop (or really just an old nerdy dude) video game shop, marveling at the flying cap and my first glimpse at 3D done the way it was always meant to be. I felt like an extension of the controller. Like I could do anything in Mario’s shoes. Continue reading GamerSushi Asks: Next Gen Plans?

PAX Prime 2013 Round-Up

pax prime 2013

I’m back from four days of video games, panels and D&D down in Seattle, the home of PAX Prime. My shoulders are sore, my eyes are aching because of expose to dim lighting and bright neon and I can’t feel my feet, but I had an awesome time checking out some unreleased games.

Here’s a quick rundown of what I saw, I what I thought of it! Continue reading PAX Prime 2013 Round-Up

Xbox One Does a 180 on DRM, Online Requirements

Xbox 180

Giving the Internet an ego boost it did not need, Microsoft reversed their controversial polices regarding DRM and always-online as it pertains to the Xbox One, their next-gen console scheduled for release in November of this year.

Giant Bomb reported that multiple sources were suggesting that Microsoft was poised to do the mother of all walkbacks and fundamentally change their approach to used games, DRM and online requirements for the Xbox One. Shortly after that, Microsoft did in fact reveal the changes, which are highlighted below:

  • The Xbox One does not need to be online at all with the exception of a one-time initialization during set-up.
  • The Xbox One will not be required to check-in online every 24 hours.
  • Disc based games will be played from the discs, the same as with the Xbox 360. Installing the game is no longer required.
  • All downloaded games will function the same when online or offline
  • No additional restrictions on trading games or lending discs
  • Xbox One will be region-free.

Continue reading Xbox One Does a 180 on DRM, Online Requirements

Ryse: When Games Play Themselves

Ryse

Hello, fine GamerSushi friends. In continuing with our summer schedule, today is “Did You See This”. Naturally, with another E3 come and gone, the industry is still buzzing and writing some fantastic pieces on the things they saw last week, so that’s where we’re headed — and more specifically, to Ryse.

For those that are unaware, Ryse is one of the games that was highlighted by Microsoft at the XBox One press event. Developed by Crytek, Ryse looks like God of War had a baby with Gladiator and Dynasty Warriors, offering historical-looking action and dozens of quick-time events.

Only the quicktime events play themselves. Continue reading Ryse: When Games Play Themselves

The GamerSushi Show, Ep 72: E3 2013

gamersushi show e3 2013

It’s the Season Finale of The GamerSushi Show! At the end of this season of the podcast, we talk about E3 2013: the press conferences, the games, and how we felt about the whole thing!

All five of us assembled like some sort of giant robot or mighty super-hero team, so it’s a pretty great cast. Unfortunately I had to duck out early thanks to work things coming up, but the guys brought it home in grand style.

So, you know the deal. Listen, rate, and eagerly await our return in September (or August, if Saint’s Row 4 has anything to say about it).

0:00 – 5:02 Intro
5:03 – 30:59 Microsoft’s press conference
31:00 – 54:21 Sony’s press conference
54:22 – 1:04:05 Nintendo’s….presence at E3
1:04:06 – 1:12:53 E3 wrap up thoughts
1:12:54 – 1:17:20 Outro

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Pixel Count: Which System Will You Be Playing in 2014?

E3 has come and the Big 3 have shown us what they have in store for us over the coming months. There has been so much news, updates, retractions, clarifications and denials that it is kind of hard to keep track of everything. Still, this has been an eventful E3, one where the details of two new consoles were revealed, where fanboys waged war and where Nintendo did whatever it is they do. Microsoft brought the games, Sony brought the Internet to its feet and Nintendo brought its beloved franchises.

So now that we have a clearer picture of what Microsoft and Sony are going to do with their next gen systems, it only makes sense to take a poll of our loyal readers and find out where your current desires lie. A lot can change between now and release but it seems reasonable to assume that some of you have made up your minds. So tell us in the poll below which system you plan on doing your gaming in the near future. Please leave the reasons for your vote in the comments!

Pixel Count: Which System Will You Be Playing in 2014?

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GamerSushi Asks: E3 2013 Predictions

e3 2013

E3 2013 is right around the corner (seriously, it’s on Monday!) so it’s time to bust out those E3 predictions! Gaming yearly extravaganza always seems to sneak up on us, even when we know exactly when it’s coming.

This year is going to be especially interesting considering that both Microsoft and Sony’s next generation consoles have been announced. With Microsoft’s recent info-dump about the Xbox One’s stance on used-game and its once-a-day mandatory Internet check in, I wonder whether they’ll concentrate mainly on games or try to do further damage control.

So! What do you think is going to happen at E3? What are you looking for out of the press conferences? Of the big two, since Nintendo is skipping E3 this year, who do you think will come out on top? Will EA announce SimCity 2? Go!

The GamerSushi Show, Ep 71: All for Xbox One

gamersushi show ep 71 xbox one

It might come as no surprise that the majority of this week’s cast is dedicated to the Xbox One reveal. We talk about our thoughts on the device, everything from the announcement itself to whether or not people actually need a console that can do all this stuff when they already have three or four more gadgets that can do the same thing.

After we wax philosophical about the Xbox One, we make a couple E3 predictions and those are always fun. In case you missed it during the cast proper, this will be our last cast for a couple of weeks until E3, which is when we’ll do our “Season Finale” E3 wrap-up.

You know what to do. Listen, rate, all that good stuff. See you after E3!

0:00 – 8:20 Intro
8:21 – 46:21 Xbox One
46:22 – 1:05:55 E3 Predictions
1:05:56 – 1:06:59 Outro

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GamerSushi Asks: Next Gen Selling Point

xbox one ps4

Now that both Microsoft and Sony’s next generation consoles have been revealed, there’s been much hemming and hawing here at GamerSushi over what would make us buy one of the new devices. Sure, there are neat features between each one, like the Xbox One’s three operating systems so you can “alt+tab” your console now, or the PlayStation 4’s streaming services, but there’s nothing that’s really made one console stand out over the other.

That said, there might be something announced at E3 that would completely change my mind about one of the new consoles that would make it a “must have” for me. I’m not talking about games, because I already have a PC (although InFamous might sway me), and let’s face it, both of these consoles will have games at some point. No, I’m talking about something that makes you stand up and say “that is so awesome, I can’t believe nobody’s built that in yet”.

So, my question to you guys is: what’s the magic feature that would make you shell out your hard earned cash for either the Xbox One or the PlayStation 4? This can be something that Microsoft and Sony have already said “no” to, like backwards compatibility, or things like that.

Microsoft Reveals the Xbox One

xbox one reveal

Unless you’re living under a rock, you know all about the reveal of the Xbox One, Microsoft’s successor to the Xbox 360. In the one-hour event at Microsoft’s Xbox Campus, the Xbox One was unveiled, showing the actual console (including a new Kinect and controller), multimedia features, Skype integration, sports, the internal workings of the device, and I think there were a couple games in there somewhere.

The Xbox One conference started off showing the console’s compatibility with your existing TV services as Yusuf Mehdi switched between live TV, the 2009 Star Trek movie and even opened a Skype call while he was doing this. The gestures and voice commands actually looked pretty slick, and I could see this being a huge reason to buy the Xbox One for some people. Continue reading Microsoft Reveals the Xbox One