Category Archive: Microsoft

E3 2015: The Electronic Arts Presentation

LobbycastGeoff | June 15, 2015 | COMMENTS:No Comments »

Electronic Arts Logo

EA starts it off with a bang, by leading in with a trailer for Mass Effect: Andromeda. It looks really good!

MASS EFFECT: ANDROMEDA

The new Need for Speed has gone open world and includes a very deep customization system. Their game types are shown as Speed, Style, Build, Crew and Outlaw. These games have historically been more arcade racer than simulation, so it serves as an alternative to the Forza Motorsport series.

NEED FOR SPEED

NEED FOR SPEED GAMEPLAY

Star Wars: The Old Republic is an MMORPG set in the Star Wars universe. It is a solid title, but for some reason didn’t hit the mark for me. I may check out this newly announced expansion, as they are saying that they are bringing back the storytelling style of Knights of the Old Republic games. Take a peek and let us know what you think.

STAR WARS: THE OLD REPUBLIC – KNIGHTS OF THE FALLEN EMPIRE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCmvm_hiRzY

Two new IPs announced: Unravel, an interesting platformer and Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2. We already put up a video for GW2 in the MS Briefing, but this one is the gameplay trailer.

UNRAVEL

PLANTS VS ZOMBIES: GARDEN WARFARE 2 GAMEPLAY

It’s sports time! I’m a little out of my depth on the sports games, but here it goes.. First up is hockey and NHL 16 and EASHL. Next, we take a look at Rory Macklemore PGA Tour. EA Sports Ultimate Team has received multiple upgrades. NBA Live 16 focuses on self-expression and works with the GameFace app to put your face into the game.

NHL 16

RORY MCILROY PGA TOUR

NBA LIVE 16

EA Mobile had over 715 downloads last year. That’s really impressive. Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes is a collectible card game coming to EA Mobile. Minions Paradise is a new builder game.

Pele is on hand to help present FIFA 16. It’s great to see the guy. He was such a huge part of my early love of soccer.

FIFA 16

Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst is an origin story for our hero. I never played the others, but I loved the idea of them and thought that they looked great.

MIRROR’S EDGE: CATALYST

Draft Champions allows you to draft your own team from current and past teams and take them online to challenge other players.

MADDEN 16 DRAFT CHAMPIONS MODE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHiEz87MEEo

Peter Moore is out on stage to begin the Star Wars: Battlefront presentation. The footage shown is in-game, captured on a Playstation 4. It looks fantastic, to be sure. This one will do very well.

STAR WARS: BATTLEFRONT GAMEPLAY

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Category: Entertainment, Gaming, Microsoft, Sony

Xbox One BC

Peench | | COMMENTS:No Comments »

Backwards compatibility was a huge announcement this year for Microsoft. People cheered like crazy when it was announced. Add to that the ability to download the games and the fact that you don’t have to re-buy games and it sounds like a hit. 

Odd though that backwards compatibility was a big no at the start. I’m curious about what changed. 

I still have 360 games that I haven’t played but it has been 3 years now and I’m not sure I will go back and play them. Partly because I’m not sure the graphics will have held up but mostly because I don’t have time. I’m so behind on Xbox One games already I’m not sure I will be able to find time to play older games either. 

What do you all think?  Am I the only one this backed up that I probably won’t play older games?

Category: Entertainment, Gaming, Microsoft

E3 2015: The Microsoft Presentation

LobbycastGeoff | | COMMENTS:No Comments »

Microsoft

The stakes are high this year, being so far behind Sony, and Microsoft did not disappoint. They began the show with a video compilation of previously announced exclusive titles.

They didn’t waste any time getting into the Halo 5: Guardians segment. There wasn’t too much new to hear, but they did spend a little more time talking about the multi-player. 24 player with AI bots was a good step.

HALO 5: GUARDIANS

Next up was a new game by Keiji Inafune, which is a good way to start a trailer, by the way. It is called ReCore and looks like a futuristic action adventure title. Your companion in this adventure is an AI core that you can move from robotic frame to robotic frame. It’s an interesting concept that has a lot of promise.

ReCore

Phil Spencer popped out for a bit to throw down some backwards compatibility news. They will have around 100 360 titles up and running by this holiday, with more to follow. Xbox Preview members will have some games starting today.

And then, the unveiling of the new controller. No, not the one from last week. This one is highly customizible. It features swappable D-pads and thumbsticks, duplicated buttons on the bottom side of the controller in the form of paddles, trigger locks for shooters, and more. This is worth a look!

Todd Howard comes out to give the crowd another Fallout 4 feature. Mods created on Windows 10 will be playable and free on Xbox 1. Drops mic. Not really, but he could have.

Not to be upstaged, Peter Moore walks out and announces that Dragon Age: Inquisition is coming to EA Access’s Vault and that the Vault will be accessible for free by Xbox Live Gold members all this week. And something about Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2. I didn’t know that this was a thing.

Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2

Henry Ford III jumps in for the announcement for Forza MotorSport 6. I wish that I was better at these games. They are gorgeous!

Forza Motorsport 6

Next up are videos for Dark Souls III and Tom Clancy’s The Division. Laurant Detoc of UbiSoft announces that the beta for The Division will be on Xbox 1 first and that Rainbow Six: Siege will have Vegas and Vegas 2 bundled in. Those two 360 titles will be on the backwards compatibility list, if you already have physical copies.

Dark Souls III

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA69xxVPyO0

Tom Clancy’s The Division

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege

They decide to break up all of that realistic violence with some good old-fashioned cartoonish violence. It’s Gigantic, exclusive to Xbox 1 and Win10.

Gigantic

Chris Charla, of ID@Xbox, is here to show off some more of the independent titles in development for Xbox 1 and Win10. I am pretty excited about Cuphead. I love the art style!

ID@Xbox Montage

Cuphead

Brian Horton, of Crystal Dynamics is out to show off more Rise of the Tomb Raider with a new trailer.

Rise of the Tomb Raider

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-if1QhnhMY

For fans of retro gaming, Rare reveals Rare Replay, an exclusive for Xbox 1. 30 games for $30, which is a great deal for everything that you are getting. Included are: Jetpac, Atic Atac, Lunar Jetman, Sabre Wulf, Underwurlde, Knight Lore, Gunfright, Slalom, R.C. Pro-Am, Battletoads (NES), Cobra Triangle, Snake Rattle N Roll, Digger T. Rock, Solar Jetman, R.C. Pro-Am II, Battletoads Arcade, Killer Instinct Gold, Blast Corps, Banjo-Kazooie, Jet Force Gemini, Perfect Dark, Banjo-Tooie, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, Grabbed by the Ghoulies, Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo: Elements of Power, Viva Piñata, Jetpac Refuelled, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise.

Rare Replay

And then something for the pirate in each of us: Sea of Thieves, also exclusive to Xbox 1. The video shows pirate ship crews made up of individual players having battles on the high seas. Who could possibly resist that?

Sea of Thieves

Fable: Legends will be free to play for those on
Win10 and Xbox Live Gold members. The game will be cross-platform.

Fable: Legends

If there is one part of this presentation I would want everyone to see, it would be this one. It shows what you, as a player, will see while playing the Halolens version of Minecraft. It starts out slow, but it gets immensely more interesting at 1:08.

Minecraft on Halolens

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETzQWXuKQZQ

The last two bits are Gears of War related. There is the upcoming Ultimate Edition, the beta for which goes live today, and also the Gears 4 premiere trailer.

Gears of War: Ultimate Edition

Gears 4

Thanks again for your time! We appreciate you! Leave us a voicemail at 512-522-9278 and we’ll do our best to address your comments on the show.

Category: Entertainment, Gaming, Microsoft, Mobile Devices, PC

Trade in your Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, get $175 off on the price of an Xbox One

LobbycastGeoff | | COMMENTS:No Comments »

An even better deal with the announcement of backwards compatibility! http://ift.tt/1G895bv

Category: Entertainment, Gaming, Microsoft, Shared, Sony TAG: ,

E3 2015: The Bethesda Softworks Presentation

LobbycastGeoff | June 14, 2015 | COMMENTS:No Comments »

Bethesda Softworks Logo

When it was announced that Bethesda was holding their very first press briefing, I figure that Fallout 4 info was a given. What I didn’t expect was that we would get a 2015 release date. November 10th of this year, to be precise. Wow. I was going to write this in the same order as the presentation, but why bury the lead? Let’s hope that they are able to finish development and deliver a polished product by that date. Bethesda, if not, please delay this title. I don’t think that any of us can take another highly anticipated AAA title that is broken when we open the package. That said, let’s move on to the presentation!

DOOM

The gameplay trailer looked great! It was dark, creepy and felt very dangerous. It’s amazing to see how this game series has evolved from the piece of pixelated addiction of old to this high framerate shooter with rich, bloody textures and plenty of adrenaline-inducing action. And the violence! This one is definitely a title that is better kept from the little ones. I witnessed dismemberments, chainsaw bifurcation and an incredible amount of bullet damage. Enjoy!?!

A welcome surprise with the official announcement of Doom was the unveiling of SnapMap, the multi-player mapbuilder function. This builder allows you to design and share your own maps with other users on both Xbox One and PS4. Take a peek at the video below.

BATTLECRY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgAcL5yk8uo

Billed as a Team-based Action Combat title, Battlecry reminds me a lot of a primarily melee Team Fortress. If Team Fortress had taken place in a modern Jade Empire. It’s hard to tell what to make of this one, so check out the trailer for yourself and sign up for the beta at battlecrythegame.com. It’s a very easy process. All you have to do is enter your date of birth, your email address and check two boxes. Submit!

DISHONORED 2

It’s no secret to our listeners/viewers, that I was no fan of the original Dishonored. For those new to The Lobbycast, I was barely able to put an hour into the game. I still can’t believe that our very own Erin had the patience and dedication to get the achievement for completing the game without killing a single enemy. That is truly an achievement, agent!

They also announced a Definitive Edition, which will be graphically advanced and will include all of the previous DLC, coming to Xbox One and PS4 this fall.

THE ELDER SCROLLS ONLINE: TAMRIEL UNLIMITED

Bethesda showed a trailer for a game that I have been enjoying since it’s release last week. I believe the message here is that there is more content being added this year.

ESO holds a special place in my heart, because ever since we first got our grubby mitts on Morrowind, we have been waiting for a chance to adventure together in that world. Oblivion and Skyrim only intensified that anticipation. Now we have it, and it is great. It’s not without it’s issues, but I have been having a really good experience with it.

THE ELDER SCROLLS: LEGENDS

Legends is a strategy card game that will arrive on PC and iPad later this year.

And finally…

FALLOUT 4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE2BkLqMef4

They didn’t show this trailer in the presentation, but it should be here, both for those who hadn’t seen it and for those that haven’t seen it enough. This is what I have been waiting for. The presentation completely lived up to my expectations. One of the first improvements that they showed off was the character creation system. Check it out!

Next up, the reveal of the new and improved Pipboy, your in-game menu system. The big deal here is that you are able to get an actual, wearable version of the Pipboy with the Collector’s Edition. You are able to insert your phone and, with the iOS or Android app, use it seamlessly with the Xbox One, PS4 or PC versions, as if you were using the in-game menu. Watch below, but beware: Todd Howard gets a little excited in talking about this feature and drops a well-received f-bomb.

Taking a break from Fallout 4, he announces Fallout: Shelter, a mobile game available tonight on iOS. The game is free of charge.

Todd moves on the the building system within Fallout 4. This is very impressive. You can recycle building materials in the game and create new structures, building just a home or a small community that npcs will start populating over time. This rolls into a weapon-crafting segment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH8HGslrINU

All in all, Bethesda did well with this presentation, especially considering that it was their very first. Well done!

Join us for our continuing coverage of E3! As always, we appreciate your time. Leave us a voicemail at 512-522-9278 and we’ll do our best to address your comments on the show.

Category: Entertainment, Gaming, Microsoft, Mobile Devices, Sony