To say Microsoft showed a lot of games would be an understatement. They had 50 games, some already released but with new content, some were exclusive, and some just new. Although there was not always a lot said about these games.
Read MoreYesterday was the end of the Overwatch open beta. Thousands (guessing) of players jumped and got what was potentially their first taste of Blizzard's first FPS. And it appears to have gone over well. In order to gently let us newbs get a feel for the game you have a standard training tutorial, and then you have team vs AI. Here you are set with a human team vs a set of AI opponents with a set difficulty. Once you have had your feel of the AI, then you can go for some good old human vs human action.
Read MoreThe intrepid Lara Croft survived her adventure on Yamatai Island, returning a much different woman than she left. Now that she is back she has decided to solve the last mystery her father was working on, the mystery that claimed Lord Croft’s life. But is Lara up for the adventure that her Dad left uncompleted? Or will she be meeting him sooner than she expects?
Read MoreThe final game of Rocksteady's Arkham series has been released. Our last venture out as the Dark Knight has come for Xbox One, PS4, and arguably the PC. This takes place one year after the events of Arkham City. Most of the criminals that were held in the neighborhood spanning prison were set free as they were held illegally. This means that Two Face, Penguin, Harley Quinn, and Riddler were all free people. They even laid low and crime dropped in Gotham. In fact things were looking great for the citizens of Gotham. Then on Halloween night Scarecrow returned. It started with a small demonstration of fear gas at a diner. Which then lead to a full scale evacuation of the whole city. Now it is up to the Batman to prevent Scarecrow and the other villains from destroying Gotham, and perhaps the country.
Read MoreHalo has always been a staple of the Xbox diet. It was what launched with the original Xbox, and arguably made it the success it was. Xbox has always meant, and needed, Halo. This is why the recent announcement for Halo is so important. It continues a long standing tradition that a lot of gamers love and hold very dear. Yes, I have given Halo a hard time in the past, but I still love it. So that is why, with the announcement of "Halo 5: Guardians" and the fact that it will come on in fall of 2015 is so awesome. Sure, they did give us much concrete information. They said that "Halo 5" is a bigger effort then "Halo 4" was. They also announced that the "Halo" TV series will (you know, the one Steven Spielberg is working on) will also launch in the fall of 2015. Beyond that there is a lot of "developer speak". I very much doubt we will get to hear / see much in the way of concrete information until the E3 press conference in a few weeks. But this is still a big thing! To quote the Bonnie Ross (General Manager, 343 Industries); the "journey definitely begins in 2014 with a giant leap, rather then a small step."
Expect more information on the June 9th media briefing. I know I can't wait.
Netflix and Hulu have become staples in the living room. You are almost expected to have a device of some sort that can access the vast libraries of entertainment they have, and for some time the easiest way to access them were the game consoles that most of us gamers own. But there was always a downside. If you had an Xbox you had to have the gold level of Xbox Live to access the services you already paid for. Kind of lame when you consider the fact that you have never need to pay extra if you have a PlayStation 3 or 4, AppleTV, ChromeCast, or any other number of devices capable of streaming. But that is changing, all for the better.
Read MoreTitanfall, the big new game coming from Respawn Entertainment and published by EA, is coming out for Xbox One and PC March 11, and it actually seems to be worth our time. You have probably seen your fair share of Titanfall by now, but just in case you have not, or only seen the super clean trailers here is what it is like to have a Titan actually fall from orbit.
Read MoreDo you feel the need? The need for speed? OK, I have that out of my system, lets move on. This season EA released the next iteration in the Need for Speed series, Need for Speed Rivals. Your canvas is the majestic Redview County, which is remarkable diverse. There are snow capped mountains, twisting passes, seaside villages, freeways that are under construction and a desert / canyon. This gives you a great diversity of areas to drive, each with it's own pros and cons. Will you stick to the twisting roads and out maneuver your rival? Or will you go for the long straightaways and out run them?
Read MoreSorry this is later then expected.Thanksgiving tossed a wrench in our posting schedule.
And at long last, we have the Xbox One. And here it is undressed from the packaging sent by Microsoft.
