e3-2014
Latest
E3 2014 round-up: Weird tales from Los Angeles
Had you been on the floor of the Los Angeles Convention Center this year, you would have heard one question, echoing from journalist to journalist: "This year feels a little ... weird, don't you think?" It's hard to put a finger on exactly why E3 2014 gave off a strange vibe, but darn it all, we're gonna try. Here are some of the most eccentric, the most peculiar, most "hmm"-inducing stories of E3:
Oculus CEO: 'We invited' Sony to see Oculus prototypes
Oculus VR isn't threatened by Sony's rival virtual reality headset, Project Morpheus, and Oculus even invited Sony to check out its own internal prototypes, CEO Brendan Iribe told Joystiq at E3. Sony then returned the favor and invited the Oculus team to see Project Morpheus. See? We all can be friends. Oculus made headlines recently when Facebook acquired the company for $2 billion. Iribe said that even though the deal was a surprise to most people, it made perfect sense to Oculus founder Palmer Luckey: "Many people, I still think, don't really understand or know that Palmer was the most excited about this partnership. Because he felt like, from the beginning, we got into this to make VR work and make it for the masses, and make it work at a scale and a comfort level that could hit the entire population."
Farming Simulator devs go against the grain
When you think about games with an active modding community, you likely think of heavy-hitters like Skyrim, Counter-Strike and the like. Dig a little deeper and you'll strike the root of something else entirely: Farming Simulator. In an industry of space marines, monsters, aliens and assassins, the Farming Simulator games choose a different course – one drawn and directed not just by them, but their players.
Evolve's new Kraken monster is a 'flying squid magician'
When I played Evolve during PAX East, I lost. I was playing as Goliath, an aptly named brute of a monster, well-suited for up-close-and-personal attacks. Alas, I was killed by my opponents, four human-controlled hunters (much more quickly than I care to admit). At E3 this week, I tried my hand at the monster again, only this time I tried Evolved's new beast, the Cthulhu-like Kraken. Senior producer Michael Boccieri describes Kraken as a "flying squid magician," capable of dealing a lot of damage from a distance – and yes, he can fly. I probably shouldn't spoil the rest of this article, but I totally won.
E3 2014: Hands-on with EVE Valkyrie and a chat about Legion
Why does the guy who gets motion sickness keep getting sent out into space!? Someone on Massively's staff is really looking out for you guys and gals with weak stomachs because once again I was sent to chat with CCP about EVE universe stuff and take an Oculus Rift for a spin at this year's E3. Spoiler alert: I managed to keep down my breakfast and have fun. First up was EVE Valkyrie, the virtual reality game that this time last year was still known as EVR. While the game looked a bit familiar, there were certainly some differences. First is the addition of Rán (it sounds like "roun"). Rán is sort of the first Valkyrie and your trainer, acting as sort of your flight instructor and mission debriefer, who helped give me a sense of setting. EVR was fun before, no doubt, but it was a stripped-down flight simulator (not a bad thing). Having a narrator makes it feel more like a game. The addition of some brighter and bolder colors helps boost immersion too.
E3 2014: Hands-on with Swordsman and Dawn of the Immortals
I have a problem: I like a lot of the mechanics in Wuxia games like Age of Wushu, but I have trouble getting into them. Perfect World Entertainment's Swordsman Online, while lacking some of the mechanics of AoW, might have a mixture that catches people off-guard. And while you're off-guard, PWE's Dawn of the Immortals might come in and show you how the world of mobile MMOs is starting to progress. I had a look at both Swordsman Online and Dawn of the Immortals at this year's E3. Read on!
E3 2014: EVE: Valkyrie gameplay trailer brings war to the stars
EVE: Valkyrie may still be in the pre-alpha stage, but that doesn't mean that CCP came to E3 empty-handed this year. On the contrary, the studio delivered a gameplay trailer with a couple minutes of in-game footage from the VR space dogfighting sim. In it, you can see combat between fighters as they use missiles and cannons to engage in aggressive diplomacy. The camera's constant tilting illustrates how the Oculus Rift headset will offer the player an unrestrained field of view during the experience. Check it out after the break and let us know what you think!
Dreadnought: This ain't your daddy's Battlestar
The free-to-play shooter market is quickly growing crowded, but developer Yager has a novel take on gunplay involving giant ships, big guns, and nuclear weapons that shake the pillars of heaven and earth. Describing Dreadnought as a "shooter" isn't quite accurate. Though it features the control scheme that's been standard since the days of Quake and pits teams of players against one another in a rush to see who can rack up the most kills, these opposing forces are not populated by your typical hyper-macho space marines. Instead, you pilot spaceships. Huge spaceships. Battlestar Galactica-scale spaceships. The result is a shooter that's equal parts Team Fortress 2 and three-dimensional naval warfare.
E3 2014: Fighting car bosses in Ubisoft's The Crew
I still can't believe racing MMOs are a thing. I know some people say they're just racing games and not proper MMOs, but once you get inside something like The Crew, you'll find a lot of interesting stuff. I demoed Ubisoft's persistent-world racer at last year's E3, and this year's hands-on revealed some changes for the better.
Joystiq's E3 2014 Selections
With E3 2014 in the books, Joystiq's writers look back at their favorites from the show. With the only stipulation being that the game must have been playable to qualify, the team presents its selections for favorite games of E3 2014. From independent gems to major releases from powerhouse publishers, Joystiq's list represents the variety of experiences available to video game fans worldwide. Here are Joystiq's first annual "E3 Selections."
Forza Horizon 2: Blame it on the rain
During my earlier meeting with Forza Horizon 2 devs Playground Games, they put a heavy emphasis on the racer's new dynamic weather system. Raindrops spatter windshields, turn roads into soggy slicks and reduce visibility. At the time I wasn't able to experience the effect for myself, but after a bit of hands-on time, I've learned one crucial point: Summer showers turn exotic supercars into missiles with all the guidance of a blind penguin. The key thing to remember is that all weather in Forza Horizon 2 is actually dynamic. A given race may be bathed in sunshine, while the same race, later in the game, might feature a sunny start, followed by a momentary deluge, then a bone-dry race to the finish. In most racing games, weather has a less than realistic effect, but in the case of Forza Horizon 2, a sudden downpour translates to cars sliding off the road at 160 miles per hour. Once the rains come, you should be prepared to drive as cautiously as possible, lest your expensive ride turn into a rolling hunk of scrap.
IndieCade at E3 is full of hugs ... and games
The IndieCade booth at E3 showcased 30 games that might be highlighted at the actual IndieCade festival in October, including Asher Vollmer's Close Castles, Nova-111 from Funktronic Labs, Elegy for a Dead World from Dejobaan Games and Popcannibal Games, Sportsfriends, Bounden, Hotline Miami 2, 6180 The Moon, Fract OSC, Bloom, and so many more. Mostly, though, the booth was filled with hugs. [Image: IndieCade]
Seen@E3: A visual history of Metal Gear
The walls outside the theater of Konami's E3 2014 detail a visual history of one of the company's most famous franchises. One poster showcases the evolution of Snake from his days as a bundle of pixels on the MSX to the gruff, high-res hero in Kojima's upcoming Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. Another poster gives players a history of its various weaponized tanks, the titular Metal Gears. A third poster breaks down the environments Snake has infiltrated over the years. For fans, it's a wonderful display of the stealth-action franchise's history and something we had to try very hard not to steal to put on our walls at home. Thankfully, Konami released high-resolution images of each poster. Time to go to the printer!
Same sex marriage in Harvest Moon: 'We know what the fans are looking for'
Marriage is an intrinsic part of long-running life sim series, Harvest Moon, but to date same sex marriage hasn't been possible. The newest game in the series, Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley for 3DS, won't change that trend, but future games might, if that's what the fans really want. When I asked the question as to whether Natsume had considered including same sex marriage in a Harvest Moon game, Graham Markay, Vice President of Operations, said, "It's obviously something that we're going to look into as we continue the Harvest Moon series. We're going to look into all aspects of it." He started to express the idea that it's not a cut-and-dried issue, but Hiro Maekawa, President and CEO of Natsume cut him off. "We always listen very carefully to fans' voices," Maekawa said. "Fan voices, media voices. We know what the fans are looking for. We are always carefully listening to fans' voices." Maekawa says he is very appreciative of Harvest Moon's fans, who have kept the game alive since its inception on Super Nintendo in 1996. Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley, which "innovates in a way no other Harvest Moon game ever has," will be out for 3DS this fall.
Let It Die explained by a diagram ... of death!
Have you seen the trailer for Grasshopper Manufacture and GungHo Online's PS4 exclusive, Let It Die? Did it leave you wondering just what the hell was going on? Fear not, because I have the explanation from none other than Let It Die executive producer Kazuki Morishita – in handy diagram form. Need a little help? See, when players die, their dead selves are uploaded to Let It Die's servers (into what I'm calling the "Death Cloud"). From here, your dead hero is downloaded to other players' Let It Die game, where your character becomes an enemy. Likewise, your own world is populated by the dead characters from other players' worlds. And the little figure of Death riding a skateboard in the Let It Die logo? That's not just for show, says executive director Goichi Suda (best known as Suda51). Death is a character in Let It Die, and he does ride a skateboard, presumably because he's so busy reaping the souls of its poor, poor players.
E3 2014: Underground and underwater with Landmark's Terry Michaels
You didn't need to be at E3 2014 to partake in Landmark's latest (literally) groundbbreaking patch. In fact, if you were at the con as I was, chances are you haven't been able to log in and experience it for yourself yet! Luckily, Senior Producer Terry Michaels was on hand to offer me a peek at the new features before I broke down in heap of deprivation-induced agony from my Landmark withdrawals. What was the big deal with this latest update? It included the first iteration of caves and the second phase of water. Players can now go spelunking deep in the earth to find large veins of minerals, explore uncharted biomes with new plants, and even find treasure chests filled with special items. On top of that, they can swim through the bright blue oceans that surround each island. As Michaels helped me get my Landmark fix, we talked about everything from the newest content to heroic movement to my pet topics: player books and theme-enforced islands. Oh, and did I mention that combat is planned to appear by SOE Live in August?
Hitman Sniper studio can cherry pick from Square Enix's series
Square-Enix Montreal, the studio behind this spring's critical success Hitman Go, is showing off its second game at E3 2014. Hitman Sniper, a free, competition-focused spin on the series, will be released later this year. With both games coming along so close to one another, it would seem that Montreal's sole task in the Square-Enix machine is revivifying IO Interactive's assassin series. The studio's actually not shackled to Hitman by corporate mandate, though. If Square-Enix Montreal wants to make a Tomb Raider game, it's more than welcome to. Its studio philosophy and design concepts are what dictate which series it tackles.
Falling Skies: The Game hopes you liked XCOM
Falling Skies: The Game from Little Orbit may be based on TNT's sci-fi drama television series of the same name, but you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a spin-off of XCOM: Enemy Unknown from 2K Games and Firaxis. Human squads vs. aliens in turn-based battles and a base from which to manage your units and resources? "Deja vu" would be an understatement.
E3 2014: The Elder Scrolls Online offers small-scale PvP at cons
If you are one of the fans who has been begging for a smaller-scale PvP experience in The Elder Scrolls Online, E3 2014 offers a glimmer of hope. Instead of dishing out a large production, ESO offered attendees a a unique 3v3 experience that was made specially for the convention. The map itself, which utilizes art assets from Cyrodiil and is about the size of one fort (like Glademist), took the devs only about two weeks to put together. There are no kill counts or rankings, and players battle for control of a single flag in King of the Mountain-style gameplay. The drop-in-and-play scenario has apparently been well-received; game representatives on the floor reported that players really like the size and the fast pace of it, which is perfect for short allotments of time. If you want to try out this small-scale PvP yourself, it will be be available again at both Gamescom and QuakeCon later this summer. And if you want to see a version make it into the game itself, be sure to let the devs know on the official forums! Massively's on the ground in Los Angeles during the week of June 10-12, bringing you all the best news from E3 2014. We're covering everything from WildStar and Landmark to Skyforge and H1Z1, so stay tuned!
Lords of the Fallen remains enigmatic just months from release
Lords of the Fallen, a methodical action RPG with more than a few similarities to a game whose name rhymes with Bark Voles (Snark Bowls?), was one of E3 2013's quietest contenders. Amidst the many sequels, reboots, and other familiar faces accompanying PS4 and Xbox One's debuts, it was one of the only games for those boxes at the show that was not only original but felt fully formed. There are more than enough medieval fantasy games out there, but even with its somber story about a world where men toppled their own god Fallen stood out. The guided demo through a crumbling castle and through its snowy courtyards, hosted by a clearly passionate executive producer Tomasz Gop, just sang. Here at E3 2014, Lords of the Fallen is fully playable on PlayStation 4, and while it felt fine to guide the demo's paladin through a gauntlet of vicious beasts, swinging a swift staff in steady combos, CI's game feels more unknowable now than it did last year.
