Author: Shmee

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Nintendo Just Had The Most Boring Console Announcement Of All Time!

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Nintendo NX Controller Patent Image

When Nintendo said they would talk more about their new console in 2016 we assumed that they meant E3.  I mean that is where console launches happen.  You get on a big stage with flashing lights then you show off a bunch of cool games that are ‘only possible’ on your new shiny toy.  That is just how it is done.  Well Nintendo went another way.  They got in front of their board members and said it is launching globally March 2017.  Oh and that it will get a port of the Wii U version of Zelda.

That was it.  No fan fair, no lights, no nothing.  Way to get the crowds excited!  Worse yet they said that the console would be skipping E3 completely.  The focus of their 2016 E3 would be the Wii U version of the Zelda game that no one is going to want because they are going to want the Nintendo NX version.  Not to mention the date.  Who in their right mind launches a console in March?  Get it out there just in time for Summer when kids go outside to play?  Are they worried the new Xbox will be out next Christmas so they are trying to get jump on the competition?  Who knows.

Nintendo has kind of always done its own thing, and that is great, but this feels like a mistake.  They should have had an E3 where they focused on Zelda like they were planning, and then just have “One more thing”ed it like Apple always does.  Fans would have gone crazy.  Instead now we are just wondering when we are going to get our first look at this new machine.  PAX West? Probably not since they will try and push the Wii U for one last Christmas.  CES? I guess that would make sense.  They would pretty much get the whole show to themselves.  Though my bet is they release one of those puppet YouTube videos.  I do love puppets.

Regardless of what their plans are, congratulations Nintendo on the most boring and confusing console announcement in recent history!

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Mirror’s Edge Catalyst Beta Impressions!

mirrors-edge-catalystNow that the Mirror’s Edge Catalyst beta is over, I thought I would give my impressions.  For those of you that don’t remember 2009’s Mirror’s Edge by EA’s DICE (creators of Battlefield), Mirror’s Edge is a first person platformer about couriers who pass secret information back and forth in a future controlled by a totalitarian government which is run by giant corporations.  Faith is the best of these couriers, and of course she gets caught up in a giant conspiracy.

Catalyst instead of being a sequel to that story is kind of a reboot.  It sort of has the history of the first game, but at the same time it pretends it didn’t happen.  It is an odd choice considering the franchise consists of only two games.  Maybe the writers felt constrained or something, or they were worried not enough people would remember story of the first game.  Who knows.  The story isn’t that important anyway.

What is important is if the platforming/free-running/parkour elements are good, and thankfully they are.  Running around the rooftops finding the best path to get from A to B is a lot of fun.  There is a red guide line to show you where to go, but half of the fun is to kind of ignore it and see if you can get there faster by making some slight deviations.  Honestly this game would be wonderful if it wasn’t for a few pretty major issues.

First up is the seemingly random mission failure rules.  Like hey you hit that guy wrong, or you didn’t go over there first.  This wouldn’t be a big deal except for the second issue: Long loading times.  If you die or fail a mission the game thankfully has a great auto-save feature that puts you right back to where you need to be to try again, but if you are like me, you will die and fail a lot, and the loading times are excruciating.  I just want to run and jump across a city skyline, not stare at a black screen.  The other small issue I have run in to is that the game can get pretty choppy during cut-scenes.

Now this is a beta so they do have a little time to fix a few small things like the cut-scene stutter, but since the game is coming out in June, I don’t think they will be able to fix the load times.  Unless this build is much older then the one they are going to ship out and they have already fixed it.  I hope so.

For the people that loved the first Mirror’s Edge, Catalyst should be a welcome return.  For everyone else, wait until the game comes out and see what reviewers have to say about the load times.  If they have shortened them up, I think you will be in for a treat.  If they are still long, you may want to wait for the game to hit the bargain bin.

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Between Game Of Thrones And Orphan Black The Kings Of Spring Are Back!

Orphan-Black-Season-1The Spring TV premiers have sprung, and they are back in a big way!  Orphan Black seems more focused.  So far it has gotten rid of a lot of random side story lines and is focusing on just one weird one: What are those worm things?!!!!!  No one seems to know but I can’t wait to find out.  I am hoping for micro-clones.  The worm steals all the DNA it needs and then it turn in to a copy of that person!  Maybe not, but this is a show about cloning, so it would seem that it would have to be cone related.

Game of Thrones is back and managed to be both shocking and not terrible.  I am not sure they can keep this up.  They love doing pointlessly terrible things to nice and not-so-nice people all the time, so I think this was just the calm before the storm, but I am really pulling for them.  This show could use a few more good things happening.  At least until the White Walkers kill everyone.

With all of fall’s shows in wrap-up/sweeps mode it is nice to have a few shows coming back on the air.  They have started strong, let’s see if they can keep up their momentum!