Microsoft Xbox Briefing 2019
Out of the more than 60 games that they showed at the event, I only cared about five, with only two of them being Microsoft Studios games. I will most likely be getting the new Xbox system when it is released, but let’s be honest folks, this new system is going to have pretty much the same innards that the next PlayStation is going to have, so all the pomp and circumstance that they were trying to blow up my fictitious skirt was for me honestly as waste. If this generation of consoles has taught Microsoft anything, it should be the games are what matters, not showcasing what’s under the hood so to speak because as many know, consoles have become nothing more than minicomputers. So, for me, all the fluff was unnecessary.
Keanu Reeves in Cyberpunk 2077
They already had my money. Now, CD Projekt Red are trying to steal my gaming soul as well. Keanu Reeves was amazing as a presenter for this game, and I could tell that he was quite shocked at the response he got from the crowd and was actually having fun on the stage interacting with the audience. My spring is going to be very full with this game, and another one that was spoiled that I won’t name until later.
Halo Infinite
I’m glad that this game is finally coming out because the ending of Halo 5 really sucked donkeys. I hate cliffhangers in general and the one in Halo 5 was particularly bad. Also, it does kind of suck that I have to wait until the launch of the XBone 2/Xbox 720, or whatever they are going to call it.
Gears 5
I’m am so glad that this game is coming out on September 10th, because again the cliffhanger ending of the campaign kinda sucked, and left a bad taste in my mouth. True, it left me wanting to understand what the hell was going on, but I really hate cliffhangers–especially in games.
Elden Rings
As a fan of both Tolkien and Martin, I was already interested to see what this game was about. Though I am completely confused as to what this game is really all about the trailer was very beautiful. I still want to know more though.
Bethesda Press Event
Bethesda and more importantly their third-party developers attempted to move past the garbage that was the release of Fallout 76. The third party has clearly steered clear of it, but Bethesda clearly has not.
Unlike other bloggers and YouTubers out there, I’m not going to talk in depth about all the “Real Gamer” vignettes that played throughout the event. They were what they were–a pull at the gamer’s heartstrings in order to show us, that yes Bethesda cares about us and been there for us through good and bad, so please be there for them. The thing is gaming, in general, does that for many, NOT just one studio, but I digress.
Though there were a few games during this conference that really interested me, I don’t know if I will play them. I really need to find out more information about them, before I make a decision. Also, I am playing Elder Scrolls Online, so I loved seeing what’s coming next in the year of the Dragon, and I loved seeing Sai Sahan again.
So…Fallout 76…though they did address the gigantic elephant in the room, they did nothing to make me, who would be a new player to MMORPG, want to come anywhere near this game. They attempted to make an “expansion” feel like something other than them finally trying to finish the game (by actually adding NPCs, an actual story-driven questline and system update and actually putting in a working PvP system), yet they failed miserably. Then, and this is true my own personal opinion, as long-time gamer, who isn’t really much of a player of this genre of games, outside the odd dalliance, they had the audacity to announce that they are adding a battle royale mode to the game, which the majority of gamers today know is nothing more than a lootbox cash grab, veiled as an FPS free for all style game. What a load of garbage.
You know, I get that when Todd Howard came out and said a few jokes about Fallout 76 before bringing out the develop leads, so that they could tell us viewers about all the changes coming to the game was Bethesda’s way of an apology, but honestly, it was a piss poor one. If he had just come out and said, “Hey we get it. We messed up with Fallout 76, and we are sorry. Here’s what we’re doing to fix the problem of the initial release.”, that would have gone a long way to square up with those gamers who have lost a lot of respect for this game developer.
I will say though that the real stars of the show were the third party developers, with the MVP coming from Tango Gameworks, the makers of Ghostwire: Tokyo in the form of one Ikumi Nakamura. She was a bit nervous when she came out on stage, I think partly because there were a lot of people in attendance, and English was not her first language, but I LOVED her. She was infectious and passionate about what she was talking about, and she was truly delightful. In fact, her passion for what she was making made me, as a gamer feel that passion, and made me more interested, and honestly that’s how it should be. I usually don’t play paranormal, kind of spooky, horror type games, but I actually loved the trailer for this game, and I’m very interested in finding out more about this game, and it’s partly because of her passion for it.
Deathloop, a new game from Arkane Studios seems like a very interesting premise. I am going to have to find out more about this game, but the premise of pitting one person against another in a groundhog day style game, where if one person dies, they remember how they died, so that they can avoid that death the next time is interesting; considering that the opponent doesn’t remember how they killed you.
Doom Eternal…I played the very first Doom way back in the day on PC. I was actually playing it alongside Duke Nukem, which had been released a couple years before, back when I was barely into my teens when MS-DOS was a thing. That being said, I haven’t played a Doom game since, and have had no desire to, so honestly, that showcase wasn’t for me.
And that’s what I thought of the MSoft and Bethesda conferences. A few highs, but on the whole kind of mediocre for me. What did you think? What games interested you during both conferences? What did you think of Bethesda’s attempt at moving on from Fallout 76’s bad launch? Be sure post in comments, and thank you for visiting my little corner of the interwebs.
