E3

1. Rock Band 4 Hands-On: The Ultimate Music Game Experience

   The act of performing music is a very profound thing. Whether it’s creating something new, or communing with your favorite songs by finding the notes or singing at the top of your lungs. Of course it’s not easy; it’s a true skill. For some, the transition from loving music to learning to play music is an easy one. For others, the gift of making music is unrequited. There’s not often a middle ground where music lovers of all skills can share the experience of performance, of musical collaboration. That’s what makes Rock Band so special. That’s why the series’ return with Rock Band 4 should have you ready to get the band back together. (more…)

2. Guitar Hero Live Hands-On: A Rhythm Game’s Rebirth

   The Guitar Hero you knew is dead and gone – and that’s a good thing. After a five year hiatus, the former rhythm game giant has emerged from its Odinsleep, completely reimagined. Guitar Hero Live slips the shackles of the series’ sordid past and much to our surprise has discovered new ways to rock the genre. (more…)

3. Rainbow Six Siege Multiplayer Hands-On

   Rainbow Six Siege is the Tom Clancy game you’ve waited your whole life for. In a classic return to the original games you know and love, this installment features one-shot, one-kills and fast-paced deaths. As a result, Siege can only be played as a strategic game that requires a lot of cooperation between team members. If running and gunning is what you want, maybe you should try your hand at something less realistic, like Call of Duty, but this – this is for me. (more…)

4. Medieval Kombat: For Honor Hands-On

   The gladiatorial medieval combat game For Honor left quite an impression on me after the Ubisoft conference. So much so that on the last day of E3 I sacrificed two hours in line just to get into the walled-off For Honor theater on the show floor. I’m really glad I stuck it out.

   What I assumed was going to be an in-depth video was actually a hands-on demo! We were given 8 minutes of training and then dove into a 4 vs. 4 game. Initially I thought the combat looked simple, but it’s way more interactive than I could have imagined. (more…)

5. Ghostbusters: Puzzle Fighter Takes On the Entire Ghostbusters Canon and Gets “Carried Away” With Sexism

   

   We were surprised to see a new Ghostbusters game on display at E3 this year – Ghostbusters: Puzzle Fighter. It’s a mobile title from Capcom-owned developer Beeline that combines match three puzzle games (like the Capcom classic Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo) with collectible card games and RPG elements. A super-strange combo for sure, but what caught my eye was the game’s use of Ghostbusters characters from all across the series’ transmedia canon. There’s ghosts from The Real Ghostbusters, characters such as Tiamat and Ron Alexander from Erik Burnham and Dan Schoening’s Ghostbusters series from IDW (widely considered to be official canon to the films), as well as characters from Ghostbusters comics pre-dating the Burnham/Schoening run.

   Earlier this year, a similar cross-canonical project manifested in the form of Ghostbusters: The Board Game; a massively successful Kickstarter from Cryptozoic Entertainment, which Burnham and Shoening were directly involved with. Puzzle Fighter on the other hand was completely under my radar. (more…)

6. Disney Infinity 3.0 to Include The Force Awakens, Tron, an Inside Out Sequel, and Possibly Captain EO

   Disney Infinity is evolving once again. Each successive year the virtual toy chest of cross-property adventure expands into something bold and new. Last year, they took on the whole Marvel Universe, this year it’s the Star Wars galaxy – and that’s just the beginning!

   The Star Wars line debuts in two sets: the Clone Wars/ Prequel-era with a set called Twilight of the Republic and the original trilogy era with Rise Against the Empire. Disney Infinity figurines have always been fun and stylized, but their Star Wars figures are truly incredible in both detail and exciting sculpts. We’re not just evaluating the prototypes on display – we’ve unboxed our own preview figures and they’re worth getting whether you’re invested in the game or not. (more…)

7. Nerdy Show 226 :: E3 Report 2015

   Nerdy Show returns to E3! The console’s battle for living room dominance rages on, and this year everyone’s a winner! It’s truly the best E3 ever with more amazing and truly unique games than we can handle!

   We’ve been publishing articles all week long, but there’s plenty more we haven’t had a chance to share. Join Cap and Brandon for a manic distillation of their E3 experience – from the press conferences to the show floor, from the biggest games to the indies, from the day-long lines to closed door meetings. We’ve got it all.

   Horizon Zero Dawn, Uncharted 4, Mad Max, Drawn to Death, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided… And many, many more! (more…)

8. Hands-On with King’s Quest: A Knight to Remember (See What They Did There?)

   King’s Quest is where the modern incarnation of adventure/ puzzle games began. The series was created by Sierra in the golden age of adventure games back in 1984 for PC and became and instant legend. This led to many sequels, some even more impressive than previous titles. Then in 1998, with the 8th installment in the series, things got ugly behind the scenes. 17 years later, after many failed attempts to resurrect the series, the wait is over.

   The last developer to hold the keys to the King’s Quest kingdom was the adventure game revivalists, Telltale, but their rendition was cancelled in 2013. Rights holders Activision proclaimed, “screw it! We’re doing this ourselves and bringing back Sierra!” With the invaluable advice and blessings of the original designer and creator for the series, Roberta Williams, and with the team of The Odd Gentlemen Company, they’ve designed an episodic adventure of Kingly proportions. (more…)

9. EarthNight Hands-On: It Got More Awesome!

   Dragons have taken over Earth and it’s up to a 14-year-old girl and an old freelance photographer to stop them! This is EarthNight, a completely hand-drawn runner about the dragon apocalypse that consequently forced mankind to flee into space.

   Last year we met with Rich Siegel of Cleaversoft, the indie developer behind EarthNight. Even then, after only a couple of weeks of creating it on the PS4, the game was impressive and ranked as one of my favorite things from E3 2014. The core of the game hasn’t changed since then, it’s only gotten better and even prettier. Let me reiterate: EarthNight features COMPLETELY hand drawn environments and characters with procedurally generated levels. It sounds awesome too with a kickass chiptune soundtrack by Chipocrite. (more…)

10. Mad Max Hands-On: What a Game, What a Lovely Game

    Since we saw a pre-alpha demo of Mad Max back in 2013 we’ve been longing to return to the wasteland. This E3 we got our chance. The following are the events that transpired.

    The demo presenter had his agenda to show me the ropes, but I was like, “screw it!” I slapped a new chassis on my car and I hit the dust. Got a hot tip that there was a convoy not too far away and locked inside the lead car was a glorious new V8 – the mightiest of engines. It would soon be mine.

    

    Wasn’t long before I could smell the sweet stink of petrol in the air. Shorter still that I caught sight of the dust cloud they left in their wake. As I approached from the rear, I punched up the nitros and rammed into the rear car of the convoy. I then shot his tank with my double-barreled shotgun and watched him explode into a glorious mist of fire and death. Then, being a novice with my harpoon, tried to ‘poon the car to my right but instead pierced the driver’s chest. I ripped him out of his car and dragged the bastard’s corpse through the rocks and dust.
    (more…)