So here’s some unexpected news for your Tuesday. Via Microsoft website PlayXBLA, Microsoft announced they have renewed the trademark for 90’s fighting franchise Killer Instinct.
The quote direct from the horse’s mouth regarding the trademark renewal:
Our legal eagles have authorized us to say: “We have either renewed or refiled a trademark application in various jurisdictions.
For you young whippersnappers who have no clue what Killer Instinct is, it was an awesome fighting game series that appeared in arcades and on the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64. While it was published by Nintendo, it was developed by Rare, who of course is now owned by Microsoft. I guess the trademark went along with them, though Microsoft hasn’t seen fit to do a damn thing with it these past 15+ years.
What does this mean? Frankly, nothing right now. This isn’t an announcement of a game, just a legal announcement. While I would love to believe a new Killer Instinct is in the works, I also wouldn’t put it past Microsoft to put this info out there just to get everyone in a tizzy.
It would be nice to see Rare get to do something other than crappy Kinect games and designing Xbox Live avatars. It’s been kind of sad to see one of the most landmark game development studios of our time reduced to what they are right now. Seriously: KI, Donkey Kong Country, Goldeneye 007, Perfect Dark, Battletoads (no joke), Banjo-Kazooie, and Diddy Kong Racing. Just to name a few. And now they make Kinect Sports and $5 avatar t-shirts.
Via the Major Nelson blog, Microsoft has launched a sign-up page today so you (yes, you!) can have a chance to be a beta tester for the new Xbox Live update dropping this Fall.
The update will include Internet Explorer for Live, personalized dashboard recommendations, and enhanced category search, among other features. You’ll have to agree to a non-disclosure agreement to participate, and participants will be asked to complete a short survey upon completion of the beta.
You can sign up here. Do it quick, as spots in the beta are limited.
If you miss out on the beta, don’t fret. The new Xbox Live is scheduled to be available to the masses in the coming months.
UPDATE: Well, damn. Almost as soon as I hit “post,” Larry “Major Nelson” Hyrb announced on Twitter the beta is full, and they’re no longer accepting sign-ups. Enjoy Internet Explorer, beta testers!
A few days ago, images for a new Halo 4 Xbox 360 surfaced on the internet, and then mysteriously disappeared. Of course, this meant Microsoft just wanted to make an official announcement, so…(make sure you act surprised!)
This fall, Microsoft will be releasing a Halo 4 themed Xbox 360! As with most of their special edition 360 systems, the Halo 4 Edition will include a Halo 4 themed Xbox 360 console, a 320 gigabyte hard drive, two Halo themed controllers, and a copy of the regular edition of Halo 4. Much like their other custom consoles, it makes special Halo noises when powering on and when the disc tray is ejected. Additionally, the lights on the console and controllers will glow blue instead of the normal green, and the casing on both is translucent. The system will release alongside the game on November 6 and retail for $399.99.
Can you sense the excitement from all those folks who purchased the plain-looking Halo Reach edition console two years ago? Or the peeps who picked up the Gears 3 set last year? All kidding aside, this console looks the best out of the 3 in my opinion, and hopefully will encourage those folks who have stuck by their old model 360 to finally upgrade to a slim and stop living in fear of three red lights. I’ve always enjoyed the fact Microsoft puts out these cool looking consoles, while my wallet thanks me for the fact that Sony never released a badass looking console inspired by one of their flagship franchises that I would’ve been suckered into buying.
Confabia! is going to be a recurring feature on VG Confab where our staff weigh in on hot button topics in the gaming world. For the inaugural edition, our editorial team breaks down the big questions coming out of E3 2012
Which of the Big 3 (Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony) “won” E3?
Brad vanVugt: Nintendo. It’s pretty easy to win when you’re the only one bringing new hardware to the dance, and Nintendo finally showed they’re doing what they have to be a player for this console generation. Yeah, a lot of the big games they showed off are already out on current generation hardware. The point is that third parties have stepped up and shown that they will throw their weight behind the new console, even with new IP’s like Zombi U (for now, anyway). Combine that with a strong showing of first party titles for the Wii U and 3DS, like both New Super Mario titles, and the Nintendo looks to make a strong showing out of the gate.
Jack Rous: Wow! Right out of the gate with the big question! Honestly, I feel like the question is more: who looked the least terrible? I have to say Sony. I’m more excited for their exclusives overall than anything Microsoft or Nintendo showed me, save Halo 4. Prior to the event, I never thought I’d be saying that.
Carrie Wood: I think it’s hard to say. Given what they were able to showcase, I’m going to have to go with Nintendo. We finally got to see what the Wii U was really capable of doing with the GamePad, which apparently involves a lot of feeling like the goddamned Batman. I’m on board with that. I’m disappointed in the fact that the 3DS showcase featured almost nothing new, and I’m also disappointed we didn’t get a release date OR price point on the Wii U. That being said, Nintendo didn’t have a major “what the hell are you doing” moment (Usher, seriously?).
Now that you’ve seen what the Wii U has to offer, are you going to get one?
Brad: Nope. The Wii U was pretty much what I expected it to be, and that doesn’t interest me at all. The GamePad makes for some interesting gameplay applications, but it still feels gimmicky to me. The fact that they felt it necessary to make a traditional controller (for more “intense” gaming sessions) is very telling to me as well. What I dealt with during the life cycle of the original Wii, and to a lesser extent the 3DS, has certainly made me more than a little gun-shy about investing into another Nintendo console at launch. As more compelling games are made available for the Wii U over the next year or so, and if third parties show they’re in it for the long haul, I might change my mind. For now, I have no interest in buying into more potential false promises and perpetual let-downs.
Jack: No. My overall feeling about the Wii and Wii U has always been: if I want to jump up and down and flail my arms around, I’ll go outside. Video games are meant to be played on my ass, on the couch, with a controller in my hand, period. And so far the only interesting thing they’ve shown is Zombi U, and even that forces you to waggle the stupid tablet to shake off zombies. In a zombie game. Like every other Wii game that stuff is going to get real old, real quick.
Carrie: Yes, but probably not at launch. I still need to see: 1. a price point, and 2. a launch lineup. If all it launches with is Super Mario Bros. U and NintendoLand, I’m going to be upset. I would also expect Mass Effect 3 and Arkham City as launch titles, at the very least.
Are you interested in Microsoft’s Smart Glass?
Brad: Absolutely. Since they used Game of Thrones as an example, I will too. One of the coolest features of the GoT Season One Blu-ray was being able to stop in the middle of any episode to read more extensive bios of the characters, and more about the lore of Westeros. Being able to do stuff like that on my tablet without interrupting my viewing experience is a very appealing proposition. Additionally, the decision to make Smart Glass available on a variety of platforms, as opposed to forcing you to buy a Windows 8 tablet, was a stroke of genius by Microsoft. The amount of early adopters this feature gets will be dramatically higher because many people already have the required hardware. With Smart Glass, Microsoft just took me from getting ready to get rid of my rarely used 360, to me now being excited about the possibilities that exist with my 360 becoming my new central media hub.
Jack: Meh. Maybe? Show me something more interesting than DVD liner notes, Madden play calling, and annoying my friends through social media, and we’ll talk.
Carrie: Interested? Yes. I still want to know more details about it before I start foaming at the mouth and saying GIMME. Linking multiple devices to create a unique gaming experience seems to be where gaming is headed, and with an enormous company like Microsoft backing it, it could be potentially awesome. I still want to sit down and use it for myself before I fork over the cash for it, though.
Did Sony leave you excited for the rest of their 2012?
Brad: For the PS3, hell yeah. PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale should be a blast, The Last of Us really impressed me, and there are a few PSN titles, like The Unfinished Swan, that are showing a lot of promise that I’m very excited to play. That’s not even mentioning a new Sly Cooper or Little Big Karting. On Vita…not so much. I have no interest in console Call of Duty games, much less a portable version. The new Assassin’s Creed is a wild card right now. The fact that Vita didn’t get involved in the PlayStation Plus program was also a disappointment. You can dive deeper into my Vita concerns in my feature from earlier this week. The fact that I don’t have a single Vita game pre-ordered right now speaks volumes, though.
Jack: Yes, you terrible, non-impartial, Sony fanboy editor-in-chief, you, I am! Two things though: where was The Last Guardian? And fix your stupid controller. Even Nintendo is stealing Microsoft’s design for the Wii U. If Sony could get with the program, I’d play other games on it other than system exclusives.
Carrie: I’d say I’m more excited for Sony’s 2013. The two biggest titles of theirs that I’m interested in are The Last of Us and Beyond: Two Souls, neither of which are due out before the end of this calendar year. Given the fact that I do not currently own a Playstation 3 (my roommate has one though!), I can’t say I’m too excited for anything Sony, personally.
What was the biggest surprise of the show?
Brad: Watch Dogs. There aren’t too many games that go from “never heard of it” to “ZOMG! I MUST PLAY THIS NOW!!!” in the span of 10 minutes, but Watch Dogs did exactly that for me. I love the Assassin’s Creed series, and I thoroughly enjoyed Deus Ex: Human Revolution last year, and this game seems to combine the feel of those two games in a modern-day setting that focuses on issues that we as a society can relate to, with internet privacy being a hot-button issue in the world today. All of the cool abilities given to your character (jamming cell phones, gathering personal data from scanning faces) seem like they would incredibly fun to use and experiment with in-game. There is still much to learn about this game, and it is quite a ways away (Ubisoft themselves said the game wouldn’t be available for well over a year), but you had better believe it is firmly planted on my radar.
Jack: Watch Dogs, of course. A brand new IP that lives in a world with shades of William Gibson and Raymond Chandler? Yes please. Just the tiny bit of big brother-style control teased in the trailer hints at a rich open world sandbox to explore, and I can’t wait to jump in. Oh, and it has multiplayer. I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it.
Carrie: Ubisoft and Watch Dogs. That game looks incredible. Ubisoft is good for having obnoxious morons up on stage, but they’re also good for delivering the goods. Watch Dogs has an incredible amount of ambition behind it and a very unique vision of a story and what a game can become, and I was very pleasantly surprised by that.
What was your biggest disappointment of the show?
Brad: All of the press conferences as a whole. One of the very best parts of E3 is that the biggest publishers in the business get the stage and the spotlight shown exclusively on them for 60-90 minutes to bring their biggest guns to the table and show why you should care about them in the coming year. Usually, that leads to some huge announcements, good or bad, whether that means pulling the curtain back on your newest console, showing off an unexpected trailer for an unannounced game, or shocking the world with some unexpected news (“Oh, and one more thing…”). This year ended up being fairly underwhelming. Part of that was because a lot of the big news that might have been a surprise was leaked or announced in the weeks leading up to E3. Part of it was having unfocused presentations (i.e. Microsoft forgetting that people wanted to see games and not Usher). Part of it is force-feeding info on products that the audience you’re speaking to don’t really care much about (Wonderbook). The reason that the EA and Ubisoft conferences were probably the most effective was because they kept the focus on their game line-ups and showed us plenty of demos. The bright lights of the E3 stage should be reserved for the biggest announcements of the year in the gaming world. I hope the focus shifts more in that direction in the years to come.
Carrie: The 3DS showcase. When [Nintendo VP of Sales and Marketing] Scott Moffitt said he was going to spend extra time talking about upcoming 3DS titles, I was expecting him to talk about more than what was mentioned during the main Nintendo presser. I was wrong. We heard a lot about Luigi’s Mansion 2, New Super Mario Bros. 2, Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion and Kingdom Hearts 3D. We heard nothing about Animal Crossing (which got pushed back again), the Smash Bros. that’s been hinted at, or really anything new and exciting. Don’t get me wrong, I’m hype for the upcoming Mario and Scribblenauts games, but I wanted something truly new and unique for the system. I didn’t get that.
What was your game of the show?
Brad: Tomb Raider. I was expecting Lara Croft’s newest adventure to be a solid game. I was happy they were shaking things up by rebooting a series that has long been stale and in need of new ideas. It’s still Tomb Raider though, and because of that, there’s always that little bit of doubt in the back of my mind. The trailer and gameplay demo that were shown this week took any doubt in my mind, and replaced it with unabashed excitement. When Uncharted came on the scene, it took the groundwork that was laid out by the Tomb Raider franchise, fixed the things that didn’t work, and made a kick-ass action series with memorable characters and personalities. Well, the action we’ve seen from Tomb Raider is pretty kick-ass, and by all accounts, it seems like they’ll be developing Lara Croft’s character more in this one game than it’s been in every other Tomb Raider game combined. Now it’s pretty clear the section of game played in the demo was tailor-made to showcase all the awesomeness that Tomb Raider had in store. If the entire game can even maintain half of that fast pace throughout, you’re looking at an all-time great title, and one that I have no problem saying will be a serious Game of the Year contender for 2013.
Jack: Halo 4 and Watch Dogs, in a dead heat tie for first.
Carrie: Gotta go with Watch Dogs. I’m terrible at being sneaky in games that require being sneaky (Metal Gear, Assassin’s Creed… the list goes on). That being said, getting to be a cyber spy in such a large-scale environment looks too intriguing for me not to play it as soon as it comes out. It looks awesome and I can only hope it delivers when it drops. Other candidates for this in my head were New Super Mario Bros. 2, and Beyond: Two Souls.
Agree with our thoughts? Vehemently disagree with some of our responses? Confab below!
Here it is, everybody. The culmination of months upon months of rumors and disinformation. Will we see new consoles unveiled? Will we get a new earth-shattering IP? Will Ubisoft’s Mr. Caffeine be forced to commit seppuku live on stage? Over the next two days, these and other burning questions will be answered, starting at noon E.S.T. This year we open with Microsoft and quite possibly the biggest reveal of the show, Halo 4. Spike TV has the coverage this year, so I get to report this while listening to Geoff “Don’t Call Me Jeff” Keighly ooze fake enthusiasm through my television set. And away we go!
12:00: Coverage begins with a “stand by” static slide in place for 30 seconds. Good start!
12:08: Two of Keighly’s cronies refer to their coverage of the event as “moving through the building like a bowel movement.” I throw up a little in my mouth.
12:12: Kevin Smith! The man must own 400 hockey jerseys. 30 seconds in, he’s mentioned drugs twice. Anyway, he’s there to announce his company, SmodCo., is starting a game development division, and potentially developing a Jay and Silent Bob FPS.
Huh. Alright.
Also, he says Carrie Fisher told him John Belushi tried very hard to get on the cast for Empire Strikes Back. This is far more interesting than anything else he says.
12:17: Tekken Tag Tournament 2 trailer. 30 seconds of ass-kicking alliteration!
12:20: Oh look, it’s Microsoft Studios head Phil Spencer! Blah blah blah party games, blah blah blah digital distribution, blah. Annual Xbox Live event Summer of Arcade line-up announced, starting with third-person action shooter Hybrid from 5th Cell, the makers of Scribblenauts. It’s quite a departure from their norm, but they have enough street cred for me to pay attention. Side-scrolling zombie apocalypse shooter Deadlight comes next, and if you read my stuff you know I’m excited for this. Kinect-based Wrecketeer comes third, meh. Oooo, Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD, if you want to play that again. And finally Dust, an asian-styled action RPG. All in all, pretty promising.
12:28: Xbox Live Companion announced, essentially this is a way for your Xbox to integrate console achievements with all your various social media apps and portable devices. Great, I know my friends want to be updated on Facebook every time I get an achievement. This is just what we’ve been waiting for!
12:30: Ok, Microsoft, impress me.
12:31: Holy s***tsnacks. The Halo 4 trailer begins with a live-action commemoration of the first UNSC ship launched in peacetime, after the events of the previous Halo trilogy. Up in space after launch, some bad shit goes down, and the ship is sucked into some kind of wormhole, only to reappear crash-landing on the same planet Master Chief is marooned on! Next we see some kind of glowing sphere thing, a new enemy type? The video ends and we go to actual in-game campaign gameplay, tearing ass through an alien jungle to reach the downed ship, and it looks tremendous. New weapon models, awesome. What are the Covenant doing here?! Whoa, that Elite disintegrated! What the hell? Finally the strange planet’s inhabitants reveal themselves, and Cortana tells us it’s some kind of organic A.I. Shoot stuff, explosion. Ah, a new humanoid enemy type attacks, looks like a cross between an Elite, a bugger and a Tron extra. After he dies, John gets a new weapon, some kind of Forerunner rifle. It blows up the new guys real good. John now sports thermal vision in his visor, and we see him surrounded by enemies before he gets knocked out. The preview ends with more of Cortana losing her mind, and a gravely voice calling you “Reclaimer.” Cut to black.
Whew! That was good.
12:40: New Splinter Cell Blacklist! The level they show is in the desert somewhere overseas, with Sam sneakin’ around like he’s known to do. Not digging the new outfit, he looks like he’s cosplaying as Solid Snake. Suddenly he tags and kills like 8 dudes on the run, and the Ubisoft guys tell us it’s a new feature called “kill on the run.” Seems kind of obvious, but they’re Canadian, so what do you want. And of course it has to have some kind of garbage Kinect functionality included, which appears to be yelling at guys as a distraction. Great use of the tech, fellas. This looks far more action-oriented than Splinter Cell games ever were, so if that’s your thing it has some potential. Finally they announce a return to fan-favorite multiplayer mode Spies vs. Mercs, which will make a lot of classic Xbox nerds very happy.
12:48: Oh good, EA Sports. What garbage are you promoting? Oh, Kinect functionality for FIFA 13 and Madden 13! Wooooooooooooo. More voice commands in my games, just, yes, more of that please. Jesus Christ. So, you can now yell at the refs in FIFA, and if you use naughty language, you could get a card. Yes, that will fly in the households I know! If you curse non-stop throughout the entire match, do the fans have a riot? And here’s Joe Montana to play Madden. He should tuck his shirt in. There’s a noticeable lag between shouting out an audible and it registering with the game, which is the biggest problem you have when you take the controller away. This is awkward.
12:53: Another Kinect game, with magic. Fable: The Journey. Looks like zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….
12:57: Ok, we’re back! Some douchebag with too much gel in his hair wants to tell us about Gears of War: Judgement. It’s a quick trailer, looks like more of the same old, but starring Baird instead of Marcus. Then we see Forza Horizon, shiny cars driving around. Someone needs to come up with an idea for a new kind of racing game, because this year’s Forza just looks like every other Forza you’ve ever played.
1:02: And now we hear about changes to your dashboard. Bing voice commands will now accept searches by genre, so that’s, um, still more of a pain in the ass than using your controller? Cool. Oh, and they’re adding new languages recognized by Kinect, so that’s great for all my Swedish friends. New content is coming, including new entertainment providers like Nickolodeon, Paramount Movies, Machinima (yay!) and Univision, to get your fill of those fantastic Spanish boobies. New sports providers are coming too, like NBA League Pass and NHL game center. Now Brad has a reason to use his Xbox. And finally, ESPN live programming is coming to Xbox! All your favorite shows AND sporting events streaming live in HD 24/7. Awesome.
An update for Xbox Music is next. Looks very Pandora-ish, but if you’re gonna steal, steal from the best. They’re really hyping social connectivity this year too, showing a “sharing” option with every piece of new content and dedicated offline Xbox features you can access on your tablet or cell phone. TECHNOLOGGYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!
1:12: Nike Fitness Kinect zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…
1:20: God, MORE about Xbox on your smartphone or tablet. Xbox SmartGlass is announced, a way for you to shift content around from your various devices so you’re not forced to restart a movie you’re watching on the go when you get home (you lazy ass.) Also if you’re watching a movie on your Xbox, it will automatically give you related information about it on your other devices. As far as games go, they show the playbook from Madden 13 popping up on your tablet, and maps and tech guides from Halo 4 on your smartphone. Also, you’ll soon be able to use your cell as an Xbox remote, sure to piss off all your friends and family when you remotely f**k them up while they’re playing. And finally, we get an internet browser. Way to finally jump on board, guys! Sadly, it’s Internet Explorer, but did you expect anything else? Look for it this fall.
1:25: Andddddddddd fade to black! Live! While that dude was talking! Spike’s really knocking it out of the park this year.
1:26: Blah blah blah SmartGlass.
1:30: Tomb Raider! I’m loving the new mature direction Crystal Dynamics is going in. They show us some gameplay and it looks pretty damn fantastic, very Uncharted-esque. Lara’s got some pretty brutal melee kills going on here. Man, she is getting BEAT UP, I feel bad for her. Crazy parachute sequence, wow. I’m really excited for this one. First DLC will be Xbox exclusive, so sorry PS3 fanboys.
1:35: World premiere exclusive time. Ascend: New Gods, from those wacky guys that brought us, um, Toy Soldiers? Is that really something you want to advertise? Anyway, it’s some kind of action RPG with some God Of War thrown in there. Next up is LocoCycle, about, wow, motorcycles. Really? This is what you’re showing us? And then some Kinect-based Marble Madness-style game, Matter. Snore.
1:40: Resident Evil 6 gameplay! Leon vs. Zombies and a helicopter. They show off RE6’s new move-and-shoot feature, as Capcom finally decides to join us here in 2012 (welcome!) Why do I notice Leon’s hair looks amazing? Oooo, dual wielding pistols! GET TO DA CHOPPA!! There are several QTE moments in the footage, which doesn’t bode well. Overall, short but sweet.
1:45: Wreckateer for Kinect. Does anyone care?
1:47: South Park trailer! In case you didn’t know, it’s an RPG. “Jews can’t be saviors, Kyle.” Snort. I haven’t watched the show in forever, but I’m still down for this. And here come Trey Parker and Matt Stone to tell us all about it. Damn they look old. They proceed to make fun of Xbox connectivity and SmartGlass, which was AWESOME. Somebody had to say it. They appear cool and laid back and humble, talking about their game. Well done, guys.
1:50: Dance Central 3. Can someone PLEASE teach me how to dougie? Anyway, apparently Usher is involved, so he has to come out and sing a song now. Ok, what the F**K is going on here, Microsoft? At one point he asks the crowd to “get up!”, and exactly no one moves. Even he looks mildly embarrassed to be there. This is just, wow. So awful. Please end soon.
…
Man, he is STILL dancing. This has gone on now longer than any single moment they’ve shown thus far. Why does Usher get more airtime than Master Chief?
1:57: When they finally get Usher off the stage, it’s time for closing comments. Blah blah blah connectivity, blah blah blah future, blah blah blah what the f**k EVER. Get to Call Of Duty, you know it’s coming.
1:58: Call Of Duty Black Ops 2! First DLC exclusive to Xbox! Wow, actual gameplay footage, surprised they’re putting it out there already. You’re escorting the President somewhere, in the near future. Love the dashboard HUD on your vehicle. EXPLOSION!!! And now we shoot stuff. Really, it’s Call Of Duty, you know what it looks like. Interesting, there’s a moment where you can choose to snipe from an overwatch position of rappel down to join the fray up close and personal. I hope they give us a lot of divergent path options like this during the campaign. It’s future warfare this time out, so they show off some tech like x-ray scopes and apparently magic bullets and whatnot. Fast-forward to later in the mission, and we see some standard COD run and gun in a shopping mall. Hey, I want a wrist controlled flying drone with a mounted machine gun! These things are everywhere, like angry wasps. And then a building falls over, in the most non-impressive fashion possible. What the hell was that? And now you’re flying a jet with the First Lady. Looks like another non-controllable flight mission ala the first Black Ops. Explosions, yawn. Hey, fun fact, did you know oscar mike means “On the Move,” thanks to the phonetic alphabet? It’s true!
Annnnnnnd, cut to black, and then back to Geoff Keighly’s face, which means I can turn this off and take a smoke break.
So there you have it, the first major presentation of E3 2012. No Rise? No Assassins Creed 3? No new Xbox announcement? Usher dancing? WTF guys?
What did you see that impressed you / made you sick? Confab below!