Q: So, Mass Effect. So much is being promised. You’re promising a great entry point for new players, and on the other side you have an almost elitist crowd that want a conclusion.

RM: It’s the end of a trilogy, but it’s also a new beginning to the galactic war. It’s essentially that – you’ll see when you play, it’s both a conclusion and a beginning.

- videogamer.com -

He then later went on to say…

Q: There is an ending, but will it be a ‘proper’ ending?

RM: We’ve always said that it’s a trilogy in terms of the story arc, but we’re also saying that Mass Effect is the beginning of new story arc as well. We don’t want to leave players with a feeling that it’s the end of Mass Effect, because it’s not.

- videogamer.com -

Bioware has always said that this game will end Shepard’s story arc, not the Mass Effect story arc. This is both exciting and scary. Exciting because I love Mass Effect and scary because there’s another three years of my life gone.

Either way this is great new for the video game community, Mass Effect fans, and Bioware fans everywhere.

A Gunzerker pwn-ing teh noobz

As far as new classes are concerned, the Gunzerker is the only one that’s really set in stone at this point. The Gunzerker is a huge dude who has the ability to dual wield weapons. Apparently you will be able to dual wield any combination of guns! As was demonstrated at PAX, we will also be seeing a “new and improved” siren class that has a completely new skill to use in combat. Gearbox wouldn’t spill the beans on siren’s new skill, but they were persistent about letting us know it existed. There is also (unofficial) a rumored third class that will be female. Another PAX nerd asked Gearbox at the panel if there would be any other possible female classes to play so that his girlfriend could play a german female character for some reason… and they answered back saying that his girlfriend would not be dissapointed.

At the Gearbox panel they told us that there will be tons of new gear to use and that there is also a more in-depth artifact system where the artifacts have a more broad range of perks. This new artifact system means that you will be finding artifacts that increase your jump height or speed in vehicles. This will allow for a much more broad character dynamic… and will also allow for some epic jumps…. literally…

One of the things gearbox is pushing the most is the revamped gun system. They completely re-designed the gun system so that every gun is somehow iconic of it’s manufacturer. There will be visual cues that will help the player know what manufacturer a gun belongs to or know what to expect from a manufacturer. Gearbox told us that even the scope system is revamped! There will also be the addition of new manufacturers into the mix so that there is more variety. From what i’m told… there is going to be even more possible gun combinations in Borderlands 2 than there was before.

Silly Bullymong

Gearbox is really working hard on this game. They spent a lot of their time working on enemy AI and trying to achieve a more natural and un-scripted type of experience. They introduced one of the new enemies during PAX named the bullymong. In the gameplay demonstration we saw a bullymong actually pick up things from the ground and throw them at the player. They added the ability for enemies to be aware of other enemies and possibly work together to create more of a challenge. Certain enemies are better at evading attacks… certain enemies heal enemies around them… I really look forward to the challenge

Gearbox went ahead and announced that there will be split-screen offline play as well as split-screen online play. They also announced that it will be a seamless experience in the sense that players can drop in and out with ease and it will not be difficult to manage your online borderlands experience alongside your offline experience. Gearbox also announced the ability to save your characters in the cloud in Borderlands 2.

Gearbox told us that they practically rebuilt the game from the ground up. Borderlands 2 should be a new and refreshing iteration of the franchise and will come with new guns, new vehicles, new items, a completely revamped UI, and new class skills. I think that Borderlands 2 has a lot of potential! I hope to continue to see improvements up until the time it is released. Now if I could only figure out what the other two classes are…..

Be sure and check out the Borderlands 2 website… they added a few more screenshots and one new bullymong desktop!

Super Mario Land 3D: The game felt a lot like every other Mario game to me. I really feel like Super Mario Land 3D is the bastard child of Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy. The controls were new (and a bit clunky), and the environment floated in the sky…  They did show off some of the 3D capabilities very well in this game though, but since Nintendo is apparently making a new model of the 3Ds with no 3D I don’t really see that being a big deal. I think that if you love Nintendo (and especially love Mario) then you will probably enjoy the game… but personally I have absolutely no interest in this game.

Mariokart7: This game was a LOT of fun! I started out the demo by choosing the best character of all time… Yoshi… *ahem*…. and then moved on to choosing the kart that I wanted to use, the wheels I wanted to drive on, and the type of air travel (for when you jump). This is already a new level of customization for Mariokart. The first thing I noticed was that they made it almost impossible to snake. THANK GOD! Now the game won’t be dominated by snakers, giving other racers a fair chance at a blue shell victory! I had a lot of fun with Mariokart and I will own it whenever it is released.

Sonic Generations: Sonic Generations… the game I’ve been uncontrollably excited about for months now… should not be available on the 3DS. The entire charm of the game comes from being able to play it through two different perspectives (old Sonic [2D] and new Sonic [3D]) and since the 3DS is probably not capable of the new Sonic they just substitute your sprite with the new Sonic and let you roll through the same stage with slightly different controls. I quickly put down the device due to boredom…. I prefer to see this game on the larger consoles.

Kid Icarus: I don’t like Kid Icarus. They gave me free AR cards that don’t work, and controlling the entire game with the Joystick/stylus combo just doesn’t feel right for the game. It is a pretty game though! Yea…..

Zelda: Skyward Sword: I am certain that I could play Skyward Sword and enjoy it… but the game didn’t have anything new to bring to the table. I felt like I was playing Twilight Princess part II. I also died twice due to not being informed about certain controls correctly. Like I said, I didn’t see any big new features other than some new equipment which is not really “new” per Zelda game. I was looking for a new and captivating experience and it just did not provide…

Overall I felt a little dissapointed with Nintendo. I hope that they can save my fanboyism with the Wii U… I really do…

Scale was huge, from the opening moment you could tell that the size of Skyrim was monstrous. Inventory screens were fully interactive and gave 3D look at an item before you equip it. Skill tree was just as interesting as the inventory. Skyrim sure as hell wasn’t trying to make the RPG elements predictable or  boring. And yes, in case you were wondering they did fix the jump! A more detailed review will come later for this game, as we finish up our last day at Pax Prime.

First off the skill tree was more complex than in Mass Effect 2. I didn’t spend as much time as I would have liked to on the skill tree, since the demo was timed. However, after you upgrade the skill twice, the tree branches into 2 sections ie; quick recharge vs longer duration, chain reaction vs heavy damage. The upside is that you didn’t have to choose one. You have three upgrades after the skill branches, it could be heavy damage, heavy damage, then chain reaction or in vice versa.

The gameplay was clean. Some new added features were the tactical roll and heavy melee. Tactical roll is such a nice touch to fighting enemies it allows you to be much more strategic and precise in combat. Such as gaining the advantage on the enemy. This makes flanking your enemy easier and much more efficient. When I first used the heavy melee… omg. It packs a punch. It helps so much in sticky situations, and it’s just fun. Definitely an improvement from ME2 to ME3. Overall it makes the combat experience faster paced and most importantly, more offensive. Unlike ME2, you don’t have to sit in one position to take out all your enemies, I’m not afraid to run up to an enemy and literally punch him in the face. However, you can’t always go balls to the wall, being defensive and waiting for the opportune moment is still important.

Overall exciting demo! Can’t wait.

Apparently there weren’t enough “fans” to continue development on the game. I can understand that they don’t see it making money but I also don’t really feel like their judgement is fair… There is a lot of individuals that probably never had a chance to see or play the original Megaman Legends game. Capcom talked about a “preview” version of the game being released into the Nintendo 3DS eShop, but they canned the project before it ever saw the light of day. I feel like a demo or preview might have proved to them that there are more gamers interested in this than they had assumed.

If you are let down by this news as well then get out there and prove that you are interested! Go go gadget petition!!!!!

Enough said…

The big question…. Is the Wii U gonna bring back Nintendo to it’s Hardcore gamer market? Or will the system be the final push to cause these gamers to leave forever? Honestly, I think I will play some games on this system… but I don’t see myself buying it. I’m getting tired of all these peripherals. Sometimes I just want to sit down and play an old fashioned game.

What do you think about the Wii U?

Overall this is a huge win for the industry and freedom of speech in general. Now I do not advocate that minors should be allowed to purchase “M” rated games but it is not the governments job to be regulating an industry that is firmly based in the expressing of creative ideas. No other entertainment industry currently has government involvement as they have been allowed to self-regulate. The ESRB does a fine job of providing ample information to the consumer about the type of content in a game and it is up to the parent to make these decisions. This is a great day for gamers in America, as we can finally say that we are on equal legal footing as the other entertainment industries.

However, the education needs to be there. Parents need to educate themselves about the content of the games they allow their children to play. For example, I was just in a local game store and I heard the clerk mention to the parent of a child around 8-10 years of age, “All four of these games are rated M for Mature.” The father casually nods and says that it is fine. I happen to get a glance at the games and notice Saints Row 2 and God of War 3, which are two of the more hyper mature titles that can be found at retailers. Now I have to believe that if the father would have took some time to research these titles, he would have objected to his young boy playing them. That is why parents need to educate themselves on the games they let their children play. Games are not just for kids any more. The average gamer age is increasing and the industry is quickly adapting to this change by releasing more title with mature content that goes beyond just shooting a guy or using foul language. The only way to remove the stigma around games, this idea that they are just for kids, is to continue to educate consumers about the industry and to continue to grow and mature as an industry. This case is one step forward, but we still have a while to go.

If you are looking for ways to get involved, please visit www.videogamevoters.org or the ESA website.

In the meantime… Try not to drool while you watch this!