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Coffee Talk #655: E3 2015 — So Wha’tcha Want?!?

E3 2015 is next week! It kind of crept on me there — totally forgot it was this close. As always, I’m excited to see lots of great games, watch the console manufacturers try to outdo each other, and catch up with longtime videogame industry friends. This year, I’ll have a bunch more “me” time at the show. At E3 2014 I made the mistake of working for two companies that wanted full-time efforts out of one person. While I enjoyed the show, it was tiring and I didn’t have the exploration time that I love (I also missed my annual Hooter’s lunch with my dear friend, AIAS Debby). E3 2015 will be different! I have some light freelance work and a bunch of meetings, but will certainly have lots of time to check out games.

Hooters with @debbychen, an E3 tradition. #e32013 #losangeles #chickenwings

A photo posted by Raymond Padilla (@rpadtv) on Jun 11, 2013 at 3:16pm PDT

I tried to load up as many E3 2015 meetings as I could on Tuesday (day one of the show). In years past, some of the best games I’ve seen were ones that I looked at because friends and respected colleagues told me to check them out. Bumping into someone between appointments and asking, “So what have you seen that’s cool?” has lead to some amazing revelations. I’ll rely heavily on that technique at E3 2015.

Some of my industry friends have been making fun of me and asking, “So? What indie game are you going to fall in love with this year?” Yeah, yeah, yeah — that’s totally deserved after being smitten with games like Journey, The Unfinished Swan and Sound Shapes during previous E3 shows. While I’m looking forward to the spectacle of big-budget games and the unique charm of indies, the game I’m looking forward to the most doesn’t fit into either category — Sword Coast Legends. As a huge mark for the Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale games, I can’t wait to learn more about this one.

As longtime RPadholics, I want to know what you want me to check out on your behalf. If I have access to the game and time allows, you’ll get your own personal preview. Please leave a comment below and let me know what you’d like me to check out at E3 2015.

Rocket League Preview (PS4, PC)

Rocket League has a premise that’s so preposterous that is must be fun — cars playing soccer. If that’s not enough to get your attention then how about ridiculously acrobatic cars playing a physics-enhanced death-match version of soccer? Okay, fine then. Let’s add Sweet Tooth from Twisted Metal to the mix! That dude brings an absurd amount of fun to any party he’s invited to and he aims to amp up this game. From the brief time I spent checking out Rocket League, I found it to be a game that’s pure fun, whether you’re playing it alone (good) or playing it as a party game (better).

Let’s get some of the official particulars out of the way. Rocket League is being developed by Psyonix, a company known for creating Unreal Tournament 2004, ARC Squadron, and Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars (Rocket League’s forerunner). The game will be available for PlayStation 4 and Windows PC on July 7, 2015. In addition to playing against Rocket League’s AI, the game supports up to four players in split-screen mode and up to eight players in online mode, with drop-in drop-out gameplay.

After a quick demo and some gameplay, the aspect of Rocket League that I enjoyed the most was its feel. The game is flat-out fun. I loved the silly premise of cars playing soccer. Rocket League’s physics are extremely enjoyable, so much so that driving around and seeing what the cars could do was as much fun as competing in a match. I would say that the physics are accurate, but I have no idea of what the physics of driving up walls and on arena ceilings is actually like (I’ve lived a limited life, sorry). Where I think the game will really excel is as a party game; sure, solo and online play should be lots of fun, but I can easily picture having a blast playing Rocket League with several buddies on a couch.

Driving in Rocket League is much more than crashing into a giant ball and trying to get it into a net. The game’s cars are capable of outlandish maneuvers that will have you soaring through the air and performing acrobatic stunts. The cars can drive on walls, execute bicycle kicks, double jump, perform wicked power brake moves, and more. In the time I spent playing Rocket League, I found the driving to be insanely fun.

As you play Rocket League, you’ll unlock features. The developers were keen on going heavy with unlockables, so as to keep players coming back for more. I was told that Rocket League is loaded with Easter eggs, to the point that players should discover something new every time they play the game.

When playing against AI-controlled characters in Rocket League, Psyonix hopes to offer an experience that’s lifelike. From what I was told, the AI shouldn’t fall into predictable patterns. Sometimes the game will go at you aggressively and other times the game will emphasize defense. Psyonix’s goal for the Rocket League AI is to make it feel like you’re competing against an actual person.

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Like many car-based games, Rocket League offers lots of customizability. Players can choose from up to ten body styles — buggies, trucks, a Batmobile-like vehicle, RC cars, sports cars, and muscle cars. Paint color, paint type, wheels, tires, decals, exhaust trail colors, and more can be customized. I was shown some cool customizations, like sparkle exhausts and rainbow exhausts. I was told that other exhaust types include money and grass, while various paint types like glossy and metallic will be included.

Of course if you want to go with a pre-made vehicle, Rocket League should have some cars you’ll immediately recognize. Sweet Tooth of Twisted Metal fame will be exclusive to the PlayStation 4 version of Rocket League. You can see Sweet Tooth in action in the video embedded below and check out several screens of the iconic ice cream truck in the screenshot gallery above.

Other Rocket League features include extensive stat tracking, a robust replay editor that takes advantage of PlayStation Share Play, season mode, and (for your trophy whores out there) platinum trophies. At a glance, Rocket League appears to be a complete game. While I’m fairly sure that it will be entertaining as a multiplayer game, I haven’t seen enough to say if the single-player mode will have much longevity. Details on the game’s season mode will be revealed at E3 2015, so hopefully that’ll give me more of an idea of the single-player fun. For now, check out the Rocket League media in this story and kindly let me know what you think of the game in the comments section.

DICE Europe Chats With Michael Pachter & Greg Essig

Many of you longtime RPadholics know that the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences’ DICE Summits are my favorite events in the videogame business. I’ve been helping out the Academy with some interviews in preparation for DICE Europe 2015. The first two are live! First up is a chat with Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter. Next is an interview with FunPlus head of business development Greg Essig.

A lot of you know Pachter as the most quotable analyst in videogames and from his Pach Attack show. He talks about his upcoming DICE Europe 2015 session, as well as some general nerd stuff. Learn about Pachter’s session, as well as his thoughts on the upcoming Star Wars movies and his view on A Song of Ice & Fire vs. Game of Thrones, by clicking the interview linked above.

While not as “game famous” as Pachter, Greg Essig is just as charming. Formerly with Apple and Creative Artists Agency, Essig has taken a new position with FunPlus. At DICE Europe 2015, he’ll be talking about “defining value in mobile gaming.” He told me a bit about his session, as well as his love for Sigur Ros and the Avenger he identifies with the most.

So yeah! Please do me a favor an check out the two interviews linked in the last two sentences of the first paragraph. You’ll be my favorite person in the world if you do!

Hearthstone Available For Android and iOS Phones Now

Blizzard has announced that Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is now available for Android and iOS phones. The collectible card game (CCG) was initially released for Mac OS and Windows PCs, which was followed shortly by an iPad release. In late 2014, Hearthstone came to Android tablets. Today’s release gives Blizzard an even bigger reach with Hearthstone, hitting millions of people that play games on their phones (or as they say in England, mo-biles). You can download the game through the Apple App Store, Google Play, and the Amazon App Store.

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft was one of my favorite games of 2014 and is still something I’ve played most days this year. It’s easy to learn and incredibly addictive, while offering numerous gameplay styles. I’ve spent hundreds of hours playing it on my iPad and MacBook. I’m positive that I’ll spend hundreds of hours in 2015 playing it on my iPhone 6 Plus. It’s great fun and I hope that several of you RPadholics download the game on your phone, so that we can play against each other. Maybe we’ll get a tournament or something going and I’ll send a prize to the winner. Yeah! Let’s bring back the RPadTV Invitationals!

Having said all the praise for Hearthstone, the game can be frustrating. There’s certainly a pay-to-win element to it, in that players that sink lots of money into the game will have access to better cards. As a free player, it’s annoying when I run up against a guy or gal with multiple legendary cards in his or her deck. Blizzard is an amazing videogame company — easily one of the best in the history of the business — but the matchmaking in Hearthstone can suck. While I hope that all of you guys and dolls play the game, please be prepared to run into some trust-fund kid that will beat the pants off of you, simply because he bought his way into a killer deck.

Now that Hearthstone is available for phones, will any of you be giving it a shot? Please let me know in the comments section. Do it for the RPadTV Invitational!

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Balotelli Says Mario Jumps Like a Black Man and Grabs Coins Like a Jew

Ah, Twitter…the social media service that gives a voice to millions of people that should be muted and gives athletes a chance to expose their idiocy. One of the latest instances of athlete Twitter fail centers on Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli. One of the most gifted footballers in the world, Mario Balotelli also has a reputation as an extraordinary bonehead. Urging people not to be racist on his Twitter account, Balotelli asked people to be more like Mario from the Super Mario Bros. series. His description of the Nintendo plumber was amazing. Check it out:

Be like Mario, he’s an Italian plumber, created by Japanese people, who speaks English and looks like a Mexican. He jumps like a black man and grabs coins like a Jew.

Mario Balotelli has deleted his arguably racist “Don’t Be Racist” post and issued an apology.

Personally, I don’t think he was trying to offend anyone and believe that he thought his original post was a positive thing. I don’t believe there was anything malicious behind his original post. All of this is, of course, conjecture.

Having said that, it was idiotic of him to make that post. Being an idiot is something that Mario Balotelli has been accused of thousands of times. Famous people that are in the public eye shouldn’t post stupid things that could be construed as racist. It’s just dumb and leads to more trouble than a 140-character post is worth. Hell, people that aren’t the least bit famous have gotten in trouble for posting stupid things on social media. If normals can get in trouble for misguided social media rants then it should abundantly obvious that celebrities need to be extra-careful with what they say on social media.

What do you think of Mario Balotelli’s Twitter adventures? Does he need to hire a social media editor to censor the dumb ideas he wants to share with the world? Or is he getting too much heat for his comments? Share your thoughts in the comments section (please!).

Coffee Talk #648: Your Black Friday/Cyber Monday Wish/Get List

The ludicrous sensations known as Black Friday and Cyber Monday are nearly here! For the next week or so, I’d love to hear all about your wishes and wants for this year’s shopping spectacular. As the deals pile up, please use the comments section to post any sweet deals you’ve snagged or that you recommend to your fellow RPadholics. If you’d be so kind as to keep an eye on Amazon’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals page, picking something up would really help out RPadTV (if you hit the link in this sentence before buying).

Sadly, I’m way too poor to buy much of anything this year. So I’m going to live vicariously through you guys and gals. Hopefully a bunch of you will enjoy some stellar deals so that I can feel a bit of joy and possibly bust out the following saying:

Ha! So let’s have it (please)! Share your Black Friday and Cyber Monday wishes and gets below (again, please).

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about the rocky career of RGKnee, Derrick Rose’s endless aches, or the extremely unfortunate breakup of Demi Lovato and Miley Cyrus, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Colbert, Gamergate, and Anita Sarkeesian

I’ve been avoiding writing about #Gamergate because it’s stupid, overblown, and generally not worth thinking about…but this clip from The Colbert Report is too good. Watch Stephen Colbert chat with Feminist Frequency author and media critic Anita Sarkeesian about the Gamergate situation. Yes, Gamergate has cost me a couple of thousand dollars because some a-hole Breitbart readers click-botted my website, but I believe that you only have two choice in such situations — laugh or cry. Thanks to Stephen Colbert, I can chuckle at the whole stupidity of Gamergate and feel a little bit better about my day. Check out the clip when you get a chance and let me know what you think of it. You can earn bonus RPad points by identifying all the games you see in the clip. (Note: RPad points are worth as much as your Xbox Gamerscore…which is to say that they’re worthless.)

Edit: The video has been updated to two videos! The intro to Colbert’s Gamergate piece is above, while the chat with Ania Sarkeesian is below.

Laura Shigihara’s Rakuen Trailer is Utterly Charming

I’m totally charmed by Rakuen. This upcoming adventure/puzzle game is being headed up by Plants vs. Zombies comoposer Laura Shigihara and it looks like a fantastic time for old-school gamers. On the gameplay front, Rakuen looks like a classic RPG, but the focus is on exploration and puzzle solving. The graphics also feature old-school flair, but use a distinct color palette. The music I’ve heard so far is lovely and totally works for the game’s dreamy tone.

Speaking of dreamy, I believe that the word rakuen is Japanese for paradise (I only took one semester of Japanese). The game’s story is about a sick boy whose dreams become a reality. Here’s an excerpt on the story from the game’s official website:

Rakuen is a story about a little Boy who lives in the hospital. His mother reads to him everyday from his favorite storybook, which is about a tribal child living in a fantasy world called “Morizora’s Forest.” One day the child wakes up to find that everyone in his tribe has disappeared. He soon learns that in order to escape danger, his tribe sailed away to a paradise isle called “Rakuen.”

The Boy deals with questions about empathy, hope, and what it means to leave behind a legacy by coming to terms with your own story.

On paper, Rakuen looks like one of those games that will melt your heart with a touching story enhanced by charming graphics and music. As a huge fan of 8-bit and 16-bit games, I’m predisposed to Rakuen’s perspective (that’s how the world is supposed to look, damn it!). I have a feeling that this game will work for me on every level and can’t wait to see more of it (and also play it, duh).

Rakuen is due out by the end of 2014. Check out the trailer and screenshots below, and let me know what you think of the game when you have a chance.

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Coffee Talk #644: Hajime Tabata Has Me Excited For Final Fantasy XV

Millions of Square Enix fans were dazzled by the Final Fantasy XV trailer shown at Tokyo Game Show (TGS) 2014 (embedded below). Many longtime fans of the series were disappointed in the last few FF games and believe that Final Fantasy XV will return the franchise to glory. Gamers loved the brilliant graphics and modern gameplay shown in the TGS 2014 trailer, so it’s easy to understand why so many people are excited. I’m quite excited for Final Fantasy XV too, but for a different reason — Hajime Tabata.

Mr. Tabata was the director of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. As I mentioned in Coffee Talk #286, Crisis Core was the last game I loved. The storytelling, gameplay, graphics, and music delighted me completely. For the type of videogame experience I adore, Crisis Core was just about perfect. When Mr. Tabata was installed as the new director of Final Fantasy XV roughly two years ago, my interest in the game went from “excited” to “OMG can’t wait!!!” With all due respect to former FFXV director Tetsuya Nomura, who has had a legendary videogame career himself, I’m way more excited about a Final Fantasy game with Mr. Tabata in charge.

There are other incredibly talented people working on Final Fantasy XV too. Kazushige Nojima is the game’s main writer. His scenario credits include Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. Composer Yoko Shimomura is writing the game’s music. Her awesome tracks can be heard in Street Fighter II, numerous Kingdom Hearts games, several Mario & Luigi titles, and more. I’m hoping that all these talented people come together to form an unforgettable videogame.

While I enjoyed the Final Fantasy XIII games more than most, they certainly didn’t entertain me as much as FFX, FFVI, FFV, FIV, and FFVII (probably in that order). Loads of gamers have blasted the FFXIII games, going as far as saying that the titles tarnished the series’ reputation. Many of these gamers loved what they saw in the TGS 2014 trailer and are dreaming about Final Fantasy XV reestablishing the franchise as the king of RPGs. As for me, I’m just dreaming about a Tabata-directed Final Fantasy game. Hopefully it won’t turn out like Final Fantasy XII; originally directed by one of my all-time favorite developers — Yasumi Matsuno — the game’s creation was a disaster and the end product…wasn’t the best.

Anyway, check out the Final Fantasy XV trailer below and let me know what you think. Do you like what you see? Do you think the game will be a triumphant return for the series? Leave a comment and let me know (please!).

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, cherishing Derek Jeter’s last days as a professional baseball player, your favorite Fappening photos, or being threatened with “swatting,” Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Fenix Rage Preview Interview With Ted Lange

If you’re looking for an old-school hardcore platformer then you should definitely check out Fenix Rage. The game is being developed by Green Lava Studios and published by Reverb Triple XP. Fenix Rage is a relentlessly difficult platform game that’s extremely addictive and has lots of replay value. Some gamers that have watched videos of the game believe that it’s the next Super Meat Boy.

In addition to the brutally challenging main game, there are a few things that help Fenix Rage stand out. If you get tired of dying, you can take a break with the game’s arcade mode. This mode contains a number of diversions that use the same game mechanics and controls of the main game, but without the supremely challenging difficulty. If you want an under-the-hood view of Fenix Rage then you’ll definitely want to check out the “Fenix Box” levels. These levels give you a stripped down look of the game, showing off its tight controls and precise hit detection. Lastly, Fenix Rage makes outstanding use of cookies. Confections are collected in the game and play a part in the story. Actual cookie recipes and baking instructions can be unlocked in the game. One of the developer’s sisters is an avid baker and contributed her recipes to the game.

Check out the interview above with Reverb Triple XP executive producer Ted Lange. He provides copious details on Fenix Rage. For additional info on the game, be sure to check out the Fenix Rage coverage on PaulSemel.com.

A nifty side note about the game — some of its character and level designs were influenced by SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron. I totally forgot about that cartoon until Ted mentioned it. Good times.

Fenix Rage will hit Steam and other PC digital distribution platforms on September 24, 2014. The game will hit the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles in early 2015.