I wonder if the surprise they are talking about is that the next Nintendo system, NX, will be of much greater power than the two twins... I doubt it but it is fun to think about.

Explain to me how making profit is a commercial failure? because it didn't sell 20 million? Doesn't matter the system makes profit. That's the point. You can't be failing if you make money. Gamecube made money. Wii U makes money. Sony is failing losing billions per year and cutting 18,000 jobs in 3 years and posting it's 7th annual loss.

 

Top it off Wii U software sales up 175% last year. Nintendo isn't failing as a business nore is Wii U. No it's not sold in the bajillions like Wii did or PS4 is but PS4 will see diminishing returns.

Look I didn't mean to start a riot.  I personally absolutely love the wii u, that is why I am here.  But in its first couple years it did cause operating losses for the company.  I was just pointing out that the social stigma and the inability to top even 10 million is in no way a success.  Not everyone can win every time, and Nintendo knows the Wii U hasn't been what they hoped, the best thing they can do is pick themselves up and hit hard with their next console, and a Zelda game to launch would be a perfect plan.  Yes they did post a profit this year, and will almost certainly post another one this year with Zelda, StarFox, and XBX, but after that they have to look to a brighter future where they could have an install base of more than 9.2 million (or as I suspect, around 15-20 by the time the next console is released.)  Also I said nothing about Sony, so I do not know how they came into the reply, but I have mad respect for Sony as well and their business model of getting a large install base to sell software, because software makes a lot more money than hardware.  This is also why the Wii U isn't completely failing, because its low install base is big into buying all of Ninty's games ,with them selling millions.  Nintendo will always be the software king, and though they are on track to lose this gen, I believe they still have some magic.

Yeah this will almost certainly be our only Zelda, I'm assuming the next Ninty console to be out 2018 at the latest, and with it I suspect a new Zelda will be shown.  Also, with the wii u being a comercial failure, they won't want to put too much money into a game that has a terrible install base, and they will probably try to use the IP to drive next gen sales.

Yes the WWHD was very much a way for the team to familiarize themselves with working with the system, and I think that the fast sailing might have been a test to see how much the new hardware was capable of loading at certain speeds, because the boat speed is very similar to Epona's speed.  Also, The visuals for both the games are similar, while Zelda U is obviously far superior, and is almost a mix of SS, TP, and WW.  I think for Zelda U, the team is made of a lot of young folks, and experienced veterans.  Also, I think Aunuma loves to make extremely different games but is stuck with the Zelda franchise, so he personally loves to drastically change things up and experiment.  He was once tasked with making Ura Zelda, and when he hated just rehashing the OoT, he challenged Miyamoto and ended up making IMO the best Zelda game in the franchise's 3D history, Majora's Mask.  I also think it is clear he listens to fans and uses their input, to a degree.  He saw how upset a large portion was about the WW's childish graphics, so he gave us the gritty TP.  I know i have digressed a little, but what I am trying to get at is that This game is exactly what the fanbase wants right now, and I think he is going to deliver like he did with MM, WW, and TP.  This game is gonna blow my freaking mind!

I'm still looking to see if this large world carries with it an actual improved and larger game.  I'm talking actual NPC's that have schedules and backgrounds, and rewarding non fetch side quests. But every single thing I have seen and heard about this game so far is fantastic.. ITS ALMOST TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!!

Okay that was kinda rediculous.. But almost every modern company reacts that way, not saying it is right, but it certainly is how things work nowadays.  Though I think Nintendo was right to not cut people because it lowers morale and digs the hole deeper.

Classic trollism.

This game has caught my interest, but I'm afraid it won't live up to the souls series before it, which were some of the best games of the last gen.  I will get this game eventually though and i really hope it provides the same controller throwing gameplay of the souls series! IT does look to be quite difficult from the trailer..

The souls games really werent that difficult. They just demanded the most basic of competence in the controls and mechanics, and observation of enemy behavior, instead of smashing buttons and watching the computer do the awesome like in every AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA game available today.

If those players cant smash buttons and watch awesome things happen, they cry and scream about how 'the controls are broken!!!!'

Honestly, the combat, while enjoyable really isnt the main draw of the soul series to me. And this combat looks just as servicable, if not more enjoyable, from what little ive seen. What we have no way of judging yet, is whether or not bloodbourne will retain the souls series absolutely fantastic level 4 open world design.

Something I have no reason to doubt whatsoever what with the three souls games and years of kings field (Dark souls before it was called dark souls)

I agree the world is and how it fits together so well is nothing short of flawless, but I also disagree that the game isn't difficult.  While some of it is just pure get to know the controls, if you play it without spamming the game with soul farming and naked dodging than it does become quite the challenge, especially when you first reach a level.  It took me on average 10 deaths at the start of each new area to really get a strategy going and to prepare based on that strategy could sometimes take an hour.  However, I do think the boss battles were not as hard as many have said, until the end that is.. Another thing that I really enjoy about the game is how you are left to really play it how you want, while sure some ways are a lot easier than others (AHEM pyromancer) some ways are incredibly difficult, such as the knight.  I don't see me getting into this new world as much as I did with the soul series, considering I am a huge fantasy nut, so I'm slightly dissapointed with its direction. Also, I can't see there being any diversity within the world, no forests, no lakes, no swamps only a post apocalyptic industrial age city.  So it will be neat to see if they can keep that level 4 world design, of if they pull a metroid based on what you said in the metroid discussion. 

Having a BLAST!! get it?!

Okay, so this is a list of what I feel are the best moments this year so far, and the worst.  Please put your own opinions as well!

Best

5. Rare Replay- Microsoft.

 As a massive fan of old school Rare, to be able to receive 30 of their hits for only $30 is a steal.  This will surely take up hundreds of hours of my time come august when this releases, and Microsoft has seemed to have righted their wrongs and let Rare take a creative leap again with Sea of Thieves, a new pirate open world adventure game that looks like Black Flag but in an mmo setting.. Whatever the case I am looking forward to it!

4. Horizon- Zero Dawn

  the new Open world RPG in a  post apocalyptic setting looks to play fantastically! And I am a sucker for games like this, the gameplay looked incredibly smooth and creative, and the robot monsters are a cool twist! Too bad I do not have a PS4... Yet

3. Dark Souls III

  Not much has actually been shown for this new game, but after playing both of the prequels I am super excited for the third installment!  I know it is probably a ways away, but just seeing concept for it chilled my bones. A nice surprise in a lineup of great games.

2. Mario Maker

  When I saw this game last year I didn't think much of it, I thought it was going to be very limited and closed in what it could do. However I have been proved wrong by Nintendo. They have put great effort into making this a fantastic tool that has seemingly limitless potential.  Day one buy for me.  (Also that final round of NWC was so intense, it basically sold me on this game!)

1. Call of Duty  FALLOUT 4!!!!!!

The game looks like a combination of just about everything popular in gaming. Post apocalypse Check.  Giant open world check.  Crafting check.  Guns check. Sandbox and city custom building check. Tower defense check.  Everything a modern gamer could want is on this.  And despite the backhanded Nintendo slap, this game has everything that I could want.

The Worst

3. The Last Gaurdian-  I know, this game is one of the most anticipated titles of the last decade, but the gameplay was completely underwhelming and looked like it could get annoying fast.  The boys character design is awful, and his call for the beast is downright obnoxious.  This game will have taken 8 years to develop when it releases, but it looks like an ambitious indie title at best.  I hope they prove me wrong, but this game looks like it will disappoint.

2. Star Fox: Zero

 The game looks like it is for the gamecube, super bland textures and Zero details.  But I don't care about graphics as much as I care about what looks to be a very annoying second screen experience. I HATE GYRO.  And I will get really annoyed switching between the screens and it looks like this is the only method in the game. Also, no multiplayer? Seems odd to me.  The game is certainly nothing exciting.

1. Nintendo in general

 I had high hopes for a metroid game, and they blew it with the 3ds game which looks half assed.  I had high hopes for animal crossing on wiiu, and All i get is a pay tons of money for amiibo mario pary-esque game that looks boring as heck.  I had high hopes for paper mario, and they blow that with yet another 3ds version that seems to crap on the classic first two by combining it with the popular but less quality Mario and Luigi series.  And last, I had high hopes for Zelda Wii U which they left out because they are taking their good old time with it and instead of dedicating people and time to their one game that can save them they are giving me a four swords second coming that for the 3ds that looks like it is far inferior to the other 3ds zeldas and felt like a slap in the face. **Takes deep breath** Rant over.

Dang, sometimes I feel like no one cares about making good games any more other than Ninty..

I guess it's just the developers that get the most media coverage and buzz are the ones that I really hate the most, like activision and EA.. So it feels like there is no good devs. But yeah there is still Ninty and FromSoftware and IMO Bethesda although I know someone is gonna flame for me saying that (please don't).. And a couple other ones that I can't think of right now.  Still not that many.

There'd be a massive graphics downgrade in order for that to happen.

Considering the team making Zelda U is at least twice the size of probably closer to three times the size of the Monolith team, it really isn't a huge stretch.  Also, I guarantee the monolith studio in Kyoto is helping Ninty with development.  So that even adds more to the dev team. Also, it has been in at least some state of development for 4 years, that is a huge amount of time!  Also, judging by the videos of the two games, X's environment does look more polished, but that may be because it is 7 months closer to release, which is also a massive amount of time!

In skyrim mountains were background objects blocked off by invisible walls.

in Xenoblade a mountain is a hollowed out dungeon labyrinth. You know, once you fly all the way to the top and into the hollow peak.

 

Well some of them were, but there was actually a massive amount of mountains that could be climbed and a huge amount of dungeons (cookie cutter yes, but still worth exploring) within the mountains. While skyrim's world space is considerably less than XBX, the game world was ingeniously designed with the layout of mountains to appear much larger than it actually was.  I am in no way degrading the genius of the people at monolith, who I agree can layer a world with amazing skill to add tons of 3 dimensional  space, but I am arguing that Skyrim is also designed quite fantastically when you come to terms that the world is no bigger than its predecessor (even a little smaller) but feels enormous do the the elevation differences added.  Almost any open world game uses mountains or ocean to conceal invisible boundaries, even Xenoblade.  It will be interesting to see how XBX is received in the west, and to see if it lives up to its hype.

I did some research and according to some figures on the internet, Zelda Wii U will have 5 times the space (square km) of Skyward Sword's world. Xenoblade X will, likewise, have 5x the space of Xenoblade.

It was also estimated on these forums that Xenoblade would have massive amounts of data, close to 50GB. Well it has been revealed the game is 22.7GB, less than 4x the size of Xenoblade. That's not much for the upgrade from 480p. http://nintendoevery...es-x-is-22-7gb/

I'm saying to get hyped and have fun with these games, but try to leave room for some realism as well. These games will be great, but probably far from godlike. The next generation of consoles should have maps at least 2-4x the size.

I guess you have never heard of compressed data.. Something Nintendo has always been a master at.

The vast majority of them were. The number of mountains you could actually scale, and werent props blocked off by invisible walls can be counted on your hands.

The games world is HORRIBLY designed, using a much loathed shortcut that should have died with the n64 era called spatial compression. Often called potato land/ potato scape, potato worlds, etc.

"You are Krutor, a wild barbarian from the land of Morkroch. You have travelled a very long journey, across high mountains to the famous imperial city of Lhota, the capitol of the world and largest agglomeration in the known universe, whose fame touches the stars.

The city consists of precisely fifteen buildings (one of which is the imperial palace); the town is inhabited by 30 NPCs, including Emperor Lojza, Archmage Lotrando and all of the members of the guilds of thieves, mages and warriors.

You visit the emperor, who sits alone in the throne hall, and he assigns you with an quest. The land is terrorised by an evil dragon from hell and Lojza is powerless. He has sent an entire imperial army against it, but the monster has killed all five soldiers. Now, he needs a hero like you! You have to find and climb the mystical mountain, Lohen, on which no human has ever set foot, and behead the dragon.

You accept the quest and set out from the town gate. The mystic mountain Lohen is precisely 150 metres from the gate and is about 50 metres high. All of the inhabitants of the city are either not good, blind or crippled if they have not managed to notice it for centuries. After an approximately 30-metre walk to the mountain, you come to ‘no man’s land’ and are attacked by bandits. During another 120m walk to the peak, you also notice an ancient fortress Rumloch, a secret dungeon of doom and a bandit hideout. At the peak of the mountain, you kill a one-hundred-metre dragon by beating its foot with a rusty sword and drinking potions. Then, you rob the corpses of the imperial army (all five) and on the way back to the castle are killed by a wild boar.

Welcome to an average RPG.

This environment compression however negatively affects the graphics. In order to place a castle, cave or bandit camp every ten metres, you have to create a lunar landscape and hide the locations in nonsensical craters or beyond a hills that you must make as high as possible so that it would not be possible to see very far behind them. The result is an environment which is miles away from a real landscape, it is absolutely impossible to orientate within it without a map and in most cases looks bad. I call it a potato landscape, because the terrain surface is reminiscent of a potato’s surface.'

Its a bad, old, used up design trope that needs to die in fire.

This was originally done because games simply couldnt handle the actual scale, it was a shortcut and a compromise pioneered by games like the first 3d zeldas, and the sandbox equivilant by modern elderscrolls (Notably after elderscrolls 2, which was a computer generated landscape, that really WAS that big....) instead of artist designed landscapes). Unfortunately, instead of realizing this was a shortcut and a compromise, it was just aped into oblivion, even long after the power to do more was plentily available.

This is done so that players (Purposefully conditioned) ever dwindling attention spans are given a trinket every 10 feet so the game doesnt feel boring, because todays game designers are simply not capable of designing a world that is just plain interesting to explore, or fixing problems with traversal, they choose to focus on either designing a game that is small with stuff every 10 feet, or one that is big, where you move really fast over vast quantities of nothing, because none of them want to take the time, or are even capable, of doing both. Todays world designers are not capable of transitioning the snes era rpg/adventure game worlds into proper 3d. We are still using all the same shortcuts to fake them. Modern publishers feel that kind of time and money is far better spent on marketing. Which is why all those 'if you can see it you can go there' blurbs are pretty much all lies.

Xenoblades guilds arent mage guilds theives guilds assassins guilds- the standard and run into the ground tropes, who all have the same objectives, kill mofos. They are Cartographers, treasure hunters, philanthropists, resource gatherers, technology creators... And then, only two of the 8 are directly focused on killing things.

Since your only method of interaction with the world is no longer fricking killing everything in it, or talking to the guy who tells you to go around the corner and kill everything in it, it doesnt have to be designed around the ludonarrative dissonance, of your only interaction with the world is killing the crap out of it, so that you are killing a bunch of bandits around a fire place, or a ramshackle village, (Full of people you are obviously going to kill and reload and kill, in a variety of ways) where you are told to go kill.

THis spot is good for a data probe, this spot has a peice of wreckage to salvage, this spot has good resources to send back to the town, this spot has a lifepod full of people to recover, and yes, this spot has herds of dangerous creatures to subjegate, and that spot over there has an extra powerful unique monster.

Since there is so much to do, you dont have to design the game around not showing that everything is literally the same exact thing (mofos to kill, or mofos telling you who to kill), and its all right next to each other... You can move beyond the potato landscape design.

Which means, now 90% of the mountains are no longer off limit barriers with invisible walls there to make sure you dont find out the big bad guy who you are supposed to journey across vast distances to kill, is really just 50 feet behind the hut you accepted the quest from, on the otherside of the mountain. you are just forced to go the long way, all the way around.

No short cuts, no cop outs, no potato design.

Look, I'm not saying Skyrim is the best game ever, and I am certainly not saying Xenoblade looks worse, but I have to disagree with your brutal comments about Skyrim.  I definitely believe that they did use some cheap methods to make the world, and it should have had an extra year of development because the original release was almost unplayable.  But it was a game with about 3 years of solid development, and I believe that part of the reason the game is designed the way it is is because of the modding community, which consists almost entirely of amateurs, and Bethesda literally supplies all of us with beautiful kits to mod the game. After 5-10 mod downloads, the game world can be completely overhauled into literally whatever you want it to be! Also, if you ever listen to Todd Howard (the producer of ES 3-5) he agrees with many of the points you make, such as lazy developers and what not.  While Skyrim is in now way a perfect game, it is also by no means a terrible game, and I think most of the Gaming community would back me up with that.  Compared to today'sAAA carp such as CoD, Assassin's Creed, and all the other movies trying to be games that get released, Skyrim is far superior. It may be a tired rehash of a formula that has been used for 20 years, but it doesn't pretend to be anything else, and it is a formula that works and that I enjoy.

I am extremely excited for Xenoblade X, as I have just finished the first, and I do agree that the world design is fantastic and beautiful.  I will admit I have only a fraction of the technical knowledge that you do, but I like it that way because the less thinking I do then the more pure enjoyment I can get out of these games.

I do think kyoto is a stretch for the size, but it also does make sense, because the original Zelda was supposed to capture the feeling Myamoto had of exploring the woods and landscape of the region in his childhood, and the full scale of it couldn't be used then because of severe limitations of hardware and knowledge of development at the time.  With all the back to the roots talk of this game it would make sense that this is finally the game that realizes that exploration feel that was intended for the original, but couldn't be realistically done until now.  So I do believe that if it is not the size of Kyoto, it will at least be larger than almost any other game we have seen.

Microsoft: A-

Tons of great games shown. Halo 5 looks beautiful. They finally gave creative freedom back to Rare and better late then never! The Sea of Thieves showing looks enticing. Also, the Rare Replay is one of the better deals in gaming I have ever seen! 30 critically acclaimed games from 4-30 years ago, for $30? Also, backwards compatibility announced? That really did me in.  The presentation was boring itself to watch, but man did they bring some surprises. Also, that minecraft hololens showing was insane!

Bethesda: B-

Bethesda had an alright first showing, DOOM looked gorgeous but looked pretty bland combat wise, and the guts and gore are a little too much for me.Dishonered, Hell yeah. Their arena combat game that I have already forgotten the name of looked atrocious, and the saver of the day was certainly Fallout 4, which I will put money on being the best game ever made, and it is releasing right before my birthday.

Sony- B+

Sony brought big guns, but they were underwhelming to me. Shenmue being fanfunded makes me quite sketched out. FF7 remake looks cool but its just that, a remake.  And then there was The Last Guardian, which I had forgotten about since about mid 2010, and wished it had stayed that way. The gameplay looked boring, the character design and environment looks no different then 6 years ago, and the worst part, it isn't even coming to next year.  No Man's Sky looks impressive, but also seems to have absolutely nothing to do in that massive universe but explore cookie cutter planets that change the color of the leaves.  They pretend like what they are doing has never been done before, but I've played the atrocity that was spore and this is clearly a modern take on that game in many ways. However, despite this seemingly negative rant, I was quite impressed with the thing as a whole. Also, Horizon might be the game that forces me into buying a PS4.

Nintendo: F

By far the worst E3 I have ever seen (haven't been at it that long, started in 2010). Starfox looks like it should be on GAMECUBE, and the gyro controls and emphasis on second screen play looks awful. Zelda...... Well if they took the developers that are making this game and had them work on Zelda U I could probably have it by the end of the year, instead of this uninspired second coming of four swords that even takes a backstep and only includes three links. The puppet thing made me uncomfortable, and the constant developer interviews ruined the pacing and felt like filler trying to make up for the little and unsubstantial content they had.  Especially the yarn yoshi lady, i wanted to hit her she was so awful.  Instead of  a true animal crossing we are getting a wierd take on mario party that requires amiibos, so to truly enjoy what little is to be enjoyed you have to pay probably and extra 60 bucks to have four players. I thought this was a Nintendo direct not an EA conference. The only saving grace was mario maker, but by the time they talked about it I was so annoyed and frustrated that I didn't even care how awesome it was, Nintendo had already crapped their pants and even an entire container of febreeze couldn't rid my house of the smell. I have been a die hard Nintendo fan since my toddler days of sitting on my father's lap and watching him play Mario64 and Banjo-Kazooie, but as hard as it is it might be time to keep the fond memories but change my course because I do not like this "transformation" one bit..... Sorry for the rant.

I got this game and played it through and am indulging in the DLC as well! I've never button mashed so happily, honestly all the appeal was in playing as Ghirahim, my personal favorite villain. I am not surprised it is selling so well considering it carries the Zelda name brand, probably the second most iconic franchise in video game history behind only Mario.  And thanks for posting the Wallpapers!

Alright, if you could have a sequel of any game ever, or even a spiritual successor, what game would it be? And also, what would you want done with the game? Is there any changes from the original that you would make?  The game doesn't have to be a possible game, in fact it would be better to discuss games that definitely won't happen!

For me, it is a tie between two games. first, Banjo-Tooie (pretend Nuts and Bolts doesn't exist), and second, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.

1. Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie were the best 3d platformers of all time in my opinion.  They were both full of diversity, challenge, fun boss fights, and a million things to collect and do.  They both had things that were better than the other, but together they were two of the funnest(and funniest) games ever made.  I would love a sequel that introduced a new enemy that uses Grunty to destroy the isle o hags and kidnap Banjo and Kazooie.  The world would be enormous and full of diverse landscapes and interesting ideas, but just as quirky as its predecessors.  Though this game only exists in my dreams, it is still fun to think and theorize about.

2. Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning (KOA) is one of the greatest RPG's of the last gen in my opinion.  While many view it as a tired entry into a saturated market, there was something about the world that left me amazed and in awe.  Whether it was Detyre's vast cliffs and the city of Adessa's amazing and awe inspiring archetecture, or if it was Rathir's towering enormity that with the immediate sight of it I was taken back.  Whatever it was, the game hit a sweet spot in me.  The story was interesting, the lore was deep and complete, the world was spectacular, and the main quests were very well done.  However, there were some things that lacked, such as meaningful side quests and a completed and well done combat system.  Also, the world was broken up into segments that required load screens to go between, both of these things the developers planned on fixing in the second rendition before they went bankrupt.  Now the fate for this gem lies in the hands of Nordic Games, who are instead fixated on reviving a ten year old, ill recieved game.  

One last thing, the music in both of these games is absolutely fantastic, and both games are composed by Grant Kirkhope, who is a legendary game composer. 

Now,what games would you like to see made? Would you enjoy either of these games?

A new Spyro plzzz

Your not a fan of Skylanders i take it? 

As a fellow ex-rare fan I must agree with BK. But I did not like BT as much since their levels were to big. One doesnt need super big worlds to have a fun game and sm3dw and bk are examples of that.

My game would be Maximo or Ghost n Goblins. I really would have a follow up to those.

I agree the first was slightly better.. But I actually did enjoy the large worlds, what I had an issue with is the insane amount of backtracking involved with the game. In BK, every jiggy in a world was available from the start, and that is what I think made it the better game.  World size for me was a plus.. It always has been, I'm just an explorer at heart I guess.

This actually looks fantastic.. I may give it a download!