Julius

Found myself not really in the mood to dive into a video game yesterday, so I decided to start and finish Baccano! instead. I think you get a great feel for the show just from its OP, which features some great transitions, and has an awesome, jazzy track (which, you know, of course I'm going to be a fan of). On more than one occasion the middle section of that OP is stretched out with a short recap of the last episode and some filler instrumental, then seamlessly runs back into its original flow. It's wonderful. It's just a typical train heist turned murder mystery in early 1930s New York. With a gang, led by Ladd Russo, one of the sickest and most sadistic characters in anime. And the mafia. Two hilarious robbers. A mass murderer, who is just as sick and twisted as Ladd in many ways. A supernatural tormentor known as the Rail Tracer. And a little dose of alchemy, and a whole lot of immortality. This show starts off a little rough in the first three episodes, and it's hard to come to terms with its pacing early on. It jumps between three timelines, each roughly separated by a year, and often seamlessly, so it's easy to feel a little lost. But it all clicks by the fourth episode, and charges headstrong towards the end. It has such a great and diverse cast, with an excellent voice cast (off the top of my head I recognised Alphonse, Winry and Ling Yao from FMA:B and Okabe from Steins;Gate) and I was laughing out loud at times, tearing up at others. There are some truly disturbing moments. This show just shouldn't work, and yet it does. Heck, the jumping around in the first three episodes clicks so well by the end of the show that it takes full liberty in freely jumping between years by the end. This show is about life and all of its links and perspectives to take, I was floored by how much I loved the show by the time it ended. I loved it that much by the end that I immediately looked up the three Specials/OVAs, which sort of cap off the show and tie up any loose ends. It's not quite as powerful as the show's ending, but still, it's more time with these great characters and in this awesome setting. What a blast of much needed joy. Definitely one I'd recommend!

Having seen credits roll for three games since the start of the month, and with me unlikely to return to my office for work anytime soon, I'm going to try to make entries into my Gaming Diary a bit more frequently than I have been so far this year, mainly to keep on top of it. METAL GEAR SOLID 3: SNAKE EATER | 2004 At the height of the Cold War in 1964, America's greatest agent, known only as The Boss, defects to the Soviet Union. At the same time, GRU Colonel Volgin fires an American-made portable nuclear missile launcher in Soviet airspace, which sparks an international incident. In order to clear America's name and steer the world away from World War III, The Boss' last apprentice, code-named Naked Snake, is dispatched by the special forces unit FOX into the heart of Soviet Russia. His orders are to rescue Russian rocket scientist Dr Nikolai Sokolov; take down his former mentor, The Boss, and her Cobra Unit; eliminate Colonel Volgin; and put an end to the threat posed by the nuclear-armed Shagohod, a mobile tank capable of great speeds and with a range great enough to reach the United States. Once this mission, known as Operation Snake Eater, is under way, the intro cinematic for the game is finally introduced when booting up the game, a wonderful audio and visual experience largely inspired by the introductions to a number of James Bond films. It sets the scene and tone for this game perfectly. As was the case in previous games, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater focuses on players stealthily infiltrating hostile territory in an enemy-filled environment, this time in the fictional Virgin Cliffs of Tselinoyarsk, a placed with varied topography and nature including jungle swamps, forests, mountains, and canyons, and home to an incredibly and diverse array of flora and fauna. In large part thanks to the great variety of landscapes on show, camouflage is introduced as a new mechanic in this game, and plays a key role in Snake's ability to infiltrate enemy lines; referred to as the "camouflage index" and ranging from negative values (highly visible) to 100% (practically invisible), you must switch between different camouflage uniforms and face paints to blend into your immediate environment. Not only does this contextually make sense as a mechanic in the game, something I'm always a big fan of, but it allows for a wider range of options to approach certain scenarios and environments, such as infiltrating a lab dressed as a scientist or an enemy fortress as an officer - the funny thing here is that the scientists aren't nearly as mindless as the soldiers, and if you stick around them for too long, they'll quickly realise that you're not a member of their team and pull the alarm. Finally, for the first time in the series, the game could be played from a third-person perspective and can be switched to a fixed camera perspective, a welcome change which made my approaches to situations feel much more under my control than during my experiences with previous entries. Another new mechanic introduced in this game is how this game keeps track of injuries, and your ability to treat them in a number of different ways. For instance, a bullet wound gained from a firefight needs to be removed with a knife, cleaned thoroughly, and sewn back up, whereas a broken rib from a fistfight requires support from a splint. These injuries can impact the speed at which you move and recover your health, so it is important to take care of them swiftly. In addition, while the life bar from previous games returns, a stamina bar is also introduced, which depletes during traversal of the world and when injuries are picked up, bringing in the need to hunt the local fauna, ranging from small frogs and rabbits to poisonous snakes and scorpions, and gather flora and packaged goods (such as packets of noodles or rations) to assist in recuperating your stamina. Failure to do so can impact Snake's ability to aim accurately and steadily, and can also make his stomach rumble, which can alert nearby enemies to his position. While food can be stored in your backpack, caught animals and gathered plants and mushrooms can go rotten after sitting in there for a while, and consuming them can result in a stomach ache, which in turn causes the stamina bar to deplete faster, so be sure to have that digestive medicine to hand. A lot of mechanics from previous games make a return this time around, too. Basic combat from previous games is this time fleshed out and heavily refined into Close Quarters Combat, or CQC. Beyond the basic need to kick and punch your way out of certain situations, when unarmed or carrying a one-handed weapon such as a knife or small gun, Snake can quickly grab opponents and place them in a chokehold, after which a number of actions can be taken such as choking them unconscious, slitting their throat, or interrogating them. The actions taken are determined by the pressure applied to buttons and the direction of the analog stick, and though it takes some time to adjust to, it quickly becomes a helpful asset which proves itself throughout much of the game. Other returning mechanics, such as the Soliton Radar or items like mine detectors and night-vision goggles from previous games, are this time either traded in for era-corresponding items, or found to be battery powered, recharging when not in use. The Codec is in turn replaced with an audio headset, with a small screen for flipping through photos but no live feed, and tuning into certain frequencies gained by interrogating guards gives you some music from the era to listen into. This feeds into the game's pace perfectly, forcing you at certain points to slow down and approach scenarios and environments more meticulously, having to comb over enemy rations and supplies in their camps in order to stock up on items and weapons. Combined with many of the other features that I've mentioned previously, this makes the game a joy to figure out. The way that you can approach certain boss battles is also largely influenced by this, and there are multiple ways to take them on as a result. In particular, I feel the need to highlight the boss battle against The End, a member of The Boss' Cobra Unit who is over 100 years old, who is a sniper and saving the last remnants of his energy for his battles. The battle is massive, taking place over a few adjacent areas in the game including a deep rainforest and small clifftops and waterfalls. This battle can be approached as a sniper battle, sure, but how I found myself approaching the battle was by chasing the old man around, following his relatively smaller footsteps with my thermal goggles and blasting him with my M37 shotgun. As I've learned from other forum members in the relevant thread is that there are also two other wildly different ways to approach The End which do away with the need to even fight him directly, both of which made me chuckle. This battle comes after facing The Pain and The Fury in relatively quick succession, and although I was chasing The End around, it was still a long, drawn out battle, shortly after the end of which we learn that we need to head upwards towards the mountains to continue the good fight. We make our way into a cave, which we quickly find out is an old tunnel, at the end of which is a ladder. So much has happened by this point in the game, and so much has to be going on in Snake's head. There are questions surrounding EVA, an ally agent who quickly becomes a love interest - what is she in this for? The fights against The Boss' Cobra Unit - how do we feel about having their blood on our hands, knowing that they played a large part in bringing an end to World War II? The Boss' defecting to the Soviet Union - why would she betray her country at the height of the Cold War? We start climbing the ladder, slowly ascending to the mountaintops, and an a cappella version of the song from the intro cinematic, Snake Eater, starts to echo out around us. Climbing up the ladder in the Krasnogorje Tunnel is one of my favourite scenes in a video game. It was an extremely cathartic experience, and I had goosebumps and was tearing up by the time that I had reached the top. It was a much-needed change of pace from the intensity of running through three bosses in a pretty short window, the intensity of the rainforest, and was the perfect chance to reflect on everything the game had put you through to this point. It was a perfect blend of cinema and gameplay. Metal Gear Solid 3 has an epic narrative which gets rolling from the very start, and is easily the most narrative focused of the Metal Gear Solid games that I have played so far. It's pacing is pretty much flawless, and unlike in previous games, I didn't find myself having to awkwardly backtrack through previous areas to continue moving forwards - this game rarely does anything but move you forwards and into new locations. This game also has my favourite video game chase sequence, when you inevitably take on the Shagohod, but I think it's worth mentioning here that switching from the third-person perspective to the fixed camera perspective should probably be mandatory for this sequence, because it's almost unplayable and very confusing to try from a third-person perspective, and means you won't get to enjoy some of the excellent cinematography on show at this point - besides that, my only other problem with the game is framerate dips which I found to be most noticeable when using certain weapons, such as the M37 shotgun. The chase sequence is so long and cinematic, it's an absolute pleasure to shoot your way through. But even with a great world, narrative, gameplay, and mechanics, the highlight of this game is easily the characters. EVA, even with her Bond girl charm and femme fatale skills aside, has a pleasantly surprising level of depth to her. Seeing a younger Ocelot in this game was at times hilarious, and where I found him quite bothersome in previous games, seeing his budding rivalry with Snake was a pleasure throughout. Volgin as the main antagonist in the game felt like a rare occasion in games where the actions that he took - whether against Naked Snake, or just about anyone else - warranted the warnings of his cruelty, often bordering on sadism, by many characters throughout the game. The Boss is a truly tragic character, and where she and Naked Snake end up by the end of the game is heartbreaking. Naked Snake has the most meaningful arc of any of the playable characters that I've experienced as part of the Metal Gear Solid games so far. Although to begin with it is clear that he is as lost at times as Solid was in the first game, the twists and turns he overcomes throughout the game give him the clarity and conviction he needs by the game's end. I think overcoming the members of the Cobra Unit, and taking his and their code-names into account, paints a clear picture of his journey: starting out "naked", all of his flaws and qualities on show but often turned against him, the washing away of his pain, overcoming his fears (and the inevitability of having an end), learning to conceal his fury, doing away with his sorrow, and killing his joy. He is "naked" once again by the end of the game, all of his flaws and qualities once again on show, but this time all that remains is this empty shell of a man. Playing as the man who would become the greatest soldier of all time mentioned in previous games, Big Boss, was a fascinating experience. Norihiko Hibino and Harry Gregson-Williams both made a return to score the game's soundtrack, the latter this time composing both material for the game's cutscenes and for gameplay sections. As was brilliantly executed in the previous games, the tension married to the music in certain situations throughout the game as we infiltrate Soviet Russia is astounding, with the high tempo, Bond-like espionage and at times slower, more methodical piece captured in Battle in the Base being a standout example of this. The main theme is heard throughout the game a number of times, with a Western-inspired, more upbeat version of the main theme in someone's office in Old Metal Gear is as incredibly charming as it is amusing, whereas a track like Life's End flawlessly incorporates the main theme into a bone-chilling, reflective, yet ultimately hopeful melody. Snake Eater, written by Hibino, marries Cynthia Harrell's extraordinary voice with a distinctly Bond-like track, and married to the visuals of the intro cinematic is without a doubt one of my favourite opening songs to entertainment in any medium. Rika Muranaka once again returned to write and produce one of the ending credits songs, Don't Be Afraid, and like his song contributed to the credits in the last game, there's this hope and tragedy to this jazzy and brass-filled song which are perfectly balanced by the beauty of Elisa Fiorillo's voice. The other ending credits song, Way to Fall, is a break from tradition in that it isn't an in-house production, a remorseful but splendid song by Starsailor which manages to take this game's ending to another level, and it's hard to believe that this song wasn't written for the ending, considering that it frames it so perfectly. Once again, though, I do think that the strongest track in this game is the Main Theme, and it manages to somehow transcend its epic nature from Metal Gear Solid 2 altogether, kicking in at the perfect time during the showdown with the Shagohod, all while being a much more nuanced and varied track than its predecessors. Hideo Kojima's cinematography and directorial style come to the fore throughout, a game which to this day remains a treat to play, and remains just as great a narrative to experience, with a stellar soundtrack, stunning locations, and a terrific cast. This game speaks to the importance of the circumstances you find yourself in, the "scene" in which your life and events takes place, and how the world around us impacts the events which take place before our very eyes. It deals heavily with cultural relativism, the idea that concepts such as right or wrong, enemy or ally, are not absolute, but instead are personal and open to change, shaped by our cultures and by the times we live in, an idea which is just as important today as it has ever been before, in a world filled with so much unnecessary noise, hatred, and chaos - an idea highlighted in one of the last scenes of the game, when the dramatically ironic point, at the height of the Cold War, is posed that America and Russia could be allies by the 21st century. A meditation on the Cold War and mankind's weakness to being blinded by the culture and ideas that immediately surround us, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is a game with a resounding message contextualised by great gameplay and a cinematic narrative which was years ahead of its time. A masterpiece in every sense of the word. After experiencing what has quickly become one of my favourite games for the very first time, I decided it was finally time for me to dive into a pair of games which I hoped would provide a welcome change of pace, and a return to one of my favourite entertainment franchises. STAR WARS: THE FORCE UNLEASHED | 2008 Developed and published by LucasArts, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed bridges the gap between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Leading an Imperial invasion of the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk, in the first level - which serves as something of an intuitive tutorial - you take control of Darth Vader as you slaughter your way through herds of Wookiees on the hunt for the Jedi Knight Kento Marek. Upon finding and defeating Marek, you discover his son, Galen, and Vader takes him as his apprentice. Years later, you take control of a now adult Galen Marek, known now as Starkiller, a deadly assassin strong with the dark side of the Force, Vader's secret apprentice, and are sent by Vader to wipe out a select group of the remaining Jedi throughout the galaxy, before attempting to realise his ultimate goal: assassinating the Emperor so that you and Vader can rule the galaxy. Along the way you form a bond with Juno Eclipse, the pilot of your personal ship, the Rogue Shadow, as well as PROXY, your training droid, and a drunken Jedi Master called Rahm Kota. As the game goes on, your allegiance is called into question, and the side of the Force you stand on slowly transitions. The Force Unleashed is a third-person hack-and-slash third-person action game which empowers you with both use of the Force and a lightsaber. Lightsaber throws to Force lightning and Force pushes to grips, you can string together a combination of lightsaber slashes and Force powers to make your way through levels, which are also home to some destructible environments. There are a range of enemies in this game, from stormtroopers to rebels and Rancors to Jedi, and you receive experience points for defeating them, which can then be invested to increase Starkiller's powers and traits. Unfortunately, though the game can be fun at times, there are difficulty spikes noticeable throughout, many of which don't even take place during boss battles. A lot of the time, an increase in difficulty is associated with simply throwing more enemies into the room with you, with more sub-bosses like AT-STs to hand. It's an ultimately uninspired way to increase the game's difficulty, at times becoming laughably frustrating. For instance, you are introduced to fighting a single Rancor, and not very long after, you will find yourself taking on herds of enemies and three Rancors all at once in a large, mostly empty space. Though the design philosophy of worlds and characters is in line with that of the films and shows, the level design in this game is very often a simple "go from A to B" with very little inspiration or interest shown in its design, and the map, though largely passable, can be the source of some instances of intense frustration, with multiple levels of a world illustrated on the same two-dimensional map. The game's controls don't feel as tight as they perhaps should be, and getting knocked off a ledge or out of an animation to find yourself stuck as a defenceless victim in an enemy's attack animation just adds to it. Even with a large and diverse cast of enemies to take on, the approach rarely changes from trying to do what you can with the Force and then, if that's not an option, following through with your lightsaber. In cases where the enemy can be attacked with the Force and close-range combat with the lightsaber isn't really a lightsaber, you find yourself running around like a headless chicken waiting for the Force meter to refill. Checkpoints can be far and few between, too, only adding to a lot of the frustration I've already outlined. The light puzzle mechanics are pretty bad. And there are SO many QTEs! The strength of Star Wars has always been in its soundtrack, characters, and story. Well, the soundtrack largely just grabs John Williams' work from the films, sometimes in ways which don't really match to the gameplay moment, and is really poorly mixed when transitioning from one track to another at the end of a cutscene or fight, and there were times where it felt like the music literally paused in the middle of a piece, the CD changed, and the next track played. There's one instance with one boss towards the end of the game that is so far out of left field where, I'll admit, the music did give me goosebumps, but other than that, I think Williams' soundtrack was poorly utilised throughout much of the game. Original music, such as Starkiller's Theme, just sounds as generic a Williams-inspired piece as I can think of. The characters in this game are objectively poorly written, and I think are objectively worse than in the prequel trilogy. Of course Starkiller and Eclipse fall in love, because they're the opposite gender; it comes out of absolutely nowhere, with very little build-up, and falls flat. For a game which ultimately tries to make you make a "good or bad" decision, the characters are incredibly one-note and dull, and align with one side very, very clearly. And the story reads like fan fiction. Laughably bad fan fiction. I really can't believe this was considered canon at one point. The game is also filled to the brim with technical problems, from screen-tearing to framerate dips which literally resulted in the game stopping on quite a few occasions. And the camera isn't great either. There's also weird and abrupt transitions between cutscenes and levels at times. Honestly, the best parts of this game are the boss fights (changing camera perspective from third-person to a fixed one aside) and the opening level with Vader in particular. I played the Ultimate Sith Edition of the game, so played through the DLC too just to see how that weighs up when compared with the rest of the game. The first DLC, the Jedi Temple Mission, is par for the course, and plays out like every standard level from the rest of the game for the most part, but there are one or two ideas here which perhaps could have been put to better use more widely in the main game, such as their puzzles being added for greater variety. The second DLC, the Tatooine Mission, however, is a large departure, with its own opening crawl, and presents the "What If?" scenario of Starkiller being sent after the droids at the start of A New Hope. Honestly, this was a lot of fun! Very few puzzles, a large focus on combat within smaller spaces, shocking Jawas, taking out Tusken Raiders, and facing off against Jabba's Rancor in his Palace, Boba Fett, and Ben Kenobi was honestly a treat. The third and final piece of DLC, the Hoth Mission, continues this "What If?" scenario with its own crawl, and sees Starkiller despatched to Hoth at the start of The Empire Strikes Back to hunt down and capture Rebel General Luke Skywalker. Slicing through wampas and rebels in Echo Base with very few puzzles was a treat, as was seeing how this scenario played out. All-in-all, my experience with The Force Unleashed was that it is a mess of a game which doesn't really hold up that well, with poor characters and a weak story contributing to an overall disappointing experience salvaged only by its final two pieces of DLC. STAR WARS: THE FORCE UNLEASHED II | 2010 Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II sees you take control of a clone of Starkiller, the playable character from the first game. After escaping from Vader's clutches in the cloning facility on the stormy planet of Kamino, you embark on a quest of identity and to find Juno Eclipse, the original Starkiller's love interest, but are quickly caught in the emerging Galactic Civil War between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire. I'll keep it short, because honestly a lot of my problems with the first game are still found in this one, but there are some gives and takes in other areas. For example, the gameplay is much tighter than it was in the original game, but then adversely, there is way less enemy variety. The story isn't great, and for the most part characters are just as they were in the first, but honestly, given how the first game played out, I think that was an almost impossible thing to ask for. The highlight of the main game this time around is Sam Witwer's performance as Starkiller's clone - his voice and likeness, I'm guessing with some motion-capture work thrown in. Honestly, his performance was almost over-the-top and maybe even funny at times in the first game, but this time around, he gives a much more reserved and understandable performance as a clone trying to figure out his place in the galaxy. It's not hard to see how he got the role of Maul in The Clone Wars after this game, honestly, and knowing that he's a big Star Wars fan makes me genuinely happy for him given how both of these games were received (and how his performance was so much improved in this game). The game seriously looks great in cutscenes, too. Honestly, I think it's probably a stronger game on the whole, though having less bosses is a bit of a letdown too, and the final boss battle is very long and drawn out. It's never a good boss battle, let alone a final one, if text at the bottom of the screen is telling me what to do that late into the game. That being said, again, the best part of the game is probably the DLC, because it's just a tighter and more focused experience. There's a standalone piece of DLC this time around, the Endor Mission, which sees the "What If?" scenario come to an end on the forest moon of Endor in Return of the Jedi. Like in the main game, unfortunately, there isn't much in the way of enemy variety, but shocking Ewoks and throwing them around is kind of fun, and the final showdown with Leia (who took on Luke's role as a Jedi in the Rebel Alliance, and really interestingly has a lightsaber matching Rey's from the end of The Rise of Skywalker in colour and shares some serious similarities with Rey in her Jedi costume design) is pretty fun too.

Yeah, I know we normally have relatively weak launch lineups, but I don't think that having one or two killer games this time around is necessarily out of the question because of that. Both companies, for better or worse, seem to have made a habit of bucking a lot of trends over the last couple of years. I'm by no means suggesting that having killer games at launch are necessary for a console's success, just that I think with first party and exclusive titles being arguably the sell for most gamers to pick up a PlayStation over Xbox for a good while now, that it seems likely, to me at least, that we'd see or two big exclusive titles which draw people to PS5 over XSX. And a strong lineup over the course of the first year in this regard. Plus, with us likely having a potentially longer transition window between generations this time around thanks to Smart Delivery and whatever PlayStation are going to call their beefed up backwards compatibility tech, I also think it's important to take into account the current list of planned games for PS4. There's nothing first party or exclusive currently scheduled for them beyond Ghost of Tsushima in July, at least that I can remember, and they're clearly holding back on titles which, sure, will probably be cross-gen, but they're waiting to push them when they start pushing the PS5. Honestly, I think the games you suggested are a somewhat realistic expectation for launch, and would do a great job of countering each other from a marketing perspective for the general gaming audience. But again, like I said, speaking more broadly in terms of the first year of PS5, I am expecting a stronger lineup, in terms of first party and console exclusives from other developers, than we saw with the PS4 for it's launch year. I don't think that a potential Horizon sequel is out of the question by November of next year, considering that Zero Dawn will be four years old next February (I know they helped out a bit with Death Stranding, but I never got the impression that Guerrilla dropped everything to do that). Likewise, considering just how successful Spider-Man was, turning around a sequel in three years by the end of next year doesn't seem too crazy for me, especially after Sony picked them up. Definitely agree that the God of War sequel is going to take a bit more time (out of all of the exclusives, I think this probably will be the furthest away). I wouldn't be surprised if Japan Studio happen to have something cooking up for the first year though, if Bluepoint are busy with a Demons Souls Remastered, and I know that they haven't done much with Sony on an exclusive basis recently, but Ready at Dawn have been assisting with future PC and console development, and I don't think it would be out of the question for them to have some sort of shorter showpiece game available for the first year either. Then there are a bunch of third parties who still love some level of exclusivity with PlayStation. Maybe "stacked" was my excitement speaking, but I don't think that one or two big games at launch and a strong helping of exclusive titles (first party or otherwise) was out of the question at launch. And I say "was" because of everything going on at the moment in the world. Game development will be lengthened with people working from home; considering that we could very likely be in a global recession come this autumn, less people will be able to buy new consoles than they otherwise would, let alone taking into account potential impact on the production scale of said consoles, and so I wouldn't be surprised at all if Sony are changing their plans in line with that either. Totally agree that most of what we're going to see this year are third party offerings across both generations, and like you guys, I'll be really surprised if there's anything that's necessarily exclusive to the next gen consoles. I think the only way that isn't the case is if someone puts out a really short experience, something like P.T. perhaps, capable of showcasing next gen in its prime? It'll be really interesting to see how it all shapes up Yeah, if we're talking launch day lineups, I'm with you and H-o-T, one or two PlayStation exclusive games they're bullish about and fans are excited about would be great, and I guess I'm just optimistic at this point. It might end up being misplaced, but honestly, I've got so many games to play as it is that I don't mind if I end up being way off the mark! If we're talking launch year though, then yeah, I'm expecting a strong lineup of PlayStation first party and third party exclusive games. Again, could be optimism getting to my head, but 3 or 4 first party titles and around the same amount (maybe a few more) from third parties in that first year seems pretty realistic to me at this point. I think we're going to see a much stronger sense of continuity transitioning from this generation to the next than we have before because of both consoles being backwards compatible on day one. I guess time will tell, but hey, I'm going to be somewhat optimistic about it all until the PS5 event lets me down

Yeah, it really is baffling. I think it demonstrates that the strength of their IPs is second perhaps only to Nintendo, and it's very clear that they have been saving what they have in works in the interim for the PS5. Though that's definitely made these last few years, from a first party perspective, seem a little less exciting, they have more than enough third party console exclusives, timed exclusives, and marketing exclusivity deals to lean on for that to not be something to worry about. And because we haven't heard anything since Ghost of Tsushima was revealed in 2017 (during Paris Games Week, if I'm remembering right), I'll be very surprised if there isn't at least one massive AAA title on launch day which isn't considered "must buy" by most. I'm expecting the launch year of the PS5 to be pretty stacked with first party and console exclusives.

The game has either broken it's street date, or we've got another case of a reviewer-turned-rogue. Great. But at least we've got some confirmation on how Future Connected is being treated in the game, and a cutscene viewer sounds great: Having not played the original, it doesn't change much for me: just avoid the story (of that and Future Connected). I don't have much of an investment in Future Connected not having played the main game, but it's clear as day to me how much the existing fan base are excited for it, and it'll suck for those inevitably spoiled by the selfishness of a few people on something they've been waiting a long time for, but especially so because they already have that investment in it.

Just finished the second episode of Disney Gallery / Star Wars: The Mandalorian. This time they focused on legacy, and to begin with there's a lot of the awesome but usual "yeah, I was astounded by Star Wars as a child, it got me into the industry", etc. - nothing wrong with that, but I always feel like it's the most awkward statement to make. I love hearing more about what it was that made people relate to the story, or the world, or what line or scene exactly made them go "wow, I need to be a part of this". And the show closes out with like a five minute monologue from Filoni on the throughline from The Phantom Menace to Return of the Jedi which George crafted about family. George would never say any of this, so it's awesome to hear it from Filoni, explained to how peers and an audience who, largely, don't have the greatest impression of the prequels. He really does get every stroke of the Star Wars tapestry, and fully understands the messages that George was going for in the prequels.

Keighley is personally premiering a game this coming Tuesday...

Schreier is saying early-to-mid June for the PS5 event, which lines up with Jeffrey Grubb saying June 4th, but of course with the caveat that plans may change as a result of COVID-19. I feel like Sony is juggling a lot right now in their marketing, so as much as I'm looking forward to it, I have to wonder if this is the right move? TLOU2 is starting to swing into its marketing and releases mid-June, but there's already a firestorm happening there what with the leaks and such. Ghost of Tsushima releases a month later, and while I expect we would be getting hands-on impressions around now if COVID-19 wasn't in play, I really feel like they've kept their cards questionably close to their chest, and that the "average" gamer probably doesn't know that this game even exists. That will all change when they go all in on marketing next month at some point I imagine, but considering just how little gameplay we've seen for the game to this point, I feel like the PS5 - and more importantly, any game announcements or reveals - could completely overshadow the game and steal it's potential mindshare. I get it, PlayStation want their last first party game out of the gate ASAP so they can dive into marketing the PS5 and next-gen. Just feels like they're in a bit of a weird spot right now, waiting for the starting pistol to fire out.

Release date confirmed as 20th October 2020!

Same. The fact that the highlight for me is a release window for Yakuza 7 speaks volumes! Yep, that and the varying camera quality made it really odd for me. We know they're not in a Zoom chat recording this. Get better cameras to people, and let them just put an E3 stage as their background or something. Just borrow Cerny's podium!

Yep. I get it, you want to stay in people's minds...but Halo Infinite should really have been the big showcase of the Series X, not a third party game from a small team (nothing against them, but it's not what will get people on board). Way too soon to call it a misfire, but if all we're going to be getting until July with the Xbox Studios blowout is 20 minutes of games which, sure, have their audience, but aren't going to really push players to buy a Series X...I feel like they're dropping the ball. A poor first impression is still a first impression! Exactly what I thought. I was like "Huh, that wasn't a transition cut to the interview section before we got to see some actual gameplay?". Just so weird.

The launch window is at the start of next-gen, from the Series X third party showcase. Guessing it will be day and date with PlayStation? More news soon

Damn, next-gen launch window. Imagine that means the rest of the games that aren't there yet are going to be coming to Xbox/Game Pass by then?

YESSSSSS YAKUZA 7 LET'S GOOOOOO

Same. Call of the Sea is probably the most interested I've been in anything so far - always love a nice art style in walking simulator narratives. To be honest, since we started, it's felt less and less like next-gen stuff with every game. These games look nice, but none of them are screaming next-gen showcase to me just yet.

And now we've got Mahomes talking about Madden. Are we sure that EZA didn't plan this thing out?

WAIT, IS THIS FREAKY LOOKING GAME SCORN?! The old EZA sponsor?!

First thing I spotted to, love it wish they got cameras out to everyone though, opening host looked a little rough. Good job of being clear about expectations for this though. Always a smart move!

English version of the Japanese promotional trailer from last week: Yeah, I'm also in the camp that really likes the voices in this game from what little I've heard of the English voice acting.

Might not be getting a Series X, at least not on day one, but really looking forward to seeing some of the third party offerings during this. Fingers crossed hard for a nice surprise or two!

Summary of Nintendo's FY20 report:

The only way that's happening is if Microsoft are basically guaranteeing Witcher 3 revenues on Xbox for CDPR with shady back door deals. That seems waaaaaaay too good a deal to be true, for both parties (and customers). If there has been a deal like that, with Xbox fronting the potential losses for them, I'm also not sure if it necessarily speaks to CDPR having total confidence in Xbox (at least the One family). They're launching this game at the end of a generation, before the new consoles come out - we can basically guarantee at this point that sales will be greater for the game on PS4 than XBO, just based on the size of their respective install bases, so any deal like this would basically only be beneficial for CDPR in guaranteeing XBO revenues if Xbox have already paid them substantially (which they no doubt would have to do to secure a deal like this) prior to release. Oh, and the players. I'll be shocked but delighted for XBO owners if this is true.

Damn, that graphic is absurd! The Switch making it to 55.77 million units sold (including Lite) and having sold 21.03 million units in the last FY is really impressive. It's what, 25 million units or so behind the 3DS family now, and has managed to beat out it's game sales in around a third of the time it took the 3DS to get to its current point? Great news. Seriously, I couldn't think of a game as undeserving to have sold as well as it has as Pokémon Sword and Shield. Even for those who enjoyed it, it's hard to not admit that it's a step down from the best Pokémon games (a decline we've been on for a while). While that's extremely impressive, and would've made it there regardless at some point...not to detract from the feat at all, it needs to be mentioned how Pokémon and Animal Crossing didn't have main series titles released on the Wii U. They're two of Nintendo's largest IPs, after all. As abysmally as that console sold, a main series Pokémon game would have bumped sales of that console by a sizeable amount.

Guessing this is the new start-up sound/screen?

I'm so excited it looks fantastic! Yeah, I totally get that. I've really got to be in a particular mood for longer games, especially ones with a lot of side content, so I'm being really careful about which games I play this month leading up to it!