Video Game Tuesday: E3 2019 Predictions

Hey all I’m back with my guesses for this year’s upcoming Electronics Entertainment Expo! It’s my E3 2019 Predictions!

No Next Gen Consoles: I fully don’t expect to hear anything about the next generation of consoles at this year’s E3, especially given that Sony is not even attending at all. We may hear about these later this year at stuff like Tokyo Game Show, or other events, but not at E3.

Slimmer Versions of Current Gen Consoles: This is a fairly safe bet, but it’s not a 100% certainty, though with the rumors of a portable mode only Switch abounding recently I won’t be too surprised to hear about at least that.

Price Cuts to Current Gen Consoles: This is also a fairly safe bet, though with Sony forgoing attendance who knows what will be announced in regards to the Sony side of the console market.

EA SPORTS: I mean come on, given the crap we get yearly from EA I’m going to be more surprised to hear they closed down the EA Sports studios rather than them announcing this years crop of crappy sports games.

Bethesda, BioWare and Ubisoft Kowtowing for forgiveness: I hope to see them fess up to their complete failures over the last year from the poorly done Assassin’s Creed Oddysey DLC, Fallout 76 being completely terrible and the Collector’s Edition Bags being utter garbage and finally BioWare’s utter screw up of Anthem, which is even more of a disappointment than Destiny ever has been.

More Smash Bros DLC Announced: This is a really safe bet, especially since we don’t have a clue on who is coming next to Smash Bros. Personally I’m rooting for Velvet Crowe from the Tales of series, Jenna from Golden Sun (because Smash Bros, and life in general, could always use more kick ass girls) and finally someone from the Fate series, preferably not a Saber class Servant but if it does happen it’d probably be Artoria, just to add to the utter craziness. Will they happen? Who knows, but those would be my preferred entries into the game!

That’s it for this week’s Video Game Tuesday!

Anime Sunday: Winners of Winter 2018

This week for Anime Sunday I’m covering my favorites from the last season. It’s my Winners of Winter 2018!

Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family: I really enjoyed this slice of life set in an alternate universe of the Fate/SN series. The fact it focuses on just food and some minor character interaction was refreshing from all the battles that occur in the Fate series. It being animated by ufotable might also have a big part in why this is one of my favorites.  Who am I kidding, it being animated by ufotable has a huge part in it.

Ryuo: I actually enjoyed this series quite a bit. While Sangatsu is a great series about Shogi it is also emotional wearing, so a more light hearted series was appreciated. The fact that Yaichi is a dense harem lead though is fairly disappointing.

Honorable Mentions:

Last Encore: I was pretty skeptical of this series after it diverged so greatly from the original storyline. It was interesting, but honestly it just makes me want to play the original game more. It also didn’t feature Tamamo, who is a much more interesting Servant than Nero in my opinion.

Hitori no Shita: I hated the first season of this show, it was terribly animated and the plot was sub-par. The plot isn’t any better, but the animation is much improved and thus get’s an honorable mention from me.

That’s it for this week’s Anime Sunday.

Video Game Tuesday: Newcomers I Want In The Next Smash Bros

This week for Video Game Tuesday I’m looking at who I want to see in the newly announced continuation of Nintendo’s best fighting game. It’s all about Newcomers I Want In The Next Smash Bros!

Isaac (Golden Sun): I’ve been wanting Isaac in the series since before Melee came out, but the fact he’s only appeared as an Assist Trophy is nearly criminal. He has so many different moves with his Psy powers and is perfect for a game like Smash Bros since he can mix it up with some melee abilities. Summoning could easily be his Final Smash if they decide to keep that as a thing in this version of the game.

Son Goku (Dragonball): If even Funimation is asking for Goku to be added to the next Smash Bros, you know it probably ought to happen. I mean with characters like Mega Man, Ryu or even Cloud getting into the game, having everyone’s favorite Saiyan in the next installment would be perfect. I can just imagine him slamming a massive Spirit Bomb into the stage for a Final Smash.

Velvet Crowe (Tales of Berseria): I know that Bandai Namco helped out with the last installments of the game, so letting them pick a character from their RPG series would be awesome as a thank you. Velvet being the first solo Female lead would make an excellent addition to the roster with her various Therion skills and Martial abilities. Any of her Mystic Artes could easily become her Final Smash, or even just making it a powered up version where she uses her Therion abilities for like 20 seconds for increased damage would be cool as well. And let’s be honest, we could use more female characters in the next Smash game.

Banjo and Kazooie (Banjo-Kazooie): I loved the Banjo-Kazooie games and frankly they’d make an awesome addition to the Smash roster. I have no clue what they’d use as a Final Smash, other than some sort of Mumbo transformation.

Real curveballs I never really expect to happen:

Someone from the TYPE-MOON franchises: Any of the multitude of characters of the Nasuverse might be fun to play in a Smash Game. It’d probably end up being Artoria, because of course it would. But I can always hope for Tamamo no Mae, Ryougi Shiki, or Arcueid right? Noble Phantasm’s would be perfect fits for awesome Final Smash abilities.

Nightmare (Soulcalibur): I don’t really want to see Nightmare in a Smash Bros game, but if it was anyone from the Soul series it’d probably be him. Please choose one of the above though Nintendo if you are actually reading this and seriously considering these character suggestions.

Crazy Taxi (Crazy Taxi): I don’t mean the cab drivers, I mean the freaking car itself. Yeah I absolutely expect this to never happen, but if they were to pull it off somehow, it’d be interesting to say the least.

That’s it for this week’s Video Game Tuesday. Are there any characters you’d like to see added to the Smash Series? Leave your answers below in the comments!

Video Game Tuesday: Gacha Games Aren’t Evil

This week for Video Game Tuesday I’m back with a follow-up to last week’s post. It’s all about why Gacha Games Aren’t Evil!

Gacha?: In these games, there are usually numerous characters, cards, or other items that players can obtain, and most of them are only obtainable via the “gacha” mechanism. The “gacha” mechanism would allow players to “spin” the gacha using a specific amount of in-game currency, which would give player a randomized character or item. Sometimes, these gacha would be limited, such that those characters and items can only be obtained within a specific event time frame. Because some of these items or characters would be given less chance to appear, typically players would need to spin the gacha many times before they can get the most desired outcome.

Isn’t that just the same thing as Loot Boxes in last week’s post?: Well let me make a distinction, what I think of as a proper “Gacha Game” doesn’t actually include all the games that utilize the Gacha mechanic. Many are pretty popular in Japan and the more successful ones are ones that don’t include a PvP component. This removes the need to get the highest tier characters to do well against players who will spend loads of money on the game. They are often called Whales because they are essentially just like the Vegas equivalent.  Games like Battlefront II included loot boxes that had actual gameplay advantages like getting Heroes which offer a significant power boost over the regular player. That goes into the Pay to Win category, and should never be put into any game. The fact that EA thought they could get away with doing something so monumentally sleazy is just further proof that they are run by greedy jerks.

What’s a good example?: Fate/Grand Order is a perfect example of a proper Gacha Game.  The game is highly popular in Japan and while you are highly encouraged to re-roll an account to get a desired rare servant like Artoria from the Stay Night sub-franchise, this isn’t absolutely necessary to succeed in the game. Although it will help you out greatly if you aim for a top tier servant like Jeanne D’Arc or Waver Velvet who were Servants available at launch. I enjoy playing Fate/Grand Order quite a bit, mostly because the story is excellent. I ended up re-rolling about a hundred times to get a Jeanne for myself. That single character has probably saved my butt more times than I can count. I consider the time I spent re-doing the intro over and over again well worth it since I got a top tier Servant that will last me the entire game’s life no matter what comes along in the future.

And before people ask whether I’m a “Whale” let me answer you. No, I don’t have anywhere near the amount of spending money needed to do that sort of thing. If I had the money to do so would I? Maybe, the story of Fate/Grand Order is quite good, and I’d love to make a top tier team with my Jeanne as a highlight. The game earns tons of money because people want their favorite characters and people end up sketching or creating various things to “summon” their desired servants as a weird form of superstition. Sometimes it works for them, other’s not so much.

That’s it for this week’s Video Game Tuesday, next week I’ll go back to my favorite topic for this column, bashing Destiny!

P.S.: For those wondering how my luck is in Fate/Grand Order, It’s definitely E Rank or lower. RNGs and I have always had a poor relationship. That might end up being a topic for a later column.