E3 2018 Thoughts

It does not seem like its been a year since E3 2017 but it clearly has. So its time for another E3 Blog post. I am still not good at doing these at a regular basis but hope springs eternal that some I will be. Like in many years before, much of E3's surprises were leaked ahead of the show leaving not much left to be learned from these press conferences. I do always end watching them either live if I can or after the fact if I can't. Rather than give a general though of each of the press conferences I am just going straight to the games that I am interested in and the ones I know I will be getting. For the first time in a few years, this E3 seems devoid of new hardware announcements, meaning it is all about games. As I have stated in earlier posts, I own an Xbox One X, and a Gaming PC from 2016 with a I7-6700K, and a  GTX1060. I may end up getting a PS4 Pro (especially if there is a good sale on one lets say, around Black Friday) but for the moment I am more focused on my Xbone (a name I use with pride). I am also focusing mostly on games that at least seem near or that I am really excited for.

Games I'm going to get

• Ori and the Will of the Wisp: My biggest game from last year's E3 is also my biggest game from this year's E3, what a surprise. They actually showed some game play footage and it looks like there will be some neat new mechanics (different attacks and sand diving) and possibly a new character to play as. The game still looks gorgeous and now it will support HDR as well as 4K on the One X (so it should look really good on my LG OLED). Ori and the Will of the Wisp will come out in 2019  
• Cuphead in the Delicious Last Course: My favorite game from last year is getting some DLC with a new area, new boss fights, new levels, a new playable character Miss Chalice ( the one you kept saving from ghost in crypt levels by parrying to get new supers). The specifics do not matter to me as I will be buying me some more Cuphead no matter what. The Cuphead DLC will come out in 2019. 
• Devil May Cry 5: Devil May Cry 4 was not my favorite in the series ( it was 3 for a long time, now its DMC from 2013) but I did enjoy it for what it was. Now it looks like Capcom is pushing its 2013 reboot to the side for a sequel  to 4 called Devil May Cry 5. It looks like it stars an older Nero possibly facing off against Dante or cooperating with him, its not clear. Regardless I am very much looking forward to some more Devil May Cry. It is set for release in spring 2019. 
• Doom Eternal: Not quite Doom 2 in name, Doom Eternal takes the fight to Earth. There was no specifics and no release date and I have not yet even finished Doom 2016 (even though I have it on both Xbox One and Steam) regardless I will be getting it as Doom is awesome and I do feel bad for not having finished it yet (not sure if I want to start over on Xbox or continue with my Steam play through). 

Games I am interested in

• Tunic: An isometric 2D Zelda style game with a sword wielding fox wearing a tunic is more than enough to get my attention. No release date was included but I will be keeping an eye on this one. 2D Zelda style games always get my attention. 
• Session: Microsoft's presser had what appeared to be a off brand Skate game called Session, which seams to take place at least partially in New York City. It seems unlikely that either a new Skate or Tony Hawk game will be coming out any time soon so this will have to due. No release date was given but there is a demo/beta playable build of it for PC that I might have to check out.  
• Gears Tactics: One of the 3 Gears of War games, Gears Tactics was the most interesting to me as it is clearly XCOM but with Gears of War stuff. I probably will end up getting Gears 5 but I wanted to highlight this game more as it was unexpected (at least to me anyway). No release date but they said more details will be coming soon. It also looks like this is a PC only game.
• Forza Horizon 4: I finally got me a copy of Forza Horizon 3 used from a local game store just in time for the announcement of Forza Horizon 4. This one takes place in jolly old England and features changing seasons, actual players in the world, not just Driveatars, and 60 FPS on the Xbox One X (which I have) as well as 4K and HDR (although I'n not sure if you can have both 4K and 60 at the same time or if it will be different modes like Hitman) I am still getting used to Horizon 3 and have not yet even bought the Hot Wheels expansion yet (I do plan to) so It might be a while before I pick this one up but I am interested. It is due out October 11, 2018.
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice: A From Software game that I am interested in, Sekiro is getting compared to Tenchu and looks a little like Devil may cry with its combat and traversal. It is also more colorful than the typical From Software game though it is still messed up in its character designs. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is expected in early 2019. 
• Fallout 76: This might be the first Fallout game that interest me and I'm not sure why. Fallout 76 takes place in West Virginia and is set before all of the other games in the series. 76 is an online game with "dozens" of other players and features base building, and base destroying (nukes do come into play here). For some reason I in interested in this game even thought it doesn't seem that different. I won't have to wait long though, it is due out November 14, 2018.

My list seems shorter this year than last year and I am okay with that as I seem to have less time to play games anyway. I think I am pretty satisfied with what I have here. One thing that occurred to me is that Xbox Game Pass might be the way to go as I use it to get Forza Horizon 4, Crackdown 3 (not mentioned but we shall see) Ori and the Will of the Wisps and give Sea of Thieves a try. $100 on top of the $60 for Gold seems like a tough pill to swallow though. Regardless this was a pretty good E3.

I got my New TV

Not long after my last post, I purchased and received my new TV, an LG OLED55C7P to replace my Samsung Plasma. This new TV is not only a 4K TV but an OLED with good HDR support. I have read multiple sources saying that this is the best TV of its size and I got it for a pretty good price too. I have included some photos of it starting the day I received it.

 My TV Arrived  in a suitably large shipping box.









Inside that box was the TV's own box.











After removing the it from its box, I did confirm it turned on before proceeding to the next step.

I mounted the TV to my existing entertainment Center.

I re-assembled my messy entertainment center close to what is was before. I have since cleaned up the wires behind the TV a bit and it does look noticeably nicer than this. 










Current Stuff I want to do with it.

• Replay some old games in 4K: There are some games that I already own that are either Xbox One X enhanced that I played once but want to play through again with the new TV. I have Wolfenstien 2, the new Colossus, Gears of War 4, Halo 5, Quantum Break, and Okami HD. I also started playing Starcraft Broodwar Remastered but I had not finished it. I an nearing the end of an elongated play through of Half Life 2 as well. I have Just Cause 3 for Steam but I only got past the intro and just mess around in it when I do play it. Finally I am in the middle of a play through of Doom 2016 for steam that looks real good in 1080p so it should look even better in 4K.  
• Play some new ones: Just some Game I want to get  for my new TV (that are currently out) at some point include Forza Horizon 3, Assassins Creed: Origin, Rise of the Tomb Raider (after I play the first one, whenever that is), and plenty of games that have yet to come out that I mentioned in an earlier post (of stuff I am looking forward to in 2018) 
• 4K Emulation: I very much want to see some of the Nintendo Games I emulate on Dolphin and Cemu running in 4K as it is unlikely Nintendo will make a 4K capable systems anytime soon. On Cemu there is Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8, Smash Brothers, and Splatoon. On Dolphin there is Zelda: the Windwaker, F-Zero, Mario Galaxy and Sunshine games, Sonic Colors, and Other colorful games for either Emulator than seem neat. I'm not sure if other emulators are going to be worth trying out in 4K but I will have to try it and see.   
• 4K Movies: I am not going to re buy again my entire movie collection in 4K Blu Ray. I will only buy the ones that I think will benefit from the extra picture quality. I am saying this as much to myself as to any person reading this. There are some recent movies that I do not own that would benefit from being on 4K Blu Ray. I want to get Planet Earth 2 on 4K Blu Ray. When I first set up Netflix on my new TV it prompted me to "upgrade" to a 4K version for only an extra $3 a month so naturally I clicked no. I may decide to do that upgrade if there is enough 4K content on Netflix to make it worth my while but that is a tough, hard sell.

Stuff I might get at some point

• PS4 Pro: I had gotten rid of my PlayStation stuff a few years ago to buy more games for my Xbox and to stream line my collection. That was from a time where I had less money to get things like that. I now have reason to get a PS4 Pro, if I can get it for a good price that is. There are games for it I want such as Horizon Zero Dawn, Shadow of the Colossus, The Las of Us Remastered, the upcoming Last of Us 2, and other Sony exclusives that I can't remember off the top of my head. 
• Better Graphics Card: At some point, I am going to have to admit that my GTX 1060 is not good enough for gaming at 4K and I am going to have to upgrade. Right now is not a good time to buy a new graphics card with the Bitcoin mining related inflated prices going on right not but since I just dropped a good chunk of change on the here TV I wasn't going to get one now anyway. At some point I will upgrade though, being the original plan all along 
• Better Up Scaler: My cheap, basic RGB to HDMI upscaler that I got for $50 back in 2015 is not very good. It is a big improvement coming from composite but if you want a real upscaler you need to drop some bigger amounts of money on something like a Framemeister or an OSSC (Open Source Scan Converter)  an once again That is more than what I want to spend at the moment. I do not think that there is a viable 4K RGB Scart to HDMI converter but by the time I am ready to upgrade there may be one. Only time will tell. 
• Better Surround Sound Receiver: My Old, cheap Surround Sound Receiver circa 2006 that does not even have an HDMI port (I use Optical Audio for everything) was in more need of an upgrade than my TV but I rarely make the most optimal decisions. I'm not sure if I want to get a better 5.1 system or if I want a more extensive (an expensive) Dolby Atmos System, which my TV and Xbox One X both support. The new receiver should at least support pass through of that and 4K and HDR signals (and there is more of those formats than you would think). I recently upgraded my speakers so I will just focus on the receiver first. 

Concerns I have moving forward 

• Streaming: My current Capture card, an Elgato HD60 pro not only does not capture at 4K or HDR, it does not even pass through thos signals to the TV, which means that when I want to stream games, I have to either play non 4K HDR games or sacrifice picture quality when I stream. One might think that the recently released Elgato 4Kpro capture card would be the answer. Unfortunately that card is almost $400 and it does not do HDR. Not that my internet can even support 4K streaming at this point anyway so I have to wait for a bunch of things to change or fiddle around with HDMI splitter / Down Scaler which does not come with guarantees but will cost some money. When I get to games like Ori and the Will of the Wisp I should have a workable solution to this problem ( I hope).
• Playing Older Games with Up Scaler: Older games with my upscaler might be fixed when I get a better one (see the above sections for that) but it might not as we are talking about games originally rendered at 240P  being up-converted to 4K through at least 2 layers of up conversion. At some point it stops looking good no matter how good the equipment is. Emulation might be the only way to go with playing retro games on this TV. Or using my plasma (which is still in my possession) might be a better answer but as it is, that TV is just being stored in a some what out of the way location. i have to figure out what I goning to do with the old TV before I do anything like that. 
• Watching DVDs: This one is more of the same with the old content being up-converted to this here 4K TV but I do have some DVDs that might look pretty bad in this manor. Thankfully regular Blu Rays look pretty good on it as 1080P source upcales to 4K pretty nicely. Thankfully my collection of DVD is not that big so it should not be that big of a deal.  

Looking ahead to 2018 in Gaming

With the new year upon us I am writing a post about what I am looking forward to in 2018. One of the things I want to do is write more posts on this here blog of mine, hence this post.

The Games I am Looking Forward to
There are a decent number of games coming out this year that I am a actually looking forward to this year. I will go through some of them below but I doubt that I will actually get all of them let alone play them all to completion.

• OwlBoy: A neat looking pixel art style game that is colorful an looks like it could be be fun and is a Metroidvania like game. I know it has been out on other platforms but it is now coming out on the Xbone. 
• Sea of Thieves: A colorful pirate theme M.M.O. like game (in the non subscription Destiny kind of way). It actually has a very good look to its, which makes sense considering it came from Rare. The more I see of Sea of Thieves, the more I like it. I am a little concerned that it might not have enough content to it but as it is only in beta form right now so there is plenty of time for that stuff to be unveiled. 
• Darksiders 3: It looks like Darksiders is going back to its Zelda roots with he third game and that makes me happy. A current gen Darksiders after having been impressed from my play through of Darksiders for the Xbox 360 last year, it only makes sense that I would be excited about this release. 
• Anthem: Another Destiny style game that looks good, but in a different way. Anthem is in a seemingly post apocalyptic sci-fi future (it kind of looks like Star Wars, a little). I have heard that this game might have been delayed until 2019 so I should remove it from the list but oh well. I wanted to at least give this game a mention. 
• Mega Man 11: A new 2D Megaman game that looks like it could be good. I played through the Megaman Legacy collection on Xbox One in 2016 and enjoyed it (though I did save state my way through the more difficult sections). I will probably wait for this one to go on sale before I get it, because I am cheap after all. I am also glad I never really got caught up in the Mighty Number 9 hype as I would have been to soured by that experience to give this game the time of day. As always, only time will tell. 
• Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Edition: a Massive collection of like 12 Street fighter games from the first to 3, third strike. I'm not  normally a fighting game fan but I am a sucker for these type of compilations. Unless this release ends up being Super Hyper Turbo EXpensive I will most likely end up getting it. 
• Metro Exodus: This game is on here solely because of how good it look, but wow it looks really good. I know by reputation that the previous Metro games are difficult, dense, and hard to get into but hope springs eternal that this new one will be significantly more approachable.  
• The Wolf Among Us (Season 2): I have had the first season from games with gold for a long time now and I still want to finish it at some point. Maybe the release of season 2 will be what it take for me to actually finish it because it really is pretty good. I just have not had the patience to do so as of late. 
• Ori and the Will of the Wisps (This year ?) Another game with a questionable release time, in that it does not have one. I do not care, because I want this game. The announcement of the sequel  to my favorite Xbox One game and my best game from 2015 alone was enough to make last year's E3 a memorable one for me. The trailer that was shown makes this game look even better than the first. I can not wait to play this and I hope it comes out this year.

Potential Hardware Purchases 

• 4K OLED TV: My first hardware purchase of the year will almost certainty be my largest. I will be buying my first 4K TV, an OLED (LG OLED55C7P) My current TV is a 51 inch plasma circa 2011 and since OLED's are considered the successor to plasma TVs, I figure that this would be the only kind that would be a true upgrade to what I already have. This one is currently the top rate TV of its size according to Consumer's Report. and since I already have and Xbox One X and a PC that can do some games in 4K. I very much look forward to seeing games on it. 
• Sega 32X: at some point I would like to complete my Sega Genesis monstrosity by getting a 32X. I actually had one of these set ups back in the day but I ended up trading it for a PS2 when that system was still new. I am a annoyed that I will have to buy a new RGB Scart cable (it uses the model 2 AV cords and I have a model 1 Genesis) but there are some of games for the system I would like to play and I think I can get one for a reasonable price from nearby used game store in my area. 
• Dreamcast (With VGA/HDMI connector): Another Sega system, the Dreamcast, makes it on this list and whats more it is another one I had back in the day before I traded it (in this case it helped my buy an original Xbox, seeing a pattern here) I found about a VGA box that outputs directly to HDMI and it seems pretty good. Dreamcast systems these days are pretty cheap but unreliable so make sure to buy one from a reputable place. On a personal note, the Dreamcast was the first time I had a "current" system as I always had were old ( I had an NES and a Game Gear when the Playstation was coming out. It would be nice to have that again. 
• Xbox One Duke style Controller: I was very exited when I first heard the news of the Duke Controller remake for the Xbox One. It was announced at the same time as the OG Xbox Backwards Compatibility program (maybe that had some thing to do with it) and I new I had to get it. It is coming out at the end of March and it will be $70 and I will totally get one. I always preferred the Duke as opposed to the more popular Japanese style S controller as I did not like the placement of the Black and white buttons on the S (and the size of the Duke never bothered me anyway)  

Writing more blog posts more about games (and possibly movies )
Its pretty obvious from the long time in between post that I do not use my blog nearly enough. I intend to change that this year. I am not sure how often I will post but I hope that by simply making public my desire to do so will help. I have the rather unfortunate habit of coming up with ideas and not doing them. Since this a blog primary dedicated to games that I play or think about I will be doing more posts on the games that I play (or want to play anyway). I also see a decent number of new movies every year so I might blog about that as well if it seems worth while.

Stuff I will be keeping an eye on 
There are a few games that I will be keeping and eye on but do not expect to buy for one reason or another so I made a list for those as well, and here it is.

• We Happy Few: A game with a neat premise and introduction but the procedurally generated levels built around a survival stealth mechanic is not really my cup o tea. This is the definition of a game that I came up with this list for as I am still interested in it because of the premise.  
• Red Dead Redemption 2: A game that I have been recommended many times and did buy used last year was Red Dead Redemption. Open world games have not done it for me as much the last few years (even the good ones), as such I have been resistant to wanting to give this game a fair shake. I does look good, and on Xbox One backwards compatibility it runs and looks better. The new one looks even better but I do feel that I should play through the first one before I commit to getting the second.  
• Shenmue 3: As a PS4 exclusive for someone who does not as yet have that system, this game has a big thing going against it (although I could get it for PC) I also did not have that great a time paying the first one (and had to hand it off to a friend for the dumb stealth sequence that I could not do) nor have I played through the second game (even though I rented for the Xbox back in the day). I never the less want to see how this epic concludes, assuming this is the last one of course. 
• Detroit: Become Human: Another PS4 exclusive means another game I can not even get but as I live in the Detroit area, any game that features my home town (let alone takes place entirely in it) is going to get my attention. I did buy the previous game from That Game Company, Heavy Rain (although I did trade it in with out ever playing it) and those games do look amazing, I think I would rather just watch someone play it instead of playing it myself. 

I should not have taken as long as I did to make this post as one of the things I want to do is post to my blog more often. I have not really spent much time really typing stuff since I finished college all those years ago. These were just a few things I though to write down that I am looking forward to this year, 2018 in Gaming.

My 2017 Gaming Year in Review

With 2017 coming to a close I though I should write a few things about the year that I had personally in gaming. While I am not sure what the point of this is, I thought it would be a good idea to write about a few of the things that for whatever reason I did not write about when they happened. 2017 turned out to be a pretty good year in gaming for me as I played plenty of new games as well as old ones I had not played before. I also purchased a few interesting pieces of hardware and started a new venture that I hope could turn into something more than just a hobby (though even if it doesn't, it is still fun to do).

My PC Build from 2016
While this is mainly about 2017, I start it off what a little from the previous year, 2016. In December I assembled my first  desktop PC from parts purchased on Black Friday. I build it with the intention of upgrading it in the future while still making it a capable machine in the present. I chose a Core I-7 6700K CPU, a GTX 1060 GPU, 16 GBs of DDR4 RAM, 500 GB SSD, 2TB HDD, and a Liquid CPU Cooler. All together my build came to about $1300. I wanted to build a system that could eventually handle 4K graphics with a simple GPU but could DO VR or a 1440P monitor. I hooked it up  to my living room TV, a 51 inch plasma circa 2011. I have a few other monitors hooked up to it as well. My hope is that this is a good platform for my gaming and general computing needs for about a decade. Only time will tell, of course.

Emulation
One of the first things I did with my new PC was to try out some emulators I had been wanting to use for a while, most notably Dolphin. While it might have been possible for me to have tried it before with my laptop, I wanted to be able to run it with as much power as I could throw at it. I wanted to be able to see some of the Gamecube and Wii games being rendered in High Definition (something that Nintendo at the time said no one wanted). I was suitably impressed with the results. Not only was Dolphin quite a bit easier to use than I expected (Version 5.0 had been released no too long before hand) but it made some of these 15 year old games look pretty good. Nintendo has always had a good, simplistic art style that scales wonderfully in HD. I especially enjoyed seeing The Legend of Zelda: the Wind Waker and Mario Galaxy in 1080p.

Streaming
Starting early this year, I began to experiment with streaming some of my games. I started with Twitch directly from my Xbox One. I then moved onto a dedicated internal capture card for my PC, which allowed me to record and stream any system that could hook up via HDMI. I was limited my by slow Internet upload speed, witch was capped at about 2 Mbps and resulted in a lot of bad streams with low quality video and frequent buffering for any unfortunate individuals who watch any of them (sorry). Since then, I have upgraded my internet speed to a more reasonable 10 Mbps on the upload side and started streaming at that speed with Cuphead for the Xbox One. To say that the improvement is noticeable is an understatement. I have also switched to streaming on You Tube (my Twitch stream archives wound up on You Tube anyway) and while it will be a long time before I can even start to monetize my videos (let alone get any money from them) it is still enjoyable for me to do so.

Games with Gold
I managed to play some great games this year with my Games with Gold one Xbox Live. I just want to go through some of the standouts that I played through this year.

• DarkSiders: I had heard about the comparisons to Zelda for years about Darksiders and had always considered getting at some point but for what ever reason I did not take the plunge. This year I got it for free and played through it from start to finish. (actually streaming it the whole while too). I was pretty good, and very much a game that was deliberately taking after Zelda (bomb plants anyone?) I am looking forward to Darksiders 3 (which should come out next year) however I don't have all that much interest in trying the second game as I heard it was pretty different and not in a good way.
• Giana Sisters: In my ealier days of streaming and wanting to do more of the games with Gold games, I was less picky about the games that I did. One game I played through that I enjoyed quite a bit was Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, (specifically the directors cut  version with the D.L.C.) It was a nice looking game with some interesting platforming and was worth playing through even if it is not quite the game I would usually play otherwise.
• Bayonetta: One game I should have played sooner was (considering my affection for Devil May Cry) was Bayonetta. A very Crazy, Character action game that just goes off the walls at all times. It took me too long to adjust to the different style of combat from most other games in this category. When I did figure it out I was glad I put in the effort and I was certainly glad to have played this game through. As the equals are Nintendo exclusives and I don not currently own a Switch, it is unlikely that I will be able to play those anytime soon.

New Purchased and Completed Games
I purchased a decent number of new games this year (by my standards anyway) I will make about a paragraph for each of the note worthy ones I finished this year as some of them I already did a more detailed post of.

• Wolfenstein 1 and 2: I actually played both of the recent Wolfenstein games this year and I enjoyed both of them for the most part. They both had better story telling than game play but it  was kind of a throwback style of game that we haven't seen much of since the days of Bio-shock and the like were popular. I had a difficult time adjust to the fact that you can not play these games like a Call of Duty, that you have to keep moving.  They are true run and gun style games where constant moving and shooting (circle strafing anyone?) are required for success and even enjoyment in playing. It also would be a better idea to play them on easy mode as it would allow you to get to the good sections faster and more easily.
• Snake Pass: This was a game that caught my attention for looking a whole lot like Viva Pinata and for having a cool original game mechanic. It is a 3D plat former where you can't jump. You play as a snake (duh!) and you slither and wiggle your way up post using your length and gripping ability to climb to platforms. It is a difficult concept to get use to and it takes a while to master it but once you do it is immensely rewarding to complete what would otherwise be the most forgettable part of most 3D plat-formers (that would be the part where you jump from platform to platform, hence the name of the genre).   
• Sonic Mania: It is hard to imagine a good Sonic game coming out in 2017 but that is exactly what happened. It was pretty clear to me for a few years that Sega could not be trusted to make a good game with the blue blur and that some one else with an untainted mind needed to come in and save the day for this much miss used hedgehog. Sonic Mania comes off as the 2D Sonic game for the Sega Saturn that we never had or even knew that we wanted.  The game combines old style levels and new ones in a compelling package that is more than just nostalgia service. Sonic mania shows why 2D platforming still exists and is still a blast to play. I look forward to what ever christian Whitehead (the main developer) has in store for Sonic next.
• Cuphead: My most anticipated game this year by far is also by a greater distance the best. I still cannot believe I got to play this game. To look this good and to control this well and be oozing with so much style and substance is astonishing. This is the game IO show to people who have no knowledge or interest in video games and tell them, "look at how good this looks"  and I explain to them how it is all hand drawn and is inspired from 1930 cartoons and the like. I don't know if it is reasonable to expect a sequel to this game anytime soon, or if ever, but I do very much want one anyway. 
• Yooka-Laylee: At the same time that Snake pass came out, it much more widely know game was came out from a kick starter campaign aimed at recreating the Banjo Kazooie style by the Ex Rare people who made them to begin with. I bought the game on a Black Friday sale for about 8 bucks and played through it late in the year (hence the lack of a dedicated post as I was busy with other things).  I had no expectations going into this game and no nostalgia for the games that inspired it. I enjoyed most of the time I played it and felt it was a reasonably nice game to play at a leisurely pace. The last boss did sour me quite a bit on the whole game as it did reveal just how flawed it is but leading up to that point when only a small number of those problems (camera, collision detection, flying controls, annoying AI patterns, ect.)  presented themselves at time it was easier to ignore them. I felt it was worth playing through but bear in mind that I spent only 8 US dollars to do so.

Oculus Rift 
I spent much of this year not really being able to take advantage of my new PC that I built last year. Most of the things that I throw at it have been too easy for it. As mentioned earlier I had planned to get a VR head set. When I saw the Oculus Rift with the touch controllers on sale for $400 I decided to take the plunge into the virtual world. I can say that I am reasonable impressed with the hardware. Thankfully my set up with my living room where the PC and TV are located is right next to my dining room, which was easily converted into a small room scale space. The games that have impressed me the most are Robo Recall, Super Hot VR, and Rez Infinite. I might go into a more in depth post about my VR experience and set up later down the road, we shall see. 

Project Scorpio
In perhaps what one would consider my most questionable decisions I purchased and Xbox One X, specifically the project Scorpio edition. I finally got tire of playing most of my games at a sub 1080p resolution, which is what my launch model Xbox One was mostly putting out. This was more of a future proofing  buy as I knew I would eventually get a 4K OLED TV. Even with my PC the fact is I do most of my gaming on my Xbox as that is where I have the most games ( I do download every Games with Gold game every month after all).

Sega CD
With the purchase of my Scorpio I was able to trade in my launch Xbox One for a Sega CD. I have been wanting one for a few years now and with a near black Friday sale I was able to execute this trade. there are a few games for the system that I would like to see with my RGB Scart to HDMI upscaler. This was mostly are neat thing to get that ended up not costing any money as the regular trade value that I would have gotten for my Xbone what have barely netted me a game. 

Overall it was a pretty interesting year that I had in gaming in 2017. I manage to play plenty of neat and interesting games, get my hands on some new hardware,  discover a new hobby (or maybe more, one can dream after all) and do so while still doing good on the budget front. I plan on doing a post about what I hope/ expect from 2018 in gaming. Needless to say I very much look forward to the new year in gaming.

Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus (Xbox One) Thoughts

I was fortunate to be able to buy Wolfenstein: The New Order for the Xbox One on sale earlier this year and not only play it to completion but play it while streaming (thus providing plenty of video proof of my lack of prowess in these games). I had heard a decent amount of positive buzz surrounding the first game but for whatever reason it was never enough to get me to give it a try. It took a big sale (with a price of about 10 bucks) for me to take the plunge and it was worth it (despite its flaws, which I will get into shortly). I was very happy to learn of this sequel and looked forward to its release the most of the big games this fall.

I had a few issues with the first game, to be perfectly honest. A couple of major issues stood out to me at the time and I very much had them in mind in my anticipation for this game. I died far too many time due to the clumsy weapons selection wheel in the first game. The game featured dual wielding versions of each weapon and both single and dual wielded were shown on the selection wheel as separate items, leading to a cramped wheel that made picking the right choice (especially in the heat of combat) very difficult. The new game removes the dual wielding from the wheel and places it as a toggle as on the up on the D-pad. In the first game, you had to push X to pick up everything. In this new game, you automatically pick up armor and ammo, but not health or collectable items.

Like in the new Order, Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus features a wide cast of characters to interact with both in game and in cutscenes. Most of the are well acted and many are quite memorable. As the game progresses you pick up more and more of them to add to your base camp. Like the first game, there are major moments that very much define this games story. The difference in this game is that it ratchets up the shock and gore and in some cases leaves you needing a moment to sort out what just happened and what it means. It is much more than one would expect from a game like this.

I found it very difficult to do well playing Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, much like the first game. I played it at the default difficulty and died very frequently. My frustration and difficulty largely stemmed from the fact that I was playing the game wrong. I am used to playing at a more deliberate pace, planning my moves and taking it slowly. Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, like the first game, demands that you stay on the move always firing (preferably dual wielding) and not stopping. This game may be a marathon but each battle is a race and the faster to move through them, the more success you will have (I found that dual wielded semi automatic assault rifles to be the best fir for me in this regard). 

Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus would likely be my game of the year were it not for Cuphead. The game is not perfect (no game is) but it succeeds at providing an engaging story full of interesting and memorable characters, set piece battles on on some unusual levels, and hard to comprehend at first but largely satisfying combat puzzle (at no point did I feel it was hopeless) and a high level of visual polish all in a single player only game. In this day and age that is a rare accomplishment and one that is worth celebrating.

Cuphead (Xbox One) Thoughts

My Cuphead Play Through Playlist
At long last, the day that he much anticipated Cuphead released came to pass. After being delayed from its original 2016 release time frame, the game came out in late September 2017 as my most desired game of the year. I can also say as of this point, Cuphead is also the front runner for my game of the year. This opinion comes from the amazing visuals, tight controls, and well designed bosses and levels as well as the feeling of tough but fair run and gun/bullet hell shooting game play.

It has to be said, this may be the best looking game that I have ever played. I'm not sure if that is even a hyperbolic statement at this point even though it clearly sounds like one when said out loud. The fact that every object, every character, every frame was hand drawn and digitally scanned gives an understandable reason why this game took so long to make. The little bits of scratching and film grain overlaid and the color bleeding is only further proof of the developer's commitment to the 1930's cartoon visual art style. Cuphead is a Joy to behold from start to finish.

Make no mistake, the game play in Cuphead is tough, as nails. There are no check points and no health pick ups. This game is about Trial and error, pattern memorization and reflexes, grunt and shear determination. The game features and over world from which you select levels and interact with various N.P.C.s along the way. Cuphead is mostly about fighting well designed and complex bosses. There are a hand full of run and gun stages that provide coins from which various charms and weapons can be purchased but they are few and far in between. It is necessary to change one's weapons and approach to facing the game's many challenges (a lesson I had to learn the hard way as a 3 hour boss battle with a certain dragon proved).

The game's difficulty would be too much to bear were it not for the perfect controls that Cuphead features. Once the button layout is configured to your liking (almost a requirement) the game controls as solidly as anyone could expect. You have a "Dash" and a "Parry" button (anything in the game that is pink can be parried off of) as well as buttons for "Jump", "Shoot", "Change Weapons", and a "Lock" button that plants you in place for 8 way directional shooting. There is also an "EX" button which uses meter that generates as you land hits that gives you an extra powerful attack which varies depending on which weapon you have equipped at the time.  When pressed with a full meter, this  unleashes a "Super" which is earned from completing special parrying based stages.

I very much enjoyed playing through Cuphead for the Xbox One even as it took me many tries to beat most of its bosses and levels. For me a hallmark of a worth while game is how much frustration I can bear and yet still want to play it regardless. At no point in my play through of Cuphead did I even think about quitting or giving up no matter how long it took to beat a boss. The Visuals were just too good, the controls to perfect, and there was always the sense that my dying was my fault and that just one more try could be the time I beat it. At this point Cuphead is very likely my Game of 2017.

Sonic Mania (Xbox One) Thoughts

My Sonic Mania Playlist

I have played through quite a few Sonic games in my day (mostly of the 2D variety) and although I was hopeful that Sonic Mania was going to be a good one I did not expect it to be as good as it is. The game is not perfect (as no game is) but it still stands head and shoulders above not only other recent 2D Sonic Games but above other recent non-Sonic 2D games as well.

Positives
First and foremost I have to say that this games just feels right. The running, Jumping, dashing, flying, and bouncing all feel the same way that they did ( or at least what my memory says they did) back in the 90's. This does not seem at first glance to be a big deal but after playing Sonic 4 and Sonic Generations, games that did not get the feel of Sonic right, this is huge.

Sonic Mania also gets the look of classic Sonic games right with its use of enhanced 16 bit style graphics that very much look like what a 2D sonic game would have looked like on the Sega Saturn. The Colors are bright, the sprites are crisp and the animation is a step above what one would have gotten from Sega's 16 bit console. The Sound and Music are Classic 90's as well with plenty of catchy tunes both old and new (Studiopolis is awesome).

Finally the stages in Sonic Mania are top notch. The remade levels feel like they did back in the day. It does not take long into the old levels before you notice that they are not just straight up remakes but remixed versions with added elements. The second act in a stage typically features even more changes, sometimes even a different pallet entirely. The new stages are just as good and very creative in their own right.

Negatives
Sonic Mania is not perfect. There are a few things about it that should have been removed, even if it meant not being completely faithful to the classic Sonic feel. The cheap deaths (Falling on spikes near the green pop up tops with fire underneath in Oil Ocean should not be an instant death) and Some overly difficult bosses (looking at you Metal Sonic) make the games difficulty feel uneven at times.
The biggest criticism I have to offer is the 10 Minute Time limit. The levels in this game are much bigger that they were back in the 16 bit era and the reward for seeking out the hidden areas in the nooks and crannies of each level make exploration a more vital part of the game than ever. This makes the 10 minute limit fell arbitrary and at odds with the rest of the game design.

In summery I feel like this is the Game that Sonic fans have been waiting for years (if not decades) to play. Sonic Mania does pretty much everything right and it does it with style. It makes me hope that the developers behind this make even more games 2D Sonic Games (a follow up with all new levels?) or even try their hand at making a good 3D Sonic Game (anything is possible). Perhaps even a Sonic Mania 2 that feature remixes of different old levels ( Mushroom Hill, Death Egg, ect.) as well as a few new ones. In any case I look forward to seeing what comes next.