R3VEWWz (of Video Games!) | The Last of U... Damn, man.

"We're shitty people, Joel. It's been that way for a long time." 

Developer: Naughty Dog
Creative Director: Neil Druckmann
Game Director: Bruce Straley
Lead Designer: Jacob Minkoff

There's not much to say about this thing that hasn't been said already. I'm only saying those things that everybody's been saying because you don't finish playing a game like this and have nothing to say about it.

That being said, the ending of this game left me pretty speechless.

Rightfully so. The folks that brought us the Uncharted series, with each installment pushing the "games as art" debate into more mixed, ambiguous and dangerously arguable territory with its state-of-the-art cinematic ability at the time. 

No question here, that if Uncharted 1 through 3 were a testing grounds of how to push gaming technology towards untapped potential, The Last of Us is a product of that endeavor. 

Game mechanics, level design, art, UI, AI, multiplayer, DLC, content distribution, back-end, front-end, and all that other crap - yes, that's the bones of any video game anybody's ever made, from Candy Crush Saga to Heavy Rain. 

They're the innate bread and butter. Without one or the other, it's not a game. At least Metacritic won't say it's a good one. So what do players look for in a good game? What's missing from the bread and butter? It's not rocket science.

It's called storytelling. 

E3 Coverage One-Stop-Shop: Day 2

Welcome back to another day of E3 in the wraps! You excited?

Well, being the responsible games industry journalist I've suddenly set out to be for this week, I've done nothing but marathon Season 5 of Mad Men for the entire day. So I only caught about three quarters of the Nintendo Conference (but really they have like two more other ones) and there was a whole lot of this:

My body was ready. 

Lots of Wii U stuff. Sweet. Scroll down for a picture of what it looks like. It's just a bulky tablet with bumper buttons and analog sticks. And then this:

And the actual game:

This 3D roaming-camera-stillshot-style trailer trend is really taking off, eh? And surprise, surprise, who's at the development of this zombie game? UBISOFT.

Don't know how the hell they're pulling off what they're pulling off but they should keep doing it.

Otherwise, I'm too lazy to cover what else happened at the Nintendo conference, lots of Mario titles, some Pikmin 3 for those of you to care...and a lot of awkward scripted stage banter. Gives me the shakes when I have to witness that comfort mutilation in my living room.

And living room integration seems to be what Nintendo's pushing with their new console and peripherals. I'm cautiously stoked. Seeing as I haven't touched my Wii for a good year and a half, hopefully I get some spark in my life to pick up Super Smash Bros. and suck my way to the next generation of gaming as Nintendo so confidently totes.

IN OTHER NEWS:

• Developers are releasing game trailers for their upcoming releases
• Sony is using two flagship comapnies to support their entire arsenal 
• Black Ops II still deserves attention (fucking really?)
• Walking Dead: Episode 2 -- the first one actually does not suck. 
• People love their sequels.
• Go check IGN, Kotaku, The Verge, TDW Geek, or any other related blog for some other news.
• I'm lazy. This is hard. 

THINGS I MISSED YESTERDAY:

 

Yesssssss......so looking forward to this. Storytelling, while it's sophisticated and the best games always employ the best tactics at combining interaction with it, it seems to get a backseat from both audience and developers (most, anyways) when it comes to creating really good games. Games are stories, when we're put into the story, maybe it takes away from some of the glamour of being a spectator--not affecting the outcome. The lure of voyeurism, of non-consequence.

Shove a controller in your hand and a faceless protagonist to move around, and you get ultimate power and control over the story being told. Whether that's a good or bad thing is up to you. But it definetly changes how we tell stories. Quantic Dream understands that balance.

Beyond: Two Souls looks crafted. Like an artisan's work. Handled with precision, care, and a deliberacy (not a word but fuck it) not found in, let's say, the Call of Duty franchise. Heavy-handed comparison, I know, but fuck those guys. Facial recognition technology and motion capture, new game engines starting to get showcased (Square Enix I heard has unveiled one in preparation for some more Final Fantasy goodness), new IPs being released--E3 is turning out not so bad.

Maybe I spoke too soon, but meh.

TOMORROW:

• Shit will happen.
• Exciting trailers?
• Let's hope.