This week Microsoft announced that 19 original Xbox games would be coming to the backward compatible program this month. This includes some notable Starwars classics coming out on April 26. Starwars Battlefront, Starwars Battlefront 2 and Starwars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. They are also releasing Jade Empire, The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind and SSX3. I am really excited to play the original Battlefront games on my Xbox One. The pixel count will also be increased so that the games look better than ever before. What do you think about being able to play the original Battlefront games on Xbox One? Click the link below for the full list of Xbox games coming to Xbox One this month.
This week Activision announced the Spyro: Reignited Trilogy. The trilogy includes Spyro the Dragon, Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage and Spyro: Year of the Dragon. I am honestly looking forward to this more than I was looking forward to the Crash remakes. Right now it is coming to Xbox One and PS4. I hope it comes to Switch in the future. The game looks incredible in HD, and I can’t wait to try it out. Are you looking forward to playing the remastered Spyro games?
Activision revealed Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 on March 8th. The game will come out on October 12, 2018. I have never been a big fan of the Call of Duty games. That doesn’t mean that the games haven’t been solid. It will be interesting to see how this one pans out. More details about this game will come out on May 17th. I hope this game comes out on the Nintendo Switch. Are you excited for Black Ops 4?
Microsoft is currently rolling out the Xbox One summer update. This update is fairly impressive. It adds a lot of new features to the Xbox One. It adds Cortana voice control, background music, dashboard improvements, and language region independence. It also adds some other smaller features like Facebook integration. The new user interface works well and feels very similar to the previous user interface. However the store is different to make way for the cross buy between Xbox One and PC. It is great that Microsoft is adding the ability to play Pandora music during a game. What do you think of the new Microsoft update?
Microsoft had their big press conference earlier today. They officially revealed the new Xbox One S. The Xbox One S has 4K Ultra HD, an internal power supply, 2TB of storage and it also has High Dynamic Range. It is definitely a nice upgrade from the original Xbox One. The new Xbox One S is also 40% smaller. It will cost $399 and it will be released this August.
Microsoft also showed off a variety of upcoming games for the Xbox One and PC. They showed off Gears of War 4, Forza Horizon 3, Halo Wars 2, ReCore, Killer Instinct: Season 3, Sea of Thieves, Scalebound, State of Decay 2 and Crackdown 3. I think ReCore looked like a pretty neat game. ReCore is an action adventure game that pits you against robotic foes. The game comes from the makers of Metroid Prime. Gears of War 4 looked like a sequel that fans of the series will be excited to play. I have never been a big fan of the series, but this one might be worth trying out. Sea of Thieves looked like a very strange game. It is a shared-world adventure game that pits you against your pirate friends.
Microsoft also announced Xbox Play Anywhere. This program allows you to purchase a game on PC and play it on Xbox or vice versa. It is similar to the cross buy that Sony had for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. There were several other cool announcements. One of those announcements was the reveal of Project Scorpio. Project Scorpio is a more powerful version of the Xbox One that is coming out in 2017. Overall I think Microsoft had a decent conference. They showed off some great new games and a powerful upgraded console. I can’t wait to see what Microsoft has in store for the future. What do you think of the new Xbox One S?
Star Wars Battlefront has finally been revived. The last main series Battlefront game came out in 2005, over ten years ago. Last time Star Wars Battlefront was developed by Pandemic Studios. This time it was developed by EA Digital Illusions. The new Battlefront game is faster paced than the original one. It is also supposed to be played in first person, although you can switch it to third person.
The three things that stood out to me include the graphics, speed of the game and the Fighter Squadron Mode. The graphics in Battlefront make the player feel like they are watching the movie. I don’t think a Star Wars game in the past has nailed it. Battlefront is fast-paced like Halo, Call of Duty and other modern shooters. This really keeps you on your toes. My favorite multiplayer mode in Battlefront is Fighter Squadron Mode. This mode allows the player to fight in an X-Wing, A-Wing, Tie Fighter or a Tie Interceptor. In the past, I haven’t been a fan of space shooters; however, the controls are excellent in this game.
There are a few things that I don’t like about Star Wars Battlefront. It only has four planets to explore, and EA didn’t include a single player campaign. The four planets are Hoth, Endor, Tatooine, and Sullust. There is also a fifth planet that is coming out as free DLC, but it wasn’t included on day one. These four planets don’t give the player enough to explore. I also miss the option to play a single player campaign. It was one of the things that I enjoyed doing in the original games.
Overall, Star Wars Battlefront is an exciting multiplayer game that lacks single player options. My favorite multiplayer modes include Fighter Squadron, Blast and Heroes vs. Villains. I also like the mission mode in single player. I do miss the option to change characters every time you die and control points from the original game. I give Star Wars Battlefront a six out of ten.
Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony showed off a variety of games at this years E3 Conference. There were several games that stood out to me and I can’t wait to play them.
Microsoft showed off Halo 5: Guardians, and the gameplay looks great. The trailer makes it seem like the player will be hunting Master Chief. It definitely seems like a different take on Halo and I can’t wait to jump into the action. There is also a new multiplayer mode called Warzone. This new mode allows ups to 24 players; in the past Halo games have only supported 16 players.
I also liked what I saw from Starwars Battlefront. The visuals and sound effects are superior to the original Battlefront games. One of the trailers showed multiplayer battles on Hoth and they include AT-AT’s and AT-ST’s. They also include X-Wings, Tie Fighters and Snowspeeders. It is great that vehicles are returning and I can’t wait to get into the action. The game play footage also showed that players can play as Jedi and Sith when they activate a power up. Everything looks really polished and this is my most anticipated game of 2015. However, I am disappointed that there is no campaign mode.
Many Nintendo fans were not impressed by Nintendo’s E3 Direct. However, I liked several of the games that they showed off during their direct. I liked what I saw from Star Fox Zero. It looks like the player can transform their ship into several different vehicles. This new mechanic looks really cool and I think that it will add a lot to the gameplay. It has been a while since Nintendo has released a main series Star Fox game. I also thought Mario Maker looked like a lot of fun. Nintendo is giving the user a ton of different assets and tools to use. It looks like the player can randomly drop Bowser in the middle of any level. This game looks crazy and I can’t wait to see what other people create. I am also pretty excited for the new Mario Tennis game. The player can get a power up that makes them grow huge. I have always enjoyed the Mario Tennis games and hopefully this one delivers.
What was your favorite game at E3 this year and what games are you excited for this year?
Minecraft is coming out on PS4 this Thursday, September 4th, 2014. The Xbox One version is coming out on Friday, September 5th, 2014. If a player owns the Xbox 360 version or the PS3 version they will get the new version at a discounted price. The game normally costs $20, but the discounted price is $5. This is a fantastic deal and if I had a PS4 or an Xbox One I would take advantage of it. I wish Minecraft would come to the Nintendo Wii U. It would be a really great fit because of the interactive game pad.
Microsoft showed off a bunch of their exclusives at E3 this year. The exclusives that they showed off this year include Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Sunset Overdrive, Forza Horizon 2, Crackdown, Fable Legends, Project Spark, Halo 5: Guardians, Super Ultra DR3 Arcade Remix and Scalebound. I think that Halo: The Master Chief Collection looks pretty sweet. It will include Halo 1 Anniversary, Halo 2 Anniversary, Halo 3 and Halo 4. There was a lot of speculation that Microsoft was just working on Halo 2 Anniversary. It will be great to see these games on the next generation Xbox. For more information on the Xbox games revealed click here.
Mattina Technology 