New Releases

Is there anything new coming out anyone is excited for? There's a lot of ambitious stuff in the works that'll potentially change how we game for the next several cycles of consoles... if it works.

With that being said I'm not as excited about a game as I am the emergence of virtual reality. Steam's offering is too expensive at 900 but Sony's proposed 399 price point is a great place to enter the market at. There's not a new system coming out this year and Intel and AMD isn't pushing a new technology so there's not a lot competing for anyone's gaming dollar.

As an early adopter 900 scares me. If the technology sucks, it developers jump ship, or if better versions come out in rapid succession (look at the 3ds..._) With Sony releasing one at half the cost I won't be kicking myself if it never gains traction. Kinnect, Move, Wii U - all awesome ideas that for whatever reason didn't get mainstream support so there's not much for them. If my Kinnect cost me 900 and it just sit around getting dusted once in a while I'd be pissed.

Other than VR I'm looking forward to Zelda. Its hard years of delays but its finally set to come out towards the holiday season and I couldn't be happier..

Some people also believe the Nintendo NX will show up this year. I've not seen proof of yes or no but I think this system will be either Nintendo's rise from the ashes or potentially another nail in the coffin. I grew up on Nintendo, the NES and SNES are top two favorite consoles but almost everything after was forgettable. the WII and N64 were great for couch coop but there's little else I used them for. I want to see them release another amazing machine that I'll have to fight my kids to play. I want something so awesome that there'll have to be one in every bedroom.

Nothing really on my radar. I basically just wait now until games are released and then hear from word of mouth what's good. I don't really have to time to keep up with the times. I let others do it for me. :lol

Virtual Reality?!?!?! I've been talking about that since our EGA podcast days haha.

Not too excited about anything in particular. Recently purchased Halo 5 but I've been too busy finishing my master's to play it. My friend a Wii U recently and I've been playing some of that; it's pretty entertaining.

I know it's been around, been talked about, and heck, the virtual boy.... but it's never been a massed produced consumer product.

who knows, it may suck like all attempts before it. I do want to see it open up new gaming possibilities because quite frankly, I'm getting bored - its been ten years since the wii came out and as far as I'm concerned it's been ten years since gaming changed at all. Halo came out 2001, call of duty 2003 and we're still playing iterations of those. Multiplayer is amazing but well over a decade of the same thing sours. The indie revolution has brought some freshness into the mix but honestly, most of the indie stuff is either crap or quickly ran through and forgotten. There's a few exceptions but not enough to prove me wrong.

Maybe 34 is too old for gaming. Maybe I should give up and just buy crap for my kids. Maybe I should start wearing those "classically trained" or "old school" t-shirts with the pixel art of Mario or a Nintendo controller like the 30-something hipster dousche bags that check into my insanely over priced hotel on Fridays and Saturdays that come to town to hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains during the day and drink trendy micro brews at night all while never having seen a Nintendo since the early 90's.

I had been thinking about a Wii U, but with the talk surrounding the Nintendo NX, that has got me interested. I am very curious about what Nintendo has got up their sleeve. Nintendo is the only company that builds their console around their own franchises. (That is because they are a gaming company) And it is usually a dedicated game machine. I am still expecting this unless the new guy that has taken over the reins steers the console in a different direction. I hope not. I would rather Nintendo be focused on games, their strength. Nintendo is always thinking out of the box with new innovation for gaming. They have pushed their way through this with success and with mixed reactions over the years.
NES- Success
SNES- Success
N64- In the marketplace it limped through / With fans a success.
GameCube- While reluctantly bending to the tech trends, a moderate success / heading in the right direction. / fans jumped on board and loved the ride.
Wii- Winner and very unexpected successful run with everyone / competition puzzled
Wii U- while still trying to tap into the success of the Wii, a mistake maybe instead of trying something new (was the gamepad ever used, using it for off screen play does not count) / mixed reactions from the gaming world / fans still jumped on board/3rd parties seemed to treat it like they did the N64. Also what pushes 3rd parties away is the "Family Friendly" image that Nintendo leans toward. Which is not a bad thing, per say.
Nintendo NX- They need something here / a fresh start / They are positioned uniquely to hit the gaming world at a point where the other two guys have had their consoles, PS4 and XBone, in the market for a short while.
1. They need something special, new. I don't want to be wearing some helmet shaking my head at the TV screen. With their record for backward compatibility I wince at this point. Don't get me wrong I do support backward compatibility, still...........
2. They need a powerful console that will get the attention of 3rd parties and gamers. Then again graphics and realism can hit a peak where you can go no further.
3. At the same time they need a competitive price point against the competition which are poised to make price cuts. ( The big problem with third parties is that they seem to cater to the majority. You have two consoles which are compatible power wise, that is where their games will go. They are hesitant to invest time and money on something different.)

I am sitting here hoping. I am pondering whether to start putting back some funds anticipating a desire to jump on board. We need some good leaks right now if this thing is going to be released this year. I know that there is a concern about the stockpile of Wii Us that remain to be sold. I have a solution, "drop the price." I will lovingly pick one up if it hits the $150.00 price point. Nintendo are you listening?

Rumors are Nintendo will stop wii u production soon but will continue to sell of surplus well into 2017. It's also been leaked that Nintendo may not be able to make the NX available in 2016.... If they do delay it I hope its to make the console better, not to keep the price point on the wii u up until the consoles have all been sold off. If Nintendo gets the NX out this year I'll bet the wii u goes on sale, if not it probably wont.