P&P's Winner of E3 2015: Sony Playstation

This weekend, P&P is on vacation.  That means that you’re getting Saturday’s article right now.  At this moment, you’re probably too shocked to read on.  And that’s understandable.  So take a moment to catch your breath and then proceed as normal.  But don’t worry because P&P will return to its regular schedule next week. Thanks for reading and enjoy.  

"Listen, I'm not going to tell you again.  Stop crapping on my house.  It takes me a week to

clean it, dammit.  And don't give me that look, I'm not falling for it."

An Article by Glitchiee

with an Introduction by Hank:

INTRODUCTION:

E3: the battleground that gives giant video game companies the opportunity to strap on boxing gloves and pound the crap out of each other, dominated every video game forum and streaming service last week.  And each new video game and announcement made gamers rip off their clothes and run wild, while declaring their very own victor.  Yes, E3 2015 was an amazing week for pixelated adventure enthusiasts.

And not only did gamers get to see the humongous console manufacturers return, but even new-comers arrived at the show.  For instance, Bethesda, threw their hat into the ring and shocked audiences with amazing gameplay from Doom and then devoted a large chunk of their time to the highly anticipated Fallout 4.  Microsoft came out of the gate with a couple of exclusives, while mainly focusing on new technology headed to their different divisions.  Square Enix put everyone to sleep with long drawn-out chatter, until finally showcasing the next Hitman game, and EA had gamers and Star Wars fans creaming in their pants from the impressive Battlefront trailers.

But that leaves one very important player in the gaming world.  There was one press conference that began with a game that hasn't seen the light of day in a better part of a decade.  This same press conference showcased game after game after game, leaving explanations and technology as an afterthought to the gaming world.  Who is this mysterious champ of E3 2015?  It's the one company that has outsold all other consoles since the current generation released.  The one company that continues to put games first, before anything else.  Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, P&P's winner of E3 2015 is…Sony Playstation.

"I feel like I'm forgetting something.  Pack the Fiber Wire, bury the neighbor, and...and...oh and

return those Glee DVD's to the library.  Damn, that's going to be a hefty fine." 

THE GAMES:

Sony started off the show with a trailer for The Last Guardian: a sneak peek into a beautiful world containing a young boy and his gigantic bird/dog creature.  Followed up by Horizon: Zero Dawn: a story revolving around life after some catastrophic event that has decimated our current way of living, and turned humans into hunters that stalk mechanical prey.  Hello Games brought the expanse of the universe to the show with their ground breaking game No Man's Sky.  This massive game—one whose scope has not even been fully created yet—allows players to wander around the universe and visit planets that are randomly generated as they are selected.

Next up were the Final Fantasy offerings.  A staple for RPG players, Final Fantasy is a huge crowd pleaser.  Breathing new life into the franchise, World of Final Fantasy was announced, showcasing a fun take on the series by creating chibi versions of characters and monsters that team up to fight.  Think Pokemon meets Final Fantasy.  But the crowd really exploded when the next trailer appeared on the screen, confirming what so many fans of the series have been yearning for.  That's right…a Final Fantasy 7 remake.  While the trailer was all the information that was released, Sony quite possibly could have won E3 from that alone.

"I don't know where the hell I am or what the hell I'm supposed to be doing, but this sure 

does look pretty."

Directly following FF7 was another big announcement in the form of Shenmue 3.  Their Kickstarter campaign was introduced on stage, along with footage from the first two games explaining that this project was a direct sequel to Shenmue 2.  With amazingly beautiful graphics, Shenmue 3 sets out to finish up what was left undone in Shenmue 2.  Having this project featured on stage during the conference ensured its funding, reaching their goals almost instantly.

Batman: Arkham Knight from Rocksteady, also popped up on stage from the point of view of a police officer.  When the cop politely asks a patron in a diner to stop smoking, you're shocked to discover the patron is the Scarecrow.  What follows is a terror-filled glimpse of darkness and chaos, bringing the Scarecrow's Nightmare Missions as an exclusive to only Playstation.  Things then toned down in the creepy department but ramped up in the hype department with Disney Infinity 3.0.  Disney Infinity 3.0 brought the Star Wars world to life with Twilight of the Republic and Rise Against the Empire play sets.  Along with the Disney Infinity announcement came the Star Wars: Battlefront gameplay bombshell.  Focusing on the survival mode of the game, Star Wars: Battlefront looks just like the movies and had long-time fans go berserk from the footage.

Sony then wrapped up their conference with another extremely anticipated Playstation exclusive, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End.  After a slight controller mishap, the gameplay started, showcasing an amazing mission filled with guns, car chases, hilarious dialogue, and fantastic feats in typical Uncharted fashion.  And as always, the return of Nathan Drake was the perfect way to close out Sony's Press conference, leaving viewers on a high note that other presenters found difficult to top.

"Get a good look at the Fax machine, Tom, cause this is the last time I'm showing you how to work it.

Next time you end up on the floor like your buddy, Phil, over there."

MORE THAN JUST GAMES:

It may seem that Sony only presented games during their conference—even though video games were the mainstay of the show—that was not all they had to offer.  Sony unleashed Project Morpheus: a virtual reality venture looking to take console gaming to the next level by making every game compatible.  But not only that, the system also allows you to play alongside friends.  So now you can literally escape into another world and bring your buddies along for the ride.

Playstation additionally revealed its partnership with Spotify, allowing you to listen to your favorite tunes straight from your console, and also announced Playstation View: Sony's live streaming service for television.  Playstation View allows gamers to subscribe a la carte to channels you want to watch and forget about the rest.  With Sony stepping into the realm of becoming a home entertainment center, both of these are a humongous leap forward for Playstation.

"So how does it feel?"

"Like I'm wearing 5 pounds of sunglasses and holding a plastic squirt gun." 

CONCLUSION:

Sony brought out the big guns when it came to their E3 conference.  There wasn't a single moment when action slowed, or excitement diminished, or boredom reared its ugly head.  From new games such as Horizon: Zero Dawn to fan favorites such as the Uncharted series and Assassin's Creed, Sony did not disappoint with their showcase.  Mixed in between these large titles were Indie games from Devolver Digital, and a few other games like Fire Watch, and the extremely creative Dreams from Media Molecule.  On top of all that, there was no needless chatter in between the trailers or game play highlights.  Sony hasn't let up the pressure since the release of the PS4 and certainly didn't tap the brakes during this year's conference, making them the clear winner of E3 2015.

Writer: Glitchiee – Twitter / Twitch

Editor: Hank – Twitter / Twitch

Book Review - Two Graves

Two Graves is the perfect example of how to take a rip-roaring, action-packed beginning, and after coming out of the first turn, shoot it directly in the foot.  Let me explain:

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!  Read at your own risk.  Actually, it’s not that bad: I spill a couple of major points here and there, but is that really going to stop you from reading this?  Didn’t think so, enjoy. 

Two Graves is the typical formula for a P&C novel: multiple points of view, semi-fantasy/reality, complaining cops, and an FBI agent who just does whatever the hell he wants, when he wants. 

P&C are at their best when they mix some funky history with fantasy and show people at their worst, best, and most frigged-up time in their life.  Recently though, Pendergast has been having a terrible go at it.  The man has had crappy uncles who dissect people, a brother who loves to give people brain-melting disorders, a wife who completely just sucks, and now children who are just plain weird.

STORY:

After suffering the tragedy of losing his wife, Special Agent Pendergast, spends two novels finding out Helen is alive and well—minus a hand.  At the end of Book 2 (Cold Vengeance), Pendergast finally gets to hold his wife's other hand.  He gets to look into her eyes, see her smile and then BAM; she’s ripped out of his grasp and taken away...again.  Well, this book picks up right there, at her abduction.  He spends the rest of his time tracking down the men that kidnapped her, sending him to Mexico, NY, and South America.

THOUGHTS:

Two Graves comes roaring out of the first turn, holding the lead by 23 lengths, then—Oh my goodness—a sniper bullet just tore its left foot apart and now it’s hobbling along.  And the jockey, well, he was thrown head first into the mud, only to be repeatedly stomped by other horses.

Yeah, it’s kind of like that.

The book itself is a tomb like most P&C novels, which doesn't concern me one bit, but to stuff it full of subplots for half of the novel pisses me off to no end.  I wouldn't care if the subplots intertwined with the main story and everything connected at the end, but no, you actually have subplots that are separate stories all together.  The only thing linking them is: these second rate characters know Pendergast.  That’s it.  Just like how you know your neighbor—now would you want someone including almost a whole biography of your neighbor in your biography?  Unless they played a major role in some part of your life…otherwise they would be about as important as a passing fart.

Reading the book became quite a jarring experience.  Action, action, drama, stop, stop, stop, action, stop, stop, boring, enough already, get back to the story, drama, stop, wholly crap this sucks, action, drama, stop, stop, end.  Doesn't read very well, does it?

Constance, Pendergast's ward, spends her time reading books and speaking with Dr. Felder, who takes it upon himself to really start looking into her past.  A past we already know and do not need further evidence to point out.  So Constance’s subplot/story really doesn’t frigging matter at all.  There are several chapters spent in the good doctor's head contemplating a break-in.  I was getting so fed up reading it, I found myself skipping paragraphs until something actually happened.  Oh, and Pendergast shows up at the hospital to talk to Constance for about two pages, which I guess is the attempt to connect the stories.

Corrie Swanson on the other hand, has mysterious papers that she ran off with, that she thinks are very important.  Cool, right?  She finds Pendergast and hands them to him—also very cool, and plot related.  But then he tosses her out on her ass and that's where the “Pendergast and Corrie” story ends and your eyes will start to glaze over.  The rest of the time is spent telling the story of Corrie with her estranged father.  Your thinking, "this is a Pendergast story, right?"  Well, apparently only the chapters divisible by three, every other chapter is just filler. 

What the authors should have done is released just the Pendergast story line as Two Graves and then released another novel called "Just Some Other Crap" that way people would have known what they were getting.

Now Pendergast's story is action packed, overly dramatized, and nowhere near believable—which is sometimes good and sometimes bad.  It starts with him helping the investigation of serial murders in NY and then leads to the ultimate enemy of the book.  Who you ask?  Well, who's responsible for all the woes in the world?  Who gets blamed for almost everything bad in movies, games, and books since the 1930's?  Who's into eugenics?  If you’re thinking the Sith, then it's safe to say you haven't been paying attention at all, and you can go back to surfing more news about J. J. Abrams directing Star Wars VII on the web.

 

I really have no idea why I'm here...No, seriously. 

For everyone else, if you said the Nazis, then ding, ding, ding, you'd be right!  The question is: has the Nazi thing been played out already?  If you answer no, then you'll enjoy the book; if you said yes, then maybe you should be surfing the internet for Star Wars news.

Hitler & his men, accept the award for biggest dick in the world. Circa 1940's 

Apparently, those silly Nazis are still living it up in South America, enjoying drinks with umbrellas and splicing human genes.  Silly Nazis.  Don't they know the war is over?  Not in this book.  Anyway, they have their own fort (yes I said fort, and no, it’s not made out of pillows or sheets) and protect it with their lives.  Pendergast must penetrate this blight on the world and destroy all of them once and for all.  Enter: his genetically altered son, who has the talent of sneaking around like a ghost, dodging bullets, and seeing the future. 

Things get a little crazy at this point, and I'm not talking wet T-shirt crazy, more like people dying everywhere crazy.  There's explosions, crazy needles, boating (yes, you saw that right—boating), army officers, flooding, and a father and son love-story caught in the middle.

The writing as always with P&C is top notch.  They know how to create tension and stretch reality without breaking it.  But the subplots are what killed this novel for me.  In some crazy way, I was continually hoping they would somehow intertwine, but alas, I left holding my Johnson with no bowl in sight. 

In the end, if you don't mind several different stories happening at once, and find no problem with waiting a few chapters before getting back to the main plot, then this book is for you.  Any trouble with the above and I'd say hold out until you can get it from the library.  And then if you don't like it, you don't have to beat yourself over the head with it for throwing away money you could have spent on food or video games or porn (I know, no one really pays for porn anymore, it just sounded good when read, okay?) or strippers or a new baboon or—you get the point.

2.5 out of 5 stars (minus 1.5 stars for random short stories and a star for the over-cooked Nazi presence)