Female Players in FIFA 16

"For the first time every in the FIFA franchise, women's teams are in the game."

FIFA representatives promised this FIFA 16 will be the most improved FIFA game you have ever played.  FIFA 16 has new ways to play, a balance experience across the whole game, innovation across the entire pitch, and compete at a higher level.

New ways to play
FIFA has been working on this for years.  The best female players in the world were integrated in the FIFA 16 using all the motion capturing and facial recognition technology possible.  It's an amazing and rewarding moment to final see our star female athletes in the game.

  

The world doesn't know this, but our American female soccer team has been our best international and championship team for decades. Current star female players like Sydney Leroux, Abby Wambach and Hope Solo will take the field and compete for you against the world to bring home a championship.Innovation

Pitch Balance
When playing the game you want confidence in defense. You want to be able to defend with purpose and backbone.  Teams really win defending as a unit.   All new defensive agility gives you the mobility to trap skilled players.  

You'll have better defensive shape on the pitch to help you break down attacks and counter attacks when you win the ball.  In the middle of the pitch you'll control the midfield, the battle ground of any match.  

Interception intelligence will help you shutdown options and close dangerous passing channels.  On the counter, passing with purpsoe lets you play sharp passes to slice through defenses.  In the final third, more skills better dribbling and menancing attacks.

No touch dribbling was motion captured from Lionel Messi. Free yourself from the ball to buy time, create separation and blow by your defender, limitless creativity profoundly changes the game and gives you opportunity to critically finish.

Compete at a Higher level
FIFA Trainer will help you dial up your game.  The controller language on screen will change as you move around the pitch, give you more options to play better defense, make better passes and help you score more goals.

Launch date is September 22 in North America and September 24 globally.

Star Wars BattleFront

The long awaited gameplay for Star Wars Battlefield was finally revealed at E3 2015, and I must admit I am very impressed by what I saw.

As the gameplay rolled on the screen, we saw a glimpse of a few familiar faces, gadgets, vehicles, and scenery to the Star Wars franchise.  We are thrown in the massive snowfield Battle of Hoth.

I cannot express the horrors and fear I felt as a child looking up at the giant ATAT's and hearing their loud stumps as the crushed everything in front them without contest.  This game gave me the same feeling as I saw the camera look up into the sky and give a sense of scale and depth between the player and the ATAT's.

I quickly rallied behind the efforts of the rebel forces as they used everything they had such as magnetic harpoons and cables to fight an impossible fight against invincible machinery and modern warfare.  My saving grace for the rebel fighters is when two brave pilots named Luke Skywalker and Wes Janson attached a cable to the ATAT and dragged it down to the ground stopping the armies advance, and saving the rebel base and Princess Leia nearby.

One interesting out the ordinary scene was Dark Vader crushing a soldier near you with his Telekinetic Darkside of the force powers.  I didn't understand the purpose of Dark Vader being here, but guess what...Luke Sky Walker is here as well without any clothes to combat the zero weather of the planet.

A few aspects I wanted to point out that I feel were important.  I didn't like was the number candy you have with you kill a soldier or achieve a task.  Seeing the +25 was annoying and distraction from the combat and scenery.  As far the music, Dice provided the classic score from John Williams which I felt a bit of nostalgia as it played in the background.

Some good takeaways I enjoyed were the first person and third person point of views you got from the cockpits of the various vehicles you can control as a member of the Rebel forces or Confederation. 

As far as the multiplayer mode which why the game was made, I can imagine with all going that communications will be key to victory.  I envision various clans taking controls of sky and ground vehicles, and leading the ground army into combat in a massive field.  A lot is going on here, but I believe their is a science to this organized chaos.

Simply put it's Stars Wars people!  The game will sell millions of units just on the brand recognition alone.  The expected released date for Star Wars BattleFront in 11/17/2015.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Confirmed

Looks like I have to buy a PS 4 or Sony gives me one since I'm a popular video game blogger because it has been confirmed that a Final Fantasy 7 remake is underdevelopment and coming to PS 4 first.

Nothing other than a teaser trailer was announced so stay tuned for the release date and more information.  Final Fantasy 7 definitely will be a game I'm going to follow. 

I saw a shot of what I think is slim down Barret with his handgun arm. In my mind I thought Barret was a 6'5" 300lb version of Mr. T that was a hotheaded leader but compassionate.  In the movie, they kicked it old school racist making Barret seem like a fool stumbling to success by accident and didn't know what he was doing.  I hate that shit by Asian cartoons like Dragon Ball Z and video games like Street Fighter when they depict black characters as dumb and slow witted. I don't like that stuff.  As a fan that grew up on the game, I hope they don't change too much other than improved graphics.  I'm not a fan of the final fantasy movies or any games past Final Fantasy X, so I will be very disappointed to see any aspects of those media being integrated into the FF7 remake.  So just keep a winning formula the way it was.

Call of Duty Black Ops 3

"We're on a off the books mission in pursuit of a high profile target when all hell breaks lose.  As in case of most call of duties, if you want to succeed, then you have to get your hands dirty.  This is the story of Call of Duty Black Ops 3.

Mark Lamia 

The presentation for Call of Duty Black Ops 3 focused on the multiplayer feature . I know I personally enjoy being online playing against players of all ages backgrounds and beliefs from around the world to complete a mission.  

Call of Duty Black Ops 3 takes place in Cairo, Egypt in 2065.  A lot of emphasis was put on improvements to the games fluidity and coop functions.  Activision promised the the social networking experience of multiplayer will be integrated into the campaign much like the experience we had Titanfall.

Call of Duty Black Ops 3 will feature a single player campaign with the option to multiplayer coop, zombie outbreak mode, and the multiplayer mode. Players selecting the right weapons at the beginning will determine success and survival in the war.

The release date for Call of Duty Black Ops 3 is 11/6/2015.  

Shenmue 3 via kickstarted

Like many of you I grew up on Yu Suzuki's Shenmue. For those of you who never playes Shenmue, then allow me to let you in on a secret...there will be no open world games like Batman Arkam Asylum or Grand Theft Auto without Shenmue.  Shenmue was a pioneer in many areas that's why it's a legendary cult classic.  The game was left incomplete and unplayable to most american gamers bc of limited release.

Nearly a decade later, the third game entitled Shenmue 3 is going to be released for the Playstation 4 and PC.

The game will feature a new skills system that will connect to the different aspects of the game.  You can collect scrolls from completing mini games in shops or gambling rings.  The techniques scrolls will allow you to use the skills right away in battle without having to practice and master them like in the previous Shenmue games.   

Shenmue 3 will take place in ancient China focusing on three areas Baisha, Baili Village, and Choubu.  No release date was given but Yu Suzuki said with kickstarter the fate of the Shenmue was in our hands.  

I don't why but I felt a little embarrassed for Yu Suzuki when he was begging for money to help make the Shenmue 3 possible.  For an older visionary like Yu Suzuki to be reduced to wearing khaki jeans and a common jacket while standing in the middle of Tokyo square saying he needs help to make the project possible...it seem a little like he lost face.  I just expected someone like him to be on it a little harder than that.  Kickstarter is more for unproven business ventures not something of this scale.

Game of Thrones Season 5 Finale- Mature Content Viewer Discretion Advised

Writers should have titled this episode, "Karma= Everyone gets what's coming to them".
***SPOILERS***

The following post contains spoilers from last night's GoT.  For those of you, who have heard a rumor that a major and beloved character on the show will die...it turned out to be Jon Snow:(

Fans watched in horror last night as the beloved character Jon Snow was killed off in a scene reminiscent of a Greek tragedy. Alluding to Caesar's epic death scene, Jon Snow was stabbed by his closest friends in the Night's Watch.  As a four members of the watch repeatedly stabbed Jon snow to death including his child apprentice, each member quoted "for the watch".  Meaning they killed Jon for the sake of the Night Watch due to Jon's poor decisions.

As a fan, I felt the betrayal was expected since few member's of the Night's Watch approved of Jon's promotion to Commander of the Night's Watch.  Here Jon was thinking he was doing everything to help the group and gain its respect and admiration when in reality the group harbored resentment and hate with every achievement Jon made. I felt a lot of emotional attachment to the Jon Snow's story.  He had it rough growing up, left to start a new life and career.

Jon Snow gained respect from his co-workers through his valor, leadership, and compassion.  Thus, Jon was promoted to Commander of the Night's Watch due to merit.  His biggest mistake was that he forgot who he was working with.  Jon was leader of an army of bandits, rapist, outcasts, and criminals.  His biggest flaws were trust in people that society threw away and his heart.

His decision to bring the Wildings back to the Nights' Watch wall would ultimately cause his downfall. Jon snow was stabbed to death one by one from members of the Nights Watch. Each one uttering 'for the the Watch" as they stabbed him and the final blow was delivered by the littlest member a knife to the heart. Many fans had hope that Jon Snow would survive but GoT director dashed those hopes today in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter(June 15). He stated point blank, "Jon Snow is dead."

The Finale also contained a shocking punishment for Cersei Lannister. After confessing her adultery to the Sparrows, the religious zealots cut Cersei's long blonde locks off, and was sent to stand before a crowd of 1000s of King's Landing citizens. The High Sparrow gave a speech informing the crowd about Cersei's secret sins.  The citizens stood shocked hearing the confession about the personal life of their Queen. To add to the shock value, the High Sparrow stripped Queen Cersei and ordered her to march naked in the streets back to her castle as part of a redemption act known as the "walk of atonement".

Now, the lowly citizens Queen Cersei looked down upon from her high ivory towers were in control of her fate.  As the nude Cersei took a step, a nun rang a bell and chanted "Shame".  Like clock work the crowd took advantage of the posh noble queen being nude and helpless. The crowd spit on Cersei, threw objects, assaulted her and some tried sexual advances on her.

Half way to the castle, Cersei fell tearfully to the ground from shock of the way she was being disrespected and physical hurt from her injuries.  Covered in garbage and blood from being assaulted by the crowd, she looked up her castle and regained her strength.  She said no words, but I felt the emotion that this public shaming will not go unpunished.

For the Sparrows to be unbiased, merciful and followers of God's peace, they were very brutal and judgmental to Cersei and the other nobles.  I feel like the Sparrows were using religion to carry out their hidden agendas and to amass power to carry out their own corruptions.

Reflecting on a moment from a past episode, I recall Cersei saying she remembers and knows the High Sparrows leader.  She said the High Sparrow is not the merciful and humble religious person he pretends to be, but she accepts his role because she had plans to use him and the other ranks from the Faith of the Seven.  In the end, Cersei reached her destination and was carried away by a giant guard to held a vow to protect and take revenge for her and the royal family.

On the other side of the world, Queen Khaleesi was saved by her black dragon, Drogon and flown to safety in a field. Her knights survived the uprising at the Colosseum and regrouped at the castle before going on a search and rescue mission to find their queen.  Khaleesi was starving with her injured black dragon, so she went on a gathering mission to find food. While in the wildness she was surrounded by the Dothraki army who abandoned her earlier.  The army's intentions with Khaleesi were unknown and left to fate.

Other noteable endings: Stannis lost his war and was killed by Breeanne in the woods, the red headed witch Melisander was the sole survivor of the war returning to the Night Watch fort, Sansa escaped when Theon get his manhood back and helped her.

My favorite part was Arya's revenge on Ser Meryn Trant, the man that helped kill her father and teacher.  Turns out the Ser Meryne had a crush on Sansa and he had a fetish for beating her look alikes. Arya took advantage of Ser Meryn Trant pedophilia and pretended to be an underage prostitute to gain access to his company and solitude.   When she Ser Meryn Trant alone, she stabbed him in the eyes and slit his throat.  As he died choking on his own blood, Arya revealed her identity and gloated about her revenge for her family.

Overall, the episode was a cliff hanger filled with high emotional drama that makes you upset there will be another year before we know what happens to the characters of the Game of thrones.