Gaming Evolved : CES 2017 Highlights so far

First things first. CES isn’t even done yet and there are already a lot of things being put out that are changing gaming.

1. samsung-odysseySamsung’s Odyssey notebook gaming  laptop. Comes in 15 and 17 inch variations. Both will boast i7 intel processors and as of right now the 15 inch version will have NVIDIA GTX1050 running either a 2GB or 4GB onboard RAM. The 17 inch model’s video card has not yet been announced, but it will be either comparable or better. Memory on the 17 inch will be upgradable to 64 gigs of RAM and can boast a 512 GB SSD and a 1TB HHD. The 15 inch model is going to be known as the Plus, and the 17 inch model will be known as the Pro. Both will function as both laptops and tablets featuring a 2400 x 1600 Gorilla Glass screen, with the display packing a native 1920 x 1080 resolution.

2. project-arianaRazer’s Project Ariana is their move towards projector gaming. It’s a Chroma-enabled, full room encompassing, real-time reacting projector. The intention is to fully immerse the player in not only video but light effects while playing a game. It’s not your usual stand alone projector. This one instead uses a ultra-wide fish-eye type lens to project images to and entire room instead of just a screen on the wall. This lens will provide much better immersion for the enabled games. Min-Liang Tan, co-founder and CEO of Razer, said that “Having a game literally surround a gamer completes the entire ecosystem of gaming.” Razer says that the Ariana will adapt the projection of in-game elements to the dimensions and features of the environment it is being used in. It will use a pair of 3D cameras and calibration software to adjust to furniture and lighting conditions.

3. Nvidia announced they will be putting their GeForce GTX 1050 and GTX 1050 Ti video cards into gaming laptops. They will boast the same experience as their full tower counterparts, including GPU overclocking, DirectX 12, Ansel screenshots, G-Sync, and the Geforce experience. A total of 30 laptops from multiple companies will feature these cards in 2017. These companies include Alienware, Dell, and Asus to name a few.

4.samsung-gaming-monitor Back to Samsung with their Curved Gaming Monitors. This year at CES Samsung announced several curved quantum dot gaming monitors designed strictly for gaming. The resolution they are talking about is 2,560 x  1,440 with a 178 degree viewing angle. Designed to be aesthetically pleasing as desk decor with a clean white chassis and a 3 side boundless design., these monitors use quantum dot technology which is display technology that makes color reproduction “purer” than LCD, which will also mean a wider color range. They will have
multiple monitors for sale ranging from 27 inches all the way to a 34 inch monitor with a 21:9 ratio.

4. Logitech announced their G533 Wireless surround sound Headset. This new headset for Gaming PC’s features 7.1 surround sound and 15 hours of battery life with its rechargeable, and replaceable batteries. Logitech’s gaming VP and general manager, Ujesh Desai said the goal is to give players “the most immersive and accurate PC gaming experience.” The Pro-G audio drivers are built with hybrid mesh material something that Logitech claims will rival high-end audiophile headphones. It will also use DTS Headphone: X technology for its 7.1 surround sound. The microphone will be retractable with a pop filter and an auto-mute feature to give the clearest audio for in-game chat. It will also come with software that will let you auto-tune your sound levels and volume. The G533 will run you about $150 USD.

5. razer_project_valerie_ces2017_00Lastly, for this article for CES we go back to Razer and their incredible yet insane Project Valerie, gaming laptop. Razer introduced their 3 17 inch screen laptop. When closed, it sits at around 1.5 inches thick. When you open this Frankenstein laptop, hinges release and set out 3, that’s right count it, 3 – 17.3 inch monitors, each boasting 4k resolution. At full display you are getting 11,520 x 2160 resolution. Powering this monster is a full tower grade  Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card which makes it hit minimal VR requirements. Since all of the monitors are attached to the machines there are no extra cables or wires, as well as it doesn’t take up as much space as other 3 monitor set-ups.It weighs roughly 12 pounds making it one of the heaviest gaming laptops out there!

 

eSports Calendar for 2017

This is the eSports calendar that is being covered by ESPN. Stay tune for Super Game Reviews’ coverage on these events as they unfold!

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January 13-15, 2017. – CS:GO @ the  DreamHack Leipzeig


Jan 20-22, 2017. – Dota 2 @ Dota pit League Season 5


Jan 20-22, 2017- Smash @ Genesis 4


Jan 27-29, 2017- CS:GO @ ELeague Major


Feb. 15-19, 2017.- CS:GO @ Dreamhack Masters Vegas


March TBA, 2017-CS:GO, SC2, LoL @  IEM Katowice


March TBA, 2017- HotS @ Easten Clash, Western Clash


Apr. 20-23, 2017-Dota 2 @ Kiev Major


Apr. 28-30, 2017-CS:GO, HS, Smash, SFV, SC2 @ Dreamhack Austin


MAy/June TBA, 2017- HotS @ MidSeason Brawl


June 17-20, 2017- SC2 @ Dreamhack Summer


July TBA, 2017-HotS @ Eastern Clash, Western Clash


July 13-15, 2017- SC2 @ Dreamhack Valencia


July 21-23, 2017- CS:GO, HS, Dota 2 @ Dreamhack Atlanta


Sept. 8-10, 2017- SC2 @ Dreamhack Monteral


Oct. 20-22, 2017- Game to be announced @ Dreamhack Denver


Nov. TBA, 2017- HotS @ HGC Finals

Watch Dogs 2 multiplayer still a no-go.

Although Ubisoft dropped a new update today, for the Xbox one and Playstation 4. The multiplayer is still not working. The co-op and normal story modes run fine, but no multiplayer. They haven’t released when it will be out or up and running, but they have said that the patch for multiplayer is in certification with Microsoft as well as Sony. Hopefully it will be released soon, seeing as the game dropped today, technically unfinished.

Here is the official Ubisoft statement on the matter!

During the pre-launch phase of Watch Dogs 2, we were disappointed to discover an issue tied to the seamless multiplayer feature that caused the game to lag and crash periodically. In order to eliminate that issue at launch and for players to enjoy a smooth game play experience, we have decided to wait to launch the seamless multiplayer feature so it would not impact the core gameplay experience.

To be clear, players can fully enjoy the entire single-player experience without any concerns. Additionally, co-op is still fully functional by inviting friends through the game menu. However, the Bounty-Hunter mode and other activities that would occur with other outside players who enter your game will be unavailable until the issue is resolved. We truly appreciate the patience of our player community.

Dragonball Xenoverse 2, and the fight for the future!

*Spoiler Warning!

Have you ever wanted to not only play as a Saiyan but turn Super Saiyan 3 and crush your  enemies?  This is right down your alley! Dragonball Xenoverse 2 gives you all of that and much more!

dragon_ball_xenoverse_2_coverDragonball Xenoverse 2

Systems: PC, Xbox  One, PlayStation 4.

Developer: Dimps

Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment

Release Date: October 25, 2016

Price: $60


The Gameplay:

Dragonball Xenoverse 2 is an Action-RPG mixture. There are combos, specials, beam attacks, and strike supers. You fly around abusing your opponent. (Or getting abused.) It’s a lot of button mashing but it works for the platform. While using your created character you will level up and make different stats go up, that along with the gear you wearing will affect you on how well your attacks and health and ki will be in the actual fight. You can play as one of 5 races, Majin, Namekian, Human, Saiyan, and Frieza race. Each race has its own combo set and pluses and minuses. I personally played Frieza race first and Golden Frieza is a sweet power-up.

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The Single Player:

The single player is a lot of abuse on the CPU. The Story mode is similar to the original game, even repeating some of the same missions, which is kind of let down. If you played the first game on your system of choice, the person that you beat the story mode with will be the hero of the city in this game, giving you access to all the moves that character had. The game has a lot of things to do, story quests, side quests, training with Dragonball characters.

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The Multiplayer:

You can do parallel quests with your friends as well as expert missions, or you can fight with other players online in battles. There is a World martial arts tournament you can enter. Other than that, the multiplayer is about the same as single player.

 

Final Thoughts:  75%

Dragonball Xenoverse 2 is a fun game for Dragonball fans, I thoroughly enjoyed the game, and easily logged a week of game time in as soon as I got the game and opened it up.  It’s worth the buy and to play because each race has a transformation, as well as there is multiple ways to build your character and play.

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Pros:

  • Extremely fun game, worth a try.
  • Multiple races to play so it has replay value.
  • You get to fight giant apes!

Cons:

  • Some of the missions are repeats from the first game.
  • The missions are super repetitive sometimes.
  • The scale of difficulty is absurd sometimes.

Indie Game Spotlight: Yu-Gi-Oh The Dawn of a New Era

Yu-gi-oh The Dawn of a New Age is a unofficial Konami game, that allows you to play the official trading card game online, made by The Kaiba Corporation. It’s absouletly free and offers a massive, and I mean massive, card library. You can customize a lot of different things as well, from your card sleeves to the background when you battle. I have been spending a lot of time playing this lately and it’s  pretty solid.

This game has some problems of course, but it is pretty impressive for not being finished and being absoultely free. It has pretty much every card in the game in the available library and you can add card to the deck and use them for free, which makes the game all about the spirit of the game rather than money. ( A huge positive for me.) Unfortunately because of that, Konami could take it down at any time. I’m really hoping it doesn’t happen. yugioh

Everything in this game is customizable. You can customize your background, card sleeves, everything all the way till your attack symbol. I really enjoy how much customization the game offers.

Now I’ll discuss some of the problems with the game. Not all of the cards work properly. The built in game system  doesn’t realize that some cards only last for one turn. It has a no banlist mode which is fine and dandy except for the part for it ignores the card limit list as well (35 pot of greeds, here comes Exodia!) Another drawback of the game is connectivity issues. I might try to duel someone and it sometimes won’t let me connect to the host which is kind of a bummer. yugioh-duel

Lastly, some quick positives to finish up. The game automatically records the duels for you and asks you at the end of each duel if you would like to save your replay. The Kaiba Corporation has a youtube channel and encourages players to send in their replays.  If they like they match they will upload it on the youtube channel. All in all, if you are a fan of the trading card game you should download it for your computer and give it a try!

 

Smash+Grab – First Impression

Smash+Grab, first and foremost, is a blast to play. My first few matches were fun, but soon I started to see the flaws in the game.(It’s early access right now, so can’t be too judgmental.) There are 7 characters available at this current patch with 2 more on the way. I really enjoy the gameplay, and the idea is fresh and kinda revitalizing for the MOBA genre.

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Now time for nitty and the gritty. Smash+Grab is great so far with what it has. There is some balancing issues though, and 9 times out of 10 your teammates won’t be around when you need them. I’ll say it looks pretty great, and the soundtrack is pretty fitting for what the game is. I’m also kind of a fan of the rock, paper, scissors, battle style. The game progresses in three stages, the first stage, small almost paper stand likes stores, and basic weapons, like for faster DPS characters pipes and hammers, for your tanks shovels, and for the ranged characters nail guns. Stage 2 is bigger stores, I’d probably liken them to more of a 7-11 or something like that, and even bigger weapons, your DPS characters get machetes, the tanks get wonderful sledgehammers, and the ranged characters get crossbows. Stage 3 gets more stores and two HUGE stores worth 10k apiece, and finally your tier 3 weapons, the DPS gets tactical swords, the tanks get battleaxes, and the ranged get shotguns. Now one of the biggest things about playing is while you are robbing stores, you will get things like gems or chemicals, you will use these to upgrade your weapons and upgrade terminals located in the map . The available upgrades are sonic, poison, fire, bleeding or sharp as I call it, and ice. Each upgrade gives your weapon a certain advantage, Ice slows opponents, while sonic allows you to break into stores quicker.

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Now, onto some of the characters. You have the Rooks as they are called, Upscribe is your light protector or DPS character, his abilities range from boosting your stamina, to use a lighter and spray paint can to set your opposition on fire. Dripoff is the Rooks heavy protector or tank, and Etch is the ranged raider. Dripoff has a stun and a counter for his abilities and Etch has signs he paints onto the ground that give powerups. Each character or leader as they are called get a lieutenant that you can pick, they each have abilities as well but they activate on their own.

The next group are the Doomriders, Nil, is their lightprotector, and looks like a witch doctor(10 points for cool design). His abilities range from lighting himself and everyone else on fire, to throwing a gas canister down. Doomchild is your heavy raider, (and by far the most annoying tank in the game so far) and he just wrecks. His abilities range from taunting you into attacking him to spinning around in a circle bashing everyone in his way. Lastly for the Doomriders, is Scatter the ranged raider, his skills range from throwing nailbombs to crippling shots.

Lastly, are the Dappers, currently, only Tenblade the Light protector is available so that’s all I have to go on for them right now, but she’s a doctor/ninja, and throws scalpels at you and then a slash attack that deals a deadly blow most of the time.

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The gameplay is pretty button mashy, and repetitive but overall fun, and communicating with your team if you don’t have discord or curse is using a chat box, which is really not my favorite way to go.

All in all, I have spent some time with this game and must say its worth giving a look, and since it came to early release on Steam it’s been on sale twice, and it has been really cheap(like $3.95). I’d definitely give it a try, get out there and rob those stores!


New Final Fantasy 15 trailer!

The anticipated Final Fantasy 15 the new game of the series, by Square Enix, just dropped afinal-fantasy-xv-12312213 new trailer revealing what they call “Death Magic”, as well as, a new enemy that they are calling the Bandersnatch. Final Fantasy 15, or FF15 is set to come out on both the Xbox One and the Playstation 4 on November 29th.

In sadder news, the Art director for Square Enix of 24 years Yusuke Naora announced his retirement from the game studio, making Final Fantasy 15 his final project.

Be sure to check out not only the next game in the Final Fantasy series, but also Naora’s last project as art director, on November 29th!ffxv-battles

Batman Arkham VR

Batman Arkham VR  has been announced by Rocksteady games and was announced at E3batman-vr-vs-telletales-batman-additional-image-3 and is set to release October 13th as one of the Playstation VR launch titles. According to Best Buy and Gamestop, the game is only going to be $20 so it won’t be too much on your wallet. The Playstation VR system is going to run you $400  for the headset alone, so they have a $500 bundle coming out.

 

Batman Arkham VR is rumored to only have 60 minutes of core gameplay with another 90 minutes of unlockable gameplay. Check out  Batman Arkham VR  in about 10 days with your VR set!  Check out the Trailer Video below!
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Smash and Grab comes out on Early Access on Steam!

Smash + Grab the new MOBA game in the works released on the 27th for early access on sandg_screen_1Steam. Right now its $17 dollars and will stay on sale at this price till the 3rd of October. For those that don’t know Smash+Grab is a MOBA, less focused on fighting and killing the other team, but using your crew to craft the best weapons and break into stores and steal the most stuff. It is already promoting full controller support and Steam trading cards and achievements. As for right now it is a Steam exclusive which means unless you have PC or MAC, you can’t check it out. Go out there and check it out!
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Smash & Grab will be available on Steam for $17 until October 3rd! Below are some trailers for your viewing pleasure.

 

1 Hour with- God Eater Resurrection

Do you like killing monsters with giant chainsaw swords? What if I told you that your ge-rchainsaw sword also turns into a gun as well as a shield? That’s what your weapon in God
Eater Resurrection 
can do. The weapons in this game also known as God Arcs have multiple forms. (Even turn into wolf looking things that bite the monsters you’re fighting.)

 

 

I picked this one up after watching the anime series a while back and I must say, it doesn’t do the anime justice. I really enjoyed the anime, but the game is kind of let down in the way of repetitive levels and monsters that are about the same in difficulty all around. There are some positives to this game though, a lot of customization and I mean A LOT! ge-r2You can customize from your weapon to your outfit to the hair color and face of your character. Another positive for me is the use of the same voice actors from the anime in the game, I was actually impressed. Overall I have to say that the game was kind of a let down, from the lack of lock on methods with your weapon, down to just how repetitive the game is, the only real saving grace this game has going for it is the Story driven
cut scenes and the customization level. It’s definitely fun at first.

 

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Overall: I wouldn’t say don’t pick it up, but I wouldn’t pay full price for it, wait till it’s on sale.

 

 


For gameplay of God Eater: Resurrection, check out this video giving us a clearer look at the battling system!