Xbox

E3 2015: another expo, another sequel

The banners are up all over the Staples Center for E3, and boy is it sequel-esque. Every banner up there, massive and looming over the streets, is for a sequel of some kind. Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed, Uncharted.

The Xbox live show this morning – Halo 5.

Personally, I’m tired of all the sequels. I want to be amazed, excited, shown something new. Sure, the last time I got excited about a new IP, it turned out to be Watch Dogs, but so what?

Where’s the new stuff? Maybe it’s inside. UPDATE: Nope.

Too many goddamn games

Yeah, this one, too. Pretty disappointing. Photo: Ubisoft

Yeah, this one, too. Pretty disappointing. Photo: Ubisoft

When I was a kid, I used to buy albums on cassette. They were precious; each $12 – $16 item (when new) was an entire night of experience. I’d lie on my bed letting the music (with my mono-speakered cassette player from RadioShack at first, then my Sony yellow Sports Walkman, then an actual stereo I bought from Sears) flow over me, and I’d stay very still. Listening to the music. Hearing all the lyrics, even the ones I had to make up in my own head.

When I started playing video games for real, back in, say, 2006 or 2007, I had a similar experience. Each tiny Game Cube disc was a watershed moment. I could only buy one at a time, at varying intervals.

As I moved into the Xbox 360 era and then purchased a PlayStation 3 (“It’s for my website, I promise! Tax-deductible!”), new games were still fairly far and in-between, downloadable and on-disc. Gears of War. Flower. Final Fantasy XIII. Each a unique, special moment.

Not so anymore.

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