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The Highs and Lows of E3, part 1: the lows

Lows

Less-than impressive start by Ubisoft

Ubisoft spending its debut day re-hashing old games and discussing movies left an ashy taste on E3 viewers coming to this year’s video game trade event.

The companies actions left viewers feeling even more sour as many felt some of their lackluster interviews were trying to cover for Workplace Harassment scandals that saw news coverage in 2020.

Good for the Company, bad for the gamers

Xbox released tons of exclusives for its new device. While that is an excellent move company-wise (it lets the device compete with others on the market that also have exclusive games) it leaves most gamers behind. The latest Xbox goes for around $500, which is a significant chunk of change, and games for it go up to $80 as well, leaving those who love games but can’t shell out a minimum of almost $600 for a new console and a single game out of the loop.

Doing this also limits how many people can buy or even play the game, regardless of the people who are interested in doing so.

Morally and Ethically Dubious NFT Game aimed at kids

With Cryptocurrency on the rise, it’s no surprise that the latest kind (NFTs) are now being incorporated into videogames. For E3, Mythical Games launched an MMO dedicated to the creation and selling of NFTs, with minigames as a side.

The problem lies in both the game being aimed at children, and in the environmental impact of maintaining and mining any kind of bitcoin.

Most kids might not understand that the game requires actual money, or even the idea that they’re essentially selling artwork. Bitcoin is notorious for using up extreme amounts of electricity.

Sherwood Extreme

A free-to-play spin on the classic Robin Hood tale, Sherwood merges it with what any love about modern PvP games.

Building on the aesthetics of Middle Ages Europe, Sherwood is rendered in stylized polygons, with a wide range of customization for your player character.

Sherwood has abilities unique to Co-op, and maps in environments ranging from seaside pirate ships to nighttime forests.

I Love the way they have the tutorial text integrated into the game’s background scenery. It both blends really well while still catching the eye of the player.

Everything is very visible, but not in a way that’s jarring or takes out of the gameplay. The 3-d word effects for headshots or explosives add a fun, cartoony element. Leaderboards also appear as physical objects in the game, which make the standing feel more solid.

Overall, it’s a fun simple game, that lovers of Fortnite and Apex will enjoy, especially with friends that might be new for this genre.

From their Steam Page

 

Chris Jones Gaming: Elite Dangerous

Elite Dangerous: Odyssey

The PC Alpha version of Elite Dangerous: Odyssey is scheduled to arrive on March 29th. Odyssey is the newest DLC for the MMO space flight simulation game Elite Dangerous. Produced by the renowned British developers at Frontier Developments, Elite Dangerous is the fourth installment in the Elite video game series. Having started in 1984 with Elite, it’s one of the longest running video game franchises to date. Without ever having reached a deal with any publisher, Elite Dangerous was originally funded through a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2012. After its original release on PC, the game has also been ported to Xbox One and PS4. Following its predecessors in pushing the bar for innovation in space flight games, Elite Dangerous: Odyssey has a wide variety of features that will likely keep players engaged for several hours.

Explore the Milky Way

Elite Dangerous boasts the extraordinary feature of allowing players to explore a 1:1 model of the Milky Way galaxy. Over 100,000 of the game’s star systems use real astronomical data. The game also features some fictional star systems from the past games in the series. Perhaps most impressively, approximately 400 billion star systems have been procedurally generated in the massive game world using scientific models. This essentially means that players will never run out of room to explore and the game can feel fresh to new and old players for many more years. While the game was designed to be played online, it also features an offline single player mode. The game starts you off in this vast open galaxy with a small spaceship and a bit of money. What you do and where you go from there is mostly up to you. There are numerous activities for you to partake in that will help you to accumulate more money and galactic influence.

Elite Dangerous lets you pilot a variety of ships. The carrier, for example, is a huge and expensive ship that lets you carry numerous small fighters aboard the ship.

The Next Chapter

Elite Dangerous already lets you play many different roles to make money. You can find work in mining, exploration, transportation, and trade. You can also go to the darker side of the galaxy and make money in bounty-hunting, piracy, or even assassination. Elite Dangerous: Odyssey lets players step out of their ships. Now, you can disembark and explore planets on foot. Many of the missions that were previously available will now be translated to missions that can be completed on foot. Whether you want to make money through combat or commerce, you’ll now be able to do this outside or your ship. You’ll also finally be able to meet other players up close instead of out in space. Elite Dangerous is available through the Xbox Games Pass, so subscribers should be sure to give it a try if you’re a fan of games in space. While there is a steep learning curve, this game is a favorite among many fans of the genre.

#EliteDangerous #EliteDangerousOdyssey #FrontierDevelopments #Space #MMO #RPG #SpaceFlight #SpaceFlightSim

EVE Online

On February 4th, CCP Games announced that EVE Online broke the Guinness world record for the most expensive video game battle in history. EVE Online is an enormous free-to-play MMORPG that is set in the expanse of space. The game features hundreds of different spaceships that players can own. The player can use this spaceship to go an endless adventure in a world that they share with a colossal community. While it originally launched for PC in 2003, the game has grown tremendously over the years. EVE Online has also had several free updates over the years that have added a great deal of content for the game’s players. CCP Games tries to make it clear that they are still very committed to the long-term player base of EVE Online, even after all this time.

EVE Online has an incredibly diverse set of ships for you to pilot.

A Community Across the Stars

There are tons of different ways to play EVE Online. Beyond being just an MMORPG with both PVP and PVE gameplay, it’s also an enormous sandbox game. You can be an explorer, a soldier, a miner, a trader, a pirate, and so much more. CCP Games does its best to create an opportunity for players to immerse themselves in a giant breathing world. There is also a vast and expansive lore in the game that you can embrace should you choose to invest yourself in it. While the game is free-to-play, there are various levels of priced starter packs to give a new player an edge. Dedicated players will also often purchase the premium subscription for the game, allowing for faster progression and unlocking more content.

There are plenty of different ways for you to make a name for yourself in EVE Online.

EVE Online’s recent Guinness world record for the most expensive video game battle is the result of the Massacre of M2-XFE. Thousands of players logged into the game and participated in the battle that stretched on for hours. All in all, in the value of the in-game assets that players lost in the battle amounted to over $340,000 USD. Thousands of people had put years of their hard work and in-game progress on the line.  The simple fact that EVE Online has created a world where people can do battle at such a massive scale is an incredible feat. Every player existing in the same massive world allows for incredible events to unfold that you’d never really see anywhere else. So if you’re a fan of MMOs, sandbox games, or space adventure games, then consider giving EVE Online a try.

#EVEOnline #EVE #MMORPG

Gaming News and the Ultimate Universe