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Clan Council : Newsletter 219. E3 Edition.
Posted by AllDiction on 2014/6/15 6:29:13 (9217 reads)

cover

Greetings, Wolves! It's Diction again. (I'm a glutton for punishment.) This week was E3, so brace yourselves for a lot of gaming news! 

Are you ready?

Here we go!



Member News.

First off, we've got important member news! Our very own Longfangs, Virion and Ninjacx, graduated recently! Congrats, boys. That's a huge accomplishment. That being said, you guys should go give 'em a little hell, let 'em know we appreciate 'em.


Another little side note, Zero and I found out our move-in date, and it's the Seventh of July, so wish us luck!


Also, Mike's had a bit of a revelation about.... Malls?

1:17 AM - [WPC] Mike America: It doesn't fit! IT'S LIKE MALL mus..ic...
1:17 AM - [WPC] Mike America: there is a mission where you go to a mall with the sole intent of destroying 50k worth of stuff.
1:18 AM - [WPC] Mike America: I....never listened to the music the mall plays...





THE WORLD CUP STARTED THIS WEEK FOR ALL YOU EUROPEANS OUT THERE. 'Murca couldn't care any less about it, so, there's that. But there's some exciting news on that front. I know nothing about the world cup, but I'm going to guess that Ireland will win, but Krum will catch the Snitch or something. 


E3.

As many of our Longfangs know, I'm kind of passionate about certain subjects, (hence my request to take this week's newsletter), and E3 and the things that went on during E3 were super important to me. Not just because they're game related, but because there's more representation for things this year.

First, I'm gonna tell you about Ubisoft's huge screw up. Assassin's Creed: Unity, when first announced as in production, promised us our first female assassin. Well, they decided not to do that. Because apparently, Ubisoft has no idea how boobs work. Yep, you heard correctly.

"Breasts are difficult to animate", cried the founder of Ubisoft. "Bullshit," replied the head animator for Assassin's Creed 3 (who also helped in development of the female fronted AC:3 chapter called 'Liberation'. (Game devs said it'd push production back a few months; former devs for older games and other companies have said it would push it back two days).  Basically, Ubisoft went, well, sexist, lazy or both.

After having female pirates in the multiplayer for AC: Black Flag, and a female assassin in a chapter of one of their games, they decided to remove playable women altogether, thus alienating a lot of players, male and female alike and resulting in a HORRIBLY inaccurate game (Unity is set during the French Revolution where the most famous assassin of the revolution was a female by the name of Charlotte Corday). This being said, there has been a HUGE uproar about it in the gaming community as a whole. A lot of developers have been calling Ubisoft out on their actions, including people who worked on previous games, as well as people in all creative industries, from books, to television to comics, as well as gamers worldwide. Regardless of your opinion, Ubisoft is clearly full of lies and should not be trusted. 

 boobs

Look! Boobies!


However, despite Ubisoft's major fail, there were a lot of major wins in the area of E3. Examples being that Call of Duty : Advanced Warfare and Legend of Zelda now have the option to use a female avatar or character in game, if not in storymode, then in multiplayer mode, which is HUGE news for people who prefer having lady avatars over dudes. I, for one, am super stoked on it. I never thought CoD to be progressive, but man, they proved me wrong. Still not my type of game, but, I give the developers props on it. 

Nintendo.

Not much news here, aside from that the Wii U still sucks and Nintendo can't get people to buy it. However, their trailer for the new Legend of Zelda has sparked quite a bit of talk. It seems that the new LoZ game might not feature Link as the main character, but instead, features Zelda! You can read more about that one here. 

Speaking of Legend of Zelda, there's a multiplayer game coming out for the Wii U called Hyrule Warriors. The game features the option to play as Zelda, Shiek and other well loved characters. You can read more about it and other Nintendo news here


Microsucksoft.

(Well, at least you know where I stand in the console wars now. If you haven't figured it out, I'm a Sony kinda girl. Anyway-) Microsoft is to be releasing Halo 5 sometime in the nearish future as well as a new Mass Effect, Metal Gear Solid 5, Mortal Kombat X and assorted other games. (But Microsoft also still seems to think that Kinects are going to sell.... please read this and laugh with me). 

You can find much more info on their planned releases here.


Sony Playstation.

Okay, so, you guys have figured out by now that I'm a damn sucker for anything Playstation. I'm sorry, I grew up on Sony consoles. I will forever be a console gamer at heart. Doesn't mean I love the PC any less. 

Now that that's out of the way, let's just take a damn look at this beautiful fucking game. Bloodborne. 

Bloodborne

Are you kidding me? LOOK AT THAT.

So, this game just got a few absolutely beautiful screenshots released in 1080p and let me tell you, they look incredible. The game itself looks terrifying and rightly so. I do believe this game has quite a bit to do with Dark Souls and was previously leaked under the name of Project Beast. 

Did you want Steampunk? Then I give you The Order: 1886.

The Order


Basically, this game is Whisky's dream game. It's got Steampunk themes, Knights and half-breed creatures that the Knights have to destroy. And it's set in London. Time will tell if it's good, but I'm excited because it honestly looks epic. 


That's all the news I can fit in for today, folks. I'm dead tired. Worked 37 hours this week and it looks like, if I'm lucky, I'll be pulling much of the same hours next week too. So remember folks, there's always a wolf in the woods. And this one is an absolute glutton for punishment. Zzzzzzzz.

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Author Thread
Mikeamerica
Published: 2014/6/15 6:40  Updated: 2014/6/15 6:40
Pack Member
Joined: 2013/1/19
From: United States
Comments: 80
 Re: Newsletter 219. E3 Edition.
Oh joy, more ammo for Sith, Whisky and Hemi....Thank you Ari and Zero.
LordDean
Published: 2014/6/15 11:00  Updated: 2014/6/15 11:00
Lair Keeper
Joined: 2010/4/9
From: Essex, England
Comments: 1636
 Re: Newsletter 219. E3 Edition.
As much as I enjoy reading these newsletters weekly, I cant help but find this one quite lacking, no offence or stab at you diction but, covering gaming news should really have no bias.

Even if you don't like Microsoft, you shouldn't really push your agenda on it, Gaming news should really be about the games, IPs and general news about said subject, not your opinion on it. The forums are for opinions :)

I'm a proud Xbox 360 and Xbox one owner, they are great consoles, but I also love Playstation, if I could I'd play both for the various IPs and exclusivity they bring.

As for AC:U, it is entirely Ubisoft's choice to produce what they wish, even if they did say they would have a female character in AC:U again its there choice to go ahead with it.

On one hand you can understand that people wanted to play as a female character, people love a female protagonist, take Lara croft as a good example of that. And Ubisoft said they would do it. Its not just about the animations for the character, you have to consider that the voice acting would have to re-record the entire dialogue for the character to produce the same game but with a different voice, while that would be good, is it really cost effective.

On the other hand, from what has been Published about the game, the story is set around a character called Arno, and the possibility of playing as a female instead of Arno would break the immersion, flow and storyline of the game. One could argue that changing the gender of the main character would not change the way the game plays, and while that's true for games such are skyrim and mass effect where the players choices effect the game and dialogue to a degree, in a hard coded, strictly follow storyline such as AC:U its like reading book or watching a movie, the immersion is broken if the characters name is never said once.

Now saying that Ubisoft are full of lies and should not be trusted is a little harsh, yes they said that they would make a female character for AC:U, and yet they did not, if you don't like that then you don't have to buy the game, they never promised that it would be a full and final thing, and they are under no contract to provide you with that content. Lets not forget AC:L which did have a female character on PS:Vita, that was later released onto more mainstream gaming systems.

What the point here is, people are getting into a furore about something quite silly, should you REALLY care if the main character of a game is packing two bombs or a bazooka, if the game is good, enjoy it for what it is.

Any way, sorry for the long post TL;DR - less bias plox! kthxbye

Just remember if someone doesn't like the opinions you write, they probably wont return to read more.

I however will continue to read these newsletters as they have a special place in my heart. I just hope to see a little less agenda next time :)

Keep up the hard work! and Good luck with your move-in date, I hope it goes well for you.
Hemi
Published: 2014/6/15 11:24  Updated: 2014/6/15 11:24
Wise Wolf
Joined: 2010/2/4
From: The Netherlands
Comments: 5133
 Re: Newsletter 219. E3 Edition.
This whole discussion about female chars in games is getting ridiculous. The story isn't about females, go play tombraider/Metroid etc for that.

It's like all the feminists crawled out of their holes and started blurting out BS. Most of them don't even know the tech difficulties that come with actually developing them for games. (new bone rig, different size, voice packs etc etc)

I hate Ubisoft for various reasons, but I'm on their side on this one.

The console/platform wars are over imo, and we don't need fight over these on the boards.

Nintendo's online press conference was one of the best of the E3. Announcing a brickton of new games, and MS also had a strong one. I tend to agree with Thomas here, no need to be biased towards one system.
RenownedWolfman
Published: 2014/6/15 12:01  Updated: 2014/6/15 12:01
Long Fangs
Joined: 2012/4/17
From: US, California
Comments: 245
 Re: Newsletter 219. E3 Edition.
This console war stuff doesn't matter anymore, I like the 360 and the ps3 but I'm not getting either of the new gen ones. Heck the more I sit around and listen to things about the Wii U the more tempted I am to get one of those over any of the others. Gonna play me some Mario kart.
AllDiction
Published: 2014/6/15 15:30  Updated: 2014/6/15 15:30
Long Fangs
Joined: 2012/12/1
From: Columbus.
Comments: 380
 Re: Newsletter 219. E3 Edition.
Okie doke. So, here's the thing: I mentioned it, but maybe you missed it.
French Revolution. Most well known assassin of the time was Charlotte Corday. Corday murdered the leader of the revolution in his bathtub. Women played a huge role in the French Revolution, and to discover that even in the multiplayer there will be no playable female character is a slap in the face to what they'd told us - beyond that, there were females playable in Black Flag! They took every option of using a lady out of the game.

And Hemi, this is where I get disappointed. Most people are playing other big name games, even in multiplayer, not just stuff like Metroid and Tomb Raider. Women have a stake in playing videogames too and seeing no representation in a co-op game like CoD is disappointing for a variety of reasons, not excluding that hey, we're ladies and we can beat your ass too. Lara Croft and Samus and Chell are great examples, yes, (I think Dean gets my point) but that's also not fair to us since only one exists in a multiplayer platform (Samus; Super Smash Bros). Growing up, I didn't have a lot of representation in videogames, aside from Croft and her impossible PS1 boobies and I could never really get into the game. Think of the kids growing up now. "Hey, this lady in this game kicks butt!" (Thank you, Mass Effect for Miranda Shepherd). If a kid wants to play a game, they should have the option of playing as a lady. And COD, again, got the idea, because men aren't the only guys playing videogames, and thus, shouldn't be the only ones in them.

It's very true that I am biased. Microsoft has consistently disappointed me on every encounter. (Red Ringed almost immediately. It's a sign. Although, I did enjoy Fable, while I could still play it.) Also, a lot of commentary/articles I read through did have a slant against certain consoles (one did actually say that Nintendo pretty much acknowledged that the Wii U sucked, but they were still hoping people bought the games), so that also does effect what I write.
Morj
Published: 2014/6/15 16:28  Updated: 2014/6/15 18:47
Pack Member
Joined: 2013/1/11
From: The Black Lagoon
Comments: 497
 Re: Newsletter 219. E3 Edition.
Click to see original Image in a new window

Less drama/lighten up
Cherry
Published: 2014/6/15 16:50  Updated: 2014/6/15 16:53
Pack Member
Joined: 2010/7/29
From: Pula, Croatia/Hrvatska
Comments: 1636
 Re: Newsletter 219. E3 Edition.
I really don't care if the character that I'm playing with is female or male. Things that I want is interesting and smooth gameplay and replayability.

So, I don't give a single fuck who am I playing with as protagonist.
Kawa
Published: 2014/6/15 19:09  Updated: 2014/6/15 19:20
Pack Member
Joined: 2011/5/1
From: Ab'Dendriel
Comments: 293
 Re: Newsletter 219. E3 Edition.
The way I see it, it really depends on the context the protagonist is in to begin with. If it's an fps like cod, you wouldn't expect to see anything that implies your gender aside from the occasional 'him' or 'her' at some point in the story spouted by one of the npcs. You just run around shooting people and saving the 'merica. I suppose in something so historically based like assassin's creed (to an extent ofc) you'd actually have more reason to believe your character is actually someone in that place and time rather than just a thing moving around with a gun as a means to an end story-wise, and of course for the gameplay for the player.

There have been other games that have done female characters very well though that seem to get over-looked, such as No One Lives Forever, Beyond Good and Evil, Dreamfall, Contrast, etc. Basically characters who have a role in a world and they do stuff and you have fun doing it because the game doesn't worry about how much the character's boobs are jiggling or whatever.

So if a game can get away with being a game, ie a thing that people play to have fun, or by some modern standards a 'walking simulator' where you walk through a story and it's more about the experience like Stanley Parable/Gone Home, then good on them for that. There's always going to be some backlash though no matter what ends up happening, which is sort of sad. But not everyone can be happy :P. It really is the dev's decision in the end what they want to do with their game (even if they may be horribly wrong sometimes :|). When they talk about, 'players not being able to relate with the character', when the character has supernatural powers and kills people on a daily basis in a post apocalyptic scenario, it's not gonna make it 'easier to relate' to the character if they're a dude or a chick.

Oh unless the game is moddable, don't even get me started on that...

tldr; gender shouldn't fucking matter in any case
Snooze
Published: 2014/6/15 19:42  Updated: 2014/6/15 19:42
Joined: 2010/2/19
From: the Netherlands
Comments: 2442
 Re: Newsletter 219. E3 Edition.
I bared a child so I think that counts me in as a female. Here's what I think:

1: This would have been a great topic on the boards which could really use some activity like this.

2: I'd often rather not play as a female in game cuz gender has shit to do with most games/gaming. Therefor I couldnt care less if there are female charcaters.

3: Too much gaming news bleh

4: I liked that cookie pic on the last newsletter
Virion
Published: 2014/6/15 20:56  Updated: 2014/6/15 20:56
Long Fangs
Joined: 2012/5/24
From: Behind you. (Netherlands :D)
Comments: 800
 Re: Newsletter 219. E3 Edition.
You can always count on Snooze's opinions, lol I think point 4 certainly matters!
Hemi
Published: 2014/6/15 22:43  Updated: 2014/6/15 22:43
Wise Wolf
Joined: 2010/2/4
From: The Netherlands
Comments: 5133
 Re: Newsletter 219. E3 Edition.
I can sum it all up in 1 sentence for once:

Adding female character (or adding a different gender to a game period) is a lot of work, and AA+ game publishers do not like a lot of work.

Start playing the right games and support those who deserve the money. Vote with your wallet.