TGIF: Gaming Trend’s Weekend Lineup

We’re just over a week away from our journey to the gaming mecca, our 4-day vacation in which we do nothing but sit in front of our TV and computer screens watching people talk about video games, our Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Chinese New Year, Diwali… you name it. E3 is the holy grail of gaming celebrations for industry vets and gamers alike. Monday, June 9th, we’ll all be on the edge of our seats, surrounded by junk food and drink, glued to the E3 Press Conference spectacle; our hopes and dreams hanging by a string. As we look to the future of gaming, we realize that there are plenty of incredible gaming experiences being left behind behind.

Two years ago, Watch Dogs stole the show and surprised everyone with it’s ambitious open-world hacking mechanic, detailed graphics, and uniquely integrated online features. Now that game has been released to the out and people are playing it. Time goes by fast, and before you know it, that game you said you’d get back to sometime will be old and out-of-date. Play hard and play fast. Enjoy all the awesome games we already have; there’s only more where that came from.

Here’s what the GT staffers are playing:

Josh Devlin – Reporter

The ctOS is a corrupt organization with too much power and somebody has to stop them. That somebody will be me this whole weekend (and about 1 million other people) playing Watch Dogs. I’ve played only a few hours so far and haven’t even begun to scratch the surface. The combat and driving are solid and the open-world is amazingly detailed, vibrant, and varied. I’ve only dabbled in the online component of the game, but it seems well-integrated and keeps you on your toes while traversing the city of Chicago. If you find yourself being hacked, it’s probably me … and you’ll never catch me. MWAHAHAHA!

Justin Pauls – Staff Writer

This is my last weekend at home before I begin my journey to E3. Mid-week I fly out to Las Vegas to hang out with a friend and then make the drive over to LA. I have so many games to play, but with all the extra work at my daytime job I can only hope to sneak in gaming time. If it happens, Watch_Dogs, Super Time Force and Transistor are likely candidates.

I’m tempted to give into nostalgia and pick up Mickey Mouse’s Castle of Illusion on either Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8.1, but at $15 and $10 respectively, I just might pass. Hell, I still have Ducktales Remastered to play. I should probably save my money for the outing, or to help pay for my Surface Pro 3 pre-order. Let’s see how long my resolve holds …

Ron Burke – Editor in Chief

What can I say?  More Watch Dogs.  There is so much content there beyond the main missions that it’ll keep me busy for a while.  I’m also finally digging into The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II for an upcoming review.  If you liked the first one, this one is far more of that for the same price.  A few bugs so far, but they are patching damned near daily at this point.

I’m still building out our E3 schedule as well – appointments are still coming in daily.  Right now we have an incredible 43 appointments scheduled, and I should have another 20 or so on the books soon.   To say that E3 is nuts would be a criminal understatement, but let me assure you that scheduling for E3 banging your head against the wall levels of crazy.

Lucious Barnes –  Staff Writer

The Ace Combat series has long been one of my favorite things. Free-to-play distribution however, not so much. That makes the case of Ace Combat Infinity (which is both) a bit of a tormentous hybrid of desire and masochism for me, but one I’m willing to endure for the time being to wring out whatever joy can be found.

Beyond that, my “gaming” this weekend will be taking the form of studying. With E3 around the corner there’s certainly a lot of information buzzing around, and I want to be savvy with as much of it as possible before the event kicks off. I’m sure that particular avenue of dedication will shift once my copy of Watch Dogs makes its way home, but until that happens the only text I’ll be reading will be that of corporate rosters and sales projections….hooray…

What are you playing this weekend? Tell us in the comments section below.

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