Poor Ubisoft. They started off the 2000s so well but have been finding themselves the butt of more jokes than the likes of EA or Microsoft. It takes a long series of disappointments to get people to roll their eyes at any announcement that you make but that’s the point we’re at with Ubisoft. However, they’re cycling Assassin’s Creed out of rotation and hoping they can reinvigorate their brands.
E3 2016 Preview: Microsoft Will Be Focusing on New Hardware in Their E3 Keynote
As is the current state of operations for the pre-E3 press conferences, Microsoft will be the first company out of the blocks on Monday. Their annual press conference has a few tasks this year. As always, they have to hype the games coming this fall for the holiday shopping season. More importantly, there’s the matter of the second-generation Xbox One that they have to sell without scaring off current Xbox One owners.
E3 2016 Preview: Bethesda Focuses On Seconds for Its Second E3
After a big Fallout 4 focused presentation for their inaugural E3 presentation, Bethesda will be back with even more for 2016’s Electronic Entertainment Expo. While they won’t be first out of the game with their keynote, an “honour” going to EA this year, they will certainly be swinging a big stick this year. For E3 appearance #2, Bethesda will focus on the number 2. They will have a lot of sequels that will or could have the number two in the title. By my count, they might have four games that are the second one in their respective franchises at this year’s E3 presentation.
E3 2016 Preview: What Franchises to Expect from EA
EA is changing things up with their approach to E3 in 2016. Not only will they not be on the show floor at the LA Convention Center but they’ve dropped their Monday afternoon press conference for a Sunday afternoon presser to make them the first company to make their E3 presentation. There will be a lot of pressure on them to put on a good show to start E3 off right. Fortunately for the twice Worst Company in the World, they have some big franchises with big sequels due for release this year.
Game of Thrones: The Broken Man Review
Now that I’m thinking about it, the title of this episode, The Broken Man, works on a literal level. Each storyline featured a male character that is broken in some role. Jaime is missing a hand. Theon is mentally broken. The Mountain might have lurked in the background but he’s a zombie and you could make the argument that Jon Snow is as well. The title is surprisingly on the nose. Well, at least we got Bronn back.
Game of Thrones: Blood of My Blood Review
Last week, everybody was left crying at the conclusion of Game of Thrones. This week, there was far less crying and even a few exciting, fist-pumping moments that were balanced out by some pretty intriguing twists. Sadly, no Littlefinger to bring us those plot twists. Westeros’s other resident master schemer did, though.
Wednesday Link-Off: Vigilante
You know, I’m getting pretty bad at remembering to finish off blog posts. The whole of the links were done but I forgot to actually write the intro and hit publish. The good news is that I’m working on a bunch of stuff for next week so something will be ready to publish if I remember to hit publish. For example, E3 is coming soon so expect those previews and recaps starting Sunday.
Recently uncovered documents suggest that the Edward Snowden did try to whistleblow through the proper channels but was ignored by the American government. (The Liberty Conservative)
It’s not just Flint. Up to 33 other US cities might have high levels of lead in their drinking water. (The Guardian)
The incoming President of the Philippines sure sounds like he’s going to encourage vigilantism. (The Journal)
The Fastest Cars in Pop Culture (Infographic)
I don’t know if you noticed but we’re pretty fond of cars around here at The Lowdown. We’re fans of the former Top Gear and soon to be The Grand Tour as you can probably tell by the blatant inspiration drawn in our podcast and blog. So when we found this infographic on Reddit, it was a matter of when, not if, it was going up. Just what are the fastest that we’ve seen famous cars go in pop culture? Someone sought to answer that in this infographic.
RBI Baseball 16 Review: Texas Leaguer
While it’s one of the big four sports, baseball fans have gotten a pretty raw deal when it comes to video games. For the last three years, there hasn’t been a triple-A multi-platform baseball game. Since 2K let their MLB license expire, the only triple-A baseball game has been Sony’s MLB: The Show series. Over the last couple of years, Major League Baseball has taken it upon themselves to try to fill the gap in the market by publishing their own multi-platform baseball game with a revival of the classic baseball franchise RBI Baseball.
Sunday Link-Off: Crime and Punishment
You know, somehow, I forgot to have the weekly Game of Thrones review post on Friday. The change of month screwed up the post scheduling so expect a double dose of GoT this week. We’ll also have the start of E3 news at the tail-end of the week. Next Saturday will probably be a Saturday Link-Off rather than an ELO because Sunday will be E3 previews.
Anyway, since it’s Sunday, we have to do the links. Let’s kick things off with Salma Hayek.
A Secret Service agent from the Clinton White House is writing a tell-all book. That’s probably not good for the Clinton campaign. (Daily Mail)
By the way, Hilary hasn’t held a press conference in half-a-year. (Washington Free Beacon)
Make sense of this: A judge sentenced a Stanford student who raped an unconscious woman to six months in prison because a lengthy prison sentence would have a “severe impact” on him. (New York Magazine)
The Lowdown 