Skyrim is Forver

This is a couple weeks late, but I keep seeing people complain about the fact that there are two new iterations of Skyrim coming out this year. People are accusing Bethesda of milking the game that was originally released almost six years ago. They say that Bethesda doesn’t have the gamers’ best interests at heart, but I whole heartedly disagree. Bethesda isn’t doing anything wrong upgrading the game for modern platforms, especially with the upgrades that they have added with the switch, and psvr versions of the game. I think I am the only one who is actually happy that Skyrim is being released again.

Skyrim is an immensely popular game, or at least it was before they announced that they are still making new versions of it. Skyrim is so popular, because it is a good game, and a groundbreaking game. It has such a large, densly populated world that redefined how we think about open world games. It does something that few games have been able to match since dispute having better hardware. I am glad that more people will be able to experience this world, whether you have already said hundreds of dragons, or if this is your first time in Whiterun, it is always good when more people are able to experience a game that will surely become a classic.

Another thing that people are overlooking is the fact that these games are very different from when Skyrim was originally released. Sure, it is the same world, but both the switch and psvr versions of the game offer new experiences that were never offered with previous iterations of the game. Game play had to be completely reworked, and now motion controls were added to both versions of the game. Finally, with the switch version of the game, you can take the Elder Scrolls world with you, wherever you want. The mobility of the switch version makes me excited to renter the world of Skyrim. Slaying dragons on a plane, at the park, or while avoiding the in-laws during the holidays is a great addition to the game. Now, Skyrim is an experience that you can take with you everywhere. But, still much more exciting than Skyrim switch, is Skyrim VR.

Words can hardly begin to express how excited I am to revisit Skyrim again in VR. Finally, a full length open world VR game to play, but even better, it is one of the best open worlds that video games have had to offer, ever! Skyrim VR will take what was already an incredibly immersive game, and take it to the next level. Now, you will not just be looking at a screen where the dragon born is out exploring the vast open world of Skyrim, but you become the dragon born. The world of Skyrim will exist around you, not just in front of you. And creatures will be vanquished, magical spells will be cast, and dragons will be slain, all by your own hand. I am more than excited to pay $60 and revisit Skyrim in VR, which I am convinced will be the definitive way to play the game.

I have heard the argument made that while Bethesda is working on porting these existing versions of Skyrim, they are not working on The Elder Scrolls VI, or whatever their next game will be. While this is true, it isn’t entirely true. Recently, Bethedlsda Games Studio has been increasing the size of their team. They recently opened a new office in Montreal, and have been expanding a lot. So, there are probably just as many people working on the new games as there were working in Skyrim for most of its development. But another thing that needs to be considered, is that they are working on understanding new technology, something that they would probably try to do for their next game whether or not they made Skyrim VR. So, if they are going to take the time to understand how VR works, it is good that they have something to show for it sooner rather than later. Now, with VR already being integrated into there games, as they work on the next game, they can focus on the software. They will not have to devote extra resources to figuring out the technology since they will have already made two VR games. And while making Skyrim VR will push the timeline of The Elder Scrolls VI back a little bit, it isn’t as much as one may think, and we are also getting another game to hold us over u til they do eventually decide to reveal their new game.

The return of Skyrim is not a bad thing. Bethesda is making changes to the game that are still ground breaking and new. While new versions of Skyrim will undoubtedly slow the production of The Elder Scrolls VI, the benefits of having a great game to play on the go, and in virtual reality make up for it. I am glad Bethesda chose to go forward with making these games. I know I will surelybspend a lot of time with them.

The Best Thing About E3 This Year Is Next Year’s E3

E3 is far from over, but the big announcements are out of the way, and we have a good idea of what the gaming landscape is going to look like over the next year. The conferences are over, and there were not many surprises this year. According to my count, there were only 2 new AAA intellectual properties announced across all of the conferences this year, Anthem and Skull & Bones. There were many leaks, and we saw more information about the games that were announced last year, but over all, there was a lack of exciting new surprises. But fear not, all is not lost. We still have a slate of awesome games coming out over the next year, and this “dry spell” means that future E3 conferences will be even more exciting!

This year, there were more games shown slated for release in the next year than usual, and significantly fewer games that are really far out. Bethesda is continuing the trend that they started two years ago with Fallout 4 by releasing both of the games they announced this year. EA held back on the star wars games that we will have in the future in favor of showing more Battlefront II, and Ubisoft’ s flagship titles of Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry are also due to release before Christmas. Sony and Microsoft managed to avoid showing off tempting teasers, and many of the games that were shown had dates of 2017 or 2018. Of course, there were a few games that won’t make it into our consoles any time soon, but generally, it seemed like most games that were shown only a year or two away. This is a new trend that the industry seems to be taking, and it is because of this there were fewer surprises this year or, but that just leaves more room for next year!

By this time next year, we will already have played (not accounting for delays) Destiny 2, Assassin’s Creed Origins, Wolfenstein the new Collosus, Star Wars Battlefront II, Mario Oddesy, Crackdown, God of War, Call of Duty WWII, and many other games that were shown at this year’s E3 conferences. That leaves the stage wide open for many more games to get announced next year, and, if trends continue, it is likely that the time between announcement, and shipping will be smaller. That means we will be shown more complete games, games that are closer to the final build, games that will have fewer delays, and fewer games should be cancelled. There are lots of benefits to waiting to announce games until they are ready. Sure the shiny new toy may be appealing at first, but as things change, as games are delayed and parts are stripped out, the community gets irritated, upset, and even angry. So this E3 may not have had the surprised that we may have wanted, but this could mean better announcements in the future. Instead of people being excited about something they won’t see for years, they will be excited about games that we will be playing before the year is over.

So if this E3 was dissappointing to you, fear not, remember that everything that wasn’t shown is waiting to be shown. And the longer they wait, the less dissappointed we are. We will know what to expect, and games are more likely to come out when they are supposed to. This E3’s shortcoming will be next year’s strengths.