Your Guide To Gaming

New York Comic Con is the East Coast’s fastest growing pop culture event and with good reason. It attracts more than 100,000 guests each year to an all-you-can-eat buffet of comic books, movie previews, screenings, panels and most importantly, video games. I was lucky enough to be one of those 100,000+ people this year, and I got to experience some of the most anticipated games of late 2012 and early 2013.

Major developers were there, ranging from Capcom to Square Enix and everyone in between. Nintendo had one heck of a booth, and with good reason: to showcase their latest and supposedly greatest console, the Wii U.

I had a hands-on demo with the Wii U, and it’s definitely unique, just as the hype leads you to believe. There’s nothing quite like it, having to frantically alternate from the TV screen to the controller’s screen in your hand, and it was pretty interesting. It was a little on the gimmicky side and nowhere near as revolutionary as the Wii, which means I can’t see it becoming Nintendo’s next smash-hit console; but it’s definitely something worth keeping an eye on.

One of my most anticipated games of the year was also at New York Comic Con 2012, Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed. The sequel to the original SEGA All-Stars racing game had a lot to live up to, and for the most part it delivered. The transformations in the cars were satisfying both on-screen and in your controller, and all three vehicle types (jet, boat and car) controlled fantastically. The courses themselves lacked depth, but the SEGA booth only had two that were playable, so I wager the courses will improve by the time the full product is released in mid-November.

Although not one of my personally most anticipated games of next year, the reboot of Tomb Raider was at New York Comic Con 2012 and had a playable demo. I’ve got to say, it was a pretty big letdown. I love platformers a lot, and I was pretty disappointed to see that instead of staying true to the series’ roots, it opted to be a cinematic adventure with minimal input from the player. Tomb Raider is known for its fun, acrobatic gameplay, and I just don’t know if this reboot will live up to that when 90% of the game is cutscenes. Hopefully this demo didn’t do the game justice, and the final product will be a lot cooler.

I played loads and loads of games, but to wrap up my summary of New York Comic Con’s electronics area, I feel I should make a shout-out to Sony’s booth and the game PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale. A lot of people were panning this game from the start calling it a rip-off of Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros, but having actually played it I can say it’s far from a rip-off. While the physics are strange, and some of the gameplay mechanics are unbalanced, I have to praise the game for its addictiveness. I played match after match with three other people, and I can happily say it’s definitely a game you should keep on your radar during November.

I loved New York Comic Con 2012 and recommend that anyone who’s reading this should attend New York Comic Con 2013!