Halo 5; What I'd Like To See

So, with Halo 4 being like 4 months old, I think it's about time we start thinking what we'd like to see in the next installment from 343 Industries. I decided to think it over, and this is what I came up with..

Don't bring Cortana back.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the relationship between Cortana and the Chief, but she's gone, and I'd really like to see how the Chief deals with it. I'd love to see a bit more of the Chief's emotional side, and how her death affects his behavior when it comes to war. I think it would be nice to see him become a bit more reckless. I mean, he's always had Cortana there, in his head, guiding him and drawing his attention to things. I don't know, I guess I want her death to break him a bit, just to see how he handles it.

Maybe even give him a new AI to work with. I loved Serena in Halo Wars, granted I didn't get far in it, but something like that may mix things up a bit.

Bring back Firefight.

 

I'm not a hardcore firefight-er.. but it was a great thing to be able to just jump on, slaughter some covenant and jump off. Though, I'd love it if you could also play as the Covenant. I mean, we can as Elites, but playing from the simple cannon fodder, Grunts, all the way up to the tankish Hunters. That would be some great Firefight.

Assuming this will be released on the next gen Xbox, I can envision some spectacular things from a new Firefight.

Keep improving Forge mode.

Forge mode has gotten pretty amazing as of late. I mean some of the things the community create are just beautiful. One thing that is a must, we need a big space to build in. Bungie delivered on that in Reach with Forge World, so why didn't 343 follow suit? The hardcore Forge fans need a wide open space to let their imagination and talent run wild. Deliver on this, and the Forge community will thrive.

Also, if this is delivered on, I'd like to see 343 use their own Forge tools to create some official maps. Some of the best maps in Reach were the one's Bungie made with Forge.

More Forerunner tech.

We've got new weapons, new grenades, new enemies, now I'd like to see some kind of Forerunner vehicle for the Chief to commandeer. Though not likely, because they seem to prefer giant floating orbs, it would still be sweet.

Give the Covenant a better role.

I felt like the Covenant were very washed out in Halo 4. It seemed like they were there, but only because it was a Halo game, and they had to be there. I'd like to see a substantial reason for them being around. This could be a nice way to bring the Arbiter back into the fold. I mean, The Arbiter and the Chief's alliance pretty much saved Earth, and now he's just vanished. Feels a bit sudden to me. Anyways.


That's my wishlist for the next Halo game, let's home 343 top Halo 4 with an even greater game. The chances that it will release on the next gen Xbox are pretty high, so I'm sure they'll deliver on their promise.

Agree? Disagree? What would you like to see in the next Halo game?

Nintendo Wii-U; Information on the console and my opinion on it's chance of success.

So as we all know, Nintendo have been developing a new console said to cater to the audience they had before. You know, when it wasn't encouraging weighty people to get fit. Well, this year's E3 revealed what they've been working on, and it looks.. interesting.




The Tablet

Wii-U with the HD Zelda Demo.

As you can see, the Wii-U looks extremely similar to the Wii, aside from the slick design. In a way, this reminds me of the Nintendo DS, in that it has 2 screens, one being a touch screen, mainly used for menus.
The tablet features the standard 4-way directional pad (D-Pad for short). It also has the X Y A B buttons, as well as dual circle pads. Of course the Select and Start buttons are there too, alongside the home button. On top are two bumper buttons, and at the back there are two triggers.
Now, judging by how the tablet is layed out, Nintendo will have trouble making games like CoD an enjoyable experience, as they always have. The touchscreen on the controller could prove valuable in games like that though, for example, using it to display the leaderboards/scoreboards.
Interestingly though, whilst this console is targeted at the hardcore gamer, it features a cam in the top center of the tablet. I can't really see a lot of uses for it in the future, but i guess it's just another feature there for those who want it.


Multi-player

One major letdown about this system, is that so far it is only confirmed that ONE tablet can be used per console. The reason being obvious, the tablet is wireless, and synchronizing 4 tablets to one console, and displaying the right image with the right timing and the right frame rate, would be insane!
Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto gave some insight on this:

"Our basic premise is that you can use one with a system."

But don't get all upset about not being able to play with friends. He also said not long after:

"We are doing research about if someone brings their controller to their friend's house and they want to play together on Wii U to whether or not something like that would be possible."

It MAY happen, but the amount of synchronization needed would be huge.


Backwards compatibility

It has also been confirmed, that the Wii-U will not be backwards compatible with previous console games. Obviously this isn't referring to anybody hoping to play standard Wii games, of course that's being considered. This is referring to the smart people, that might be thinking about the Gamecube games.


Games that have been confirmed for the Wii-U

The following is a list of games confirmed for release on the Wii-U.

Super Smash Bros
Lego City Stories
Tekken
Assassin’s Creed
Darksiders 2
Batman Arkham Asylum
Ghost Recon Online
Dirt
Aliens Colonial Marines
Metro Last Light
Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge

Also, on the subject of games, it has been confirmed that games from 3rd Party developers will be coming to the Wii-U, as you can see from the list above. This means Nintendo will get some amazing games that will be available on all 3 systems, with similar content. It's not like the CoD games. You know, they're good on Xbox and Playstation, but on the Wii, they completely sucked. Hopefully, it'll be just as good on the Wii-U.

Pricing of the Wii-U

Nintendo has always been relatively cheap compared to its competitors in the game market. This console however, is going to be a lot more expensive. How expensive? Well, EB Games has it listed on their online site for $600AU. Kotaku thinks this may be a bit of a overprice. They believe it'll be released for about $400AU. At any rate, expect it to be around those two, so Nintendo has risen to match Sony and Microsoft in price. Let's just hope it's worth it!


A theory on the direction Nintendo is heading

I originally thought the Wii-U was a horrible idea, and that this had no chance of working. But then I had time to think, setting aside the handheld consoles for a moment, maybe this could be the point where Nintendo split one development line into two.

Line 1 being the party system, complete with motion controls and whatnot, catering to the party/casual audience, who don't mind making fools of themselves.
Line 2 being a handheld controller-type console, catering to the hardcore gamers, who prefer to just sit and play games seriously. Like a boss.


In summary, i think the Wii-U has the potential to bring back the older Nintendo fans that were lost at the Wii, but it'll all depend on the direction the games go, and how Nintendo's competitors will retaliate.