Is it someone who was made up? What about Princess Daisy?

A made up person, yeah. Same with Daisy. Nintendo is mostly going with obscure voice actors for the Mario characters ITTL, same as OTL. The Zelda characters in their games are voiced by a rotation of more famous people.
 
Fall 2015 (Part 11) - Selene: The Epic Tale Concludes
(Authors' Note: The following summary was provided to us by the reader jolou!)

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"The Selene Saga is one of the favorite sagas of all time as you know and yet something I can agree on, the first one hasn’t a very good soundtrack and the second one wasn’t exceptional. But the third one, shit, it’s good. And that why it’s up there. Earthrise is simply awesome. A smooth rise to show the last moments of the battle and then boom the cinematic happen and we see the Earthrise over the moon, at last free from the Taygetan and it sounds like a beautiful world mix of traditional song with an electro vibe. Probably the best soundtrack that Jasper Kyd did in his career “

-Linksthesun – “My 20 favorite video game soundtracks” – Video posted on Videocean in 2018

“Hearing Tom Elis in Selene saying “Princess” in so many ways are probably the only thing that could make me question my sexual orientation.”

-A comment on IGN Forums

“You may have won, and we may have lost, but know that, it wasn’t your strength, your ships, your determination that won the day but our hubris and you just shattered it.”

-Hera Turianid's last words

“It’s been five years since Elis Norell has been nearly assassinated by the treacherous Taygetan. War is ravaging the former Neutral Zone, the Selene Coalition against Fullington Rebels, the Alliance of Worlds against the Selene Coalition and the Taygetan against everyone. In exile, Mathew Fullington is preparing his revenge against the man who exiled him…”
-an Elisverse introduction text to Selene 3

Selene 3

Arkane has an ambitious plan for the trilogy’s ending, they had built a universe where your choices matter and they were determined to provide different endings affected by the player's actions. As such, Gameplay is affected by it and if you import your Selene and Selene 2 saves from the cloud, some parts of the game are inaccessible and Characters could appear and disappear (as an example, Cass one of the major character for around 90% of the players can be reduced to a minor character). To make it easier, and funnier, for those who didn’t play the first two games, there is a small mode call “Make your Adventure” where you choose the different choices possible in the first two with a BD style by Leo. There are also several major gameplay additions, you can control the Nautilus in battles across the game and even inside different systems where you can collect materials to upgrade it in a similar way to OTL Mass Effect 2 (with the same complaint except that it isn’t necessary to obtain a good ending). The Nautilus can be used to travel amongst the different systems with only a small loading within the biggest systems. As it is, it’s what you could expect from OTL Assassin’s Creed IV/Odyssey with a bit of Elite Dangerous boat mechanics but with a spaceship and systems, there is a Neutral Zone map from which you can instantly travel from a location to another. As you travel amongst the different systems, you could meet pirates, Taygetan and allies ships alongside more random events such as refugee fleet and even space animals (Which is inspired by the one in Star Wars ESB and would become like a meme/laughingstock inside the community with some calling them “Space Sealion”). In a similar way to OTL Mass Effect 3, you need to obtain a certain number of points which can be obtained by doing side missions and main missions (like liberating a world of a member of your Alliance will give you 100 points). Those points are necessary to win the war against the Taygetan and serve to show the strength of your alliance. Graphics are next-gen and are considered some of the most beautiful on the Reality, with special attention being to Earth, Kepallia, and Elysium. The ruined Paris and its Taygetan counterpart Polyseus are considerate by the fans (and the critic) as the most beautiful, detailed environment in the whole saga with the ruined city (which is let’s remember more advanced that 2015 Paris and as such is a ruined/advanced city) and the shinning Taygetan colony showing the old and new world the Taygetan created on Mankind homeworld. Of course, according to your choices in the previous games, several visuals differences can be found. If you had chosen to get to the Aliens fleet, you will have several aliens of multiples aliens species walking around the Selene and on your fleet during the space battles and ground battle.

The game begins in 2122, five years after Selene 2 ending and can end up to 20 years later in one ending.

Main Characters :

Mathew Fullington voiced by Tom Elis : You continue to play Mathew Fullington, a white man in his 40s who has either been the leader of the Selene Coalition, for now, five years since Rana Stora death, which has been quite a difficult task for him, or a rebel leader exiled by Elis Norell two years before the start of the game. Approximatively 85% of the script is the same for both version, the 15% difference show a more idealistic mind for Ranaverse Mathew (even in OTL Renegade script) and a more cynical mind for Elisverse Mathew (even in OTL Paragon script)

Elis Norell (Elisverse) voiced by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: Elis has definitively gone in the dark side of politics. He has exiled Mathew, imprisoned several members of his board of directors and stand as the ultimate and only leader of the Selene despite not leaving his Presidium. That fact means that this Selene is the most “united” since every decision came from him. Ultimately, when you manage to gain the upper hand against him (after he had fled during the introduction), he will have a “What have I done” moment when he is forced to see what he did. Depending on your choice, he could end killed by a firing squad, in jail, killed during the battle of Paris or even kill himself.

Cass “Strongarm” voiced by Elias Toufexis: Cass is perhaps the main character who has the highest possibility to not be a main character (even if he is for around 90% of the players according to the stats). He is still a conflicted character at core, and he still has some difficulty to act like others “normal” humans due to the fact he lived as a thrall soldier for the Taygetan for most of his life but he has shown the will to advance and better himself and educate himself on human history and culture he didn’t know. Occasionally, he will ask the players questions about culture (which show recent events/show/games in a distort, satirical and yet funny way due to deformation by history and Cass time among the taygetan)

Hera Turianid voiced by Melissanthi Mahut: Hera remains the main opponent of the final game. Here she managed to unite the severals taygetan nobles of the former Neutral Zone under her leadership, following the beginning of the Taygetan succession war and has even managed to obtain the support of several claimants. Her astute state of mind, ability as a strategist and her charisma means that she is a more than worthy opponent to the Selene.

Joe Clinton voiced by Brandon Keener: Joe can seem to be nothing more than a war machine at this point. He has significant mechanical augmentation and doesn’t seem to have thought of his own outside Mathew’s ones. Yet Joe is perhaps the one with the widest end possible (outside Mathew). He can die saving thousands of civilians, saving Mathew from an attican assassination attempt, he can leave the Selene to go explore the galaxy and he can even find love making him open himself after the tragic events he suffered.

Cliniad Periath voiced by Troy Baker: Cliniad sounds like a very energic young man, who has a strong opinion about Democracy, liberty and personally found the Taygetan system something that shouldn’t happen. He is in his late 20s and his an Attican (They look like a mix between the Prothean and the Asari with a lot of colorful feathers) who came looking to fight an oppressive regime. In reality, he is a spy sent by the Attican government to look after their investment and to take care they aren’t going to take the place of the Taygetan after. The player, of course, doesn’t know it for most of the game and can find it (which leads to Cliniad attempting to kill you, to flee or to ask for your forgiveness). Cliniad can be turned to your cause since he believes in what you seek and can help you get more support. The reversal is also true, if you are set on the path that leads to the Selene Coalition building a similar empire to the Taygetan, he will be the one trying to prevent it.

Karlinia Ki’loan voiced by Claudia Doumit: She is the heir to the Kepallian Sovereigns Kingdoms and she is no princess in distress! If you choose to save the Kepallian, she is a member of the Selene Coalition personally leading the Kepallian force to liberate her planet and if not, she’s managed to escape her planet (and captivity) to hopefully find allies to take it back from the Taygetan. Anyway, she is one of the hawkish members of whatever alliance she’s in, which create its problems, she has a “paternalist” relationship with her soldiers and can be transformed in your staunched supporter and friend. But she’s also very brash and can be rude which combined with her saying that other people should die for her planet can make her a bit untrusted and disliked among the coalition.

Honorary Mention :

Rana Stora (Elisverse): She has become a shadow of her former self. Being put in jail for a decade has transformed her into a mad dog. She wants to kill Elis and everyone associated with him. If you decide to liberate her without killing Elis, she will attempt to kill you randomly as you walk on the Selene, Joe sacrificing himself to save you.

Elis Norell (Ranaverse): Elis had better jail conditions than Rana and ultimately can offer you his services. If you accept, he will join the Selene War Council and give you a small boost in point for the final battle. Yet, he didn’t forget his thirst for power and can become the leader of post-war humanity or a fraction of it in the Epilogue.

Areus Turianid voiced by Michael Antonakos: Areus has a big impact on the world of Selene 3 but isn’t that present. He seeks to lead the reformist faction of the Taygetan and for that, he has to get off the former Neutral Zone. He will come to you looking for help, which in return will help you, by sending to him a powerful artifact from a previous technologically advanced race. You can keep it of course, but he with it means way less taygetan forces in the Neutral Zone.

Captain Joachim D’Arc voiced by Gérard Depardieu: He is the equivalent of Cass if he’s been killed or left the Selene. An old officer from French Parents who seem to be kind of a parody about French of a certain period (in the same type than Dujardin’s OSS 117)

The game starts with two different introductions which depend on your leadership of the Selene in the previous game. The two introductions serve as a prologue and a tutorial making you understand many of the game mechanics.

Elisverse introduction:

Mathew gets up in a space station called Apollo Base. He has been exiled two years ago by a paranoiac Elis who was thinking that Mathew was trying to take his place (Depending on your choice in the previous game, notably if you took more Paragon answers, it is true and his shown on Mathew text). Followed by Joe, Cass (if he didn’t leave before the Battle of the Wormhole) and other partisans he led some rebels against Elis authority intending to take the Selene from him. Apollo Base is a space station built by the Attican years ago and was given to Mathew by them because they believe he is the ablest to lead the war against the Taygetan. First, the player is introduced to the Nautilus gameplay mechanics as you take control of it to go from Apollo Base to find Joe on a planet called Massal, on a city called Aux where the player is introduced to the Quest system and consequence system. After, Joe takes you to a group of Tozhon which says they can help you take over the Selene. You can accept or refuse their help. You get a call from Cass (or Captain D’Arc it’s equivalent) saying that he has arrived at Apollo with some big news. There you meet with him and a new character, Cliniad Periath, who has convinced some of his friends to leave the Atticans to fight with you in some kind of International Brigade. Thanks to this support, you can feel strong enough to take over the Selene. And you can see it thanks to the War Point, which show that you indeed have enough to take over the Selene. It is an introduction to this very important system. Afterward, you are introduced to the battle mechanics, both in space and on land(in that case, on the Selene). You need to destroy a certain number of enemies, with optional objectives for added fun, to win. Here, you fight some Selene fighters and then land on the Selene to do a small battle that sees the Selene Appeasement Force turning to your side in face of Elis increasing Tyranny. Yet, Elis alongside some of his loyalist have managed to flee the Selene but you are now the leader of it and you can get to work.

Ranaverse introduction:

In Ranaverse, you are the leader of the Selene since the assassination of Rana Stora by the “Taygetan” and if you managed to obtain some victories and managed to enhance the Selene Coalition, the fact was (and still is) that the Taygetan are stronger than you. And some people are angry with you. They say that you should release your wartime power and organize an election. You are forced into it by your council and popular opinion and the system of “war points" are introduced here, even if they’re called “Election points”. You participate in the democratic process by talking to voters, promising things and obtaining their support (which give you Election Points). The woman you are running against is called Koga Iki who’s working as a teacher and thinks you’re a Dictator rising. During the election, you are called by the SAF Leader in a forgotten place of the Selene where you get your introduction into combat mechanics, fighting some Pirates who managed to enter into the spaceship. Then, your Intelligence leader offers you the chance to “better secure” the vote. Which is a choice you can, of course, refuse or accept and serve as an introduction to choice result as you can denounce him or use him to get elected without any to the Election Points. As the Election results are arriving, the Pirate launch an attack with their ships and Mathew leave with the Nautilus to fight them which serves as the introduction to the battle mechanic in space and the use of the Nautilus as you must chase them outside the system the Selene is. As you get back, there is much uproar as you got reelected (The pirate skirmish only happen after you got the election points necessary to win the election). Having just defended the Selene and getting reelected means that nearly all opposition against Mathew is silenced which ends the introduction/prologue of Selene 3. Now you have access to a Galaxy map with 80 systems available and 10 planets you can go on at any time alongside 2 Space Stations. Many other systems just place you can go get resources (and read the description of their planets). The Game is then structured into two Big “Story Arcs”, you can do them anytime you want, in any order you want. When you do those two, it leads to a third One (Loyalty is Earned) and then another (Take Earth Back) There is also two smaller Story Arcs with one being exclusive to either Elisverse or Ranaverse.

Those Three big Story Arcs are :

The liberation of the Neutral Zone :

The Liberation of the Neutral Zone story arc begins on the Selene as Mathew is attending a War Council with the members of the Coalition. It’s here that the player learns about the Coalition of Worlds, another similar coalition who resisted the Taygetan in another part of the Neutral Zone. Being in an alliance with them would really help you since you share the same cause yet they can also be a rival for the postwar world. There is a lot of situation which you can turn against the Coalition of Worlds favor and more in yours. As an example, early in the game, you will find a Coalition Fleet attacked by a Taygetan Fleet. You can of course jump right ahead in the fight or you can wait a bit for the coalition to weaken the Taygetan and for the Taygetan to weaken the fleet. Weakening the Coalition means that there won’t be as much system on their side by the end of the game. For you, the goal is liberating as many systems as you can and there are two scripted battles (meaning you can’t skip them), the Battle of Elysium, with you retaking the Space Station with Hugo Ros pirates from the previous games, and the Battle of Taygetasiur which is a habitable version of Habitat 7 from ME-A with huge fauna and Storms planet where a group of Aliens (with Humans in it) thinks that the Taygetan are Gods. During the whole story arc, Mathew is surprised that the Taygetan seem actually on the retreat and that it is maybe too easy for him and the Coalition to win. This Story Arc ends with the Coalition entering into an Alliance with you (or admitting them inside Selene Coalition if they are weak enough).

The Precursor :

This Story Arc begins on Masal (the Mediterranean type planet) where Cliniad has a lead on Hera's whereabouts who’s has been very discreet for the past years. She’s been looking for some Precursor ruins of an ancient race whose names have become unknown. He gives you the location of the latest ruins she has found. You go there (of course after she’s been there before) and find she’s looking for Timée an ancient military base of them. It is during this arc you begin to understand what’s happening to the Taygetan. They are disunited by a civil war happening in their core systems, as apparently, the differents conquest they’re doing across the Galaxy are too costly in life. Being a military based society, two Generals have risen against the established leadership and Hera is now cut off from reinforcement and even has to base herself on local infrastructure to made her ship working and of course she’s had to unite the various Taygetan leader of the Neutral Zone under her leadership which can explain why it’s much easier now to fight them. Nevertheless, you run against her across several planets fighting her troops but also those of her rivals (at some fortunate time for her as she’s arriving just after you weaken her rivals). Areus arrive nearly at the end of the Story Arc offering you his help. He knows what weapon Hera is looking for, A weapon that can destroy everything after it’s been fired and even its creator never used it because they were horrified by what they created. Areus also reveal a secret not many Taygetan know about. This precursor race enslaved the Taygetan and after the Taygetan rebelled they erased nearly everything about them. With Areus' help, you manage to arrive with a small fleet at the location of the Precursor Base, but you can’t win. Hera really wants it and has come with her best soldiers, she ultimately leaves with the Weapon but leaves behind her the precursor base who has a lot of precursor tech and advanced weapons that definitively still work unlike the weapon which Areus found has been modified by the Precursor. Hera can make it work but it will be hard for her. At the end of the battle and the exploration of the Precursor base, Areus ask you to help him. You can decide to leave him a signification portion of the precursor tech which he will use to make his own side in the Taygetan Civil War and ultimately win it, give him a small portion to make his own side in the Taygetan Civil War, to leave him practically nothing (meaning you get every bonus but not give any malus to the taygetan) or you can attack him and kill him. After that, you can state that you got significant help with those precursor techs and weapons, unlike Hera who definitively got the strongest weapons of all but can’t maybe use it.

Loyalty is earned :

You managed to create your coalition/Alliance and has its own much of the Neutral Zone. Now you must make sure it doesn’t collapse before the big battle. It’s a much smaller Story Arc than the two before and you mostly have to make sure that certain numbers of members of your coalition are happy. You must answer to the Coalition of Worlds, the Kepallian but also Joe, Cliniad and others majors NPCs. As an example, if Kepalli hasn't been liberated by that time, Karlinia who’s has been on your council for some time will make a scene about it and threaten to leave the coalition. The Liberation of Kepalli is very much an heartwarming scene with the Kepallian ultimately finding their friend and Family back and liberating their world (which serve as showing how the humans will react when Earth is liberated) even if it’s bittersweet for Karlinia who found that the Taygetan killed every member of the Royal family except for her. After having addressed all the Loyalty quests (which you can fail), the Story Arc “Take Earth Back” appears and it’s the endgame which is detailed below the smaller story arc.

With the two smaller ones being:

A Selene Life :

A Selene Life is mostly a story arc similar to the First Game where you must manage the Selene, upgrading it, talking to its familiar NPCs, and where if Mathew has a Family he will have some quest about spending precious family time. It’s more of a “relax” story arc which is similar to the Citadel DLC from Mass Effect 3, in a way that you can spend some time with friends and family.

Goodnight from Norway (Elisverse) :

This Story Arc deals with Elis who has fled the Selene. His group begins to attack some Selene convoy and you must find him and deal with him. Ultimately you manage to get back to him. He’s on a desolate ice planet and after a small battle, you can decide whether to arrest him or to kill him here and now. If you decide to arrest him, he will have remorse about what he did as he realizes how a monster he has become, making apology left and right and destroying the movement he created by denouncing it. Otherwise, they will still be a nuisance for you.

But Who killed Rana Stora (Ranaverse) :

During this Story Arc, you finally have some time to look after who killed Rana thanks to a tip from someone unknown (but is implied to be Areus). You enter into the universe of Attican Society showing a deeply Patriarchal society that ironically considerate Rana to be someone that could transform into a massive problem with the final reveal that it is them who killed her and not the Taygetan. Your sponsor has used you to weaken the Taygetan and to show to their Female that a male has seemingly destroyed the Taygetan hegemony where a female couldn’t. With this revelation, you can decide to cut yourself from the Attican, which gave you a signification malus. If you have befriended Cliniad, he will reveal to you his role and you can decide what to do with him otherwise he will also be “shocked” by this and affirm to you that’s things like that that make him his fellow.

The last Story Arc is the massive Liberation of Earth called “Take Earth Back”. You control three characters: Mathew, Joe, and Cass (If Cass isn’t among the Selene, then it’s someone called Captain D’Arc). Before the Battle, there is a reunion of every member of the Coalition/Alliance where there is a cutscene showing the last preparations and allow you to make some last change to the Selene and the Nautilus. Also if Cliniad has revealed to you that he was a spy for the Attican and you decided to keep him with you, he will reveal what he learned about Hera's plan. Her first plan was to use your sensibility for your planet in order to lure you here with the coalition fleet you united (thanks to her decision to weaken some part of the Neutral Zone in order for you to obtain some prestige necessary to unite every Taygetan resistant) and to use the precursor weapon to kill everyone (even the taygetan colonist). But then, the weapon didn’t work in test and necessitate more time. She was now stuck into a situation where you managed to unite every resistant and she didn’t have an easy way to win. She could have left with her forces to hopefully go back with reinforcement after the civil war but she decided her forces are strong enough to win anyway and massing it to the lastest great colony the Taygetan still had. Earth or Artea for them. The Battle begins as the Selene jumps from FTL near Saturn (which gives a somewhat similar scene than Mass Effect 3 with all the ships coming through the relay) alongside the whole Coalition fleet. You stay with Mathew giving a speech (You decide what he say) and you can see from the Selene's main screen the Earth approaching. Mathew orders all fighters to leave their ships and to launch towards the Taygetan Fleet and the battle begins. Here, you focus on Joe inside the Nautilus. Ships fighting each other are everywhere and you must open a way for the ground force to be launched towards Paris. For that you can obtain support from the Selene (which destroys several ships in one shot but can only be used once every 3 minutes), fighters run (damage a series of ships every minute). During that time, you are just above the Earth which is truly a magnificent sight and the battle itself has a kind of destructive beauty.

When you open the path, Mathew and Cass (or his equivalent Captain D’Arc) alongside thousands of soldiers jump from the Selene to the Earth. Here, similar to OTL Mass Effect Andromeda, you are in a shuttle, (or its equivalent) (which can have a lot of aliens or only humans depending on your choice) where you can see the battle and then the entry in the atmosphere. After that, the Taygetan launch a barrage against your shuttles, if you managed to gather enough Points, the shuttle carrying Cass will be shut down (alongside many others) and yours nearly. If you didn’t have enough points, you will be forced to crash yourself on the city and defend yourself from several vague of Taygetan soldiers until you get saved. Cass or its equivalent being killed. Now, if you had enough points you go save Cass and it’s team which is your first introduction into the ruined Paris. After saving Cass and his team, you must walk to where the allied forces as established their camp, during the walk you have to fight several taygetan groups and you can find three other groups of survivors. Arriving at the camp, you have the opportunity to talk to all those character you met in the game and the previous ones and then, if you had enough points, you can send various groups to several mission which will make it easier for you at the final Boss and you can play in one of them with Cass, which if you choose not, you continue playing as Mathew and defending the base from a Taygetan attack. After defending the base, the player sees Joe's perspective of the Battle with a cutscene where he realizes that Taygetan reinforcement has arrived. He orders some of his forces to leave the formation to meet them. The player takes control of a random space pilot and a Selene fighter engaging the small reinforcement fleet. The fighter is, of course, smaller and has of course none of the reinforcement the Nautilus could have thanks to the player upgrade of it.

After the space battle and return of the various team, it’s time for the big advance on the Taygetan High Command. You must take care of an advanced post and a really big somewhat similar to a Tripod, many of the soldiers following you die in the process but by the sheer numbers, you manage to destroy it and take it’s commanding officer alive. Here, he reveals to you that Hera has managed to finally make the Precursor weapon work, which is an electronic wave that leads to people and ships exploding, and plan to use it against the fleet and Earth if she loses. You inform Joe who Is still fighting inside the battle with the Nautilus. He changes course to the Moon where the weapon has been put by Hera. Back on Earth, Mathew and Cass are advancing amongst the ruins of Paris and finally reach what is considerate the border between Paris and the Taygetan Colony. This colony is in full chaos as the Humans Slaves have rebelled, the Allied forces have started to invade it and Hera forces have retreated to the High Command bunker. You have the choice of course to prevent the full destruction of the colony, most of them are Taygetan civilian or let them suffer the reality of war. Anyway after fighting the last Taygetan forces on the surface in a street battle. You arrive at the High Command, only to find it heavily fortified. A slave offers a way in, and Cass offers to go inside. You control him for this last mission before the final boss. Alongside a small team of soldiers (as the secret entrance was very small), you must take over the automatic defense and open the high command. After that, you retake control of Mathew and you fight the now desperate last Taygetan soldiers until you reach Hera waiting for you.

If you had enough points, she will be alone in an augmented armor (thanks to the mission possible before ) otherwise she will have a certain number of tower defense, soldiers and even animals fighting alongside her. You must use everything you have, learned techniques and weaponry alike, to finish her. She gives a last defiant speech, refusing to be killed by what she believes is inferior, and kills herself. On the moon, you take over Joe who has an easier time than Mathew and Cass on Earth and manages very easy to arrive at the weapon and to prevent the scientist to activate it. Yet, he faces Cliniad who’s Spy activity is revealed to the players (if they didn’t found about it earlier) or say he was obligated by his superior. Depending on the way you acted to both Joe and Cliniad it can end in many different ways. The most common one is Joe remembering Cliniad about what he truly wishes and making him basically saying “fuck you” to his boss. As an example, If you didn’t manage to get Cliniad on board with your vision, or if you prove to be too tyrannical and if Joe hasn’t managed to improve himself mentally, then Cliniad kill joe and fire the weapon (while making sure the Taygetan are blamed for this) destroying the Taygetan and Allied Fleet paving the way for the Attican to take over the Neutral Zone with local support and no opposition. Basically it is to show to the players how their actions have shaped two characters and that even small discussions can have importance.

Afterward, everyone returns to the Selene to celebrate the victory! The Selene has been specially decorated and you can speak (as Mathew) to everyone, even some small NPC. The main game ends with Mathew taking a picture with all the survivors… The Epilogue is done similarly than The Witcher 3 which show all the consequence of your actions alongside a small mission.

Here are the main ones that are achieved by around 80% of the players :

The Council of Free Species (CFS): Considered the best ending, it sees the Alliance transforming into a tolerant, multi-racial federation similar to the Federation of Star Trek. The epilogue mission takes place 13 years after the Battle of Earth and sees the foundation of the CFS and Mathew being inaugurated as its First President. All his family is here alongside his friend and the Selene has been transformed as the Capital of this new state. The last shot of the game is the Selene gently floating in Space with a peaceful Earth in the background.

The Human Empire: Here, it’s where you took only Humans fleet in the second game and using mainly aliens fleet to fight the Taygetan. Mathew (or his daughter if you tried to make him a Paragon character in a renegade world) will establish an Empire with him at his head. If you made him more sympathetic to the Aliens races, he created it to defend Humanity and his Aliens friends but in the Epilogue, he will be killed by his daughter who came to hate those who destroyed Humanity Homeworld. In the more renegade version, it is implied that Mathew Empire will slowly take the place of the Taygetan alongside the whole enslaving of the different races. The last shot of the game is Mathew dying alone with his daughter walking away (in the Paragon version) or Himself being crowned by an enthusiastic crowd (in the renegade version) with the mission being either Mathew being in his council and leaving to face his daughter or talking to his friend and family before being crowned.

A Balkanized Neutral Zone: An Epilogue where Mathew untimely doesn’t manage to obtain the friendship and loyalty from the different factions or if he was killed by Cliniad. The Selene will create a human faction (if you choose only human fleet in Selene 2) or a multi-racial faction (if you choose at least one Alien fleet), the Coalition of World will create one, the Attican will establish themselves here. Basically a return to the Pre Selene 2 Neutral Zone but with more important “native” States. The mission is either Mathew Daughter trying a last desperate attempt to make everyone participate in at least another Alliance or Mathew himself. The last shot of the game is the different fleet just walking away from each other.

There is also several smaller endings that have no special mission like a Reformed Taygetan Empire led by Areus, Hera winning against the Selene Coalition, the Attican taking over the Neutral Zone and Elis taking over Mathew in a Balkanized Neutral Zone ending.

Selene 3 is released on November 13, 2015, as a Reality exclusive. Reviews are extremely positive, considered the best game of the trilogy by most, and with review scores averaging in the mid 9s, the game is easily considered one of the best games of the year and a top contender for that award, alongside games like Futureshock and The Legend Of Zelda. It's seen as the perfect conclusion to an epic trilogy, with a far better reception than OTL's Mass Effect 3. It's also the fastest selling game in the series, and while it doesn't sell as well as the blockbuster Super Smash Bros. Reality, it's still a blockbuster in its own right and one of the best selling Reality exclusives of the year, forming a potent 1-2 punch with Super Smash Bros. Reality for Nintendo's holiday sales. It's not quite as revolutionary or transcendent as 2014's Squad Four Betrayal, but it's everything fans of the series wanted and more, and it's also an excellent way to get new players into the series itself, helping to drive sales of the original two games (which are available as Sapphire digital downloads for $19.99 each). Over the years, its reputation would improve even further, and Selene 3 vs. Futureshock Game of the Year 2015 debates would rock internet forums for years to come.
 

Ry Guy

Banned
Those are butterflied away.

By this point, all four major sports have mostly unrecognizable rosters, and there are even lots of people entering the leagues that weren't even born IOTL.
Good because they don’t waste like half of their salary cap on 2 people.
 
Fall 2015 (Part 12) - The Rest Of The Games
(Here are the rest of the notable games from October 2015 to December 2015!)

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Nintendo Reality-

Red Raven

An indie game with a fairly high budget, Red Raven is a horror title with a unique red visual perspective and a compelling mystery, while featuring fairly minimal combat. It mostly takes place in an old mansion and the grounds surrounding it, as the protagonist is sent to find a bird belonging to the mansion's owner and his daughter, who have both disappeared. The protagonist is poisoned early on, and he's only able to see in shades of red, which is a hindrance at times but also allows him to sense motion and detect things that normal people wouldn't be able to find. The game forces the player to rely on both their hearing and their ability to detect these unique motions to find clues and avoid threats, which can come at any time from any direction. While the game is short, only lasting a few hours, and it never becomes much more than a cult hit, it's notable for being one of the best horror games of the year, with unique scares and challenging, engaging gameplay with some of the most memorable characters in a horror game in recent memory.

Rare Replay

Rare's collection of classic hits and newer games comes exclusively to the Reality ITTL, and features 40 games instead of 30 like the OTL version. This includes all the same classic Rare games from OTL's collection (which, admittedly, most of them were pretty bad) and most of their newer titles as well, including numerous games in the Velvet Dark series, the first four Killer Instinct games, and even numerous Donkey Kong Country titles. A few titles, such as Battletoads vs. TMNT and Star Wars: Masters Of Juyo are left out of the collection for licensing reasons, but most Rare games released in the last 30 years are here. The game does release at full retail price, $59.99, rather than OTL's budget price, but it's still considered an excellent collection and a must play for classic Rare fans.

Mysterie

A detective game that makes use of VR, developed by a second party studio for Nintendo. Players use the VR to find clues and to explore areas, and it's sort of like a Layton/Detective Club-style game meant for younger players, with none of the mysteries being too serious (you're solving burglaries and disappearances instead of murders). A fun game but a bit of a niche one, though it does okay amongst the younger audience it's aimed at.

Apple Virtua-

Virtua Dodgeball

The latest in the “Virtua” line of sports titles, Virtua Dodgeball gives the player a chance to experience realistic dodgeball with either full motion controls or traditional controls. In contrast with Nintendo's more fantastical dodgeball series, Virtua Dodgeball has an emphasis on realism, with 16 teams of human players and the option for full league or tournament play. There's also the option to create either a player or a full team, and there are both women's and men's teams as well, with single player, local multiplayer, or online multiplayer. The game itself is surprisingly in-depth for a dodgeball game, but the gameplay itself is a bit stiff and shallow, so reviews are only middling and the game itself does fairly mediocre sales. It's a nice effort at a realistic dodgeball title, but if there's a sequel, Apple will need to spice things up a bit more.

End Run

End Run is a battlefield/action based game in which characters run around an arena blasting each other with rings. Along with Vindicate, this is meant to be one of the big titles to push VR on the Virtua. Very reminiscent of Tron, with a somewhat similar visual aesthetic, and meant to push the Virtua's motion controls heavily as well. It's meant as a multiplayer game first and foremost, but also includes an extensive single player/campaign mode, sort of like OTL's Splatoon in that it's meant to teach the player the mechanics of the game while also pushing the game's storyline and lore. End Run takes place in a futuristic world in which corporations are attempting to control the people, but due to the popularity of the world's most popular sport, a combat sport known as “ringfire”, it's possible for the poor and downtrodden to rise up and gain power by becoming popular ringfire stars and defeating the corporation's hired experts in ringfire matches. However, the corporation also sends assassins after popular players, as a bid to squash the people's rebellious spirit and take control once and for all, with the campaign consisting of 56 missions in which the primary goal is to defeat all of your opponents and sometimes collect certain items. In multiplayer mode, there's two teams of six battling one another, and you're able to select a loadout of weaponry consisting of various types of rings. Some rings fire straighter, but also quicker and they do less damage, while other rings fire in a loop, doing more damage but taking more skillful shots to make contact, and some rings fire only a short distance but do a lot of damage. There are different modes as well, including deathmatch, elimination, king of the hill, and others. Intended to be a major new first party IP for Apple, End Run ends up being quite critically and commercially successful, becoming one of the most popular online titles on the Virtua in the year following its release.

The Adventures Of Sunny

A 3-D platformer featuring a young girl protagonist, this game plays the genre as straight as it comes, with plenty of worlds to explore and things to collect. Features beautiful graphics and some interesting challenges, but is fairly boring from a gameplay standpoint, and achieves only moderate sales. However, Sunny herself is quite well liked, and becomes somewhat popular in terms of memes, which helps to keep the game in the public eye longer than it probably should be.

The Conduit 4

The acclaimed FPS series from the iTwin comes to the Virtua for the first time, accompanied by a wave of hype and featuring a brand new protagonist and story, but fairly similar gameplay to its predecessors, enhanced by the Virtua's motion controls and of course compatible with the 3-D Oculus accessory. The plot itself features the protagonist, a man named Noah, with a secret: he's actually an alien sent to infiltrate the Earth's government in preparation for an invasion. For the first half or so of the game, the player performs Noah's tasks as if they are going to lead the aliens to Earth, but things get complicated in the second half, as Noah is found out by a government agent who seems like she'll stop him at first, but then begins working with him, as shadowy forces in her own government make it advantageous for her to learn more about the aliens first. This leads into a tangled web of alliances and intrigue, culminating in an invasion toward the end of the game that Noah and the agent must decide if they're going to help or stop. The Conduit 4's graphics are fairly cutting edge for their time, making it one of the best looking Virtua titles of the year, while the game's slick HUD and animation quality also help to give it a polished and futuristic look. The gameplay is a bit of a weak point, however, as there's not a lot to set it apart from other FPS titles, and not a lot has evolved from the original trilogy. Though the game's graphics and storyline win it some praise and some solid reviews, it's not exactly the year's best FPS, and reviews average in the high 7s, making it a bit of a disappointment.

Google Nexus-

Forza Horizon 2

The sequel to the hit 2012 Nexus launch title sees the series once again take to the open road, giving players a massive expanse of environments to race in, cars to drive, and things to do. OTL's game came out in 2014, but this game had a slightly longer production cycle, both to accommodate VR graphics and also to provide players with more cars and more environments, making this game about twice as big as the original and quite possibly the most expansive racing game ever made. There are tons of things to do, from racing at normal tracks in cities to off-road racing with street racers out in the desert, and an extensive campaign mode that includes a huge variety of activities and cars. Everything about the original game has been improved, from the graphics to the physics to the number of songs on the soundtrack, and Google has really pushed Forza Horizon 2 as the year's biggest racing title. For the most part, it paid off: reviews and sales are both excellent and this game becomes the fastest selling Nexus exclusive since Miraculous Ladybug, even managing to outsell Dream Garden's strong first week. Many consider it to be the Nexus exclusive of the year, and it creates an excellent impression on players and critics alike, driving Nexus and VR sales heavily in the last part of 2015.

Bomberman Royale

Exactly what it says on the tin: this is a Bomberman battle royale game, allowing up to 100 people to blow each other up in massive stages with a huge variety of power-ups and boosts. There's a normal mode in which 4, 8, or 16 people can compete, and also a fairly short campaign mode, but the big attraction here is the battle royale, and accompanied by some of the best Bomberman gameplay to date, this is both the best reviewed and best selling Bomberman game in many, many years, and becomes a bit of a killer app for the Nexus.

Nintendo Connect-

Super Peach RPG 2

The sequel to Nintendo's 2011 hit RPG for the Nintendo Supernova, Super Peach RPG 2 builds upon and expands a lot of the elements from that hit title, while providing the same whimsical and exciting fun of the last game. Peach returns as the protagonist, and this time, is able to battle alongside two companions at once, including Mario, Luigi, and Daisy, and Katie Koopa from the original game, but also two new companions: Fluttery, a butterfly that grew up from a Wiggler, and Lady Lakitu, a wannabe pilot who craves adventure. The Fashion system from the previous game also returns, and not only can Peach accessorize and dress for success, but her companions can as well (though they can only equip something for the body and something for the head, unlike Peach who can wear lots of different things). There's also a more simplified system of techniques from the original game, instead of learning techniques, characters now find, buy, and equip them, giving each character less techniques overall but also making them somewhat more consistent in when players are expected to have them. That said, this game is no less expansive or epic than the previous title, about the same overall in terms of length. This time, Bowser is the game's main villain and his Koopalings are the main underlings (though Peach and Wendy, who fought together in the previous game, have some very interesting dialogue in this one as Wendy is a bit reluctant to fight her old “friend” Peach). Bowser and his brats have stolen the Toad Princesses from all across the realm, and Peach is determined to save them, with the help of her friends and the various denizens of the seven kingdoms. The game features a colorful graphical style that wouldn't be all that out of place in an OTL Mario and Luigi game, and with Yoko Shimamura returning as composer, that's the overall mood that this game seems to have. Overall, Super Peach RPG 2 gets slightly lower review scores than the original, but still quite solid, averaging in the mid 8s, and sales are about on track with the original as well, maintaining this series' success and showing that Peach can indeed carry an epic RPG.

Apple Gemini-

Dead Rising: Survival

This Gemini spinoff of the main Dead Rising series is a sort of roguelike title, with similarities to OTL's Zombi. You create a protagonist and are forced to scrounge through an apocalyptic wasteland, completing missions and finding supplies while fighting off increasingly difficult waves of zombies (similar to the Resident Evil: Mercenaries series). It seems fairly simple, but there are a wide variety of missions to accomplish and it'll take a lot of playing to see everything, especially since dying once means that it's back to character creation and a new start. It's a surprisingly fun and intuitive title, and it achieves good reviews, while becoming one of the better selling Gemini titles of the latter part of the year.

Multiplatform-

Lollipop Chainsaw 2
(Author's Note: I'm gonna be kinda lazy here and just reuse most of the summary I posted in the “Top Video Games never made” topic... what can I say, I think it'd be a good idea for a sequel :p)

Lollipop Chainsaw 2 is the sequel to 2012's Lollipop Chainsaw, published by Acclaim and developed by Suda51's studio, while being directed by James Gunn. With no Guardians of the Galaxy to direct ITTL, James Gunn was looking for something to do, and asked Suda51 if they could collaborate on another Lollipop Chainsaw title. Suda51 decided to eschew his normal anti-sequel stance, coming up with some new ideas and agreeing to produce this game. Many of the same gameplay systems return from the original, including chainsaw combos, special moves, and Sparkle Hunting, though Juliet is now able to utilize the environment to her advantage and can fling objects and enemies into one another to rack up even more damage. In addition, Juliet's younger sister Rosalind and her older sister Cordelia are now playable characters, each with their own movesets, with Rosalind wielding fierce bladed weapons and Cordelia able to use ranged attacks and explosives. The game features high definition graphics and a significantly longer story than the previous game (10 levels as opposed to 6 in the original).

The game itself takes place two years after the events of the previous game. Juliet is still dating Nick, and Rosalind now has a boyfriend of her own, a somewhat timid and nerdy boy (pretty much the opposite of Nick in every way). The Starling family is celebrating Rosalind's high school graduation with a cross-country road trip, but the trip is interrupted by another zombie attack on San Romero. Just when it seems like Juliet is outmatched, she's saved by a fierce young zombie huntress named Katrina von Domme (voiced by and modeled after Elizabeth Gillies) who utilizes a whip/chainsaw weapon in combat and dresses (and acts) like a dominatrix. Katrina descends from a family of European zombie hunters (a take on the Belmonts from Castlevania) and is considered a legend in the zombie hunting world, someone who Juliet idolizes. Katrina appears to be an ally at first, but later we see that she's responsible for the zombie outbreak and that she plans to unleash an even bigger one. She's motivated by jealousy of the Starlings, Juliet in particular. Katrina was trained from birth to be a zombie hunter and was never allowed to have fun or a boyfriend or a normal life, but thought it would all be worth it when she showed up in San Romero to stop the zombie outbreak from the original game. However, she arrived just as Juliet had defeated Zanna and saved the day, and was furious with Juliet ever since. After foiling another zombie attack on San Romero (which was initiated by Katrina, though Juliet doesn't find that out just yet), the Starlings (along with Rosalind's boyfriend and Nick) decide to continue their vacation, heading to Las Vegas. Katrina unleashes another zombie outbreak there, and after Juliet defeats the boss, Katrina finally reveals her duplicity and battles Juliet, severely injuring her. She also tries to zombify Rosalind's boyfriend, but Rosalind is able to save him by severing his head via the same process that Juliet did to Nick in the previous game. The next two levels feature Rosalind (and her talking head boyfriend) and then Cordelia clearing out two more zombie-infested places (Yellowstone and Cheyenne Mountain) as Juliet recovers from her injury. Juliet then visits three more levels (a Texas slaughterhouse, Detroit, and Nashville), stopping zombie infestations there as well. At the end of the seventh level, Katrina shows up again and kidnaps Juliet, which once more forces Rosalind and Cordelia to battle zombies, first in a Disney World spoof that features a boss inspired by the frozen Walt Disney myth, and then in Washington DC, where Katrina is attempting to take over the city and bring back her ancestors as powerful zombies. Interspersed between these two levels are some humorous scenes of Katrina "torturing" Juliet, which is played completely for laughs and fanservice. Eventually Rosalind has to rescue Juliet at the end of the Washington DC level, battling the von Domme family's zombified matriarch at the same time. Juliet is rescued, and returns to battle for the final level, a battle in a New York City overrun by Katrina's zombie hordes. Juliet and Katrina battle it out in an epic final boss fight atop the city's tallest building. The first stage of the fight features Juliet battling Katrina, who is in her own version of Sparkle Dancing mode, and can only be damaged by Juliet herself entering Sparkle Dancing. The next four stages of the fight feature Katrina in a series of increasingly powerful battle mechs. Interspersed between these stages of the fight are scenes of Juliet's family attacking Katrina, only to be seemingly killed one by one: first Cordelia and Nick, then Rosalind and her boyfriend, and then Juliet's dad, before finally, Juliet's mom is able to help Juliet take out Katrina's mech once and for all. Juliet's family returns as Katrina takes on Juliet in one final short clash that ultimately ends with Juliet chopping off one of Katrina's arms. Katrina refuses to surrender, injecting herself with her own zombification serum to turn herself into a zombie, but one QTE later and Katrina gets kicked off the building into a sea of her own zombies, finally putting her out of commission. The Starlings launch a cure into the sky, curing all the zombies that Katrina made (though, like with the San Romero outbreak in the first game, there's still tons of dead people, a fact that the game shrugs off in its typical darkly humorous fashion).

Lollipop Chainsaw 2 is widely praised upon its release for the Reality, Gemini, and Nexus. It's seen as having fixed most of the original game's issues (particularly the original's short length), while characters such as Katrina are exceptionally highly praised. It sees significantly better reviews than the original, with some even calling it a Game of the Year contender, while sales are also outstanding as well. Despite the game's success, Suda51 doesn't want to do a sequel, but he's not so attached to the character that he isn't willing to sell the property to Acclaim outright. Acclaim will do future Lollipop Chainsaw games, without Suda51's involvement (but possibly with James Gunn's).

Mackinac Nightmare 2

A horror sequel six years in the making, this game is published by Electronic Arts rather than Sony (EA also published a port of the original game, which was once a Sapphire exclusive, for the Virtua and Nexus, allowing more people to experience it). It once again takes place in the upper peninsula of Michigan, and features urban legends, both endemic to the area but also elsewhere, as the protagonist, a sheriff of a small Upper Peninsula town, attempts to defend his town from various horrors that have the town's residents under siege. Most of the game takes place in the town and the area surrounding it, and the player is given a minimum of tools to help them accomplish their mission, limited mostly to a pistol and a flashlight (though you do get heavier weapons later on, and it's also possible to craft). The game mostly relies on atmospheric horror rather than action, and accomplishes those goals fairly well, but does run into a few snags or slow parts here and there. It's overall a decent game, reviewed about as well as the original, but is seen as a bit of a disappointment nonetheless for its rather small scale and somewhat pedestrian graphics. It also becomes lost in a sea of other major releases, making it one of the year's bigger sales disappointments, and Electronic Arts decides to abandon the IP soon after.

Necrocracy 3

The VERY long awaited console port of 2014's PC game includes a lot of the DLC, along with some improvements to the game's ending and some glitch fixes as well. The graphics aren't as good, obviously, but this is still a very good port, with even the Nexus version (which runs at a slower framerate), being quite well regarded. The port averages around a 9/10 on most of the review sites, and overall, is a strong seller on all three consoles, with the Virtua version doing the best thanks to the Oculus push that the game gets around the time of its release. The console ports help to improve Necrocracy 3's reputation somewhat, and though it's still not as popular as the first two games, it gets the praise it deserves as a strong finish to the trilogy.

Evolve

Similar to OTL's game, Evolve is a multiplayer-based FPS in which players must become hunters and team up to face a monster, which in multiplayer mode is also controlled by a player. The monster can evolve and change itself to become stronger, forcing the hunters to work together to kill it before it becomes too strong. There's not much of a change from OTL's core gameplay mechanics, though it is notable that ITTL, the game is published by THQ rather than by 2K, and that there's MUCH less of a focus on DLC for this title, with THQ wanting to make it an ongoing multiplayer game with expansions rather than a piecemeal DLC experience. Sales are a bit slow early on, mostly due to competition and slightly weak reviews, but patches and free content improve the game throughout 2016, and a lot more people would pick it up over time as the price drops.

Dragonball Xenoverse

The popular Dragonball role-playing game in which the player takes the role of a time traveling warrior who goes around to various moments in the series, helping out heroes while battling lots of different Dragonball villains, is released in late 2015 ITTL, and not only for the consoles, but for the handhelds too. The plot and gameplay are nearly identical to OTL's title, and there's not too much to say about this title except that the handheld versions are considered quite excellent, with even the Connect version losing little in translation. Of course, there's plenty of DLC to be found, which becomes a point of contention, but overall this game is VERY pleasing to Dragonball fans, just like IOTL, and would receive a sequel in a few years time.

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Top Selling New Console Games In North America (in terms of sales over the first four weeks of release):

October 2015:

1. Super Smash Bros. Reality (Nintendo Reality)
2. Assassin's Creed Domination (Apple Virtua)
3. Assassin's Creed Domination (Nintendo Reality)
4. Forza Horizon 2 (Google Nexus)
5. Necrocracy 3 (Apple Virtua)

November 2015:

1. Call Of Duty: Nightfall III (Nintendo Reality)
2. Call Of Duty: Nightfall III (Apple Virtua)
3. Call Of Duty: Nightfall III (Google Nexus)
4. Resident Evil 7 (Apple Virtua)
5. Thrillseekers 3 (Nintendo Reality)

December 2015:

1. Bomberman Royale (Google Nexus)
2. Dragonball Xenoverse (Nintendo Reality)
3. The Conduit 4 (Apple Virtua)
4. Super Peach RPG 2 (Nintendo Connect)
5. Dragonball Xenoverse (Google Nexus)
 
2015 In Review
NPD: Apple Wins Holiday Sales Battle, Nexus Falls

The NPD Group has released their 2015 holiday sales figures for the North American gaming industry, and for the second straight year, Apple's console and handheld units have increased in sales, with the Virtua increasing by 26% over the November/December frame, and Gemini hardware sales increasing by 30%. This was enough for both the Virtua and Gemini to take the win in overall North American sales during the November/December time frame, though when combined with Japanese and European numbers, it appears that Nintendo's Reality may have sold slightly more units. Regardless, this represents an enormous win for Apple, and a sign that the company's brand remains extremely strong. Virtua sales were driven by a number of factors, including a second $100 price drop to bring the price of the base Virtua unit down to $299.99, and the release of the Oculus VR headset accessory, which, despite its steep price, is the #1 best selling gaming peripheral of the year (not counting controllers). Apple's Virtua has been selling quite well ever since its first price drop last year, and 2015 has proven to be a strong year for the console, which has seen the release of several hit games including Sonic: The Rings Of Order and Street Fighter VI. The former ranks as the #1 console exclusive of the year in terms of overall sales, besting Super Smash Bros. Reality, and achieving more than ten million units sold worldwide, by far the fastest Sonic game ever to achieve that milestone. Other titles, such as Resident Evil 7, Vindicate, and End Run have also sold over a million units, and have helped to push sales of the Oculus as well. Meanwhile, Apple's Gemini handheld was not only the #1 handheld of the holidays in North America, but worldwide as well, even factoring in the Connect's narrow sales edge in Japan. The Gemini, which has seen an enormous sales spike after its own price drop and the release of the Gemini Mini model, profited from Black Friday sales and the release of several hit games, while Nintendo's Connect suffered through a slow holiday period with few hit exclusives released. Apple's sales success comes at a time when the entire company has seen a surge in sales across multiple product lines, with iPhone and iPad sales also up, and sales of Apple computers also increasing on the wave of the popular “Apple Does It Better” ad campaign featuring actress Jessica Chastain. Apple's stock prices have surged as well, and next week's MacWorld conference, which will see the announcement of several new products (including a potential new Virtua model) is likely to be a victory lap for the company's CEO Steve Jobs, who is expected to make Apple's surging sales numbers a big part of his keynote address.

Meanwhile, the Nintendo Reality has remained steady from last year, with the releases of holiday hits Super Smash Bros. Reality and Selene 3 helping to stabilize sales. The Reality remains a success, and sales have increased in Japan over the previous year, but overall sales have plateaued, even with its own $100 price cut (said to have been driven by the Virtua's second price cut, and not a move the company wanted to make this early). Nintendo is expected to announce a second model of the Reality that will work better with new 4K TVs, but it might not see release until 2017, and until then, Nintendo will need to rely on hit games to drive Reality sales (fortunately, the highly anticipated Metroid Quarantine is only a few weeks away, and Super Mario Adventure is expected to be a massive hit). The Connect has seen its sales drop even more precipitously, but the expected release of a new mainline Pokemon title this year should help the Connect hold off the Gemini in terms of overall sales, while new Mario and Zelda games are expected to come out this summer. As for the Google Nexus, sales have dropped, but units are still making it into players' hands, thanks to numerous giveaways (mostly associated with Galaxy phone sales). Nexus sales are also expected to spike on the release of a pair of exciting new exclusives, including the massive MMORPG Expedition later this week and next month's Social Network. Despite the Nexus' recent sales woes, and the potential for a fall to third place behind the Virtua sometime this year, the company remains optimistic about the console, still considering it a major success, and is expected to launch a second model later this year that will bring the Nexus closer in overall specs to its console rivals.

-from a January 20, 2016 article on Gamespot.com

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Top 25 Best Selling Games Of The Year:
(Note: Multiplatform sales are combined. Only console games are included. Does not include pack-in and bundle sales. Includes all North American software sales between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2015.)

1. Call Of Duty: Nightfall III
2. Grand Theft Auto III
3. Pokemon DawnAlpha and DuskOmega
4. Sonic: The Rings Of Order
5. Super Smash Bros. Reality
6. Madden NFL 16
7. The Legend Of Zelda
8. Futureshock
9. Pokemon Order And Chaos
10. Dream Garden
11. Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare
12. Super Mario Dimensions 3
13. Assassin's Creed: Domination
14. Squad Four Betrayal
15. Necrocracy 3
16. Metal Gear Solid IV: A Soldier's Place
17. Mariokart Reality
18. Selene 3
19. Pixelworld 2
20. Chance
21. Resident Evil 7
22. Call Of Duty: Nightfall II
23. Vindicate
24. Elemancers
25. Thrillseekers 3

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MTV Video Game Awards 2015:

Game Of The Year:

Call Of Duty: Nightfall III
Futureshock
Hallie Heartsong
Resident Evil 7
Selene 3

Handheld/Mobile Game Of The Year:

Caladia Knights
F-Zero: Relativistic
Mechpunk
Render Spirit
Subterfuge

Indie Game Of The Year:

Clockwork
Hallie Heartsong
Red Raven
Ori And The Blind Forest
Tangerine

Action/Adventure Game Of The Year:

Futureshock
The Legend Of Zelda
Lollipop Chainsaw 2
Resident Evil 7
Sonic: The Rings Of Order

Epic Game Of The Year:

Angels Of Mana
Apocalypsia
Collapse Of Stonewall
Phantasy Star Online 3
Selene 3

Sports Game Of The Year:

Madden NFL 16
NBA Elite 16
NHL 2016
Thrillseekers 3
Wave Race: The Golden Coast

Shooter Of The Year:

Call Of Duty: Nightfall III
Chance
Trigger Zero
Vindicate
The World Below

Best Graphics:

Call Of Duty: Nightfall III
The Legend Of Zelda
Project CARS
Selene 3
Sonic: The Rings Of Order

Best Soundtrack:

Futureshock
Hallie Heartsong
Haze: Violet Summer
The Legend Of Zelda
Wipeout Cyclonic

Best Storyline:

Call Of Duty: Nightfall III
Futureshock
Hallie Heartsong
Selene 3
The World Below

Best Original Game

Futureshock
Hallie Heartsong
End Run
Tangerine
Vindicate

Best Licensed Game

Dragonball Xenoverse
The Lord Of The Rings: Nether Age
Revolution Of The Motorgangs: The Destructor Race
Star Trek
Transformers: Battle Of Two Universes

Best Competitive Online Game

Call Of Duty: Nightfall III
End Run
Heroes Of The Storm
Super Smash Bros. Reality
Vainglory

Best MMO:

Apocalypsia
The Bloodlands
Dream Garden
Phantasy Star Online 3
Shipsack

Best DLC:

Course Pack 2 (Mariokart Reality)
Grand Theft Auto Online (Grand Theft Auto III)
Honor The Fallen (Sepulchre)
Niagara (Crime Stories: Dance Of The Jackdaw)
Thrillseekers Fighter Pack (Super Smash Bros. Reality)

Best New Character:

Adagio (Vainglory)
The Hunter (Bloodborne)
Lee Chance (Chance)
Riva (Futureshock)
Zax (Metal Gear Solid IV: A Soldier's Place)

Most Improved Sequel:

Dead Rising 4
The Elder Scrolls: Aquaria
Far Cry 3
Lollipop Chainsaw 2
Street Fighter VI

Best Voice Performance:

Aly Michalka as Hali (Hallie Heartsong)
Charles Barkley as himself (Mortal Kombat: Eternal)
David Hayter as Solid Snake (Metal Gear Solid IV: A Soldier's Place)
Robert Carlyle as Cordon (Call Of Duty: Nightfall III)
Tom Ellis as Mathew Fullington (Selene 3)

Game Company Of The Year:

Activision
Apple
Capcom
Electronic Arts
Nintendo

Most Anticipated Game:

A Song Of Ice And Fire: The Long Night
After Time
Gearworld
Metroid Quarantine
Time Cop: A Man Out Of Time

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After Time” Preview Stuns MTV Game Awards Viewers

The MTV Game Awards once again played host to some of the year's most exciting video game trailers and reveals, but perhaps the most exciting preview was the one for Bungie's After Time, their MMO/FPS title coming to PC, Mac, and consoles later this year. In addition to a five minute gameplay feature, we also got a flashy, explosive trailer that depicted a soldier leaving a post-apocalyptic Earth and jetting through a wormhole to a distant galaxy in search of a way to save the planet's weary survivors. Instead, he found himself on a terrifying world full of horrific monsters, fighting alongside other refugees to survive. These monsters are jealously guarding a resource called Chronum, which seems to hold the key to allowing humanity to reverse time, preventing the apocalypse that ravaged their world in the first place. It's also shown that this Chronum may allow people to reunite with long-dead relatives whose souls have been imprisoned by an alien race called the Geth. While the game itself allows for single-player combat and campaign play, much of the game is focused on online play, and players will be rewarded for teaming up with their friends to take on missions. It's also been shown that the actions of the game's player base can alter future storyline content, and that certain “Legendary” feats by individual players have the potential to be immortalized in the game's lore forever. The gameplay itself is sort of a hybrid of an RPG and a first-person version of The Covenant, with fast and furious shooting and movement, and the ability to utilize melee combat in conjunction with one's ranged weapons. Though After Time failed to take home the “Most Anticipated Game” award at the show (it probably would have if fans had been able to experience Bungie's preview first), it definitely left an impression on both the live audience and viewers alike, and now has to be considered a major contender for 2016's Game of the Year, with its biggest rival looking like Bioware's Gearworld, another MMO (albeit a PC exclusive one) combining elements of RPGs and first person shooters.

-from a February 24, 2016 article on Games Over Matter

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The death of Nintendo's president Satoru Iwata from cancer in July 2015 left a major hole that the company struggled somewhat to fill, though it would ultimately use the tragedy as an impetus for reorganization as Nintendo moved forward in the face of renewed competition. Nintendo considered several candidates to replace Iwata, including longtime executive Tatsumi Kimishima, and Sony's Ken Kutaragi, who emerged as two of the strongest candidates in the weeks after Iwata's death. The business-minded Kimishima seemed to be a popular choice amongst top brass, but he was ultimately considered to be too rigid, not innovative enough to meet the challenges posed by Nintendo's competition. Ken Kutaragi was a surprising candidate to be sure, having emerged as a major creative force in the wake of Nintendo and Sony's SNES-CD deal 24 years before. Since then, Kutaragi had been a major technical innovator for both Nintendo and Sony, driving the development of numerous consoles and handhelds for Nintendo over the past two decades, and also proving to be a major advocate for change and growth, which gave him an advantage over Kimishima when considering the innovations being pushed by Apple and Google. However, many of Nintendo's top executives considered Kutaragi a “loose cannon”, and someone who wasn't a good fit for the more strait-laced philosophy of the company. Ultimately, Katsuya Eguchi, who had headed up Nintendo's creative division in the years since the death of Shigeru Miyamoto, was seen as being the strongest fit for the job. Considered by many to be quite similar in temperament and business style to the departed Satoru Iwata, and also the “best of both worlds” when considering Kimishima and Kutaragi's potential management styles, while also being significantly younger than both of them, Eguchi was seen as an innovator with a good relationship to many within the company, and the right man to lead Nintendo into the future. As for who would take over Eguchi's job as creative head, that would ultimately fall to Masahiro Sakurai, who would continue his work on the Smash Bros. and Kirby franchises while helping to nurture new creative talent at Nintendo and cultivate new game ideas. His position would actually give him a chance to share much of the creative load for the two franchises, with Sakurai being allowed to choose the young developers who would take point on projects related to those franchises in the future. In the following years, a succession of young, talented creative minds would come to work at Nintendo, driving innovation at the company like never before, and helping Nintendo's important first-party franchises to remain fresh and new well into the future.

-from an article at “Stork's Gaming History Blog”, posted on December 27, 2018

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“JUGHART Fights For Freedom!”
-the tagline announcing Fire Emblem: The Jugdral Crusade's Jughart as the second Super Smash Bros. Reality DLC character, in a trailer aired at the 2015 MTV Video Game Awards on February 23, 2016, following a cutscene in which Jugdral arrived to help Lilith from Final Fantasy XII battle back an overwhelming foe, telling her he “has experience with slaying gods”

-

Games Over Matter Awards 2015:

Game Of The Year:

1. The Legend Of Zelda
2. Selene 3
3. Chance
4. Hallie Heartsong
5. Lollipop Chainsaw 2

Best Graphics:

1. Selene 3
2. Vindicate
3. Futureshock
4. The Legend Of Zelda
5. Sonic And The Rings Of Order

Best Sound:

1. Selene 3
2. Call Of Duty: Nightfall III
3. Futureshock
4. The Legend Of Zelda
5. The World Below

Best Gameplay:

1. The Legend Of Zelda
2. Lollipop Chainsaw 2
3. Verisimilitude
4. Super Smash Bros. Reality
5. Chance

Best Thematics:

1. The Legend Of Zelda
2. Futureshock
3. Selene 3
4. Hallie Heartsong
5. Bloodborne

Most Innovative:

1. Verisimilitude
2. Hallie Heartsong
3. End Run
4. Two Hands
5. Dream Garden

Best Multiplayer:

1. Super Smash Bros. Reality
2. End Run
3. Apocalypsia
4. Elemancers
5. Dream Garden

Best New Character:

1. Aria (Tomb Raider: Soul Of The Betrayer)
2. Riva (Futureshock)
3. R. Buffalo (Kingdom Quest IV)
4. Hali (Hallie Heartsong)
5. Ori (Ori and the Blind Forest)

-

And as the company puts the finishing touches on what will be the last Tales Of The Seven Seas game, crunch remains a problem in the industry, and has been a problem for the last several years. The practice is nothing new to Naughty Dog, and seemed to become a major issue during the development of 2008's Mystic. Developers crunched to get the game ready for the Nintendo Sapphire's launch window, as Sony didn't want to wait until the holiday rush to release it, fearing it would be overwhelmed in the shuffle of other major game releases that included Chrono Break and Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. With Tales Of The Seven Seas: To The End Of The World, some employees are reporting more crunch than ever before, sometimes spending more than 80 hours a week at the office. The practice of crunch has been criticized throughout the game industry, and has been chronicled in G4's Peabody Award winning documentary series, but despite promises from developers at the end of the last decade to reform and perhaps even end the practice, as of 2016, it seems to have gotten more prominent than ever. Recent titles such as Grand Theft Auto III, Call Of Duty: Nightfall III, and Beyond Good And Evil 4 have all seen reports of major crunch, and the practice has even found its way into first party properties such as Sonic And The Rings Of Order, in which it's been reported that Apple forced crunch-like practices on the game's Japanese development studio at the behest of Steve Jobs himself. Jobs has actually praised the practice of crunch in a recent 60 Minutes interview in which he discussed the work environments of employees at both his game studios and at Apple's tech development campuses. The most notable quote he gave: “If you're not dedicated to the creative process, if you're not putting in the hours, then why the hell are you in this industry to begin with?”, was roundly criticized both by game journalists and by mainstream tech news outlets, but Jobs has refused to back down from this statement, and many attribute increasingly toxic work environments at Apple's game development studios to Jobs' workaholic mentality. Tales Of The Seven Seas: To The End Of The World looks absolutely gorgeous, a testament to the millions of man-hours that have been put into the game, but at what appears to be a major cost in terms of the quality of life of the thousands of people who have been working on it, and who probably deserve a break.

-from “Tales Of The Seven Seas Rides Into The Sunset, But At What Cost?”, a February 1, 2016 article on Games Over Matter

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Other Awards:

IGN (Editor Top 10):

1. Futureshock
2. Selene 3
3. Ori And The Blind Forest
4. The Legend Of Zelda
5. Sonic: The Rings Of Order
6. Infinitia Second
7. Street Fighter VI
8. Dream Garden
9. Verisimilitude
10. Metal Gear Solid IV: A Soldier's Place

Joystiq (Editor Top 10):

1. Chance
2. The Legend Of Zelda
3. Futureshock
4. Vainglory
5. Hallie Heartsong
6. Selene 3
7. The World Below
8. Verisimilitude
9. Sonic: The Rings Of Order
10. Thrillseekers 3

Kotaku:

Game Of The Year: The Legend Of Zelda
Runner-Up: Futureshock
Finalists: Selene 3, The World Below, Dream Garden, Chance, Apocalypsia, Elemancers, End Run, Metal Gear Solid IV: A Soldier's Place, Tangerine, Haze: Violet Summer, Bloodborne

Gamespot

Game Of The Year: The Legend Of Zelda
Action Game Of The Year: Tangerine
Adventure Game Of The Year: The Legend Of Zelda
Shooter Of The Year: Chance
Sports Game Of The Year: Wave Race: The Golden Coast
RPG Of The Year: Selene 3

Gaming Age

Game Of The Year: Futureshock
Runner-Up: The Legend Of Zelda
Nintendo Reality Game Of The Year: The Legend Of Zelda
Apple Virtua Game Of The Year: Sonic: The Rings Of Order
Google Nexus Game Of The Year: Forza Horizon 2
Gemini Game Of The Year: Render Spirit
Connect Game Of The Year: Pokemon: DawnAlpha and DuskOmega
PC Game Of The Year: Verisimilitude
Mobile Game Of The Year: Nations Mobile

GameInformer

Game Of The Year: Futureshock
Finalists: Call Of Duty: Nightfall III, Selene 3, Sonic: The Rings Of Order, The Legend Of Zelda

Blargo

Game Of The Year: Selene 3
Runners Up: Verisimilitude, Futureshock
Most Unexpectedly Good Game: Lollipop Chainsaw 2

RPGamer

Game Of The Year: Selene 3
Runners Up: Fairytale 4, Render Spirit
WRPG Of The Year: Selene 3

Gamers' Blog Alliance

Game Of The Year (239 blogs polled):

Futureshock: 32
Selene 3: 31
The Legend Of Zelda: 25
Call Of Duty: Nightfall III: 15
Sonic And The Rings Of Order: 14
Ori And The Blind Forest: 13
Chance: 11
Tangerine: 11
Verisimilitude: 10
Hallie Heartsong: 10
Dream Garden: 9
Nations Mobile: 7
Super Smash Bros. Reality: 6
Apocalypsia: 4
Down And Out In Heartbreak Town: 4
Metal Gear Solid IV: A Soldier's Place: 3
Lollipop Chainsaw 2: 3
Far Cry 3: 3
Monkey Ball Virtua: 2
End Run: 2
Dying Light: 2
Plastic: 2
Two Hands: 2
Elemancers: 2
Phantasy Star Online 3: 2
Trigger Zero: 2
Bloodborne: 2
Forza Horizon 2: 1
Render Spirit: 1
Bomberman Royale: 1
Clockwork: 1
Street Fighter VI: 1
Shot Rain: 1
Wave Race: The Golden Coast: 1
Old Man Rivers: 1
NiGHTS And The Dying Of The Light: 1
Rascal The Badger: 1

Australian Gamer (Editor Top 10):

Game Of The Year:

1. Selene 3
2. The Legend Of Zelda
3. Call Of Duty: Nightfall III
4. Sonic: The Rings Of Order
5. Apocalypsis
6. Dream Garden
7. Thrillseekers 3
8. Hallie Heartsong
9. Futureshock
10. Wave Race: The Golden Coast

Edge (Game Of The Year- Editors' Choice):

Futureshock

Famitsu (Game Of The Year- Readers' Choice):

Winner: The Legend Of Zelda
Runner-up: Sonic: The Rings Of Order

X-Play (Editors' Choice):

Futureshock

Sylph (Editors' Choice Top 5 Games Of 2014):

1. Hallie Heartsong
2. Tangerine
3. Ori And The Blind Forest
4. Beyond Good And Evil 4
5. Tomb Raider: Soul Of The Betrayer

Destructoid (Top 10 Games Of 2014):

1. Futureshock
2. Chance
3. Metal Gear Solid IV: A Soldier's Place
4. Super Smash Bros. Reality
5. Verisimilitude
6. Hallie Heartsong
7. Selene 3
8. Lollipop Chainsaw 2
9. Street Fighter VI
10. Forza Horizon 2

KidGamers (Game Of The Year 2015):

Super Smash Bros. Reality

PowerGamer (Top 5 Of 2015):

1. Futureshock
2. Selene 3
3. Call Of Duty: Nightfall III
4. Forza Horizon 2
5. Elemancers

New Game Network:

Game Of The Year: Selene 3
Runner-up: Dream Garden
Best PC Game: Plastic
Best Presentation: Selene 3
Best Gameplay: Selene 3
Best Performance: Tom Ellis as Mathew Fullington in Selene 3
Best Multiplayer: Super Smash Bros. Reality

Eurogamer (Game Of The Year 2015):

Selene 3

ZZZando!:

Game Of The Year: Futureshock
#2 Game Of The Year: The Legend Of Zelda
#3 Game Of The Year: Selene 3
Best Sleeper Hit: Hallie Heartsong
Best Experience: The Legend Of Zelda

Ars Technica (Top 20 Of 2015):

1. Selene 3
2. Futureshock
3. Hallie Heartsong
4. Chance
5. Verisimilitude
6. Tangerine
7. Sonic: The Rings Of Order
8. Nations Mobile
9. Elemancers
10. Vainglory
11. Dream Garden
12. The Legend Of Zelda
13. The World Below
14. Metal Gear Solid IV: A Soldier's Place
15. Tekken 8
16. Shot Rain
17. Render Spirit
18. Bloodborne
19. Lollipop Chainsaw 2
20. Meowlet And Pupper

BAFTA Game Awards:

Game Of The Year: Futureshock
British Game Of The Year: Anna And Trent
Action/Adventure: Futureshock
Artistic Achievement: Dream Garden
Audio Achievement: The World Below
Debut Game: Tangerine
Family Game: Super Smash Bros. Reality
Game Design: Futureshock
Innovation: Dream Garden
Mobile/Handheld: The Elder Scrolls: Aquaria
Multiplayer: Dream Garden
Original Music: Futureshock
Performer: Cissy Jones as Dr. Selens in Futureshock
Sports Game: FIFA 16
Story: Futureshock
Strategy/Simulation: Verisimilitude

-


JFK Jr.'s Texas Tour Ends In Corpus Christi

Democratic front-runner John F. Kennedy Jr. paid a campaign stop to Corpus Christi today, hoping to rally primary voters for Super Tuesday, where he hopes to finish off his main rivals Martin O'Malley and Stacey Abrams and clinch his party's nomination. He first met with voters and workers outside the construction site for the Hyatt Gulf Star, a 50-story luxury hotel expected to open next year as the centerpiece of the city's new downtown development area. He also visited the USS Lexington museum, giving a brief speech and meeting with soldiers, thanking them for their service and listening to their stories.

One place Kennedy didn't visit was the Flores del Mundo recording studio, home to Selena's music production company and a major attraction for tourists visiting the city. Selena has notably supported and endorsed the candidacy of Stacey Abrams, and in a recent interview, stated that she felt Kennedy was too conservative on issues such as labor and immigration. She also appeared with Abrams at a recent campaign stop in Houston. Kennedy hasn't commented on Selena's recent remarks, but while in Corpus Christi, did state that he was a fan of her music. He was mostly warmly received everywhere he went, with the exception of his downtown visit in which a heckler shouted “Selena hates you!” from the crowd, receiving a mixed reaction.

Corpus Christi remains an important campaign stop in Texas, as evidenced by Kennedy's stop in the city. Its population continues to surge, and could rise to half a million within the city limits by 2020. The city has also made a push for a major league sports team, with potential bids for clubs such as the MLB's Tampa Bay Rays, the NBA's St. Louis Arches, and the NFL's Oakland Raiders. The Arches are confirmed to be headed to Las Vegas, while the Rays are likely to stay in Tampa, but the city is still making a push to get the Raiders, and has also explored the possibility of launching a Summer Olympic hosting bid as well, with a target year of 2028.

-from a Yahoo! News article posted on February 25, 2016

-

DICE Awards 2015:

Game Of The Year:

Dream Garden
Futureshock
The Legend Of Zelda
Selene 3
Sonic: The Rings Of Order

Action Game Of The Year:

Call Of Duty: Nightfall III
Chance
End Run
Metal Gear Solid IV: A Soldier's Place
Sonic: The Rings Of Order

Adventure Game Of The Year:

Futureshock
Haze: Violet Summer
The Legend Of Zelda
Ori And The Blind Forest
Tangerine

Family Game Of The Year:

Dream Garden
Elemancers
Mario Kart Reality
Monkey Ball Virtua
Super Smash Bros. Reality

Online Game Of The Year:

Apocalypsia
Bomberman Royale
Dream Garden
Nations Mobile
Phantasy Star Online 3

Portable Game Of The Year:

The Elder Scrolls: Aquaria
F-Zero: Relativistic
Nations Mobile
Render Spirit
Weapon10

Racing Game Of The Year:

Forza Horizon 2
F-Zero: Relativistic
Mariokart Reality
Speed Racer
Wipeout Cyclonic

Role Playing Game Of The Year:

Angels Of Mana
Collapse Of Stonewall
Fairytale 4
Render Spirit
Selene 3

Strategy/Simulation Game Of The Year:

Armored Vehicles
Pillars Of Eternity
Soul Of Heaven
Total War: Atlantis
Verisimilitude

Sports Game Of The Year:

FIFA 16
Madden NFL 16
NBA 2K16
Thrillseekers 3
Wave Race: The Golden Coast

Fighting Game Of The Year:

Dead Or Alive Pinnacle
Mortal Kombat Eternal
Street Fighter VI
Super Smash Bros. Reality
Tekken 8

Outstanding Art Direction:

Dream Garden
The Legend Of Zelda
Futureshock
Selene 3
Tangerine

Outstanding Character Creation:

Hali (Hallie Heartsong)
Ori (Ori and the Blind Forest)
Riva (Futureshock)
Wispy (Dream Garden)
Zax (Metal Gear Solid IV: A Soldier's Place)

Outstanding Character Performance:

David Hayter as Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid IV: A Soldier's Place
Edward Witten as Lee Chance in Chance
Elizabeth Gillies as Katrina von Domme in Lollipop Chainsaw 2
Shannon Woodward as Riva in Futureshock
Tom Ellis as Mathew Fullington in Selene 3

Outstanding Animation:

Dream Garden
Haze: Violet Summer
Selene 3
Sonic: The Rings Of Order
Tangerine

Outstanding Game Design:

Chance
Dream Garden
Futureshock
Ori And The Blind Forest
Selene 3

Outstanding Game Direction:

Call Of Duty: Nightfall III
Futureshock
Lollipop Chainsaw 2
Metal Gear Solid IV: A Soldier's Place
Selene 3

Outstanding Innovation:

The Fear We Fail To Face
Hallie Heartsong
Tangerine
Two Hands
Verisimilitude

Outstanding Online Gameplay:

Bomberman Royale
Dream Garden
Nations Mobile
Phantasy Star Online 3
Super Smash Bros. Reality

Outstanding Original Music:

Dream Garden
Fairytale 4
Hallie Heartsong
Selene 3
Sonic: The Rings Of Order

Outstanding Audio Design:

Call Of Duty: Nightfall III
Chance
Futureshock
Selene 3
The World Below

Outstanding Story:

Crime Stories: Dance Of The Jackdaw
Futureshock
Hallie Heartsong
Selene 3
Tangerine

Outstanding Technical Achievement:

End Run
Futureshock
Plastic
Selene 3
Vindicate

-

GameFAQs Best Of 2015 Polls:

Best Of 2015: Best Reality Game

The Legend Of Zelda: 30.57%
Selene 3: 21.75%
Super Smash Bros. Reality: 19.32%
Dragon Quest X: Adventurers Of The Arisen Ark: 8.16%
Bloodborne: 7.30%
Rare Replay: 4.83%
Elemancers: 3.22%
Twisted Metal Reality: 2.66%
Killer Instinct 5: 1.17%
Kirby And The Fantastic Party: 1.02%

Best Of 2015: Best Virtua Game

Sonic: The Rings Of Order: 45.61%
Street Fighter VI: 18.63%
Resident Evil 7: 13.76%
Phantasy Star Online 3: 7.05%
Vindicate: 5.57%
End Run: 2.83%
Old Man Rivers: 2.04%
Gundam Legacy: 1.91%
Monkey Ball Virtua: 1.36%
Shinobi Tetsugame: 1.24%

Best Of 2015: Best Nexus Game

Ori And The Blind Forest: 28.52%
Forza Horizon 2: 19.15%
Vainglory: 17.61%
Dream Garden: 13.86%
Bomberman Royale: 5.16%
Pillars Of Eternity: 4.40%
Pitfall: 3.84%
Haze: Violet Summer: 3.44%
Clockwork: 3.05%
Rascal The Badger: 0.97%

Best Of 2015: Best Connect Game:

Pokemon DawnAlpha And DuskOmega: 20.07%
Super Peach RPG 2: 17.16%
Infinitia Second: 14.63%
F-Zero: Relativistic: 12.09%
Castlevania: Frozen Blood: 11.56%
Mechpunk: 8.22%
Quintessence 2: 6.54%
Codename: S.T.E.A.M.: 5.95%
Cyberwar: Infiltrator: 2.03%
Euphoria: 1.75%

Best Of 2015: Best PC Game

Apocalypsia: 18.55%
Versimilitude: 17.90%
Heroes Of The Storm: 16.34%
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Paramilitary: 12.46%
Cat's Yarn: 12.45%
Plastic: 9.12%
Sedation: 5.06%
Numismatic: 3.22%
Project CARS: 3.16%
Infinifactory: 1.74%

Best Of 2015: Best Gemini Game

The Elder Scrolls: Aquaria: 22.34%
NiGHTS And The Dying Of The Light: 20.75%
Render Spirit: 15.57%
Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood: 11.04%
Yakuza Kiwami: 8.60%
Transformers: Battle Of Two Universes: 7.34%
Weapon10: 6.91%
The Lobotomized: Last Diary: 3.01%
Captain America: 2.88%
Mole Hole: 1.56%

Best Of 2015: Best Mobile Game

Caladia Knights: 18.14%
Reynard RPG: 16.44%
Little Wizard Idols: 13.29%
Nations Mobile: 12.90%
Cookie Cutters: 10.63%
Onion Soldiers: 8.57%
Subterfuge: 7.05%
Miraculous Ladybug: Parisian Chase: 5.92%
Mobile Strike: 5.41%
You Must Build A Boat: 1.65%

Best Of 2015: Best Multiplatform Game

Futureshock: 26.71%
Metal Gear Solid IV: A Soldier's Place: 17.03%
Call Of Duty: Nightfall III: 14.64%
Chance: 12.86%
Assassin's Creed: Domination: 8.04%
Angels Of Mana: 6.16%
Hallie Heartsong: 4.43%
Tangerine: 4.22%
Lollipop Chainsaw 2: 3.12%
The World Below: 2.79%

Best Of 2015: Game Of The Year:

The Legend Of Zelda: 25.61%
Futureshock: 17.71%
Sonic: The Rings Of Order: 16.44%
Metal Gear Solid IV: A Soldier's Place: 13.14%
Pokemon DawnAlpha And DuskOmega: 11.32%
Ori And The Blind Forest: 4.51%
Versimilitude: 4.05%
Apocalypsia: 3.83%
The Elder Scrolls: Aquaria: 2.17%
Caladia Knights: 1.22%

Best Of 2015: Game Of The Year (Final):

The Legend Of Zelda: 49.60%
Futureshock: 28.77%
Sonic: The Rings Of Order: 21.63%

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GameRankings Top 25 Games Of 2015

1. Futureshock: 94.26%
2. The Legend Of Zelda: 93.90%
3. Selene 3: 93.84%
4. Metal Gear Solid IV: A Soldier's Place: 92.54%
5. Dream Garden: 92.33%
6. Sonic And The Rings Of Order: 92.16%
7. Verisimilitude: 92.08%
8. Chance: 92.07%
9. Tangerine: 91.88%
10. F-Zero: Relativistic: 91.82%
11. Super Smash Bros. Reality: 91.80%
12. Call Of Duty: Nightfall III: 91.71%
13. Ori And The Blind Forest: 91.56%
14. Weapon10: 91.54%
15. Apocalypsia: 91.48%
16. Forza Horizon 2: 91.44%
17. Castlevania: Frozen Blood: 91.07%
18. Render Spirit: 90.97%
19. Quintessence 2: 90.90%
20. Monkey Ball Virtua: 90.65%
21. End Run: 90.52%
22. Lollipop Chainsaw 2: 90.34%
23. Bomberman Royale: 90.16%
24. Street Fighter VI: 90.15%
25. Clockwork: 90.14%

-

EXCLUSIVE Details On 4K Console Models: Nexus Pro Coming Later This Year, Maybe New Virtua Too

We now know that Google will be releasing a “Pro” model of the Google Nexus sometime this year. The Nexus Pro will likely retail for $299.99 for the base model, and you can tack on an extra $100 if you don't have a phone and need a Google Companion. The Nexus Pro will feature upgraded specs that will allow it to play games in 4K resolution, though if you don't have a 4K TV, the upgraded console will still be able to pump out visuals on par with the Nintendo Reality and Apple Virtua. Google has promised that there will be no “Pro exclusive” Nexus games, however, it's likely that certain Android games will run only on Pro models, as the Nexus has already started having compatibility issues with some recent Android titles. We expect the Nexus Pro's release date to be timed with the release of the upcoming Miraculous Ladybug sequel later this year, and Ubisoft has already announced that the game is being produced “with upgraded Nexus specs in mind”. The original Nexus will likely continue to be offered as a freebie with certain phone purchases, but there's a possibility that Google could begin offering the Pro as an incentive for higher-end Samsung phones, perhaps the Plus model of their flagship S line.

While Apple didn't formally announce a new model Virtua at MacWorld, Steve Jobs did say that the company was “working on a 4K solution” for the Virtua, and some leaked technical specifications for an upcoming Apple product also point to an upgraded Virtua model. We expect that the upgrade is mostly to enable the Virtua to display games in 4K resolution, and to potentially offer upgraded Oculus functionality as well. We're also leaning toward an early 2017 release date for the new model Virtua, though it could appear in stores as early as this holiday season (and would make a major splash at E3 if true).

We've also seen some surprising forwardness from Nintendo's hardware partner Sony, which has quietly stated that the company is working on a “4K game console” as well. Nintendo has also given indications that the Reality may be due for an upgrade, though it is important to note that the Reality IS capable on its own of displaying games in 4K resolution, something the base Virtua and certainly the base Nexus couldn't do. A possible Reality upgrade may be focused on bringing the VR up to the standards of Apple's Oculus, and could be a more modest upgrade than the Virtua's (which could see a more modest price increase as well). We expect Nintendo's 4K upgrade to be in stores no later than the end of 2017, though the company could pull a surprise and release their 4K model later this year as well.

This console generation has proven to be somewhat unique, both in terms of just how competitive the three consoles have been with one another in terms of sales, and in what looks to be a somewhat longer lifespan than previous generations have seen. The three major hardware companies are likely looking to extend the lifespan of their consoles with these small upgrades rather than just releasing new hardware right away, but as time goes on and fortunes change, there's always room for surprises (if any company springs a new console generation on us by surprise, expect it to be Google). We don't think upgrading will be necessary to play any new games, but if you've got a 4K TV or you love VR, you'll likely need to dish out a few hundred more dollars to play your favorite games to their full potential.

-from Blargo's Rumor Mill, posted on February 8, 2016
 

AeroTheZealousOne

Monthly Donor
Corpus Christi for the 2028 Olympics!

2015 looks very good from a video game standpoint. Sure, Fallout 4 and Undertale are OTL exclusives, but instead we get some really cool stuff like a new Smash game, Hallie Heartsong, Selene 3, a new main entry for Thrillseekers... The list goes on!

Here's hoping 2016 in the world of Player Two Start/Massively Multiplayer/Battle Royale is considerably more pleasant overall than it was in our world!
 

AeroTheZealousOne

Monthly Donor
2016 wasn't that bad...2020 is the real deal

In retrospect... you're right. 2016 was rough but it's not 2020 rough. I had a strange feeling this year wouldn't be great, I didn't expect my expectations to be exceeded by this much.

On the other hand, this world isn't better or worse than ours. (Okay, better in regards to video games like SimSociety being a thing and Schala being playable in Chrono Trigger and Patrick Stewart voicing Julius Caesar in Civilization IV and...)


Corpus Christi? That’s random as fuck but I like it.

Corpus Christi is a city ITTL that has benefitted significantly from over two decades of butterflies at this point. Selena not dying in 1995 was particularly helpful in that regard.
 
In retrospect... you're right. 2016 was rough but it's not 2020 rough. I had a strange feeling this year wouldn't be great, I didn't expect my expectations to be exceeded by this much.
I think the american centrism of this board at times..2017 was a worse country(massive dollar revaluation make videogames back into a luxury), but Allah..2020.

Corpus Christi? That’s random as fuck but I like it.
Corpus Christi is a city ITTL that has benefitted significantly from over two decades of butterflies at this point. Selena not dying in 1995 was particularly helpful in that regard
Very Lucky Butterflies helped a lot
 
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