Game Ranter Banter: Smash Bros, Minecraft 1.3 & Gears Of War: Judgment

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Topics: An Android console, Minecraft 1.3, Gears Of War: Judgment, Western Games & Smarh Bros

It's Summer and as such, we'd like to present you with some important words from John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John: "Summer lovin' had me a blast, summer lovin' happened so fast.�I met a girl crazy for me. Met a boy, read the Game Ranter Banter, please."

This week, our writers talk about the latest Super Smash Bros. title, Minecraft's upcoming 1.3 update, the Ouya Android Cube, why we need more Wild West shooters, and Gears of War: Judgment.

Let's begin.

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It's Summer and as such, we'd like to present you with some important words from John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John: "Summer lovin' had me a blast, summer lovin' happened so fast. I met a girl crazy for me. Met a boy, read the Game Ranter Banter, please." This week, our writers talk about the latest Super Smash Bros. title, Minecraft's upcoming 1.3 update, the Ouya Android Cube, why we need more Wild West shooters, and Gears of War: Judgment. Let's begin. Super Smash Bros 4

During the latest Nintendo Direct, Nintendo finally gave their fans a much needed update on the Super Smash Bros. games for 3DS and Wii U. The new information didn't reveal much in terms of new characters or gameplay additions, but instead focused purely on the fact that Namco Bandai is currently assisting in the development of both versions. This announcement had many Smash fans excited, but some were understandably concerned. I can see why a change in developers may have some hardcore fans a little nervous, but I can't stress enough how safe the series is in Namco Bandai's capable hands. The third-party developer has a topnotch team working on both titles. Well-known fighting franchises such as Tekken and Soul Calibur are evidence of this, but Smash is a very different breed from those other beat 'em ups. Just like every predecessor before, the new Smash will have changes, but they'll all be for the better. Series creator Masahiro Sakurai is overseeing the entire development process and will make sure that it's an experience comparable to every previous iteration. Gears of War Judgment - Banter

One of the semi-surprise games to be showcased from the Microsoft camp at E3 2012 was Gears of War: Judgment, the unnumbered prequel to the Gears trilogy. On display was only a single new multiplayer mode called Overrun that meshed together elements of both the Horde and Beast modes from Gears 3. While gameplay was solid as we'd expect from Gears title, it didn't feel new or impressive. There's now a class system of sorts, and the control scheme has been altered to mimic other popular shooters, but the game felt and looked identical to Gears of War 3 otherwise. While we love Gears 3, knowing that Judgment is coming early next year, and that there was barely anything to show for the game at the industry's biggest event, I can't help but feel concerned that Gears of War: Judgment may only exist as a rushed franchise installment simply for the sake of Microsoft having another Xbox 360 exclusive before the next-gen console is unveiled. The game will be playable at San Diego Comic-Con this week, where Epic Games and People Can Fly will also host a Gears of War panel, so they better come prepared to impress. Let's see what's special about this story and what makes it more than something that should have come with the Gears of War 3 DLC season pass. Wild West Shooters

The modern setting of today's shooters has become a cliche. Eventually, developers will switch to something new - the most likely choice being the near future setting of games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. But there's another time period that needs some love: the Wild West. While there are plenty of Western films, the genre isn't too prevalent in gaming. The most notable releases are probably Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood (a personal favorite) and Red Dead Redemption. Horseback riding and a different selection of guns allow developers to create a game that stands out, with horse back riding and pistol showdowns offering a contrast to the modern setting. It's a gold mine of potential, and I hope to see more Westerns in the future - that means go back to the Wild West, Techland! Ouya

Well, it looks like the cat's out of the bag on a new console concept that is shaping up to shake the major players in the gaming world. Between the very recently-announced Ouya -- a fully-hackable, Android-powered console -- and rumors of Apple and Valve entering the console hardware world, the next few months will be very interesting indeed. Add these three potential newcomers to the existing grudge match between Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft, and you might want to grab some popcorn and wait for the dust to settle before deciding on the next system you invest your time and money in. While the Ouya is still an early concept, not to mention the jury is still out on Apple and Valve entering the console arena, this is exciting news nonetheless. Just stop and imagine for a second: six home gaming consoles duking it out. That is some serious competition we have not seen in a very long time, and I think it would be for the better. For quite awhile now, it seems like players have been too wrapped up in flying the flag of their favorite system to think about anything else on the market. Imagine the potential for discourse, growth -- and not to mention kick-ass games that we all want -- that systems like the Ouya could allow, if rolled out into full production. What do you think? Minecraft Banter

It's been a little while since the last Minecraft update, which came out on April 4th. However, that's not to say Jeb and the team at Mojang are slowing down at all - lots of big updates are still on the way, proving that the game which inspired creativity beyond imagination still hasn't run out of any itself. With the Minecraft 1.3 Update poised to bring in new elements, items and much-welcomed gameplay options (like LAN, for instance), there's probably going to be a resurgence of gamers who can now easily play with a group of friends. With Notch being unattached to Minecraft development for almost a year now, it's good to see Mojang is still going to push out a lot of free content updates (which they did, of course, promise to). More importantly, even though they've reached almost 3 million sales, they're not slowing down at all, or even worse, rushing to make some kind of 'sequel' to monetize the situation, which is a sadly true trend of the industry lately. Over the next year, there's going to be many more updates and many more features, leaving us with more items to build with - and more ideas to cook up. While my own copy of Minecraft has been a lightly-used icon on my desktop for a while, the 1.3 update is certainly going to change that. LAN with a bunch of friends? Sign me up.

That's all for this week's Game Ranter Banter. As always, let us know what you think of this week's news in the comments, or on Twitter @GameRant and Facebook.com/GameRant. If you have specific topics you'd like any of the team to cover, don't hesitate to ask.