christiangamer

OK, so I’m not actually there or anything – hey I’m just one dude with no budget, trying to make a stand for justice and peace in the galaxy…  umm, nevermind.  So here’s a quick rundown of some of the most newsworthy news coming from this years Electronic Entertainment Expo (oops, it’s called E for All now):

• Co-op gameplay seems to be the in thing this year (great news if you ask me); Gears of War 2, Resistance 2, Resident Evil 2, Call of Duty: World at War, Too Human (check out the demo on Xbox LIVE), all the various music games, Animal Crossing: City Folk, Fable 2 (online and offline coop confirmed), Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Fusion all have cooperative modes.  There are sure to be more that I’ve missed or forgotten.
• Lame-brain decision of the year: Nintendo DS gets a Grand Theft Auto game?  Yes folks, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is coming to your child’s favorite portable system.  Now you can take murder, theft, and prostitution with you on the go!  yay.  (sarcasm)
• Surprise of the show so far: Final Fantasy XIII is no longer a PS3 exclusive; it’s coming to PS3 AND Xbox 360 simultaneously to english-speaking countries.  It’s a Japanese release on PS3 only first, and will then be ported and localized for us sometime after that.
• Could be great/could be a parental issue: Wii gets voice chat via Wii Speak accessory.  It was announced alongside an online multiplayer Animal Crossing game for the Wii – Animal Crossing: City Folk.
• Wii Sports: Resort, a sequel to the great Wii Sports is coming.  They demoed a frisbee/dog catching game, a Jet-ski game, and a sword-fighting game.  Also in the same line is Wii Music, which will feature 50 playable instruments including full drums and an orchestra.  It’s looking very casual (like grandma can play with grandson with minimal effort) and light-hearted: a big difference with the more hardcore Guitar Hero series.
• Alongside the Wii games will be another accessory, which brings hope for more precise motion detection (and from the videos I’ve seen it looks like it works); Wii Motion Plus is an accessory that attaches to the bottom of the Wiimote and looks to greatly enhance gameplay in titles like Wii Sports: Resort and the Star Wars games Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Lightsaber Duels and The Force: Unleashed.
• Big games announced were: God of War 3 (PS3), DC Universe Online (MMORPG for PS3), MAG (”Massive Action Game” for PS3 featuring 256 player online battles), I Am Alive (multi-platform disaster/adventure game), and there was confirmation that (this deserves its own bullet)
• Bungie is working on some sort of new Halo game.  This announcement was apparently set to be held for the future, but a Microsoft dude let it slip – as such there are no real details except that it’s a true Halo game that is not Halo Wars or the Peter Jackson project.  Rumors abound from Halo 4 to a Halo prequel to a squad-based, tactical Halo (Ghost Recon style).  I vote for the latter!  I’d love some Ghost Recon in sci-fi.

So there’s lots of news as you can see, and yet this seems like a lot of stuff that was already known or assumed.  I think Microsoft had a great press-conference simply because they showed gameplay and had the biggest surprise with the Final Fantasy announcement.  Sony’s conference was pretty good with a great showcase for Little Big Planet and the God of War announcement.  Nintendo’s conference was good for casual gamers that probably weren’t watching a video game press conference… but left us mid-to-hardcore gamers wanting more.

All in all, I can say without a doubt that this will be another big holiday season for gaming.  My must-have game wishlist has just gotten bigger (and therefore more ’spensive).  It’s a great time to be a gamer.

I’ll be bringing some more news towards the end of the conference this week and whip up a “best of show” thingy – y’know cause I’m a professional enthuisiast and all…

-Lyle