E3 Highlights of the Highlights June 5, 2009
Posted by Lyle in News.Tags: E3
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I was not there; except via the power of the internets. Here’s a brief synopsis of some of the bigger announcements:
- Star Wars: The Old Republic will be the first MMO where the story is all up in the player’s face. The game from Bioware will feature full voice acting for every playable and non-playable character in the game. Yeah – that’s A LOT of voice-overs. The trailer that was shown for this game instantly evaporated any coolness and calmness I may have been wearing and my inner geek exploded to life… If the trailer and the hands-on impressions I’ve seen are any indication – this game will bring Star Wars back to life to many a jaded Star Wars fan. The word is that if you liked Knights of the Old Republic; you’ll love this.
- Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker was announced for the PSP; but a decidedly more monumental announcement was that a new game in the franchise called Metal Gear Rising (which is a Raiden game) is coming to Xbox 360 (gasp) and PS3.
- Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is looking great in single-player mode, and features tons of snow in the level “Cliffhanger.” No Multiplayer was shown that I am aware of (WHY?).
- God of War 3 is gross; and apparently is God of War in hi-definition (as in not much is different – but most fans won’t care). And it’s really gross.
- Dante’s Inferno is gross; and apparently is God of War in hi-definition and on Xbox 360. It features an action game based on a literary classic and it seems that some game journalists are worried that the blockbuster action title is trivializing its subject matter. Pardon the skepticism but we’ll have to wait and see if Dante can play the role of angry-action-super-hero guy… Plus I heard that the developer has included unbaptized infants in the evil monster line-up… Wait what?
- Nintendo’s press conference was the snoozer of the week. While they did announce some exciting games (New Super Mario Bros. Wii – 4 players, a new Metroid game, and Super Mario Galaxy 2 were the big ones), they did it very slowly, with lots of words… There was a fair amount of yawn-enducing bragging from Microsoft and Sony as well – but Nintendo excelled at it…
- Microsoft and Sony both showed off new motion-sensing technologies that they are working on – and both of them looked like they have great potential for the future. MS’s Project Natal is camera-based and controller free; Sony’s ‘wiimote’ is very promising and they both looked like they actually work; which is a plus. Speaking of plus; Nintendo also talked about new motion-sensing technology (Wii Motion Plus) which was also talked about last year at E for All. Hmmm.
- Halo ODST was demoed; looked great. Halo REACH was announced which would have to be a prequel to the first Halo and has it’s own novel to draw from HALO: Fall of Reach.
- Peter Molyneux showed off the downright freaky Milo – an artificially intelligent ‘game character’ that uses Microsoft’s Natal project to recognize real people in real time and talk and interact with them. Amazing as it was; all kinds of scary sci-fi stories popped up in my head… Hal 9000, Skynet, SHODAN, the Matrix and WarGames anyone?
- Oh yeah, and there was this little announcement made about The Beatles: Rock Band game. And it’s quite funny that the most awkward part of Microsoft’s press conference featured rock legends Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr being paraded around and obviously not knowing what they were doing there or talking about…
There were so many games mentioned at the show that it’s very difficult to absorb the amount of info that has been circling around. I’m gonna try and make a list of the ones that I think will be noteworthy… But for now I need to simply conclude that 2009 and 2010 will be a lot like 2008 – great years for gamers…
E3 2008 Highlights July 16, 2008
Posted by Lyle in Must Read, News.Tags: E3, Gaming Industry
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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
