All of the hype this E3 has been surrounding Nintendo's announcement that they will be unveiling a new console, and that it will be playable on the show floor. Is it a new Wii? With HD? Is it more in line with the Gamecube/a hardcoreish console? Is it something completely new and different that sounds cool but no one will ever really know what to do with like the Wii? Stay tuned for the answer.
I personally came into it having been thoroughly wowed last year by Nintendo at E3, only to find that most of their greatly hyped releases only stirred a kind of "meh" response. And worst of all, the 3DS' no glasses 3D turned out to not really work. I tried it out with Pilotwings Resort at Best Buy and could tell just how much that thing was straining my eyes, and how finicky the effect was if you didn't hold your head and the controller in exactly the same position the entire time. Sure it's still a nice vamped up DS, but it disappointed. So with the announcement of a new console, I'm back to being wary. But on to the actual show...
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Zelda, an entire orchestra played the new theme song to Skyward Sword alongside a compilation video of all the past Zelda titles. Then Miyamoto, who created Zelda, came out and had some fun asking the orchestra to play some classic tunes, like those going along with opening a treasure chest and solving a puzzle. Miyamoto is adorable in how enthused he is about the entire thing. But then we get to the important part: the games. In celebration of the 25th year, there will be a new Zelda game for each platform. Link's Awakening is relaunching on the e-store on the DS, Ocarina of Time 3D for the 3DS (which has a bunch of new features like hint movies for first time players, or the mirror Master Quest mode for the hardcore), the 4 player co-op Four Swords game as a free download for DS, and of course, Skyward Sword for the Wii. And the orchestra is there as a taste of the 25th anniversary orchestral concert which will be touring around the world, and yes, there will be a CD.
So after that big self-pat on the back, and some more orchestral music, they mention what we're all here for...the new console. They acknowledge that the Wii essentially expanded their player base, but wasn't for everyone. Well, with this new console they have two words for you: "deeper" and "wider"..............by which they mean deeper gameplay experiences for the hardcore and even wider appeal than the Wii of course, what were you thinking? But of course, this is just a teaser for showing it off later in the conference..........the console, that is. Until then...
All your favorite franchises are coming to 3DS. Mario Kart, Starfox, Super Mario, Kid Icarus, and Luigi's Mansion. Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo America, then comes out and says some very interesting things. And I think it perfectly explains Nintendo's philosophy, and why they keep releasing the same games over and over again. He goes into a speech about how "We hear you. You want what you've always wanted. But you also want something new." How we like the comfortable, but want the buzz of the new. And how those may be contradictions, but they can do it. Then we get trailers for all of the above games, explaining how yes, each is familiar, but each has some new 3D tricks that make it new, essentially. Mario Kart just adds 3D, Starfox will have tilt control (bad idea, since the 3D effect is so centered around holding the controller in this "sweet spot") along with real-time video of you and the other 3 players you play against in multiplayer, Super Mario focuses on 3D platforming, Kid Icarus will have playing cards you can fight with using the 3DS camera and AR (augmented reality), and Luigi's Mansion 2 will have some kind of 3D integration (hard to tell from the trailer). It's essentially everything we've seen before, just with 3D. So essentially, expect what you've always expected from Nintendo...more of the same.
But thank goodness there's third parties interested in the 3DS, as they show trailers for Resident Evil: Mercenaries, Mario and Sonic at the 2012 Olympic Games, Ace Combat, Tetris, Cave Story 3D, Resident Evil: Revelations, Driver: Renegade, Pac-Man and Galaga: Dimensions, Tekken 3D, and Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D......wait, let me look at that list again.....Really? Really? These are titles you want to showcase? I understand the other blockbuster titles you were listing off last year may not be ready yet, but...looking at that list and the trailers that went along with them...let's just say I'm not jumping out of my seat to grab a 3DS. I'm barely even lifting a finger.
They even bring out added 3D and AR functionality for Pokemon Black and White with an advanced pokedex, but apparently the pokedex can only be filled with special codes and trading with friends, etc., not through the actual game. WTF Nintendo.
Well at least they're moving right on to the new console. And here it is...the WiiU. U, for uuuuuuuuuh, what? When it first came out, the name "Wii" was meant to symbolize "we", all of us playing together. Apparently now the U is in there to symbolize how yes, it's still about us all playing together, but now it's also about a better experience for "you" as well. Apparently it's also "unique", "unifying" and even "utopian". How does it accomplish this? Well, I'm going to put aside the next 30 minutes of confusing, ambiguous, and hype-filled presentation to just present what I've learned from not only this conference, but added details that were released later that cleared up some unanswered questions.
The WiiU, despite appearances, is in fact an entirely new console, but with a very special controller. It will output full 1080p hi-def video, uses some kind of disc (as yet unspecified), and will use a Wii sensor bar to be fully backwards compatible with all Wii games. But while details on the console itself remain vague, the controller was up front and center to define what the new WiiU experience is going to be. This thing is the size of an iPad or tablet, with a 6" touchscreen on the front, a front-facing camera, two analog sticks, shoulder buttons, your standard 4 button a/b/x/y, a microphone, gyroscope, accelerometer, and speakers. In essence, think of it as a tablet mashed with a standard controller.
The application of said controller to gaming comes in many forms, with Nintendo I think hoping as they did with the Wii that third party developers will look at this new tech and think of really cool things to do with it. Currently, though, they had several tech-like demonstrations to show off. There were essentially three different configurations of how it could be used: as a simple controller for the game on the TV, in combination with the TV, or alone. The most impressive thing it can do is take any Wii U game playing on your TV, and transfer it straight to the controller so you can keep playing if someone else wants to use the TV. It can also be used in conjunction with the TV, allowing things like your inventory to just be on the controller screen instead of taking up space on the big screen, or even allowing interactivity where you can do something like shoot throwing stars by sliding your hand across the touchscreen towards the TV screen. Another possible interesting application is to use it as a window into the game, allowing you to look all around you with the controller, exploring your living room as if it were the game world. Apparently in one demo on the floor you had to use the controller to look around the room to stop incoming arrows from hitting you that you otherwise wouldn't be able to see.
But as I always say, impressive/innovative tech means nothing without the games to support it, and Nintendo delivered quite a shocker on this one. While their own first-party titles were typical/uninteresting, the very first third party title they announced was Darksiders 2, showing that they've finally expanded into the mature market. But the real surprise came when after that they started flashing up other titles like Batman: Arkham City and they have EA's CEO talking about bringing Battlefield 3 over. So finally, Nintendo is getting the same games that the hardcore consoles are getting. To what degree those titles will use the Wii U tech is uncertain, especially as the console isn't coming until late next year, after most of these titles will launch for the other platforms. Still, it's nice to see that Nintendo is finally stepping up to the plate with some hardcore titles and getting the support they so desperately need.
But here's the real question, and I think it's pretty clear from Sony's response what the answer is: is this a next gen console, or is it simply gen 1.5...or even just stepping into this gen? Sony was quite clear in their response that they were not worried about the Wii U, and that it won't be hampering or hastening their plans to release their next console sometime around 2014. Especially because...they're already getting that tech covered with the Vita. With the Transfarring system coming to Metal Gear games, and the cross functionality shown off with Ruin, it's already clear that the greatest feature of Wii U, namely being able to continue playing on the controller when the TV is occupied, is already being taken care of by the Vita. And it's not a big stretch to see it doing the other stuff as well. It might take a version 2.0 to get the right wireless tech in it, but frankly it's not that big a leap, and with a 5" screen, you're not getting that much less screen for a much more wieldy thing to hold in your hands. For once, Nintendo's brand new innovation...doesn't appear to be all that brand new. Time will tell, especially in what Sony decides to do with the Vita, and as we get more details about everything the Wii U will do closer to its release next year, but Nintendo might find themselves once again woefully behind the times in a much shorter period of time than they expected.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
E3 2011: Sony
Before the PSN network outage, E3 looked to belong to Sony this year. Then, Sony mistakenly declared war on hackers, and lost. For a month, there was no online. They lost money, the second-party companies that use PSN lost money, and everyone was just generally pissed off. So instead, Sony walks into E3 humble, and with a big elephant in the room.
And they dealt with it wonderfully. Right off the bat the CEO comes out, and gives a long, very heartfelt apology to everyone (except the press, who he says "You're welcome" to). It felt sincere, was just long enough to not feel like a throwaway, but was just short enough not to distract from the line-up of awesome they had in store. So bravo, Sony.
Of course, after that, what better way to start the show than with Uncharted 3. If you played Uncharted 2, you remember the train section. Well get ready to have that blown away by by the boat section they showed off. Dynamically shifting with the waves, a bit of stealth, lots of action...Uncharted 2 set a bar for action adventure games, and this looks to surpass it. Waiting with bated breath for November 1st.
Blockbuster #2: Resistance 3. So far Insomniac had only shown off a section on a boat, which looked...well, it didn't sell me. This section, an ambush on a dropship, looked much more intense, using more of the cool gadgets and weapons expected from an Insomniac game. Unlike the rest of the world, I didn't enjoy the first Resistance game, and I haven't played the second, so I'm keeping my reservations about the third, but there's no doubt that for FPS fans, Resistance 3 is going to stay true to its traditions of gritty, high action combat with innovative tech. But to top it all off, they announced a new PS Move bundle, which will come with Resistance 3, the PS Eye, a Move controller, a navigation controller, and the sharpshooter peripheral, all for only $150. So if you're ever going to get Move, this will be the way to do it.
Sony has been pushing the 3D train along whether people want it or not, possibly (okay, definitely) because they also sell the 3D TVs. Both Uncharted and Resistance will have 3D, but then they also announce that the God of War Origins collection (the 2 PSP games remastered for PS3) AND the Ico/Shadow of the Colossus collection will both be coming this September, and both will be fully playable in 3D. But all this 3D doesn't really matter if a TV is going to cost you a ridiculous amount of money right? So they introduce a PS branded 24" 3DTV, with a special tech that allows two players to see two distinct images on the same TV set instead of having to do split screen, AND the 3D glasses are going to be less expensive. So what does all this actually come to? The TV, a pair of glasses, and HDMI cable, and Resistance 3...$500. Glasses alone...$70. While I still wince at the glasses price, taking into account the cost of Resistance and the glasses, that makes the TV cost only about $370, which is a steal. Though, it also seems to me that if you really want to spend the money on a 3DTV, you're going to want more than 24". Still, at least Sony has caught on to the fact that if you really want 3D to take off, you're going to need to make it more affordable.
From 3D we move to...the Move. The first title they show is NBA 2K12, where using the Move you can easily just point and click at the person you want to pass to, or while on defense click the guy you want to block. Now, the thing about it is it looks like you can pretty much let the game play itself, as Kobe Bryant shows when he comes up on stage and seems to not really play the game at all (watch the cursor on screen). Plus it's a sports game so I already don't care.
Next up is Medieval Moves: Dead Man's Quest. From the same makers as Sports Champions, this quirky title looks to do away with an inventory system while still allowing you access to three weapons: sword and shield, bow and arrow, and throwing stars. Depending on the motion you make, that's the weapon you use, and the switch is really quite seamless. It seems a game that would work much better with two Move controllers, but they only showcased one. Still, it looks to be a fun use of Move, and it's coming this Fall.
Trailer for Infamous 2 that reminds me I need to review it...heehee. Whoops. But there's also the announcement that later this year they will be adding Move functionality to both Infamous 2 and adding more Move functionality to LittleBigPlanet 2.
Trailer for Starhawk, which while it was a little unclear about what the gameplay will be like, has received nothing but good buzz from its showing on the show floor. A mix of ground combat, air combat, and some kind of system where new units/equipment is dropped from space? Sounds cool to me.
Teaser for Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. Never did play the originals or get the Sly collection, though I've heard nothing but good stuff about it. Time to get the collection?
Now here's something I don't know what to make of. Dust 514 is going to be an extension of EVE Online, a massive space MMO, but it's going to be exclusive to PS3 and focus on ground combat. Yet, it will still link somehow with EVE. Not only that, but it will have Move support, a space in Home, and will extend to the NGP (yes, it finally gets a name, more on that in a bit). Guess we have to wait until Spring 2012 to see what it's all about.
Get your saliva glands ready, it's Bioshock Infinite. Only a trailer, but still, the more I see of this game the more I NEED IT. But then Ken Levine, head of Irrational Games steps up. And he looks kind of nervous. And then he starts talking about how he did this interview a while ago doubting motion control and how he said some disparaging things about the Move. And all I could think was Gabe Newell last year announcing he was wrong about Sony and how the PS3 version of Portal 2 would be the best one. So Ken keeps going and says Sony heard the interview, and sent him a Move and talked with him about it and basically said "Just try it." And he did, and he liked it. So Bioshock Infinite will have Move support. And if that isn't a reason to get it I don't know what is. Then to top it all off, he says there's another Bioshock game that has been mulling around in his head for a long time and it's still in the very early stages, but it finally found a home...on the NGP. Oh, and after that, the PS3 version of Infinite will also have a free copy of the original Bioshock. On the same disc. Good....god. It's like Christmas came early.
Brief mention of an exclusive game mode for Saint's Row the Third coming November 15th.
Here's something interesting, a co-op third person shooter based on the next Star Trek film that actually looks good? And it's fully compatible with Move, and will have a phaser peripheral. And it comes with a prequel exclusive to PSN. Rock on.
Some exclusive offers from EA: race down Mt. Fuji in SSX, 7 additional supercars for Need for Speed: The Run, Battlefield 1943 for free and on the same disc as Battlefield 3, along with other unmentioned support for the NGP.
Speaking of, it's finally time! Well, first an odd and very vague announcement about Playstation Suite, which will allow PS certified Android smartphones access to the "playstation experience". What this means is anyone's guess, especially since they talked about it as people using it to get a taste of Playstation which will bring them running to the PS3.
Now it's time! The NGP is officially called...the PS Vita. Front and back touchscreens, dual analog sticks, front and back cameras, a multitouch 5" OLED screen, and six-axis. This thing is a freakin powerhouse. Then they mention a 3G version with an exclusive contract with the nation's fastest network...and you can tell everyone is wondering who the hell they think that is...and then they say it. The bad word. AT&T. And there's an audible groan throughout the audience. After all the complaints about AT&T with the iPhone, how Sony could turn to them and not expect backlash is beyond me. Oh well, moving on they're finally introducing cross-game chat which PSN users have been complaining about not having (since it's on Xbox) for a while now, along with something they're calling Near, which sounds like a way to connect with other PS Vita users near you.
But new tech means nothing without good games to go with it. So what do they roll out but Uncharted: Golden Abyss. And...wow. Just wow. The graphics are easily as good as the first Uncharted. Then on top of that, the touch screen controls not only look somewhat useful and interesting, but in case you don't care for them they're also completely optional. Whaaaaat.
Next up is Ruin, a top-down action RPG that looked an awful lot like Torchlight/Diablo. However, there's apparently this system whereby during the course of the game you create your own lair that rivals you encounter on PSN can attack, and you can attack theirs as well to earn better loot. Sounds interesting, as long as it's implemented well. But then the real kicker comes in that you can seamlessly transfer between playing on the Vita and playing on the PS3. Just save your game to the Cloud, load it on PS3, and there you go. I certainly won't complain about a portable Diablo clone I can also play at home.
ModNation Racers is back with a Vita specific version that allows you to craft a track in much less time using the touch screen. By touching the back you can add mountains, by touching the front you can draw the line of the track, add jumps and banks with a flick of your finger, and even create dents and lakes in the scenery just by pressing on an area. Again, racing games and creating tracks aren't really my thing, but I can certainly see the appeal, especially as all 2 million tracks and cars from the previous versions will be available from day 1.
Also no big surprise, Little Big Planet is coming to Vita, also with new functionality and sharing between it and the PS3 (at least in costumes, that's all they showed in the trailer).
Street Fighter X Tekken will have a PS Vita version, which really isn't surprising considering Street Fighter came to the 3DS. What is surprising is that Cole from Infamous will be in the game, which is awesome, and a short demo showed the graphics to easily be up to par for a PS3 Street Fighter title, despite still being in like alpha phase.
But now comes the important part. The price. There are two models, one just WiFi, and the other WiFi+3G. WiFi only will be *drum roll*....$249. WiFi+3G will be $299. This is frankly shocking, as not only is it the same price as the, sorry, technologically inferior 3DS, but it's also the same price that the PSP launched at. Now, it's arguable the PSP launched at a far too high price, but it's now just as easily arguable that the Vita is launching at a low price point considering all the tech inside. I've never owned a handheld before, but the Vita is making a strong case for being the first. Great launch titles, impressive tech, connectivity with PS3, and a stomachable price point means this thing is going to sell like hotcakes.
Sony looks to be coming out of this E3 stronger than ever, with a great showing in terms of blockbuster games, new Move support, and the PS Vita. Despite the PSN outage, Sony's rolling on, and looking to wow everyone. Well done.
And they dealt with it wonderfully. Right off the bat the CEO comes out, and gives a long, very heartfelt apology to everyone (except the press, who he says "You're welcome" to). It felt sincere, was just long enough to not feel like a throwaway, but was just short enough not to distract from the line-up of awesome they had in store. So bravo, Sony.
Of course, after that, what better way to start the show than with Uncharted 3. If you played Uncharted 2, you remember the train section. Well get ready to have that blown away by by the boat section they showed off. Dynamically shifting with the waves, a bit of stealth, lots of action...Uncharted 2 set a bar for action adventure games, and this looks to surpass it. Waiting with bated breath for November 1st.
Blockbuster #2: Resistance 3. So far Insomniac had only shown off a section on a boat, which looked...well, it didn't sell me. This section, an ambush on a dropship, looked much more intense, using more of the cool gadgets and weapons expected from an Insomniac game. Unlike the rest of the world, I didn't enjoy the first Resistance game, and I haven't played the second, so I'm keeping my reservations about the third, but there's no doubt that for FPS fans, Resistance 3 is going to stay true to its traditions of gritty, high action combat with innovative tech. But to top it all off, they announced a new PS Move bundle, which will come with Resistance 3, the PS Eye, a Move controller, a navigation controller, and the sharpshooter peripheral, all for only $150. So if you're ever going to get Move, this will be the way to do it.
Sony has been pushing the 3D train along whether people want it or not, possibly (okay, definitely) because they also sell the 3D TVs. Both Uncharted and Resistance will have 3D, but then they also announce that the God of War Origins collection (the 2 PSP games remastered for PS3) AND the Ico/Shadow of the Colossus collection will both be coming this September, and both will be fully playable in 3D. But all this 3D doesn't really matter if a TV is going to cost you a ridiculous amount of money right? So they introduce a PS branded 24" 3DTV, with a special tech that allows two players to see two distinct images on the same TV set instead of having to do split screen, AND the 3D glasses are going to be less expensive. So what does all this actually come to? The TV, a pair of glasses, and HDMI cable, and Resistance 3...$500. Glasses alone...$70. While I still wince at the glasses price, taking into account the cost of Resistance and the glasses, that makes the TV cost only about $370, which is a steal. Though, it also seems to me that if you really want to spend the money on a 3DTV, you're going to want more than 24". Still, at least Sony has caught on to the fact that if you really want 3D to take off, you're going to need to make it more affordable.
From 3D we move to...the Move. The first title they show is NBA 2K12, where using the Move you can easily just point and click at the person you want to pass to, or while on defense click the guy you want to block. Now, the thing about it is it looks like you can pretty much let the game play itself, as Kobe Bryant shows when he comes up on stage and seems to not really play the game at all (watch the cursor on screen). Plus it's a sports game so I already don't care.
Next up is Medieval Moves: Dead Man's Quest. From the same makers as Sports Champions, this quirky title looks to do away with an inventory system while still allowing you access to three weapons: sword and shield, bow and arrow, and throwing stars. Depending on the motion you make, that's the weapon you use, and the switch is really quite seamless. It seems a game that would work much better with two Move controllers, but they only showcased one. Still, it looks to be a fun use of Move, and it's coming this Fall.
Trailer for Infamous 2 that reminds me I need to review it...heehee. Whoops. But there's also the announcement that later this year they will be adding Move functionality to both Infamous 2 and adding more Move functionality to LittleBigPlanet 2.
Trailer for Starhawk, which while it was a little unclear about what the gameplay will be like, has received nothing but good buzz from its showing on the show floor. A mix of ground combat, air combat, and some kind of system where new units/equipment is dropped from space? Sounds cool to me.
Teaser for Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. Never did play the originals or get the Sly collection, though I've heard nothing but good stuff about it. Time to get the collection?
Now here's something I don't know what to make of. Dust 514 is going to be an extension of EVE Online, a massive space MMO, but it's going to be exclusive to PS3 and focus on ground combat. Yet, it will still link somehow with EVE. Not only that, but it will have Move support, a space in Home, and will extend to the NGP (yes, it finally gets a name, more on that in a bit). Guess we have to wait until Spring 2012 to see what it's all about.
Get your saliva glands ready, it's Bioshock Infinite. Only a trailer, but still, the more I see of this game the more I NEED IT. But then Ken Levine, head of Irrational Games steps up. And he looks kind of nervous. And then he starts talking about how he did this interview a while ago doubting motion control and how he said some disparaging things about the Move. And all I could think was Gabe Newell last year announcing he was wrong about Sony and how the PS3 version of Portal 2 would be the best one. So Ken keeps going and says Sony heard the interview, and sent him a Move and talked with him about it and basically said "Just try it." And he did, and he liked it. So Bioshock Infinite will have Move support. And if that isn't a reason to get it I don't know what is. Then to top it all off, he says there's another Bioshock game that has been mulling around in his head for a long time and it's still in the very early stages, but it finally found a home...on the NGP. Oh, and after that, the PS3 version of Infinite will also have a free copy of the original Bioshock. On the same disc. Good....god. It's like Christmas came early.
Brief mention of an exclusive game mode for Saint's Row the Third coming November 15th.
Here's something interesting, a co-op third person shooter based on the next Star Trek film that actually looks good? And it's fully compatible with Move, and will have a phaser peripheral. And it comes with a prequel exclusive to PSN. Rock on.
Some exclusive offers from EA: race down Mt. Fuji in SSX, 7 additional supercars for Need for Speed: The Run, Battlefield 1943 for free and on the same disc as Battlefield 3, along with other unmentioned support for the NGP.
Speaking of, it's finally time! Well, first an odd and very vague announcement about Playstation Suite, which will allow PS certified Android smartphones access to the "playstation experience". What this means is anyone's guess, especially since they talked about it as people using it to get a taste of Playstation which will bring them running to the PS3.
Now it's time! The NGP is officially called...the PS Vita. Front and back touchscreens, dual analog sticks, front and back cameras, a multitouch 5" OLED screen, and six-axis. This thing is a freakin powerhouse. Then they mention a 3G version with an exclusive contract with the nation's fastest network...and you can tell everyone is wondering who the hell they think that is...and then they say it. The bad word. AT&T. And there's an audible groan throughout the audience. After all the complaints about AT&T with the iPhone, how Sony could turn to them and not expect backlash is beyond me. Oh well, moving on they're finally introducing cross-game chat which PSN users have been complaining about not having (since it's on Xbox) for a while now, along with something they're calling Near, which sounds like a way to connect with other PS Vita users near you.
But new tech means nothing without good games to go with it. So what do they roll out but Uncharted: Golden Abyss. And...wow. Just wow. The graphics are easily as good as the first Uncharted. Then on top of that, the touch screen controls not only look somewhat useful and interesting, but in case you don't care for them they're also completely optional. Whaaaaat.
Next up is Ruin, a top-down action RPG that looked an awful lot like Torchlight/Diablo. However, there's apparently this system whereby during the course of the game you create your own lair that rivals you encounter on PSN can attack, and you can attack theirs as well to earn better loot. Sounds interesting, as long as it's implemented well. But then the real kicker comes in that you can seamlessly transfer between playing on the Vita and playing on the PS3. Just save your game to the Cloud, load it on PS3, and there you go. I certainly won't complain about a portable Diablo clone I can also play at home.
ModNation Racers is back with a Vita specific version that allows you to craft a track in much less time using the touch screen. By touching the back you can add mountains, by touching the front you can draw the line of the track, add jumps and banks with a flick of your finger, and even create dents and lakes in the scenery just by pressing on an area. Again, racing games and creating tracks aren't really my thing, but I can certainly see the appeal, especially as all 2 million tracks and cars from the previous versions will be available from day 1.
Also no big surprise, Little Big Planet is coming to Vita, also with new functionality and sharing between it and the PS3 (at least in costumes, that's all they showed in the trailer).
Street Fighter X Tekken will have a PS Vita version, which really isn't surprising considering Street Fighter came to the 3DS. What is surprising is that Cole from Infamous will be in the game, which is awesome, and a short demo showed the graphics to easily be up to par for a PS3 Street Fighter title, despite still being in like alpha phase.
But now comes the important part. The price. There are two models, one just WiFi, and the other WiFi+3G. WiFi only will be *drum roll*....$249. WiFi+3G will be $299. This is frankly shocking, as not only is it the same price as the, sorry, technologically inferior 3DS, but it's also the same price that the PSP launched at. Now, it's arguable the PSP launched at a far too high price, but it's now just as easily arguable that the Vita is launching at a low price point considering all the tech inside. I've never owned a handheld before, but the Vita is making a strong case for being the first. Great launch titles, impressive tech, connectivity with PS3, and a stomachable price point means this thing is going to sell like hotcakes.
Sony looks to be coming out of this E3 stronger than ever, with a great showing in terms of blockbuster games, new Move support, and the PS Vita. Despite the PSN outage, Sony's rolling on, and looking to wow everyone. Well done.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
E3 2011: Ubisoft
Ubisoft has a special place in my heart for their E3 conferences. They're all very French, and as such come up with some ideas that don't necessarily translate well, but you can at least tell they were trying really hard to be funny. Last year they had Joel McHale and laser tag. This year...
Well this year they start off letting us know that this is their 25th year, and good on 'em. The CEO comes out, thanks everyone for their support, and introduces the man behind the very first game they ever released, Rayman, to show off Rayman: Origins. But, being French, it wasn't just enough to have him come on stage. He appeared, looked around and commented that it was a wonderful theater, and said they could perform Shakespeare. So he gets on one knee, lifts his arms and says "Tell me Yves, after 25 years...Ubi, or not Ubi?" and Yves responds "Ubi of course!" They hug, laugh, and the audience laughs awkwardly with them. Oh the French.
Anyways, Rayman: Origins. This was introduced last year and looked very impressive, and the demo maintained that feeling. The levels they showed were fast paced, very colorful, kinda crazy, and looked like a whole lot of fun. To think that only 5 people made this game is frankly astounding.
And then they introduce our host for the evening....Mr. Caffeine. I'm not kidding. This douchebag looking fellow shows up on stage with that stereotypically bad stand-up comic personality, introduces himself as Ubisoft's own Mr. Caffeine (for the past 8 years) and proceeds to try really hard to be funny while fully admitting to things like drumming up his own applause and not being afraid of a couple dick jokes. *sigh* To seal the deal he even brought out a Charlie Sheen joke nearly right off the bat. Alright, moving on.
For Driver: San Francisco all we get is a trailer, which highlights literally nothing about this game that would set it apart from any other game besides "It's set in the 70s! Drive retro cars!" Knowing all the interesting things about it that they showed off last year, this was a bit of a disappointment.
To make up for it, they show off an amazing demo of Farcry 3. Seamlessly integrating cutscene with gameplay, this continuation of the franchise looks to return to its roots with a vibrant jungle, big open world, and a main villain who leaks that creepy, quiet kind of insanity. Add some impressive graphics on top of it all and you've got a game to beat.
Next up is a new Brothers In Arms game from Gearbox (same people behind Borderlands). While Brothers In Arms has typically been about realism in WW2, this time they're taking a different tack. Introducing the Furious Four, a band of Inglorious Basterds-like fellows who each have their own unique style of ripping Nazis to shreds. All we got is a trailer, and based on what I saw I'm not going to hold my breath, but who knows, this could be a surprise.
Some familiar faces in Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson show up on screen to talk about the Tintin video game which will tie in to the movie. Frankly, it seemed like all the features those two were impressed with were already standard in most video games. Frankly, with the poor track record of movie-based video games, I saw nothing that would change that.
Apparently this is also the 10th anniversary of the Ghost Recon franchise, which means it's time to finally get a look at Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. Is it me, or has this game changed from last year? Last year the gameplay we saw looked very scripted, and while it still looked interesting and fun, it also looked a bit straightforward. This is a new beast, with dynamic team combat, running and gunning, and some big action pieces. I wasn't that interested in this game last year, and while I still don't really think it's a game for me, I was wholly impressed by what they showed off here. And then after the demo they announce something VERY impressive, Ghost Recon Online, where it looks like you'll have access to the multiplayer portion of Ghost Recon ...for free. And if you have Future Soldier the two will tie together somehow, probably in stats and unlockables, etc. Still, that's quite an announcement, and free can't be beat.
Next up they roll out Maniaplanet once more to talk about Trackmania 2, a game where you build your own cars and tracks like ModNation Racers, but with much more realistic visuals and style. And that style is pretty. Easily ranking with the top racing games this generation. Personally, I just can't wait until they extend it to Questmania, where you can make your own RPGs. Unfortunately, they first have to roll out Trackmania 2 and Shootmania, their FPS builder. DAMN YOU.
Raving Rabbids: Alive and Kicking. Uses Kinect to bring the Rabbids into your home. Nuff said.
Just Dance 3. You might have guessed, it looks just like the others. Except this time they got celebrities like Katy Perry to play it in a commercial.
Rocksmith. A game dedicated to teaching you Guitar. Not an added pro mode like in rock band where you could maybe learn guitar from it, this is meant to teach you guitar. And, it works with any electric guitar. *sigh* Time to go guitar shopping.
Your Shape: Fitness Evolved stunned me last year with its impressive use of Kinect, and the sequel looks to do more of the same. No actual footage was shown, but the first was a resounding success and I'm sure this will be no different.
FINALLY, Assassin's Creed: Revelations. The unexpected, by me anyway, finale to Ezio's trilogy. Here I was thinking Brotherhood was just wrapping up the loose ends of 2, and it turns out it's part two of its own trilogy. I'm not going to complain, especially with how freaking impressive Revelations looks. Showing off the new Hookblade, the ability to make hundreds of types of bombs, and the giant action set piece of using Greek fire (an old school flamethrower) to take down an armada/blockade and then sail casually away was jaw-dropping. And with the promise to wrap up and answer all the questions from not only Ezio, but Altair's storyline as well leaves me salivating until this drops November 15th.
Well this year they start off letting us know that this is their 25th year, and good on 'em. The CEO comes out, thanks everyone for their support, and introduces the man behind the very first game they ever released, Rayman, to show off Rayman: Origins. But, being French, it wasn't just enough to have him come on stage. He appeared, looked around and commented that it was a wonderful theater, and said they could perform Shakespeare. So he gets on one knee, lifts his arms and says "Tell me Yves, after 25 years...Ubi, or not Ubi?" and Yves responds "Ubi of course!" They hug, laugh, and the audience laughs awkwardly with them. Oh the French.
Anyways, Rayman: Origins. This was introduced last year and looked very impressive, and the demo maintained that feeling. The levels they showed were fast paced, very colorful, kinda crazy, and looked like a whole lot of fun. To think that only 5 people made this game is frankly astounding.
And then they introduce our host for the evening....Mr. Caffeine. I'm not kidding. This douchebag looking fellow shows up on stage with that stereotypically bad stand-up comic personality, introduces himself as Ubisoft's own Mr. Caffeine (for the past 8 years) and proceeds to try really hard to be funny while fully admitting to things like drumming up his own applause and not being afraid of a couple dick jokes. *sigh* To seal the deal he even brought out a Charlie Sheen joke nearly right off the bat. Alright, moving on.
For Driver: San Francisco all we get is a trailer, which highlights literally nothing about this game that would set it apart from any other game besides "It's set in the 70s! Drive retro cars!" Knowing all the interesting things about it that they showed off last year, this was a bit of a disappointment.
To make up for it, they show off an amazing demo of Farcry 3. Seamlessly integrating cutscene with gameplay, this continuation of the franchise looks to return to its roots with a vibrant jungle, big open world, and a main villain who leaks that creepy, quiet kind of insanity. Add some impressive graphics on top of it all and you've got a game to beat.
Next up is a new Brothers In Arms game from Gearbox (same people behind Borderlands). While Brothers In Arms has typically been about realism in WW2, this time they're taking a different tack. Introducing the Furious Four, a band of Inglorious Basterds-like fellows who each have their own unique style of ripping Nazis to shreds. All we got is a trailer, and based on what I saw I'm not going to hold my breath, but who knows, this could be a surprise.
Some familiar faces in Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson show up on screen to talk about the Tintin video game which will tie in to the movie. Frankly, it seemed like all the features those two were impressed with were already standard in most video games. Frankly, with the poor track record of movie-based video games, I saw nothing that would change that.
Apparently this is also the 10th anniversary of the Ghost Recon franchise, which means it's time to finally get a look at Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. Is it me, or has this game changed from last year? Last year the gameplay we saw looked very scripted, and while it still looked interesting and fun, it also looked a bit straightforward. This is a new beast, with dynamic team combat, running and gunning, and some big action pieces. I wasn't that interested in this game last year, and while I still don't really think it's a game for me, I was wholly impressed by what they showed off here. And then after the demo they announce something VERY impressive, Ghost Recon Online, where it looks like you'll have access to the multiplayer portion of Ghost Recon ...for free. And if you have Future Soldier the two will tie together somehow, probably in stats and unlockables, etc. Still, that's quite an announcement, and free can't be beat.
Next up they roll out Maniaplanet once more to talk about Trackmania 2, a game where you build your own cars and tracks like ModNation Racers, but with much more realistic visuals and style. And that style is pretty. Easily ranking with the top racing games this generation. Personally, I just can't wait until they extend it to Questmania, where you can make your own RPGs. Unfortunately, they first have to roll out Trackmania 2 and Shootmania, their FPS builder. DAMN YOU.
Raving Rabbids: Alive and Kicking. Uses Kinect to bring the Rabbids into your home. Nuff said.
Just Dance 3. You might have guessed, it looks just like the others. Except this time they got celebrities like Katy Perry to play it in a commercial.
Rocksmith. A game dedicated to teaching you Guitar. Not an added pro mode like in rock band where you could maybe learn guitar from it, this is meant to teach you guitar. And, it works with any electric guitar. *sigh* Time to go guitar shopping.
Your Shape: Fitness Evolved stunned me last year with its impressive use of Kinect, and the sequel looks to do more of the same. No actual footage was shown, but the first was a resounding success and I'm sure this will be no different.
FINALLY, Assassin's Creed: Revelations. The unexpected, by me anyway, finale to Ezio's trilogy. Here I was thinking Brotherhood was just wrapping up the loose ends of 2, and it turns out it's part two of its own trilogy. I'm not going to complain, especially with how freaking impressive Revelations looks. Showing off the new Hookblade, the ability to make hundreds of types of bombs, and the giant action set piece of using Greek fire (an old school flamethrower) to take down an armada/blockade and then sail casually away was jaw-dropping. And with the promise to wrap up and answer all the questions from not only Ezio, but Altair's storyline as well leaves me salivating until this drops November 15th.
E3 2011: EA
EA knows what we want. We want us some Mass Effect 3. Right away. We want a trailer showing the Earth devastated, attacked by hundreds of Reapers. And then we want a demo, where Shepard takes on a Reaper. From behind a mounted turret. And then they tell us we have to wait until March 6th, 2012. WHYYYY.
Then they VERY briefly talked about their new Steam-like download service called Origin, and kept talking about all the games integrated with it throughout the show, but neglected to really say anything about the service. I haven't checked it out myself yet, but from what I can tell they're essentially trying to compete with Steam, just with EA titles. Good luck guys.
Need for Speed: The Run will take you in a race across the country, something called autolog keeps track of all of your and your friends' stats, and there will be out of car action sequences for the first time. The demo looked fine, though to me it seemed like any other racing game, just with some quicktime events for those out of car moments. But then again, I'm not a racing fan.
Star Wars The Old Republic is taking far too long to get here. They've made a lot of promises for an MMO, especially while looking like many other MMOs in terms of gameplay. So this guy comes out and essentially says "We're working really hard on it, I'm not going to try to convince you to play it, just play it and enjoy it." At which point I figure we'll get some sort of demo of somebody playing it....nope. Literally just a compilation/rehash of all of their brilliant but still just CG trailers.
Then they start pumping in smoke over the screen, which is showing a giant mountain, and excitement is building and everyone wonders what the hell is going on and then they show...SSX. Much like my reaction to Twisted Metal last year, SSX has been around for a long time, and despite how excited everyone sounds for it, I really just don't care. I swear they nearly wet themselves talking about how they used data from NASA so you can snowboard down actual mountains. Ah well.
Oop, here's EA Sports again, time for another map. Takeaway from the next 10 minutes: FIFA 11 was massively popular, FIFA 12 is better and will also be massively popular, football players like money to show up at a conference, and Madden 12 will also be massively popular.
Oh no. Oh no no. The Sims is coming to facebook. Because more people needed to be addicted to facebook. Farmville was bad enough. And now the Sims? Oh dear god.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning sounds like it should be one of the best games ever made. Designed by Morrowind and Oblivion designer Ken Rolston, with artistic direction from Todd McFarlane, and a story by acclaimed author R.A. Salvatore, this game could come from out of nowhere and take the RPG crown...if it weren't for Skyrim of course. But still, I remain a little skeptical from what I've seen of the gameplay. It's not that it looks bad, it just doesn't look like anything new. In fact it kind of reminded me of Fable in many ways. So, we'll see.
Then Insomniac comes out, makers of Ratchet and Clank and Resistance, and announces the multiplatform Overstrike, about a team of 4 misfits with a bunch of cool tech and weapons at their disposal causing as much havoc as possible. No gameplay, but the trailer made it look fun (if a bit of a slant on Borderlands' style).
Battlefield 3 seems to have been capturing everyone's attention since gameplay footage was released and promised one of the best looking games this generation thanks to the Frostbite 2 engine. Is there enough here to take the crown from Call of Duty? It certainly looks that way. Destructable environments, sweeping vistas, tight mechanics, all the elements are there for a great game. And to add icing to the cake, while Activision just announced a new service for hardcore Call of Duty players that does special stat tracking and other things I cared nothing about that will cost some unannounced monthly payment, Battlefield is going to be offering what sounds like the exact same features for absolutely free. And with that they launch into the demo...and it's surprisingly underwhelming. It's a loooong, very drawn out tank battle. And while it shows off the graphical impressiveness quite wonderfully, it leaves something to be desired gameplay-wise. Still, no doubt this will be a big contender, especially coming out before Call of Duty on October 25th.
And that's EA!
Then they VERY briefly talked about their new Steam-like download service called Origin, and kept talking about all the games integrated with it throughout the show, but neglected to really say anything about the service. I haven't checked it out myself yet, but from what I can tell they're essentially trying to compete with Steam, just with EA titles. Good luck guys.
Need for Speed: The Run will take you in a race across the country, something called autolog keeps track of all of your and your friends' stats, and there will be out of car action sequences for the first time. The demo looked fine, though to me it seemed like any other racing game, just with some quicktime events for those out of car moments. But then again, I'm not a racing fan.
Star Wars The Old Republic is taking far too long to get here. They've made a lot of promises for an MMO, especially while looking like many other MMOs in terms of gameplay. So this guy comes out and essentially says "We're working really hard on it, I'm not going to try to convince you to play it, just play it and enjoy it." At which point I figure we'll get some sort of demo of somebody playing it....nope. Literally just a compilation/rehash of all of their brilliant but still just CG trailers.
Then they start pumping in smoke over the screen, which is showing a giant mountain, and excitement is building and everyone wonders what the hell is going on and then they show...SSX. Much like my reaction to Twisted Metal last year, SSX has been around for a long time, and despite how excited everyone sounds for it, I really just don't care. I swear they nearly wet themselves talking about how they used data from NASA so you can snowboard down actual mountains. Ah well.
Oop, here's EA Sports again, time for another map. Takeaway from the next 10 minutes: FIFA 11 was massively popular, FIFA 12 is better and will also be massively popular, football players like money to show up at a conference, and Madden 12 will also be massively popular.
Oh no. Oh no no. The Sims is coming to facebook. Because more people needed to be addicted to facebook. Farmville was bad enough. And now the Sims? Oh dear god.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning sounds like it should be one of the best games ever made. Designed by Morrowind and Oblivion designer Ken Rolston, with artistic direction from Todd McFarlane, and a story by acclaimed author R.A. Salvatore, this game could come from out of nowhere and take the RPG crown...if it weren't for Skyrim of course. But still, I remain a little skeptical from what I've seen of the gameplay. It's not that it looks bad, it just doesn't look like anything new. In fact it kind of reminded me of Fable in many ways. So, we'll see.
Then Insomniac comes out, makers of Ratchet and Clank and Resistance, and announces the multiplatform Overstrike, about a team of 4 misfits with a bunch of cool tech and weapons at their disposal causing as much havoc as possible. No gameplay, but the trailer made it look fun (if a bit of a slant on Borderlands' style).
Battlefield 3 seems to have been capturing everyone's attention since gameplay footage was released and promised one of the best looking games this generation thanks to the Frostbite 2 engine. Is there enough here to take the crown from Call of Duty? It certainly looks that way. Destructable environments, sweeping vistas, tight mechanics, all the elements are there for a great game. And to add icing to the cake, while Activision just announced a new service for hardcore Call of Duty players that does special stat tracking and other things I cared nothing about that will cost some unannounced monthly payment, Battlefield is going to be offering what sounds like the exact same features for absolutely free. And with that they launch into the demo...and it's surprisingly underwhelming. It's a loooong, very drawn out tank battle. And while it shows off the graphical impressiveness quite wonderfully, it leaves something to be desired gameplay-wise. Still, no doubt this will be a big contender, especially coming out before Call of Duty on October 25th.
And that's EA!
E3 2011: Microsoft
Sorry for the long delay! I fell behind a bit in my writing and let most of E3 pass me by, but I am back, the conferences are over, and it's time to review the crap out of them starting with good ol' Microsoft.
Now, coming into E3, Microsoft had some leery eyes pointed at it for the seemingly complete lack of console exclusives besides Gears of War 3 while Sony is pumping them out left and right. Add that to some apparently not-as-good-as-they-were-hoping Kinect sales and you get an E3 where Microsoft really needs to hit it out of the park to prove they can compete this year.
So the conference starts, and BAM, right out of the gate we get a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 demo. In the mission they showed you're underwater, part of a team assigned to place mines on a submarine. You heard me right. You put mines on a submarine to make it surface. Then, you infiltrate it, kill everyone aboard, steal some launch codes, launch the missiles, escape the sub to a raft that you drive through explosions and warships all around you and into a waiting aircraft transport that as it lifts off shows you all the destruction happening to Prime Destroyable American City #1, New York. Call of Duty is often compared to a Michael Bay movie, and I think the demo showed why there's good reason for that. Now, the thing to remember with Modern Warfare 3 is that while the company who made it is still called Infinity Ward, who made the first two, due to legal disagreements most of the original staff of Infinity Ward is gone and has regrouped as Respawn. Will this make any difference to how well it sells? Oh god no. Will it make any difference to how it plays and if it carries that special something of the first two? We'll have to wait and see until November 8th.
Next up, the Tomb Raider reboot. Now, this game has been hyped as "grittier" and "darker" and all those adjectives commercial people use to try to make you think a game is cool or better than it really is. So, I have been skeptical. Then they started the demo...and I was frankly blown away. She starts the demo having been captured on this mysterious island, hanging upside down and bound in this almost cocoon. Swinging back and forth she catches another nearby cocoon on fire, and consequently hers, which releases her into the pit below where her side says hello to a pointy stick. Impaled, bleeding and broken, she has to escape from her pursuers through crumbling caves in stunning graphical quality. Apparently this was the first of many games to be unfortunately misrepresented by their demo, as a great deal of the action in the demo was quick-time event based whereas the longer form of the demo available on the show floor showed off a great deal more of actual combat and puzzle solving. And considering I was impressed with so little, this has definitely become a title to watch when it drops in Fall 2012.
Then EA Sports takes the stage and I take a quick snooze. I don't get sports games. I don't understand how a company can put out these yearly iterations of practically the exact same game with a few tweaks but overall the exact same experience, and that people BUY THEM. EN MASSE. Anyways, they did at least bring up the first mention of Kinect, saying that Tiger Woods, Madden, Fifa, and an unannounced title would all support Kinect. Thankfully, this is where the sports talking ends. He then branched out into non-sports titles like The Sims 3 Pets and Family Game Night 4 which will also support Kinect, as well as one little title a few people are excited for...
Mass Effect 3. Here's the thing. They showed off two features of how Kinect will integrate into the game, and neither were very impressive. First, you can choose your dialogue options by directly saying them. However, the thing about Mass Effect's conversation wheel is that the snippet on the wheel is not what is actually said. So basically you say one thing out loud, and then Shepard says something completely different on screen. It...doesn't work. Then, something with at least possible interesting applications, you can speak to your squad members during battle to tell them to do things. "Garrus, move up. Liara, singularity." And so forth. But once again, the thing about doing that is, it's a lot easier to push a button. Yes, it may give you the feeling of being more in the game, but would you really rather spend the extra time talking in the heat of battle? Sure it only takes like a second longer to say something than to press a button, but I am just skeptical of how this function can actually improve the game. In terms of the non-Kinect stuff however, this game looks fabulous. I mean, you finally get to see a Krogan female. Rock. On.
Next up, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, specifically the Gunsmith system. Boasting over 20 million different combinations of parts, you can customize weapons in game exactly the way you want them. By spreading your hands apart, you open up the gun into its different components, and by putting your hands back together you close everything up again. You can also use voice commands for quick access to specific parts. It all looks very Minority Report, which is to say, cooooool. You can even test out the weapons, though the stance you use is very odd (similar to drawing the gun from your back like a sword, and then holding your left hand like you're about to eat something from the invisible fork you're holding while your right hand is clenched and flashes open to fire the gun...just look it up). It seems that Ubisoft, out of everyone, seems to understand that the coolest thing about Kinect is the user interface, not the gameplay mechanics. And then at the end it's announced that all future Tom Clancy titles will support Kinect.
Then they start talking about how Kinect will start working with everything on the Xbox (including a new partnership with Youtube). They unfortunately start slipping into the odd rehearsed quality they had last year here, as to demonstrate how this works, they bring a woman on stage who literally only says things like "Xbox, video" to show how you can now scroll over to the video tab with your voice. Everyone with me now, "Oooooooooooo." At least, I assume that's what they wanted us to say. Instead, it's more like "Oh.....okay." The real kicker is that they're bringing live TV to Xbox this fall. How this will actually work, and why Comcast or DirectTV aren't throwing a hissy fit, is a mystery.
A bunch of new interactivity stuff with UFC fights. Woot.
Here's where the eyes rise, people, as everything from this point is Xbox exclusive...
And they show Gears of War 3. *sigh* And bring out cast member Ice-T to play the demo with the head of Epic, Cliff Bleszinski. The demo is awesome, of course, as they take on a giant sea creature and its small exploding minions. And as a surprise that it sure sounded like no one really cared about, Ice-T's old band Body Count is reuniting to do a song to celebrate the return of Horde mode. Look for Gears on September 20th.
That mysterious game last year which was a partnership with Crytek, makers of Crysis, formerly known as Codename: Kingdoms, is now known as Ryse. It looks to be a brutal first person hack and slash set in Rome, where Kinect reads your body movements and allows you to not just use a sword and shield but also headbutt and kick. No indication of a release date, but this looks to be the first actually mature game just for Kinect. Hopefully it pays off, cause Kinect sure needs more like it.
With this being the 10th anniversary of the first Halo, they've fully remastered the campaign and several old multiplayer maps and are rereleasing it on November 15th. Fanboys rejoice.
Forza Motorsport 4 will have voice and headtracking integration with Kinect, and showed a lot of things that I know and care nothing about as someone who knows nothing about cars. But for all you racing fans out there, it's coming October 11th.
Aw, it's Peter Molyneux. I look forward to when he takes the stage because he always comes out with something really cool and awe-inspiring, only to completely disappoint people when the game actually comes out. He's mostly known for Fable, but he's also the guy behind Milo, who if you haven't seen just look up Project Natal (the pre-release name of Kinect) and Milo and be amazed. Unfortunately, the project was scrapped for wholly unknown reasons. So what new disappointment are you bringing this year? It's called Fable: The Journey, and it's part 2 in games that were made to look bad by their demos. In the demo, the game appears to be on-rails, while you swing your hands about in different ways to create spells to launch at goblins. It looked...well...kind of boring. But then Molyneux came out later and essentially said it's not on rails at all, they just decided to do that for the demo. Of course, it would be nice to know how movement is going to work then, but it appears we'll all have to wait and see.
Now here's a shocker. Minecraft. Not only is it coming to Xbox, it will be Xbox exclusive AND feature Kinect support. Want to know more? Too bad! That's all they'll say.
The Kinect train rolls on with Disneyland Adventures, which apparently recreates the entire Disneyland theme park and integrates various Kinect based minigames into it. And since it's a kids Kinect game, that's right, it's time for awkward overly rehearsed creepy kids demo time! They start off with a flight with Peter Pan where you hold out your arms like an airplane and then tilt back and forth randomly (at least it looked random) to try and get coins. Then a mad trip through Alice in Wonderland that ends with an oh so awkward "Fist bump!" Please, dear god Microsoft, stop with the child actors. It looks stupid, overly rehearsed, and utterly unrealistic. It's not even funny. It's just plain bad. But you can look forward to exploring Disneyland this holiday.
But if you really want some repetitive and random arm swinging, look no further than Kinect Star Wars! Seriously, apparently this is part three of the demo did disservice to the game in the same way as Fable (looked on rails but isn't), but I honestly doubt the game could be much better than what they showed. Here's the problem with any swordfighting game where you don't actually have a sword. You're going to hack and slash in any direction and really just kind of hope for the best. And that's exactly what this was. All that guy did on stage was swing his arm back and forth while his character on screen obediently carved through each enemy. Oh he could lean and the character would dodge to the side or even over an opponent to take them by surprise, or lean forward to charge to the nearest foe, but all he did was haphazardly swing his arm. It just looked so boring and made such poor use of Kinect. Plus it was the Clone Wars, with graphics/design from I believe the cartoon, which just made it all look BAD. GRRRR.
Then dear Tim Schafer, maker of such whimsical games as Brutal Legend, Costume Quest and Stacked, brings out his family friendly Kinect game Sesame Street: Once Upon A Monster. Which really, if anyone is going to make a good Sesame Street game, it's this man, and....oh god damn it they're back. As Schafer says, "Unleash the simulated family. Very life-like." Anyways, ignoring the complete awkwardness that follows from a grown man and young boy pretending to be father and son very very poorly, the gameplay appears to be nothing new to Kinect, but there is something magical about playing along with Elmo and Cookie Monster that could at least make this game acceptable.
It's obvious at this point that in lieu of having any hardcore exclusives besides Gears, Microsoft is pushing Kinect as hard as they possibly can. Thankfully, at just the right time they bring out what could possibly be their greatest announcement: Kinect Fun Labs (though please change the name). Essentially up until now there have been some really interesting possibilities with new and creative uses for the Kinect hardware, but they've all only been accessible through a PC. So Microsoft created Fun Labs to allow all that innovation to come straight from the Xbox. They showed off things like people scanning, where you can instantly create an avatar that looks just like you, finger tracking, where you can draw a 3D image and look at it at different angles using head tracking, and object capture where you can take literally any object, scan it with Kinect and use it in game. And that's just what they thought of. I'm sure this will open up a gigantic window of innovation and I can't wait to see what comes of it, especially as it released that day.
Kinect Sports 2. Everybody yawn with me.
Dance Central was the surprise hit of Kinect, and Dance Central 2 looks to continue the trend with a campaign mode, seamless multiplayer dancing, and voice support. And not only that, but all tracks from the first game can be imported into 2. Looks to be a must have for Kinect owners.
And then, one last "surprise", Remember last year how I said that they said Halo Reach was going to be the last Halo game, just as they said Halo 3 was going to be the last Halo game? Remember how I was skeptical? Well guess what. One year later and they show a CG trailer for Halo 4, which is not only a new Halo game but will be the start of a new trilogy. That's right Microsoft, drain that cash cow dry cause all that money just taste so goooood.
Overall I think Microsoft once again fell a little flat this year. With no big exclusive titles to throw out there they had to try and throw a lot of excitement behind their other forms of entertainment, namely Kinect and everything else besides games that Xbox does. And sadly it didn't work. Fun Labs could easily show a lot of promise, and secures Microsoft against the piracy Sony has had to deal with by bringing in the modder/hacker community instead of shutting them out. And if you're a young child, there are games such as Disneyland Adventures and Once Upon A Monster to look forward to. But for everyone else, Microsoft's ending claim that this year they would become the best selling console worldwide sounds a bit of a stretch.
Now, coming into E3, Microsoft had some leery eyes pointed at it for the seemingly complete lack of console exclusives besides Gears of War 3 while Sony is pumping them out left and right. Add that to some apparently not-as-good-as-they-were-hoping Kinect sales and you get an E3 where Microsoft really needs to hit it out of the park to prove they can compete this year.
So the conference starts, and BAM, right out of the gate we get a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 demo. In the mission they showed you're underwater, part of a team assigned to place mines on a submarine. You heard me right. You put mines on a submarine to make it surface. Then, you infiltrate it, kill everyone aboard, steal some launch codes, launch the missiles, escape the sub to a raft that you drive through explosions and warships all around you and into a waiting aircraft transport that as it lifts off shows you all the destruction happening to Prime Destroyable American City #1, New York. Call of Duty is often compared to a Michael Bay movie, and I think the demo showed why there's good reason for that. Now, the thing to remember with Modern Warfare 3 is that while the company who made it is still called Infinity Ward, who made the first two, due to legal disagreements most of the original staff of Infinity Ward is gone and has regrouped as Respawn. Will this make any difference to how well it sells? Oh god no. Will it make any difference to how it plays and if it carries that special something of the first two? We'll have to wait and see until November 8th.
Next up, the Tomb Raider reboot. Now, this game has been hyped as "grittier" and "darker" and all those adjectives commercial people use to try to make you think a game is cool or better than it really is. So, I have been skeptical. Then they started the demo...and I was frankly blown away. She starts the demo having been captured on this mysterious island, hanging upside down and bound in this almost cocoon. Swinging back and forth she catches another nearby cocoon on fire, and consequently hers, which releases her into the pit below where her side says hello to a pointy stick. Impaled, bleeding and broken, she has to escape from her pursuers through crumbling caves in stunning graphical quality. Apparently this was the first of many games to be unfortunately misrepresented by their demo, as a great deal of the action in the demo was quick-time event based whereas the longer form of the demo available on the show floor showed off a great deal more of actual combat and puzzle solving. And considering I was impressed with so little, this has definitely become a title to watch when it drops in Fall 2012.
Then EA Sports takes the stage and I take a quick snooze. I don't get sports games. I don't understand how a company can put out these yearly iterations of practically the exact same game with a few tweaks but overall the exact same experience, and that people BUY THEM. EN MASSE. Anyways, they did at least bring up the first mention of Kinect, saying that Tiger Woods, Madden, Fifa, and an unannounced title would all support Kinect. Thankfully, this is where the sports talking ends. He then branched out into non-sports titles like The Sims 3 Pets and Family Game Night 4 which will also support Kinect, as well as one little title a few people are excited for...
Mass Effect 3. Here's the thing. They showed off two features of how Kinect will integrate into the game, and neither were very impressive. First, you can choose your dialogue options by directly saying them. However, the thing about Mass Effect's conversation wheel is that the snippet on the wheel is not what is actually said. So basically you say one thing out loud, and then Shepard says something completely different on screen. It...doesn't work. Then, something with at least possible interesting applications, you can speak to your squad members during battle to tell them to do things. "Garrus, move up. Liara, singularity." And so forth. But once again, the thing about doing that is, it's a lot easier to push a button. Yes, it may give you the feeling of being more in the game, but would you really rather spend the extra time talking in the heat of battle? Sure it only takes like a second longer to say something than to press a button, but I am just skeptical of how this function can actually improve the game. In terms of the non-Kinect stuff however, this game looks fabulous. I mean, you finally get to see a Krogan female. Rock. On.
Next up, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, specifically the Gunsmith system. Boasting over 20 million different combinations of parts, you can customize weapons in game exactly the way you want them. By spreading your hands apart, you open up the gun into its different components, and by putting your hands back together you close everything up again. You can also use voice commands for quick access to specific parts. It all looks very Minority Report, which is to say, cooooool. You can even test out the weapons, though the stance you use is very odd (similar to drawing the gun from your back like a sword, and then holding your left hand like you're about to eat something from the invisible fork you're holding while your right hand is clenched and flashes open to fire the gun...just look it up). It seems that Ubisoft, out of everyone, seems to understand that the coolest thing about Kinect is the user interface, not the gameplay mechanics. And then at the end it's announced that all future Tom Clancy titles will support Kinect.
Then they start talking about how Kinect will start working with everything on the Xbox (including a new partnership with Youtube). They unfortunately start slipping into the odd rehearsed quality they had last year here, as to demonstrate how this works, they bring a woman on stage who literally only says things like "Xbox, video" to show how you can now scroll over to the video tab with your voice. Everyone with me now, "Oooooooooooo." At least, I assume that's what they wanted us to say. Instead, it's more like "Oh.....okay." The real kicker is that they're bringing live TV to Xbox this fall. How this will actually work, and why Comcast or DirectTV aren't throwing a hissy fit, is a mystery.
A bunch of new interactivity stuff with UFC fights. Woot.
Here's where the eyes rise, people, as everything from this point is Xbox exclusive...
And they show Gears of War 3. *sigh* And bring out cast member Ice-T to play the demo with the head of Epic, Cliff Bleszinski. The demo is awesome, of course, as they take on a giant sea creature and its small exploding minions. And as a surprise that it sure sounded like no one really cared about, Ice-T's old band Body Count is reuniting to do a song to celebrate the return of Horde mode. Look for Gears on September 20th.
That mysterious game last year which was a partnership with Crytek, makers of Crysis, formerly known as Codename: Kingdoms, is now known as Ryse. It looks to be a brutal first person hack and slash set in Rome, where Kinect reads your body movements and allows you to not just use a sword and shield but also headbutt and kick. No indication of a release date, but this looks to be the first actually mature game just for Kinect. Hopefully it pays off, cause Kinect sure needs more like it.
With this being the 10th anniversary of the first Halo, they've fully remastered the campaign and several old multiplayer maps and are rereleasing it on November 15th. Fanboys rejoice.
Forza Motorsport 4 will have voice and headtracking integration with Kinect, and showed a lot of things that I know and care nothing about as someone who knows nothing about cars. But for all you racing fans out there, it's coming October 11th.
Aw, it's Peter Molyneux. I look forward to when he takes the stage because he always comes out with something really cool and awe-inspiring, only to completely disappoint people when the game actually comes out. He's mostly known for Fable, but he's also the guy behind Milo, who if you haven't seen just look up Project Natal (the pre-release name of Kinect) and Milo and be amazed. Unfortunately, the project was scrapped for wholly unknown reasons. So what new disappointment are you bringing this year? It's called Fable: The Journey, and it's part 2 in games that were made to look bad by their demos. In the demo, the game appears to be on-rails, while you swing your hands about in different ways to create spells to launch at goblins. It looked...well...kind of boring. But then Molyneux came out later and essentially said it's not on rails at all, they just decided to do that for the demo. Of course, it would be nice to know how movement is going to work then, but it appears we'll all have to wait and see.
Now here's a shocker. Minecraft. Not only is it coming to Xbox, it will be Xbox exclusive AND feature Kinect support. Want to know more? Too bad! That's all they'll say.
The Kinect train rolls on with Disneyland Adventures, which apparently recreates the entire Disneyland theme park and integrates various Kinect based minigames into it. And since it's a kids Kinect game, that's right, it's time for awkward overly rehearsed creepy kids demo time! They start off with a flight with Peter Pan where you hold out your arms like an airplane and then tilt back and forth randomly (at least it looked random) to try and get coins. Then a mad trip through Alice in Wonderland that ends with an oh so awkward "Fist bump!" Please, dear god Microsoft, stop with the child actors. It looks stupid, overly rehearsed, and utterly unrealistic. It's not even funny. It's just plain bad. But you can look forward to exploring Disneyland this holiday.
But if you really want some repetitive and random arm swinging, look no further than Kinect Star Wars! Seriously, apparently this is part three of the demo did disservice to the game in the same way as Fable (looked on rails but isn't), but I honestly doubt the game could be much better than what they showed. Here's the problem with any swordfighting game where you don't actually have a sword. You're going to hack and slash in any direction and really just kind of hope for the best. And that's exactly what this was. All that guy did on stage was swing his arm back and forth while his character on screen obediently carved through each enemy. Oh he could lean and the character would dodge to the side or even over an opponent to take them by surprise, or lean forward to charge to the nearest foe, but all he did was haphazardly swing his arm. It just looked so boring and made such poor use of Kinect. Plus it was the Clone Wars, with graphics/design from I believe the cartoon, which just made it all look BAD. GRRRR.
Then dear Tim Schafer, maker of such whimsical games as Brutal Legend, Costume Quest and Stacked, brings out his family friendly Kinect game Sesame Street: Once Upon A Monster. Which really, if anyone is going to make a good Sesame Street game, it's this man, and....oh god damn it they're back. As Schafer says, "Unleash the simulated family. Very life-like." Anyways, ignoring the complete awkwardness that follows from a grown man and young boy pretending to be father and son very very poorly, the gameplay appears to be nothing new to Kinect, but there is something magical about playing along with Elmo and Cookie Monster that could at least make this game acceptable.
It's obvious at this point that in lieu of having any hardcore exclusives besides Gears, Microsoft is pushing Kinect as hard as they possibly can. Thankfully, at just the right time they bring out what could possibly be their greatest announcement: Kinect Fun Labs (though please change the name). Essentially up until now there have been some really interesting possibilities with new and creative uses for the Kinect hardware, but they've all only been accessible through a PC. So Microsoft created Fun Labs to allow all that innovation to come straight from the Xbox. They showed off things like people scanning, where you can instantly create an avatar that looks just like you, finger tracking, where you can draw a 3D image and look at it at different angles using head tracking, and object capture where you can take literally any object, scan it with Kinect and use it in game. And that's just what they thought of. I'm sure this will open up a gigantic window of innovation and I can't wait to see what comes of it, especially as it released that day.
Kinect Sports 2. Everybody yawn with me.
Dance Central was the surprise hit of Kinect, and Dance Central 2 looks to continue the trend with a campaign mode, seamless multiplayer dancing, and voice support. And not only that, but all tracks from the first game can be imported into 2. Looks to be a must have for Kinect owners.
And then, one last "surprise", Remember last year how I said that they said Halo Reach was going to be the last Halo game, just as they said Halo 3 was going to be the last Halo game? Remember how I was skeptical? Well guess what. One year later and they show a CG trailer for Halo 4, which is not only a new Halo game but will be the start of a new trilogy. That's right Microsoft, drain that cash cow dry cause all that money just taste so goooood.
Overall I think Microsoft once again fell a little flat this year. With no big exclusive titles to throw out there they had to try and throw a lot of excitement behind their other forms of entertainment, namely Kinect and everything else besides games that Xbox does. And sadly it didn't work. Fun Labs could easily show a lot of promise, and secures Microsoft against the piracy Sony has had to deal with by bringing in the modder/hacker community instead of shutting them out. And if you're a young child, there are games such as Disneyland Adventures and Once Upon A Monster to look forward to. But for everyone else, Microsoft's ending claim that this year they would become the best selling console worldwide sounds a bit of a stretch.
Friday, June 3, 2011
E3 2011: Konami
WOOOO E3! Time once again to look at the year to come in games, and what we can look forward to. Kicking things off before E3 even starts is Konami with a video compiling interviews with various designers about the projects they're working on. So let's get started!
Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3DS
Personally I could never really get into the Metal Gear series. I played and enjoyed Sons of Liberty, but when I moved on to Snake Eater I just got bored with the gameplay and completely lost in the story. However, for those who do enjoy some tactical stealth with everyone's favorite box hide and go seek champion, Snake Eater 3DS looks to incorporate some interesting, though not necessarily wise, features. The best, and easiest, decision was to put inventory on the bottom screen, allowing quick changing of items. A fun, though not necessarily useful new tool is the ability to take pictures with the 3DS camera and then incorporate that into Snake's camouflage. And finally, easily the worst decision, the incorporation of the gyro sensor so that you have to tilt the 3DS while Snake is doing something like crossing a bridge to make sure he doesn't fall off. Didn't we go through this with sixaxis, people? Especially incorporated into the 3DS where even a slight tilting of the screen can ruin the 3D effect. Still, no doubt fans of the series will enjoy another foray into the shoes of Snake despite, or even possibly because of, these new features.
Pro Evolution Soccer 2012
I don't follow soccer and hate the idea of yearly iterations of sports games rehashing the same old formula. But for you soccer fans out there, they've improved enemy AI, focused more heavily on not just the ball holders' movement but the movement of the rest of the team as well, and refined the mechanics of doing special moves like feint plays. Woot.
NeverDead
This new IP starts with a very simple premise: you cannot die. You face big horrible monsters and can get smashed to pieces, but then you simply roll your head around, collecting your body parts back until you kill the thing. Well where are the stakes if you can't die? Sounds a bit boring right? Well apparently the game is actually more centered around how you use your body parts once detached to defeat the enemy (or I'm guessing solve the puzzle) at hand. Also, I lost count of how many times the guy said this was "new". They're banking on originality and innovation, but I'm waiting to see whether this game will bring something new and fun, or simply new.
Silent Hill series
In an interesting turn the focus shifts to the upcoming movie Silent Hill Revelations, with the director talking about how he was inspired by the games. Drawing from Silent Hill 3, let's hope this movie turns out better than the rather average first one.
Brief statement about how they're releasing the Silent Hill Collection, Silent Hill 2 and 3 in HD.
Silent Hill: Book of Memories will be a new title exclusively for the Next Generation Portable (NGP) from Sony. I really hope Sony chooses a better name soon cause NGP just ain't cutting it.
Silent Hill Downpour is coming out soon and from the trailer looks...pretty impressive actually. Creepy environments, lots of misshapen baddies hiding in shadows, and a convict with a mysterious past as the lead. What more could you ask for?
Kojima Productions
The man behind Metal Gear Solid releases a rather hilarious video of this guy interviewing him about why he wouldn't be at E3 this year. After taking a voice activated elevator that had sounds of moving trains and cows as they traveled, and which identified the random guy as an unknown demon entity before Kojima cleared him, random guy and Kojima sit down and a video within the video starts to play of these masked men from another game company try to interrogate a janitor as to what the big E3 reveal this year is going to be. After Psycho Turkey, an obvious homage to the weird Metal Gear villains, uses his "nanobots" to read the mind of the janitor, a video within the video within the video starts to play and reveals that Kojima is introducing a new service called Transfarring wherein you can essentially transfer your saves from certain games (the first being Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker) from your PS3 to your PSP and vice versa so you can continue to play at any time on either system. Also introduced is the Metal Gear Solid HD collection, which will include MGS 2, 3 and Peace Walker (which won't be like the Sony barebones PSP remasters, it will have trophies and is being fully remastered), and the Zone of the Enders HD collection as well. And in a surprise move, both collections are coming the 360 as well as the PS3.
But Kojima wasn't done there. He lays out his master plan, which is to use Transfarring not just between PSP and PS3, but eventually to step it up to PS2 games on PS3 and NGP, and in the final phase, being able to play PS3 games on the NGP and vice versa. Personally, if he does end up doing that and Sony doesn't adopt it or a version of it for all games, a lot of people including myself are going to be very upset. Go for the kill Kojima!
And he does. He reveals that he's developed a new engine called the Fox engine, which is being used in the new game he's developing that he can't talk about, and that it will be multiplatform and hopes it will become the new standard engine for other developers. It certainly did look very pretty.
And that does it for Konami! A couple interesting titles, several remasters, and a few blows to Sony's midsection from Kojima. All in all, shouldn't be a bad year for them.
Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3DS
Personally I could never really get into the Metal Gear series. I played and enjoyed Sons of Liberty, but when I moved on to Snake Eater I just got bored with the gameplay and completely lost in the story. However, for those who do enjoy some tactical stealth with everyone's favorite box hide and go seek champion, Snake Eater 3DS looks to incorporate some interesting, though not necessarily wise, features. The best, and easiest, decision was to put inventory on the bottom screen, allowing quick changing of items. A fun, though not necessarily useful new tool is the ability to take pictures with the 3DS camera and then incorporate that into Snake's camouflage. And finally, easily the worst decision, the incorporation of the gyro sensor so that you have to tilt the 3DS while Snake is doing something like crossing a bridge to make sure he doesn't fall off. Didn't we go through this with sixaxis, people? Especially incorporated into the 3DS where even a slight tilting of the screen can ruin the 3D effect. Still, no doubt fans of the series will enjoy another foray into the shoes of Snake despite, or even possibly because of, these new features.
Pro Evolution Soccer 2012
I don't follow soccer and hate the idea of yearly iterations of sports games rehashing the same old formula. But for you soccer fans out there, they've improved enemy AI, focused more heavily on not just the ball holders' movement but the movement of the rest of the team as well, and refined the mechanics of doing special moves like feint plays. Woot.
NeverDead
This new IP starts with a very simple premise: you cannot die. You face big horrible monsters and can get smashed to pieces, but then you simply roll your head around, collecting your body parts back until you kill the thing. Well where are the stakes if you can't die? Sounds a bit boring right? Well apparently the game is actually more centered around how you use your body parts once detached to defeat the enemy (or I'm guessing solve the puzzle) at hand. Also, I lost count of how many times the guy said this was "new". They're banking on originality and innovation, but I'm waiting to see whether this game will bring something new and fun, or simply new.
Silent Hill series
In an interesting turn the focus shifts to the upcoming movie Silent Hill Revelations, with the director talking about how he was inspired by the games. Drawing from Silent Hill 3, let's hope this movie turns out better than the rather average first one.
Brief statement about how they're releasing the Silent Hill Collection, Silent Hill 2 and 3 in HD.
Silent Hill: Book of Memories will be a new title exclusively for the Next Generation Portable (NGP) from Sony. I really hope Sony chooses a better name soon cause NGP just ain't cutting it.
Silent Hill Downpour is coming out soon and from the trailer looks...pretty impressive actually. Creepy environments, lots of misshapen baddies hiding in shadows, and a convict with a mysterious past as the lead. What more could you ask for?
Kojima Productions
The man behind Metal Gear Solid releases a rather hilarious video of this guy interviewing him about why he wouldn't be at E3 this year. After taking a voice activated elevator that had sounds of moving trains and cows as they traveled, and which identified the random guy as an unknown demon entity before Kojima cleared him, random guy and Kojima sit down and a video within the video starts to play of these masked men from another game company try to interrogate a janitor as to what the big E3 reveal this year is going to be. After Psycho Turkey, an obvious homage to the weird Metal Gear villains, uses his "nanobots" to read the mind of the janitor, a video within the video within the video starts to play and reveals that Kojima is introducing a new service called Transfarring wherein you can essentially transfer your saves from certain games (the first being Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker) from your PS3 to your PSP and vice versa so you can continue to play at any time on either system. Also introduced is the Metal Gear Solid HD collection, which will include MGS 2, 3 and Peace Walker (which won't be like the Sony barebones PSP remasters, it will have trophies and is being fully remastered), and the Zone of the Enders HD collection as well. And in a surprise move, both collections are coming the 360 as well as the PS3.
But Kojima wasn't done there. He lays out his master plan, which is to use Transfarring not just between PSP and PS3, but eventually to step it up to PS2 games on PS3 and NGP, and in the final phase, being able to play PS3 games on the NGP and vice versa. Personally, if he does end up doing that and Sony doesn't adopt it or a version of it for all games, a lot of people including myself are going to be very upset. Go for the kill Kojima!
And he does. He reveals that he's developed a new engine called the Fox engine, which is being used in the new game he's developing that he can't talk about, and that it will be multiplatform and hopes it will become the new standard engine for other developers. It certainly did look very pretty.
And that does it for Konami! A couple interesting titles, several remasters, and a few blows to Sony's midsection from Kojima. All in all, shouldn't be a bad year for them.
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