There’s nothing like putting out an E3 best of or wrap-up post a few days after everybody else, but since quite a few things have come out in the days after E3, I decided to wait a bit before posting my picks. E3 was an interesting thing this year. It’s a far cry from the days when I had to push through sweaty fanboys struggling to get their picture taken with a scantily-clad booth babe while trying to wrap my mind around the multiple bombshells dropped by each of the big three. This year, the show is in its second year of being majorly scaled back and with a much tighter focus on holiday lineups rather than fanfare and showcasing lots of new projects.
Nintendo came out a bit flat, but they announced a few interesting things in print. Microsoft had a solid showing of their upcoming games and easily the show’s biggest announcement, but they maybe played things a bit too safe. Sony had a great showing of games, but again, we didn’t see much in regards to new stuff outside of a few things that are quite a ways off. Here are my favorites from this year’s E3 show:
Gears of War 2 - Cliff Bleszinksi appeared at the Microsoft press conference to do a live demo of Gears 2 and it looked spectacular. With a new mode (Horde) and a much larger scale, Gears of War 2 is looking like much more than just more of the same.
Resistance 2 - The first Resistance game was, for quite some time, the only PS3 game that I really enjoyed and felt comfortable recommending to new PS3 owners. The sequel is taking the fight to America and there are some massive battles in store for the player. The co-op and multiplayer modes also sound fantastic.
Animal Crossing - While we didn’t get many details, more Animal Crossing is always a good thing. The 4-player online play looks like it could be quite fun, and the inclusion of the WiiSpeak helps to make the experience all that much more enjoyable. Mii integration should be interesting, but I’m not sure I want Satan or Hitler romping around my town. Here’s hoping that a lot of new surprises are still going to be unveiled.
Chrono Trigger DS - My favorite classic Square RPG in portable form? Sign me up! Chrono Trigger DS will also have the animated cinematics from the PSOne version of the game and a bonus dungeon. WIth multiple endings, I’m sure there’s reasons for even those familiar with the game to give it another spin.
Galaga Legions, Geometry Wars 2 - These are two Xbox Live Arcade games that get my arcade-loving heart pulsing with anticipation. Both games look like they’ll be a blast and should push me toward bumping up my high scores whenever I get the chance.
inFamous - The game looks a lot like Crackdown, but taken to entirely new level. The devs over at Sucker Punch are very talented, and it looks like this game could be one of the bigger hits for the PS3 when it hits store shelves. For such a big world, the graphics were also quite impressive.
Fallout 3 - Probably my most anticipated upcoming release that was shown at E3 (Pikmin 3 would be my overall most anticipated game), this game seems to take the Oblivion formula and make it infinitely less boring (sorry, guys, Oblivion was a snoozer). The game looks to have a perfect mix of style, humor, action, and RPG elements to combine for a modern classic.
Resident Evil 5 - Even though we’ve seen this game quite a few times, it still impresses me each time I get more info or a chance to see more of it in action. While it’s not a huge leap over Resident Evil 4 in regards to gameplay, it looks like it adds just enough to keep things fresh. The online co-op should be quite the experience.
Best of E3
Little Big Planet - This game has been shown over and over again but each time it draws big grins and sends my mind racing with the possibilities that this game will give the gaming public once we finally get it into our dirty little hands. I can only hope that the active community around this game stays large for years to come.
Another day at E3, another really rushed podcast! I promise that after these recaps that I’ll get back to injecting some personality and insight into the podcasts. For now, these serve as a pretty good overview of what we’ve been shown at the press conferences. Tomorrow’s podcast should definitely be more interesting and worth listening to. Now if I could only get a co-host…
Anyway, click either the Audio MP3 button or the download link to listen. You can click the little play icon, but that’s sometimes a little screwy.
-Sony show starts off with a crazy montage of video and noise
-some games are out, some are yet to be released
-In the first 30 seconds, they’ve already shown more than Nintendo did
-PS3, PSP, and PSN all represented in opening video
Jack Tretton (man, this guy is unbearable)
-He always seems nice, but he’s got the personality of tin foil
-PlayStation brand hitting its stride
-Seeds for PlayStation brand laid 15 years ago this week
-Sony took a longer look ahead when making their consoles, wanted 10 year life spans for consoles
-2 years into PSOne life cyclce, biggest hits still a year or more away
-Saying PS3 is primed to hit its stride
-PS3 drove Blu-ray format to victory
-Cell processor used to power supercomputers
-Folding at Home set a Guiness World Record
-More about how powerful the PS3 is
-The PS3 is most complete Blu-ray player
-I’m getting antsy, we know you have the games, Sony. We get it, the PS3 is powerful
-PlayStation in 2008 “all about software”
-Exclusive games make up the consumer’s mind
Resistance 2
-As expected,it looks stunning graphically
-Enemy is a massive monster…size of Godzilla
-The player is ducking into a building for cover and taking shots when possible at the monster
-It’s hard to describe this, it just looks fantastic and intense
-Set in 1953, America
-Chicago is a setting, border states under attack
-8 player online co-op
-60 player online competitive modes
-Game going for huge scale
-Twin Falls, Idaho level shown in a new trailer
Little Big Planet
-Sackboy dressed in Celtics gear
-LBP used to show charts off…much better than Powerpoint
-The game just looks so awesome
-The audience is definitely digging this manner of presentation
-In 2008, Sony will distribute official in Latin America
-10 million PS3s and 15 million PSPs are the sales goals for the year
-PS3 Greatest Hits starting this year at $29.99 (Resistance, Motorstorm, Warhawk, Call of Duty 3, Fight Night, Need for Speed Carbon, Rainbow Six: Vegas, Assassin’s Creed, Oblivion, Ninja Gaiden Sigma)
-LBP set to appeal to all demographics
PlayStation 2
-Success of PS2 allowed Sony to be more agressive with PS3
-More than 130 titles for PS2 in 2008
-Video montage showing upcoming games
-EA Sports stuff, Star Wars, Warriors orochi 2, Singstar, Yakuza 2, Mercenaries 2
-Buzz hits PS2, PS3, and PSP this year
-PS2 is perfect entry level system, new bundle to support that. Comes with Lego Batman (game) and Justice League: New Frontiers on DVD (film)
PlayStation Network
-All PlayStation users will have a unified id
-PSN to drive online social interaction between platforms
-Over 180 million downloads so far on PSN
Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty
-Shorter game, lower price
-Continuation of Ratchet and Clank Future storyline
-Looks very much like Tools of Destruction, but with some neat new abilities
-Ratchet’s wrench has new functionality
-$14.99 price
-Out “this summer”
PSN video montage being shown
-R&C: Quest for Booty, Crash Commando, Fat Princess, Pixel Junk Eden, Pain: Amusement Park, Flower, Siren: Blood Curse (scary as all get out), Ragdoll Kung Fu
-The games looked pretty good, overall
Gran Turismo TV
-Added to GT5: Prologue
-Free and pay-per-view distribution of shows
-Some original programming produced by Polyphony Digital
-In-depth looks at industry-related locations
-Behind the scenes footage of races, business, etc.
-Seems like a huge undertaking for a single game release…crazy stuff
-Top Gear part of the distribution
-Trophies part of gameplay and community strategy
PlayStation Home
-Games, film, video, music, and branded content all in one place
-Game specific spaces from developers and publishers
-Video showing home functionality
-Still looks like Second Life + Xbox Live to me…
-Game-specific spaces are themed areas related to a certain game
-Full length movies and shows through PSN
-Available in both rental and buy, SD or HD
-$1.99 per TV episode, $9.99-$14.99 movie purchases
-Same price as a disc-based release? Stupid!
-If downloaded on PS3, can be played on PSP
-Live demo of store
-This is unbearably boring to watch, just tell us it works on move on!
-seriously, PAINFUL
-Cloverfield $14.99 for SD purchase. HAH! Good luck selling that.
-Service will be available tonight…actually pretty impressive
-New titles each week
PSP
-PSP Slim caused sales to jump a lot
-13 million sold in North America, 35 million worldwide
-New PSP pack coming along with Madden Pack. Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters pack, 1 Gig stick, PSN Voucher for Echochrome, National Treasure 2 on UMD for $199.99
Resistance Retribution
-Battle for Europe
-Looks very nice graphically
-Explores the mystery of the Chimera a bit deeper
-3rd person action title
-Looks like Gears of War a bit
-Out in Spring 2009
PSP video montage
-Loco Roco 2, Patapon 2 (eff off, Fever Mode), Star Wars Force Unleashed, Madden 2009, NBA 09: The Inside, Super Stardust Portable, Lego Batman, Buzz Quiz Master, Valkyria Chronicles
PlayStation 3
-Google a partner with PS3
-Dedicated PS3 channel on YouTube
-Life With Playstion…news, weather, etc.
DC Universe Online
-Jim Lee out to demo the game
-3 years in development
-Create a character, help heroes or villains in classic situations
-Woah, characters models look great for the heroes
-Looks good, but the combat looks a little jittery (typical of MMOs)
-MMOs aren’t my thing, but this could be big
-80GB PS3 will be launced with same functionality of 40GB (read: No BC support) for $399.99
-Video montage of developer/publisher testimonials about PS3 and Blu-ray
-Most of them sound like they’re finally happy the PS3 architecture
-Happy about built-in hard drive
-Happy about storage space with Blu-ray
-Yadda, yadda, yadda
PS3 video montage
-Little Big Planet, Motorstorm: Pacific Drift, MGS 4, QUantum of Solace, SOCOM: Confrontation, Ghostbusters, Soul Calibur IV, Resistance 2, the Agency, Naruto: Storm, Mirror’s Edge, Resident Evil 5, Singstar, Guitar Hero: World Tour, NBA 09: The Inside, Buzz: Quiz TV, Killzone 2, Fallout 3
God of War III
-PS3 release (duh)
-Trailer shows pre-rendered stuff, no gameplay
inFamous
-Save or destroy entire city
-Be a hero or anti-hero
-Looks like a much better Crackdown
-Spring 2009
MAG: Massive Action Game
-Huge online battles
-Supports battles of 256 players
-Only real players in the game
-Players will be broken into squads
-Character growth provide long-term goals
-Ongoing campaigns, even when you’re not playing (like Chromehounds)
-Despite the scale, it looks graphically strong
-Vehicles, soldiers are everywhere
-Tough to tell if this is all real-time footage seems to be a mix of real and pre-rendered
-Reinforcements air dropped as trailer closes out
-Squads are 8 players each
That’s the show! A better showing than we got from Nintendo, and arguably better than Microsoft as well. Check for reaction on the blog via our nightly podcasts.
-Starts off with montage of very different gamer types
-Kids, adults, teens, the elderly play
Cammy (sp?) Dunaway VP of Sales and Marketing
-”We promise to keep you smiling…” CHEESY!
-This lady is definitely out there to appeal to moms and Nintendo’s “new audience” types
-This is nearly unbearable. She’s telling stories about her fall snowboarding last year.
-Shaun White is on stage to demo snowboarding with the Balance Board and totally hamming it up.
-Whatever game it is, it looks good
-Of course, it’s Shaun White’s Snowboarding by Ubisoft
Shaun White’s Snowboarding
-Shaun White gave lots of input in development such as look and feel
-Goofy mom figure steps on the a board next to Shaun
-I don’t know if this is pre-rendered, but she’s nailing some nice tricks in the half pipe…ok, not pre-rendered, she wipes out a few times
-Exlusively for Wii by year end
Satoru Iwata
-A true paradigm shift has taken place
-5 years ago in May 2003 was Iwata’s first E3
-Everybody had negative outlook on Nintendo’s future
-Agrees that view was common sense, even Nintendo couldn’t imagine that 5 years later that Nintendo would be on top and selling “bathroom scales” by the millions around the world
-Games like Nintendogs and Brain Age combined with games like Mario Kart and New Super Mario Bros. are causing the big change in the market
-Graphics aren’t always the answer (yeah, we know this stance all too well)
-Nintendo is dedicated to making impressive games from a technical standpoint…internal teams hard at work on those (confirmation of Mario and Zelda games on the way?)
-Small games and small budgets can be worldwide hits if they have good ideas backing them
-Intuitive interfaces attracting new games and expanding audience
-Seasonal nature of hardware sales is gone. No longer just a gift item.
-Nintendo selling hardware like every week is a holiday week
-Guitar Hero III selling best on Wii
-Takes a jab at those trying to “reproduce” what Nintendo has done
-Must find more ways to engage players and enrich games to grow enthusiasm
-Nintendo always challenges itself to be a pioneer in the industry
Katsuya Eguchi - Creator of Animal Crossing
Animal Crossing: City Folk
-Curved world, like DS
-No required goals (as in the past)
-Players still rise and sleep while you aren’t playing
-City is new place to explore…separate from Town where you live
-You can put things up for sale in the city auction center
-Stores located in the city for customization
-Letters can be sent to PCs, cell phones, Wiis
-NEW PERIPHERAL…WiiSpeak
-Microphone for the Wii, shows a group (4 players) talking while fishing together
-Still looks very similar to old Animal Crossing experience
-By the end of the year
Reggie Fils-Aime
-Nintendo is pleased, but not satisfied
-Wii over 10 million, DS over 20 million in North America alone
-Total DS worldwide sales will be over 100 million by the end of the fiscal year
-Pokemon over 180 million sales
-DS software 29% higher than last year, hardware 12% up
-After ads ran targetng females using celebs, software sales doubled on those featured titles
-Wii software sales are at a higher pace than 360 and PS3
-Wii library fastest growing of all 3 consoles
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
-Trailer showing players in lightsaber duels using Wii remote and nunchuck
-Force moves motion controlled
-Coming for the holidays
Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party
-Balance Board + Wii Remote + Nunchuch
-Looks fun and silly, just like you’d expect
Call of Duty: World at War
-Graphically very strong for Wii
-Using Wii Zapper
-Co-op mode included
-”Coming Soon”
-Audience pretty underwhelmed…WE ALREADY KNOW ABOUT THESE GAMES
Back to Mommy to speak about DS releases
-DS appeal for females growing fast
-Guitar Hero: On Tour sold over 300k in first week, On Tour: Decades on the way
Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades
-Able to song share between other versions of the game
Spore Creatures
-DS version is unique and custom
-Missed a lot of the rest…
Pokemon Rangers: Shadows of (something or other)
-No info given
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
-DS this winter
-That’s it for info?!
-DS going to be used to improve air travel
-Currently being tested in airports
-DS to be used to check box scores, watch highlights, play trivia, order food, and more at Seattle Mariners baseball games
-Cooking Navi is an electronic cookbook in Japan
-English version coming in November
-Jeez, laying it on thick wit the moms, huh?
Back to Reggie
-Wii remote improvement through Wii MotionPlus
-Makes the Wii remote much more precise
-Successor to Wii Sports
Wii Sports: Resort
-Comes with MotionPlus and extended Wii remote jacket
-Wow, MotionPlus looks super accurate with Wii Sports: Resort
-Mommy throws a frisbee, her puppy doesn’t catch it
-Second try the puppy catches the frisbee…Reggie not impressed (jokingly)
-Reggie playing a Wave Race type of game using Remote and Nunchuck
-Mom and reggie getting ready to duel with swords
-Game understands any angle of slashing or blocking
-Reggie takes down mommy in first round
-Reggie loses round 2
-Launches next Spring
Wii Music
-Starts off with a guy showing drumming
-Uses balance board for bass drum and hi-hat, Wii remote and nunchuck for the rest
-Shigeru Miyamoto using Wii remote to play a sax instrument, buttons like valves
-Shiggy on sax, funny looking second dude on the drums…they’re playing a jazzy song
-Was in development while in finalization of plans for Wii
-Music transcends age and gender
-Different than most music games
-Wii Music allows everybody to perform, rather than just try to hit buttons quickly
-Wii Music lets you create music through movement
-Ok, this looks insanely simple to play…maybe too simple?
-Over 50 different intsruments
-You control tempo, but the game controls the tone
-Amount of motion controls volume
-Other game types including (conductor, record videos, etc.)
-Showing 4 players (Nintendo execs) choosing from 6 parts
-All 4 perform Super Mario Bros. theme w/ drummer dude in the background
-It looks fun, but everybody looks like a giant tool doing it…except Shiggy of course, he’s the muthaflippin’
Reggie and Mommy
-Recapping the show
-Is this it? C’mon Nintendo, at least one more game!
-Looks like they’re playing it safe with the casual crowd
-Reggie saying that you can’t call the Wii a fad anymore
That’s it. Underwhelming, for sure, and the crowd looks confused. Yes, it looked like they were having fun out there, and I’m sure there are more games coming, but the spotlight was given to some pretty tame stuff. The mainstream news is going to be all giddy about what Nintendo has in store, long time fans didn’t get any Mario, Zelda, Metroid, F-Zero, Fire Emblem, or any other big franchise outside of Animal Crossing.
Here’s my reaction to the first day of E3 and Microsoft’s press conference. I’m flying solo, so sorry you have to put up with my stupid voice the whole time. Yes, I still pop a few Ps, but hopefully my background music makes that a little less noticeable. Enjoy, and send feedback to jar155 [at] gmail dot com!
Since upgrading my Wordpress version, the player has been kinda wonky. Your best bet is to click on the download button, which will play it right in your browser (or right click to save). You can also catch the feed through RSS, like most of our listeners have in the past.
Sorry for the sloppy format, but it’s the best we could do for you. Here are the notes from the conference, in case you missed it.
Don Mattrick
-Biggest sellers touted (Call of Duty 4, Mass Effect, Assassin’s Creed, BioShock, etc.)
-New franchises driving market expansion (Rock Band, Scene It, etc)
-Fallout 3, Resident Evil 5, Fable 2, Gears of War 2
Fallout 3
-Retro black and white video intro showing “ad” for Valut-Tec
-Pans out to desolated city, man holding a gun
-Rest of trailer will debut online in hours, will show harshness and humor of Fallout 3
-Live demo of Fallout 3…started by controller issues ;)
-Looks incredibly detailed, smooth
-Post-apocalyptic Washington DC
-Can play in 3rd or 1st person
-Character’s wristwatch shows skills, stats, perks, etc.
-Can play stealthy, combat-driven, or use speech to influence
-Can cue up moves when attacking enemies
-For some reason, Yankee Doodle and other patriotic songs are playing in the background
-Pretty gory…body parts are flying about
-Game has over 100 hours of gameplay, can explore massive areas of Washington DC
-Can be good, bad, or somewhere in between
-Demo ends with character using “The Fatman”, a mini-nuke weapon
-Game will have “substantial” DLC for 360 and PC
Resident Evil 5
-First time RE series on a MS console
-Demo shown, played by RE5 director
-Resident Evil 5 takes place in Kijuju, Africa
-Hero of the game, Chris Redfield investigating bioterrorism incident
-New organization called BSAA sent Chris
-Online co-op mode shown
-Chris’ partner named Sheva Alomar
-Also an agent of BSAA
-Chris tosses Sheva over a gap that neither could cross alone perviously
-As expected, it looks a lot like RE4 done in HD
-Teamwork very important to getting past obstacles and enemies
-I see exploding barrels everywhere
-Chainsaw man variant from RE4 attacks as demo ends
-Out March 13, 2009 in North America
Fable 2
-Fable 2 is already finished
-Trailer shown, apparently a glimpse at the opening of the game
-Setting is in a snowy environment, Albion has a strong European vibe
-Bird poops on a kid’s head…kind of an odd way to introduce your character
-Orbs on the screen represent your friends playing the game, can invite your friends to co-op by heading up to orbs
-Your hero/world will be unique to your experience
-Marriage shown off
-Same goofy communication/interaction system using d-pad
-Game will be out in October, 2008
Gears of War 2
-Huge battle going on, Marcus Phoenix looking on as he’s using a an enemy as a body shield
-Voice has changed for Marcus (seemingly)
-Cliff Blezinsky (sp?) says that response has been very positive
-Co-op play shown with Dom and Marcus
-Buildings are burning, crumbling, story dialog happening as the game is being played
-Scale is much more open than we saw in Gears 1
-Cover system looks smoother
-Using downed enemies as body shields before cracking their neck
-Already new enemies shown, some huge
-Graphics definitely better
-Flamethrower looks nasty and mean
-Escape sequence from a burning building that leads right to a Brumak
-They saddle up a Brumak and prepare to ride it to close the demo
-New mode announced, called Horde. 5 players take on waves of Locusts
-Out November 7, 2008 exclusive to 360
Back to Don Mattrick
-People will spend estimated $48 billion this year in games
-Games leading driver in entertainment spending
-Over 5 million units ahead of PS3
-$2.7 billion in sales (software) last 12 months…leading industry
-Highest revenue of the big 3
-Saying 360 WILL SELL more consoles than PS3 this gen (pretty bold to say at this point)
-12 million Xbox Live members, a new member every 5 seconds
-Xbox Live sales over $1 billion since 360 launch (includes DLC and media)
-Over 10,000 movies and shows on Live larger than any satellite or cable operator
-Movies and shows 1/3 of paid downloads in the US on Live
-NBC and Universal joining TV and movie lineups, USA, Sci Fi channel as well
-Movie clips shown of what’s available
-Audience gives a pity applause (all we care about is the games, MS!)
New 360 interface
-Looks nice, but might slow navigation a bit
-3D avatars (I told you!)
-Avatars are very customizable, will show on Gamercard, ideas proposed by Rare
-Community channel added, integrated with Avatars
-Live Party supports up to 8 people chatting, interacting, or playing games
-Neat photo sharing ability with the party
-Xbox Live Primetime channel coming this fall
-Primetime full of game shows for Live Party players to play along
-Primetime demo shown with game show (1 vs. 100)
-Attempting to open up a new frontier in interactive entertainment
-Dynamic content and scheduled programming coming to Live
-New Games Channel coming
-Uno Rush announced
-Games can be launched for entire Live Party by party leader
Geometry Wars 2 coming to Xbox Live Arcade
-Multiplayer!
-Enemy attacks look more organized
-Seems like a beefed up Geometry Wars: Galaxies
Galaga Legions
-Looks like Galaga with the Pac-Man: CE upgrade
-Available next month, exclusive to Live Arcade
Portal: Still Alive
-GladOS voice fills the arena
-2008 timed exclusive to 360
-New levels, achievements
South Park
-Coming to Xbox Live Arcade
-No real details, just a 5 second teaser
Xbox Live Community Games
-Coming in Fall
-Tons of indie devs putting out content
-Looks like WiiWare
Netflix Partnering with Microsoft
-Only game system allowing to watch streamed videos
-NO ADDITIONAL COST
-Uses an “instant watch queue”
-Can share and watch Netflix videos with Live Party…pretty amazing stuff
Shane Kim on stage
-Mentioning already announced big games (Prince of Persia, Mirror’s Edge, Call of Duty)
-GTA IV DLC exclusive this year on Live
-Showing Rare’s newest efforts
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts
-Trailer is a mix of gameplay and pre-rendered footage
-Banjo is taking supplies and parts into a building/workshop
-Banjo game will be on air, land, and sea
-Vehicles and customizing them are important to game progress
-Available for the holiday season
Viva Pinata: Party Animals
-Trailer looks all real-time
-New regions allow for over 100 different types of pinatas
-Xbox Vision camera allows gamers to scan pinatas in via cards
-Available for the holiday season
Scene It: Box Office Smash
-Very Wii-esque trailer showing different gamer types joining in to play
-Can play with Live Party
-First retail game to use avatars
-New questions via Live Marketplace
You’re In the Movies
-Will ship with Vision camera
-Make, uh, you’re own movies
-Share them and whatnot
Guitar Hero IV
-Metallica’s new album exclusive to GH III/GH IV
-Will be available same time as digital and disc download debut
Lips
-Microsoft’s karaoke game
-Comes with microphone
-You can use your own music
-Blonde girl on stage demos the game…terribly annoying song
Rock Band 2
-Debuts in September exclusively on 360
-Entire soundtrack for the RB2 disc announced…can’t see it because it’s SO FREAKING SMALL
-Noteworthy tracks/artists - Chinese Democracy track (Guns ‘n Roses), Bob Dylan, AC/DC exclusive to RB2, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Motorhead, Devo, Modest Mouse, Beck, Jane’s Addiction
-20 Bonus tracks available in the Fall
-Most tracks ever on one disc
-All DLC forward compatible
-Almost all tracks can be imported from RB1 disc to RB2
-Over 500 songs by end of the year
Yoichi Wada - President of Square-Enix
-The Last Remnant, Infinite Undiscovery, Star Ocean shown to be coming
-Last Remnant trailer shown
-Final Fantasy XIII shown for Xbox 360
-Sony fansboys just crapped themselves out of frustration
-MS fans suddenly will love Final Fantasy
-Honestly, it’s a true megaton score for MS, especially if launches at the same time
-Planned for release in both North America and Europe
End of show.
Great showing by Microsoft, overall. Lots to go over in the next few weeks.
File this under holy crap, because Nintendo just dropped the first bomb at E3…a whole day ahead of their conference. With Microsoft (most likely) set to show off a motion controller this morning, Nintendo decided to show off a small accessory that will give the Wii Remote a full 1:1 motion performance. Many said that it wouldn’t be possible this gen, given the current tech, to have 1:1 support on the Wii, so this is actually pretty surprising stuff. Here’s hoping that tomorrow’s conference has geeks having it out with simulated lightsaber battles in full 1:1 glory.
Here’s the official word from Nintendo.com:
Nintendo’s upcoming Wii MotionPlus accessory for the revolutionary Wii Remote controller again redefines game control, by more quickly and accurately reflecting motions in a 3-D space. The Wii MotionPlus accessory attaches to the end of the Wii Remote and, combined with the accelerometer and the sensor bar, allows for more comprehensive tracking of a player’s arm position and orientation, providing players with an unmatched level of precision and immersion. Every slight movement players make with their wrist or arm is rendered identically in real time on the screen, providing a true 1:1 response in their game play. The Wii MotionPlus accessory reconfirms Nintendo’s commitment to making games intuitive and accessible for everyone. Nintendo will reveal more details about the Wii MotionPlus accessory and other topics Tuesday morning at its E3 media briefing.
At E3 2006, Sony had one of the most disastrous and painful E3 press conferences ever. Sure, when Nintendo paraded Pac-Man Vs. on the stage it was bad, but they didn’t outright make idiots of themselves and give the gaming public a good 10-15 memes to use as virtual slings and arrows. Over the past year or so, however, Sony has made some strong strides toward correcting their flawed philosophy in the gaming sector. Good games are being released regularly, PR is more favorable (still a lot to work on here), and developers have (for the most part) quite bellyaching about the difficulty of getting games up and running to their full potential on the PS3 hardware. Below is a video that was compiled by the Wii60 crowd (remember them?) and was a pretty popular video for months leading up to the PS3 release.
Sony has taken its lumps, and hopefully, the days of giant enemy crabs are fully behind us.
Starting Monday night, I’ll be putting out podcasts dedicated to E3 coverage. The press conference start Monday morning, so tune in and check out what I (we, if I can get the others on board) think about the surprises, announcements, and disappointments of the show.
Oh yes, and all hail the return of The Stupid Gamer Podcast!
Just days away, boys and girls…E3 is upon us once again. It’s that special time of year when airport food prices expand all across Los Angeles, hotel rates jump 33%, and hot dog carts can be found 2 blocks in each direction around the LA convention center. Yes, even in its terribly scaled back form E3 is stirring up the industry and its supporters. Nintendo has their conference on Tuesday, and as usual, knowing what to expect is like cracking into a fortune cookie. You’re expecting something cute, but there’s always a chance you’ll be highly entertained. Usually, however, you just kind of nod and say, “well, that’s sort of what I was expecting.” Either way, Nintendo is always the company to garner the most pre-show hype. Here is what I’m expecting to see:
Bringing Back the Classics - Nintendo’s greatest strength has always been its franchise characters. Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, and others have been driving Nintendo profits for more than two decades now. Because of this, and because the fans demand it, we’re going to get more classic characters getting new games. We know Mario will be there with a sport game or two, Pokemon will have some sort of presence, but we should also be seeing Kid Icarus’ return, along with a balance board supported version of Punch-Out!!. Animal Crossing is going to be there, and I really hope it’s announced alongside a hard drive solution for the Wii (more on that later). Much like Capcom is doing with Mega Man 9, look for 3rd parties to jump in on the retro love with the Wii in some fashion.
Fixing Things That Need Fixin’ - It’s no secret that the Wii needs a better storage solution than its built-in memory. I’m hoping that along with their Animal Crossing unveiling that Nintendo will also announce that it will come bundled with a hard drive. I’m out of space on my Wii, and I’ve been swapping things on and off my SD card, and it’s a bit obnoxious. A hard drive would immediately fix these issues. Also, without a hard drive, Nintendo would be severely limited in what they could offer as DLC for Animal Crossing. I also hope that they’d make the hard drive available separately. In addition to the storage issues, Nintendo needs to bring voice chat to the Wii. I’m not real confident in it happening just yet, but there’s always a chance that Nintendo has paid attention to the complaints.
LOOK AT ME!!! - As always, Nintendo will parade around with their chest out and show how completely insane the sales have been for the Wii and DS. They’lll reiterate that they’ve become the media darlings, and continue to showcase products that illustrate just how they’re going to keep soccer moms buzzing about the Wii. Continued support of the balance board can be expected, and there’s an outside chance that some other crazy peripheral will make its debut.
Eye to the Future - Nintendo is hot now, but they have got to realize internally that the DS and Wii are getting old in a technological sense. While high power has never been the focus of either platform, there are cell phones pushing out visuals on par with the Wii (almost) and much better than the DS. I was doubtful a few months back, but now I’m beginning to think that Nintendo may start to hint at the successor for the DS or even another possible redesign (removed GBA slot, slimmer form factor, better battery life, etc.). Without showing too much, Nintendo will definitely attempt to instill faith in their fans that they are actively working on their future beyond the Wii and DS.
Nintendo always has 2-3 games that everybody wants to play in each conference, another 3-5 that are interesting on some level, and then a whole bunch of games that just seem to be for “someone else”. With the revival of Punch-Out!! and Kid Icarus, I’m pretty much happy with things already, but I really hope we can see some quality 3rd party efforts beyond Fatal Frame and Mega Man 9. Capcom has done very well on the Wii, so I can really see them tossing some love in the Wii’s direction.
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