I published my top ten games of E3 2009 over at Kombo, but I figured I’d share them here with a little bit more info on each one. They are presented in no particular order, except for my game of the show (which is obviously number 1). Here we go.
Metroid: Other M – When Nintendo rolled the trailer for this I was pretty surprised. Before the conference I had Tweeted that I expected a New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and I had been telling friends that I also expected a new Metroid, but Other M still managed to surprise me with how it looked and with the fact that it’s co-developed by Team Ninja. I really can’t wait to see how this plays out.
Modern Warfare 2 – I feel that Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is the best console FPS of all time, so it’s only natural that I’d be hyped up for the sequel. I thought that the game looked great at the show, and I’m very interested in seeing more as the game gets nearer to release.
Heavy Rain - While there are still a lot of questions surrounding this game, there’s no denying that it looks fantastic. I’m hoping that due to all the branching storyline paths that this game will be very replayable.
The Beatles: Rock Band - When it was first announced I figured that this was basically Rock Band with a Beatles skin, but after having played the game at E3 and watching it for a while, I’ve come to see that it is indeed a new experience. With support for thee-part harmonies and some gorgeous art, this looks like it’s going to be well worth the price of entry.
Uncharted 2 - Few games at E3 so thoroughly wowed the audience as Uncharted 2 managed to do. The game looks absolutely stunning and it seems to have received a significant gameplay and AI upgrade. The first Uncharted was awesome, so there’s no doubt in my mind that this one deserves a big old hype train.
God of War III - The God of War series is really, really, good. If you’re not a Sony guy, it’s possible that you’ve passed on this series, and that’s tood bad. God of War III looked amazing at E3, and the demo was a blast to play. Somehow they manage to take the action and carnage to a higher level with each release, and God of War III is no exception.
Sin and Punishment 2 - Seeing this playable on the show floor was a little surprising, as the game is not due out until 2010. After playing through it a few times it was safe to say that Sin and Punishment 2 was one of my favorite demos at the show. The game controlled well, had nice flow, and was full of that classic Treasure style. The game should be a big hit with fans of the original, myself included.
Alan Wake - Of all the games that Microsoft had to show at their conference, I fell that Alan Wake was the most impressive. The game has been a long time coming, but it’s looking like it’s been well worth the wait. As expected, the game looked incredible. It differentiated itself well from Heavy Rain and proved to be the more action-orientated title between the two.
New Super Mario Bros. - I called it! Heh, this game was a blast to play on the show floor in a 4-player setting, but I’m quite sure that the single player experience will be great fun too. It’s hard not to get excited about a new and playable Mario game at E3.
Scribblenauts - In the end, my game of the show was Scribblenauts for the DS. Here’s a direct quote from my writeup at Kombo on the game: In a year when all three major consoles really came out and had excellent showings, it took me by surprise that I ended up singling out a handheld title for my top pick of E3. Handled correctly, Scribblenauts could be the next runaway sensation on the DS. The game’s approach to problem solving is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before and it should keep all types of gamers interested in seeing just how many different ways they can manage to meet their goal. Each time I walked away from the demo station it was all I could do not to turn right back and try one more thing out on the game.
Honorable Mentions
The games listed here are pretty much as good as the top ten, but they either didn’t have the same surprising impact behind them, maybe they weren’t playable, or maybe they just ended up here because I could only pick ten games and I sadly had to relegate a few to the outer edges. Here are the other games I was big on at E3 2009.
Below you’ll find a slideshow of some of the pics I took at E3. I might be adding more as time goes on, so if you care, check back and watch the slide show again to see anything new. After that, I have links to some of my hands-on articles that I wrote for Kombo.com. I’m still going to do that E3 wrapup podcast and will also reveal my top picks for the show soon. I imagine your hype for said things must be through the roof. You can view a full screen version of the photo slideshow by hitting that little button with the four arrows on the bottom of the image window.
Links to hands-on articles (I will be adding to this as more stories go live):
Joystiq has some new details on Madden 10, straight from EA Tiburon themselves. Below is a quote from their article, and there’s a video you can view over at the site as well (link at the end of the post):
One of the biggest improvements to the game is the Pro-Tak feature, which provides more dynamic tackling on the defense, better evasion maneuvers for the Quarterback, and allows players to fight for fumbles at the bottom of the pile. Defenders can even gang up on an offensive player, allowing up to 9-man gang tackles.
There will also be a new way for you to decrease the length of a game through the Madden NFL Your Way feature. This is a customizable version of the game that will support a new, revamped play calling system, along with faster clocks, and streamlined presentation.
New features are good and all, but upping the cheese factor of quarterbacks sounds dangerous to me. If anything, quarterbacks need to go down easier in NFL games, because too many people abuse the rollout plays with mobile quarterbacks. Besides, it’s not like I’m going to running anywhere with Pennington no matter how many jukes they give him. I hope that fumble fighting deal is super transparent as well. I don’t want to see issues where like six players from one team jump on a fumble only to have the opposing team’s kicker hop on top of the pile only to emerge with the ball. I never realized that there were issues with the fumble recovery system, but whatever.
I really hope that EA Sports isn’t going to sweat out the stuff that nobody really ever has cared about. I’d be very happy if we just got a fun to play game that isn’t plagued by glaring issues in the passing or running games. But wait, if our fumble scrums are accurate I guess it would be all dandy, right?!
Every year I get hopeful for Madden, and every year I feel a little deflated by the product. But hey, this year they’re showing off my favorite team in the new screens, so it’s about time I start getting suckered in. As long as they refrain from images of that evil team out in Foxboro, the love fest I’m currently having with Madden 10 can continue.
Look at Ronnie Brown running that Wildcat offense. It’s a thing of outright beauty! I really hope that the Wildcat works well in Madden 10. I mean, I want it to be effective, but not so overpowered and broken that it becomes taboo to use online. I imagine it can’t be the easiest thing to integrate into an NFL game, as it’s a pretty strange twist. I also hope that Tom Brady’s terribly unhealed knee is accurately represented in the game.
One of my most anticipated games is Ghostbusters, if only for the awesome franchise that it’s based on. Ok, so the game actually does look like a lot of fun, but buying the limited collector’s edition that Amazon is offering is going to set you back a quite a bit. While it does come with some cool little collectibles, there is no way that they’re worth doubling the price of the game. Here’s what you get, directly quoted from Amazon’s product listing:
An exclusive 10″ Slimer bust designed and created by the original movie sculptor, Steve Johnson. Comes complete with a certificate of authenticity signed by the sculptor himself.
Exclusive Ghostbusters Minimates. Only be available with the Slimer Edition.
Oh, and of course you’ll also get the game. The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions will run you $129.99, and the Wii version will run $109.99. For the serious Ghostbusters collector, I guess it’s a no-brainer, but for the casual fan, the price is probably a bit much.
Collector’s editions of games are all the rage now, it seems. People are dropping $10, $20, 0r even $30 extra dollars on specially packaged versions of their games in order to get some bonus swag with their game. Many times these collector’s editions of games are exclusive to a particular retailer or, or only offered for a limited time, or are for pre-orders only. Well, right now on Amazon.com you can buy a couple of Punch-Out!! collectibles. The first, which comes in at a whopping $90, is a green boxing glove in a display case, which is “autographed” by Little Mac. The second is a Heavyweight Contender Kit, which contains a King Hippo mini crown, a desktop punching bag, some boxer shorts, and a Doc Louis chocolate bar. Neither kit comes with the game, but both are oozing with nerd bragging rights. Below are the links to the products on Amazon.
Ok, I have to admit that I think that the boxing glove is pretty dang cool, but I don’t see myself spending more than $15-$20 on something like that. The fact that it’s $90 and doesn’t come with the game kills it for me. I’m planning on putting a Punch-Out!! arcade machine in my home soon, and this would be the perfect decoration to go alongside it, but right now I just can’t justify the money. Hopefully these things will either come down in price at some point or that they’ll be available for less on the second hand market. All you die-hard Punch-Out!! fans, you found your dream swag if the price is right, however.
Nintendo is the publisher for Tecmo’s Fatal Frame IV over in Japan, and earlier this week they announced that they have decided not to bring the game to North America. Because of region locking on the Wii, that means that unless you have a Japanese Wii, you won’t be playing this game. What a bummer. Fatal Frame is one of the more enjoyable and definitely one of the scarier survival horror series out there. Fatal Frame II still ranks up in the top 3 scariest games of all time in my book, so I was really hoping that the fourth game in the series would make its way here.
I’m guessing that Nintendo has chosen not to bring Fatal Frame IV over to North America because they feel that it either won’t be profitable or that it doesn’t jive well with their current lineup of games. If you ask me, either reason is total crap. Sure, the game may not be a blockbuster seller, but at least you’d be helping out our relationships with a 3rd party developer that is willing to produce engaging and complex content for your system. I think Nintendo is sending a very bad message to developers, its fanbase, and to potential buyers that may be weary of the console’s hardcore game offerings. I love my Nintendo Wii as much or more than most people out there, but I honestly can’t deny that the lineup could use a few more games like Fatal Frame IV.
I’m a huge arcade nut, so seeing arcade games coming to the Virtual Console service is something that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. The first four titles to release are Star Force (Tecmo), Mappy (Namco), Gaplus (Namco), and The Tower of Druaga (Namco) .
There are literally thousands of worthwhile arcade games that can be released on the Virtual Console. This could be a great source of revenue for struggling studios that have a strong arcade legacy, like Midway. I’m hoping that Nintendo decides to open up the stream of releases a little bit, because the well of arcade classics is pretty deep.
In an update that is live now, you can finally play games from the Wii’s SD card slot. The new update will support SD cards up to 32GB, which means you basically can throw countless Virtual Console games on a card and you’ll never have to worry about storage again. IGN has a video up showing how quickly a game boots from the SD card, so take a look.
Pretty cool, as I’d already been up against my storage limits. I was starting to swap games on and off of my SD card, now I can just simply boot right from it. This will also help me to have a cleaner dashboard. I’d say thanks to Nintendo, but this should have been in place at launch. Either way, better late than never…
My top ten games of E3 2009
Entries (RSS)