Tagged: E311

14 Jun, 2011

E3’11: A bunch of games I want to play (Part 2)

Yesterday it was 2K through Namco, today let’s get from Natsume to Warner Bros. and close out this rapid fire look at a bunch of games from E3 I can’t wait to play.

Natsume

Gabrielle’s Ghostly Groove
Will you just make up your mind where you’re gonna release it and let me play this freakin’ game already!?

Sega

Sonic Generations
Yes, I’m still one of those hopelessly forgiving fans, pining for a Sonic game that’s even 1/10th of the original’s shining glory. This, at least, has fat Sonic in it? God, I just don’t know anymooooooore!

Square Enix

Tomb Raider
Tied alongside Uncharted 3 and Bioshock Infinite for my Game of the Show! The dark reboot looks maybe a little too “last girl in a horror movie” but it’s something that has yet to be done well in game form and I’m all about Lara being a pioneer once again.

Hitman Absolution
I’m torn on this one. Happy to see the series finally returning but wondering what the game holds based on that CG trailer. It was more Jason Bourne action than traditional Agent 47. I still haven’t seen footage of the game itself but it sounds like it’s more what I’d expect from a modern Hitman.

Tecmo Koei

Ninja Gaiden 3
What the hell, I’m not super excited about this Itagaki-less Ninja Gaiden but I’ll definitely rent it if I don’t see it on closeout first.

Dynasty Warriors PSVita
I saw a touch screen, QTE-powered battle between Zhao Yun and Lu Bu. It’s like the intro to every Dynasty Warriors game only this is mildly playable. And that’s enough to get my vote!

THQ

Saints Row: The Third
I don’t know a thing about Saints Row but this one looks so completely out there that I can’t ignore the series any longer.

The Deepak Chopra Project
It’s a breathing game for Kinect but it looks to have quite the art style(s). Even a mode that looks like Frequency… only with zen energy? Perplexed and intrigued, the “game” makes the list.

UTV Ignition

El Shaddai: Acension of the Metatron
It’s like this decade’s Rygar! Or maybe Rygar meets Rez. Or Neon Genesis Evangelion meets Okami? Whatever, it’s pretty and I kinda liked the combat. The gospel backstory is of little interest to me outside of the bizarro settings.

Warner Bros.

Bastion
A Day One purchase for me. After following development on Twitter and Giant Bomb I just can’t wait to give it a shot myself.

Batman Arkham City
I’ve still only seen trailers and quick clips but that’s enough for me. Swinging, gliding, wall-climbing, I’m sold on exploring a big creepy city as Batman and Catwoman.

Culture / Feature / News

13 Jun, 2011

E3’11: A bunch of games I want to play (Part 1)

Now that I finally got the big conferences out of the way let’s hop to it with third party games I care about. There’s a lot so here comes a two-parter, alphabetical style!

2K/Take2

Bioshock Infinite
In the three-way tie for my Game of the Show, Infinite honestly has the edge. It may play like a shooter but everything else about it is so stunningly unique that I’d feel bad if I didn’t have a DVD-sized slot in my heart for this game.

XCOM
The only thing that could make XCOM any more stupendously exhilerating for me is if the weird geometrical shard aliens were replaced with Killer Tomatoes.

Atlus

Catherine
Adult themed, this stylish block-hopping puzzler/dating game may wind up somewhat less mature after its U.S. localization. Either way I’m a big fan of the look and the promise of something that isn’t another modern military shooter.

Rock of Ages
They didn’t even need to show this off at E3, I was instantly sold last year when it was first announced.

Bethesda

The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
This is what I hoped Oblivion would be. The new tech and years of design insight will hopefully make for an enjoyable fantasy exploration/fire breathing badass action/RPG experience.

Capcom

Asura’s Wrath
So far it looks like another super cinematic and stylish game that relies a little too heavily on Quick Time Events. Still, it looks more unique and insane than a lot of stuff from the show so I’m at least giving it a rent.

Dragon’s Dogma
This may be my Elder Scrolls: Skyrim if Skyrim turns out to be too much like Oblivion. Climbing around on mythological creatures and exploring a big ass fantasy world sounds fun even if it’s 80% mediocre.

CCP

Dust 514
In this FPS space shooter my boss could possibly be a 14 year old kid who is a maverick at EVE Online. I do his bidding on the battlefield but if he cuts our wages or sends us on a suicide mission I could just as easily join his rivals. The integration between both these games is what I’m most excited to learn more about.

Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon
It looks like the team taking over the series is keeping what was great about E.D.F. and adding a few more modern gaming hooks. Classes, jetpacks, better graphics. I just hope it doesn’t ruin the simple, stupid fun.

Electronic Arts

Mass Effect 3
Regardless of how much of an RPG it is I’m invested in this final (but probably not F I N A L) act. I just hope they don’t mess with my FemShep.

Need for Speed: The Run
This may wind up as the most guided and linear racing game outside of Road Blasters! I’m not expecting a lot of replay but I’ve always wanted Cannonball Run: The Game and this is as close as I can get… for now!

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
While my co-worker is holding out for the MMO set in the same world the more I see of Reckoning the more I can’t wait to play it. The way typical turn-based RPG combat and stats play out in real time looks to be more my pace (e.g. fast).

SSX
Still bummed about the PS3 exclusive MOUNTAIN and concerns over the stiffness of the gameplay, I remain hopeful for a fun downhill racer if not a full-on return to form.

Konami

Puddle
I played and posted about the free demo version of this game not long ago and am looking forward to whatever form it ends up in. More X-Ray stages, please. That stuff looked great.

Leedmees
Imagine Lemmings but controlled via Kinect. I admit, it doesn’t sound super hot but I’m willing to give it a shot for two reasons. 1) It’s a potentially cheap downloadable game 2) This isn’t one interesting part of an otherwise bland minigame collection that’s about training your brain or your body.

NeverDead
This game looks nuts. I can’t wait to see what the advantages of pulling off your own head or purposely losing limbs are.

Contra
The teaser at the end of Konami’s show was masterfully done using only a trail of flames that eventually wound its way into the iconic Contra ‘C’. With everything left to the imagination I can get 100% excited about this game until they show what it actually is and how stupid hard it’s going to be.

Majesco

Bloodrayne: Betrayal
Maybe not looking forward to this game, I’m just damn intrigued about whether they give Rayne a voice, let her swear a lot, and tie any shred of the story together. So far it doesn’t look good.

The Hidden
I’m still a sucker for augmented reality games and though this one looks flaky from what I’ve seen it’s still a neat idea. Using the camera on the 3DS, hunt your surroundings for monster… things, and shoot them until they die. The game remembers places you’ve been and later requires you to go back if they get re-infested or for boss fights. All the better if it turns out to be an eShop release.

Namco Bandai

Ridge Racer Unbounded
I kinda liked Flatout and I used to like Ridge Racer so I’m willing to give this puzzling mix of the two (with some Split/Second and Full Auto touches) a shot.

Ace Combat (for 3DS and Assault Horizon on consoles)
I always give Ace Combat a pass. I haven’t played or even enjoyed them all but I continue to like the series overall. Both of these look to have some unique twists on the formula.

Culture / Feature / Nintendo

12 Jun, 2011

E3’11: Thoughts on Wii U

I think it looks like a handbag :/

Let’s cut right to it since I’m so many days late in getting this posted anyways: nothing outside of Wii U from Nintendo’s press conference was of any interest to me. Ok, ok, a couple 3DS games looked neat but it was Wii U — which was revealed to me by way of twitter as I was sending Katy off to Europe — that was obviously the big news.

Living up to many of the rumors, the controller wasn’t a huge surprise but the silence over the console itself was. Is this just a Wii? Is it a slightly enhanced Wii? Is there another new, non-WiiPad controller coming? Nintendo has since admitted that the whole showing was confusing and didn’t get across everything they were going for. It’s almost MORE interesting than what they did show; that being a bunch of glorified tech demos.

Still, the potential was easy to see. Once again Nintendo has made what will probably be the most unique party game experience with one player on the WiiPad and others (up to 4) using Wii Remotes. The virtual spaces that the gyroscope-enabled WiiPad lets you interact with was also a mindblowing display. While the TV displays the “straight ahead” view, the Shield Pose demo let you look 360-degrees around you with the WiiPad held up in front of you. The hardware itself has some surprises of its own, able to stream the game directly to the WiiPad to play in bed, on the toilet, or when someone else wants to use the TV. In a great throwback to the 3DO it even has its own volume slider and headphone port along with a touch screen stylus, dual analog sticks, and ergonomic grip on the back that conveniently acts as a stand.

it ALSO only does damn near everything!

The problem? Price. That’s a Sony caliber product right there with tons of tech inside that can’t come cheap. And that’s just the controller. I personally think the console itself is going to be a minimally enhanced Wii with little more than some HD outputs, basic wifi and a little flash memory. They’re finally falling in step with HD but the big draw is clearly in what the new controller can do, not how astounding the games look.

They also promised loads of third-party support and showed a couple demos but the WiiPad’s features could just as easily dissuade developers from the investment it takes to bring their PS3 and 360 games to Wii U. Where the Wii brought us a bunch of shallow minigame collections we may wind up with PS3 and 360 ports that limply slap on map/inventory support for the touch screen and ship it out the door.

Like most, I wasn’t sure what to make of this thing at first but in the days since E3 opened I’ve come around on Wii U. I like touch screens and analog sticks way better than Wii Remotes and motion controls like PS Move and Kinect so they’ve got me on the physical interface. I’m not the biggest fan of Nintendo’s IPs anymore so they still need to find some games I care about but I don’t outright hate this thing! And after the last few years of being bummed out over the Wii that may be the biggest surprise of E3.

Culture / Feature / Sony

11 Jun, 2011

E3’11: Thoughts from Sony’s Presspectacle

It worked the last two times to cut down on the clutter so let’s jump into Sony’s Presspectacle by getting all the stuff out of the way that I don’t care about. Over the years Sony’s exclusive IPs have lost my interest so we can tiptoe right over Resistance 3, inFamous 2, God of War PSP: The Origins Collection and Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time.

I’m glad they addressed the PSN outage but it never felt truly genuine. I guess when you’re Jack Tretton and you’re on a stage to wow the world with your wares it’s hard not to come off rehearsed. I accept, Sony, just take this as seriously as you say you do and don’t let it happen again.

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. I could write volumes just about the demo they showed. Since I promised to be brief, however, I’ll just say that it’s clearly this game’s ‘Train level’ from Uncharted 2 and that the water simulation (and simulation within a simulation) made this damn near Game of the Show for me. Cannot wait to play the whole game and I’m officially on media blackout until it’s released!

The next surprise was the 24″ 3D display they’ll be selling soon. At first I wrote it off as another lame push for 3D but when they mentioned the two-players-on-one-screen angle a lone neuron sparked in my head. Years ago, I wanna say 2007, I first read about a means to show two simultaneous images, full screen on one screen, to two different viewers. It’s been so long I assumed it was a theory that never paid off but 5 years later, here it is, PlayStation branded even. Since the reveal word has come in of some ghosting problems and it still requires you to wear shuttered glasses but I love the concept nonetheless.

MOVE-ing along, Medieval Moves: Deadmund’s Quest piqued my attention as I thought I was about to see the return of Sir Daniel Fortesque. Sadly, it’s a Move game that looks like an on-rails action game with archery, sword fighting and other moves you may have pulled off in Sports Champions. It looked kind of fun but isn’t MOVE-ing me to go buy a Move.

Next up was Dust 514, the online sci-fi strategy/teamwork/shooter project by EVE Online creators, CCP. It wasn’t immediately exciting until they mentioned that the victories and advancements that take place here will somehow impact the world of EVE and vice versa. The idea of two radically different games effecting one another is enough to get me on board at this early stage.

Just when things were getting good out comes Ken Levine who (after an admittedly awesome demo of Bioshock Infinite) starts tittering on about how he disparaged motion controls in the past but has seen the light and is working on *something* for PlayStation Vita. If you were wondering where the money Sony saved by skimping on PSN security went, here’s your answer. This led into a slew of disappointing news like how a bunch of upcoming PS3 games (Bioshock Infinite, Battlefield 3) will feature the entire previous game right on the disc. Weren’t they just going on about how much space games are taking up on blu-ray discs and now they can miraculously fit TWO modern games inside? I got a cramp in my eyebrow from how fast it snapped into position.

Kicking the sleaze into high gear was news that several EA games would feature exclusive content only on PlayStation 3. Most of it is pre-order caliber stuff but SSX (one of the games I’m most looking forward to) will see the entire Mt. Fuji level with 20 starting points locked away on PS3. It’s terrible when retail stores pay for exclusives like this and if Sony’s going to throw money around they might as well make the entire game an exclusive, not just bits and pieces of it.

PlayStation Vita: The Whole World in Play
Just when I was expecting Kaz Hirai to come out and praise an exclusive paint job for a car in Ridge Racer Unbounded he whips out an NGP and puts that prototypical acronym to rest forever. PlayStation Vita it is and over the next several minutes my opinion goes from passing fancy to internal struggle over whether to buy one. The tech is impressive — even more impressive is how little they left out, this thing has seemingly everything — but I kept reminding myself the same was true of the original PSP.

AT&T service aside, everything they showed impressed me, from Uncharted: Golden Abyss’ combo controls that use buttons and/or the touchscreens (both front and rear) to the Transfarring-like features of Ruin that let you near-instantly hop from PSV to PS3 versions of the game. What sold me the hardest, however, were LittleBigPlanet and ModNation Racers. Both of the DIY games suddenly seemed perfect with touch controls to create objects and worlds with the most absurd simplicity. They also showed a Dynasty Warriors demo which looked awesome in the worst possible ways. But the surprise of the show was the price: $249 for the wifi-only model. Between the equally-priced 3DS and PSV there is no debate in my mind. That is, if I were a handheld gamer. That’s a whole other discussion but it’s already pretty hard to not want a PSV on Day One, whenever that is.

And that was about it for the Sony show. The heartless prattle of Jack Tretton didn’t cast any magic on me but I still wound up pretty excited about the Vita and a few of the PS3 games. Looks like the console holds its place on the TV stand for the foreseeable future.

Culture / Feature / News

8 Jun, 2011

E3’11: Thoughts from Ubisoft’s Media Briefing

Timely as ever, I am pretty late to this press conference recap party so I’m gonna do this in short order for the stifled attention spans of us all. Just some quick thoughts and bullet points from Ubisoft’s Press-a-ma-thing.

Mr. Caffeine was the worst MC ever, even worse than Jamie Kennedy, but let’s not dwell on that. Michel Ancel’s demonstration of Rayman Origins has me reinvigorated and ready to play. The appearance of original Rayman characters was great too, I just wonder how the whole user-created angle is going. Now coming as an on-disc release it seems like this will be a pretty self-contained game without going into the equally stunning looking Ubiart stuff they showed last year. I hope some of that is available to play in some form or another.

In all instances I would readily play the ’25 years ago’ versions of the games they showed as motion graphics that topped most segments, just sayin’. This ‘25 Years of Ubisoft‘ art that popped up in Rayman Origins was also really slick. I need a hi-res version for wallpaper, stat!

Driver: San Francisco looked great but I’m not sure any of that was in-game footage. It seemed like it but really all I need are hills, cars and cops. The Tanner-in-a-coma, car-jumping angle wasn’t featured but even as gimmicky as it is, I hope it’s still in the final product. The Far Cry 3 reveal has, so far, been the most exciting thing I’ve seen out of E3. I wasn’t expecting it at all after the divisive Far Cry 2 but am glad to see more jungles, more stealth and more ridiculously brutal takedowns. The crazy guy, stalking psycho angle could make for a fun element, I just hope I don’t have to constantly be running from him the whole game.

Does Quentin Tarrantino know they ripped of Inglorious Basterds? That’s all I’m gonna say about the ‘proof of concept’ CG trailer for Brothers in Arms: Furious 4. Not too interested in that. I love how Tintin (the game and the source material) look! I couldn’t tell you anything more about Tintin other than to say ‘hey, that’s Tintin’ but it sure looks good.

Ghost Recon has a great user interface but I really couldn’t possibly care less about ever playing any of them. THQ, please take note of the slick UI for a future Full Spectrum Warrior, thanks. Trackmania 2 and ManiaPlanet seem nuts and something I’ve never gotten much into.

As cookie-cutter and derivative as Raving Rabbids Alive & Kicking looks, I love those little guys and will always give them a pass. There are at least a dozen Kinect games that have already done the whack-a-mole thing but these screaming lunatics (both the guys on stage and the Rabbids) get a ‘quick, get on my list while no one’s looking’ OK for shear lunacy. Just Dance 3 and Rocksmith are both kind of appealing music games but ones I’m not sure I’ll ever get to play. For those who already own a guitar it’s great but for me it would require hundreds of dollars in equipment… and leather pants. Your Shape: Fitness Evolved is one of my favorite Kinect games and one of the few exer-games I’ve ever stuck with. So yes, I’m really looking forward to what they’re doing with the ‘2012’ edition and its awesome UI.

I’m currently knee-deep in Assassins Creed: Brotherhood and finding it hard to slog through another massive collect-athon that focuses on Ezio’s adventures. I loved Assassins Creed 2 but this seems like a colossal retread with a character and time period I’m getting tired of. Seeing AC: Revelations takes the madness several steps farther with giant chains, boat-mounted flamethrower cannons, and decidedly unstealthy Quick Time Events. I’m only in it for the Desmond/Altair angle and will begrudgingly wade through this just to get on with Assassins Creed 3.

Far Cry 3, Rayman and Your Shape are my biggest takeaways from Ubisoft’s conference. The stuff they didn’t show — Call of Juarez and From Dust — are also high on my list so while most of the world may laugh it off, I thought it was a pretty good showing.

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Tagged: E311

E3’11: A bunch of games I want to play (Part 2)

E3’11: A bunch of games I want to play (Part 1)

E3’11: Thoughts on Wii U

E3’11: Thoughts from Sony’s Presspectacle

E3’11: Thoughts from Ubisoft’s Media Briefing

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Tagged: E311

E3’11: A bunch of games I want to play (Part 2)

E3’11: A bunch of games I want to play (Part 1)

E3’11: Thoughts on Wii U

E3’11: Thoughts from Sony’s Presspectacle

E3’11: Thoughts from Ubisoft’s Media Briefing

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