E3 2010 Day 1 - Microsoft, EA and Ubisoft.
Just thought I would share a few pieces of interesting software from today's show. This is the stuff that has me particularly psyched, there was some other stuff that looked cool too. If you want more, head over to gametrailers, they have a ton of content up.
- Gears of War 3 looks awesome. 4 player campaign will be mighty fun. Lots of cool shit in this.. Pay attention, you can trade weapons! Hey, it's the little things in life...
- The new Ghost Recon looks very promising, though a bit like MGS4. I used to love the GR series but the last few games haven't really interested me much. I'm happy to see a GR game that looks damn neat.
- New Metal Gear game looks interesting. Plus, you can accurately chop fruit. Looks like cutting shit with that awesome sword will be the selling point here.
- Dance Central has potential to be pretty fun for the right people and I think is a good Kinect demo. Sure, I won't buy this, but the demo is impressive.
- After nearly 10 years, there is a new NFS: Hot Pursuit. And it's done by Criterion! Hot Pursuit is the ONLY game in the NFS series I have ever really enjoyed. Plus the fact that Criterion is making it (The team that does Burnout), tells me this should be nothing but win.
- Other than the space marine armor, Dead Space 2 looks pretty bad ass. I was alittle concerned after all the principals form the first game left the studio.
- Star Wars: The Old Republic has another amazing trailer. Too bad the game looks nothing like this, but the trailer is a damn nice follow up from the trailer they showed at last year's E3.
- Crysis 2 sure looks pretty. Dunno if it will be good but it sure looks intense.
- Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood doesn't actually look like the cash grab I expected it to be. Lots of neat stuff going on.
- Bulletstorm still looks bat shit insane. "you scared my dick off"... I like the fact that they acknowledge the entire point of this game is to be as over the top as possible. And it shows.
- I am super stoked about Child of Eden, from the guy who did REZ, Lumines and Space Channel 5. This is what might have me buying a Kinect. Really wish I could find the actual live demo they did for this.
Also, I suspect if you had young kids you would probably be obligated to buy this. Another great Kinect demo. And it beats the pants off the 'eyepet' that Sony has been showing off for like 2 years now.
What do you think about Microsofts new Wii like product? I believe it's called Kinecto or something. No controls whatsoever and works with the Xbox360.
I think it has a lot of potential, but ultimately comes down to the software. Right now, I've seen enough for it that has me interested in picking one up.
Prior to yesterday, I wasn't really expecting to get one. But some of the stuff that was demoed was damn impressive.
I think I'll buy the Xbox360 add on. Jumping around and jogging, punching people, and boat rafting all while standing there seems awesome. But it might make me forget there is such thing as outside.
That's not even the best stuff. Look at the above video for "Child of Eden" or look up the Ubisoft fitness game.
Kirk, any disappointments thus far? The FABLE 3 trailer was a big letdown for me.
My only real disappointment so far is the lack of news on new, previously unannounced titles for Microsoft and Sony. You always want to see some stuff about really cool future games. This year, there hasn't been much of that. Nearly everything shown was stuff that we already new about.
I'm also a little surprised at the lack of info on a few games we know about that seemed oddly absent. Mass Effect 3, for instance. Though I don't need to see a playable game, I was expecting to see a teaser. On the Sony side, they didn't even mention Last Guardian. Which makes me think that game is VERY far out.
As for actual disappointments, Sony finally announced a new Twisted Metal. But after the demonstration, I'm left a little "meh" about it. Hopefully it turns out good, as I love combat racing games, but right now it kind of looks like a mess. It has plenty of time to go though, so fingers crossed.
I'm not going to really talk about Nintendo, because as much as everyone loves nostalgia, I've finally comes to terms that it doesn't make for a game I actually enjoy. The New Zelda looks horrid to me. They should have gone with an art style that doesn't make the Wii look like a piece of trash. They announced GoldenEye, a game that was only good on the N64 because it was the only game at the time to figure out how to do FPS on a console. Kid Icarus looks kind of interesting, but I really dislike portable gaming that isn't something like Puzzle Quest. Nintendo, IMO, isn't in the real gaming market. When I watch their press conference, I might as well be watching a Barbie press conference. Because that's what they are making... Toys.
There were a few standouts from Sony:
Sorcery - Which is their motion controlled wizard game - Looks like a good demo and probably fun for the right market, but I wouldn't buy it.
Portal 2 on PS3 - is huge for Sony, IMO. Especially since Gabe from Valve was on stage after all the trashing of the PS3 he's done. Steam integration on PS3 could be interesting too.
Since motion control was such a big topic this year for MS and Sony, I give MS points for actually showing how all these games worked with live demos. Sony, just kind of talked about them, or showed commercials. Interestingly, Sony finally put out their pricing on Move. Basically, $130 to get started for a single player. $80 for each additional player. That adds up damn fast and makes the rumored price of $150 for Kinect seem fair.
My suspicion though, is that MS will price Kinect at $130, and they were simply waiting for Sony to announce pricing so they could match it and then pitch the value proposition of Kinect. It also seems like MS is taking this more seriously, with 15 launch titles... Sony doesn't appear to have half that.
What did the new Zelda look like, Kirk?
It looks like a Zelda game on the Wii. So it is ugly and play like all the zelda games have since they came out on the N64. Also, for some reason, Link now has Hilary Clinton Legs. Gametrailers has a bunch of clips you can check out it you want. I'm done trying to care about the series, as with all of Nintendo's franchises they aren't for adults. And that's fine. Here's some gameplay
Yeah, what the hell? His legs are all chunky and weird. This actually doesn't look any different from Twilight Princess.
Even though I wouldn't have played it, I think they should have gone with the Wind Waker art style. That can at least play to the weakness of the Wii's graphical capability. But I'm sure Nintendo will still sell millions of copies based on nostalgia alone.
The cell shade animation is actually my favorite out of all those games.
I'm kinda disappointed because I kept hearing these rumors that the new Zelda was going to take place in the future where Hyrule would consist of skyscrapers and Link would be on a motorcycle instead of a horse. It was going to be a Bladerunner type of Zelda game, but I guess that's not happening.
I've never heard that rumor, and I'm pretty plugged in. And honestly, I would never have believed that. Nintendo doesn't do radical re-imaginings like that. Zelda is a high-fantasy setting and always will be.
If you want what you described, I think you want to play Final Fantasy 
Whoa! Is that official?
Yeah, but only as it relates to Portal 2. Basically, Steamworks will be part of it. Which is what allows Steam to do all of it's cool achievements and stat tracking and presumably SteamCloud for game saves.
So you won't be buying games through Steam on PS3, but it is adding some neat functionality. Right now, I would say it is probably similar in functionality to Rockstar Social Club.
saw that new republic game trailer last night on youtube. that looks hella tight. if only i were still into computer games.. ehh. who knows..
__________________________________
yew!
I wanna tickle your belly button, from the inside.