E3 2011: Nintendo Conference

Here's everything...

The Legend of Zelda: 25th Anniversary
- Link's Awakening arriving today on Nintendo eShop
- Ocarina of Time 3D arrives next weekend (we know this)
- Legend of Zelda: Four Swords for DSiWare in September
- Skyward Sword releasing for Wii this Holiday
- Gold Wii Remote launching with the game
- Zelda Symphony Concerts worldwide this Fall
- Ocarina of Time 3D soundtrack free to early register of the game on Club Nintendo

Mario Kart 3D
- Trailer shown
- Fly with karts, dive with carts
- Customize karts with with wheels and accessories
- Arrives this holiday

StarFox 64 3D
- Arrives in US this September
- Play with normal or motion controls
- 4 player multiplayer records players faces

Super Mario 3D
- First original 3D Mario game on a portable
- Return of Tanooki suit, music blocks
- Has 2D platforming levels
- Releasing before year's end

Kid Icarus: Uprising
- Full voice over… I'm scared
- 6-Player Multiplayer battle mode
- Will have AR Cards of its own
- Coming "later this year"

Luigi's Mansion 2
- Trailer shown, looks fun!
- Will have "several" new mansions

Nintendo eShop
- 10 3D videos to be available soon (?)
- Demos for games coming later this year
- Free Excitebike 3D (available now)
- Pokedex 3D available free now as well

Nintendo Wii U
- Controller has a 6.2" screen
- Continue game from TV to controller
- Seems super gimmicky
- Controller has 2 circles pads, D-pad, A, B, X, Y, L, R, ZL, and ZR buttons
- Has a camera, gyroscope, microphone, speakers
- Works with all Wii titles and accessories
- Video chat online using the controller
- HD Zelda demoed, looks awesome… but, I'm turned off.
- Arriving next year

(click to enlarge)

Super Smash Bros.
- Nothing to show, but will with with both 3DS and Wii U

Graphical Demo
- Doesn't seem like actual gameplay graphics, just pre-rendered footage

New Super Mario Bros Mii
- Tech demo, Use Mii to play on TV or controller screen

Sheild Pose
- Tech demo, use controller as shield/continuation of screen

Chase Mii
- Tech demo, 4 players on Wiimotes, 1 using the controller
- Miis in Nintendo franchise universes

LEGO City Stories
- Co-published by Nintendo and Tt Games for Wii U and 3DS
- Really?

Darksiders II, Tekken, Batman Arkham City, Assassin's Creed, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Online, Dirt, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Metro Last Light, Ninja Gaiden 3 all in development.

E3 2011: Sony Conference

Compilation trailer opens the show… features NGP, no PSP in sight. Nevermind, PSP shows up late to the show…

Jack Tretton gives out an apology regarding the PSN. Much appreciated.

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
- Live demo shown, somehow looks better than Uncharted 2
- Multiplayer begins June 28
- Will support 3DTV, another trailer shown
- Releases 11-1-11

Resistance 3
- Live demo shown, also supports 3D
- Bundled with Sharpshooter controller, PS Move, PS Eye, Analog controller for $150

God of War: Origins Collection
- Remakes of PSP God of War games: Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta
- Both game remastered in HD and 3D
- Releases September

ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection
- Both game remastered in HD and 3D
- Releases September

PlayStation 3D Monitor
- $499 gets you a 24" 3D monitor, with glasses and HDMI cable, and Resistance 3
- 2 Players can see 2 different images instead of split-screen somehow.
- Releases in Fall

NBA 2K12
- Uses PS Move
- Kobe claims it's realistic, he's also a rapist…
- Releases October 4th, 2011

Medieval Moves
- PS Move title played from sort of first person/third person hack n slash adventure
- Will probably have the same fate as Sorcery the PS Move game we saw last year
- Claims to be releasing in Fall 2011

InFamous 2
- New trailer despite it releasing tomorrow
- User created features coming in Fall

LittleBigPlanet 2
- Update coming to heavily feature PS Move

Starhawk
- Sort of sequel to Warhawk

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
- Pre-rendered trailer shown
- Coming 2012

DUST 514
- Connects with EVE Online
- Supports PS Move and NGP
- Beta in Fall, releases Spring 2012

BioShock Infinite
- New gameplay trailer shown
- Will support PS Move
- Comes with BioShock 1 on PS3 (weird)

BioShock for NGP
- Only mentioned, no footage or screens

Saints Row 3
- Launches November with PS Move support

Star Trek
- Trailer shown, co-op based gameplay
- Based on next Star Trek film
- Will support PS Move and 3D, with a Phaser controller coming out
- Coming 2012

SSX, Need for Speed: the Run, and Battlefield 3 all support extra context exclusive to PS3

PlayStation Suite
- Service for non-PlayStation devices like Android phones and tablets

PlayStation Vita
- Final name for the NGP
- Two analog stick, 2 cameras, SIXAXIS, 2 touch panels
- Will have 3G and WiFi models
- AT&T exclusive 3G carrier for PSVita in North America
- PartyRoom allows cross game voice chat
- Near, allows you to play games and see trophies of nearby Vita users
- More than 80 titles in development
- Releasing Holiday 2011
- WiFi model costs $249
- 3G model costs $299

Uncharted: Golden Abyss
- Live demo shown
- Can use traditional controls, or touch/motion based controls

Ruin
- Top-down fantasy combat game
- PS3 version will be compatible with Vita version, cloud saves.

ModNation Racers
- Entirely new version developed exclusively for PSVita
- Use both touch screen and rear touch panel to raise/drop elevations
- PSVita version will be able to access content from the PS3 version's community

WipeOut 2048
- Compete via PSVita or PS3 at launch

LittleBigPlanet
- Touch controls
- Carries over LBP2's design tools
- Horizontal or vertical levels
- Share costumes/content with PS3 version

Street Fighter X Tekken
- PSVita version, live demo shown
- Will feature Cole from InFamous

No PSP new for obvious reasons, and seriously, where was The Last Guardian??

E3 2011: Ubisoft Conference

What a... weird presentation, no James Cameron boring people to death, but... yeah.

Rayman Origins
- Live demo shown, has co-op
- Looks fun!

Driver: San Francisco
- Hyperactive man says dick jokes on stage
- New trailer shown

FarCry 3
- They didn't even say what this was for the first 5 minutes of this trailer/gameplay
- Doesn't seem that exciting…
- "THE surprise of the show" I beg to differ

Brothers in Arms: Furious 4
- Looks a bit cartoony
- Oddly doesn't show swastikas despite calling the bad guys Nazis
- Probably has Left 4 Dead inspired gameplay

The Adventures of Tintin: The Game
- Spielberg and Jackson talk about the game based on their film (in a trailer of course)
- Trailer shown, 2D/3D gameplay

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
- Live demo shown, with a controller this time

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Online
- Free to play web version of the franchise

ManiaPlanet
- Trackmania 2 for PC releases in September
- Shootmania and Questmania also coming

Rabbids: Alive & Kicking
- I can't believe this franchise is successful…
- Exclusive for Kinect
- Share photos from the game on Facebook
- Comes out November 8, 2011

Just Dance 3
- Another franchise I don't get why its popular
- Not only on Wii, now on Kinect and PS Move

Rocksmith
- Another use-a-real-guitar music game
- Coming Fall 2011

Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012
- I'm just bored now

Assassin's Creed Revelations
- New trailer shown
- Features Ezio and Altaïr
- Live demo shown
- Releases November, like every other big game...

E3 2011: EA Conference

No major reveals, but I did this anyways...

Mass Effect 3
- Releases March 6th, 2012 on 360, PS3, and PC
- Live demo shown, looks amazing

Origin
- EAs new Steam-like service, "Go check it out!"…
- No really, its after EVERY TRAILER

Need for Speed: the Run
- Super stat-tracking
- Out of car gameplay, a.k.a. running from the cops

Star Wars: The Old Republic
- New trailer shown, all pre-rendered footage we've seen…
- No date

SSX
- No more serious look or subtitle
- Comes next January

FIFA 12
- Yup, they still make it.
- EA Sports Football Club connects you through all versions of FIFA regardless of platform.

Madden 12
- Holy Crap!! I cannot believe they're bringing this franchise back!
- Really, they used Inception music for this??
- Enough of the meat-heads please.

The Sims: Social
- Facebook is not a gaming platform, get out of my face.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
- First game from 38 Studios
- Open world fantasy game

OverStrike
- First multi-platform title from Insomniac Games
- Weird off-portioned realistic characters, I'm scared.

Battlefield 3
- New graphics engine is … astonishing
- Beta in September
- Free stat tracking, coughActivisioncough
- Releases October 25, 2011

E3 2011: Microsoft Conference

A summary of Microsoft's E3 Press Conference. Media will possibly be added later.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
- Live demo shown, with controller hiccups too!
- Graphics/animations look better
- Releases November 8th, 2011

Tomb Raider
- Origin story (if you didn't already know)
- Live demo, looks totally different, more cinematic
- Releasing Fall 2012

EA
- Tiger Woods PGA, Madden, FIFA, and another game will support Kinect
- Sims 3: Pets and other EA titles also using Kinect

Mass Effect 3
- Uses Kinect for voice commands
- Speak Shepard's speech choices as opposed to just pressing a button…
- Tell party members what to do in battle

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
- New trailer, clearly not in-game footage
- Uses Kinect for… everything. Seems, odd.
- All future Tom Clany games will use Kinect

A new Xbox user interface, streamlined for Kinect
- Very much like Sony's Xross Media Bar
- Will support YouTube (which Wii and PS3 have done with browsers for years)
- Bing to search Netflix, Hulu, XBL Marketplace
- Live TV support with voice controller
- Launching in Fall

UFC
- Brofest 360
- watch live events, check stats, play trivia, for an added fee of course

Gears of War 3
- Ice T live demos with Cliff B.
- Ice T's band Body Count will have a new song in the game...

Ryse
- Formerly Codename: Kingdoms
- Trailer shown
- Kinect based Roman first person combat

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
- Rerelease and remake of Halo 1
- Releases November 15, 2011

Forza Motorsport 4
- New trailer
- Releases October 14th, 2011

Fable: The Journey
- Trailer shown, pre-rendered footage
- In-game demo, uses Kinect
- Releases 2012

Minecraft
- Exclusive console debut in winter for 360 and Kinect

Kinect Disneyland Adventures
- No longer give your kids a vacation, tell them to stare at the TV
- Actually a mini-game collection
- Awful child actors not included

Kinect Star Wars
- Actually looks like a real product now
- Yet another mini-game collection basically

Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster
- From DoubleFine
- Uses Kinect
- Comes out this Fall

Kinect Fun Labs
- Being added to the dashboard
- Scan your body and make an Avatar
- Drawing in 3D space
- Scan in your real life items
- Goes live TODAY

Kinect Sports: Season Two
- More Wii Sports in HD
- Skiing, Tennis, Golf, Football, Baseball, something with a stage?

Dance Central 2
- Because no one wants plastic instruments, but shaking like a fool is fun.
- Import songs from the first game, like Rock Band did.

Halo 4
- Teaser trailer shown, still no personality
- "Start of a new trilogy"
- Not by Bungie
- Fall 2012

My Favorite Trailer from E3, Seriously

There were definitely some neat things to see this year at the big three's press conferences. The Metal Gear Solid: Rising trailer shown during Microsoft's conference makes it look like a really cool, fresh entry into the Metal Gear franchise, and looks to be the most promising of the games that will use Kinect. But otherwise I wasn't amazed by the rest of the execution of the device.

Today, during Nintendo's conference, I thought the new Zelda, now named Skyward Sword, was going to be my favorite of the show. But the technical hiccups during Miyamoto's presentation really turned me off, but it's a new Zelda, so I'll end up buying it anyways; plus I really love the Wind Waker-ed Twilight Princess graphic style they're using. Heck, as awesome as it was to see a new Kid Icarus and the 3DS, one game still really stood out for me... Kirby's Epic Yarn. Which, despite the silly name, and even sillier timing by presenting it right after Disney Epic Mickey, is honestly one of the coolest looking games I've seen in a long time.


Like, seriously, LOOK AT THAT! I don't think I've ever seen another franchise get such a drastic visual overhaul and still feel like it should... except maybe Wind Waker. Point being, I really love the way the game looks and moves and I'd say it's a Day 1 purchase for me, based on this trailer alone. Now... if the Wii could output 1080p that'd make this even better, but I'll take this as is.

Sony, a new Last Guardian trailer would've surely won my heart, but ya blew it.

E3 10: Sony Conference

And the last major company conference recap is here. Microsoft was lack-luster, Nintendo impressed... so how did Sony fair?

Gameplay montage shown to start the show

Killzone 3
- Live demo shown in 3D
- Graphically it's still ridiculously amazing
- Coming February 2011
- Functional with PlayStation Move at launch

Other 3D games
- MotorStorm Apocalypse
- Gran Turismo 5
- The Sly Collection
- Crysis 2
- Mortal Kombat
- Tron: Evolution
- amongst other 1st and 3rd Party games

PlayStation Move
- Available in Europe September 15
- Available in North America September 19
- Available in Eapan October 21
- Move controller alone for $49.99
- Analog controller for $29.99
- Move with PSEye and Sports Champions for $99
- Move, PSEye, Sports Champions, and 120 GB PS3 for $399

Sorcery
- 3rd Person Action/Adventure game
- 1:1 wand control
- Move's bulb changes color to indicate actions
- Coming Spring 2011

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11
- Yawn... show more exclusives please
- Wii golf in HD basically
- Update available via PSN at launch

Heroes on the Move
- Combines Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, and Sly Cooper
- Action/Avdenture game featuring Move control

Kevin Butler just appeared on stage, talking trash about Cirque du Soleil and Kinect; gives a speech about Move and PS3.

Montage of Move games shown, but I lost track. And a reveal of PSP's new, Kevin Butler-esque "Step Your Game Up." ad campaign.

God of War: Ghost of Sparta
- For PSP from Ready At Down Studios
- Releasing "later this year"

Another game montage shown, this time of recently released and coming soon PSP titles.

PlayStation Network
- Season 2 of The Tester starts casting today for a premiere this fall
- Entire E3 2010 booth has been recreated for Home

LittleBigPlanet 2
- Able to make games from nearly every genre
- Looks pretty damn fantastic
- But, we saw the trailer already, so it's not anything shocking anymore

PlayStation Plus
- New subscription service, on top of all the already free features
- Early access to demos and betas, and 'free' PSN games (PSN games, Minis, and PSone titles) and PSN discounts
- Full year for $49.99 or 3-Months for $17.99
- First three months free for a limited time
- Will include Qore subscription
- All content lasts for the duration of your subscription

Medal of Honor
- Releases October 12, 2010
- PS3 limited edition includes HD remake of Medal of Honor: Frontline

Dead Space 2
- Live demo shown, continuing from last night's EA conference
- PS3 exclusive comes with Dead Space: Extraction, now with Move support

Portal 2
- Notable PS3 hater Gabe Newell appears!
- Utilizes Steam Cloud and automatic updates, making it 'the best version' for consoles
- New trailer shown
- Coming 2011
- Now I regret getting excited about Steam for Mac, since it runs poorly

Final Fantasy XIV Online
- New trailer shown

Mafia II
- PS3 exclusive content available free at launch

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
- PS3 version will have exclusive mission pack and multiplayer beta
- New trailer shown
- Releases November 16th, 2010

Yet another gameplay montage is shown.

Gran Turismo 5
- New trailer shown
- Releases November 2, 2010
- Fully 3D at launch

inFAMOUS 2
- New trailer shown
- Character has hair now, congrats
- And ice power in addition to electricity

Twisted Metal
- Sweettooth and his truck are on-stage
- From David Jaffe's Eat.Sleep.Play. studio
- Releasing next year
- Live demo shown
- Adds flight to the series

And... that's it, I guess.

The Move pricing seems somewhat reasonable considering the functionality it adds, and considering a standard DualShock 3 runs for $50. But, asking $30 for the analog controller seems excessive... and that's $30 on top of $99 if you don't already have a PSEye, which is basically everyone, making it a $130 investment for a complete 1 player package. But hey, at least they gave us a price and release date, which can't be said for Microsoft and Kinect.

Not a bad conference, but it dragged on a lot, and I could've done without all the montages. Plus, aside from Portal 2, there weren't any big surprises. I'm just really mad that The Last Guardian wasn't even shown or mentioned. Like, that's really the one PS3 title I've wanted to see more of, and it wasn't even muttered...

E3 10: Nintendo Conference

Microsoft's conference was part of Day 0 yesterday... so now it's Nintendo job to kick off E3 Day 1, and let's recap how their conference went:

Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
- First trailer/footage show
- Looks like Twilight Princess/Wind Waker
- Video with Miyamoto explaining controls
- Live on-stage demo
- Uses Wii MotionPlus
- Miyamoto teleported on-stage. HOLY SHIT!
- Wiimote calibration looks... off
- Can toss or roll bombs now
- Technical difficulties... [sadface]
- New beetle item to fly around and scout
- Comes out next year, hopefully they can fix the controls by then...

Mario Sports Mix
- For Wii
- Volleyball
- Hockey
- Dodgeball
- Soccer
- Basketball

WiiParty
- 13 different part game modes
- 70 different mini-games
- Coming Holiday 2010

Just Dance 2
- From Ubisoft for Wii
- Sequel to a game you probably didn't even play
- Supports up to 8 players (how?)
- Coming Fall 2010

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn
- aka Golden Sun DS
- New trailer shown
- Coming Holiday 2010

Goldeneye 007
- Yes, a remake of the N64 game
- ... with Daniel Craig as James Bond (wtf?)
- Graphics look.. bad
- From Activision... how can this be without Rare?
- Coming this Holiday, exclusive for Wii

Disney Epic Mickey
- On-stage demo
- 2D animated cut-scenes... I love the style
- Paint and un-paint the world
- Game changes based on your actions (karma system basically)
- Three location types: quest, action, and travel zones
- Looks like a really cool game, especially if you're familiar with Disney animation history

Kirby: Epic Yarn
- A spin-off of Epic Mickey
- First gameplay trailer
- Oozes style, great animations
- Releasing Fall 2010 for Wii

Dragon Quest IX
- Reggie is just talking about it
- But this released in Japan already, so...

Metroid: Other M
- New trailer
- Releasing August 31st

Donkey Kong Country Returns
- From Retro Studios, yup, the Metroid Prime studio
- 2.5D gameplay, looks awesome
- Coming Holiday 2010

Nintendo 3DS
- Reveal trailer shown
- Device is shiny as hell, and small
- Fits in Iwata's one hand
- Top screen is 3.5" and wider than the bottom screen
- Has a 3D depth slider to adjust the effect
- 3D is only on the top screen, touch screen is just as it has been
- New 'Slide Pad' for analog control, D-pad still there
- Includes motion sensor and gyro sensor
- Outside has 2 camera lenses for 3D photography
- Capable of playing 3D movies (including partners Disney, Warner Brothers, and DreamWorks)
- Can use wifi while on or off (think WiiConnect24)

Kid Icarus: Uprising
- The same character model from Brawl
- Honestly, looks better than most Wii games

A ton of games announced in production
- Nintendogs + Cats
- Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle
- DJ Hero 3D
- Kingdom Hearts 3D
- Resident Evil Revelation
- Saints Row
- Assassin's Creed
- Metal Gear Solid (!)
- and more!

Hilarious 3DS promo video shown. Show over. I'll update with media later.

I was iffy on the 3DS in concept form, and I still obviously don't know how the 3D experience is in person. But from what I saw of Kid Icarus: Uprising and the list of in-development titles... I'm pretty much sold. All I need now is a price and release date, but, honestly, I'm pretty pumped. But, at the same time, the lack of current DS content in the show was upsetting, other than Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, there was no DS content, not even a word of Pokemon Black and White. Does that mean 3DS is around the corner? Who knows.

Also, where was WiiWare and DSiWare? I was really glad of what had to be said about the next generation and 3DS, but I'd of liked to see more about the right now. But, that new Kirby game looks so different from anything I've ever seen and looks awesome, I'm now glad that nameless Kirby game from GameCube got scrapped. And the new Zelda looks great... but the control screw-ups were a bit disappointing. Sony you're next!

E3 10: Microsoft Conference

E3 2010 has begun! And Microsoft is here to kick of this years show yet again. Sadly, no one from VFH will be in attendance at E3 like Zach was last year, but as usual, here's a recap of this afternoon's press conference, in order of appearance.

Call of Duty: Black Ops
- New trailer shown, and then went right into live gameplay.
- And that was it, no talking, no details, just gameplay
- New deal: all Call of Duty add-ons will release on Xbox Live first for the next three years. So now you can not only pay for online gaming, but now you get to pay up the ass to play its add-ons earlier too.

Project Natal = Kinect

Metal Gear Solid: Rising
- New trailer
- Swordplay action game
- Looks as good if not better than MGS4
- Seems to use Kinect

Gears of War 3
- First gameplay shown, 4-player co-op
- Can now play as females
- Will be unveiling new mode called "Beast," but didn't say what that'd be exactly.

Fable III
- Releasing October 26
- New trailer shown

Codename: Kingdoms
- New game from Crytek
- Live action trailer
- Looks Greek/Roman themed

Halo: Reach
- New campaign trailer, in-game footage
- Space dog fights

Kinect + Xbox 360 Interface
- Browse menu in a Wii Channel like interface
- Speech controls/commands
- Use hand as a cursor, control movie playback, etc
- Works like Microsoft's Sync technology in cars

Video Kinect
- Use Kinect to video chat with people on Xbox Live and Windows Live Messanger (PC)
- Share Bing video features such as TV, movies, news, etc.
- Kinect can do face-tracking if you move around

ESPN on Xbox 360
- Yawn...
- Watch live/on-demand sports crap in HD
- Use Kinect for voice commands for replays, etc.
- If you don't care about sports, its completely useless
- Available to Gold members too

Kinect Launch Games
- Launches in North America on Nov. 4th with 15 launch titles
- No price given
- Games ship in purple cases
- Kinectimals: play with cats... looks like Nintendogs/EyePet
- Kinect Sports: exactly what you think it is
- Kinect Joy Ride: same game from last year, but now with motion control
- Kinect Adventure: on rails, coin collecting game. Upload photos to Facebook

Your Shape: Fitness Evolved
- Kinect exclusive
- From Ubisoft, sequel to Halo: Combat Evolved
- Live body tracking, even clothing its tracked when removed
- If you've played Wii Fit, it's like that...

Dance Central
- Kinect exclusive
- From Harmonix
- Tracks your dance moves in-sync to music
- Will have DLC
- Coming Holiday 2010

Star Wars Kinect
- Trailer shown
- Microsoft Game Studios/Lucasarts collaboration
- Coming 2011

Forza Kinect
- Can't tell if it's a new game or a Forza 3 update
- Use hands to drive in first-person
- Head tracking to look around
- Play with and inspect cars with gestures
- Coming 2011

New smaller Xbox 360 model
- 250 GB Hard drive
- Glossy black finish, like Kinect
- Not exactly the prettiest thing...
- Built in wifi 802.11n (finally!)
- Ships today(!) for $299
- Everyone in the audience gets one, Oprah style!

Overall, I'm not as amazed as I was last year when Kinect (then Project Natal) was revealed. The reveal and potential of the device was truly shocking... but now, seeing all the Kinect branded titles showcased, it comes across as a glorified Eye Toy, and that's a PS2 accessory. Sure the voice and gesture commands for menus and movie playback look like something out of science fiction, but I'm sure that'll lose it's appeal soon after you've watch one film, and you'll grab your remote again. And no price on the device? Really? I don't think Microsoft did a bad job, but I definitely wasn't amazed like I was last year. Nintendo, you're next!

Meet the next Zelda for Wii

During E3, Nintendo held a closed door conference with Shigeru Miyamoto which was a strictly no cameras meeting. During the meeting, Miyamoto showed off concept art for the next Wii Zelda game. Of course, someone managed to leak the image (albeit poorly) and now, to my surprise, Nintendo has added the image in all it's high-resolution glory to their E3 2009 press website:

Yeah, that get you hot? Start speculating: why does Link lack a sword? Who's that girl? And what's with the awesome brush-stroked art style? Keep speculating, because it seems you won't get answers until next year's E3; and even at that, the game probably won't release for another year after that. Enjoy!

After Thoughts: E3 2009 - Day 3

For my full impressions and photos of games I played today (including the new PSP Go, Lost Planet 2, and Dead Space: Extraction), be sure to check out my exclusive articles on Gamers Platform.

Well, today finished up my first E3 experience. I didn't do too much today, as I had already seen most of what there was, but I did get a chance to have a nice lunch with Bill Roper as he went over Champions Online, which was pretty cool.

Overall, E3 was pretty cool, and definitely something I would want to do again, but it didn't seem to live up to my expectations, although that would probably be impossible to do. While there were some pretty cool games at the show, there was nothing that really blew me away or any super surprises, so that may have had something to do with it. I mean, it's not like a new console was released or anything.

Also, I learned too late that you really need to set up special appointments to get the opportunity to play the best games, that were kept in back rooms and things of that nature, so by the time I tried, it was too late.

But yeah, it was a great experience, with lots to do and take in. There were some lines at some games, but it really wasn't that bad overall. There were plenty of opportunities to check everything out and there was a ton to see, with a great environment. Hopefully by the time next year comes around, I'll be more prepared and can take in the full experience. That would be something, and may take a couple weeks to recoup from.

For my previous recaps of E3 2009 be sure to check out After Thoughts for Day 0, Day 1, and Day 2.

After Thoughts: E3 2009 - Day 2

For my complete coverage of E3, be sure to check out my articles on Gamers Platform, as well as my constant updates on GP's Twitter page.

Another day down. While I did get a chance to play a lot more games, I didn't really have the time to write about them, so be sure to stay tuned to get hands-on impressions on a variety of games, from Red Faction and Wet, to Tiger Woods and Silent Hill.

Luckily, while waltzing around the show floor, I decided to head upstairs to the meeting rooms, where I found I actually had access to, so I could check out some special things around the convention center, like get to play and see a variety of games that weren't on the show floor for regular exhibitors to see. These included a few titles from Bethesda, Saboteur from EA, and an eyes-on demo of Mass Effect 2, which was pretty cool.

I'll be on the show floor again tomorrow trying to play some more games, including God of War III, Bayonetta, and The Grinder, just to name a few. I also have a special meeting with Bill Roper, Executive Producer of Champions Online, tomorrow afternoon, so that could be very interesting to learn what he is doing with the game and perhaps future projects.

Talk to you tomorrow.

For more After Thoughts from E3 2009, be sure to check out E3 2009 - Day 0, and Day 1.

E3 09: Sony Media

As with the Nintendo media yesterday, here's some select video's from Sony's E3 catalog.

I only decided to upload a select batch of videos that I felt needed your viewership, as a few of Sony's "E3" assets were actually old, i.e. their E3 God of War III trailer, is actually the one we posted back in February. And as of posting this, a direct version of the beautifully awesome The Last Guardian trailer is not available from Sony, but when I get a hold of, you know that will show up here right away!

PS3: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and Heavy Rain trailers

PSP: Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, echochrono (working title), and PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe trailers

If you have any media requests (i.e. Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft), please leave a comment and I'll see what I can find for you!

After Thoughts: E3 2009 - Day 1

For full impressions and photos, be sure to check each game's respective link to Gamers Platform (where you will find more photos and impressions for games not listed as well; I can only type so much).

Hello again; this is Zach reporting live from E3. As you can see, it's late, and I'm tired, and I have to get up in a few hours and head back to the convention center to see all the stuff I didn't get a chance to today. It's a lot of stuff too, that I need to see...still, I saw and played a ton of stuff today.

I don't want to laundry list anything, but I will; On the Nintendo side of things, I got to play some New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Wii Sports Resort, Zelda: Spirit Tracks, and Sin and Punishment 2, to name a few. For the Xbox 360, I took a look at Halo 3: ODST, Left 4 Dead 2, and a few other treasures. I didn't get a chance to look at too much for Sony, but I did play some Uncharted 2 multiplayer, as well as some MAG.

Then of course there is third party material, like Red Steel 2 and The Conduit, along with countless other titles.

Of course, I'm getting ahead of myself, and need to mention that I went to the Nintendo Conference, which was quite the interesting event. They announced some decent games, along with a shocker or two, like the vitality peripheral and Team Ninja Metroid game; one good, one not so much; can you guess which is which?

After that event, I headed over to the convention center and boy o boy, you have never seen more people. The place was packed; it was crazy. I have pics, but won't upload them until later. Anyways, the place finally opens and we all run in to be the first in line to check out our favorite games. Luckily, the crowd was split between the South and West halls, and the lines for any one game weren't too long at all; I was quite surprised actually as I didn't have to wait over an hour for any game, as opposed to those horror stories you hear where the line winds around the entire hall.

Anyways, I had a great, long day and I plan to do the same tomorrow. I can't wait. Stay tuned to see what kinds of games I play tomorrow, like God of War III, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Forza 3, and many, many more. Get ready, it's coming!

For yesterday's After Thoughts see E3 2009 - Day 0

E3 09: Sony Conference

Sony must have something to surprise with this yeay, no? I mean there must be something huge to show off after the leaked PSP Go, which I bet was going to be a big deal for them. Let's see where Sony takes us this year!

The show opened up with a montage of footage for Playstation 2, PS3, PSP and PSN titles; trying to make a point that Sony has the most platforms on the market now, I guess. Funny thing, afterwards Jack Tretton made remarks regarding the press leaks, and thank everyone for still showing up.

Playstation 2
- Getting 100 new titles this year

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
- Multiplayer beta starts tonight
- Gameplay is intense

MAG
- Live footage of 256 online game shown
- Available this Fall

PSP Go
- Yes, the same one that was leaked.
- Will run alongside PSP-3000 and UMD media
- Has no UMD slot, 50% smaller, 40% lighter than original PSP
- 16GB of internal Flash memory
- Memory Stick micro-media port (M2)
- Media Go, new version of Media Manager
- Sense Me, music recognition (think Genius in iTunes)
- All PSP content will be UMD/Downloadable released
- $249 on October 1st, 2009
- PS Video Store available on PSP as well now

Gran Turismo PSP
- Shown running on PSP Go
- 800 cars, 35 tracks
- Many features for competitive play and content sharing
- Releases October 1st, 2009 along side PSP Go launch

Oh, snap, Hideo Kojima is back!

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
- For PSP
- 10 years after Metal Gear Solid 3
- Kojima is producing and writing the game's story
- Takes place in Costa Rica
- Trailer shows 4 Snakes(?!)
- Coming 2010

Resident Evil Portable is mentioned, then a PSP Montage Trailer.

Playstation Network
- Over 50 PSone games coming this year
- Final Fantasy VII available today

PS3 Montage Trailer shown.

Agent
- From Rockstar North
- PS3 exclusive
- Takes place in late 1970s

Assassin's Creed II
- Takes place right after the first game
- In a new time period, the Italian Renaissance
- Use items made by Da Vinci
- Connects to Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines on PSP to unlock new weapons
- Available this Holiday

Final Fantasy XIII
- Coming Spring 2010
- New trailer shown, CG and actual gameplay

Final Fantasy XIV
- Yes, already, and it's PS3 exclusive
- An online title, successor to Final Fantasy XI

PS3 Motion controller
- Still in prototype phase, uses PSEye to work
- Creates virtual objects onto real footage
- Many different tech demos shown including shooting, drawing, building, etc.
- Second tech demo showing sword/shield gameplay, star throwing, and archery

LittleBigPlanet
- Disney content coming later this year
- Included Pirates of the Caribian, Cinderalla,

ModNation Racers
- Follows LBP's "Play. Create. Share" motto
- Create custom characters, karts, and tracks; share them online
- Pretty awesome track editor, with really neat terrain tools
- Coming 2010

The Last Guardian (formerly Project TRICO)
- Brand new trailer, based on the leaked one
- Still insanely beautiful, designs are more refined from the leak

Gran Turismo 5
- Trailer shown
- includes World Rally, NASCAR, as well as commercial cars

God of War III
- Final part of the trilogy, i.e. don't expect GoWIV
- Game demoed live, brutally awesome
- Coming March 2010

The show ended there.

Honestly, wow. I mean, the show was so-so at the start, and $250 for the PSP Go is a real kicker. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker has me pretty pumped, though I was surprised that despite Kojima being there, there was no mention of Metal Gear Solid: Rising on PS3. Was really surprised to hear about Final Fantasy XIV already, but when it turned out to be a new online title I lost interest.

As for the Sony's attemp at motion, it seems like a cross between Nintendo's Wii MotionPlus and Microsoft's "Natal"; but like Natal it's still in an early phase and doesn't seem to be intended for release anytime soon. ModNation Racers looks surprisingly cool, and lastly, The Last Guardian had already won me over with the leaked trailer, this finalized version just makes it so much sweeter.

I think Microsoft won the show for me in terms of technology, but I think Sony really won in terms of game content... as for Nintendo, hey, they did better than last year at least.

E3 09: Nintendo Conference

Well, as everyone remembers, Nintendo didn't do so hot at E3 in terms of pleasing their fans and showing of games to excite the hardcore crowd. But this year is a new year isn't it? ... isn't it?!

This years show opened up with Ms. Smiles herself, Cammie Dunaway, talking about how Nintendo is for everyone; and reinforced "innovation". But then it was time to put up:

New Super Mario Bros Wii
- 4 Players (Mario, Luigi, 2 Toads)
- Pop-in/out co-op
- Wiimote, NES style controls
- New 'Propeller Suit'
- Worldwide release Holiday 2009

Wii Fit Plus
- Make your own workouts
- 15 new balance games
- Available Fall 2009, with or without Balance Board

Wii Sports Resort
- Includes basketball, archery, golf, kayaking, and more.
- Skydiving intro mini-game
- Releasing July 26th

Trailers:
-Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers
-Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
- North America and Europe release in Fall

Golden Sun DS
- Yes, you just read that
- Completely 3D

James Patterson's Women's Murder Club
- From THQ for DS
- Mystery solving, puzzles
- Seems lame

C.O.P. The Recruit
- From Ubisoft for DS
- GTA console style gameplay

Style Savvy
- Girls Mode for US release
- ... I'm not covering this

Nintendo DSi promo video with people you don't want to watch.

Flipnote Studio
- aka Moving Memo
- coming this summer

Mario vs Donkey Kong: Minis March Again
- Fully user created levels
- Share levels online
- DSiWare title, available this Monday

WarioWare: D.I.Y.
- "Do it yourself"
- Make your own mini-games, share online

Nintendo DSi update
- Photo upload to Facebook

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
- ... only mentioned?!
- Playable on show floor at least

Iwata comes out to talk about gamers, difficulty levels, and like topics.

Wii Vitality Sensor
- A pulse sensor for your finger, connects to Wiimote
- Looks like the same pulse sensor you'd use at a hospital
- No actual use of the device shown

Super Mario Galaxy 2
- First 3D Mario sequel for one system
- Includes Yoshi gameplay
- Looks as good, if not, better than the first game

Reggie comes out to talk about third party games
- The Conduit (Sega), Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (Capcom), and Dead Space Extraction (EA).

Metroid: Other M
- Nintendo and Team Ninja project
- Combines 3D, 2.5D and first person
- Set for 2010

END

Sin & Punishment 2 is playable at the show, but go no mention at the conference ... what gives? But seriously, even though this was a much better show than last year's Wii Music debacle, I didn't leave as excited as I was with Microsoft's conference, and I'm far from a Microsoft fan. None the less, I was pleasantly surprised by Golden Sun DS, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and I'm now super interested in Metroid: Other M.

After Thoughts: E3 2009 - Day 0

For my complete coverage of E3 from LA, be sure to check out my articles and photos on Gamers Platform, as well as my GP Twitter updates.

Well hello hello there. I'm here in Los Angeles, in the trenches, soaking in all that E3 has to offer. Although E3 hasn't officially started yet, some major stuff has gone down. What I've had the pleasure to see today are the Microsoft and Ubisoft conferences. I also got to see the city a bit, as I walked around to pick up my Nintendo pass for their conference tomorrow, and got rejected for the Sony event, sadness. Also, last night I went to Kotaku's Pre-E3 party, which was decent.

To start off, Microsoft's conference was pretty epic. They showcased a ton of great games, in my opinion, even though none of them were super shockers, but it seemed like they had a lot of good content. I wasn't too impressed with the entertainment-like features, with Facebook and Twitter and the like, but I guess it's good to have such things available. The main thing they showed off was their new peripheral/controller, codenamed Natal. It's definitely still in the works and won't be available for awhile I don't think, but something that will be interesting to follow and see how Microsoft uses it. I think they could make it their main input device in their next console, which will be interesting.

Ubisoft also showed off a lot of good stuff too. The beginning of their conference was pretty boring, unfortunately, with James Cameron going on and on about Avatar, but then they got into the games and they had a lot of good stuff to show off. Now, it wasn't all good, but they had some good titles.

Tomorrow is going to be a huge day. I get to go to Nintendo's conference, and then there's Sony's, not to mention the show floor opens and it is just going to be crazy. I'm not sure exactly what to expect, but I don't think I'm prepared. Get ready.

E3 09: Microsoft Conference

Last year's big focus of Microsoft's E3 Press Conference was the New Xbox Experience. With that mostly out of the way, let's see what we can look forward to in the coming year!

The show opened with an animated trailer for The Beatles: Rock Band, which to me was a better animated representation of The Beatles than Yellow Submarine will ever be. I'm not a big Beatles fan, but that was just awesome in terms of animation.

The Beatles: Rock Band
- Gameplay footage shown
- Instruments used on stage, 3 mics, 2 guitars, and one drummer
- Trailer shown, each song has a different stage, character models, etc.
- Full albums available as DLC
- "All You Need Is Love" Xbox exclusive, proceeds go to charity
- Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr at the conference

Tony Hawk Ride
- Mr. Hawk showed off final board design (360 version)
- New trailer shown

Modern Warfare 2
- Gameplay shown right away
- Takes place in the snow, at least in the tons of footage shown
- 2 MW2 map packs will come to 360 first

Final Fantasy XIII
- 360 gameplay footage shown
- moves from cut-scene to gameplay seamlessly
- target Spring 2010 release

Shadow Complex
- Epic Games' first XBLA game
- 2.5D shooter, running on Unreal Engine 3
- Campaign over 10 hours long

Joy Ride
- Racing, adventure title that uses Avatars
- Buy cars, tracks, etc.
- Play on friends tracks that they've bought without buying it yourself

Trailers shown:
- Crackdown 2
- Left 4 Dead 2 (360 and PC)

Splinter Cell: Conviction
- Design of game has changed from initial concept
- Gameplay shown
- Objectives shown in realtime as part of the environment
- Releasing in fall, 360 exclusive

Forza Motorsport 3
- October release
- Didn't say "definitive racing game of this generation" enough times
- Impressive in-game car painter

Halo 3: ODST
- Gameplay footage shown
- Starts off weeks before the events of Halo 3
- Play as "The Rookie", separated from your team
- Visor changes (Metroid?)
- Playable flashbacks from the point of views of other ODST members
- Releasing Sept. 22nd

Halo Reach
- Teaser trailer shown
- 2010 release
- Multiplayer Beta invite included with Halo 3: ODST

Alan Wake
- Gameplay finally shown
- No explanation given though, mechanics look weird
- Spring 2010

Xbox Live Features
- Last.fm coming to Xbox Live (even Gold members!)
- Add to your Netflix queue right from 360
- Sky TV for UK and Ireland, includes live TV
- Video service relaunch as Zune Video, with 1080p available
- Live Party, watch downloaded videos over Xbox Live with friends
- Facebook on Xbox 360, includes Friend Linker for Facebook/Live friends
- Twitter also coming to Xbox Live (Yes, it's everywhere)
- All features coming this Fall

Hideo Kojima showed up... (this can't be good for me)

Metal Gear Solid Rising
- Developement underway for 360 (no mention of exclusivity)
- Teaser trailer shown
- "Lightning Bolt Action" in title instead of "Tactical Espionage Action"
- "Raiden is back"

"Project Natal"
- Camera based motion controls
- Body, face, voice recogonition, no handheld controllers
- Steven Spielberg shares his thoughts
- Some sleezy looking guy comes on stage and demoes the device
- Ball game and painting application shown off
- Peter Molyneux shows off "Milo" an interactive character (it's really awesome)

Conference ends, and for once, I'm overlly impressed with Microsoft. I wonder how Nintendo and Sony will do tomorrow.

VFH E3 Predictions

This is actually being posted a few days late, so disregard anything that may have already been thwarted by all of the recent Pre-E3 leaks; we were just waiting to get everyone's opinion (obviously didn't happen though).

Jerm
1. Nintendo is going to use the Metroid Prime Trilogy as their crutch to please the hardcore audience.
2. Microsoft is going to have Bungie lead their show with a set release date for Halo 3: ODST.
3. Sony is going to be carried by third party titles or announces Final Fantasy Versus XIII as an exclusive for the PS3.
4. Hideo Kojima will break E3 with this teased new Metal Gear project.
5. Duke Nukem Forever will actually be picked up and finished by some crazy last minute "Oh you~" developer.
6. Grand Theft Auto IV DLC preview
7. Bioshock 2 will be this years biggest game at E3.
8. Any leaks will bring this year's event to a new level of "meh".

Nick (Hampig)
1. Nintendo: New Zelda with MotionPlus, Pikmin 3, and maybe a new IP. I'm expecting a lot on Sin & Punishment 2 as well, and I'm really pulling for a DS Metroid. Chances are the Trilogy will dampen that hope a little...
2. Microsoft: Focus will be Halo 3: ODST. I'd love to see Shin Megami Tensei come to 360, so I'll say that much. Outside of whats already been announced I'm not sure what to expect. They will have at least one big unannounced item though.
3. Sony: All that Final Fantasy stuff. A new version of the PSP, with LittleBigPlanet for it. New Metal Gear for PS3, won't be for PSP or mobile; probably just an expansion though. TRICO will be awesome; I'll assume you control the little kid and the bird/dog/demon thing is like Yorda, or along those lines at least. Kingdom Hearts III, as well? Then I'm expecting quite a few surprises.

Zach
1. I don't need to predict, since I'll actually be at the event.

JDW
1. The Kojima teasers will be for MGS4 expansions, both taking places at different time periods prior to the game.
2. As much as Nintendo will try to please the hardcore crowd, they will fall short, again. But hopefully that will include Virtual Console on DSi.
3. Microsoft will have new hardware to announce, whether it be a gaming Zune, a motion peripheral, or something else entirely.
4. I'm expecting a lot from Suda51; more on No More Heroes 2, The Silver Case (on DS), his EA project, and more.
5. Project TRICO will appear, and look 20 times better than the leaked trailer; pants will be ruined.


And that, sadly, does it for VFH's E3 predictions. Chances are some of these have been ruined already by leaks from the last few days, i.e.: the PSP Go (with LBP footage, and MGS mention), new NMH2 trailer, the Zune HD (though not gaming centric), and GTAIV's lastest DLC episode was announced.

So really, it's already before E3 and some of our predictions were right/dooped. Let's hope there will actually be surprises left by the time the event actually starts!

Multi-platform Games Part One

First of all I would like to say, holy hell, theirs a lot of multi-platform games to cover, so I'll split this up into two or three parts. Second of all... that's it, lets get rollin'!

Mercenaries 2: World In Flames -
Personally, I missed out on the first Mercenaries. Because if the first is anything like the second is looking to be, it must be one amazing game. With a extremely destructible environment, 130 different vehicles, and seamless co-op, Mercenaries 2 is looking amazing. I saw minimal pop-up and no slowdown whatsoever in the gameplay demo, even when a nuke was called in- which by the way caused the biggest explosion I have ever seen in a videogame, and possibly the most impressive. The game seemed to be very physics heavy, with both the environmental objects and with any of the many vehicles involving cars, jetskiis, tanks, motorcycles, and more. All in all, this is looking to be a very entertaining sandbox game.

Street Fighter IV -
While I can't say I'm very impressed with the direction SFIV is taking, I can say that the graphics look extremely impressive, even though the character design kind of... well sucks. Although Street Fighter II fans should find something to be happy about here, as the games playing style is based on SFII, and the complexity has been brought down from three. Sure, simplicity is nice sometimes, but only two buttons are used. That sounds kind of over the line. I'm hoping the gameplay will win me over, but so far this isn't looking like a buy for me, sorry Street Fighter!

Golden Axe: Beast Rider -
The sequel to a classic, which I used to play all the time, is coming to PS3's and 360's this holiday season, and it looks quite fun. Featuring five ride-able beasts with differing strengths and weaknesses, you'll be able to tear through the enemies limb for limb. That's right, dismemberment and a M-rating! Anyone who has played Ninja Gaiden 2 can testify as to how satisfying that can be if done right. But, my one hope for this game is that you get to tear into those damn little dwarfs. While they are confirmed to return in this game, the tearing into them part is not.

Borderlands -
Now this is one of the best surprises from this years E3. I heard about this quite a long time ago, but never saw any real details or screens or anything and it just kind of vanished for a year or two. Then this year it was shown off in a gameplay demo, and wow, it is amazing. If I had to explain I would say Diablo/Oblivion/Fallout 3. Yeah, that is a force to be reckoned with. Co-op with up to 4 players, and over 500,000 weapons. (Yeah you heard me right. All different, some with elemental effects, other with just plain awesomeness imbued into them.) It seriously is looking like a must have. The game is set in a apocalyptic world and has a sort of Mad Max-like vibe. You and your friends can hop in a vehicle and travel the lands, or just go exploring in minds and whatnot. Level up yourself overall, and in weapon categories and fight even stronger monsters. Blow people in half with shotguns (yeah, you can. Sold yet?). Fight bandits, or even alien wildlife. This is looking extremely expansive, and is already a day one buy for me.

Left 4 Dead -
Not much new to share about the new zombie game from valve. Still looks like a load of fun. 4-player co-op, split screen, and zombies. You cannot go wrong with that. Added with the new character models and the creepy new expansive, yet claustrophobic forest environment and you have yourself a game that's looking even more fleshed out and fun than ever. Watch for it this November, the 4th I believe.