E3 09….a gamer’s paradise and, potentially, a developer’s worst nightmare. A stage where megatons are unveiled, shocking the thousands in attendance. Incidentally, it’s also a place where talented developers are severely punished for that ONE incompetent game (yes, Denis Dyak, I’m talking about you). These days, however, it all comes down to how much dough console makers are willing throw out at game publishers/developers, in order to secure exclusive DLC (a term thrown around way too often these days) for their respective platform. It’s all about the survival of the fittest. The industry is like a massive fish pond, with the bigger fish swallowing or taking out the smaller ones.
A lot was at stake at this year’s E3, with each of the ’Big 3’ battling it out for supremacy in its own unique ways. So who came out on top? Whose days are numbered? As wacky as the title sounds, the purpose of this article isn’t to fuel the fire raging between ’fanboys’, but to give out impressions on each of the press conferences, and to highlight the exciting segments as well as to discuss the promising games that were on display at the show floor.
Microsoft
written by USUF
Microsoft went into their press conference with very little momentum on their side. They had been super silent about how they are going to even compete with Sony’s very tempting line of exclusives this holiday much less beat them, and with major speculations from journalists about how Splinter Cell: Conviction, Alan Wake and (the unannounced but obvious) Forza 3 may not see the light of day before 2010, Xbox 360 fan boys were not amused to say the least. Safe to say that Microsoft had a hell lot of expectations to live up to and at least show how these exclusives were coming along with some game play and mercifully announce their release dates….And that’s exactly what they did! Not only did they were able to demo each of these exclusives (and announce a few more) but they managed to drop jaws (at least mine) when people found that the majority of these titles will be on store shelves this holiday.
After the (boring) start with the announcement of “The Beatles: Rock Band” title, John schaprert came out and immediately put the crowd at the edge of their seats when he said that there will be no talking about sales figures and attach rates (like they usually do :p), that they will show 10 world premieres of games which haven’t been seen before, there will be exciting innovations to Xbox LIVE and much more…and with that, the show really kicked off.
First up in line of games was Tony Hawk’s: Ride with Tony hawk himself taking the stage. He showed off a pretty sweet looking wireless skateboard but with no wheels which will be able to detect certain Skate boarding movements which players will be able to easily execute in the game. A trailer showed off some of the prominent pro skaters trying out the wireless Xbox 360 skateboard and pulling off stunts in the game as they do in real life. The wireless skateboard will be compatible with all Xbox 360s.
Next up was the hugely anticipated Modern Warfare 2. First the all-so-awesome gameplay trailer was shown, followed by a live stage demo. Words cannot possibly describe how intense the demo was and how insane the ending chase on a snow mobile was scripted. Infinity ward did a marvelous Job with the game even though it looked almost exactly like its predecessor. Also they announced 2 new maps packs which will be timed exclusives on the Xbox 360…Expect this title to do big things when it launches this fall.
After MW 2, it was time for Final fantasy to take the stage. With a little talk about the history of the title the game was demoed at the stage where they showed off a boss fight sequence. It was surprisingly brief but the game looked to be as gorgeous as its Playstation 3 counterpart. The guys who demoed the game however did not talk about how the capacity of the Xbox 360’s game disc may pose some restrictions or was the staged demo actually running on a native 1080p like the PS3, but they sure did announce a March 2010 release date.
Epic games followed square Enix right after and demoed a completely new 2d/3d shooter which is focused on exploration and interactive environments called “Shadow complex” which is scheduled to release in Q3 of 2009. Following that a new cart-racing game will hit Xbox LIVE arcade this fall called “Joy ride” which is being developed by a “new partner” of Microsoft. The out-of-nowhere trailers of Left 4Dead 2 and Crackdown 2 were one of the first surprises Microsoft had in stored for the show with L4D 2 seeing a fall 2009 release while nothing was shared on Crackdown 2’s part…which will probably be somewhere in 2010.
Now came the time for some showing off of the exclusive heavy weights. First-up was Splinter cell conviction. Just as the demo started I couldn’t help noticing the brilliant graphics and character animation. The game introduces a completely new and fast narrative to the story. Sam now has the choice of being stealthy or charging through the front door. The sandbox design of the game lets you choose how you want to execute your objective which is something completely new to the franchise, and since you don’t have someone to take orders from now, the objectives and story-related flashbacks would come up on the walls and streets of the city which had a cool effect to say the least.
Following Splinter Cell was the worst kept secret of E3 in recent memory (if you want to take it as a secret that is)…Yes, it’s Forza 3. Having 50 manufacturers with about 400 cars, running at 60 fps it’s said to be “the definitive racing game of this generation”. The very brief demo that was played had absolutely stunning visuals and dare I say on par with Gran Turismo 5 if the car models are concerned, with fairly accurate crashes and ridiculous amount of customization at the player’s disposal, best of all its coming out this fall.
Right after Forza 3, Joe Staten, Bungie’s own Cinematics director took the stage and it was time to prepare to drop, it was the first time Halo fans would see anything of Halo 3: ODST, and what better than a stage demo? The demo showed was pretty awesome in its own right. The open world gameplay, though new to the Halo universe seems to have been fairly implemented and not detract from the conventional, linear Halo style run and gun. The new pistol in your arsenal was the coolest weapon of the new ones that were shown and the low-light vision of the visor not only helped in the night but also somehow managed to put more eye candy to the world than there already was. The new game-mode “Fire-fight” already pwns Gears of War 2’s horde!
After Joe finished the demo, he started to talk about a “top secret project” which another team at Bungie had been hard at work and with that he announced Halo: Reach, one of the biggest surprises of the conference with a trailer showing the planet Reach under attack of the covenant, with Spartans chatting over the com links. It is obvious from the trailer that the game will be set in the events before Reach fell, when Master Chief wasn’t the last one of his kind and when he used to have his own team. The game is set to release in fall 2010.
After that Remedy took the stage to show off the world premier of Alan Wake. The game definitely looked darn impressive as it was hyped up to be but personally I wasn’t really wowed by the gameplay since horror/suspense adventure games aren’t my thing. However after the show, that game definitely received more praise from the critics which practically confirmed that this title is going to be a good success, if not big when it lands in store shelves in March 2010.
When Ubisoft left the stage John again came out, now to discuss some new ways to make Xbox LIVE even better. This was probably the most boring part of the show. Last.fm was introduced which is a new way of sharing your music with your friends. Netflix got more updates such as Full HD 1080p video quality and its services were opened to more countries. Facebook and twitter made their way to Xbox LIVE for which I couldn’t care less.
But thankfully Don mattrick came out to thankfully put a stop to this torture and to answer one of the most heated questions that had the internet buzzing like crazy. “Which game is missing that would make the Xbox 360 complete?”, asks Don. The crowd is silent for a bit, Don smiles, then someone pats him on his shoulder on the way to the stage…Its Hideo Kojima! The crowd erupts! Kojima (finally) announces that Metal Gear Solid is definitely coming to the Xbox 360 and it’ll be a “Completely new Metal Gear experience”, but not before showing a trailer featuring Raiden and the words “Lightning Bolt Action” rather than the usual “Tactical Espionage Action”. The title is called Metal Gear Solid: Rising and no release has been given as of yet. But since Kojima is not directly involved in the project, you can’t keep your hopes too high.
To end off the show, Microsoft displayed a new innovation in motion-controlled gaming. Its currently named as “Project NATAL” and is a super advanced version of the PS “Eye toy”. However, unlike the eye toy, it is capable of voice recognition, facial recognition and 3d motion capture of the player and as mentioned by journalists who had the pleasure of trying it out, it really works. Playing a racing game only requires you to hold your hands up like grabbing a steering wheel and turning it left or right with almost no delay in response. Push your right leg forward to accelerate and pull it back to brake. It looks and sounds really cool on stage (and the very tempting official trailer) but its use and capabilities are still heavily doubted by critics…Only time will tell if makes or breaks Microsoft’s attempt to be successful in the motion gaming market.
And there you have it; Microsoft went out of their usual ways and actually showed quality titles on the stage. Its also safe to say that Microsoft had the most surprises out of the Big three and Project NATAL, which looks too good to be true, definitely managed a lot of ’ooohhs’ and ’aaahhs’ from the audience. There were no flashy (boring) montages of games; there were live stage demos baby! Seeing some of the hottest games running live of the show floor was exciting to say the least, and not only because they looked superb, but also because most of them will be hitting the streets this fall. All in all (trailers/LIVE demos included) Microsoft showed/announced 13 games on the stage, in which almost all are praise worthy. Microsoft practically secured fall 2009…So much so for the “Microsoft has a weaker line-up this year” eh? But if there was something that made the most impact, it was definitely Project NATAL.
- Game of the Show: Splinter Cell: Conviction
- Runner-ups: Modern Warfare 2, ODST, Alan Wake
- Biggest Announcement: Project NATAL
Sony
written by CerebralTiger
Sony’s press conference went longer than the other two, with a larger agenda to cover. Clocking in at a little over the 2 hour mark, the show was crammed with a huge list of games, not to mention the boring facts and figures that are now a Sony trademark. Last year’s conference kicked off with footage of the mighty Leviathan from Resistance 2, wreaking havoc across Chicago city. This year’s conference started with an even bigger splash; a gameplay demonstration of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. And what a demonstration it was.
Although the game had been revealed several months prior to E3, people in attendance were left picking their jaws off the floor, as they watched the gameplay footage unfolded into an action-packed roller coaster ride. From the attention to detail to the animation, each and every element is top-notch. The folks at Naughty Dog have outdone themselves, as Uncharted 2 has raised the bar and set new standards, as far as console graphics are concerned. The gameplay itself is an extension of the Indiana Jones-esque winning formula of gunplay/exploration. This time around, though, it appears you can interact with far more environmental objects than the first game. Speaking of environments, gone are the days of the beautiful but static backgrounds of the first game. Everything looks to be much more dynamic and full of life.
On the PSP front, things are looking brighter than ever, as Sony continues to wow people with what its hand held can do. There was a massive amount of support, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to slow down any time soon, with the announcement of an updated version, called the ‘PSP Go’. A bit too much on the pricey side, but there’s no denying its appeal: slim, sleek, and smart. Sony really should do something about the price, though.
The oft-rumored PSP version of Gran Turismo actually does exist, and was revealed along with a trailer. The same goes for LittleBigPlanet. However, the most exciting PSP-related announcement at the show was that of MGS: Peace Walker. Hideo Kojima, the man himself, came up on-stage and announced that he and his ‘core’ MGS4 team are working on the game. A brief trailer showed Naked Snake back in action during the post-MGS3 time line. The story is set to fill certain gaps in the MGS saga, so get ready for a heavy dose of some convoluted retconning. If all that wasn’t enough, an all-new Resident Evil game was also announced for Sony’s hand held! Unfortunately, however, details were sparse, and there was no trailer/teaser to go along with the announcement.
The presence of a new Final Fantasy XIII trailer has become more of a tradition, ever since the last few E3s. However, it’s good to see that the translations/English voice-overs are coming along nicely, and that the game is set for an early 2010 release. Of course, it goes without saying that with every new piece of footage, it becomes all the more difficult to wait till then. Excruciatingly difficult!
A brief, yet promising, trailer of Heavy Rain was also shown during the press conference. The game looks to be coming along nicely, with gameplay progression revolving around how quick and efficient choices you make under various scenarios. The atmosphere appears pretty moody, with strange characters that seemingly exude plenty of depth to make them compelling enough.
Then, there was the unveiling and demonstration of the PS3’s very own motion controller. While dreadful and freaky looking, this gizmo is arguably the most precise motion sensing gaming device known to man. The individual demonstrating it could easily write his name, tickle an on-screen skeleton with pin-point accuracy, or pile up building blocks. There’s no denying the practicality of this device, especially for some of the more hardcore genres of gaming. With the aid of an analog attachment, this thing could possibly give the keyboard/mouse a run for its money as the ultimate means of playing FPS games. Or how about RTS games, which have yet to be fully realized on consoles! The possibilities are endless, and if Sony can get this out in time, with support from some AAA first-party titles, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be successful with the hardcore as well as the casual audience. Oh, and they definitely need to make it less ugly looking.
Assassin’s Creed II, although a multiplatform title, was demonstrated at exclusively at Sony’s press conference, and what an eye-catching demo it was. Visually, it definitely appears to have been beefed up from the last game. The sequel takes place in Italy, with players assuming the role of Enzio, who is an ancestor of Desmond Miles from a different time period. During the course of the demo, Enzio shows off some of the tricks that he has up his sleeve. For starters, he was seen gliding around the city using a flying machine built by none other than Leonardo Di Vinci himself, knocking enemies off buildings and platforms, as he breezed past them. Then, there’s the double stealth kill attack, which not only looks pretty cool, but is sure to come in handy under crucial circumstances. There was also talk of some PS3-PSP connectivity, which will result in the PS3 version getting some exclusive weapons and gadgets.
A major announcement came in the form of Agent, the oft-rumored PS3 exclusive game secretly being developed by Sam Houser and his team at Rockstar North. Set in the 70s, the game is going to tell a tale of espionage, potentially involving elements from the Cold War era. Plus, it’s touted as the game that will do for the PS3 what the GTA series did for the PS2. Big words, to say the least! Sadly, the lack of any in-game footage or teaser makes this one of the sore points of Sony’s press conference. The perfect opportunity to ‘wow’ the masses and put the Xbox 360 exclusive GTA IV DLC to shame, all in one go, was gone to waste.
However, Sony did still manage to ‘wow’ the audiences with another entirely unexpected announcement. Final Fantasy XIV….online! Yes, that’s right; it’s Square Enix’s next MMO game, with the Final Fantasy brand slapped onto it for good measure. Even then, there’s a lot of potential here, and it’s a given that the lessons learned from developing and supporting the online universe of FF XI should help in creating a far better experience for MMO fans.
Then, there was the much-expected Gran Turismo 5 footage, which wasn’t shown in playable form, but managed to reveal a couple of interesting additions. For starters, as was apparent from the trailer, car damage has finally been incorporated into the game. In addition, NASCAR and WRC, along with their associated tracks/vehicles, have now been licensed for use in GT5. The visuals, as expected, look better than ever, nearly achieving photo-realism.
The real five-star announcement was that of The Last Guardian. Sure, a target render, showing essentially the same footage, had been leaked weeks prior to E3. Sure, it was just a trailer and not a playable demo. However, the kind of promise that the game holds, and its immense potential to become a classic that people will talk about for years (a la the N64 Zelda games), is simply head and shoulders above anything else on display at Sony’s press conference. Of particular note was the fact that the in-engine visuals look even better than the target footage. The lighting, the animations, the draw distance; all come together to showcase a spectacular looking game.
Next up was ModNation Racers, a car racing game that shares the “Play, Create, Share” motto with LittleBigPlanet, with a large emphasis on customization. Race tracks and vehicles can be instantly created and customized to match your preferences, with an endless amount of possibilities. It’s nice to see that things have been kept rather simple here, as the single biggest criticism leveled against LittleBigPlanet was the painstaking difficulty in realizing your creative vision. Players can easily paint their way through an open field, creating roads, ramps, dirt tracks, mountains, trees, and what not. Provided that the game actually plays well, it has the potential to single-handedly build a powerful social network community of user-generated content.
Arguably the most eagerly-awaited segment was kept for last, as Sony Santa Monica Studio developers came up on-stage to show the first ever gameplay footage of God of War III. The audience gasped in awe, then broke into applause, as Kratos butchered through a horde of enemies, leaving no one alive. It already looks like it’s going to set new standards for ruthlessness and brutality. The visuals are coming along nicely, with a lot of on-screen activity and some impressive draw distance. As is the case with most action sequels, Kratos packs an even heftier punch, with an arsenal of powerful long-range and up-close weapons. The button tapping mini games are back in full force, looking crueler than ever. One particular brutal kill worth mentioning was around the demo’s finale, where Kratos ripped the horns off a Minotaur and pulled out its intestines, slaying it in an instant!
All in all, a great show, with lots of quality games to look forward to. As usual, Sony’s first-party saves the day, with a killer lineup that leaves the fiercest of competitors in envy. Though, Sony seems to be banking rather heavily on MAG as a major Fall release for this year. The concept of a MMO shooter isn’t tried-and-tested, as far as consoles are concerned, so here’s hoping that the game encourages players to work cohesively enough for it to be an enjoyable experience. Additionally, there are plenty of downloadable games, such as Fat Princess and PixelJunk Shooter, that are going to be worth checking out when they’re released via PSN, later this year. And then there’s Uncharted 2, which is also set for a Fall release….enough said. On the other hand, 2010 looks to be far more jam-packed, with GOW III and FF XIII all set to arrive in the same season. Now, all Sony needs is a ‘little’ price drop, and a lot of luck.
- Game of the Show: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
- Runner-ups: God of War III, Assassin’s Creed 2
- Biggest Announcement: The Last Guardian
Nintendo
written by CerebralTiger
It’s painfully obvious that Nintendo isn’t even trying to win over the hardcore audience anymore, with their current business model focusing entirely on the casual crowd. They have a winning formula, at least as far as their bottom line is concerned, so why fix something that ain’t broke, right? Having said that, last year’s E3 didn’t go all too well for the company, with the whole Wii Music debacle. This year, things fared a little better for Reggie and gang. Not to be out-maneuvered by Microsoft and Sony’s motion-sensing gizmos, the Wii Motion Plus was demonstrated in full force, with plenty of future support from first-party as well as third-party publishers. To Nintendo’s credit, even though most of the time was spent showing gimmicky peripherals (Vitality Sensor, anyone?) and uber-casual stuff, there were a couple of promising games shown during the hour long press conference.
For starters, there were two new Mario games. Super Mario Bros. Wii is essentially a remake of the classic 2D Mario games from the retro era. The visuals are pretty bland, even by Wii standards. You get the impression that this had been a DS game at some point, with the decision to release it for the Wii coming at a much later stage in development. However, no matter how poor the game looks, you really can’t go wrong with the classic Mario formula. Plus, the new multiplayer offerings should give the game a much needed breath of fresh air.
The other Mario game, Super Mario Galaxy 2, has a lot to live up to, as the first one was an instant classic with the masses. Unfortunately, it wasn’t playable at the show floor. However, the trailer shown during the press conference assured that the game is coming along nicely, and will be bringing several new innovative gameplay elements when it is released some time in 2010. With legendary games developer Shigeru Miyamoto leading the development, there’s an enormous amount of potential in this highly creative 3D platformer.
The real star of Nintendo’s press conference, however, is a little DS game called Scribblenauts. Creativity hit a new high, as the game was demonstrated to a live audience that was awestruck by the game’s limitless potential. Essentially a puzzle game, Scribblenauts gives you the ability to summon any object known to man, by popping up an on-screen keypad and typing in its name. Now, the aim here is to solve the puzzles at hand, so the object that you call up needs to make sense in the context of the situation at hand. There isn’t just one, single solution for every puzzle, so you’re bound to have a fairly unique experience. For example, you may be required to cross a river. Should you decide to make a bridge, you could possibly bring up a chainsaw and chop off a nearby tree, in order to do so. On the other hand, you could also summon a boat and get across the easy way. The possibilities are endless, limited only by your imagination. Hence, this is one game definitely worth looking out for.
As far as shocking announcements go, the unveiling of ‘Metroid: Other M’ was definitely up there as one of the biggest surprises of this year’s E3. Who would’ve ever thought in their wildest dreams that Team Ninja, maker of the Ninja Gaiden series, would actually be working on a Nintendo IP. Although no in-game footage was shown, the teaser trailer gave a fairly good idea of what to expect from the game. If these guys can retain traditional elements from the old-school Metroid games, and blend them with some interesting ingredients of their own, the Wii is in for some much-needed hardcore fan service.
All in all, it wasn’t anywhere near Nintendo’s best E3, but definitely better than last year’s rather hopeless effort. Although Wii Motion Plus was hyped to death with quite a bit of support from upcoming games, its practicality will truly be apparent once it’s out and in the hands of rabid casual gamers.
- Game of the Show: Scribblenauts
- Runner-ups: Super Mario Galaxy 2, Super Mario Bros. Wii
- Biggest Announcement: Metroid: Other M
