I’ll be going through the Press Conferences in order as they happened at E3. If a game was there, then console update, then Hideo Kojima Ruling the world; then that’s the way it’ll be here. I’ll give you my reactions and opinions to everything bit by bit as they happened in the Press Conferences. Then I’ll more or less conclude it with what I think they could have/should have done, my personal surprises and other stuff I might think of. First up is the Microsoft E3 Press Conference:
The Game stuff is up first:
The Beatles RockBand- There’s not really much to say here. It’s RockBand… with The Beatles’ songs…. that means win. It does look like the graphics have… well it’s hard to explain. It’s a different “look” then what you’re used to. It also seems have a little extra thing at the Instrument tracks as well. I’m not sure what it is, but it looks good though.
Tony Hawk Ride- Wii fit with a skateboard. Haha, no. Seriously though, it’s basically a skateboarding game with the deck (the actual board part) as the controller. Now, I’m not a big skateboarder, or fan for that matter, but this game looks like fun. Yeah, we all know in previous games that X+O+[]+landing=big points, but this actually challenges you to get off your butt and do something. Sort of like what the Wii seemed to be made for, but that’s another thing altogether.
Modern Warfare 2- YES! I loved the game and now they’re coming out with a second one! The gameplay seems to be up there with the previous one; so I don’t think one would be left wonder what to do. After watching the demo it would seem that Infinity Ward has done it again. Just ten minutes of a demo, and I already have it near the top of my “Here’s what I want for my 360” list. Yes sir, I want this game….bad.
Final Fantasy XIII (13)- It looks like there’s some new stuff in this, and it looks good. Oh yeah, they were serious about FF being on Xbox 360 consoles. Graphics are awesome, the music sounded incredible and Odin looks like he could chew me up and spit me out… then again for fun. The battle scenes look like they’re rather complicated, but then again, so did FF8 in comparison to FF7.
Shadow Complex- This game looks like it could be very fun… but it also looks like very very complicated. It looks very Metroid and Castlevaniaish. Scratch that, it looks like a complicated form of Metroidvania. We’ll just have to wait to find out.
Joy Ride- Looks like a casual racing game that you can customize and then put your beloved avatar in it. It’ll be free on XBL in the winter, so we’ll see then.
Crackdown 2- There was a crackdown 1? Never heard of it, never played it, and honestly, from the trailer, I probably won’t. Nothing really grabbed my attention here except for the who “city is infected, kill them all to live” kind of thing. Next please.
Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2)- Well, the first one is still broke, but who cares! You get a chainsaw and a frying pan! I like the trailer, I like L4D, and I REALLY like killing things with a chainsaw or blunt object (see GTA: Vice City). Unfortunately, I’m impatient and they’re making me wait till Nov. 17 to get it.
Splinter Cell: Conviction- Really?! This is awesome. I was always a bit of a fan of Splinter Cell, and now it shows why. Times you need to be stealthy, times you need to be super awesome don’t–jack-with-me-or-you’ll-be-messed-up. The demo looked incredible and the story (from what I saw) is very good. This game will keep you entertained easily…. especially if you’re a fan of Call of Duty or Metal Gear Solid.
Forza Motorsport 3- Honestly, I saw a racing game with a bunch of bells and whistles. Then again, I’ve never been much of a racing genre fan.
Halo 3 ODST- I like this. I like this a lot. I’ve been a Halo fan throughout it’s history, and that won’t change with this. They’ve put in some innovative stuff, like a couple sound suppressed weapons, low light visibility, and basically a Halo 1 pistol that’s been improved…. I’ma be enjoying this when it comes out… In September. Oh yeah, Halo Reach, the “Top Secret” project by Bungie- It looks good. We’ll see it 2010.
Alan Wake- Wow, this game looks good from the demo. A man’s book (super natural thriller BTW) comes to life before his very eyes. I will get this and I suggest you do to… unless Resident Evil, Silent Hill, or any other horror game made you absolutely crap your pants. Also, a Spring 2010 release date.
Now for the Non-game stuff on the 360:
Music is coming for the 360 via Last.FM and seems like a pretty good idea. The only problem is that it is basically internet radio…on a console you can already put your own music on. I’m not diving in for this one, but it’s free if you’re an XBL Gold member so…. yeah. If that’s your cup of tea- more power to you and congratulations on getting Microsoft to provide you with internet radio.
Netflix is going on the 360. It was already there? You had to download stuff? No more they say, just hit play and enjoy yourself. As if that wasn’t enough, with the help of Skye TV you can now watch live TV on your 360. I don’t sound excited? I’m not. Why would I watch TV on my gaming system? I want cool games or things like that! Besides, I have Dish Network DVR in my house. I can record what I miss… just not in HD… because I don’t have a HD TV.
There is good stuff coming though, Zune Video HD (the video store for Xbox live) is coming in 1080p HD. There is something really awesome though, ever wanted to watch a TV show with your friends, but said friend lives in Maine while you live in England? Fixed. You can do music, TV, movies, etc with a friend, at the same time. Good call Microsoft, good call.
Facebook and Twitter are coming to the 360. I’m actually kind of excited about this. I have both, though I forget Twitter a lot, I still have both and use them. There are some pretty innovative things on the Facebook side of this, Friend Linker being one of them. This little thing meshes both the XBL network and Facebook together by showing your Facebook and XBL friends together. You can link your Facebook page and your XBL account and invite friends from Facebook to be your friend on XBL. Pretty nice touch as far as I’m concerned since I have a few friends who have XBL, but I’m too lazy to ask them what their Gamertag is. Also, you can do the basics like post updates, read updates, etc… the normal stuff you do on Facebook and Twitter
Next up, big news: Metal Gear Solid is coming to the 360! Metal Gear Solid: Rising (the lightning bolt), according to Hideo Kojima (the maker of the series) says that the main character is NOT Solid Snake. Nope, it is in fact Raiden from Metal Gear Solid 2. Yup, the most confusing MGS game ever in my opinion. The big question is this: will it be good? Many people think (myself included) thought MGS 4 kind of… well dropped the ball. So let’s see what Hideo can do with a “new” main character. Also, he said it will be a completely new experience. We’ll be waiting Mr. Kojima, we’ll be waiting.
Project Natal: Basically controllerless gaming. They say it’ll work with ever 360 they’ve ever sold. It seems a lot like what the Eye Toy was going to do only on a much larger scale. Your entire body as a controller? It’s a daunting task, even for Microsoft. Face recognition, motion sensor to sense your exact body movement and position, you can even control the 360 dashboard with your hand! It can track more than one person, it’s got voice recognition… just the prototype they showed was amazing. I’m looking forward to this.
Lionhead Studios (Fable series creators) got a chance to play around with a Project Natal prototype, and I have to admit, it was impressive…. incredibly impressive. I mean, it’s just amazing what they were able to do. Wow.
I was impressed with the majority of what they had to show; everything from Modern Warfare 2, Alan Wake, Facebook on the 360, “Instant on” Movies and TV, and Project Natal. Good job Microsoft it seems like it’s going to be a very good year in gaming if you own a 360. One thing that really bugs me though: I recently bought Assassin’s Creed for my 360, and am thoroughly enjoying it. I was ecstatic when I found out they were going to release a sequel: Assassin’s Creed 2, but after all the games they showed, why no mention of AC2? Is it because it’s coming out on more than one platform? It would make sense, but it still bugs me though.
You can expect my reactions to Nintendo’s Conference next as I go through and analyze the crap out of it… and get over my anger of them bleeding Mario for all he’s worth.
Earlier today, I finished a relatively unknown little gem of a DS game known as Time Hollow. I've had it since about a month after its UK release, and I finished it before and hadn't played it since. That is, until yesterday.