EA shows it can do more than sports
July 20, 2008 at 2:32 pm | In Current Events | Leave a CommentBy Leland Bonaparte
We all know that Madden, NBA Live and Tiger Woods rule the sports world. Times are about to change. The younger generation will be pleased to know, that EA has included a line up they also can enjoy. The lineup for this year was quite refreshing and I really felt good about myself. There were four games that really caught my eye.
Dragon Age Origins was quite impressive and the action was breathtaking. It felt like the opening scene to the movie Gladiator. The graphics were really on point and the action was very live.
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames : At first I was a little suspect about the game play, but after watching the trailer I was sold. The explosions were loud and big (no offence to my girl Lauri ,but hey us boys like that. hahahahah) This is a must for all gamers.
Sims Animals: I really got in touch with nature with this one. I wanted to go outside and put a little birdie back in it’s nest. This is a great addition to DS and we should all think about getting back into nature. I might even go to the zoo this weekend.
Mirror’s Edge: Girls are starting to make a comeback in the gaming world. the main character Faith is a carrier of information. the point of view is really sick, and the path is pretty much highlighted for you. It was said that you can go through the whole game without firing a shot.
The Best Thing of the E3 2008 Media and Business Summit
July 20, 2008 at 7:21 am | In Current Events, Show impressions, personal experiences | Leave a Commentby Angie Quidim
The best thing that E3 ever did for the gaming media was to put an exhibition where anyone can get a hold of the games and try them out in one location. From Spore to Dark Void to the ever lovable Rockband 2, you can find almost everything your little gaming heart desires. I got a chance to see people play and teach me Samba De Amigo. This was a title that SEGA released for the Dreamcast and now they have ported it to Nintendo’s Wii system. With elements and songs from both Samba de Amigo 1 and 2, players will get a chance to shake their maracas till they can shake no more. There were also other games from Disney Interactive such as the Disney Karaoke game that got PLENTY of play. No matter what your level of skill was, anyone was able to go out on the show floor and kick some ass, sing your hear out or play like Hendrix.
SOE Shines Bright In The Middle Of Boringness
July 18, 2008 at 7:38 am | In Game Preview, Industry News, Show impressions | Leave a CommentTags: DC Universe Online
by Lauri Hong
Finally, I come across a company that has something decent… no better than that!!! Take a company that has known the MMO world for well over a decade, and take a giant in the comics industry. Now put them into a blender and what do you get? DC Universe Online! Okay, honestly at first I was thinking… oh great where have I seen people in colored tights before. Hmmmm for some reason a company called NC Soft and their oh so great games City of Heroes and City of Villains come to mind. Anyways, instead of those static mobs that we always love to seek out in order to get any type of enjoyment, SOE has decided to rethink the general idea of the comic and MMO world focusing on the constant amounts of action moment to moment. Okay, before you go deciding which hero or villain you want to be, I hope you realize we can’t have thousands of Batmen or Jokers running around all at once. Instead, you’ll be working along side with these heroes or villains to help them with the city or work on a quest. Huh, working along side with Superman, how awesome is that? For those hard core comic fans, you’re probably thinking… BUT WHAT ABOUT THE STORYLINE?!?! Or what about the super heroes or villains? Or how about the details of the city? Don’t worry your crazy fanboy/fangirl head of yours. DC and SOE will be feverishly working close together to assure the game sticks true to the comics as much as possible. And of course, with all those different stories of each character out there, your next question will be, “well how are they gonna pick and choose what story to incorporate into the game?” Jim Lee and the rest of his Wildstorm team will be assisting them with not only picking out the stories that will flow through the game but also creating a separate story for the game itself.
Hmmm, I foresee possibilities of new characters being introduced into the comic world through this game, don’t you? According to SOE, they have leased over 140 characters from DC Comics to help create their illustrative world. With all these characters involved, players will of course have to make a very important choice in their growing career in tights… do I join the Justice League, do I join the Legion of Doom, or…… do I make my very own guild?! Well, SOE has just scratched the surface of this game. Be sure to tune in for more at the San Diego Comic Con!
Sony Press Conference at E3
July 16, 2008 at 6:45 pm | In Game Preview, Industry News, Show impressions | 1 Commentby Angie Quidim/Additional coverage by Adam Hartley at Techraider.com
This year’s Sony conference was held at the famed Shrine Auditorium and it was packed.
Resistance 2: They talked about tis game alot and the graphics for this game are nothing less than stunning. But is it the same old game with just more stuff to kill? Ted Price the President of Insomniac games pretty much made statements regarding the 8 player online co-operative play and the 60 player online multiplayer mode. This game is defintely brilliant no browns and not too much gray. Can FPS’s start to see the light of day? the feel is like a vintage 50’s game kinda like Bioshock.
Little Big Planet :It’s social gaming and networking at its best. “Play, Create and Share!” Take the Mii creatiion from Nintendo and the Live network from Microsoft and you get this game. Although it’s characters look sugary sweet, that doesnt mean that these characters dont have a fun sadistic side.. But its fun for the whole family. This game promises to bring in more of a non gaming audience than the typical target market of male core gamers.
I won’t bore you with the sales statistics since each company seems to alter the numbers their way to make their company stand out as the best gaming company of the year. Can’t blame them as their stockholders are watching these conferences closely.
I was unable to cover the rest of the conference this year but here is a rundown from techraider.com’s Adam Hartley what happened the rest of the time.
“The PlayStation brand is really hitting its stride,” said Tretton, warming to his theme at an E3 conference in which Sony announced, among other things, God of War III, a DC Universe MMO and a new 256-player Massive Action Game (yes, that’s the title!) for PS3, as well as new handheld titles Resistance Retribution and Super Stardust Portable for PSP.
PlayStation Network, new Ratchet
As of later this autumn, all PlayStation Network users will get a single sign-on, announces Tretton, adding that over 180 million pieces of content have been downloaded from PSN since the PS3 launched back in November 2006 in the US and Japan.
The next new game announced at E3 by Sony is Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty – described by the game’s producer as “a shorter game at a lower ($14.99) price” and by Tretton as “great entertainment for about the cost of a movie ticket.”
A number of other new and already announced downloadable games are also briefly demoed including titles such as Crash Commando, the (ludicrously un-PC) Fat Princess, PixelJunk Eden, Pain: Amusement Park, Flower, Siren: Blood Curse and RagDoll KungFu: Fists of Plastic.
Gran Turismo TV, Home, Movies
Petrolheads in the audience were clearly thrilled to hear that Polyphony Digital’s Gran Turismo pay-per-view TV service will be launching on 1st August, announced with plenty of footage of feted GT producer Kazunori Yamauchi racing Ferraris and suchlike.
No release date was forthcoming for PS3’s Home service, but Tretton at least thanks gamers for being patient, as he demos some of the game-themed spaces in Home.
Quickly moving on, Tretton is happy to announce that studio partners for PSN’s video download service already include Sony Pictures (obviously) Fox, MGM, Lions Gate, Warner, Disney, Paramount, Turner and Funimation.
Standard and High-def are now available for rental or sell-through TV starting from $1.99 for movie rentals up to $14.99 for purchases. Once downloaded you can seamlessly shift your TV or movie content from your PS3 or PC over to your PSP to watch on the go.
“The video store will be available tonight!” Tretton is clearly happy to announce.
PlayStation Portable, Resistance Retribution
As of this October Sony plans to offer a new PSP bundle, made up of the popular game Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters, a silver PSP, 1GB Memory Stick, a UMD copy of movie National Treasure 2 and a voucher for the stylish puzzler Echochrome all for $199 (£100).
A genuine new PSP exclusive, Resistance Retribution is also announced, due for a spring 2009 release. Also announced was Patapon2 and Loco Roco2.
DC Universe online, 40GB PS3 scrapped
Jim Lee, director of the promising PS3 MMO DC Universe Online enthuses about his project, a game that features every DC superhero, winning the affection of the crowd as he tells them:
“This is really a dream project for me. When I was a kid, my parents wanted me to become a doctor and follow in my father’s footsteps. Meanwhile, I wanted to read comic books.”
Sony then announces that the 80GB PS3 – with the same functionality as the current 40GB model – is set to retail for $399 (£200), which can only mean that the current 40GB SKU is set to be phased out in future.
Jack Tretton follows this news by talking more about the “tremendous amount of support” SCE gets from its development partners and stressing that SCE’s own worldwide studios gives the company a competitive advantage with 23 PS3 exclusives (10 on Blu-ray disc and 13 on PSN).
God of War 3, Infamous, MAG
God of War 3 is announced for PlayStation 3 which, while not a major surprise, still manages to wow the gamers in the crowd. Following this well-received announcement, developer Sucker Punch’s open-world superhero title Infamous is demoed, with a release date of spring 2009 announced.
The final announcement at Sony’s E3 press conference comes from developer Zipper Interactive (of SOCOM fame) who present a game called MAG (Massive Action Game) set to feature 256-player battles.
Zipper’s Andy Beaudoin describes this PS3 exclusive: “MAG will deliver a sweeping battle experience using only real players… the game will be organised into 8-player squads, lead by people who are “proven” to be good leaders,” and is to feature a character advancement tree for gameplay longevity and character development. It’s an intensely ambitious game, which, so Sony assures us, could only be attempted on the PlayStation 3.
“If this is what year 2 of the PS3 lifecycle looks like, imagine what years 3 and beyond will look like,” says Tretton, as he closes Sony’s E3 2008 press conference.
Day 2 of the E3 Summit Ends and as the dust settles
July 16, 2008 at 6:22 pm | In Show impressions | Leave a CommentSo as the dust settles for the day, it seems that Microsoft has won the presentation award for E3. It had the most exciting display compared to the other two major press conferences. Activision is one of the major third party companies that had actually made a profit this year so we await tonight’s description of what they are up to next.
Back to the other conferences, speaking of trends in the video game industry, all major console giants have thoughts on making their systems user friendly and practical. They want their devices to not only to be used as game systems but also as a GPS etc… Honestly who really wants that.
There are other devices out there such as phones and remote security systems that are vying for this market. With the economy the way it is, entertainment is what we usually fall back on. If the entertainment industry is turning our fantasy into reality (meaning taking something fun and turning it into something boring) why waste the money. We have companies that make GPS systems that do it well. We dont need a DS that does this half assed.
I am curious to see what the keynote tells about the current state of the industry because frankly its confused. We as consumers are confused as it is We don’t need any help!
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