Nintendo was disappointing at E3 last year to say the least. However, a year later Nintendo has promised bigger and better things at the number one gaming conference on the calendar. After ‘downsizing’ in the past two years, the real E3 is back this year. Back to being the specular event it should be, and more importantly what we all want it to be. But will it deliver on the announcement front?
Over the course of the week we’ll be looking at what Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft have in store for us this year. What we expect to see, what has been teased, predicted and what we’d like to see surprise us this year.
What’s Expected
"From Nintendo's perspective, we always go into E3 with a very high bar wanting to satisfy not only the core fans but also ourselves” said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. After a disappointing show last year, fans have a right to be skeptical. However, with the recent release of the DSi, and a lack of big name titles from Nintendo themselves on the Wii, this time around the Big N need to pull out something special. If they don’t I fear many loyal fans may begin to jump ship.
Kid Icarus Wii
Where is it? It should have been announced ages ago! Nintendo need to pull out their big guns this year, making E3 the perfect time to revive Kid Icarus.
We want Kid Icarus on Wii!Resident Evil Archives: Resident Evil & Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles
One is a remake and the other is an on-rails shooter, but one thing is for sure, Resident Evil sells well on Wii. It may not be Resident Evil 5, but if sales of past games are anything to go by Wii fans love the RE series. Both of these Capcom titles will be on show at E3 and can be penciled in to sell over a million copies to the mature Wii audience.
Tatsunoko Vs Capcom
Originally released only in Japan, a western release for Tatsunoko Vs Capcom was recently announced and the game has been confirmed to be on show at E3.
Red Steel 2
The first Red Steel had a great concept; the execution just didn’t match it. Red Steel 2 will be set in a desert-bound, high-tech metropolis. The title will also take full advantage of the Wii MotionPlus peripheral. We expect to see Red Steel 2 on show at E3 and hopefully, with the help of 1:1 motion, it’ll play as it should have the first time around.
Wii MotionPlus
MotionPlus will be released a few days after E3 wraps up. Expect Nintendo to give it one last pre-launch promotion at E3. Wii Sports Resort, Ninty’s first and currently only title to use the device, was announced last year and will launch worldwide in 6 weeks. Expect Nintendo to really push MotionPlus as it is essentially transforming the Wii into the motion controlled beast we all thought it would be 2 years ago. No doubt they’ll have a few big name games in development that make use of the device.
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Announced at GDC’09, Reggie hinted that we would get a confirmed release date at E3. In fact besides that the Nintendo of America President has been tight lipped regarding what we can expect from E3 (besides an improvement on last year).
Pokemon Heart Gold and Pokemon Soul Silver
It wouldn’t be Nintendo without Pokemon. The remakes of Pokemon Gold and Silver for the DS were recently announced, and we expect Nintendo to show off some more footage at E3.
Wii to DS Connectivity
The DSi has expanded Nintendo’s audience who own both the Wii and DS, making E3 the perfect time to start pushing DS to Wii Connectivity. Perhaps a new Wii Zelda could connect to Spirit Tracks or Mii’s could become transferable to the DSi menu.
Metroid Prime Trilogy
The three Metroid Prime games all on one disc with remastered Wii controls is something to get excited about. Seeing how the game itself has already been announced don’t expect it to be a big feature, but some more info would be nice.
What's been Teased
Two new games from High Voltage Software
The developer of The Conduit teased us by confirming they will announce two new Wii games at E3.The first will be a FPS which they hope to make technically stronger than the very impressive The Conduit. The second is “a different kind of a thing.”
Sadness
The survival horror title was one of the first announced for the Wii; however, we are yet to get a single in-game screenshot or trailer. Developer Nibris has teased that we may finally get a glimpse of the title running at E3.
Coloured Wiis/Wii Remotes
Rumours of coloured Wiis and Wii Remotes have been around since the console launched. There’s nothing more concrete this year to suggest that we’ll see them than in the past, besides the fact that the console has now been out for a few years, and that’s generally when Nintendo decide to get colourful.
Is it time for Nintendo to get colourful?Zelda & Mario Wii
Nintendo have hinted that these are in development, and now is the time to announce at least one of them. Zelda seems like the obvious choice seeing how Zelda: Twilight Princess was released back in 2006, and it was a GameCube port. In saying that, don’t be surprised if Nintendo go big and announce both of them to make up for the lack of software last year.
Capcom Mystery Title
We know that Capcom’s ‘mystery title’ is an action game and will be developed by Capcom Japan. What we don’t know is anything else. At this point in time we don't even know what console it'll be on.
Surprise us! The things we want to see
Pikmin 3
Where is Pikmin 3? I’ve been playing the New Play Control version of Pikmin 2 this week and it seems almost criminal that the Wii hasn’t had an instalment in the franchise. While we’re on the topic a DS version wouldn’t go astray either.
Pikmin and the Wii and/or DS go together so well. Where's Pikmin 3?Donkey Kong
I’d love to see a real Donkey Kong game for either the Wii or DS. We haven’t had one since DK64 (Jungle Beat and what not really don’t count). While it wasn’t the same as the Donkey Kong Country games I thought it was a solid transition from 2D masterpiece into the 3D arena.
Mario Tennis Wii
I wasn’t a fan of the controls in New Play Control Mario Power Tennis, but I’d like to see Nintendo give it another crack. Wii MotionPlus should help with the lack of accuracy which plagued the GCN remake.
GTA Wii
It’s not likely, but that’s what people said last year and seemingly out of nowhere GTA: Chinatown Wars for the DS was announced. It received critical acclaim from game publications and fans despite not selling as well as Rockstar may have liked. It’s really a matter of if they think the market is there on the Wii after what may have been a mature audience experiment on DS.
Super Smash Bros. DS
This almost definitely won’t happen, but we can dream. After doing so well on consoles it seems blatantly obvious to us that the franchise should go portable. Yet Nintendo, who must have their reasons, chose to keep it exclusive to their home console. Maybe one day, but we hope at this year's E3!
02/06/2009
It's back, bigger, badder, and better than ever before. E3 is here on our doorsteps, the biggest gaming exhibition the world has ever seen, which is constantly the event when all the juiciest content is revealed. What are my predictions for this years E3 Expo?
Xbox 360
When looking on the boards there hasn't been that much talk of great, exclusive content coming out for the Xbox 360 in the next twelve months. Microsoft will be showing us more of Halo: ODST which was a given, but other than the staple cross platform titles like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and the like, information on exclusives are lacking.
Epic could be set to release information on a either some serious DLC for Gears of War 2 or possibly the expansion with a new title in the series, but this is purely speculation.
There has been a lot of talk about some type of motion sensing device for the Xbox 360 for a number of months now, and with increasing leaks of "information" it is likely that IF such a device is in the works, we are going to see it at E3.
I think E3 will spell out the fate of the Xbox 360. IF there is a lack of content, I feel we will get an announcement by the years end of a new console coming out in the next twelve months. The Xbox 360 has been in our houses for quite some time now, and has almost reached the pinnacle of it's potential. E3 could be the clue that tells us if a new console is closer than we expected.
Wii
Ahh the Nintendo Wii, the little console that could. It's dominance in sales since it's release is impressive, but is let down by it's lack of decent games. Once again, not much is on the cards for Nintendo, and in true Reggie style, I think we will get some corkers announced at E3.
First of all The Conduit will be high on the lists, to continue the hype train as it inches closer and closer towards release. Top this off with Motion Plus and of course a more in-depth look at Wii Sports Resort we will get a taste of what we can get our hands on very soon.
With the release of the DSi we can expect some big titles coming out along with a spiel on the DSi Ware titles. Nintendo should also be ready to unveil a storage solution for the Wii, it's been a hot topic for an eternity, and E3 would be the perfect time to address it.
Mature gaming is going to be high on the list, and we will see a bunch of info on the new Resident Evil title and of course Dead Space Extraction
Purely speculation but I have a feeling we will see one of the big Nintendo franchises with a new title on the Wii, I'd be leaning towards a new Legend of Zelda title.
PS3
Killzone 2 is out, Infamous is on the way, what is next for the big black box from Sony? Uncharted 2 will surely be on display, along with God Of War III and I'd be leaning towards getting some more info on Gran Turismo 5.
Sony has a really good chance at domination in 2009, and E3 is going to be make or break it for the console, especially IF Microsoft announce a new Xbox coming to the streets in the next twelve months.
Heavy Rain will steal the show this year, it's been sitting there with some teasers every now and then, and it would be a perfect setting for David Cage to show the world exactly how far his team have pushed the PS3. It could be the underground title that really propels the PS3 to greatness
Heller's Wish List
*Alan Wake
*Sadness
*Max Payne 3
*New Valve Title
*LA Noir
15/05/2009
Back once again for an action packed, rant filled Heller's Desk this week with lots of events, gaming and non gaming related taking up my time and space.
First item was going to see The Watchmen at the movies. A fantastic movie based on a fantastic graphic novel. A lot of people have been waiting a long time for this movie, and I'll be the first to say I hope it doesn't let you down. Truly great film and well worth checking out if you have some spare cash. Our very own Mordillo92 has done a nice blog which can explain a little about what The Watchmen is all about over here
Killzone 2 is still spinning in my PS3 and has me blasting the Helghast for the third time round the single player campaign, and wasting countless hours online. This is seriously one mammoth title, and regardless of your pre-concieved ideas based on hearsay, please do yourself a favour PS3 owners, this is the flagship title we have all been waiting for. Featured review can be found over here
Tano and I have been working hard, very hard on the fifth episode of The Voice for our listening fans. It seems gremlins are at bay and just don't want this podcast to go ahead. First time we tried to record it, the earthquake happened and Tano's power went out for hours. Then last night we got half way through and the computer system chucked a fit and stopped recording and deleted everything we had done. The final attempt will be tonight when we get it in the bag and up for your listening pleasure! It's a big show this week so make sure you give it a listen!
No time to slow down though, Resident Evil 5 is here and even though I've had it for a few days I've still yet to really get into it. The visuals are outstanding, and once again Capcom deliver a first rate experience. Expect Tano to deliver an excellent Featured Review very soon!
MadWorld is about to drop for the Nintendo Wii which is very exciting. This is shaping up to be one of my most hotly anticipated titles of 2009. I love the visual presentation and the fact that it's a mature game, for real gamers, something that us Wii owners have been CRAVING!
But I've also managed to find some time for a personal life these past few weeks. Soundwave Festival was attended and rocked out to! I also have been recording some solo work for an EP that I will be releasing April this year which is very exciting. Into the studio in two weeks to layout the six tracks and then it's off to Myspace to try and book some gigs and sell off some copies. To top off all this excitement Hellerphant finally found himself a Girlfriend (Ally-Gator), that's right fans, I convinced some poor girl I wasn't too bad! Crazy I know!
So until next week let me know what games you are looking forward to, what you have been playing! Also Twitter fans, start following me (username hellerphant). I release all the mymedia reviews and important stories on there as soon as they break :)
12/03/2009
The Voice
The fourth episode of The Voice is now here!
In this weeks podcast, Tano and Heller discuss the release of GTA IV: The Lost and Damned, the latest Dead to Rights and the upcoming release of the DSi. They go through some of the latest reviews, covering Street Fighter IV, The Lost and Damned and F.E.A.R. 2, and discuss the importance of a game console being an "entertainment" system.
For the next podcast, we will be giving you the opportunity to have your reviews read out and discussed on the show. All you have to do is submit a review to one of our sites. Five will be chosen from across MyMedia to be included.
Don't forget to email us your suggestions, opinions and topics you'd like to discuss to podcast@mymedia.net.au.
Download the MP3
http://resource.mymedia.net.au/podcasts/TheVoice4.mp3
Listen to it online
Subscribe to it via iTunes
26/02/2009
F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin has simply grabbed me by the throat and dragged me in this week. I've been creeping down hallways and blasting my way through this horror FPS for this whole week and I'm still loving it! Monolith have proved once again that they are masters when it comes to creating atmosphere. Check out our full review for the PC version over here
Exciting games are starting to pop up this week with Street Fighter IV making a rather positive impression on me. It has a way of bringing about a nostalgic feeling, yet manages to stay fresh and exciting. Street Fighter IV drops for the Xbox 360 and PS3 this Thursday.
And last but not least, the one thing that is going to keep me occupied, at least until Killzone 2 drops next week, GTA Lost and Damned for the Xbox 360. This piece of DLC is sure to blow us all away! Sorry PC/PS3 fans, you miss out this time around. So glad I got that Xbox after all!
So what is keeping your attention at the moment kiddies? Let me know :)
17/02/2009