It's been a rather slow week in the gaming world, giving you all a chance to catch up on those games you haven't finished before the end of year season is upon us.
Many of you have already finished this title, but Batman: Arkham Asylum has kept me rather busy the past week. I've really enjoyed my time on Arkham, and this is a surprise hit title for me! Still sitting on the fence after playing the demo? Why not read our feature review? Batman: Arkham Asylum.
I was one of the many lucky folks who snagged a Uncharted 2 beta code last week from EB Games Twitter give-away so I'll be waiting to get into that this Tuesday! Those who pre-order the game from EB also get access to the beta so if you can't wait to get online with this game, head down to your local EB today.
This weekend I got the chance to go through the paces of the DLC pack for F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin. Reborn runs a story parallel to that of the main game, and while it doesn't do anything to expand the story or the universe, it's a decent addition to the already great game. If you already own F.E.A.R 2 and want to extend it another 2-4 hours, then check out our review here.
So now I'm just counting down the days till Scribblenauts, Uncharted 2 and Modern Warfare 2!
What are you guys and girls looking forward to playing?
14/09/2009
There is no denying that music-based video-games have been booming in the past few years. The amount the genre has evolved from titles such as Space Channel 5 on the Sega Dreamcast to the staples of Rock Band and Guitar Hero has been moving ahead in leaps and bounds. But with so many additions, expansions, franchises, and peripherals out there, lounge rooms across the globe have come cluttered and confused.
With bands signing exclusivity deals with different franchises, those who take their virtual rocking out seriously are going to want to own all the franchises they can get, the problem you may find is you are parting out your hard earned cash for the sake of rocking out to only a handful of songs.
Harmonix have taken a step to keep consumers happy with their extensive Downloadable Content, offering over 500 tracks, all working with all versions of their franchise. The Guitar Hero franchise has taken a similar step, offering 30 or so tracks off their Guitar Hero: World Tour disc to work with the upcoming Guitar Hero 5.
It’s the exclusivity that is dividing the market. On one hand you have Guitar Hero Aerosmith, Metallica, Smash Hits, Van Halen and on the other you have Rock Band Beatles - so many discs, so many songs, so much choice, but more importantly, so expensive, especially in today's economic climate.
Each new addition to the series (RB1, RB2, GH3, GHWT, GH5) brings with it new peripherals, always slightly better than the previous set, which has many households owning up to 5 guitar controllers and three sets of drums, just to keep up to date.
And with other franchises climbing out of the woodwork such as Band Hero, Guitar Revolution, Lego Rock Band, DJ Hero many people are seriously asking themselves if it’s worth it.
Hamonix and EA are really pushing Rock Band as the biggest title of the bunch, throwing a campaign across the United States which has local bars having Rock Band nights. It's a good idea that promotes the game to a crowd that normally wouldn't have that much to do with gaming. It get's everyone involved, shows that it's a fun experience that can be enjoyed by everyone, and in turn will most likely generate more sales for their product. There were similar evening hosted across pubs and clubs in Australia promoting Guitar Hero 3 that pitted the best players in the country to get the highest scores on the hardest songs. It was successful, but it was only the Guitar Hero afficinados who got in on the action.
With Christmas fast approaching, and two huge titles dropping very soon in Rock Band: Beatles and Guitar Hero 5 with DJ Hero just around the corner, the war will be back on for who can move the most units under those Christmas trees for 2009.
Is the Music Game Genre over-saturated? Is interest slowly dying out from the casual crowd that once got it booming? Ideally we’d love to see one giant DLC store where you could buy any song you like, let it run on any game you own, and just rock out at your own pleasure....but we’d also like a magical gnome here at the office, both ideas are never going to happen....
11/09/2009
So I've decided to retire the Heller's Desk segment, mainly due to the fact I was getting hard pressed to find good desk pics! So welcome to Heller's Den, a chance for me to throw out what I've been researching, playing and looking forward to.
As many of you will know, Batman Arkham Asylum is the hot topic right now, and rightly so! It's a fantastic game and I'm only a few hours into it!. Tano is busy working on the featured review, but until then, why not check out Batman's Greatest Gaming Moments.
While I wait patiently for Uncharted 2 to be released for the PS3 I've started to play Killzone 2 online quite a bit recently. It's a little harder than your average shooter, but it is so in-depth and is a great change of pace!
On the Wii front I've been getting into a lot of Wii Sports Resort, The Conduit, Punch Out!! and I've been getting back into some Grand Slam Tennis which is great fun for local multiplayer!
So we have a huge few months coming up, with such games as Modern Warfare 2, Scribblenaughts, Guitar Hero 5, Rock Band Beatles the list is growing every day!
What are you guys and girls looking forward to playing?
04/09/2009
Written By Ben Salter
The PS3 Slim is finally – officially – here! We’ve known about it for months, and with each rumour came more credibility that the console existed, and was going to be released this year. Even without all of the ‘hints’ that made their way into the media over the course of the year this wouldn’t come as a shock to anyone. By simply looking at Sony’s history with its previous home consoles it’s easy to put two and two together and conclude that a PS3 Slim would emerge eventually. Now it’s less than a month away, but the question remains: is it worth it?
I for one will strongly consider purchasing the slimmer console when it is released on September 3. Not for the smaller size, less noise, lower energy consumption, or new look, but for the $200 price cut. As I don’t already own a PS3, or a Blu-Ray player, the $500 price tag is starting to look a little more affordable, and worthwhile. Yes we are paying more than our fellow gamers in the US. USD $299 works out to be approximately AUD $361 with the current exchange rate, but there’s more to it than that. The price of gaming in Australia will continue to be a long running debate in the future, but Sony (of Australia) should not have the blame placed on them for the price discrepancy here. Being a Pal region our hardware is linked with Europe. As it currently stands the $499.95 PS3 Slim will actually be a little cheaper here than it will be in Europe. I, like many others, was hoping for something closer to the $400 mark, but it’s certainly better than the current $700 asking price (which will be lowered on Monday).
We also have to remember that this is the RRP. If I had to stage a guess I would have thought that the current 80GB PS3 was priced at $650, rather than have a RRP of $699. My point? Bargain shoppers will no doubt find something a little cheaper, or with a free game or two thrown in.
If you already own a PS3 I see absolutely no reason to purchase, or ‘upgrade’ to a PS3 Slim. In saying that, I was a little surprised to see the vast differences in opinion posted on MyPS3. Current PS3 owners seem to either hate it with a passion or love the thing and want to buy it for another room (I’ve never understood the point in owning 2 or more of the same console). I expected more of a ‘meh’ response, as it really isn’t aimed at people who have already entered the PS3 market. It’s a little bit of a generalisation, and to be honest I didn’t go through and read every single response to every article, but I was surprised by these two extremes.
If you haven’t had a chance to see what has actually be changed you may be disappointed to find that it is mainly cosmetic. The PS3 Slim is 1.5 kilos smaller, uses less energy and makes less noise that its counterparts. Besides that it is much the same. There’s still no PS2 backwards compatibility and only 2, rather than 4, USB slots, both things that have been omitted since the original 60GB console. The ability to install other operating systems has also been removed. I’m not entirely sure why, I’m sure it’s around the internet somewhere, but I’d guess it would be to place a greater emphasis on games and Blu-Rays. Finally it’s $200 cheaper than the current PS3, although this will change on Monday. In short that is the difference between the 80GB and slim models of the PS3. With little reason to upgrade, it is clear whom Sony is targeting.
Finally I wonder how Sony Australia will go about marketing the new device? It was revealed last week that Blu-Rays are selling extremely well, but won’t see a price reduction in the near future. New release movies often cost between $10-$30 more on Blu-Ray than the do on DVD. Regardless of how fast people may be taking up the new technology surely this is going to substantially slow things down. After all, are people really willing to pay almost double for a movie in high definition? That’s an issue for another time, as for now we’re discussing how Sony will get the PS3 Slim to fly off shelves. The reduced RRP will be a big help, and is the hook for me, but the free PS3s with Sony Bravia TVs must have had a great impact on getting Blu-Rays into peoples homes. Will they do something similar with the Slim, or have they already accomplished what they set out to do with this? It was marketed more as a BluRay player, than gaming console, in that particular promotion, so is it time to push the PS3 as a gaming platform now that it is closer to the Xbox 360 and Wii in price?
I believe that the year of the PS3 may very well be late 2009 or 2010. Expect the PS3 Slim to sell substantially over the course of the few months and Christmas period; not because it’s shed some unnecessary weight, but because of the price drop. I never bought a PS3 because I couldn’t justify owning one along side a 360 for $700, despite my interest in Blu-Ray. That all looks set to change with the price drop that has been a long time coming.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the PS3 Slim, and its position in the gaming industry. Will you be purchasing one or sticking with the old school model? Do you think it’s the right move for Sony? Or like me are you more interested in the price drop?
19/08/2009
We have three copies of Wolfenstein to give away on XBOX 360 and Playstation 3.
All you have to do is visit the official Wolfenstein page and then answer the questions on the competition pages. You can answer as many questions as you like (maximum of four per member).
Competition ends at 5pm on Friday, August 21st. Winners will be announced at 5pm on Monday, 24th of August.
Every member that enters will also get a Wolfenstein medal for their profile!
03/08/2009
Written By Stephen Heller
It’s inevitable that each year we hit some form of games drought, but it seems to be a much longer and harsher drought in 2009. Maybe it’s due to the lack of quality releases early in the year, perhaps the endless delay messages we are hearing on larger titles, pushing them back into 2010. Whatever it is we have completed this guide to help you survive the harsh drought until the pre-christmas rush is upon us.
Time To Catch Up
The gaming drought is a perfect time to finish up all those loose ends that you have left over from busier periods in the year. Never got to the end of Mirrors Edge? Still stuck on that infernal puzzle in Braid? Well now you have times on your hands to finish off those games you never quite finished. I know when I look at my shelf I have a good five or six games I still have to finish!
Nostalgia Strikes Again
While you are waiting for that next big game to hit perhaps now would be a good time to get back to your roots and kick it old school. Dig out that N64 or SNES and play some of your favourite classics. You’ll be surprised at how challenging they are after so many years, and might even be surprised at just how well they have held up against the hands of time.
Live Dangerously
Are you one of those gamers who stick to one format only? Perhaps you are a racing nut? FPS are your bread and butter? Now is the perfect time to live dangerously and try something new. Had a game on your mind you’d like to try but just never had the time? Go do some research and pickup something you normally wouldn’t play. It could really pay off and open yourself up to a great adventure.
DLC
There are plenty of great games that are cheap and easy to download from the PSN, Xbox Live or Wii Ware services. Some of these games are rated higher than full fledged games and offer some great gameplay experiences. Do some research and choose a game that suits your needs. Some outstanding titles that come to mind are Braid, Bionic Commando: Re-Armed, World of Goo and The Dishwasher.
Hopefully this guide will help you stay afloat with quality gaming until the drought is lifted for the pre-christmas rush. What are your plans to survive these tough times?
27/07/2009
Written By Stephen Heller
While the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP have been enjoying their supremacy in the handheld market this generation, Apple’s iPhone is really stepping it up. With graphics that are better than the Nintendo DS, and an easy to access App Store, one has to wonder what is next for the multi function device.
The recently released Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition from Lucasarts has found it’s way onto the App Store, and with all the features intact from it’s Xbox 360 and PC counterparts. Weighing in at a mere 350mb and a measly $9.99 you can purchase a fully fledged game that will last 5-10 hours, for less than a quarter of the price of a new release Nintendo DS game.
Other developers are really backing the platform, EA releasing hand held versions of The Sims 3 and Spore, classic games such as Uno and new unique titles such as the ever popular Tap Tap Revenge. Even classics such as Wolfenstein 3D are making an appearance on the app store.
Will the iPhone replace the Nintendo DS or the Sony PSP? While the iPhone does rival such devices, it doesn’t make a sale purely as a gaming device. The fact that Nintendo and Sony tailor their experience purely as a gaming device will suit games better. What the iPhone does manage to do is open up the door to quality games for casual gamers.
What are your thoughts on the iPhone becoming a formidable force in the world of handheld gaming?
26/07/2009
Best of E3
Gaetano
I don’t think anyone could argue that this years E3 conference in LA was better than last years. Even better than 2007’s. E3 lost some of its pizzazz and glamour for a few years before finally getting back to its roots this year. We’ve seen quite a few attending publications make note of how different it was compared to previous years. There has been more on show and more people meaning that companies were putting more effort in.
The three major players had been fairly quiet at E3 before this year, opting to save big announcements for their own conferences at separate times of the year. Nintendo was noticeably shallow at last years E3 and Microsoft and Sony each gave less-than-memorable keynotes. Thankfully, all three showed off the big guns during E3 2009’s keynote presentations as E3 stepped up a gear.
There have been so many great announcements and moments that it’s hard to pick the best of it all. The announcement trailer during Microsoft’s press conference was pretty cool, showing off Crackdown 2 and Left 4 Dead 2. 
Natal was an impressive presentation and Milo blew my socks off! I loved hearing about Gran Turismo PSP and seeing God of War III in action, but the one moment that made my jaw hit the ground was when Uncharted 2 came on screen. I’m amazed at how gorgeous that game looks. It’s tattooed on my mind more so than Milo or Natal, which both impressed me. I’m a big fan of the PSP GO and I really can’t wait to get my hands on it, so that was another memorable part of the conference for me.
Ben (ICC)
E3 this year has trumped 2008 hands down. While it’s not in the same league as past years when new consoles have been announced, every gamer should be happy with the software line-up on show for their particular system. The best thing about E3 this year was that we got big name titles for the Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, DS and PSP that we didn’t previously know about. There’s nothing worse than when E3 just rehashes what we already knew. Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M are both great, and unexpected, announcements for Nintendo fans of old. Halo Reach & Left 4 Dead 2 will more than satisfy Xbox 360 fans. Meanwhile, PS3 owners should be over the moon with the announcement of Agent. OMG an exclusive Rockstar game, permission to run around screaming hysterically!
On the handheld front the entire PSP announcement library was impressive. To be honest the PSP has been lagging behind other platforms for a while now, but the likes of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and Resident Evil look set to change that. While it was a quiet year for the DS we did get one major revelation; Golden Sun DS. If you ever played one of the GBA games you’ll know what I regard it so highly.
Worst of E3
Gaetano
Again, it’s hard to really pick one specific moment. I think a lot of people expected Nintendo to blow us away with something new. I hate getting on Nintendo’s back all the time, but they disappointed me once again. The Vitality Sensor does absolutely nothing for me, and going by the posts in the official conference thread on MyWii as it was announced, it didn’t do much for most people. Of the conferences, Nintendo’s was easily the less impressive. Microsoft made a note of “showing” rather than telling and Jack Tretton at Sony gave a really impressive demonstration. But Satoru Iwata of Nintendo almost put me to sleep. Literally. He took forever to get to his point and I actually wanted to nibble at my ankle in anticipation of his point. When he finally announced the Vitality Sensor, I didn’t know what to think. I was overwhelmed by a lack of interest. I didn’t think that was possible, but I was.
While they had plenty of great announcements, like Galaxy 2, a new Metroid title and some nice DS titles, Nintendo only reiterated the direction I think they’re going in – to ditch the core gamer for a non-gaming and overly casual crowd, with titles like Wii Fit Plus and Wii Sports Resort. 
I asked XBOX Australia’s product marketing manager Adam Pollington if Microsoft were ditching the Halo and Call of Duty gaming audience for a more casual audience with the Natal like the Wii has, and he literally baulked at the suggestion. Nintendo continue to tell us what we want, instead of assuming and/or giving us what we want. Sony has been the best at giving gamers what they want, with Microsoft close behind. Nintendo continue to make statements like, “gamers want this” and “this will be fun” instead of “we want to do this” and “we expect this to happen”, which is the direction the other two players go in. Perhaps I think too much, but the more I see of Nintendo, the more I dislike them. And this is coming from someone who backed the Gamecube and N64 more than any other console during those generations.
As much as I don’t mind Microsoft and Sony going in the direction with motion controlling, I didn’t like Sony’s motion-controller presentation. Dr. Richard Marx was overly nervous and struggled to get his words out and the presentation itself was dull and boring. I just wanted to see more PS3 games and thankfully that’s what we ended up getting at the end.
Ben
I don’t have that much to complain about this year, besides a few titles that I had really hoped for, but deep down inside I knew weren’t going to see the light of day this year. I predominately covered Nintendo’s showing at the event this year. Therefore, I’m leaning towards praising and bagging them with a majority of my answers here as I know their announcements inside and out. Fortunately I don’t have to move past them to find the worst thing at E3 this year.
The presentation from Nintendo of Japan President, Satoru Iwata, was terrible. He took to the stage and gave an extremely long, seemingly unnecessary speech, about Nintendo attempting to increase its audience. After this went nowhere, he finally got to a point (I have no idea what ‘the point’ was) by announcing the Wii Vitality Sensor. After speaking for so long about nothing important, or even related to anything, this was the anticlimax of the show. The Wii Vitality Sensor itself looks relatively useless. This man is in charge of Nintendo; that explains a lot.
Best Keynote
Gaetano
I’d go with Microsoft, but only by a nose-hair. If someone asked me to choose one of the two to watch again, I’d probably flip a coin. While there wasn’t a single moment during Microsoft’s press conference that bored me, Sony had some great announcements with Rockstar’s Agent, a great presentation of Uncharted 2 and some amazing gameplay footage of God of War III. They also showed off the PSP GO and finally set a release date for Gran Turismo PSP. Resident Evil on PSP is also a great announcement.
Microsoft win it with me through announcements of another Halo title in Halo: Reach, the revealing of Metal Gear Solid: Rising, the announcement trailer that showed off Crackdown 2 (which looks AMAZING…or maybe I’m just a Crackdown fanboy), and the movie streaming service on XBOX Live. We got confirmation through Adam Pollington that it will be coming to Australia before Christmas, which means we can be streaming Full HD movies through our 360 in a matter of months. Natal was impressive and previews from the show say it’s just as good as the trailer shown during the keynote, and the Milo video gave me goose bumps. Gameplay footage of Alan Wake also blew me away, as this was the one game I wanted to see during the conference.
I really loved both keynote speeches and one barely outdoes the other, but for me personally, Microsoft takes the cake with an overall better presentation that I thought flowed better and showed off a few more surprises through Crackdown 2, Left 4 Dead 2 and Alan Wake.
Ben
It’ll be interesting to see the direction that gaming goes in the next few years. With Sony announcing the PS3 motion controller, Nintendo further pushing Wii MotionPlus and Microsoft announcing Project Natal I hope this isn’t the end of console gaming as we know it. 
It will either produce an array of great games in a way we’ve never seen before, or Sony & Microsoft will go down the path of Nintendo, and sell out in favour of the casual market.
Microsoft takes it home for me. Project Natal looks really interesting and I’m definitely more interested in what no controller can do, rather than another remote, so long as it’s not just a jazzed up version of Eye Toy. Sony’s controller didn’t really interest me; the demo was cool, but it seemed like a cheap attempt to cash in on Nintendo’s success. While I do think it looks more accurate than Nintendo’s Wii Remote, I think that’s all it is, and the wrong direction for Sony. Big name games were on show during all three Keynotes but Microsoft lead the way here again (maybe only just). With games such as Halo Reach, Left 4 Dead 2, Crackdown 2 and Forza 3 now is a great time to be a 360 owner. While there wasn’t anything completely unexpected it was almost all quality, and an even better software line-up than we could have hoped for.
Best Announcement
Gaetano
There are so many! PSP GO, Natal, Milo, Agent, Left 4 Dead 2, Metal Gear Solid: Rising, Super Mario Galaxy 2. For me, it’s easily Crackdown 2. The first game has such a cult following and seems to get more fans by the day. The original developer is working on APB for PC (which looks friggin’ unreal!) and whenever a rumour popped up about a sequel they always seemed to be quickly squashed. But when that announcement trailer began and I could hear the voice-over and see the Crackdown logo, a smile went right across my face.
I understand some of you, especially the PS3 diehards out there, might find it difficult to understand how that can be the best announcement for me, but Crackdown was one of my first games of this generation. While it didn’t get outstanding reviews upon launch, it seems to get better with age, which is normally impossible for a title. It’s gotten more popular as time goes by. It’s without a doubt the Fight Club of this generation – a title that gets decent reviews but then eventually ends up being one of the best of its kind (in reference to the film, not the terrible Fight Club game). Ask any 360 owner what 10 games are a must-have and I think you’ll find that most will include Crackdown in that list. The gameplay is so addictive it’s not even funny and I can’t wait to cause havoc once again.
Ben
The PSP Go looks really cool. I never owned a PSP but I’ll definitely be entering Sony’s handheld market when this bad boy hits shelves. Alright, so technically we already knew about this prior to E3, but it was ‘officially’ announced at Sony’s Keynote so I pretended we didn’t. It was also great news for existing owners to hear that the new iteration of the handheld wouldn't make the PSP-3000 or UMD obsolete and that Sony intends to continue to support both in the future, even after the PSP GO is released.
I think it’s worth giving an honourable mention to Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 as the biggest sequels this E3. Nobody saw it coming after Nintendo opened their Keynote by revealing New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the first true sequel to a 3D Mario title, and the first time two 3D Mario adventures will appear on the same console. To clue in non-Nintendo fans this is massive news. The original title was awarded game of the year by many publications in 2007 (including MyMedia in our Choice Awards as voted by members). It was up against titles such as Call of Duty 4, and yet despite Nintendo 'selling out' we know a masterpiece when we see one. Galaxy 2 heads my list of sequels I’m most interesting in, just above Modern Warfare 2 and Left 4 Dead 2. The latter is the second announcement in the ‘I think I peed a little’ category. Left 4 Dead was one of the biggest games of the year and seemingly came out of know where (or maybe I just wasn’t following it). Either way it was a pleasant surprise and I can’t wait to see more of it!
Announcement no one cares about
Gaetano
Nintendo had a whole bunch of them. There was the Women’s Murder Club on DS, Wii Fit Plus and then the Vitality Sensor, which Iwata seemed to have taken a decade to finally reveal. I can’t imagine anyone who stayed up that late to watch the keynote would have shown much interest in Wii Fit Plus, as the people it’s actually aimed at (people like my mum) probably wouldn’t have been up watching it. I really want to care about the Vitality Sensor, but I just can’t. With Natal and even Sony’s motion-controller being revealed, this debacle by Nintendo just didn’t grab my attention at all. I was expecting something big from Iwata after he spoke for 300 minutes, but then when he brought that out, I felt like stabbing the screen.
Ben
I already said Wii Vitality Sensor, can I say that again? No wait, at least it’s something new, I’m going to go with Wii Fit Plus. Maybe I’m picking on Nintendo a little, but Cammie killed the atmosphere by following up the awesome New Super Mario Bros. Wii with Wii Fit Plus. Noooooo! We don’t care, nobody who’s watching the entire press conference live cares. Wii Fit was a great direction for Nintendo financially; they must have made a bucket load off of the game that’s good for you. It was inevitable that a sequel would come, but frankly it received was it deserved, nothing more than a ‘meh’. We’re sure Wii Fit is doing wonders for fat kids out there, but we don’t care.
Biggest Shock
Gaetano
I think the biggest shock for the crowd in attendance was Final Fantasy XIV Online. When Tretton announced that, you could actually hear people say “what!?”. It was pretty left field. I loved how he said it so calmly as well, with no emotion on his face. He wanted to smile, but he wanted to make out like it wasn’t that big.
For me, it’s the announcement of Resident Evil on PSP. I think of the possibilities of PSP GO, with the 16gb internal memory, and I hope we see something along the lines of RE4. Maybe not quite as advanced, but something along the lines. I’m curious to see how it works without a thumb pad, but Resident Evil is one of my favourite franchises and along with Viewtiful Joe is something I’ve been dying to see on PSP (Red Hot Rumble doesn’t count!)
Crackdown 2 was also a shock, but a small part of me kind of expected it.
Ben
We got two massive bombshells in the software department this E3. Sony announced that Final Fantasy XIV Online will be coming exclusively to PS3 and PC in 2010, and Nintendo concluded their show with Metroid: Other M. I believe Microsoft had the best overall line-up; however, these two were huge, but unexpected, announcements. A trailer was shown for both; the audience didn’t know how to react after watching either and sat in ore of what they had just witnessed. Microsoft may have had the best conference overall, but it was Nintendo and Sony who delivered the biggest shocks. To avoid sitting on the fence yet again I’ll go with Metroid: Other M as the biggest shock, just because the Metroid titles on the GameCube introduced me to the last generation of gaming.
Who you think won E3
Gaetano
It’s been a massive conference. So much on show, so much announced. I could say the gamers won, as Ben has below, but that would be a bit too cliché. If we want to be official, I’d say Sony and Microsoft in a tie, with Nintendo a distant third. If I want to be a fanboy, I’d say Microsoft because of Crackdown 2. But really, we have an amazing year still to come for games. 2009 is going to end incredibly strong and now with Forza 3, MGS: Rising, Crackdown 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Galaxy 2 and Alan Wake on the horizon, the gaming public really did win E3. Kudos to Microsoft and Sony for helping to bring us amazing and conference – one of the best in recent memory!
Ben
You, the gamers! Is that too cliché? Who cares it’s true. Microsoft had the best showing overall. Halo Reach, Project Natal, Left 4 Dead 2, Crackdown 2, Metal Gear Solid Rising, Forza 3, and Splinter Cell: Conviction and the list goes on. Sony fans better start saving some coin as well with the PSP Go, Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker, Final Fantasy XIV Online, Agent and God of War III looking to blow socks off. Nintendo had a weaker showing, but I’m not complaining and neither should you. It was a bazillion times better than last year (yes that’s my very professionally summed up conclusion). Two new Mario titles and Metroid: Other M are more than enough to keep loyal Nintendo fans around for at least another year. Golden Sun DS wins the award for ‘biggest under the radar announcement’. Golden Sun was one of the best RPG’s on the GBA and it’s fantastic to see it back. Whether you’re a fan of Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo or a combination of, something big came out of E3. At the end of the day conference that’s what really matters.
06/06/2009
Nintendo E3 2009 Wrap
Nintendo and Sony headlined the busiest day of E3 this year, with back to back keynotes that were sure to keep us entertained on E3 2009 Day 2.
Nintendo started proceedings with a bang. After a slight delay Cammie Dunaway kicked things off with a Mario montage, leading in to the announcement of New Super Mario Bros. Wii. The all new 4 player Super Mario title was demonstrated on stage and will certainly please Nintendo fans of old.
Unfortunately the excitement level dropped directly after as Cammie went on to announce the leaked Pre-E3 Wii Fit Plus - a game that is heading in a 'new direction' and would help people "create a specific workout program that's perfect" for them. Cammie showed off a range of new minigames, including skateboarding and barrel jumping, which finally puts the gamer in Mario's shoes.
Reggie then came on stage to start talking about 'innovation' and went into a promotion for Wii MotionPlus and Wii Sports Resort, two items that were announced at E3 last year. Nintendo's Bill Trinen showed us that Wii Sports Resort will begin with skydiving, and then gave us a look at the very interesting archery and basketball games. Reggie reminded us that third party developers are making use of Wii MotionPlus, including EA with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 & Grand Slam Tennis and Sega with Virtua Tennis 2009.
Reggie dropped an interesting statistic by claiming that more 3rd party games were sold on the Wii and DS than any other platforms. Wow! He used Square Enix as an example of upcoming RPGs by showing off a trailer for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearer and Kingdom Hears 358/2 Days. Continuing the RPG trend Reggie discussed how Bowser sucks, and this time he literally means it. In Mario & Luigi RPG: Bowser's Inside Story the famous brothers have been shrunk and find themselves inside their nemesis!
The biggest under the radar announcement was that of Golden Sun DS. After a 6 year absence one of the best RPGs of the GBA era is back, and deserved way more excitement than it got.
Cammie replaced the Nintendo of America President on stage to announce Woman's Murder Club, an interactive book for the Nintendo DS. This is all about 'taking risks' and trying new things. It's definitely an interesting concept, and one we'll see more of if it turns out to be a success. Continuing with the DS content she announced COP: The Recruit. An open-world third-person urban crime game, Cop puts players behind the wheel, and on foot, as a street racer who's faced with the choice of returning to his criminal ways, or helping the police. The action packed trailer looked like GTA meets Driver mixed in with some Anime style cutscenes.
The DSi has some interesting unique features, including the ability to download content and 'applications' from an online store. In keeping with this theme Nintendo announced that it is developing a system for users to be able to share DSi pictures on the World Wide Web. Users will be able to take pictures with their DSi and then directly upload them to their Facebook page straight from their DSi console. WarioWare DIY is another DSi exclusive title and will allow players to create their own microgames, using features such as the DSi camera, then send them to their friends locally via Wi-Fi.
Nintendo President Satoru Iwata came on stage and confused everyone. He gave an extremely long, seemingly unnecessary speech, about Nintendo attempting to increase its audience. He said there are three active groups - those who actively play, those who never play and those who might. If gaming is to grow, it must come from the "maybe" group. There are 295 Million people in Japan, Europe and the US actively playing games. Then there's another 145 Million who say they might be involved in games. He continued to discuss non-gamers for quite a while and it seemed as if he didn't really have a point.
Eventually Iwata announced the Wii Vitality Sensor - a device the plugs into the bottom of your Wii Remote and receives information about your heart rate by being attached to your finger.
Super Mario Galaxy 2 was announced to the surprise of many since a new Mario title was announced at the start of the show. Check out the trailer to see Mario running around the spherical world, this time with the help of Yoshi. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the first true sequel to a 3D Mario title, and the first time two 3D Mario adventures will appear on the same console.
Reggie reads the blogs. He knows we want more mature titles from third party developers. So, he decided to show us three games on the horizon that fit this description, and one of those games was Dead Space Extraction.
Nintendo started the show with a surprise, and ended it with a massive shock, by announcing that they were teaming up with Team Ninja to bring Metroid: Other M to the Nintendo Wii. It's Metroid like you've never seen it before, and as Reggie says, it takes a name you know well and turns it into something new. The game is due out next year and features a mix of 1st and 3rd person gameplay. With that Nintendo concluded their Keynote for E3 2009.
Later in the day, at their roundtable discussion, Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed that a new Wii Zelda title is in development. Don't expect it until 2010 at the very earliest and reports that we won't see it again until next E3 suggest it may be further away than that.
Sony E3 2009 Wrap
The morning continued with Sony's Conference starting at 4am local time. Jack Tretton started proceedings by thanking everyone for coming and stated that they won't be "out done" by anyone. He discussed the success of the PS2 and that Sony was the first company to have 3 successful consoles in the industry at the same time along side the PS3 and PSP. inFamous is just one of 35 titles to come exclusively to the PlayStation 3 in 2009 and looks set to further increase the 13 million PS3 that have already been sold worldwide.
Sony played montages of various upcoming games throughout the entire keynote. Out of all the videos the show early in the piece Heavy Rain received the biggest applause.
The PSP was a major player in the keynote as Sony officially announced "the worst kept secret of E3" the PSP Go. They also confirmed that the new iteration of the handheld wouldn't make the PSP-3000 or UMD obsolete and that they intended to continue to support both in the future, even after the PSP GO is released.
Sony did have a surprise or two in store for us, however, by bringing out Kojima to announce Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for PSP. It is set 10 years after the events of MGS3: Snake Eater and is said to be a true sequel to that title. The game is set in 1974, where a powerful group takes over Costa Rica.
Gran Turismo PSP kept the good news coming for PSP fans as it was announced along side the PSP Go and showcased with an impressive trailer. There will be over 800 cars, 35 tracks and 60 layouts of those tracks. The game will also run at 60 fps. It will be a launch title along side the PSP Go.
Finally Agent was announced exclusively for the PlayStation 3. "We have always enjoyed making action games, and with Agent we are making what we believe will be the ultimate action game," said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. We didn't get any images or footage but nobody is going to complain about an exclusive game from Rockstar.
Sony dropped a bombshell during their E3 2009 keynote speech when they announced Final Fantasy XIV Online exclusively for the PS3 and PC. A small trailer was shown, although no gameplay was in the trailer. The response to the announcement was one of amazement, as the audience at the keynote didn't quite know how to react to it.
In keeping with the FF theme Sony revealed that Final Fantasy VII is going to be released on the PS Store for download.
The biggest shock of the morning came when Sony announced their new motion controller for the PS3. While the controller was still in the form of an early prototype it worked in a similar way to the Wii Remote. However, with the aid of a camera it appeared to detect movement better than the current Wii Remote. Dr. Richard Marx, creator of the EyeToy, demoed the controller on stage, showing off its real-time movement and how precise it is with the gamer’s swings. We'll post the video of the demonstration shortly.
Sony also announced Mod Nation Racers - a community and creative-focused title from developer United Front Games. The title will be a kart racing title, allowing you to generate your own characters and build your own karts.
Another PS3 exclusive, God of War III will be hitting shelves during March 2010. It just snuck in towards the end of the conference and we're glad it did with a trailer. The gameplay is just as we expect it to be - gory, violent and action-packed! The environments look stunning and the enemies just as massive and aggressive as we remember from the first two mind-blowing titles. And with that Sony Concluded their Keynote.
03/06/2009
6:02am - Demo ends. Absolutely unbelievable. Set for release March 2010. Tretton is wrapping up. The keynote is finished.
5:58am - The demo is GOD alright - bloody, gory, violent. Gorgeous!
5:57am - It looks just as stunning as we expected it to. Absolutely amazing!
5:55am - Sony Santa Monica come on stage to show us GOWIII in action.
5:54am - Looks the goods. Very intense. Very fast. Hard house music playing.
5:53am - Amazing trailer. Very impressive. Tretton talking about a new game. Showing a teaser of GT5.
5:48am - The Last Guardian! It's the trailer leaked from a few weeks ago. With a big, cute cat like beast. It's a bit more polished. It looks gorgeous.
5:47am - Demo ends. Tratton back on stage. Giving us a sneak peak at another new game, exclusive for PS3. Team ICO!
5:44am - Track creator actually looks pretty good. Fantastic actually.
5:42am - Track Studio lets you create your own track. Gonna try and do it in under 5 minutes. Use the driving controls to make the track. A functional race track is working within seconds. They start dressing it up a bit. They add dirty etc. It allows you to change the surface type.
5:41am - Showing gameplay trailer. Looks cool. They wanted the most gorgeous racer ever. Weapons are included in the gameplay. It's Mario Kart - on cocaine.
5:40am - They're dressing up a monkey driver. Cool.
5:39am - Elaborating on "play, create and share". Wanted to create a racing title that used this emphasis. A kart racer. Looks like LBP - but a racing spin-off. Showing customization features.
5:38am - Tretton announces new franchise. Willion Ho and James Greeve come on stage to introduce Mod Nation Racers.
5:36am - Talking about LBP. More licensed content. Disney Interactive Studios content coming later this year.
5:35am - Demo is wrapped up. Tretton is back on stage. Motion Controller should be launched in Spring 2009 (our Autumn).
5:34am - Now showing a bow and arrow. We saw that 2 hours ago during Nintendo's keynote.
5:33am - Showing a demo with a sword and shield. Precision looks good. Bashing around a skeleton dummy.
5:32am - Painting now. Can be used to lay out a path of objects. Showing a RTS demo. Circling troops, then drawing a path for them to follow.
5:31am - Showing a whole bunch of demos. What can be done with the controller. Looks OK.
5:29am - controller can be used for a few things and tracks things in real time. Thing the Wii-mote. Exactly the same pretty much.
5:28am - Marx is holding a prototype. Has a glowing globe at the end of it. The PlayStation Eye tracks the controller.
5:27am - Dr. Richard Marx, creator of the EyeToy, comes on stage to talk about Motion Controller.
5:25am - Talking about Playstation Motion Controller.
5:24am - CGI trailer for Final Fantasy XIV Online.
5:22am - Trailer ends. Talks about Final Fantasy XIV. PS3 exclusive. Coming in 2010. Crowd is gobsmacked.
5:21am - This is better than what was shown during the 360 keynote. Far more intense. More character interaction. Awesome trailer.
5:19am - Trailer is starting up. Pretty much what we saw during the 360 keynote. Still looks awesome. More of a trailer than a demo this time round. Still pretty awesome.
5:18am - Tretton back on stage now. Talking about Square Enix and Final Fantasy. Showing a video.
5:17am - Demo ends. It looks really, really great! Very enjoyable. It's "massive in scope". Will be on store shelves this holiday season.
5:16am - Showing enemy AI and new combat. Hiding spots aren't as easy to find anymore. Over 30 different weapons. Ezio takes out his target and has to escape the oncoming enemies.
5:15am - Demo shows Ezio flying through the sky as fireworks go off. It looks amazing!
5:14am - There will be "friends" in the game. Leonardo Da Vinci will be a friend and allow you to use his inventions.
5:13am - Talking about Assassin's Creed 2. Showing a demo. Starts right at the end of AC1. Experience a different time period. The Italian renaissance. Looks great! Beautiful open city. Venice/Florence looks stunning!
5:12am - Agent will take players all around the globe in the shadowy world of late 1970s espionage.
5:11am - Trailer ends. Tretton talks about the PS3 line-up. Starts talking about Rockstar games. A new property coming from R* North. It's called "Agent" and is exclusive to PS3.
5:10am - LOOOOOONG TRAILER!
5:07am - Brutal Legend, White Knight Chronicles, Dirt 2, Ghostbusters, Ninja Gaiden Sigma II: It's Sigma Time, Mafia II, Buzz Quiz World.
5:05am - Trailer ends. "2009 is going to be all about content on the PS3". Impossible to do justice of what is coming. Starts a trailer showing everything that is coming to PS3 in 2009. Uncharted 2, Infamous, Madden, FFXIII, MAG, Batman, Tenacious D (WTF?), GT5, Ghostbusters,
5:03am - Trailer starts up showing the evolution of HOME. Pretty much showing what we already know.
5:02am - Moving onto Playstation HOME. More than 6.5 million people worldwide using HOME, 85% returning to use it. 1.5 Million engagements in one month in EA space in HOME. Ubisoft, Capcom, Namco, Eidos are all on board with HOME.
5:01am - Adding 50 PS1 classics to the PSN, starting TODAY with FFXII.
5:00am - Trailer ends. Finally. Talking about PSN. 24 million registered users in 55 countries. 475 million pieces of content downloaded.
4:57am - Monster Hunter, LBP. Trailer is still going. Nothing we didn't already know about.
4:56am - More PSP stuff. A trailer is being shown, showcasing the new games coming to the handheld in 2009.
4:55am - Tretton comes back on. Talking about Resident Evil. Sold over 40 million games since its debut in 1996. Resident Evil will be coming next year, exclusively to PSP. Awesome! Going through big titles for the PSP.
4:54am - Kaz Hirai comes back on. Wrapping up PSP segment of the keynote.
4:53am - It's a long trailer. Looks good. It's coming in 2010.
4:50am - A trailer is being shown. It looks like old war bomb films. Quotes for anchient war quotes are on screen. Trailer is awesome! It's set in Latin America. Outer Heaven causing trouble in the Caribbean.
4:47am - Talking about the project. It is a PSP MGS game. It is set 10 years after MGS 3. It has Solid Snake. "It's a true sequel for the franchise."
4:46am - Talking about MGS. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker comes up on the screen, as well as the Big Boss picture teased on the Kojima site. Hideo Kojima comes out.
4:45am - October 1st, 2009 comes on the screen. It is launching next to the PSP GO.
4:44am - Trailer is being shown. Looks the goods. Looks amazing actually. This may very well be a system seller.
4:43am - Will be on the show floor.
4:42am - Game is built to foster sharing and co-op play. designed for you to get together with friends to make collecting cars easier.
4:41am - Game will use ad hoc to offer up to four-person races on the go wirelessly. Gran Turismo PSP will also allow the sharing and trading of cars between friends.
4:40am - Single-player modes contain time trials and a mode to improve driving skills.
4:39am - It's a full scale GT title. 60 FPS. Talking more about the game. 800 cars. 35 tracks and 60 layouts of those tracks.
4:38am - Polyphony Digital founder Kazunouri Yamauchi comes on stage and FINALLY confirms Gran Turismo PSP.
4:37am - PSP Video will be available as of today in the US. Showtime is a partner. Over 1,900 TV Shows and 1,400 movies released on the service as of last year.
4:36am - PSP development hardware will be cheaper, making it more attractive for developers.
4:35am - "Media Go" is announced. Meant to make browsing easier. "Sense Me" is announce for PS3 and PSP. It'll automatically generate playlists for you.
4:34am - 50% smaller, 40% lighter than original PSP. 16gb of onboard memory. built in Wi-fi. Slide-out feature. Integrated Blue Tooth
4:33am - SCE CEO Kaz Hirai and is talking about the PSP. Talking about downloadable content. No more hard software. Pulls out the PSP GO! Demo trailer starts up. It's officially called PSP GO. Will not replace the PSP-3000 or the UMD.
4:32am - Talking about PSP. 15 million units sold.
4:30am - The demo shows a charge out of a base. Choppers arrive to bring reinforcements. The demo ends.
4:27am - They are in an oil refinery. Command interface is on display. You can zoom in and out of a 3D map to see the entire landscape. Blue dots are your friends. Lot's of big action.
4:23am - MAG is up now. Massive multiplayer game going to be shown.
4:22am - Demo ends to thunderous applause. It's deserving. It looks sensational. Jack comes back on stage. Says it's the best looking game we've seen. He's not lying. It looks amazing. "Only possible on Playstation."
4:21am - Explosions galour! It looks sensational! Environments are fully destructive. Fire effects look stunning. The environments are incredibly detailed.
4:19am - Nate is moving through an environment. We see the vast draw distance and an amazing village down below. A helicopter comes, starts attacking him. Intense action as he moves from cover to cover, avoiding helicopter fire.
4:17am - Evan Wells from Naughty Dog comes to show Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. BETA online at midnight in the US. starts showing demo. It looks absolutely gorgeous!
4:16am - Talking about inFamous. It's critical acclaim. One of 35 exclusive titles come to PS3 in 2009. Mentions Naughty Dog, original creators of Crash Bandicoot. Talking about Uncharted. Sold 2.6 million units worldwide.
4:15am - 13 million PS3s currently sold. Sackboy shows they are increasing presence in Latin American. Expect retail sales to climb 3 quarters of a billion dollars. PS3 had a monster year in 2008. Registered PSN accounts 24 million+. Numbers are derived from consumer acceptance.
4:13am - Some of the industries biggest titles coming to PS3. Shows some big titles. Heavy Rain gets biggest applause. Says you "need" PS for "ultimate gaming experience." Talking about PS2. Consumer response has been amazing. $99 in the US. Outsold current generation consoles. Committed to the system as long as consumers want it. 9 million more users last year. PS2 "continues to be huge value for consumers". 100 new titles coming.
4:12am - Going to show us why PS will be the "mainstay" of the industry. 2009 will be their best year ever. Only player 3 successful players at once. Every taste, every budget, every need. PS generated a totally of 30% of sales in the industry. Record year of growth.
4:10am - Jack Tretton comes on stage. Thanks everyone for showing up. They won't be "out done" by anyone. Wants to do justice for the 364 games coming on Playstation platforms this year.
4:08am - It's started up. A video presentation showing a whole bunch of games. Great music. Great start.
4:06am - Still hasn't started.
4:04am - Music is dimming. Is it beginning?
4:03am - 2 minutes to go till beginning.
4:01am - Running late it seems.
3:59am - 1 minute to go till megaton!
3:55am - 5 minutes to go!!!
3:45am - It's been a long morning. First Nintendo's average conference (bar a few great announcements) and now Sony's keynote. They better blow us away! 15 minutes to go.
03/06/2009