By Ben Salter
The Wii is dead. Okay, that might be a little harsh, but the reality is the Wii looks dreadful in terms of software. As we approach the weeks prior to E3, when the gaming industry dies for a little bit and there are next to no releases, it’s time to go back and play the gems we may have missed over the past few months. But wait! The Wii has nothing. The start of 2010 for Nintendo’s console has been as bare as I can remember. There’s been little to persuade new gamers to finally join the waggle revolution (old school pun intended) even with $100 knocked off the price.
We’ve only reviewed six Wii games in 2010. That’s not because we’re slack, it’s because there’s little else to review. Monster Hunter Tri is the 7th title worth our time (review coming) but it’s almost too little, too late. It was released in Japan 6 months ago, which in this day and age just isn’t acceptable. Yes, I know translation has to be taken into account but 6 months? Really?
Each week we’re inundated with PS3, Xbox 360 and PC news that blows our socks off. All three platforms have some seriously cool stuff on the horizon and it seems we can’t go more than a week or two without something new being announced. What does the Wii have? The Vitality Sensor. Yay. As a result the Nintendo of old almost feels lost to me. I feel abandoned, like the classic Big N games I grew up with will never see the light of day again. But just when all hope is lost Ninty goes and releases a Super Mario Galaxy 2 teaser. Last week we got Transmission 8, a trailer showing Luigi in full flight, and it was freakin’ awesome!
Nintendo has found a way to pull me back in by releasing a new Super Mario Galaxy 2 video every other day (the transmission trailers are all great). When they’re not doing that they’re releasing screens, promo-art, information about new power-ups and various other tidbits. Our Wii news section at MMGN is full of it. And now, as if it wasn’t tantalizing enough, review scores are starting to appear. I think I saw a glimpse of a 10/10, but I can’t be sure and don’t want to know. I try to play every game with as little influence from other publications as possible, but never have I wanted to go into a game with a clean slate more so than with Super Mario Galaxy 2.
The original Super Mario Galaxy was one of the most hyped games on Wii. It’s also one of the few games in history to actually live up to its unprecedented level of anticipation. It’s simple yet engaging story, coupled with deeply engrossing gameplay made it the must own game on Wii in 2007. Depending on your personal preference, to this day it remains the best game on the system (competition only from Metroid Prime 3: Corruption; although for God knows what reason some people are under the delusion SSBB and Mario Kart should be mentioned in the same breath of air).
Despite the Wii and even Mario’s ‘for kids’ stigma, even the most hardcore of gamers admits Super Mario Galaxy was a masterpiece. Many Nintendo fans consider it to be the true successor to Super Mario 64, after the somewhat disappointing Super Mario Sunshine; although, it was only disappointing by comparison and due to the Mario legacy. On its own merits it wasn’t half bad, but I digress. Back in ’07 we were also treated to Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. At that point in time it looked as though Nintendo was going to give their loyal fans some support. While the GameCube was defeated by the PS2 and Xbox, 22 million sales isn’t a complete failure. It’s my favourite console due to its strong catalogue of quality games, most of which were aimed at the Nintendo faithful. Galaxy and Prime 3 left us with some hope that Nintendo would still cater for that market, even though they had new friends in casual gamers. Unfortunately it didn’t really happen. Three years down the track, and New Super Mario Bros. is perhaps the only game in the same league from Nintendo and we’ve only had the occasionally decent third party release.
That’s why Super Mario Galaxy 2 is so important. At first I was flabbergasted that Nintendo would release a direct sequel Mario title in the same generation, but it needs to happen. Loyal Nintendo fans, true gamers and even new Nintendo owners need this. They need a game that’ll remind them of the quality from the SNES, N64 and GameCube eras. Times when that very 80s retro “Nintendo seal of quality” actually meant something.
If you own a Wii and aren’t considering getting Super Mario Galaxy 2 on day one (WTF is wrong with you?) we’ll have stacks of content in the lead up to its US May 23 and rumoured Australian June 10 release that’ll hopefully convince you otherwise. The original Galaxy didn’t sell all that well with Nintendo’s new casual and non-loyal fans, but I hope that’s not the case with its sequel. If nothing else it’s a chance to experience something different on the Wii. While it probably won’t be as groundbreaking as the first game, if it’s half as good it’ll be a game you’ll cherish from start to finish. A game that could just win Nintendo game of the year and one I hope to see dominate the sales charts.
10/05/2010
By Ben Salter
No. Oh wait, HELL NO!
The PS3 was recently updated to support 3D gaming (or to make it better or bigger or something) and the first generation of 3D TVs are among us, but nobody actually seems to care. Nobody cares about 3D TVs or 3D movies outside of the big screen. In fact, with the exception of Avatar, 3D films in cinemas aren’t really all that different. As a 3D film, Clash of the Titans was terrible (actually it sucked full stop, but the 3D effects were even worse). It’s still a gimmick in movie theaters, it’ll be an overpriced gimmick on TV screens and we’re nowhere near ready for games in 3D.
Avatar: The Game actually supported 3D, assuming of course you had a 3D TV, resulting in all of three people being able to experience it. Would it of made much difference? No. It was a novelty and had Avatar The Game actually been any good, I’m sure most people would have opted to play it normally.
On a side note, we’ve mixed up our terms with ‘3D gaming’. It used to be about the dimensions of the game itself and to describe the transition from Super Nintendo to Nintendo 64. Even now we use the terms 2D and 3D to describe games on the DS; we really need something else for ‘jumps out of the screen 3D’. It’s all far too confusing.
The recently announced 3DS is perhaps the biggest stepping stone in the transition into 3D gaming. It’ll sell because it’s different and it’s Nintendo. But that doesn’t mean we’re ready for it. Gamers and developers alike weren’t ready for motion gaming in 2006, but that didn’t stop Nintendo taking over the world with their profits from Wii sales. Beyond being a new handheld that’s capable of producing 3D without the need for glasses, we know nothing about the 3DS. We’ve heard several rumours that say glasses-free technology has been invented for smaller screens, such as those on a handheld, but it’s wildly regarded to be an epic failure on larger screens; yet another reason not to buy a first generation 3D TV. They don’t work, people!
Let’s for a second assume that this 3D technology does work, better than we’ve seen before, on the 3DS. Is a handheld really the best platform for it? If glasses aren’t required, surely it’ll be annoying for the old bloke sitting next to you on the bus and talk about looking like a “damn fool!”
Now for a second let’s pretend 3D technology is advanced to the point that it functions flawlessly on consoles. That’d be awesome. Imagine a racing sim, platformer or FPS in full 3D. The problem is, that won’t happen. If 3D gaming is pushed next generation, or even this one, it’s going to be the Wii and motion control all over again. In early ’06 we were excited about the possibilities of motion control. Namely, we wanted a sword (or lightsaber) game and Red Steel looked like just that. However, as we now know, that isn’t actually possible. Nintendo, the media and the gaming community built it up to be something amazing; something that didn’t exist yet. I fear 3D gaming is going to go down the same path. We’re going to end up with hundreds of games no better developed in 3D than Clash of the Titans. We’re not ready because the technology is not ready. We need to let 3D TVs develop into something worthwhile. Let films and TV lead the way and when we’re finally content with the quality allow games to delve into the market.
The R18+ debate keeps pointing out how interactive games are and that’s just why 3D gaming won’t work yet. Film studios know exactly what we’re going to see and can tailor a 3D experience to suit, yet they still don’t get it right all the time. Games are interactive. Developers have to cater for a range of people all going about the same task in a different way. Until 3D technology is better that can’t happen to the extent we want.
Good on Nintendo for having a decent crack at it, and maybe the technology is better on smaller screens, but I’m still not convinced 3D and handhelds will mix. Consoles are a different story, but the technology just isn’t there yet. We’re not ready for 3D gaming.
04/05/2010
To celebrate the release of Sonic and SEGA All-Star Racing in Australia on March 4th, we're giving you the chance to win one of 3 prize packs including a copy of the game and a Ryo action figure.
All you have to do is visit our competition page on MyWii, visit the official Sonic & SEGA All-Star Racing site and answer the questions to go into the running.
Competition ends at 5pm on Friday, March 5th. Winners will be contacted privately.
NOTE: This competition is only open to Australian residents.
15/02/2010
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 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
By Ben Salter
Watch as Wii Sports Resort becomes the game to knock off Wii Fit and take the top spot as the best selling game in Australia for an extended period. There’s no doubting the primary purpose of Wii Sports Resort is to show off Nintendo’s MotionPlus attachment; it is another tech demo. We must then ask, why is it the price of a full retail game? Surely Nintendo could have lowered the RRP to help their quest to get as many MotionPlus units into Wii homes as possible.
Fortunately Nintendo know it’ll appeal to the large market of Wii Sports fans out there. If the Wii is to be a serious Motion console in the coming years MotionPlus must become standard and be implemented in as many games as possible. If everyone buys a copy of Wii Sports Resort now with a ‘free’ MotionPlus unit the transition, or forced controller upgrade, will be a lot smoother for Nintendo, or at least they hope. In that regard it’s in their best interest that anyone and everyone that owns a Wii goes out and buys a copy of Wii Sports Resort. On top of that most people aren’t going to play Wii Sports Resort alone, so they are going to be forced to fork out for additional MotionPlus’.
Wii Play + a Wii Remote has been one of the best selling games for almost 3 years by being offered for $10 more than a Wii Remote on its own. If Nintendo charged a little more than MotionPlus by itself - maybe an RRP of $50 rather than $30 - Wii Sports Resort would all of a sudden be much more appealing to everyone. It would easily fly off shelves if this were the case, although I predict it will none the less.
Wii Sports Resort does its job very well. It is great as a tech demo and tutorial for Wii MotionPlus, as the original Wii Sports was for the Wii Remote in general. As a sequel, and game on its own right, Wii Sports Resort is certainly lacking. The end result is a complication of mini-games that most people are either going to buy for MotionPlus, or for the social aspect of the original title. Don’t get me wrong, the game is far more in depth than Wii Play, but it’s not at the standard we would expect from a full retail release.
Some people were surprised that the game was not released on its own, without MotionPlus, but that would defeat the purpose. Wii Sports at its core is a multiplayer title. If you didn’t already own a MotionPlus unit you’re going to have to purchase one, if not three, more for the complete multiplayer and Wii Sports experience. Lets face it, who would buy Wii Sports for the single player component? Taking that into consideration Nintendo would easily have made a bucket load of cash off of extra MotionPlus unit sales if the game had a reduced RRP. Sure, they’ll still get that but surely they are going to upset some fans. What about poor old dad who bought a Wii for his kids, and now has to folk out $200 for Wii Sports Resort that can be enjoyed by 4 people?
The Wii is meant to be a social experience, and Wii Sports is what started that trend. It came free, and is one of the leading factors to the Wii’s sudden rise to fame and tremendous success. If Nintendo really wanted MotionPlus to have the same success with a majority of existing Wii owners, then they should have started Wii Sports Resort at a reduced RRP. If they seriously want to compete with Sony and Microsoft when it comes to motion gaming over the course of the coming years MotionPlus is going to be a requirement. Wii Sports Resort could have sneakily introduced multiple MotionPlus units into each Wii household if it were cheaper. I fear, for now at least, many Wii Sports Resort adopters will make do with just one or two MotionPlus’ and in the process reduce the social experience of Wii gaming.
We’ll have our review of Wii Sports Resort up in the next few days.
26/07/2009
Written By Stephen Heller
The journey of an Australian Wii Gamer has been a long and bumpy road, full of ridiculously late release dates (RE: Super Smash Bros Brawl) lack of “hardcore” titles, and things don’t seem to be shaping up to brighter horizons. Nintendo have just announced news regarding release dates for the highly anticipated Punch Out!!! and the new racing title Excitebots
That news is there is no release date, in fact the games aren’t even being picked up by local retailers. Excitebots sales have been dismal at best in the USA, so Nintendo Australia has made the judgement not to bring it into the country.
Punch Out!!! devotees will have to travel to their nearest JB-Hi Fi store as they will be the only stockists of the game in Australia. Rose Lappin, managing director of of Nintendo Australia issued this statement.
To be honest we didn’t have a lot of requests for the game,” she continued. “There’s a few people… there’s a lot of noise but not a lot of sales, that sort of thing. However there was one retailer that was chasing it, so that’s why we’ve decided to go that way. Of course, if it continues and consumers want it then that’s what we’re here for. At the end of the day if we don’t support consumers then we don’t have a business. We’re certainly here to work with what people want.”
Nintendo sure are giving people what they want....IF they live near a JB-Hi Fi store. For those of us in rural areas who don’t have a JB-Hi Fi within 100kms from our homes, it’s going to result in an inconvenient process to get the game.
It begs the question will this become a common trend with Nintendo First Party releases? Will we be faced with late releases, or in some cases no release at all, totally dictated by sales in the USA?
Is the global economic crisis putting so much pressure on the industry that it’s harder for publishers to take risks? Instead of taking these risks will publishers just choose to not release games on our shores to avoid the possibility of bad sales?
Due to Nintendo’s strict region coding importing titles aren’t as easy as it is for PC or the Playstation 3. If this becomes a popular trend many Wii gamers could miss out on their most anticipated games, due to sales in another country....
Do Nintendo really care about us?
15/07/2009
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