Park life

This week on Zero Punctuation, Yahtzee decides to take a look at some of the game trailers shown to us at this year's E3.
Ah yes, trailers. I'm sure we've all fallen victim to cutscene-only trailers before, thinking that the game we're looking forward to is going to be the most awesome, stylized, visually-stunning piece of electronic entertainment ever conceived, only to find that in between all the amazing looking cutscenes it's actually nothing of the sort. Thankfully, I think enough gamers these days have grown wise to this fact and don't lose their minds with excitement unless they see some actual gameplay footage. Okay, maybe not every gamer, but a lot, anyway.

It's this very reason that I found Sony's conference-closing God of War 3 trailer to be so unremarkable (something Yahtzee doesn't mention in his video). I mean, anyone can do impressive looking CG these days, and we already knew the game was planned because they advertised it on the back of the PSP God of War instruction booklet. No, I'm afraid your marketing scheme didn't work on me Sony; you'll have to try a little harder next time, and by the sound of it, a lot harder if you want to impress everyone's favorite fast-talking, hat-wearing game critic!

Anyway, here's the video. As always it contains plenty of strong language, and is definitely NSFW.

Check out the rest of his videos here.

Christmas comes early

Well, it looks as though the holiday season is nearly upon us. Okay, I know that technically it's still Summer and Christmas is many months away, but we're quickly approaching the release of many big holiday-season titles.
It's funny that developers still choose to hold so many games for the last few months of the year. People have argued that they should spread them out so we get a steady stream of releases all year long, instead of a massive list between September and December. I know that this was the reason I didn't have much time to play some of last years big titles, many of which I still haven't gone back to. Anyway, since there are so many big releases coming soon, I've decided to write a list of all the ones I'm looking forward to. This won't be a complete list of every game coming out in the next few months, just some select titles that are on my must-buy list:

Bangai-O Spirits (DS August 12)
The first release is a fun-looking shooter developed by Treasure. Carrying on from the Dreamcast original, this one puts you in the shoes of a gun-toting mech who must clear out levels of seemingly-endless streams of enemies. It also features a level editor, and an interesting method of sharing those levels with fellow players.

Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (360 September 2)
All the fun gardening and pinata-breeding of the original returns in a whole new game. This one will feature brand new pinatas, as well as newly-introduced co-op play. It will also support the Xbox Live Vision Cam to scan in cards and unlock new items.

Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise (DS September 8)
Another Viva Pinata title, this one on a slightly smaller screen (well, two screens really). It sounds a lot like the Xbox 360 original, except with some new functionality that takes advantage of the control method offered on the DS. Viva Pinata plus touch-screen control could equal the most awesome game ever; here's hoping.

Rock Band 2 (360 September 4, PS3 PS2 Wii TBA)
What more can I really say about Harmonix' follow-up to my favorite game of last year? With over 80 licensed songs, brand new instruments, and full support for almost every track and piece of DLC from the original, this should be one amazing rhythm game when it's release finally rolls around.

Fallout 3 (360 PS3 PC October 7)
This game draws inspiration from Bethesda's Elder Scrolls series, but instead takes place in a post-apocalyptic future, where you must journey across the barren landscape in search of a lost family member. Part RPG, part shooter, this title should test both brains and hand-eye co-ordination as you fight mutants and battle towards one of over 500 endings.

Left 4 Dead (360 PC November 4)
It's funny really. I've only mentioned this title once before, but it's probably the new game I'm most excited about. Taking place in a zombie-infested city, this one challenges you to team up with three of your buddies, in an effort to destroy the hordes of undead together. It even allows four other players to take control of zombies, possibly even one of the mutant bosses!

Gears of War 2 (360 November 7)
Gears of War was one of my favorite games of 2006. It's simple premise and fun co-op play made it stand out against many of the other shooters of the time. Now we get a chance to carry on the fight with new levels, weapons, and techniques to master. There will even be a 5-player mode, where you and your pals can take on never-ending swarms of evil aliens together.

Uno Rush (XBLA TBA)
Not much info is out regarding this sequel to the much-beloved card game. One thing that's sure though, is that with it's fast-paced gameplay and full camera support, this will be a must-buy Xbox Live Arcade game when it becomes available.

Pirates vs Ninjas Dodgeball (XBLA WiiWare Q3)
Another downloadable game, this one brought to us by the fine folks at Gamecock. Choose a team of either pirates, ninja, robots, or zombies and take on other players locally or online. Each team has it's own special moves that will set them apart from the others on the playing field, and just remember, if you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.

Chrono Trigger DS (DS Q4)
A remake of the SNES classic by Squaresoft (now Square Enix), this RPG is getting a re-imagining on Nintendo's dual-screen system. Featuring a brand new dungeon, touch-screen functionality, and wireless play, this time-traveling adventure definitely shouldn't be overlooked.

Okay, so I think that covers all of my must-buy titles, but there are still another few games that are really worth mentioning. Therefore, these ones are on my if-I-get-a-chance list:

Too Human (360 August 19)
After many years in development, Too Human is finally ready for release. Taking the formula that made Diablo so successful, this title places you in the role of a half-human cyborg who must battle through dungeons using melee and ranged attacks, and upgrade his body to incorporate all kinds of new technology. It also features co-op play, so you can take on the hordes with a friend.

Fable 2 (360 October 21)
The follow-up to the 2005 Xbox original, this Action RPG allows for more player choices and variables in it's brand new story. Microsoft also detailed the newly-introduced co-op mode during their E3 press conference, which will enable you to jump in and out of a buddy's game-world at will.

LittleBigPlanet (PS3 October 21)
Okay, this one would definitely be on my must-buy list if I owned a PS3. Putting you in control of a custom character, this game is all about user-created content. Every aspect can be tweaked and adjusted to fully create your own entire levels, which can then be shared and rated online. If I end up getting the system, I will certainly pick up this game.

Guitar Hero: World Tour (360 PS3 PS2 Wii October 26)
Another rhythm game, and one that I've written a lot about before. Adding new instruments, new songs, and user-created tracks, this one goes a step beyond anything offered in a Guitar Hero game before. Activision also recently announced that it would be fully compatible with Rock Band instruments, so buying the entire kit won't be necessary.

So, that's about it. Already this holiday season looks to be just as packed as the last one, and I'd really better start saving now if I wish to play even half of these titles. I'm sure there are other games that I've forgotten about, but I think these are all the major releases that I'm looking forward to. If I think of any more though, you'll be certain to hear about them.

Lo mein vs chow mein: The final battle

During E3 this year, Nintendo kept pretty quiet regarding new game announcements. One upcoming game to get mention during their press conference though, was GTA: Chinatown Wars for the DS.
Ah, Grand Theft Auto, it's been a while since all the hype regarding GTA4 died down, so I'm about ready to start getting excited about the next title in the series.

Okay, so lets be fair. GTA:CW isn't going to be the next true game in the series, unless Rockstar have decided to follow in the footsteps of Square Enix, with their Dragon Quest series; it will most likely be some kind of spin-off, much like the PSP titles released in the last few years. So if we already have portable GTA, why do we need another one? Is it for those people who don't own a PSP but still want to be able to kill hookers wherever they go? Maybe, but I'd like to believe we're going to get more than just a watered-down port of one of the home-console versions.
It's been mentioned that the title will have a brand new game-engine, but so far no details have been given. Some are speculating that it will ditch the full 3D that we've become used to, and go back to the old top-down view of the first two games. I'm not sure what to think about this; after all, the DS can handle full 3D, but would it have a hard time trying to render an entire city? It's possible that the developers will try something different, like the 3/4 view used in the handheld Zelda games. I personally would have no problem with this, and would rather see something custom-made for the DS than an attempt at squeezing a full console release onto the small screens.

Another aspect that they haven't talked about yet is the control method. I suppose they could try and dumb-down the console versions' controls to fit on the DS, but once again I think this would be a mistake. This last year has seen some very impressive touch-screen games, such as Zelda: PH, Ninja Gaiden: DS, and The World Ends With You, showing that the DS has more to offer than just ports of full-sized games. I'm hoping that GTA: CW has a brand-new control scheme that takes full advantage of all the system has to offer; maybe even some kind of hybrid method that uses d-pad for movement and touch-screen for aiming, or something like that.

One final thing to mention comes from Rockstar's official site for the game. Right now the site is little more than a title, but there's one thing that people have noticed: The Nintendo Wi-Fi logo in the corner. This would indicate that the game will have some kind of online functionality. What could it be? Will it be full online-play, in either co-op or some kind of versus mode? Will it be for buying and selling items with each other, like in Castlevania: POR? Or will it just be for online leaderboards and stat-comparison? At this point, your guess is as good as mine. Since the PSP titles were offline-only this will be the first time GTA has any online functions on a handheld, so lets all hope they put it to good use.

That's about all we really know right now. To sum up my thoughts, this game could really go in one of two directions: Rockstar will either try and cram a full-sized game onto the DS, sort of like the PSP versions, or try something new and original that makes much better use of the unique features only available on Nintendo's portable system. I would much prefer the latter, and I think many fans would feel the same. Since they pretty much perfected their formula for GTA4, it would be hard to go back to earlier games in the series, so lets hope that GTA: CW doesn't resemble those. With a Winter release planned, it shouldn't be long before we get some solid information regarding this title, at which point I'll more-than-likely have to add it to my ever-growing list of must-have games this holiday season.

Same game, new name

Well, it looks like I'm moving up in the world. I decided to buy my own domain name so I wouldn't have to have a .blogspot address. So for all of you out there who haven't noticed yet, you're now at www.igameyougame.com. Wait a minute! Does that means I changed my name too? Well, yes I did actually. It's not because my previous name wasn't available or anything like that; it's more because I borrowed it from an IGN podcast, and felt like I should change it to something original when I had a chance. I was just so eager to start writing when I began this site that I didn't have time to think up a great title.

Next on my list is a nice logo. I think later on this evening I'm going to spend some time designing a banner for the top of my blog, to replace the simplistic title that's up there right now. I may also start changing the format around a bit; I have no web-design experience so I just used a pre-made template when I started, but now I'm ready to begin making it look a bit more professional. Don't worry though, all the gaming news and commentary you love will remain the same, it just might look a little different. Oh yeah, and feel free to leave me some comments in this post telling me what you think of the changes; I hope you all like them!

Style over substance

A while ago, I was getting excited about a little game called Echochrome. It was released on the Playstation Store back in May, right in the middle of a bunch of other games, so I had to just put it on the back-burner and save it until I had a chance. Well, that chance finally came, and I decided to give it a shot. For those unfamiliar, allow me a moment to fill you in on the premise of this mind-bending puzzler:

The game takes place in a strange white void, in which are a series of levels. A little man wanders by himself, and it's your job to ensure he safely makes it around and collects everything. You do this by moving the camera around to change your perspective; the way you view a level actually changes the layout. For instance, if you see two platforms and move the camera so it looks like they're joined, then with one button press they are joined. If there's a hole or obstacle in your way, just move the camera so you can't see it and it isn't there. This is the basic idea behind Echochrome, one that should be familiar to fans of games like Lemmings.

When I first heard of the game, I didn't know how they were going to pull off such a crazy concept and actually have it work as advertised. I mean, surely the game couldn't always know which platforms you wanted to join, or where you intended your little dude to fall when going down a hole, right? Well, as it turns out, that's exactly where the problem with this title lies. I quickly found that platforms wouldn't join when I wanted them to, even though, according to the rules of the game, they should. Instead of analyzing a level and figuring out what to connect to what, it quickly became more a case of just tuning it at random in hopes of discovering two platforms that would join, and going from there. Also, your camera has a limited range of movement, so sometimes you find it stopping just short of the point where platforms should connect, which can be rather frustrating.

Another problem is the fact that you have no control over the little man himself. Well, why is that a problem? After all, you never had control over your lemmings, but they always found their way in the right direction after a little persuasion. Well, the big difference is that Echochrome takes place in 3D levels, so your little guy sometimes has multiple ways to go. Unfortunately, you can't always predict which way he'll turn when faced with a fork, which can mess up your plans, to some extent. It also means that he'll sometimes completely ignore a path you've laid out for him, instead choosing to go another way and falling straight down a hole, or something like that.

The level that I finally gave up on involved a small platform (that my guy started on) that could be joined to three other platforms nearby. The problem was that no matter how many different angles I tried from, the little dude refused to walk to the joined areas and instead just wandered in circles. Eventually, I discovered another place that could be connected and the little guy actually went down this path. However, now I was out of time and I failed the level by taking too long. That's okay though, at least now I know what to do, right? Apparently not, as upon restarting the little man completely ignored the new path I'd discovered, and carried on just wandering in circles. I'd had enough by this point; if a solution to a puzzle only works some of the time, then it's not very well thought out.

This is as far as I played; I had to stop before I got too pissed off. It's a shame that such a neat-sounding game falls so flat when put into practice. It even has an option to make your own levels, but I figured that if the developers couldn't make ones that work right, what are my odds? No, I'm just going to have to take the hit on this one; it was only $10 so I think I can handle it.
Well, that was my first original PSN title, and it wasn't a very good introduction. I'm not giving up on the Sony Store though as they are fairly new to the game, so naturally need some time to build up a library of good titles. I hope that the future brings something better than this slightly failed attempt.

In the mood for some Uno

During Microsoft's E3 press conference, one of the games revealed to be coming soon to XBLA is Uno Rush. I know what you're thinking; this is going to be like Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, except starring everyone's favorite Canadian rock group, right? Well, no. What it will be is a follow-up to the classic card game, which is also available on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

I'm going to assume that everyone is familiar with the game of Uno, but you may not have played the XBLA version before. What makes it so great, is just how simple and relaxed it is; you can sit down with some friends and hang out together, casually playing a nice card game, and even seeing each other with the Xbox Vision Cam. All the rules are customizable so you can play any way you like. Just want a five-minute game? That's fine. Want a game that will last for hours? That's fine too, there are settings that will ensure every round takes a long time to complete.
Uno really became my 360 bread-and-butter for a while; it's something you can put on while you wait for people, or before you've decided what game to play next.

So what do we know about Uno Rush then? Well, not too much at the moment. From what I can tell, it's played using standard Uno cards, but with a whole new set of rules. It appears as though you sort your cards out during your opponents' turns, then the computer automatically plays as many as it can when it gets back to your turn. Your choice of what cards to put down looks solely dependent on the order of your hand when your go comes around. Sounds like it could be fun to me, even though this is about all we know at the time.
According to the official Xbox site, the game will support Avatars, party chat, and the Vision Cam, so you can still see the look on your friend's face when you hit them with a draw-four card. Everything else they mention hasn't changed since the first game, so it's not really worth writing about. I'm anxiously awaiting any more news regarding this title though, like price and release date; hopefully those details will be announced before too long.

For now, here's the debut trailer. It doesn't reveal much, but is still worth checking out:

To be this portable takes ages

Ah, 16-bit gaming...... Those were the days, eh? Back before all these fancy 3D graphics and fully orchestrated sound took over. Well, the time for reminiscing is over, the time for re-living is here.
You may be too young to remember the Sega Genesis / Megadrive (or you may have just been a Nintendo fan at the time), but someone out there remembers it, and wants to remind us all how awesome it was. The ironically-named Blaze International have announced that they will be releasing a portable Megadrive for sale in the UK. But wait! Didn't we already have one of those, called the Nomad? Well, yes, but this one is a little different....

Instead of burdening people with the hassle of having to deal with cartridges, the Blaze has 20 built in games, much like those portable plug-and-play devices. The big difference between this product and those ones is the screen, allowing for on-the-go gaming, as well as at-home gaming using the TV-out. Here's a list of the titles included along with the product specifications, as taken from their official site:

• Sonic & Knuckles
• Shinobi
• Alex Kidd (and the enchanted castle)
• Alien Storm
• Altered Beast
• Arrow Flash
• Columns III
• Crack Down
• Decap Attack
• Dr.Robotnik
• E Swat
• Ecco
• Ecco Jr
• Flicky
• Gain Ground
• Golden Axe
• Jewel Master
• Kidd Chameleon
• Sonic Spinball
• Shadow Dancer

Features: Plug & play portable video game system, 20 built-in 16-bit SEGA licensed games, Built-in speakers, Build in colour LCD screen, TV out connection, TV format: PAL, Requires: 3 x AAA batteries. (Batteries not included)

Sounds pretty good right? Of course, there are a few notable exceptions in the games department, but overall it's not a bad selection. One of the only problems I can really see is it's need of batteries; I'm happy to be living in a time of rechargeable battery-packs, and hate the idea of having to go back to the old days of disposable ones. I suppose you could always buy rechargeable AAAs though, if you used it a lot. It's just hard to shake the memory of playing on my old Game Gear, which ate through 6 AAs in about 2 hours!
One other thing that should really be pointed out is it's TV format: PAL. This means that anyone hoping to import the device into the US won't be able to play it through a TV, or at least not in color anyway. It's a shame that they didn't offer the option to switch to NTSC for those living across the pond, but it's not like they're charging a whole lot, so I can't really complain. I just hope that they decide to release this device in other regions, so we can all re-live those glory days, even when on the move.

The Blaze Megadrive is available now, across the UK for £29.99. You can order it online, or check out a demonstration video by clicking here.

Capital DLC

This week in Rock Band, we get another selection of songs by Nine Inch Nails, along with a couple by a band called Shinedown. This should be quite an easy post really; after the large selection of tracks offered last week, things get a bit simpler again. This probably won't last long though, as Rock Band 2's release date gets closer every day.....
The songs offered this week are:

Nine Inch Nails - Burn
Nine Inch Nails - Capital G
Nine Inch Nails - Last
Shinedown - Devour
Shinedown - Junkies For Fame
Note: Click on any song for expert drum videos.

When they announced this week's selection, I figured that I wouldn't buy any of them. After all, I spent $20 last week acquiring all the Who songs, so I have plenty of new stuff to play. Upon listening to them though, I found that I quite liked the song Capital G. Nine Inch Nails seem a little different from many standard rock groups, in that they have some very electronica-inspired drum beats. This is what drew me to The Perfect Drug, one of their earlier releases (which turned out to be one of the toughest songs in the whole game!), and also what attracted me to this one.
The song itself is pretty cool, but unfortunately very repetitive. You repeat the same beat pretty much all the way through; even when the chorus arrives, you'll continue the same pattern, except with your right hand hitting the blue pad instead of the yellow. Because of this, I can't really recommend the song. It also seemed especially easy, after last weeks tracks, even though it falls into Tier 4 for drum difficulty. If you really love NIN, I'd suggest checking out some of the other songs released by them, before you buy this one.

That's about it really. I didn't purchase any of the other tracks, so can't offer my opinion on them. There also hasn't really been much other Rock Band news this week, so this is going to be the shortest weekly segment I've had for a while. With only a month-and-a-half to go until the sequel is released though, I'm sure there'll be plenty to discuss in the upcoming weeks.

Who said ninja were stealthy?

The latest game to grace my Nintendo DS is Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword, published by Tecmo. Okay, I know I'm a bit late to the party with this title, but let me explain:
Anyone who's been reading this blog on a regular basis should realize how many handheld games I've been playing of late. After Professor Layton, Patapon, and God of War: COO, I was all set to play this game, and bought it on launch day. However, I was taken by surprise by Crisis Core, which released on the same day, and took up all my handheld gaming time, right up to the release of The World Ends With You. So I finally finished TWEWY (absolutely fantastic, in case you were wondering), even with another distraction along the way, and realized that I now had some time for Ninja Gaiden. Phew!

Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword is a continuation of the classic arcade/NES series, first started back in the late 80s. To be fair though, this one is really more of a follow-up to the 2004 game released on Xbox; instead of full 3D though, we get static backgrounds with 3D characters on top of them, much like the old Resident Evil games. The story revolves around Ryu Hayabusa as he attempts to travel into the netherworld to rescue a female ninja friend from the clutches of an evil demon, or something like that. Honestly, I didn't pay too much attention to the plot, as it didn't really seem too important. This is a game all about fast-paced action, with the occasional cutscene thrown in for good measure.

So what about the action then? Well, the game is played almost entirely on the touch screen. Simply hold the stylus down to make Ryu move, slide it upwards to make him jump, and slash on an enemy to move in and attack them. Projectile weapons are used by tapping anywhere you want to throw them, and Ninpo (magic) is used by touching the icon in the corner of the screen. Certain combinations, such as sliding down on an enemy, then up twice, will cause Ryu to initiate other moves in his arsenal, for increased variety, and continually scratching your stylus on him causes him to charge up for a super-combo that damages all nearby enemies. Defeated baddies drop "souls" that can used to purchase items, or to refill your health or magic bar. Blocking is done by pressing any button on the DS, the only action not performed on the touch screen. This is the basis for fighting in the game.
The combat itself is rather fun, and not too difficult, relying on large waves of weak enemies to wear you down, instead of a few powerful ones, like in the console versions of the game. The only real problem is that you unlock very little during the course of the game; your character starts of with pretty much every move already (except for a few, of course), so combat starts to get a little boring after a while. The other thing is that you unlock various spells throughout your journey, but none of them are necessary at all to defeat enemies. Sure, you're required to use them from time to time to get past obstacles in the environment (think Pokemon), but the fighting is simple enough that you may never need any of them during it. I got all the way through without using a single spell against enemies, only occasionally using a healing one on myself if I was making too many mistakes against a boss.

The level design in the game is rather basic. You start off in a town, and this will be your hub in between missions. There is a sort of warp-pool thing in the center of the town, and this will take you to the underworld where the levels await. The way it seems to go is, once you beat a boss and finish a level, you end up back in town where you talk to about 3 or 4 people, before you jump straight back into the warp-pool to go to the next level. The levels themselves have pretty standard settings: Fire, ice, jungle, caves etc..... They all seem to follow the same pattern as well: Walk through a corridor, get to a room, room seals off at both ends and enemies appear, defeat all enemies to unlock doors and carry on. Rinse and repeat.
Once you get to the end of the level, you'll face a boss. This is where the designers added a nice bit of variety, by putting the boss fights in full 3D. The thing is, the bosses are all really easy and often just require dodging their attack, then moving in for a few slashes, then dodging, then slashing etc..... After a little while, the boss will fall over, and this is your chance to move in and attack for 5 seconds or so. Soon however, they will rise again and then you start the whole process from the beginning. This is pretty much the same throughout the game, right up to the very end.

They also throw in the occasion traps throughout the levels, in the form of blades, or spikes that you must avoid as you progress. This is where the otherwise-great controls show their flaws. When fighting enemies the controls work fine, its easy to pull off very impressive-looking ninja moves without much effort; try and slowly work your way between falling sawblades though, and you may end up wishing for a little more precision. These sections are fairly rare though, and never get annoying because the enemies drop frequent health for you, and save points come along once every few minutes.

Now I never played all of Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox. I got rather far, but ended up getting stuck, not knowing where to go next, and eventually got bored and moved onto something else. One thing I remember though, is the relentless difficulty. Even the weakest of enemies could do you serious damage, forcing you to really learn how to play properly. This isn't true of the DS version; enemies are little more than sword-fodder all the way throughout the game. This was a bit disappointing really. Okay, maybe the later ones got a little tougher, but as I'd leveled up my blade's power by that point, they died just as easily as the earlier ones. Also, as I mentioned before, you start the game with almost all of your moves already, so I found myself fighting later baddies in the exact same way I'd fought the very first ones. This is in direct contrast to a game like God Of War: COO, which had you unlocking many new moves and techniques that kept combat fresh even after many hours.
There is a merchant who sells you things in between levels, but many of these things simply upgrade your stats, and don't add anything to the fighting. Also, I found that I could easily afford to buy every item from the merchant without ever having to specifically save my money up. I guess it's nice to be able to acquire everything so easily, but I kind of like having to work towards something, as it extends a game, and provides a better sense of accomplishment for it.

So would I recommend Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword then? Unfortunately, no. Although the combat is fun, the game is just too repetitive. If you've played one level, you've pretty much played them all; the enemies don't change much throughout, neither do the levels or bosses. It also seems to drag a bit towards the end; I thought I'd finished it three times before I actually did. Since the bosses are all very similar, I found each one easier than the last, as I had gotten better at the pattern required to beat them, which remains the same all the way up to the final battle.
Since there have been so many great handheld games released recently, there are much better ways to spend your money. As far as action games go, I would say that God of War is a better choice; it may be very similar to the PS2 versions, but I still found myself enjoying it more than Ninja Gaiden. Of course, if you don't have a PSP, then I would go with The World Ends With You instead. It may be more of an RPG than an action game,but it provides many more hours of solid gaming fun, and costs just $5 more than this title.

Even though I didn't like this game all that much, I'll be interested to see what else Team Ninja can do with the system. They obviously have the touch-screen mechanics down well, I just hope that they put a bit more effort into some other aspects for their next title. Now all I have to worry about is what portable game is going to fill my time, while I wait for the release of Bangai-O Spirits next month?

Magic MMOments

This week on Zero Punctuation, Yahtzee takes a look at Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, the recently-released Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game from Norwegian developer Funcom.
This came as quite a surprise to me, as Yahtzee has previously made it clear that he is an instant-gratification gamer, with no patience for even offline RPGs, so why in the world would he take it upon himself to try this World-of-Warcraft-wannabe? Anyone who's ever played one of these games knows how much time and effort is required in order to get anywhere, and one week isn't nearly enough time to explore even a fraction of the massive world they often put you in. Nevertheless, Yahtzee gave it a go, and offers up his opinions on the subject.

The only MMORPG I ever really played is Final Fantasy XI, on the PS2. Judging by the sound of AOC, I can only assume that pretty much every game in this genre is very similar. It's strange that developers aren't trying anything new, instead simply attempting to emulate the success of the current market leader (World of Warcraft). That's about all I can offer on the subject of MMOs, as PC gaming isn't something I spend much time doing, and if AOC is the future of games on this platform, I think I'll just stick to consoles instead.

Here's the review. As always, it contains plenty of strong language and is definitely NSFW.

Check out the rest of his videos here.

Peripheral vision

You remember the N64 RAM Expansion Pak, right? This was a piece of hardware, originally included with Donkey Kong 64, that increased the memory of the N64, allowing for such titles as Zelda: Majora's Mask, and Perfect Dark. Many other games utilized the Pak to improve things, such as resolution, graphics, or framerate, but only a few actually required it. It was kind of a strange release on Nintendo's part, as it admitted that their system wasn't as good as they would have liked; also, many people didn't quite understand what it did, as console gaming over the years had never required upgrading your machine, which was more of a PC thing.
It was also kind of tough for game developers, as it wasn't something that everyone had, so they had to decide whether or not to incorporate it into their projects. It would be a shame to put a lot of work into an aspect of your game that not everyone would be able to experience.

Now, Nintendo are about to alienate developers and divide consumers once again, with Wii Motion Plus. Announced during their press conference at E3, this device plugs into the bottom of the current Wiimote, and "allows for more comprehensive tracking of a player's arm position and orientation, providing players with an unmatched level of precision and immersion". Basically, what that means is that it makes the Wiimote a lot more accurate, picking up on even the slightest movements, and keeping track of the controller's position in 3D space a whole lot better. But why would we want this? Well, anyone who's spent any time with the Wii probably realizes that the controller isn't exactly too precise, and can only keep track of it's position in space when aimed directly at the Sensor Bar, on top of the TV. Many of the applications teased at in Nintendo's original Wii promotional video, such as accurate sword-fighting, simply can't be done with the current hardware. This may be why so many developers choose to use the motion control very sparingly in their titles, by having you shake the controller to reload, for instance, and helps explain why this control method is often referred to as "waggle".

So how exactly does the Motion Plus work? Unfortunately, not much information has been released yet, and the only video, so far, is the demonstration given during Nintendo's press conference. They showed off the upcoming Wii Sports Resort, focusing on the accuracy of the new peripheral in Frisbee, and sword-fighting minigames. They even used the words "One to One", which means any action performed by the player will be precisely mimicked by the on-screen character. This is what players have been hoping for since the Wii was first announced, so when titles such as Zelda: Twilight Princess had really basic waggle-to-swing-your-sword controls, many fans were a little disappointed. Now, they may finally be able to reproduce the feeling of swinging a blade (or lightsaber), as first promised a few years ago.
Of course, the controller will still require use of the Sensor Bar, as the system has no other way of picking up on the direction the Wiimote is facing, but maybe the Motion Plus will make it easier to keep track of, even when it's not facing directly at the screen; this certainly seemed to be true when watching the sword-fighting demonstration.

So is the Motion Plus a good idea? Well, this is a hard question to answer. History has shown us that peripherals not included with a system are usually underutilized by third-party developers. Just look at the Xbox Live Vision Cam for a good example of this. Of course, things are a little different when talking about Nintendo, as they make most of their money from first-party titles, so as long as support is included in the next Animal Crossing, Zelda, Mario Kart, Metroid etc... then why should Nintendo care if other developers are using it?
In order to put the device into the hands of as many people as possible, there will be one included with Wii Sports Resort, when the game is released. In a way though, this highlights a big difference between the Wii Motion Plus and other add-ons, such as the N64 Expansion Pak: One is required for every controller, instead of just one for the system. This also adds to the cost of every Wiimote; right now it costs $40 for the controller, plus $20 for the Nunchuk attachment. Assuming that the Motion Plus will be at least another $20, this brings the overall cost of a controller to $80! So if you buy a Wii and want 3 additional Wiimotes, it could end up costing you up to $240, only $10 less than the cost of the console!

There is another option though: Nintendo have already stated that they may end up releasing a whole new controller, with Motion Plus built in. This would make it easier for those just purchasing a new Wii, but could be a real slap in the face to those consumers who've already shelled out a lot of money for a whole set of current controllers. This is sort of like Sony adding rumble into the PS3 controllers, but the difference is that rumble is not required to play any games, so you're not forced to replace anything. The Wii Motion Plus sounds like it may be necessary though, so this means that your current Wiimotes could soon be obsolete. Either way, it's a tricky position Nintendo are putting themselves into, and they're going to have to be really careful that they don't piss too many people off when making the switch.
Of course, I could be completely wrong about this. People have been all too willing to buy Nintendo games with added peripherals, such as Wii Fit with it's Balance Board, or Mario Kart with it's Wheel. Even though hardcore gamers may not like the idea of having to upgrade their system, the average parent buying a gift for their child may not think twice about having to acquire additional hardware, as long as it keeps the kids from asking for Grand Theft Auto, or something like that. It will be interesting to see consumer reactions when the product makes it's way to store shelves.

Not much more information is available right now, but I'm sure we'll be hearing more as we get closer to it's Spring release date. Here's a video of the E3 demonstration, so you can check out the device for yourself:

Dashboard confessional

Come fall, Xbox 360 fans have a lot of new features to look forward to on their system. Microsoft announced some of these at their E3 press conference last week, and we received a follow-up later on that day, detailing some of the new modes, and ways to play. Now, we have our first video-walkthrough of the updated dashboard, and I must say, it's vastly different from the one we're used to.

Microsoft are going in an interesting direction with the release of this fall update, the most obvious sign of which being the new avatars. It's true that Nintendo have had huge success with their system, and their Miis have gotten a fair amount of press, but I don't think this is the sole reason people want to play the console. However, it's clear that Microsoft want a piece of that pie, but may end up alienating the hardcore fanbase who have made the 360 so popular. While the Wii is aimed at a much broader audience, the 360 has built up a reputation for having serious games, and great online functionality. More "cutesy" titles, such as the excellent Viva Pinata, just haven't sold very well on the system, as many of the fans are older, and want something more "mature".
While I may be looking forward to designing a little character that looks like me, I can't imagine everyone shares the same enthusiasm. The hardcore gaming image Microsoft has been so happy to nurture up to this point, may be spoiled by the introduction of these cute avatars. I have a feeling that many people may ignore the whole system, and just stick with the established Gamercard instead.

As for the rest of the update, well, it's pretty clear that MS want to streamline as much as possible. I guess that makes sense, as they've added so much to the marketplace since launch that it's kind of difficult to find things these days. My real worry is that, in an effort to make things more user-friendly, they may make things harder for those who already know what they're doing. This is what seems to happen every time they launch a new version of Windows, so I really hope this doesn't carry over to their console as well.

Thankfully, they decided to keep some of the setup we're used to, in the form of the new "guide", which will appear when the Xbox button is pressed on the controller. This will now bring up a series of blades that have many of the options available on the current dashboard. One thing I noticed though, is that nowhere in the video do they show a screen that simply tells you how many friends you have online, and how many messages you have. This used to appear with one button press, no matter what you were doing, so I hope they don't decide to change this feature. If you watch the video though, you'll see that the demonstrator is "signed in locally", rather than connected to Live, so this may be why a friend list isn't apparent.

Alright, so here's the video; check it out, and see what you think. Better get used to it now because, barring any major changes, this is what we'll all be seeing in a few months when the update finally rolls out.

Flash in the pan

One of the games revealed at Microsoft's E3 press conference, to the delight of many people, was Portal: Still Alive, the sequel to one of the best games of 2007. The original came as part of The Orange Box, Valve's repackaging of it's critically-acclaimed Half Life 2, which included some expansions, as well as Team Fortress 2, the follow-up to their popular multiplayer shooter. However, it was the puzzler Portal that seemed to garner the most attention.

The game casts you as an unnamed female who has to make it through a series of challenges using the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, a gun that fires blue and orange portals; whatever goes into one comes out the other. Physics play a big part in the puzzles, as you must find clever ways to get around the well-thought-out levels. Guiding you through the experiments is GLaDOS, the HAL-9000-style computer whose sanity definitely begins to come into question rather early on in the game.
Combining mind-bending puzzles with hilarious dialog, Portal became hugely popular rather quickly, despite it's short length (the game can be beaten in under three hours, part of the reason the premise never has a chance to get stale), and has left people clambering for a sequel.

Valve's announcement of Portal: Still Alive has had people speculating as to whether it would be a full-on sequel, or more of an expansion. Now, Valve have clarified things, in a statement made recently. The game will be an XBLA stand-alone version of the original, with some additional levels added. However, the added levels will not feature GLaDOS, or carry on the story in any way, they will simply be more puzzles for people to solve.
Many people may have played Portal: The Flash Version, which takes inspiration from the original title and is actually an awesome flash game, in it's own right. Well, someone decided to take the levels from this flash version and port them over to the PC version Portal, in the form of a map pack. According to Valve, these are the levels we'll be seeing in the upcoming release.

It's kind of a shame really. Having played through the entirety of Portal, as well as the flash version, I'm left feeling as though there won't be anything new for me. I guess it will be cool to play the flash version levels in full 3D, but I don't remember any of them being too tough, so that probably won't take very long. One thing that will be good though, is that many people who didn't buy The Orange Box now have a chance to experience it's best component, without having to shell out $60 for the whole package.
No release details have been revealed yet, but I'm sure we'll be getting plenty more info as time goes on. Oh, and if you haven't played the flash version of Portal, I seriously recommend you give it a shot. You can check it out here.

Nice DLC, but who's next?

This week in Rock Band, we finally get some songs by The Who. It wasn't the long-ago-promised album Who's Next, but rather a selection of tracks spanning the career of the band.
This week also represents something else important, for me personally. I have now reached the point where I have more than doubled the number of songs in my copy of the game since I bought it. That's right, it ships with 58 tracks (including the bonus ones), and I now have 120 altogether. This is really a huge thing; with everyone always having to wait for sequels and follow-ups to their favorite games, I feel as though I already have the sequel, and I got to make it myself, by hand-picking only the songs I liked from the ones available. People often talk about episodic gaming, saying that no developer so far has been able to keep up a regular release schedule, but no one ever mentions Rock Band; the fact that they have released new content every Tuesday since launch should not be overlooked. This is the future of gaming, and it's only going to get better as time goes on.
Anyway, back to the point, the tracks offered this week are:

Amazing Journey
Baba O'Riley
Behind Blue Eyes
Eminence Front
Going Mobile
Leaving Here
My Generation (Live at Leeds)
Real Good Looking Boy
Sea & Sand
Summertime Blues (Live at Leeds)
Who Are You
Young Man Blues (Live at Leeds)
Note: Click on any song for expert drum videos

Okay, so where do I start? Before you ask, yes, I bought the entire pack; $20 seems like a bargain for all the hours of fun and challenge these songs offer. Unfortunately, I haven't had quite as much time as I would have liked to actually play them, but I can certainly give some early impressions. I'm going to keep each one brief, otherwise it could take a while.
First off, we have Eminence Front. This song is in Tier 1 (the only track this week below 6), and therefore, is relatively easy. It has triple-hits throughout, sort of like Train in Vain by The Clash, but doesn't really offer too much challenge.

The next four songs are all in Tier 6, so this is where the fun really begins. Real Good Looking Boy is fairly simple at the start, getting harder at the end, and with some tough drum solos.
Baba O'Riley is kind of slow, with an almost-constant kick-drum, like Mississippi Queen by Mountain. It get very fast and tough towards the end though, which can catch you a little off-guard.
Behind Blue Eyes was an interesting choice, as it has no drums whatsoever for the first 2-3 minutes of the song. Once they finally start though, they're really pretty relentless. Lots of kick-drum and constant, fast fills prove rather difficult, then, a minute later, it's all over. Great song, but not so great in the game, unless you just want a chance to go crazy on the drum pads for a few minutes at the start.
Sea & Sand is the last one in this Tier, and is probably my favorite of all the songs this week. It reminds me a lot of Won't Get Fooled Again, but not quite so tough. What made that song fun is the same thing that makes this one, with an erratic kick-drum and plenty of fills. However, unlike some of the other songs, all the fills are fun to play, and not that tough. I don't know quite how to explain why, but they just feel like they make sense. I found that, even my first time through, I was hitting every note in many of the early ones, as my hands seemed to instinctively gravitate towards the right pads. This is probably a testament to the excellent drumming of Keith Moon, who does make things a little harder towards the end, but never to the point of frustration.

Now we move up to Tier 7, with another four songs. Going Mobile and Summertime Blues are both rather difficult, with almost-constant kick-drum, and lots of fast, complex fills all the way through. This is actually a regular theme from this point on; the time for simplicity is over.
My Generation starts of fairly easy, but changes in the middle, and gets very hard toward the end. Once again, your leg will be getting plenty of work, especially as the song goes on.
The final one in this Tier is Leaving Here, which is my favorite out of the four. This one is different from any of the other tracks this week, as it requires a fast beat with your right hand all the way through (sort of like New Wave by Pleymo), accompanied by hits from the left hand, and kick-drum, in an ever changing pattern. As a plus, the song has an awesomely-funky beat and is probably my favorite to listen to, outside of the game.

Now it's time for Tier 8, with two songs. Both Who are You, and Amazing Journey are very hard, with lots of kick-drum, and erratic hand parts. I find that, as with many of the Who songs, that the hardest parts are when your hands and feet aren't following the same timing. This happens a fair amount in the harder fills, and always screws me up. It's certainly an area that I know I need more practice in.

Finally, we have Young Man Blues, which falls nicely into Tier 9 (the highest one, for those who don't know). This was the track that I was most looking forward to, but I never really stopped to consider how difficult it might be. All I have to say is "Wow!". Just go and watch some of the expert drum videos on YouTube to see how this song starts out. It has two crazy drum fills, right at the beginning, before you have a chance to save up any Overdrive. Needless to say, I failed quite a few times at exactly 9% through the song. If you can make it through this initial part though, it does ease up a little, and goes into a slightly more more manageable beat. It is by no means easy though, and has loads of difficult fills throughout. Just hold onto that Overdrive, once you build it up, and it should help during some of the more ridiculous sections.

Phew! So, after all that, which ones would I recommend then? Well, if you're a fan of The Who and are looking for a nice challenge, by all means buy the whole pack. If I were to choose just a couple though, it would be Sea & Sand, and Leaving Here. They are both very different songs that are fun to play and not too hard. After those, just pick the songs that you like the most, but stay away from Young Man Blues, unless you're either a total sadist, or some kind of multi-armed alien that finds all the other songs way too easy.

So what else is going on in Rock Band this week? Well, thanks to E3, we've been getting lots of news. Most of it's about the upcoming Rock Band 2, but there are a couple of important things that relate to the original. First off, Activision, the current publishers of the Guitar Hero games, have finally seen the light regarding their instrument peripherals. Up to this point, they've been pretty clear that they only want Guitar Hero guitars to work with Guitar Hero, even going so far as to block a patch made by Harmonix that would allow use of their guitars in the PS3 version of Rock Band. More importantly, they didn't want anyone else's instruments to work with their own game, so with Guitar Hero: World Tour going multi-instrument, people were getting worried that they would have to shell-out for a whole new set of peripherals. Well, worry no more, because Activision recently released a statement saying that Rock Band instruments will work with their upcoming game. They even released a patch allowing use of Rock Band guitars in their recently-released Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, on the Xbox 360 anyway.
So I have two questions: First, since GH: WT's drums have 5 pads, and Rock Band's only have 4, how will I play the game?; will I need extra pads such as these ones, by Mad Catz? Second, will Activision even sell a stand-alone copy of the game, for those with instruments already? I guess they probably will, as many people may only want the game for the guitar parts, and don't want the entire set anyway. Either way, it's great to see the company open up their game to other manufacturers, and it should entice more people to buy it.

The second piece of important news relates to a question people have had for a while. Namely, will we be able to import songs from the first Rock Band into the second one? We already knew that all the DLC would be compatible, but Harmonix recently stated that, for under $5, we will be able to transfer all the tracks from the first disc onto our hard drive, for use in the second game. Well, almost all the tracks. The reason why we won't be able to transfer every single one relates to licensing issues; apparently they had to re-license every song to use them in the sequel, and I guess they couldn't get permission for all of them. However, it will certainly make things easier for those of us who want to build up a big music collection, without having to switch discs all the time. This means that when I buy Rock Band 2, I will have over 200 songs to choose from, right from the start. Let's see any other rhythm game boast that!

I think that's pretty much it. I'll try and make separate posts for any news that applies specifically to Rock Band 2, which I'm sure there'll be lots of in the coming months, as we near it's September release.

June NPD - Take Wii to your leader

All this excitement over E3! It's sometimes easy to forget that there is other news to cover as well. I'm talking, of course, about this months NPD sales data.
June actually brought about an important milestone in this generation of consoles: The month when Microsoft lost the top spot in the system war. That's right, with 10.9 million sales in the US, the Wii is now the number one system of this current generation. The Xbox 360, last we checked, was standing at 10.2, and with the Wii consistently outselling the 360, the gap is only going to get larger.

Of course, there are many who argue that the Wii shouldn't be considered "next-gen"; even Nintendo themselves argued that it wasn't next-gen, but new-gen. So this means that it can't really compete with the 360 and the PS3, and should instead be compared to sales of similar hardware, like the PS2. That would mean that it still has a long way to go before it even comes close to competing. Alright, I guess that's just semantics. I'll admit that the Wii is now number 1, and congratulations should go to Nintendo for finally making a system that people want, again.

Here are the figures for the month of June:
Nintendo DS: 783,000
Nintendo Wii: 666,700
PlayStation 3: 405,500
PlayStation Portable: 337,400
Xbox 360: 219,800
PlayStation 2: 188,798

As for the software sales, well they're pretty obvious really. Do you remember a certain game released this month starring a sneaky, gray-haired, mustached man? Er, no, I meant Metal Gear Solid 4, I don't know what you were thinking of. Anyway, Solid Snake managed to stealthily make his way to the top spot, followed not-so-closely by Guitar Hero: On Tour for the DS. I'm actually a little surprised about Guitar Hero; I guess I wasn't the only one whose curiosity got the better of them regarding this title. Ninja Gaiden 2 takes place number three, which isn't too good considering it released this month too. Oh well, I guess if the so-called ninja had tried a little stealth like someone else on the chart, he might have sold a few more copies. I'm just saying.......
The rest of the numbers aren't too surprising; the usual Nintendo stuff, and some copies of Lego Indiana Jones, along with Battlefield: Bad Company. One figure they didn't give us was how many people bought the regular edition of B:BC and how many were idiots and payed more for the special edition. Actually, I'd probably rather not know; I'd like to keep at least a little faith in humanity.....

Here are the software sales figures:
1. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3) 774,600
2. Guitar Hero On Tour (DS) 422,300
3. Ninja Gaiden II (360) 372,700
3. Wii Fit (Wii) 372,700
5. Wii Play (Wii) 359,100
6. Battlefield Bad Company (360) 346,800
7. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) 322,400
8. LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (Wii) 294,500
9. LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (DS) 267,800
10. LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventure (PS2) 260,300

Now the only question is, how much will the E3 announcements effect July's sales? Tune in next month to find out, same NPD time, same NPD channel.

The chances of anything coming from Mars......

Back in late 2005, when the Xbox 360 first launched, we were subject to a whole load of bad games. Okay, maybe they weren't all bad, they just didn't live up to the unreal expectations we had built up surrounding our brand new system. One game that didn't disappoint, and helped introduce the just-launched Xbox Live Arcade, was Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. This title was based on a mini-game that appeared in Project Gotham Racing 2 for the Xbox, but had been re-imagined with high-def graphics, flashy particle effects and online leaderboards.

The game itself was very simple, and harked back to the classic shooter, Robotron; one of the analog sticks moved your little ship around the screen, the other fired your weapon in whichever direction you pointed it. The enemies came in small waves, and the action never stopped, even for a second. As you got more points, you unlocked slightly improved weapons, and found yourself surrounded by increasingly larger swarms of bad-guys, until the entire screen became awash of brightly-colored shapes and particle effects.
There were no "levels" to beat, it was simply about achieving the highest possible score before it all became too much, and you were overwhelmed by little groups of geometric shapes that sent you to your grave.

Now, almost three years later, Geometry Wars is back. Okay, so it may have had a recent incarnation on Wii and DS, but now it's back on the system that birthed it, and is getting many people very excited. Announced at the Microsoft E3 Press Conference, Geometry Wars 2 takes all we loved from the original and adds some interesting new modes.
As well as the original's one-constant-wave mode, the sequel will add other ways to play, including a timed mode, a weaponless mode, and one where you can only shoot from constantly-changing areas of the screen. Another thing they added is the much-wanted multiplayer option, with up to four people co-operating or competing with each other, in both co-op, and versus play. The only thing is, according to their official site, it will be local multiplayer only. This means not online!

Hang on a moment. Let me see if I've got this straight...... You release a brand new game in the year 2008 that I can only play with friends in the same room? Well, did you put color in the game, or can I only enjoy it in black-and-white? And is there sound, or do I have to employ someone to sit under my TV and play dramatic piano music while I'm gaming? In fact, I don't think I'm going to have a chance to play at all, what with all these dinosaurs wandering the Earth, and constantly threatening my mud-hut of a home! And of course, I'll have to wait a few million years for humankind to evolve opposable thumbs, before I can even pick up the controller!
Come on Bizarre Creations, get with the times! How can you possibly believe that it's okay to release a new title in this day and age, without the inclusion of online multiplayer? Okay, so not all titles have multiplayer at all, but if you're going to include it, at least allow me the same option as just about every other game for the last five-or-more years. As I've previously written, it's not exactly possible for me to invite my friends over, but I was really looking forward to being able to enjoy some twin-stick shooter action with them anyway. Oh well, maybe the developers will change their minds once they get out of whatever drug-induced haze they're clearly in, and realize how much people like playing games online.

Phew! Good to get that off my chest! Sorry Bizarre, I don't mean to offend, I just really couldn't believe what I read regarding this much-anticipated title. I guess I'll just have to accept that, like the first game, this one will be a strictly solitary affair. I'll probably still check it out, but I'll always be wishing you could have added just that one thing......

Geometry Wars 2 will be out on August 6th. Bizarre Creations have an official site for the game, which you can check out here. For now, here's the debut trailer from E3:

Almost as good as the movie

This week on Zero Punctuation, Yahtzee decides to take a look at Alone in the Dark, the recently released survival horror game published by Atari (yes, they do still exist).
Let's be clear though. This is actually the fifth game in the AITD series, which has been running for 16 years now, and inspired many recent survival horror games, such as the Resident Evil and Silent Hill franchises. It also spawned a god-awful movie directed by everyone's favorite German film director, Uwe Boll.

Yahtzee seems like the kind of guy who just loves to hate things that are popular. Well, in this case he freely admits to attempting to like this game that everyone else hates. It makes sense that he would want to go against the mainstream; after all, why else would he want to review something that hasn't been received too favorably, when even the most beloved of games can rub him the wrong way? Sometimes, I think he's just punishing himself, but hey, if he only reviewed fantastic titles that he couldn't say enough good stuff about, I don't think his videos would be quite so popular.

Here's the review. As always, it contains plenty of strong language and is definitely NSFW.

Check out the rest of his videos here.

Conference call

Okay, so now that all three of the big press conferences are out of the way, who came out on top? I certainly know which one I enjoyed the most, so lets go through them and have a look shall we?

Microsoft had a good conference. Allowing other companies to take the stage, to talk about upcoming games like Fable 2, and Resident Evil 5, was a good idea; after all, what makes a console successful over all else? Why, it's good games of course! It's important for companies to remember this, otherwise they may believe that simply talking about their hardware for an hour-and-a-half is enough to satisfy consumers.
Many of the games featured in the MS conference were ones we already knew about, but there is nothing wrong with showcasing popular titles, such as Fallout 3, or Rock Band 2. It was also nice to hear confirmation of sequels to the popular titles Geometry Wars, and Portal, which will both be appearing on XBLA. We also got to hear about some new titles that will be making our way to the Marketplace, with You're in the Movies being the one that intrigued me the most, even though it will probably turn out to be a bit gimmicky.

The fall update is probably the biggest thing Microsoft have planned for the 360 right now, and it should provide plenty of new functionality. I don't think the avatar system is going to be that big of a deal, but the ability to join with up to 8 people outside of a game, for chat or other fun, is going to make the Xbox Live experience even easier. Plus, the new Primetime Channel should provide new ways to spend time with those friends, once you've gotten together.
The implementation of Netflix movies into Xbox Live could be quite important too. Although we've known about this for a while, it's still nice to get proper confirmation. One thing I don't quite understand is how MS are going to continue to rent their own movies over Live, when they are competing with Netflix. Maybe they'll limit them to SD only, and keep the corner on the market for HD content, or maybe they'll simply faze their own stuff out, and allow Netflix to take over completely. Either way, it sounds like a good deal, and I may have to start up a subscription myself, so I can join in the movie-watching fun.

Next up we have Nintendo. Their main focus seemed to be on their new Motion Plus device, which will allow more precise control with the Wiimote. My problem with the whole demonstration was the fact that many of the things they were doing, such as sword fighting, were things we were supposed to be able to do right from the start. It seemed like an admission on Nintendo's part that their controller didn't work as originally advertised, but with the addition of a new peripheral, that could now be fixed. The fact that they're working on a new Wii Sports game was slightly overlooked, as the focus was more on the add-on, not the game itself.
Wii Music also looked like it might be interesting but, from what I hear, it's more of a toy than a game, with no way of failing songs and "losing". Also, playing instruments, especially something like the drums, might feel weird without any tactile feedback. It's still worth checking out though, and I'll look forward to hearing a little more on it.

Other games that were mentioned, such as the new Pokemon, and GTA DS games, were only briefly talked about, with no real detail. The "biggest" game announcement they had turned out to be the new Animal Crossing: City Life for the Wii. Once again though, Nintendo have shown that they are happy just re-hashing old ideas, as not much in the demo seemed very different from previous versions; sure, you can now go into the city, but it didn't seem to offer very many options over what we're already used to. I'm sure it will sell about 10 million copies on day one though, as Nintendo games always do......
The Animal Crossing demonstration did, however, highlight one of Nintendo's surprises: The Wii Speak. This is a speaker-phone-like device that allows entire rooms of people to voice-chat with each other over the internet. In fact, it's rather similar to an idea I had for an Xbox 360 add-on....... Nintendo, have you been reading my blog? Anyway, what the device really represents is Nintendo's effort to try and implement voice-chat into their games, which will come as great news to many online gamers.

Finally, we have Sony. Their main focus seemed to be on, well, themselves. Somehow, they managed to talk for an hour-and-a-half, without saying much of anything. They had constant lists of sales figures, showing how the Playstation brand has sold more units than any other console in history. Sure, they'd love to have been able to boast specifically about the PS3, but we all know this would involve some serious number-fudging, so they had to rely on the Playstation brand in general, going all the way back to the PS1.
Some of the new features they're adding to the PS3 interface, such as the ability to rent and buy movies, were slightly anti-climactic, as they sound very similar to features we've been enjoying on the 360 for a while now. Also, the announcement of the new 80GB PS3, which will sell for the cost of the current 40GB model, isn't that big a deal, as Sony are constantly changing around their SKUs anyway.

As for the games, much of what they showed was just in montage-form. They had plenty of video reels, which showed little highlights of upcoming titles, but never went into too much detail for most of them. I must say that Resistance 2 looked quite impressive, but maybe not enough to carry the whole show. Some of the other titles that people were anticipating, simply weren't given much discussion, like LittleBigPlanet, and Home. We also didn't hear from the Shadow of the Colossus team, who are supposedly working on a new project. It's a shame, as these were some titles that Sony can still claim exclusivity to, and they could have played-up that fact.
The only "big" game announcements came at the end: MAG: Massive Action Game sounds like a neat cross between an MMO and a war game, but I wonder how much mainstream appeal such a strategic-sounding shooter will gather. Also, the debut trailer for God Of War 3 wasn't too exciting, with no actual gameplay shown. I think they were hoping to get the same kind of reaction as the Halo 3 trailer a couple of years ago, but it just wasn't happening. Maybe if they hadn't announced the game on the back of the God of War PSP instruction manual, it may have been more of a surprise.

So overall, I think Microsoft definitely had the strongest showing. With plenty of new features being added to their system, as well as their focus on upcoming third-party games, they showed how much effort they're putting into this current console war. They also had the biggest surprise of the show, right at the end: The announcement that Final Fantasy XIII will be launching simultaneously on Xbox 360 as well as PS3. Some may not see this as a big deal, but we all know that this was one of the last major exclusives to Sony's platform, so losing it is another huge blow, after losing other titles like Grand Theft Auto, and Devil May Cry.
I know there will be plenty more to come out of this year's E3 though, and just because the main conferences are over doesn't mean we've heard all the big news. I'll be sure to go into more detail regarding some of these announcements, once all the excitement is over.