But the biggest part of E3 is definitely the big keynote conferences, namely the ones by Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. I have a few things to say about them after watching them, so let’s go! Keep in mind I’m only talking about the big 3 here, so there’s gonna be no mention of the EA or Ubisoft conferences (despite Ubisoft kicking Microsoft’s ass, and that JUST by showing Rayman Origins footage… but I digress)..
Read on! (wow, I wrote a lot more than I thought I would… Oh well)
Note before discussing the conferences
People must keep in mind that E3 is, first and foremost, a trade show. It’s a place when hardware manufacturers and developers go to show off to journalists and to their stockholders what they have coming out, and what they hope will sell. To their stockholders, it makes them see what they’ll be making money on. Journalists… are just happy to write about it and spur discussion about upcoming products. This isn’t primarily a show for gamers (sort of), it’s more of a show to present upcoming products, may it be exciting to “core” gamers or not. Sure, the gamer’s experience is what counts in that end, but money is what really counts here. I am presenting this from a gamer’s perspective, but do keep in mind that I also think of this as a trade show, so my opinions do change due to that.
Microsoft
Starting the conference
Microsoft opened with a few third-party games, namely Modern Warfare 3 (surprise! it runs on the same damn gameplay engine as MW2 and MW1!… fuck evolution, right?) and the new Tomb Raider game (which, from the looks of it, is actually a movie with minor interactions… but that was just a small portion so maybe it becomes a game later on?). It was a rather subpar start.
Kinect
If there’s one word that can summarize this conference, it’s “Kinect”. that’s basically all that was shown. First, integration in “hardcore games” was a main concern… at first. Talking to speak your choices in Mass Effect 3 (lame), directing your team with speech in Mass Effect 3 (possibly really cool), customizing your weapons in Ghost Recon (kinda nifty, though buttons would do the job just as well, and probably faster), looking at cars in Forza…. and yeah, that’s about it.
As for new “core” games announced, we saw a new Fable game (filled with false promises by Peter Molyneux right before showing the gameplay that makes it clear that his stupid speech was false) which is actually an on-rails shooter. We saw Ryse, a project by Crytek, which, by the looks of the trailer, will be an on-rails brawler (it actually looks quite cool, but the on-rails nature may be iffy). We saw Star Wars Kinect (okay, not really a new announcement, but shut up 
), which is a crappy on-rails brawler with unresponsive controls… Okay, we get it MS, Kinect can’t deliver full control of character movement and as such going for on-rails is probably the best possible implementation for “core” games but… I dunno, I think this is the maximum Kinect can do for “core” gamers at the moment. Boost up this technology for your next console.
Then we got the “shit” no one wants to hear about. Kinect got a new sports game, a new dance central, a sesame street game, a lame Disneyland game… and that’s about the extent of that. One cool announcement for Kinect was the Kinect Fun Labs… though it’s hard to say what it can really do from their conference, it did look kinda cool… we’ll see!
Tim Schafer’s career destroyed?
The man who helped make the famous SCUMM engine, the man who wrote for Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Grim Fandango, the man who created Psychonauts and Brutal Legends… Basically one of the big names in the gaming industry… is making a fucking Sesame Street Kinect game… Fuck you Microsoft.
New announcements
NONE! Because MS leaked their new announcements a bit over an hour before their presser… fail. Okay, let’s say that somehow didn’t happen. Other than a bunch of Kinect stuff that seems lame, we got 3 new announcements. First, an HD remake of Halo… which is already playable on the 360 anyways so it’s pointless (other than reviving the online maybe? I don’t really know). Then Minecraft on 360, which I guess is nice if you like Minecraft (I don’t get it personally). And, finally, 3 new Halo games were announced. Okay, so most people will tell you only Halo 4 was revealed, but they said that Halo 4 was the dawn of a new trilogy. As such, they have effectively announce Halo 4, Halo 5 and Halo 6. Yeah, we needed that much Halo guys! </sarcasm>
TV on Xbox
You can watch TV… on your Xbox 360! …. That’s about the extent of that. They may as well not have mentioned it since they had no information about it at all.
Actors
FIST BUMP!
Anyways… Seriously Microsoft, do you really NEED actors that fail at pretending they’re having fun? May it be the child or adult actors you get to play the games, they’re all REALLY bad. Kids don’t act like that in real life. Adults don’t act like that in real life (that football-playing segment was pathetic). Just get real people to play the games instead of people acting like they’re enjoying them when they clearly aren’t. Sony and Nintendo get it right by getting the developers to play the games, you should do the same.
Overall
Meh? I mean, it could have been worse, I guess… maybe… They leaked their only announcements, and the actual presentation was really boring. Nothing that’s really interesting was announced, and it was all about integrating Kinect in games that don’t need Kinect… I was expecting Microsoft to not have much to show, so I guess they met my expectations….
Microsoft did what they needed to do, showed off what they had down the pipeline… it kinda sucks that all they have down the pipeline is multi-platform games, Gears, more Halo which isn’t needed and lame Kinect games.
If I were to rate out of 10… 3.5/10, “at least they were there”. I’m sure the stockholders are okay with the conference, but the gamers aren’t.
Sony
Apologies
I’ll say I was kinda hoping for a big joke with Kevin Butler about how he’s the VP of Hacking Sony, but whatever. An apology, as quick as it was, was all that was really needed here, and I think it was handled fine..
Random stuff shown
The Uncharted 3 showing just… showed me that they have no intention of making a new game, but rather just ra-taking the old one and adding new graphic technology. It does look nice though, and, despite always being the same, the Uncharted games aren’t bad.
Resistance 3 was shown. Boring generic FPS, yay! But I think the big problem is that they rushed to get a small demo out for the presentation, and they just picked 2 really bad segments of the game to show off. The showing of Resistance 3 was followed by the announcement of a cheap (499$) 24 inch 3D TV which is pretty nice (which includes a copy of Resistance 3), so at last there’s that. Also shown was the great idea of 2-player gaming with each player having a full screen to look at on the same TV by using 3D technology to remove the need to actually split the screen. Nice stuff, I hope to see more about this in the future.
There was a nice Bioshock Infinite Trailer which actually seems pretty good… Not much to say about that really.
Not a lot of announcements
Sly Cooper 4! And that’s really about it on the PS3 front. A new Star Trek downloadable game was shown which looks… like a standard cover-based TPS… Dust 514, a competitive FPS that is somehow linked to Eve Online, was shown to be a PS3 exclusive.
There were a few things in regards to Vita, but I’ll talk about that separately.
Move
There was some Move stuff shown, a lot of talking about integrating Move to various titles like Saint’s Row 3, and one Move game (Medieval Moves: Deadmund’s Quest) that… oh look it’s an on-rails shooter… Come on Sony, this isn’t Kinect, you’ve already shown (apparently) with Killzone 3 that a “normal” game can work well with Move controls, you don’t need to fall in the same trap Kinect did.
Move had an… okay showing… Nothing really amazing, but at least it has some support that isn’t total crap/pointless.
Playstation Vita
Okay, Sony, I have a very serious question to ask here: How did you manage to bring the price down to 250$? I have no clue how you managed that… unless you’re taking a loss or breaking even with every console sold….
ANYWAYS… really good showing for the Playstation Vita… sure, it has a terrible name, but whatever (the worst is yet to come). My only big problem was showing Uncharted here… just because they streamlined the gameplay so much it’s stupid… “no need to actually time your jumps, just touch where you want to go!”…
But otherwise… amazing pricing, nice hardware, an okay lineup of software if you like the PS3 exclusive stuff (since, for now, it’s all ports/adaptations of sorts)… And I think Ruin looks cool too.
Oh, and, for the lulz, Vita has cross-game chat, but PS3 doesn’t. Awesome trolling there Sony, love it. Not like it’s a useful feature anyways.
Talkers
Microsoft had problems with bad actors, Sony had problems with the people they sent on stage to talk about their product. Okay, unless you have someone speaking in japanese getting translated, here’s a very simple rule you should follow: the person you get on-stage to talk about your game SHOULD BE ABLE TO SPEAK IN CLEAR, EASY-TO-UNDERSTAND ENGLISH. Half the people that got on stage to talk barely even knew the language, it’s crazy.
Overall
Not a bad presentation from Sony overall. I mean, nothing new was announced other than Sly 4 (which I’m pretty happy about), but they kept it simple: talked about a game, showed it, went to the next game. It never dragged out too much, some of the devs talking about their games were interesting (that Bioshock guy was great, for example) and it cut the bullshit for the most part. Oh, and no retarded speeches by Kevin Butler, happy to not have seen him there at all (unless the previously mentionned joke that would have been awesome).
The high point of the conference is obviously Vita with a pretty nice lineup and a great price point that’s really making me want to buy one…. Maybe
Score? 7/10. Solid. I wanted giant enemy crabs, a ridiculous price point for the Vita and RIIIIIIIIIDGE RACEEER (though Tretton DID reference it which was awesome) so that Icould laugh at Sony a bit, but a good conference is nice too (I AM a PS3 fan after all).
Nintendo
It’s Zelda’s 25th anniversary?
Ah yes, one of the best franchises ever is 25 year olds. Cool announcements here, like a symphonic concert tour for Zelda music across the world, FREE Four Swords for DSi (and, obviously, 3DS) in September, Link’s Awakening DX being added to the 3DS eshop during the conference (GO BUY IT! easily one of the best Zelda games ever, up there with LttP and OoT), certain OSTs (one that will come for Club Nintendo members who quickly register their Skyward Sword game, and some other OST of sorts, I think about that music tour I talked about earlier), skyward sword coming before the end of the year… Oh, and a BADASS Gold Wii Remote that comes with the game… Cool stuff, especially with the orchestra playing awesome Zelda music. Great start to the conference.
3DS
Star Fox, Mario Kart, Kid Icarus and Super Mario, all coming out before the end of the year… BADASS, they all look great. Who cares if they’re “just” sequels, they’re going to be great games and that’s all that matters. But not only that, but a long requested side-game of the Mario series is getting a sequel: Luigi’s Mansion 2. It seems to be a huge upgrade from the first with more varied environments. In addition, a bunch of third-party titles were shown, mostly games we already knew about, and Tekken. Tremendous showing for the 3DS.
Project Café
I don’t understand how Nintendo could screw up a NEW CONSOLE reveal. But lo-and-behold, they did. Through most of this part of the conference, it was mostly unclear whether this was a new console or just an add-on to the Wii. The actual console WAS shown in the videos… but it was far away and, if you just looked fast, it looked like a Wii (though, after further observation, it looks like the lovechild of a Wii and Xbox 360). Speaking of looking like a Wii…. WII U… I thought Vita was a bad name, but this… Come on Nintendo, what the fuck? Are you insane? Did you make a contest through the company to find the worst possible name for the console? Or maybe you’re big Kung Pow fans? It took me about 5 minutes to accept the “Wii” name (said Wii, had a childish chuckle, and it grew on me just about right away). But Wii U? Come on guys, you should have distanced yourself from the Wii name.
Anyways, the big problem with this was partly that they didn’t really show the actual console, but that they pretty much gave no information whatsoever. I know the focus is and should be the controller in this case (which I actually really like), but nothing about the actual console? Why not show it at all, even if it’s just an empty shell modeled after the console? Just have the console on a stand with the controller on top or something… And they really said nothing about it. Not a good idea Nintendo, people were pissed off after your conference.
On the positive side, the controller has a whole lot of potential, and the power of the system is getting a lot of developers on-board (and hopefully some of them will do truly innovative things with the controller).
Where’s Wii?
All that was actually talked about at the conference for Wii was Skyward Sword? What the hell? Don’t get me wrong, I can’t wait to play that, but… Your new console is coming out next year, you have to keep on supporting the Wii just a little bit… Okay, to be fair, a picture was shown right after the conference on the screen with a bunch of logos (click here) where you can see a Kirby Wii logo, and Mario Party 9… but that barely counts.
Information after the conference
It wasn’t long after the conference that information started to be given about the Wii U (argh… hate that fucking name)… But why not take an extra half hour or something to show the info there? I really don’t get it. The confusion I felt when the conference ended is mostly gone now… but it shouldn’t have ben there in the first place.
NEW SUPER SMASH BROS
Yay 
Overall
GREAT 3DS showing, no Wii showing at all, and a badly thought-out Wii U (ARGH) showing that really didn’t do justice to the platform. There was not much new shown other than Wii U (dammit), but the announcement of Luigi’s Mansion 2 and Super Smash Bros on Wii U (fuck) and 3DS was definitely nice. Some new things were mentionned from 3rd parties, but not much really.
Score? 7/10, the lack of Wii and a rather weak reveal for the Wii U (… change this name Nintendo, seriously) was detrimental, but not enough to counteract the great 3DS showing and A NEW SMASH BROS!
Overall
This year was… pretty standard. Nothing truly mind-blowing, none of the big 3 showed off much that we didn’t know about already. But, other than Microsoft’s conference, it was nice. I’d put Nintendo and Sony about equal in this case since Nintendo had a sort of lacking showing of the Wii U while Sony had a great showing of the Vita.
But E3 isn’t all about the conferences (otherwise we still wouldn’t know anything about Project Café beyond the controller), tons of stuff is still to be revealed, and we’re gonna get journalist impressions of stuff at the E3 showfloor, which is the most interesting thing about E3. So keep on following what’s going on at E3! Stay on those news sites, there may still be surprises on the way! And a flood of gameplay videos and such.
Oh, and go buy Link’s Awakening DX… seriously.
]]>So I’ll be working on getting everything back properly and we’ll be back to writing posts normally again. And I have a few new types of articles in the work, different from just reviews and “what’s coming out next month” kinds of posts.
Keep watching!
Edit: Okay, maybe we’re not back, big problem with the links to posts not working
]]>I’ll comment about both things that were announced, and my impressions about the conferences as a whole. There were 5 big conferences, and I’ll talk about all of them, though I will just skim through the less interesting ones.
And I know that E3 isn’t done yet, more could be announced, but this is just about the conferences.
So read on!
Microsoft
Expectations
None. I knew they’d talk about Gears 3, Natal, Fable 3, and Halo Reach. I didn’t expect anything more.
Opening
I don’t understand why they started this with a multi-platform game. Most likely because Call of Duty Black Ops will have its DLC on the 360 first, but this still wasn’t a great start. Mostly because the gameplay segments they showed for Black Ops were stupidly boring to watch.
The “hardcore” part of the conference
After the bad start with Black Ops, they showed all the “core” games.
It was cool finally seeing gameplay footage for Metal Gear Rising, it looks interesting for sure.
Then Gears 3 was shown, and that wasn’t too interesting. All it really showed was that it plays just like the previous 2 Gears games. Though I will say that I was surprised to see some color in there. Also, in this part, they called Marcus Fenix and Master Chief unforgettable characters… that was weird and false.
After that a bit of Fable 3 was shown… not much of it though. Nothing new.
Speaking of not showing much, they showed something called Codename Kingdoms, with a cinematic showing real people surrounded by bad CG. No gameplay was shown, so revealing that was completely pointless.
Then the Halo Reach demonstration showed that they basically changed nothing since Halo 3. Though it didn’t look bad.
That’s it for the “hardcore” part. The coolest thing here? Cliff Blezinski’s t-shirt. It featured a yeti riding a unicorn… fucking awesome.
Kinect Time!
After only a few minutes of “core” games, they devoted the rest of the conference to Kinect (renamed from Project Natal). They showed off various Kinect games, and showed off the technology, like how you can control the 360 with your voice and body.
The games shown were: Kinectimals (AKA nintendogs), Kinect Sports (a mix between World Class Track Meet(nes), Wii Sports and Track and Field 2(nes)), Kinect Adventures (which looks like a boring mini-game compilation), Your Body Fitness Evolve (which looks like a Wii Fit-esque application that seems good for Wii Fit fans), Dance Central (made by Harmonix, looks really fun if you like dancing), a new Forza game which looks like it’s just Forza 3 with Kinect features and finally a crappy-looking Star Wars game that basically involve waving your arms around at random.
Nothing really interesting was shown for Kinect, but the tech looks impressive… though I can’t imagine much for the “hardcore” gamer here.
Overall
Well… it was rather boring. Spending more than half the time on Kinect wasn’t a great idea, announcing nothing new was a terrible idea (everything shown for Kinect was known the day before), and barely spending any time on the “gamers’Â games” wasn’t too good either. And the opening of the conference was just stupid. The high point was the Metal Gear Rising trailer, which was way too short.
EA
Expectations
Nothing really. I only watched it because it was there. If I’d say I had any hopes for this, I really did hope seeing Mirror’s Edge 2…
Opening
Starting with a new game announcement is a great idea. The trailer made it seem interesting. And then they showed some live gameplay… They couldn’t have made it look any more dull. Need For Speed Hot Pursuit looks like it could be good, and it IS made by Criterion, but they should have made the demonstration a lot more interesting.
The rest
They showed Dead Space 2, the new MMA game, EA Sports Active 2 (for all consoles), Madden 11, Sims 3 for consoles, Crysis 2, Bulletstorm and a cinematic trailer for Star Wars The Old Republic.
This didn’t really feel very good. It’s nice that they showed some gameplay for some of the games, but for the most part it was really boring talking.
On a positive note, the gameplay demo for Bulletstorm actually really interested me. Looks actually fun for a modern FPS, concentrating on fun weapons and fun ways to kills rather than all the seriousness in other modern FPS.
But please tell me, what’s the point of making an epically badass cinematic trailer for an MMORPG? I don’t get it. Don’t get me wrong, the trailer was awesome, but it felt pointless.
Overall
Relatively weak opening, the rest of the thing felt way too dragged out, and nothing was announced. Announcing Madden 11 doesn’t count, of course, and it was obvious they’d milk the cash cow that is EA Sports Active. The high point was… hum… the Bulletstorm demonstration I guess…
And the lack of Mirror’s Edge 2 makes me sad.
Ubisoft
Expectations
I had no idea what to expect, since I didn’t really care about what Ubisoft had to show. Again, I watched it because it was there, hoping for surprises.
Opening
The started with Child of Eden, a psychedelic shooter controlled by Kinect. My only thought through the whole demonstration was “Are they re-releasing the Power Glove?” Because frankly that’s what it looked like. But what a weak opening that was. The game doesn’t look fun. It looks too artsy to be any fun to play.
After the opening
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, Shaun White Skateboarding (which looks sort of interesting), a “Real” FPS game that’s nothing more than an advanced version of laser tag, a Vitality Sensor rip-off with a “breathing” application that seemed stupid, a few Kinect games, a new Rabbids game involving time travel, Ghost Recon Future Soldier, Driver 4, Project Dust (no gameplay was shown so it was ENTIRELY POINTLESS), there was the most exciting announcement at E3 up to that point (Rayman Origins), Mania Planet which is a hub for user-generated content games like Trackmania 2 and a few more, and finally a Michal Jackson game.
A lot was shown, though only one REALLY interesting thing was announced. What really irked me is the Kinect part, showing Your Shape: Fitness Evolved… It’s okay to show the same game in 2 conferences, but why did they have the exact same script as in the Microsoft conference? That was just stupid.
Overall
Rayman Origins looked awesome. Very awesome. It was a huge surprise for everyone and it was the high point of the conference, and by far the most interesting element of E3 up to that point. The rest of the conference wasn’t very interesting, though I can see why some of the games that didn’t interest me would interest other people.
Nintendo
Expectations
Well, everyone knew they’d show Zelda and the 3DS. But otherwise, their stuff was pretty hush hush. There were some rumors, but nothing really precise. So Nintendo easily had the most potential to surprise. I had a few unreasonable hopes, as usual, but that’s what happens with Nintendo E3 conferences. Every year fans hope for a new F-Zero, Kid Icarus, Star Fox and various other things (like how I always hope for Star Tropics to be finally revived), but they never come.
Opening
One thing that sucked in every previous conference was the opening. Here, there was no fucking around. Everyone wanted to see Zelda, so they showed Zelda right away. The graphics looked nice, and Miyamoto was presenting everything. But there was a slight problem: their wii remote had trouble working, presumably because of wireless interference. They did show some of the gameplay, and what they did manage to show looked interesting. After the conference we did see videos of the controls working properly (such as on Kotaku) and that was nice, but it would have been cool to see it working properly on-stage. But still, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword was easily the best opening of the conference.
Core games
NBA Jam, Mario Sports Mix, Golden Sun Dark Dawn, Goldeneye, Epic Mickey gameplay, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Dragon Quest 9, Metroid Other M, Donkey Kong Country Returns…
OMG. New Donkey Kong made by Retro Studios? New Goldeneye made in the style of the original with some changes? New Kirby? Badass gameplay trailer for Golden Sun Dark Dawn? Showing that the gameplay for Epic Mickey looks solid? Mario Sports Mix looking like a fun multi-sport title? That was fucking awesome. Seriously. A bunch of new games announced, dates given for already known games, and they concentrated on the gameplay rather than pointless cinematic trailers… just wow.
Just a note on Kirby… It looks really strange, and I’m not too fond of the new graphic style, but the gameplay looks solid, and it might be a nice change of pace from previous Kirby games. We’ll see. Though I really wonder what happened to that Kirby project that was being made on Gamecube… They did say it was “transferred” to Wii, but then it disappeared… weird.
And a note on Donkey Kong Country Return… I’ve been waiting for this since Donkey Kong Country 3, why did it take SO LONG for a new good side-scrolling DK game? This is a very exciting announcement, and the fact that the guys behind Metroid Prime are making it is just AWESOME.
Casual games
Surprisingly, barely any of them were shown. Just Dance 2, and Wii Party. While Just Dance is terrible, the first one sold a LOT. And let’s not forget E3 is a trade show, to show to investors what they have coming up, and Just Dance 2 made them very happy. As for Wii Party, it just looks like a very dumbed-down Mario Party… meh.
I like that there was almost no casual games, but that they still showed a few for people that it might interest.
Nintendo 3DS
That’s the big thing of the conference. I like how it was presented. It’s different functions were introduced, the fact that it’s NOT just a new DS was made very important, and then they showed off the first game. One thing to say here: HOLY. FUCKING. SHIT. A new Kid Icarus? No one expected that for real, it was just false hope. And the trailer… was that a 3DS game? It looked as good as the best-looking Wii games. And then they name various other titles in some trailer/developers’ impressions video (Metal Gear, Street Fighter, Mario, Zelda, Kirby, Ninja Gaiden, Star Fox, Nintendogs+Cats for the casuals)… wow.
The presentation for the 3DS was phenomenal, and the high point of all of E3. There was sadly no way to show the 3D effect without experiencing yourself, but showing peoples’ impressions after the conference (people in the conference room got to try it) was a great thing, and was highly positive.
Overall
Now THAT’S how you do a conference at E3. Non-stop news and badass gameplay trailers. And the lack of Cammie Dunaway was a HUGE improvement from the last years’ keynotes. Strangely the Vitality Sensor was missing… that was weird, though understandable considering what was shown… And frankly who cares about the Vitality Sensor?
Sony
Expectations
Well, I expected mostly talk about Move, and maybe a cool new game announcement or 2. A lot was already announced before, so new stuff wasn’t what I expected. What I did NOT expect was that this would be the worst conference at this year’s E3.
Opening
The conference was opened with a presentation of Killzone 3 (there was some idle talking at the start, which doesn’t matter). I guess it was an okay presentation, though I found KZ2 to be a rather boring game. This looks like the same thing, but with different environments. Though the jetpack looks kinda interesting.
3D
There’s like 15 minutes of Sony talking about how they’re the first and ONLY console to do 3D… guess they missed the NES 25 years ago (Rad Racer) and Nintendo’s Conference (Nintendo doing 3D BETTER). So much talk about 3D, yet there was no substance whatsoever… It was a big waste of time.
And then there was a boring trailer montage. That’s not the only one here.
Move
After about 20 minutes of NOTHING, they finally showed Move, for almost an hour. They showed off Sorcery (which doesn’t look great, but seems better than any Move game I’ve seen for now), Tiger Woods which seems to be just as precise as the one on Wii (maybe even less, the person demonstrating it had lots of trouble playing) and Heroes on the Move (mixing Sly, Ratchet, Clank, Jak and Daxter) though no gameplay was shown making it pointless.
That was incredibly dull. It ended with them showing how overpriced the Move is. If you already have the PSEye, it’s 50$ for the Move itself, and 30$ for the nunchuk knockoff… Why did people applaud for this? That’s horrible pricing… I mean, 320$(+ tax) if you want enough for 4 players? And even more if you don’t have the camera? And no packed-in game unless you get the bundle with the camera? That’s bullshit. That makes the rumored price point for Kinect of 150$ sound reasonable, since you only have to buy one of them.
And it was very long-winded considering it had no noticeable improvements over the Wiimote…
The PSP part
What’s with that ad campaign? It’s really bad, and here I thought the Move commercials were bad. I have no idea why they wanted to show off that terrible ad campaign and I hope they get rid of it. After that a few trailers with barely any gameplay for a few PSP games are shown, and it’s time to talk about something else. Good thing the whole PSP segment wasn’t too long, since it was really boring.
The PS3 part
They start of the PS3 part with LittleBigPlanet 2, which is nice. They showed various features of the game, and it looked good and a lot deeper than the first one.
Then they revealed Playstation Plus, a service costing 50$ a month which gives access to free games/avatars/other stuff, as well as discounts on games. The downside? Well, if you cancel your subscription, you lose access to any free things you got during your subscription… that’s pretty bad. And people applauded anyways.
After that, it became dull again. Medal of Honor which was shown in a previous conference more in detail, Dead Space 2 got a small but unconvincing gameplay demo, then a small Portal 2 trailer with barely any gameplay, then… I missed the part about FFXIV (sorry), then a boring thing about Assassin’s Creed, finally a release date for Gran Turismo 5 (does anyone even care anymore? doesn’t seem that much better than Forza 3 considering the extra dev time), a cinematic trailer for inFamous 2 and the big “surprise”, a new Twisted Metal game that looks pretty good (but didn’t we know about this already?).
Overall
The big problem with this was that it was almost 2 hours long, and it was almost all padding. It wasn’t interesting to look at, there were barely any announcements, and when they showed games they almost always showed cinematic trailers rather than gameplay trailers, which is really not a good thing, and there were almost no gameplay demonstrations.
Though the opening was okay, it was all downhill from there. The only saving grace of the conference was Twisted Metal, which looks like a nice twist on the franchise.
Oh, and, on the internet side of things, it was very unstable. Lag all the time, streams not working properly, it was very bad in that aspect… I had to switch streams like 5 times because it kept fucking up.
Winner
This is clear, there is no doubt about it. If there was a “winner” in regards to conferences, it is Nintendo. The most interesting conference by far. No time wasted anywhere in there, they just went from badass announcement to badass announcement. There were some big surprise, and everything they showed (other than NBA Jam) gave us a great look at the gameplay. There was a nice balance between casual games and “core” games too. And the official reveal of the 3DS was incredible. They found the best way possible to present this new handheld, with its wii-level graphics, 3D with no glasses, a bunch of game announced for it, and of course the super surprising reveal of Kid Icarus Uprising. I mean, no one was expecting that. The other conferences felt rather pointless.
Though Ubisoft gets an honorable mention for announcing Rayman Origins, that looks awesome. And seeing Kinect in action in more detail than last year was really nice too, I am a bit more interested than before.
Nintendo, you HAVE to keep kicking this much ass. Sony/Microsoft/EA/Ubisoft/anyone else who wants to do an E3 conference: look at what Nintendo did this year… seriously. Learn from how bad the other conferences were and how awesome the Nintendo conference was.
Though, with all that said, we must not forget that E3 is a Trade Show. It’s made to show investors what will make them money. The conferences aren’t exactly made to be interesting to gamers. Which kinda sucks.
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If you want to see some J-Rock on Rock Band, go on jrockrevolution.com and vote for the bands you’d like to see, either as official Rock Band downloads, or on the new Rock Band Network!
You can vote for up to 10 bands. You can also vote multiple times for one band if you want to. For example, I put in 4 votes for Maximum The Hormone since they’re so damn badass
Since there’s been literally no news on Rock Band Japan since it was announced, it’s great to see that someone is doing something to get some Japanese music on there for everyone to play.
]]>But I wasn’t expecting such a low number of note-worthy releases. PS3, Xbox 360, PSP and PC get no interesting exclusive releases, so we’re left with just a few interesting multi-platform releases, 3 DS releases(including 1 japanese release), and 2 Wii releases. A very slow month indeed.
It might be a small month, but still, come and check what are the interesting games coming in April 2010!
As usual, Multiplatform releases first, ordered by date, and if the game is a japanese release it is marked accordingly.
Read on!
*EDIT: Monster Rancher DS was removed from the list due to it being delayed to July 2010, After Burner Climax was added*
*ANOTHER EDIT: Trauma Team delayed to May*
*YET ANOTHER EDIT: Dementium 2 delayed to May*
MULTIPLATFORM RELEASES
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction 4/13 Xbox 360, PC
To be totally honest, I never played a Splinter Cell game before, so I have no idea what to expect from this. But the gameplay videos I’ve seen of this one look really cool. I’m definitely keeping an eye out for it.
Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse — Episode 1: The Penal Zone 4/18 PC, PS3, MAC
And it’s time for more Sam & Max! I sadly missed on season 2, but this one still seems quite interesting, having the trademark weird humor the series is known for. Definitely an interesting release, and this time PS3 owners are part of the fun too, with the game being available on PSN in addition to the PC and MAC releases.
After Burner Climax 4/21 on Xbox 360, 4/22 on Playstation 3
It’s After Burner!! Yeah, the classic shooter from Sega got a revival in 2006 at the arcades, and now the arcade version is FINALLY coming over to consoles. The game looks great, and really fast-paced. Definitely can’t wait to play it!
Super Street Fighter IV 4/27 PS3, Xbox 360
It’s Street Fighter, so of course it gets a new version. This will surely be good… since it was good last year! There’s some pretty good upgrades though. Some characters get new moves, there’s some rebalancing, there’s a bunch of new additions to the roster, Makoto is there… Should be worth checking out for big fans of SFIV, or people who skipped on SFIV the first time, since it’s gonna be cheaper than a new game (a bit less than 40$ on Amazon).
Record of Agarest War 4/27 PS3, Xbox 360
Okay… from what I understand it’s an RPG, with an SRPG battle system, utilizing 2D sprites in a 3D environment… But when I search around for info, ALL I find is pictures like the one above… like this, or this. It looks kinda interesting from the little gameplay I’ve seen, and it seems to have cool battle animations and such, but I really don’t know much about it… I’ll give it a rental.
NIER 4/27 PS3, Xbox 360
I have no idea what this is. I’ve heard about it a bit, but not much. Then I heard something about the 360 and PS3 getting different versions(Replicant on PS3 and Gestalt on the 360), then I hear that the US gets the same version(Gestalt) on both systems… I’m not really sure what’s going on… It’s an action game, I don’t know if it has RPG elements… It’s published by Square Enix. And it’s developed by those guys who made the Resident Evil on-rail shooters for wii, that piece of shit Drakengard on PS2 and the pretty good Fate/Stay fighting game on PSP… Really not sure about this.
Final Fight: Double Impact 4/30 PS3, Xbox 360
Ah, Final Fight. One of the veterans of the Beat ‘em Up genre, and also one of the better representations of the genre. It’s coming to XBLA and PSN, with various visual options, some new filters and such. The title is Double Impact, so it’s not alone. It’s accompanied by Magic Sword, a lesser known but still very good arcade classic by Capcom. A nice little compilation, though hopefully the price isn’t too high.
No More Heroes: Eiyuutachi no Rakuen 4/15 Xbox 360, PS3 (JAPANESE RELEASE)
Currently not announced for an American release. No More Heroes was a fairly good game on the Wii. Not incredible, and it had some huge flaws, but the really good parts (AKA the boss battles) were definitely something to behold. Now people can experience it on the more powerful consoles… in Japan at least.
WII RELEASES
Monster Hunter Tri 4/20
I don’t really like Monster Hunter. I think it was the slow combat style that didn’t feel too good to me. This one seems very similar to the ones I’ve played. But its a hugely popular series, so if you’re curious it’s definitely worth checking out. And it comes with a Classic Controller Pro which is pretty cool.
DS RELEASES
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 4/28 (JAPANESE RELEASE)
The first Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker was pretty good. I’d say not exactly as good as the original Dragon Quest Monsters, but still really fun. I actually haven’t heard about this one until… just now. This should be good, and it’s sure to sell a shitload just because its Dragon Quest. Not exactly an import-friendly game, but an interesting release nonetheless.
AH yes, Capcom milking something that hasn’t really been milked since the early 90s. After the success(and awesomeness) of Mega Man 9, it was no surprise that people wanted more, and Capcom never misses the opportunity to make easy money.
Since the fans loved it so much, myself included, this game goes back to the NES style of Mega Man games again. Cover art and all. Yeah, I really love that cover art… The game features nostalgic graphics, nostalgic music and nostalgic gameplay.
Does it hold of as well as Mega Man 9, or should have Capcom stopped milking the cow already?
Read on and see!
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Date of Release: March 1st 2010 (Wii), March 11st 2010 (PS3), March 31st 2010 (360), Wii version reviewed
Platforms: Wii, PS3, Xbox 360
Genre: Side-scrolling Platformer
Players: 1
Rated E for Everyone
Presentation
Well, the graphics are just like the NES games, and MM9. It looks great. The sprites and areas are nicely detailed, while always retaining the 8-bit NES style. Each area is unique, containing different visual styles and level elements for each. There’s really not much to say here. If you like the NES look, you’ll love this.
The sound is good. Again, most of the sound effects are taken from the NES games, though the weapons mostly have new sounds. All of those retain the NES-like sounds. The most important though, in any Mega Man game (in regards to presentation at least), is the music. The menu music and such is okay, but not stellar.
As for the level music, let’s go at them quickly one by one. Blade Man is okay, but lacks anything really good and the composition is rather flat. Solar Man’s music is really cool. It starts out rather bland, but it picks up the pace and becomes fast and exciting, with something of a double pedal sound in the backing, making it one of the more interesting tunes in here. Pump Man’s music is kinda slow and doesn’t really “climax”, and overall it’s okay but short and not too exciting. Commando Man’s music sounds pretty cool. I find it a bit slow paced, but I think it fits to mood nicely. The music in Chill Man’s level sounds appropriately winter-ish, but it kinda lacks character, and doesn’t feature many instruments, making it more bland than it could be. Sheep Man’s music has that “electronic” sound to it, being an electric-themed stage, and it sounds pretty good, with a nice tone and melody. Strike Man has some music that’s high on energy and quite fun to listen to, quite fitting with the level’s sports-theme. Nitro Man has another nice fast-paced tune with a good melody, and I quite like this one. The final levels, after beating the Robot Masters, also have a few nice tunes. Overall, the music quality isn’t bad, but there’s nothing really memorable.
Finally, a quick passing note on the story. The story here involves multiple robots, including Roll, catching Roboenza, a virus that only affects robots and almost renders them useless, and, after a couple weeks, turns them violent. Doctor Wily turns up at Dr Light’s lab, after his flying machine has been destroyed by berzerk robots, saying he had almost found a cure, but had his medicine-making machine stolen from him, so Mega Man goes to find it, with Proto Man tagging along since he thinks Mega Man might need his help. The story is superficial, as with all Mega Man games, but it’s still has that old-school fun factor to it.
Gameplay
Well, the game retains the same gameplay as the NES classics, has the same jumping and shooting mechanics. The shop is back from 9 so you can farm screws to fill up on lives and E-tanks when you want. And this game adds real-time weapon change, with the A and B buttons on the WiiMote, and I think L and R on the Classic Controller/Ps3 and 360 controllers.
Bosses/levels
Each level features some unique elements. Of course Sheep Man’s level has the trademark disappearing blocks, and Chill Man has slippery grounds, but each has some really interesting ideas that make them all rather unique. Most of them will have elements that will completely change the platforming, like speeding trucks in Nitro Man’s level, or that tether thing in Blade Man’s level, for example. Some of the levels also have mini-bosses, and I’ll say that the ones here are actually quite interesting, and overall I find them really fun to fight. The giant goal in Strike Man’s level is really quite interesting, though a bit easy if you have the right weapon. Each boss is also completely different, and I’ll say there’s some really cool fights here. Trying to find each boss’ weakness without reading about it before is quite fun, if not a little bit easy. Trying to figure out Blade Man is REALLY tough but totally satisfying since his pattern is so fast and random and adaptive of your behavior. Finding the best ways to avoid Solar Man’s attacks is hard but quite fun. Easily killing Sheep Man is fun too, and avoiding several of Nitro Man’s attacks requires precision jumps. A few of the fights aren’t as great, but overall I think they did a good job with the bosses.
Weapons
After killing a boss, you get his weapon, of course. The weapons here are not too bad. There’s a few good ones.
The Water Shield is one of the more interesting shields in the series.
The Thunder Wool basically creates a little wall of electricity in front of you(after around 2 seconds), shielding you from certain attacks and dealing good damage (though it’s hard to aim properly).
The Triple Blade you get from Blade Man can hit up to 3 times at once if you’re close enough to your target, and doesn’t use that much weapon energy compared to the other weapons.
The Commando Bomb can be remote controlled to go where you want (though your character moves as you move the missile, so be careful).
The Cutting Wheel moves across the floor and on the walls which is cool, and it stays attached to Mega Man’s (or Proto Man’s) arm until you release the button, so it can act as a shield, and it can be used to climb walls too.
The Rebound Striker can be shot either in front of you or diagonally, and it bounces off walls a few times too, making it quite useful in the right situations.
The Solar Blaze isn’t really great though, basically shooting a fireball then splitting in 2 fire waves on each side, which does no more damage than the buster.
The Chill Spikes are… not too great, unless you use it on an enemy that might walk on the spikes those produce (you can’t shoot again until something touches the spikes).
My big problem is that most of the weapons use a LOT of weapon energy. The Thunder Wool can only be shot a few times before being empty, as does the Rebound Ball, and the other weapons get empty relatively fast as well. The only weapon that can be used a bit more is the Triple Blades, which is a good thing since they’re really good.
Difficulty
The game is hard. It’s not cheap hard like most modern “hard” games, it’s “Nintendo hard”. Your first time through most levels will probably kick your ass, but you’ll eventually learn how to pass the tougher sections with trial and error. There’s a few areas that are more annoying than hard, but they’re relatively rare. The mini-bosses are also pretty tough, especially in Strike Man’s level, but learning the patterns will eventually get you through them without getting hit. The boss battles range from really easy (sheep man) to really hard (Blade Man), and most bosses will require more than one try to finally get their pattern and beat them easily…. or learning their weakness (which you should do on your own rather than looking it up online). Overall it’s quite a hard game, but I’d say not exactly as hard as Mega Man 9, since I got to the end a lot faster than 9.
The game features an easy mode. This changes quite a few things: some enemies are removed or replaced, some enemies don’t have the same attacks, some pitfalls/spikes are covered by flying platforms, some “puzzles” are changed completely like the disappearing block part in Sheep Man’s level, and the game is a LOT more generous on lives, E-tanks and screws. The levels also all have, 2-3 times each, an item appearing that fully heals all your life bar, sometimes right before boss battles. The bosses are also a bit easier, mostly featuring easier to avoid attacks. While this mode is almost useless for veteran Mega Man players (though it’s required to play to unlock all the challenges), newer gamers who are used to having their hand held through a game will definitely have a much easier  and probably more pleasant time with the game if they start out on easy mode.
Extra stuff
Here, you can play as Proto Man without having to pay extra, unlike in MM9. Here, he plays just like in MM9. He can slide, charge his weapon, he holds up his shield when jumping (unless he’s shooting) which stops almost any projectile that touches it. On the downside, he can only have 2 shots on the screen at once instead of Mega Man’s 3 shots, and he takes more damage. And here he has access to the shop unlike MM9, though it doesn’t have the same inventory as in Mega Man’s, and stuff costs more. Overall he’s pretty fun to play as.
Here, the game features 2 types of challenges. Just like in MM9, the “Challenge 2″ section is basically achievements. There’s a lot fewer than in MM9, but all the “important” ones are there. The “Challenge 1″ section is actually a relatively big amount of challenge rooms. Most of them require getting to the end of the room without dying, using pixel-perfect precision jumps, and various other things. This actually makes you get used to the game’s various jumping mechanics and puzzles in the game. There’s also boss fights and such here. It’s a really nice addition.
Like MM9, this features a Time Attack mode, where you try to finish levels as fast as possible, with all access to all weapons, with only 1 life. When you’re done, you can post your time on the leaderboards, and you can save a replay of your run. This is REALLY cool, because, if you save your replay, your recording becomes available online and people can watch it straight from the leaderboards. That way you can look at other people’s runs, to find out little tricks and such. This is a cool feature, for sure.
Overall
Mega Man 9 was the perfect revival for the 8-bit classic Mega Man. This is just Capcom milking the idea of making old style Mega Man games since it sells so well. It doesn’t feel like they put as much effort in this one than they did in Mega Man 9. But don’t get me wrong, this is still a really good entry. Damn good.
But overall it’s quite fun. The platforming is good, the boss battles are interesting and require really learning how to fight them, there’s some really challenging parts and it’s overall really fun to play. Being able to choose 2 distinct characters from the start is good, though being able to unlock Bass would be a LOT better than having to buy him.
The Easy mode makes levels almost too easy to veteran gamers, but newcomers will definitely like it more.
Overall, any Mega Man fan should check it out, and people new to the series should check it out too because of Easy Mode.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Fun retro gameplay
- Looks great
- Sounds good
- There’s a few quite good music tracks in here
- It’s hard
- The “Easy mode” makes this a perfect for beginner Mega Man players
- Being able to watch other peoples’ Time Attacks online is really a nice feature, you can learn quite a few cool tricks
- Challenge mode is fun
Cons
- The music is nowhere near as good as in MM9
- Some parts are just annoying rather than challenging
- The weapons aren’t the the best in the series, though there’s some really cool ones
- Bass is downloadable rather than unlockable, which is really stupid
The Save Factor
Despite not being as good an entry as Mega Man 9, it’s still a solid game and is well worth the 1000 Wii Points it costs. So $10 is the Save Factor here!
There’s lots of good releases, a few that aren’t too great, but overall it seems like it should be a really good month. Let’s go and see what March has in store for us gamers, shall we?
As usual, the multi-platform releases are toghether, the exclusive releases are in their own sections, and japanese releases are marked accordingly.
Read on!
MULTIPLATFORM RELEASES
Mega Man 10 3/01 on Wii, 3/11 on PS3, 3/31 on Xbox 360
Probably the month’s biggest release for me. I’m always in for some old-school Mega Man 8-bit action. Not sure why there’s super delayed releases for the PS3 and Xbox 360 (seriously… 30 days later on the 360? Why?), but I’m very excited for this, so I’ll probably get it on Wii. And the easy mode might make the game a lot more accessible to casual gamers, or modern gamers who are used to games holding their hands too much.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 3/02 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Another sequel to the popular franchise. To me it’s just a generic war FPS, but I’m sure lots of people are hyped for it, and from what I’ve seen it looks decent.
Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition 3/09 (PS3, Xbox 360)
A new edition of RE5. The DLC comes in it, and there’s some new content as well. Not really what is new in it though. But if you loved the first version and want to see the new stuff, or haven’t played it and want to try it out, this should be well worth getting.
Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space 3/09 (Wii, PC)
Sam & Max, season 2. Made by TellTale games, this continues the famous duo’s quest of… hum… being incredibly weird and random. Should be well worth checking out for fans of the first season. Which reminds me, I should finish that first season someday…
Final Fantasy XIII 3/09 (PS3, Xbox 360)
One of the most awaited games in a long time. And one I’m quite hyped for, despite the kinda negative opinions we hear from japanese players. It still looks quite good, the combat looks fun, and I doubt it will really disappoint. To me it looks like a step up from 12. And it’s been in development for a really long time, SE can’t really have screwed it up too much, right? RIGHT?
Resonance of Fate 3/16 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Tri-Ace’s latest RPG. I actually have no idea what this game is like. It’s probably gonna have underwhelming sales because it comes out a week after FFXIII, but it might still be an interesting game… since it’s from Tri-Ace. I’ll definitely give it a try sometime.
Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening 3/16 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
An expansion to the critically acclaimed  Dragon Age Origins. From what I’ve heard it adds quite a bit of content, so fans of the game should really enjoy it.
METRO 2033 3/16 (PC, Xbox 360)
I only saw one gameplay video for this… And I really am not impressed with what I’ve seen. Looks like it will be a boring generic FPS, with no online and little content. But I might be wrong, and might rent it if I have nothing else to do one day(and if the reviews are higher than I expect them to be). I know there’s a bit of hype on the internet for this, so I’ve added it to this list…
R.U.S.E. 3/23 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
This looks like a really fun RTS with some cool quirks and it seems to use different tactics than other RTS out there. I definitely want to give this one a try.
Just Cause 2 3/23 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
I know nothing about that one. Nor have I heard of the previous game in the series. This looks like the average open-world game where you can cause any kind of chaos you might want. I’ll probably rent it, but I don’t have very high expectations from what I’ve seen.
Grand Theft Auto IV: Episodes from Liberty City 3/30 (PC, PS3)
Finally the PC and PS3 get the 2 expansion packs for the popular GTAIV. I didn’t really like GTAIV, but lots of people have, and this is a long awaited release for people who don’t have a 360.
Hokuto Musou 3/25 (JAPANESE RELEASE) (PS3, Xbox 360)
(wow, the boxart looks just like Just Cause 2′s… yay for originality?)
A Fist of the North Star(Hokuto no Ken) game, which plays similarly to Dynasty Warriors… With more exploding heads probably. Definitely sounds like an interesting idea. Hopefully there’s gonna be an American release one day.
Wii RELEASES
Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon 3/16
From what I understand, this is a sort of Survival Horror game, with anime visuals. I know nothing about it, but I know it’s quite hyped in the Wii’s “core” community.
Cave Story (on WiiWare) 3/22
It’s been delayed so much no one though it would finally come, but there it is. Unless something goes wrong again, you’ll be able to get your Cave Story action on Wii on March 22nd.
Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love 3/23
There’s also a PS2 release coming, though I didn’t list it here… Anyways, this is a strategy RPG where you control mechs, as well as a visual novel-like game it seems (which affects stats in battle). I’m not exactly sure what it’s gonna be like, but the fact that it’s the first Sakura Wars game to make it to the US makes it an interesting release. Should be worth at least checking out.
Red Steel 2 3/23 (found a second release date saying 3/26 with a WiiMotion Plus)
The first Red Steel was a pretty lame FPS. This one apparently makes use of the WiiMotion Plus to correct the original’s shortcomings. Though I have no idea if it really adds much, I have yet to play it so I have not much to comment in that sense. But I definitely want to check that one out someday.
PLAYSTATION 3 RELEASES
Yakuza 3 3/09
(I can’t be the only one not to like this boxart…)
A quite interesting release on the PS3 release. It’s a very loved series, and I know quite a few people who are hyped for it. It was still unsure for a while if it was even gonna come out in America, but there it is.
God of War III 3/16
God of War. The lower tier in the action game genre that was spawned by Devil May Cry. Featuring pathetic QTEs, one of the lamest characters in all of gaming, and boring(though good-looking) combat, it’s an example of everything that sucks in modern gaming. Yet people can’t do anything but be excited for it. I.. don’t get it. But this is a very hyped game that will generate a lot of sales, I won’t deny that. Whatever it is people like about this series, this one will have it all, and fans won’t be disappointed, that’s for sure… Since it’s exactly the same gameplay-wise as the first game, just technically better-looking.
Ryu ga Gotoku 4 3/18 (JAPANESE RELEASE)
Well, just as we get the third game in the Yakuza series over here, the fourth one comes out in Japan. Nice…
XBOX 360 RELEASE
Perfect Dark 3/02 (this comes out on the XBLA)
Well, I just found out that this was coming. I don’t know how I missed that either, since Perfect Dark is by far my favorite console FPS. This is a remake of the original on the N64. This has updated graphics, but the same old gameplay, which I think is awesome(I don’t think any modern console FPS has better gameplay than this… but that’s just me). It also has some cool online implementation which enables more than the usual 4 people in one match, in combination with split-screen play (so you can have 4 people in split-screen playing with more people online at the same time). OH, and it has multiplayer maps from Goldeneye 007 as well, awesome.
PC RELEASE
Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight 3/16
I almost forgot about that one. A new Command and Conquer game! Should be good, I might check it out someday.
DS RELEASES
Sonic Classic Collection 3/02
This includes all 4 Genesis Sonic games. 1, 2, 3 and Sonic & Knuckles (pretty sure it includes Sonic 3 and Knuckles too). It’s a nice little collection, and in total should cost just a bit less than getting all 4 games seperately on the Wii Virtual Console(hopefully, otherwise there’s no sense in buying it). Though there are so many compilations of this, some with MORE games, it might not be really worth it.
Spectral Force Genesis 3/11
Not sure what this is exactly, but from screenshots it seems like it might be a Strategy RPG… For some reason the name sounded familiar, so it’s on the list.
Pokemon HeartGold and Pokemon SoulSilver 3/14
More Pokemon! Yay! This one comes with the PokeWalker accessory, which enables you to carry a pokemon around to make it gain experience. And it’s a remake of the best pokemon games in the main series. Cool stuff.
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey 3/23
From various info I’ve found this sounds a bit like Nocturne, which is pretty cool. Though it takes on a more futuristic theme this time. One game I definitely want to check out.
WarioWare D.I.Y. 3/28
I don’t like WarioWare. Not my thing really. But fans of the series can now make their own WarioWare mini-games, which I’m sure they’re very excited for. Heck, even I want to check it out, see what the various options are in here. (This is also getting a release on WiiWare)
Monster Rancher DS 3/30 (I see multiple release dates for this one including April 1st, so if I need to I’ll mention it again in my April 2010 post)
WHOA!!!! FINALLY!!!! I’ve been hoping for this for a long time. This is the second Monster Rancher game on the DS in japan, but the first never came out here, and it’s some kind of miracle that this one is coming here at all (with Tecmo thinking the fanbase is too small for the game). I can’t wait to play this one, I played the hell out of the GBA games in the series.
PSP RELEASES
Lunar: Silver Star Harmony 3/02
Another remake of Lunar. There’s been multiple versions of this very same game, though the one I played was on GBA. This features new upgraded graphics and… I don’t know what else really. RPG gamers who haven’t played any of this game’s millions of versions might want to check it out, and older fans of the game might like to revisit it in an upgraded format.
Blazblue Portable 3/09
This features new modes and new unlimited versions of characters, but otherwise it’s the same BlazBlue we know and love… with downgraded graphics.
Zettai Hero Kaizou Keikaku 3/11 (JAPANESE RELEASE) (currently known as “Absolute Hero Modding Project” in english)
Nippon Ichi’s newest game is coming out in Japan! It features incredible customization, dungeon-crawling gameplay, lots of content and it looks to have Disgaea’s trademark humor style. I won’t be playing the japanese release, since it seems to have way too much japanese text for me to handle, but people with good japanese skills who are NIS fans should definitely check it out.
Prinny 2: Toukou Yuugi! Akatsuki no Pantsu Daisakusensu!! 3/25 (JAPANESE RELEASE)
MORE NIS GOODNESS! This one features similar gameplay to the first, with some modifications, and a new “Asagi mode” with Contra-like gameplay(or at least that’s what the screenshots lead me to believe). I definitely can’t wait for the American release for that, but people who are too impatient should have little trouble playing this language-wise, since it’s a platformer. It’s sure to feature hard as nails gameplay like the first though.
Do you remember Jetpack? Â It was one of those awesome PC games from the first half of the 90s (originally released in 1993, then re-released as a freeware in 1995). Â If the screenshot doesn’t ring any bells for you, Jetpack was your typical puzzle action game at the time. Â This one, and this might or might not surprise you, used a jetpack as its main gameplay element. Â You had to pick up all the green emeralds in a level while avoiding traps and enemies to finally make your exit through a door.
Adept Software is now re-releasing the game officially in Web format, apparently ending “one of the longest Vaporware runs ever, since a sequel had been promised since 1995″.
15 years later, the re-release of Jetpack will include significant enhancements to the classic game, including web play, high-res graphics, remastered sounds and music, and new levels. It will also include a pixelated “retro mode” to let fans reminisce about the original game.
Now, the interesting part is, this being an indie project, the developer is looking for fan-submitted content to be used in the game. Â This will guarantee your name being in the credits, but it will also give you a chance at winning some money.
Prizes A total of $200 will go to the 6 people who create the most content chosen for use in Jetpack. The top 2 will receive $50.00 4 runners-up will receive $25.00
They are looking for level designers, but also graphics, sound effects and music designers, so give your artist side a spin if you feel like it and help out what seems to be an interesting project to get some little experience in game development, if that’s your thing.
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Check the teaser video and interview on Gamespot!
Just the lowdown on it:
HD 3D graphics, side-scrolling gameplay like the originals (though they added the Homing Attack), episodic games (each episode as long as one of the Genesis titles), downloadable, music similar to the Genesis titles, Sonic is the only playable character. Â It’s gonna be on PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii. Wii will have lower definition graphics, outputting only at 480p instead of 1080p on PS3 and 360. PS3 and Wii will have a few segments with motion control.
Well… I’m officially excited for this, can’t wait to try it out.
]]>Continue reading the post to see them!
Helpful hint is helpful?
Arrows go in an arc.
No shit Sherlock!
Dark rooms are back from the first Zelda. But not as dark.
“Sprite” creation looks pretty cool.
Inventory screen.
Huge sword is huge…. but it gets bigger!
I’m guessing that’s a boss fight.
I have to what?
And he gets his own hookshot too.
I’m very hyped up for this, can’t wait to play it. Any gamer who doesn’t think this looks great needs to get his eyes and probably his brain checked.
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