If you have the televison network G4 i would keep you tv tuned to G4, because they have coverage for E3 all of today (7/14/08)
I just finished watching the Microsoft event, so I'll try to sum it up from memory - please correct me if I'm wrong or forgot anything: Overall Microsoft's event was, overall, an assertion that they are the best of the best, and that their lineup of games, both hardcore and family friendly, and their great online service will ensure that the 360 stays the system to own. Gaming Front, Overall A large majority of the presentation was the demonstration of upcoming games, as well as release dates and a few new Xbox Live announcements. Several new games have had their exact release date pinned, including Fallout 3, Fable 2, The Last Remnant, Resident Evil 5 and Gears of War 2. Several of these games also had live demos of current, near-final or final builds, but the release dates are what really sold a lot of the games, at least for me... Fallout 3 A trailer was released for the highly anticipated game, starting off with a hilariously retro introduction on the Vault-Tec corporation, the company that has allowed people to seek refuge in their vaults in the case of a nuclear war. The screen zooms out to reveal the present, a completely devistated future where the tall buildings of future Washington D.C are but a remnant of their glory. The gameplay remains extremely similar to the creator's previous game, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, so much as even having similar animations and character models. Really, the entire game looks to be a futuristic Oblivion, where your swords and spells have been replaced mostly with guns and more guns. Various playstyles are promised, but that of a gunner was only shown. A unique semi-real time system was shown that allows you to queue various moves to body parts, allowing you to shoot someone in the leg, then in the head, or different variations to increase your tactical prowess. Of course, real time combat is allowed, too, but the move queue system seems to be the way to go. The trailer ends with the remnants of the government coming down on the player, and the player killing them with a mini-nuke. Awesome, but the entire thing looks to be just Oblivion all over again. Fable 2 Really, if you've been keeping up on Peter and Fable 2 in general, there's nothing new here - the opening has the player crapped on by a bird, the player's gender being option, the dog companion, and cooperative play - with the exception of a unique, instant player recruitment. Your friends are represented by little orbs when they're playing a single-player game, and you can interact with the orb to invite them into your game. Beyond that, it's the typical "Peter builds up Fable 2 to be awesome" showing. Let's just hope that this game isn't a complete letdown. Oh, there's also a release date for October of this year. Coolio. Resident Evil 5 I've been waiting for this forever now, and I'm extremely disappointed. You play as Chris in Africa to investigate a new biohazard under a new organization, along with a female counterpart that can be played by a friend online - online co-op. The single-player alternative wasn't explained at all, which, as the second player was needed for a obstacle, I'm extremely pissed that I don't know how that's going to go down when you don't have a Xbox Live account. Anyways. Graphics are good, but zombie animations are taken from RE4. Period. Like, "Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V = RE5" taken. And there's a chainsaw person, though that wasn't a big surprise. It looks to be literally more of the same, so I'm now really debating buying this. Release date is Friday the 13th, March of next year. Oh yeah!!! Gears of War 2 A demo of the new gameplay, featuring no exceedingly new features, other than a more expansive backdrop and the meat shield element, where you can grab an enemy and use them to soak up damage. Cool. Otherwise, there doesn't appear to be anything new, other than a new announced mode that pits you against eternal waves of foes. Yippe for extremely little information. And, if I recall correctly, the game should be coming out this year. Xbox Live A lot of new content is being added, including several new movie and studio partnerships, but the two biggest 'innovations' are the new interface that, while said to be easier to navigate, is an extreme departure from the last interface, and 'avitars,' effectively more detailed Mii's for use in a few new Xbox Live features and the new "Scene It?" game. I don't have Xbox Live, so I'm angry at all of the innovation and exclusive content, but it appears to be an improvement, nevertheless. Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero 4 They're coming out this year, and they feature 80+ songs each. GH4 offers a custom song creator and not-really-exlusice-as-RB2-has-it-too Metallica music, while RB2 features backwards compatibility with the previous game and an estimated 500 song library by the end of the year, including exclusive AC/DC content and a single debut from Guns 'n Roses. Guess which game I'm rooting for? Square-Enix Fanboy Extravaganza Three new games are coming out - The Last Remnant, an original title that is coming out this year, Star Ocean: Subtitle unknown due to Square's President's horrible English, an anticipated sequel to a well established series, and Infinite Undiscovery, a game with no real information on it... ... what's this? A FF XII trailer? Yup, Final Fantasy Thirteen is coming to the Xbox 360. I thought it already was, but, hey, more consoles equals more accessibility/money, right? Other, relatively minor (in my eyes), announcements include: Lips, a karaoke game that allows you to plug in your MP3 player and sing along without the lyrics. Banjo-Kazooe (Spelling? Sorry XD): Nuts and Bolts, a long awaited sequel to the cult classic. Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (or something to that effect), a sequel. You're In the Movies, finally giving you the chance to make hilariously B-Movie movies via annoying, pointless mini-games. Family fun, no more, definitely less. Okay, that's it, I'm tired of this - sorry if my coverage is bad, but that's what I remember and I don't feel like going upstairs to watch the long presentation again for better information. Nintendo and Sony are tomorrow, and hopefully, Sony will do better this year than last year. Nintendo had better not use 17 slideshows, too. Overall thoughts? lol^4 at live performance by Duffy, an extremely untalented singer, who sounds like a tone-deaf cemetery inhabitant. I FORGOTTED! Portal: Still Alive - the expansion pack for the best PC game EVA. It is not a sequel, as it just is featuring more maps, so until they have another game with another protagonist and another awesomely hilarious plot, Still Alive is an expansion pack, not a full blown sequel. And, tomorrow, I'll actually take down notes during the presentation to provide an actual summery, rather than disjointed comments.
I came back in the middle of that performance and though it was just a random amateur or something showing off a game, didn't realize it was an actual "artist". Man she was bad... I also laughed at the Resident Evil 5 presentation when the players weren't moving fast enough and sort of got yelled at, never did get to see the last part of the demo.
Microsoft did a great press confeence .. enjoyed it! but hated the part when ffXIII trailer was shown... heres why: Sony Playstation 3 fans' burning question to Square-Enix: WHY?! Well if you've just tuned in the E3 madness (WHY?!), Square-Enix announced earlier during Microsoft's press conference that they will be releasing Final Fantasy XIII for the Xbox 360 as well. Formerly exclusive to the Sony Playstation 3, this will be the first single-player Final Fantasy experience on Microsoft's console, after Final Fantasy XI's debut during the early stages of the 360. Square-Enix producer Yoshinori Kitase and executive Shinji Hashimoto conducted a 45-minute Q&A session to answer some questions (via MTV Multiplayer): http://e3.g4tv.com/e32008/blog/post/687044/SquareEnix_QA_About_Final_Fantasy_XIII_360_Announcement.html#readmore
In Nintendo's Conference, they just announced GTA IV: Chinatown Wars and a new Pokemon Ranger both for the DS. Plus a new attachment for the Wii Mote called the Motion Plus, it enhances the Wii Mote's accuracy and performance. Also to be released is Wii Sports: Resort, which will come packaged with the Motion Plus, and another new title Wii Music is set to be released in the future. Sony's Conference should begin shortly.
Waiting for some new updates to the PS3 at sony press conference and hope they get some exclusive games (not like that square enix )
Yeah, im anxious for GOW 3 as well. I'd say Sony had the best presentation out of the three, but Microsoft has the money for me. I need to buy either a 360 or PS3 in November/December and this conference just made me rethink my decision. ???
wii music is questionable. but that peripheral is quite interesting. how much of what they say is believeable?! you can tell that the wii has become a more successful system when a company tries to duplicate the other [i'm referring to the 360's avatar concept]. not only that, but the channel idea?!
I think the reason that nintendo doesn't challenge anyone is because their hardware is in a different type of market from sony or microsoft.
Looks like there's a new Mario and Zelda game in the works for the Wii, as well as a Zelda game for the DS.
