Click here to view the embedded video.

Monster Hunter talk begins at 4:44

I fully expected E3 to come to a close without Capcom so much as uttering the words “monster” and “hunter”.  Yesterday, however, I tuned in for Capcom Unity’s Q & A section of their E3 stream on YouTube.  Christian Svensson, the VP of strategic planning and business development, appeared alongside Snow (of Capcom Unity) to address questions from the audience.

I began feverishly demanding information on Monster Hunter.  Hell, I wasn’t asking anything specific, I was just typing “monster hunter” over and over.  This is YouTube, after all — there is no room for eloquence.  A few others joined in, and wouldn’t you know it, Snow asked Svensson what we can expect from the franchise in the West.  His answer was basically as hopeful as we can expect.

He couldn’t directly confirm that anything was headed our way, but he did say there are “things a’ brewing” when it comes to Monster Hunter.  He also stated that “it’s not a matter of if, but when” concerning more titles headed to Western shores.

The most obvious game we can conclude he is alluding to is Monster Hunter Portable 3rd and its recently announced HD counterpart.  Perhaps an announcement of the game wasn’t ready for this year’s E3, but is close nonetheless.  This distant yet shining bit of hope is all I need to patiently await what I believe to be an eventual announcement from Capcom.  In the meantime, keep your blades sharp and your bowguns loaded.

E3 kicked off Monday with keynote events from both Microsoft and Sony.  I had work during the Microsoft event, however I did watch as Twitter overflowed with comments about Lara Croft’s orgasms, Kinectkinectkinect, and, of course, the leaked announcement of Halo 4.  That is probably all that Microsoft will be remembered for this year (it’s better than Mr. Caffeine, I suppose).

Once I got off work and arrived home I was struck with a thunderous desire for ice cream. So, with 15 minutes before Sony’s presser, I stocked up.  After dishing out heaping scoops of Half Baked I slouched on my futon and watched the whole keynote from beginning to end.  The show started strong, with a rather impressive announcement of a custom Sony made Playstation 3 3D monitor:

This device is Sony’s attempt at making 3D technology more readily available to consumers.  Sorry, early adopters!  The monitor was only announced as part of a bundle for $499.99 which includes:

• 24” LCD HD 1080p 3D Monitor
• 1 pair of 3D glasses ($69.99 MSRP)
• 1 HDMI cable
• 1 copy of Resistance 3

The Playstation monitor also features a unique 2-player feature, sending two different displays to each player’s glasses which eliminates the need for cumbersome split screens.  Sadly, the 3D feature is not compatible with this 2-player mode, meaning each player would see HD 2D.

In the most recent Bit-Speak podcast, our dashing tech savvy host, Mikey, mentions that your money can go further when looking for a quality 3D experience.  Also the likelihood of me purchasing a game in the near future that not only has 3D but also local multiplayer capabilities are pretty low.  Still, a cool piece of tech!

The next noteworthy announcement was the detailing of the NGP, which, as many speculated, was renamed to Playstation Vita.  I don’t hate the name as much as other, more vocal gamers, but I do prefer NGP.  The new name stirs up some memories of taking Latin in highschool…  For instance, some linguistics believe that v’s in Latin are in fact pronounced as w’s.  Hence wine, which actually comes from the word vine, where grapes grow.  So the Vita is actually the Wita.  Boom:

Here are the price specs:

• $249.99 for WiFi version
• $299.99 for 3G version

It was also revealed that AT&T would be the carrier for the system’s 3G coverage. However, no details were given as to cost or contractual requirements.

Eventually a trailer was shown highlighting clips from all the different games currently in development for the PS Vita.  Two titles in particular stand out to me at this time:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Graviti

Graviti is a cell-shaded gravity manipulation game from Team Siren.  You can check out more gorgeous images of it over at the official Playstation page.  Both the gameplay and art direction looks incredible, and it has been confirmed that you can talk to a cat, so… I am sold.  A very impressive, yet relatively undiscussed title for the Vita if there ever was one.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Grand Knights History

This is Vanillaware’s current project for the PS Vita.  Few details are available about gameplay — the battle system reminds me somewhat of Soul Nomad and the World Eaters from what I could gather from this trailer.  In addition to the beautiful sprites, I love the fact that the player can customize their characters.  I wish this feature was in more games!

Shortly after Sony’s keynote, it was announced via the Playstation Blog that the release date for the Ico and Shadows of the Colossus HD collection for the West would be September 27th for $39.99.  Everyone should own this, whether you’ve played these games or not — they are arguably two of the most important titles of the past few generations.  Pre-order now!

Tuesday was Nintendo’s keynote which I managed to catch some of since the event is being continuously re-streamed on Nintendo’s site.

I enjoyed Miyamoto’s celebration of the 25th anniversary of Zelda.  Among all the stuffy marketing and business talk, for the first time during E3 2011, I felt as though a celebration of a beloved series was taking place in front of me.  It was hard not to smile when he pretended to open a chest as the orchestra played the chest-opening jingle we’ve all come to love.

Soon it was announced that The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword would be available this holiday season, along with a promotional gold Wii remote.  Of the numerous Zelda titles announced or discussed, this is the one I am the most interested in.  I recall my Christmas vacation several years ago blasting through Twilight Princess quite fondly, even though it may not have been the greatest Zelda titles to date.  Something about revisiting a new world with familiar elements and characters is comforting, and Nintendo has creating this environment down to a science.

Next the focus became the direction of the 3DS.  A number of new titles from familiar franchises were announced: some ports such as Star Fox 64, others wholly new titles such as Luigi’s Mansion 2.  Naturally, no new IPs to speak of.  It’s becoming clear that however hard you try, Nintendo will not let you go without buying a 3DS.  If, like myself, you don’t own one yet, you are simple delaying the inevitable.  While I know I will need the system eventually, Nintendo’s most recent showings didn’t push me over quite yet.

The games or features that currently have me on the fence include:

• Metal Gear Soild 3DS: Snake Eater: A classic with modern enhancements that make use of every aspect of the 3DS.  The most recent trailer from the Konami press event was what really got me considering purchasing this game.
• 3DS Pokédex: Take pictures of yourself chilling with pokémon?  Best non-game ever.
• Old Games Re-Mastered in 3D: This program has the potential to be awesome, depending of course on the games chosen to be 3D-ified. So far only Excitebike was specifically mentioned, but Nintendo has a huge library of classics to work with.

Finally, Nintendo pulled back the curtain on their HD Project Café, officially named the Wii U.  They began by revealing the much talked about controller:

There is a lot going on in that gizmo, but here are the finer points:

• Expected a 2012 release (sometime after April, I would bet Summer or Holiday).
• Backwards compatible with all Wii titles (uses same size, higher density discs) and peripherals including the Wii Balance Board.
• The controller does feature a front-facing camera as rumored (not shown on the above chart for some reason).
• The screen on the controller may be used in place of a TV, meaning you can watch TV while playing the Wii U (or while someone else watches TV).
• The button arrangement is similar to the Classic Controller Pro, possibly to support more 3rd party and multiplatform games as promised.
• Returning franchises to appear on the console include Pikmin (YAY) and Smash Bros. (meh).
• The Wii U and 3DS are able to communicate in some way, meaning you may need to own the whole Nintendo family for the best Nintendo experience. No details on how this will work at this time, however.

Here is what we don’t know:

• How (or if) Wii owners can transfer their Virtual Console titles to the Wii U.
• The battery situation (it is rumored to be rechargeable).
• Exactly how much internal flash memory the system has.
• Online functionality. Will we see a return of the dreaded friend codes?

All in all, it looks like an interesting device.  Being so unique in comparison to well, any other console or peripherals, I think I may require some quality hands on time with the system before I can conclude whether or not I will add it to my console army.

Click here to view the embedded video.

A hands on demo of Shield Pose, an exclusive Wii U title

That pretty much wraps up the press events for the big three.

While we’re at it (and since this post in a bit late) I figure I might as well cover some other titles — hell, let’s go for a record of longest post ever!

Let’s start with Final Fantasy XIII-2.  It would seem that Square Enix really wants to curry (mmm curry) our favor after the tepid reception of Final Fantasy XIII, as they are really unloading with info about XIII-2.  Here is an extended trailer:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The story takes place after the events of Final Fantasy XIII, or more specifically the events of  Episode i (a novel released only in Japan).  Serah and a new character named Noel Kreiss are on a quest to find Lightning, who is rumored to be dead.  Not much else is known about the story, however it will have a darker, more mysterious tone than its predecessor.

In terms of gameplay, my favorite new feature is that players may recruit enemy monsters to their party to battle alongside them.  There are said to be around 150 and, uh, you have to catch them all (sorry, couldn’t help it).  In the above trailer you may notice Noel being followed by a Moogle at one point.  Yup, that is this system in action.  I have to admit this has always been a dream of mine.  I love a lot of the classic Final Fantasy monsters and feel like they deserve better than always being at the end of a mage masher.

The game is decisively more player-driven as opposed to story-driven.  This was the most important takeaway for the developers from Final Fantasy XIII: gamers don’t want to walk down a straight path; they want choices.  The player will be able to make different decisions as Noel and Final Fantasy XIII-2 will have multiple endings which is a rarity for the series.

Here are a couple more features to note:

• The game will be for both Xbox 360 (3 discs) and PS3 (1 Blu-Ray disc)
• DLC is confirmed

The next game I am excited for is The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim:

Click here to view the embedded video.

This video shows a good deal of combat gameplay, almost entirely from first person.  I was hoping to see some action from the 3rd person POV, but no such luck.  I was also hoping to see something aside from combat, like talking to NPCs or completing a quest. Still, this video gives a good look at the game’s gorgeous environments.  For a more in-depth look at Skyrim, check out this hands-on article by Chris Kohler.

Dark Souls is also getting a lot of coverage at the show.  This stage demo is definitely worth watching.  The demo shows some new enemies, including a charging boar made of metal — I can’t even begin to fathom how one would kill this thing.  The person playing is clearly struggling.  I am not sure if he is simply at a low level for the area or if the promised increase in difficulty has been delivered.

There was some news that suggested the Xbox 360 version of the game has been heavily compressed to fit it onto a single disc.  This makes sense with a game that lacks clear progression.  Finding a good stopping point to switch discs will be challenging.  On an interesting note, the original article by Just Push Start has been taken down after being discussed in various forums.  Perhaps Namco Bandai asked them to remove it?  I will be watching this topic closely.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Dragon’s Crown is another title from Vanillaware which is looking amazing.  It is, however, getting some negative coverage concerning the buxom character designs for the game’s Amazon and Sorceress:

I suppose they are quite exaggerated. I admit I felt a little uncomfortable watching the sorceress’s pendulous anatomy in sprite form. Still, the game looks beautiful.

It was recently announced that Dragon’s Crown will have multiplayer capabilities and is described to be in the vein of Dungeons and Dragons.  In addition to four player online co-op, the game will also have some as-of-yet unannounced means of PS Vita integration.  I suppose this is something that will be increasingly common among PS3 exclusives.  Naturally, I am curious to see what Vanillaware is planning.

Conclusions

Covering E3 without actually being there has proven more challenging and frustrating than I could have imagined, mostly due to an increasingly busy work life coupled with the normal daily responsibilities: I still need to wash clothes, feed myself, and adhere to a reasonable sleeping schedule.  Meanwhile my Twitter feed becomes bloated with news from others actually at E3, eating free food, and schmoozing with developers and whatnot.  Well, I never was much of a schmoozer…

Right, let’s get positive again!

This year’s show has given us a closer look at some exciting titles and technology, ones which may in fact have a large impact on the direction of gaming.  Our concepts of what defines a system or console is changing to encompass a multi-faceted experience.  You need a Vita to fully enjoy your PS3, a 3DS to fully enjoy your Wii U, and a Kinect to look like an idiot in front of your Xbox 360.  While this game plan presents obvious benefits to the big three, I believe the next year will be important to seeing what us gamers actually adopt.  Will we become the all-consuming mass they want, throwing money at everything that plugs into our frankenstein-like consoles? Or will we be more discerning, allowing what actually advances gaming to float to the surface?  I certainly hope for the latter.

Yesterday, Konami live-streamed their pre-E3 press event on their official website.  I was late getting home to watch it and Twitter was already abuzz with some of the more exciting announcements.  Thankfully, Konami still has the whole event available to view on their site here.

The event was something of a Kojima sandwich, with the first and last announcements pertaining to his current projects.  First up was a rather impressive trailer for Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3DS:

Click here to view the embedded video.

I have a hard time getting into all this 3D stuff, but this trailer had me interested at how the various features of the 3DS are utilized.  For instance, new cinematics take advantage of the 3D effects — yeah, that’s a given, but there is more.  Crossing bridges and climbing trees in the game will make use of the 3DS internal gyroscope, requiring the player to steady themselves just like Snake.  If you happen to frequent public transportation this could pertain to you…  Save before you get on the F train ’cause a sudden lurch could drop Snake right into the mouth of a hungry water-gator.  The player may also take photos using the 3DS and convert that photo into camo for Snake.  (In before testicle camouflage!  Come on, we all know it’s gonna happen.)

Then there was some stuff about a soccer game. Yawn.  Next was a trailer for a game called Never Dead.  BRB need a beverage. ZzZzz.

Next, the creator of the Silent Hill series appeared to announce an HD Silent Hill collection containing both Silent Hill 2 and 3.  This is great news for me, as I was planning on playing all the Silent Hills in the series this year.  No word at this time as to what systems the collection will support, but I would guess both PS3 and Xbox 360.

The release of Silent Hill: Downpour has been pushed back from from fall to winter.  To tide fans over until then, a new trailer was released:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Finally, an NPG exclusive Silent Hill title was revealed: Silent Hill: Book of Memories.  Nothing concrete has come out about this title, other than it will be released sometime after the HD collection.

Kojima was back to complete the sandwich with the announcement of a new way to game, called Transfarring:

Yup. We all knew it would happen: Kojima has become drunk with his own power and is now making up words. It’s only a matter of time until he’s naked, living in a movie theater and consuming nothing but candy bars and milk.

So what is Transfarring?  It’s a system Kojima has invented which allows players to manually sync their saves between the PS2 and PSP versions of certain titles.  Which titles, you ask?  The flagship of Kojima’s Transfarring feature is an HD collection of Metal Gear Soild titles, including Metal Gear Solid 2,3, and Peace Walker.  All of which will support Kojima’s Transfarring feature.  It was also announced that this collection will be released for both PS3 and Xbox 360.  Obviously Xbox 360 owners will not be able to take advantage of the benefits of Transfarring.

Unlike the Silent Hill collections, a good amount of info was detailed concerning the Metal Gear Solid collection:

Kojima also tweeted shortly after the event that these titles all have 60 FPS, in case that wasn’t already obvious.  Also, the same team who developed the God of War HD collection will be producing this collection as well.

If that wasn’t exciting enough, Kojima closed by giving us a look at his new Fox engine:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The backgrounds and lighting effects are nothing short of luscious.  I also couldn’t help but look at this brief clip and think of Metal Gear Solid, specifically Snake Eater which took place in a similarly forested environment.  As a huge fan of the series, it’s easy to let my imagination concoct a new Metal Gear title that this engine will support, but hopefully we can expect something at this year’s Tokyo Game Show.  At the very least, we can have high expectations for next year (July 7, 2012), which is the 25th anniversary of Metal Gear.  It looks like Kojima is already gearing up for something…

Konami’s pre-E3 event certainly was not a disappointment, unless you were expecting a new Metal Gear title.  Their lineup is rather heavy on ports and HD collections, but as all of these games are classics worth revisiting, I have no complaints in the matter.  Konami has already given a strong start to E3 — here’s hoping the coming weeks are just as exciting.

The past two years I have attended E3 on my own dime.  It has been something of a pilgrimage for the site: a means of justifying whatever it is that goes on here.  When I am there, I am transformed into someone who matters — my media badge means full access, and for the most part exhibitors assume I’m a big shot.  It feels good.  Nights, I spend half-awake, half-sober, writing thousands of words in an attempt to sum up the last however-many jet-lagged hours.  It’s probably the closest I will ever come to a spiritual trial.

But…as you may know, E3 tightened their requirements of web media for 2011.  Now, they allot passes based on site viewership, so I was only given one pass.  Normally I am accompanied (at least) by my co-founder, Sarah, since it is, in a way, a vacation for us.  Once again: pay our own way + forced to use vacation time = vacation.  So sadly, this year I will be viewing E3 from the much less physically exhausting vantage point of my computer.  Coverage will of course lack hands-on content which is too bad, especially considering the rumbles of new consoles.

So why am I bending your ear with this?  Why should you care?  Well, luckily for you, the times are changing.  No longer is the consumer at the mercy of the producer, at least in terms of information.  No, you’re free to find, support, and follow the sites who you think are most capable and qualified to give you the information you want.  Likewise, you should avoid giving traffic to sites that have let you down in the past.  Now, more than ever, that is a right that should be exercised, because it is having a direct affect on sites like mine.

I don’t mean to downplay the immense support you’ve all shown me already.  A small niche site like mine getting even a single pass this year is huge.  I guess just be aware of who is out there giving you consistently interesting and most importantly factual information and be supportive, even if it isn’t me!  Finally, know that I will be on top of E3 this year, sadly just not a part of it — if you have any ideas for another way I can seek spiritual enlightenment, let me know.

Related Entries:
E3 Coverage 2009-2010

The last day of E3 is only celebrated by the many booth attendants who will no longer be required to hoarsely rattle off the same phrase ninety times an hour.  For me however, it was a sad day, as it means my vacation is drawing to an end.  I left LA on Saturday night, returning to CT where the amazing Japanese food I have been enjoying is much harder to come by.

My last day at the show started with visiting Square Enix’s booth.  I had made an appointment for all of us but they were overbooked so only Joel and I could go.  Once we got in I went to check out Dungeon Seige III and Joel went to see Deus Ex: Human Revolution.  In retrospect it probably wasn’t the best trade off.

Square Enix — Dungeon Seige III

Dungeon Seige III is developed by Obsidian and published by Square Enix — those are some big names to live up to.  It is a WRPG, somewhat in the vein of Oblivion, which is a first for Square.  The game features number of characters each with unique stories and classes.  A complex conversation-tree assures different outcomes to a variety of situations, and battles and map exploration are both seamless.

I was shown local multiplayer which allows a friend to jump in and out of the game as they wish as long as the first player has a follower.  Team work seemed really important in order to beat bosses and large groups of enemies. For instance, one player would use an ability which stunned a large number of enemies and the second would then use an AOE skill that took a while to execute.  I am not sure if playing the single player only would be more difficult.  The graphics were nice, but the WRPG aesthetic is still so offensive to me.

All in all the game was rather forgettable.  However, I could see it being really great for gamers looking for a solid multiplayer RPG experience, which is a rarity — but maybe they would just rather play an MMO…

Ubisoft — Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood

After that I headed over to Ubisoft to try Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood.  I was a bit concerned going into this game as it still feels like the time for development since the previous title is really short.  The glaring emphasis on the multiplayer aspect of the game also concerned me as I hate when the single player suffers to fit in a multiplayer mode.

The mode that we played was somewhat like predator and prey: a group of seven players enter an area and are assigned targets.  A tutorial explains how to stalk your target using a compass system.  The marker on the compass expands as you get closer to your target.  Since each of the seven players have somewhat plain avatars, you can’t just kill whoever matches the physical description; it has to be when the compass marker fills the HUD.  Killing innocents results in your target being reset which can undo any hard work you’ve put into tailing them.  When being pursued you can utilize a new obstacle system which closes a gate as you run through it.

When I first started playing, my instincts from Assassin’s Creed II took over and I instantly climbed to the top of the nearest building.  The last game taught me that, for the most part, being up high is safe.  I killed my first target, but then my luck started turning and I got killed a few times.  I soon realized that playing multiplayer really requires you to be much more cautious and use hiding spots and crowds.  Running around on rooftops just made you stand out and become an easy target.

Standard combat doesn’t really exist in the mode we played.  If you were stealthy enough to get up close to someone, you just pressed square and had the kill.  There was creativity in the kills however.  Once, when tailing someone who was on a rooftop, I was hanging from a gutter when my prey stomped on my hands causing me to fall to my death.  The more creative or stealthy the kill, the more points the player is rewarded — I received a hefty bonus for killing someone from inside a hay bail.  Ultimately I came in 3rd which I was pretty happy with:

Possibly the best part of this system is that it is fast.  If you die, it’s no problem to quickly respawn and get back into the fray.  You can even re-select your character and his or her abilities after you die.  Abilities are added bonuses that you can utilized in this mode.  The abilities I selected allowed me to run slightly faster and throw throwing knives.  Both proved helpful when going after a target.  Some are more defensive, aiding in escaping from your pursuer.

The predator and prey match lasted about 8 minutes, but it went by really quickly.  I definitely enjoyed it and am amazed at how successful of a stealth-based multiplayer system Ubisoft was able to come up with — I really didn’t think it could be done.  In terms of the offline story, what I saw really didn’t stand out in my mind as being all that different or more developed from the last game.  I am certainly not ruling the game out yet.

NIS America — Atelier Rorona

After this I had a brief meeting with NIS America.  They only had two games at this year’s E3: Atelier Rorona and Trinity Universe.  Both titles had a small playable demo, but I was only able to play Atelier Rorona since they gave me a early build copy of Trinity Universe!  I can’t wait to try this game and will be sure to have a review up ASAP.

Anyway, getting back to Atelier Rorona.  The demo consisted of two parts; the first part being an intro to the game’s story.  I believe it was quite literally the first 5 or 10 minutes after starting a new game.  The story is a rather clever way of making the player complete alchemy missions over the course of a year.  Lately I have been digging games with calendars so I was intrigued.

Basically an alchemy shop was opened in a kingdom many years ago, but now is under threat of being closed down by the kingdom’s government.  The only way to avoid this is to complete a number of alchemical missions.  The main character, Rorona, works at said alchemy shop.

The character sprites are (as always with NIS) beautiful.  The voice acting seemed somewhat inconsistent: some characters were great, others immediately took me out of the experience.  Most notably was probably Rorona, for some reason her personality did not match her voice actress’s.  I am not sure at this time if NIS America plans on keeping the Japanese voice acting, but as always I hope so.  If not, I don’t think what I heard was anything game-breaking.

After the story synopsis, someone on the NIS staff loaded up a battle using their editor.  It was pretty interesting watching them compile a battle!  Anyway, the battle system is both simple and complex.  You have your classic commands: attack, magic, item, escape and all your standard RPG attributes.  The more complex aspect is an element system where after using certain elements new attacks may become available.  It was hard to see the impact this mechanic may have later in the game, but I can imagine it being a real tide-turner.

Ultimately the demo was very short, making it difficult to gauge, but this is the first Atelier game to get my attention.  I look forward to reviewing it and seeing what the series is all about.

Sony — Playstation Move

As the convention was drawing to an end, I decided I should see what this motion control mumbo jumbo was all about.  Surely if these major companies like Sony and Microsoft have poured money into them, there must be something impressive to show.  If only that were always the case…

As I stood in line, I became aware that the line was for no game in particular, just the Move itself.  A Sony booth attendant shouted out “The Fight” and I vaguely recalled that being a prison boxing game, so I volunteered.  To begin the fight I had to “calibrate” which required me to make certain motions with my arms with a move in each hand.  Once I was in sync, the fight began.

To make things easier the AI had been turned off so I was essentially wailing on a completely defenseless dude.  When I asked why, I was told it was because the motion control is what is being showcased, not the game.  I then asked about ducking and weaving or parrying and was told that these features would be in the final product, but do not appear in the demo.  I ask too many questions…  I then set about to swinging around in the BO scented room, as so many had before me, until my opponent staggered away  in defeat.

The controls felt “faithful” as Sony had preached.  My hooks translated to hooks, my jabs to jabs, etc.  The only issue I would mention may either be my fault, or a calibration issue, but I unconsciously aimed my punches at my opponent (it was a big TV) when it seemed more effective to aim them at the Playstation Eye.  I didn’t have much of an issue changing my tactics to accommodate this, but in retrospect I am not sure which I should have been aiming at, or if the Eye should just know based on calibration.  Either way, I think there probably shouldn’t have been a question in my mind — it should have felt as if the Eye wasn’t even there.

The End

I had a great time in LA with all my friends, meeting new people and eating amazing food.  I wanted the week to feel both like a vacation and as if I was really learning about the future of the industry I am so passionate about.  In the end I believe I succeeded, maybe a little too well since the thought of waiting another year to go back is just too damn much.

Today I woke up a little late and packed my supplies in a rush to catch a shuttle to E3. Among the necessities was a carton of coconut water needed to soothe over a slight hangover. I sipped it casually on the ride there while taking in the scenery of downtown LA.

The shuttle dropped us off, and first and foremost, I was determined to head to Nintendo’s booth to spend quality time with the 3DS. Getting there a bit late meant that I was in line behind everyone else who wanted to do the same. I am unsure how long I was standing or how many times I unconsciously checked my iPhone, but eventually I was in the heart of the booth.

There, a number of systems were set up with different unplayable demos. The focus was therefore only the 3D and not so much the interface, probably due to the similarity between the 3DS and the the DS variants. The slider on the upper right side of the top screen controls the intensity of the 3D. It being a slider is somewhat unnecessary as there are only 3 levels of intensity as far as I could tell, one of them actually being 2D.

I noticed that certain titles looked better somewhere between the highest setting and 2D. I think this was proportional to the detail and amount of stuff happening on screen. The Resident Evil demo best showed this. When the 3D was set to high, it became difficult to distinguish depth and the edges became more harsh. This could have to do with the fact that this particular demo also featured a zoom option.

Maintaining the 3D really requires the player to hold the system head-on. Moving it too far to the left or right made the polarization fail and messed with the colors. Turning the slider down to 2D did not affect the appearance of the trailers made for 3D.

In terms of the hardware, the left side of the system features an SD slot and volume control, which is also a slider but slightly smaller in width than on the DS. The headphone jack has been moved to the center of the front of the unit. The slide pad/analog stick is set above the d-pad which offset both from the horizontal local of the buttons on the right of the system.

It was strange to look at my fingers at different heights on the system, especially when using the d-pad which is really close to the bottom of the unit. I have to say, I think the d-pad is rather unnecessary as the slide pad is more than enough, and a great improvement. The thought of a title that requires the player to use both really scares me. My guess is that it was left for backwards compatibility, but having both still felt awkward.

3DS Conclusions:

I am still not sure what my thoughts are about this 3D fad and how it will be accepted by gamers. Assuming it really does become the next big thing in gaming (as it is kind of being rammed down our throats), the DS is a great system to accent it. It is a comfortable distance from the successful DS, and fact that it doesn’t require glasses is awesome and a huge benefit to me.

Not seeing some aspects of the system in action like the gyroscope and basic controls may make it difficult to judge the system in its entirety. If I am simply judging the 3DS on its 3D capabilities (as it seems Nintendo wants) it is successful. I did feel as though there was another dimension of gameplay and not being forced to wear glasses was great. That is about the best I can sum up the system based on my experiences.

After Nintendo I headed over to Bethesda’s booth which was now only open to the media or those with appointments (unlike last year) — nice move, Bethesda. Not having to wait in lines as long is sweet. I was further buttered up when I received a free Bethesda track jacket.

First I wanted to play Fallout: New Vegas. Upon finding the area of the booth devoted to the game, I was disappointed to see that demoing the game on the PS3 was not possible — it was only for Xbox 360. I am of course not familiar with the Xbox controller or its implementation in Fallout 3. I soon realized that there was not a single PS3 in all of Bethesda’s booth. At least they veil their preference for which system they want to develop for! Me and my free track jacket were very disappointed.

Fallout: New Vegas

The demo was made up of two halves, the first in a small town in New Vegas. The main draw to this town was a small casino and a few NPCs. I immediately set about to gambling the healthy amount of caps I was supplied with. Blackjack was first. I kicked the bid up to maximum: 200 caps, and won close to 1,000 caps — I was on a roll. The manager came over and presented me with a bottle of vodka to keep the caps flowing.

I immediately set about punching him in VATS mode before switching to the second half of the demo. Here I was working with some of the NCR to battle some members of Caesar’s Legion. I played around a bit with my equips — put on some sunglasses and a grenade launcher, that sounded like it would get the job done.

Since I wasn’t entirely familiar with the Xbox 360 controller I accidentally fired a grenade at a member of the NCR. I decided to finish what I started and killed off all of the 3 dudes I was supposed to be helping. It certainly wasn’t my mission objective, but I was at least exploring a part of the game most probably hadn’t.

My follower, Boone, confronted me suddenly stating that he was a firm supporter of NCR and further action against them would result in him leaving. Rather than letting that happen (or fighting him) I just convinced him this wouldn’t happen again.

I found a member of Caesar’s Legion, killed him and put on his armor. A pop-up alerted me to the fact that other members of Caesar’s Legion now saw me as an ally — might as well head into their camp and see what it’s all about. Exploring their small camp was somewhat boring, probably because I was supposed to be killing these people.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I know that this wasn’t a clean or polished version of the game and that I was not necessarily taking the recommended path. Still, I was not wow-ed by the game, which I rather hoped for. It very much just felt like Fallout 3 with a new name. This could be because the features of the game that differentiate the two titles were not present: advanced conversation options and a story more faithful to the history of the series.

Rage

Bethesda had a lot more to offer, though. Their booth was filled with other games which looked promising. I spent about a half hour being shown Rage, their newest IP.

The game reminded me of a combination of Fallout 3 and Bioshock. The Fallout influence was clear in the game’s environment which was post-apocalyptic, vast, and filled with unique characters. The Bioshock aspects came from the enemies which exhibited unique abilities akin to splicers, and the player’s ability to engineer gadgets and gizmos to assist in their journey.

One really cool moment that stood out in my mind was when the player exhibiting the game shot his way into an underground enemy base. There, several acrobatic enemies were felled, but a room around a corner contained four enemies, which was probably more than he could take easily. A remote control car armed with explosives was selected and driven right into the middle of the room. The player deftly triggered the explosives making short work of the enemies within — awesome.

A mechanic thrown in which one wouldn’t expect to find in an FPS was a vehicle system. In addition to acquiring and upgrading weapons, the player can do the same for their buggy which is largely used to explore the game’s massive map. There will also be buggy vs. buggy battles, where the upgrades made to your vehicle will aid in combat. I should mention that once you enter your vehicle the game switches to third person.

It is rare that I approve of an FPS, as they mostly conform to some standard of mediocrity and monotony. I truly felt that Rage recognized this fact and took a clear and defiant step away from the norm. The game is very unique considering its genre (which can only be loosely applied considering its many mechanics). I believe that this is a game people should definitely keep their eyes on.

Oyasumi

Damn, I cannot believe how much I wrote about today! I am exhausted and am going to pass the hell out now. I think I missed some topics worth mentioning, but the ones I did mention are the most important in my mind, and a one man show really demands a laser focus. Look forward to more coverage from the show tomorrow! Hopefully I won’t burn out before then

The first day of real E3 did not disappoint.  It was constant, unrelenting, exciting news — frankly, I am not sure why I even care about video games anymore, maybe I should get into something else like lumberjacking or pulling cement trucks with my beard…

The gang and I woke up at a little after six in the morning.  After jumping out of the shower, which was clearly designed for the average Little Tokyo resident, I was at the Nintendo press event.  The gods must have been smiling on us especially hard today, as we somehow got amazing seats: here is an image of Sarah and Joel, front row center:

Joel and Sarah appearing on the live stream of the Nintendo presser

I wasn’t able to get front row because of some mixup involving different colored wrist-bands, but I was in the second row which is still awesome.  I managed to live-blog most of the show thanks to Mikey over at Bit-Speak.  He always comes through in a pinch, especially when he takes the day off to watch press events!

The show was amazing, and easily the best of this year’s E3 press events.  The first announcement was The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.  The audience was having trouble remaining seated at this point, like a room filled with first graders.  Maybe that is the perfect way to sum up how Nintendo made us feel: like we were little kids again.  There were so many beloved series being continued and inspired nostalgia.

"Dude, look what I found in the bathroom!"

Some titles were obviously more creative than others, Kirby’s Epic Yarn immediately stood out as being quite different  aesthetically and featured some unique gameplay mechanics like back-ground/foreground and multiplayer.  Oh, and of course a crazy Kirby-tank-mode.  Donkey Kong Country Returns in contrast looked rather uninspired, yet still reminded me of Christmas ‘94.  Nostalgia goggles: engage.

Golden Eye was rumored to be announced this year, yet I was still very surprised to see it.  I am sure it will make a lot of people happy, but I am also sure they will wish it was a little stronger graphically.  I couldn’t help but feel like I was seeing a beloved actor or actress who hadn’t aged well.  “Oh, she looks terrible.”

In terms of new IPs, the only one that really came out at the show was Epic Mickey.  The game looked really interesting, like it was made for a mature class of gamer despite the Disney focus.  I imagine the success of Kingdom Hearts must have had something to do with it.  I am really intrigued by the way the player can alter the game’s environment with paint and paint thinner, affecting the misfit characters in the game’s world.  The graphics also worked well: the cartoony nature didn’t make the game feel like it was out of place on the Wii.

Then the 3DS was unveiled.  It doesn’t look too different than the DS Lite or any other variant, which is probably for the best.  It was exciting when it was announced, but sadly I did not get to spend any time with the system (nor the girls literally chained to them) so I can’t speak to what the 3D looks like yet.  As such, I made a b-line for Zelda as soon as the event ended:

Waiting in line for Zelda: Skyward Sword

I did get to play and have to say that the controls are nice.  It took me probably three minutes to learn them, which is a short curve.  I know Miyamoto-san was having some problems with the bow and arrow, which may have shaken some people’s confidence. I can confirm that whatever issue he had, I did not.  My arrows flew straight and true into the hearts of some spiders.  My only concern was that I didn’t figure out how to dodge-roll.  When I asked the attractive female “assistant” she didn’t seem to know what I was asking about.  It is only the most common action game mechanic after double-jump.  DUH.

After spending time with Zelda, Sarah and I got bussed over to Sony’s press event.  I immediately took advantage of the free refreshments and got myself a beer and a taco.  Moments later we were called in only to find that refreshments were not allowed.  Fuck.  I had to throw it all away — so sad.

The show kicked off on a very 3D-heavy note.  It’s obvious that this is this 2010’s Blu-Ray.  They showed a few trailers of upcoming titles featuring this new technology.  It was somewhat impressive, and maybe in a few years it will be worth wearing dumb glasses over my dumb glasses.  Right now, what I saw is definitely not worth the cost of being an early-adopter.

Glasses and glasses, oh my

Then the show transitioned into Move talk.  Initially, I was pretty “Don’t care. Next!,” and I think most others felt this way, especially when some dude walked out and started talking about Sorcery.  This must be a terrible Harry Potter wannabe, right?  The audience was silent, as if they were moments away from seeing something terrible, like a car crash.  After seeing the fluid controls and the creative mechanics, the applause was genuine, including my own.  Not that I would buy Sorcery, but considering it as a display of what the Move could do, it was rather exciting.

After that I was bored nearly to sleep watching a number of titles looking down the muzzle of a gun.  I really don’t care about the amount of research done concerning modern warfare and the years spent talking to black ops dudes; FPS games always look the same to me.  I was actually a little surprised to see so many FPS titles from Sony — I was hoping for something creative or beautiful like, oh I don’t know… The Last Guardian.  But alas the game was not so much as uttered.  This, I found most crushing.

After the event we headed to E3, but honestly I was, and am, pretty tired.  So I will save the events of the expo itself for tomorrow.  I have a lot more running around to do, but I think I am up to the task!  Now, I am gonna have a few more beers with my friends, wake up at my leisure and get back in the fray.  Look forward to more coverage from me tomorrow!

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