E3 2009- part 1. I Need to Change my Pants
Controller1.com is not a news site, its a blog so rather than being your one stop shop for E3 news, we’ll just have some opinion. The show hasn’t opened yet but half the big publishers have already had conferences and briefings so I’m going to change my pants, recap my reactions to the news from MS, Activision, EA Ubisoft and others.
EA
Lego Rock Band and The Beatles Rock Band shows that EA and Harmonix can do the exact thing as Activision/ Neversoft- that is make a game once and then reskin 15 times. Brutal Legend was demoed and I still don’t know what the hell the game is about- apart from Jack Black being involved somehow. Is it a driving game? An action game? Saboteur from Pandemic has been on my radar for a while and hopefully its not just Mercenaries 2.5. Mass Effect 2 looks to have more awesome than an awesome star going supernova. Crysis 2 is coming and its on consoles as well. APB (from the makers of Crackdown) coming early in 2010 should be fun. I might need to get a gaming PC this year.
Dante’s Inferno seems to be another hellish God of War game but Bioware made a splash with the Old Republic trailer that made people who want Ewok porn care for Star Wars again.
Left 4 Dead 2!!! A Valve game where there’s been a yearly update. And it looks like it does everything Dead Rising didn’t do. I am looking forward to this in a way most Valve MP-focused games don’t ‘click’ for me.
Ubisoft
Red Steel 2 looks like Motion plus might actually be a worthwhile pickup for the Wii. But while Assassin’s Creed 2, if it fixes the flaws of the first game might be a great game, its Splinter Cell Conviction that looks to be THE Ubisoft game you buy at full price. The rest, you just wait for a few months to get it for a third of the launch price.
Activision
Wow, another Guitar Hero game. I could pass this year and just stick with Beatles Rock Band. Tony Hawk Ride, with its fancy controller, doesn’t appeal at all. But Modern Warfare 2 looks just as good as anything Infinity Ward have done to date. It will be a HUUUUGE game in 2009. Wolfenstein looks great, despite the fact the trailer tries to hide the fact its a WWII game.
Microsoft
Halo 3: ODST came and went which should be fun, but then Bungie and MS are doing Halo: Reach.
Buy ODST and you get a MP beta invite for Halo: Reach so things look interesting. Forza 3 for you hardcore racing fans will make the 360-owning revheads reaching for the tissues. Considering its likelihood to go up against GT5, it has better be impressive.
MS also showed off their new camera based controller. The thing is, it doesn’t use an actual controller. Natal looks to be goofy, Eyetoy-esque and fun for all the family. There needs to be more info. Peter Molyneux was there to talk about his new project with a boy called Milo. Its a virtual prisoner in a pit so the sadists should be satisfied. I’m still wondering why you would want to with Twitter and Facebook with your 360 but if it lets you do screenshots for sites like this, I’ll be interested. Alan Wake is coming early next year, and I continue to be intrigued but there’s Crackdown 2 from Ruffian games. Not only am I interested, but Cameron won’t be shutting the fuck up about this for the next year.
Oh and there’s a Metal Gear game on 360 featuring Raiden. To me, it sounds like a Ninja Gaiden style game but that’s just pure speculation.
And the show hasn’t even started yet.
June 2nd, 2009 at 11:28 am
CRACKDOWN 2 OMG OMG OMG OMG CRACKDOWN 2!!!!!!!!!
YESYESYES ALL OVER MY FACE AND IN MY VEINS
June 2nd, 2009 at 2:47 pm
“Peter Molyneux was there to talk about his new project with a boy called Milo. Its a virtual prisoner in a pit so the sadists should be satisfied. ”
Err, so the game is about keeping a boy named Milo in a pit? Seriously? Dude, that sounds more mind-warping than Postal ever was.
“MS also showed off their new camera based controller. The thing is, it doesn’t use an actual controller. Natal looks to be goofy, Eyetoy-esque and fun for all the family. ”
So can I use my current X-Box camera for this? Is there a downloadable software upgrade?
June 2nd, 2009 at 7:30 pm
In the video I saw, it looks like a broad, Wii-sensor-like accessory that you set up in front of your TV. They say it will detect your movement as you walk around, so the characters onscreen will turn their heads to look at you, and your character will move as you move. I don’t know about it though, it looks like you’ll need a very large room to use it in if you don’t want to hurt yourself. I’d rather break a Wiimote than my hand.
June 2nd, 2009 at 8:37 pm
It was good to finally see what the hell Alan Wake is: a Silent Hill-ish action game. Wait and see on that one.
Nintendo’s plunging further into people-pleaser territory. More social and lifestyle stuff that I have no interest in. They made a big to-do about their realistic archery controls, but then wasted them on Wii Sports Resort instead of a new Zelda, Kid Icarus, or an entirely new game.
Worst of all is that new Metroid which ruins all the great steps forward that Prime made with its adolescent Japanesey cinemas and dramatic flips and finishers and overly serious Team Ninja crap. Super Mario Galaxy 2 was the only bright spot for me.
Sony had no surprises at all. I don’t care about the PSP, and that’s mostly what they talked about. Infamous looks more exciting than any PS3 game they had to show. Uncharted 2 looks all right, though it seems to be borrowing even more from Gears of War than it already was.