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The Podcats: E3 Wrap-Up

Cam’s E3 memories

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Now Playing: Just Cause 2, Crackdown 2 Demo

I used to be adverse to really long games. I’d play at best maybe one RPG and one open world game a year. In the last year I’ve played through and loved Assassin’s Creed II, Red Faction Guerrilla, The Saboteur, Red Dead Redemption (and to a lesser extent, Borderlands) and am looking forward to Crackdown 2 more than any man not named Cameron. I was looking forward to Just Cause 2 based on the positive word-of-mouth and fun demo- despite me hating Just Cause 1 when I picked it up cheaply on Steam earlier this year). I waited to get it cheap and in the end got it on PC. It’s a great game in what seems to be my new favourite genre.

And I’m just not feeling it.

So your job is to destabilise the government of south Asian country Panau. Armed with your grappling hook and parachute, you can go almost anywhere, carry out missions for various factions and cause chaos (i.e. blowing shit up). So the shooting is a bit simplistic and the blowing shit up and using the grappling hook is fun. What’s not is constantly running out of ammo, being shunted back literally miles when you die far away from a checkpoint and the generally long travel times, possibly even more monotonous than those in RDR.

After finally adding a wired 360 controller to the mix (a Play and Charge kit doesn’t turn a 360 into a wired controller, merely a wireless controller powered by a wire), things improved. But not enough. It’s just not that compelling experience. And at the time of writing, I haven’t touched the Crackdown 2 demo. Speaking of which, let’s wrap this up so I can go and give that a try.

LATER THAT NIGHT….

So Crackdown 2. Hmmm So I love the gameplay. It’s seems so much more immediate (probably due to the fact the gameplay arena is so much smaller). Agility orbs are back and there’s Crackdown Dude’s voice. It’s like sipping on a comfy pair of slippers. The game doesn’t look that pretty though. It looks rather ugly in fact, but it runs smoothly and that’s more important when you’re pumping as many characters on screen at one time as they are doing here. It’s hard to know what exactly is going on with these infected guys so hopefully that will be made more clear in the full game. Not long to go now…

If you see this article twice, it may be due to some wordpress upgrade shenanigans. Or not.

The Podcats- Carbon Copy

In an unusual move, we present a podcats with no reference to E3 and talk about games with are Carbon copies of other more successful titles. In a more unusual move, we WILL be debriefing Cam’s E3 trip next week.

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E3 2010- Day 1 Sony, Nintendo and More

So the first day proper and we begin with the two big boys.

Sony‘s big push is 3D and Move so let’s have some specifics

• Gran Turismo 5 coming out in November. This year.

• Killzone 3 in 3D in early 2011.

• Playstation Plus is a US$50 annual fee in order to get free demos, a free game each month, DLC and auto-patching
• Twisted Metal coming to PS3 in 2011. Announced by the Jaffemesiter.
• inFamous 2 appears as a 2011 title.

• Some exclusive PS3 content for moth Mafia II and Assassin’s Breed Brotherhood. PS3 also has a MP beta for the latter.
• Portal 3 coming to PS3. Steamcloud integration for auto patching. Apparently it’s the best console version. Announced by Valve head Gabe Newell- who’s not been shy about calling the PS3 some interesting names.
• Dead Space 2 special ed comes with Move version of Dead Space Extraction
• Medal of Honor reboot on PS3 comes with Medal of Honor Frontline remake in HD.
• Move games just as much clones of popular Wii franchises as most of the MS Kinect games shown.
• Sly Cooper Collection in 3D and a new 3D Motorstorm. 3D in lots of third party games.
• Heroes on the Move is a move title with sony mascots such as Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter in a title together.
• Sorcery looks to be harry potter/ zelda with the move as a wand
• Move controller $50, Navigator $30.
• more PSP and PSN games. no PSP hardware update…yet
• no price cuts… yet

Nintendo

• The 3DS was announced. It’s black and blue, offers 3D games and movies without glasses, an analog slide pad controller, motion sensing and gyroscope, 2 cameras to take 3D pics, DSI compatibility and it’s launch games will be Kid Icarus 3DS. No word on actual tech specs other than the 3.5″ screens, or price or release date (Tokyo Game Show, perhaps?)

• The new Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword shown for the first time. Updated slightly from the look of Twilight Princess (that was simultaneously a Gamecube title, though this is the Wii, remember), though lighter in tone. Uses Motion Plus.

• Epic Mickey put in an appearance and looks like one to watch.
• Wii Party is coing out here and seems a curious mix of what would happen if Wii Play was actually designed as a full game.
• Donkey Kong Country Return, a 2D side scroller from Retro Studios (the First Person Metroids)

• Kirby is also back as a 2D platformer on Wii, with an interest fabric texture look.
• Mario Sports Mix comes out in 2011, a blend of arcade sports action. Think Smash Bros with basketball and football.
• Updated Goldeneye for the Wii
• no price cuts

Activision

• DJ Hero 2 will appear in October so that scratchers and DJ wannabe can wear one headphone like any truly cool person who’s deaf in one ear.
• Tony Hawk Shred- Uses the same controller as Ride so here’s a first example of good money after bad. Like developing an N64 game in 2003.
• Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock will feature Bohemian Rhapsody and 50 other songs I don’t give a rats ass about.
• True Crime: Hong Kong is back, presumably without original developers Luxoflux- recently closed due to reasons best known to Activision
• Goldeneye for Wii- with Daniel Craig’s visage
• and a little game called Call of Duty Black Ops from Treyarch. Funny how people will be more stoked about a Treyarch game than IW’s take on the series.

E3: The Storm before the Storm

Microsoft’s showing was a mixed bag this year (UPDATED WITH PICS AND MORE GAMES)

• So Project Natal is going to be called the Kinect. And the lineup is about as predictable as the Move. Oh dear. There’s a move enabled Forza, a Wii Sport Clone, a Wii Sports Resort clone, a Just Dance clone, a Wii Fit clone. It’s coming out in November (no pricing yet). Avatar racer Joyride is now a Kinect game.

• Star Wars and Disney titles for Kinect as well
• But the 360 has gotten a slimmer redesign with in built 802n wifi (at last) but no price cut. It’s available in stores this week in the US (Europe in July). It’s black and edgy like the cross between a sword and a marker pen.

• Halo Reach and Fable III are the 1st Party games for the gamers from MGS.
• Metal Gear Rising showed us fruit slicing skills.

• ESPN sports streaming
• Gears of War shown. 4 player co-op demoed
• New Crytek 360 only action title Kingdoms
• CoD Black Ops trailer- 360 getting all map packs first for next three CoD games.

EA probably had a line-up more in tune with what people who read blogs like this actually want.

• Need for Speed Hot Pursuit! from Criterion
• Dead Space 2
• Medal of Honor MP Beta starting soon
• Bad Company 2 Vietnam expansion
• EA MMA, EA Active 2, Tiger Woods, Madden, etc
• Sims 3 on consoles
• Crysis 2 will support 3D on consoles. PC?
• Bulletstorm details (coming Feb 2011)

Ubisoft also held a press conference with that dude from unfunny show Community. He was marginally better in this.

• Driver: San Francisco
• A cross between laser tag and a video game and a goody press conference that is more embarassing than MS’s rather goofy show.
• Ghost Recon Future Soldier looks like Modern Warfare with robots. It looks great.
• More Rabbids
• Rayman reboot. Looks greatacular. DD game
• Child of Eden is Rez with motion control
• Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood coming mid November
• Shaun White, a snowboarder, has a skateboarding game
• Innergy. Jesus Christ
• Mania Planet. Make your own Shootmania, Trackmania and Questmania
• Michael Jackson’s corpse being given another outing

Review: Alan Wake

Reviewed on Xbox 360. Developed by Remedy. Published by Microsoft

Finland-based Remedy have a reputation for taking their time. The original Max Payne has been hyped up for quite a while before it eventually landed in stores. It’s not-as-well selling sequel ditched the padding for a polished improved second outing before Remedy said goodbye to Max Payne (owned by Take 2), and hello to Alan Wake, a 360 exclusive.

Alan Wake is a third person adventure game, but not a shooter per se. Mixing Resident Evil 4 with a western-style shooter and borrow liberally from creepy-horror writers such as Stephen King and you have this game. It’s a much slower game than Max Payne and combat is more deliberate. Each encounter requires some thought since you are not a one-man army, nor do you have unlimited ammo.

In the story, successful novelist Alan Wake and his wife arrive in Bright Falls, a quite little town surrounded by forests- FORESTS WITH MONSTERS IN IT. The townsfolk appear a little eccentric, as is wont in this genre but to cut a long story short- Alan wakes up after a car crash with the last week of his memory gone and his wife missing, believed kidnapped by a nutter who wants the manuscript to Wake’s latest book. So starts a tale that twists and turns many times before the end, leaving your scalp with patches as you continuously scratch your head to try and catch up with what’s happening. But importantly, it’s  a game about light and dark.

Of course, the spookiness manifests itself in the form of reincarnated corpses known as the Taken. These seem to be made up of people from the town who’s been overcome by the darkness and who’s main interest now is to kill you. Some are slow, some not so much and generally attacking you in numbers, so it’s easy to be overwhelmed.

You usually do have the means to defend yourself, usually a firearm and a torch/ flashlight. You aim the torch at the approaching bad guys and burn them with it (The lens flare will decrease before flashing, meaning it’s time to stick a fork cause they’re done) before finishing them off with a round or three from a firearm (a revolver, a shotgun or a hunting rifle). You’ll also be able to stave them off when they surround you with a flare. Later in the game, you’ll pick up some other helpful devices for fending off the Taken and in some situations, the environment offers alternative ways to bump off the competition.

While ammo isn’t all that plentiful, you’ll find that there’s always enough (later on in the game, anyway). I found myself wishing I hadn’t saved some of the more powerful weapons at points because of the way the game manages to pull the “take everything you’ve got away from you” so you can start from scratch several times. Sometimes, the best way through is to just run away, or at least run to the next safe haven. Safe havens are usually checkpoints are bright areas (such as under a streetlamp) that will stop the Taken from coming anywhere near you. Handily, they generally offer you a chance to stock up on Energizer brand lithium batteries and revolver bullets. You read that correctly, some subtle product placement is at work in Bright Falls, apart from the fact that the lamps still seem to use ‘AA’ batteries.

Obviously you have your consumables to collect (ammo and Energizer batteries), but there are also pages from Alan’s manuscript laying around. Collect one of these and the game asks you to go to the menu’s to listen to Alan read out the pages, with no option to hear the text whilst you continue to play, which is a little disappointing for a game in 2010 (Doom 3 managed this before this game was even started). The other collectibles include the coffee thermos (don’t ask me), knocking over piled up cans and shooting birds (according to the statistics screen).

The levels are well laid out and though you will revisit some areas, it’s often a substantially different experience that doesn’t feel like back-tracking. Occasionally, the game gives you access to a car to drive around in, and other times you can use powerful searchlights as turrets against oncoming Taken. One or two checkpoints could use better placements but on the whole I felt the game is very well put together. There are three difficulties to choose from Normal, Hard and Nightmare. I normally games on normal or medium and here I played hard without feeling it was too difficult or too easy- just the right amount of challenge without feeling like a chore to play. I figure it’s a good 10-12 hours to finish ( there will be sections you retry several times) and pretty good value for a full price single player only game though your mileage may vary.

The dude on the right is Rusty. Hail Caesar!

The story is so mired in Stephen King-isms (his name is mentioned several times just so we know) that by the end it’ becoming slightly confusing, but whatever the fuck happens in the story, it is rather poetic to watch as it unfolds. The overall presentation is polished shinier than body armour made from mercury. From pretty scenery to nice character models (though some of the faces are a little low-rezzy compared to the supermodel Alan Wake), the graphical star of the show is undoubtedly the lighting. From the chillingly atmospheric night time ambience to the effects used when you fire off a flare to the use of colour and darkness- this game just screams “I am a sexy georgeous video game!” So texture work and poor lipsync in some cutscenes aside, this is a graphical quality bar for this gen.

Voice acting is rather well done with the star of the show being the Chris-Penn-esque voice of Barry, Alan’s agent- also the most colorful and fun character in the game. The performances are just perfect all round, bringing the right balance of creepy and appropriate without descending into parody. Sometimes, Alan Wake’s internal monologue does get a little intense due to the occasionally flowery dialogue, but holds up for the most part. In one later level, the tone of the game goes from one against the horde to almost a single player Left 4 Dead clone. That level brings out the game’s sense of humour to the point where it almost sounds like Nolan North taking over as Wake’s voice.

Overall, this is an impressive game. It doesn’t feel like a clone of anything, it doesn’t go for the lowest common denominator and it effortlessly nails what its trying to be. Recommended.

Controller1.com Rating 3/3

The Podcats: E3 Time Machine!

Not content with predictions, we’re stepping into our time machine to actually get the scoop from the E3 press conferences days earlier!

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E3 2010- What’s Worth the Excitement?

So while we rambled in the last podcast and even the next one about our E3 predictions, let’s look to what we know is coming down the pipe. We’re focusing mainly on sequels as they are usually fairly easy to guess. There will likely be one or two new IP’s  announced but they are almost impossible to predict. Price cuts for hardware can happen and there’s a strong possibility of new hardware of some description being shown…

Sony

Finally possessed of the ability to remove the foot from their mouth, Sony has a multi-pronged attack this year. There’s the motion controlled Move and expect a big 3D push in general and smart money is a PSP2 announcement. Games-wise we might hope for a Gran Turismo 5 actually coming out. It could happen. No, seriously. And of course, Little Big Planet 2, which is already known, just waiting for people to spend six months recreating levels you could already play. One day I might actually pop in the original and check out the level Lisvender sent me. Since two year gaps seem to be the respectable minimum to pump out sequels quickly without it looking like that’s what you’re doing, look back to what Sony released in 2008 and you might see what’s coming out this year. Hands up who would be shocked at a  Resistance 3? Also, hands up who would not be surprised if there wasn’t a Resistance 3? Word on the street is Twisted Metal is coming to PS3, and with less mystery thanks to various announcements and magazine articles we should see some details regarding inFamous 2, Killzone 3 and the next SOCOM. Of course, a new IP is also possible, and might be needed as every one of Sony’s current in-house franchises is more or less accounted for. An Uncharted 3 for 2011 seems a safe bet, but whether it will be an E3 announcement or not remains to be seen. Maybe even a Heavy Rain 2 follow up from Quantic Dream (more of a GDC type reveal but you never know.)

Nintendo

Well, a  Nintendo 3DS may or may not be shown. Nintendo announced its existence but didn’t elaborate, perhaps saving something up for an E3 unveiling or even just wanting to spoil the potential PSP2 announcement. And of course, the biggest joke ever perpetuated on Gaming- the Vitality Sensor, will be detailed- Nintendo have been promising to explain soon how this will make games better. With two Mario games in a year, it’s likely that we won’t see a new Mario game for the Wii just yet, but as a launch title for the 3DS, a system rumoured to be as powerful as a Gamecube, a Mario game (would you be surprised if it was Mario Sunshine in 3D) as a launch title is a no brainer. The only title that’s been mentioned as a possible launch title is a 3DS Animal Crossing. As for the DS, expect Nintendo to throw out the odd bone or two before casting it aside like Dick Whitman’s identity.

As for the Wii, also rumoured to be as powerful as a Gamecube, odds are we will see another Zelda title this year. The reveal will be a maturer looking Link before TGS shows us a game where you play as a foetus in a green hat. Announced at the very least, the next Zelda may follow Miyamoto’s plans to simplify gameplay to just a button press and clamping a butterfly clip to you nipple. We already now about Team Ninja’s Metroid Other M game from last year, but there’s still Pikmin, Kid Icarus, Kirby, Starfox, Pilotwings, Nintendogs and many other second string franchises ripe for rebirth/exploitation. And what’s to stop Nintendo from releasing follow-ups to Pokemon, Animal Crossing, Smash Brothers and Mario Kart? Sure, we’ll get Wii Music, Wii Fit 3, Wii-Sports Bar and Wii-Hearbeat monitor but the cost of us getting the cool stuff is the not as cool stuff. I’ll bet we don’t see any major push from third parties on Wii (at least, titles that aren’t both Wii and PS Move).

There’s always  chance of a Wii HD, but I’d put less money on that I would on a one-legged horse.

Microsoft

Well, there’s Natal or whatever it’s going to be called. This will dominate MS’s offerings like nothing else at the show. Expect lots of games where people are waving their arms around like ravers, pretending they’re in Minority Report or looking like they are being jolted with 30 000 volts of direct current. We may even see the fabled Xbox 360 Slim, but don’t expect an announcement unless MS are ready to ship it to stores. There are no reports of 360 shortages, so it’s safe to say this won’t happen until later in the year, if at all.

We know there will be lots of talk of Halo Reach, Gears of War III and Fable III. What else? I’d put money on Rare concerned with Natal software, and rumors of another Perfect Dark game have surfaced. We’ve just had a Forza release perhaps so will we hear something of the first internally developed versions of Project Gotham Racing? Crackdown 2 is said to have a demo released during E3. Hold all my calls!

We’ll maybe some some announcement of a formerly PS3 exclusive coming to 360 as well or some poor timed DLC deal that costs a bajillion dollars.

Activision will be showing Call of Duty Black Ops, Guitar Hero 6 Warriors of Rock, DJ Hero 2 and other things we need like Hole in the Head. A Tony Hawk game is a possibility but don’t be horrendously surprised if its not A) not a skateboarding game

B) Embarrasing

C) Lame

D) All of the above.

Of course there will be Blizzard’s Starcraft 2- part 1 push and a WoW expansion to pimp.

Electronic Arts will have it’s slate of sports titles as usual and the anticipated Medal of Honor reboot. Rock Band 3 details are also likely to be divulged if that’s your bag, baby. A new Battlefield game- always a strong possibility, especially in the wake of BC2‘s success- but we’ve also been told to expect Respawn’s (ex-Infinity Ward) first title so expect EA’s stand to be FPS central. If I were a betting man, Respawn’s first game would be going up against IW’s next CoD game, due next year. A Mirror’s Edge 2 or a Dante’s Inferno sequel are outside possibilities, maybe even Army of Three and a Dead Space sequel may also appear. Criterion have been quiet of late so we’ll surely see something from them this E3 (a) Black 2 b) new Burnout c) Need For Speed d) something new) and maybe we’ll hear about what Bioware is up to apart from The Old Republic.  We might even see id’s Rage.

Rock Star- A GTA V tease would not be unexpected, even if the game itself is a way off. Expect Rock Star to heavily push Max Payne 3 (pushed so heavily it might be delayed) and also LA Noire and Agent. A Midnight Club sequel or a new game in the Bully or Manhunt franchise are also possible. Or even something new

2K Games- Take 2′s other label also has a lot to interest gamers. Expect Mafia II, Civilization V, Spec Ops and maybe some X-Com details. With the success of Borderlands, it would not be unreasonable to assume some info on a sequel. Possibly some Bioshock 3 teasing.

THQ- We’re sure sequels to the following are in various states of development: Saint’s Row 3, Dawn of War, Red Faction: Guerrilla (now set underground, as in the original game). There’s also their Red Dawn-esque title Homefront, from Kaos Studios- many of whom worked at DICE and before that created the Desert Combat mode for BF1942. So guess what type of game that will be. There’ll likely be some news on De Blob 2, Warhammer and new versions of WWE and UFC games which will please some people.

Square Enix- Expect the next Final Fantasy release to be touted as well as FFXIV- the MMO for PC and PSX due this year.  There will also be some more JRPGs that look the same as FF but for whatever reason don’t grab JRPG fans in the same way. SE are no longer just makers of games we make fun of, they also have Batman AA 2 on their books. A new Hitman game seems likely and we already know about the downloadable Lara Croft game. There won’t be a Just Cause 3 in the short term since Avalanche seem to be working on a licensed title (apart from Toy Story 3).

Ubisoft- There’s the quicky follow-up to Assassin’s Creed II in Brotherhood- which despite loving ACII, Ubi’s rep for quality quicky follow-ups is horrendous. We know a Ghost Recon Future Soldier is coming next year and there’s a strong chance of followups to Endwar, HAWK and Far Cry 3- Far Q. We suspect a Driver game from Ubi is incoming but no mention of a Rainbow 6 game  has been made in a while so an announcement there could be a welcome surprise. A quick and dirty Splinter Cell sequel may show up. There’s likely to be more Shaun White Snowboarding but not likely to see much I Am Alive (rumoured to be in trouble) or Beyond Good and Evil 2 (which may be dead).

Capcom-A no-brainer will be the pimping of Dead Rising 2. What’s a string possibility will be a motion controlled version of RE5. There’s a chance of more Devil May Cry and if we wanted to be uncharitable we could say Super Duper Street Fighter IV EX Turbo II Alpha Plus. Cam’s off to pre-order his now.

Konami- We already know about Metal Gear Rising- an action game starring Raiden (lemme guess- a Devil May Cry/ Ninja Gaiden/ Bayonetta mix?) and the next Castlevania adventure but other than that they’re keeping mum.

Bethesda- Fallout New Vegas and Brink are likely to be the stars. id may decided to tease one of their franchises like Doom, Quake or Wolfenstein, but I wouldn’t expect much whilst they concentrate on Rage (published by EA)

Valve- could be up to something with their announcement that Portal 2 is coming in 2011 now. Half Life Episode Three is the reason episodic content hasn’t taken off. I think we can safely say a Left 4 Dead 3 isn’t going to happen. But Valve love to surprise us so who knows- New Counterstrike? Day of Defeat 2? Team Fortress 3?

There’s going to be a lot more. Next week will be interesting. Stay tuned to the next podcast for results from our time-travel experiments into the future…

Now Playing: Alan Wake, Poker Smash

Alan Wake, five years in the making and slowly turning into a joke the same way Too Human, Daikatana and GT5 are, is finally out. Remedy’s first game since Max Payne 2 shows these guys have still got it. While most people would have been happy with a clone of Max Payne, the funny Fins have instead given us with their take on Stephen King.

Mixing shooting with burning things with light, as you do, Alan Wake shows Xbox gamers something they rarely see these days- a slow paced game that’s as exciting as the more action oriented titles on the console. It’s central mechanic takes some time to get used to, but once you get the hang of it, it’s a pretty addictive game. If you enjoyed Resident Evil 4, you should have some fun here, but the game is its own beast.

I don’t know why I like, I just know I’m enjoying this game much more that I expected to. It’s deliberate pace is probably soothing after all of the faster-paced games I usually play, not boring in the way the travel in RDR turned me off.
It’s a pretty game and sounds fantastic. Voice acting is either ordinary or genius, possibly due to the writing and whether you think Stephen King is a great writer or not. I have met in real life the guy they based Rusty, which is kind of neat, so that’s nice in a personal way.

What’s not the greatest? Lip Sync in cutscenes is atrocious and while the part of the story unfolds in the form of manuscript pages you collect (similar to the logs in Doom 3, Bioshock, et al), you have to go to a menu to play them, rather than just press a button to read them while you keep playing. One thing about working on a game for so long is sometimes developments pass you by.

Thankfully I have a long weekend coming up that will be used to savour this game. Like a fine wine.

Also released at the bargain price of a buck or two is XBLA title, Poker Smash for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. It’s great, providing you have an iDevice made in the last year or so. I managed to compare the performance of this on my 3G iPhone with Cameron’s newer and not quite superceded 3GS and the 3GS flies while the 3G is a little sluggish. Only one music track is included but then, you have a frickin iPod!

Get it! Stat!

Next up is Just Cause 2 (PC) and SMG2 (Wii)

The Podcats: E3 Predictions 2010

E3 Predictions 2010. Next week, time travel

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