E3 2009

Starting today and lasting until June 4th, I'll be updating this page with highlights from the 2009 edition of The Electronic Entertainment Expo (commonly referred to as E3).

Today, June 1, Microsoft will have their annual press conference where they will talk about the year going forward, new hardware, new software, and possible partnerships with other companies. Tomorrow, both Nintendo and Sony will have their respective conferences, and then the following two days will feature hands-on coverage on all of the popular upcoming titles.

Last year's highlights for Microsoft were its partnership with Netflix, the new X-Box Experience dashboard, and of course the biggest shock of the entire event - the mutli-platform announcement of Final Fantasy XIII.

E3 Highlights (2009)

Microsoft's Press Conference

• 1:29PM - The presentation opens with an animated video promoting the upcoming Beatles track pack for Rockband (the video shown is the actual intro cinematic for the game).
  
• 1:30PM - Demonstration of the game using custom Beatles drums and guitars.
  
• 1:35PM - 10 of the 45 featured songs revealed:
  
  
  
  1. I Saw Her Standing There
     
  2. I Want To Hold Your Hand
     
  3. I Feel Fine
     
  4. Day Tripper
     
  5. Taxman
     
  6. I Am The Walrus
     
  7. Back In The U.S.S.R.
     
  8. Octopus Garden
     
  9. Here Comes The Sun
     
  10. Get Back
      
  
  
• 1:37PM - Downloadable full albums available post-release, the first of which is "Abbey Road."
  
• 1:39PM - Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr introduced on stage to show support for the game
  
• 1:41PM - John Schappert, Corporate Vice President for Xbox, introduced.
  
• 1:43PM - Mentions that 10 world premier games will be shown and "revolutionary new experiences."
  
• 1:43PM - Tony Hawk comes out to unveil the new Tony Hawk game and the accompanying skateboard-controller.
  
• 1:45PM - First exclusive trailer shown for "Tony Hawk: Ride."
  
• 1:47PM - The lights go dark as a trailer for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 2 is shown. The game appears to be a direct continuation of Modern Warfare. Release date: November 10, 2009
  
• 1:50PM - Gameplay demonstration of Modern Warfare 2 is shown.
  
• 1:57PM - John Schappert returns to the stage to announce that Infinity Ward will release 2 map packs exclusively for the 360 with the release of MW2.
  
• 1:58PM - Yoshinore Kitase and Motmomu Toriyama from Square Enix, come to the stage.
  
• 1:59PM - English gameplay premier of Final Fantasy XIII on the Xbox.
  
• 2:00PM - The two primary characters shown are "Lightning," the eccentric poster-girl for the game, and "Suds," the charismatic man with a baby Chocobo living in his afro.
  
• 2:02PM - Spring 2010 "target" release.
  
• 2:02PM - John returns to announce that the following games to be shown are all going to be exclusive to the Xbox.
  
• 2:03PM - The first-game shown is an Xbox Arcade title known as "Shadow Complex," in the same vein as the early Metroid titles.
  
• 2:05PM - "Over 120 hidden items" in the game, and "over 10 hours" for the campaign.
  
• 2:06PM - The following is another arcade title, "Joy Ride," utilizing the Gamertag avatars in a comical racing-type game. The game will be free to download and free to play for everyone. Maps can be purchased and then shared with friends who have not purchased the map for free. Coming this Winter.
  
• 2:08PM - World premier trailer shown for Crackdown 2.
  
• 2:09PM - World premier trailer shown for Left 4 Dead 2.
  
• 2:10PM - World premier trailer shown for Splinter Cell: Conviction
  
• 2:12PM - Maxime Beland from Ubisoft takes the stage to show a gameplay demonstration of Splinter Cell: Conviction.
  
• 2:17PM - This is not the same Splinter Cell you know; everything has been reimagined.
  
• 2:18PM - John Schappert announces a new initiative shift towards the racing genre with the announcement of Forza Motorsport 3.
  
• 2:18PM - A brief trailer is shown.
  
• 2:19PM - The backstage wall slides open to reveal a red Audi RAV10 as Dan Greenwalt, Turn 10 creative director takes the stage.
  
• 2:20PM - More gameplay footage is shown.
  
• 2:21PM - Graphics run at 60 FPS; over 400 cars from 50 manufacturers available. New features which allow for greater customization with cars.
  
• 2:23PM - A video demo is shown made from the in-game video editor.
  
• 2:25PM - Joe Staten of Bungie comes out to introduce the world premier trailer of Halo: ODST.
  
• 2:26PM - The game takes place several weeks before the start of Halo 3 in the town of New Mombasa. You play as a rookie soldier.
  
• 2:28PM - The game will flash back to various memories of different ODST's in order to piece together the mystery of New Mombasa.
  
• 2:30PM - Worldwide release date of September 22, 2009. Joe then announces a new "top secret" project by Bungie.
  
• 2:31PM - A trailer is shown for "Halo: Reach," coming in 2010. A multiplayer beta will be available with the purchase of Halo: ODST.
  
• 2:33PM - World premier gameplay footage of "Alan Wake."
  
• 2:39PM - Alan Wake release date set for Spring 2010.
  
• 2:39PM - Last.fm announced for Xbox live, a radio broadcast service available exclusively through XBL.
  
• 2:41PM - Live television broadcast "Sky" will allow residents in the UK to watch TV shows for free.
  
• 2:42PM - HD video library upgraded to full 1080p; all tv shows and movies can be viewed without discs; expanded access to 18 countries.
  
• 2:43PM - Music, TV, and movies can be viewed through Xbox live between multiple members even when on different consoles.
  
• 2:44PM - Facebook partnership announced.
  
• 2:45PM - Felicia Day, star of internet phenomenons "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog" and "The Guild," comes out to demonstrate Facebook on the Xbox 360.
  
• 2:47PM - Facebook Connect allows you to take screen captures of games and post them to your Facebook page.
  
• 2:48PM - Twitter also announced for Xbox.
  
• 2:48PM - Both features announced for release this Fall.
  
• 2:49PM - Senior VP of Xbox Don Mattrick takes the stage.
  
• 2:50PM - Hideo Kojima of Metal Gear Solid fame comes out to announce "Metal Gear Solid: Rising" for the Xbox 360, and that development is currently under way. No comment on if it will be exclusive.
  
• 2:51PM - A teaser trailer is shown revealing that Raiden will be the new main character.
  
• 2:54PM - Don talks about advancing the controller boundaries for the future before revealing a fully-virtual sensor bar that requires no controller to play games.
  
• 2:58PM - "Project Natal" revealed as the codename for the development of the advanced motion sensor.
  
• 2:58PM - Mattrick: "When it launches, it will work with every Xbox 360 sold, and every Xbox 360 we will sell in the future, including future Xbox models."
  
• 2:59PM - Steven Spielberg takes the stage to express support for Project Natal.
  
• 3:01PM - Spielberg likens the advancement of the technology from controllers to fully-intractable games to that of the change of traditional cinema-scope movie screens to IMAX.
  
• 3:03PM - Kudo Tsunoda, creative director of Project Natal, takes the stage to talk more about the features of the sensor bar.
  
• 3:03PM - Facial recognition allows for instant gamertag log-in; voice recognition and intuitive motion controls without the need of a controller.
  
• 3:05PM - Tech demo of a game called "Richochet" is shown, wherein the player must interactively knock balls back and forth against a wall in order to destroy it.
  
• 3:07PM - The following tech demo is "Paint Party" which allows the use of voice recognition and movement to paint large-scale pictures.
  
• 3:11PM - Don returns to the stage to introduce Peter Molyneux, head of Lionhead studios and creater of Fable, to interact with Project Natal.
  
• 3:12PM - Video showing Lionhead studios as they spotlight a character created specifically for interaction with Project Natal. A 100% simulated conversation between a live person and a fictional character.
  
• 3:17PM - Don closes the conference by recapping the morning's show and by saying "The future of games is happening now and only on Xbox 360."

Coming up tomorrow: Nintendo and Sony.

Now that the Big Three have finished their live press conferences, let me put forward what I found to be most impressive, most surprising, or simply most memorable for each show (and likewise, just the opposite):

Microsoft: Microsoft definitely started their presentation off the strongest of the three. Jumping right into a live stage-demo of Rockband Beatles was a nice way to get the crowd excited and eager to know more, not just about this game in particular, but to see what else Microsoft could do. There were several big surprise moments during their two-hour press conference, most notably of which was the announcement that the Metal Gear franchise would finally make its way onto the 360 with Metal Gear Solid: Rising, under the new tagline "Lightning Bolt Action." I have to be honest, I am not in the least bit a Halo fan, so to see any information about both Halo: ODST and Halo: Reach did nothing for me. Similarly, I have been a fan of the Final Fantasy series from its early days, but the more I see Final Fantasy XIII, the more I begin to think SquareEnix has forgotten its roots of a humble RPG developer and publisher. Perhaps Microsoft's most innovative announcement was, hands-down, Project Natal, the fully-functional virtual simulator. If this is put into practice the way Lionhead studio demonstrated, we really will be seeing fully-interactive life simulators in the very near future. The most pleasantly surprising bit of news that came from the show, for me, was the dramatic re-imagining of the Splinter Cell franchise. The new game, Splinter Cell: Conviction, just seems a hop, skip, and a jump ahead of its predecessors, and that's a very refreshing feeling.

Pros

• Gameplay footage of Alan Wake - This is a game I have been waiting for since it was first announced. The gameplay only whet my appetite, and I was very pleased with how the presentation was shown via character narration as you progressed through the level.
  
• Metal Gear Solid: Rising - The MGS franchise is arguably the pinnacle of storytelling, so for it to finally spread its reach to the Xbox 360 is a good thing despite the cries of Sony fanboys losing another exclusive franchise. It's a shame when people can't be happy that another person will be able to enjoy a great game.
  
• Splinter Cell: Conviction - I always viewed Sam Fisher as the poor-man's Solid Snake. Well, to put it simply, Conviction made me reconsider.
  
• Mass Effect 2 Trailer - The original Mass Effect was THE primary reason I bought my Xbox 360. To even see the tidbit that we did during their press conference was enough to get me excited. Also, I'm so happy Joker is back.

Cons

• Left 4 Dead 2 - Now before a storm of hate comes my way, let me justify why I didn't like the announcement about this game. Firstly, Valve has already had Half-Life 2: Episode Three on the shelf for quite a few years now. Secondly, the original Left 4 Dead was released not even a year ago. The new game just seems like an excuse by Valve to pump out a new "full" campaign for the sake of a profit, when virtually everything in the game could have been added via DLC, especially considering PC modders are having a ball creating custom maps for the current Left 4 Dead. There was no need to make another one so soon.
  
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - I won't lie, the game did look exciting. But I think Infinity Ward is getting ahead of themselves and trying to just emulate a Hollywood blockbuster movie a la James Bond by creating the intense-action/chase moments that we saw in the demo. The rugged, dystopian feeling of the first Modern Warfare was a blessing.

Nintendo: The biggest underdog at E3 (though not in sales), Nintendo had a giant hurdle to jump in order to please its highly dedicated, very rabbid fanbase. What started out as a very meek and meager show eventually made up for itself closer to the middle and end of the presentation. Ignoring the focus on the casual market with games like Wii Sports Resort, Wii Fit Plus, and the large initiative towards DS custom content (don't even get me started on Wii Vitality Sensor), Nintendo actually announced some noteworthy blockbuster titles: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers gets a shiny new trailer; two new Mario games are announced - the first of which, New Super Mario Bros, I'm more excited about than Super Mario Galaxy 2, and I'll explain why later; one of my favorite franchises for the Game Boy Advanced, Golden Sun, gets a DS sequel; and perhaps the biggest announcement of Nintendo's hour, Metroid: Other M, a collaborative project between the Metroid team at Nintendo and the minds behind the Ninja Gaiden franchise at Team Ninja. Other notable mentions worth checking out are The Conduit, a game I am hotly anticipating, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, and Dead Space: Extraction.

Pros

• New Super Mario Bros. - Let me explain why I'm more excited about this game than I am about Super Mario Galaxy 2. Firstly, this is traditional Mario gameplay - something you cannot ever get tired of - combined with possible 4-player mayhem, plenty of new features including new power-ups, new mechanics, and a vibrant stylized visual presentation. Super Mario Galaxy, when it was released, was an astounding achievement for Nintendo and one of the Wii's greatest games. When they announced during the show that, for the first time ever, a second proper Mario title would appear on the same console, I immediately got excited - until I saw what it was. And what it was, was basically Super Mario Galaxy + 2. It's not technically a "new" game when it's the same engine, same format, same gameplay, same concept, and - I'm willing to bet on this - a damn near similar story. That is not something you brag about as being "first time ever."
  
• Golden Sun DS - This was the first MAJOR announcement of the show for me. The franchise had been stagnant for 6 years now, with not even a rumor or suggestion that a new game was in the works. Fans would gossip, and the long-demanded Kid Icarus sequel was among the top titles wanting a rebirth. But that torch fell upon Golden Sun, and I was very happy.
  
• Metroid: Other M - The Metroid Prime games are arguably three of the best titles produced by Nintendo ever. The daring leap into first-person gameplay was a risk, but one that ultimately paid off tenfold. Now the series seems to be returning to its side-scroller roots, although not entirely. From what we saw in the trailer, the game seems to blend together elements of many genres, including but possibly not limited to side-scrolling, first-person, and action/platforming. The visual presentation of combat was outstanding, and the opening cinematic was simply amazing given the Wii's prior criticism of hardware.

Cons

• Too Much Talking - In a page taken from Ubisoft's conference show last night, Nintendo spent a bit too much time talking about the games rather than showing them. It's nice and all to introduce the game you're presenting, maybe give a little background info, but people are there to be amazed, not put to sleep.
  
• Bating - What I mean by this is, Nintendo has a habbit of promising something, perhaps in earlier interviews or live shows, and then later giving you only the slightest bit of information on what they promised, only to continue dangling it in front of our noses. They did this last year with Wii Motion Plus, and yet again we see it during this show. Why hasn't this been released yet? The technology was ready a year ago.

Sony: Sony arguably had the strongest presentation, with some very major announcements and trailers. God of War 3, M.A.G., Uncharted 2, Final Fantasy XIII and the surprise announcement of Final Fantasy XIV: Online, and Sony's response to the future of motion control. Perhaps their most disappointing aspect, at least for me, was their lack of content shown for the Playstation 2. The last-gen console is still a powerhouse seller and arguably the best system of any generation, and Sony has advocated its 10-year policy for consoles, yet they showed very little effort to actually support the console during this year's press conference. They did make mention that over 100 titles are coming to the console by the year's end, but failed to specify any of them which may be worth purchasing. Definitely the biggest announcement of the event for me was the title and extended trailer for Team Ico's new project, "The Last Guardian."

Pros

• M.A.G. - This game was first announced at last year's E3 as being a fully-online FPS featuring up to a total of 256 players split up into 4 platoons, with each platoon containing 4 squads of 8 players for a total of 128 vs 128. It was called too good to be true. Well, this year's E3 shattered all doubts as the game was demonstrated featuring a full player list and virtually no lag.
  
• The Last Guardian - From the masterminds behind Ico and Shadow of the Colossus comes the next game in this unusual franchise of loosely-linked sagas about ancient worlds and extraordinary friendships.
  
• PSone classic through PSN store - A nice surprise was the announcement that over 50 Playstation One games are coming to the Playstation Network for download, allowing players the chance to play some of the masterpiece classics they may have missed over 10 years ago. Leading the pack is Final Fantasy VII beginning today.
  

Cons

• PSP Go - $250 price tag for a hand-held is the first big mistake. Secondly, Sony needs to do some staff management and fire the people who design their PSP button scheme.
  
• God of War 3 - I don't buy the hype. Sorry.
  

Closing Thoughts
Overall, this E3 so far has been a pretty average-to-good show. There are still two more days left, both of which will shift the focus entirely to the games themselves and the developers rather than the consoles and hardware. I hope we will get to see more info on the many games announced during the press conferences, in addition to the announcements of many more games to come.

Favorite Moment From Each Presentation
Microsoft: Alan Wake gameplay
Nintendo: Metroid: Other M trailer
Sony: The Last Guardian trailer

End of E3 Thoughts

E3 is officially over after tonight, and over the past few days I've watched many, many stage demos of several dozen games, trailers for many more, and interviews with the corresponding developers.

I've grown to anticipate some games I originally was unsure about, and likewise I've grown disappointed with games I originally anticipated. I'll give a brief rundown of my final E3 thoughts over the 4-day period and recap what I thought were the best and worst moments of the show:

The Good
The Last Guardian is still my most anticipated game after E3; the geniuses behind Shadow of the Colossus and Ico can do no wrong with what promises to be another breathtaking and awe-inspiring adventure into a forgotten land. The aesthetics of the winged griffin-like creature in the trailer are simply flawless, and I can safely assume the relationship between it and the protagonist is likely going to be another heartbreaking story.

Golden Sun DS, the follow up to the long-since-lifeless Golden Sun series from the GBA years looks remarkable for a handheld game. The fully 3D graphics and vibrant colors are some of the best seen thus far on Nintendo's portable, and I'm sure the game will live up to the success of its predecessors.

Heavy Rain: The Origami Killer is a visual novel, a genre of games much more prevalent in Japan than they are here in the States, or any where else for that matter. They are more interactive story than an action game. Consider them like movies, where you are given the choice of dialogue options and subsequently the ability to interact with various in-game objects and/or people. Those who have played Indigo Prophecy (or the European version, Fahrenheit) will be very familiar with this concept, especially considering Heavy Rain is being developed by the same studio.

Alan Wake is still one of the most original action horror games I've seen in a while. From the actual presentation right down to the very narrative style, Remedy seems to have struck another goldmine. Now let's hope Max Payne 3 is right around the corner...please.

Metroid: Other M. I can't say enough about this. A collaboration between Nintendo and Team Ninja, subsequently known as Project M, seems like the most logical choice as the next step for the Metroid franchise. The action/platformer elements of Ninja Gaiden, plus the highly-energetic combat of the named series will bring renowned bounty hunter Samus Aran to another level of super stardom.

The Bad
So, when I first heard about the New Super Mario Bros. game for the Wii, I was pretty excited. A traditional side-scrolling Mario game with 4-character multiplayer capacity, new game mechanics, new artistic style and plenty of new gameplay additions? Consider me sold. Until I found out the game was lacking wi-fi. Nintendo never ceases to amaze me, and not in a good way. They're like some high school bully who will dangle chocolate in front of a fat kid's face and then just as he goes to reach for it, the bully will punch him right in the jaw. Nintendo is that bully. They'll present us with a game that could be potentially amazing, and then they take out all the fun. The game will still contain local multiplayer, but in this seventh generation of consoles, when EVERYTHING is ruled by the Internet, how can you leave out the single most important aspect about cooperative play?

Again, Left 4 Dead 2 just seems like a joke to me. Everything that's in the game could have been easy to add via patches through the PC version and DLC for consoles. This just seems like a way for Valve to milk the over-night success of the series by slapping a full price tag on what is essentially the same game with 2 or 3 shiny new toys. Stop dicking around, Valve, and give me Half-Life 2: Episode 3. You know, the game that's been on the shelf for close to 4 years.

The Ugly
Wii Vitality Sensor. I'm not going to lie. When I saw this, I laughed. A lot. In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's an accompanying picture for you to laugh at, as well.

That's it. I swear to whatever God you believe in, I'm not joking. That is freaking Iwata's newest toy. Don't get me wrong, though. There is POTENTIAL in this product if it's not simply pigeonholed into association with shovelware products and after-thought fitness games. According to Iwata, it's much more than a heartbeat gauge, it's a multi-physiological feedback tool. How nervous are you? How focused on the task at hand? And so on. There is a specific market for this kind of peripheral, and for those who have played the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona games, you might understand what I mean. Typically, in the game, to summon your Persona (manifestations of your inner-most fears/desires), you must be in a vulnerable state. Or at least a state of susceptibility. Most notably of which is in Persona 3, when a character must aim a fake pistol-looking device known as an Evoker at his or her head and shoot. The fear of suicide and the desires for self-preservation thrust the Persona forward from your mind to aid you in combat. Now, imagine if the ability to summon the Persona was dependent upon YOUR emotions. Your real fears, your anxieties, your emotions. The Vitality Sensor would be perfect for that. THAT is the future of gaming - direct correlation between reality and fiction. But...I fear, and you have my word on this, that we'll see this bundled with the next Wii Fit Super Plus Whatever package Nintendo decides to flush out.

Ubisoft's press conference on Day 1 was simply atrocious. I am not exaggerating here; the entire first hour of the show was 90% talking and 10% game footage. The following hour was 89% talking and 11% game footage. And you wanna know something? Nearly half of all footage that was shown was aimed at the casual audience; fashion games, pet games, games for tweens and teens. It was truly a raging disappointment. And topping it all off, possibly Ubisoft's most anticipated games were held off till the end, with one of them not even getting any footage. No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle was merely mentioned by the spokesman as an "upcoming title," and then the show was concluded with a brief Assassin's Creed 2 trailer. Truly Ubisoft was the worst in show.

Closing Comments
The show proved what I predicted from the start; it was average at best. There were few stand-out titles, others that were known about for months, and then others that were truly an utter disappointment. The show seemed ravaged by sequels, rehashes, and otherwise unoriginal game IPs. The few games that managed to come as a surprise won't be out before 2010; however, there are other games with scheduled release dates before the year ends:

Wii
The Conduit - June 23, 2009
Little King's Story - July 21, 2009
Phantom Brave: We Meet Again - August 4, 2009
Muramasa: The Demon Blade - September 1, 2009
Dead Space Extraction - September 29, 2009

PS3
Demon's Souls - October 6, 2009
Heavy Rain: the Origami Killer - December 31, 2009
White Knight Chronicles - December 31, 2009

X360
Gears of War 2: All Fronts Collection (Road to Ruin) - July 28, 2009
Halo: ODST - September 22, 2009

Multiplatform
Ghostbusters The Video Game - June 16, 2009
Batman: Arkham Asylum - August 25, 2009
The Beatles: Rock Band - September 9, 2009
Dark Void - September 22, 2009
Brutal Legends - October 13, 2009
Bioshock - November 3, 2009
Assassin's Creed 2 - November 17, 2009

Last year's games were alot better.

Has alot of good things that I will most likely buy though.
Assassin's Creed 2
The Beatles: Rock Band
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Dead Space Extraction