E3 2009, Best of Day One Recap
I know the coverage was massive around the internet with the opening of E3 yesterday. There were multiple conferences including ones from Microsoft, EA and Ubisoft so I know it was information overload. I figured I would share my thoughts on the most promising of things from yesterday’s announcements in a Best of Day One Recap.
Project Natal – Motion and interactivity comes to the Xbox 360 in a way that peaked my interest. You are the controller was the tagline and some of the applications seemed cool especially the “throwing paint” game that my daughter is going to love. There’s the ability to scan objects and use them in-game. It’s very ambitious but I hope they pull it off.
Alan Wake – Remedy finally gave the crowd a glimpse at the much anticipated Alan Wake. The footage they showed was dark and intense. I loved the emphasis on lighting.
Sequels On My Mind – Crackdown 2 is at the top of the list. Orb hunting has returned finally! Modern Warfare 2 showed some pretty impressive footage. Splinter Cell: Conviction looks really good. Left 4 Dead 2 had a great trailer even though the gameplay doesn’t look changed. The new characters in it look good.
EA Sports MMA – Peter Moore snuck this one right by me. I’m a big MMA fan and I’m actually really interested to see what EA does with it. Visually I expect greatness but can they match the gameplay of UFC Undisputed? Will the UFC fighters even be a part of it? It’s coming 2010.
Marketplace Enhancements – Instant-on 1080p HD streaming video without the need to download them courtesy of the new Zune Video integration! Last.fm is coming to allow radio on your console. (free for Gold members)
XBLA Matters – Epic Games and Chair Entertainment introduced a ground up Arcade title, Shadow Complex. I shutter at the price but this game looks great.
Other mentions that I didn’t care for or didn’t pertain to North America but were announced – Facebook and Twitter on Xbox 360. Metal Gear Solid: Rising. Final Fantasy XIII. HALO: Reach. BSkyB integration.
June 2nd, 2009 at 9:32 am
M$ failed yesterday. I hate everything they do or say. *folds arms*
June 2nd, 2009 at 9:35 am
Roflmao, I thought for a second Mike signed in under your name Hazy!
I thought it was a very impressive showing, they did really well considering everyone allready counted them out this year. It was a much better showing than I was expecting and I had pretty high hopes.
June 2nd, 2009 at 9:36 am
::takes notice to Hazy’s medals compared to mine::
I gotta get some new medals…
June 2nd, 2009 at 9:47 am
i love the fact that they didn’t just bore everyone with charts/graphs/numbers.
June 2nd, 2009 at 9:49 am
I loved it all. Natal could be so cool with some very interesting interactive games, making you one of the characters. The paint thing looks cool an I know my girls will love that as well. MW2, loved it of course. Facebook & Twitter is cool too, makes me wonder if this is another way to get around the 100 friends limit. If I have 200 or so Friends on Live with Xbox Live tags, then am I able to click on them from their and message or invite into a game? Lots of cool stuff… Epic’s new Arcade title looks sweet and Joy Ride will be another hit with my kids too.
June 2nd, 2009 at 10:30 am
@ TXPaladin
I forgot about Joyride in all the news. I’m excited to see that one. I like that MS will release it as free so everyone can play. I know they’ll charge for cars, but those should be optional in regards to gameplay.
June 2nd, 2009 at 11:15 am
Aww man… you cant forget about Crackdown 2… Crackdown was such a sleeper game… Everyone bought it for the Halo 3 key… But ended up being one of the hottest games ive ever played… (Guilty of purchase for key hehe)
June 2nd, 2009 at 11:15 am
….but charts, graphs, and numbers are so cool!
June 2nd, 2009 at 12:00 pm
lol @ Green.
June 2nd, 2009 at 3:28 pm
I buy game consoles for games, & Microsoft is very weak at this E3. (Sony wins by showing many great looking games) I don’t want, nor do i need a bunch of stupid crap cluttering my 360 dash… it’s already full of junk that slows it down.
Natal is crap (Let me tell you now) It will fail big if it costs more than $100, & is an add-on. Also, the chance of it being as precise as a comptroller in hand is ZERO… It’s pathetic & LAME!
June 2nd, 2009 at 5:02 pm
i guess you missed the totally accurate PS Vibrator demo Mike? outside of God of War 3 and Uncharted 2, what was great looking? oh right..Final Fantasy 1700. lol you have to be insane to say Microsoft was weak this year. their games alone are reason to be excited. Natal is icing on the cake (if it works). all of that Facebook and Twitter stuff i can do without but i’m not the only person in the world so i know a ton of people loved that.
June 3rd, 2009 at 2:15 pm
No Deac. I don’t think Sony necessarily showed better games than MS. It’s just that they showed an ass load of game footage. They actually showed games playing, which is infinitely more interesting than watching some corporate blow hard. This is why Sony’s commercials are so much better than MS’s also. They show interesting gameplay. MS shows stupid commercials about floating heads and people dropping xbox’s from parachutes. wtf?
So I have to agree with Mike on this one. Sony’s E3 was a lot more fun to watch. For the record Microsoft’s motion control looked better to me because it actually tracks the whole skeleton of the person playing. Sony’s looked like it shat itself whenever he moved. MS proved that they can do accurate hand controls with the Burnout Paradise demo.
June 5th, 2009 at 11:37 am
Sony’s press conference was boring as hell. I stopped watching it when all they did was talk about the PSP. I was literally dozing off.
June 28th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Don’t forget they played up the PS2… again. Sony’s conference was lol all round. It was also full of their usual lies, I counted loads of times that their head noob said “not only playable, but only possible on PS3″ – how the heck is MAG and God of War III “only possible” on a PS3!?? Stfu Sony. I was having a conversation beforehand with my PS3 fanboy friend aswell, about how I don’t worry about Sony’s “exclusives” any more, and they went and proved it with FFXIV about an hour later
I forgot about the item scanning of Natal, another cool feature of it. My brother is an artist too, so can’t wait to have some good times with him on that game (hoping though, that the price for Natal will be right)