E3 Notes: PixelJunk Shooter 2
Got to play fifteen minutes or so in PixelJunk Shooter 2, which introduces acid into the mix. The acid behaves differently than previously introduced elements – very globby and oozy – and turns your ship orange and you have to go clean it off in water. When I first picked up the controller, I immediately shot one of the survivors. Oops. Yeah, had to get my Shooter bearings before I progressed. The game is so pretty, and whimsical, it’s too easy to forget that you need to have a strategy to survive – especially if you want to save everyone.
New to the environments are these wheels you grab onto and they spin you through areas that are too thick to fly through on your own steam (they’re a little tricky to get used to). Hope to go back later in the week for another go, maybe find a time when it’s less crazy.
Notes from the Sony Conference
First off, Sony gave me lunch, which is a sure way to keep me in a good mood. It’s a good thing, too, since the next thing they did was give me 3D glasses. I’ll get it out of the way: I don’t like 3D.
After a brief introduction from Tretton, who touched on the life cycle of a Playstation console and the value of exclusives, Kaz Hirai took the stage for the 3D fest. Highlighting the tenets of Playstation, “innovation and content”, Hirai asserted that “Sony is the undisputed leader in 3D” and ”What playstation did for Bluray we’re now ready to do for 3D as well”. With twenty titles created natively in 3D by March 2011, he said the year would be remembered as, “the year playstation brought authentic 3D to the industry.”
Did I mention I don’t like 3D? It hurts my eyes. It’s really dark. And when things move too fast you can’t tell what’s happening.
We were then treated to some Killzone 3 in a live demonstration. Specifically two sections for the 4th level of the game taking place in the arctic north of Helghan. The first section focused on ground combat and use of the jetpacks while the second on air combat, both heavily featured the destructible environments. It looked cool, but it was so hard to appreciate the gameplay, the environments and the combat when I was so busy just trying to wrap my eyes around the 3D nonsense. They aim ”to deliver the most realistic sci-fi shooter experience available” in February 2011, and it will be fully compatible with Move at launch.
“What tiles like Avatar are doing for movies, titles like killzone 3 will do for games.” Kaz Hirai
The game they used to show off the Move to greatest effect was Sorcery, a 3rd person action adventure game designed for Move. You play as a sorcerer’s apprentice and must rescue the land from darkness by playing through faery realms. The gameplay demo onstage was fun, and I look forward to getting hands-on with the title. Your motions affect power as well as trajectory, and the spell combinations were neat – like the ability to create a wall of fire and then send a whirlwind through it creating a fiery whirlwind that scoops and scorches your enemies. Slated for Spring 2011.
Next up was a demo of Tiger Woods with Move, and golf is still boring.
Heroes on the Move should collect some fans, it features Ratchet, Clank, Sly, Bentley, Jak and Daxter in a playful weapon-heavy romp.
“Gaming is having a ridiculously huge tv in a tiny 1 room apartment.” Kevin Butler, VP of Scene Stealing
Move will ship EU September 15, NA September 19, and Japan October 21. The Move controller is priced at $49.99, the navigation controller at 29.99. Move bundle including a Move controller, PS Eye and Sports Champs game goes for 99.99, while PS3 bundle including a PS3, PS Eye, Move controller and Sports Champs is set at $399.99. Four titles will be available during the holiday with games like Socom 4, Time Crisis, NBA 2k11, Ruse, Killzone 3, Echochrome 2 and Eyepet in the pipe. Games like Toy Story 3, Heavy Rain, and RE5 Gold Edition will have Move compatibility as well.
PlayStation Plus comes out later this month and can be purchased for one year at $49.99, or 3 months for $17.99 – and for a limited time you can get 3 months for free. Plus touts exclusive features and content, early demos and beta access, and discounts on the store.
Quick bites:
Invizimals was quickly overshadowed by God of War: Ghost of Sparta for the PSP, which chronicles Kratos’s rise to power.
Little Big Planet 2 showed off excessive cuteness and some badass real time strategy and shooter levels.
Medal of Honor unveiled Deuce, and said June 28th they will debut a series of videos where tier one operators share their experiences and stories. The multiplayer is being handled by DICE, and we were shown a new map that looked a lot like a game…we’ll call it Small of Pooty. Available October 12, limited edition will include 2002′s Medal of Honor: Frontline.
Dead Space 2 showed off a boss fight and advertised the limited edition pack, you can get Dead Space Extraction and Dead Space 2 with Move support.
Portal 2 Surprise! Gabe Newell showed up to announce Portal 2 for the PlayStation 3, making it ”the best version on any console”. Coming 2011. <3 Glados
Pretty, pretty FF XIV MMO vid.
Mafia 2: Agusut 24, exclusive day one content, for free.
Got a look at Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood online mode, which does not seem to feature any sisters – but those are some elaborately attired dudes. At launch the PS3 version will include an exclusive package of missions and the beta will only be available on PSN.
The GT5 (November 2, 2010) footage was beautiful, and there was even a snippet of The Stig!
The Infamous 2 trailer confirms some icy new powers for Cole, as well as some truly objectionable pantalones. Seriously, change the pants.
David Jaffee and Scott Campbell’s demo of the new Twisted Metal (2011) highlighted the online game mode “Nuke”. Set up as faction v. faction, players must capture the opposing faction’s leader, feed ‘em to the missile launcher and guide their missile to the giant airborne image of that leader. Three times. If you like Twisted Metal, you’ll be happy right about now.
Home has a replicated booth for anyone that wants to experience the PS E3 Booth in virtual space, and Tester fans take note: the casting call for season 2 begins today.
Notes from the Nintendo Conference
Upside? I saw Bowser flame Reggie’s face off.
Fils-aime: Technology is only a tool, the end product, the thing that does matter is the experience. And the best experience only come when technology and game design are perfectly matched.
Happily, the first title revealed was The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, which allows you to use the Wiimote and Nunchuck as the sword and shield. Shaking your hand will pull out the sword, and you are able to swing at “any angle”. You can use the Z button to target, and defeat enemies by slashing their weak points.
Until I get hands-on time of my own, the effectiveness of the control scheme is dubious. Miyamoto came onstage to show Bill Trinen how it’s done, but the controls were jumpy and a number of the attacks and defensive moves – like using your shield to fling a projectile back toward an enemy – failed. The guys on stage attributed the spotty performance to “wireless interference”, and I honestly couldn’t tell you if they were joking or not.
Sword is still your weapon of choice, however, and in addition to cutting grass it now fells trees and even serves to confuse those pesky eyes guarding locked doors. Holding the sword aloft charges it with power from the heavens and allows you unleash special attacks. To access the rest of your arsenal, stored in your pocket, hold B. Some quirky items are the beetle, which you steer through the air to pick up items, and the whip, which cuts grass and antagonizes enemies.
Graphically, it looks like a Zelda title for Wii – unimpressive. At least you have until 2011 to muster more enthusiasm, development is set to continue through the remainder of the year.
On sports titles, Fils-Aime juxtaposed realism and fun, as though the two are mutually exclusive. Since they then announced Mario Sports Mix (2011), I’m guessing they went with realism.
Getting around that Pierce Brosnan problem, the recently leaked and now officially announced Goldeneye game will feature Daniel Craig as James Bond. The Activision title is set to release this holiday season.
Epic Mickey looks different from those beautiful concept art shots we saw so long ago, but it also looks like fun. Warren Spector and Adam Creighton showed us two distinct parts of the game, which takes place in Wasteland. We began in Ventureland, a quest zone where you can talk to characters and pick up quests as well as tools and other items. Kicking off with Mickey having a chat with Smee, from Peter Pan, it’s clear the game full of old characters and places, including one of my childhood favorites: the Swiss Family Robinson House. Also shown was a Travel Zone, which are side scrolling platformers you use to get from one area to another based on old cartoons – like Steamboat Willie – and classic platforming. You are equipped with paint and paint thinner, which means you can opt to remove obstacles or restore them, with the latter effort requiring a bit more creativity. The game’s producer said that how you choose to play will not only affect how the world looks and how character’s respond to you, but how the game ends for the characters with choices between completing smaller quests or those the target the “greater good”.
Officially revealed today was the 3DS, with improved graphics capability and, oh yeah, 3D. The new 3DS adds a slide pad to the controls, a motion sensor and gyro sensor. Additionally, it’s possible to watch 3D movies, and two camera lenses on the outside of the DS are for taking and viewing pics in 3D.
It was then explained that Project Sora was established to create a game designed specifically for Nintendo 3DS. Satoru Iwata teased, “We felt that such a game deserved to feature a character that is already familiar to you”. The game is Kid Icarus Uprising, and the release date is unannounced.
Also likely to have a release date along way off? The 3DS. While we were allowed brief hands-on time with the handheld (each of which was tethered to a model), what I saw was interesting, but not really impressive. It reminds me of what is being done with 3D for the iPhone, a fixed image around which you can rotate. How it will work with a game and in game camera is unclear. If during the course of play you tilt the device, the image is no longer 3D and flickers in and out.
Partial list of games that will be developed for 3DS: Kingdom Hearts, Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition, Saints Row, Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle, Resident Evil Revelations,Madden NFL, Batman, Ubisoft Assassin’s Creed Lost Legacy, Dead or Alive 3D, Samurai Warriors, Ninja Gaiden, Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, FIFA Soccer, Metal Gear Solid and Ridge Racer.
Some “also announced/shown” titles:
Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Fall 2010Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies, DS: Arrives in US in 26 days
Metroid: Other M, August 31, 2010
Fils-Aime: “What hasn’t been lost is a sense of isolation and exploration that has always been the hallmark of the franchise.”
Donkey Kong Country Returns, Holiday 2010Wii Party, Holiday 2010
Just Dance 2, Fall 2010
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, DS, Holiday 2010
Nintendo Press Conference, Nokia Theater, Los Angeles, June 15th
Dear E3 Diary, Day Two
Just got back from second night at The Broadway Bar, this time the tab was on VGchartz. Again, Will, Amanda and Sam were kind enough to keep me and my drinks company, along with Cade and some of the Sarcastic Gamer crew. They were helping me sort through myriad emotions following the strangest event yet – Activision’s.
There was music: Usher, Eminem, Jane’s Addiction, Maynard from Tool, Rhea, NERD, Chris Cornell…which had almost nothing to do with games. There was also a pole dancer on the world’s largest pole which prompted two troubling questions: Is giant pole the next peripheral? and, Is it possible to get pole burn?
And the Black Ops trailer was very fiery.
I was a bit cranky about the whole thing since the first 3 hours of the event involved being shuffled from one sweaty line to another, and when we were finally herded to our “VIP” destination, there weren’t any drinks. Not even complaining about lack of booze, I couldn’t get a water. Ended up trading in those seats for a suite with some icy drinkable goodness shortly afterward. (thanks, Andy and Gretchen!)
Some things happened before that. Like eating at Roscoe’s – mmm, chicken and waffles – picking up the badge holder and pre-registering for Sony’s press conference, and then Oprah giving away some Xbox 360s.
Tomorrow: Nintendo and Sony pressers!
Dear E3 Diary
Yesterday I forgot about timezones and almost missed my connecting flight to L.A. like some kind of air travel n00b. Made it from LAX to the PlaystationBlog meet-up – just in time to miss Kojima! I had this great idea that I’d be able to grab a bite to eat between the 7 p.m. end time and Kotaku’s 9 p.m. party, but with an open bar on offer at the latter the line was already forming (if there’s one thing geeks have perfected, it’s queueing).
Will, Amanda and Sam steered me safely to this particular line outside The Broadway Bar. About those guys, a lot of people kept coming up for pictures with “Cyrus”, “Amped” and “Doc”.
So…that was weird.
Amanda and I managed to have some girl gamer solidarity without getting matching tattoos or starting an alliterative website about our femaleness and gaming, so I’m putting that in the “win” column. Oh, and Tester fans, at no point in the evening did Sam eat beer-ios, make of that what you will. (Ladies, be advised, he’s off the market)
The Kotaku party was a great mix of game makers, journalists, PR types and more – and since no E3 badge was required for entry, general public nerdiness. One big difference between PAX and E3 is that when I introduce myself at PAX, I tend to get a blank stare and it’s a smidge awkward trying to explain N4G. “So there’s this website – wait, no let me start at the beginning. There’s this thing, it’s called The Internet…” I love getting to meet the writers that populate our pages, the developers that track their games’ news on our site, and most of all I like letting people know there’s a person in there. Hiya!
Mostly, I’m already tired. It’s Monday morning, and E3 is sneaky, very sneaky – it’s all “I’m from Noon on Tuesday to Thursday evening, but what it means is “you will be on your feet nonstop from Sunday through Friday”. Jerk. I need some of that Zombie Blood.
Torchlight – I’m a Mac!
We’ve already reviewed it, so what’s different? Fortunately, just what you play it on.
Since Torchlight became available for Mac a few weeks ago, scarcely a day has gone by that I haven’t snuck in at least 30 minutes in the mysterious town. This is the first time I’ve gotten my hands on the game since PAX last fall. It was my first appointment at the event, and if I’m being honest my thoughts at the time went something like, “I want to play this game, I hope it doesn’t suck”. Sure, I’d heard of the game’s developers, but their game? Not much.
When I was chatting with Max Schaefer I was struck with how well the game seemed matched to what I’ll call the adult audience. Don’t be dirty, I mean the adults that have jobs, families and need their games in more easily tackled and concentrated doses. Torchlight is streamlined, beautifully, and wonderfully keen on removing the things that make the typical dungeon crawler tedious. For example, you get a pet (wolf or lynx) that not only aids in battle but takes all your unwanted goodies and sells them in town, no matter where you are in the dungeons, and they’re back in less than a minute’s time. This is a fantastic way to eliminate a typically tedious part of loot collection – not just having to sell your loot, but the horror of becoming overburdened and having to choose. As it happens, I’m very pro-hoarding when loot gathering. If that wasn’t handy enough, there are chests for storing your extra loot as well as one to place loot you want to share across games with your other characters.
Make no mistake, having your pet along isn’t a perpetual escort mission. They hold their own, and then some. Should you tire of their appearance just go fishing. Wherever there is sparkling water, cast your rod to haul out some very special fishies. When fed to your pet they transform into a monster (the type is specified in the fishy’s description). The average fish casts the effect for 120 seconds, a bigger catch for an hour and the biggest fish is permanent (until another fish comes along to change it up). The last option never appealed to me, though, I like my wolfie too much.
You are given the choice of three classes with fixed character models: The Destroyer, a skilled fighter; the spell casting Alchemist, or the ranged Vanquisher. I chose the latter most, not just because the character model happened to be a foxy lady, but because I wanted to try the blend of ranged specialty, melee and trap setting. To quote our PC guy, “she deals a ton of damage from afar and looks bad ass with a gun”. Yes, please. All three can use at least a bit of magic, and the skills and spells are pleasantly gratifying – so much so that my next character will be an Alchemist.
Story goes that having discovered Ember beneath the town of Torchlight, things start going terribly wrong. As the miners and ember-seekers head into the mines they discover civilizations in ruin, corpses, nasties and people corrupted by the tainted Ember. Enemies are pleasantly diverse, with each level of the mine introducing new threats. In addition to the descent through the mines, there are Portals you can travel through to tackle tougher monsters for bigger and better loot.
Loot, experience points and fame are abundant from gold, to weapons and armor, to powerful accessories. Items have different colors to indicate things like their rarity, if they are part of a set, or if they are magical, and items with sockets can have gems added into them for bonuses (with Gorn and Furl in town to remove gems if you want to rearrange). Additionally you can find folks in town to combine items into new ones, enchant items, or a purveyor of as yet unidentified magical items. Many items are classified as “unidentified”, so place a premium on those Identify scrolls you pick up early on.
Leveling up allows you to increase things like your strength, dexterity, magic and defense as well as spend points on upgrades across multiple trees. The latter was the hardest decision for me, having to choose between assigning a very limited number of points to my preferred magical attack skill, or my ability to land a critical hit. Fame is less fickle in the town of Torchlight, and as yours increases a title is added to your character name bringing with it those precious skill points.
Control-wise, clicking an enemy prompts attack, right click for special skill, and tab allows you to swap between two preloaded skills. You can also load up a quick select with things like mana and health potions. I was cool with the mouse-mostly direction, but there were times (particularly the crowded battles) where I did long for the power of WASD.
Dungeon crawling through and through, Torchlight has the trinity: accessible, beautiful and highly addictive. At next week’s E3 we’ll talk to Perfect World Entertainment a little bit about how the little indie that could caught their eye, and what their involvement in the MMO version means for the game.
The Frag Dolls Want You for an E3 Photo Session
Provided you have lady parts.
The gals of Gaming Angels are reporting that things are going to get a little all girl gamer gang next Thursday!
Every industry and gaming female at E3 is invited to an Ubisoft photo shoot of “Women in Games” at 9:30 a.m. at the south side of the plaza in front of South Hall (at Pico and Figueroa St.). If you’re late, no dice.
This will be the first of a hypothetically annual photo for the ladies at E3, and while it’s easy to attach all kinds of girl-power jargon and PR speak like “promote women in the industry”, I’m not feeling like cracking wise. Frankly, I’m feeling a little starved for some girly fun, and this sounds like a great way to kick off the last day of E3!
Looking for a Pub to watch the World Cup? There’s an app for that!
Drinksin would hate for you to go thirsty. Their latest app, Footy Pubs 2010, will help you find the nearest pub that will not only fill your pint it will help you watch the World Cup, too.The app allows you to search for nearby pubs based on your location that are showing that day’s matches. If that’s just too darn spontaneous for you, use the Match Planner, select a city and a match, then peruse the available pubs. Directions are provided for the geographically challenged.
Unfortunately for those inclined to call the sport “soccer”, the app only works in the UK. Discrimination!
Remember, friends don’t let friends watch football alone. Or sober.
Apps like this tend to make me die a little inside. Why? Because if you use this app in your hometown you are effectively saying, “I don’t have friends to watch the game with.” Or, I suppose you could be saying, “I’m such an unbelievable drunk everyone in my life gave up on me long ago. Actually, I got so pissed over breakfast I purchased this app accidentally.”
(Available for Nokia and iPhone)
The PGL Lobbycast: Episode 67
Have I told you recently to listen to the PGL Lobbycast? Do it! The guys are great, and not just because they keep inviting me back – which is just gosh darn nice of them.In Lou’s absence the guys change up the show’s format, just so he’ll feel lost when he gets home. The Weekly Whatchas kick things off, then we cover new movie releases and some movie and video game news – full of E3 speculation.
By the time we hit the Indie Game Roundup, Jon Liu has his own Ustream fan club.
Zombie Blood, a beverage
From the same folks that brought you bite-heavy Blood Energy Potion comes Zombie Blood, to satisfy all your cravings for undead energy. Packing 80mg of caffeine per serving, Zombie Blood is perfect for nights you must stay vigilant – apocalyptic nights. So it was only fitting that just as I cracked open a unit for a taste the power cut out. Welcome to my zombie apocalypse.
Read the rest of this entry »Evil Avatar’s Shotgun Podcast e071: Milking the Zombie
The guys from Evil Avatar’s Shotgun Podcast let me join in on their show this week!We mostly talk about Vanilla Ice.
Maybe not.
(Rated “M” for Zombie Milk).
Q-Time For Q-Games
For my fellow PixelJunk junkies, Gamasutra’s Christian Nutt has an interview up with Dylan Cuthbert of Q-Games. Here’s an excerpt with a bit of trivia:
You guys developed the XrossMediaBar interface for the PlayStation 3.
DC: Yeah, we did all the rendering technologies and everything, and also the wavy bar and the dust that’s in there, and the music visualizers as well.
The Murky Matter of Good vs Evil (In RDR)
Been playing a bit of Red Dead Redemption this week, and it’s been an experience pretty much void of “main quest”. Mostly, I ride around killing animals, picking herbs and completing random encounter missions. I’m not sure what’s up with this John guy and his moral compass, but I like his style.
I’m almost accustomed to my mediocre vision detracting from the average game experience. Playing Dragon Age was brutal, I was constantly squinting at the screen, and unfortunately RDR aims to be a repeat. The font, the print, the tiny map with its tiny little icons – the West is a melting pot of eyestrain misery. I’m coping, mostly by sitting on my exercise ball smack in the middle of the room 4 feet from the television.
Best of all, I’ve kept almost all my disdain for their perceptions of equine behavior to a minimum. Having been an avid equestrian since before I hit 2 years old, I’m uniquely equipped to be downright obnoxious on the subject. However, aside from an instance where my steed plunged us headfirst into Pike’s Basin, I’m just not up for griping. The things that could bother me are definitely there – all the horses move the same, do un-horsey things, rabbit over the landscape in bizarre ways – but with the depiction of humans in games still so far from perfect why screw around with the equus nuance? They are vehicles, and Gran Turismo fans don’t fire up GTA to complain about the cars. Of course, there’s GT5 and then there’s…
That’s not to say RDR is without things to legitimately gripe about. Frustrations arise, plenty of them centered on glitches, but I’d rather focus on something slightly less negligent. I think. Simply, when I ride up to some dudes and just plain can’t tell who the bad guys are. Is there a secret handshake? A lapel pin I need to check for? Half the time I end up shooting the wrong guy(s), and then there’s that pesky bounty business. Or, I chance upon some fellows shooting each other, but as soon as I show up all five of ‘em turn on me. Just passing through, boys!
If I’m going to defect to the dark side I want to do so deliberately, I want to know when I’m evil and when I’m being naughty. Moreover, I want the morally judged actions of “good” and “evil” to not be so darn [unintentionally] murky. This isn’t a Molyneux game, people, there’s no need for faux grey area. The choice should fall between who you want to side with, the sheriff or the cattle rustler.
It’s not that I’m against games challenging notions of right and wrong, ethics and morality, it’s that in RDR there don’t seem to be any such challenges. Instead, the task lies in being able to figure out which of the angry fighting dudes has been robbed, and who is the thief, before somebody dies. Usually me.
Insomnia
Early today news broke of Insomniac’s deal with EA Partners, and their planned new IP for both PS3 and 360. Shortly thereafter, a rather specific part of the internet exploded. Read the rest of this entry »
N4G’s Forsaken World Beta Key Giveaway with PWE’s IBUYPOWER Chimera 2 Desktop Giveaway
Today we’re kicking off our closed beta key giveaway for Forsaken World with Perfect World Entertainment’s IBUYPOWER Chimera 2 desktop giveaway, which will run starting from today to Wednesday, June 30.
About
I’m Community Manager and Admin for the NewsBoiler Network, home to N4G, TechSpy, AnimeShinbun, FilmWatch and 11×2. I also write for network editorial site, ZTGD.
Categories
- 11×2 (1)
- Developers (2)
- Feature (9)
- Gaming (65)
- Industry (27)
- Interview (11)
- IPhone (82)
- N4G (9)
- News (27)
- Nintendo DS (18)
- PC (54)
- Podcast (6)
- Preview (28)
- PS2 (9)
- PS3 (119)
- PSP (15)
- Review (132)
- Tech (17)
- Trailer (2)
- TV and Film (6)
- Uncategorized (8)
- Wii (30)
- XBox360 (61)