E3 and associated gaming stuff
Jun. 6th, 2009 09:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amethyst73Last year's E3 was a small, quiet affair filled out largely by independent shows by the video game studios that just happened to be proximal in both space and time to the so-called main event. This year, it seems like everyone was under one huge noisy tent once more.
In hardware development, both Microsoft and Sony demoed their own motion-sensing controller systems: M-soft's hands-free Project Natal and the magic-wand-assisted Playstation Eye. If either of these pieces of tech become standard pack-ins with their respective systems (as the Nintendo Wii controller was), then they have the potential to change the face of gaming. There is also the possibility that neither one is adopted by the game studios, leaving them as interesting footnotes in the annals of video game peripherals (a list to which I suspect that Nintendo's vitality sensor will be added sooner or later - I wonder what they were thinking??).
Meanwhile, we had a tremendous slew of games that were demoed, annouced, trailed, and teased.
Looking forward to most on Wii: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicals: Crystal Bearers. For a title that was originally intended as a Wii launch release, this project is a little behind schedule: now due to ship late this year or early next. And like Square's other serious effort on Wii, Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors, it's projected to be short, a mere 15-20 hours of gameplay. But from the very short hands-on that the boys at IGN had, it looks like it'll be a blast to play - kind of like The Force Unleashed in a Squaresoft world. And check out the astonishingly pretty trailer below:
Looking forward to most on DS: Scribblenauts. There's a piece over at joystiq.com where the editors came up with ten words they did not expect the game to respond to in a meaningful fashion. The score? Scribblenauts 9, Joystiq 1. I've drooled over this before, so I won't belabor the point. Puzzle solving. Your imagination. A surprisingly complete dictionary. Coolness!!!
Nintendo announcement that surprised and pleased me most: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for the DS. Yeah, like I don't have enough DS goodness already. But I've always said that one of my reasons for (someday) owning a PS2 was to play Kingdom Hearts. Looks like I might be able to have something like that dream come true without having to acquire more hardware.
Made me want a PS3: The Last Guardian. I actually haven't seen the Final Fantasy XIII (or XIV) material yet - we caught word of this from IGN's Most Impressive Games at E3 trailer. Feast your eyes on the trailer below, and tell me you don't want to get up close and cuddly with the creature. I dare you. (Why they seem to have made the stylistic choice of an ultra-realistic creature and a cartoony human is beyond my understanding, though.)
Wanted more information on: Next Zelda for Wii. I watched the news from E3, and all we got was this piece of concept art....
Closer to home:
• Huz started Majora's Mask last weekend. I've watched him play it a bit, and boy is it SURREAL. I think they used the engine they developed for Ocarina, but the art, story, and concept are all so much... stranger. I'm looking forward to playing it. Someday.
• Huz has also started Final Fantasy Tactics A2, having beaten Phantom Hourglass on vacation. He's enjoying it enough that he's taken it out to play with it most evenings this week.
• I'm enjoying Paper Mario: 1000-Year Door. Gameplay is solid, and while the story is essentially a replay of the same old save-the-princess structure, the dialog and little details are a lot of fun.
• Almost done with Phantom Hourglass. Have beaten Bellum of the Dungeon, and - admittedly having looked at a walkthrough - I know what to do for the final final showdown.
• Won the auction on eBay. Phoenix Wright 3 will soon be mine!
In hardware development, both Microsoft and Sony demoed their own motion-sensing controller systems: M-soft's hands-free Project Natal and the magic-wand-assisted Playstation Eye. If either of these pieces of tech become standard pack-ins with their respective systems (as the Nintendo Wii controller was), then they have the potential to change the face of gaming. There is also the possibility that neither one is adopted by the game studios, leaving them as interesting footnotes in the annals of video game peripherals (a list to which I suspect that Nintendo's vitality sensor will be added sooner or later - I wonder what they were thinking??).
Meanwhile, we had a tremendous slew of games that were demoed, annouced, trailed, and teased.
Looking forward to most on Wii: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicals: Crystal Bearers. For a title that was originally intended as a Wii launch release, this project is a little behind schedule: now due to ship late this year or early next. And like Square's other serious effort on Wii, Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors, it's projected to be short, a mere 15-20 hours of gameplay. But from the very short hands-on that the boys at IGN had, it looks like it'll be a blast to play - kind of like The Force Unleashed in a Squaresoft world. And check out the astonishingly pretty trailer below:
Looking forward to most on DS: Scribblenauts. There's a piece over at joystiq.com where the editors came up with ten words they did not expect the game to respond to in a meaningful fashion. The score? Scribblenauts 9, Joystiq 1. I've drooled over this before, so I won't belabor the point. Puzzle solving. Your imagination. A surprisingly complete dictionary. Coolness!!!
Nintendo announcement that surprised and pleased me most: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for the DS. Yeah, like I don't have enough DS goodness already. But I've always said that one of my reasons for (someday) owning a PS2 was to play Kingdom Hearts. Looks like I might be able to have something like that dream come true without having to acquire more hardware.
Made me want a PS3: The Last Guardian. I actually haven't seen the Final Fantasy XIII (or XIV) material yet - we caught word of this from IGN's Most Impressive Games at E3 trailer. Feast your eyes on the trailer below, and tell me you don't want to get up close and cuddly with the creature. I dare you. (Why they seem to have made the stylistic choice of an ultra-realistic creature and a cartoony human is beyond my understanding, though.)
Wanted more information on: Next Zelda for Wii. I watched the news from E3, and all we got was this piece of concept art....
Closer to home:
• Huz started Majora's Mask last weekend. I've watched him play it a bit, and boy is it SURREAL. I think they used the engine they developed for Ocarina, but the art, story, and concept are all so much... stranger. I'm looking forward to playing it. Someday.
• Huz has also started Final Fantasy Tactics A2, having beaten Phantom Hourglass on vacation. He's enjoying it enough that he's taken it out to play with it most evenings this week.
• I'm enjoying Paper Mario: 1000-Year Door. Gameplay is solid, and while the story is essentially a replay of the same old save-the-princess structure, the dialog and little details are a lot of fun.
• Almost done with Phantom Hourglass. Have beaten Bellum of the Dungeon, and - admittedly having looked at a walkthrough - I know what to do for the final final showdown.
• Won the auction on eBay. Phoenix Wright 3 will soon be mine!
