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Either my teeth are rotting from the sugary, sugary visuals, or my heart is hurting because they went for the fat-headed cartoon look instead of the sweaty Eliza Dushku look. Either way, this trailer hurts.
Some details to go with the raw announcement from the other day. The Dead Rising Wii port will be known not as Dead Rising Wii, but as...drum roll...Dead Rising: Zombie Sacrifice. Brilliant. The changes extend past the name, however. For starters, Otis' real-time missions are gone. Instead, you'll get 3-4 sub-missions to tackle before taking on one of the major "plotline" quests, a much more linear - and less frustrating - system than that found on the 360 version. The camera's also been changed, from behind-and-above-Frank to the view/style employed in Resident Evil 4. Because of this, they've removed the photo mode, as apparently it just wasn't working. Finally, they've added new enemies, new weapons, and new waggle controls to make the most of both of them. And that's it! No release date info or anything like that, so for now, that's all you get.
Using a rather clever browser hack, someone's programmed a playable Defender clone into a favicon. If you don't know what a favicon is, it's that little 16 by 16 pixel graphic that appears in address bars and browser tabs. See that pink and chartreuse "K" up there? That's what I'm talkin' 'bout.
And if you don't know what Defender is, it's a classic sidescrolling arcade shooter released in 1980. Head on over to the Defender of the Favicon site to check it out. Won't take but a minute and fellow web developer types might just get a kick out of it.
Most of us at Kotaku were busy worker bees when Microsoft and Silicon Knights unleashed the Too Human demo on the Xbox 360 owning masses. Speaking to Microsoft Games Studios folk at E3 this week, we heard nothing but glowing reception to the game. Universal acclaim we did not expect, so I was personally curious about the Kotaku readership's opinion of the demo.
Looks like some of you have already weighed in with your opinion in the comments of the original post, but for those who've spent a bit more time with part one of the planned epic adventure, tell us (dammit) what you think of the Too Human demo.
Remedy's Alan Wake was noticeably absent at E3 2008, a void left even more dark and encompassing by the inclusion of titles like You're In The Movies. Fear not, fans of mysterious mysteries, as the Xbox 360 and Windows Vista title is going to make its next public appearance at Tokyo Game Show at the latest, according to one web site.
A Windows branded contest — one that actually dates back to March of last year(!) — tells us that we'll be seeing Alan Wake in Tokyo, at least in trailer form. It's entirely possible that we'll see the title as Games Convention, PAX or some other big gaming get together. But for now, pencil in a date with Mr. Wake for October. That's pencil, not pen.
"WOW" Be A Face In The Game [Microsoft - thanks, SS!]
We had a hard time finding anyone overly excited about this week's E3 Media and Business Summit. From lackluster media briefings from the Big Three to a booth babe count that numbered in the single digits, it was hard to find much in the way of raw thrills. Even the highly paid executives hated it!
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that EA CEO John Riccitiello said "I hate E3 like this", hinting that a return to spectacle or the complete abandonment of the show were two viable options.
Laurent Detoc, president of Ubisoft North America is quoted as likening the event to a "pipe-fitters show in the basement". He may have just been referring to the Imagine, Petz and Ener-G portions of his own company's press conference, though.
Event may try to recapture luster [SF Gate]
You've seen images, but for the dim-witted, images may not be enough to get across just how the 360's new dash update is going to work. So here's a couple of videos, showcasing not only what it looks like in motion, but what Microsoft's Larry Hryb looks like in a snappy Xbox 360 track-top. There's another longer, drier, more informative clip after the jump if sitting through Microsoft's own special brand of miscued lifestyle commercials isn't for you.
Before Kojima Productions and Konami get Hideo Kojima that editor he so desperately needs, perhaps the company should hire someone who knows how to launch an online multiplayer game. The Metal Gear Online "Gene Expansion" was released yesterday and promptly melted Konami's servers, resulting in the closure of the game's MGO Shop and Reward Shop and difficulty logging in to the service. Some MGO players have reported paying for the new expansion and getting nothing in return.
Konami's solution to some of these issues was to restrict random IP ranges from accessing the shops, in an effort to lighten the load.
The company has also cancelled all Metal Gear Online "Survival" battles planned for this weekend, promising to have a new hamster wheel installed to power the servers as soon as is technically possible.
Metal Gear Online Support [Konami - thanks, Shakir!]
We were mere feet from Messrs. Mattrick and Wada wrapped up the Microsoft E3 2008 press conference with a bang. I believe Leigh's words, at the time, were "HOLY SHIT!" when it was revealed that Microsoft had chipped away at the PlayStation exclusivity armour and Final Fantasy XIII was announced as an Xbox 360 release (in North America and Europe). There was laughter, tears, applause and so much more. We'll never forget we were there.
Whilst sitting in on an official demo of Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts at E3, one narrated and directed by Microsoft Games Studios' Ken Lobb and Rare's Mark Bettridge, I found it impossible not to be impressed by the platformer. The sheer number of parts, contraptions, and options, combined with what appeared to be a straightforward interface — a challenge when building something in 3D — made it clear that there's lots to do in the third proper Banjo Kazooie game.
The thing that appealed to me most was the game's Leaderboards implementation. It essentially lets players download replays of the game's challenges, letting other players improve upon, for example, the ideal way of moving a giant ice cube man up a slippery slope. That feature reminded me of my obsessive Diddy Kong Racing days, in which I was racing against ghost data and fighting the Nintendo 64 analogue controller to shave seconds off my time.
That kind of community driven perfection, letting others watch your best time at scoring goals on an oversized soccer pitch, with the most creative vehicle implementation possible, may be Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolt's most appealing feature.
Now that the fungineers at Nintendo have increased the smile efficiency of the Wii Remote via a brand new accessory, the Wii MotionPlus, what's in store for the vanilla Wii Remote? What if I don't want to purchase a reasonably priced copy of Wii Sports Resort, but want that 1:1 motion control the Wii MotionPlus promises?
Nintendo's corporate affairs VP Denise Kaigler confirmed to us earlier this week that the Wii Sports sequel is currently the only game that's confirmed to take advantage of the new sensor, but... what if? What if, say, Mario Teaches Sniping is coming down the line and requires the add-on? Will Nintendo release an updated Wii Remote, one integrated with the MotionPlus tech built-in?
Katsuya Eguchi, producer of Wii Sports Resort and MotionPlus subject matter expert, says the company is currently thinking about integrating it into the current remote.
There are really two faces to E3. One of them is that of a business summit, intended to connect the video game industry with the press as a way of showing their wares to the public. The other looks at game developers as artists, presenting the fruit of their ideas and labors often for the first time.
Interactive entertainment is both business and art, and the Academy of Interactive Arts And Sciences recognises both of these faces with their annual DICE Summit and Interactive Achievement Awards. They also host the Into the Pixel game art exhibition, which we saw this year at E3, award scholarships to game design students, and more activities designed to support the industry's creative talent.
We sat down with Academy president Joseph Olin to talk about the state of the industry, this year's E3, and more.
"As much as I think most people reflect upon 2007 as a watershed year for games ad interactive entertainment, I think everything I've seen so far at this E3 shows... that 2008 to 2009 will be bigger, better and brighter than last year", said Olin.
There's no doubt in my mind that giving the Tomb Raider franchise over to Crystal Dynamics to develop was the best thing that's happened to the series. They've took a dying franchise and given it new life, and they're getting better at it with each new title. From the demo of Tomb Raider: Underworld I sat in on this week, I get the feeling the trend is continuing.
The demo started by delivering new depth to the series, plunging a scuba diving Lara Croft deep into the ocean to recover an ancient artifact. Lara swam smoothly, using a harpoon gun to take out circling sharks as she solved a puzzle that opened a door to an ancient temple.
Once inside and on semi-dry land, Lara crawled, jumped, and shimmied her way around a giant octopus (or kraken, if you prefer), bringing the roof down on its head in order to progress before the demo ended. While I didn't get to control her myself, the gameplay and mechanics seem in place, but what about the look of the game? As the demo ended, a man behind me stood up and offered his opinion.
"You got her arse perfect". The assembled crowd shifted uncomfortably.
"And the dimples beneath her..." Thankfully he stopped before I tackled him to the ground. Lara Croft does strange things to a man.
Last year's Spectrobes on DS sold around a million copies, but I have heard tell that critics found it lacking in substance a bit. From what I saw at Disney Interactive's E3 booth, though, they've fleshed things out.
For monster-collector nerds like me, it's exciting to know that Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals has doubled the number of Spectrobes you can unearth through touch-screen archaeological digs, and it looks like they've expanded upon the battle system, too.
So how does the new Spectrobes stack up?
It's no Pokemon, but it looks cute and complex enough to possibly be fun. You play as either Jeena or Rallen, interplanetary police officers, and as you traverse the story you unearth fossils that you can take back to your ship to make into creatures. Each one has a child form, an adult form and an evolved form, and, paging through the scrapbook of character designs, I was thoroughly impressed.
Among the revelations: Sega starting courting the former Clover folks as soon as there the problems with Capcom became public and Mad World was created mostly behind closed doors on Sega's faith.
Check out our other Jeffery and Sega stuff here:
Another Mario Sonic Collaboration in the Works?
Sega: The iPhone is as Powerful as the Dreamcast
Sega E3 Coverage
Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe is the musical equivalent of the MK team's Kid A, says associate producer Hector Sanchez. For those unfamiliar with that Radiohead reference, maybe MK vs. DCU being the video game equivalent of a post-make up KISS will make more sense. Regardless of the rock allusion, Sanchez essentially told me at E3 that after seven slogs through the MK universe, expanding and retreading, rinsing and repeating, it was time for a change — a big change.
Like Radiohead and KISS before them, the team decided that there wasn't much further they could take the Mortal Kombat franchise without doing something radical, hoping that after the shock wore off, that the core fans would come along for the ride.
I suspect that they will, with DC devotees also hopping on board. Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe is currently resting at the top of my personal list of biggest surprises at E3 08. Not only is it disarmingly fun, it reminds me of my favourite entry in the series, Mortal Kombat II.
During Konami's E3 press conference, they announced a World Championship for Metal Gear Online about the same time they announced MGO's Gene expansion pack, which launched yesterday.
The championship tournament is set to take place at the Tokyo Game Show in October, and is open to players from North America, Europe, Japan and Greater Asia. Those four territories will hold regional championships, and the top teams therein will get a free ride to the Tokyo finals.
The tournament kicks off at San Diego Comic-Con, where players can register and compete for prizes. Details for the regionals themselves in North America will be announced soon.
Full details after the jump. Anyone here tournament-worthy?
Speaking with a group of game writers earlier this week SCEA head Jack Tretton talked briefly about how Sony Computer Entertainment has benefited under the shift from Ken Kutaragi to Kaz Hirai.
Specifically, he talked about the promise that Sony's regions would be a bit more antonymous under Hirai.
"There is no question that Kutaragi-san ruled with an iron fist, but it was his vision", Tretton said. "In terms of how we went to market in region, that was anonymous".
But Tretton said that Hirai has a better understanding of the company's day-to-day operations and the challenges they face both in Japan and abroad.
Nintendo fans may still be mentally recovering from the company's softcore E3 media briefing that focused on fare like Shaun White Snowboarding and Wii Music, but fans of Wave Race may find the following lifts their spirits. Wii Sports Resort's "power cruising" mode may be a more hardcore appealing experience than it would appear at first blush.
"I'm confident it will surpass Wave Race 64 in depth", said the game's producer, Katsuya Eguchi. We'll give him the benefit of the doubt, considering he's credited with director duties on the Nintendo 64 classic.
Even if it's not as fully featured or "deep" as the original watercraft racer, it's going to have to suffice for now. Eguchi opted not to comment on plans for a sequel, something we shan't hold our breath for.
I was drawn to take a quick peek at Eidos' Monster Lab because of the clever character design art mural all around the play area. The game has you enlisting the aid of three mad scientists, each with a different speciality, to try and take down one ultimate scientist who's mastered all three abilities — alchemy, biology, and one that seems more mechanically-oriented. It's on Wii and DS, but I saw the Wii version.
Monster Lab has the player building creatures and exploring a cartoonishly eerie supernatural land to collect parts to build and strengthen monsters to fight other monsters. As players progress through the narrative, they'll be able to enlist the help of each mad scientist to build new items and reach new areas.
So it's a bit collection and construction, a bit combat, and a bit story-based exploration — a pretty clever core idea with a cool aesthetic.
"This universe already exists - we just have to open a door". So said DC Universe Online creative director Chris Cao, presenting the game at E3 this week. His team at SOE isn't creating their vision of the DC Universe. They're letting players create their own hero or villain and letting them come inside the DCU as envisioned by Jim Lee, one of the most successful comics artists of all time. You'll see Batman patrolling the streets of Gotham at night, and Superman flying through the skies of Metropolis, and if you're lucky you'll be able to fight with or against these iconic characters as you add your own chapter to the comic book world.
They've got decades of history, beloved characters, infamous villains and settings that some fans no so well they practically live there, but what sets DC Universe Online apart from other superhero MMO games?
Being surrounded by the latest and greatest future releases the video game industry has to offer might lead one to think that my thirst for gaming has been quenched. Not so. Despite having access to E3's massive library of games, I experienced but a fraction of what was playable at the Los Angeles Convention Centre. Fortunately, I have a hard drive full of Xbox Live Arcade games to fill the void, including some stuff that, well, I'm not sure I'm allowed to mention. Suffice it to say, I'll be playing something fun this weekend.
On top of that, we'll be prepping for Comic Con. Anyone going?
I'll also be heading out to the Street Fighter Fight Club event in LA tonight, spending a bit more time with Street Fighter IV (and whatever else is on hand). Your gaming plans for this weekend are...?
Remember being a kid and playing those talking electronic trivia games that you were supposed to pass back and forth among your friends? Sony and Relentless Software's Buzz! Master Quiz put me in mind of those sort of games, only this time, hosted by a big-headed Muppet of a blond guy and featuring several different types of trivia games.
The neat part about this is the different types of game modes there are. You can play just by your lonesome with your PSP, you can use game sharing among your friends, or use the "Pass Around" mode, in which up to six of you can play the same game by passing around one PSP. It was the latter mode I checked out with the Sony reps, and I was surprised at how neat turning one PSP into a pass-around trivia game can be.
"Wow I suck", I thought to myself as I sweated through a demo of GRIN and Capcom's upcoming sequel to the beloved Bionic Commando. The nice gentleman from GRIN guiding me through the level was being extremely patient with me, but I sensed he was a bit frustrated as his simple instructions - run, jump, press A to shoot out your arm and then release when the blue hourglass shape appears on the HUD to signify the optimal angle - were consistently met by me falling into a pit, or off the side of a bridge, or any number of places that you could fall.
"The controls are skill-based", he explained with a smile, taking the controller and easily navigating the part I was having issues with. He made it look so simple, but then I suppose he's logged a few more hours on the game. He tells me that once you master the controls you'll be able to do amazing things. Unfortunately fifteen minutes isn't long enough.
The best thing about going to E3 are the little surprises - games you either didn't know about or hadn't paid attention to that simply knock you off your feet. Blue Omega Games' Damnation is just that sort of game. Due to be published by Codemasters for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, Damnation combines third-person shooting with acrobatics in a unique steampunk setting to create a game that has amazing potential, both online and off.
Damnation takes place in an alternate early 20th century U.S. where the Civil War has been raging for decades. Now a wealthy industrialist is hatching a plan to wipe out both sides of the conflict, and it's up to your character and his teammates to stop the bastard from recreating the country in his own twisted image.
I actually got to play through a bit of a level of the game with Blue Omega's Jacob Minkoff and Richard Gilbert guiding me through. The level starts with the main character and a couple of AI teammates (one of which can be played by a friend for co-op action) tasked with destroying a far off bridge before the enemy forces can cross, decimating a small, strategically located town. The only problem? The bridge spans the middle of a large chasm, which you just happen to be standing on the side of.
Speaking with Valve's Doug Lombardi earlier this week at E3, we got onto the topic of the upcoming Xbox Live Arcade version of Portal. I wanted to know what gamers could expect from the game and why Valve decided to tweak it for the XBLA release.
"It's about giving gamers more choices, more points of entry to get to the party, open more gates to the theme park as it were", he said. "It makes a lot of sense for us.
"The main idea is that this is Portal available as a download, and there is additional content as advanced challenges that will be available to you after you finish the critical path of the game".
But will we be seeing more of GlaDOS this time around, or perhaps an extended storyline?
"No", he said, breaking hearts everywhere. "That's for a game to be named later perhaps".
To check out our full interview with Lombardi and hear him pontificate on everything from Left 4 Dead Machinima to Steam as an archive for games hit up the link below.
Speaking with SEGA of America president Simon Jeffery earlier this week, he was pretty excited about how well Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games has been selling.
Worldwide SEGA has sold about 10 million copies and, as Jeffery pointed out, the upcoming Olympics will likely provide a boost to sales of the game when they kick off.
Will there be another Mario and Sonic collaboration? Jeffery was being coy about the details, but he's certainly all for it.
"We would be delighted to do another game with Mario and Sonic", he said.
After wowing the assembled press during the demo of Devil May Cry challenger Bayonetta, the folks at PlatinumGames pulled out a demo of another of their upcoming titles, MadWorld. MadWorld places you in the role of Jack, a brutal killer with a chainsaw for an arm. Varrigan city has been taken over by a mysterious organisation known as "The Organisers", who are pitting the city's citizens against a series of mysterious foes in a deadly TV show called Death Watch. Jack must tear his way through hordes of enemies, killing them in creative and humorous ways, earning points to unlock powerups and mini-games as he progresses. Designer Shigenori Nishikawa's plan is to make the violence so over the top that it's humorous, and from what I saw he seems to be succeeding, to a point.
As with Ashcraft, watching Mirror's Edge has great potential to make me motion sick. In fact I was so worried about it I told the design team that I thought playing it would spur an instant need to run to a bathroom. But they insisted I wouldn't feel any queasiness when actually playing, and they were right.
What first struck me about the game was just how pretty it is. Mirror's Edge using the Unreal Engine but it does so to create something so unfamiliar, a first-person perspective in a bright, crisp world. Matching the simple aesthetic, the games controls are very straight forward. Granted I only had a chance to run and interact with the environment, so I'm not sure how combat will hold up.
Earlier this week I watched a Konami rep play through a bit of Silent Hill: Homecoming while we were awaiting the coming of Castlevania creator Koji Igarashi. The quick play through showed off the opening moments of the game, with protagonist Alex Shepherd waking up in Silent Hill and setting off on the search for his little brother. The game looked rather nice in motion, and creepiness immediately ensued as Sheperd's little bro seems to have a penchant for scampering in and out of shadows, a staple of the horror genre since Uggok the caveman drew the first horror cave painting. Note to Alex: your brother might be more receptive to being found if you don't slowly walk towards him with an axe in your hands.
While the demo was cut short by Iga's entrance, two bits of news to come to light. Pyramid Head will indeed be playing a part in the game, and now the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game is coming to PC, as did Silent Hill 2, 3, and 4 before it. What will Pyramid Head do in the game? Not sure, but I'm ruling out the hokey pokey.
As with previous E3s, Nintendo tastemaker Shigeru Miyamoto swung by a few booths to check out the action. In this vid we get a glimpse of Miyamoto getting a glimpse of hardcore shooter Killzone 2. What I don't get is why he keeps looking at these big-name shooters. He's been pretty clear in the past about how he feels about them.
[Thanks Runandgun]
Sucker Punch Productions' anti-hero action game inFamous looks to deliver the sort of everyman superhero found in Hancock, just without all that alcohol and attitude.
The game, due out next year on the Playstation 3, starts off with an explosion tearing through Empire City, killing everyone in a six square block, everyone but Cole. As he recovers from the blast the city starts to fall apart with people rioting, then a plague strike and finally all of Empire City is quarantined from the mainland. A television broadcast links Cole to the scene of the bomb blast and he becomes a wanted man, but he also recovers to find himself with super electrical abilities.
inFamous has players battling through the now crime-infested city working to solve the mystery behind the blast while also learning Cole's new super powers.
Sucker Punch's Brian Flemming told us that before the blast Cole was an urban explorer, a guy who liked to climb around and explore the city. So there's a taste of parkour.
Up until my visit to Sega at E3 this week, all I had seen of Obsidian Entertainment's spy thriller action RPG Alpha Protocol was a few screenshots. Yesterday I got a chance to see a demo of the game in action, and I can safely say that fans of BioWare's space epic Mass Effect should be extremely pleased. In fact, had the Obsidian folks at the demo not denied it, one could easily assume the two games were using the exact same engine, with a few tweaks in place to freshen things up a bit.
Rookie CIA agent Michael Thornton finds himself betrayed by his superiors and hunted by the U.S. government after a mission goes awry. In order to get to the bottom of a conspiracy, Michael initiates the Alpha Protocol, going undercover to clear his name and besmirch a few others in the process.
And so it ends. Goodbye, E3 2008! You were fun in parts, confusing in others and disappointing in many. Actually, disappointing in most . Few important announcements, almost zero new game announcements and a pair of very missable keynote addresses will see this go down as one of the "worst" E3s in memory. Maybe it needs to move, maybe it needs to go altogether, who knows. It needs to do something. But enough navel-gazing! For all the doom and gloom plenty of stuff still happened on the last day of the show, stuff you can catch up on by hitting up the links below.
Things I Learned About LittleBigPlanet
SCE Exec: PSP and PSN Are Jump Off Points for Inexperienced Developers
Killzone 2 Online Multiplayer: 'Fast Action! Lots of Explosions!'
Join Us For a Look at The Who's Private Rock Band Concert
Wii Sports Resort Will Sell Like Hotcakes, Hands-on Impressions
Resident Evil 5: Killing Zombies WIth My Best Girl
Yep! Next KOTOR Is MMO
Jizz Mopping Through The Dildo Wonderland
Sonic Unleashed: Half Classic, Half Stretchy Werewolf
Join Us For a Look at The Who's Private Rock Band Concert
Fist Pumping Through Major Minor's Majestic March