Aonuma tells the UK’s Official Nintendo Magazine that the Zelda team has been trying “something new in terms of the structure” of the next entry in The Legend of Zelda, which Shigeru Miyamoto teased at this year’s E3 in the form of new concept art.

The next Zelda game after The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks appears to be aimed at mixing up the now-familiar 3D formula. Aonuma tells ONM that he agrees with Miyamoto that “if we are following the same structure again and again, we might not be able to give long time Zelda fans a fresh surprise”.

The still unnamed Zelda title will take advantage of the Wii MotionPlus peripheral and more than likely will offer a new role for Link’s trusty Master Sword, as hinted at by the Wii game’s concept art.

Zelda Wii: Expect Surprises At E3 2010 [ONM UK]

In a survey sent out to customers who’ve signed up for the company newsletter (like myself,) GameStop is shopping around a new free customer rewards program that would see visitors earring points for every dollar spent or game traded, which can then be redeemed for various prizes and special benefits, including “An all-access entry pass into E3 or Comic-Con.”

Of course that particular reward is listed in the top tier of benefits, requiring a customer rack up 501+ points. According to the survey information, 10 points will be rewarded for every game, system, or accessory traded in, along with one point for every dollar spent. Points are accumulated throughout the year, depleted once traded in for benefits ranging from coupons and trade discounts to “A life-sized video game character like a Master Chief Statue” or “A free trip (air, hotel, plus the all-access entry pass) to E3 or Comic-Con.”

I am guessing there will be some steep stipulations for that trip, and these details could very well change. I can blow through $US500 at GameStop in a good month, and that’s not even figuring in trades.

Check out the full listing, directly from the survey, below. Note that a 12-month Game Informer subscription is one of the Reward Level 3 benefits, which might lend itself to the new Elite Program included in the survey, which you can see following the first listing.

GET IN THE REWARD GAME WITH GAMESTOP REWARDS

Now you can earn points toward great rewards, just for buying or trading at GameStop. – a little “thanks,” from us to you.

It’s FREE to join. It’s GameStop Rewards. All you have to do is sign up with your email address at your local GameStop and you’ll get a membership card so you can immediately start earning points. As a member, you will also get sneak peek previews of new titles delivered to your inbox or mobile device, a 3-day free trial on previously owned games and early access to trailers and other new insider game content.

HOW TO EARN POINTS: Flash your card whenever you make a purchase or trade and you’ll earn 10 points for each game or system you trade in and one point per dollar spent on new and previously owned games. Accumulate and spend your points all year long. Choose from a variety of rewards from the GameStop Rewards catalog. Cool, new and exclusive stuff is added every few months!

There will also be bonus and double point earning opportunities throughout the year, which means you reach higher levels – faster.

HOW TO GET REWARDS: Here are examples of point levels and the kind of rewards you can earn. Go online any time to check out the GameStop Rewards catalog, or we’ll let you know at least once every few months that GameStop has added new rewards – like exclusive collector’s items or rare game-related rewards and experiences that you would expect from GameStop.

REWARD LEVEL 1: 1-100 POINTS

* A coupon for 20% off a strategy guide
* A free beta version of a new game
* A one-time power trade offer – 15% bonus trade-in credit

REWARD LEVEL 2: 101-250 POINTS

* A one-time power trade offer – 20% bonus trade-in credit
* Various opportunities to customise content like a team logo, stadium or Xbox lobby background
* Discount off a collector’s edition of a game
* A one-time-use certificate good for a $US5 shipping fee with the purchase of any new game

REWARD LEVEL 3: 251-500 POINTS

* A12-month subscription to Game Informer
* A one-time power trade offer – 25% bonus trade-in credit
* Exclusive in-game accessories like a weapon, player or instrument
* An exclusive mini-game
* Access to chat and provide feedback/ideas directly to game developers
* One free previously owned game

REWARD LEVEL 4: 501+ POINTS

* An all-access entry pass into E3 or Comic-Con
* A life-sized video game character like a Master Chief Statue
* One free new game
* A $US50 GameStop Gift Card
* A free trip (air, hotel, plus the all-access entry pass) to E3 or Comic-Con

Get more out of gaming at GameStop, because only GameStop brings power to the players.

Along with the free rewards program, GameStop is also looking at redoing its current Edge program as GameStop Elite, giving the normal %10 discount and trade bonus on used titles for a reduced price of $US10, without the attached Game Informer subscription.

PRESENTING GAMESTOP ELITE

Now in addition to GameStop Rewards, you can get an extra edge on valuable bonuses and savings when you add a GameStop Elite membership. Just flash your card at the register. It’s that easy.

ADD AN ELITE MEMBERSHIP & GET ALL ITS BENEFITS:

* An additional 10% price discount on all your previously owned games and accessories, and strategy guide purchases
* An additional 10% trade-in bonus on all your game and accessory trade-ins

Your Elite membership gives you a full year of savings for only $US10. It can more than pay for itself in no time!

Get more out of gaming at GameStop, because only GameStop brings power to the players.

Interesting ideas, but I really wouldn’t get your hopes up about that E3 trip. It’s never that easy.

Take Bayonetta lady, for example. She looks resplendent in photos, but in the flesh, that suit looked uncomfortable, not to mention restrictive. But the girl was up there in it, all day, posing for shots, big smile on her face.

Yvonna Lynn, who runs the Charisma+2 Booth Babe agency, says that on average, the ladies in costume “tend to average $US20 to $US25 an hour” working a show like E3. Put in seven hours a day for four days and that’s $US560-$700 a week. Not bad, but for the work some of these girls put in, not great either.

Secrets of the Booth Babe Biz [Spong, via Go Nintendo]

And those are the Game Critics Awards. Voted on by editors from 29 publications, ranging from IGN to GameStop to 1UP to… Kotaku, they’re normally viewed – courtesy of that combined power – as the definitive list of what really stole the show at E3.

2009’s winners have just been announced. And they are as follows:

Best of Show
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
(Naughty Dog/Sony Computer Entertainment America for PlayStation 3)

Best Original Game
Scribblenauts
(5TH Cell/Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment for Nintendo DS)

Best Console Game
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
(Naughty Dog/Sony Computer Entertainment America for PlayStation 3)

Best PC Game
Star Wars: The Old Republic
(BioWare Austin/LucasArts)

Best Handheld Game
Scribblenauts
(5TH Cell/Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment for Nintendo DS)

Best Hardware/Peripheral
“Project Natal”
(Microsoft for Xbox 360)

Best Action Game
Modern Warfare 2
(Infinity Ward/Activision for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC)

Best Action/Adventure Game
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
(Naughty Dog/Sony Computer Entertainment America for PlayStation 3)

Best Role Playing Game
Mass Effect 2
(BioWare/Electronic Arts for Xbox 360, PC)

Best Racing Game
Split/Second
(Black Rock/Disney Interactive Studios for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC)

Best Sports Game
Fight Night Round 4
(EA Canada/EA Sports for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Best Fighting Game
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars
(Eighting/Capcom for Nintendo Wii)

Best Strategy Game
Supreme Commander 2
(Gas Powered Games/Square-Enix for Xbox 360, PC)

Best Social/Casual/Puzzle
DJ Hero
(Freestyle/Red Octane/Activision for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii)

Best Online Multiplayer
Left 4 Dead 2
(Valve/EAP for Xbox 360, PC)

Congratulations Uncharted 2! Congratulations Scribblenauts! Congratulations… well, everyone.

For a second year in a row the analysts at Broadpoint AmTech took a look at the past 11 years worth of winners to see if Best Of awards are a predictor of sales. Their conclusion:

“While there have been a few exceptions, overall we found that “Best of” award winners in categories such as “Best Console Game” and “Best in Show” have been retail hits in the U.S. (e.g. have sold in excess of 1m units lifetime since release according to NPD).”

Certain categories, such as Best Original Game and Best Racing Game, were more hit or miss than others in predicting sales success, the analysts say. That’s because, they said, these sort of games have “qualities that appeal more to industry insiders/game critics on the panel (for example, innovative gameplay and art direction) vs. the average consumer.”

While interesting, I wonder if the awards predict a sales success or help to create one. Lots of publishers have in the past used the award in their marketing of the games.

Sony and Microsoft both spent ample time during their respective E3 2009 press conferences to wow us with camera-based motion control, courtesy of the PlayStation Eye and Project Natal. But Sony’s “magic wand” tech isn’t exactly new.

Dr. Richard Marks, creator of the EyeToy, illustrated much of the same technology during the PlayStation 2 era, using a much more bulbous magic wand to showcase what the console’s camera accessory was capable of. Hardly as impressive an implementation of what was on display during Sony’s E3 showing, which teased first-person shooter and intricate drawing functions, but fascinating nonetheless.

I remember using similar tech when I first played Harmonix’s EyeToy: AntiGrav at my first E3, when the game was intended to ship with bright green gloves, letting the camera track player movements. This looks familiar, but certainly not as refined as what appears to be possible with the PlayStation 3 iteration.

Thanks to Miguel for the heads up!

[This post is the third in a series that recounts the chain of questions and answers I solicited from the people I interviewed during E3. I asked each of my interviewees to ask a question of the next one. Hence: Chain Interview.]

In a hotel room suite on the Wednesday of E3 week, I asked the next chain interview question to Sony’s Peter Dille. He had just let me play Gran Turismo on his white PSPGo and answered a batch of questions about Sony’s E3 showing. Dille was happy to answer Schappert’s question, but admitted to having trouble doing so simply due to a lack of regular use of Xbox Live.

Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment of America responds: “I don’t spend a lot of time on it… Xbox Live has been out for a while and Microsoft’s done a really good job getting people involved in online gaming. And that’s good news for the industry.”

Dille surprised me, and I told him so. I thought he would have made a remark about Microsoft charging for online play, but he didn’t take the bait. Instead, he took the opportunity to keep the chain going for my next interview, located on floor below.

Peter Dille asks Sony Computer Entertainment vice president of product development Scott Rohde: “What advantages do you see in developing for PS3 compared to other platforms?”

Armed with that query, I headed over to Rohde’s room. We talked about Sony’s U.S. studios, whose efforts he oversees. He let me videotape his PSPgo’s sliding action. And then I lobbed him the softball.

Scott Rohde responds “What developers have discovered over the past three years — you’ve heard [Sony Computer Entertainment president] Kaz [Hirai] make reference to this in other interviews — it’s kind of the machine that just keeps giving. As you peel off new layers of the onion, you kind of find out more capabilities that the machine can do. When people start taking advantage of the [PS3's seven] SPUs and the Cell [processor[ they really find that, wow, we can throw more and more tasks and processes at those SPUs and we have all this freedom on the main processor to do more."

I pointed out to Rohde that Dille was asking for a comparison to other platform. His answer implied that the same kinds of things couldn't be said about the other major consoles. Fair? "Absolutely," he replied.
My next interview later in the day would be with Microsoft's corporate vice president of strategy and business development for the company's interactive entertainment division. That'd be Shane Kim, former head of first-party game development for the Xbox 360. This would be Sony's chance to turn things back on Microsoft and keep the chain connected. Question, please?

Rohde prefaced his question by noting that I always ask him about sports games, largely because Rohde used to run Sony's San Diego studio which produces the PlayStation's basketball and basebell games.

Scott Rohde asks Shane Kim: "[Stephen] identifies me as a sports guy and, at heart I, am. I would love to know if Microsoft has any thoughts about getting back into first-party sports development.”

Shane Kim’s answer, and more links in the chain – including the most awkward question of the week – will run here tomorrow.

Despite what appears to be a converging of technological capabilities, Microsoft has told Kotaku that it’s too early to talk about whether the Xbox 360 could be capable of replicating the promised capabilities of the OnLive service.

Those abilities would have freed Xbox gaming from requiring discs, downloads or possibly even an Xbox itself.

To explain why we asked such a question, it helps to remember what OnLive is. Announced in March and proven to work in controlled press demos (one of which I experienced, hands-on), OnLive would alter the way games are bought and owned, if not how players would control them. The crux of the service is a shift that moves the computations that typically occur in PCs or game consoles when a game runs to a server farm located far away from any OnLive gamer. The OnLive gamer would play games as they normally would, using a traditional-style controller. They would see their game play on the screen of their broadband-connected PC or TV, the latter of which would need to be plugged into a “microconsole” that’s a little larger than a DS. The secret sauce of OnLive would be the ability for it to send the video signal of the game from that server farm to the player’s screen with no delay in sync with any button presses by the gamer. As seen in the press demos, games such as Crysis and Burnout Paradise could run smoothly through OnLive. In theory, any game could. Gamers would be able to buy, rent or even spectate new games with no delay.

That was March.

And then, during this month, June, Microsoft announced at E3 that the Xbox 360 would support a technology called Instant Streaming In 1080p. When demoed, it presented no-delay, no-disc, no-download high-quality feature-length video, something any user with a fat enough Internet connection would be able to enjoy. During the same E3 show, Microsoft signaled an increased willingness to support disc-free gaming by announcing the August launch of a program to sell full-sized downloadable games digitally to the 360.

I thought I saw roads about to converge.

With Microsoft showing off this blistering ability to stream high-quality video and a gusto for expanding its involvement in disc-free gaming, I asked John Schappert, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of Xbox Live software and services, if these developments put Microsoft on a path to offering OnLive-like functionality via the 360.

“I think [that] you connecting the technology dots is astute,” Schappert said. “But it’s nothing we’re ready to announce or talk about today… I think that a broadband-connected console to the television enables us to do many things. And, as the bandwidth continues to increase and latency continues to decrease, I think it opens up new avenues of possibility. And of course I’ve got 5000 smart people back home that will tell me all the crazy things that can’t be done. But there’s also just as many that can solve all these technological problems and deliver the amazing innovation that they’re doing. I think anything is possible but nothing that we’re going to announce right now. I think just delivering 1080p [without delay], something that no other device has done, is pretty amazing.”

I jokingly suggested Microsoft just buys the service. OnLive… Xbox Live… Xbox OnLive?

“I think they liked our name, didn’t they?” Schappert laughed.

Before I kick this list off, a couple of qualifications. First, this is in alphabetical order. Second, I’m talking about the best original games, not necessarily the most original. Third, I’m only counting games I either played myself or sat down and watched someone else play – if there was only a trailer shown, it doesn’t count.

Finally, I love original games. As someone who has been a gamer for close to 30 years now, I love seeing new games that offer new experiences and new worlds to explore. So, essentially, these ten games really are my picks as the best of the show. These are the ten games I came away from E3 most looking forward to playing.

(Well, except for Mass Effect 2.)

Alan Wake (360)
Remedy lifted its media black-out on Alan Wake in style at Microsoft’s press conference. We knew going in that it was a psychological thriller starring a horror author whose novel is coming to life before his very eyes. What we didn’t know was just how much Alan Wake is shaping up to be the next-gen Resident Evil game we all wanted RE5 to be. The lighting not only looked fantastic, but forms a vital gameplay mechanic: enemies need to be coaxed out of darkness in order for Alan to damage them. And yes, you can use your torch and handgun at the same time.

Bayonetta (360, PS3)
Is Bayonetta original? Sure, it might be from the same team responsible for Devil May Cry, but Dante was never attacked by a giant dragon crashing its head through the wall of a castle then taking to the sky with the throne room still attached around its neck. And Dante never defeated a boss by dislodging the dragon’s head then grabbing the throne room and spinning it round thousands of feet up in the air before hurling it at the dragon for a knockout blow.
Bayonetta also has twin revolvers in her heels. And had easily the best costume at the show.

Borderlands (360, PS3, PC)
I saw this at last year’s E3 and thought, “Hmm, looks interesting.” This year, I don’t know whether it was the drastic change in art direction or simply the contagious enthusiasm of Gearbox’s Randy Pitchford, but I walked out of my demo thinking, “Wow, I cannot wait to play this game!”
Borderlands is Diablo played as a first-person shooter. Sure, the same thing was said about Hellgate: London, but this both holds far more promise and has none of the nonsensical subscription model that plagued Hellgate’s release. You and up to three friends are dumped in an open world that’s part Mad Max and part Azeroth. There are quests galore, character classes, skill trees, hundreds of thousands of weapon customisation options, and plenty of driving and shooting in between. Your character is persistent online and offline and co-op is totally drop-in/drop-out.
And yes, everything you’ve heard about the new art style is true. Borderlands doesn’t just sound like a good game, it looks like one too.

Brink (360, PS3, PC)
UK studio Splash Damage is evolving the class-based multiplayer FPS beyond its own Enemy Territory series. Brink throws you into 8-on-8 battles where you’re constantly choosing from a range of individual objectives that support your team’s greater overall objective. It’s a system that seeks to give purpose to and reward every action you take during a mission. Parallel campaigns can be played solo or co-operatively with up to eight players. And I haven’t even mentioned the cool Mirror’s Edge style movement that sees you climbing, leaping and navigating obstacles with ease, even in the midst of a chaotic firefight.
Bethesda’s publishing arm may have underwhelmed with WET and Rogue Warrior elsewhere on its booth, but they seem to have backed a winner with Brink.

Brutal Legend (360, PS3, PC)
Tim Schafer is in possession of a rare talent among game designers. He knows how to make you smile. Full Throttle, Grim Fandango and Psychonauts testify to his ability to keep you smiling through witty dialogue, wicked puns and a cavalcade of irresistible nonsense. That sometimes his games are a bit clumsy and rough around the edges doesn’t seem to matter. That you’d be aware of how another game did these core mechanics better if only you’d stop to think about it… that also doesn’t seem to matter. Brutal Legend takes the kitchen sink approach of Psychonauts, in which all kinds of action game tropes are hurled into the mix, some executed more proficiently than others. But it’s the effortless charm of its characters and the world they inhabit that really draws you in. This should be the most FUN game of the year.

Darksiders (360, PS3)
Remember how Nintendo teased us years ago with footage of a “grown up” Link before they backtracked and gave us (the quite wonderful) Wind Waker instead? Since then, and even after the disappointing Twilight Princess, Nintendo fans have been crying out for a more mature Zelda game. Darksiders could be that game. It could also be that Legacy of Kain follow-up you’ve been waiting for. Or, if you give it just a glance, it could be a serious rival to God of War.
What I like most about Darksiders is how deceptive it is. It starts like a hack-and-slash brawler with hero War taking giant sword to demon innards like he’s been taught by Kratos himself. A couple of hours later, however, and War is bursting his brain attempting to solve complex environmental puzzles throughout the massive levels spoking off the freely explorable hub world. It may look like God of War, but it plays like a Metroid game. Cold is the man who doesn’t find that exciting.

Homefront (360, PS3, PC)
I’ve already put THQ and Kaos Studio’s shooter Homefront forward for the best demo of E3. The pacing of the hands-off presentation (we watched the developer play through a small area) was pitch perfect, opening in a rural town where the resistance force is holed up before being assaulted and almost overrun by the North Korean enemy. Key to turning the tide in this encounter was the arrival of the Goliath, a massive remote-controlled armoured vehicle which you direct around the battlefield.
Seriously, who doesn’t want to fight alongside an RC car with a built-in rocket launcher?

Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii)
As you’d expect – nay, demand – from the makers of Odin Sphere, Muramasa is a stunning looking game. Vanillaware’s trademark 2D sprites bring the Japanese legends of its setting to life in incredibly lush, vivid detail. A brawler at heart, the game’s combat revolves around precise timing of its two-button moves. Add some RPG progression and the result is a title that matches immediacy with the potential for considerable depth. There’s nothing hugely innovative happening here, but few side-scrolling adventures have ever looked so visually appealing.

Pixeljunk Shooter (PS3)
I’ve not been a huge fan of Q’s Pixeljunk series to date. But Shooter – despite its terribly generic and somewhat misleading name – looks like being the one to convert me. Harkening back to those 2D Amiga classics such as Oids and even Exile (and if you remember Exile, applause to you!), Shooter mixes exploration of a large multi-directional scrolling environment with cunning chemistry physics based puzzles and a healthy dose of, well… shooting.
You’re on a rescue mission in a mining complex struck by natural disaster. Trapped miners need to be helped to safety as you pilot a small ship through the caverns, blasting rocks to clear passages or release lava and water. It’s the interaction of the latter elements that forms the crux of the puzzles. And it all looks as gorgeous as you’d expect from Pixeljunk. Still don’t understand why it isn’t called Pixeljunk Elements though…

Scribblenauts (DS)
And here we are. Although criminally ignored by the official Game Critics of E3 Awards, Scribblenauts did manage to scoop several “best of show” gongs from major outlets. And deservedly so, the wit and imagination on display here – and elicited from the player – puts your blockbuster bald space marine shooters and Tomb Raider clones to shame.
For the uninitiated: it’s a puzzle game where you decide the solution. Your objective is to collect a star at the top of a tall tree. You could type “axe”, equip it and then chop the tree down. You could type “lumberjack” and get him to do it for you. You could type “beaver”. You could, as I did, type “wings”, attach them to myself and fly to the top of the tree. You could attach the wings to your lumberjack too. Or the beaver.
Although just one simple, early example of a puzzle, you can already see the potential for sheer silliness. The joy of Scribblenauts is directly proportional to how much fun you want to have with it, the boldness of your ideas and the rampant lunacy you’re willing to muster on-screen. Whether it’s GTA III or Far Cry 2, I love games where I get to improvise my own solutions; Scribblenauts is taking that idea to the next level.
This was the most original – and yes – BEST game on show at E3 this year.

[Pic]

[This post is the second in a series that recounts the chain of questions I solicited from the people I interviewed during E3. I asked each of my interviewees to ask a question of the next one. Hence: Chain Interview.]

Yoshio Sakamoto, longtime designer of many Metroid games responds: “I want him to be there forever. [pause] That’s quite a question!”

Sakamoto gave me this answer over much laughter. But Miyamoto had it easy, asking a question of one of his co-workers. Sakamoto had a tougher challenge. I explained that I was next going to interview Xbox Live software and services corporate vice president John Schappert (aka the guy who delivered most of Microsoft’s E3 press briefing.) I needed a question. Sakamoto, through his translator, obliged.

Yoshio Sakamoto asks Microsoft corporate vice president of Xbox Live software and services John Schappert: “Do you like Metroid?”

And he can’t resist throwing in a second question: Do you like Mr. Miyamoto?

Later in the day, in a meeting room on the second floor of Microsoft’s always-gleaming, always-white E3 Xbox 360 booth, Schappert reached the finish line of my interview with him when I sprang Sakamoto’s two questions.

John Schappert responds: “I do like Metroid. And I think Nintendo has made absolutely amazing games. I grew up playing Nintendo. I grew up as a Nintendo SNES programmer… the Metroid on the SNES was phenomenal.”

Note that Schappert founded Madden development studio Tiburon and had been making games for multiple hardware generations. The SNES was not an alien object to him. And to the second question about Miyamoto?

“He’s my hero. And I proudly have an original Mario drawing that he made for me in my office. He is my inspiration in the industry. I think he crafts some amazing experiences and I think that he is an icon for us all to look up to.”

Schappert was my final interview of the day. I’d start the next day with a Sony interview. I needed a Schappert question for it.

John Schappert asks Sony Computer Entertainment of America senior vice president of marketing Peter Dille: “What do you think of Xbox Live?”

Peter Dille’s answer will run tomorrow, along with two more links to the chain.