Wow. See, they should have just let Bioware make the Star Wars prequels. If this new ridiculously awesome trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic is any indication, this game is going to be epic beyond belief. I mean, hundreds of jedi and sith squaring off? Seriously, this is just cool. Maybe the best trailer out of E3 so far. Thoughts?
Category: GamerSushi News
Microsoft E3 Presser Highlights
The Microsoft E3 press event has officially taken place. With it come a bevy of announcements, trailers, videos and more.
Here are the highlights:
- Modern Warfare 2 gameplay looks awesome.
- Splinter Cell Conviction coming Fall 2009. Sounds like they’ve added some new gameplay elements, mainly for the story.
- Final Fantasy XIII coming in Spring 2010, much earlier than projected.
- Left 4 Dead 2 Coming November 17th! Seems a little early, but I can dig it. New weapons, including chainsaws.
- Forza 3 is coming in October.
- Crackdown 2 trailer shown! This rules, it was one of my favorite games of this generation so far.
- Halo 3 ODST video looks sweet. They also highlighted a story-telling element: most of the game will be a mystery pieced together through flashbacks. Coming September 22nd.
- Bungie also shows a trailer for a new Halo game, Halo: Reach. Guess they lied when they said they were done with Halo, but I’m cool with it since Reach is such an awesome story. The book is incredible. Fall 2010.
- Last.fm is coming to XBL gold users at no additional cost. Listening to music is neat, but I’d rather not do it on my TV. Still though, not bad for a service I’m already paying for.
- Facebook and Twitter are coming to the XBox 360? Double no thanks. The world is over as we know it.
- Kojima sneaks onto stage to announce that the Metal Gear Solid franchise is coming to the 360. Kind of cool, but it’s a Raiden game. Which is not so cool. If you’re bringing MGS to the 360, bring the actual game, not some dumb Raiden extension. Guess sloppy seconds is better than nothing, though.
- Motion control coming to the 360. The final wtf? It’s not a controller. It’s a camera that translates your actual movements to the game. Sounds mega-lame. “Project Natal”. Lionhead even showed off a new game for it called Milo.
By the way, the links are to videos. So, which of these excites you most? Which is the stupidest? Go!
Byte Sized News From E3
Just a couple of items to get things going here:
- Fat Princess will be released on the PSN sometime in June.
- Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 has been announced for 2010.
- Hideo Kojima is still batshit crazy.
Analysis: So excited for Fat Princess, it is kind of like a 2-D Team Fortress 2, with a fun class system and really cute, colorful graphics. Lego anything can go fly a kite, but Harry Potter might be kind of fun to play. A rental if I ever saw one, but hopefully they change up the already stale gameplay. As for Kojima, don’t be surprised if he gives a solid 5 hour speech and then you wake up in a basement, tied to a chair with a clone of yourself pointing a gun at you.
Rumor: New Mario Game to Be Unveiled at E3
Well, get your rumor counters going, because they’re going to be running wild for the next day or so. Since the first E3 press conference is tomorrow (Microsoft), things are going to be flying off the Inter-tubes left and right.
Some fresh news just broke from Japan as a news service printed that a new Mario game is scheduled to be shown by Nintendo this week at E3, and will release in Japan as soon as the end of this year. Let’s hope it’s a proper Mario game and not a new Mario Party or something like that. Considering Mario Galaxies was such a hit with the Mario alumni out there, this is definitely some exciting news. Now I’m just holding on to my hopes that a new Zelda game will be shown as well, since it’s been even longer since the last one of those.
So who’s excited about a new Mario Wii game?
Source- 1Up
GamerSushi Asks: Would You Rather?
On the eve of E3, it’s time for gamers young and old to dream up a world of possibilities for our next year of gaming. With that in mind, I figured it was a great chance for a new Would You Rather.
In Would You Rather, I simply ask a series of questions, and you follow up with your answers. Give as much or as little explanation as you want for your choices, but we all know that we like to see the reasoning behind the madness.
Don’t let your answers suck, though. You’ll be tarred, feathered and quite possibly beaten like you stole something.
Microsoft Working on 300,000 Person MMO?
It’s no secret that MMO’s are the train that every major developer hopes to ride into money country, following the trend of Blizzard’s oh-so-popular moolah machine, World of Warcraft. While we know that Microsoft previously worked on a Halo MMO that was ultimately canned, some have speculated that they still had something else they were constructing in the shadows.
Well, a recent post on DevelopMag shows that Microsoft is not only looking to get into the MMO genre, but to jump into it with flying colors. Apparently, Microsoft is working on having a game that can support 300,000 simultaneous players at once over XBox Live. To give you an idea of how nuts that is, EVE Online supports 300k players total. The most ever online at once was 50,000. Kind of crazy.
It definitely makes you wonder what kind of property this MMO is, considering that MS expects to have so many players on at once. A different, resurrected Halo MMO perhaps? It’s the only thing I can think of that would possibly be a big enough IP to attract an audience that large. Thoughts?
Source- DevelopMag
GamerSushi Asks: What Would You Do If You Ran Sony/Nintendo/Microsoft?
With E3 just around the corner, everyone seems to have an opinion about what’s going to happen or what should happen. So I got to thinking: what would I do if I were running any of the Big 3?
Honestly, for Nintendo, I would keep doing what they are doing, but also I would try to get more of the classic Nintendo franchises out there to lure the hardcore gamers. Wii sales are finally tapering off, so if you can lure in those older gamers with a solid library then I think they will really show their dominance. Also, more Virtual Console games. One game a week ain’t cutting it.
For Microsoft, I would give up any hope of competing with Nintendo using motion controllers and stick to what works: hardcore gamers and buying exclusives for the 360. Microsoft doesn’t have nearly the number of Triple A exclusives for this year that Sony does so if they can hold their lead they will likely reload for next year. Look for a new Gears game to be announced at next years E3. I would also dump Rare. Their time in the sun is gone and I think they will only cost Microsoft money now.
Sony, despite the constant negative press, is not as far behind as you might think. They are only 6.5 million consoles behind Microsoft and since they started a year later, that isn’t too big a lead. 2008 was not Sony’s year for exclusives, but 2009 is. Killzone 2 and Infamous have already landed and more are on the horizon, including Heavy Rain and what the hell Kojima has planned. I have heard rumors of a MEGATON announcement that Sony has planned at E3, but I have no idea what it is, if anything. Sony needs to keep adding to the PSN and getting franchises that people associate with Sony, like God of War, Gran Turismo and Final Fantasy. If it means shelling out the big bucks, then I would do it.
What would you guys do to crush the competition?
Mass Effect 2 Teaser Includes Shephard
Mass Effect 2 is maybe the game I’m looking forward to the most this generation. I loved the first one, and I have no reason to believe that the sequel won’t be even better. In a brand new teaser for the Bioware space RPG, we are finally shown glimpses of Shephard, who may or may not be something more than human. I’m really liking the look of this, it seems like it’s improved graphically, and the shooting segments look beefed up. Thoughts?
Ubisoft Games to Have Release Day DLC
I’ve griped about it plenty before, but I’m really not liking the places that downloadable content is headed. Sometimes it’s done well and is worth the money, like the Halo 3 maps or the Fallout 3 extra campaigns. But other times, it’s done quite poorly, such as the Prince of Persia “DLC” that is really the true ending of the game.
Well, the same people that brought you that last one (Ubisoft) are bringing three more DLC packages, this time for their upcoming games Avatar, Splinter Cell: Conviction and Assassin’s Creed 2. The problem? They’re releasing the DLC on the day each of these games comes out.
Remember the days when you could unlock extra costumes and gameplay modes for free? Well, those are going the way of the dodo now, it seems.
Continue reading Ubisoft Games to Have Release Day DLC
Machinima: Halo 3: ODST Thunder From Above
TheDuoGroup is at it again, with yet another excellent machinima short that combines some snazzy effects with Halo 3 footage. I really love the work these guys do, so it’s cool to see them make a trailer for Halo 3: ODST, a game in which we have no actual footage yet. Very creative.
E3 2009 Predictions: Place Your Bets
I know we’ve already had a topic similar to this in the past, but now that E3 is just a few days away, I couldn’t resist. Rumors are starting to fall on video game sites about possible hardware releases (such as an upgraded PSP), and firm dates on games like Splinter Cell: Conviction and so on. There are even rumors surrounding an announcement of a new Mario/Zelda game for the Wii, with Nintendo’s promise that this year’s presser will be focused on games.
While E3 wasn’t a big deal last year, this year, they’re going to kick it up a notch. I figured that in light of this awesome event, we’d place some bets on things that we think are going to happen, and we’ll try to keep score of who got the most right.
So, put down 7 predictions for E3, and we’ll see who comes out on top. The more specific, the better!
InFamous Launch Trailer
So, InFamous, the rocking new PS3 open-world exclusive, just dropped yesterday. I have to say that I’m pretty excited to being play it, and I’ll be picking up my reserved copy after work. The PS3 really is starting to build up a quality library of truly unique and original IPs, which is welcome amidst the sea of sequels.
In honor of the release of InFamous, the developers have put out a fancy new launch trailer for the game. Can’t wait to play it.
More Photorealistic Graphics, Please
Epic Games, the dudes behind Unreal and Gears of War, are probably some of the biggest graphics whores in the industry. I mean, with all the eye candy they constantly throw at us in their games, it’s hard to doubt that they love making games, and love making them look good. But can they look better?
While the graphics are great in games that use the Unreal Engine, photorealistic graphics aren’t quite here yet, even with this generation’s powerful hardware across consoles and PC games alike. However, Epic’s Tim Sweeney, in a recent interview with Gamasutra, has a couple of ideas about when we’ll see photorealism in real-time:
We’re only about a factor of a thousand off from achieving all that in real-time without sacrifices. So we’ll certainly see that happen in our lifetimes; it’s just a result of Moore’s Law. Probably 10-15 years for that stuff, which isn’t far at all.
Even though I’m not much of a graphics guy (I feel gameplay is way more important), this idea is pretty interesting. I’d like to see what kinds of new art directions developers take with that much graphical power at their disposal. What do you guys think?
Source- Gamasutra
A Fool And His Money… Or: Why Do Gamers Spend Money Like The Federal Government?
Games are expensive. And as you get older, you get more money to buy games. Inversely, you have less time to play said games. Therefore, life is cruel. But one thing I have noticed about gamers is that we are morons when it comes to money. It seems that we just can’t wait to part with our hard earned cash.
Continue reading A Fool And His Money… Or: Why Do Gamers Spend Money Like The Federal Government?
GamerSushi Asks: Gaming Deal Breakers
Hope you dudes all had a great Memorial Day weekend, for those of you that got to have some free time, anyway. Me, I played tons of video games including Sacred 2, Halo Wars and Team Fortress 2 (apparently I dominate as a Pyro). I also saw Terminator: Salvation, and yes, it was as disappointing as everyone says.
I was totally with the movie until a certain point about half way in, and then everything just takes a huge nose-dive plot wise. Seriously, I’ve never seen a movie tank so hard, so fast, but this one did. I don’t often give in to the idea of “deal breakers” in a movie, but this one definitely had a couple of deal breakers that got in the way of my enjoyment.
It got me thinking about deal breakers in terms of video games, actually. Something that is so inexcusable that you instantly stop enjoying the game that you are playing. I think for me deal breakers are multiplayer games that are unbalanced or full of exploits (hello Gears of War 2), or single player campaigns that pull you out of the fun and make you do boring puzzles again and again.
What about you guys? Do you have any gaming deal breakers?
Gamer Conversations: Mario
Welcome to a new GamerSushi feature, Gamer Conversations, where Anthony and I attempt to actually have a civil conversation without the GameCop/LameCop or other personas. These are just casual talks about some of our favorite gaming icons, ideas or stories. Best of all, you guys get to join in when it’s all done.
Today’s topic: Mario. He’s everyone’s favorite plumber, and has been a thing of legend amongst gamers for decades now. The most interesting part of this Nintendo mascot is that he means something a little different to everyone.
Continue reading Gamer Conversations: Mario
Finally, a Proper Modern Warfare 2 Trailer
In case you weren’t watching the Eastern Conference Finals tonight on TNT, you may have missed the epic reveal trailer for Modern Warfare 2, full of explosions, intrigue, accents and lots of sweet action. In particular, I’m a fan of the rope sequence ascending through the flames. It pretty much made me pee a little. Anywho, watch it and leave your comments! Who else is excited to play this game in November?
What Are You Playing This Weekend?
Since it’s a holiday weekend here in the States, I’m sure that many of you are getting to do some gaming over the last few days that you haven’t been able to do recently. For me, I’m loving a game called Sacred 2 right now, a hack-n-slash RPG that is absolutely HUGE. Seriously, my brother and I have played it for over 12 hours and haven’t even discovered 20 percent of the map yet. Awesome? Yes.
I’ll probably hit up some Halo Wars at some point and also some Valkyria Chronicles. I really need to nail that game down, finally. So what are you guys playing over the weekend? Go!
Yet Another Modern Warfare 2 Tease
More teasers? I get that Infinity Ward wants to hype their game, but come on. Oh well, I guess I can’t complain too much when I gobble up every bit of info that they throw at me, ravenously looking for more.
While the world premiere of Modern Warfare 2 is still just a couple of days away, it seems that a new teaser is out tonight exclusively on GameTrailers. So, kick back, relax and enjoy the 28 seconds of teasing, 10 of which we’ve already seen.
Dude, Where Are My Genres?
The more I look at this generation of video games, the more I grow perplexed and a bit worried about what gaming is turning into. No, not that games are somehow becoming lame or less fun. But more in the sense of the quickly disappearing idea of video game genres.
Allow me to explain. When I first started playing video games in the mid 1980’s, there was really only one main genre: the 2D sidescrolling platformer. Super Mario Bros. defined this. While we always had things like Pac-Man and such, the image of Super Mario Bros. and what it stood for as a game was synonymous with the idea that people young and old alike had in mind when thinking of video games. Over time, this idea grew to encompass all kinds of different types of video games, including sports, shooting, puzzle and even fantasy role-playing games.
Continue reading Dude, Where Are My Genres?