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The Official E3 2009 Thread (June 2-4) of Everything's already leaked ;)
- Thread starter Wii Will Rock U
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you know, i know most of the playable show floor demos are intended for journalists so they can "filter" the experience to the public, but it'd be nice if they used something like remote play or playOn to let outsiders try the games out remotely. that way they don't risk leaking code or anything, and while they probably won't want to do it for some floor demos, i'd bet some are polished enough to allow public play. or instead of having it completely public, allow some sort of insider membership (controllable through NDA etc).
Is that the thing that turned out to be a last minute FF14 Q&A, or was there something else? If the former, then : http://e3.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/696020/Live-Blog-Square-Enix-E3-2009-Press-Conference.html
Just got back from my first E3. Had a blast and saw some very impressive games. GoW3 looks amazing, as well as Forza 3. Bethesda was on hand, but all their games were behind closed doors and required advanced registration. Stan Lee was signing autographs at the Activision booth (I barely missed the queue line for it 
) and I also saw Rick Fox at the Bethesda booth. Olivia Munn was at the live taping for G4 and she is gorgeous in person. A couple of my co-workers saw David Jaffe and a couple of them got Eliza Dushku's autograph (She's the voice for Wet).
As for the games, Activision was demoing Blur, which looks a lot of fun. The graphics look like Burnout, with gameplay like Mario Kart racing. EA was in full force and had a demo of Brutal Legend going on. Brutal Legend looks amazing and I was surprised at how violent the game is. Halo OSDT looked gorgeous and had a pretty long line. As for long lines, Zelda had the longest line at the conference since they were giving away a stylus that looks like a feather. Assassin's Creed 2 was being shown, but only people with press passes were allowed to play. The game though looked amazing from what I could see.
Anyway, I'll be back tomorrow and can hopefully get some pics.
Edit: I almost forgot about The Conduit. That game looks amazing, probably the best looking Wii game out. FF Crystal Chronicles for the Wii was also being demoed and also looks amazing. That game was probably the 2nd best looking game for the Wii, barely being edged out by the Conduit.
) and I also saw Rick Fox at the Bethesda booth. Olivia Munn was at the live taping for G4 and she is gorgeous in person. A couple of my co-workers saw David Jaffe and a couple of them got Eliza Dushku's autograph (She's the voice for Wet).As for the games, Activision was demoing Blur, which looks a lot of fun. The graphics look like Burnout, with gameplay like Mario Kart racing. EA was in full force and had a demo of Brutal Legend going on. Brutal Legend looks amazing and I was surprised at how violent the game is. Halo OSDT looked gorgeous and had a pretty long line. As for long lines, Zelda had the longest line at the conference since they were giving away a stylus that looks like a feather. Assassin's Creed 2 was being shown, but only people with press passes were allowed to play. The game though looked amazing from what I could see.
Anyway, I'll be back tomorrow and can hopefully get some pics.
Edit: I almost forgot about The Conduit. That game looks amazing, probably the best looking Wii game out. FF Crystal Chronicles for the Wii was also being demoed and also looks amazing. That game was probably the 2nd best looking game for the Wii, barely being edged out by the Conduit.
Another day, more impressions.
Started off with getting in a line I didn't know I was getting in line for. Turns out it was for a free copy of Battlefield 1943. So now I have said free copy. Neat.
First-things-first, I checked out Wii Sports Resort, because I wanted to see if Motion + was bad on Red Steel 2 or if it was just bad in general. I only got to play some swordfighting, but it seemed pretty good. The guy I faced off against just waggled away while I tried planning attacks. I beat him four out of five times (I blocked and while he was off-balance, knocked him back). The archery stuff looked pretty good, and a newbie who cut in front of me (damn you N-Philes and ******* guys), did pretty well for their first try. The fencing minigame looked reminiscent of Zelda in a couple ways. I'm not sure I'd like either one in a Zelda game though.
The next thing I did was play Zelda: Spirit Tracks. They were handing out the same styluses that came with the Phantom Hourglass preorder. The boss fight and little bit of the dungeon I played were all right. I'm 90% sure I saw Kobun Heat cut ahead of the line (again, just as it was almost my go) along with this guy from some Playstation publication. While in line, someone from Sony asked what the line was for. When he heard it was for Zelda he asked, "is that some sort of game?" Of course not, not at E3.
I got some hands on time with Muramasa, and it was better than I expected. I don't know if it could be so good for the entire game, though, but it's now on my radar. I like that there are different swords, and switching between them (especially midair) is badass. I don't think they're going to dub the voices, and for once, I think it's a good decision.
I played Sin & Punishment 2 and I died, never finding out how to use the sword. It was pretty crazy.
Icarian was available at the Wiiware kiosk. I played the level from the trailer, and it was pretty great. While I was playing, two people from SCEA Santa Monica came over and asked if it was the new Kid Icarus (they were sort of in awe... I think). Good game, and nice use of the pointer controls with the platforming genre. It's the first game to do what this game does in the genre, and that's cool. I just wish the pointer didn't vanish for some reason on the second level. Maybe it was a problem with the save. Still, it's definitely a must-buy.
I gave NSMB Wii a shot afterward and I like this game much more this go around. Yesterday, I was a bit unimpressed with it. Today I got into several four player matches (I think I played for an hour, and for whatever reason, no one came to our little corner kiosk). After trying to be a team player and one guy kept trying to screw me over, I just decided to be a douchebag. I picked people off, threw them into chasms, and brought the ones back to life that I wanted to be brought back to life. At some point they all tried teaming up to take me down, but I still got first place. One thing I noticed that I didn't before is that these ten levels are actually picks from the full game. World 1-1, World 7-1, World 4-Boss level, etc. Some of the later levels were nearly impossible with four players, especially since we kept trying to fuck each other over. Lots of fun. It's now one of the favorite games I've played at the show.
I think this was when I went over to the South Hall to play The Conduit single player. Unfortunately, it's not nearly as good as the multiplayer. You have a location to reach, and in order to get there, you have to fight these ugly looking enemies. The controls are solid, but the main game isn't quite there. One thing that did stand out was one part of the level where I went through a destroyed house, and everything was on its side and disorienting (but it wasn't bad. I found it clever). Everything else just seemed kinda generic. Then again, it is the early part of the game, so maybe it gets better. It's at least better than Red Steel 2.
Then I went to Bayonetta and it. is. awesome. Man, fuck God of War, man. Instead of God of War's QTEs and BS, you actually pull off combos and insane-looking shit on your own. I faced off against three boss-fights, and two ended in a climax (think of it as a special finishing move), where the main character's hair turns into this demon beast and gruesomely mauls the enemy. You can use weapons dropped by a fallen enemy, and that's pretty cool too. Oh, and the level design in the final boss fight- I was going up walls, fighting on the ceiling, and doing all sorts of shit. Bayonetta is the real fucking deal. It's so violent, so over-the-top, so damn entertaining. Kamiya, thanks for this one, man. Just stick to action games and I'll love you.
Next was Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, and I was surprised. It's very good. Voice acting is nice, controls work, and the cell phone stuff is well thought out (it reminded me of GTA IV's cell phone feature, except this was better). I stopped playing when the world changed to the ice world because well, I didn't really want to do that. Oh, but the music is so nice. One of the games I was more impressed with at the show.
I went around the Microsoft booth and man is it sad. Between Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, Microsoft's booth is the worst. Just bad layout design and very few variety among games. It's pretty sad. I couldn't find one thing I wanted to play that I couldn't play elsewhere. I really need to check out Brutal Legend at some point though. So maybe tomorrow.
I went to the Square Enix booth and got suckered into playing Dissidia.
At some point, I played TMNT Smash Up. It's basically Smash Bros. Brawl without polish. And I didn't care much for Brawl, so... yeah. The level where everyone was eaten by crocs was funny, at least.
I went back to the West Hall to try and play Trine (which is coming to XBLA, apparently). It was being played with an Xbox 360 controller and there was a sign above it that read, "Coming soon to Xbox Live Arcade!"
Got to play Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. Got my ass handed to me right quick, but I at least button-mashed two super moves for Ryu.
I went to the Sony booth and played Jak and Daxter on the PSP. Outside of the first minute of getting used to the controls, I had a good time. The level was well-designed and the demo was centered around platforming. You can really sense Naughty Dog's lack of presence, which brings me to
Uncharted Co-op was one of the last things I played. Outside of some sparse platforming (well, climbing, I guess), the game is a huge mess of badness. Sloppy controls mixed with generic shooting crap = frustrating and bad. It feels like it wants to be a first-person shooter, and it probably should have been. Otherwise, it should have been all about the climbing and co-op platforming (which is actually kinda neat when it works, but I think this build was having trouble recognizing I was pressing the correct button at times).
I finished the night playing a level of NSMB Wii and that was pretty much it.
So yeah, Bayonetta is probably my game of the show, followed closely by NSMB Wii. I wanna play Brutal Legend and Trine tomorrow, though, lines be damned.
Started off with getting in a line I didn't know I was getting in line for. Turns out it was for a free copy of Battlefield 1943. So now I have said free copy. Neat.
First-things-first, I checked out Wii Sports Resort, because I wanted to see if Motion + was bad on Red Steel 2 or if it was just bad in general. I only got to play some swordfighting, but it seemed pretty good. The guy I faced off against just waggled away while I tried planning attacks. I beat him four out of five times (I blocked and while he was off-balance, knocked him back). The archery stuff looked pretty good, and a newbie who cut in front of me (damn you N-Philes and ******* guys), did pretty well for their first try. The fencing minigame looked reminiscent of Zelda in a couple ways. I'm not sure I'd like either one in a Zelda game though.
The next thing I did was play Zelda: Spirit Tracks. They were handing out the same styluses that came with the Phantom Hourglass preorder. The boss fight and little bit of the dungeon I played were all right. I'm 90% sure I saw Kobun Heat cut ahead of the line (again, just as it was almost my go) along with this guy from some Playstation publication. While in line, someone from Sony asked what the line was for. When he heard it was for Zelda he asked, "is that some sort of game?" Of course not, not at E3.
I got some hands on time with Muramasa, and it was better than I expected. I don't know if it could be so good for the entire game, though, but it's now on my radar. I like that there are different swords, and switching between them (especially midair) is badass. I don't think they're going to dub the voices, and for once, I think it's a good decision.
I played Sin & Punishment 2 and I died, never finding out how to use the sword. It was pretty crazy.
Icarian was available at the Wiiware kiosk. I played the level from the trailer, and it was pretty great. While I was playing, two people from SCEA Santa Monica came over and asked if it was the new Kid Icarus (they were sort of in awe... I think). Good game, and nice use of the pointer controls with the platforming genre. It's the first game to do what this game does in the genre, and that's cool. I just wish the pointer didn't vanish for some reason on the second level. Maybe it was a problem with the save. Still, it's definitely a must-buy.
I gave NSMB Wii a shot afterward and I like this game much more this go around. Yesterday, I was a bit unimpressed with it. Today I got into several four player matches (I think I played for an hour, and for whatever reason, no one came to our little corner kiosk). After trying to be a team player and one guy kept trying to screw me over, I just decided to be a douchebag. I picked people off, threw them into chasms, and brought the ones back to life that I wanted to be brought back to life. At some point they all tried teaming up to take me down, but I still got first place. One thing I noticed that I didn't before is that these ten levels are actually picks from the full game. World 1-1, World 7-1, World 4-Boss level, etc. Some of the later levels were nearly impossible with four players, especially since we kept trying to fuck each other over. Lots of fun. It's now one of the favorite games I've played at the show.
I think this was when I went over to the South Hall to play The Conduit single player. Unfortunately, it's not nearly as good as the multiplayer. You have a location to reach, and in order to get there, you have to fight these ugly looking enemies. The controls are solid, but the main game isn't quite there. One thing that did stand out was one part of the level where I went through a destroyed house, and everything was on its side and disorienting (but it wasn't bad. I found it clever). Everything else just seemed kinda generic. Then again, it is the early part of the game, so maybe it gets better. It's at least better than Red Steel 2.
Then I went to Bayonetta and it. is. awesome. Man, fuck God of War, man. Instead of God of War's QTEs and BS, you actually pull off combos and insane-looking shit on your own. I faced off against three boss-fights, and two ended in a climax (think of it as a special finishing move), where the main character's hair turns into this demon beast and gruesomely mauls the enemy. You can use weapons dropped by a fallen enemy, and that's pretty cool too. Oh, and the level design in the final boss fight- I was going up walls, fighting on the ceiling, and doing all sorts of shit. Bayonetta is the real fucking deal. It's so violent, so over-the-top, so damn entertaining. Kamiya, thanks for this one, man. Just stick to action games and I'll love you.
Next was Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, and I was surprised. It's very good. Voice acting is nice, controls work, and the cell phone stuff is well thought out (it reminded me of GTA IV's cell phone feature, except this was better). I stopped playing when the world changed to the ice world because well, I didn't really want to do that. Oh, but the music is so nice. One of the games I was more impressed with at the show.
I went around the Microsoft booth and man is it sad. Between Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, Microsoft's booth is the worst. Just bad layout design and very few variety among games. It's pretty sad. I couldn't find one thing I wanted to play that I couldn't play elsewhere. I really need to check out Brutal Legend at some point though. So maybe tomorrow.
I went to the Square Enix booth and got suckered into playing Dissidia.
At some point, I played TMNT Smash Up. It's basically Smash Bros. Brawl without polish. And I didn't care much for Brawl, so... yeah. The level where everyone was eaten by crocs was funny, at least.
I went back to the West Hall to try and play Trine (which is coming to XBLA, apparently). It was being played with an Xbox 360 controller and there was a sign above it that read, "Coming soon to Xbox Live Arcade!"
Got to play Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. Got my ass handed to me right quick, but I at least button-mashed two super moves for Ryu.
I went to the Sony booth and played Jak and Daxter on the PSP. Outside of the first minute of getting used to the controls, I had a good time. The level was well-designed and the demo was centered around platforming. You can really sense Naughty Dog's lack of presence, which brings me to
Uncharted Co-op was one of the last things I played. Outside of some sparse platforming (well, climbing, I guess), the game is a huge mess of badness. Sloppy controls mixed with generic shooting crap = frustrating and bad. It feels like it wants to be a first-person shooter, and it probably should have been. Otherwise, it should have been all about the climbing and co-op platforming (which is actually kinda neat when it works, but I think this build was having trouble recognizing I was pressing the correct button at times).
I finished the night playing a level of NSMB Wii and that was pretty much it.
So yeah, Bayonetta is probably my game of the show, followed closely by NSMB Wii. I wanna play Brutal Legend and Trine tomorrow, though, lines be damned.
How can I get a free copy of BF1943? Will they still be giving away codes on Thursday?
Also, Bayonetta was probably the best game I played so far but I didn't play God of War 3 yet. So that might change.
And what was the game next to Brutal Legend? Dark something or other. The graphics were pretty good for a game I've never even heard of.
Also, Bayonetta was probably the best game I played so far but I didn't play God of War 3 yet. So that might change.
And what was the game next to Brutal Legend? Dark something or other. The graphics were pretty good for a game I've never even heard of.
Thanks for the impressions, anihawk.
-Nice to hear NSMB does get geniunely difficult, as the press conf. made it look like a walk in the park. I didn't even think of the 4 player facet contributing to difficulty, though; I just assumed it would make overcoming enemies extremely easy.
-Have you tried GoW3? I don't expect it to stand up to Kamiya's games in terms of combat, but I was wondering if they were demoing any of the puzzle/platform/adventuring sections of the game.
-Why did you go back to Uncharted after not liking it yesterday? :lol
-Nice to hear NSMB does get geniunely difficult, as the press conf. made it look like a walk in the park. I didn't even think of the 4 player facet contributing to difficulty, though; I just assumed it would make overcoming enemies extremely easy.
-Have you tried GoW3? I don't expect it to stand up to Kamiya's games in terms of combat, but I was wondering if they were demoing any of the puzzle/platform/adventuring sections of the game.
-Why did you go back to Uncharted after not liking it yesterday? :lol
The lock on feature could use some work but otherwise I walked away from my hands-on with the demo throughly impressed. Also, it's worth noting the game uses the Wii speaker in a couple very cool and unique ways such as holding it up to your ear to figure out a safe combination and hearing the clinking and clashes of swords.
Impressions from final day:
Started with Trine, and it is awesome. I love the medieval setting and the puzzles. I was playing the PC version with the 360 controller, because the actual 360 version is a ways off (they're aiming for Fall). They said they want to add some additional content (like another level or so) for the 360 release.
I went down to the Sony booth next, because I hadn't given those games enough a fair shake. Played the PSP Go, and reaffirmed my distaste for sim racers. The front of the system, despite the lack of an analog stick, is pretty nice. But reaching the shoulder buttons is awkward because your fingers hit the back of the PSP screen. So they're not simply resting there.
I checked out Brutal Legend, and I thought it was kinda average. The animation and writing was very charming though. Voice acting was good too.
Next was Capcom's booth. Played a little Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, and got my ass handed to me yet again. Checked out Spyborgs, and the main game is very generic hack and slash, but the boss we fought (it's 2P coop) was kinda cool. Wouldn't recommend it from what I played, though.
Left the West Hall and checked out the South Hall for the last time.
Waited an hour in line for the Mass Effect 2 demo. Game looks awesome. You can interrupt people in the middle of conversations, and Bioware's tried to put a more dynamic look to some of the dialog path stuff. They want this to be the dark second act ala Empire Strikes Back, and they stressed that in order to make it to the end of the game, you'll have to have a crew that's strong and loyal to Shepard. They then showed a cutscene
The music sounds even better than the first game's, but the only change I noticed was during battle. The planet-selection stuff is still the same, and the guy running the demo said they're going to make each planet unique and more fun to explore. Some of the places they showed are beautiful, and the voice acting is top-notch.
Played Fear 2: New Expansion or Something. Didn't particularly care for it. Played Left 4 Dead 2, and it's well, pretty much all new levels. We all died. It was fun.
Played Bayonetta again, and it reconfirmed what I thought about the game yesterday. Played Section 8, and found it to be kinda bad.
MAG was the only other game I played today I hadn't played before, and I didn't particularly like it.
FAKE EDIT: Oh, right. Darkside Chronicles. Darkside Chronicles wasn't anything special either. I think Dead Space Extraction is pretty much the right way to go for these games on the Wii.
The rest of the day consisted of the Wii Fit + platformer level, Rabbids Go Home (which was better than I thought earlier in the week), and NSMB Wii. I wound up playing a level with DavidDayton, Charles Martinet, and a Nintendo rep who wanted revenge for when I started acting like a douchebag.
Overall, good show. Got to see everything I wanted to and then some. Some nice surprises, and some disappointments. Just glad I don't have to worry about the horrific parking going on there anymore (they TRIPLED the cost of parking today outside the LACC because of the Lakers game).
Game of the Show: Bayonetta
Wii Game of the Show: NSMB Wii
PS3 Game of the Show: R&C: A Crack in Time
360 Game of the Show: Left 4 Dead 2 (didn't play anything else)
DS Game of the Show: Zelda: ST (didn't play anything else)
PSP Game of the Show: Jak and Daxter
Downloadable Game of the Show: Trine
Started with Trine, and it is awesome. I love the medieval setting and the puzzles. I was playing the PC version with the 360 controller, because the actual 360 version is a ways off (they're aiming for Fall). They said they want to add some additional content (like another level or so) for the 360 release.
I went down to the Sony booth next, because I hadn't given those games enough a fair shake. Played the PSP Go, and reaffirmed my distaste for sim racers. The front of the system, despite the lack of an analog stick, is pretty nice. But reaching the shoulder buttons is awkward because your fingers hit the back of the PSP screen. So they're not simply resting there.
I checked out Brutal Legend, and I thought it was kinda average. The animation and writing was very charming though. Voice acting was good too.
Next was Capcom's booth. Played a little Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, and got my ass handed to me yet again. Checked out Spyborgs, and the main game is very generic hack and slash, but the boss we fought (it's 2P coop) was kinda cool. Wouldn't recommend it from what I played, though.
Left the West Hall and checked out the South Hall for the last time.
Waited an hour in line for the Mass Effect 2 demo. Game looks awesome. You can interrupt people in the middle of conversations, and Bioware's tried to put a more dynamic look to some of the dialog path stuff. They want this to be the dark second act ala Empire Strikes Back, and they stressed that in order to make it to the end of the game, you'll have to have a crew that's strong and loyal to Shepard. They then showed a cutscene
where the Normandy explodes and Shepard dies. It's supposed to be an ending to the game, from what I understood (more than a Game Over), and it may happen if you don't have a strong, loyal team.
Played Fear 2: New Expansion or Something. Didn't particularly care for it. Played Left 4 Dead 2, and it's well, pretty much all new levels. We all died. It was fun.
Played Bayonetta again, and it reconfirmed what I thought about the game yesterday. Played Section 8, and found it to be kinda bad.
MAG was the only other game I played today I hadn't played before, and I didn't particularly like it.
FAKE EDIT: Oh, right. Darkside Chronicles. Darkside Chronicles wasn't anything special either. I think Dead Space Extraction is pretty much the right way to go for these games on the Wii.
The rest of the day consisted of the Wii Fit + platformer level, Rabbids Go Home (which was better than I thought earlier in the week), and NSMB Wii. I wound up playing a level with DavidDayton, Charles Martinet, and a Nintendo rep who wanted revenge for when I started acting like a douchebag.
Overall, good show. Got to see everything I wanted to and then some. Some nice surprises, and some disappointments. Just glad I don't have to worry about the horrific parking going on there anymore (they TRIPLED the cost of parking today outside the LACC because of the Lakers game).
Game of the Show: Bayonetta
Wii Game of the Show: NSMB Wii
PS3 Game of the Show: R&C: A Crack in Time
360 Game of the Show: Left 4 Dead 2 (didn't play anything else)
DS Game of the Show: Zelda: ST (didn't play anything else)
PSP Game of the Show: Jak and Daxter
Downloadable Game of the Show: Trine
Xamdou said:
I want his jacket also, I am super hyped on Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2!
*Edit* This is the back of the SHIELD jacket!:
*Edit* This is the back of the SHIELD jacket!:
and yeah i was surprised how well they showed off mua2, i wasn't really expecting much but it looks great and like a lot of fun.