Red Dead Redemption Review

Is this game worthy of your fistful of dollars?

E3: Sony

Killzone 3 was announced as a key 3D game.

Sometimes, being last is the last thing you want to be in these conferences, most of the time however, it gives you the chance to make a mockery of what the other two hardware companies are doing.

Sony, choose the latter for a good deal of their conference, but also managed to show of quite a few games in its long two-hour running time…

President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, Jack Tretton started the show taking about have Sony was just getting into their stride, and how the plans to make the PS3 “Something for all the Family” with Blu-ray and a hard drive and other such things. This hyperbole leads to talking about HD3D and Kazuo Hirai -president and Group of SCE- comes to talk about how 3D will bring content and innovation to a whole new level; and that an update means that 35 million PS3 have already been updated to 3D.

Managing Director of Guerilla Games was introduced to talk about Killzone 3, and that it was being built from the ground up for the 3D tech, he played a portion of the fourth level, the sections of the game looked amazing even in 2D (the 3D limited to the audience).

A slew of games that were going to be released with optional 3D was giving, from the new Motorstorm and Gran Turismo 5, to Crysis 2 and the new Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.

Tretton returned to the booth to talk about how “life-cycles” are a thing of the past and how the PS2 was still enjoying very strong support (in user-base at least if not new games). And also to talk about Netflicks and the changes it would be going through.

Peter Dille, Senior VP of Marketing and Playstation network was introduced and talked about Sony’s motion controlling device move; talking about the challenge of making sure that it was appealing to the hardcore gamers and that it would be rewarding. A montage video of representatives from various companies like Supermassive and Farsight Studios talk about the item and the game ideas it would bring.

Wasn't EA doing this last year on the Wii?

Christian Busic came to talk and show some footage of one of two new games: Sorcery, a game based on the Sorcerer’s apprentice. He showed us how it utilised move, the game looks good, and the powers seem cool, it will be interesting to see the game closer to it spring date. EA sport’s Andrew Wilson talked about how move makes the game “outstanding” before proceeding to hit the ball into the bunker. To be honest, while it’s nice and all, it really feels as though it is just a HD version of the Wii’s Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10.

A trailer for Heroes on the Move, a game starring various Sony mascots like Jak, Daxter, Ratchet, Clank, and Sly Cooper; it looks like some sort of action game, but due to the ambiguous nature of the trailer, it could be any genre, from platforming to a fighting game in the vein of Nintendo’s Smash Bros..

Sony announced a Coca Cola partnership, from adverts to promotions, it felt extremely corporate and throwaway, like an advert in and of itself.

Kevin Butler came to provide some much needed comedy in an otherwise humourless, corporate conference. Talking about core gamers; he then went on to further talk about move and how it will bring more gamers to gaming and how that was a good thing for the industry.

Prices and release dates for move were announced: September for Europe and Japan, October for the States. $49.99 for the main unit, $29.99 for the stick; the latter is a bit high methinks. And the announcement of games that will support the devices: like Toy Story 3, SOCOM 4, and games that will be retrofitted for the device: like Heavy Rain and Resident Evil 5.

Tretton returns to talk about the much malnourished PSP and the PSP Go; starting by announcing a new “Step Your Game Up” campaign, starring a motor-mouthed black youth. The advert was cringe worthy and properly won’t do much to repair the PSP, generally because the PSP’s real problem is a lack of game third-party developer support. PSP games were announced, and trailers shown: a new God of War, subtitled Ghost of Sparta; Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep; Patapon 3 and a PSP version of Eyepet.

Alex Evans from Media Molecule came to talk about the new Little Big Planet 2. Talking about the power of the creation tools, then showed-of some levels that select Planet designers had made in twenty-four hours, a puzzle game, a shoot-em-up game, and a platform shooter. From the looks of things, it’s coming on well and if it has even 1% of the goodness of the first game, then it will be worth watching.

Tretton came back – again – to talk about the Playstation Network and their new Plus service, which provides things like early demos/downloads, updates and other services. The details were rather vague, unlike the price, at $49.99 a year, although the normal service will still remain free to use.

Dice with death on Medal of Honor, out Oct. 12.

COO of EA John Schappert came to talk about exclusive content for the PS3 that their company was working on; starting with a special edition of the new Metal of Honor which will include the Front Line instalment, re-mastered for the PS3 hardware. Greg Goodrich joined him to say that DICE – who make the Battlefield games – were to be working on the multiplayer engine. Steve Papoutsis from Visceral Games came next to announced that the PS3 version of Dead Space 2 would also host a limited edition, from which would be included a remake of the Wii lightgun game, Dead Space Extraction.

Then, something unprecedented happened, Valve co-founder and managing director Gabe Newell, long known for his outspoken comments on the Playstation3, took the stage to tell the audience that not only would Portal 2 be coming to the console, but that it would be the best version of the game on the consoles. He also talked about the introduction of Stream Works, a downloading system for the PS3 that works in a similar way to Valve’s incredibly success Stream service on the PC.

Square Enix had a new trailer for Final Fantasy XIV, and announced that the game will be a console exclusive for Sony’s machine (it will still be coming to PCs). In turn Ubisoft announced that the PS3 version of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, will feature exclusive missions.

Yet more trailers padded out the two-hour conference, this time for: Grand Turismo 5 one also saw a proper release date for once, November 5 and will apparently include 3D; inFamous 2 briefly shown itself to the masses, complete with new elemental powers and a new landscape to explore.

Finally the show wraps up with David Jaffe turning up in Sweet Tooth’s iconic Ice Cream truck to introduce a new instalment in his Twisted Metal car combat series. The new entry will include the ability to fly and centres on a battle between two factions: the Clowns led by Sweet Tooth and the Dolls, the game will feature extensive multiplayer and will be also be a PS3 exclusive. The question is, is a game solely about car combat still relevant in today’s market.

This post can also be read on Gaming Till Disconnected.

E3: Nintendo

While Microsoft and – later – Sony tried to one-up the other with how rapidly they could flail their collective limbs, Nintendo – famous for making some of the worst in recent memory – had a conference which consisted of game announcement after game announcement; anyone even remotely interested in Nintendo was in for a treat.

Reggie Fils-Aime¹ started the show to talk about now it is not the tech that makes the console shinier that matters, but the games that give you the experience you can only get by playing a game, a matter that sometimes seems more ignored than it should in today’s climate of high resolution graphics.

Link returns to cel-shading in a new adventure.

The new Zelda came first, from which last year we only saw a vague picture that many tried to figure meaning out from. This year, we not only got a subtitle in the form of “Skyward Sword”, but live footage, played – a little haphazardly, apparently due to electronic interference – by Shigeru Miyamoto² (creator of Mario, Zelda and many other Nintendo faces)*. The game is sporting a cel-shaded look like that of the Game Cube’s Wind Waker, but without the miles of ocean that dampened that game, and hopefully a less inane end quest as well. When the remote was working properly, the gaming legend showed off just how the Wii Motion Plus can achieve near 1:1 motion almost as well as the competition, slashing mushrooms into neat slices.

Mario and Sport games have been around in droves these last few years, starting with Tennis on the Nintendo 64 – and how the Wii’s virtual console. With games like Ice Hockey basketball and Volleyball; Mario’s sport titles tend to be fun in a genre built on serious, at least until went overboard with the power-ups. An updated version of the 16-BIT classic NBA Jam was announced as a exclusive title for the Wii, its arcade style gaming might seem a bit old hat in today’s market though.

After talking about how the Wii is alive and healthy – we do know the wii is selling well thanks – Reggie made way for trailers of various games.

Wii Party looks exactly like Mario Party, only with Miis standing in for Mario and company; the Mario Party series never got the blood plumping before and watching the same kind of thing with Nintendo’s limbless avatars doesn’t make it look anymore enticing.

Just Dance 2, no comment, I mean, just no, was it really needed, showing this…

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. One of the Game Boy Advance’s most popular original RPGs finally gets a sequel for the DS, the screenshots look impressive for the system, though I still think that 2D sprites would’ve looked better than the PS1-ish models the DS puts out. It also being made by the same people who did the first, which is usually a good thing

Goldeneye an exclusive for the Wii, judging by the video, it might not be the same game that players remember from their old N64 days, for a start it features the face of the current Bond: Daniel Craig, all these new elements may work against it, I mean it certainly did for that Goldeneye Rogue Agent game. Mind you behind the scenes policies aside, one thing Activision can do is a FPS game.

Warren Spector³ and Adam Creighton arrived to talk about the world’s most recognisable cartoon mouse, with the latest build of Disney’s Epic Mickey, playing a demo for the crowds, most spent talking to Smee from Disney’s Peter Pan. They explained the mechanics of sucking and spraying ink, and took us through a platforming section which reminded me of Sony’s old SNES game Mickey Mania.

Kirby spins a new yarn on the Wii

After some lame wool puns/analogies, we find that Kirby gets a new game, and it a sort of return to the oddball graphic designs that Nintendo used for a few of its later SNES and N64 titles, with a wool and textile motif. The game looks interesting and here’s hoping that it plays interestingly too, rather than just another Kirby game.

Dragon Quest IX, one of the few game properties from Square Enix that manages to eclipse their own Final Fantasy series, in Japan anyway, finally got its English language version announced in a trailer, and a U.S. release date of July 11^th.

Metroid: Other M still looks as cool as it did last year, yet we really didn’t get much more information about, though we were assured that it still has the isolation and exploration that the series is known for; the question I ask is: will it have the insane difficulty that Team Ninja games are infamous for.

Donkey Kong Country was one of the more beloved games on the Super Nintendo, before Rare took the ape on that collectorthon for the Nintendo64. It was announced that Retro Studio, who made the Metroid Prime saga, has been working on a brand new sequel in the Country series, returning Kong to his 2D platforming and barrel blasting roots.

President Satoru Iwata unveils Nintendo's 3DS

Of course the big news story, was the unveiling of Nintendo’s new handheld, the 3DS. What appeared at first to be a mock-up prototype of the new device, turned out to be the finished, genuine article. Nintendo’s President Satoru Iwata assured us that plenty of companies were behind the project: like Square Enix, Konami and Capcom, bringing with them Kingdom Hearts, Metal Gear Solid and Super Street Fighter IV to the system.

"Sorry I'm late" Pit states in his trailer.

Not ones to be outdone by their third-party colleagues, Nintendo announced their own line-up for the system, via trailers. Amongst the stars was a remake of Star Fox 64, a new entry for Pilotwings, Mario Kart and Nintendogs.

The real killer though was the game staring a character who hadn’t been in his own game since ’91. Kid Icarus: Uprising sees the angel Pit return and if the footage shown was in-game, then the 3DS is going to be something worth looking in to, and if the 3D’s as good as some are saying, well…

Reggie ends the show talking about how Nintendo is transforming the experience of playing games, but the one thing that had changed was Nintendo’s conference, from an abysmal joke in the last few years, to possibly the best showing of the “big three” of 2010, now that’s a transformation.

^1. Nintendo of America’s Chief of Operations.

^2. Honesty it’ll be easier to list the Nintendo characters he didn’t have a part in.

^3. Creator of Deux Ex, System Shock and the Thief series, essentially making him the father of FPS role playing games.

This Blog entry can also be found on Gaming Till Disconnected

Let’s-a-go. 3…2…2…2…2…

Preordered Super Mario Galaxy 2 from Amazon today, due out in the UK next Friday; due  to arrive here (read. my home), sometime next week. Until then I have other games and things that I should be playing, but I will have the plumber’s new adventure at the back of my mind the whole time.

Hello world!

Welcome to starlac’s blog…

Anyway, a new review for Alice in Wonderland for the DS is up in the review section of starlac.co.uk, it’s a good little game which is worth looking at, but it doesn’t have that extra certain something that brings you back when you’ve finished it.