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This year's E3 - Mithrandir - 05-11-2006

Anyone seeing anything that they really like? Anyone go?

Probably the game I am most excited about right now - Neverwinter Nights 2 - released a pretty short trailer that was nifty to see. Most of the new NWN2 info came in the form of pre-E3 video commentaries and gameplay videos, however. I'm playing through KotOR 2 right now and it's been excellent so far (minus a few bugs), plus Obsidian is basically "Black Isle Studios Part Deux" so I am very pumped for NWN2 (and the collaborative title with Sega in early development). It's too bad LucasArts forced the game out the door - it really could have used another month or two of polish and reading about the areas that got cut due to time constraints makes me sad :(

Mass Effect seems to be making a pretty strong impression as well. Actual aiming and destructable terrain? Wheee :) I must admit that I ran around in MechAssault primarily attempting to kill baddies via falling bridges and/or buildings, so I am partial towards destructable terrain. Also, as a heads up, Gamespot is going to be streaming the Mass Effect demo for an hour tomorrow (May 12th) starting at 2 PST.

BioWare is currently developing Dragon Age, Mass Effect (part one of a trilogy, to boot), a MMO, another unannounced next-gen title, and bringing Jade Empire to the PC. Wowzers. Anyone else remember these guys when they were just doing Baldur's Gate? Heh.

The second MGS4 trailer was of course pretty damn impressive. It seems quite likely that MGS4 is going to have a very strong influence on whether PS3 succeeds or not since Sony's pricing scheme is much higher ($600 for the "premium" unit, $200 more than the Xbox 360 premium system) and they are losing some PS2-exclusive developers or developers who had delayed releases for Xbox games (ex: GTA4 to be released simultaneously on PS3/360).

I'm really at a sort of crossroads right now on whether I'll be getting a 360 or a PS3. 360 has really failed to blow me out of the water as of yet... Dead or Alive 4 and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter have been really the only two games *right now* that make me want to play a 360 (and GRAW is coming out for the PC, so meh). Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo, Call of Duty 2, and Project Gotham Racing 3 only seemed "okay". I'd rather play Oblivion on the PC. My buddy keeps telling me I need to play Far Cry so I'd probably pick up Far Cry Instincts Predator if I got a 360. That seems to be the story of Xbox 360 for me: the games are either "just okay" or I'd rather play them on a PC.

PS3 really failed to jump into the vacuum for me however... $600 for just a console and a controller? Holy beejeebus. Plus, the only PS3-exclusive games that are really exciting me at the moment are God of War 2, MGS4, and the occasional Square Enix RPG. If the rumor that Kojima may be supporting 360 afterall is true, then there's even less that's impressive about PS3. Sony's general snooty attitude and refusal to create a centralized online service à la Xbox Live is a detriment too. Then again, purchasing a PS3 would give me the opportunity to play all the PS2 games I missed (God of War, MGS3, Shadow of the Colossus). I had a hankerin' to play the original MGS the other day too, which I could not satiate.

I will most likely end up purchasing a 360 due to Mass Effect and Halo 3, but it's been kind of disappointing the way both companies have failed to adequately court my all-mighty dollar.

Other things that caught my eye:
Halo 3 was announced and a trailer was released along with it. [sarcasm] I know everyone is stunned that Halo 3 is under development. :blink: [/sarcasm] The big "wow" factor for me was that the trailer was not pre-rendered - very impressive.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl looked very solid: Solid Snake as a playable character! The idea of a cute Nintendog being used as a weapon to obscure the action is quite amusing as well. I was actually surprised in general what a strong showing the Wii (I still hate that name) had at E3.

I thought it was interesting that IGN rated Bioshock as perhaps the best game at E3. Enemies not really being "enemies", but rather just creatures attempting to live their lives out is sure an interesting twist on things as well.

I'd like to give Prey, Gears of War, and Spore a play as well. Each has some pretty unique elements that should be a lot of fun.


This year's E3 - Chesspiece_face - 05-12-2006

Apart from the things you mentioned i'm extremely excited about the news that Square/Enix is going to be giving Wii some strong support. Apart from the long-known FF:CC sequel the new Dragon Quest game has my eyes open and ears to the ground.

I can say 100% that i will not be forking over 600 dollars for a PS3. I will be getting a Wii and probably a 360 eventually.

regarding present 360 games, i've been playing Battlefield: 2 at a friends house and that game is a lot of fun. Especially if you can get into a match that isn't on the maps Bridge too Far or Backstab.




This year's E3 - Yrrek - 05-12-2006

I'm suprised you didn't mention Spore: http://www.spore.com/

I am VERY excited! =)


This year's E3 - DeeBye - 05-12-2006

Yrrek,May 11 2006, 09:56 PM Wrote:I'm suprised you didn't mention Spore: http://www.spore.com/

I am VERY excited! =)
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I am also very interested in Spore. It's shaping up to be the ultimate sandbox game. Is there any indictation as to the possible system requirements for it?


This year's E3 - Mithrandir - 05-12-2006

Yrrek,May 11 2006, 08:56 PM Wrote:I'm suprised you didn't mention Spore: http://www.spore.com/

I am VERY excited! =)
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I mentioned it in the last line!

(And no, my edit was not to stick in the Spore reference :) )

I didn't talk a whole lot about it since that really, really long google video gameplay video was posted not *too* long ago, so I figured there was not a whole lot more to say on the matter.

I will start off this next section of my post by saying that I am a Prince of Persia: Sands of Time / Warrior Within / The Two Thrones fanboy. Okay, now that that is out of the way... How sweet does Assassin's Creed look? And it's PS3-exclusive. Argh. Why are they trying to make my 360 vs. PS3 decision so hard?

The official site has the full, continuous trailer (I am a big fan of the assassin closing the the eyes of his mark after he kills him before taking off - I love small stuff like that) and here is a good preview.

Last year's E3 was mostly "hey look at the next-gen HD stuff wheeeeee!". This year seems to have a lot of very interesting and innovative titles being shown off. I like it.

I also meant to mention Rainbow Six Vegas in my original post, but neglected to. The teaser is interesting enough, but an individual on another forum I read who attended E3 said that at the perception of bullets zinging around you at the Rainbow Six Vegas demo was just amazing. Plus the graphics look extra tight.

For a long time I thought Ubisoft was a pretty substandard developer (more Rayman games? who cares?) but with the PoP series and a couple Splinter Cell games behind them, and Assassin's Creed / Rainbow Six Vegas / Splinter Cell Double Agent on the horizon, they practically have a license to print money.


This year's E3 - Mithrandir - 05-12-2006

DeeBye,May 11 2006, 11:20 PM Wrote:I am also very interested in Spore.  It's shaping up to be the ultimate sandbox game.  Is there any indictation as to the possible system requirements for it?
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I haven't seen any indications of system requirements. I did, however, find videos of Robin Williams playing Spore (did that qualify as a proper segue? :) ):

http://www.joystiq.com/videos/e306/Joystiq...oreCutdown3.mov
http://www.joystiq.com/videos/e306/Joystiq...oreCutdown4.mov

He seems quite knowledgeable about games.

My guess is that the Spore system requirements shouldn't be *too* high since the graphics, while serviceable, are hardly out of control. Raw computer processing power might be an issue with all the different layers of detail going on simultaneously.


This year's E3 - roguebanshee - 05-12-2006

Mithrandir,May 12 2006, 01:59 AM Wrote:My buddy keeps telling me I need to play Far Cry so I'd probably pick up Far Cry Instincts Predator if I got a 360.
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If you have a PC that's capable of playing Oblivion then you can play Far Cry on it. It was a PC game before being converted to consoles. Heck, you may even be able to find it in the bargain bin.


This year's E3 - [wcip]Angel - 05-12-2006

Mithrandir,May 11 2006, 11:59 PM Wrote:The second MGS4 trailer was of course pretty damn impressive. It seems quite likely that MGS4 is going to have a very strong influence on whether PS3 succeeds or not since Sony's pricing scheme is much higher ($600 for the "premium" unit, $200 more than the Xbox 360 premium system) and they are losing some PS2-exclusive developers or developers who had delayed releases for Xbox games (ex: GTA4 to be released simultaneously on PS3/360).
There can be little doubt that MGS4 will sell in heaps and bounds on the PS3. It's one of the most successful franchises on the Playstation, and the trailers look *stunning*.

Quote:I'm really at a sort of crossroads right now on whether I'll be getting a 360 or a PS3. 360 has really failed to blow me out of the water as of yet... Dead or Alive 4 and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter have been really the only two games *right now* that make me want to play a 360 (and GRAW is coming out for the PC, so meh). Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo, Call of Duty 2, and Project Gotham Racing 3 only seemed "okay". I'd rather play Oblivion on the PC. My buddy keeps telling me I need to play Far Cry so I'd probably pick up Far Cry Instincts Predator if I got a 360. That seems to be the story of Xbox 360 for me: the games are either "just okay" or I'd rather play them on a PC.
I agree. With the exception of Oblivion, the Xbox360 doesn't have a single title (exclusive or otherwise) that make me want to plunk down a wad of cash for this console. Maybe there'll be more interesting games for this console in the future, but by then, I'll probably have a PS3 sitting gently in my cupboard.

Quote:PS3 really failed to jump into the vacuum for me however... $600 for just a console and a controller? Holy beejeebus. Plus, the only PS3-exclusive games that are really exciting me at the moment are God of War 2, MGS4, and the occasional Square Enix RPG. If the rumor that Kojima may be supporting 360 afterall is true, then there's even less that's impressive about PS3. Sony's general snooty attitude and refusal to create a centralized online service à la Xbox Live is a detriment too. Then again, purchasing a PS3 would give me the opportunity to play all the PS2 games I missed (God of War, MGS3, Shadow of the Colossus). I had a hankerin' to play the original MGS the other day too, which I could not satiate.
God of War 2 is coming out for the PS2 not PS3 in February 2007. I'm also looking forward to this title.

I'll be getting a PS3 for the following game series:
* Final Fantasy
* Resident Evil
* Silent Hill
* Gran Turismo
* Metal Gear Solid
* God of War (3?)
* Grand Theft Auto

These are the series I already know and love. I'm sure the PS3 will have at least a couple of unique titles that will catch my fancy.


PS: Read this article to learn more about (among other things) Playstation3's new online service.



This year's E3 - Raelynn - 05-12-2006

[wcip]Angel,May 12 2006, 09:41 AM Wrote:I'll be getting a PS3 for the following game series:
* Final Fantasy
* Resident Evil
* Silent Hill
* Gran Turismo
* Metal Gear Solid
* God of War (3?)
* Grand Theft Auto

PS: Read this article to learn more about (among other things) Playstation3's new online service.
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Personally, I feel that Sony won't do so well with the online service off the start. It took XboxLive a while to start being accepted and heavily used.

Of the games you mention, most don't especially draw me in. The ones that I enjoy are Final Fantasy, God of War, and Grand Theft Auto, and Grand Theft Auto is going to be simultaneously released on both systems (PS3 and XBOX360). Some other games not mentioned that I am somewhat interested in are Assassin's Creed, Lair, and Virtua Fighter. I am however, skeptical of anything for Sony that I see at a conference, as they have a history of claiming that rendered footage is in-game, or at least muddying how they say it. (They aren't the only ones to do this, but they seem to do it more than others).

There are more games that I am looking forward to on Xbox360, such as Blue Dragon, Mass Effect, Halo 3, Fable 2, Viva Pinata (although it's more due to strange curiosity), Table Tennis, Dead Rising, Gears of War, and Lost Odyssey.

Keep in mind, I do not intend this to be a "PS3 vs. X360" type of post. I just wanted to put forth a few of the games that I'm looking forward to; games that make me want to own an Xbox360 more than a PS3.


This year's E3 - Guest - 05-12-2006

Thanks for the run down Mith. Lots of info packed in there, and nice links.


This year's E3 - Taem - 05-13-2006

Mithrandir,May 11 2006, 04:59 PM Wrote:[right][snapback]109660[/snapback][/right]

Did they show off 'Hell Gate: London' at all? I'm really interested in that.

What about that Diablo 3 rumor? Did that pan out or did Blizzard just show off the WoW expansion?

I'm also interested in Sacred 2. Did you see any footage of that?


This year's E3 - [wcip]Angel - 05-13-2006

Starcraft 2 and Diablo3?

Interview with Hideo Kojima about MGS4

Enjoy :)


This year's E3 - Mithrandir - 05-13-2006

MEAT,May 12 2006, 08:10 PM Wrote:Did they show off 'Hell Gate: London' at all? I'm really interested in that.

I didn't read a whole lot about Hellgate: London. This is supposed to be the E3 trailer, but it was loading really... really... slowly for me so I gave up. The E3 trailer should be on www.hellgatelondon.com within the next couple days.

Quote:What about that Diablo 3 rumor? Did that pan out or did Blizzard just show off the WoW expansion?

That rumor began when ign.com listed Diablo 3 on one of their banners. But, then that was quickly debunked.

Quote:I'm also interested in Sacred 2. Did you see any footage of that?
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Not a thing.


This year's E3 - roguebanshee - 05-13-2006

Exteel seems to be just what the doctor ordered, for giant robo fans at least. If they can avoid making the same mistakes as OMF:BG.

Various media can be found here.

And of course I forget a link to an article.
Quote:LOS ANGELES--As part of a big push to draw in more casual players to online gaming, NCsoft is publishing a number of free-to-download, free-to-play games that include online functionality. One of these is Exteel, a fast-paced mech-combat game that will remind arcade veterans of the classic Virtual-On games.



This year's E3 - NiteFox - 05-13-2006

Mithrandir,May 13 2006, 02:07 AM Wrote:That rumor began when ign.com listed Diablo 3 on one of their banners. But, then that was quickly debunked.
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Ironically, reading the debunked page, I notice that they're still running the incorrect ads.


This year's E3 - Raelynn - 05-14-2006

roguebanshee,May 13 2006, 10:09 AM Wrote:Exteel seems to be just what the doctor ordered, for giant robo fans at least. If they can avoid making the same mistakes as OMF:BG.

Various media can be found here.

And of course I forget a link to an article.
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The other big game out of this is Dungeon Runner which is somewhere between Diablo and WoW. It has a graphical style heavily influenced by WoW as well.


This year's E3 - DeeBye - 05-14-2006

Raelynn,May 13 2006, 10:20 PM Wrote:The other big game out of this is Dungeon Runner which is somewhere between Diablo and WoW.  It has a graphical style heavily influenced by WoW as well.
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Wow, this definitely has my interest. I think I'll apply for the closed beta test on this one. I really like what NCSoft has been doing lately.

edit: found this quote while Googling about Dungeon Runners.

Quote:I worked on Dungeon Runners about 3 years ago now. It appeared a few E3s ago as "Exarch Online" and at the E3 before that as "Trade Wars: Dark Millenium". It's just an old game brought back to life yet again and not a new project. Going by most of the screens I've seen recently they haven't updated the art in years either so I'd doubt too many of the ex Blizz team ended up on that project.



This year's E3 - Thecla - 05-14-2006

Mithrandir,May 12 2006, 06:07 PM Wrote:I didn't read a whole lot about Hellgate: London. This is supposed to be the E3 trailer, but it was loading really... really... slowly for me so I gave up. The E3 trailer should be on www.hellgatelondon.com within the next couple days.
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It's a nice looking trailer, with a female cabalist and templer fighting -- and losing -- against a boss demon to rescue a girl (supposed to be some sort of quest, I guess). But movies like this leave me cold, since they mean absolutely nothing about the actual game.

I am hopeful about Hellgate: London, though. The fact that -- despite Flagship Studio's PR -- it strikes me as a modernized version of the original Diablo, rather than a really new innovation, isn't necessarily a bad thing. ;)