Oh the irony...
(Credit: Dan Ackerman/CNET)Although we have to wait until next week's show to hear of Dan's possible escapades with McLovin' and company, along with his (enviable) hands-on experiences, at this year's E3 event in Los Angeles, that doesn't stop us from giving our take on what went down.
Note to Dan: We expect some video footage of actual gameplay, NOT a 15-page slide show...we kid, but, no, really.
Oddly enough, we were all physically suffering from one thing or another before the taping of the show--Joe with his sinuses, Julie with the constant eye twitch, and Scott with...whatever--but we mustered enough strength to push forward 'cause that's how we roll. Based on what we saw of E3, we discuss who won the motion sensor/controller wars, the PSP Go, and which games we were excited to get our hands on in the future.
We also talk about what could, or should, be expected at this week's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Obviously, the iPhone OS 3.0 should be shown off, but what about the new iPhone? We predict what the rumored new iPhone--or what Joe calls the "iDevice"--will have, and what it needs to take back the hype from the Palm Pre.
In the midst of all the serious and informative discussion though, we find ourselves victim to double entendres and innuendos. Also, Julie strikes several poses in front of the404 banner in the podcast room, but you'll (obviously) only catch it on the video version of the show. It's all in fun.
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(Credit:
Dan Ackerman/CNET)
Before E3 2009 began, CNET's trio of gaming experts--Dan Ackerman, Jeff Bakalar, and Scott Stein--offered their predictions on what they expected to be the show's big news stories. Now that the show's history, it's time to put their predictive punditry to the test. Who came out on top?
I'm awarding 2 points for predictions that were dead-on, 1 point for ones that were partially correct, and zilch for ones that were totally off-base. Two things to keep in mind: I'm subjectively determining the criteria for each, and this is all based on my off-site impressions--I did not attend the show.
Dan Ackerman
Prediction: God of War III and Rock Band: Beatles will be the big mainstream games and public (and retail buyers) care about.
Score: 2. The Beatles version of Rock Band did seem to get a lot of mainstream press--helped, no doubt, by a joint appearance of Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney at Microsoft's press conference. And the amazingly gory God of War III demo was definitely one of the big highlights of Sony's presentation.
Prediction: Variable price points, which are easy to do on DLC, help gamemakers target recession-addled audiences.
Score: 0. While this may yet prove to be true, none of the game makers seemed to be highlighting lower prices for download-only versions.
Prediction: Booth babes return, but in a subtle, post-wretched-excess kind of way.
Score: 2. Googling "e3 2009 booth babes" seems to provide plenty of evidence for this one (Spike, IGN). Subtlety is in the eye of the beholder, but most of these outfits seemed dialed back from the earlier, more controversial ones of years past.
Prediction: New hardware/accessory pushes from Nintendo and Sony hope to boost flagging software sales.
Score: 2. Sony announced a new PSP and previewed a prototype motion controller, while Nintendo highlighted Motion Control Plus (again), an upgraded Wii Fit, and previewed the bizarre (to me, anyway) Vitality Sensor accessory.
Prediction: Chances of getting a decent Wi-Fi or 3G signal in a convention center full of game nerds -- slim to none.
Score: n/a. This one's a bit too "inside baseball," so I'm not even going to grade it.
Ackerman total: 6 points
Jeff Bakalar
Prediction: PS3 and/or 360 will introduce some sort of social networking functionality. Whether it be tie-ins with Facebook or Twitter, or something proprietary, there will be ways to update status, etc.
Score: 2. Direct hit: Facebook and Twitter are en route to the Xbox 360. (May God have mercy on our souls.)
Prediction: Sony will make Netflix on PS3 official.
Score: 0. Sorry, Jeff. You'll have to stick with Play On--at least for now.
Prediction: Nintendo will announce a new Mario game in development.
Score: 2. I'm tempted to award double or triple bonus points here: Super Mario Bros. Wii and Super Mario Galaxy 2 are en route to the Wii, while Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story for the DSi was showcased as well.
Prediction: A new Wii remote with Motion Plus built in will be available soon.
Score: 0. For now, Nintendo is sticking with the snap-on Motion Plus dongles. But I think Jeff's prediction will be proven correct in the long run.
Prediction: Microsoft will unveil a motion-based controller for use with specific Xbox Live Arcade games.
Score: 2. Project Natal looks to go beyond XBLA, but this prediction is worthy enough to receive full credit.
Bakalar total: 6 points
Scott Stein
Prediction: DLC and downloadable games steal the show almost as much as disc-based games.
Score: 2. Microsoft showed off discless downloads for full Xbox 360 titles, and the PSP Go is download-only. And that's in addition to ample downloadable content (DLC) already available on all current home and portable platforms. No wonder GameStop's stock looks to be on a downward trajectory.
Prediction: Nintendo pimps the Wii Motion Plus hard, with a handful of games that get "updates."
Score: 1. Motion Plus was certainly highlighted, but there was no talk of existing games getting updated. (Again, though, given the spate of GameCube retreads that Nintendo is rereleasing with Wii-enhanced controls, it wouldn't surprise me if we see that Plus-enhanced games in the future.)
Prediction: The PSP Go will cost as much as a DSi, and not be quite as useful.
Score: 1. The PSP Go is considerably more expensive than the DSi ($249 versus $169), so I'm counting that as "costs at least as much." Not quite as useful? Given the PSP's ample nongaming feature list, I think that's a stretch.
Prediction: There will be more "free" games in a weak economy, in the style of SOE's surprise hit Free Realms.
Score: 1. Microsoft announced a free-to-play racing game Joy Ride (you can buy additional in-game enhancements). But we didn't see enough other such announcements to call this a trend.
Prediction: Halo 3: ODST will emerge as a better all-around game than anyone expected...and it will support an unfortunately huge number of DLC "extras."
Score: 0. I haven't seen a lot of hands-on feedback for this title, but there were no big DLC announcements to speak of. (Mark it zero, dude.)
Stein total: 5 points
Winner: Dan and Jeff tie, with Scott following closely behind.
So, what did you think of the grades above--did I get anything egregiously wrong? Which of your E3 predictions were right on--or dead wrong? What no-show rumor was the most disappointing? Let us know in the comments below.
Additional reading: E3 2009: CNET's complete coverage
No, this isn't a Blizzard title.
(Credit: Vogster)Coming soon for the PC and shown off at E3, Vogster Entertainment's "persistent world shooter" is a multiplayer online game featuring underground gangs, customizable gear, and MMORPG-style quests and team play, set in a near-future wasteland. Check out the screenshots below.
8X zoom for your DSi.
(Credit: Nyko)Hot off the heels of the company's Wand accessory release for the Nintendo Wii, video game accessory manufacturer Nyko debuted three new products at this year's E3 convention.
The Zoom Case for Nintendo DSi is certainly the most interesting DSi accessory we've seen yet, boasting an 8X zoom lens attachment. The protective case is textured for a better grip on the system and the zoom lens itself can be detached and transported in a case of its own. Good thing for that or this accessory would have removed the "portable" feature of the DSi.
For those PSP owners not choosing to upgrade to the new PSP Go, the Charge Flex Grip will provide your handheld (the PSP-2000 or the 3000) with an improved grip as well as up to 1.5 times more play with an embedded rechargeable battery. More high-res photos await! ... Read more
E3's come and gone, but some oddities still linger. Shown during the Sony E3 press conference and discussed little after that, Invizimals is a curious game using the PSP's camera to create augmented reality "animal ghosts" that appear in real-life settings. Coded capture cards seem to attract the beasts, after which they do battle to each other. Nintendo DS-like blow-and-shake controls add extra input to the critter-fighting.
Confused? Check out the trailer. Would augmented reality gaming be something you'd like to see more of? Would it be something you'd trust the children with? And, most importantly, where is our PSP camera? Perhaps it is on its way with a certain Invizimals?
Hopefully the end result will be more compelling than the admirable but incredibly arcane augmented reality PlayStation Eye trading card game The Eye of Judgment.
(Credit:
2K Games)
Hitting the very definition of a cult hit square on the head, few gamers have heard of the 2002 game Mafia, developed by a small group of Czech programmers and originally released on the Xbox and for PC -- but those that do recall it regularly sing its praises as a superior open-world action/adventure.
Built on essentially the same model as Grand Theft Auto, the game transported its crime family story back to the 1930s, and evoked the Maio Puzo Godfather vibe much better than the stodgy, by the numbers, officially licensed Godfather games did later.
For this long-in-the-making sequel, Mafia II, 2K Games has brought the original developers in-house, calling the new studio 2K Czech. What we saw from them was another carefully constructed, engaging virtual crime world, this time updated to the 1940s and 1950s (perhaps not coincidentally mirroring the timeframe of the second Godfather film).
There's not a heck of a lot that's actually new or unexpected in Mafia II, if you've played GTA, The Godfather, Saints Row, or any of a dozen other sandbox-style games. But the city feels thriving and colorful, and the missions we've seen involve just enough variety (such as riding a window-washing rig down the side of building to take out a rival mobster in a conference room meeting) to keep it from being another generic car-based crime thriller.
Most interesting perhaps is the clearly Eastern European take on 1950s America. Looking at the era of Mad Men, Eisenhower, and Hyman Roth filtered through the cold war cultural memory of a former iron curtain country reveals an interesting subtext about how our mid-century lifestyle translated overseas. There's a clear love for bulbous classic '50s cars, fedoras, and retro-chic diners -- which in hindsight seems like a pretty likely picture of what Czechoslovakian game programmers would imagine 1950s America to look like.
(Credit:
Dan Ackerman/CNET)
There's an odd sort of Kremlinology that surrounds the annual Electronic Entertainment Exposition, with one of the main topics of conversation among showgoers, industry watchers, and video game enthusiasts being the E3 show itself. Each year's show is compared and contrasted to previous editions, and hands are wrung over whether E3 has too many attendees, too few attendees, or should be earlier or later in the year. The bombastic displays built by companies such as Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are analyzed for any hint of a corporate downturn, and the number of scantily clad "booth babes" is a litmus test for the overall financial health of the industry.
If the hallway buzz is any indication, this year's show was well-received, with most people we talked to pleased to see E3 return to its traditional large-scale format after two years of a stripped-down version held in a series of drab meeting rooms and hotel suites. With roughly 40,000 attendees, this is still a smaller show than the peak years, where it topped 60,000, so the public spaces of the Los Angeles Convention Center feel less claustrophobic than in the past.
This was a surprisingly heavy year for hardware announcements at E3, and much attention was focused on upcoming products such as the Natal motion-sensing camera from Microsoft, Nintendo's Wii Motion Plus add-on, and Sony's still-unnamed motion controller system, along with the revamped portable PSP Go. All were demonstrated at the show, to varying degrees of success--but the point that aging game consoles need some hardware upgrades to keep audiences interested and push new software sales was well-made.
We came away impressed with the same list of upcoming game titles we went into the show looking forward to, including Batman: Arkham Asylum, Heavy Rain, and Mafia II; we also found some titles that unexpectedly caught our eye and made an excellent impression in-person--such as Splinter Cell: Conviction, Borderlands, and Star Wars: The Old Republic. ... Read more
"You mean you have to use your hands? That's like a baby's toy!"
(Credit: Universal Pictures/MoviesOddity.com)It's by far the definitive theme this year at E3 2009. It seems everyone wants in on motion control. At their respective press conferences, both Microsoft and Sony debuted compelling demos of what they envision as the future of gaming.
Microsoft introduced Project Natal, an initiative to allow the user to play games and navigate through menus using body movements in place of a handheld controller. We got to see what game design guru Peter Molyneux was able to do with the technology in the form of the Milo demo, where a human seemed to convincingly interact with an artificial boy on-screen.
While that demonstration leaves plenty of skepticism and unanswered questions on the table (even with a Steven Spielberg endorsement), most will agree it was the rubber ball block-breaking game performance that really proved that the technology has potential. ... Read more
Kaz Hirai introduces PSP Go
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)The leak of the PSP Go days earlier stole some thunder from the Sony E3 press conference, but the company showed a bevy of new PSP and PS3 games, as well as a prototype motion controller.
PSP Go: The official details
The PSP Go may have been the worst-kept secret of this year's E3 show, but Sony's E3 press conference finally supplied the official details.
(Posted in Crave by John P. Falcone)
June 2, 2009 1:05 PM PDT
Sony E3 2009 press conference shows strong PS3 lineup
While Sony didn't necessarily dazzle us with unannounced exclusive titles, the company definitely cemented the console's beefy lineup with a handful of live demos.
(Posted in Crave by Jeff Bakalar)
June 2, 2009 2:20 PM PDT
PS3 the new Wii? PlayStation Motion Controller aims to perfect the Wii-mote
Sony demos a prototype motion controller that promises to bring Wii-like action to the PS3.
(Posted in Crave by Scott Stein)
June 2, 2009 2:18 PM PDT
PSP game lineup announced: Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, and more
New portable versions of popular franchises Metal Gear Solid, Little Big Planet, and Gran Turismo headline the list of forthcoming PSP titles.
(Posted in Crave by Scott Stein)
June 2, 2009 12:14 PM PDT
Sony E3 press conference
Daniel Terdiman's liveblog of the Sony press conference as it happened.
(Posted in Crave by Daniel Terdiman)
June 2, 2009 11:11 AM PDT
Crackdown 2 will continue the open-world, over-the-top action game that made a splash in 2007 on Xbox 360. Microsoft announced the game at the company's E3 2009 press conference, but details of a launch date were not disclosed. Crackdown 2 will be an Xbox 360-exclusive title when it does actually release.
