'AceGamez at E3' Update - 6:21PM PST
Back again! Its been a few hours since I posted last and a whole lot has gone down in that short amount of time. I sat in on a few more press conferences and enjoyed a private showing of SEGA's upcoming titles not shown at the no appointment necessary Barker Hanger.
I know some of these are vague and missing detail, but I only have 20 minutes of computer time so I gotta go fast!
First off, EA. The EA press conference focused not on the entire lineup but nearly exclusively on casual games. Which is no surprise considering their newly formed division, EA Casual Games, was only just announced to the public. As is no surprise, the majority of the games shown off from their casual divisions were for the Wii. We were treated to live demonstrations of Boogie (Wii), EA Playground (Wii), Smarty Pants (Wii - working title) and blocks title coming out of EA's partnership with famed director, Steven Spielberg.
Boogie is shaping up quite nicely, with very slick visuals that do not give off that PS2/XB/GC stench and fun, if not goofy and embarrassing, gameplay. We were given a live demonstration, showing off not only the dancing - which involves flailing around like a bird having a seizure - and singing - a man with a thick accent is the perfect singer for the Pussycat Girls' "Don't Cha" - but also the replay ability of the game. Our demonstrator showed off a video he had made earlier in the day, which included his dance moves and voice, using a 3D effect. I wasn't sure this title was going to show any appeal outside of the younger set, but if the final game is as solid as what was shown off, Boogie could quickly become a sleeper hit.
EA Playground, announced a couple weeks before E3, was finally shown off to the public. On its surface, it is a Wii compilation of many of the games kids play at school, such as dodgeball and tetherball. But dig a little deeper and you will find new games such as Kicks - the odd combo of soccer and volleyball. The two games shown off - dodgeball and tetherball - were completely controlled with the Wiimote with only the most necessary of controls. I'm not sure how much depth and lasting appeal one may be able to pull from this game, but again, the younger and casual set should have a ball.
Smarty Pants is a quiz show game that brings in gesture controls for things such as ringing in - done by raising your hand, spinning the wheel - you actually have to crank it up, and tug of war of two players tie when ringing in. Not much else is known about this title, but if the questions are plentiful and the quick, gesture-based mini-games interesting, Mario Party may have some competition for the ultimate Wii party title.
Finally, the block title (I can't remember if this actually had a name or not) is an interesting puzzler that can be bested described as Jenga on crack (or Jenga meets dominoes if you don't like crack). You have your Jenga-style towers and blocks, but along with those are special blocks that explode, shoot goo or are cows. Yep, you read that right - cows. There will be around 20 character blocks once the game is finished, along with many, many puzzles, multiplayer and a puzzle editor so you can make all the crazy levels you want!
After EA, I went over to the Loews Hotel to check out SEGA's games. I wasn't allowed to touch anything, so no hands-on any games, but I was given a thorough walkthrough for the titles I saw. First off was Sonic and Mario at the Olympics. I was shown the 100 meter dash, long jump and shotput. Each event using the Wiimote and/or nunchuck to control your characters, such as pumping your arms like mad to run and swinging the Wiimote much like in Rayman Raving Rabbids to throw the shotput. The game is being developed to not be over-the-top, but as realistic as possible - despite the obvious irony. Single player and multiplayer are in the works, as well as an online leaderboard (sorry, no true online multiplayer). Unfortunately, SEGA wasn't privy to details about the WiiFit board, as it would be an obvious addition to the gameplay, but alas, it seems for too late to implement it at this point.
Damn - my time is nearly all spent and I still have some much to talk about. Okay, fast recap for now:
Condemned 2 - the best game I have seen in action so far. Looks to be a complete blast.
Iron Man - looks nice but not quite sure if the gameplay will translate into fun over multiple hours.
Stranglehold - definitely worthy of the the hype.
Blacksite Area 51 - big bosses look awesome, squad gameplay appears simple yet effective.
Silent Hill 5 - for real, though not really graphics were shown, just a teaser trailer.
Metal Gear Solid 4 - new trailer is so bad ass it hurts.
And I'm out of time! More tomorrow (or tonight if I can)!
I know some of these are vague and missing detail, but I only have 20 minutes of computer time so I gotta go fast!
First off, EA. The EA press conference focused not on the entire lineup but nearly exclusively on casual games. Which is no surprise considering their newly formed division, EA Casual Games, was only just announced to the public. As is no surprise, the majority of the games shown off from their casual divisions were for the Wii. We were treated to live demonstrations of Boogie (Wii), EA Playground (Wii), Smarty Pants (Wii - working title) and blocks title coming out of EA's partnership with famed director, Steven Spielberg.
Boogie is shaping up quite nicely, with very slick visuals that do not give off that PS2/XB/GC stench and fun, if not goofy and embarrassing, gameplay. We were given a live demonstration, showing off not only the dancing - which involves flailing around like a bird having a seizure - and singing - a man with a thick accent is the perfect singer for the Pussycat Girls' "Don't Cha" - but also the replay ability of the game. Our demonstrator showed off a video he had made earlier in the day, which included his dance moves and voice, using a 3D effect. I wasn't sure this title was going to show any appeal outside of the younger set, but if the final game is as solid as what was shown off, Boogie could quickly become a sleeper hit.
EA Playground, announced a couple weeks before E3, was finally shown off to the public. On its surface, it is a Wii compilation of many of the games kids play at school, such as dodgeball and tetherball. But dig a little deeper and you will find new games such as Kicks - the odd combo of soccer and volleyball. The two games shown off - dodgeball and tetherball - were completely controlled with the Wiimote with only the most necessary of controls. I'm not sure how much depth and lasting appeal one may be able to pull from this game, but again, the younger and casual set should have a ball.
Smarty Pants is a quiz show game that brings in gesture controls for things such as ringing in - done by raising your hand, spinning the wheel - you actually have to crank it up, and tug of war of two players tie when ringing in. Not much else is known about this title, but if the questions are plentiful and the quick, gesture-based mini-games interesting, Mario Party may have some competition for the ultimate Wii party title.
Finally, the block title (I can't remember if this actually had a name or not) is an interesting puzzler that can be bested described as Jenga on crack (or Jenga meets dominoes if you don't like crack). You have your Jenga-style towers and blocks, but along with those are special blocks that explode, shoot goo or are cows. Yep, you read that right - cows. There will be around 20 character blocks once the game is finished, along with many, many puzzles, multiplayer and a puzzle editor so you can make all the crazy levels you want!
After EA, I went over to the Loews Hotel to check out SEGA's games. I wasn't allowed to touch anything, so no hands-on any games, but I was given a thorough walkthrough for the titles I saw. First off was Sonic and Mario at the Olympics. I was shown the 100 meter dash, long jump and shotput. Each event using the Wiimote and/or nunchuck to control your characters, such as pumping your arms like mad to run and swinging the Wiimote much like in Rayman Raving Rabbids to throw the shotput. The game is being developed to not be over-the-top, but as realistic as possible - despite the obvious irony. Single player and multiplayer are in the works, as well as an online leaderboard (sorry, no true online multiplayer). Unfortunately, SEGA wasn't privy to details about the WiiFit board, as it would be an obvious addition to the gameplay, but alas, it seems for too late to implement it at this point.
Damn - my time is nearly all spent and I still have some much to talk about. Okay, fast recap for now:
Condemned 2 - the best game I have seen in action so far. Looks to be a complete blast.
Iron Man - looks nice but not quite sure if the gameplay will translate into fun over multiple hours.
Stranglehold - definitely worthy of the the hype.
Blacksite Area 51 - big bosses look awesome, squad gameplay appears simple yet effective.
Silent Hill 5 - for real, though not really graphics were shown, just a teaser trailer.
Metal Gear Solid 4 - new trailer is so bad ass it hurts.
And I'm out of time! More tomorrow (or tonight if I can)!
posted by Male Pattern Radness at Thursday, July 12, 2007
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