The best thing that comes out of E3 has to be the trailers and I have a ton of the best ones right here. So check them out, starting with the Assassin’s Creed 2 trailer that I absolutely loved. This is definitely the easiest feature I’ve posted on this website.
Assassin’s Creed 2
E3 2009 is over and this year’s was definitely one of the best in a while. It had everything you wanted to see really. Tons of new games, and new hardware, and even somethings you didn’t want to see, new motion controls. So, there’s really no doubt what my blurb is going to be about this time, and that’s E3. This year’s was the return to the big spectacle of year’s past. It was obvious following last year’s that E3 can’t be a smaller show, that it has to be huge and intimidating. So, as a result this year’s was the hugest and most intimidating of all. Okay, so maybe the show itself wasn’t as big as before but the lineup was even bigger and more badass than ever. The press conferences were far better than in the past years with the graphs and sales figures being largely ditched. I am going to go on the record by saying that this year’s E3 is the best I’ve ever seen (I’ve followed and watched the past five, unfortunately though, I’ve never been able to go to one). Of course, what matters is the games and with Mass Effect 2, The Beatles Rock Band, Modern Warfare 2, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, MAG, God of War III, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Heavy Rain, and so, so many more. The quality of games announced/shown here is just unbelievable. In past years there have been a few standout games but never anything like this. From demoes to trailers to announcements to… booth babes… everything at E3 looks gorgeous regardless of what console you’re on (yes, even the Wii had a few things that looked good). But, since I’m not covering the games themselves here, lets get to some questions!
The big talk coming out of this year’s E3 is, sadly, not a game, or even a piece of hardware. It’s a peripheral coming from a company that Microsoft bought. Yes, I’m talking about the far off Project Natal. Now, I know this is a PlayStation website, and as such I like to stick to PlayStation things but certain fanboys just won’t let me forget this “game changing” technology so I’m going to tell you why I’m not simply blown away by the ability to sit on my couch and hold my hands up like I’m driving a car while my father drills things, or pick dresses from Xbox’s library, which I’m sure is very impressive.
It’s hard to believe it’s over already but it’s June 5th and that means it’s that E3 has come and gone. This year’s E3 has been one of the best I’ve covered in recent years. As I wrote three days ago, I think that Sony has won E3. But, this isn’t about the companies, this is about the games. So that’s what I’m focusing on this time. But, of course, I can’t cover everything. There’s been way too much shown, so instead I’m just going to cover the games that really stood out to me (and are on PS3, it’s a PlayStation website after all).
If there’s one thing Sony UK like more than anything its bundling First party titles with a PS3 at no extra cost and today is no exception. Following on from previous bundles which included Gran Turismo 5: Prologue, Killzone 2, Uncharted: Drakes Fortune and LittleBigPlanet we now have the 80GB PS3 with the rather excellent InFamous retailing at £299.99 in most stores now.
It’s that wonderful time of the year again. When all of the biggest companies in the video game industry meet up to show of their packages. And damn, I’ve seen two and those are some mighty fine packages.Yes, it’s tuesday and I’ve seen two of the three major press conferences (didn’t bother to watch Nintendo’s) and I’ll be honest, I’m impressed by both. There has been a lot of big news, some big exclusives, some big non-exclusives and some big, well, everything. What am I talking about? Well, I’ll tell you after the break.
I know, there haven’t been any articles since my last edition of the Real Word but that’s because I’ve been sick and basically in hell. I’ve coughed up three lungs, my spleen and a kidney. But that said, I’m working hard to bring you this day late and , most likely, mediocre feature. So, to start off I have this to say, somebody’s going to get fired! For those of you who don’t know one of Sony’s big E3 announcements was basically confirmed yesterday by Sony when someone leaked the June edition of Qore. In this edition of Qore was a feature about, you guessed it, the worst kept secret on the internet, the PSP Go! This episode was obviously meant to go up after E3 as they talked about the past E3 and about the PSP Go! in full detail. What is somewhat ironic is that there was a fake security vibe to the whole think with Veronica Belmont being taken to a secret location with the PSP Go! in a case marked “top secret” but alas, all of the fake security in the world can’t stop someone from fucking up and releasing it early. Right, now then, we have a release window, the PSP Go! will be launching this fall. It will be fully digital, featuring a 16GB flash harddrive with room for expansion. It’s screen is 3.8″ diagonally and it’s controls are slide down as was rumoured. What was not mentioned, however, was the rumoured touchscreen. And this somewhat confuses me. I’m not sure why no touchscreen has been included. Without one the functionality of the Go! will be almost nothing when the screen is slid down. It’s like having a phone that only works when the screen is slid up. Kind of pointless isn’t it? Yes. Returning to what it does have instead of what it doesn’t. The Go will also feature bluetooth support (because everything’s better with bluetooth) allowing you to use bluetooth headsets and to tether it to your cell phone (although I don’t know the point of that). The PSP Go! will be sold along side the PSP-3000 as a companion and not a replacement. The Go! is suppose to be an all digital “premium” version of the PSP (and the one that I’m interested in). So here we reach the big question, what’s the price? I have a pretty liberal approach to spending my money but if this thing’s going to be $250-$300 it’d better come with a free game or two. Sony is infamous for charging a price that is way too high and having it hurt them. Frankly, Sony has been doing what they want and I like what they want, they produce the best tech in my opinion and it’s a shame that their marketing and price has just cost them so much. So that’s enough for the blurb, I’ve already written too much, questions after the break.
Sony, Sony, Sony. You have put me in a very difficult position. The word around the interwebs is that the PS3 is so much more reliable than the Xbox 360. While I do agree with this that doesn’t make it feel any better when one’s PS3 bricks… and it really doesn’t help anything the second time it does it. Yes, I finally got my PS3 back on Tuesday only to have it brick on me again on Thursday. I’ll tell you something, it doesn’t matter how reliable something is when it’s broken on you twice. Luckily for me there is a 90-day warranty on repaired consoles so this next set of repairs will be free. But, since I have the strange feeling that these repairs will work about as well as the previous ones did, I’m left in a curious predicament. Do I buy another $400 console and hope it doesn’t break? Or do I buy a cheaper Xbox 360 and hope it doesn’t break? So, the real question is, is the PS3 worth $1000? Because, when you add in the price of the original, price of repairs and price of a replacement system, that’s what you get. And you know what the really sad thing is? For me, it is. I would rather buy another PS3 than an Xbox 360, and you want to know why? Because of the games, the blu-rays and the free PSN. Yes, I’d take MGS4 and Uncharted over Halo III or Gears of War II any day. I love blu-ray movies and I can’t stand paying a subscription fee to play a game I had to pay to buy (a.k.a. the reason why I don’t play MMOs). Right, so that was a little update on my gaming situation and the reason why I haven’t been reviewing any games. Time for some questions.
It’s that time of the year again, E3’s just over a week away. If you’re a gamer then there’s a very good chance you’re anxiously waiting to see what big news Sony has up it’s sleeve this year. What’s more, this year marks the return to old for the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Gone is the small, crappy convention of the past few years and back is the swag, booths, massive game demos and (most importantly) the booth babes (pictured below and after the break) are back! Most websites have already put their E3 preview articles up because most sites got to see some early previews but me having no connections what so ever I really am just pulling stuff out of my ass here. But that said, I’m usually right so my opinions matter, gosh darn it! So, an actual preview, my predictions and more (ie. booth babes) after the break.
If you listen very carefully you can still hear the sobs of someone over in Microsoft’s Seattle headquarters crying to themselves about this, but it’s true. All of those people who were saying “it’s just a timed exclusive” either had some secret knowledge or just got lucky, but either way, they were right. Today, Bethesda Softworks announced that the Fallout 3 DLC would be coming to the last remaining HD console, the PS3. Not only that but they also announced two new downloadable expansions to hit later in the year. You know the deal, more details after the break.
