If you follow gaming, it would be awfully redundant to tell you that E3 2009 has begun. The show itself kind of began yesterday, but it actually starts in earnest today with the show floor being open for all companies present to demo their games. At this point, the major press conferences have already wrapped up -- though there's still Square Enix's and Konami's tomorrow, but those aren't "major" by the usual standard -- and with that I'd like to give some thoughts on the most interesting games I saw from a distance (i.e. from my TV and internet).
No, none of it involves the silly motion stuff that was on display. I mean, good lord. Talk about missing the point entirely.
You can count me among the many cynics who thought Splinter Cell: Conviction was dead in the water. But after seeing it at Microsoft's conference yesterday, I have to say I'm pretty intrigued by its concepts. For one, it looks much better than any of the previous games, which didn't interest me in the least, but this one give me a bit of a 24 vibe. Also, it looks like they've turned Sam Fisher into a rather intriguing character. I'd like to see some of the old concepts for the original version revealed back in '07 make it in too, like blending in with the crowd, for instance. A shame Sam lost his mullet, too, but I can take his new design just fine.
Ubisoft also had Assassin's Creed 2 to show off. I had some thoughts about this before (and how I hope it turns out), and from their demonstration at the Sony conference today (and not at Ubi's conference yesterday, who for some odd reason only had a CG trailer to offer. Totally inexcusable, even if it does look fabulous), I think it could be a quality product. Looking at it, it seems like the team is trying to start again with a fresh entry that doesn't have too many ties to the first game aside from the few gameplay elements that worked. This is just conjecture on my part, but I think that would be best for the team given how the first game was basically one of the best examples of "A+ concept; C- execution" this generation had to offer so far. I'm looking forward to seeing what they do, so please don't let me down. I'm begging you!
It wasn't until I typed this until I realized that both of those games are Ubisoft titles, and both of them put on excellent displays. Amazing for a company that put on such a dreadfully bad (though almost-unintentionally hilarious) conference last night. Some of that was because of some technical difficulties they were having, but I don't think anyone wanted to hear James Cameron talk about Avatar for 25 frickin' minutes. Not even the biggest fans of movies like Terminator 2, Aliens, The Abyss, and True Lies would want to hear that. Oh, and the Ubi game that I found the most interesting was No More Heroes 2, but I'll elaborate on that whenever Ubi feels it's convenient to.
The game I was most intrigued by yesterday was definitely Alan Wake. I've expressed interest in it before, and talked about how long this game has been asleep (ha ha). We hadn't heard anything since then, but there was a nice demonstration of it at Microsoft's conference yesterday. And, well, it looks absolutely fantastic. It's like what Alone in the Dark should have been if it was a good game. It's a shame that it's still almost a year off, but hey, at least it's come along, right?
I'll admit that my updates are going to be rather sporadic about E3. I'm sure this blog can't compete with a lot of others that are bringing news LIVE RIGHT FROM THE SHOW ZOMG, so we probably shouldn't even try to. Instead, it's best to offer something different that doesn't involve the usual plethora of MADNESS. And perhaps there will be an explanation as to why I'm referring to certain E3 events in ALL CAPS. But there probably isn't, so don't anticipate that.
No, none of it involves the silly motion stuff that was on display. I mean, good lord. Talk about missing the point entirely.
You can count me among the many cynics who thought Splinter Cell: Conviction was dead in the water. But after seeing it at Microsoft's conference yesterday, I have to say I'm pretty intrigued by its concepts. For one, it looks much better than any of the previous games, which didn't interest me in the least, but this one give me a bit of a 24 vibe. Also, it looks like they've turned Sam Fisher into a rather intriguing character. I'd like to see some of the old concepts for the original version revealed back in '07 make it in too, like blending in with the crowd, for instance. A shame Sam lost his mullet, too, but I can take his new design just fine.Ubisoft also had Assassin's Creed 2 to show off. I had some thoughts about this before (and how I hope it turns out), and from their demonstration at the Sony conference today (and not at Ubi's conference yesterday, who for some odd reason only had a CG trailer to offer. Totally inexcusable, even if it does look fabulous), I think it could be a quality product. Looking at it, it seems like the team is trying to start again with a fresh entry that doesn't have too many ties to the first game aside from the few gameplay elements that worked. This is just conjecture on my part, but I think that would be best for the team given how the first game was basically one of the best examples of "A+ concept; C- execution" this generation had to offer so far. I'm looking forward to seeing what they do, so please don't let me down. I'm begging you!It wasn't until I typed this until I realized that both of those games are Ubisoft titles, and both of them put on excellent displays. Amazing for a company that put on such a dreadfully bad (though almost-unintentionally hilarious) conference last night. Some of that was because of some technical difficulties they were having, but I don't think anyone wanted to hear James Cameron talk about Avatar for 25 frickin' minutes. Not even the biggest fans of movies like Terminator 2, Aliens, The Abyss, and True Lies would want to hear that. Oh, and the Ubi game that I found the most interesting was No More Heroes 2, but I'll elaborate on that whenever Ubi feels it's convenient to.
The game I was most intrigued by yesterday was definitely Alan Wake. I've expressed interest in it before, and talked about how long this game has been asleep (ha ha). We hadn't heard anything since then, but there was a nice demonstration of it at Microsoft's conference yesterday. And, well, it looks absolutely fantastic. It's like what Alone in the Dark should have been if it was a good game. It's a shame that it's still almost a year off, but hey, at least it's come along, right?I'll admit that my updates are going to be rather sporadic about E3. I'm sure this blog can't compete with a lot of others that are bringing news LIVE RIGHT FROM THE SHOW ZOMG, so we probably shouldn't even try to. Instead, it's best to offer something different that doesn't involve the usual plethora of MADNESS. And perhaps there will be an explanation as to why I'm referring to certain E3 events in ALL CAPS. But there probably isn't, so don't anticipate that.
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