"Even the immortals fear death"
"不死の人は死を恐れている"

• 3Jun 09

  E3 Impressions Part 1

  E3 '09 has started off with a bang and there's still 2 more days left of live streaming from the show floor. As promised, my next blog would be E3 related and here it is. I'll be giving my impressions on the 5 major conferences that toke place this year at E3 starting with Microsoft.

  Microsoft @E3

  Microsoft had a good E3 '08 and had some good games last year, but this year it fell somewhat flat and exclusives like Halo Wars and Ninja Blade didn't shine. The advantage that M$ brought into this year's E3 was that nobody had any idea what to expect from them this year. Everything was kept under wraps. The Beatles Rock Band was the first game to be shown during their conference and it looked pretty good. The opening cinematic for the game was pretty cool as well. Also the living band members of The Beatles made an appearance and talked a bit about the game. Next up Tony Hawk made an appearance and showed of Tony Hawk Ride for the first time but did not play the game live during the show which was a bummer.

  

  After that one of my most anticipated games this year was shown, Modern Warfare 2. Live footage was shown and so far, looks to be a great sequel. The snowmobile sequence was awesome and the intro sequence where you had to climb up the snowy cliff was great. We then see some gameplay footage of Final Fantasy XII. Nothing new to see here, except that the entire demo is in English

  

  Next up a couple of exclusives are shown, the 2 worth mentioning are Left 4 Dead 2 and Crackdown 2. Now things start to get interesting as Splinter Cell Conviction is shown for the first time. The game looks much more fast paced which in my opinion is a welcome change. Also you're mission objectives come on screen as if they are being projected to you which is pretty neat when you look at it. The below image is an example which shows you're mission objective as "Infiltrate the Mansion"

  

  This is one game that I wished would come to the PS3. From here on out lot's of new announcements, Forza 3, Halo Reach and new footage from Halo 3: ODST. The all looked pretty good especially Forza. Gameplay footage of Alan Wake is then showed and look spectacular. The whole narrative experience is something I've never before. A couple more announcements, Facebook and Twitter on X360 as well as Metal Gear Rising will be the first MGS game to appear on the X360.

  

  Project Natal is announced for the first time and I'll have to say I was really impressed with all the possibilities. A couple of videos and a demonstration was shown, all good stuff.

  
  

  The conference is almost at an end but not before Peter Molyneux gives his take on Natal and shows what is possible in the hands of a genius as himself. It's hard for me to describe what was shown but it was an interactive experience like none other before, so I'll just skip that

  

  VERDICT: M$ started this year's E3 with a bang and in my opinion even eclipsed last year's powerful performance. It had a bunch of new exclusives, showed off some great footage and introduced Project Natal which was the biggest surprise.

  All in all great conference...8/10.

  EA @E3

  Well I'll just get this off my chest before I continue, the this and the Ubi conference was just bad. I felt like going to sleep and the announcements were nothing great. EA however was the better of the 2 and even after a mediocre start (announcing 2 girly games WTF ) things started to pick up with a new trailer for Mass Effect 2 and footage for Need for Speed: Shift.

  
  

  I really don't like sports games so footage of Fight Night Round 4 and an announcement for EA Sports: MMA didn't impress me one bit. The next bit had footage from EA Sports: Active which looked so lame.

  

  The only reason I said the EA conference was better than the Ubi one was because of the following footage. Brutal Legend and The Saboteur look like 2 of the biggest EA games coming out this year. The demonstration of The Saboteur looked promising and sort of incorporates what Okami did and that is to bring back colour to the black and white city. I'll admit I was a bit skeptical about Brutal Legend the first time I heard about it, but every time I get to see more new footage, I start to like the game more and more.

  

  

  EA saved the best for last and announced Star Wars The Old Republic. I'm not a big fan of the games but the trailer that they showed off looked brilliant. Defnitely the biggest announcement from their conference.

  

  VERDICT: After the strong showing by M$, EA's conference was no match. Some cool announcements if you're an EA fan.

  Could have been better...5/10.

  Alright that's all I can type for the day. Expect Part 2 of my E3 impressions sometime soon
  

  • Posted Jun 3, 2009 2:58 am PT
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• 5May 09

  Fallout 3, Movies and more Games...need I say more?

  Hello everyone, how are you doing? Just though of updating you all with everything that's going on with my life. Nah, actually I'll just cut to the good stuff since I'm sure most of you wouldn't really want to hear the boring life stories of a typical 17 year old...yeah... that would be me

  So first up, Fallout 3. I just finished the game a couple of days back and what can I say, Bethesda did a great job of making a post-apocalyptic world that was well presented and in which the gamer would be sucked into even after the 20 hour campaign was over. It's a definite step up for the RPG genre and I can't wait to see Bethesda's next take on the series (Sorry Obisidian Entertainment, but Fallout: New Vegas is not the sequel I was talking about ) OK so now that I've finished the game with over 40 hours of gametime and with only 3 trophies left, I really want to do more in the Capital Wasteland apart from just killing people and what not. What I'm talking about is DLC. And how appropriate it is that Fallout 3 is one game that has a fair amount of DLC. 'Broken Steel' is the next DLC for the game and is made in such a way where it acts as an epilogue to the game's ending. Awesome I know but here's the catch, It's not coming to the PS3! Nice job Bethesda, you sure know how to thank all of your PS3 fans Here's a small tease of Broken Steel for all you Fallout fans

  
  

  OK that's enough ranting for the day Now onto Movies.

  I saw a fair few the past week. In theatres I saw 'Push' which was a 3rd rate action movie that failed miserably. I actually felt like walking out of the theatre! Yeah it was that bad! At home I saw a 1993 hit 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'. I have to say the movie was really good and was backed up by a great soundtrack. One song that stood out for me was Sally's Song. So when the movie was over I went to youtube and searched for the video and found a cover song done by Amy Lee of Evanescence (Amy Lee rcoks!!!) I urge all of you who are reading this to follow the below link and hear the cover song. It's got an eerie feel it...

  Sally's Song - Amy Lee Cover
  

  Finally some game related news. Batman: Arkham Asylum is DELAYED...bummer I was really waiting to get my hands on this game come June but I guess I'll have to wait some more months. Also E3 is next month Can't wait to see the 3 main press conferences With that I will say bye to you all and expect a E3 related blog sometime next month
  

  • Posted May 5, 2009 9:57 am PT
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• 10Apr 09

  Back to blogging...I guess

  Hey everybody, it's been a long time since my last blog. I haven't blogged as much as I would have liked too, but with all the free time I have with me right now, I figured now would be the best time to return to blogging.

  Alright, now that I've gotten that out of the way, how are you guys doing? Got any new games that I should try out? The three most recent games that I got were Guitar Hero: World Tour, Resistance: Retribution and the highly hyped up Resident Evil 5. I finished RE5 with a game time of 10hrs:10mins:10sec...cool time huh? Not as good as RE4, but is a game that is worth trying out nonetheless.

  As for upcoming releases I'm eagerly awaiting June 9 where Batman:Arkham Asylum and Prototype will be released. With so many games coming out in the 3rd and 4th quarters this year, I begin to wonder whether I have the money to shell out on these AAA games. Maybe I should get a job...
  

  
  

  • Posted Apr 10, 2009 1:28 am PT
  • Category: General
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