Taylor,
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
E3- BF3, Elder Scrolls, and Bioshock Infinite
Taylor,
E3- Microsoft and Nintendo Press Conference
Xbox Press Conference Summary
To start of the festivities that are E3, Xbox had their conference to foreshadow coming products in the coming year and a half. Now, we all know about the Halo news so Ill skip that today.
The big showcase for Microsoft was, of course, the Kinect. With some interesting new additions to the possibilities on how Kinect can be integrated into more hardcore games, Microsoft took a lot of hardcore gamers, who originally wrote the kinect off, by surprise and made them reconsider whether or to add the Kinect to their gaming stations.
Among the "WOW" factors for the Kinect are the seemly flawless voice integration. Now with compatible games, players can order AI teamates to "Move up" or "Fall back" and "cover me" etc. Also a player can now say lines in the game, not just select them and watch their character comrades react. If you are given a choice to ask 2 different questions, all that is required is you to say one of the two questions and your voice will be immediately integrated, giving you a better feeling of immersion into the game and a deeper bond with your character and you allies. You are not just playing the main protagonist, you are the main protagonist.
This is not the only new addition to the Kinect platform. You are now able to play games, such as Future Solider with a controller. By pointing at targets with one arm, you are aiming the weapon in game; to fire your weapon, all that's needed is to open the hand of the other arm in which you are aiming with. To change from primary to secondary weapons, just throw your arm over your shoulder, as it your new weapon is on a sling currently on your back.
The Xbox dashboard is now becoming a much more meaningful place in regard to other topics besides gaming. Bing, YouTube and live TV will all be available from the dashboard this fall, making the Dash a command station for all your entertainment desires.
Nintendo Press Conference Summary
Nintendo's press conference just finish about 30 minutes ago and along with many additional games being developed for the 3DS, the new console was announce, titled the "Wii U".
The Wii U can be compared to a 3DS, but without the completely portable feature. The Wii U features a completely wireless controller with its own screen between the joysticks and buttons. The controller also features a camera, a microphone, and speakers.
With all this additional hardware, the U can be used in a wide variety of new ways. If someone wants to come in and use the big screen TV to watch a movie, the U controller can take the place of the television so you do not have to stop playing. For games where developers are taking advantage of the 2 screens (being the television and the controller screen), the player can have 2 different vantage points for what is happening in game. For example, for those playing Mariokart, the TV will display your character, time, laps, etc; the basics... The Will U controller will allow you too see from a bird's eye view where all your opponents are on the track. If one is playing Zelda, the television is the main screen, with all the battles, characters, etc.... But the controller will display your items, ready for you to use with one touch.
Final Thought
Xbox and Nintendo brought very impressive demonstrations for existing and new products, but is the new Wii U an item that will drive hardcore gamers to buy Nintendo products again? I will defiantly agree with Nintendo in their claims to widen the array of people that play games, but I do not think they are adding any deeper levels of immersion for those already dedicated to more hardcore products and developers.
It seems Xbox is continuing to develop more for the moderate to serious gamer, while still offering a lot to the casual field of players as well. But I fear Nintendo is only drawing in new gamers, such as children, females and adults who haven't had interest in video games before. In time, those "new" gamers will either be happy with the level of gaming that Nintendo offers, but more likely, many of those players will desire more titles, better graphics, and over a more complete gaming experience, driving them straight into Microsoft and Sony's loving arms...
Below are both the Microsoft and Nintendo press conferences.
Microsoft:
To start of the festivities that are E3, Xbox had their conference to foreshadow coming products in the coming year and a half. Now, we all know about the Halo news so Ill skip that today.
The big showcase for Microsoft was, of course, the Kinect. With some interesting new additions to the possibilities on how Kinect can be integrated into more hardcore games, Microsoft took a lot of hardcore gamers, who originally wrote the kinect off, by surprise and made them reconsider whether or to add the Kinect to their gaming stations.
Among the "WOW" factors for the Kinect are the seemly flawless voice integration. Now with compatible games, players can order AI teamates to "Move up" or "Fall back" and "cover me" etc. Also a player can now say lines in the game, not just select them and watch their character comrades react. If you are given a choice to ask 2 different questions, all that is required is you to say one of the two questions and your voice will be immediately integrated, giving you a better feeling of immersion into the game and a deeper bond with your character and you allies. You are not just playing the main protagonist, you are the main protagonist.
This is not the only new addition to the Kinect platform. You are now able to play games, such as Future Solider with a controller. By pointing at targets with one arm, you are aiming the weapon in game; to fire your weapon, all that's needed is to open the hand of the other arm in which you are aiming with. To change from primary to secondary weapons, just throw your arm over your shoulder, as it your new weapon is on a sling currently on your back.
The Xbox dashboard is now becoming a much more meaningful place in regard to other topics besides gaming. Bing, YouTube and live TV will all be available from the dashboard this fall, making the Dash a command station for all your entertainment desires.
Nintendo Press Conference Summary
Nintendo's press conference just finish about 30 minutes ago and along with many additional games being developed for the 3DS, the new console was announce, titled the "Wii U".
The Wii U can be compared to a 3DS, but without the completely portable feature. The Wii U features a completely wireless controller with its own screen between the joysticks and buttons. The controller also features a camera, a microphone, and speakers.
With all this additional hardware, the U can be used in a wide variety of new ways. If someone wants to come in and use the big screen TV to watch a movie, the U controller can take the place of the television so you do not have to stop playing. For games where developers are taking advantage of the 2 screens (being the television and the controller screen), the player can have 2 different vantage points for what is happening in game. For example, for those playing Mariokart, the TV will display your character, time, laps, etc; the basics... The Will U controller will allow you too see from a bird's eye view where all your opponents are on the track. If one is playing Zelda, the television is the main screen, with all the battles, characters, etc.... But the controller will display your items, ready for you to use with one touch.
Final Thought
Xbox and Nintendo brought very impressive demonstrations for existing and new products, but is the new Wii U an item that will drive hardcore gamers to buy Nintendo products again? I will defiantly agree with Nintendo in their claims to widen the array of people that play games, but I do not think they are adding any deeper levels of immersion for those already dedicated to more hardcore products and developers.
It seems Xbox is continuing to develop more for the moderate to serious gamer, while still offering a lot to the casual field of players as well. But I fear Nintendo is only drawing in new gamers, such as children, females and adults who haven't had interest in video games before. In time, those "new" gamers will either be happy with the level of gaming that Nintendo offers, but more likely, many of those players will desire more titles, better graphics, and over a more complete gaming experience, driving them straight into Microsoft and Sony's loving arms...
Below are both the Microsoft and Nintendo press conferences.
Microsoft:
Monday, June 6, 2011
E3 Xbox Event- HALO 1 Remastered plus HALO 4 Announced!
At exactly 1230 pm, Eastern Standard Time, the E3 Xbox Conference Event streamed live onto our television sets and onto G4TV's website. As I sat through the 90 minute presentation of excellent and impressive Xbox titles and demonstrations via the Kinect, I was rewarded additionally by some of the biggest news that will come out of E3 all week...
HALO Combat Evolved Anniversary
Announced not even 30 minutes into the event, a short and nonchalant presentation for the remastered Halo Combat Evolved trailer dawned upon the stage. From the actual in-game footage of this "new" title, we can see that EVERY aspect of the campaign has been redone to show off the upgraded graphics of more recent time, as well as 7 of the most popular multiplayer maps have been brought back for those of us who have been here through it all. It was incredibly fascinating to see the difference in how Halo was made 10 years ago, when Combat Evolved first came out, and now, with Reach only 9 months old...
Those who were watching closely saw that this upgraded remake is not just the old game with a new suit on, it has in fact had a decent amount of effort put upon it to give it the same depth of combat Reach enables. We can see that assassination kills have been imported as well as some Reach weaponry, such as the assault rifle (which makes sense if you think about how Reach ends SECONDS before Halo 1 starts).
Of course after seeing this inside look at Combat Evolved Anniversary, and realizing we only have to wait until the end of the year, I anticipated a Halo 4 announcement to follow closely after... Within the last minutes of the Xbox conference, everyone's questions were answered...
Halo 4- A new Trilogy
Though the question will there be more Halo games? was answered, MANY more rose to take its place. From the trailer, we see Master Chief and Cortana's ship has either been damaged accidentally or purposefully by an unknown attacker. After waking from stasis, Chief grabs Cortana and proceeds off the currently incapacitated and half destroyed ship (with an upgraded pistol that apparently can now have attachments, such as allowing exploding ammo to be fired at debris to unblock a pathway). After reaching the edge of the ship with the help of his jetpack, Chief and Cortana lay their eyes on what may be their attackers, which happens to be another space craft the size of a small planet. While investigating who these beings may be, I took a closer look at their ship... The design and color do NOT match that of any ship in the Covenant fleet, but it DOES resemble the look of Forerunner technology. The ending cinematic of Halo 3 shows Chief and Cortana headed toward a planet that seemed to be covered from metal/ technologically advanced structured, thought to be the Forerunner's home planet (for those who have forgotten, the Forerunners built the Halo rings). Is this our enemy in Halo 4?
With the game play aside, some people may be thinking, "Hey wait, didn;t Bungie say they were done making Halo games???" Yes, they did, and they were not lying. 343 Industries was created in 2007 to oversee everything Halo related, meaning books, comics, toys, animated series, and of course, the games. Because Bungie has washed their hands of Halo, and Microsoft does not want their biggest and most successful franchise to die with them, they have allocated the job of making the next 3 installments of the Halo series to their own developer. The good part is to this is playing these games wont be completely foreign to those how have played all the Bungie titles, but also, I believe this is a move on Microsoft's part to not necessarily keep gamers happy, but more so to make their bottom line have more "0"s... I think its for the money. Not that Halo 4, 5, and 6 wont be amazing titles, they just may lack the luster the previous games shined with.
HALO Combat Evolved Anniversary
Announced not even 30 minutes into the event, a short and nonchalant presentation for the remastered Halo Combat Evolved trailer dawned upon the stage. From the actual in-game footage of this "new" title, we can see that EVERY aspect of the campaign has been redone to show off the upgraded graphics of more recent time, as well as 7 of the most popular multiplayer maps have been brought back for those of us who have been here through it all. It was incredibly fascinating to see the difference in how Halo was made 10 years ago, when Combat Evolved first came out, and now, with Reach only 9 months old...
Those who were watching closely saw that this upgraded remake is not just the old game with a new suit on, it has in fact had a decent amount of effort put upon it to give it the same depth of combat Reach enables. We can see that assassination kills have been imported as well as some Reach weaponry, such as the assault rifle (which makes sense if you think about how Reach ends SECONDS before Halo 1 starts).
Of course after seeing this inside look at Combat Evolved Anniversary, and realizing we only have to wait until the end of the year, I anticipated a Halo 4 announcement to follow closely after... Within the last minutes of the Xbox conference, everyone's questions were answered...
Halo 4- A new Trilogy
Though the question will there be more Halo games? was answered, MANY more rose to take its place. From the trailer, we see Master Chief and Cortana's ship has either been damaged accidentally or purposefully by an unknown attacker. After waking from stasis, Chief grabs Cortana and proceeds off the currently incapacitated and half destroyed ship (with an upgraded pistol that apparently can now have attachments, such as allowing exploding ammo to be fired at debris to unblock a pathway). After reaching the edge of the ship with the help of his jetpack, Chief and Cortana lay their eyes on what may be their attackers, which happens to be another space craft the size of a small planet. While investigating who these beings may be, I took a closer look at their ship... The design and color do NOT match that of any ship in the Covenant fleet, but it DOES resemble the look of Forerunner technology. The ending cinematic of Halo 3 shows Chief and Cortana headed toward a planet that seemed to be covered from metal/ technologically advanced structured, thought to be the Forerunner's home planet (for those who have forgotten, the Forerunners built the Halo rings). Is this our enemy in Halo 4?
With the game play aside, some people may be thinking, "Hey wait, didn;t Bungie say they were done making Halo games???" Yes, they did, and they were not lying. 343 Industries was created in 2007 to oversee everything Halo related, meaning books, comics, toys, animated series, and of course, the games. Because Bungie has washed their hands of Halo, and Microsoft does not want their biggest and most successful franchise to die with them, they have allocated the job of making the next 3 installments of the Halo series to their own developer. The good part is to this is playing these games wont be completely foreign to those how have played all the Bungie titles, but also, I believe this is a move on Microsoft's part to not necessarily keep gamers happy, but more so to make their bottom line have more "0"s... I think its for the money. Not that Halo 4, 5, and 6 wont be amazing titles, they just may lack the luster the previous games shined with.
See the whole conference and more screenshots here:
And now, presenting Halo 4...
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