GameDaily recently wrote up a list of ten games that they believe will “probably suck.” Their argument as to why LittleBigPlanet will “probably suck” starts with them calling it a “glorified version of PowerPoint” and adding that they foresee “tons of crap content.”

Simple logic by the simple minded says that if you use the game to recreate that which can be done in PowerPoint, then the game must be a glorified version of PowerPoint. Therefore, if I walk in a straight line, and Tom Brady walks in a straight line, surely Tom Brady is just a glorified version of me.

When it comes to content, LittleBigPlanet includes many well thought out levels, and is not simply relying on user based content to succeed. According to GameDaily, any game with a level creator is the equivalent of  PowerPoint. Call of Duty? Powerpoint. Half-Life? Powerpoint. Unreal? You guessed it.

Every game that opens its doors to community created content is subject to the risk of less than ideal results. I happen to believe that there are a ton of talented individuals out there, who if given a chance, will shine.

It appears that at least one gaming website attended a particular E3 press conference, witnessed a creative presentation done using LittleBigPlanet, and thought “That’s it. We’ll call it PowerPoint”. What I want to know is, where was GameDaily when the rest of E3 went down? You know, the hands-on portion. They must have been picking up their AOL funded paychecks.

Here is a prediction of my own. I predict that GameDaily will “probably suck.” Sure, they may have a few good articles written by talented writers, but I predict that the majority of their content will consist of top ten lists broken down into ten individual one paragraph pages to maximize page views (see source)

In the end, we are all nothing more than a glorified version of HTML filled with user generated content, and some of it is bound to suck.

Remember the rooftop stage from Mirror’s Edge? It was first shown in the initial gameplay trailer as well as being prominently featured in the E3 08 trailer and demonstrations to the press. Well, Portal modder EvilWeevil has taken it upon himself to bring that stage to life in Portal.

How he managed to pull it all together given the tiny morsel of source footage available absolutely blows my mind. Unless of course, he has access to an early build of the game. In which case, EvilWeevil, buddy, we’re friends right?

Although, I have to admit, it is quite interesting seeing how the Portal gameplay gels with the Mirror’s Edge-intended environment. Of course, it’s not a 1:1 conversion; unless he has that early build of the game we mentioned earlier (sharing is caring!) Enjoy the video.

Source: Gamevideos

We’ve taken a week now to get our bearings and fully recover from our jet-lag, and I think overall we all felt that E3 2008 was a huge success. We definitely can’t wait to go back next year! The three console-makers each had a few surprises (some which we liked better than others) and the third-party lineups were much stronger than expected. It’s no wonder some are calling this the best year for games ever.

So here are our top picks from the show this year. Did we leave anything out? Be sure to let us know in the comments.

Biggest Surprise: Final Fantasy XIII coming to Xbox 360.
Runners up: Nintendo’s casual press conference, Madden 09 doesn’t suck, MK vs DC is really freaking good.

Biggest Announcement That Fell Flat: Microsoft’s Avatars.
Runners up: Metallica in Guitar Hero, Rock Revolution at Konami’s press conference, Duffy singing “Mercy” to promote the karaoke game Lips at Microsoft’s press conference.

Biggest Disappointment: Nintendo’s casual press conference.
Runners up: No Bungie announcement, no God of War 3 gameplay, The entire middle of Sony’s press conference.

Best Press Conference: Microsoft
Runners Up: Sony, EA

Best Playstation 3 Game: LittleBigPlanet
Runners Up: SOCOM, Resistance 2, MAG

Best Wii Game: Mad World
Runner Up: Wario Land: Shake It!

Best Xbox 360 Game: Gears of War 2
Runner Up: Infinite Undiscovery

Best Multiplatform Game: Fallout 3
Runners Up: Mirror’s Edge, Dead Space

Best Game of E3: Tie between Fallout 3 and LittleBigPlanet
Runner Up: Mirror’s Edge

In a recent interview with the UK based Telegraph, Miyamoto stated that there are teams working on new Mario, Zelda, and Pikmin projects.

“They are all working on more Mario, Zelda and Pikmin projects … And they all work in close proximity to me, so I can keep a good eye on them.”

Not exactly sure who “all” is, because surely the entire company is not working on a new Mario title — who would be left to fine tune Wii Music? Ok, ok, I will let it go.

Miyamoto adds that traditional games are his area of expertise and offers insight as to how the company rotates staff internally to ensure that the “traditional” titles always have people working on them.

“Making these ‘traditional’ games is what I am best at. Because games of that nature take upwards of two or three years to make, we always have to keep the teams working on those projects going. At any given time, the team could be five to ten people, or it could be 50-plus. People are always switching in and out of those teams.”

I can’t help but feel like this is all damage control 101, but even if it is, it shows that the company does care to some extent about its hardcore gamer base. It would seem that they realize their E3 presentation didn’t have the impact they had hoped for.

All we can ask now is that they learn from their mistake, and keep the traditional teams closer to 50-plus, with five people working on the next Wii Music.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk

If you were ever a fan of the arcade boxing game that first hit the Dreamcast back in 2000, Ready to Rumble, you’ll want to check out EA Sport’s newest IP in five years, FaceBreaker. Created by EA Canada, the same team that developed Fight Night Round 3, FaceBreaker is an arcade boxing game with eye-popping graphics, extremely in-depth gameplay, and a fun presentation overall.

When I first got my hands on FaceBreaker, it didn’t take me too long to realize that this is a real boxing game. Don’t be fooled by its looks, because there is a lot of strategy to mastering the gameplay mechanics.

The controls weren’t too difficult to learn, with high and low punches, blocking, dodging, and a special attack that can be executed by mixing combinations of high and low punches. You’ll also be able to grab your opponent and shove them, causing a daze and allowing for a barrage of attacks.

From playing FaceBreaker, I learned that defense is the key. If you just keep attacking, your attacks are eventually going to get dodged and you’ll be open for repeated counterattacks.

Once you’re ready to knock your opponent out, and you’ve filled your combo meter up by stringing up a number of combinations, you’ll finally be able to unleash your facebreaker attack, instantly knocking your opponent out.

Of course, as an arcade boxing game, all of the attacks, special moves, and facebreakers are all extremely over-the-top and, sometimes, quite ridiculous. But that’s the fun thing about FaceBreaker: you’ll be able to enjoy kicking your opponent’s ass and deforming their face.

And the best thing about whooping up on a friend, whether you’re playing right next to them or online, is getting a facebreaker on them and then mounting their head onto the wall of your virtual trophy room. Yep, you read that right. Every time you beat someone a head mount with their name under it will appear in your trophy room, showing off all your victories.

Another big focus in this game is the cast of different characters, such as Romeo, a Latin Lover who’s popular for his pelvic thrusts, and Molotov, a gigantic Russian know for his dirty fighting style. Each character will have their own unique attributes, abilities, and personal style.

Along with the 12 outlandish characters, FaceBreaker gives you the option to create your own boxer, and, even better, upload a picture of yourself using the Photo Game Face feature. Well, you don’t necessarily have to upload a picture of yourself, but can upload a pic of anyone and create a look-a-like boxer. Want to pit Barack Obama against John McCain? Even better, how bout Master Chief against Mario? Go right ahead.

FaceBreaker was surprisingly one of my favorite games that I played at E3 and it’s definitely on my list of games for this fall. Make sure to check out this over-the-top and entertaining arcade boxer when it hits stores this September for both the Xbox 360 and PS3.

You never really appreciate something until it’s gone — or in this case, chased from a city by angry gaming press with torches and pitchforks.

As E3 showed up, sputtered, then crept out of Los Angeles — hanging its head in dejected embarrassment — industry bloggers and reporters of every stripe began panning this years offering from the Electronic Software Association. Some pontificated on the trade show’s demise, stating that this year’s incarnation was merely its death-throes, and that it had become a weary, tired beast, in desperate need of being tied to a tree and mercifully shot.

Puzzlingly, the ESA seems to be the favored whipping boy when I believe that it is the developers who showed up ala the Emperor, wearing nary but a smile.

There is no doubt that E3 has been suffering from a degenerative illness as of late, but one that can hardly be blamed on the substantive lack of booth-babes with dual-side airbags. The truth is that the offerings from the Big Three have been mediocre at best, and at worst, a bloviating scrum of corporate narcissism.

How else could anyone characterize the Nintendo conference? Microsoft was a little better, and Sony continued to march merrily, if not obstinately, off a cliff called “denial.”

Is it the ESA’s fault that Nintendo showed up without a new Zelda title, and instead focused their press conference finale on a rhythm game that requires no rhythm?

Is it the ESA’s fault that Microsoft stepped on its own shoelaces, face-palming a developer, in order to keep the press focused on a rivals lost exclusive, instead of announcing one of their own?

Is it the ESA’s fault that Sony eagerly tried to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic, instead of coming to the Big Show with the same magic they wielded in their glory years, when the PS2 was the King of the Virtual Jungle?

These are not failures of the ESA or E3, but instead the failures of publishers who are more interested in the realm of public perception, than providing the public with what they truly want — fun.

We in the gaming press must also shoulder a measure of culpability for laying so much failure at the feet of the ESA, when it’s the offal rendered by others that is responsible for the stench we cannot stomach.

With a different pair of eyes you can see that, if anything, E3 has somehow garnered more mainstream corporate and political credibility. While the keynote was attended with as much fervor as a Foghat reunion tour, it was interesting that the speaker was the Governor of Texas. While this may not lend any interest to the gaming media echo-chamber, the presence of Gov. Rick Perry is important. As the industry is facing attacks on multiple fronts can it really afford to cast off E3 as it gains much-needed political capitol for not only itself, but for the rest of us?

I agree that E3 is need of change, but I believe that change must be brought about by developers; prepared to show up with exciting titles and technical surprises that make us sit up and take notice.

The ESA is doing its job by providing a venue for an industry to show up and show off, it is then up to the industry to impress us. Blaming the ESA for a tepid E3 is folly. If you have succumbed to that line of drivel you might as well blame the ESA for global warming, or killer bee’s from Argentina.

In 2009 developers will have the chance to relegate the unwashed masses, as it has been rumored that the public will be able to attend in all their fanboy glory, and perhaps that would be for the best — a novelty that the public would be able to hiss in disapproval or clap in delight, undiluted by the jaded – and complicit – gaming press.

Perhaps then developers will take E3 more seriously as the very people they depend on will be there, hovering expectantly for the latest and the greatest.

In the end, those culpable for the death of E3 will not be the ESA; it will be the developers holding the smoking gun.

In a recent interview, Microsoft’s Senior Vice President of Interactive Entertainment, Don Mattrick, responded to Bungie’s public disagreement with the company’s decision to put off their E3 Halo announcement. Mattrick was quoted saying:

“One of the things that we decided, when you have the number one game in the world as we have in Halo, it’s a safe prediction that if we do a separate event for Halo, that it’ll be well-attended, well covered …”

As a member of the press who was in attendance for the Microsoft’s press conference, I find their reasoning absurd. The attendance numbers were announced well in advance of the event, and yet they waited until the last moment before pulling the rug out from underneath Bungie.

Many (including myself) expected a response from Microsoft that cited something along the lines of production issues. However, the company instead decided to come out pointing its finger at E3’s size and significance.

True or not, the comments made by Mattrick add salt to E3’s already gaping wounds. The event of old is rolling in it’s grave right now.

Source: Eurogamer

I’m a huge fan of the SOCOM series on the Playstation 2, so I was eager to get my hands on SOCOM: Confrontation at E3. As soon as I found out that Sony had a playable version of Confrontation on the showcase floor (thanks, Chad!), I headed straight over to Sony’s booth to check it out.

The first SOCOM game to hit the PS3, Confrontation will be an online-only game and is focused mainly on bringing back the intense, thrilling, and fun online experience the original titles were known for.

Sony had the pre-beta running and I was actually playing online with the quality assurance testers from Foster City, Calif. in a 32-player team-deathmatch. We played on one of my favorite maps from the SOCOM series, Crossroads, which has been completely redone and looks as beautiful as ever with the graphical power of the PS3.

Through advanced physics, lighting, and gorgeous environments, Confrontation is a fabulous looking game. And with seven highly detailed maps, with five supporting 32 players, developer Slant Six Games has put quite an effort in making this game one of the most realistic shooters on the market.

Being a SOCOM vet, it didn’t take me long at all to figure the controls out because they were mostly the same, but now with the addition of a knife melee attack and an a much more fluid sprint button. Oh, I don’t want to forget to mention that the game takes advantage of the Sixaxis controller to actually lean in and out of coverage, which worked surprisingly well. Another thing that is different from the past games is the camera angle behind your character, which has been redone for a fresh, next-gen experience.

Confrontation offers players the choice of playing as one of five special forces units including: U.S. Navy SEALs, Special Air Service (SAS, United Kingdom), Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK, Germany), Unidad de Operaciones Especiales (UOE, Spain), and 1er Régiment de Parachutistes d’Infanterie de Marine (1er RPIMa, France).

Players will also be able to customize their characters with facial and camo customization, and even customize gear, including weapon modifications.

With the focus purely on giving SOCOM fans a great online experience, Confrontation is said to have an emphasis on tournaments, clan ladders, leaders boards, and a full online community. Tournaments will be available at regional, national, and global levels. Stat tracking and clan management tools will be integrated with SOCOM.com, giving players the ability to keep up with their accounts away from their PS3.

I was quite intrigued with SOCOM: Confrontation and spent about half an hour with the game, but with all the beauty and thrill within the game, I still noticed a few bugs. At times there were equipment and guns that were dropped from fragged soldiers just floating in the middle of the air. There was also some lag in the 32-player match, and I absolutely hate lag. But, again, this was a pre-beta version of the game, and Confrontation has recently been pushed back to October, so Slant Six should have plenty of time to tweak the bugs out.

SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation will be available on October 14 downloadable through the Playstation Network or in stores, which will come packed with a wireless Bluetooth headset.

I can’t wait for this game and I can already tell I’m going to lose a lot of sleep playing online. Count me in on the bluetooth headset package.

Socom Confrontation Image Gallery

18 Photos

The first thing I noticed about Sony Online Entertainment’s family-oriented MMO, Free Realms, was the inviting and pretty art style–cartoony, but not obnoxious; colorful, but not garish. This is a place you want to come. It’s a place I could see letting kids play around in, and probably a place that parents wouldn’t mind playing around in, either.

Another thing that really impressed me was all the embedded functionality. The character creation screen is actually a website, and your character profile is part of a Facebook-like network. On the right hand side is a list of your online friends, and clicking on anyone’s name will zap you right to their location in-game.

Contrary to many popular MMOs, you won’t have to fight a single enemy if you don’t want to: “Combat is just our biggest mini-game,” the developers told us. There are lots of different jobs to perform, including the warrior/medic types, but also mail delivery, blacksmithing, gardening, training pets, and even just exploring the environment a la Assassins Creed, to find flags. In fact, you will never be attacked unless you walk through a big gate with a danger sign on it and change your outfit to an appropriate profession.

All your different jobs gain experience in their own way, whether by playing Bejeweled-esque puzzle games to mine crafting materials or by fighting enemies. As you level up you’ll earn visual upgrades that show off how advanced your character is at that skill set. The ninja starts off pretty tattered-looking, but the final armor gleams.

Actually the Realms are only 60% free, but a premium account only costs $4.99 a month. Microtransactions will be tied to your PlayStation Network account–the game will launch first for PC and later on PS3. They’re also introducing a pretty exciting family plan–five accounts for $9.99 a month. So, the demo spiel goes, kids can visit their grandma’s house. Honestly, I sort of hope that kind of thing happens. It just seems like a nice world for it to happen in. I’m really looking forward to the beta later this year.

Castlevania gamers rejoiced when a new installment in the popular series was announced at this year’s E3. Fans then became less enthused when they learned that instead of a traditional action-adventure title like those the series is known for, the new Castlevania is going be a fighter for the Nintendo Wii.

In a recent interview with current Castlevania series producer Koji Igarashi, Wired questioned the man on this bizarre transition, and his answers were a little worrying.
His first response to the change in format is that playing a traditional Castlevania game for hours on end could get a little tiring on the Wii, where you would use the Wii remote as a whip. This was his reason for wanting to create a game with a certain time limit.

However, certain parties don’t believe that that’s the full story. Jeremy Parish from 1up had this to say after experiencing the game at E3:

“The saddest thing is watching Koji Igarashi on the E3 show floor, hovering around the Castlevania Judgment kiosk for half an hour, knowing that everyone hates it, knowing that he knows they hate it, then realizing that it’s not the game he really wanted to make anyway because his publisher won’t give him two dimes to rub together to develop the really awesome games he does want to create.”

Later in the interview with Wired, Igarashi opened up more about the development.

“Wii is selling, but the ‘gamer’s games’ aren’t selling. That’s what I’m concerned about. I think there are two roads you can take: Create a game for the core fans with as low a development cost as possible, the other is to just find a different market for these consoles outside the core gamer. I have to adapt to the times, but I can’t alienate the core fans.”

We all know that Nintendo is going after casual gamers in a huge way. The benefit is that more people are being drawn to video games. The downside is the worry that Nintendo – and video game developers in general – are paying less and less attention to hardcore gamers, which is a sentiment that has been echoed by many fans.

Igarashi’s comments definitely support the latter theory and it’s disheartening to think that even big name developers like Konami – who just recently gave us the phenomenal Metal Gear Solid 4 – may be putting less effort into traditional games. If they’re willing to water down a fan favorite franchise like Castlevania, what hope do we have?

Source: Game|Life

Do you cheer when you see things blow up? Well, grab your pom poms because the killers over at the E3 Mercenaries 2 booth showed me the biggest in-game explosion I’ve ever seen. It’s the tactical nuke, and it may make you smile with awesome. Click the link for the boom.

Popping smoke to call in a tactical nuke must be an endgame ability, but World in Flames gives you a bunch of other toys to play on the way. I saw a grappling hook that enables you to sky jack helicopters from the ground and a high end sports car that zips around taking out tanks with a missile launcher strapped to its back. What ever your penchant for destruction, Mercenaries 2 looks to satisfy your inner Michael Bay.

Range: Ok, I’ll be the bull and you be the rider.

Me: *squint*

Yes, Pro Bull Riders: Out of the Chute, from Crave Entertainment, is a co-op game.

Not that you can’t play single player. As a rider, you’re tasked with staying on top by countering the bucks of the bull. It’s not a quick-time event, though– you’ll just have to watch the animal and your flailing body to tell which way to push the analog stick. If you manage to stay on for the standard eight seconds, a clean dismount will earn you a better score. Higher difficulties also feature a grip meter using the left and right shoulder buttons.

Being the bull, of course, is far more entertaining, since you get to buck, roll, and generally run amok. If you manage to throw the rider off, you can trample him or kick apart the arena.

The PBR game is officially licensed, so it will feature the actual announcer as well as 12 real life riders, like Justin McBride, and real bulls, too, such as Chicken on a Chain. These are names fans will recognize, since PBR is the “fastest growing sport in America” right now.

I can’t say it wasn’t fun, but it’ll be interesting to see if they can take what feels essentially like a mini-game and make people want to buy a full-fledged product. Our hands-on was with the PS2 version, but Pro Bull Riders: Out of the Chute will launch for multiple platforms this October, right in time for their premier tour.

In an E3 interview conducted with Sega’s President, Simon Jeffery, the Dreamcast revival is jokingly brought up, only to be shot down immediately by Jeffery. The tone of his response in doing so is very routine, and downright unaffectionate to the plight of the many loyal Sega fans who continue to grasp at Dreamcast 2 straws.

We get the business side of it Simon, we really do, but is it really asking too much for you to seem sympathetic when you utter the words that break our collective hearts?

Have at the video interview after the jump, and make sure to have a box of tissues handy — you may need them.

Oh, and if you like the image featured at the top of this post, I am considering making up a few t-shirts if enough people express interest. Leave a comment if you want one and we will go from there. Once again, thank you Sega.

Source: Kotaku

Every 6-12 year old female wants to be princess of a world with talking animals, right? A dancing, fancily dressed princess with a sexy prince on her arm? Enter Princess Debut, built from scratch by Natsume expressly for the hearts of little girls.

This single player dating and dancing sim sets a clear goal for the protagonist: find a prince in 30 days while learning to dance, and rock the ball. Luckily, your rabbit teacher (a mite scary, I must say) is there to make sure you master the moves of the rumba, waltz, tango, and more.

There are four play modes: story, practice, ballroom (score attack), and movie. This last allows you to watch the dances performed for you with the fluid mo-capped animation–including the real footprint-steps overlaid to the music, in case you are the type of girl who would like to puzzle out the complicated steps and dance with your friends in the living room. People do that! You’ve probably seen them on Youtube!

The part we got to see consisted mostly of dancing. Seemed to be a pretty simple matter of following a big purple spot with the point of your stylus. Depending on what date you end up scoring, the story branches off in different ways, which could be good for replayability.

The princess makes her debut on DS in fall of this year.

Congratulations Streetsweeperz. All my E3 shit are belong to you. Send me an email to chad@ripten.com from your registered email address on the site, and include your mailing info.

If you didn’t win, take the time you were about to spend crying, and register to win some original Mega Man art by Keiji Inafune.

Chad-

To many E3 attendees this year, the Nintendo press conference was more of a self-congradulatory pat on the back. Instead of the new, exciting titles that gamers had expected, Nintendo rolled out a list of casual games that left hardcore gamers feeling dejected by the industry’s top innovator.

In an interview with Forbes magazine, Nintendo president and CEO, Satoru Iwata, said that this year’s E3 was neither the time nor the place to announce platform favorites.

“If there is any perception that Nintendo is ignoring the core gamers, it’s a misunderstanding and we really want to get rid of that misunderstanding by any means,” says Iwata. “We are sorry about [the E3] media briefings, specifically for those who were expecting to see Nintendo show something about ‘Super Mario’ or ‘Legend of Zelda.’

“However, the fact of the matter is the so-called ‘big titles’ need a long, long development period. … We really didn’t think this year’s E3 media briefing was the time to do so.”

While core games such as Zelda and Mario may be in development, the Wii is still getting exclusives that look promising such as the ultra-violent Mad World by Sega.

Source: Forbes

Mirror’s Edge was easily one of the most highly profiled games by EA at this year’s E3, and it rightly deserved to be.

First-person action that plays like a third-person game, Mirror’s Edge is played through the eyes of Faith, the game’s beautiful heroin and a runner, who’s in charge of relaying important information from one party to another without be caught by the “po-po”, or the law enforcement for those who aren’t familiar with street slang.

The level that was shown at the EA press conference, and in Sony’s demo room, was a massive and brightly lit realistic city setting, in which you were mainly jumping from one rooftop to another (ninja-style), trying to keep your momentum going as best as you could.

Speaking of momentum, the game is all about moving quickly, hence Faith being labeled as a “runner’. The quicker you finish the level, the more rewards you’ll be given, but no details on what type of rewards just yet. There’s also a reaction time button that slows things down in the game for more precise actions and movements, complete with blur effects adding to realism.

There were also some other obstacles like cat-walking a pole using the left analog stick to keep your balance (I actually fell off here and had to start the demo over) and even a time where you had to run against a wall (Prince of Persia style) and jump across to the next platform.

The controls of the game were pretty easy to learn. Since there isn’t a sprint button, you just run with the left analog stick and the longer you hold it, the more momentum and speed you get. There was a button to slide and roll, and another to grab on ledges. The controls were responsive and intuitive, but still it took some time to get use the whole 1st-person view and really know exactly where the ledge was and when to jump off.

Sadly, I didn’t get to actually play any part of the demo in which combat was involved, but I did see some action. I noticed when you use your reaction time to slow things up when in a scuffle with an enemy, the bad guy’s gun turned red, notifying you that you could grab if from them and use it as your own. But be careful, because you’ll only have what ammunition is left in the gun. No bullets or ammo laying around in this game.

One of the neatest features in the game is the Runner Vision, which color codes specific areas of the level as a means of revealing paths to the next area. All levels are said to have multiple routes to advance, but some are faster than others.

The game has no HUD, no health meter, but just a dot in the middle of the screen just for focusing and centering purposes, but which can actually be turned off. And when you’re damaged, the screen will turn red like a lot of other games these days. All you ever see on the screen is the action of the game — mainly your arms moving back and forth while you run or your legs when you take a huge jump.

Mirror’s Edge is really looking to be one of the highlights of the fall, with extremely beautiful visuals, intuitive controls, and just a completely different kind of action game. Gamers should watch out for Mirror’s Edge this October when it hits the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

*Not an actual Dave Perry quote.

Most people seem to agree that this year’s E3 was a bit of a let-down. You can check out any of our press conference coverage (Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo) and you’ll see that there wasn’t a whole lot to get excited about. Well, it looks like we’re not the only ones complaining about the lackluster event.

David Perry, current Chief Creative Officer at Acclaim, recently let loose some pretty scathing comments.

“The concept is broken, it’s expensive, messages are diluted, consumers are ignored (remembering that the future of this industry is direct connections with consumers – not retailers), the ticket policies are stupid, and if the entire industry worldwide doesn’t participate, it’s not real anyway.”

He also called E3 an embarrassment and said that if they’re aren’t dramatic changes made to the format and the staff, he’s never going again.

He then went on to praise the Game Developers Conference and said investors should go there “if they want to see the talent, passion, and energy this industry has.”

Source: Games Industry

If you’ve been keeping up with Ripten’s E3 coverage, you may have come across the majority opinion on Wii Music…

Range: no rhythm, no tone, weren’t following each other, didn’t know if you were on pace

Chad: mass mayhem

Andrew: wasn’t working, sounded like a mess, all over the place, sort of hitting the buttons whenever he [Miyamoto] felt like it

Jon: could’ve given you all sticks and been like, “Have a great time…”

Those were quotes from the day 2 podcast following Nintendo’s press conference. Ever since that time, I’ve been meaning to introduce a second opinion. I’ve put in my demo time and come up with not complete and utter adulation, but at least a different understanding and a sense of where the fun lies. Hit the jump for these thoughts AND a Youtube of Miyamoto’s presentation.

First I’d like to tackle the negativity surrounding what you just saw in that video, by which I mean all the criticism of the end performance making no sense. Keep in mind that you’re hearing this from people who may or may not have much musical experience at all, and also, that it looks like a lot of fun (as I believe Andrew pointed out in the podcast).

The opening is, in fact, totally recognizable as the Super Mario Brothers theme. You have lead trumpet, second (harmony) trumpet, harmony marimba, and Miyamoto on the cowbell (or what sounded like a wood block most of the time.) Nothing was prerecorded (as opposed to what was speculated in the podcast), although they did have the drummer in a totally separate mode of the game, the drum kit, to demonstrate that aspect. I don’t think you’ll actually be able to use the kit like that to lay down a track in the Jam session, but there are plenty of other drum options.

I can tell this presentation was rehearsed, and I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. It’s a cool thing. They showed what a group of people can do who have organized themselves as a band. One of the other oft repeated criticisms I heard throughout the week, especially from Andrew (”Turkey in the m***f*** straw!”) was that the songs are all super old, which somehow means boring.

Knowing the song, though, really helps with the creativity part of this whole thing. You can’t improvise on a track you don’t know. The press conference showed that this band knew what they were doing (even if they aren’t actual musicians, or even Guitar Heroes) because they clearly marked off sections of the song as marimba and trumpet solos, and came back together for the finish. The second trumpet part, in particular, seemed very well thought out most of the time. The marimba and woodblock were a little less so, admittedly, but that doesn’t lead me to call this presentation a dud.

Now, onto my hands-on experience– and maybe this is a good time to get my less than enthusiastic opinion of the drum kit out of the way. I didn’t like it much at all. It’s a cool idea, especially using the balance board as foot pedals, but the way you have to hold different buttons or directions on the remote and nunchuck to get different drums just makes the whole thing prohibitively complicated. I don’t see the hardcore drummer set putting away Rock Band to take up this system, and it’s probably way too much for the casual audience to want to deal with. I could be wrong, since maybe the lessons work you up to it, but when I jumped on I just felt uncomfortably overwhelmed and wanted to get back to the jam session.

The first time I jammed I played lead Marimba on the show floor, to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I had so much fun with that, that I asked to play another song, and this time did lead trumpet on Yankee Doodle–I would’ve tried out harmony or percussion except, for whatever reason, I was having trouble getting the sensor bar to register me pointing in those directions.

Anyways, lead is probably the easiest and most fun (as you might expect) part to play. Carry the melody, but carry it however you like! The most important thing to know about Wii Music, I think, is that those little light up, square characters in the lower right corner of the screen are not telling you when to strum, shake, or press a button–they are simply a tempo guideline (which in the final version, will be customizable).

What happens is that you know how the melody goes, so you can just play on the beats (or off-beats) that make the melody happen, but if you choose to embellish, the game automatically assigns notes that make sense. I.e. I sounded like a total pro on Yankee Doodle, because it’s a song I know and I had an idea what sort of “fills” would work. In fact, playing a jam session is a lot like playing fills on Rock Band drums. You are left to your own devices, to a certain extent, but that is why it’s exciting. You can design the tracks how you like.

The challenge to this “game” is making something that sounds like a song and not just some noodling around. It will involve layering your tracks from the bottom up: coming up with a good percussion beat first, some harmony parts that nicely complement the melody, and then setting the lead over that. Not everyone can be the soloist all the time, or the song will sound like crap, so it’ll also involve some team-based planning and turn-taking.

I’m excited to get more time with Wii Music. When people say it’s more toy than game, they are probably right–in the same way that Electroplankton was more toy than game. From what I’ve seen it will be pretty fun, and I especially look forward to the feature that lets you collaborate with friends by sending songs so they can add or edit tracks. There is definitely a lot more potential here than some are giving it credit for.

Andrew, JZ, and I made our way into the Midway press lounge for some hands-on MK vs DC action with the games associate producer, Hector Sanchez.

We began taking turns kicking each others’ ass as we tried to master the game’s controls. There were a ton of “cheese moves” being thrown around early (mostly by me), but it didn’t take long for us to get the hang of the characters’ signature attacks.

The MK characters are fairly familiar for those who have played previous iterations of the MK franchise. The DC lineup however, had a more comic book feel (naturally) and offered up a nice complement to the MK Universe.

Playing as Superman lets you do cool things, like hover in the air while you fire laser beams from your eyes, and take deep breaths that suck your opponent towards you. This is a great way to set up more powerful attacks. Batman drops smoke bombs that transport him to another location on the screen, and zips batarangs as a ranged attack.

If you are not familiar with the way Midway is handling the DC and MK crossover “fatality” aspect of the game, this paragraph is for you. MK characters will be able to perform “fatalities” (fatal moves that kill the opponent), while the DC characters will perform finishing moves called “brutalities” (brutal attacks that seem to render the opponent unconscious).

While only a handful of the fatality/brutalities were available in the build we played at E3, what we saw looked very nice. Superman’s brutality utilizes successive downward fist smashes to drive his opponent into the ground like a nail, and hardcore fans of the MK series will be happy to know that Scorpion’s “Toasty” fire breath fatality is in the game, and looks pretty bad ass.

Many of the other brutalities and fatalities were still being worked on. We asked about whether or not Sub-Zero “Deep Freeze Uppercut” would make the cut, being that we felt it was the least gory of his classic fatalities, and were told that they were still in the process of trying to figure out how that could work.

Aside from the fact we all agreed the game was flat out fun to play, we couldn’t believe how much blood Midway managed to cram into a Teen rating. Hector explained, that while the blood is not persistent (it doesn’t remain on screen very long after impact), it certainly doesn’t feel like you’re playing a kiddie game.

MK vs DC is a mix of classic MK head to head bruising combat, with a few welcome twists. For example, moving in close to an opponent allows you to initiate a close quarters combat sequence. During that time you will need to follow on screen button queues in order to successfully block the blows being thrown at you. We had a lot of fun playing around with this feature.

In addition to the zoomed in hand to hand combat, you will also be able to smash your opponent through walls, and grapple with them as the two of you plummet into a new zone. Wall smashing is more of a button mashing task, while mid air battles also utilize a timed on-screen button sequence.

The combination of well animated character specific attack moves, impact generated blood, and real-time character bruising made for such a satisfying gameplay experience that we all ultimately agreed we would be picking it up when the game finally hits stores.

We realize that a large part of the MK lure revolves around the game’s long line of memorable finishing moves, so as we wrapped up our visit to the Midway lounge, we began to discuss whether or not hardcore fans would be satisfied with the MK vs DC fatalities/brutalities.

It is true that the MK finishing moves are deeply rooted in gore and over-the-top dismemberment, but beyond that there is a certain level of embarrassment dished out each time to the individual being finished off. That said, you need to ask yourself which of the two aspects hold more weight with you as a gamer: Are you satisfied with embarrassing your opponent, or do you need the over-the-top gore?

The reality is that the game has plenty of on-screen blood and persistent character bruising that takes effect in real-time upon impact, but it’s not the M-rated meat grinder fatality bloodbath some gamers may have been hoping for.

The finishing moves, while brutally embarrassing for those on the receiving end, do not go beyond that in a blood-filled, in-your-face graphic nature. If you can live with that, then this game will make a great addition to your gaming library.

I only played Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts for a couple minutes on the floor, but it was definitely enough to pique my interest. I was a fan of the original game, but Tooie didn’t hold my interest quite as well. The new one for Xbox 360 is looking really sharp, with plenty of fuzz on our animal protagonists. Plus, the addition of buildable vehicles brings something new to the formula.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see any of the construction segments of the game. We had been plunked down inside a large level, and in fact, it seems like you’ll almost never want to just run anywhere. At least, the level I was in was made to be driven around. Luckily, you can just hold down Y to spawn your most recent vehicle.

I got to drive three things, all very different. The first was a car with a big spring jump. You could jump pretty high and barrel roll. The second one was like a rolling fence, which I used during a mission to hold soccer balls. You can pick up almost anything in the world (e.g. shards of glass, your entire car) using the right trigger, so I could toss the soccer balls into the corral area of this vehicle and drive them to the appropriate location. Finally, I raced in a land/sea vehicle that sort of reminded me of a squiddy insect for some reason.

While I don’t recall any of the exact dialogue, the feel is the same as the original, with goofy banter going on between Banjo and Kazooie. I’m interested to see what the vehicle building parts of the game will be like, which is more than I can really say about before I played the demo. It might be time to un-give up on Banjo-Kazooie, especially since an upgraded version of the first is coming to XBLA.

A lot of times you’ll hear about religious lunatics who can’t wait for the impending apocalypse. I never understood how they can look forward to something as utterly tragic as Doomsday.

Well, I have seen the blasted, radioactive future—and it is fun. Assuming our hands and eyeballs haven’t melted into goo, we can all anticipate an endlessly entertaining nuclear aftermath, as portrayed by Fallout 3.

The best way for me to describe Fallout 3, at a glance, is “Sci-Fi Oblivion”. The game controls just like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, but with a prevalent futuristic style. Everything from your initial exit from the vault (akin to the eye-opening “sewer escape” moment from Oblivion), to the options menu you carry around on your character’s arm, screams high-tech.

Of course, it’s futuristic to a point. After the bombs fell, humanity was blasted back a couple of centuries in terms of civilization, so you’re essentially wandering around a post-nuclear version of the Wild West. Tons of irradiated animals, gangs of outlaws, and struggling denizens are scattered throughout the baked landscape. The survivors have cobbled together a few makeshift machines, like an automatic turret I encountered that was protecting a scavenger’s filthy RV, but for the most part these people seem to live off the land.

It’s soon apparent that your cushy life inside Vault 101 has only delayed your exposure to the char-broiled real world. When you first exit the Vault, you’re struck with a blinding light—after all, this is the first time your character has ever seen the sun. On the ground outside is a handwritten sign: “We’re Dying, Assholes.” A nearby road sign declares “Scenic Outlook”, but the only view is of a broken overpass and miles of blasted desert.

We only had thirty minutes to explore this world, so we’ll have to wait until later this year to enjoy the other 99 and a half hours of gameplay that I expect from the developers of Elder Scrolls IV. Fallout 3 lets you customize every little perk and stat, and one of the more intriguing abilities is “Lady Killer”, which gives you the option of seducing the women you talk to, and an attack bonus when fighting against female enemies.

Speaking of combat, much has been written about the VATS combat system in Fallout 3, a sleek combination of real-time first person shooting and turn-based strategy. Hitting the right bumper lets you individually target body parts, but this hardly assures a quick kill. You might pause the game, aim four shots right at a creature’s head, and afterwards find that you’ve only made it angry. Then you have to run away to replenish your action points and repeat the process, or suck it up and go toe-to-toe in real time like a regular shooter.

Needless to say, this system works beautifully, and it is completely unlike any FPS or RTS game I’ve played. The possibilities seem pretty cool—you can wait until a giant radioactive gopher is in mid-pounce before pausing the game to target its ugly face. Later enemies may require you to target particular body parts in the correct order to disarm them or inflict the most damage.

With time for the demo running short, I equipped my portable radio. This lets you pick up transmissions, which can only be heard if you’re within range. The one I settled on was a radio address from the President of the United States, who was explaining the necessity of keeping the details of his election a secret for matters of national security. “Rest assured,” he said, “I was fairly elected by the right people.”

He went on to explain that at the time when his term expires, he will leave America’s democracy in the hands of the people with a worthy successor. This sort of makes you wonder—can my Fallout 3 character pursue the highest political aspirations? Can you become the President of the United States?

It seems almost anything is possible in Fallout 3. From the character customization, to the extremely dense wasteland for you to explore, this is a game that will send players down hundreds of different paths, tied together with a story and humor that can’t be found anywhere else. Begin the countdown— Fallout 3 launches on October 7.

There you have it. E3 is over and here is the list of all the swag I got for the “win my swag” contest:

• Bottle Nuka-Cola and a pretty sick Fallout 3 viewfinder (courtesy of Bethesda)
• Legendary comic book (courtesy of Spark Unlimited)
• Gamecock socks, Gamecock shirt, and Gamecock bottle opener.
• Full version of Spore Creature Creator and EA Notebook (courtesy of EA)
• Microsoft Xbox 360 laptop skins (courtesy of Microsoft)
• X-Blades poster (courtesy of SouthPeak Interactive)
• Left4Dead breath mints (courtesy of Valve)
• Tecmo Bowl foam finger (courtesy of Tecmo)
• a few other pins and posters.

The winner of the contest will be announced tomorrow, so check back then, because I have to get rid of this stuff before my girlfriend sees the mess I made.

Last year at E3, we were able to unearth information about a yet to be released NFL Head Coach game which ended up being confirmed several months later. This year’s conference has its share of surprises as well.

It has been confirmed to me that the chain gang and on field referees will in fact be making a return to Madden banded NFL football in the 2010 installment of the game. That’s all the information I have at this time, but be sure to check back often for updates.

One of the most popular games among the Ripten E3 crew (check out our last day of E3 podcast) has to be Sony’s LittleBigPlanet.

Honestly, when I first heard of the game I wasn’t too interested. In fact, I wasn’t even going to play it at E3, but Chad told me to. Thanks Chad, because it easily became one of my favorite games of E3.

Developed by Media Molecule, LittleBigPlanet is a side-scrolling action game that focuses heavily on player-enabled customization. From creating your own character to customizing your own level, almost everything in the game can be user-created, leading to an unlimited amount of possibilities.

As soon as I got my hands on the game, I was impressed and having fun with it. The controls were easy to learn and only used a few buttons to interact.

I played with two other people, first trying out a mini-game that had a series of platforms coming from the bottom to the top. The objective was to keep dropping down from one platform to the other before getting smothered with toxic gas at the top of the screen. I’m guessing there will be tons of mini-games just like the one I played, making LBP a fun party game.

We then went on to play an actual level, which relied heavily on co-op play with different puzzles and strategies. There were all sorts of obstacles on the stage we played, like rolling logs on fire and swinging sponge-looking thingies that we had to grab onto to swing over to the next area.

Although the game relies on co-op gameplay and brainstorming with each other, it’s also a race to the finish, complete with points and grabbing items and goodies.

As you’re progressing through a level, each character will be awarded points by collecting these bubble-looking things and at the end of the level you’ll be placed in order of who finished the fasted, just for bragging rights. Oh, and you’ll want to be the quickest to grab all the customizable items like stickers and equipment for you characters.

Oh, and LBP is finally a game that really uses the Sixaxis controller! When you’re playing the game, you can move the Sixaxis to shake, bobble, and make your character dance around. Even better is the ability to control your character’s arms with the L2 and R2 buttons, smacking around the other players for purely no reason. Funny shit.

Each player was able to customize their character mid-game, everything from changing outfits to face paint. You could also change the landscape of the level mid-game, like adding stickers to the wall. Again, the game is all about user-created content.

My favorite aspect of LBP has to be online and sharing experience. Not only can you hop online through the Playstation Network to play with three friends, you can also upload and share all your created levels to the LBP community. Once you’re online, you can check out all your friends’ created levels, play on them, and even edit their levels to your liking and make it your own.

Overall, LittleBigPlanet looks wonderful and the gameplay is incredibly fun. I played for about 15-20 minutes and I just fell in love. For a game that I had no intention on playing, I was blown away.

Be prepared for tons of fun and laughter when LittleBigPlanet comes out for the PS3 this October.

Those who have been following Ripten since its inception just over a year ago, know that I have not been the biggest EA Sports/Madden supporter. I have compared their in-game animations and player control features to “constipation”, and openly bashed their seemingly lax approach to churning out the Madden franchise year in and year out.

Their in-game commentary made me want to vomit, and their so called attention to detail “in the game” was laughable at times. I even went as far as to compare EA’s NFL license extension to the on-field suicide of the fictional football player in The Last Boy Scout. In other words, I had completely given up on Madden, and the notion of ever being satisfied playing video game NFL branded football ever again.

I went to E3 with no knowledge of the Madden 09 game, and even jokingly worked the line “WIll Madden have field goal nets” into the crystal ball animation on our E3 predictions post shortly before the event kicked off. For those who are unaware, Madden has not had field goal nets, on field refs, or a chain gang since they launched their next gen version several years ago.

As I wrapped up an interview with a Sony Home rep, a writer of mine approached me on the E3 show floor. He uttered one simple comment that changed everything. “Hey Chad, they have field goal nets.” Armed with this knowledge, I felt compelled to walk over to their booth and, at the very least, take a look.

At first, I just watched as the Tiburon rep finished up a game with another member of the press. The kicker approached the ball and sure enough, up rose the NFL branded field goal net. I smiled just a little, but surely the rest of the game would suck — right?

The kickers leg swung back, the ball went through the uprights, and I heard the voice of Cris Collinsworth. I said to myself … could this be true? Could EA Sports really be giving NFL loving gamers the game they finally deserve?

No more watching, it was time for me to get my hands dirty. I grabbed the controller, and prepared myself to unleash question after question, fully expecting misleading answers and double talk … but it never happened. Every question I asked was answered as honestly as any Madden doubter could ever hope for.

Field Goal Nets / Attention to Detail

I asked why the sudden inclusion of nets? Why not sooner? The rep responded by first admitting that the company should have addressed it sooner, but also explained that the inclusion of a net was not as simple as many may think it to be. I was willing to let that one slide, so I moved on to controls.

Running the Ball

Will we finally be able to control our player without feeling like we are sliding on ice? The answer is yes. Madden 09 feels completely different. It was explained to me that the momentum was miscalculated in previous versions of the game, and that the team made every effort this year to fix it. The result makes for super smooth control and split second response time.

Responsive controls will help you leave would-be tacklers in the grass.

I tested the controls out in a new area of the game called “Virtual Trainer”. Think big dark room with glowing white grid lines on the ground. Your team consists of orange hologram generated players, while the opponents are a shade of blue.

The moment I started the running back drill, I could feel the difference. The slightest move of your left analog and the on-screen player responded. To juke, simply tap the right analog in the desired direction. Spinning can be done with the right analog as well by whirling it in the direction you want to spin.

Catching the Ball

Catching a pass appears to be more fluid than ever as well. The rep explained that there are only really about 5-10 catch animations, and that each is made slightly different each time by the addition of on the fly joint and hand response in relation to the flight of the ball. For example, the same canned animation can look totally different if a ball is thrown waist high as opposed to above the receivers head. You will also be able to perform over the shoulder catches in Madden 09.

More Fail, Less Bail

In previous iterations of Madden, an attempt to stiff arm, for example, would be calculated by the game, and if it was not going to be successful, the animation would not play out. This would leave gamers (like myself) screaming at the TV “but I pressed stiff arm!!!”

This year however, Madden will feature specific “fail” animations. So instead of seeing nothing when you wiff on a stiff, you will now be able to witness your attempt to establish masculine dominance get rejected like Kobe Bryant at a Colorado Ski Resort.

The Pocket Actually Feels Like a Pocket

Step back into the pocket just once and you will notice the difference. Lineman seem to double team properly and actually try to force defenders away from you. The line for the first time really seems to work as a cohesive unit.

A pocket even Brett Favre wouldn’t mind staying in for a while.

Dropping Back to Pass

Gone are the days of 45 yard drop back passers. QB’s will now be rewarded with bonuses to their stats for playing realistically and staying within a reasonable pocket. If you drop back further than 15 yards, your passing icons disappear and your accuracy shits the bed. The vision cone (aka: the Peyton Manning sees the entire field but you don’t cone) has also been removed from the game.

No Place To Hide / Jiggle Before The Wiggle

In previous years, certain receiver routes took advantage of blind spots (notably the sidelines) in the Madden cameras coverage. This has now become a thing of the past, as the new Madden 09 camera system slightly pans back to make sure that every player on the field is visible at all times.

Another camera enhancement can be seen on break away runs and receptions. If no one is in site as your player closes in towards the endzone, the camera will change to a low angle zoom of the player running for pay dirt and jiggle from side to side as though the cameraman is running behind you.

Celebration Requires Initiation

Madden 09 will feature celebrations that require the controlled player to run to a specific section of the field to activate them. For example, taking Randy Moss into the endzone lit up the back of the endzone and a small section near one of the goal posts. This allowed for either an endzone dance or a jump into the stands. Certain marquise players such as TO and Chad Johnson come with signature dances, however you will not be able to pick the dance you want to perform.

Tom Hammond and Cris Collinsworth Take Control

Finally Mr. Generic announcer has been put to bed. To be honest, the place was loud and I couldn’t hear all of the commentary made by the new duo, but anything is better than the former stiff they tried to pass off as an announcer. If Tom Hammond and Cris Collinsworth have half the chemistry of 2K’s Dan Stevens and Peter O’Keefe we will all be in for a treat.

Madden-o-gram

Hologram Madden will live forever!!!

If you are like me, you grew up playing Madden back when Madden was actually in the fucking game. Well, being that this is the 20th anniversary of the franchise, we are all being given greater access to the man. John Madden will introduce every match-up and also appears as a hologram in the “Virtual Trainer” section of the game described below.

Virtual Trainer / Madden IQ

When EA Sports announced the Live DNA feature for their NBA Live 09 game at their E3 press conference, I was impressed, but Madden IQ and Virtual Trainer are by far the coolest features to hit a sports game since 2K’s VIP system.

Virtual Trainer mode is introduced by a hologram representation of John Madden (as mentioned above), and asks you to run a series of position specific drills in a hologram type environment somewhat reminiscent of Tron. Each movement you make is calculated and once you complete all the drills, you are awarded a Madden IQ. This IQ is constantly updated after each game you play based on your in-game performance.

Madden Virtual Trainer takes visual queues from Tron

Equipped with your Madden IQ, you will now have access to your own custom skill level that directly corresponds to your unique IQ. Why is this cool? Because it tweaks the AI of the opposing team based on your IQ, making for a more realistic gameplay experience.

For example, you may be really good at running the ball, but not so good at throwing it. This would create a custom difficulty level for you that increases the run defense of the other team, but eases up on their passing defense AI.

The Madden IQ and custom difficulty level is not just for playing the CPU, two gamers can use their custom difficulty levels in head to head match-ups, allowing for a more level playing field than ever before. It will be interesting to see how/if this feature is allowed/encouraged in Madden gaming tournaments.

Be Kind Rewind

If ever you have played a game with your buddy and wanted a do over, your wish has been answered. Madden 09 features an in game mulligan system called “rewind”. When playing the computer, it allows you to try the same play again against the same defense, giving you the option to go another direction for better results.

When playing against a friend however, Rewind gives you both a chance to run the same play over with whatever play you like. This could be great for the less aggressive types, or even those that want to spot a buddy a few do overs in order to entice them to play. Rewind is optional, and you will be able to disable it if you like.