E3 2012 - Part 4: Microsoft Press Conference

Okay.  This is going to be a long one.  The event opens with a full-motion trailer for Halo 4.  It was big, bold and exciting, but it still seemed a little dopey, but it got the message across.  The trailer was massive in scale and utterly beautiful, as we'd expect form a showing of Halo.  We transitioned into gameplay with Master Chief's helmet HUD that looks stunning.  From here we go directly into gameplay we say earlier today.  Halo 4 is definitely one of the top titles of the year.



We were then treated to exclusive footage from Splinter Cell: Blacklist that looks very, very good.  It appears to utilize a sold mix of stealth gameplay and reactive action called Killing In Motion, a new Kinect-integrated gameplay element that uses the Kinect voice and motion controls to enhance the gameplay.  It looks quite good.  It is an understatement to say that Ubisoft has thus far made an impressive showing at E3 this year, and Blacklist is no exception.



We then received a presentation from EA Sports regarding Kinect.  Madden 13 and Fifa 13 were both announced as having Kinect support.  The demo showed the player using voice commands to quickly sub out players and change tactics without using menus, even give commands to other AI players while you play.  An angry reaction can even get you flagged by the ref!  Very cool stuff.

In Madden 13, Joe Montana took the stage and we got to see how Kinect will allow you use voice commands to call plays and communicate with individual players and issue commands, even calling and audible!  It definitely brings a new layer of immersion into already deep and exciting games.



Following EA Sports we got a glimpse of the Kinect-integrated Fable action title that more closely resembles a rail shooter than an actual Fable game.  Kind of disappointing and it points to a lack of imagination on the developer's end.  Fable, being an innovative and immersion experience, is above this mess.  Still, you never know, it may turn out to be good.  I have been wrong before.



Gears of War: Judgement made a showing with a teaser followed by Forza: Horizon which promises the classic Forza experience in an open world.  This is a truly exciting proposition.  The teaser was quite exciting but with an October 23, 2012 release date, I would've liked to see some gameplay.  Maybe on the floor coverage.



We got to see Kinect used to search new movies using Bing and Kinect Voice.  When you search a movie you can chose from a list of providers that off the movie, so instead of browsing Netflix, then going to another provider, you can see all the providers that host the movie or show you want to watch.  After a brief demo of the 360's multilingual capabilities, we saw a demo of additional studios including Nickelodeon, Univision, Machinima and Paramount.  UFC on Xbox is supposed to offer additional content and we were introduced to NBA and NHL on Xbox as well, hosting more highlights and sports content on the Xbox Live network.  Xbox is also providing 24-hour streaming ESPN content live.  Popular shows and sports coverage are included in HD!  This is an example of integration of interactive television, ESPN being, thus far, the only network forward-thinking enough to capture this technology.  There will, however, be more to come.

Continuing on the path of entertainment media outside of gaming, Xbox Music was announced.  An integrated music experience that offers streaming on multiple Smart Glass devices.  It essentially appears to be similar to the interfaces we're used to, just a little more polished and part of a larger existing network.



We also saw more from Nike and Kinect for their interactive fitness training system that uses all of Microsoft's best technology to further enhance the fitness gaming experience.  This feature is called Nike+ Kinect Training.  It was designed by real trainers from the major leagues to get the most advanced, real-life training and it offers online training with others around the world.  The trailer shows some of the interface but doesn't really get into the guts of the game.  It still seems like impressive technology nonetheless.



Xbox SmartGlass was given a big introduction, offered as a means to provide additional supplementary material through your smart phone, tablet, ect.  Smart Glass offers streaming from the tablet and easy transfer to your TV through the 360.  Once the streaming switches to the TV, the tablet transforms to a page containing additional information about the film, which the movie continues on the 360.  This sort of integration allows for more expansion and immersion in the story, encouraging interactive elements for movies and TV at home.  We then saw the same footage from before regarding SmartGlass' integration with Madden NFL as an interactive playbook, which is a cool feature.  In Halo 3 it displays interactive menu content, maps and data about that game as you play it, as well as your progress through the game.  It is definitely a nice touch.  It was also added that SmartGlass can be used as a remote, so you can use your smart phone to control your 360 menus, even a web browser in the form of Internet Explorer for Xbox that is controllable with voice or your smart device.  We saw a specially-formatted version of the website for the movie Prometheus that allows easy interactivity for the website through the 360 menu.  We received a demo of the smart phone used as a touch pad to control a cursor on screen.  This leg of the demo was closed with an announcement of 360 integration with Windows 8 for gaming and entertainment.



Next up we got to see new footage from the upcoming, long awaited Tomb Raider title.  The game looks great, obviously taking a few pointers from Uncharted.  The action is big and explosive, and looks to be quite fluid.  The environmental graphics are lush and dynamic, with interactive world elements and destructible surroundings.  The demo exudes a sense of danger, something welcome in a game of its type.  if the gameplay is good, it definitely stands to be a lot of fun.



Ascend: New Gods is a new IP demo'd on the event that integrates Xbox live with Windows Live Games.   The teaser looked good, but doesn't offer a great deal of information as to what type of game it is going to be.  Thought the battle at the end with the colossal fella was quite intense.  Following that we saw a trailer for a new title called LocoCycle from Twisted Pixel and a look at the teaser for a game called Matter, a Kinect title that, once again, offers no information on gameplay.



Resident Evil 6 was on display next, looking polished and as grim as ever, the game looks like it is attempting to renew some good will after the backlash from RE5.  The game looks good, with a stunning city scene and lots of lovely gore.  The fast-paced gunplay on display was a lot of fun to watch, and possibly could be fun to execute, if the game plays well.  The climax of the demo featured cars falling down around hour heroes as they attempt to GET TO THA CHOPPPAAAHHH!!  The obvious inclusion of quick time events is kind of a downer though, I was hoping we were past that by now.  I guess not...  I did like the trailer overall though.  Resident Evil 6 looks like a lot of fun.



Wreckateer is a new Kinect title that allows the player to demolish massive castles with balls using catapults and trebuchets.  This is kind of a bleh idea, but the way Kinect is used to manipulate the projectile as it if you were using wind to put spin on the cannonballs.  It looks okay for casual gamers.


Immediately following that was the brand new South Park title the Stick of Truth, which appears to be a fun arcade-style action game with all of South Parks signature humor.  The game was introduced by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone themselves and they gave their insight on the development and how, for the first time, we will be able to explore South Park in its entirety.


Next up was an introduction of Dance Central 3 for Kinect complete with a bad live performance by Usher!  The game doesn't look bad, and the previous games were fun, though I'm not really cut out for that level of activity, lol.  I can appreciate a game that gets you off your butt, especially one that encourages it with bouncing music.



We closed with Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.  A solid demo for a game that looks great.  This is going to be one epic game, with beautiful scenery, massive set pieces, intense action and high-tension pacing.  Black Ops 2 is going to be one of the big ones and from what I've seen, we have a lot to look forward to.



Well, that's it for E3 Day 1!!!  We made it!  Whew!  I'm beat, even thought I never left my chair!  I will pick up with day 2 coverage as soon as coverage starts tomorrow.  Stay tuned everyone!

E3 2012 - Part 2: Ubisoft Press Conference

Ubisoft had a strong showing today at E3 2012.  They opened with a title we expected (Let's Dance 3) in a rather unexpected way.  Hip-hop star Flo Rida rapping while sexy babes dance and the game fills the screen behind them.  It was definitely bombastic.  While I'm not all that excited about Let's Dance, what Ubisoft had in store for us following that display... Wow!

Farcry 3 gave an impressive showing this year.  The distinctly NSFW trailer/demo shows the game to be a strong, gorgeous entry into a solid action series.  The island motif is amazing, with stunning graphics throughout. This is going to be a good one.  I was impressed by what I saw, and it only got better from there.  We then followed that up with a teaser for the new Splinter Cell title Blacklist, which looked great.

We then saw Ubisoft's first implementation of Wii U with Rayman Legends, a fun-looking co-op platformer that uses the different Wii U controllers to manipulate the different characters.  Following that up was ZombiU, and though all we got was a teaser, it was a good one.  Showing a moment frozen in time spread all across the city of London at the height of a zombie attack.  We pan through blood splatter frozen in the air and a car frozen  in time as careens off the London Bridge.

Moving on, we all expected the new Assassin's Creed to be good, but what was showing on E3 sets the bar so much higher than before.  From the captivating opening trailer to the beautiful gameplay footage, Assassin's Creed 3 did not fail to please.  The audience erupted in excited applause as we watched our new hero Connor glide through a frozen forest and infiltrate a British camp in the heart of the Revolutionary War.

Ubisoft also gave us a glimpse of what they have to offer in the world of social and online multiplayer gaming in the form of Shootmaina and Ubisoft Worlds.  Shootmania is an online multiplayer experience that is Ubisoft's entry into the online competative shooter world dominated by Counter Strike and Team Fortress 2.  Ubisoft Worlds Online is a combination of new smaller IPs and free-to-play game experiences available as part of an online community.  The games shown included a 2D motocross game called Trails Evolution and an online version of their classic Settlers series.  The showcase game in this run was Ghost Recon Online, a free-to-play multiplayer shooter that looks like a AAA title.

Last, but far, far, FAR from least was the official reveal of their new IP, Watch_Dogs.  Set in the not-too-distant future where everyone has a digital footprint, you take control of a man who has the ability to hack and manipulate virtually every single piece of technology around him as everything in the city is run by a central computer.  During the gameplay demo we see our character jam all cellular communications around him to create a distraction to sneak into an exclusive event.  Countless icons representing computer cameras and things that can be hacked populate the scene, giving a number of options on how you can apporach any scenario.  Scanning nearby people reveals their information, as it's all at your fingertips.  You can see their age, their jobs, and their darkest secrets, all gathered from their digital footpring.  The traffic lights are hacked causing a massive pile up, all as part of the core gameplay.  This is one amazing-looking game.  The character models are amazing and the lighting is unbleievably realistic this is way on-par with, if not better than, Naughty Dog's best work.  This is going to be one of the ones to keep your eyes on people!

E3 2012 - Part 1: The Beginning

No, I'm not actually at E3.  I am not that important.  However, I am going to use the Internet, the live television coverage and information from social media to continuously update this blog with new information about what is coming out with my thoughts on what I've seen.  Note, I'm starting this about an hour and a half into the coverage so I will try to cover as much ground as possible.

As I write this article, I am watching live gameplay from a new MMO entitled Defiance which is directly linked to a narrative in a television show that launches on the same day in April, 2013.  The game is a run-and-gun action MMO with lots of layers and massive boss battles.  If the gameplay is good, it could be a great title.  It is, however, very hard to break into the market for a new MMO for a few reasons.  First is most people do not want to have a large number of subscriptions charging every month.  Second is most MMO players already have a game of choice with leveled and geared characters and friends they regularly play with.  It isn't easy to convince players to devote weeks of gameplay to building up a new character in a brand new world.  As far as the TV show tie-in goes, it seems a little gimmicky and I'm not too sure how much these two are actually going to affect each other.  It is possible that, if the show is good, fans of of that series may get into the game, but given the quality of most science fiction television today, my hopes are not all that high.

Earlier in the coverage master-developer Bethesda revealed gameplay for Dishonored.  A brand new IP that will introduce all new tactics into the RPG world.  The game takes place in a pseudo-steampunk London, England and you play a lone hero with powers to possess living things, stop time, teleport and much, much more.  The idea is to have as much freedom in combat as possible and Dishonored definitely seems to deliver.  The fact that Bethesda is the developer gives me high hopes for this one, as they are one of the more consistently-good software companies out there and if anyone can pull it off, it's them.

Now, for Halo 4.  The game that most, a few years ago, would never come.  This title is meant to launch an entirely new trilogy picking up right where 3 left off.  New enemies like Knights (heavily-armored super-soldiers with all the agility of Spiderman and the menace of a freaking T-Rex.  Watchers, a new enemy type, hovers over the Knight, healing, resurrecting and shielding all the while spawning small Crawlers to agitate the overwhelmed Master Chief.  light rifle animation when you pick it up  Up to this point in the demo, my attitude of what I saw was more or less "Meh."  Halo is a great, great series but they need to go big and get really creative and that fight looked great.  I would have liked to see a little more for the game because the demo they gave, especially, following Call of Duty: Black Ops II's epic-looking showing.

On that note, Call of Duty is a power-house franchise and the new entry looks great.  However, it has a massive albatross hanging from its flimsy neck in the form of a big sign that reads "Developed by Treyarch".  Treyarch worked on a few of the titles in the series and while they are not exactly bad, they all seem a little underwhelming compared to the big shifts and massive feel of the entries from Infinity Ward. That said, the demo looked great, with a crumbling metropolis and miles of highly-detailed debris with a lot going on in the background as well as solid-looking gameplay.  I would say my attitude about this one is very mild enthusiasm.

I also want to discuss Mortal Kombat-co-creator Ed Boon's new game Injustice: Gods Among Us, an impressive-looking DC Comics-themed fighter that looks like a blast.  Big set pieces with outmatched battles of Harley Quinn versus Superman are the highlight but I think this could work.  Boon is a talented man and his team appears to have made a big, polished fighter with a confirmed roster of "Over twenty characters."  Keep your eyes open for this one.

Lastly for this entry I will reference the new Castlevania just premiered.  It's a 3D Castlevania game.  That should be all I have to say.  That is a deal-breaker on its face.  But, the game appeared to be played on a 2D plane, so maybe it will work!  I would love, LOVE to see a new Castlevania that looks like a game of today and feels like the great games of yesterday.  That is where this franchise should go and I believe Konami is starting to catch on after the excellent downloadable game Castlevania: Harmony of Despair.

I will post again after the first press conference.  Stay tuned for more