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E3 09: Ones To Watch
E3 2009 promises to move some way to a return to the pomp of old. Sure, some big hitters have decided not to show this year, including Blizzard and Atari, and Japanese publishers’ resolves - Capcom and Square Enix - have been dented by the spectre of swine flu, but it’s already clear that many publishers and platform holders have waited until now to reveal their plans for the next six months.
Here, we’ve picked out some likely highlights among the newly revealed games and products from major names at the show.
Sony: Hardware
Sony hasn’t gone so far as to fully confirm it, but the appearance of PSP Go! is all but certain. With the fundamental decision to drop the UMD drive and giving it 16gb of on-board memory, along with a sliding screen to cover the existing control configuration, it’s the biggest adaptation of PSP’s original design yet, and could do much to reinvigorate the platform. But is the world ready for a download-only console? And how do we get our previously purchased UMD games onto it? All eyes on Sony’s press conference, June 2, 11am PST, then.
And can we expect the reinvigoration of PS3’s design, too? Sony has distanced itself from alleged shots from a Chinese manufacturer of plastic casing and a printed box that’s been dubbed ‘PS3 Slim’, but previous attempts to market cheaper-to-build iterations of the console have met with significant success, and a sub-£200/US$300 retail price to at least halfway compete with 360 would surely help it further. The likelihood of PS3 Slim itself being real, however, seems low.
Nintendo: Mascots
With the memory of last year’s E3 conference still tender, Nintendo will need to do much to live up to its constant reminders that it still cares about the ‘insatiable’ hardcore. The result is the likely announcement of Wii-based Mario and Zelda games, plus, for everyone else, Wii Fit Plus (a name that’s currently down to trademark registration sleuthing).
E3 will also be an ideal place for Nintendo to reveal further plans to develop its support for DSi, probably with SNES and GBA game downloads. Nintendo’s conference takes place June 2 at 9am PST.
Microsoft: Peripherals
The subject of a recent leak and a last-minute removal from last year’s show, it seems likely that the centrepiece of this year’s E3 conference June 1, 10.30am PST, is a motion sensing controller. It can only be backed up with software, though, and who knows what form that will take? Certainly, Microsoft has been trying hard to broaden 360’s appeal for the last couple of years – though it has struggled to hit quite the same nerve that Sony has with the likes of SingStar and Buzz.
E3 also comes amid various announcements of Xbox partnerships – with Zune’s video Marketplace and one that it will announce in the UK today. Partnerships are one thing Microsoft does extremely well, so developing Xbox Live’s appeal with content deals could well be another cornerstone of its presentation.
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Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court 30 Monmouth Street Bath, UK BA1 2BW
England and Wales company registration number 2008885
I'm not going to watch anything but the booth babes. Since they won't be there....I won't be there:)
Does anyone know where to watch the conferences live online?
I would try gametrailers.com, pcworld, possibly vgchartz, gamasutra, or gamesindustry.biz. One of those is bound to have them.
If the mario game is just another update of a gc game, a lá mario tennis, then it will be another insult from the big N in my opinion. Mario Golf with motion plus and up to date super-trippy graphics would be good though - if implemented properly!
good grief, a bunch of half arsed and half baked hardware updates, and sequel-itis? Is that it? This gen may have delivered hd graphics, but it has been without doubt the worst ever for software releases. A clutch of shooter sequels and the odd rpg, that is it boys. See you next gen. I foresee a resurgence of PC gaming and direct downloads to mobile devices eating into the console market soon if something does not start putting new IP onto the shelves. Add in the failure rate of console hardware and the box under your telly market is looking like walking toward grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory.
Microsoft need to come up with some decent game exclusives.Peripherals just don't cut it with me.Sony have some good stuff in the pipeline,whilst the 360 release list is looking thread-bare.
I'll be hugely disappointed if MS' claims that they are going to change the way we think about entertainment have to do with this whole 3D motion-sensing camera thing. Unless it works infinitely better than Wii-motes do, it'll be just another gimmicky half-working attempt at translating true movement into a game. I can already shoot, walk, jump, punch whatever just fine with my standard controller and unless I'm immersed more in the game with motion-sensing with equally or better controls I'll happily pass. MS attempts at caching in on the whole, "I swing this thing like a bat or tennis racket and my character hits the ball JUST like I wanted to." movement is starting to annoy (assuming this is all true of course). They better find a way to implement it in a way that doesn't actually hamper gameplay instead of enhance it.
I hope there'll be some kind of big announcement this E3 regardless of who it's from. I'm more interested in game-announcements than anything else. I think focus has been lost on the games and I hope this year is different. Yes Modern Warfare 2, Halo: ODST, GoWIII, etc. will be huge, but how about some new IPs or some surprises? I unfortunately only played ICO shortly on my PS2 and have since regretted it and have heard recently that the next ICO game will make a showing. Monday seems so far away.
Come on, Nick, have an open mind.
Remember when you were playing Mortal Kombat, and you attempted a fatality. After 3 or 4 tries, you'd scream, "It would be easier if I just got off the f**king couch & ripped his f**king head off myself!"
Microsoft is addressing these issues.
I'm just as ready to choke-a-bitch as the next guy; I just want it to feel like I'm actually choking them. If I reach my hands out to choke someone out and my character punches the guy in the stomach instead, I'd rather just press the A button and be done with it.
How close to the real thing do we want to get before we just go outside and do it? Might as well throw some wheels on the Tony Hawk ride skateboard controller and do the real damn thing.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for this motion sensing thing but only if it's done right. If it adds to the game play instead of taking a few steps back and is implemented in a way that registers your movements accurately I'm game. I don't want to be able to flick my wrist two inches and throw a 90 MPH fastball. That's not immersion at all, that's gimmick and we already have something that does that well...
Dude, I'm totally joking. It's gonna suck balls.
Their has to be some kind of physical interface; expecially in the 360 space. The only way I see it suceeding is if it were treated like a Wii Motion Plus - it has to be an enhancement accesory. It games come out that require it, then all claims to install base fail. It would make sense to make a 2-piece controller, & use accelerometers to replace certain analog controls. That way, games would be more fun with it, but not require it.
It will, probably, work the other way; with hand gestures taking the place of buttons. Typing the Konami Code would look like your having sex with an invisible manatee; so I can't wait to see the best Street Fighter matches on YouTube soon.
I figured you were, but wasn't sure. It better be better than that ball rolly-game thing that shipped with the 360's first camera...
I'm willing to bet my barnyard including its contents on no Wii Zelda-announcement. At best, maybe a very subtle hint at it, but it's obvious they want Zelda to be yet another Mario-franchise with gimmicky spinoffs released in 6 month-cycles.
I don't mean that in a bitter way though, there's really no point. Zelda games have never had any solid chronology (despite what they say) nor any aspiration to be as epic as fans have it to be. Shigeru Miyamoto even said in interviews that storyline matters very little to him when he creates games - which clearly explains why Link has gone from chosen hero of time to train conductor.
Still a bit sad though, as an avid fan, to see them exploit what I think is the best adventure game series of all in favor of cel-shaded, portable puzzle games.
Why won't Valve give up Half-Life already? I'd much rather see a brand new IP.
Not me... Half-Life 2 and it's episodes make up the best FPS experience I believe I've ever had. I've never been so attached to a set of characters and I would love for their story to continue.
They don't have much of an option. Releasing a PC-focused single player FPS nowadays without an IP behind it would be a death knell.
Uh, what about Left4Dead? Same question to the grandparent.
I don't want them to leave Half-Life on a cliff-hanger bring on Episode 3.
Interesting point kuddles. I don't know if I agree though. I'm not a PC gamer but there have been some new IPs out on PC that are games from the first person perspective that were single player affairs only and have faired well. Bioshock though a spiritual sequel to System Shock was a single player new IP that did well as did Mass Effect. Mass Effect was an action RPG with an over-the-shoulder camera but handled similar to FPSs. I would hope that PC FPSs don't have to be existing IPs with multiplayer components to be successful, that would be unfortunate.
Hmm.. you want them to give up their most successful title when it's one step (yeah right) from reaching a conclusion.
Personally, I think every game Valve has released to date has been fantastic (except Ricochet, not too sure about that one...) so I'm confident they can do any FPS-game right. Even L4D was far better than its rivals, fact still remains though that it sorta just slipped into darkness. And Half-life is their by far most interesting franchise, and not a single bit of it feels mediocre.
In my opinion they've reached a very fine balance between giving fans enough games without exploiting the trademark. Other companies should learn from this (cough, Activision, cough, Nintendo).