E3’s finally here and I get to see the action ! Not on the spot though, but through GameSpot’s E3 Live Channel. It’s terribly exciting and palpably so, even at a distance of seven thousand eight hundred nautical miles. Granted, this is my first insight into the events that happen during this time of the year at the LA Convention Center, but anyone who follows the gaming industry ( or plays games at the very least ) would and should be just as excited about this annual event. For the unborn, the Electronic Entertainment Expo is an annual event where game developers and other heavy weights in the entertainment arena show-off their upcoming games and technologies. This year’s event, unlike the previous year’s, is open to the public. So pop your head in if you can. And while you are at it, take a good look at the exhibitions – There happen to be some really good items in this year’s show. Here are some of the items that were in the spotlight during the first day, it’s motif being “Motion”.
Sony unveiled the PSP GO’s official details ( which is an oxymoron considering it definitely wasn’t the best kept secret in this edition of E3 ). It just happens to be a smaller version of the original PSP with a few differences : No UMD drive ( it’s got 16GB of flash storage instead ) and a slightly bigger slide-up screen. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sport a touch screen like the rumors suggested. It’s expected to arrive in the North American market by October the 1st, with a price tag of $249. The PS3 got it’s own motion controller which would let the console employ the dynamics and freshness of the aspect of physical movement in video games, that the Wii had heavily banked ( and reaped ) on. The game line up for the PS3 and PSP was also improved upon with titles like Gran Turismo and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for the PSP, and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, God of War 3 and Modnation Racers for the PS3.
Microsoft’s press conference had a lot of things going for it. It started off with the company reveling the New Xbox Live Experience, which brought in a new dashboard, Netflix streaming and Live avatars. Next came news of Final Fantasy XIII coming to the XboX, and the PS3 release subsequently being put off until both[versions] could be released simultaneously. The rumors about Metal Gear Solid 4 being ported to the XboX 360 was confirmed by Hideo Kojima. The new game, titled Metal Gear Rising, will not be featuring Solid Snake. Microsoft also unveiled a motion-sensing camera and revealed news on quite a few upcoming titles such as Left 4 Dead 2, Halo Reach, Forza 3, Alan Wake, etc. Nintendo mostly kicked off with news on some of the new titles in it’s console’s game lineup; some of which being C.O.P.: The Recruit, New Super Mario Bros and Wii Fit Plus. Ubisoft‘s President and CEO Yves Guillemot, talked about the company’s foray into the visual effects arena ( which was heralded by it’s purchase of Hybride, the French-Canadian digital arts studio behind the movies 300 and Watchmen ) and uPlay. James Cameron alos showed up and talked about his collaboration with Ubisoft and the game-adaptation of Avatar, which was being developed by the company.
E3
News about many exciting titles were revealed as well. Crysis 2 got a teaser-trailer, Assassin’s Creed 2 had some gameplay mechanics revealed. Ubisoft also revealed demo gameplay footage from the latest installment in the Splinter Cell series, Splinter Cell Conviction. Remedy showed off some of Alan Wake’s gorgeous lighting effects with their demo footage. A gameplay demo of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 showed an setting where the player actually gets to do some rock climbing. Left 4 Dead 2 was given a release date ( November the 17th ) and Bioware turned quite a few heads with their demos of Mass Effect 2, the sequl to the original game, and Dragon Age : Origins, an action RPG set in a fantasy world.
For a complete list of the events and news that happened/revealed during the first day, take a look at GameSpot’s E3 Day 1 Wrap-Up. Stay tune for Day 2.
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