E3 Wrap Up

Now I know I didn't post during E3 but remember I wasn't there and all of teh press conferences were very early in the morning (eg 2am!)...and I was sleeping. So here is a wrap up of what went down at E3 2011.

Nintendo:

Nintendo focused on 2 key key areas...portable gaming and their evolution of the home game console.
In terms of Portable gaming nintendo showed off a bunch of titles that are comign later this year to the Nintendo 3DS. Almost all of these were ports of older games such as Star Fox and Legend of Zelda. But the new Kid Icarus game was also shown and it adds speech to a Nintendo game...yes speech...Pit actually says words...wow! They also highlighted the launch of the new Store which has come to the 3DS.In the store you can buy a bunch of titles and one key feature that was highlighted as the porting of old Gameboy and Gameboy Colour games to Nintendo's portable platform. This, hopefully, will see a bunch of new gamers playing age old Gameboy classics for the first time.
In terms of the Home market Nintendo didn't say much about the Wii and what was coming to teh WIi in the near future...instead they introduced their new console the Wii U. Aside from the interesting name...the console will feature HD graphics and caters for hardcore gamers as well as the casual gamer. It features a new controller which has a 6.2 inch touch screen inbuilt as well as classic nintendo controls and accellerometer, gyroscope and rumble. The new console will also be fully backward compatible with the Wii in the same was that the Wii was backward compatible with the Gamecube. In terms of games for the Wii U, Nintendo showed off what is coming, including high end games such as Darksiders 2, Dirt, Aliens Colonial Marines, Ghost Recon Online, Metro Last Light and the first ever Tekken game to hit a Nintendo Console...oh and also Ninja Gaiden 3! There were also hints that Assassins Creed, Battlefield and a new FPS from Ubisoft.
The console will come out next year and it will be interestign to see the reactions of gamers, both hardcore and casual alike.

Sony:
Sony showed off some new stuff as well...but also built on past successes and expanded the gamebase for teh PS3. They showed off a new portable platform called Playstation Vita. The PS Vita will be the successor to the Playstation Portable adn adds a sleeker design, better processing and dual touch screens. What this will mean for gaming is yet to be seen but we will all find out at it's launch later this year.
Sony kept emphasising that they are sorry for the PSN disaster but also showed how they have learnt from it...mainly in the fact that they have a large core fanbase who are unhappy. Overall Sony's press conference was good but not groundbreaking.

Microsoft:
Microsoft showed off more than just Kinect enabled games at their press conference. While there was the usual Dance Central game they also previewed a major games that will be released next year...Halo 4...because Microsoft is so XBox 360 focused I am expectign it to be an Xbox exclusive but as a PC gamer I would love to see it hit PCs as well. Gears of War 3 was also shown and so far it looks great but we will have to wait and see what the final product looks like when it is released.

EA:
Electroninc Arts showed of a huge number of upcoming games but the clear highlight was Battlefield 3, a direct successor to Battlefield 2 and one of the most visually amazing games I have ever seen. The game runs on DICE's new game engine, Frostbite 2, and builds on many of the features of the recent Battlefield games such as destructible environments, expansive playing areas and dynamic lighting. The game comes out in September and is sure to be an amazing experience to buy.

Activision:
Activision showed off yet another Call of Duty game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Every year we see a new CoD game but MW3 looks like it might evolve the franchise into a more cinematic experience while still maintaining the core CoD gameplay. The game looks visually appealing (but not as much as Battlefield 3) and should hopefully not be just another CoD game that will sell millions and disappoint gamers around the world. Also hopefully it will actualy work and not be plagued with performance problems.

Well, that is my E3 Wrap Up! Express your opinion in teh comments section below and remember that in October we are going to the EB Games Expo on the Gold Coast here in Australia and we have updated the site banner to reflect this.

Related articles

• Nintendo eyes hardcore gamers with Wii U (theglobeandmail.com)
• Nintendo lifts lid on Wii U, eyes hardcore gamers (canada.com)
• Wii console weigh-in for the 7th generation console wars (moneysupermarket.com)
• Sony and Microsoft at E3: What it means for Nintendo (nintendoscene.com)
• Sony answers gamers' calls, won't region lock the PlayStation Vita (zdnet.com)

E3 2011...and a possible special!

It's been a long time since my last post here on Tagged Blog but I was focusing on other things...including my own personal blog.

E3 2011 is here and I will be giving you my opinions on the announcements, trailers and more as the event progresses. Unfortunately I can't be at the event personally but luckily there is the interwebs!

On a side note, the EB Games Expo is coming in October this year to the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre. Tagged Blog has applied for media entry and if we are successful then we will provide ongoing and live coverage of the event as it proceeds as well as video footage and maybe even interviews! Even if we are unsuccessful in our media bid we will still provide coverage of the event but it will not be as intense and awesome as if we got media passes!

Stay tuned for our E3 opinions starting tomorrow here at Tagged Blog and a dedicated EB Games Convention Page coming soon to Tagged Blog!

Former Infinity Ward heads create new studio

Yesterday an interesting but not surprising move happened in the Activision vs Infinity Ward story. "Jason West and Vince Zampella, creators of the multi-billion dollar Call of Duty® franchise, announced the formation of a new development studio -- Respawn Entertainment." and they have "awarded Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS), through the distinguished EA Partners program, exclusive worldwide publishing and distribution rights to future games." This is great news for all Call of Duty fans because it looks like the same people who made Modern Warfare 2 will be making new games which should be just as good and running on some better managed servers.

Despite the fact that this is no real surprise, what really bugs me is that West and Zampella would have the guts to do this in the middle of one of the biggest lawsuits. By defecting to EA and making their own studio they are only going to get Activision madder and make the situation a whole lot worse for themselves and the embattled Infinity Ward. If I were them I would have waited until the situation blew over and the court case resolved before making such a shocking and bold move as this.

If you still aren't sure what has been going on then take a look at the links below and if you want to have a say then use the chat box ion the left column or comment on this post.

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• Activision Countersues Modern Warfare 2 Execs (games.slashdot.org)
• Ex-Infinity Ward heads create Respawn Entertainment with EA (arstechnica.com)
• 'Modern Warfare' Creators Change Sides (online.wsj.com)
• Former Infinity Ward Heads Form Respawn Entertainment (1up.com)

Ubisoft reports loss

Yesterday Ubisoft released their First Quarter 2009 sales report and unsuprisingly they reported a loss. They had a 51% drop in sales with the Nintendo DS being their most popular console, followed by the Wii and PC.

This loss was going to be obvious. Ubisoft's main market appears to now be the casual market for the Wii and NDS, with game series's like the Imagine series which seems to have the aim of turning young girls into sluts. Most games to come out up to September are casual games for the Wii and NDS with only one, Heroes Over Europe, coming out only on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC only.

Why did they report a loss? Well I blame the lack of hardcore games and the increased focus on the casual market. Based on the earnings report, we are already seeing Ubisoft beign affected by this and if they don't get a real hardcore game out soon then they may lose enough money to force them out of the big-budget market alltogether. The next hardcore game, Assassin's Creed 2, isn't slated to come out until November but they still have the second quarter to go which, as I have said, is dominated by the casual games.

Overall, Ubisoft should change their focus towards the hardcore market and move away from the casual market that is clearly hurting them and turning young people into wannabe models and glamour pusses. By moving this focus they will help their profits and will put their mark on the industry as a whole.

Asteroids Movie...WTF!

This week it was revealed that Universal Pictures nabbed the rights to a film adaptation of the classic game Asteroids. It will have a script...somehow...which will be written by Matthew Lopez and will be produced by Lornezo di Bonaventura.
There is only one way that this will work...if it is a movie about people playing Asteroids but if not then IT CAN NOT WORK!
Asteroids is a 2D game where you are a spaceship and you have to fire on Asteroids and destroy them to get points. There is no story so making a movie will not work unless it is my previously mentioned idea. You cannot have a scrpit in a movie based on a game with no story or dialogue so the entire idea a just plain dumb ands should have been put in the bin like every other bad idea.
I really do not know how Universal Studios managed to come up with the idea of making a movie based on Asteroids as it is so far-fetched and risky that I would have just shunned the idea and moved on without a thought. BUt I guess that it is Universal's Choice wther to make this movie and there is nothign we can do to change there mind...except spam but that is a very bad idea.

Personally I really hope that this is just a rumour and that it will not be true as that will be an epic fail and in this economic climate Universal  cannot afford to have a movie flop.