E3 2009: Microsoft... "All in one box"

Sounds dirty, doesn't it? This year, I'm going to try to make this less cluttered and so anyone reading can just skip right by the things they want. As opposed to the walls of text I did for last year's E3. So, to begin with, a rundown of the games premiered and showcased!

--The Beatles: Rock Band
It's more Rock Band, am I right? Um, most interesting aspect, to me, is the harmonizing. Beyond that, though, it's... Rock Band with Beatles songs. They showed of ten of the forty-five songs that will be on the disc, and I only knew a couple of them. My mother's interest was piqued, though. And my grandmother will be hella interested in the box set that's coming out the same day as the game, 09/09/09. The two remaining Beatles and the two wives of the dead Beatles came out, though, so... woo. It was a bit awkward with Ringo and Paul, though, talking about how great the game is and looks. They just don't strike me as vidgame savvy.


--Tony Hawk Ride
No interest. Except for a mild curiosity in the skateboard peripheral, from a technical standpoint. I'm curious how well it works and how well it simulates actual skateboarding. Time shall tell.


--Modern Warfare 2
My interest in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare has been growing quite a bit recently, mostly because I keep hearing that it's an amazing story. I don't give a shit about the competitive multiplayer, but, over the past couple months I've been hearing more about the singleplayer.

Unfortunately, what they showed of the game didn't really show much of the story, so, as of yet my interest in this sequel is looow. But, I will say that the action looked hella fun. Shooting guys off of snowmobiles and such.


--Final Fantasy XIII
Woot whoop! Best part of this was getting to see the combat gameplay, which seems to have dropped the run around style that is in Final Fantasy XII. Which is awesome, because while it can be fun, it's not my preferred way to play an RPG, especially not Final Fantasy. Other than that, what do you want to know? It's FFXIII. Uh... there's a Chocobo chick living in the black guy's afro! If you didn't already know that.


--Shadow Complex
EPIC developed Xbox Live Arcade game. I honestly don't know what to say about it. It looks interesting enough, little 2D action/shooter. But... yeah, it's an XBLA release that wasn't really explained terribly well, since Donald Mustard had some microphone trouble. But, from the sounds of things, they're just looking to make a fun 2D action/shooter. Nothing innovative was really touched upon or shown, so, if that's enough for you, keep a lookout for it!

Side note, it did appear that CliffyB [I don't care if he doesn't like that name, he's stuck with it for me] was wearing a shirt with Bill Gates' old mug shots printed on it.


--Joy Ride
Another Xbox Live Arcade title, this one let's you race cars with your Avatar! Woo? Yeah, doesn't do much for me. Seems to be just a basic cart racer with the sole hook of incorporating your Avatar. Also, "it's free to download and free to play", but things like extra cars, tracks, and other stuff will need to be bought. Maybe I'm just cynical, but, that makes me think there won't be much contained in the basic, free download. We'll see.


--Crackdown 2
Now, I never got around to playing the first Crackdown. The most I played was the demo, and I was relatively unimpressed, but the trailer for the sequel interests me a hell of a lot more. Mostly because of the seemingly more horror element present. Monsters and infected folk and the like. Or is that present in the first game and just never talked about anywhere?


--Left 4 Dead 2
Already? Yep, apparently coming November 17th. My guess is that it's going to be a lot like the first one, but with new people. And now the inclusion of melee weapons like axes and chainsaws! So, yeah, another sequel who's original I did not get to play yet, aside from the demo.


--Splinter Cell: Conviction
Good gods, this seems to be the year of sequels to games I have not been able to play! This game looks awesome, though, and makes me wish I could get my hands on the other games as soon as possible to get caught up. I especially like the integration of the story-telling into the gameplay. Not a new concept at all, but still something I like seeing pop up more and more often. The way the game goes about telling you your objective is very cool, nice and cinematic: it puts it in the sky, on the walls of buildings, things like that.


--Forza Motorsport 3
No interest on my part, I'm not much of one for racing games anymore, they've grown too complex and technical for me to really enjoy. I will say that the cars look great, though.

The "potential" they say is there for their in-game video editor is complete bullshit, though, if it's what it seems to be to me. Unless you have a half-dozen or so friends who are experts at Forza Motorsport 3, and I mean fucking experts, you aren't going to be recording and creating any of the stuff shown in that vid.


--Halo 3: ODST
Do I even really need to say anything? It's more Halo, if you've enjoyed the Halo games thus far and you want more, here it comes! If you have not liked them and have avoided them, here's another to skip! A point brought up is that the first Halo's pistol is making a comeback in this. Woot.

I am more interested in another story set in the Halo universe, personally, especially since the narrative will be different [though only different relative to previous Halo games] in that it's told in flashback format as you find clues. So, you'll see varying perspectives at the same time as progressing the main storyline and putting it together. Intriguing.

And there's a new cooperative mode that's mentioned only in name, Firefight. I'm going to venture a guess that this is something akin to Gears of War 2's Horde mode, though.


--Halo Reach
Almost nothing was shown or shared about this, except a little teaser and the knowledge that it's forthcoming. Prequel, sequel, FPS, another RTS, something completely different? No idea. I speculate that it's a sequel to Halo 3, personally.


--Alan Wake
Fuckin' FINALLY! Let us hope that it stays on track this time. Spring 2010 release, cross your fingers everyone! Some gameplay footage that kind of reminds me of Alone in the Dark, mostly in the use of light as a weapon that showcases the story a bit.

So, you're a science fiction writer who's woken up to find your wife missing and the first couple pages of a manuscript you've written. The bitch of it is, everyone you had written is coming true! So, you're searching for the rest of the manuscript so you can find out what's happening, find your wife, and save yourself while fighting off what the fuck every it is that's attacking you, it's difficult to make out.

An interesting science fiction, mystery thriller that I've been looking to since it was first announced in... '05? '06?


--Metal Gear: Rising
A Raiden-focused Metal Gear game. Intriguing. I've heard that Raiden turned into a badass ninja-guy in Metal Gear Solid 4, so that, coupled with Hideo Kojima's comment that this would be a new style of gameplay for a Metal Gear game, kind of helps me along to the conclusion that we're looking at an action title akin to the Devil May Cry series, or possibly the God of War games. Which sounds hella cool to me.

Speaking of Hideo Kojima, HAH! He's at a Microsoft event saying "Metal Gear Solid is coming to the Xbox 360!" So much for his Playstation 4 Life attitude, eh?




Being that this is the last game shown at Microsoft's E3 presentation, it seems as good of a time as any to mention how pleased I am to see exclusivity dying. It's going too slow for my tastes, but it's still going. Aside from first-party developed games, it's absolutely ridiculous that games are still exclusive titles.

But, let's talk about the rest of Microsoft's show. First of all, thank the gods that they didn't throw up charts and graphs and the number-throwing was kept to an extreme minimum.

Next, let's talk about some of the new things coming to Xbox Live!


Xbox Live plus last.fm? All right, music, I'm diggin' it. Streaming songs from last.fm through my surround sound speakers sounds excellent. Not much else was said about it, though, so we'll have to wait until it drops, which is supposedly in the fall.


Xbox Live plus Facebook? What the fuck?! Yeah, I don't personally need to have that, but it doesn't seem too ridiculous. Just access to your photos, friends, and status updates/newsfeed. Right on. I'm wondering if preparation for this presentation is why Facebook has been fuck-all slow lately. Considering nigh immediately after it was over with Facebook was running correctly again. Hmmmmmmm... but, if you wanna talk about ridiculous and unnecessary...


Xbox Live plus Twitter? What the fuck?!?! Yeah, that strikes me as utterly unnecessary. But, whatev, there are people who want it I'm sure. And now they'll get it.

One more thing and then we'll get on to the highlight of Microsoft's presentation, as far as I'm concerned. Xbox Live plus Netflix will be improving. Full 1080p, finally. Watching the films your streaming in parties over Xbox Live, finally. Instant streaming... finally. Basically, all the stuff that was promised at last year's E3 about the NXE and Netflix is coming. Also, Sky TV in the UK and Ireland, for my across the pond readers. Which will include being able to watch live television right from your Xbox.


And the biggest bit of technology introduced is Project Natal. Full-body motion capture incorporated into games, the dashboard, everything. No controller necessary at all. Facial recognition to sign you in to Xbox Live as soon as you walk in front of the Project Natal camera, voice recognition and hand motions to navigate menus... intriguing as all hell for a tech-junkie, but I can't help but feel it's idealistic. At least, the hype they built for it. But, it's certainly a step. Whether it's a step toward truly immersive gameplay or the beginning of AI technology that will one day enslave the human race... I'm not sure. Seriously, do a video search for "Project Natal" and "Milo", see the interactions betwixt this AI program and this woman. Crazy. Again, either extremely immersive, imaginative, interactive gameplay, or... we're fucked. One way or the other, eventually.

But, as far as the gameplay aspect is concerned, I'm too cynical to believe that it'll be useful in anything more than very simplistic games. Not to say they won't be fun, for instance this "Ricochet" game they showed looks like a lot of fun. But I see a lot of games working poorly or being just too dumb to be any fun. Like the painting thing that was shown after "Ricochet". That holds no interest for me or anyone else I know. But, perhaps just at first, perhaps it will improve over time, but... initially, I see it bombing and not meeting these high expectations set for it. Remember the Nintendo Wii everyone? All the misleading press about how sensitive the Wii remote and nunchuk would be in simulating and translating your movements to the screen? Yeah...

A final note, speaking of the Nintendo Wii, was it really necessary for Kudo Tsunoda to diss the Wii? I mean, sure, it got the reaction I'm sure he wanted, but... cheapened his presentation in my eyes.