Monday MUpdate: The Offical BestGamepadEver E3 Hands-On Report

With a bigger site design comes bigger pictures, apparently

Oh man. What a past week. I've been kind of dreading doing this write-up considering I've already done three write-ups and have another one to do after this one, but such is life in the high profile world of blogging. I am going to go as in depth as my memory allows me to be with this one since all other write-ups have been on a single game or subject of E3, and this one clearly operates as an official recount of all I did to those who weren't there.

For those who do not know, the reason I went to E3 is because I won an contest on IGN.com to be a guest editor for the day. This came with all sorts of swanky privilages and passes to almost all the cool things shown at E3, along with transport and a place to stay. Essentially, I was pampered and spoiled for three days straight, and I'm pretty sure I came back more fat and lazy than I was before. Me and my travel companion were put up in a Sheraton in Downtown LA and given gift baskets full of candy, an IGN water bottle, and a t-shirt, as well as special Batman: Arkham Asylum themed key cards which we also got to keep. It was all pretty fancy-shmancy except for the fact that we had no internet in our room unless we paid $12.95 for 24 hours of use, but that's a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things.

So, as for E3, it's pretty massive. I know everybody "knows" it's big and all, but you don't really know until you're there. It's so big that I forgot all that I wanted to do while there and ended up making it up as I go along. There is always something to see or look at or do, and it can be pretty claustrophoic at times. I got to go as an exhibitor, meaning I was basically better than 90% of the people there, and I was allowed to go in early as well as receive priority treatment from booths that had long lines. None of this would have been possible without the guys from IGN and specifically my handlers Scott and Aki. Aki spent the entire day opening closed doors for me, and it was pretty amazing. We also had this guy Pete follow us as a camera man, and he got us behind a couple closed doors due to his camera and the interviews he needed to conduct. What I'm getting at is - no matter how big E3 looks, it's even bigger than that and it was even bigger for me because I had little to no restrictions.

E3 is split into two halves, west and east. I'd heard that in previous years it was smaller, but there were so many publishers going all out this year that they used up the whole of the convention center. I went into the west side first, and the first thing I was treated to, in big bright and bold colors, was Nostalgia for the Nintendo DS. I had been looking forward to this because it toted itself as being a steampunk RPG a la Final Fantasy III. There wasn't much to the demo, as it was just a presentation of the airship combat and the normal combat, as well as traveling. While playing that, I got the feeling that it would be, but the demo they presented was really really slow moving. Granted, this demo was essentially just a tutorial, and the set up was "Here's how you do this! Try it now!" I found that element of it kind of boring, but that's to be expected. One thing I thought was a great touch was the airship combat. It operates just as normal RPG combat but it's on all sides, and you have to choose in which direction you are looking which leaves you vulnerable to attacks from the other directions. While normal combat is like any RPG, I thought this added a nice element of danger and strategy to the gameplay, even if I was walked through the fight sequence painfully slow. The graphics in it are very basic, calling back to early RPGs like Final Fantasy VII, but less smooth. It seems like a good call back idea, and the title of the game is very apropos. Nostalgia is a game I still want to pick up when it comes out.

The next thing I saw, right at the doors open, was the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 presentation from Activision, including a fifteen minute playable demo. Since this is a top priority game for me, I decided to be first in line for it, and sat right in the front row. I have already written up a VERY extensive recap of everything in the presentation over at the other blog I write for, Multiversity Comics, and you can find that write up right here. I'm not really in the mood to write another full length article about this demo, but suffice it to say, I'm pre-ordering this game on my way home from work. It looks absolutely incredible and I really can not wait. I got to briefly talk to one of the developers as well, and that was downright awesome. Plus, later in the day, I got to meet Stan "The Man" Lee. God bless Marvel and E3.

Another game I saw very early on was Ghostbusters. I gotta say, I'm really unimpressed by the game. I am going to go ahead and assume that I'm not the target audience because while I adore the Ghostbuster films (I own both and watch them on a regular basis), this game just looks kind of boring to me. It's incredibly cartoony and seems very repetitive. Essentially, you run around and you collect ghosts. Big shock, right? I just don't think this can hold up as a full game. I'm trying hard to not be negative about it, but nothing about it looked all that interesting. The only good factor about it is it's supposed to be connected to the films, though in what capacity I can't tell. This is a game I'll probably end up skipping though.

The next game I played was Halo 3: ODST, but just the new multiplayer aspect called Firefight. This is the game IGN had me review for them, and you can read my full write-up on that right here. I got very in depth with the game review, and it actually comes highly recommended from me. I'm not a big fan of the Halo series, the only game I really liked was Halo Wars. All the others just seemed very passable to me. ODST, on the other hand, seems much more up my alley. They made it much more challenging, and the multiplayer is insanely fun, not to mention I kicked so much ass (if you can't really read it, I "beat" the other players by about 6,000 points and only died once when I ran out of ammo). I'm debating if this is a pre-order as the special edition is really disappointing (it's just a controller and the Reach beta essentially), but I'll definitely pick up ODST at some point. Check out my write-up, though. I worked really hard on that one considering that was one of the few I was obligated to do.

Following my work, I was on my way to see the new Batman game when I paused to see a presentation on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time Re-Shelled. Fans of the old TMNT side-scrolling arcade games, pay attention: it looks awesome. It's essentially just like the old game but in three dimensions. I'm 100% aware that the majority of the charm of the old game is that it's in two dimensions and is a basic side scroller. However, that doesn't make this look any less awesome. In fact, I think it looks down right amazing. The graphics are really great for an Xbox Live! Arcade game, pretty much on the same level as that Watchmen game was. It's essentially a re-done trip down memory lane, and granted, while a lot of that stuff is getting tired, for what it's worth the game does look really good.

On to Batman: Arkham Asylum. Some of you might remember my previous rant about how unimpressed I generally was with the idea of this Batman game and how I figured it would ultimately be a dissapointment. Well, I'm here to tell you that I'm not unconvinced of that, but it does look much better in person than it does in videos. First off, the voice acting? Holy wow. It's incredible. Mark Hammil does so much better as the Joker than I remember from my childhood. The "free flowing combat" also works really well. I thought of the fight system in Too Human, and how that was supposed to be sort of free flowing and easier to manage due to the massive hordes you were fighting, but Batman really nails it. Here's the thing about Batman, though - as much as I want to like this game, I just can't seem to. It looks like it's trying to combine too many elements from other games (the stealth of Splinter Cell, the fear of Bioshock), and it's just doing it in a very cliche way. As much as I am a fan of the character, the game looks like it would get dull. The fun of free flow wears off and the way the villains look... well, to be a fan of the comics and then to see them is a little disheartening. I definitely will give this game more of a shot when I can play the full thing from beginning to end upon release, but I have very low hopes for it, even after E3.

One funny thing - there is actually two full booths for Arkham Asylum. It had a small caged area with a big ARKHAM ASYLUM sign over it and a table in the center which you could strap yourself down on, and then it had a smaller booth not even 20 feet away shaped like a tunnel with pictures of all the villains and a display of the special edition. Needless to say, I'm still not buying it. And those two booths don't count all the other stations that had Batman on display. It was probably the most over displayed game of E3!

I walked over to one of the two Valve stations to try out Left 4 Dead 2. I had heard before it was announced that it would be at E3 at a secret booth, and this is very true. Next to the IGN office at E3 was a Valve office, and L4D2 was the only thing on display as well as free posters (that are really nothing to write home about). Play Left 4 Dead 2 there was much nicer than on the floor, but that's a small price to pay. Here's the thing about Left 4 Dead 2: it essentially is exactly the old game wrapped in a bright new package. There are new weapons (which I noted on my Twitter are like Half Life weapons), there are new zombie models, there are new special zombies (such as the Charger, which I mistyped "Croucher" on Twitter for some reason), and that's all very well and good. But after about five minutes of playing this demo, I realized I'm just playing Left 4 Dead in a new locale. To be quite honest, there was nothing special about this demo. That really upsets me. It would appear that Valve is trying to pull a fast one on us and give us old wine in a new skin, to borrow a phrase somewhat. Sure, there are some new zombie classes yet to be announced, but the weapons aren't all that new. They act just like the old ones but with different models. The melee weapons are fun, but the problem is that you'll be using an axe while everyone is using high powered rifles and shotguns, picking off the zombies from a distance and leaving you with two or three to actually kill. Valve said that there would be an interwoven narrative with the campaigns, so that's all well and good, but is it $60 good? I'm not convinced it is. The problem with this game is that if I get it, there is no need to play the first anymore since this game offers all the same multiplayer modes, and it all boils down to the fact that I'll be losing money on this purchase. I don't fully understand why they didn't just release an expansion pack, and of course I forgot to ask, but we'll see. Right now, I can't really say that Left 4 Dead 2 is an exciting proposition, as much as it hurts me to say.

While I was waiting for Left 4 Dead 2, though, I saw a live presentation of Splinter Cell: Conviction, a game that we could only watch and not play. I gotta say, I loved the original Splinter Cell and never played the sequels, but this one looks quite amazing. Stealth games are a lot of fun, but I think what really works about this game is the way the material is presented. The story happens in real time, and the guy presenting the game explained what all of the little flashes and background things mean. While the gameplay looks to be similar to the old game (if not flashier and better articulated), it definitely gives a brand new way to experience the story of the game. This definitely was a surprise of E3. I like Old Shephard and the cinematic take on the Splinter Cell mythos a lot, and I might actually have to go back and play the sequels I never bothered to play (in my defense, I skipped them because I was playing Splinter Cell on my PC and didn't want to switch over to the console for the game).

On to Brutal Legend. Big surprise here, but I loved it. The game is SO much better when you get to play it. You get to ride around on dragon car things, beat people up with giant axes, and best of all? You actually play the guitar. To an extent, anyway. Remember in Zelda when you would play your Ocarina for certain things to happen? It's just like that with Brutal Legend, except you're playing a guitar. It's positively hilarious. Jack Black's voice acting is really spot on as well. The game in person pretty much looks like the type of thing Jack Black was born to do, or at the very least the reason why he and Kyle Gass made Tenacious D. The only thing I really noted outside of how much I enjoyed it was the enemies. They're really hard! I don't know if the demo was set that way, but normally in this type of game where you're swinging around giant axes at hooded demon monks, they go flying, but not these guys. They took a lot of smacks to fall down. This is not a negative thing by any regards. Your weapons all have various combos, and when you pick up the weapon the combo is explained to you. But good golly, I was not expecting the game to look so tough. It's definitely a buy though, no doubts in my mind. I had high hopes for it, and it looked even better in person.

Next was the mother of all appointments: Assasins Creed 2. Holy wow. I don't know if I should write extensively or leave everyone in bewilderment. I got to talk a lot with one of the chief designers about everything and anything involved in the game and it looks so amazing. I'll give you all as much info as I can remember in hopes that if you had any doubts in the game before, they'll be gone now. In talking with the designer, he told us that everyone behind the game was fully aware of complaints. They took everything anyone said into consideration and used that feed back in order to make a better game. And it shows! First off, the "white room" as they call it (the time in between you going into the Animus, in 2012) is now more intricate, and you will be able to do and interact with more. Kristen Bell is back, and will once again play a big part, as well as the mysterious characters we saw at the end of the first game. The gameplay inside the Animus is going to be much more complex now as well. The demo opened with Altair Ezio sitting on a bench with two thieves. A guard approached and Ezio quickly dispatched of him. However, instead of taking the body and hoping no one notices, Ezio put the body on the bench and the two thieves held it up. In the game, you will be able to form allegiances in order to do your kills more efficiently. Next to Ezio was a large crowd, all interacting with one another much more than they would in the first game. Instead of everyone walking slowly somewhere, people were standing, chatting, dancing, having a good time. Ezio ran up to the roofs using the same intricate hopping and climbing system of the first game and was treated to Da Vinci's flying apparatus on the top. In the game, you will actually meet and become friends with Da Vinci as well as others who will build you devices to get you through the world. Using the apparatus, you then fly through the entire map, showing off the intense depths as well as scenery. In the background fireworks are going off, people are celebrating, and there is not even the smallest moment of stall time. It's absolutely incredible how much is happening at once. As soon as you start flying, the guards freak out and assume you are a demon and start shooting fire arrows at you. The flying system works by building up momentum and using that to gain height, as in you dive and then pull up and glide. It seems and sounds more complicated than it really is.

In the second half of the Assasins Creed 2 demo, we were shown an actual assassination. There are now new moves to take down guards, including one move that will allow you to sneak up and pounce upon two guards at once. Also, before you'd be able to use a leap of faith to hide in a bale of hay, but no more. If a guard hears you, he'll come after you. But don't worry. You can actually grab a guard and pull him in when he comes after you, much as a cat will sneak attack a mouse from the shadows. From here, we saw the actual assassination. In this instance, Ezio was able to steal an enemies weapon and use it against him. Upon killing all the guards, the target was then demoralized and too scared to fight Ezio, making the assassination process easier. The time spent in dialogue as Ezio lowered him to the kill was also much smaller, and the get away was made more easy than having to run around for ten minutes trying to lose guards. It's all very well done. We were also insured that many of the twists and turns were yet to come, and the best way to enjoy this game is to steer clear of spoilers. When you see the action in person, it's a much better game.

All in all, if you aren't getting Assassin's Creed 2, all I can say is: what's wrong with you? Seriously? Do you just not like good gaming? Or is there too much thought into this game for you? I hear there's a new Katamari Damacy coming out. Hope you have fun with that.

At this time, I was treated to lunch and sat down to write my ODST article. The next game on the menu, however, was DJ Hero. As odd as it is, I'm really excited for this game. It looks very fun, and much more interesting than Guitar Hero or Rock Band, to be honest. You get a little turn table and operate both the "vinyl record" (i.e. buttons) and the various knobs and switches on the rest of the turntable. You have to do this in synch in order to pull off the various scratch sound effects. It seems like it could be a lot of fun, especially when at a party or intoxicated. I'm not sure how well the game would hold in the long run, as Rock Band and Guitar Hero are games you can forget about and then randomly play again and love, especially with some of the crazy hard guitar parts. DJ Hero? I'm not so sure. I can say that this will definitely be a lot of fun for a good month. After that it might just collect dust. Either way, it's at least worth a play or two if you can get your hands on it.

From here I made my way over to Bethesda. Bethesda had four games on display, only two of which I paid any attention to. The first game I saw was the new Fallout 3 expansion, Point Lookout. This expansion does not look any more interesting from the previous ones based on the one building I got to see, but I talked with one of the actual Fallout 3 developers and it sounds much better than it looks. Point Lookout is an expansion in order to show the world of Fallout 3 that wasn't directly effected by nuclear attack but rather indirectly effected by the fall of man, and is a decidedly darker chapter in the over all Fallout storyline because of that. It is set in "the most haunted city in the US", but don't expect to fight any ghosts. What you will see, however, are cultists. Lots and lots of cultists. So if you've ever wanted to pop one in the head of a Scientologist, now is your chance. You'll also be getting a brand new special rifle similar to Lincoln's Repeater, as well as other fancy new guns. What I took away from the conversation is that this will pretty much be a game for die hard Fallout 3 fans like myself. With every expansion to Fallout, they make the world a little bit bigger and expansive to expand the mythos of the disaster, but it's the sort of thing that you have to want to play to enjoy. There is no way to casually play it.

The other game I saw at Bethesda was Wet, and the only reason I saw it because, unbeknownst to me, Eliza Dushku was there promoting it. She does the main voice of it and was signing posters as well as being interviewed. When they put on the display of the game, I gotta say - totally unimpressed. It doesn't look like anything I'd enjoy at all. Essentially, you play another overly hot woman who is overly obsessed with murdering people for vengeance and money. Nothing new here. I don't really have a lot to report on it, but I will say it looks entirely passable. They were also showing off a game with Mickey Rourke as the main character called Rogue Warrior. It was a first person shooter, though, similar to a Call of Duty type game. Except with Mickey Rourke.

From here on out, we began to see less presentations and just general gaming going on. I tried desperately to find Mass Effect 2, Borderlands, and Bioshock 2, but to no avail. Gearbox later contacted me and told me they were in a private booth, so that explains that one, but it's unfortunate as I really would have liked to report back on those. We did see some games and talk with a few people and I'll run down a few of those:

1. LEGO Rock Band looks like a waste of money, unless you absolutely love Europe's "The Final Countdown." You could not walk by the LEGO stage without hearing this song being sung poorly by someone.

2. Where The Wild Things Are, the movie tie-in game, looks adorable.

3. Square Enix knows how to bring the presentations. They had a huge TV that is probably equivalent to the height of my house playing highly rendered Final Fantasy trailers, including one for a game that I believe was called Final Fantasy: Dissidea. Basically, the point is that you can use any character from any of the Final Fantasy series to fight any other Final Fantasy character. You wanted to beat up Sephiroth with Squall instead of Cloud? Here's your chance! They are also releasing a whole batch of new statues, and they all look amazing.

4. Monkey Island is officially back in Tales Of Monkey Island, "exclusively for your Wii and PC!" Thanks a lot, pirate who gave me a button. You both made my dreams come true and then shattered all hope in the span of two seconds.

5. Guitar Hero 5 is just like every other Guitar Hero. Surprised? Well, ok, to be fair, now there is a new mode called "Expert Plus," and anyone can play the same instruments at any given time. If you and your bff both want to play the drums, you can. There's no more arguing over who makes the better Lars Ulrich.

6. Why is there really a Saw game? There was this one booth made up of a giant Saw-themed wall and one TV on it. No lines, no nothing. Apparently, people who played it enjoyed it, but it looked pretty awful.

7. The new Tony Hawk game, Ride, seems like a bad idea. Most of the people who actually tried the demo looked bored or confused. I stayed away from it. If I'm going to skateboard, I'll get that broken board out of my closet, not buy a game controller to stand on and break in my living room.

8. My handler tried the new Forza 3 game hands-on, as I'm not a big racing game guy, and he described it as the highlight of his E3. Take that for what you will, racing fans.

The last two games I really got to sit down and play as well as get a presentation on was DC Universe Online and Darksiders. I plan to cover DCU for the comic blog more than this one since no one who reads this is an avid comic reader or a PS3 fan, but suffice it to say, this is a MMO that only comic fans will really enjoy. Sure, others can play it, but it is clearly designed for people who hear the name Marv Wolfman and know why that's important. Darksiders, on the other hand, looks like a ton of fun. I'll be the first to admit that the game doesn't look overly special. You play War and are on some kind of quest (unknown in the demo) to get revenge for something against someone in a world positively torn apart. The game plays like every other game you've played where you run around and kill a lot of things with big weapons, except this is decidely much more bad ass. A woman at the booth told us she considered it "a bad ass Zelda," and I can easily see that. With the way you collect power ups and fight, it's easy to compare it to a more brutal type of Zelda game. I must really stress that as much as I really enjoyed the demo and plan to pick up the full game, this game doesn't strike me as anything special. It's just something that's incredibly fun. I really do recommend it, but I can see a lot of people disliking it.

That about wraps it up for all I got to see and do and play at E3. I didn't get to play Project Natal or meet Milo, but I talked to people who had done both and they said it was surprisingly fun. I'm not sure how fun it would be beyond the initial week of purchase, and everyone describes Milo as either creepy or by just saying "Skynet." There was no presentation on the new Metal Gear Solid game for the 360, but I have to admit that I find it hilarious Kojima would think it's a good idea to make a new game based on a character so universally despised by MGS fans everywhere. I'm also really disappointed I didn't get to try out Mass Effect 2, Borderlands, or Bioshock 2, but se la vie. I think I saw enough cool stuff/exclusive behind the scenes treatment to make up for it.

I can't really think of what else I did or played in regards to E3, or at least nothing that relates to this gaming blog. I got to meet the president and founder of IGN as well as other big wigs, and that was pretty sweet for me. I also got to go to IHOP after drinking 8 to 10 Stella Artois' which a) is the best beer I've ever had and b) is a rough estimate of how many I drank since no one in my entourage is sure. If there are any questions whatsoever in regards to what I discussed or if you are wondering if I saw something and forgot about it, please a comment. I'd be more than happy to discuss it. I see my E3 trip as a way to help all people who don't get to go to E3 experience it vicariously. I updated my twitter non-stop (which must have been both cool and annoying to my followers) and I took extensive mental notes on things I felt were important and share worthy. So please leave any comments. E3 is awesome, and I can only hope to go again one day.

One last thing that I think is very important to write: going to E3 as I did is a lot of fun because I was a contest winner, an exhibitor, and an all around VIP. However, going to E3 because you have to and it's your job? No matter how much you love video games, it's not as of an enjoyable experience. I'll explain why: since I was the big IGN contest winner, I spent a lot of time meeting many different employees and seeing what they had to do. The unfortunate fact of the matter is that I got to see more of E3 than people who do this for a living did. A lot of people working in the industry spend all day in meetings seeing only specific games or things, or in their companies particular "war room." E3 is best attended as a casual on-goer, but when you do that you don't get to see things like Assassin's Creed 2 because that's for special appointments only. So as much as I loved writing write-ups on ODST, M:UA2, and this, I feel bad for all the people who worked hard to do this for a living and get to see less than I did. But that's just me, considering I'm a bleeding heart activist and all that. Just some food for thought.

Oh. And for the record? That is me in that top picture. I'm the one walking up on the left with the huge bag filled with goodies.

E309?: Looking forward to Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (and a special video)

All of this week will probably be filled with E3 stories that I managed to miss last week. I feel like there is enough [missed] content to last at least that long.

The story of how I became a fan of Professor Layton is an interesting one and I am going to tell you about it so stick around.

When Professor Layton and the Curious Village was first released in stores I kept looking at the box because it had me... curious. After hearing enough about it and looking at that damn box enough I decided that it would be the kind of game that my wife would enjoy; I picked it up for her as one of those random gifts that a husband gives his wife and she spent the entire following week, sick in bed, playing it.

Fast Forward to a few months later and I decided that I would carry it around in my bag and play it, here and there, on the train. I ended up playing it on every commute, to and from work, until I finished it. I loved every moment and now I, along with my wife, have been anticipating Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box since. That day, where this frantic anticipation will end, will come on August 24.

If you are not a fan of the series or have not heard of it until this point, I highly reccomend that you at least look into it.

And finally, please watch this if you care to be amused:

MARMITE FTW!!!

I'm on a Podcast, MotherF***er

A few days ago I had the pleasure of recording another podcast with Jarvis. He puts me on the spot a lot but I think I handle it alright. In this show you'll hear our thoughts on E3 and all of its news.

Listen and, hopefully, enjoy.

NEW Super Mario Bros. Wii

New Super Mario Bros. Wii. I want this. Period.

I have the DS version and I played it to completion (collecting every coin and unlocking every whatsit). It was a fantastic little game that brought back a sense of nostalgia that one does not often get to experience in video games these days, and people still buy it as the staple game when they first pick up a new DS. The versus mode on the DS was also great allowing you to fight for coins against Luigi (which I was notoriously good at).

The Wii version looks to be the same game, mostly. It has the same music, the same look and feel, and most of all it is just as cute. Of course, it will look to add some new abilities for Mario, namely, the, as I will dub it here, the penguin freezing suit. It looks like it will have that same coin-dueling multiplayer and overall it looks to be a pleasurable romp. It is possible that it will be that staple game for picking up with a Wii - at least it will be for me - provided the game is longer than the DS version or priced accordingly if it is not.

I do not get excited for many Wii games, as I still do not own one, but I am excited for this. Just one more reason to own a Wii.

A Life Well Wasted

Now, I'm not sure how many of our readers are fans of podcasts, but I have been a huge fan for the past year or so since I initially discovered them on iTunes (I know, I'm a little late on the game on that one). They're especially glorious for me considering I have a 30 minute drive to and from work each week day and after a while music gets a little boring. They also make the time go a bit faster during the work day.

I'm always looking out for new podcasts. Most of my podcasts are either politics related or video game related...well, video game and other nerdery related. This morning I was searching iTunes for the IGN podcast our friend Matt was one. During my search I saw a few other promising podcasts so I subscribed to a few of them. One of them was A Life Well Wasted. I don't think I read much of the description, but I subscribed and listened to it on the way to work this morning.

I have to say, this is quite possibly one of the best and most innovated video game podcasts I have ever listened to. If you listen to any video game podcasts you know that most of them are just about what games are coming up, what the podcasters are playing, what they like or don't like, etc. It's sort of just a discussion of the timeline of games coming up in the future. This is fine and dandy with me and I definitely enjoy it, but most video game podcasts are all the same and the only true difference is the characters. Essentially, all it comes down to when choosing is "who do you like more?" "A Life Well Wasted" is completely different. It's essentially a "This American Life" of the video gaming world. Robert Ashley chooses a topic for the podcast and compiles interviews with different individuals and their opinions. So far I have only listened to one episode, but I'm hooked. It's definitely refreshing in a video game podcasting world where everything is essentially the same. Crazy props to Robert Ashley for coming up with such an amazing idea.

E309: Joystiq's MASS EFFECT 2 Impressions

Before I say anything else I just wanted to say that I was just playing Mass Effect and I just wanted to say that I hope they fix the planetary exploration, what with surveying deposits and picking up Salarian ID tags, things can get a little tedious.

I just finished reading these Mass Effect 2 impressions that the Joystiq staff were so nice to put up for me the internet and all of its users.

Who are we kidding it took a lot of will power to not just go, "Mass Effect post here, Mass Effect post there, Mass Effect tweet said this, this guy from Bioware said that about Mass Effect," I mean come on give credit where credit is due.

So I am going to hit on the highlights of the Joystiq impressions:

• Combat looks and feels more fluid while still keeping the feel of an RPG. Cover works better and Bioware is adding location damage, new weapons, and more importantly a heavy weapons system that can end a battle in seconds. All of these new improvements sound/look great. Fluid controls to me mean I am going to feel like a more badass Spectre.
• There is a quick button press interrupt option in conversations that allow the player to take these conversations in a different direction provided that one's finger is quick enough. Translation: I can punch someone in the face if they are not giving me the information I want fast enough or how I want it.
• You can play past the credits with downloadable missions and the like provided of course that you... survive? You are dead, you aren't dead, you can die, you can save yourself, all of this sounds quite dark and brooding. Does it make anyone else itch with anticipation?
• Casey Hudson (project lead) is touting a new planetary scouting mode but that is all he is saying. See above for why this excites me.

So the new features for ME2 are looking to fulfill on fixing a lot of the gripes some folks had with the original. Sounds like a sequel to Mass Effect and the only question I have left is, "Can early 2010 come soon enough?"

E309: Instant On 1080p HD, Ratings Service, Games on Demand, Netflix improvements, Party Sharing

I think I am coming into the home stretch of Xbox news so I am going to jam all of these last little tidbits into this one post. These are all welcome additions to the service.


First up we have Instant on 1080p HD video from the soon to be renamed Video Marketplace (being renamed Zune Video). This will make watching a movie with Cindy (my wife) easier as we do not have to download it first to watch it. I doubt this will make me use the Video Zune Marketplace any more than I do (which is rarely) but it is a welcome feature.

Another very welcome feature is the ability to rate content. It is simple really but now we have a basic review system built into our console experience. I wish there was more to explain or to say about this feature, because that is how excited I am for it, but they, being Microsoft, just slipped it in there, right under the radar.

I can see the future. We will buying the limited collectors edition of Halo 5 on our Xbox 720 direct to the drive and then Microsoft will be mailing us our Recon cat helmet. I say this because Microsoft has announced a games on demand service. Naturally that means we will be able to download our games instead of going to pick them up at the store but does that also mean that there is going to be a rental option for these games? It seems likely and it also seems like it could take some of the wind out of Gamefly and OnLive's socks. Wind out of socks, that's big.

Speaking on rental services, Netflix, for the 360, will be upgraded slightly by adding the ability to add movies to the instant queue through the console experience. Nice.

And finally, they announced a feature that they (Microsoft) told us was coming last year, Party Sharing. Now we will be able to share watching Netflix movies along with Video Zune Marketplace content with up to seven other people in cool sim theater-like experience.

Can anyone think of anything else the Xbox experience needs because I think they have their bases covered in terms of an experience that makes you never want to leave your couch.

E309: Project Natal thoughts

So the Xbox team announced their answer to the Wii - probably too late to matter - three years after it (the Wii) launched. The question for me is will it matter to me and other "hardcore gamers"?

I think it is possible for it to matter to me. It could make racing games fun (I am not willing to invest in a wheel). Maybe, like I said in an earlier post, it will be compatible with Joyride (though I still doubt that it would be as interesting as people find/will find Forza 3). Natal working with Joyride would be the natural progression of where my mind takes me.

It would make menu browsing fun but that would last for five minutes or so before it got annoying. It would be interesting to see it work with an FPS but somehow I do not think I will be playing Halo 3: ODST with Project Natal anytime soon. It is not really a question of whether it would work (because if it works as well as they are making it look like then it could do most things) but whether it would be fun. I do not think many people are going to want to labor/work out in order to play a multiplayer match of H3 or GOW2. I think that, in the end, it looks like a good piece of technology but I probably will not be able to justify the 100 or so dollars that it will probably cost.

Now about Milo, I do not find the boy creepy, like most do, but I am finding it difficult to fathom how "he" would not become boring to "hang out" with or how he would actually function like a game that I want to play.

Now the piece of technology itself, Project Natal (the camera), looks awesome and I would just want to have it in front of my television so people could tell me how awesome it looks. It would be fun to have people who do not play Xbox to ask what it was and then be able to show them. But that is just it, right now, it just feels like a novelty.

The Verdict: Unless I see something that completely sways me in the opposite direction it is probably not made for me.

E309: Social Networking Coming to Xbox Live

This fall we are going to have last.fm, Facebook Connect, and Twitter on our Xbox's. What else is there to say other than Raptr is not going to matter anymore for Xbox users.

It all looks very exciting and it also looks like we are never going to leave our TV screen ever again.

This is scary and awesome, it is scary awesome.

I need to get away from the computer now so I will post about Project Natal later today. Oh and I will just say it here, I do not care about MGS.

E309: Alan Wake Trailer thoughts

I was never worried that this game would turn into vaporware because while I was interested in the game it was only mildy so.

Yesterday that interest was piqued a little bit when the new trailer was shown.

It is quite pretty is it not? I think that it looks to be sufficiently creepy and it really looks like it will play out like a movie. I really have nothing else to say other than, "I am interested to see where this game will take us."

What do you think?

E309: Halo 3: ODST gameplay video and Halo: Reach teaser thoughts

I have been mildly excited for H3: ODST for a while now. I have not been able to fully decide how I feel about it considering I am only buying it for the campaign experience (and now Firefight). I always play new multiplayer maps when they come out but that is none of the reason that I have become excited for ODST.

Having seen the gameplay trailer I feel differently about the game now. I can see what is being done different and I like it. I like how everything looks different through an ODST's eyes and I think the slower paced gameplay is going to be a welcome addition to the series and to my trigger finger.

The Firefight mode looks good but I do hope that it ends up being more than just a glorified version of Horde. It could just be more fun and I think I would be okay with it.

Next on the docket is Halo: Reach and seeing as we only got a teaser trailer I am curious as to what type of game it is going to be. Will it be the same standard FPS view or are we going to see what else Bungie can handle? Is it going to take place on the ships above Reach or is it going to take place on the planets surface? Am I going to be Master Chief and watch my fellow Spartans die? I am curious as to what this beta that comes with ODST will be (will it be multiplayer or campaign) but it is just another reason for me to pick up ODST. This is a long shot but maybe it is a Halo MMO although I do not know exactly how the mechanics of that would work. And with that I will leave you to your devices. FPS MMO, just saying... okay I'm done.

E309: Left 4 Dead 2 and Splinter Cell Conviction

Gaming companies have no regard for the butterflies that will be left in my wallet.
I imagine that all L4D fans are split down the middle on this announcement of Left 4 Dead 2. I imagine that one half is cheering at the prospect of killing more zombies, especially with the chainsaw, and the other half are grabbing their torches and pitchforks chainsaws and shotguns because they feel like there was no DLC for the original and this "sequel" is only coming out a year later.

I know that I am excited, as the original L4D was my game of the year last year, but I also feel that the only things that make this a "sequel" are the fact that it has a new cast and some new weapons/special infected types. The question is, "Will it be enough to justify another sixty dollars," and I think the majority of people will say yes to that question. I know I will because I know how much enjoyment I got/will still get from the first one.

You can also call me racist if you like but I think the fat black guy is going to be the comedic relief even if it is not intentional.

The next game I am excited for that was previously bathing in skeptical sauce is Splinter Cell Conviction or SCC. This game looks great and I think I know I will be playing it. It might not be first on my list of games to play but I am sure it is to be number one on Jarvis' list.

Opinions on these games? As per the usual, please leave it in the comments.

E309: Joyride and Crackdown 2 announcement trailer thoughts

So all of my hopes and dreams of a first party baseball game from Microsoft were dashed yesterday when the Big Park Studios game that was announced was Joyride, a free to download and play avatar game. Woot! Le Sigh.

The game supports microtransactions in that you will be able to purchase new cars and new ways to customize your cars. The game looks like it will be fun for just a few seconds for me that is unless it is supported by Project Natal - because then it will be like Mario Kart Wii - but more on that later, I am getting ahead of myself.

Here is some exciting news about a game that was all but announced before the Microsoft press briefing: Crackdown 2! It is coming and it looks astoundingly awesome. I'll be playing the original again before this drops and maybe this time I can locate all 500 agility orbs.

The game, as suspected, is being developed by Ruffian Games, another developer other than Realtime Worlds. The reason I have no problem with this is because some of the devs from Ruffian previously worked for Realtime Worlds on the original Crackdown. Excited? You bet I am.

E309: The Beatles: Rock Band and Shadow Complex Thoughts

I wanted to start off the night (it is currently 1:34am EST) by saying I am going to post my thoughts on all things announced at all of the  E3 press conferences of June 1, 2009 provided, of course, that I found them interesting to begin with. Forgive me if I have fallen asleep before finishing. I fell asleep before I even finished this post, I need to work on my midnight blogging skills.


I am interested, as we all know, in The Beatles: Rock Band but having a trailer for a rhythm game, despite the fact that it involves The Beatles, still does not do much for me. I appreciate the artistic integrity of what they are trying to do but I really just want to get my hands on it and play Beatles songs.

What is interesting is the fact that the game will support three part harmonies which is an amazing feature. Interesting question: How is it going to be fair to score the accuracy of back-up vocals when there is not always a lot there to be sung by the back-up vocalists?

And then there is Shadow Complex, Epic Games' first XBLA title, and all I want to know is what it is. I am sure I would be excited to play it but all they did was compare it to Metroid. That is fine and all but I am still at a loss. It is possible that they did/will show it in action and I just missed it because I did not actually have the pleasure of watching the press conference. I want to be excited for Shadow Complex and I am sure Epic will give me that chance sooner rather than later.

I Will Be At Work During the Microsoft Press Breifing

Seeing as I will be at work during the Microsoft Press Breifing today expect a Megaton post with all my thoughts from the breifing late tonight around 12.30am.

Monday MUpdate: E3 Bound

Well, the big event is here. Video gamers all across the land huddle around their monitors, refreshing and refreshing their favorites to see more and more news come in from the conference; each site wanting to be the first to break whatever news is unveiled. And in the center of it all stands one man. One man unafraid of the lines. One man unafraid of the crowds. One man who has no credentials but is there anyway, kicking ass and taking names/notes. Who is our lone warrior, our traveler of the unknown? Me. Duh.

So while today I sit in my office anxiously twiddling my thumbs, tomorrow I will find myself on a plane flying non-stop to Los Angeles, California, in order to attend E3. I feel like part of me should say that I'm the official representative of Best GamePad Ever, and while the reality may be that I'll be wearing FOX Media badges all day, I'll still try and slip that in there into casual conversation. While originally Nate was going to attend with me, due to unforeseen circumstances this is no longer the case. This means that I will have to do the work of two men instead of one. So on that note, I would like to inform you, the gentle reader, of how I plan to keep this website updated: I have sold out and created for myself a Twitter account. I felt that this was the best way to get my word out there. I created the account last week and have been trying to get into the habit of using it, updating after I see a movie or when I see something funny out and about. While for some reason my TwitPic account decides to update Twitter on it's own, off and on as opposed to just on, and my profile won't update to say that I'm actually not following Penn Jilette (as amazing as he is), it's there and you can follow it here. I suppose I should apologize to my friends who follow my Twitter because they love me and not my E3 experience (they will be bombarded with random tweets of "just played mass effect 2 - super sweet," "just played brutal legend - super sweet," and "just played another game - super sweet," although I can only I hope I remember to capitalize). I, of course, will not be able to read any reply tweets or tweets reading "@mattisnotarobot One more tweet about video games and I'm de-following you," so this is my official warning to anyone uninterested. I won't be offended.

So some of you might be asking, what exactly is my schedule? What will I be doing at E3? What makes this trip unlike all other trips? And how many aisles must a game reviewer walk down before you can call him a game reviewer? Well, while the answer to that last question may be blowing in the wind, I can enlighten the rest of the world with my adventure outline. It'll basically be like any tweet or blog you could read about me, but you're reading it before it happens and thusly can infer all the things that could go wrong or right from that point, kind of like a make your own adventure story, except in this you could kill me out of jealousy and I would be powerless to stop you.




Tuesday - Matt goes to LA: On Tuesday, I have an 8:00 AM flight, so I'll be up at 4:00 AM in order to make sure I can wake up, get up, and get out of the house by 5:00 AM so I can be at the airport around 6:00 AM. From there I can only hope that all the information I just printed out of my work printer will somehow get me my ticket and passed security. I have a non-stop flight to LA due to arrive at 11:40 AM, at which point I will be luxuriously transported to my swanky Sheraton Hotel to check in. From that point I have the whole day to do whatever I want in LA which is why I took such an early flight. I can't imagine the next time I'll be in California, so if I'm going to stalk Arnold, now's my chance.

Wednesday - Matt goes to E3: At 9:30 AM I will be at the convention center, getting my badges and passes with my travel companion so that by 10:00 AM I can be out on the show floor. At some point, I have to play Halo: ODST, and by "have to" I don't mean that I want to as a gamer but that I am contractually obligated by IGN and FOX Media to play this game. I then will be writing a review/preview around 1:00 PM (after lunch basically) to be posted on IGN.com at their E3 subsite (http://e3.ign.com/). When I finish doing that, I get to go back to the show floor to play games and do whatever until 5:00 PM. I will do my best not to spend my entire time at the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 booth and to be a good "reporter," but most likely the child in me will take over and my Halo: ODST review will not read "The graphical accomplishments in this five minute preview by the Bungie crew is really rather outstanding, improving upon the previous Halo graphics engine to create a much sharper and fresh gaming experience," but instead will read "OMG IT LOOKS WICKED SWEET." At 5:00 PM, my travel companion and I will be escorted to the IGN War Room to be on the IGN podcast, GameScoop. After that I am treated to VIP passes at an IGN Party at a much nicer hotel then the one I was put up in, and then I am left to my own devices from there. Also, at some point a website called Crispy Gamer would like to interview me, for reasons unknown. I will do my best to comply however, mostly due to the fact that I am vain.

Thursday - Matt goes home: Lastly, on Thursday I will be in LA until 3:30 PM-ish, at which point I will fly into the future to arrive back in my home town at midnight. On the plane, I need to write a one page article recap of E3 in which I tell about all the lessons in life I've learned, as well as providing an easy to understand anecdote as to moral of the day. Because you see, I've learned something today...

So there you have it. This is what my week will entail as I miss work and don't get paid due to a complete lack of any vacation hours. I'm rather excited to do this, and I've got my copy of The Flash: Emergency Stop and Nintendo DS all ready to go for a 6 hour flight. I can only hope that this trip is as entertaining as it promises to be, and I hope to be a good provider of information upon next week's Monday MUpdate on the true world behind the veil of E3. I'll get right down to the gritty stuff and talk about how many dead booth babes I come across in gutters, as well as a full list of all the secret codes people use to transport black market copies of games under the table. I also wish that I could get my own little Sack Boy, but I understand that unlike all my other wants, that one is probably just wishful thinking.

If there's anything you'd like me to do/find/prove at E3, feel free to let me know in the comments. I'm more than happy to oblige. And again, feel free to follow my escapades at twitter.com/mattisnotarobot for any quirky commentary I may have.

Breaking the Fourth Wall

Although this is not news I wanted to share this with all of you.

Today, while at work, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting both Andrew Yoon and Ludwig Kietzmann of Joystiq fame.

I feel like I froze up but managed to give Andrew the link to this blog so if you guys are reading this, "Hi guys, it was a pleasure meeting you."

I hope it was not just coincidence and that I have the pleasure of working with, or in the field of, these fine gentleman in the future.

Gaming Diary May 30, 2009 - No Longer PC Exclusive

Since my "big" purchase of a brand new (well, not BRAND new, but new to me) Xbox 360 I have been completely immersed in the 360 gaming world. I've downloaded tons of game demos trying to get my hands, eyes and ears on as many games as possible. Some of the first games I picked up were Mass Effect, Madden '08 (for the girlfriend, not a big fan of sports games), Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Braid, Peggle and Left 4 Dead. I've played at least a little bit of all of them, with the exception of Madden.

Upon the urging of Nate, I tried out Mass Effect for a little bit. I didn't get all that far before I died. I'm still trying to adjust to the world of buttons and joysticks. The PC mouse and WASD combo is so easy compared to a console controller, but I'm getting used to it. I actually am starting to prefer it for some games. Anyway, I started up Mass Effect, but didn't get all that far. Same situation with Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. I like both games, but I'll definitely need to invest more time before I make a final decision on them. I have been investing a lot of time in Peggle, which I actually initially wasn't a big fan of. I checked out the Peggle demo on my PC and played it a few times on flight paths to WoW and it never did really grabbed me, but now playing it on the 360 is different. I'm totally drawn into it and have made it relatively far (well, at least for me) in a short period of time.

One game I haven't played much, but am loving is Braid. It's not even the gameplay yet that I love (as I really haven't gotten that far), it's the visuals and the music. The music reminds me a lot of Firefly. I would honestly just open up the game just to listen to the music. I'm not really sure what it is about it, but I just think it's beautiful. The game so far has been enjoyable, although it's probably going to wreck my brain a good amount. I tend to fail pretty hard at puzzle-type games and often resort to the good ol' internet to help me along. I'm going to try as best as I can to figure things out on my own, but we'll see how it goes.

The highlight of my 360 gaming experience thus far has to be Left 4 Dead. I got some campaign and survival gaming in last night with friends and absolutely loved it. The best part was, I even got my girlfriend (who tends to avoid gaming in general other then sports games) into the action. So much so that she said she wanted to play again today!

It was definitely worth the money to get the 360. It's providing a significantly more enjoyable multiplayer gaming then my PC ever did. It's difficult to find friends that PC game these days. I suppose we are sort of a dying breed of sorts, with the exception of PC exclusive games like World of Warcraft. Most gamers have become more involved in the console gaming community then the PC. It was awesome to be able to sit down and play with my friends, friends I don't typically get a chance to see all but a few times a year. Honestly, I think if Left 4 Dead was the only game I owned on the 360 it would still be worth the investment for the enjoyment I got out of it.

Now, I praise and praise and praise my new 360 gaming experience, HOWEVER, I still am at heart a PC gamer. I feel like the 360 will hold most of my casual gaming. Stuff that I'm not sitting down for hours for. Stuff I can just jump in and jump out of. I don't see my 360 ever being my "hardcore" gaming device. I still love my PC and still intend to use that as my main gaming "console." World of Warcraft will always have my heart and with Blizzard coming out with Starcraft II and Diablo III in the future I will definitely be investing a lot of time into my PC. I think the 360 will be my casual gaming and multiplayer gaming console while my PC will remain as my intense gaming and single player system. I currently own COD4 and COD5 for my PC with no intention of buying it for the 360. I'm not big into multiplayer on either of the games, but do love the single player aspects.

Other then 360 gaming throughout the last week I have been investing a bit of time into WoW. I got a few hours of WoW action in this morning. I'm currently level 61 working my way up to 62. Leveling is somewhat of a slow process for me since I really only play on the weekends. Today I ventured into Outland (a level 60-70 zone for the non-WoWing individuals) for the second time. My first time traveling to Outland was with the first character I ever made; Walker, a Tauren warrior. I didn't spend too much time in Outland then and honestly, it bored me a little, but I'm finding this time around to be more enjoyable. Blizzard has definitely made leveling significantly easier then the first time around. I anticipate at this pace I'll be making level 80 by sometime at the end of the summer. That's slow, I realize, but I just can't invest hours upon hours into the game like I could in college when I had significantly more free time. I'll probably just end up leveling a new character once I reach 80 anyway and then I'll just start the whole process all over again.

Oh, and I wrote all of this entry outside enjoying the beautiful weather with my laptop and headphones on. Oh to be a geek!

Brutal Legend Cinematic

Video Games | Brutal Legend | E3 09: Exclusive Cinematic

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

I do not want anyone to think that I am making the mistake of not showing this game some of my love (I know it has been a while), the developer, Double Fine, did after all, make my favorite game of all time - Psychonauts.

This cinematic was great; it had me chuckling and looking forward to a game that I can just love for being fun, witty, charming, and hilarious.

New Mass Effect 2 Trailer

Video Games | Mass Effect 2 | E3 09: Exclusive Teaser

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Last night on GameTrailers TV Geoff Keighly spoiled some of E3's fun and showed the E3 trailer for Mass Effect 2. I wonder how much they (Spike) had to pay for that.

More relavent to the trailer is the fact that it looks like Commander Shepard is not dead. Not really a huge surprise but I would of course like to know the details of why he might have been dead or why he is still alive.

Hopefully there is more to be said about Mass Effect 2 come June 2-4. Come back here to check because you know that I will have something to say about it.

Sorry about the obnoxious GameTrailers window that breaks this site.