e3-2011
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The Road to Mordor: Packing for Isengard
Isengard. Isengard. ISENGARD. It's all I can think about since last week's E3 reveal, and I know I'm not the only one. For some reason, having a firm launch date for Lord of the Rings Online's third expansion feels like a starting pistol's gone off, and we're beginning the race to the expansion in earnest. Of course, we're not in that much of a hurry at this point. We still have well over three months to go, the beta has yet to begin, and something tells me that Turbine's got a few more tricks to pull out of its top hat before all is said and done. Still, I'm officially in "Go!" mode, and I bet I'm not the only one. While I can't make September 27th come any sooner, I can think of six ways that we can prepare for our upcoming journey into Dunland and beyond. Seven, if you include putting together the absolute perfect outfit to slay Saruman in, but that's a given. Hit the jump and I'll walk you through everything you should be doing this summer to get ready for Rise of Isengard!
E3 recap video picks out the show's lowlights
We're likely to keep hearing about the highlights of all the big companies' respective E3 press conferences for the foreseeable future. Why don't we take a moment to look back at said presentations' lowlights, which have been compiled in the video posted after the jump?
E3 2011 spurs half a million PlayStation Home visits
We like to make fun of PlayStation Home, but it turns out if you put cool stuff there, people will log in. VentureBeat reports over 500,000 people showed up for the festivities, which included interviews and gameplay demonstrations of what was on offer on the E3 show floor, plus a live stream of Sony's press conference and a virtual recreation of its booth area. Sony did a similar thing last year and pulled in 250,000. If for some reason you weren't able to make it into Home, get caught up on our admittedly less interactive Sony coverage from the show: the keynote, the booth and E3 overall.
Zoom in on these SpyParty Joystiq E3 meetup stats
Playing SpyParty at the Joystiq E3 2011 reader meetup may have been a lot of fun, but it was also serious business. As it turns out, attendees were not only having a good time; they were helping SpyParty developer Chris Hecker collect some important data. During our roughly three hour shindig, only 10 spies were shot during the 35 games that were completed. This confirms our long-held suspicion that Joystiq readers are indeed a crafty bunch. Hecker also tracked the location and direction of the sniper's laser sight, though he notes he doesn't quite know what to do with the data just yet. At the very least, it looks like the snipers were a busy bunch. Pore over lots more data over at the SpyParty site.
The MMO Report: Nerd-flu edition
In this week's MMO Report, Casey comes to us directly from E3 2011, where he verbally spars with a variety of game developers while battling off hunger, fatigue, and nerd-flu. Watch Casey's stats slowly dwindle as he confronts the many dangers of E3, such as overstimulation and the dreaded natural light. The first stop on Casey's E3 journey is an interview with Square Enix's Frank Fonseca, with whom he discusses the upcoming tactical MMORPG Wakfu. He gets a few details on the political system and discovers how tactical combat plays out in an MMO space. Next, he gets some face-time in with Producer Thomas Farrer and Creative Director Torfi Frans Olafsson from CCP, who tell Casey all about how the interplay between EVE Online and upcoming DUST 514 will work and why DUST 514 is different from other console shooters. From there he scurries off to En Masse's booth to have a chat with TERA's North American Producer Chris Hager, who discusses TERA's big political system reveal as well as the name of his potential political party. Last stop on the Casey-train is BioWare's booth, where Casey parleys with Star Wars: The Old Republic's Senior Live Producer Blaine Christine. Blaine gives Casey the low-down on Tatooine, the newly introduced player vehicles, and what players can expect in regard to The Old Republic's much-hyped story. For the full video, sadly lacking in the Uncle Casey's mailbag department, jump on past the cut.
Shinobi preview: The re-revenge of Shinobi
If you've heard that the new 3DS Shinobi game feels exactly like the original -- or any Shinobi game to date -- you've heard wrong. Even though it's published by Sega and it's about a ninja, Griptonite's new Shinobi is definitely a modern action game. It does take some inspiration from the series, which makes it recognizable as a descendant of those games, but it's more reimagining than remake.%Gallery-126014%
Assassin's Creed: Revelations trailer sets the harbor on fire
During Ubisoft's E3 presser, we watched an elderly Ezio set an entire dock ablaze in Assassin's Creed: Revelations. Thanks to a just released developer walkthrough of the same demo, now you can join us in the pyromaniacal madness. Head past the break -- and bring a lighter!
Dark Millennium Online to be playable at E3 2012
While last week's E3 is still fresh in our minds and hearts, THQ is giving us a great reason to look forward to next year's expo: the chance to get our hands on Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online. Eurogamer reports that THQ is committing to this time frame. Danny Bilson says that WAR40K will be the highlight of the company's display: "Next year, I promise you, next E3. I've already got plans for what the booth is like. The centrepiece of the booth will be that MMO." We caught only a glimpse of a teaser trailer for the game at this year's E3. Vigil Games is hard at work on the $50+ million project, and Bilson says that it's looking good and on track for a launch between April 2012 and March 2013. "It looks fabulous. I like it. I can't speak to it now, or people will kill me. But, I'll tell you what, it plays differently. A little bit... This thing is gonna be special," he said. "We're going to come out when we come out in a big way. I feel like we're fully competitive with the other guys. It'll be seven years in the making when it comes out. We're competing with the best games in the world. You can't mess around with this thing."
Risen 2: Dark Waters preview: Murky depths
There's an interesting trend lately of hardcore PC RPGs coming out of Europe, of which The Witcher 2 is only the latest and greatest so far. One of the earliest entries in this sort of splinter genre was 2001's Gothic, a game that was extremely popular among its European audience despite being the first title put together by German developers Pirahna Bytes. After a few Gothic sequels, the company introduced a new Pirate-themed RPG a few years ago called Risen and, this past week at E3, introduced that game's sequel to all of us. Just like the rest of this crop of European RPGs, Risen 2 seems a quality RPG wrapped in a not-so-great game. The graphics are definitely better, and the controls are a little more usable than they were (Deep Silver, who's publishing the game, went so far as to show off bugs in the last version to the press just to make clear how much better the sequel was). But in the end, Risen 2 seems like it will have all of the pluses and minuses that this type of RPG always seems to have. %Gallery-125724%
Kirby Wii preview: King Dedede, you, and me
It's hard to speak about Kirby Wii without a tinge of regret, and harder still to do so after seeing this video of a very similar, cancelled Kirby title for the GameCube. The game was never quite "cancelled" per se, but it was put on hold for quite some time while its developer, HAL Laboratory, pursued other projects -- Picross 3D and Face Raiders, among others. Among a mess of other logos flashed at the end of Nintendo's E3 2011 presser, Kirby Wii prominently stood out, reminding us that the game still exists. And when I spotted the game in Nintendo's press area available at a hands-on kiosk, I jumped at the chance to finally play the six year old game. What I found was a New Super Mario Bros. Wii meets single-player Smash Bros. Brawl mashup, with a hefty dollop of pink fluffy Kirby covering everything. Something not quite as "hardcore" looking as the GC game, but not far off.%Gallery-125891%
Cave Story 3D preview: Pixel goes polygonal
I'll admit it: my excitement about a new version of Cave Story to play on the 3DS was tempered a bit by fears that it wouldn't turn out right. To put it more directly, my excitement was tempered by the first screenshots of Cave Story 3D. But upon playing the remake, it was immediately evident that developer Nicalis had been paying attention to the reaction to those first images, and is working to make something that reinterprets the environments of the retro-style original in a more palatable -- and more parsable -- way. It is not ruined by the 3D graphics.%Gallery-126407%
Massively's E3 2011 awards and impressions
Every June, the Electronic Entertainment Expo rolls into the Los Angeles Convention Center to showcase the best of the best in video games and accessories. This year, we had more staff members on hand than ever, which allowed us more coverage from the floor and more hands-on time with the demos. As with last year's awards, we're happy to present the best of the best, straight from those of us who were there. Award categories include Best Booth, Best Trailer, Best Newcomer, MMO of the Show, and Most Anticipated Project. Plus, we decided to say a few additional words about some categories that weren't awarded, like Best Presentation, Biggest Surprise, and Best of the Rest. So follow along after the gallery for more on what we thought of E3 2011.%Gallery-126212%
Wii U won't have DVD or Blu-ray playback, will include social media functionality
We already knew that the Wii U's games wouldn't be coming on DVD (like the Xbox 360) or Blu-ray (like the PlayStation 3), but we didn't know that Nintendo's next console wouldn't be able to play video from either format. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata confirmed as much in a recent investor Q&A, flat out stating that "Wii U does not have DVD or Blu-ray playback capabilities." He explained the reasoning behind this as -- unsurprisingly -- the cost, and the notion that "enough people already have devices that are capable of playing DVDs and Blu-ray." Something that Nintendo will apparently be including in the Wii U, though: social media functionality. When asked about the new console's online experience, Iwata deftly avoids providing direct information, admitting only that "we are no longer in a period where we cannot have any connection at all with social networking sites." How this will be applied seems to still be up in the air, with Iwata later in the Q&A elaborating, "We're looking at ways that will convey to this audience which games are fun and, ideally, in a way that will enable people who are playing those games with others, to share that information socially." He also said that the console's online infrastructure needs to be more flexible for developers, repeatedly citing third-party studios as the drive for Nintendo's new stance. Worryingly, he never speaks to the necessity of online persistence or the company's messy past with online functionality.
Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon media is full of bugs
Bugs don't have emotions. Bugs don't have a sense of right and wrong. All they know is that our delicious human bones are delicious. And that's why we've gotta kill 'em all ... apparently.
Nintendo Wii U console shown off in its bright, minimalistic entirety
Nintendo hasn't been too keen on letting us mere mortals stroke the Wii U, as no amount of coins could unlock the console's cabinet at E3. Surprisingly though, Inside Games managed to get up close and personal to this white box outside its little cave, and then came home alive with a few clear shots. Mind you, there's hardly anything exciting here: we're just gazing at some air vents on the side and back, plus a few ports -- including HDMI -- on the latter. As pointed out by our brethren over at Joystiq, only time will tell whether this curvy Wii U will come with an attachment to imitate its predecessor's vertical standing. Check out the backside after the break.
Joystiq's favorite games of E3 2011
Normally, after E3, some clear "best games" emerge -- either the ones that everyone knew would be amazing going in, and did not disappoint on the floor, or the Scribblenauts-style surprises that dominated conversations online and in the press room. There's usually a general consensus among the Joystiq staff about a few standout games. This year, however, when we compared notes and discussed our favorite games of the show over chicken and waffles, we found that every Joystiqer picked something different (there was more agreement when we asked the Massively staff to join in, but it makes sense for MMO fans to be in accord). We can't really say what that means, but it seems significant. And so, rather than debate our way down to a few choices, we're just presenting each of our favorite games, individually. You want Joystiq's "Game of the Show"? It's ... all of these. We'd also like to call out Bloodrayne: Betrayal and Mass Effect 3, which came so close.
Disneyland Adventures preview: Virtual Imagineering
Much like the real theme park, Disneyland Adventures isn't so much a game as it is an attraction. To be sure, the Kinect title has available mini-games, but the real meat of the experience seems to be the recreation of the park itself. Frontier Developments' David Walsh informed me that the park has been painstakingly recreated. Players can navigate the entire park using the Kinect, meeting Disney characters, visiting attractions and even collecting coveted hidden Mickeys (which I admit I'd never heard of before this preview). The only things missing are the actual rides, which have been replaced with what appears to be a series of nearly identical minigames.%Gallery-126304%
Starhawk's brutal universe detailed in E3 2011 cinematic
There are, like, so, so many things in Starhawk to drive/pilot/murder with, and the latest cinematic teaser for the forthcoming sequel depicts nearly all of them doing what they do best. There's even a dude with glowing eyes! Talk about cinematic!
Chillingo shows off new titles at E3
Chillingo held its E3 demo this year in the same area as EA, which makes sense considering that EA outright purchased it last October. The publisher of Angry Birds and Cut the Rope has a very impressive stable of titles due in the next few months, and I got to both see and play with them at E3. I've got some quick descriptions on these future Chillingo releases, including cute platformer Roll in the Hole, Draw Race 2, and an artsy little puzzler called Contre Jour.
Sony PlayStation Vita's removable memory looks like it's an SD card, but it isn't
Sony's seen fit to tell us many of the PlayStation Vita's specs, how much it'll cost ($249 for WiFi, $299 for 3G), and who gets it (everyone). Amidst all the hullabaloo at E3 2011, however, we missed seeing that Sony was showing off the new handheld's internal memory cards. Good thing an eagle-eyed member of the public snapped a pic of the 4, 8, 16, and 32GB cards on the show floor. They look awfully similar to garden variety SD cards, only there's a little notch in the side confirming they hew to Sony's unfortunate habit of using proprietary storage formats. The cost of the cards remains shrouded in secrecy, but life's more fun when a little mystery's involved, right?
