The 2009 Video Game Thread

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Cringer

So James Cameron shows up to E3 to talk about Avatar, a movie my daughter and I are waiting for. There will be a video game for it as well. Cameron talks about the movie............and then no clips of anything, not the movie, not the game. I guess people are feeling like this is a first for E3, no clips.

That was perhaps the most boring presentation I've ever seen out of an E3 event.

I remember Language Arts teachers I had in grade school repeatedly instructing us to "show rather than tell". Cameron's presentation was all tell, no show, completely boring.

[Cringer]

Really? People are excited about a 2D Mario game? I clearly do not get it.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

That was perhaps the most boring presentation I've ever seen out of an E3 event.

I remember Language Arts teachers I had in grade school repeatedly instructing us to "show rather than tell". Cameron's presentation was all tell, no show, completely boring.

As bad as Cameron's presentation was, the French exec who followed up McHale's gig was even worse. I'm not sure they could have done any worse on the planning. Follow up the funny guy with the boring foreign guy. Good thinking.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by Cringer

Really? People are excited about a 2D Mario game? I clearly do not get it.

Don't worry, you are not alone. Lots of people have bad taste in games.

[spleen1015]

Paper Mario on the Wii was a damn good game and it was mostly 2D.

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Don't worry, you are not alone. Lots of people have bad taste in games.

Mario games suck ass.

Ya.. I went there.

[MikeVic]

I guess I'm not the target for console makers anymore, since I use my PS3 for stuff other than gaming 95% of the time... but I still enjoy the old school simple games more than the newer games. So a 2D Mario or Castlevania game would interest me more than probably anything else out there. It's why I play my DS so much. Though I sold my Wii, so I wouldn't play the 2D game I guess.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Mustang

Mario games suck ass.

Ya.. I went there.

That's pretty much how I feel about Nintendo in general. Although I think I was within the age range for the NES craze, I never had one, and as a result I try to be an interested gamer but I get lost/confused by the hype/nostalgia everytime there is a new iteration of Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Wario, Yoshi, Punch-Out or whatever...but I certainly AM impressed by the solid following all of those games have. Let me know when the new 'Toejam and Earl' is out.

[SackAttack]

$249 on the PSP!Go. Why does this sound like E3 2005 all over again?

[Big Fo]

They even brought Kaz out to announce the price just like old times. I think their "599" conference was in 2006 though.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

$249 on the PSP!Go. Why does this sound like E3 2005 all over again?

Gold

SI

[Logan]

I fully realize that I'm being lazy by asking others to do the work for me, but I have no clue what any of this stuff is as you guys bring it up...if you wouldn't mind posting a real quick synopsis of these things as you post them it would be greatly appreciated by this barely-follower. For example, the PSP go?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Logan

I fully realize that I'm being lazy by asking others to do the work for me, but I have no clue what any of this stuff is as you guys bring it up...if you wouldn't mind posting a real quick synopsis of these things as you post them it would be greatly appreciated by this barely-follower. For example, the PSP go?

New PSP model that has no UMD drive. Which will allow Sony to reduce the PSP price......errrrr......scratch that.

[MJ4H]

New Metroid game was :dropjaw:

[Big Fo]

Yeah it's a lot smaller than previous PSPs, it has a sliding screen that covers the stick/pad/buttons when it's not being used for gaming. Games will be bought and downloaded through the PlayStation Network.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

They even brought Kaz out to announce the price just like old times. I think their "599" conference was in 2006 though.

You're right. Got my years mixed up.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

New PSP model that has no UMD drive. Which will allow Sony to reduce the PSP price......errrrr......scratch that.

Yeah, seriously. This is what has me scratching my head. I realize that 16 gigs of internal memory isn't THAT cheap, but you basically just ditched the entirety of the moving parts, so what the heck?

[Big Fo]

There were some previously unannounced localizations this summary of what Nintendo showed on stage and had playable after the show.

• Endless Ocean 2
• Line Attack Heroes
• Span Smasher (all Wii)

• You, Me & the Cubes (WiiWare)

• Fossil Fighters
• Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
• Glory of Heracles
• Picross 3D (all DS)

Can't wait to try 3D Picross.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Yeah, seriously. This is what has me scratching my head. I realize that 16 gigs of internal memory isn't THAT cheap, but you basically just ditched the entirety of the moving parts, so what the heck?

That price will certainly help sales of the old model and the bundles.

[SackAttack]

Only relative to the Go. It's not going to cause an explosion of PSP sales in general.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Only relative to the Go. It's not going to cause an explosion of PSP sales in general.

I'll let you print full explanations of my PSP jokes going forward.

[Big Fo]

Final Fantasy XIV announced. PS3 exclusive online game. I guess Square Enix's next MMO after FF XI?

Now Sony is bringing out the motion controller...

[Kodos]

I want my ICO/Shadow of the Colossus followup game!

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by Kodos

I want my ICO/Shadow of the Colossus followup game!

It's being made, I hope we see it during the presentation.

[MJ4H]

This kind of thing is one of the major reasons I bought a Wii. Helping to make it successful has made the other companies try new things to move gaming forward instead of the same old resolution/texture/framerate upgrades each generation. Microsoft's motion tech demo sucked, but Sony's is pretty cool.

[Big Fo]

Yeah, Sony's still has some buttons and can function like the IR part of the Wii it looks like.

[SackAttack]

Mod Nation Racers looks like a racing version of LBP. Could be cool.

[MikeVic]

Sony's stuff was pretty cool. The motion thing and I'm sure a lot of people will like the new Final Fantasy online.

[SirFozzie]

Either Sony's hired 250 MBBF's to sit in their E3 crowd, or the crowd thought they were at an arsenio hall remake. Not feelin what they were trying to sell, but the plants ate it up.

seriously.. when you have folks hooting and hollering about Hannah Montana-Lilac PSP.. you know that they're getting paid off.

[MikeVic]

I was just following online updates, but I thought the Hannah Montana cheers were just sarcastic/funny reactions. Like as if they're revealing something like that at E3. I think it was engadget or gizmodo or something that was really impressed with the motion thing... and it seemed cool to me too. Kinda like a combo of what Microsoft and Nintendo are doing.

[rowech]

I feel like Sony has lost it at this point. I think they are playing 2nd fiddle to the others. With that said, they have several games coming out this year that I will definitely be buying but I don't feel they get the average consumer.

[Danny]

I just ordered Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii and We Ski for $89 total. It went out of stock really quick and I don't know if it was a price mistake and the order will get canceled, but hopefully not.

I haven't bought a Wii game in a while, but I wanted to play Mario Kart and I wasn't going to purchase Wii Fit alone for $90 bucks, but all three I couldn't pass up.

[Big Fo]

There's a new Zelda game for Wii in development, from an IGN liveblog with Shigeru Miyamoto:

7:03 p.m.: Shows new illustration for the next Zelda for Wii. Nothing to show yet, but it shows an adult link. More grown up than ever before.

7:04 p.m.: "We'd like to make it compatible with Wii MotionPlus. It's quite possible it will be playable only with Wii MotionPlus."

7:05 p.m.: "Think of Zelda while you're trying some of the archery and sword play in Wii Sports Resort," Miyamoto say.

7:05 p.m.: "There are people who think of Zelda more as an RPG with simpler controls, so trying to figure out how to make everybody happy is something that's going to concern me," says Miyamoto.

[MJ4H]

My wife just said (after reading that) if they make Zelda into an RPG she will be REALLY pissed.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by rowech

I feel like Sony has lost it at this point. I think they are playing 2nd fiddle to the others. With that said, they have several games coming out this year that I will definitely be buying but I don't feel they get the average consumer.

Which games would those be?

I'm down with Ratchet: Crack in Time and Uncharted 2, but the only other Sony releases I see that look as if they're coming out this year are MAG and maybe Heavy Rain. Everything else they talked about today, they kept adding the '2010' tag onto.

Or are you referencing the PS3 in general, and not just Sony?

Originally Posted by MJ4H

My wife just said (after reading that) if they make Zelda into an RPG she will be REALLY pissed.

Pssst...MJ4H's wife: Zelda has *always* been an RPG. It just hasn't been a Square-style RPG.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

seriously.. when you have folks hooting and hollering about Hannah Montana-Lilac PSP.. you know that they're getting paid off.

Ummmm, might want to take that sarcasm detector in for servicing. Geez.

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Pssst...MJ4H's wife: Zelda has *always* been an RPG. It just hasn't been a Square-style RPG.

um, no.

(I had a feeling someone would try this, so I had these handy, and have from previous adventures in this area):

Game Design Novice: Zelda Is NOT An RPG
Game Design Novice: Zelda is NOT an RPG II
Game Design Novice: Zelda is NOT An RPG III

[sterlingice]

I know this makes sense since it's mid-generation, but I do feel like there were a lot of good games revealed or further elaborated upon. One of the better E3s for the big three presenters in a while.

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by MJ4H

um, no.

(I had a feeling someone would try this, so I had these handy, and have from previous adventures in this area):

Game Design Novice: Zelda Is NOT An RPG
Game Design Novice: Zelda is NOT an RPG II
Game Design Novice: Zelda is NOT An RPG III

I gotta side with MJ4H. If Zelda isn't an adventure game, what is an "adventure" game.

SI

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Not terribly excited about the PSP Go or the Assassin's Creed 2 demo. Both were meh. Outside of that, Sony put on a surprisingly impressive show. Especially considering it was put on by Sony.

-Two big franchise games (GT and MGS) have new iterations coming for the PSP.

-Not one, but two Final Fantasy games coming in 2010 with XIV being exclusive. Having that MMO as an exclusive is HUGE for the European and Asian markets.

-Rockstar bringing a PS3 exclusive called 'Agent'. No details, but having Rockstar games exclusively never hurt a console.

-God of War 3 demo was absolutely sick. Can't wait for that one to hit the shelves.

-ModNation Racers looked very nice. If they do the distribution of tracks online in a public forum, that game would be very popular.

-Really happy to see Sony stay with the more conventional motion controller, albeit a much more precise version than its Wii counterpart. It was definitely the better of the two new motion controllers presented at E3 (MS camera being the other one). Nice to have no wires between the two hands.

-Uncharted 2 looked like more of the same with graphical enhancements. That's certainly not a bad thing.

-MAG looked interesting, but it was tough to get much of a feeling for how everyone interacts in the battle. It'll be interesting to hear hands-on impressions of this one.

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I gotta side with MJ4H. If Zelda isn't an adventure game, what is an "adventure" game.

SI

King's Quest
Police Quest
Space Quest
The Secret of Monkey Island
Day of the Tentacle
Beneath A Steel Sky

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I know this makes sense since it's mid-generation, but I do feel like there were a lot of good games revealed or further elaborated upon. One of the better E3s for the big three presenters in a while.

SI

Agreed. All of the fan bases got exactly what they wanted with a few surprises here and there.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I gotta side with MJ4H. If Zelda isn't an adventure game, what is an "adventure" game.

SI

Well, uh...

Originally Posted by Neon_Chaos

King's Quest
Police Quest
Space Quest
The Secret of Monkey Island
Day of the Tentacle
Beneath A Steel Sky

Those would fit my idea of 'adventure game' much more than Zelda would. Add Sam and Max to the list, if you like.

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

-Two big franchise games (GT and MGS) have new iterations coming for the PSP.

Yeah, and I remember them talking about GT PSP years ago. What, 2004? Okay, yay, they're talking about it again. My policy moving forward with Polyphony Digital is talk to me when they've got something ready to ship. If they're ready to ship soon, then that belonged in the show. If it's just a 'hey, hey, lookitus!' reminder, then...meh.

Case in point: GT5. It's been in development for how many years, and now they're adding WRC and NASCAR to the mix? That thing is never coming out.

-Not one, but two Final Fantasy games coming in 2010 with XIV being exclusive. Having that MMO as an exclusive is HUGE for the European and Asian markets.

Wonder how long it'll stay an exclusive, though? FFXI didn't, and XIII broke its exclusivity before it ever got released. At least, in the US.

I'm also curious, if FF XIII has taken 3 or 4 years to get within nine months of release, how long have they been working on XIV that they're announcing it for 2010? Is this FF XIII Versus renamed? Did they scrap that project and use some of the same assets? Or is this going to be another game that takes four or five years to reach the market?

-Rockstar bringing a PS3 exclusive called 'Agent'. No details, but having Rockstar games exclusively never hurt a console.

That one actually has me intrigued. Can't wait to hear more.

-God of War 3 demo was absolutely sick. Can't wait for that one to hit the shelves.

Agreed. Sigh, 2010.

-ModNation Racers looked very nice. If they do the distribution of tracks online in a public forum, that game would be very popular.

Looks like LittleBIGPlanet for racing fans. Should be very cool.

Sigh, 2010.

-Really happy to see Sony stay with the more conventional motion controller, albeit a much more precise version than its Wii counterpart. It was definitely the better of the two new motion controllers presented at E3 (MS camera being the other one). Nice to have no wires between the two hands.

Is it sad that the first few people that brought that up to me in AIM discussion used the words 'penis,' 'dildo' and 'dong' to describe it? Far as precision goes, it looks pretty close to me to the Wii remote with MotionPlus attached, but not needing the attachment to get that does put it ahead of the curve. I just wonder how much support it's going to get in this generation.

Nintendo's success with Wii peripherals runs significantly counter to conventional wisdom, which is: "If you provide more plastic crap for parents to buy, unless you have a strong library of excellent games which support it, they will not buy it."

Look at really any peripheral from the Atari era through, say, 3/4 of the PS2 lifecycle. Wasn't until Guitar Hero caught it big (and then later the Wii and its various gizmos) that we've seen anything run counter to the CW.

-Uncharted 2 looked like more of the same with graphical enhancements. That's certainly not a bad thing.

Maybe a bit more action. Looks good. Can't wait.

-MAG looked interesting, but it was tough to get much of a feeling for how everyone interacts in the battle. It'll be interesting to hear hands-on impressions of this one.

I'm curious how matchmaking is going to work for that. It can be excruciating trying to get a full game with other shooters with significantly fewer players. If they can pull it off, it could be damn cool.

[MJ4H]

Zelda is an action-adventure game (widely agreed), not adventure. I'm sure that's what SI meant.

[Epi_862]

Why isn't anyone drooling over Forza 3? It looks goddamned amazing.

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by Epi_862

Why isn't anyone drooling over Forza 3? It looks goddamned amazing.

Racing games have never been my cup of tea except for games like Motor City Online and Super Sprint.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Which games would those be?

I'm down with Ratchet: Crack in Time and Uncharted 2, but the only other Sony releases I see that look as if they're coming out this year are MAG and maybe Heavy Rain. Everything else they talked about today, they kept adding the '2010' tag onto.

Or are you referencing the PS3 in general, and not just Sony?



Pssst...MJ4H's wife: Zelda has *always* been an RPG. It just hasn't been a Square-style RPG.

PS3 in general would have been the better statement I guess. ALl the games you mentioned are ones I like the look of and then Uncharted 2. I think that Heavy Rain game looks very cool.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Yeah, and I remember them talking about GT PSP years ago. What, 2004? Okay, yay, they're talking about it again. My policy moving forward with Polyphony Digital is talk to me when they've got something ready to ship. If they're ready to ship soon, then that belonged in the show. If it's just a 'hey, hey, lookitus!' reminder, then...meh.

Case in point: GT5. It's been in development for how many years, and now they're adding WRC and NASCAR to the mix? That thing is never coming out.

You just now decided to wait on getting excited for GT releases when they've actually released?

I've hated the NASCAR console releases up until now and I'm VERY excited that we're going to get a good sim version of that sport.

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Wonder how long it'll stay an exclusive, though? FFXI didn't, and XIII broke its exclusivity before it ever got released. At least, in the US.

Time frame to release is pretty short here (just over a year). Given how important this release would be for the other two regions, I'm sure Sony is ready to even buck up if needed to keep this exclusive.

Originally Posted by SackAttack

I'm also curious, if FF XIII has taken 3 or 4 years to get within nine months of release, how long have they been working on XIV that they're announcing it for 2010? Is this FF XIII Versus renamed? Did they scrap that project and use some of the same assets? Or is this going to be another game that takes four or five years to reach the market?

I'm almost positive that we saw a leak concerning hiring for a Square MMO two years ago. There's been rumors of a dual development team for some time. But I'm sure that the engine is similar, so they're able to cross-develop in that regard.

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Agreed. Sigh, 2010.

Looks like LittleBIGPlanet for racing fans. Should be very cool.

Sigh, 2010.

I'll assume that Sony doesn't have any clue how to plan things at this point, so we'll discuss the 2010 releases under that assumption. IF the PS3 does get the anticipated $100 price cut in the fall, there's no real incentive to push many of the big titles into the holiday season. The console will sell on price alone. Spring 2010 appears to have several very good titles on the way, which could lengthen the sales spurt on the heels of the price drop. Yeah, it's Sony we're talking about here, but having those titles in the Spring probably is better than having them in the holiday season where their impact would be minimal.

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Is it sad that the first few people that brought that up to me in AIM discussion used the words 'penis,' 'dildo' and 'dong' to describe it? Far as precision goes, it looks pretty close to me to the Wii remote with MotionPlus attached, but not needing the attachment to get that does put it ahead of the curve. I just wonder how much support it's going to get in this generation.

Nintendo's success with Wii peripherals runs significantly counter to conventional wisdom, which is: "If you provide more plastic crap for parents to buy, unless you have a strong library of excellent games which support it, they will not buy it."

Look at really any peripheral from the Atari era through, say, 3/4 of the PS2 lifecycle. Wasn't until Guitar Hero caught it big (and then later the Wii and its various gizmos) that we've seen anything run counter to the CW.

Software is obviously key. Sony has shown a willingness to bundle things like the BT headsets with a game. They can do something similar with the motion controllers, but they need to make sure that it's an excellent game that shows off the capabilities well, much like Wii Sports did.

Originally Posted by SackAttack

I'm curious how matchmaking is going to work for that. It can be excruciating trying to get a full game with other shooters with significantly fewer players. If they can pull it off, it could be damn cool.

I love playing Warhawk because I can always get a full 32 player game very quickly, even to this day. I agree with everything you say here. I'm skeptical of how it will work.

I didn't even mention The Last Guardian and Heavy Rain, both which look like games that are right up my alley and really push the specs of the machine.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Is it sad that the first few people that brought that up to me in AIM discussion used the words 'penis,' 'dildo' and 'dong' to describe it?

There's a "Wii" joke here, but I just can't find the right words.

SI

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

There's a "Wii" joke here, but I just can't find the right words.

SI

I'm still waiting to see if the end of that 'wand' vibrates. If so, my wife may have a new-found interest in 'gaming' and 'motion control'.