In our usual style we provided commentary on all three (Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony) E3 presentations and we've come to the conclusion that there wasn't even a real need to…
After Microsoft’s Conference being a complete failure to show anything for gamers, it falls to Nintendo to set the bar. The conference is about to start and below you will find our thoughts and commentary on what was shown.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Nintendo is coming out way strong with a new Zelda game!
– It uses the Wiimote with Wii Motion Plus and the nunchuck for real time sword and shield motion. Unfortunately the motion tracking appeared to be complete trash as Shigeru Miyamoot was on stage trying to get it to work. It was really, really off and we cringed feeling really embarrassed for them. At one point in the presentation they actually asked if anyone was using a wireless device because they were getting a lot of “wireless interference” — doh! (Probably a Sony Employee in the audience!)
– It looks beautiful. Amazing graphics. Really nice animations. Compared to a somewhat muddy looking Zelda last released on the Wii, Skyward Sword appears to be using a ton of stylization and color to make a vibrant world.
– The concept seems like it would work. Shield bashing and full use of motion to really engage the player in the game as Link. If it worked, this would be an acceptable use of motion control in a game compared to what has been shown at E3 so far.
– A new item called the “Beetle” was shown. They tried to show us what it did but … well it wasn’t working because of the “wireless interference”. In the trailer we saw that it can grab thing s and fly with them like taking a bomb to a wall. The Whip was also shown which collects items and possible stuns enemies(?).
– Ack. Not available until next year. Well, perhaps it will help with the wireless interference.
Much more commentary and really exciting news below! —-> (more…)
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I was teased by Graev a lot this year with lines like “Keen, you’ve only played like 5 games this year!”. I didn’t think it was really true until I sat down to write this post… I’ve played, and by played I mean more than just poked at it, only a few games. Out of those games, I can think of only a couple that I would consider truly a “favorite” of the year. A post going up in a few days will address my gaming regrets this year and I can tell you now it will have more “I wish I played this” than “I wish I hadn’t played this”. I have some New Years resolutions that will hopefully remedy this year’s problem. More on those later.
Let’s get to the games! My favorite games of 2009:
What a fun little game! Torchlight is one of those games that you can play for an hour one week, not touch it for a month, and then come back to and play an hour and have just as much fun. While it’s not quite Diablo, it’s a bundle of dungeon-crawling hack’n slash crammed into a $20 price tag. ($4.99 or something crazy like that today on Steam btw.) I enjoy the graphics and the atmosphere of each dungeon.  I like the feel of each class but wish there were more to choose from. I keep waiting for them to announce an expansion or a part two because I want the game to expand out beyond just the one town.
Of course this one is on my list. The highly controversial Modern Warfare 2 is probably my overall favorite game of 2009. I absolutely loved the single player experience. That’s what I think of it: an experience rather than a game. The game felt like I was being carried through an experience and the story, although rather convoluted at times, was unfolding around me.  I can’t wait for the next game in the series.
The Multiplayer is where most people take issue. No dedicated servers is inexcusable. The IWnet matching system works but it is inferior in every way to a dedicated server model. Cheating is at times rampant. The maps are a mixed bag of decent and terrible. Yet, amidst these horrendous problems, I really enjoy playing. I love the weapons and there’s just something tremendously fun about how it plays. It’s so dang polished.  MW2 is definitely on another level. It’s a step above all the other “modern” shooters we currently have out there. Hopefully we’ll either see a crack for dedicated servers or IW will get some sense knocked into them.
I enjoy how my friends and I have been able to play together. This year hasn’t been a good one for community building games and I was worried that we would fall away from each other with nothing to play. MW2 came to the rescue and actually introduced me to a few new people that I can now consider my friends.
Continue reading ‘more’ for the rest of my favorite games of 2009. (more…)
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