Nintendo Teases Zelda Reveal in 2010Posted by Mitch on November 18th, 2009

Not to be lewd, but I imagine the current relationship between enthusiast gamers and Nintendo to be comparable to a young man and some sort of harlot. She keeps giving you tantalizing glimpses of her ankle while all the while promising that more is coming.

To continue with this tortured analogy, the “ankle” here is the concept art that Miyamoto was parading around at E3 ’09 depicting Link and some sort of ethereal being that looked vaguely like the Master Sword. In a recent interview with UK’s Official Nintendo Magazine, Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma says he hopes to show something “surprising” at E3 ’10, thus completing the promise of “more”.

Nintendo proved recently with Super Mario Bros. Wii that it still knows how to make titles for its old-school fans, and with Metroid: Other M on the horizon I think we can take this as a sign that Ninty is finally starting to show appreciation for the “hardcore”. Though the company is often criticized for its constant rehash of the same tired franchises, there’s no doubt that gamers everywhere still clamor for these titles. The question is, how much longer will we get strung along before we see some actual gameplay? What’s your opinion, though? Are you pumped for a new Zelda, and what do you expect from it?

Source: Kotaku

Bioshock 2 Multiplayer InterviewPosted by Eddy on June 9th, 2009

The dudes behind the upcoming sequel to Bioshock have been hard at work. Recently, they gave an interview about some of the features in BioShock 2 multiplayer, including gametypes and the variety of plasmids available to combatants. While I’m still not super stoked about multiplayer in a game that I feel doesn’t need it, some of the clips they’ve got here are pretty sweet. What do you guys think?

GamerSushi Asks: Favorite Game of E3?Posted by Eddy on June 5th, 2009

As I’ve said before in other places, E3 really is the pinnacle of the gaming year. It’s a magical time where gamers get to find out what they can expect for the next year and a half or so, gaming-wise. We’re able to speculate, drool and generally get excited about all the things we love.

The week saw a lot of crazy things. There’s Project Natal from Microsoft which actually looks to show some promise despite my earlier misgivings about it. There’s also the Team Ninja Metroid and Final Fantasy XIV for the PS3. Halo: Reach was a pretty big announcement, as well. On top of that, we got to see some gameplay for things coming out soon, like Assassin’s Creed 2, Mass Effect 2 and Modern Warfare 2.

My favorite game of the show though was probably Uncharted 2 or Splinter Cell: Conviction. I wasn’t expecting much from the next Splinter Cell at all, but they’ve really overhauled the gameplay since the last time we saw the game, and for the better.

So what about you guys? What was the most impressive E3 thing you saw this week?

Modern Warfare 2 InterviewPosted by Eddy on June 3rd, 2009

So far, Modern Warfare 2 is one of the more impressive titles I’ve seen at E3. The cliffhanger demo from the Microsoft presser was a joy to watch, particularly the snowmobile ride as well as the sneaking gameplay. Here’s a video interview with the community director at Infinity Ward, with some neat details about the gameplay as well as the story. Who else is even more pumped for this game after E3?

Miyamoto Announces New Zelda for WiiPosted by Anthony on June 3rd, 2009

Nintendo had a pretty good showing at E3, but one thing was missing that irked some people: a new Zelda for the Wii. Well, irk no more, because 1UP has revealed that during a roundtable discussion, Shigeru Miyamoto unveiled plans for a new Legend of Zelda game for the Wii, due out in 2010. The reason it was not shown at E3 is the team wanted to focus on defining the concept of the new Zelda game rather than waste time on a demo.

1UP also reports that

During the discussion, Miyamoto briefly showed an image from the game featuring a mature Link barely visible through a broken wall. Although the picture only showed Link from behind, a short girl in a long robe stood in full view at Link’s back. Wearing a crystal necklace and emanating a blue aura, she gave off an otherworldly look

Joystiq adds, in their own report, that it could possibly be a Motion Plus exclusive, but that the details are not finalized.

Excited? Dismayed? It sounds like they are trying to make Zelda fresh again, which would be welcome news, especially after seeing the footage of the new Metroid game.

Source: 1UP

Source: Joystiq

Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott On Steam ForumsPosted by Anthony on June 3rd, 2009

After the surprising announcement of Left 4 Dead 2 for the 360 and PC a mere 7 months after the original game’s release, fans are up in arms. New Game Network is reporting that a boycott with a list of what is pissing people off has appeared on the forums over at Steam and there are already 2000 people onboard. What do you guys think about this? Joining the boycott or getting the game? Are these complaints valid?

List of complaints

Boycott

Source: New Game Network

Left 4 Dead 2 E3 GameplayPosted by Eddy on June 2nd, 2009

In a surprising move, Valve announced the sequel to last year’s much-loved zombie shoot-em-up Left 4 Dead. Even though not much time has passed, Left 4 Dead 2 will come out this November. To be honest, while I love the first game, I’m not really sure how I feel about this. Valve is usually the kind of company that supports their games with years of free content (see Team Fortress 2), so this seems like a weird move coming from them. Regardless, the gameplay looks fun as ever, even if it is the same kind of stuff.

Anywho, enjoy this clip of off-camera gameplay from E3. What do you guys think? Fair/foul of Valve?

Sony E3 Presentation HighlightsPosted by Anthony on June 2nd, 2009

After Microsoft’s Shock and Awe campaign yesterday, I think we were all anxious to see if Sony would even show up for their 2-hour presentation today. Here are the highlights:

• Sony dude Jack Tretton opened with a joke about how nobody in the industry can keep secrets, a total reference to the leak of the PSP Go from the other day. I think it’s pretty classy that they can make fun of themselves like that.
• 364 new games coming to Sony systems this year, 35 of which are exclusive. Considering the dearth of PS3 games for a while, this is welcome news.
• Uncharted 2 Multiplayer beta goes live tonight. Single-player looks very impressive. Really seem to have meshed the shooting and platforming elements. Also, the graphics are incredible.
• Gameplay footage of MAG. 256 players in one battle. For so many players, it looked kind of lonely. Would have liked to have seen more action.
• Hannah Montana lilac colored PSP announcement for this Fall is met with cheers. I don’t know if that’s funny or scary.
• PSP Go! announced officially. Will not replace UMD or other PSPs. 16MB of memory. Can download from PSN with built in Wi-Fi. 50% smaller and 40% lighter than original PSP. The price will be $249.99, available on 10/01/09. Too rich for my blood.
• Gran Turismo for the PSP. Over 800 cars and 35 tracks. You can trade cars with your friends. Cool, but where is the PS3 version???
• Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker for the PSP. Kojima announced it himself. Set in the Seventies, 10 years after MGS 3. Might show the origin of Outer Heaven. Looks like a full on MGS game, with the possibility of 4 player co-op in the form of Snake clones.
• New Resident Evil for the PSP. Also, LittleBigPlanet, Monster Hunter, Motorstorm, Soul Caliber, Fat Princess, Guitar Hero and Star Wars: Battlefront.
• Final Fantasy VII on PSN TODAY! Also, over 50 PS1 classics by the end of the year.
• More content coming to Home. Meh.
• Video of various games, including DC Universe Online, an MMO and also a PS3 exclusive.
• Rockstar PS3 exclusive: Agent. Spies and assassins in the late 1970s. They claim this will have the same must-have value that GTA did. No footage shown.
• Assassin’s Creed 2 footage. Looks pretty cool, might have solved the problems of the first game. Out before Christmas along with the PSP version. PS3 version will have 6 exclusive weapons.
• More Final Fantasy XIII footage. Gorgeous, just like you would expect.
• Final Fantasy 14 in 2010 for PS3 ONLY! It’s an online game! Awesome footage! This is the megaton announcement!
• Motion control time: True 1:1 tracking. All of it was a tech demo, looks cool. Coming in 2010.
• LittleBigPlanet is getting Disney themes. That is kinda awesome.
• Mod Nation Racers announced. Part of the Play Create Share theme that Nintendo ripped off earlier. Drivers can be customized like in LittleBigPlanet. Think Mario Kart meets Sackboy. Custom tracks! That is pretty neat. Better than making Wario Ware games! The track builder seems easy to use as well, they built one on stage in just a few minutes.
• The new Team Ico game is called The Last Guardian. The trailer from last week was indeed leaked, but it doesn’t change that this game looks incredible. Interestingly enough, the leaked footage is about a year old apparently, and this stuff looks way better.
• God of War 3 will be the last game in the series, and it’s going to have some crazy brutal quick time kills. The ones on the centaur and the chimera are stinking insane. Creatures are going to get owned, for sure. The game drops March 2010.

Overall, a pretty solid showing with really no wtf moments to speak of. Not a whole lot of new stuff coming, but when you have this many exclusives coming over the next year, why do you need to drop a lot of new information?

What do you guys think? What’s the most exciting piece of Sony news?

SWTOR Trailer is Badass, Has LightsabersPosted by Eddy on June 1st, 2009

Wow. See, they should have just let Bioware make the Star Wars prequels. If this new ridiculously awesome trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic is any indication, this game is going to be epic beyond belief. I mean, hundreds of jedi and sith squaring off? Seriously, this is just cool. Maybe the best trailer out of E3 so far. Thoughts?

Microsoft E3 Presser HighlightsPosted by Eddy on June 1st, 2009

The Microsoft E3 press event has officially taken place. With it come a bevy of announcements, trailers, videos and more.

Here are the highlights:

• Modern Warfare 2 gameplay looks awesome.
• Splinter Cell Conviction coming Fall 2009. Sounds like they’ve added some new gameplay elements, mainly for the story.
• Final Fantasy XIII coming in Spring 2010, much earlier than projected.
• Left 4 Dead 2 Coming November 17th! Seems a little early, but I can dig it. New weapons, including chainsaws.
• Forza 3 is coming in October.
• Crackdown 2 trailer shown! This rules, it was one of my favorite games of this generation so far.
• Halo 3 ODST video looks sweet. They also highlighted a story-telling element: most of the game will be a mystery pieced together through flashbacks. Coming September 22nd.
• Bungie also shows a trailer for a new Halo game, Halo: Reach. Guess they lied when they said they were done with Halo, but I’m cool with it since Reach is such an awesome story. The book is incredible. Fall 2010.
• Last.fm is coming to XBL gold users at no additional cost. Listening to music is neat, but I’d rather not do it on my TV. Still though, not bad for a service I’m already paying for.
• Facebook and Twitter are coming to the XBox 360? Double no thanks. The world is over as we know it.
• Kojima sneaks onto stage to announce that the Metal Gear Solid franchise is coming to the 360. Kind of cool, but it’s a Raiden game. Which is not so cool. If you’re bringing MGS to the 360, bring the actual game, not some dumb Raiden extension. Guess sloppy seconds is better than nothing, though.
• Motion control coming to the 360. The final wtf? It’s not a controller. It’s a camera that translates your actual movements to the game. Sounds mega-lame. “Project Natal”. Lionhead even showed off a new game for it called Milo.

By the way, the links are to videos. So, which of these excites you most? Which is the stupidest? Go!