G-pinions

Goddamn, E3 snuck up on me out of nowhere. But it starts tomorrow (technically, today). Tom has been before, but I have never had the honor. The goal is to go next year, which should be a big one what with new consoles being shown (most likely) and such. This year is looking to be huge regardless though. So, I give you my random thoughts regarding said oh-so-holy event:

Oh, one more thing before I get into E3 shit. I just read last night that Monster Hunter will most likely not have voice support for online play. This is the single stupidest goddamn thing I've heard in months. How lame is it that you have to stop and type a message to your opponent in the midst on hunting goddamn monsters!? Argh. I was looking forward to this game so much for so long, and now I have little interest in it, just like that. Stupid Crapcom. Anyhow, on with the show.


First, a bit of X-Box. This one deserves an intro, for me. See, I don't own one, for various reasons, but I've been wanting to play Ninja Gaiden after all the hype, and a couple upcoming games look great. So I figure while I have the money I'll get one, which at this stage will probably happen when I beat or get sick of Disgaea, whichever comes first. As I said, there's never really been a reason for me to own an X-Box. When Microsoft bought out Oddworld Inhabitants I was torn, but ultimately decided it was best not to support their already evil company, even if was to play a game I had been looking forward to for many years. And even before that, I just didn't really give a damn about a computer company making video games. I suppose some would say they felt the same way when Sony got into the business, but at thirteen years old, I wanted the newest and hottest system my dad's money could buy, and I didn't care who was making it. So, with my evil sorcery theories about Microsoft, and my complete contentment with my PS2 (and later Gamecube), I never really wanted an X-Box. Well, times change. Microsoft is still evil, but they've managed to garner enough minions to make their system successful. And along with a successful system comes a deluge of quality content. I think Halo (arguably the only exclusive game of theirs anybody really gives a damn about) is way overrated, but Halo 2, Fable, and a handful of others are looking fabulous. And there are a couple games out now I've been wanting to play (the afore-mentioned Ninja Gaiden, Otogi, Oddworld, etc.), so I'm taking the plunge. So, here's what I'm interested in at E3, as far as the ol' green and black goes.

Halo 2 - This game will obviously be great, but reading IGN's impressions of the mutiplayer has gotten me pretty jazzed about playing it, despite it not coming out for six months (November 9th, officially). The writer keeps talking about how great the level design was in the one level he played, which relieves me since I thought it was a major weak spot in the first game outside of a couple levels. Destructible environments alone are a huge addition. Online play should also be awesome, especially with the possibility of more than sixteen people to be able to play together (the number hasn't been locked down yet). Oh, and the vehicle upgrades sound great; rocket launcher for the warthog, speed boost for the ghost, and the "boarding" of someone else's vehicle from out under their hands. Money. Microsoft can't afford for this game to suck, and for that reason alone I'm confident in it's greatness (seeing as there's nothing Microsoft can't afford). And check out these couple of screenshots. Gorgeously chaotic, no?

Doom 3 - I guess they just released this video (huge file warning), showing a bunch of X-Box gameplay footage. It is a beautiful-looking game, though not quite up to the standards of it's PC brother. Even the PC demo from last E3 looked better (hacked on my old roomate's computer, though running at five frames a second). Regardless, it is an amazing feat for a console. I guess the main reason I'm not too excited about the game is that it just doesn't look especially fun to play. The enemy designs designs seem hit-or-miss, and a lot of the footage, at least in this trailer, just looks like Silent Hill in space. I mean, the last game in the series came out ten years ago, you'd figure they'd be able to come up with something revolutionary between now and then, not just a freaky-looking FPS. At the least, online co-op should be fun. Meh.

I also hope that Kameo and Conker get some good words thrown their way (I did watch a cool video for Conker, but Kameo looks lame), for Tom and Rare's sake. I'm sure they'll both be playable at the show, and I'm interested to hear some reactions. Besides those, The Stranger (new Oddworld game - tell 'em Brendan), KOTOR2, Jade Empire, and Fable, I can't think of any other X-Box games I should be excited about, but hopefully the rest of the show will reveal plenty other pleasent surprises.


Now, for some Sony. Apparently they didn't show much earlier today like Microsoft did, but I'm sure we'll see plenty once the show starts. As far as what I'm looking forward to:

Rise of the Kasai (the sequel the Mark of Kri) looks awesome, as does it's online co-op. Sexy. As far as other games, Final Fantasy XII, Gradius V, Dark Cloud 3, Battefield: Modern Combat, Dragon Warrior VIII, Devil May Cry 3, God of War, Nano Breaker, Hot Shots Golf Fore!, Ghosthunter, Neo Contra,Star Wars Battlefront, Jak 3, Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal, Blood Will Tell, Full Metal Alchemist, Champions: Return to Arms, Killzone, Spy Fiction, Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, Shadow of Rome, and Kingdom Hearts 2 are all lookin' mighty fine, and I can't wait to hear more about them from the show. Oh, and Metal Gear Solid 3 and Gran Turismo 4, two of the most anticipated games of recent years. Phat. I'm sure I'll be talking more about these games in the next few days, I'm just trying to stick to new information for now (as in, nothing new has been revelaed about them, yet).

And let's not forget the PSP. All will be revealed, soon enough. I can't wait.


And last, but hopefully not least, Nintendo. This show will either be huge for them, or a big flop, and they really need it to be huge (what with their being third in sales and all). Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is lookin' fancy, I just hope the multiplayer works well. It's also still unclear whether a new Zelda game is going to show up, but I'm going to be pessimistic and guess not. Fortunately, Advance Wars, Donky Konga, Paper Mario 2, Pikmin 2, Geist, Starfox 2, Resident Evil 4 and the usual bunch of Mario games (Party, Tennis, Golf) are all looking and sounding good, and will no doubt get a big fuss made over them at the show. There also seems to be an off-chance that a new Mario game will be shown, which would be hella cool.

And, of course, there's the DS. This thing is what will really make or break the show for the Big N. The PSP seems like it's destined for success no matter what, but everyone has seemed a lot less sure about the DS. I personally think it will turn out great as well, and compete for showgoers attention ably with the PSP, it just seems like Nintendo has a lot more riding on it and is taking a big risk by having the two screens and all. I'm just cautious, but with high hopes.


And, let I not forgot, the multi-platform games. Some of the best upcoming games are multiplatform, a trend that will affect the industry more and more. Whether it's good or bad remains to be seen, but I'm highly looking forward to a lot of the following games (all the E3 games announced so far are listed here by developer): Second Sight, 100 Bullets, Combat Elite: WWII Paratroopers, Timesplitters: Future Perfect, Call of Duty: Finest Hour, Spider-Man 2, The Movies, THUG2, X-Men Legends, Starcraft: Ghost, Street Fighter Anniversary Collection (with online play), ShellShock: Nam '67, FarCry: Instincts, Burnout 3, Goldeneye: Rogue Agent, The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, Silent Hill 4: The Room, Mercenaries, Area 51, Darkwatch: Curse of the West, Prince of Persia 2, The Bard's Tale, Cold Winter, and Half Life 2 (just for eye candy).

Oh, and there's some sort of big secret announcement by Sega, but I doubt it's new hardware.

Phew. It took me about three hours to write this post, what with the links and the reading and such, so I'm off to bed. More tomorrow though, I'm sure. Man, these next couple of days are gonna kick rediculous amounts of ass, and I'm not even there...