G-pinions

It took until a mere 90 minutes was left of my 24 hour E3 experience, but I am finally updating live from the show floor. I had to do some pretty shady things to acquire both a computer and the ability to connect to my readers through the wonders of the internet, so you better be mighty appreciative of my efforts.

Though I was planning on writing about my entire E3 experience, including what the show is actually like (believe me, whatever you're picturing right now is wrong) as well as impressions of every single game I got my hands/eyes on, after spending the last two days at the show I was feeling disheartening, to say the least. I realized, after listening to the marketing pitch every company is dishing out and seeing what I will be playing, potentially, during the next year, that I am just a tiny segment of the video game market. My tastes are so streamlined at this point that I am even less a factor in the industry than the lame gamers who only play EA Sports titles and the latest GTA clone. Of the hundreds of games I saw on the showfloor only a handful were worth a second look and, of those, only a few are games I'm actually going to buy.

While I try to diversify my gaming interests by owning all the consoles and trying to play every game I can, I really can't shake my love of Nintendo. If you take away the tasty upcoming games for the Gamecube and Nintendo DS (sadly, the GBA had nothing of interest showing) there are only four games on the showfloor I actually want. On the Sony side there is We Love Katamari. I mentioned this in my previous posts but have no qualms pimping it again. It's the same game as lasts year's classic, but, since the first game was so short, I will gladly shell out $20 for more levels and songs. The co-op mode is most likely completely useless. Unless you are 100% in tune with the person you're playing with you're likely to get frustrated in a hurry. Nothing ruins the flow of Katamari more than wanting to pick up a row of hats, saying you want to pick them up, and still watch as your Katamari rolls right on by. The single player is just as quirky as ever, though, so I will happily preorder this one again and pick it up day one.



The other non-Nintendo games I want are all made by Rare. Disappointing that neither Sony nor Microsoft was able to deliver any other games worth my money, but that seems to be the case. I'm obviously going to buy Conker next month. I only played about 10 minutes of the game the last few days - five minutes in single player and five more in multiplayer - so I didn't actually learn anything new about the title. I did learn that, despite some weird control choices such as hitting L2 to jump in multiplayer, the game feels perfect. The biggest problem with the original was the sometimes imprecise controls. With those fixed along with amazing graphics (second best this generation behind Zelda) and a more in-depth multiplayer mode (with bots!) this should keep me occupied for quite some time.

The other two Rare games that I want I didn't actually get a chance to play. I watched a few demos of Kameo and, even though it's not that innovative, it still looks like a lot of fun. Plus it has a co-op mode. I figured it would work like Jet Force Gemini or Sonic 2 where the first player controls just about everything while the second player merely tags along. Thankfully, Rare is dishing out real co-op. Two Kameos playable at one time, complete with Toejam and Earl style split screen. Should be fantastic.

Despite Perfect Dark Zero being a complete no show I still desperately want it. Enough to buy the system on launch day? Probably not, especially with Zelda coming out right around that time. But I will need to buy an Xbox 360 just to play these two games, along with Halo 3 and whatever else Rare comes out with. Man, life was so much easier when Nintendo owned Rare. Then I didn't have to worry about these other consoles with only a handful of games I care about. I really thought Microsoft would try to diversify their lineup with the next generation, but, at least according to the games announced, they are making the same frickin' games again. Aside from their sports lineup, Kameo is the only title that doesn't feature brutal killings and a lot of death. Do they really think they'll grow by only offering WWII sims and first person shooters? Do they simply not want women to buy their consoles? Are they trying to create an army of maladjusted sociopaths who will wage war against all who oppose MS?

I'm not going to bore you with my take on must-own Nintendo games. You can guess the list (Zelda, Mario Kart, Mario and Luigi 2, New Mario Bros, Odama and Nintendogs) and I think all of their names carry enough weight that anyone who cares can immediately understand why I will be buying them all the second they come out and desperately need a Nintendo DS. What I will tell you is how I spent my day today. Just like always, Nick and I planned on getting to the convention center a little before the show actually started (9am) so we could avoid the long lines popular attractions always accumulate. But we were late (my fault I assume. Damn contact lenses) and showed up a few minutes after 9am. Big mistake. I don't know where Nick disappeared to, but I ran off to the Nintendo booth to get in line to see Zelda. Even though the game is completely playable to everyone who attends the show, without even needing to make an appointment, you have to wait in a huge line to get the pleasure of playing what will surely be the best game of the year. How long of a line you ask? Well, I got in my spot at 9:05 and actually entered the Zelda room at 12:50. That's right, 3 hours and 45 minutes in line and not one regret. The game is that good.

And, I was able to stay in that world for an hour. About twenty minutes of that was spent playing the game, with the rest spent waiting in smaller lines to play them and simply staring in awe at their setup.


It's like walking through the forest temple


You could actually interact with this light display on the ground


A knight runs through the crowd


What's this? A jail cell?


A figure emerges


Ah! It's a Stalfos Knight!


And he's moving!


How beautiful. A full moon and a wolf on a wall.


AHHHHHH!

Best booth ever. And easily the best game I played at the show. I spent 10 minutes riding a horse, trying to wrangle goats into a barn and it was more fun than anything else at the show. Just a fantastic experience.

One more note about games and then I have to show you my prized photographs. Nintendogs is the cutest thing ever. Maybe literally. I only played it for five minutes but I was audibly "aw"-ing at the adorable virtual dogs on screen. If the plethora of interesting titles didn't already sell me on this portable, I would gladly buy a NDS just for this game. It's that good.

Now, the real reason I'm updating.


Tom and Link become best friends


I love you too Ty

Not only that but I have a Polaroid with each character as well. My life is complete.

So, guess what the best game I've played in the last twenty-four hours is? You get fourteen THOUSAND guesses. Well, it's Tetris DX for my Gameboy Color. Not to rip on any of the games at E3, just figured I'd give the best game of all time some extra props. Anyhow, this is my first E3. Tom told me that it wouldn't be what I was expecting; not in a bad way, just different. And it is, in that it's exponentially larger than what my brain is capable of processing. Not really size-wise, per se, just sheer mental power-wise. If your senses aren't being constantly assaulted by pretty things on giant screens and loud things on giant speakers, they will be from people constantly brushing against you, the siren song of scantily clad booth babes filling your ears, and the little voice in your brain trying it's best to decide which lure to follow.

As Tom the Jerk said in his earlier post, he ditched me pretty much right off the bat; after waiting around near where I thought he'd be (Kameo) for about twenty minutes, I realized I was on my own until our designated meeting time an hour and a half from then, alone in a world gone insane and wonderful. So I played some 1943 on Capcom's Classics Collection. Once I had my bearings again, and realizing what the hell I was doing, I quickly headed for some games that aren't over a decade old.

Note from in-bed Tom he wants me to interject: He still has no idea whether there's jumping in PDZ, and is confounded as to why no one has mentioned it. Thank you.

Back to business - I spent the majority of the day in the South Hall, where Microsoft and most of the larger third parties are located. I spent the last sixth or so of the day at the vastly more chill and well-spaced West Hall with Tom, where Nintendo, Sony and a couple of others reside. So here's a bit of what I played, starting with impressions of the games I put on my most-wanted list earlier:

Shadow of the Colossus - Good times indeed. Riding the horse and exploring the massive landscapes is a lot more compelling than you'd think, and the game looks stunning if you can appreciate the art design (which I do, greatly). Fighting the titular Colossi is a bit tricky since the controls are pretty much that of Ico, which allowed for a bit of give when you were platforming. Not so much when you're hanging onto the ankle a creature as tall as the mountain next to you. Still, it's easily one of my most-anticipated games of the year, even if the demo was slightly disappointing.

New 2D Super Mario Bros. - I actually didn't think this would be playable after the 1.5 seconds they showed at the Nintendo coference, but lo and behold. My brain was taking it's sweet time to comes to terms with playing a new 2D Mario game, but I think I liked it. The competitive multiplayer mode is definitely cool, though I'd much rather have co-op (which I suppose hasn't been announced one way or the other). I'm not a big fan of the DS's D-Pad or buttons (and feel is a HUGE part of any Mario game), but I enjoyed it quite a bit regardless. I expect to fall in love with it when it comes out.

Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows/Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks - Gauntlet wasn't so hot; Tom and I hacked and slashed through a level or so, and whlile it looked good and the moves and enemies were cool, it was more or less as mindless as ever. Still, I would have no problem playing it four-player, online or not. MK:SM on the other hand, was pure fun. Again, Tom and I did it up co-op, while works incredibly well in a third-person action/fighting game. He'd kick someone over to me with Liu Kang, and I'd spin them in twain with Kung Lao; and we weren't even planning anything quite as extravegant. Besides somehow glitching ourselves into a never-ending stream of baddies in the third dungeon or so, we kicked a lot of ass, and so did the game. Co-op playthrough for sure.

Advent Rising - So the developers are right: the control scheme does take some getting used to. As that's not going to come together fully in the five or ten minutes I have to play the demo. Being instructed most every step of the way by a tester aside, the game was definitely as enjoyable as I'd been hoping for. It has a very distinct sci-fi design, and the moves and maneuvers at your disposal are suitably exotic. It's really tough to judge such a large, multi-faceted game in the time it takes to drop a cinderblock from an airplane, but I was definitely getting into what I played. Good show.

We Love Katamari - It's true. We do. Everyone does. I played the school level co-op, and man is it crazy. It actually works pretty simply, keeping in mind that you have to constantly communicate to get any momentum whatsoever. The phrases "Let's go for those sawhorses" and "Cat!" will become second nature very quickly, and will dominate your vocabulary for the during of your games. It was too damned loud to hear the soundtrack, but I assume it's every bit as magical as the first (which I'm actually listening to right now). Oh, and Namco has a REAL KATAMARI at their booth, about seven feet tall with crap plastered all over it. We'll post a pic eventually, don't you worry.

Half-Life 2 (Xbox) - Some of it looks great, and some of it looks like butt. Either way, it controls well and I'm thrilled that it made the jump intact.

Killer 7 - I didn't play it myself yet, but I think I have the idea after watching Tom go mad with confusion trying to understand what exactly we were watching. You explore, you talk to crazy things, and you do crazy things. And shoot. And it's all very, very bizarre. And awesome.

Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse - Ha, so much fun. Just thinking about it now made me smile. It's every bit as crazy and fun as you'd expect, eating brains, possessing farmers, etc. etc. The game still feels pretty early, especially in regards to floaty jumping and brainless AI (before you get to them, that is), but the final product should be a laugh riot. Truly a fun game.

And man, I was planning to write about more, but I have to wake up in less than six hours, for another day of walking around for nine hours. Wish me luck, and stay tuned tomorrow night for more goodness, including hands-on Zelda (if we can brave the lines), meaty PS3 videos (if we can brave more lines), and if the gaming gods smile upon up like never before, some sort of Perfect Dark Zero update. Oh, and supposedly there's one more surprise coming from Nintendo. I'm guessing it will be closer to 128 small ones.

Hundreds of people were lined up at the bottom of two slow moving escalators. A surly man in a necktie was at the bottom, checking IDs and ensuring that no one enters the video game funland before his watch strikes 10am. Finally, after crushing the hearts of anyone who came within a ten-foot radius of his uncaring, souless living carcass, he gave the signal and the throng of people made their way into their nirvana. Nick was stuck six people behind me on the way up. I looked back, snapped a photo, and didn't see him again for 90 minutes.



I sprinted like, um, a jack rabbit late for his son's bris, pushed and scrimped my way past the slow moving gazelle of the nonchalant, non-game playing party crashers variety, and finally, after what seemed like hours but was really less than a minute, I made my way into the Microsoft booth. Frantically, I looked left and right for what I assumed would be a huge display for Perfect Dark Zero. Nothing. I rushed over to a couple women, potentially booth babes but most likely ignorant PR reps, and asked if they had any knowledge of PDZ. They had none. Obviously. So I began my wild romp through their (MS, not the women) lower region. Nothing, nothing at all. I saw some Conker displays and a ton of games I wouldn't play even if they were free and I was spending 24 hours in a convention center, but no PDZ. Finally, I saw something that made me smile - a Kameo setup. Surely, this would be playable. I ran over and asked the polite man wearing an Xbox shirt if I could play this tasty game. No, he replied, and spat on my soul. I cried.

I walked around the rest of the floor, knowing I wouldn't see any Rare made X360 titles, and eventually let the continually growing mass of people carry me up a ramp. As I made my way up white screens slowly descended on my right, blocking my view of the rest of the show floor. I was trapped, like a lion in a cage full of raptors, but was so disheartened I could hardly muster the strength to care. When I got to the top of the ramp I slipped quickly by a man who looked far too tough to be hanging out at a game shows merely because he's a fan of gaming, and made my way towards the back of this crazy place towards the promisingly labeled "Conference Rooms."

Along a path populated by MS employees and what I can only assume are important journalists were a bunch of tiny rooms. In each of them was a small table, a few chairs, a tray of delicious foods, and an Xbox 360. I stopped briefly at each door, eyeing the new system and wishing I had the balls to nab one. Since I'm writing this now you can guess if I ever gathered the courage to try. When I made my way to the end of a long hallway I saw it - Perfect Dark Zero. People were playing PDZ. I stuck my hand in my pocket and pulled out my camera as quickly as possible. It was a multiplayer map of some sort, though there were no other characters on screen. I watched Joanna move smoothly along, walking like she hasn't been in my dreams for the last five years, and I cursed my camera for taking so long to turn on. Finally, it was ready. Just as I hit the button the shockingly cruel demon lords exited the game. Here is evidence of my failure. Note the lack of PDZ on the screen.



So close but so far. But now I knew that Perfect Dark Zero was here. I just had to find out how to play it. I made my way back down the hall. The rooms that were filled with the future now had a closed door with nary a window in sight. I had lost my chance. When I got to the end, my heart fading with each locked door, I had a brief glimmer of hope - someone messing around with the X360 in a slightly larger room to my right. I used my vast knowledge of stealth games to sneak right up to the door without being seen. There was a TV in front of me with a menu listing titles on it. At the top was Kameo, a game I desperately need but can't really get excited about, but underneath that was why I flew all the way from Chicago to attend this show: Perfect Dark Zero. I lost control of my feet as the man scrolled down to the game and paused. He had heard me enter the room. As he turned I straightened up and tried to act as professional as possible. But he was stubborn and ordered me out of the room with one catch - I could come back in 10 minutes if I wished to see a demo of the new hardware. I quickly agreed and exited the room, turning to see the door slam in my face one more time.

With my luck, though, I would not be treated to PDZ at all. Not in any form. The presentation I was privy to was a short walkthrough of Kameo and a detailing of the new features of the X360. Other than the brief glimpse I caught while sneaking a peak into various off limit rooms and its name listed on a TV, I had no more contact with PDZ the rest of the day. Even though IGN and Gamespot were treated to a multiplayer demo they claim was amazing, MS refuses to show off this potentially amazing game to the general public. This angers me immensely, but only makes my need for this game grow ever larger. Anything kept secret for this long must be the second coming of some sort.

Tomorrow, Nick and I will find a way to see this game. We must.

One more note and then I go to bed - I played about 25 games today and walked through most relevant booths. The best system I have seen thus far has been the Nintendo DS. My favorite games of the show, aside from the sublime We Love Katamari, are New Mario Bros (which may not be co-op after all, but a versus race to the end of the level), Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga 2 and Mario Kart DS. I know I was down on MKDS after seeing the first video, but after playing a few races I can assure you it lives up to the name Mario Kart. Just fantastic. And, if there is any question of my superiority in the franchise, the first time I played it was in a tournament. You can guess who came in first. Using the power of the internet this fall I will be able to prove my skills on a worldwide level.

Stay tuned for more E3 coverage, such as talk of actual games, in future columns most likely written by Nick.

E3 doesn't even start until tomorrow, and already I'm exhausted. Between waking up early for Nintendo's press conference, walking up and down this transportless godforsaken city, downing Yoshinoya beef balls, In and Out Burgers and some borderline-shady sushi, and exploring the convention center trying to get a peek at the show floor while picking up our press badge holders, I'm ready for a nap. Or five. We're not even going to the Midway party tonight - we're just that damn tuckered out. I'm not here to bitch though, as it's been one of the coolest gaming-related days of my life, and it's only going to get better as the week goes on.

As I said earlier, we were able to go to the Nintendo press conference this morning (we would have attended Microsoft's last night, but we got in much too late). We waited in a massive, disorganized line/crowd for about half an hour to get our little generic blue carnival ticket, but I suppose they had to at least act like they cared who got in. Once inside, Tom and I spend a good several minutes geeking out over out first gaming-celeb sightings on Morgan Webb, Adam Sessler and the rest of the G4 crew sitting in the reserved press seats. I spotted a couple other faces I'd seen before, but nothing worth freaking out over. Kat Hunter, the Frag Doll whose gaming blog I enjoy, was standing in front of us in line, but she didn't stop talking to her friends the entire time so I couldn't really squeeze in a hello. That, and about halfway through she was yanked out of line and handed a blue ticket by an industry buddy. Weak. Anyhow, we had pretty great standing room for the conference, which was lots of fun. Oh, and I'm kind of all over the place here, but right before it started I spotted and talked to CheapyD, founder and operator of Cheapassgamer, my favorite gaming site. We'd played plenty of Halo games together before, so it was pretty cool to put a name and handshake to a voice, especially to someone who's responsible for most of my current gaming collection. Anyhow, to the show. As you know by know, it was a rather typical Nintendo affair, with a little less surprise than usual. The Gamecube still doesn't really have anything noteworthy coming out for it except for Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, which looks as amazing and ever and has you playing as a wolf (which was revealed today). The DS on the other hand will instantly become a must-own system by the end of the year. Electroplankton looks brilliant, Nintendogs looks adorable, the new 2D Mario game is a new 2D Mario game (and it has CO-OP), Castlevania will kick ass, as will Kirby, as will Animal Crossing and Mario Kart online over wi-fi. So, in short, I'll soon be doing the unthinkable and purchasing the ridiculous little system.

The first big surprise of the conference was the Gameboy Micro, an insanely small GBA with an even better screen. It was pretty out of nowhere, and while it's not exactly earth-shattering, if it's priced well (let's say...$50?) everyone in the goddamn Northern hemisphere will buy one. Then there was the unveiling of the Revolution, which was completely unnecessary in my mind. Well, the hardware part anyways. The system isn't so much ugly as the most boring one yet (though crazy tiny), and without any games or more specific info on what the hell you can actually do on the system, it seemed kind of pointless. They did announce that the backwards compatibility would extend beyond Gamecube games though - to downloadable N64, SNES and NES games. Whether that's just Nintendo-published games or all of them makes a huge difference to how earth-shattering that is (I imagine it's the former), but either way it's a very cool idea. In retrospect the surprises aren't quite as big as they seemed at the time, but it was still awesome to see it in person; and seeing the man who created Mario and Zelda within one hundred feet of you is humbling like you wouldn't believe. Oh, and we saw Mark McDonald, Shoe and Demian Linn walking down the street after picking up our press kits, which made me swoon a little (I'm such a gaming journalist geek).

As for what else has been going on since I've been here, it's pretty tough to keep up. Microsoft's press conference seems like it was kind of a dud - who doesn't announce a release date or price for a system coming out in six months? Not showing PDZ was kind of shocking too (don't bring it up with Tom, he's not pleased about it). PS3, on the other hand, has blown me the fuck away so far. I could care less how the console looks (though it does look pretty), and I assume that they wouldn't have turned the controller into a boomerang if it didn't feel sexier than ever (which I trust it does), but man, some of the games that they've shown so far have been mind-blowing. At least graphically, anyhow. I-8, Killing Day and MotorStorm all look spectacular, but the crowd jewel of them all (and who would have seen this coming?) is the Killzone 2 video that they showed. There's argument everywhere right now over whether it's real-time or not, or partially so, but if the next-generation looks anything like this whatsoever, I'll live in a shack in the woods and buy every game that comes out. Seriously, it's one mind-blowing taste of what's to come.

Anyhow, awesome stuff so far, and I can't wait for tomorrow morning. I was only going to update at night, but if I can tear myself away from the show I'll certainly do so from their media computer lounge during it. I should probably get to bed, but do yourself a favor and watch what's been shown thus far. Tell me you don't love this industry.

By the way, we're in L.A. for E3. So, don't expect much commentary on the conferences so far, but we'll have plenty of coverage once the actual show begins. Wheeeeeeeee!

Obviously I'm looking forward to seeing the proper unveiling of the 360, the subsequent one-upping by Sony, and a new concept introduced by Nintendo that we won't be able to quite wrap our heads around (the Revolution requires...eleven GBAs?). But as usual, it's all about the GAMES. So in no particular order, here are nineteen games that I'm really looking forward to playing, with the assumption that they'll be playable (and I apologize if I'm less than eloquent, I've been working all weekend and my plane leaves tomorrow):

Shadow of the Colossus - It's fairly trendy to be drooling over this game, but hey, there's good reason to: it's made by the Ico team, and every screenshot and second of video shown so far has been stunning. It seems to have a real sense of scale, and when was the last time you saw that done well in a game? The giant levels/beasts that wander around look amazingly challenging and fun, and you get to ride a horse - you give me better ingredients for a great game.

New 2D Super Mario Bros. - The DS has become more and more appealing recently, and I'm thinking this may just convince me to pick one up. What was the last new traditional 2D Mario game anyhow? Super Mario World? I'm sold on the idea no matter what they end up showing, and I'm thinking it will be a much bigger deal than everyone thinks. I mean, c'mon - a possible 96 more levels of perfected gaming bliss?

Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows/Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks - I'm listing these together for several reasons - Both have had awful games in their respective series, new games in these series usually wouldn't interest me much, and both are from Midway. But they do look great, and they're both co-op online. Gauntlet seems to have the most interesting moves and environments in years, and Shaolin Monks just looks like pure arcade-style fun with some sweet tandem attacks. There's a very good chance that both games could end up being less than spectacular, but as it stands now they look like damn good fun.

Okami - From the people behind Steel Battalion and Viewtiful Joe (beat THAT resume) comes the game I'm probably MOST looking forward to playing at E3. Art design is the second most important aspect in any game to me (just behind control), and Okami has the most striking visuals I've ever seen in a video game. You play as Amaterasu the wolf god, trying to restore color to a world robbed of it by an evil monster. I have no idea how it will play (it seems no one does at this point), but if it plays anywhere near as gorgeous as it looks, I'm buying three copies.

Advent Rising - Yes, I know that the game comes out a month or so after E3, I'm just dying to play it now. I'm a sucker for good presentation, and the trailer makes it look like they've been working on this thing for the last twenty years (when in actuality it comes from the minds of a couple of guys and a very small development team). Apparently the controls take some getting used to, which I'm a bit weary of, but everything else looks top-notch. The Xbox isn't dead quite yet.

The Movies - Hell, I don't even know what systems this game is slated for these days, but as long as it's not PC-only there's still hope. I could always be shooting films in real life, but, you know...I don't (for the most part). Therefore, I require the ability to do so from the comfort of my couch, and I'm hoping The Movies will provide such a ridiculous substitute. Or at least some silly features I can make some hilarious shit with.

Perfect Dark Zero - I just need confirmation that the game isn't going to be seriously lame, as every screenshot and video clip has suggested thus far. I'm really hoping for a different build than the one shown at the MTV holocaust, but I'm not too sure about my chances. I have no doubt that the single-player game will be great, but fifty player x-ray Tribes isn't my type of multiplayer.

The Incredible Hulk/Ultimate Spider-Man - The first Hulk game was lots of fun, and parts of the second Spider-Man game were borderline genius. These new ones both show great potential - Hulk is like GTA with the ability to hurl a car across a city block, and Ultimate Spider-Man is like a more refined Spider-Man 2, with the sweetest comic book visuals I've seen in a game. Again, no urgent reason to be looking forward to either of these, but I'm a big geek and I'll be thrilled if they're good.

Socom 3 - As great as the single-player game is, let's ignore it for the time being; I played the hell out of Socom and Socom II multiplayer back in the day (the day being when they came out, and subsequent months afterwards), and they're right up there with anything else I've played online. This new installment doubles the amount of players (to 32), and throws in vehicles and much larger levels. Those seem like they'll fit the game perfectly, and I can even see myself being drawn away from Halo (god forbid) when it comes out. Anyhow, if they have a playable LAN set up, I'm so there.

We Love Katamari - Did you really expect a G-Pinions post without some sort of Katamari reference/appreciation? I suppose I'm not particularly looking forward to the new single-player mode, as it looks fairly similar as the first, but the co-op and proper multiplayer modes should be nuts. Between those and a new soundtrack (hell, I wouldn't even mind a Wanda, Wand remix) there's no reason not to go nuts for this game all over again. Now when the hell is it coming out here...

Starcraft: Ghost - I actually thought the game was looking fantastic last they showed it, so I was fairly surprised when they pulled Nihilistic off the job. I have complete faith in Swingin' Ape though, as Metal Arms was lots of fun. The stealth elements looked sweet, and the art direction/character design was really nice. I have no idea if it's jumped to next-gen consoles or not, but I look forward to it either way.

Black - Even though I don't play every FPS, I get fairly excited about every new series that comes along. I really dig the genre, even if it hasn't changed fundamentally in years. Black seems to have the potential though, if Criterion's design philosophy of making the guns the characters is to be believed. They've had the physics and feel down since last year, so I'm looking forward to seeing what type of game they decided to wrap around it. I imagine it would go well with the 360, but who knows.


Burnout: Revenge - Burnout 3 was the best racing game ever in my mind, by a wide margin. I'm not particularly fond of the new look for the series (gritty, faux-realistic), but hey, more great gameplay is more great gameplay. They can't make it any faster, but they can certainly make it sexier.

Final Fantasy XII - It's been a damn long time since I played a proper Final Fantasy game, dating back a good three winters ago. I've also had a hankering for a good RPG recently, and I don't have the time to invest in anything that isn't top-notch. I have no idea what kind of progress has been made on this game since they've shown more or less the same bits for the last two years, but the idea of a new battle system and universe intrigue me. Rabbit chicks are foxy, and I look forward to wooing them with my girlie man Vaan. Also, I haven't truly cared about a character in a game for quite some time.


Half-Life 2 (Xbox) - Alright, the truth comes out - I'm incredibly jealous of those with high end PCs that have been able to play Half-Life 2. Ever since the gameplay videos dropped my jaw two years ago, I've been secretly salivating to explore City Seven's (right?) streets. The Xbox port promises 100% of the content, even if the graphics aren't quite as impressive; as with the original, the gameplay's where it's at though. Plus it just might be the last truly great Xbox game, as sad at that is. Anyhow, I look forward to throwing radiators from the comfort of my couch (after doing do from a booth in a convention center in L.A.).

Killer 7 - Playing multiple personalities of the same person should make for quite the game, at least from a story and design standpoint. How it plays is still somewhat of a mystery though, despite a plethora of media being released for it. Still, it's dripping with style and that trailer makes me quiver with nervous terror/joy.

Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse - Play as a zombie? Command your disconnected hand? Throw your guts? Control other zombies? Soundtrack composed of covers of 70's pop songs by popular indie bands? Sign me the FUCK up. Oh, and it's made by Wideload Studios, founded by Alex Seropian (who also co-founded Bungie).