Monday, June 6, 2011

E3 Running Commentary from NinSage - Sony

  • It is about to begin! ... it's beginning!... no. it's delayed a few minutes.
  • OK, starting now. Everyone in the audience was told to put on their 3D glasses so people are expecting Uncharted 3.
  • Jack Tretton is up apologizing for the PSN hacking.
  • Yup, they are starting with Uncharted 3.
    I love how all the high horsepower games have all these little doo-dads that move on their own, so as characters walk slowly they are constantly playing kick-the-can with empty boxes. =P
    So that game actually looks really good!! Though, Supa thinks it is not focused enough on gameplay versus cinematics.
    Jack Tretton makes a snide remark about "selling a lot of copies of that bad boy" and looks like he has dollar signs in his eyes. =P
  • People keep getting reminded to put on their glasses. And now we are seeing Resistance 3.
  • Sony announces its own 3D television. It's only 24" but it is capable of doing two different views for two different players WITHOUT splitting the screen. That's pretty impressive.
    This is all part of a bundle that includes the TV, one pair of glasses, an HDMI cable, and Resistance 3 all for $499.
  • Talking now about PlayStation Move.
  • Kobe Bryant comes out for NBA2K12.
  • Now we are seeing that Medieval Moves game. It seems to work... moderately well? But they just said "it's all about 1:1 action. what you do is what you see." But that's ... not true. Most of the actions are pre-programmed and triggered by gestures like most Wii games.
  • I just don't see 3D glasses catching on. The next technology will replace it before enough people adopt the glasses.
  • Now we are seeing Infamous 2. The action looks great. But, as with most of the titles in this genre, I can't get into a game unless I can respect the protagonist, and so many of these just star jerks. Sorry.
  • A "much deeper" PSMove expansion to the functionality in LBP2.
  • StarHawk, from a franchise that was once about flight sim, is starting to look more and more just like every other shooter. The ships are just usable vehicles and the shooterizing looks like it will become homogenized like the rest of the pack.
  • This sounds pretty cool. A new game called "Dust" which will be a shooter MMO and work cross-platform with PS3, NGP and PC! That's pretty darn impressive!
    Though, still, these shooters just look too darn similar. There's no point in a new IP if you can't tell them apart. Nevermind! EV tells me this isn't even a new IP!
  • New BioShock looks pretty sweet. Though, I can't tell if the whole thing is (sometimes literally) on rails. It's also outside, in the day-time, and seemingly in a theme park. Is this developers foolishly thinking that anything focused on motion control has to be on-rails (simpler control) and in bright, happy locales??
  • Star-Trek game.
  • New SSX game based on NASA satellite data of Mt. Fuji.
  • Need for Speed: The Run. PS3 owners will get an additional disc with cars only available on PS3.
  • Battlefield 3 will be "jor-dropping" and come with Battlefield 1943 thanks to its Blu-Ray DVD capacity.
  • PlayStation Suite will allow (small?) games on none-PS3 devices.
  • Now we are getting NGP info...
  • Yup. Officially named the PSVita.
    Dual-analog sticks.
    Cameras.
    Front and back touch-screens.
    Wifi and 3G Wifi models.
    Seems like they are partnering with AT&T. Not sure if that means contracts?
  • PSVita demo begins with a portable Uncharted game. The graphics look amazing.
  • "Ruin" will be a PSV "action based RPG" and will be "fully compatible" with PS3.
    So, they are able to save their game to a cloud server, and pick up right where they left off on their PS3. That's friggin' awesome.
  • Mario Kart Racers, I mean, Mod Nation Racers has a PSVita version coming out where you can create new tracks using the touch screen.
  • LPB on PSV. It's what you'd expect.
  • Announcement! Capcom will be bringing "Street Figher X Tekken" to PSVita!
    Featuring Cole from Infamous!
  • PSVita sizzle reel shows Uncharted, LBP, some iPhone-looking games, an awesome cell-shaded anime looking game, s'more phone type games, Mod Nation Racers, Ruin, a create-your own fighter game, a golf game, an awesome ninja stealth looking thing(!!!), a tennis game, and a hand-drawn brawler that looks like it is from VanillaWare judging by the style.
  • PSVita will be available at Holiday THIS year.
    The wifi only model will retail $249. The 3G model will only be $299.
    Wow. That could really make the 3DS/PSVita race A VERY tight one.
  • And that's it! See you tomorrow for the big Nintendo event!!

4 comments:

EV said...

Two things.

First, Dust isn't a new IP. It's part of the EVE Online universe. The way it will work with the PC is actually in conjunction with EVE as soldiers in Dust are essentially ground troops of the space sim/economy game that is EVE.

Second, inFAMOUS's character isn't a 'jerk' or at least isn't scripted as such. Much like Mass Effect's you determine his attitude and dialogue through good/evil 'Karma' choices throughout the game.

I know I've said it before but it bears repeating. As Wii fans we're bothered when people lump honest to goodness fun and creative software into the 'shovelware' pile just because they don't know or care enough to see the difference. We know the difference because we are passionate enough to care.

The same is true with stereotypes about the HD platforms. A lot of software that can be seen as 'just another brown and bloom shooter' or 'just another macho brotagonist' are, in fact, not.

Knowing the harm that these generalizations and assumptions can cause we should be sensitive not to repeat them.

NinSage said...

Thanks for the info on Dust. I updated the post!

As for infamous, I remember hearing from day one that the character could be determined by your choices. You could choose to either be good or bad.

Now, I never played the game so ... how come all the media I've ever been shown has him looking like a "brotagonist" (love that) blowing sh*t up and asking questions later but never like a caring individual?

I certainly don't want to make the very mistakes we condemn here. But, after watching the entirety of MS/Sony's press conferences today, how many of those dudes have emotions besides anger and one-liners involving bodily harm?

If you need lists we can go there, it wouldn't be hard.

Nathan Drake seems fine, honestly. I think it is more his haircut/chiseled features that remind me too much of a frat boy.

But these are just matters of personal taste my dear, Viper.

Many people would find Link, Leon Kennedy and Travis Touchdown to be too flawed or weak to be great protagonists.
... I would consider those people fools, but they might return the favor for my distaste of steroid use (I'm lookin' at you Gears/God of War).

EV said...

Well it's very hard to tell from trailers and 5 minute gameplay demos. For one thing we may only get part of the picture which is what appears to have occurred with inFAMOUS and Mass Effect, or we may not even see the protagonist at all ala the Resistance video or the game may not even have much of a protagonist at all ala Battlefield 3.

I can say that Cole (inFAMOUS), Master Chief (Halo 4, Halo CEHD), Drake (Uncharted 3, Uncharted PSV) and Shepherd (Mass Effect 3) are all more complex or can be complex and likeable protagonists not just juiced up bros.

Obviously Marcus Fenix is there to personify that stereotype but then again there was Sly Cooper to be just the opposite too. Point is there are those who fit the stereotype much like there are Wii games that are legitimate shovelware. Assuming in either case however ends the same way assuming usually does...

NinSage said...

EV, I hear ya, I really do. And I think we're going to just have to agree to disagree on this one, eh?

But that's ok, that's what happens when different people have different perceptions of the same thing.

My question remains, if they wanted those characters to be perceived as anything but "my way or the highway" or overtly "dominant/masculine" 24/7, then why is that all they ever choose to show us?

It IS tough to get the full story from trailers and marketing, that's why, if there is more to the story, it's their job to SHOW us so our (apparently mis)conceptions don't ever happen!


And don't worry, the exact same thing is happening in modern cinema. We can discuss it in the chat sometime if you'd like!