This thread is for predicting, discussing, ect the events that will and are going to happen at E3. The first post will be updated with times when things at the event will happen.
But the main point for before E3 is predicting what we all think will happen. Generating some hype in our own backyard. E3 event times coming soon.
E3 2007- July 11-13 in Santa Monica
Conference Schedule
Microsoft Conference- July 10 at 8:30p.m. PST
Nintendo Conference- July 11 at 9a.m. PST
Sony Conference- July 11 at 11:30a.m. PST
EA- July 11
Midway- July 11
Activision- July 11
Konami- July 11
Take-Two- July 12
THQ- July 12
Ubisoft- July 12
Disney Interactive- July 12
Namco-Bandai- July 12
Floor Plans
Click to see larger pic
Bandai-Namco E3 2007 Lineup
Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation
Release date: October 23, 2007
Platform: Xbox 360
Beautiful Katamari
Release date: Fall 2007
Platform: Xbox 360
Culdcept SAGA
Release date Q1 2008
Platform: Xbox 360
Digimon World: Dawn/ Digimon World: Dusk
Release date: Fall 2007
Platform: Nintendo DS
Digimon World Data Squad
Release date: Fall 2007
Platform: PlayStation 2 system
Dynasty Warriors:GUNDAM
Release date: Summer 2007
Platform: Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 system
Eternal Sonata
Release date: September 2007
Platform: Xbox 360
.hack //G.U. Vol. 3: Redemption
Release date: Fall 2007
Platform: PlayStation 2 system
Namco Museum DS
Release date: Fall 2007
Platform: Nintendo DS
Namco Museum REMIX
Release date: Q4 2007
Platform: Wii
NARUTO: Ultimate Ninja Heroes
Release date: August 28, 2007
Platform: PSP system
NARUTO: Uzumaki Chronicles 2
Release date: September 2007
Platform: PlayStation 2 system
Smash Court Tennis 3
Release date: July 10, 2007
Platform: PSP system
SOULCALIBUR Legends
Release date: Q4 2007
Platform: Wii
Space Station Tycoon
Release date: Q3 2007
Platform: Wii
Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology
Release date: July 2007
Platform: PSP system
Time Crisis 4
Release date: Q4 2007
Platform: PLAYSTATION 3 system
Sega’s E3 2007 Lineup
Bleach: Shattered Blade™ (Wii) - Release: Fall 2007
Bleach: The Blade of Fate™ (DS) - Release: Fall 2007
The Club™ (PS3, Xbox 360, PC) - Release: Winter 2008
Ghost Squad™ (Wii) - Release: Holiday 2007
The Golden Compass™ (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PC, DS, PSP, Mobile) - Release: December 2007
Iron Man™ (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PC, DS, PSP) - Release: Spring 2008
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games™ (Wii, DS) - Release: Holiday 2007
NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams™ (Wii) - Release: Fall 2007
SEGA Rally Revo™ (PS3, Xbox 360, PSP, PC) - Release: Fall 2007
Sonic Rush Adventure™ (DS) - Release: Fall 2007
Space Siege™ (PC) - Release: 2008
Universe at War: Earth Assault™ (PC) - Release: October 2007(PC), Q1 2008 (Xbox 360)
Virtua Fighter ™5　(Xbox360) - Release: Fall 2007
Konami’s E3 2007 Lineup
# Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles
Release date: Fall 2007
Genre: Action
Platform: PSP system
# Contra 4 (working title)
Release date: 2007
Genre: Action
Platform: Nintendo DS
# Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party
Release date: Fall 2007
Genre: Music
Platform: Wii
# Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA 2
Release date: Fall 2007
Genre: Music
Platform: PlayStation 2
# Dewy’s Adventure
Release date: Fall 2007
Genre: Action
Platform: Wii
# Fishing Master
Release date: Fall 2007
Genre: Sports/Fishing
Platform: Wii
# Hellboy The Science of Evil (working title)
Release date: 2007
Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PSP
# Konami Kids Playground
Release date: Fall 2007
Genre: Edutainment
Platform: PlayStation 2
# Silent Hill Origins
Release date: Fall 2007
Genre: Horror/Action
Platform: PSP
Midway’s E3 2007 Lineup
# Stranglehold
Release date: August 2007
Genre: Action
Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC
# BlackSite: Area 51
Release date: September 2007
Genre: Shooter
Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC
# Unreal Tournament 3
Release date: Fall 2007
Genre: Shooter
Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC
# Ultimate Mortal Kombat
Release date: November 2007
Genre: Fighting
Platform: Nintendo DS
# Cruis’n
Release date: November 2007
Genre: Racing
Platform: Wii
# Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am
Release date: October 2007
Genre: Action
Platform: PlayStation 2
# Game Party
Release date: November 2007
Genre: Sports Variety
Platform: Wii
# Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends: Imagination Invaders
Release date: November 2007
Platform: Nintendo DS
# The Wheelman
Release date: Winter 2007
Genre: Driving
Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC
# TNA iMPACT
Release date: Spring 2008
Genre: Wrestling
Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 2
# The Bee Game
Release date: November 2007
Platform: Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance
2k’s E3 2007 Lineup
* All-Pro Football 2K8 (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)
* BioShock (PC, Xbox 360)
* The Darkness (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)
* Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution (Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360)
* NHL 2K8 (PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)
Atari E3 2007 Lineup
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3: The anime fighting game returns for a third round on the Wii and PlayStation 2.
The Witcher: This PC role-playing game drops players into the world envisioned in the novels of best-selling Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. Playing as a famous monster slayer, you’ll be able to drastically alter the outcome of the game based on the gameplay decisions you make.
Godzilla: Unleashed: An enormous fighting game starring the big green one and all his monster buddies. For the Wii and DS.
Jenga: Also for the Wii and DS, Jenga is a virtual version of the popular board game of the same name.
D3 Publisher E3 Games
# Dark Sector
Release date: Q1 2008
Genre: Action
Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
# Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution
Release date: September 2007
Genre: Action
Platform: Nintendo Wii
# Dead Head Fred
Release date: August 28, 2007
Genre: Action
Platform: PSP
# Ben 10: Protector of Earth
Release date: Fall 2007
Genre: Action/Puzzle
Platform: PlayStation 2, Nintendo Wii Nintendo DS, PSP
# Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire
Release date: Fall 2007
Genre: Action Adventure
Platform: Nintendo Wii
# Naruto: Path of the Ninja
Release date: Fall 2007
Genre: Action
Platform: Nintendo DS
Microsoft E3 2007 Press Conference Update
9:59 - Conference is over, band is playing.
9:57 - Showing single player footage of Halo 3 - showing space frigates firing lasers at Earth 0 oh boy they’re showing quite a bit 0 fighting covenant, Cortana makes an appearance, enemies seemed to be using bubble shields, giant quadripedal walkers firing out blue lasers, trailer ends. Appear to have gone back to the ring - might have been a halo 1 environment (silent cartographer). Flying bug things seemed strange. Showed various master chief armors.
9:56 - Now wrapping up conference, going over game titles. Moore thanks everyone for coming. Oh but wait...
9:53 - Moore announcing a new console for the Halo Nation. Halo 3 Special Edition Console launches in september worldwide (like 3 people applaud). Just seems like a special skin, dark, camo green. Looks ugly.
9:52 - Showing live-action short for Halo 3 - green computer text onscreen - giant vehicle moving behind industrial facility - showing metal being fired and forged - rows of Spartan helmets - now they’re armored up - battle rifles show up, pistols - warthogs on an assembly line. aircraft raising up - then it just said Halo 3 - Finish the Fight. Kind of boring.
9:50 - Moore back on stage. Talking Halo.
9:48 - Chasing target, avoiding traps and objects the target tosses back. Using free running system to hop across building rafters, jumps on target’s back and stabs him. Assassin’s Creed to release in November.
9:47 - Jade Raymond on stage to talk Assassin’s Creed, doing an in-game demo. Saying every building in a vast cityscape can be climbed. Protagonist jumps into hay in a crowded plaza - Jade, “Ok glad noone saw that." Walking through streets, tossing aside beggars, walking around highlights NPCs with a white glow that indicates they can be interacted with. Climbs building wall - pushes aguard off a roof - dead body draws guards' attention on the streets, sneaks by, slashes ssome other guy in the face - there’s computerized flittering effects every once in a while - assassin’s target reveals himself sends five enemies after him. Enemies are for some reason only attacking one at a time. More dropping in as assassin stabs them in chest, twists arms around and shoves into enivonment, jabs their knees.
9:42 - Talking about Japan - talking about a game - it won’t launch this year on 360 but the trailer is in game footage - oh snap - Resident Evil 5 - desert down, angry townsfolk with sickles - rapid action montage - a giant 5 log bleeds into the screen. That’s it. More on July 26, when the full version of the trailer will be on the Xbox 360 Marketplace.
9:41 - By Spring 2008 there’ll be two expansion episodes with all new content, exclusive to 360.
9:39 - Now Moore is talking about Splinter Cell Conviction for Xbox 360. Moving on to Grand Theft Auto IV. Footage for first two trailers captured on an Xbox 360. Showing “Special Someone” trailer. Oct 16 NA, Oct 19th in Europe.
9:38 - Tank rolls by, have to take cover in a field, goes prone to hide in tall grass. Line of enemies getting closer now, about to walk right over them. They pause the game and end the demo. Exclusively to Xbox 360 there’ll be an online multiplayer beta. Details at charlieoscardelta.com.
9:33 - Grant Collier and another from Infinity Ward out on stage to talk about CoD4. Infinity Ward has been developing this since CoD2. “Going deep and hard," with development, they say. Laughter in crowd. Showing an in-game demo, starting around Pripyat with a camouflaged sniper rifle. Avoiding radiation packets. Moving with one AI teammate in camouflage. Reached a checkpoint. Uses left stick to zoom scope, holds breath to steady aim. One enemy down. Breaks out silences pistol. Aiming down the sights blurs peripheral vision. Breaking into a house. Smoky, debris falling from ceiling, really nice lighting, move out through graveyhard, enemy helicopter rolls by.
9:31 - Just in case you haven’t seen this, CoD4 looks really good. Check the trailer for yourself.
9:30 - Xbox 360 and Windows game - Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare by Infinity Ward. Showing a trailer. Same trailer that’s already been released.
9:27 - Now showing Games for Windows branded game montage - Flight SImulater X expansion, Thrillville: Off the Rials, Bee Movie Game, Hellgate: London, Age of Empires III THe Asian Dynasties, Stranglehold, Gears of War, BioShock, Crysis, Universe at War: Earth Assault, BlackSite ARea 51, World in Conflict, Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures, Lost Planet Extreme Comdition, Kane and Lynch Dead Men, Company of Heroes Opposing Fronts, Zoo Tycoon 2 Extinct Animals, Juiced 2, Viva Pinata, Spider Man Friend or Foe.
9:26 - SEGA, Eidos, and THQ will deliver more than a dozen Live for Windows games by the end of year. Games for Windows Live support will be built into Unreal Tournament 3.
9:22 - Games for Windows Live support will allow co-op. New multiplayer mode, arenas, new arenas, five new single play sections. You can fight the Brumak. Cliff showing demo. Dom and Marcus fighting Brumak. Brumak is slow moving - using arm-mounted machine guns - Marcus taking cover behind concrete pillars - Marcus takes out two arm guns, nor targeting the large one on the brumak’s head - now Brumak is firing rockets. Gears will run on XP and Vista. Cliff ends demo. Peter Moore comes back out.
9:21 - Viva Pinata is coming to Windows. Gears of War also coming to Windows. Gears will have a game editor, new content, will release this holidy. Cliff Blezinsky on stage to talk about Gears PC. He has brown hair!
9:17 - Kim mentioning Alan Wake, Too Human, Fable 2, and Halo Wars. Now talking about a new Halo story to be told by Peter Jackson working in conjunction with Bungie. Now talking about Lost Odyssey - trailer playing - showing character talking mixed with older cinematic footage - protagonist bitching about being immortal 0 fighting armored guards in cities and large reptilian creatures, looks very Final Fantasy in creature desings and town exploration bits - now a battle montage with various fantastical creatures.
9:14 - Brian Woodhoouse and Craig Howard on stage to show off PGR 4. Talking about bikes in PGR 4 - from Honda, Ducati. Demo footage a little choppy. Bike flying around on wet city street - racking up Kudos by doing on-bike tricks. St. Petersburg, Shanghai, Macau - 10 locations in all. Dynamic weather effects during races. PGR 4 will allow gamers to show videos and photos to each other. To release this September. A trailer ame on with Shadow from The Prodigy playing. Cinematic camera showing off really slick looking cars, nice framerate, flashy reflections, racing across snow and rain, bikes popping wheelies, then shows PGR 4 logo.
9:13 - Shane Kim on stage. Talking about how incredibly sweet Microsoft Game Studios is. Mentioning Forza 2 as included with MGS’s awesomeness.
9:11 - On August 24 - Xbox 360 Elite will launch in Europe.
9:07 - Now Bell is blabbing about how awesome Microsoft’s digital distribution is. Announces an agreement with Disney to bring films from their library to live - includes Hunchback of Notre Dame, Atlantis, Hercules, The Emporer’s New Groove, Armageddon, Sky High, The Waterboy, Bad Company, Unbreakable, The Brothers Grimm, Bringing Down the House, Coyote Ugly, Deja Vu, Primeval, The Queen, Venus, all in HD. All these available tonight to download.
9:06 - Sonic the Hedgehog and Golden Axe should be avaiable for download now.
9:05 - By end of 2006 there’ll be over 100 Xbox Live titles. This includes Bomberman Live, Undertow, Hexic 2, Sonic the Hedgehog, War World (looked awesome), Sensible World of Soccer, Every Extend Extra Extreme, Geon, Wing Commander Arena, Feeding Frenzy 2, Track and Field, Spyglass Board Games, Golden Axe, Space Giraffe, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo Remix, World Puzzle, Marathon: Durandel, Poker Smash, Switchball, Tetris Splash, Puzzle Quest, Boku Sudoku.
9:04 - Xbox Live membership over 7 million. Forecast before E3 next year they’ll be over 10 million.
9:03 - Reggie Bush on stage now to show a demo of - wow this is really awkward watching corporate Bell interact with Bush. Bush - “I know how you Microsoft guys do, trying to cheat." They platying Madden, Seahawks versus Saints - Bush just broke away and scored a touchdown with himself - Bush exits stage after Bell fumbled a handshake / high five.
9:01 - Bell now talking about EA and Xbox Live. Now announces EA Sports games on Xbox 360 will run twice as fast, twice as smooth on Xbox 360, whatever that means.
9:00 - Naruto: Rise of a Ninja is exclusive to Xbox 360, according to Bell. Showing a gamepllay montage. Naruto jumping around a cel-shaded town - walking through grass - now he’s running and jumping blue dragons pop up on screen - now we’re seeing battle arenas. Clean graphical style - Various Naruto characters hitting each other with combos.
8:59 - New controller for Scene It?'s trivia questions. Looks like a stoplight. Worst announcement ever.
8:57 - Jeff Bell from Microsoft on stage to introduce a new title called Scene It?
8:51 - Gameplay montage - Gundam, Cod 4, Stranglehold, Guitar Hero III, Beautiful Katamari, Lost Odyssey, NBA Live 08, Mass Effect, Fatal Inertia, Medal of Honor Airborne, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08, Ace Combat 6, NHL 08, Assassin’s Creed, Spider Man: Friend or Foe, The Simpsons Game, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction, Nascar 08, Eternal Sonata, BioShock, Madden NFL 08, Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground, Crash of the Titans, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The Orange Box, Bee Movie GAme, Rock Band, Naruta: Rise of the Ninja - and it’s over.
8:50 - Still bragging about Microsoft sales numbers. Since last November, 2.4 billion spent by consumers on Xbox 360. Top 5 bestselling games of last generation - GTA vice city, GTA san andreas, GTA3, Halo, and Halo 2.
8:48 - Moore talking about how game sales will eclipse music this year. X360 has 5.6 million user install base in the US. Outselling PS3 by 2:1. These numbers from NPD. Says Xbox 360 is selling more games than anyone else, more than Wii and PS3 games combined. 2/3 of next generation third party games are sold on the Xbox 360.
8:47 - Now talking about Mass Effect. Showing trailer - Open cityscapes - various characters talking to each other about a threat to humanity. A few shots of battle footage. Footage from in space - battles - Sheperd making out with some girl. Bits and pieces of storyline. Mass Effect to be released this November.
8:44 - Trailer for Party Animals - starring Rare’s Viva Pinata characters - walking down a red carpet. Some sort of mini game footage - chasing ants, racing, burping to push sailboats across a pool. It’s called Viva Pinata: Party Animals. Over 50 mini-games and races.
8:43 - The Strokes are in Rock Band.
8:42 - Moore just accidentally paused it again during the finale.
8:41 - Peter Moore accidentally paused the game halfway through and is now confused as to how to get it going. Now it’s on.
8:40 - Harmonix takes the stage to demo Rock Band. Moore is actually going to play guitar. “Let’s pump it up to eleven!" he says. Playing The Hives, Main Offender.
8:39 - Moore talking about every game they show to show up on retail shelves this year. Calls it “the greatest video game lineup in video game history."
8:38 - Moore - “When they heard the music of Halo, they heard rock." My heart is warmed.
8:37 - Oh no - another round on the guitar. Master Chief on screen - now they’re done. Oh no - they just started again, transitioning into conference briefing. Peter Moore on stage.
8:36 - Lights flahsing blue and purple - band wrapping up song. Nothing interesting happened.
8:32 - Introduce Halo fans from Illinois who take the stage as a band. Plaing a video - nebula in space - wailing guitar music - Halo music playing in background. Live band on stage performing Halo song with a bassist, violiist, guitar, keyboard, and drums. Screens from Halo flying across main screen. Band’s song has a definite Celtic edge - then transitions into metal.
8:31 - Announcement that show is about to begin. I feel like I’m inside a flourescent green bulb. Considering the recent announcement of the Xbox 360 warrantee extension, it’d be pretty good natured of Microsoft to start this one out with flashing red lights.
8:30 - Well, nothing’s happened yet, though it seems like a glowstick dance party could break out at any minute.
8:25 - Another announcement - conference to begin in five minutes. Oh man, this might actually start on time.
8:24 - A message just went over the speakers the conference will start in about 10 minutes. Fog is rolling in on either side of the stage, hitting the drum kit and a podium near the pool. Apparently whoever put together the musical selection really likes The Chemical Brothers, because they’ve been playing for the last 20 minutes, not that it’s such a bad thing.
8:00 PM - Microsoft’s big screen is displaying a montage of gamertags, some of which have been identified as those of IGN editors. The day’s light is fading and the whole amphitheatre is glowing a progressively brighter shade of Matrix-green. Half an hour to go.
7:50 PM - Alrighty. We’re sitting down in front of Microsoft’s impressive conference setup at Santa Monica High School. They’ve got us set up in rows of concrete stadium seating. About every three feet on the semicircular rows of terraced concrete have been laid foam dics with Microsoft logos all over them. Definitely more comfortable than the bare concrete.
6:40 PM - Under two hours until the conference starts. A group of editors are about to pile in a car and brave Los Angeles' traffic to head down there. More as soon as we arrive.
5:40 PM PST - While we’re not sure exactly what Microsoft will be announcing, it seems Gears of War PC is somewhat certain. If you haven’t been browsing around the interwebs over the last few days, you probably missed the video that surfaced. The clip, titled “Gears of War on PC," originally published and quickly pulled from gamevideos.com but thereafter uploaded to YouTube, had one scene with the PC version of an achievement unlock pop up at one point in addition to Marcus Fenix battling a Brumak. What’s a Brumak, you ask? Well, if you’ve played the Xbox 360 version, you’d know him as that huge monster with rocket launchers, the coolest looking enemy in the game, that you mysteriously don’t get to fight after escaping from Marcus' family home.
Nintendo’s E3 2007 Conference Updates
10:17 a.m.: Show is over. Madness begins.
10:16 a.m.: “Minute by minute, we intend to steal more of that [leisure] time," he says, noting that people have many entertainment options at their disposal, from iPods to movies.
10:15 a.m. Miyamoto, Trinen leave the stage. Reggie speaks.
10:15 a.m.: Trinen, Miyamoto and Reggie take part in a soccer-heading competition in Wii Fit. They all stand on the balance boards. Soccer balls fly toward them and they have to basically lean to the left or right sides to avoird the balls. Reggie does quite well.
10:11 a.m.: Wii balance board is the official name of the device. It can measure your weight. It also measures how your balance shifts as you stand on it. “We can also use this as a new interface for games." It’s wireless and can be used anywhere in the room.
You can do “body checks” on people with the device. They stand on it. “Please hold still up there," the software says. Asks players to remove heavy clothing. Asks them to relax and release the tension in their shoulders.
Outcome for Reggie, who stood on the device. Center of gravity results. Reggie tends to favor his right foot, it looks like.
The body mass index shows your daily progres and your family’s progress. The development team has been tracking their own data over time, and they have gotten into a contest to see who can be the fittest the fastest.
10:10 a.m.: There are more than 40 activities in the game. Big round of applause for the demo.
10:05 a.m.: Miyamoto takes stage for proper Nintendo ownage. “THe one game that I wanted to introduce to you this year is Wii Fit. When we first were thinking up the console for Wii, this is what we thought. We thought that the Wii would be a device that could be placed in the living room, and as such it needed to be relevant for everybody in the household." Also says it needed to make videogames relevant to everybody in the home. Says in order to achieve these, they needed something based on health.
Three fitness trainers are on-screen. Sharon, left stage, does a one-legged stretch. “Your control is outstanding," the game says.
Center stage trainer, John, demos an aerobic exercise. On-screen icons show different feet positions and you have to step onto and off of the peripheral quickly to match them. Looks basic, but fun. A kind of stair-stepping game, without any great incline.
Far right, Josephine, demonstrates a sideways tiwst. Very oga-like. The game says, “First, twist horizontally." It measures your balance as you do ths.
10:00 a.m.: Where is Miyamoto? Show us this crazy new game. (Can’t stop thinking about Mario in the bee costume. This will haunt our dreams until we play Galaxy.)
“The last game we’re featuring today takes our big league in audience expansion and effectively laps the field."
Wii Fit is introduced.
It’s a scale-like device. Have to balance in the different zones. Holy sweet Jebus, yes, this is pretty much exactly what Nintendo needed! People are doing push-ups on the device. Yoga. Dancing. This is so rockin'! This single game will sell 200 billion copies. Soccer demo. You have to lean forward and head-butt balls as they fly toward you. Dancing game.
Body mass index shown for the game. It measures all sorts of data, obviously.
Thsi is going to rule the mainstream. Expect to read a ga-trillion articles about this in the media over the next six months.
9:59 a.m.: Flash Focus is the American name of their vision training game, available in Japan. Ubisoft’s My Word Coach games are used as exmaples by Reggie. “This is one game where your mom may end up schooling you, and this is just Stage One..." Also talks about MyLife Coach from Ubisoft. “Of course, all of this stems from the popularity of Wii Sports."
Plays montage about Wii Sports. No more montages. Montage overload.
9:57 a.m.: “Just getting started," on expanding the audience. Picross DS is one example. MySims from EA for both Wii and DS. High School Musical from Disney. Also for both Wii and DS. We played this game several weeks back and it’s all right. Now mentions Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, whcih he says is “even nuttier."
9:55 a.m.: Reggie’s back. Brain Age 2 will be here on August 2. Now he’s talking about Super Mario Galaxy. “In one sense, this is the first worthys successor to Super Mario 64, with varying degrees of gravity and the odd sensation of running upside-down on a planet. We believe this sets the new gold standard. " Mario is dressed like a bumblebee and flying around in gameplay footage. Sweet. Some of the levels shown remind us of the bonus stages from Sunshine, which were cool. Sunshine hits November 12 in the US. Awesome.
9:50 a.m.: Another montage. Now showing Super Mario Galaxy, which looks fantastic. New gameplay footae. A bunch of actors got to play this stuff before we did, which sucks. Mario runs around spheres and the actors, one of whom looks to be 35, but is wearing braces, shake the controllers around like enraged monkeys. Game looks cool. Want to play.
9:49 a.m.: Says Nintendo seeks to create titles that are easily played by everyone. However, these same games should provide enough challenge for all types of players. In a few minutes, Mr. Miyamoto will be out there with a new title that meets that role. [Why does this give us goosebumps? Are we really that pathetic? Yes, we are.]
9:47 a.m. Cites the Wii Zapper as something that “erases a barrier” for first-person games.
9:46 a.m. Iwata’s speech continues. Still chatting about videogame players. “Today, we are seeing that it is not impossible to expand the gaming population. So our next challenge at Nintendo is this: to destroy the psychological barrier that separates hardcore gamers from novice gamers."
Want to make new products that cannot be classified as a hardcore game or a casual game.
9:45 a.m. “Let’s widen the focus and look at what comes next for the mass market." Welcomes Satoru Iwata, Nintendo’s worldwide president, who takes the stage.
“Good morning. Thank you for spending time with us today. I played my first videogame 30 years ago. In those days, there were not many gamers. So, from the start I thought it would be wonderful if someday everyone could find the same enjoyment I was having. But to do this we would have to respond with new products. So far, we are seeing some positive results." Examples: Nintendogs, Brain Age.
“With Wii, when people start to sweat while playing Tennis while in their own living rooms, well,, this kind of thing attracts many who never played before. In fact, I must admit that some sort of paradigm shift is taking place in my own home. Right now, I am so enthused with the DS cookbook software in Japan, that I am making it a point to prepare dinner for my family in my days off. And I have learned that I better focus 100 percent... while chopping onions.
Says Nintendo has not lost track of the hardcore gamer, though. Asks hardcore gamers to remember their very first day as gamers. “If you are like me, this was an exciting time in life."
9:43 a.m. Another video montage, this time focused on the expanded audience of Wii and DS. More YouTube clips and media whoring. Dirty, filthy media whoring. It’s making Bozon all hot. We can tell and it’s disgusting.
9:40 a.m.: Square’s DQM: Joker will go online with Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.
Guitar Hero 3 Legends of Wii means that “you can now walk into the Wii hours," says Reggie.
“All of this should at least suggest that we’re serious about letting you show your stuff online."
Mario Kart for Wii goes online in the first quarter of next year! “This is not your father’s Mario Kart." Online multiplayer battle mode, too. “We also think more racers means more fun. How many more? Well, stay tuned."
Shows off custom Wii wheel that will debut with Mario Kart for Wii. Pretty awesome? Yes.
9:38 a.m.: WiiWare. Says it’ll begin next year. “And today, I can announce a new channel. One devotes specifically to the phenomenon known as Miis. Called Check Mii Out, it’s all about creating and showing off Miis. There will be contests based on this functionality, etc."
“Will Nintendo ever get serious about real online gaming? The complete Wii gamers is already suing Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to battle Pokemon online." Etc. Then uses Mario Strikers Charged.
“But I know you want more. No matter which formm of football you prefer, EA Sports will have you going online this fall." FIFA and Madden are online-enabled, as we know. 9:38 a.m: 5.6 million game downloads on Virtual Console. 112 titles available.
9:35 a.m.: Reggue back on stage. He’s talking about Nintendo online now. Another montage of media whoring, this time centered on DS' online capabilities. Mario Kart mentioned — but, of course, it’s the old game. They actually called out the horrible Opera Browser for DS. That thing is bad.
“Today, five and a half million DS owners have fired up their Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection," says Reggie. Notes that Nintendo’s service is free.
9:32 a.m. Looks fabulous. Very smooth. Running 60 frames. Very detailed textures for a Wii game. Particles look nice. You can gesture to trigger different visor views. You simply hold down the minus button and then motion in differnt directions. You can also now lock-on to enemies but retain the ability to manually aim, too. Very, very cool.
Talking about Hyper Mode. You inject an energy tank. Samus becomes devestating, but it comes at a price. If you stay in Hyper Mode too long, you will become corrupted. We want this game now.
9:31 a.m. Metroid Prime 3 demo! We are in love.
9:30 a.m. Trinen continues to demo Phantom Hourglass. “It’s one of the fastest-selling Zelda games they’ve ever had," he says of the title’s recent Japanese release. The title looks good. We already have impressions of the Japanese build so check them out.
9:28 a.m.: Well, maybe not so much in regard to new video footage. Reggie is back on stage. He invites “Mike” and Bill Trinen to the stage to demonstrate The Legend of Zelda: Phantam Hourglass. Now we can stop whining.
9:27 a.m.: Video montage. This time, we think it could include gameplay footage. Shows some people playing Wii Sports, anyway. That’s something. Now they’re playing Metroid Pinball on DS. And looking at Super Paper Mario. Sweet. These old games rock!
9:25 a.m.: Talks about Soulcalibur Legends for Wii, WWE for Wii and Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword for DS. Talks about Square Enix’s Dragon Quest Swords. “You’ll be playing this new Dragon Quest early next year," he says.
Now mentions Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. Shows footage of Mario and Sonic sprinting. Looks good.
Leads into Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Mentions the different controller options. “The Smash comunnity is stoked, but when? Not next year. Not next spring. I can announce today that Smash Bros. Brawl will launch in the Americas on December 3."
9:22 a.m. “What’s even more fun than whack-a-mole? How about zap-a-zombie?" Not so sure about that one, Reggie. Also says Ghost Squad from SEGA and EA’s Meda of Honor for Wii will take advantage of the Wii Zapper. Pretty good stuff.
Medal of Honor for Wii. “Up to 32 soldiers can combine in multiplayer mode," says Reggie.
Will package Wii Zapper this year along with a new Nintendo game made for the device. Retail price: $19.99. People applaud, as they damned well should.
9:20 a.m. Introduces the Wii zapper. Sweet new gun mode. Nunchuk rests on back. Wii remote up front. Quasi-shotgun design. Works with Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles. Thank you, Jesus?
9:18 a.m.: The montage is not of gameplay footage, we should clarify. Rather, it’s more media whoring and hardcore gamer reaction. The clips look to be ripped directly from YouTube, as they are more compressed than the videos in third-party Wii games.
9:15 a.m. Says developers are taking notice. Between now and the holidays, NA players can expect another 140 titles for the DS and another 100 games for Wii. “The development community realizes the opportunity." To date, 14 of the top 20 Wii games in America have come from third parties. “We are now facing a wonderful new reality. Everyoene’s a gamer. People who never played games before are playing now. And the very core of the traditional gaming market are saying, 'You know what? Wii is for me too.'"
Now showing another montage.
9:14 a.m.: Competitors are calling Wii and DS a fad. “You know what? If I were in there shoes I’d be saying the same thing." Reggie convincingly points to Wii and DS sales, which continue to speak for themselves.
“Wii is poised to become the number-one worldwide in this generation very soon." Indeed.
9:12 a.m.: More data. Wii owners play more than other console owners do, in a nutshell. We’re pretty sure Nintendo went over most of this data during a previous show, although the numbers have seen some changes. Yep — now he’s showing the core influencers/mass market diagram, and we’re positive we’ve seen that thing before. Where’s the blue ocean?
9:07 a.m.: 18-24 audience has more than doubled. Reggie calls this type of growth “unprecedented."
Talking female gamers. For everybody except Nintendo, it’s an 80/20 split, 80% being men, of course. For Nintendo, though, it’s 67% men and 33% women. “This, too, is driving Nintendo’s business. In fact, the Nintendo DS may be the beacon that’s lighting the way to the future of the entire gaming industry."
9:06 a.m.: DS marketshare is up to 25% of all hardware sales in the US, says Fils-Aime.
Ages 18+ now account for 53% of revenue. Bozon is only 17, and he looks sad.
9:04 a.m.: Reggie continues onward, chatting about how the videogame industry is continuing to grow. We don’t see any gameplay footage, and hence we’re bored. More talk about expanding audience.
“69% of all game industry growth this year comes directly from the sales of all Nintendo products," says Reggie.
Says home console and handheld sales are evening out. In 2002, it was 70% console and 30% handheld. In 2006, it’s mroe or less 50/50.
9:02 a.m.: Lights dim. Show is about to begin. Bozon is crying like a little girl and clutching his hands.
“These videogamers are all alike..." says an opening. Didn’t catch it all, but we think the point is to show how different Wii is. Montage of stuff. Fan-made Mario video. Someone talking about N65. News person chats about DS. DS scrolls on two screens to the left and right of the center. Montage continues. Newspaper articles. Basically, the whole thing is showcasing how all the media whoring DS and Wii have received. The piece is well-edited, we’ll give them that. Nintendo fans in the auditorium applaud.
“My name is Reggie, and I am happy," says Reggie. “To us, today is more than a press conference and a business meeting. We see today as a celebration. And by that, I don’t mean just a celebration for Nintendo, but for all of us. Because we think this E3 marks a turning point..." Mor
9:00 a.m.: We’re up and running on our EVDO now. Mucho better. “Izza niiice!" Meanwhile, the suckers behind us are still leaching crap-speed Internet. The announcer guy just said, “Ladies and gentlemen, the show ill begin in approximately two minutes." Then he said something about turning off portable electronics — we weren’t really listening. Wait, what?
8:57 a.m.: Soon, we have to think Reggie will take the stage and talk about how the expanded audience has spoken, etc. As if on cue, an announcer just said, “Ladies and gentlemen, the show will begin in approximately five minutes."
8:55. a.m.: The free wireless pretty much sucks because everybody is using it. We’re going to pop in our EVDO cards and see if we get better speeds. Meanwhile, there is a guy behind us wearing a hat with a video camera embedded into the front. Yep, the Nintendo fans are here.
8:50 a.m.: We’ve got Craig Harris on photo duty. Hopefully he’ll get some pics in soon, or we might have to fire him soon. Photos will be uploaded as they come in to this article, so just sit tight.
8:47 a.m.: Giant Nintendo logo on the screen. We spot sensor bars all over the place. Somewhere in the back of this place, the video crews are getting ready to stream. That means Fran Mirabella is back there somewhere. We’d like to punch him in the face.
8:45 a.m.: This place is starting to fill up. Nintendo’s got some music playing in the background. People are walking all over the place. We spot peeps from CNN, Wired, USA Today, a billion or two fansites, and more. We’re confident they all want our seats, but it’s not happening.
8:30 a.m.: We’ve all got front-row seats. As it should be. If only we had brought Wii remotes, we could probably have interfered with all their gameplay demonstrations. Next time.
8:15 a.m.: Nintendo employees are inside the auditorium. We spot Shigeru Miyamoto as he examines some crazy circular-based video camera. (It is there for filming purposes and has nothing to do with Wii or DS.) Miyamoto is smiling as he twists and turns the device.
Perrin, Beth and George Harrison are all walking about, doing meet and greets.
Translator Bill Trinen, who always handles Miyamoto’s stuff, is sitting in the front row... asleep. “Dude, can’t you at least fake excitement for this show?" we ask him. He does not appear amused.
8:00 a.m.: Media are gathered in front of the auditorium. We nab our credentials and some donuts, both integral to coverage, and head inside the venue.
7:55 a.m.: We arrive at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium to attend the big event. While parking, we nearly crash into and kill NOA’s super-duo, Perrin Kaplan and Beth Llewelyn. Whoops.
Sony’s E3 2007 Conference Updates
8:30 PDT - Ok, we’re seated, and things are getting started. Swirling images on four massive displays, like the flowing background on the PS3.
8:32 PDT - Opening promo movie coming up, kaleidoscopes of PS3 and PSP, but no gameplay. “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Mr. Jack Tretton."
8:33 PDT - “We’re extremely excited to unveil all our plans for the PS brand this year." Showing around Home. “We’ve already had our public beta going on for months, and this is the Home square."
8:36 PDT - Jack’s out, wishing he had his regular “death grip” on a podium. We “have a few other tricks up our sleeves, you’ll be seeing games, games, and more games ... we’re squeezing over 50 titles. Into this presentation."
8:41 PDT - Showing PSP titles: Socom: US navy Seals tacitical strike, Wipeout Pulse, Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow, NBA 08, God of War: Chains of Olympus, Silent Hill Origins, Patapon, tiger Woods PGA Tour 08, Sonic Rivals 2, SWAT: Target Libterty, Final Fanrtasy Tactics: War of the Lions,Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles — “We’re loving this 2D/3D look, and Castlevanis is one of the best looking examples to date."
8:44 PDT - Hope you enjoyed that look at some of the great games coming out for PSP. In total there are more than 140 games coming to PSP in North America, when you match those games with other features in the PSP, you quickly understand why this handheld is truly unique.
8:45 PDT - Jack is back in Home. “I thought I’d take the opportunity to pop back into Home to show you my tricked out apartment. I left the door open, so I hope some of the hot chicks will wander in."
Jack: “Hey, Kaz! What are you doing here?! Are you going to show us Riiiidge Racer?" (Kaz’s avatar is playing a PSP in Home)
Kaz: “Do you mind staying here while I show off some things?"
Jack: “No problem, I’ll just chill here on the deck."
Kaz: "“We are introducing the world to the evolution of the PSP ... What I’m holding is the newest version of the PSP, which will be available in September. It’s not too different, it still has UMD and the same screen, but once you have it in your hand, youll see the difference. It’s 33% lighter, 19% slimmer, and the battery is much improved." (It looks just like a PSP. It doesn’t look any slimmer to us ... seriously, it looks the smae. We’re sure side by side hte difference will be quite apparent, but not here. )
8:48 PDT - “It can also output high quality video. You could hook it up to your Bravia HDTV, so everyone can only your PSP." Wow, video ouput. This is a truly killer feature, not only in terms of playing your PSP games at home but enjoying your UMDs (if you’re into that sort of thing) on a normal screen. You see, this is a trailer for Spider-Man 2, which is out on Blu-ray from Sony Home Enterainment. So now, I press the display button, and as you see it’s not playing on the flatscreen behind me." The Spider-Man 2 trailer must be high-defish. Playback on a giant projection screen is impressive. This ain’t no 480x272.
8:49 PDT - “You can control what you’re seeing, I’ll pause it, get rid of the menu, etc. If you want the video back on your PSP, push the display button again and it’s back on your PSP. You can play games, videos, show photos, all of that on a tv screen or your PSP. With DLNA, you can also access the files on your PC at home via your PSP. This sparks the imagination, and encourages developers and players alike to think beyond the norm." We envision a bizarre future world where we stream computer video to the PS3 to the PSP over RemotePlay and then video output to a friend’s HDTV. Sure, we’ll only use this feature once ... but it’s cool nevertheless. “As you can see it comes in piano black, but there are some additional colors that are coming to North America, which Jack will show off in a moment."
8:51 PDT - Jack is back on stage, cracks some jokes (he’s here all week folks!), the crowd eats it up though. See, they’re not so bad. “So, as Kaz mentioned, the PSP comes in piano black, but it also comes in Ice Silver. We plan to offer it in an entertainment pack, including a 1 gig card and Daxter. We’re also offering the Family Guy Peter Griffin “Frickin' Sweet' edition. “We’re also offering another color, and I’ve brought a special person to help introduce this color. Ladies and gentlemen, Chewbacca!" Chewbacca enters stage right to the score of star Wars. Wookie banter fills the auditorium. He’s holding a star Wars -themed PSP and pPromoting the Star Wars Battlefront pack, includes white PSP with Darth Vader’s image on the back. jack and Chewy go back and forth — it’s endearing.
8:54 PDT - “Thanks for joining us Chewie, I know you’ve come a long way, and I see you’ve got your Sony PSP Battlefront Pack with you. It’s a white PSP that features Darth Vader’s image on the front." Chewie ROARS! “No Chewie, you can’t have that one for free, but you will be able to buy it soon."
8:57 PDT - Phil Harrison enters stage right. Naturally, he dwarfs Jack ... we wonder exactly how tall Phil is. “Thank you everyone. As Jack was pointing out, we have the ability to develop downloadable games that help drive the technology. For example, the PS3 has a huge hard drive, and that allows us to create the highest quality game expereinces, just like you’d expect to see on a disc-based product. We have more than 80 1st-party games available for download and in development that will be available by the end of the year."
8:59 PDT - “Every generation has a puzzle game that helps to define it, and today I’m introducing to you for the first time in the world, echochrome." Least graphics, most gameplay is their angle. An MC Escheresque world on screen with a stick figure man walking around. Think Jenga blocks plus stick figure man plus acid. The graphcs, while minimalistic, are really quite beautiful. They’re crisp, clear, and dare we say elegant. The classical music gives the whole experience a real air of sophistication. Where’s our smoking jacket?
12:01PM PDT - That’s game #1, four more to go. “I have four more games I’d like to share, the 1st ... in eye-blistering 1080p and 60fps is Wipeout HD; the next one is Pain; the third is the online combat games par excellence, WarHawk; and Socom: US Navy Seals Confrontation. Let’s take a look at them."
12:03PM PDT - Wipeout HD looks like ... well, Wipeout. But Pain on the other hand, this we can get used to. Maybe it’s our sadistic side, but we’d really like fling that guy into a truck.
12:04PM PDT - Incognito’s Dylan Jobe is on screen talking Warhawk. We’re treated to plane, tank, and uh ... foot battles. “Warhawk is an incredibly fast-paced multiplayer game. You can play at home, or with your buddies online. It’s incredibly immersive, yet at the same time, there’s a huge war taking place all around you."
12:04PM PDT - Slant Six Games David Seymour talks Socom. SOCOM Confrontation is Socom’s first appearance on the next generation. The game is purchased online, and downloaded to your HD. As a result, the game runs purely off of your HD. It will be on Bluray and in the PS Store this holiday season." The game is purchased directly from PlayStation Store ... but also Blu-ray, not unlike Warhawk.
12:05PM PDT - Phil: “I think those five games alone show the power and potential of the PS3 , and of things to come. Now let’s turn back to the thing that we started off with, the PS Home . We’ve made some important new additions to the service, and I’d like to share them with you. We have the Home client now running on a mobile phone. The touchpoints and community experience of home are expanding to the mobile environment." (The Home client can run on a mobile phone!)
12:07PM PDT - “Now let’s look at the new Home square that will be replacing the current Lounge lobby. This open air experience has more room for expansion over time. We’ll be launching new spaces all the time for you to buy and customize, and add to your own space over time. Here I am in my new Space, a Norwegian ski lodge. Here inside, I’ve got a SingStar unit set up. It’s the leading music game on the planet, with more than 10 million units and 300 million songs sold. It ships on Bluray, but is extended through the PSN and the Home experience." He’s taking a group photograph. Fond memories of the GDC 2007 keynote flash back to us ... we were so young then and Phil wowed us with that Home demo. A new open air field is replacing the lounge area they’d previously showed off. The new space looks like a city square,. Think DisneyLand style new urbanism. Now a video montage of some of the new spaces.
12:10PM PDT - Singstar dev. “When you think about it, it’s like iTunes meets MySpace."
12:10PM PDT - Phil: “As you can see, these spaces are fully immersive living spaces. What?! Look! That photo I took from my phone is now online. Live media blogging from the virtual world to the real world!" The photo — a not very attractive cameraphone shot — is already live on his wall in Home. It’s a meta, live, blogging thing. Sorta like what we’re doing here. But with more money.
12:11PM PDT - They’re showing a social networking site for Home. This is like MySpace meets MySpace. “We can push content from Home out to a web browser, it’s our social networking site for Home, which we’re showing for the first time. It has live, automatic blogging from inside of Home. You can meet, socialize, talk about games ... and play games."
12:12PM PDT - “Here’s a new feature, and that will be available when we launch in the Fall. You can jump into any game from inside the Home environment. Since I’m in the proper attire for Motorstorm, let’s go for a race." : They just launched a game of MotorStorm, playing Eagle’s Nest — a new track available next month (let’s hope there’s no delays on this one). Phil’s not using MotorStorm’s nearly impossible to control Sixaxis controls. He stops the demo just as his pickup truck flies over a cliff Thelma and Louise style. “It’s not just multiplayer games that can be launched from Home, but any game. When you’re done with the game, you simple quit the game and you’re dropped back into Home. Publishers will be creating their own unique lounges for their games, it’s not just limited to your personal apartment."
12:15PM PDT - Jack’s back! “The new PS3 went into effect on Monday, and our sales have doubled at our top five retailers. In fact, one of those retailers might have slipped the new price a bit early." (Laughter). That 80GB drive? It’s for the online downloading enthusiast ... whoever they are. Jack cracks another joke that us bloggers just chew up — one retailer was so excited they slipped their ad a little early. We love it Jack! Keep it coming.
12:18PM PDT - He’s crunching numbers on the great HD DVD versus Blu-ray wars of '06 and '07. We’re totally convinced that Blu-ray was the right way to go, and the message is more than getting home to consumers. Blu-ray dvd discs are enjoying a sales figure of more than two to one over HD-DVD, including the Blu-ray drive in the PS3 helps make the console future-proof. “There will be more than 200 Blu-ray disc games available worldwide, and over 80 PSN games."
12:18PM PDT - “Let’s start with our partners games first. We’re providing them with the tools they need to develop great games for the PS3. We’re very pleased to announce that NCSoft will be joining the PlayStation camp. You probably know them from Lineage, City of Heroes, and Guild Wars. Very soon, they’ll be brining that to the PS3 exclusively." Wow, Sony has managed to nab exclusivity to NCSoft’s online games, based on current and new IPs. “Only the PSN can support the types of games NCSoft has become famous for." Are we gonna see Richard Garriots Vanguard on PS3 exclusively?
12:20PM PDT - “From a new addition, to a lifelong member .. Ubisoft. This fall they’ll be bringing a new title to the PS3 .. Haze. Let’s take a look..." Footage of Haze reveals some more details, including “playing dead." You’re fighting the yellow-masked guys... “Today I am reborn, not it’s time to set things right." Sounds like someone’s gone renegade! “That looks great, and it’s very exciting to have Haze as a PS3 exclusive." If you want to play Haze this holiday, you’ll need to do it on PlayStation 3 first. That answers that little exclusivity mystery.
12:24PM PDT - “The engine for this next game became one of the standards in the industry, and that game is Unreal. Sony has signed a multi-part agreement with Midway and Epic, and we’re working closely with Epic to adjust the Unreal engine to the PS3 to use it to the best of its potential." First stage: working with Epic to optimize the Unreal engine for the PlayStation 3. Unreal Tournament III confirmed as PS3 exclusive this year — another timed exclusive. You’ll also be able to share mods between the PC and PS3 platforms. Very, very cool. With Microsoft’s announcements yesterday, and Sony’s today, it sounds like Epic is probably looking for some more office space to store all their piles of cash. We’ve got some leftover office space here, fellas. Just call us.
12:26PM PDT - Videos of more games: Like Microsoft last night, Sony is showing off Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Assasin’s Creed (we love that Unkle trailer. Seriously, just play it one more time for us Sony). Also, like Microsft (but a little more in depth) a look at Kane and Lynch Dead Men, a game we’re still pretty in the dark about. Again, just like Microsoft, we’ve got Resident Evil 5. This is like going to a party, seeing that other person you hate, and finding that you’re wearing the same outfit. Oh, the shame! We’ve also got brief looks at Burnout 5 Paradise, Madden NFL 08, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: The Videogame, The Simpsons Game (we’re seriously hearting the cel-shaded graphics), Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Medal of Honor: Airborne and Rock Band ... Jack has to force the crowd to applaud.
12:33PM PDT - “There’s one last third party exclusive I’d like to share ... this franchise has been a fixture on our consoles since the beginning, and it’s only on PLayStation 3. Ladies and gentelemen, Hideo Kojima." Hideo Kojima takes the stage.
12:33PM PDT - “Hello everyone. I safely made it, again, to this E3. Well, the game Metal Gear, known as a stealth game, is celebrating it’s 20th anniversary come July). Well, I’ve been creating this metal Gear franchise for over 20 years, over many platforms, and this MGS4 will be the final part of the series. The story of Snake will end with this one and me, as a game creator, this will be my last to end with this series. So, all the story plot, the characters, the mysteries, will be revealed. And the game itself will be a stealth game, with new elements of the battlefield. I promise you I’m putting all my effort, all my skills..."
12:36PM PDT - They’re going to show off the new trailer they promised — the first with English dialog. Oh Snake, you sound so old. We’ll always say we knew you when. Everything’s in game ... and it looks incredible. We don’t know how you do it Kojima-san, but you never cease to impress us.
12:37PM PDT - His job: kill the new mustachioed Liquid. Again. Soldiers flail on teh ground, suffering from the effects of Foxdie. Whoa ... an epic battle between the new (and totally badass) Raiden and a long haired gentleman. We can barely pull our eyes away, but we still would have loved to see some actual gameplay. Video finishes with “Simultaneous Worldwide Release." Kojima asks, “How was it?" The crowd claps approvingly.
12:42PM PDT - “Sorry, this time because of time we only have the traiiler, but in Tokyo we will have a demo, playable. I hope everyone can come to Tokyo next week. See you in Tokyo, thank you." Sure, Kojima-san. We’ll be there. With bells on.
12:44PM PDT - Phil’s back onstage, Home is behind him with Phil’s avatar wearing a giant Ratchet suit. We’d give almost anything to see the real Phil in this outfit. Showing Ratchet and Clank; then he walks through the space to a Folklore setup, and they start a Folklore trailer.
12:47PM PDT - Next on the list, we see a special theater for Heavenly Sword. “We’ve built a special theater in Home for Heavenly Sword, here’s a look at it." A series of steps lead up to the screen, and the video starts. Each of these videos features a voiceover by one of the game’s designers. Sony seems really intent on tying the development studios name, and the designers, to each of these titles.
12:49PM PDT - Previewing rooms for: NBA 08 ... LittleBigPlanet (looks like our dream fort) ... Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (they’re talking up the animation, the game’s real technical achievement: “Over 3000 animations”
. “Uncharted’s gonna be the best game NaughtyDog’s ever made," said NaughtyDog. But there are more...
12:55PM PDT - Pleased to announce a new game from Suckerpunch, the Sly Cooper developers. It’s a sandbox game, where you choose the path between superhero and antihero: Infamous. This appears to be in engine, and it looks very impressive. With the character climbing walls, using superpowers, we’re thinking Crackdown meets Assassin’s Creed meets Grand Theft Auto meets City of Heroes meets other stuff. Color us impressed.
12:57PM PDT - “Of course, it wouldn’t be a PlayStation event without including the most successful racing series of all time, Gran Turismo. We’ll be bringing Gran Turismo 5: Prologue to the marketplace as a precursor to Gran Turismo 5." We’re not sure what to say here. It looks like Gran Turismo, beautiful as ever. We’ll see how the whole “prologue” thing works out.
12:58PM PDT - Jack’s back on stage. “Phil, didn’t you forget one thing?"
Phil: “Oh yes, everything you’re about to see if real time." ... The Killzone 2 trailer!
1:02PM PDT - Man, we can’t tell what anyone is saying in the game! It’s all yelling and gunfire. (Looks great though). This is the same Killzone presentation we saw last night, with a developer onstage playing though the level just like they did last night. The two middle screens show the playthrough, while the two side screens show pre-recorded footage of later parts of this level. We don’t think they’re going to go through the entire 20 or so minute thing for us.
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