Hey all, last part of my E3 2011 overview, talking about the strengths and weaknesses of the major three, and who came out on top(IMO).
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Well, the Data base is back and just in time for the start of E3, I know a lot of content was lost but to get back in the swing of things, I thought I would try out something new with posting mini podcast to reflect what was shown and give an idea of my over all impressions from the last two days of press conferences. Might be a little jagged around the edges, but enjoy.
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By Michael Jordan
Man o man if this does not get you exited in your happy place I don’t know what will. Bethesda Softworks latest Elder Scrolls was all but a mystery all but not to long ago, but with the unveil of this official trailer it can’t help but to draw eyes to its much anticipated appearance. Time to get down with the Dragon Born.
By Michael Jordan
THQ by popular demand has brought back its North Korea inspired Korea BBQ food trucks to LA as well as San Francisco from Feb. 22 to March 21 upcoming first-person shooter “Homefront”. Fresh tacos, burritos and rice bowls will all be sold at bargain subsidized prices, as well as giving free food daily. Select days, trucks in both cities will feature Xbox 360consoles, enabling players to personally experience Homefront, in addition to trying the delicious food.
“In addition to touring the cities, Pyongyang Express is scheduled to be present at the Moscone Center in San Francisco during the Game Developers Conference from Feb. 28 to March 4, as well as for the grand opening of Truckit Fest at Union Station in Los Angeles on March 6.
For more information about Pyongyang Express, and to view daily location updates and ongoing promotions and contests, become a fan on Facebook or follow the trucks on Twitter.”
By Michael Jordan
While many of us will be spending too much money on Valentine’s Day for something that should be expressed throughout the year to our significant others or the sly Casanova doing a quick pick of the night, many of us still wonder what it would be like in video game land. Thus this list was born. Here is the Top 5 guys and gals of video gam Valentine’s Day.
The Guys:
Number 5
Kratos might be one hell of a violent SOB, but many of you forget why he is so violent to begin with. This guy had his family killed and fused in to his skin. This man screams family, literally. What better suiter to be in a relationship with then a guy who is not only strong, fast and quick to protect, but a family man that is willing to give his life to destroy the people that might take you from him. Nothing says love like a knife in the face of your enemies, right?
Number 4
For the girls that are looking for the older man in their life, Solid Snake is the man for you. Knowledgeable and patriotic, he aims to please. It is a double bonus for those ladies that are looking for a short relationship, by no fault of his own; he won’t exactly be around too long. Great for those ladies that are looking to get revenge on their boyfriends for not caring enough, and want a quick makeup, without feeling bad.
Number 3
With the growing age of sexual ambiguity, some ladies will find solace in Squall. Being a pretty boy romantic, Squall will fit the part whatever your Japanese BL fantasy entitles. Quick, flexible and good with his hands after swinging around a giant gun sword, this lady killer will be quick to swoon with his long lashes and feminine know how. Combine this with his listening to all your problems and engaging in ideas of eternal love and this just might be a pick for you.
Number 2
While many of you might be looking for a man that is not as serious as most and knows how to crack a joke, while under extreme tension, Nathen Drak is there. Being a rugged quick shot with the heart of gold, Nathen has a quip for every serious situation, breaking the ice and releasing the tension no matter how thick it is. The added bonus of traveling to destination, some only dream of wasn’t good enough to pull you in, the promise of world renown treasures will be more then worth it for a first date.
Number 1
Rounding out the Number one spot is Mario Mario. While he might not look like much, this Italian plumber knows what it takes to “lay pipe.” If the promise of cleaning your warp pipe like no other does not suit you, the fact that he is one of the richest men in the world might, boasting his extensive collections of sporting events, “games” and shows throughout the Mushroom Kingdom might. Plus he will go and save you, no matter how many times you get yourself in a sticky situation with a crazy, possibly Ex-boyfriend situation.
Number 5
Every guy likes an honest girl who stands up for what she believes in. Faith is a perfect example of that. Pure and just, you will not have to wary about what is in store for you with this relationship. For the meeker type of guys, this might be the perfect women for you, quick with a punch and skilled at disarming her opponent, you won’t see any fights that don’t end in your favor. For the others of you with more shallow intentions, she will be sporting a more athletic body then anyone in the top 5.
Number 4
Aya might be a shocking pick for most of you, especially in the age Zoey from Left 4 Dead, but trust me, there is no one you would rather have then Aya by your side, especially if the Zombie Apocalypse happens on my predicted day of Valentine’s Day. Sword skills like no other, and a blood line that will possibly have the cure for the living dead, you will be safe knowing that a beautiful lady with huge double dssssssss…..swords, ya swords, will be there to save your underperforming ass. And she will be nice about.
Number 3
Now before you dispense with the nerd rage because I did not use Angelina Jolie, Let me just state that that Lara is a much more natural person then the Hollywood counterpart. This vixen knows her way around a trigger and is good with her hand. If her smoking body did not seal the deal, maybe the fact that she is a millionaire might. While being a bad ass, she also has sophistication and knows allot about world of antique items and with brass like hers, you can bet that your bed life will never get old.
Number 2
Everyone wants that wholesome girl that will be with us through thick and thin, here enters Tifa. Not only will she stay with you as you pine over you ex-girlfriend, she will be with you to the end with no regrets, even if that means going against a psychotic being created from an alien. Not to mention her need to show how good she looks in the fewest pieces of fabric possible, and you have a great Valentine just waiting to “burst out” and “love you.”
Number 1
Being in her armor 80% of the time not withstanding Samas Aran, is one of the most beautiful and talented women in the galaxy. Proving to be a valuable asset as a partner; quick wit, knowledge and patience to deal with most everyone that does not aim to attack her, Samus is the girl of gaming dreams. Sporting a ride that will put anyone to shame, you will never have to wary about being late for a date as she will come to pick you up. With here far superior flexibility and love for latex she covers all bases from sexy to kinky, in a bat of an eye. All these things make Samus the number 1 pick for Valentine’s Day.
By Michael Jordan
Hey all I thought I would introduce a new section every Friday on the weeks events and thoughts, If you have not heard of what happened that week then Google it!
Activition:
BlizzCon 2011 announced – Don’t have the money but if you do get on that!
Guitar Hero finally being killed off? – God I hope so.
December Quarter Financial Results – Huge sums of money that were made, I suspect pact with the devil.
THQ:
UFC Undisputed Firght Nation getting a Facebook Game – My mom now likes UFC
You don’t know Jack: The Quintessentail Interactive Trivia Game hits Consoles and PC – I don’t know Jack about Jack soooooo….good? Maybe? Hmmm
Stacking reveal for XBLA and PSN – The more games that Double Fine makes, the happier I am.
Third Quarter Fiscals – “shipped approximately 2.7 million units of WWE(R) SmackDown(R) vs. Raw(R) 2011” – really? This is a thing? Not knocking it but kind of surprising.
Nintendo:
Get a Victini Distributed to Early Purchasers of Pokemon Black and White – If I had the cash I would pick it up.
Download :
WiiWare: Spot the Differences! LIT (demo version) Urbanix (demo version)
Virtual Console:S.C.A.T.
DSi:G.G Series Dark Spirits, Boom Boom Squaries, 505 Tangram, Shawn Johnson Gymnastic
- Demos are always a good thing. Good on them for a lot of releases this week.
Mario Sports Mix is now out – Uggggggghhhh I love you Mario, but I can’t take any more of these “Mix” games.
New Nintendo Club rewards – Old School Game and Watch, total AWSUME!
Microsoft:
Whole lot of nothing.
Sega:
Sonic colors guide for Planet Wisp, Act 1 – I can’t trust Sonic any more
$0.99 apps on the AppStore for Valentine’s Day – I cry when looking at my empty wallet.
Anarchy Reigns Gameplay Trailer – I don’t know what’s going on but the trailer makes my pants tight.
US release of Yakuza 4 gets packed in DLC for free – Ecstatic , maybe they are trying to make up for the horrible way they handled there PSO service State side.
Sega is giving away allot of stuff via Twitter – Get on that, as well as Get on my twitter @mukyoucom.
Reminder that there will be a Super Monkey Ball 3D for 3DS – looks alright.
Sony:
Sued or be sued – being sued and then suing people probably prevents AAA titles from being made
Finacial Results – Not looking that great, also you would think their slide shows look a little weak, you think they would spice it up.
Take-Two:
Income reports – “Net Revenue was $334.3 Million” looks at wallet again and crys.
Call of Juarez: The Cartel Summer 2011 – hmm I don’t know much of the back logs of those games, but I have not heard good things…..
EA:
Financial Results – $600 Million Stock Buyback Announced is good….if you owned EA stock, they also made hand over fist in Spanish gold coins with Dead Space 2.
Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference – EA will be there, will you? ……No
By Michael Jordan
For me, DJ Hero 2(coming out Oct. 19) will not be a release that I will bat an eye at. DJ Hero is a great game and just different enough to play over Rock Band. But if your interested, here are the tracks to be released.
Hit Makers Mix Pack (available starting November 2):
Usher ft. will.i.am – “OMG” (Remix by FSG)
Rihanna ft. JAY-Z – “Umbrella” Mixed With Marvin Gaye – “Let’s Get It On”
Big Boi & Cutty – “Shutterbug” Mixed With Mark Morrison – “Return of the Mack”
Electro Hits Mix Pack (available starting November 16):
LMFAO – “I’m In Miami Trick” Mixed With Green Velvet – “Shake & Pop”
Steve Aoki ft. [[[Zuper Blahq]]] – “I’m In The House” (Remix by FSG)
SMD – “Hustler” Mixed With Technotronic – “Pump Up The Jam”
You will also be able to update your game in November to buy and download DJ Hero content in to your DJ Hero 2 game.
Pricing?
As quoted by the press release
“The Hit Makers Mix Pack will be available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360 on November 2, 2010 for 640 Microsoft Points and on the PlayStation(R)Store for the PLAYSTATION 3 on November 4, 2010 for $7.99. The Electro Hits Mix Pack will be available on Xbox 360 for 640 Microsoft Points on November 16, 2010 and PLAYSTATION 3 system on November 18, 2010 for $7.99. All mixes will be released as downloadable singles for Wii(TM) for 300 Wii Points each. Premium Themes are currently available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360 for 240 Microsoft Points and on the PlayStationStore for $1.99; Avatar items will be available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360 on October 19, 2010.”
By Michael Jordan
While my camera did take a frigged dump on me as the flash bulb burnt out, I still came away with a handful of photos that I would like to share with you all now. So please enjoy a small portion of my week through E3.
By Michael Jordan
When you think of a great multiplayer experience, what do you think of? As multiplayer evolves it is important to not over complicate or gimmick up the experience just to try to add bullet point on a box, and when you get it in your hand you want to feel like you know what your doing, and that you can play it for hours with out major gripes.
You might be asking why I am leading-off on such a standard note of reference, when I should be breaking down my impression of Medal of Honor? Because this is where Medal of Honor delightfully surprised me and might surprise you.
With the millions of mouth breathers out there dragging there knuckles over Modern Warfare 2, I think it is extremely importation to look at the basic facts of First Person Shooter multiplayer as a whole, over the last 10 years. As Activition has made Call of Duty “Annualizable” as they have done with most of their other franchises not under the Blizzard name, we must admit that things have become stagnant. Most games have no depth of realism to there original roots of their origin that first made the games exciting in the first place. Does that mean I want to see a flood of World War 2 shooters again, NO. What it does mean is I want some, at least a sliver of, the world we live in.
Now enters Metal of Honor and while it shares the name of old, it not a rehash or sequel. Now I myself could not get in to Modern Warfare. Playing Modern Warfare, to me felt like talking to a guy with a really small dick but was trying to compensate for it in almost every aspect, and ultimately had me trading it in. With Metal of Honor, the first thing you will notice is it’s look. It knows what it does well and knows it’s style, and it is a game that know that it’s style is note for everyone and it’s not trying to be. From every movement of character to gun fired, it lets you know this is what it wants to be. Metal of Honor feels like it has the confidence of the guy at the party with a girlfriend that already knows he is getting laid at the end of the night, and presents himself accordingly.
Controls feel tight and refined, even in its beta form. It took me a total time of one minute to go, ok this is what I am going to do and how I am going to do it.
One problem that I could see was the balancing of the weapons, but as it is a beta build of the game, it would seem silly to state this as a problem just yet, as the game still needs some tweaking before its final release.
The objective system was simple and not over complicating, we had a goal, we completed the goal, we moved on to the next goal. This is what I like to see, there is no overcomplicating of something that does not need to be overcomplicated. Simple to the point fast paced action that moves well is the name of the game here, but there is a cost to having this simplicity, and that is a slight suffering of the point system for objective or action that should be deemed credible and point worthy, for example, I managed to sneak in to the enemy base area and started to secure the objective point, allowing for the other players on my team to spawn where I was to help take over that point. This action, which lead to us winning the match, did not reflect this on the point system. Making an enemy team member hold the most points at the end of the game, while losing because they got more point from killing with a missile launcher, and in fact had all 3 members of our team lower in points then the losing team. Once again I will state that this is just a beta build but it should be noted, as when talking to other games journalists they felt they had the same problem.
All in all, I can safely say that this is a solid product so far and that I have high hopes for this game and can’t wait to get my hand on the single player experience.
The full beta start tomorrow and I will be posting a “week in beta review” coming next Friday with more in-depth details of game mods, weapons and maps, but as for now enjoy the images and trailer for this highly anticipated title.
By Michael Jordan
Hands down one of the hottest booth set ups this year was THQ, and the center star of it’s booth has to be Homefront, a scary look into what could happen to America if the extremes of global conflict hit home. This is only the tip of this iceberg as you play as a civilian pilot that was shot down by the new Korean on slot that has started to take over America. Global conflicts of natural resources as well as skyrocketing gas prices hitting what appeared to be a high of $20.00 a gallon in the year 2027.
America finds itself fallen, as its armed forces find themselves in total disarray after an EMP blast takes out most of Americas Electronics, launched by the newly formed Greater Korean Republic which is formed shortly after Kim Jong Il dies, under the guide of his son, Kim Jong Un.
Left to dilapidate from the previous American allies, the once suburban filled country is now a mass of boarded up homes and patrol heavy cities.
This was a scarily mind blowing presentation, and yet at the same time made me wonder why no one else had the brass to build a game on this theme before. The beautiful artwork and gameplay with seeming realistic weapons and surrounding landscapes of a war torn America are simply breath taking and frightening. As we where first lead in to what looked like a shanty down built from the ruins of a suburban home area, players learn a little bit about themselves and the people that rescued you. Seeing that a totally self sufficient fort has been build in the smoke and rubble of home soil warfare.
The player picks up arms to help this small gorilla group that is established here to try to take back their freedom, while being emotionally torn to pieces at the sites of there home town turned in to a war zone. One effect that really made this all come together was the sounds of everything going on around you, from screams, explosions and gun fire. The sounds of the guns where unsettlingly realistic as piercing shot noises range from the barrel of the players gun every time it was fired. It was a breath of fresh air to see this as most of us know, there is almost no visceral feeling when firing a gun in most games as they sound like cheap plastic toys.
I would have loved to see more, but for now, I will have to be satisfied with the screen shots and game trailers as the game was not quite ready for media hands on testing. Look for this quarter one of 2011.
