State of the industry: Motion Sickness

Almost a month has passed since E3, and of all the news to come out of it, one seems to be in the front of gamers mind, motion control. Clearly becoming the future of gaming; Microsoft and Sony have both come to the stage with their own interpretations, with mixed impressions. Not only that, Nintendo has upgraded their version of motion control, and it has already been released. Basically, I want to look at the tech behind these three devices and consider their applications.

The Wii Motion Plus is already available in stores and it hopes to bring the 3D depth of field that hopes to improve upon the precision in the gamers hands. I decided to give it a shot and purchased some Tiger Woods 2010 and EA's Grand Slam Tennis. First of all, DO NOT buy Grand Slam Tennis, unless you don't own Wii Sports. The Motion Plus does not give your player freedom of motion, and your swings are basically button inputs, regardless of the precision. I was most disappointed by the career mode (only 4 tournaments and limited character creation) and the serve, which was completely based on timing and you cannot overhand swing at your discretion. But the Tiger is a different story alltogether, in fact, not only is the golf fantastic, but the disc golf is a welcome addition to the EA sports line up. The swing has also improved, allowing players to draw or fade with a flick of their wrist. I really think Nintendo may have the tech to spur another 2 years into the Wii's life, as long as the software is there to support it. But as for the future of motion control, the Wii will be left in the dust. Nintendo should be into some heavy R&D to compete with the next two technologies.

Moving on, the most impressive or at least, the most ground breaking is Microsofts Natal. This combination of multiple cameras and it's own microprocessor allow for the user to interact in full stereoscopic 3D, extremely simliar to the ping pong ball motion trackers used in modeling characters in games now. There 3 main tech demos being shown now include; a breakout esque full body motion game, Milo an interactive Ai, and it's application to existing games such as Burnout. First impressions of seeing it at E3 were impressive, the camera seemed to respond well to user input and the NXE was cool, being able to log you in on your face alone.

Milo on the other hand creeped me out, the premise of coming home from work and hanging out with some British tween boy does not appeal to me, but the concept of interacting with ones face and voice may peak my interest yet. If I relate using the tech in the last conversation I had with an NPC in the latest RPG, I think that aspect holds potential in changing the way we play games. Making the way studios develop new games with the Natal, what I am most optimistic about. If they make games we want to play, then the hardware will sell. Although, games that I enjoy may not interest others.

And thats why Sony is making the tech I want now. Mash up of both technologies, by incorporating a camera and remote. Albiet the remote is not the most asthetically pleasing ( many have compared it to a sex toy), I cannot deny the application of necessity, Buttons. In my opinion, games and their interactive enviroments are still far to complex to interact with using only our bodies.

Looking at a game like Zelda, the idea of sword play seems realized by sony's tech demo, and with the ability of the camera to provide facial recognition or even head tracking, it's really the best of both worlds. This is what I want in my motion technology, to play Fable 2 and interact in some high fantasy story. And if any of these techs provide this, I would be satisfied. To read up on more Sony tech, please check out my E3 Wrap Up.

After the industry debating this left and right, I am done with all this motion technology. Hopefully I can spend the next couple months on the couch, moving only my fingers...and maybe an eye or two.

*All pictures are result of a Google image search

Gaming Outdoors: Final Fantasy in Dallas

The girlfriend and I went to the Myerson for an evening of drinks, music and best of all Final Fantasy. Having played almost all of the games at one time or another I am a huge fan. And the music by Nobuo Uematsu has to be some of the most prolific for our medium. It was nothing short of fantastic hits across all generations, a sneak peek of FF14 (same as E3) and a video message from Nobuo-san; mostly in regards to his love of ping pong. All in all the night was a success and I hope the Dallas Symphony Orchestra will do it again. For the future shows, we need more cosplay.


-- Post From My iPhone

FTW!

-- Post From My iPhone

iPhone 3G S

Just pre-ordered mine last night and it should be delivered on June 19th. I bought the 16 GB White. Lots of new games to play. Anyone else gonna jump on the band wagon?



image courtesy of:

http://images.macnn.com/macnn/news/0906/iphone3gs.jpg

E3 2009: Press Conferences

For gamers everywhere, E3 is the convention where publishers and developers come to hype the future of gaming. In the past its infamy had dwindled, but as the ESA promised, E3 is back! Now there is a ton of content to cover from the convention, so I will leave most of that up to the professionals. Since the basic business model for any developer involves a console on which to develop these games; Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony hold some of the most significant press conferences of the show. I am going to run through their conferences double time, and give consensus on my best game and technology picks from the show.

Microsoft



Coming out the gates running, Microsoft brought the Harmonix team and a few Beatles to introduce the new Rockband. The pacing of the show was an interesting point, as Microsoft was the only one of the three to avoid business metrics, sales forecast or those pesky charts which typically slow down the intensity of new releases. The focus on the lineup included titles like Splinter cell: Conviction, Halo 3: ODST and Forza 3 headlining the exclusives for the year. While other 3rd party hits include; Alan Wake, Assassins Creed 2, Tony Hawk Ride, and Metal Gear Solid Rising.




New tech included some updates to the OS which bring facebook and Twitter functionality and of course, Microsoft answer to "waggle", Project Natal. This camera will capture the gamer in a full motion interactive experience that looks to change the way we game. The most prominent example lies in Peter Monyluex's experiment Milo. Check it out, there are some good explanations of Natal's potential at the following sites:

http://kotaku.com/5274539/see-microsofts-project-natal-in-action
http://kotaku.com/5274554/molyneuxs-milo-brings-a-virtual-child-to-the-xbox-360

Nintendo

Moving on through to Nintendo, who also had a slew of exclusives which include New Super Mario Brothers Wii, Wii fit plus, and Wii Sports Resort. All seem to play on the same fundamental Nintendo experience we know and love. They reintroduced the Motion Plus hardware again and also brought out the vitality sensor. What is this mysterious device? Click the link below for an explanation.



http://kotaku.com/5276350/wii-vitality-sensor-gets-smoothly-fingered

Besides any practical life saving applications, it hopes to further integrate one's health into the gaming experience. In my opinion, it has been developed to shed light on the stressed induced lifestyle of the Japanese salaryman, and Nintendo sees that as a potential market, so this may find its niche. Mario Galaxy 2 was also announced in the closing minutes, as was a Metroid reboot called Other M. With the Metroid Trilogy also recently announced, it would seem for Nintendo, this is the year of Metroid and Mario.

Sony

Lastly, was Sony and if not for the leaks, they seemed to bring the most surprises. The exclusive lineup including; God of War 3, Gran Turismo 5, Drakes Fortune 2, M.A.G, and the newly announced Rockstar North game Agent. Along side those exclusives comes a new iteration in the Play. Create. Share. platform called Modnation Racers; which can be best described as Little Big Planet does kart racing. The track builder looked highly intuitive and I was impressed with its potential.

The PSP GO! seemed to be the biggest not* surprise of the conference. By making the device solely dependent on digital download to provide all forms of media is a bold move for Sony. It is a step towards the future though, and as more and more publishers are learning to embrace this and consumers will eventually come to love the portability of a handheld console with no cartridges. The only real negative point I see is the $250 price tag, which after Apples recent announcement of the iPhone selling for $99 (3G 8gb), the PSP may have a little trouble selling outside the core gamer. Sony also brought their new motion technology and demoed it live. Its mix of peripheral and camera functionality the brings similar game play style of a Wii with more precision. The controller although, while not aesthetically pleasing, does work and has potential to be competitive in the motion control gaming sector. You can see it in action here.

*It was leaked a month before the conference

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGcOPwAvPvc

And the winners are...

Best Game: Splinter Cell Conviction

To be honest, before this conference I had written this game off. Since the release of Assassins Creed, Splinter Cell seemed less appeal ling to me. I had play the first two iterations and enjoyed them, but found Double Agent to be kind of broken and never played past the first couple hours. So when they revamped their style and approach to this game I had no expectations. Which in retrospect was good, because the demo blew me away. It is still sporty the same gritty protagonist and fundamental stealth combat, but its presentation is why I am so giddy over this game. First, the mission objectives are taking a prime time TV (a la Fringe) approach to informing the player and explaining the ongoing story elements through a projector like image on the actual environments around you. With that comes a new combat system where the player can assign kill commands to multiple enemies and then execute them seamlessly through a single button press. There seem to be other mechanics which affect stealth, such as playing off the enemy seeing your last position and then moving in the shadows as they stare at the column they think your behind while you take them out. All of this is extremely clean and calculated visually. Hopefully Ubi Soft delivers.

Runner up: Scribblenauts

Has to be the most creative thing at E3. Forget all the motion sensors and vitality monitors. Give me a game with a library of hundreds of thousands of objects or nouns and tell me it isn't a good time. The objective of Scribblenuats is to use your diverse vocabulary to solve puzzles by creating in game objects. To create something you only have to spell it and the results are as gratifying as they are hilarious. Have you ever wondered who would win if you pit God against the Devil against Kthulu? Well check out some videos online and see what some of the attendees came up with as they tried to stump Scribblenauts.

Best Tech: Sony Motion Control

Here is where I will potentially get flamed. Sure Microsoft's Project Natal is great and it has the potential to change the way we play games, but I am not sure I want that. So how is Sony different? They are trying to do everything the Wii promised it would. First, accuracy, which by watching the tech demo of this guy tickle a skeleton rib cage before he sliced of its head shows how precise this device really is. But if Microsoft can do that, why is this better. BUTTONS, we need buttons to interact with the virtual world. How can I play a game like Fable 2 with no buttons? Or Left for Dead? Or Madden 2010? Sure, these might not be the games you would use motion control for, but if you had buttons, I am pretty sure you could. So, for now, the type of gamer I am and the gaming I want to do, I want my buttons. Even if there is a little physical activity involved.

To finish on a lighter note:

**all images are the result of google image search.

Play it NOW!: inFamous

By no means am I going to try and make this blog into a place for reviewing video games. Companies have been built and burned to the ground, in the pursuit of providing consumers un biased reviews and I only want to show you the new game that is blowing my mind. Bringing us to the topic at hand; inFamous. Sucker Punch Studios newest IP, inFamous tries to mash up the parkour, free running style of Sly Cooper, with the gritty, electrifying, adventure of a graphic novel. Across 4 days I was consumed by Cole and his journey through Empire City. It ran at around 15+ hours for me and I was at 70% complete when I finished the story. One thing that inFamous has embraced is the moral choice paradigm, where the choices the player makes affects their affinity between good or evil.



This in turn not only influences things in your enviroment, physical attributes and powers you possess, but changes the story as Cole can become one of two people. On my first spin through I chose the path of evil and before it was said and done Cole had become a shadow of his former self. For me, the fun was found in Cole's diverse powers and platforming abilities. His power allowed him to traverse building tops and city streets as quickly as the energy which powers him and when it comes to power, Cole possesses some of the most fun abilities any gamer could wish for. No spoilers here, but if the idea of grinding across a a power line while dropping electric grenades and picking off opponents with a well placed blast in the face sounds appealling, you should play it now.


*all images come from google image search

E3 2009 Begins

So here comes the content. I have been watching some of the coverage on G4, but have a list of podcasts and blogs already filling my inbox. Just saw Tim Schafer and Jack Black preview Brutal Legend, should be seriously metal! Anyway, like E3, I am trying to bring a plethora of topics to the blog. Some of which I hope to frequent include: Retro Gaming Round Up, Gaming Outdoors, State of the Industry, Recommended Reading, Focus Test, and Play it NOW. So, stay tuned as I will bring impressions from the press conferences by the "Big Three" over the next week and all the coverage in the industry throughout the rest of the year.

Thanks for reading