Microsoft E3 Press Conference Impressions.

So this is a little late but I figured it's better late than never. I actually sat through the entirety of the press conference, something I haven't really done in the past. I did feel that the press conference itself was pretty lacklustre, but this is probably due to the fact that I wasn't really interested in some of the announcements.

Here's a few short impressions.

Fallout 3

The first game to be shown off was Fallout 3. Even though I own Fallout 2 I've only played a little of it so probably can't comment on why people think it's such a big deal. However, I'm really excited about Fallout 3 and every new bit of information just gets me even more excited.

They showed a 1950's inspired nuclear shelter advert which showcases the heavy satire used in the Fallout series. Next up was a gameplay demonstration and, I've got to say, it's looking pretty nice. The target assisting system (VATS) looks nice - allowing you to blow off various limbs - and also harks back to the turn-based aspects of the Fallout series. You can, however, also take on the enemies in real time for those of you who like to do all the killing yourself. I'm also loving the radio on the Pip Boy 3000 as it's like GTA in a post-apocalyptic world!

The game hits the Xbox 360 this fall.

Resident Evil 5


I shamefully admit that I never actually completed Resident Evil 4 but, from what I played, I enjoyed it a hell of a lot. Resident Evil 5 isn't straying from the formula that made Resi 4 such a joy to play; such as the over the should style shooting and the more intelligent zombies (if you can still call them that). There's also an onine co-op mode, but I'm not sure if this extends to local multiplayer. This is a shame because I'd love to play it with my brother, just like I'm doing with Gears of War at the moment. Oh...and Chainsaw guy makes his re-apperance!

It's going to be a simultaenous release in Europe and North America on March 13 2009. Japan will get it a day earlier.

Fable 2



Here's another game that I'm looking forward to playing. There was little new information on the game other than it's finished. Peter Molyneux did however show off the interactions you can have with your family (you can get married and have kids) and also showed off how co-op play is begun. When you're logged into Xbox Live you can see your friends, who are playing the single-player game, floating around as orbs. To start a co-op game you go up to one of these orbs and interact with it and they pop right in! You have to admit it's pretty cool.

Fable 2 will be out in October 2008.

Gears of War 2



I like Gears of War but, honestly, this sequel looks like more of the same. This isn't a bad thing, of course, because it still kicks ass. It does look like you'll be fighting more locusts at any one time and this will either make it incredibly hard or incredibly cool (or both). The gameplay demonstration showed off a few new enemies (one locust had a shield, while others used grappling hooks to climb up walls and attack) and the meat shield aspect will act as moving cover. Plus, you can never go wrong with a flamethrower!

A new multiplayer mode was also unveiled. Horde will allow you and 4 other players to fight against wave after wave of increasingly difficult locusts.

Gears of War 2 will hit on November 7.

New Dashboard.

Some people like it, some people don't. Myself? Well, I think it was time that the 360 got an overhaul. It looks clean and simple and while some may say it shows Microsoft are going all out on it's casual userbase it's got some pretty nice new features.

The avatars...well...it's nice and cute but I don't think it was really needed. It seems like it's just trying to latch on to the Mii's on the Wii. The ability to stay in parties as you jump between games is very useful though as it's often annoying having to set up a whole new party just because you changed games.

One of the new channels is 'Primetime'. This allows you to play well known TV quiz games with the Xbox Live community. The first one to be released is 1vs100 (which is done by the National Lottery here in the UK) and the 100 people are all real people, as well as the one and the crowd. Add the fact that you can win real prizes and I think this will be pretty fun for when you're not playing you're normal games.

The Netflix annoucement is cool but it doesn't matter either way to me as Netflix don't operate in Europe.

Finally, the ability to install games on the hard drive (although you still need the disc) will lead to a much smoother experience.

For more on the new dashboard see these three posts.

Final Fantasy XIII.


There's nothing more to say other than what I said here. Well, other than...

YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!

There were obviously more announcements but I'm not going to cover all of them. Here's a quick run-down.

Lips (like Singstar. The ability to plug your iPod or Zune in and use any song is cool. Oh, and Duffy came and sang)
Guitar Hero: World Tour.
Geometry Wars 2.
Portal: Still Alive.
Galaga Legions.
A new South Park game (....)
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts.
Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise.
Scene It? Boxoffice Smash.
You're in the Movies (Like the Eyetoy, incredibly cringeworthy watching them do stupid movements and dances on stage and then play it back as a movie)
Infinite Undiscovery.
Star Ocean: The Last Hope.
The Last Remnant.

The Nintendo Press Conference is next up!

Morning Coffee E3 Edition - July 15th 2008

E3 has begun and there's no shortage of news, so here's a round-up of some of my favourite links from the conference:

• As you're probably aware (you can't call yourself a gamer if you aren't!) Square Enix has announced Final Fantasy XIII will be released for the 360. MTV Multiplayer attended the Square Enix press conference where a Q&A session was held. Here are some of the questions and answers.
• Major Nelson discusses some of the new features of the planned Xbox Live update. These include; storing a game on the hard drive so it'll run smoother, the ability to purchase stuff on the Xbox Live marketplace from any web enabled device, and (YES!!!!!!!) 1680x1050 support through VGA and HDMI.
• Portal: Still Alive is coming to Xbox Live Arcade!
• Gamespy has an excellent Fallout 3 preview.
• ...and more on EA's Dead Space.
• If you missed it here's Gamespot's coverage of the EA press conference.
• ...and here's what Will Wright said about Spore at that very press conference.
• Gamespot has some impressions of the intriguing Xbox Live 'MMO' quiz game 1 vs 100 (we have a version of the TV show over here in the UK, done by the National Lottery).
• Sim Animal? Ok.....

Um, we'll finish on that last one. More news coming your way soon!

Thanks To Deitrix!

Just a quick post to thank Deitrix for the new and absolutely amazing header! No Signal Input is looking great these days. You owe it to yourself to go and visit that site to check out his brilliant art.

I will be back next Wednesday as that is the date I'm handing my dissertation in. The first post will most likely (it better be Amazon!) be my GTA IV impressions followed by a full-blown review some days after that (providing I can get through enough of the game without multiplayer distracting me too much).

For those of you who are looking forward to GTA IV as much as I am I hope to see you on Xbox Live sometime next week. If any of you are interested in having a game with me sometime my Id is tmullers.

I can't wait until I have the time to update this blog again.

Turok - Demo Impressions.

The Turok games are one of those cases where it would probably have been better leaving it alone after the success of the first game. Of course, video games are still a business and any successful game is more than likely to get a sequel. Turok spawned a franchise, and while the first is widely seen as one of the best games for the N64 the franchise flopped when the fourth installment (Turok: Evolution) was released on Playstation 2 and various consoles in 2002. Since then, thankfully, nothing has been released. Well, until now of course.

Buena Vista Games (yup, that's Disney) acquired the rights back in 2005 and have eventually managed to produce a game using the Unreal Engine 3. However, this is no Gears of War. They've gone back to basics and simply called the game Turok, whether that's an attempt to start afresh remains to be seen. The demo weighs in at about 1.2GB on Xbox Live but, unless you've got nothing better to do, it's probably not worth it.

Turok comes at a time when the 360 has enough decent FPS games to keep you occupied without shunting another one on you. If the game offered something completely original and unique then maybe it could stand on it's own but, at least in the demo, there's nothing more than a generic FPS with pretty dinosaurs. Sure, it looks good (not great but good) but what are fancy graphics if the game underneath it all is nothing special? Some people may say you can't judge the full game off the demo but a demo is supposed to show off the games strong points and, if that's what it's doing, then there's nothing particularly strong about this game.

The dinosaurs seem a bit thick but I have to admit it's pretty neat when they charge at you from all sides. However, sometimes you get knocked down so many times (since you often don't see them coming until the last minute, and if you do you don't see the one coming from the other side) that the screen turns blurry and red like you've just been poked in both eyes. It can be a very frustrating experience. You can get the dinosaurs to fight each other and the generic futuristic soldiers that appear (who totally suck at getting into cover by the way) but this doesn't really appear in the demo. What's the point in these features if you can't try them out before hand? Surely that's what a demo is for? Propaganda Games really needs to read these tips on how to make a decent demo.

Another gripe I have is the crossbow. I can deal with not being able to aim down the sight on the rest of the weapons but simply zooming in a bit when you aim the crossbow (which doesn't even zoom in any more than the other weapons) is unacceptable. For a start this is supposed to be the future, and even when crossbows were first invented they had a sight to aim down. Using the weapons just isn't fun, even dual-wielding has been done to death. Apparently the game will have some unique weapons but the demo shows nothing more than your generic shotgun and machine guns.

I wasn't expecting much from Turok and I didn't get much. Demo's are supposed to make me feel excited about the game and leave me wanting the full game to come out as soon as possible (like Bioshock) but Turok doesn't even come close to this. If you like generic FPS games with a few dinosaurs thrown in then you'll probably enjoy Turok but, for everyone else, there's so much more games of much better quality that you could be spending your hard earned cash on.

Turok will be released for the PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 on February 5 in the US and February 8 in the UK. The demo is now available for download on Xbox Live.

360 Lovin'

I'm the kind of guy who will pick up a game, play it for a few days, then buy a new game and leave the previous one on the shelf to collect dust. This seems to happen no matter how good or bad I think the said game is. So, due to this, I was slightly surprised that I've spent the last two weeks working my way through games one by one.

Ok, this is not entirely true. Basically I only have three games for my new 360 at the moment (Halo 3, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Assassin's Creed) and, more due to the lack of any others, I've played them all. However, I've completed COD4 and I'm now working my way through Halo 3's campaign. Assassin's creed has been put on the shelf for the moment (although I have completed a few assassin's), mainly because an FPS excites me more after a hard day's work (not that I do any!). I just feel like I fully appreciate a game more when I give it all my time and don't split it up between four or five different games. Also, I'm a bit skint at the moment so buying new games is a bit out of the question!

I've been playing multiplayer every now and again, partly because of my brother. Xbox Live is just as good as I expected it to be and I'm enjoying COD4's multiplayer immensely. I can't help feeling that Halo 3 is not what it's cracked up to be and - while the multiplayer is fun - I'd just rather knife people in a modern warzone. Assassin's Creed looks amazing but the actual game is average at best (this Zero Punctuation review sums it up hilariously, and perfectly!). Still, I'm enjoying it.

It's about time I entered the HD gaming era. I'm using my PC monitor and an awesome surround sound system for my 360 and the games look and sound amazing on it. The only thing I'm annoyed about is that the 360 doesn't support my monitors native resolution (1680x1050) so I'm not getting the full benefit out of it.

Anyway, Christmas is coming up and I've got a good few games being given to me as presents so, between celebrating with a good old drink and more food then you can shake a stick at, I know what I'll be doing this Christmas!

Here's what I want:

Mass Effect
Gears of War
Bioshock

I'm not going to get greedy so that's all I'm hoping to get this Christmas.