Top 10 E3 2010 Announcements We Do NOT Want

E3 is always one of the highlights of the gaming calendar. We get to find out what will be parting us from our hard-earned cash for the next year, what the next iterations of our favourite franchises will be and of course, some exciting new IPs.

Every few years or so we’re even witness to the unveiling of a new console generation, or in this year’s case, a new way to interact with our consoles (Natal and Move).

However, we’re also just as likely to see misguided game remakes, unneccessary accessories and our favourite characters from days gone by forced to once again slog through endless soul-sucking sequels all hoping to bring the series back to its glory days (hello, Sonic…).

Some of the things we DO want to see at E3 2010…

That’s why it’s time we put our foot down as the consumers and let them know we’re not going to support their mistakes before they waste all that development time and money. So without further ado, here is my list of my least-wanted E3 2010 announcements.

Top 10 Announcements We Don’t Want!

10: Killer Instinct Xtreme Beach Volleyball

Yes Rare, we’re fully aware of your desire to continue the Killer Instinct fighting series from your N64 days. You even teased us in Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts with in-game cases for it.

However, please, please, PLEASE don’t take lessons from Tecmo on this one. Sure, Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball (and its follow-ups Xtreme 2 on the 360 and Paradise on the PSP) may have sold quite well in Japan but that was only because the main focus of the DOA series has been the girls and absurd physics anyway.

Please, just don’t.

9: Activision buys Bungie

I don’t think any of us were expecting it, especially before even the Halo Reach beta began, but Bungie’s 10 year exclusivity deal with Activision makes sense to them as an independent studio.

They get the nice cash injections, but still operate independent of Activision and maintain all ownership of their new IPs.

What would be truly shocking is an announcement that Activision had bought the studio, as we’ve all seen what Activision can do when they have a good studio (Infinity Ward) and a good IP (Call of Duty) in their hands… shudder…..

8: Microsoft announces Halo Kart Racing, Halo Pinball, Halo Party, etc

So Halo Reach is Bungie’s last Halo game, but definitely not the last Halo game we’ll see coming from Microsoft.

Microsoft have set up their newest studio 343 Industries to handle all future expansions of the Halo universe, something fans would be able to tell from the name anyway.

While their first little experiment was setting up the Halo Waypoint system on Xbox Live, the last thing we want them to do is start unnecessarily exploiting the hell out of the franchise.

While I’ve read people complaining that Halo is already being milked, I’d argue that 3 full games and 2 spin-offs (and Reach coming soon) within a decade is hardly milking. At least they haven’t done Halo Reach: Prologue Spec 3 yet.

But I’m not willing to part with my money if Microsoft do go and follow in Mario’s footsteps. If they’re good games, fine. If they’re clearly just a quick grab for cash, they had better be prepared for the backlash – so just don’t do it in the first place Microsoft, mmkay?

7: Grand Theft Auto V to be set in Liberty City

Alright, let’s add them up shall we? GTA I, GTA II, GTAIII, GTA: Liberty City Stories, GTA IV, GTA IV: Lost and Damned, GTA IV: Ballad of Gay Tony. Enough already!

We get the point that you like New York…. I mean Liberty City as a setting, but there’s a reason Vice City is often cited as the best of the series.

We’ve got enough modern city-based action sandbox games, and quite frankly it’s all starting to seem the same. That’s precisely why Vice City was such a memorable game: a different time period, a different setting and atmosphere, and most of all a sense of humour about it all.

The laughs came from being able to reflect on a decade in hindsight and see the hilarity of what was the norm back then, something not nearly as effective when attempting to parody the present.

So please Rockstar, try something different than another simple update to Liberty City, otherwise your rivals may well leave you in the dust.

6: New motion controller launch titles: Natal Yoga, Move Tai Chi

This one is probably inevitable with the runaway success that was Wii Fit, but I’m just hoping Microsoft and Sony don’t fall into simply following in the Wii’s footsteps.

There’s no denying that there is a massive market for these casual ‘non-games’ as they’re known, but as long as we have a balance between casual and ‘hardcore’ games we should be fine.

Xbox Live Arcade could prove to be one of the major players in the Natal game, providing tons of different experiences without the massive development costs (and huge financial risks) of innovative motion games that disc-based publishers have to deal with.

5: Microsoft and Sony announce the PlayBox 3-60

This isn’t a shot at Sony.

There’s a very good reason I believe a merger between Microsoft and Sony would be a bad thing for the industry and gamers.

It all comes back to the simple, proven fact that competition drives innovation – without a major competitior to worry about, companies can become complacent and just rely on what they’ve already got since consumers don’t have an alternative.

With Nintendo out of the picture tackling a different market, we’ve seen some of the greatest games ever this generation as Microsoft and Sony butt heads, helped by the very close sales numbers that force each of them to try and have the next big thing.

From improving online services (face it, PSN wouldn’t have developed as much as it has since the PS2 days if Live wasn’t striding out ahead) to console price slashing, we’ve seen both companies having to up their game to stay in the running.

Hopefully the next generation will be just as competitive and give us a genuinely tricky decision in what to buy.

I seriously doubt a combined console would ever happen, but getting my thoughts out there just in case.

4: Uwe Boll to direct Halo movie

My worst nightmare. The universe is too well-constructed to be tarnished by the infamous destroyer of game-movies, or any movie for that matter.

For any who don’t know, Uwe Boll’s credits include Bloodrayne, FarCry, Alone in the Dark, House of the Dead, Postal…basically all the movies you should be avoiding like the plague lest they ruin your precious memories of the games.

The worst part is he can’t seem to understand he has room for improvement – instead of reading the criticism and trying to fix it, he instead claimed every critic is wrong and challenged them to a boxing match (because the best way to demonstrate your film-making skills is by boxing…).

Hideo Kojima has even stated that he would never let Uwe near Metal Gear Solid. So please, even though we know the Halo movie has gone through many many rough patches in trying to secure its production, don’t sink so low as to consider Mr Boll. Please.

3: All future 360 and PS3 games to be 3D

I’m not against 3D is the slightest – from the beautiful forests of Pandora to the awe-inspiring flights in How To Train Your Dragon, 3D has done a lot for film.

But that’s the easy part, since films are pre-rendered and can look just as good (if not better) when converted to 3D. Games do not have the same luxury.

We’re seeing more and more games forego split-screen multiplayer in favour of more detailed graphics due to the increased processing and RAM needed to be rendering almost twice the information, which is mostly our fault for being so demanding that each new game be the best-looking thing ever.

3D is a similar story – each frame needs to be rendered twice from slightly different camera perspectives so one can be displayed to each eye, so already that’s twice the processing.

Then there’s the increase in observed motion ‘judder’ from 3D, where lower framerates that are still fine in 2D display very obvious shuddering when the camera is moving (which is most of the time in games), making 60fps a necessity. So all up, that 2 x 60fps = 120 frames needing to be rendered each second.

Uncharted 2 runs at 30fps in 720p, so try to imagine how it would look if the developers were needing it to be able to run at 120fps on the PS3 at the same resolution. That’s a heck of a lot of compromises that would need to be made for the select few who own a 3D-capable TV.

While I’m sure it will be nice and dandy with some new ways to save power when doing 3D in the next generation, for now I’d rather stick with detailed 2D than bland 3D in games. (2IC Editor: Amen! and bring back the split screen too!)

2: Xbox 360 Slim announced, suffers from RRoD

I’m sure everyone would be glad to hear of a 360 slim to encourage new 360 owners and use less power and improve the hardware a bit (slot-loading DVD drive please!), but the main reason would be the removal of the infamous Red Ring of Death problem.

While the Jasper 360s (look on the sticker under the external power supply brick; if it says 250W power rating instead of 275W you have a Jasper) went a long way towards improving this, entirely new hardware should allow Microsoft to learn from their mistakes and start anew.

However, if the same issues crop up in a new model the backlash could be even greater. So simply put, slim 360 is awesome, RRoD on slim 360 would be publicity suicide. [EiC: After speaking with MS execs recently, it seems my predictions of the much vaulted Valhalla is not that far away, so expect a huge change in the motherboard department - yes, everything will still run the same re game]

1: Regular controllers to be phased out in favour of Natal

I have faith in Natal.

It genuinely looks like it could provide the experiences we were promised when the Revolution (aka: Wii) was announced, while using Microsoft’s experience with games for gamers.

What I don’t want is the use of the traditional controller to be abolished.

There are many genres that may see substantial improvement through Natal integration, but there are also others that are simply more suited to the speed and precision a controller provides.

Not to mention relieving us of constant arm flailing in extended competitive multiplayer games. [EiC: there is no way Natal can do all the things a controller or keyboard can do with regards to such genres as FPS, Racing (true sims) or many TPS (third person shooter/action) games that are out today. imagine Red Dead: Redemption via Natal . . . . ooeeeeww]

Red Dead Redemption: The Outlaw

May 7, 2010 - Whenever given the option in a videogame, I invariably bend toward the darkness. If I'm going to do good deeds I may as well save them for real life where it counts. When it comes to those digital denizens of the videogame world, with their strict and artificial rules, I like to have a little fun. When I got done with a recent six hour play session of Red Dead Redemption, the virtual world didn't know what hit it.

The way I see it, there are two types of behaviors in Red Dead Redemption – Rockstar's upcoming open-world Western -- that I would consider key to being a true outlaw. The first are the kind that will actually affect your morality rating in the game. Do good deeds, be the hero and save the day in general and you'll be seen as a hero. Kill innocents, break the law, and help out the villains and you'll be seen otherwise.

The second set of actions I'll get to in a little bit. These are the ones that go above and beyond Red Dead Redemption's laws -- the types of things that any person with bleak thoughts can dream up and perform in a sandbox like this.

Performing actions of the first type and driving down your morality rating is actually pretty easy and it won't take long before you're ready to paint the town red. The game opens with a train ride into a small town named Armadillo and one of the first things you're greeted with is a woman of loose morals peddling her wares. Right off the bat, you can tell that this is the type of place where a person who knows how to use a gun can do as they please. After a brief introduction to set up the motivations of John Marston, you're given free rein to explore much of the world…and that means you're free to start causing a ruckus.

Unfortunately, you won't have many tools of destruction just yet, and you won't have a dollar to your name. Both of these are serious problems for a would-be bandit. You'll want to do a few story missions straight away to earn a few weapons, a lasso and some money. With the basics in tow, I set out to make my mark on the world.

This town will be mine.

I started out small. A few drinks at the saloon and a bar fight later, I stumbled out into the night looking for some easy money. I ran into an old crazy lady begging me to help her find a man named Peter, but that seemed like too much work so I shot her and moved on. And just like that, my honor meter went down by five points. It would take a few dozen more bullets to innocents to gain some real notoriety, but if there is one thing that Red Dead Redemption has it is a lot of innocents to toy with.

Take, for instance, the sorts of things you can do with a lasso. You gain this little tool during a mission that teaches you the ins and outs of breaking a wild horse, but you can aim the rope ring at people, too. I went to the saloon and found a prostitute, hog-tied her and then slung her over my shoulder to take for a ride. She didn't take too kindly to this treatment, screaming out obscenities like, "There are other ways to a girl's heart, you ass!" along the way. I responded by leaving her on a train track.

The most fun comes thanks to the epic animations Red Dead Redemption produces. Shooting or knifing people and animals invariably results in hilarity. During my travels I did everything from uppercutting a cow with a bowie knife to killing so many lawmen as they entered a saloon that they were stumbling over their predecessor's body pile. You don't even have to kill anybody to have some fun. Just drawing your gun on an innocent walking down the road will startle them into a funny reaction. My favorite was a man sitting with his legs up on a table. When I trained my sights on him he fell over backwards into a piano.

Lost Planet 2 Review

May 6, 2010 - As the follow-up to the critically liked and commercially successful Lost Planet, Lost Planet 2 seems to have everything going for it. Aimed at western audiences, the team at Capcom headed up by Keiji Inafune and Jun Takeuchi promised a return of the well received multiplayer mode from the original game, as well as some much-hyped four player co-op for the entire main campaign. Unfortunately, few lessons seem to have been learned from the original Lost Planet's problems. Instead, Lost Planet 2 offers online play that feels dated in 2010 and adds a host of new issues to the series without fixing what was wrong last time, leading to a game that is in many regards worse than its predecessor.

We'll get the good out of the way first though. Lost Planet 2 is with few exceptions a beautiful game that always seems to have something new to show the player. From familiar ice fields to jungles and cities and deserts, the world of EDN III is often a sight to behold. There seems to be a bit less variety in the kinds of alien akrid enemies on display, but this is made up for by the variety of enemy factions you encounter - and play as. The music is also excellent, with sweeping, epic orchestration punctuating major moments of the game, though it would have been nice to hear it more often. The bulk of many levels lack any musical accompaniment at all, leading to an often quiet monster hunting experience.

It will kill you. Over and over.

Things largely unravel from there. The controls remains as clunky as they were last time around, and deviate from the standard third person layout in perplexing ways. Want to melee? That's the B button. Want to run? Well, that's also the B button. Want to activate that data post or Vital Suit? We've got a B button for that. The grappling hook (or anchor) can still only be used with feet planted firmly on the ground, and your character jumps like their pockets are full of rocks. Every animation is over-emphasized to the point of getting in the way of playing the game. Even worse, you'll often be forced to endure agonizing waits as you hammer the B or circle buttons at data posts, or impatiently sit in a Vital Suit while it goes through an activation sequence that repeats every time you enter it. Lost Planet 2 is fixated on elaborate activation sequences, and there's generally at least one section per chapter that forces you to wade through some kind of convoluted Rube Goldberg machine in order to complete your objective - that is, when the game is good enough to tell you how you're supposed to complete that objective in the first place.

The story is, remarkably, even less coherent than the previous game's focus on amnesiac Wayne and his quest for identity. Lost Planet 2 takes place ten years later, as the formerly frozen EDN III has begun to thaw, and even more pirate factions are fighting for territory. Meanwhile, military organization NEVEC has plans to exploit the massive Cat-G Akrid that have begun to appear for their valuable thermal energy, even if their goals destroy the planet in the process. The game's six episodes take place from several perspectives - including an extended and ill-advised jaunt through some semi-offensive ethnic stereotypes toward the end - though the focus sits mainly on a squad of NEVEC commandos that quickly realize, to quote the cliche, that they're in for more than they signed up for. As this squad and everyone else realize what NEVEC is up to, they... well, they pretty much all make their way in a prescribed direction without talking or communicating with each other, and only one group of pirates actually does anything meaningful. While each episode manages to show something different, the game feels disjointed and hard to follow, and eventually bogs down in anime and old-school video game cliches.

Another problematic area is the game's level design. Lost Planet 2 is split into 6 episodes of multiple chapters each, and each chapter has several missions. There are no checkpoints between missions, meaning you'll need to complete a full chapter to save your progress in Lost Planet 2, which can often take more than an hour to play through. This means that should you die near the end of a chapter trying to figure out what the game wants you to do, which it never really tells you, you'll have to play the whole thing over again. There's also no jump-in co-op, as new players will be forced to wait in a lobby until the other players in the game reach the next mission in a chapter before they can join the session. Campaign levels feel like multiplayer maps populated by enemy soldiers and akrid, and little attention to balance difficulty or fairness is apparent. Expect to die over and over at certain points as enemy akrid or vital suits camp your spawn points. The giant akrid bosses and mini-bosses return, as does their tendency to knock you down and never let you back up. There is some satisfaction to be found from conquering these enormous monsters, but it's always grim, the kind of satisfaction that comes from an end to frustration rather than a sense of accomplishment.

Who keeps putting data posts in front of giant monsters?

Competitive multiplayer is largely unchanged from the last game. While the thrill of jumping into a giant robot suit to pound your friends into mush remains, the controls and weapons lack the finesse and balance players expect from triple-a shooters in 2010. More often than not, you'll have the most success throwing an electrical grenade and killing the enemy it temporarily incapacitates. There are a number of different modes, and the Akrid Egg capture mode stands out as something fairly unique and interesting amidst an otherwise by the numbers multiplayer menu that seems to have taken all of the features popular in big shooters today but none of the logic behind them.

Closing Comments
Lost Planet 2 plays like it was never put in front of a member of its intended audience at some point during its development, someone who might have asked "why?": "Why can't I pause the game unless I make my game unjoinable?" "Why can't I join a co-op game in progress?" "Why can this monster kill me in two hits?" A little "why?" may have taken this game in a different, more compelling direction. If you've burned through other multiplayer or co-op options, then there might be something for you in Lost Planet 2. The single player campaign is lengthy at around 14 hours with full co-op support and the multiplayer has plenty of maps and modes. Just do yourself a favor: buy some insurance for the controller you'll invariably throw across the room at one of Lost Planet 2's seemingly endless design and interface issues.

Little Big Planet 2 confirmed

Last month, composer Christopher Leary appeared to confirm Media Molecule was prepping a new installment in its customization-heavy Little Big Planet franchise for the PlayStation 3. However, the confirmation came in direct contradiction to statements made by Media Molecule level designer Danny Leaver, who said in November that the studio would "never want to" create a Little Big Planet 2 as it would "be the most counterproductive thing you could do."

It would appear as if Sackboy and co. will return.

Now, it would appear as if Sony will be proceeding with Little Big Planet 2 after all. Today, GameStop-owned Game Informer magazine posted a teaser for its June cover story, promising a "huge feature article" on none other than Little Big Planet 2. As the teaser was primarily devoted to a cover story on Epic Games' recently announced Gears of War 3, no other details on the multiplayer-centric platformer were discussed.

Little Big Planet has been one of Sony's most successful PS3-exclusive titles. The game received critical praise, as well as multiple industry awards upon its October 2008 release, having achieved platinum sales by the end of that year. In March, Sony acquired Media Molecule outright, shortly after the Surrey, England-based studio shipped a version of Little Big Planet for the PSP.

A primary issue with introducing a sequel to Little Big Planet is the impact it would have on the game's player community, which has used the game's tools to create a wealth of user-generated content. In April 2009, Sony said that the game's player community had reached 2 million members, in the process creating some 725,000 levels for the game. In February, the publisher announced that those user-generated levels had swelled to 2 million.