E3 Impressions

This is the first legitimate blog entry I've made in a while. Here are my impressions from E3 this year.

Sony
Uncharted 3
The graphics here don't seem to have improved much since our last outing with Nathan Drake. There was a noticeable improvement in graphics and gameplay mechanics between Drake's Fortune and Amongst Thieves, but I can imagine that Naughty Dog might be reaching a plateau as far as textures go. I should note that the lighting is pretty impressive in the trailer we saw in the Sony presentation. The playable version of Drake's Deception was merely the multiplayer aspect of the game. My gaming crew and I will dabble in some competitive FPS action, but much prefer the co-operative story modes. File under: Promising but poor (presentation) form.

Resident Evil: Raccoon City
Another anticipated title from Sony, this entry in the Resident Evil franchise blends the full-on third person shooter with the over-the-shoulder shooting in a hectic Raccoon City during the events of Resident Evil 2 and 3. It also smacked of Modern Warfare having seemingly abandoned the creepy mood and puzzles of previous RE titles (*cough*RE4*cough*) that won so many over. The four player co-op will definitely be a selling point, but I did not see much of a story there.

Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One
I just want to preface this by saying I saw Ratchet being escorted from the Sony prep room like a blind geriatric. His handler saw me laughing at the sight and emphatically insisted "HE CAN'T SEE ANYTHING!" there's a metaphor in here somewhere...

R&C:A4-1 (an acronym that sounds like a gun) was sorely lacking in eager participants in Sony's demo stands, which is a shame because this family-friendly title is definitely bound for some fun. The four player co-op seems like Sony's answer to Nintendo's New Super Mario Bros Wii/Mii but still retaining all the awesome/silly weapons that are a staple of the franchise. The demo booth had two screens of regular gameplay and one screen of the Stereoscopic 3D gameplay. Presumably it was the same game, but with less depth perception-related fatalities.
Count me as optimistic.

Nintendo
You might have heard me squeal like a little girl during the press announcement, but other than the WiiU's premiere there really isn't much to speak of for the Nintendo this year. Here's what I've got.

WiiU
Full 1080p. Backwards compatible with Wii titles and peripherals. 6.5-inch touchscreen built into the controller. Optical disc are non-blu-ray with storage up to 25GbBasically a home theater DS. While I was initially woozed and excited by the prospect of having an HD Wii, a cloud began to grow in the back of my mind. I asked a Nintendo representative at E3 about further backwards capabilities. Would we be able to play/keep our Virtual Console titles (I have dozens of titles)? Can you still use the amazingly, versatile Wavebird? Will the SD card reader support SDXC? Will Gamecube titles be playable as on the wii, will they be downloadable or shall they be forsaken all together? Will the price range be closer to wii or PS3 launch prices? Sadly the representative could not answer a single question. These lingering questions in conjunction with the lack of definitive titles for the platform gives me pause. Until I get some solid answers about the hardware and specs, I'm cautiously optimistic.

UPDATE: Our man Reggie Fils-Aime has confirmed that the WiiU will NOT support Gamecube games. And as there are not ports for it to connect, this rules out the Wavebird as a possible controller, barring some unsightly adapter. RIP you glorious bastard. Further details about the hardware have emerged, specifically the inputs of the console. 4 USB ports - 2 front, 2 back Could these be for charging the controller?. HDMI as well as Video-Out ports. Sensor bar port. SD Card slot (still no word on if SDXC is supported). There is no network connection so it can be assumed that the WiiU will be entirely Wi-Fi driven or support the LAN adapter from the Wii.

Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
The next chapter in the chronologically-confusing Legend of Zelda franchise takes to the skies with an emphasis on straining your wrist using the Wiimotion Plus controller. I got a chance to watch several people (because the dicks wouldn't give up the controller) play select stages of the game. One stage was a competitive flying race similar to the flying mini-game in Twilight Princess. It seems Epona has been cashed in for a creepy red bird in Skyward Sword, but that makes sense. You can't have link mount a horse an d they sully forth over the edge of the floating-rock-thing. Though that would be hilarious. The dungeon demo level showed off a couple of new and improved gameplay mechanics. Link can now use a homing beetle device to retrieve items and damage far-off foes. Seeing this in action left a much more favorable impression than the first trailer for the game left. It actually looks kind of fun. The HUD has been tweaked as well so that the garish outline of the wiimote has been removed, leaving the screen more reminiscent of the item system of Twilight Princess. Link can now dash/sprint for short distance thanks to an incorporated dash meter. No more shoulder rolling like a cracked-out ninja turtle. Overall, I'm interested to get some real time playing this game.

Kirby Wii
Not much to say about this one. It's New Super Kirby Bros Wii. You play as Kirby, Dedede, Metaknight or Random Dude X in Dreamland or wherever. The level design is cutesy, but has a distinct smell of the side-scolling levels of the Subspace Emissary mode in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Super Mario Bros Mii
This is neat fun, but might come as disappointing to those of us who shelled out $50 when the original dropped a couple of years ago. Nintendo is re-releasing NSMBW but you are allowed the option of playing as your own Mii. You still have all the hats and power-ups and you can still play as the Bros, but you play as yourself. Seems kinda fun. The first thought I had was, If this was on PS3 this would be DLC. Not a new title.

Super Smash Bros
During the press conference, Nintendo hinted at a new Smash Bros title, but it was all just a big cock-tease apparently...