The Cynical Critic

lol. Well, I just got finished watching both Nintendo and Sony’s briefing conference, and all I can really say is “Meh.” Nintendo literally had one of the absolute worst, if not THE worst showings I have ever seen at E3. The only game of remote interest that they unveiled was a new (but rehashed), Animal Crossings for the Wii. Talk about a disappointment, especially for a guy that was expecting to see a new Zelda game, and possibly a new Nintendo handheld. What a bunch of crap.

On a side note however, Nintendo has said that they would for sure be showing a new Kirby, and a new Wario game some time during E3, so I will be sure to preview that when I hear about it.

Sony had a better time with their showcase, although for the most part it sucked too. Basically, the only real games worth mentioning are a new 256 online shooter entitled MAG (Massive Action Game), an interesting third person, post apocalyptic game called Infamous, and a 20 second teaser trailer for God of War 2. The rest of the show talked about features the Xbox 360 already has, as well as taking time out to talk about the “old gray haired”, PS2. I crap you not. Sony literally took time out to talk about games for the PS2.

More or less, those are the updates at this time. Overall, it’s been a pretty pathetic E3. What at one time use to be the ultimate showcases in things to come, has relegated to a two hour long commercial about how great so and so’s company is. It’s inexcusable in my opinion.

Oh well. I’ll update again if I find out any more information. Until then, I will have to find something to keep myself occupied until the 18th, aka official release for The Dark Knight (woot).

Well it’s that time of year again. The time where all of the major companies in console and PC gaming get together and unveil their newest creations. So, for those of you that are too busy, or too lazy to actually look around and see all the new stuff that is happening, I figured I would make a quick update for you.

Yesterday marked the first day for E3, and more specifically it was Microsoft’s press conference as well as unveiling. Overall, they had a decent show, which included a lot of great info about Gears 2, including a new multiplayer mode called Horde, that enables a group of four players to team up against an onslaught of opposing enemies. Unfortunately, 4 player co-op has been left out of the game once again.

Other important game news included Fallout 3, with actual hands on demonstrations which can be viewed here: http://www.g4tv.com/e32008/videos/26939/Hands_On_Fallout_3.html
Needless to say, the game looks awesome. I’m really glad to see a console port of this game, so more people will be able to enjoy the greatness that is Fallout.

A nice long trailer of Resident Evil 5 was released, and all I can say is that it looks stunning. Capcom seems to be doing a nice job keeping all the things that made RE4 so great, and building upon it for an even better game. Also, (I just literally read this) but the newest Resident Evil will finally for the first time ever, have cooperative play. Eff yeah.

Microsoft unveiled a completely new dashboard and system layout that will be out some time this fall, along with revealing a new “Avatar” system, much like that of the Wii’s “Mii’s”. Personally, I think this is kind of a lame attempt at trying to appeal to a more casual audience (especially when 360 is pretty casual as it is), and on top of that the new dashboard just looks play awful. Here’s a quick picture of what the avatars and dashboard are probably going to look like.

And lastly (but certainly not least), Microsoft revealed, to the horror of Sony fanboys everywhere, that Final Fantasy XII would in fact be available on the 360 as well as the PS3. Sony fanboys have literally been raging all day as a result of this. Honestly, I am still really shocked about this. A lot of people are saying this is the final nail to be hammered into Sony’s coffin. Myself, I am not willing to go as far as to say that, however I will say it definitely will hurt the already bad sales of the PS3. Oh well. At least I will now have a chance to play the new Final Fantasy without spending an extra 500 plus dollars.

Thats all the news I have for now. The Nintendo conference will be starting very shortly, so expect another update from me soon.