Video Games – Page 354

E3 07 Predictions

E3 is only days away and I’m here to tell you what’s going to happen with the BIG 3 Consoles.

We already know what games each system will have for its Holiday launch lineup: Halo 3, Super Mario Galaxy, Lair. For all 3 consoles E3 will focus on the lineup for 2008 and beyond.

With the Wii there’s already Mario, Zelda, and Metroid – so what’s next? We’re not going to be seeing sequels to any of these titles, it will be all about the spin-offs. Mario Kart is a must. Since both the Wii and Mario Kart scream,”Party time!” it’s a no-brainer. We could also see Nintendo going to their secondary stars Donkey Kong and Starfox, although a big show stealer could be a new Pilot Wings or Wave Race game. Nintendo could also show off some indie games for its upcoming WiiWare channel. Nintendo themselves could be developing games for this downloading service. Potentially sequels to their low profile games like Luigi’s Mansion and Pikmin. Hopefully they’ll solve the storage issue that the Wii faces in light of this and the Virtual Console services.

Halo 3

On the Xbox 360 front, I predict Microsoft will be stealing the show. Halo 3 is Halo 3. Future titles such as Alan Wake will expand games into the territory of compelling storytelling with satisfying action-adventure gameplay. Not only that, but titles such as Atari’s Alone In The Dark 4 will show that the 360 doesn’t have to rely on shooter games to survive. Microsoft will tout its Xbox Live system and it’s casual games service, as Microsoft aims to broaden the appeal of the Xbox 360 to all types of gamers.

Lair

A lot will be going on in the Sony camp as they try and reposition themselves in the gaming market. They have to show off a new slim PSP model that will compete with Nintendo’s DS Lite. Other than that they need to prove that KillZone 2 looks just as good as the 2005 E3 trailer did. Remember the “Is it pre-rendered or in-game?” fiasco? Well, now is the time for Sony to prove that those were in-game graphics. For Sony it won’t be about showing we have X sequels – well, maybe I’m wishing too much, maybe that’s for E3 08. I hope that Sony realizes that it needs original and exclusive titles in order to compete with Xbox 360 and Wii. I won’t predict anything else for the Playstation because I expect them to talk about many things that have never been seen before.

In the end E3 07 will be about showing off why gamers need to own all 3 consoles. Each manufacturer will sell itself out to prove how their console is different if they want to keep up with the competition for seasons to come.

Super Mario Galaxy MIA

Ah, E3 and Internetz, spilling the beans for as long as I can remember. Seems like Nintendo may have some big announcements in store for Super Mario Galaxy.

Our very own David Rodriguez discovered today that Super Mario Galaxy has mysteriously vanished from Nintendo’s master list of games on their company website. You can go check it out yourself right here. I would have just posted a screen shot for you guys, but this worthless PC I’m borrowing doesn’t have MS Paint, let alone a photo editing app. Thanks for nothing, Danny!

This is suspicious news in and of itself, but considering that video game mega-con E3 is just around the corner, we here at SWL are willing to bet they’re planning to drop a bomb or two. Perhaps a street date, maybe even a new name? Wasn’t Super Mario Galaxy a working title?

[Update]

Now even Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is missing in action…

More info on Spielberg’s console video games revealed

Spielberg meets Miyamoto.

For those not in the know, Steven Spielberg has made a deal with EA to create ~~lots of alphabets~~ three video games. More details have finally come up on them, and they seem to be as interesting as they were before I found out. Right, whatever. Let’s see what Steve has in store for us now.

The first game is being developed for the Nintendo Wii and is codenamed “PQRS” which will “blend the creativity of the building-blocks game Jenga with the charm of a Saturday-morning cartoon.” With a description as wacky as that, you know the game can’t go wrong. The game will supposedly allow you manipulate blocks with your hand. Yes, how cool is that – a puzzle game with hands. Mental exhaustion meets its physical cousin.

Of the game, Spielberg said, “it just seemed like a great thing for the entire family to play together over Christmas. Although you don’t need the excuse of a holiday to enjoy it.”

The second game is for the Xbox 360 and PS3, which is thankfully more interesting. It is codenamed “LMNO” and is described as “a combination of the movies North by Northwest and E.T.” I just hope that by E.T., they meant the movie and not the video game. Of course, the good thing is that the E.T. in this case is going to be female, grown-up and really hot.

Before you pretend to dump Samus, note that you will not play as the girl in the game.

You’re an ex-secret agent, and the bond that you forge while on the run with the computer-controlled woman—good, bad, indifferent—determines the nature of her special abilities and the ways in which she’ll assist you.

And now, from Spielberg’s mouth:

“The challenge is, can the game have an emotional impact on players while they are actively manipulating the world?”

I hate it when anyone uses the term “emotional impact” in gaming these days. Ever since the adventure games stopped, gamers lost their last shred of emotion. But emotion aside, EA is going to go full on to turn on your natural instincts by making our hot E.T. as sexy as possible with “eyes that widen, lips that curl and translucent skin that lights up in different colors to express her quicksilver moods” Rawr. And no, that line wasn’t taken from a Barbie commercial.

The third game (which is most likely to have more mundane letters) has not been revealed yet. EA might be saving it for E3, who knows?

[Via Newsweek]

A song made of Counter-Strike sounds

You’d think some people have too much time on their hands. This video, originally hosted on Newgrounds can make for a fine example of the fact. The music you hear in the background has been composed entirely from Counter-Strike sounds, most of them being gunshots. The video itself isn’t all that great, with a bunch of stick figures playing Counter-Strike, but the soundtrack is sheer genius.