E3 2009 - Day 2 - Conference Reviews
Day 2 of E3 Press Conferences, and our reaction!
Day 2 at E3 continues, and here are the quick overviews of the two press conferences that took place today. Not many PC-related news at all, other than FFX 14 is coming to PC online.
Nintendo
- Talked about sales figures
- Super Mario franchises recap (he's done it all!)
- New Super Mario Bros for Wii. More enemies, levels, and players. Play 1-4 players now. Interact with other players. Throw them, carry them. Items still rare, one per player. First one gets it, a competition for points w/other players. Releases holiday 2009.
- WiiFit is best selling video game -accessory- this year since launch
- WiiFit plus announced. Now has personal trainer, includes more training programs and personalized workouts. 15 new balance board games. Releases fall 2009.
- WiiMition plus detailed. New realism promised, feels and plays more precisely. Video is shown how the Wii remote replaces real activity and emulates movement
- Wii Sports Resort announced. Collection of minigames using Mii. Ships with MotionsPlus extender. Live demo shown. Launches July
- Many EA Sports titles coming to Wii
- Red Steel 2 only plays with MotionPlus extension
- RPG games. Wii Final Fantasy game trailer. DS trailer for Kingdom Hearts game. Mario&Luigi Bauser'story RPG game for DS, releases Fall. In 2010 long-forgotten RPG "Golden Sun" returns to DSi
- Interactive Novel games based on James Patterson book coming to DS/DSi
- Ubisoft Developing C.O.P. for DS. Action packed, gritty open-world game GTA-about rogue cop, in third person view. Cell-shaded
- More DS Games for tweens.
- DSi selling well. Gamer opinions on DSi video showcase. Developers have more tools and power with DSi. 1 million sold in NA since release 2 months ago
- Mario vs Donkey Kong DSi, only avaliable digitally. Available in June
- User generated content, sharing, etc. Tools to create simple movies, games with DSi
- New Legend of Zelda DSi game
- Nintendo President's speech. Talks more about casual gaming, "gamer in everyone". 149 million potential gamers. Speech lasts 10+ minutes, sounds like a stakeholder conference rather than E3. Very business driven, not game related speech. Very painful to sit through.
- Wii Vitality Sensor device - looks like a thumb print reader. Takes blood pressure, pulse, and other vitals. Gamers shocked, scared, and worried about the mental state of the console devs.
- Super Mario Galaxy 2 announced. Has Yoshi. Looks nearly identical in gameplay and design. Some new environments.
- Exclusive Wii games in 2009 third-party: The Conduit trailer shown, releases June. New Resident Evil trailer shown. Dead Space Extraction trailer.
- Nintendo wanted a mature game. Invited third party dev to help. Metroid Other M - announced, trailer. Releases 2010.
Sony
- 2009 is the year to be on PS consoles because of 130+ games coming
- PS2 is cheap now, still selling crazy. Not dropping PS2 consoles or games support until consumers stop buying. 100 titles coming to PS2 this year
- PS3 with 22 mil sold in 2008. Sales expansion to South America. PSN also expanding
- inFamous is a big blockbuster, editors choice all over the place, exclusive.
- UnCharted 2. Multiplayer beta coming. Showed new lengthy gameplay trailer. Big helicopter fight, used to demosntrate physics and light tech.
- MAG. First live gameplay demo. 256 players per map. Live demo with 256 people. Very impressive tech. Coming this Fall.
- Over 400 PSP titles released in the US alone to date. 15 million PSPs sold last year.
- Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines coming to PSP November 10, one week before Assassin's Creed 2. Pink PSP Hannah Montana bundle coming
- Now comes the official announcement of the PSP Go, for the "digital life consumer" who "does have room for UMDs, CDs, or DVDs in their pockets or backpack." Integrated Wi-Fi, plays the same games. It's 50% smaller and 40% lighter than the PSP-3000. As leaked, 16GB of flash memory, integrated Bluetooth, and Memory Stick Micro. Sony also lanching a new PC service, Media Go, to allow faster and "intuitive" download and transfer of content to PSPs. Going forward, all new PSP titles will be released both as UMD discs and digital downloads. PSP Go coming to US and EU for $249.99 and 249.99 euros on October 1.
- PlayStation video store will be available, as of today, natively on the PSP
- Officially unveiled Gran Turismo PSP. Host has it running on a PSP Go right on stage. 800 cars, 35 tracks, and 60 layouts of those tracks. Coming October 1, 2009
- Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker coming to PSP. game is set in the 1970s, 10 years after Metal Gear Solid 3. "It's a true sequel to the MGS franchise," says Kojima. Long gameplay trailer shown. Coming 2010
- Many PSP exclusives coming, new Resident Evil. Montage shown for PSP for 2009 games.
- PSN has 24 mil users in 55 countries. 475mil downloads. 200 titles on PSN store, 90 exclusive. PS1 classic coming to PSN
- PS Home. 6.5 mill users. Home will be expanded with tons more game spaces. Video montage of Home progress since launch
- Final montage of most PS3 games coming in 09.
- Announced new PS3 exclusive from Rockstar - Agent
- Assains Creed 2 on PS3 demo. Diversity for gameplay was main goal. First gameplay shown. Shows off flying machine. Double-handed blade (take out two guys at once). AI will now look for you in hay, but you can kill and drag them in. Gameplay showcases entry, kill, and escape. Can jump into water. Release this holiday.
- Final Fantasy 13 video, coming in Spring
- Final Fantasy 14 announced, launch 2010. PS3 exclusive.
- Motion controller revealed. Tech demo shown. Excellent 1 to 1 tracking. Yes it is a Wii-Controller attempt, but the showcase is quite impressive technically. Sony's controller works much better than Nintendo's in terms of tracking and response times. Launches spring 2010
- Mod Nation Racers announced. PS3 exclusive, along the lines of Little Big Planet create/share mechanic. Gameplay looks similar to Mario Kart in next-gen. Comes with total track customizer tool
- The Last Guardian - PS3 exclusive. Full trailer shown. From the creators of Shadow of the Colossus
- Short Gran Turismo 5 clip
- God of War 3 Demo. Live demo, gameplay shown. Very long video with a few bosses and combo kils. Coming 2010.
Thats it for Day 2! Hope you are enjoying the avalanche of news!
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