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20 May 05
It's weird. I've mentioned before that I like Nintendo, but I don't understand them. I've read and listened to a lot of the information coming out of the big N. Their one consistent message has been that they're not going to try to compete with Sony and Microsoft. They put in a bunch of parsing, but basically they're following their own muse and refuse to play the more power game.
Intellectually I can accept that and respect it. The problem is that E3 is a trade and marketing event. By sitting out and withholding information, Nintendo hurts its relationships with retailers and fans. To me that's a worse business move than showing any innovation that might be copied. You also have to wonder with patent laws why they'd be worried. The simplest answer is that they're just making a new use of an existing technology.
It's just my personal bias that I don't like seeing the company turn itself into the RC Cola of gaming. Coke is everywhere. Pepsi is everywhere. RC can be found here and there. It has a good flavor and a loyal group of supporters that claim it's the best. Comparing sales, RC barely shows up on the charts, but they keep making money and making RC. The difference is that RC doesn't look fondly back on the days when it ruled the cola landscape.
Just a couple of other E3 notes for you. I have a bunch of screenshots to put up. I'll try to do that over the weekend. The new EGM just came out claiming no backwards compatibility for the Xbox 360. I'm guessing that's outdated information since Microsoft is publicly claiming the opposite. Microsoft's PR department took a look at the Playstation 3's specs and came to the conclusion that the XBox 360 was the more powerful machine. Shocking.
Finally, Ico was a neat niche game with a striking visual style. Team Ico's follow up Shadow of the Colossus will also be a neat niche game with a striking visual style. For some reason, some gaming journalists want people to believe it was one of the biggest games of the show. I don't understand that. Trying to foist that game on the majority of the mass market will likely just yield endless cries of, "This game sucks." Those cries might discourage someone who would be genuinely interested in the game. Some cool games just aren't for everyone.
Jason
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19 May 05
Wow. In the middle of E3, someone hacks the site. I'm not sure that's anything to be proud of. It's kind of like the gerbil wheel. The gerbil may be running and thinking it's getting somewhere, but you shouldn't pat yourself on the back for playing such a clever trick on the gerbil. I make no pretenses of having the most secure site ever. I thought my anonymity cloak hid me well enough. Oh well, we're back up now. I apologize if it goes down again. Some people like tormenting gerbils.
While I'm at it I might as well confirm my loser status. I have an IGN insider subscription. Normally, it's pretty useless, and I wonder why I keep paying for this thing. They writers I originally wanted to support have almost all left now. However, my subscription runs out at the end of May. Each E3, that subscription is solid gold. Tons of data, all the videos at higher resolution and high speed downloads. There's some exclusive stuff like the ability to download the complete pre E3 press conferences that I've used. So that's why it keeps getting renewed.
Some of the recent videos I've downloaded were of Starcraft: Ghost. I'm sure concern about this project is close to many strategy gamers' hearts. No one wants to see a favorite memory despoiled. That's why I was pretty pleased that Blizzard bought Swinging Ape. They're the new team working on Ghost. It's like that old shaver ad (Remington?). I liked it so much I bought the company. If Blizzard's that happy with their work, I have a little more faith in the project.
Anyway, I saw the videos. Some people have complained about the crappy graphics. I just can't see it. The Marines looked like Marines. The Hydralisks looked like Hydralisks. I thought the Siege Tanks looked great. The Vulture looked a little different than I expected, but certainly not wrong. At least, I think it was a Vulture. Maybe it's because I was comparing it to low resolution Starcraft art (and cut scenes), but I thought it looked good.
The other Ghost video was even more interesting. It seemed to show a team based multiplayer. Obviously, that would be hard to resist. They only showed Terran vs Terran, but even that would be great fun. The video seemed to show a Ghost locking down a Wraith flying by causing it to crash. There were Ghosts sniping from distance. Firebats were firing it up. Wraiths were on high speed strafing/bombing runs. There even appeared to be an engineer unit setting a trap on a Wraith so when the next unit boarded it and took off, they died in an unexpected fireball. It looked fun to me, cutting edge graphics or not.
I'm sure there was more going on today, but I ended up being a little preoccupied. Thanks for all your support. I'll try to catch up soon.
Jason
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18 May 05
I'm not sure where to begin today. In fact, I think I'll try to keep this short to remain coherent. I guess I'll start with what dominated my day. I finally had the chance to see the entire Sony press event. Amazingly, even at nearly two hours long, I didn't feel like my time was wasted.
It was clearly the Playstation 3 launch party. Everything was focused on the PS3. The PSP was only mentioned as a peripheral. The only upcoming PS2 game mentioned was Final Fantasy XII, and that was by the president of Square-Enix.
I have to say I was impressed. They covered everything from design philosophy to hardware specs to details on the graphics chip to data handling to (of course) the upcoming games. I didn't see anything that blew away the Xbox 360. There did seem to be more content with Sony, but there was no clear answer to Xbox Live.
One thing did interest me was the inclusion of multiple gigabit ethernet ports. Apparently, the PS3 will act as a switch. With Wireless-G out of the box and perhaps still an add on with the 360, it could lead to the bizarre circumstance of using your PS3 to connect your 360 to the internet. Hopefully, the thought of that will be with pressure Microsoft needs to pack in Wireless-G out of the box.
If I had to rank excitement level, it would go PS3 > Xbox 360 > Revolution. Before last week they were all about equal with maybe a slight edge to the Xbox since they had released the most information. Now I'm not sure Nintendo is even trying to play the game. Hey if they can play their own game and make money, I won't complain, but they'll have to get used to the slings and arrows.
The only thing that still worries me is the price point question. People are still throwing up numbers like $500 consoles and $70 games. No. Sorry. Strangely the thought of the Xbox 360 at $360 is growing on me. It would be a concession to inflation without jacking up prices a full $100. It would also allow a price drop to $300 once the PS3 hits (if necessary).
Right now both Sony and Microsoft are shining (and rightfully so). Power and performance levels are exceeding expectations. Launch libraries for both could be the best ever. Memory concerns have been addressed. Backward compatibility has been addressed. All the controllers are wireless (even Nintendo's phantom controller). The thing that surprised me most thus far is that developers are talking about improving AI. It's not just being shoved under the table any more. Maybe with the extra power they realize there aren't any more excuses. I think I've mentioned it before, but it's a great time to be a gamer.
Jason
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17 May 05
Today was supposed to be Nintendo Revolution Day. The problem was Nintendo wasn't playing. In fact their theme was along the lines: Think of it as a mystery for you to solve. Right. Maybe they didn't get the memo that the point of introducing a product is to tell the public about your product. Nintendo continues to baffle.
I must admit my jaw did drop once while watching the stream of the press conference. Just when you thought they were going to give you some specs on the Revolution, they turn it around and proudly point out that they've sold over 2 billion games. That took guts. You could almost hear the air let out of the room as people realized that Nintendo wasn't going to give them any red meat. It might prove to be a sound strategy in the long run, but right now it's frustrating.
I just watched the Xbox press conference for comparison (Sony is on deck). I realize they have different goals, but it really seemed like night and day. Beyond the customizable face plates (wow), Microsoft didn't spend time on the look of the system. That was pretty much all Nintendo said. Come on people, it's a box. It's a small box, I'll grant you, but even with the cool lighted strip, I can't claim to be excited. I've always said as a gamer it's all about the games, when you give me nearly nothing on the next generation, I'm not going to get pumped Nintendo.
Perhaps the most disappointing thing was they didn't even hint as to what the revolution was. Supposedly it's the controller, but when they said, we'll tell you about that later, I almost screamed at my monitor, "You better mean like five minutes from now." They didn't.
What was Nintendo's big announcement? It's the Gameboy micro. Great, I can fit my GBA on my key chain. They did point out that it has the sharpest screen ever on a handheld. It had better as it's about the size of a postage stamp. I must admit it was a good surprise for E3. No one expected that Nintendo's secret handheld in development was a second hardware revision of the GBA.
The pessimistic side of me thinks Nintendo's dead. We're watching the beginnings of a death spiral, but it's inexorable. The more rational part of me knows that's not true. They're still making money. They know how to make great games. They dominate the handheld space. They claim the next console will be the easiest to develop games for. I have enough good memories and good will towards Nintendo to wish them the best.
There are reports that the Revolution is only 2-3 times as powerful as the Gamecube. Even using fairly conservative estimates, that puts them at the back of the pack. Some would claim it puts them out of the running, but I don't think it's that bad. It does make me more curious about the controller. What about it makes them think it will overcome that technology gap and entice gamers, casual gamers and nongamers (not to mention developers) to the Revolution. That's a lot of pressure for a little controller.
The big positive I see out of all this is it could be the death knell for multiplatform games. The tech gap is huge. There are going to be controller variations between them (especially with Nintendo). Microsoft has certain demands as minimum features that involve HD support and Live integration that aren't trivial. Oh, let's not forget storage capacity. Blu Ray will offer developers much more room. Sony's not going to complain since it looks like they'll have the most powerful console with (presumably) the best looking versions. Looking at it that way, greater differentiation between the console means greater variation in games. Gamers win.
Jason
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16 May 05
Happy PS3 day to everyone. Sure Microsoft had a press conference too, but they've already had their day in the sun. So what's the headline? To borrow from GamesIndustry.biz, "Sleek new system to be twice as powerful as Xbox 360." Wow. With launches in Japan in Mar 06, North America during the summer, and probably Europe in the Fall.
So, generally speaking, Microsoft will have less time to build its head start than expected. That also makes Sony's "Wait for it" campaign a little easier. This is already fun, and we haven't even seen the "Revolution" Nintendo has in store for us.
Microsoft's press conference responded with a large list of upcoming games for the 360. I put it up in the news section Here. The headline there was that Final Fantasy XI is coming to the Xbox 360. That's not too surprising since Square Enix will probably try to get it out for any system that can support it. The more interesting thing was all the kind words S-E had to say about the 360 and looking forward to future projects.
There was another sentence to note in Microsoft's press release: "The company also announced Xbox 360 will be backward-compatible with top-selling Xbox games." Top-selling is an interesting modifier. To me, that means it won't be 100% backwards compatible, but they'll make sure the biggest work. That seems to be as good a compromise as we can expect.
Sony announced full backwards compatibility all the way back to the Playstation. It's all in emulation instead of an embedded chip this time. That's amazing. I think this coming generation will knock our socks off across the board.
We know a few more things now. All three next gen systems will have wireless controllers. Sony came through on the memory issue. They even have 256 MB of video memory and 256 MB of system memory running at 3.2 GHz. They're supporting resolutions up to 1080p. I'm not even sure where to look to find a 1080p monitor outside of borrowing a computer one.
Overall, I'm just one happy camper. Nintendo is on deck now with their press conference in the morning. This will be fun. There's going to be too much information flying around to keep up. I'm just going to cover the things that catch my eye at the moment for this week. Hang on.
For this week's game, I'm going with the news flow. Blizzard just announced they're buying Swinging Ape studios, currently working on this week's game. Yes, it's Starcraft: Ghost (official site) from Pandemic, Swinging Ape and Blizzard. This one's a team effort. Pandemic started it working with Blizzard, but had other commitments and Blizzard doesn't release until the game is at the level they expect, so they moved the project to Swinging Ape. The simplest way to put it would be to say it's a Splinter Cell stealth game in the Starcraft universe. You play a cybernetically enhanced special operative called a ghost. Blizzard is promising you'll encounter some of the epic battles from the RTS seen from the individual soldier's perspective. You're not just one lone gun plinking away either. You have the ability to call down support to sway the tide of battle. Hopefully the tactical action will begin this fall.
Jason
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