Random E3 thoughts . . .

- With all the changes done to E3, it does not look like we'll be seeing any of the big surprises or announcements from years past. The biggest news probably came from Microsoft's camp, with the redesign of the Dashboard (not sure I like it), the addition of Avatars, a Netflix partnership and the announcement that the 360 will be getting Final Fantasy XIII on day one (not a big deal to me since I own both systems and I have not cared for FF since part VII). Nintendo announced their controller doohickey attachment that makes the Wiimote more accurate and a GTA game for the DS. And Sony showed their new video store. Everything else we basically already knew about.

- Gears of War 2 is looking nice. Gameplay seems like more of the same, which can be good and bad. I hope they emphasize the story aspects of the game better this time around and I hope they open up the gameplay a bit to make it less linear and more dynamic. I'd prefer less of the, advance, enter a pre-planned skirmish (with enemies arriving at a pre-determined time), battle, then move on to next section in which enemies appear. All the while the world closes in behind you preventing back-tracking and ushering you forward. I would prefer more open levels, multiple paths (that I don't want a menu to choose my course, let me just choose while playing) and battles that feel fresh each time you replay them (like in Halo). Technically though the game is showing all the improvements done to the Unreal III Engine. I just hope there are no refrigerators with N64 textures this time around.

- I enjoyed the Resistance 2 demo during the Sony Press Conference. Battling that huge creature was pretty impressive and it looked like a lot of fun. I hope the game is full of memorable encounters like that. I never finished the first Resistance (I borrowed it from a friend initially) so I'm not sure how the previous game ended. Don't think that will affect my experience with part 2, but I now wish I would have finished it.

- Resident Evil 5 looks very impressive visually, but I have a big problem with it. Technically, it looks absolutely gorgeous. But the gameplay looks like a carbon copy of part 4. Resident Evil 4 was superb, but times have changed and its controls and general gameplay feel a bit dated. In an interview with one the producers they mentioned that they are aware of this and are working on implementing addition control schemes, but one of them better include strafing and having more control of your movement. Another problem I have, which adds to the "I've been there" feeling, is that a lot of the animation seems to have been borrowed from RE4. The way the enemies approach you holding their weapons above their heads, the way they stagger when you shoot them, the way Chris reloads the sniper rifle, it seems to have been pulled straight from the previous game and it really kills it for me. I do not like recycled animations! Especially when jumping to a whole new console generation for the sequel!!!

- Wii Music did not interest me at all. Watching everybody "performing" on stage, playing their "air" instruments looked dreadfully boring. I do not think any of them were really enjoying themselves, because it did not look like fun at all. The main reason that Guitar Hero and Rock Band are as big as they are is because the instrument controllers give immediate feedback and really emulate the feeling of playing an instrument. I seriously doubt banging on an invisible drum generates the same satisfaction.

- I was really happy they had a teaser for God of War III. The game is probably a long way off and I knew it was being worked on, but just having that "official" confirmation was a relief. I hope it makes a Fall 2009 release!

- Little Big Planet cannot come out soon enough.

- I'm hearing good things about Flower for the PS3. FlOw was interesting, so I'm keeping and eye on this one.

- Fable 2 looks alright. According to Peter it is completed and they are just tweaking and fixing bugs. That is good. I heard a report that the main quest is only about 12 - 15 hours long! That is dreadfully short for an RPG! I understand there is a lot to do besides the main quests, but those side-missions are never as interesting as the main quest. I was hoping for something around 30 hours at least this time around. Especially since you start the game off as a kid, grow up, can get married and even have kids of your own. I'd think more time is needed to really develop that. Oh well. From what I have seen this title is still not a day 1 purchase for me. I did enjoy the 1st one though, despite it falling well short of what was promised.

- I watched a live demo of Left 4 Dead and I was pretty impressed. The game looks like it has potential. Well, any game with zombies has potential in my opinion.

- The new Prince of Persia is looking great. The cell shaded art style looks phenomenal, making the game look like a painting, rather than a cartoon (which is the norm for cell shaded games).

- One game that is quickly rising to the top of my "most anticipated release" list is Mirror's Edge. We've only been given snippets of this game, but it looks fantastic! The two trailers available, which claim to be made up of in-game footage, are absolutely gorgeous! This one has a lot of potential.

- The new James Bond game also had some pretty nifty visuals. Some of the environments I saw were really, really, impressive. Bond himself, modeled after Daniel Craig, looked a bit robotic though, but the textures and lighting were of really high quality. Gameplay looked like a mix of 1st Person Shooting and 3rd person combat similar to the recently released Bourne Identity game (read: fast, cinematic, hand-to-hand combat with timed button presses).

- Did I mention that Little Big Plant looks and sounds great? Just checking . . .

- Seems like Microsoft decided to pull Bungie's announcement of their new Halo game from the Press Conference because they wanted to keep it under 90 minutes. Well, that was freakin' stupid. Umm, I'd think a new Halo game from Bungie is pretty big news . . . but maybe that is just me.

- If Brother's in Arms: Hell's Highway doesn't come out soon I am going to lose all interest in the game. I remember the developers talking about this title before the 360 even came out, comparing its technology to the then about-to-be-released CoD2 and claiming how much more advanced their game was. Well, that was 3 freakin' years ago! Initial glimpses of the game were insanely impressive, but as more time has gone by and other great looking games have come out, Hell's Highway is looking more and more average. I am still looking forward to the tactical gameplay, but I think this game should have been out over a year ago. Graphically, it now looks a bit dated. I'm giving it until September, after that, I might not care anymore. Shame, this was in my top 5 . . . two years ago!

That's all for now, if I think of any other games that caught my eye I'll mention them in a follow-up post.