E3

E3 is in full swing this week.  I haven't been able to follow much of the action yet.  A few notes though:

 

- Modern Warfare 2 looks sweet!!  I have total faith in Infinity Ward

 

- The Beatles Rock Band game trailer was phenomenal.  Simply phenomenal.  It might be one of the coolest trailers I have seen for a game.  The trailer's art style and polish was simply breathtaking.  Granted, it did not show the actual game itself, and that usually goes against everything I believe in with game trailers, but lets be honest, we don't need to see gameplay video of another music rhythm game.  Nothing exciting about those.

 

- I read a bit about this "Project Natal".  Sound impressive from a technical standpoint, I just can't imagine it being too engaging in the long run, nor see its immediate game applications.  We'll see how this goes.

 

- Haven't seen any of the Halo: ODST footage.  Interested to see if it looks/plays differently than the regular Halo games.  Seems a new Halo project was announced for next year also.  Halo: Reach?  A prequel covering the the Fall of Reach?  Could be very interesting.  Halo has always been a great co-op game, but with a Fall of Reach title they could really add co-op to the storyline, since there will be more than one Spartan around at that time.

 

- Saw some quick footage of Epic's upcoming 2D arcade game.  The visuals looks amazing for an Arcade title.

 

- Alan Wake is back and it looks like Alone in the Dark and Silent Hill.  Why has this game been delayed so much?

 

- It was leaked before E3, but I'm psyched for The Secret of Monkey Island's upcoming Arcade release.  I've never played the Monkey Island games but I always wanted to.

 

- Guitar Hero 5.  Meh.

 

- Just caught a glimpse of the Nintendo conference.  Mario Galaxy 2 was announced.  The big news?  Team Ninja working on a 3rd-Person Metroid action game?!  WTF?!  Seriously?  Pretty damn sweet!

 

- Nothing too surprising out of the Sony Press conference.  Seems like everyone is getting into the whole motion-control thing.  I hope it is used properly to change the way we experience games and not just as a gimmick to cash in on the Wii's success.

 

I've only been able to skim the E3 info so far.  I have seen very few videos myself.  Hope to give further thoughts after I digest everything later this week.

 

The Simpson's Game

I was at Best Buy on Friday and saw The Simpson's Game for $9.99 (360).  Seemed like a crime not to pick it up, considering I'm a Simpson's freak.

Managed to play it for about 2 hours earlier today and it is not bad.  How much fun you get out of the game is greatly determined by how big a fan you are of the show.  Me, being a huge fan, am having a great time.  I haven't laughed this much playing a game since Portal.  The writing is on par with the great writing the show is known for.

Being able to explore Springfield and all of its landmark locations (Moe's Tavern, Krusty Burger, Springfield Elementary, Android's Dungeon, etc.) and even the Simpson home, is a fanboy's dream come true.  Everything screams authenticity, even though the layout of the actual town is shrunken down for obvious reasons.

Gameplay is a mix of exploration, standard platforming, simple puzzles and combat. Each Simpson member has their own move-set and special powers.  Nothing revolutionary, but it does keep things fresh.

The hilarious one liners from characters kept me in stitches and all the easter eggs thrown throughout the game world were great to see.  I enjoyed my play session, although there were several sections of extreme frustration coming from the game's controls and camera.  Sometimes making simple jumps or reaching certain locations is alot harder than it needs to be, because the camera refuses to cooperate.  This does put a damper on the fun factor.

All in all, for $10, it looks like a great investment.  Given that I haven't seen new episodes of the show in years (yes, as big a fan as I am, I never see the show on Sundays, just the reruns) I am enjoying getting my Simpson's fix through other means.

Update

- Aside from occasionally popping in Professor Layton to take a crack at a puzzle or two, I haven't been doing much gaming lately.  Just waiting for Batman.

 

- Infamous has been getting great reviews, yet that game has never interested me.  Even now I'm indifferent to it.  Which means I will probably buy it soon.

 

- Haven't been able to check out Terminator yet.  Reviews have been mixed, but I still want to see it.  And even though he chews out lighting personnel, I think Christian Bale is a phenomenal talent.

 

- Marlins have won 3 out of their last 4 games.  The Apocalypse is here!

 

Wednesday notes

- I've been on the road the last few days for work.  Been to Ft. Myers, Tampa and Orlando since Monday.  My newly purchased DS was put to good use.  Of course, for some reason I left Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass at home!  D'oh!!  So, I spent some more time with New Super Mario Bros. and started Professor Layton and the Curious Village.  Prof. Layton is pretty interesting.  Some of those puzzles are trickier than they seem.  If you think you know the answer immediately, take a step back and really try to think outside the box.  It is usually not that simple.  Looks like a fun title.

 

- Did I mention that I went totally bonkers about a week or so ago and purchased Super Mario Advance, SMA 2, and SMA 3 from Amazon? I received them today.  Sweet deal for all three titles.  Looks like I have a lot of old school platforming in my future.  Oh yeah, I sorta, kinda also ordered A Link to the Past and Hotel Dusk: Room 15.  I have serious, serious problems.

 

So in just over 2 weeks of ownership I already own more  games for the DS (counting some GBA titles) than I have for the PSP, which I have had for 3 years.

 

- Last night's Lost season finale was freakin' crazy awesome!!!  One more season to go!!!  I was kinda iffy on this series somewhere between season 4 and 5, but the second half of this season really picked it up.  I am totally hooked again.

 

- The Dolphins signed Jason Taylor.  1 year deal.  1.1 Million dollar.  That is win/win for the Dolphins.  Welcome back Jason!

 

- The Marlins totally suck.  After starting the season 11-1 (one of the best starts in MLB HISTORY!), we have gone 6-17 since then.  6 and freakin 17!!!  We are now 17-18 and one game under .500.  ARGH!!!  How does that happen?!?!?

 

- Logged on to Live last night for the first time since getting my DS I think.  Downloaded some demos (Wolverine, Bionic Commando, forget what else) and a few videos and then shut down.  Will check them out another time.

 

- Being a Qore subscriber does have some perks.  Looks like I will be participating in the Uncharted Beta.  Curious to see how this plays, since I am assuming that more resources were put towards the single player experience.

 

Star Trek

Just saw Star Trek.  It was fantastic.  My favorite movie of the year so far.  In fact, it was the best experience I've had in theaters in a while.

I've never been a Star Trek fan.  I've seen a few of the movies and the odd episode here and there, but I've never gotten into it.  But I really hope they make a few more films using this cast (and production team) because it was stellar.

Good job J.J.