Aaaand I jinxed it. No Blur today.

Just wanted to share a few thoughts. E3 was not only the point where I decided I’d adopt the Move controller as early as possible, but the moment where I would give up an old friend. The PSP is, in my mind, one of the great triumphs of this generation, but its lack of real support outside of a new marketing campaign and a few trailers here and there seems to be the signal where I give up a machine I’ve owned since launch. It’s certainly not a celebrated triumph, though. I’m one of the staunch defenders of the system – and cradle the sleek thing every time it gets slammed (lovingly) on the EBP. But, the time has come.

If there ever was a company to jump into the handheld market and take on the plumber and co., it had to be Sony. A long history of solidly built portable tech, they certainly set the bar high with the PSP on a number of fronts. Great screen, a fine analog nub (lousy for some folk, granted), removable storage media, multimedia functionality, a well-rounded online multiplayer infrastructure (in many genres, too. The SOCOM squad-strategy title Tactical Strike is, to this day, the most intense and gripping multiplayer I’ve had – like Full Spectrum Warrior, but better), an internet store etc., etc.,

The strategy of the machine was rather lumpy for a while, certainly in regards to marketing what it was. Strange NA commercials involving squirrels and carpet lint (?!) seemed to do more damage than good, especially when Chris Cunningham’s (unreleased?) commercial tapped into the trendy gamer vibe the machine should have been directed at strongly in the first place (see here: http://bit.ly/9shs8g ).

In any case, the lack of a decent marketing campaign right out of the gate seemed to help promote the idea that the PSP was nothing but a port machine – and in part, that’s true, especially when it comes to a lot of Japanese RPGs and the more niche titles that find their way to Western localisation through the PSP. That doesn’t discount the slew of unique and interesting titles exclusive to the system.

But it is time to hang up the hat and put the trade to good use. I’m not sad to see the thing go, but the memories will be cherished. Friday night Killzone Liberation matches with friends, the Ridge Racer rivalries, discovering the machine had its own Crimson Skies game (MACH) and could gameshare to eight players from one UMD, internet bouts of Tactical Strike/Warhammer 40K/Field Commander, the list goes on. I’ll be there with bells on for PSP2, but for the time being, it’s adios to the machine and hola to a curious glowing ball on a stick.

Wow. Here I am. Sorry I haven’t been around much. I can honestly say that even though I wasn’t there in the flesh, covering E3 has been an exhilarating experience. I can only imagine how Mike must be feeling right now having actually been there.

I’d say more but I am very tired and have a proper blog post to write.

@unmanneddrone: http://360.kombo.com/article.php?artid=19188 – Nail’d. You were on about that, weren’t you?

My curmudgeon is showing but I simply can’t get fired up about motion controls. This year, all of the conferences BUT Nintendo emulated the conferences Nintendo had in 2008 and 2009…which is quite possibly why I find myself wildly underwhelmed this year.

Yes, there are a number of titles coming out that I plan to buy…well…that I WILL buy but the only game that sticks in my head and I am really looking forward to is Dead Space 2.

My daughter (and eventually my wife) will LOVE the things that come with Kinect and Move and I will eventually succumb to the pressure and buy one of the two but I will be buying it to bring them closer to my hobby, and certainly not because I’m excited about waving my arms/hands at my television screen.

It’s sexy tech but it’s not my bag.

I’ve realized that much like how I like books and music, I certainly don’t like ALL types of books and ALL types of music. Gaming is slowly getting closer and closer to the level of social acceptance that books and music have (although books and music have about a few thousand years head start).

With that acceptance, comes divergence. When I was in middle school and highschool, no one really asked you what kindof games you play. You simply played videogames. Like…all of them. It’s not possible to do that anymore, which makes me a bit sad in some ways but knowing that my daughter and wife will be waving controllers at the t.v. screen WITH me in the future is certainly an acceptable trade off.

@feenwager: Absolutely. I don’t think it’s a bad thing that there are toys being shown. After all, gaming started as what was effectively a toy and grew up with the rest of us. What we’re seeing now is stuff that’s once again aimed at kids and very young people alongside more mature stuff for us. Or if not exactly “mature”, then stuff with more swearing, blood and tits in anyway.

It’s like @MimiK said the other day; we’re experiencing a diversification of the medium, which is a fantastic thing. It’s not watering it down, it’s just growing.

The stuff at E3 may be toys in many cases, but they are new technologies that do things we haven’t really seen before. Where better to show that off than the biggest games expo in the world?

Game of the Show: Glee Karaoke Revolution!

Monkey Island 2 SE trailer and screenies: http://www.kombo.com/article.php?artid=14946

Yum.

Few more details on that Monday Night Combat game coming in July. I know @RocGaude and a few others were up for giving this a shot. Looks like fun.

http://360.kombo.com/article.php?artid=19149

@JeffGrubb: Why has no-one edited in a “MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!” over the top of that? 🙂

@angryjedi I don’t think that’s legal in my state…

That being said, I’m actually a bit interested in Bullet Storm. The whole concept of getting points for more creative kills is a bit (as far as I know) unique to the FPS genre. “Unique” and “FPS” are two words that rarely belong in the same sentence, but if it brings something to the table that the rest don’t (a la Borderlands) I’ll be willing to give it a try.

@zegolf: Only if you scare your own dick off.

So it does that mean that gaming has come full circle of awesome?

@cgrajko shared this on Twitter a moment ago but it’s definitely worth sharing here too 🙂

Clicky:

Collated tweet from the Mode7 Games / Frozen Synapse guys:

“Really looking forward to E3 being over so indies can get a bit of a look-in on the news sites again! Having said that, I have seen some indie games / smaller games getting attention due to / despite E3 so well done to those chaps. If you haven’t told any of your relevant friends about Frozen Synapse yet, doing so soon would make today significantly less rubbish. Ta.”

One would suspect as much, and it just goes to cement what’s been discussed here – for all the big pressers, not a mention or showcase of XBLA or PSN games, let alone anything from the PC indie spectrum. They get a look-in via the showroom floor, but there really should be a bigger focus on the smaller titles. A nice presser for a slew of indie games would be great – disregarding time and planning.

Speaking of which, if you haven’t jumped onto the Frozen Synapse beta/pre-order yet, I highly recommend it. Especially if you’re one of those folks who cried when XCOM became an FPS. Right now, it’s got a skirmish and puzzle mode with a single player campaign still to come, but it has the best asynchronous turn multiplayer ever. Anyway, support these guys because they’re genuinely nice fellows, and sharp as tacks. And they give you two copies of the game for the price of a single pre-order, one to share with your friends.

Trailer: http://bit.ly/a2oNW5
A fantastic article by one of the Frozen Synapse devs titled “Indie Games vs. E3 – Who Shall Triumph”, a very poignant read: http://bit.ly/9tXilc

Whoa, first trailer for Motorstorm Apocalypse looks rather tasty. Probably surprising a lot of people who thought it was going to ape Split/Second, but very much in line with Big Big Studios’ triggered events in Motorstorm Arctic Edge.

http://bit.ly/aKe7PE

It is at this point in our story that our humble author admits fatigue, and waits for someone to simply sum up E3 2010 in some convenient form I can easily digest.

And yes, @RocGaude, there will be free dynamic themes.

http://ps3.kombo.com/article.php?artid=12458

The skinny on the PlayStation Plus service. Information direct from Sony, delivered via my fair hand. Check it, yo.

The price is right for PSN+, so I’ll have to indulge. Seems like a good deal.

@RocGaude I agree on the Nintendo part and share your slightly curmudgeonly views on that entire stable.

Whatever happens at any E3 or big event just makes me feel the consumer burn and preemptively behind the times. Cannot stand that.

I just kind of dipped in and out of the big pressers today so it’s difficult for me to assess the real impact they had on the most important customer they have…me.

For Nintendo fans, Nintendo did just fine. Zelda looks nifty and there seem to be a lot of goofy mascot driven fluff to send the faithful into a fit. Personally, I don’t care about anything they announced for the Wii…it’s just not my thing. I’ll care once I can play the games in 720P.

The thing I had the most excitement built up for was the 3DS. That is, until it dawned on me…no matter how cool the tech is, it’s a Nintendo product so it comes with everything that encompasses. Take that as you will. The screen grabs of the Kid Icarus looked very cool and surprisingly un-Nintendo in its art direction which gives it an advantage over it’s namesake. The upper screen looks woefully undersized compared to the Kotaku mock up which had me pumped for the 3DS in the first place. It’s like looking at one of those older laptops that had a 10″ screen with a 3″ border around it. The only thing I could think of was “man, I bet there was supposed to be more screen there, but…”.

As for Sony, kudos to them for wheeling out Kevin Butler. It shows humility and that they’re listening after all. The Move announcements were on par with what was expected and, unlike other pressers, they actually gave us a price. It was reassuring to see that this will be the last fuggin’ E3 we’ll ever see GT5 at. Other then that, nothing surprised me too much. I’m looking forward to giving PlayStation Plus a whirl. The only real downside to their hoedown was making 3D the big focus which most of us won’t be able to enjoy for quite sometime. Maybe someday we’ll look back on it and laugh. Until then, I won’t be.

Now it’s time for the floor to show us what they’ve got. Hit me.

Hey guys, sorry I haven’t been around, was frantically covering stuff for Kombo.

Thoughts:

• Loved Sony’s presser. Haven’t had a chance to check out Nintendo’s yet, but I caught a little of the 3DS stuff earlier.

• Move is really impressive. All the better for the fact it has “proper” games. And I can think of at least a few people here who would have very much liked the look of Heroes on the Move. Ratchet, Clank, Jak, Daxter and Sly Cooper all in the same game? Hello.

• Sorcery looked really cool. I agree it should have been a Harry Potter game though.

• Unlockable beards in Medal of Honor is awesome, but it looked just like Modern Warfare 2 to me, so an excessive degree. I’m just not interested in soldiers.

• That’s an impressive degree of support for 3D from Sony. Understandable, I suppose. But they certainly seem to believe in the technology.

From everything I’ve heard from people who have had a chance to try out Move already, they think it’s really good. I don’t think it’ll necessarily depend on standing up for games like Sorcery; you might just need a bit of room either side of you to wave your arms around a bit.

The Stig will be in GT5. The Davisons are losing their British minds right now.

Oh, so Sony has finally hired a crack squad of Yakuza operatives to squeeze GT5 dude’s nuts until he committed to a date.

Medal of Honor has unlockable beards. Bearded Justice!

I’ll tell ya right now: Kid Icarus sucked. A lot.

Maybe I’ll settle on “put it in the closet, and take it out when Epic Mickey & Zelda come out”. Sound fair?

@feenwager I haven’t really been following much of this conference but from what I’ve seen, I’d say that a trade-in would be a good idea.

Sorry Minottis…Nintendo just looks dumb.

Miyamoto always looks awesome using a Wiimote as a sword and shield.

What about a new F-Zero?

Back to watching the press conference through the written text of the Kotaku boys.

We could do a one-post, single threaded discussion. You can only reply to the top post. Would that work?

I would actually like Sony to come out with something huge that would convince me to buy a PS3. I recently stumbled upon my copy of Earthbound, including the strategy guide (and even the scratch and sniff cards) and have determined that I can make a mint off of eBay. I’d love to turn that towards the purchase of a PS3, but just can’t bring myself to do it. There aren’t enough exclusives and I’m completely content with my XBOX.

Nintendo predictions (which sadly I’ll be out of the house for, annoyingly): 3DS (curious but not to an obsessive degree), Vitality Sensor (snooooore… unless they hook it up to a version of Tetris and then it’d be awesome), HD Wii would be nice but I’m not expecting anything.

I think Sony could be the ones to knock it out the park this time around. Move is easily the most promising of all these stupid new controllers. You never know, stranger things have happened.

How does everyone feel about the rumored (is it really even a rumor at this point) 3DS?

@Beige do we really even expect an HD Wii?

So what are we expecting today? Is anything even scheduled? I’ve got a strong sense of overload after all of the press conferences yesterday, so I have NO idea what is in store for the next 3 days.

Looks like Nintendo and Sony?

I can’t wait to see some heartbeat sensor!

Also, @A.J. don’t forget you can now use any 16GB USB Stick to transfer stuff from one xbox to another, so that should be easier to transfer!

I just want to learn how to Moonwalk!

@bowlisimo: I think they’re planning on a simultaneous announcement with EA showing Mass Effect 3.

Seriously! Fucking TrackMania! With shooting and RPGs?! Want!

I thought Rayman looked pretty cool. Is it sad that it may be my favorite thing I’ve seen so far?

TRACKMANIA!!!!!! FUCK YES!!!!!!

The new Driver better have the moviemaker mode and the ability to share online. Just sayin’.

Crispy from 1UP summed this up pretty well: “I expected nothing and am disappointed.”

Why is everyone saying it’s Okami? It’s clearly Flower.

Wait..Sly Cooper Collection in HD? What?

@iscariot83: Rez. 🙂

@iscariot83: Child of Eden (awesome), Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (also awesome) – strong lineup from Ubi so far. Admittedly, it’s only just started.

Look, Rez! Waitaminute.

If Star Wars: The Old Republic were a movie, I’d be all over it. As an MMO? Meh.