There were two big pieces of news at E3 last week: the ceaseless march toward 3D gaming and the unrelenting encroachment of motion control upon our lives. I honestly couldn’t give a toss about 3D gaming because if I wanted 3D entertainment I’d talk to a human being. Same thing with motion control: it doesn’t bother me because I want nothing to do with it (outside of dancing the Macarena when asked to “freestyle”). It’d be like getting angry because it’s hot on Venus: what? Exactly. One thing I did notice: what happened to all of that hubbub about “Apple being the new Nintendo”? → Read More
Get thee to the downloadery for OnLive now works on Macs. You can download a small file to bring up the OnLive client and play Assassisn’s Creed and other exciting games.
As you recall, OnLive is essentially a game streaming engine for Macs and PCs. All of the heavy lifting happens in the cloud and the company simply streams audio and video to your desktop. Think of it as video-on-demand on crack. → Read More
Dr. Wagner, Jr. will be on the cover of AAA: Héroes del Ring. I know this because I saw him win a lucha libre match on the E3 show floor a few hours ago. → Read More
This was truly a life-changing moment. Pro-wrestling legend Dusty Rhodes was at THQ’s E3 booth today promoting the upcoming release of WWE All Stars and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011. And wouldn’t you know it, he told me to beat it! Yes~! → Read More
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword might be the Wii’s crowning achievement, magnum opus and the single best reason to buy the system. It’s going to be huge. Nintendo had a series of posters hung behind its E3 booth that will help you start practicing for the game right now. Click through for what we can only assume are the 11 major control movements for the upcoming Zelda title. → Read More
What can one say about a controller that fits onto your arm like a brace and uses the position of your elbow and wrist to control games? Well, it’s kind of awesome: more hardware during a decidedly minimalist gaming trend. But it’s also extremely limited and potentially very expensive. As I noted when they announced it, it’s based on technology used for physical therapy — low-resistance exercise and all that.
Somehow I doubt it’s made to be affordable, especially when Forcetek’s dream is a full-body exoskeleton. Man, are you kidding me? You can’t even get people to shell out for a second Nunchuk! → Read More
This might be the best video you’ll see of E3 2010. It doesn’t get much better than Nicholas dancing. Trust me. → Read More
You seriously do not want to Chatroulette with me right now. It would be ugly. Regardless, this new video about Civ V is amazing exciting to a Civ nerd like me. Please let it appear on Mac Steam. Please. → Read More
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12630025&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=ff9933&fullscreen=1 Matt had a blast playing this; I wish I’d given it a go before we left Sony’s little press island. Think Wii Sports Resort but with the precision and responsiveness that are lacking from the Wii even with MotionPlus. The upgraded graphics don’t hurt, either. They hit the surprisingly elusive sweet spot between realism and caricature, and it does a good job of keeping you in the game while at the same time allowing some wiggle room in how the characters move and act. The controls looked pretty snappy too; the archery game shows that off. Matt got the hang of the gladiator game pretty quickly, but the subtleties of Ping Ping eluded him completely. → Read More
For the last six months or so, whenever I was on Razer’s site for whatever reason, I always would check the StarCraft II section for updates. There were silhouettes there for ages, teasing Blizzard-branded peripherals, yet aside from the messenger bag we gave away, we saw no more of said peripherals than we saw of the dark side of the moon. But E3 this year was the launch date, and I spent a little time yesterday talking about the devices with the head of Razer, Robert Krakoff. So there are three new peripherals: a keyboard, a mouse, and a headset. All three were joint projects between Razer and Blizzard, and it shows — for good and for ill. Let’s take a look at the gear. → Read More
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12629552&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=ff9933&fullscreen=1 Just a quick video to show you that yes indeed, you can play SOCOM with the Move. Quite well if I do say so myself — at least, once I got the hang of it. It’s a lot like playing a Wii FPS, but you can actually rely on its accuracy, and there’s less lag and drift. I could definitely play the whole game like this. Even the developer present said they wanted it to be small movements for aiming, but I really think it’d shine with a little bit more latitude for aiming. → Read More
Buried in the depth’s of Sony’s online archives were these photos of the PlayStation Move Charging Station, a device we don’t remember seeing at the big E3 booth. Or maybe we’re blind. In any event: the Charging Station, as the name implies, charges your Move controllers. Up to two at a time, too. → Read More
The Playstation Move is just what it looks like: a Wii clone. It feels the same, looks the same, and works the same. That’s a good thing, though. Everyone and their grandmother has played Wii bowling and knows how it works. Sony isn’t reinventing motion control with the Move. They are, however, seriously improving it. → Read More
When they told me there was a new PS3 surround sound bar, I didn’t expect much in the way of originality. And I didn’t get much. But it does look like a nice little audio solution for a small apartment or room where you don’t need cables running all over. It’s a little more than two feet wide and about three inches tall and deep. What were you expecting? it’s a bar. → Read More
This little guy, not announced at any big press conference but there for all to see at Sony’s media island, looks like a must-have accessory. If you’re planning on playing Time Crisis or any of the many shooters that are sure to come out for the Move, that is. Otherwise it doesn’t make much sense. But I love the styling: pleasantly retro yet functional and compact.
Update: Now with press shots! → Read More
The Playstation Move is just what it looks like: a Wii clone. It feels the same, looks the same, and works the same. That’s a good thing, though. Everyone and their grandmother has played Wii bowling and knows how it works. Sony isn’t reinventing motion control with the Move. They are, however, seriously improving it. → Read More
Rather than use E3 to pile on the mountains and mountains of hype of the big-bidget titles, I’ve elected to sprinkle through our coverage the small little gems that might otherwise go unnoticed. First on the docket is AAA: Héores del Ring a lucha libre (Mexican-style higly-flying pro-wrestling) game that’ll hit your Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and PSP on August 10 of this year. I had some quality time with it this morning and I can say this: I left the booth absolutely shocked at how thorough the game is. → Read More
I love me some surround sound headsets and big ol’ open-cup designs for when I’m at home, because nobody can see how dorky I look there, and I don’t have to worry about the cables getting everywhere. But for traveling around, putting in a quick game at a cafe, or playing your DS on the bus, you definitely want a more compact pair of cans. The Specialist and the Scout, from (relative) newcomer Nox Audio, are a pretty good solution for that, but also hook right up to your 360 or PS3.
Nox has been around for a while, actually, but mainly as a supplier. This lineup is their first direct-to-consumer line, and it’s not a bad debut. I even like the colors. Impressions inside. → Read More
Now, I don’t want to pretend I’m the biggest TRON fan ever. I know that guy, and I’m not jealous. But even if I’d never heard of TRON or TR2N, I’d be leaving dirty finger-marks all over these display-cases just like everybody else. Because these are some sexy-ass controllers. → Read More
I don’t envy our boys in the field over there. Pour one out for poor Devin, Nicholas, and Matt. via Penny Arcade → Read More
