We ran into Kim Rom from SteelSeries at E3 and he gave us a little tour of their newest gear. I’m pretty pumped about the 7XB headset, which we’ll be reviewing soon — I travel with a headset a lot, and the flexibility and breakdownability make it an attractive option. Check out the video inside.
I also get a surprise from a lady in red right at the beginning there. Why didn’t I follow up on that? What’s wrong with me?! → Read More
People have been modding gaming consoles since the beginning of recorded history. There were glyphs found deep in Mayan temples telling a tale of how ancient gamers customized their rocks and sticks to better describe their gaming attitude. But never before has case modding been this trivial.
Calibur11′s solution involves off-the-shelf components that when combined, make a clever case mod. We stopped by their E3 booth to check ‘em out. Video after the jump. → Read More
OnLive did E3 big this year. The remote gaming company launched a ton of new games, a universal controller, and displayed their tablet apps. In fact more than a few of our commenters disagreed with our dueling assertion that the Wii U and the Vita won E3 this year; they thought OnLive deserved our meaningless nod. That’s why we made sure we spent sometime at OnLive’s rocking E3 booth.
There’s no questioning the platform’s huge potential. The company seems ready to embed their system in nearly any relevant device and it’s already found in select HDTVs, tablets, computers, and set-top boxes. While I firmly believe it’s not as good as the real thing, OnLive certainly brings proper gaming to systems and devices that would otherwise be left out of the fun. Want to play Duke Nukem Forever using just your Vizio HDTV or Macbook? No problem with Onlive. → Read More
At E3, we had the opportunity to talk with Martin Rae, who is the President of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, an industry group akin to the more well-known Academy that puts on the Oscars. The idea is the same, but the industry is younger, and although their conventions and yearly awards are less well-known, they are gaining popularity and are part of the growing movement towards integrating games with more mainstream media.
I was curious to see how Rae and the Academy think the industry is changing, since we’ve gone from a time of far more straightforward gaming (i.e. the well-crafted ride of Half-Life) to things like Foursquare and Farmville, which blend with real life. I also wanted to hear what he thought of the success of indie hits like Minecraft and Limbo. When games with teams numbering in the single digits can outsell $40 million titles, what does that say?
Check out the whole interview video inside. → Read More
Although region locking doesn’t affect the majority of gamers, among the hardcore it tends to be a sticking point. Some games have better or earlier releases in other countries, and the ability to import and play them is an important one for, say, JRPG fans or expats. Fortunately, the Vita will be region-free, meaning you won’t have to worry whether your device or game is Japanese, American, European, or whatever. You loads your discs, you plays your games. Maybe they had to cut out the region lockout feature in order to hit that $250 price? → Read More
I was lucky enough to be able to play a partial round of Battlefield 3 yesterday, but unfortunately DICE and EA were very insistent that no cameras would be allowed inside. That rule seems to have been laxified today, as there’s a pair of videos up showing off the very experience I got. Curious? Watch on. → Read More
OnLive ain’t new, but they’ve been updating their service and are showing off a few interesting new features here at E3. We spent some time at their booth, hearing about the service and the improvements they’re making. We saw a little footage of From Dust and heard about their cool tablet interface.
Head on inside for the video. → Read More
We had a pleasant morning checking out the Sony and Nintendo booths, getting hands-on with a few launch games and feeling up the hardware. The device really is remarkably light; you’d expect such a powerhouse to be heavy and bulky, but it’s quite petite. Unfortunately the units there were all tethered, and all their untethered units were broken. Just block out the cords with your hand and it’s almost the same. → Read More
Last night we got a live tour of the latest from Mad Catz, including this rather comprehensively-featured headset for the Xbox 360. The big “what’s new” on this one is that it’s “truly wireless,” with no cord to the controller — making it the only wireless Dolby 7.1 headset out there. That may be putting somewhat of a fine point on it (there are other “truly wireless” headsets, of course), but it’s true for now and the headset does look pretty great.
Check out our footage or read on. → Read More
When I look at this odd, immersive screen, called the jDone, I’m reminded of Coleridge’s epic poem:
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately jDome decree:
Where guns roared out, soldiers ran
Through caverns measureless to man
In a boot of Battlefield 3.
The J-Dome costs $1,200 and sets up in a few minutes. It fits in a package about as big as a pack ‘n’ play playpen for kids and works with any projector, creating a nearly immersive gaming experience by adding peripheral vision effects to otherwise 2D games. → Read More
It’s time for another day of live video down here at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. Today we’ll be covering the massive South Hall, where we’ll find the big publishing houses showing off their latest. But first, we’re dropping by the Sony booth (signal permitting) to spend a little time with the Playstation Vita, their powerful new handheld. After that, a quick tour of the Nintendo booth, then it’s off to South Hall to see what’s what. Right inside the door is EA, and then there’s Activision, Microsoft, Ubisoft, and a couple dozen other publishers who are just aching to demo their new games. We’re going live just a few minutes past 10 (once we’re past the crush at the door), so point your browsers towards the CrunchGear front page and let the liveness stream. Remember, you can always contact us by tweeting with hashtag #e3crunchgear! → Read More
We’re big fans of John Carmack. He knows his business better than anyone else and tells it straight. He doesn’t speak in PR nonsense and it’s almost guaranteed that he’ll teach you something . This may be one of the best interviews to come out of E3 2011. I just wish we did it. Oh well, CVG snagged 20 minutes with the gaming legend and it’s embedded after the jump for your viewing pleasure. → Read More
There’s seemingly a philosophy inside Nintendo that form factors and ideas don’t die, but rather are shelved and re-released once the proper technology is ready. The Wii U is just the latest in a long line of consoles that use rather old form factors and ideas. Just look at this chart we found on Reddit. The Nintendo Watch & Game spawned the DS 24 years later, the Power Glove preceded the Wii, the Virtual Boy the 3DS, and the Wii U now seems like a proper implementation of the GameCube/GameBoy Advance controller scheme. Not that there’s anything wrong with this process. It clearly works. → Read More
IndieGames supports indie game developers by showcasing them at various events and putting them in front of the big boys. The results? Cooler gameplay, exciting new titles, and lots of fun. Yesterday we played some of the coolest indie games we’ve ever seen including the Rogue-like Desktop Dungeons and Q.U.B.E., a game that is reminiscent of Portal but completely different. Take a look at both and you’ll understand. → Read More
Watch us interview people while drinking! Here we go again: talking to the exhibitor’s at this year’s Showstoppers at E3 where we can sit down and get up close and personal with a few fascinating tech companies. We’ll be streaming for about an hour and then we’ll start up again at 10am Pacific when the show floor opens again. Expect live hands-ons of the Vita and the Wii U as well as lots of great talk with lots of publishers. Thanks for watching so far and enjoy! → Read More
Nox’s Admiral headset has been around since CES, in a way — it’s still not quite final, and by “not quite final” I mean “not final at all.” But it’s still awesome, and once you get over how… shall we say, not lightweight it is, you can kind of see just how great it could be. They’ve changed a bit since CES so we dropped by to get a tour. → Read More
Matt may think that the Wii U is the E3 champion, but I’m not convinced. It looks like a fun and versatile device, but I’m not sure it’s as accessible as the Wii, which focused on motion and a few primary buttons to make gaming as simple as possible. The Wii U is clearly powerful in some ways but not nearly the breakthrough device the Wii was.
The Playstation Vita, on the other hand, isn’t even trying to be a breakthrough device. It’s simply an extremely powerful and versatile portable gaming system. While I have my reservations about the system, Sony convinced me today that it’s going to at least fulfill its own mission. And the price? Mwah, I kiss my fingers. Perfection. → Read More
The Old Republic is, potentially, every Star Wars-loving gamer’s dream. Own your own ship, travel the galaxy, pick a side in an epic conflict… if they pull it off. Razer’s taking the chance they won’t, though, and have put out a few peripherals customized for the Old Republic experience. → Read More
Alright, everyone. You can go home. E3 2011 is a mainly bust besides Nintendo’s amazing Wii U. Microsoft added Bing to the 360 and Sony announced the name of the NGP, the Vita. Sure, there are several clever games like Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 3, and several new Zelda games. But there really isn’t anything new per se here. It’s a bunch of rehashing of the same, I’m sorry, tired story lines.
Of course E3 is still fun. Hell, it’s probably one of the most fun trade shows of the year. It’s wall-to-wall video games. Stick around if you must, but once you see the Wii U, you may as well head home because that’s the best as it gets here this year. → Read More
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