Well E3 is over, and while it's taken me sometime to get around to providing my perspective on this golden videogame event in Los Angeles, California. What best place to start then in the general giving of fake awards. Now every gamer and his dog will write up their own opinions and even give out their own awards on the games and technology that impressed them the most. I see there being no problem in me jumping on the award bandwagon myself, and will hopefully in the process of this article put across some of the games that greatly impressed me. If anyone knows me from my past writings, you can probably already guess some of these winners. But there are a few surprises in there to. I've basically followed the basic award system when it comes to E3, giving awards to categories of the actual event. It all ends with of course the game of E3 2009. So please enjoy my rambling thoughts.
This rather odd award, goes to the one game that I was most disappointed to not see or hear of at this years event. It was a rather easy choice and while the lack of Dead Rising 2 was also a sad frustration having been such a fan of the original. It was easily the ghostly figure of Half Life 2: Episode 3 that frustrated this gamer the most when E3 eventually shut down for another year. Seriously Valve? What the hell are you guys up to. I still recall the early belief we gamers had in expecting a new episode of Half Life 2 every six to eight months, where are we now. I've lost count in fact, since Episode 2 fans have been indeed eager to hear anything, just ANYTHING of Episode 3 and all we've been given were these rather average pieces of concept art some months back. Strangely Valve had somewhat of a bad E3 this year, at least in the public image form.
Of course I'm speaking of Left 4 Dead 2, the rather oddly and surprisingly poorly named sequel to the brilliant zombie killing shooter. As been received with a surprising degree of anger by fans, even the most dedicated L4D players seem to be a little on the shocked side to see a sequel announced so early. Especially when one considers the extra content Valve promised gamers after the release of the original. As much as I love Left 4 Dead, I would have rather seen Episode 3 in it's place anyday. Come on Valve, get finished with that new Source engine for the health of all gamers around the globe.
No, this is not an award related to World of Warcraft (damn you Warcraft, for destroying the enjoyable use of the phrase 'wow'). It is infact an award given to the game that simply made me say 'wow' out loud. To give it it's basic meaning, this award is given to the game that graphically most impressed me and I was given a nice choice of great looking games for me to choose. While Team ICO's 'The Last Guardian' impressed me greatly, it was another Playstation 3 exclusive that simply made me go 'wow' to even my great surprise. While I'd already knew that the folk at Naughty Dog could make one great looking game after the fine looking Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. It was infact it's sequel that had such an affect on me. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves had first been given the style treatment in the form of a trailer, but it was the on stage demonstration at the Sony Press Conference that truly blew me away. While I was eager to see this latest adventure for Drake having been such a fan of the original, I wasn't expecting it to graphically blow me away.
Elena's back, yay!It was a great E3 for Uncharted 2 overall and developers Naughty Dog can be proud of being one of the best developers currently pushing Sony's hardware to it's upmost potential. Even the most dedicated Xbox 360 fanboy could not be impressed with the demonstration shown at the press conference. Seeing Elena back was also quite a nice surprise in the previously mentioned trailer, plus the surprisingly good Uncharted 2 multiplayer beta kicked off on the Wednesday of the E3 event. So Sony were clearly looking to push this big exclusive title in a marketing sort of way, though footage of the game would have been enough. It was more then worthy of this 'wow' award.
THE 'THAT PRESS CONFERENCE, DEFINATLY WASN'T BORING' AWARD?
WINNER: Sony Press Conference While Microsoft put a high bar of expectation with a well thought out and entertaining E3 press conference, and while I didn't fall asleep to the Nintendo press conference like I did to Ubisoft's attempts this year. It was Sony's showing that truly impressed me the most. Of course the general winner of this award will depend on your views to each of the three main videogame giants and while I have no loyalty to any specific console. It was still the Sony press conference that I found to truly produce what I expect to see from such an event. With a number of exciting reveals in the form of a new online Final Fantasy game, the Last Guardian from renowned developers Team ICO and of course the PSP Go! which had been leaked a day to two before the event had even kicked off. We got to see a fine selection of games, this choice was partly affected by the demonstration of Assassins Creed 2 and God of War 3, not to mention Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Infact there was a whole collection of games that excited me more then what I saw at Microsoft's conference.
PSP Go! This award is very user specific as I said previously, I'm rather sure most of you will disagree with me and some of you will comment 'did you NOT see Project Natal?' but seriously speaking this award is given to the press conference that impressed me the most. Not impressed you, so please keep that in mind before posting some hate comments. I guess I should also mention Sony's Motion Controller, now I'll be discussing this further in a future blog entry but this impressed me more partly because of it's likeness to Nintendo's Wiimote. Some of you will and have been raging about Sony's attempts to copy the Nintendo Wii, but if this is truly where games are going. Then this motion controller could be truly where it's at, it's what I always wanted the Wii motion controller to be and personally. The Wiimote (with motion plus and all) looked rather inferior compared to this new way of gaming. That's just another reason why Sony's press conference was the conference of E3 2009 in my opinion.
THE 'YOU BETTER BE WATCHING THIS ONE LADS' AWARD?
WINNER: Just Cause 2 I'll admit it, I thought Brad and Ryan were joking when they spoke about their eagerness to check out the sequel to Just Cause. The ever so smartly titled 'Just Cause 2' is a surprising winner of this award, especially considering how poor I thought the original game was. Now this award hasn't just been awarded for a well produced and stylized trailer, it's been given for the fine 10 minute demo shown on Giantbomb itself. I was honestly greatly impressed with what I saw and the action looked tight, insane and bloody good fun. I believe it was Brad's game of E3 if I'm not mistaken and he as chosen well, having read other previews of the games showing at E3. It's clear that this is one sequel we weren't expecting to be excited about. But seriously, any game where you can hijack a super fast fighter jet wins in my book. Definatly keep this one on check, could be something special indeed.
THE 'TRAILERS DO IT BEST' AWARD?
WINNER: The Last Guardian
There was massive competition for this award as I was honestly blown away by a number of trailers that came out of E3 2009. So tough that I honestly don't believe there is one true winner, though of course I only have one virtual and fake award to give away so it as to go to one trailer. Keep in mind that I have only considered trailers featuring game footage or the game's engine in use. So that discounts the brilliant Assassins Creed 2 CG trailer that appeared at Ubisoft's press conference. This also discounts the absolutely stunning Star Wars: The Old Republic trailer to, as that was technically CG so please keep that in mind. So which company as the best trailer developer/producer/next hollywood director in their ranks, well I eventually gave this award to the beautiful trailer for Team ICO's The Last Guardian. While we had technically seen a trailer much like it some weeks before E3 when it was being called Project Trico. This new trailer shown at the Sony Press Conference was simply beautiful in all aspects. Showing what Team ICO do best. Plus it's perfect choice of music perfectly showed off what these much loved developers are famous for. CHECK OUT THE TRAILER!
THE BEST GAME OVERALL OF E3 2009?
Now while reading this you may have gotten the impression that I was very fond of Sony's push at this years E3, and I shan't say I wasn't. But I'm no Sony fanboy that's for sure (I shall never forgive them for how many PS2's that broke on me). But I was more taken aback by what they had to generally offer and while I was impressed with the showing of Forza Motorsport 3, the announcement of Crackdown 2 and of course finally getting to see The Beatles: Rock Band. A game I shall admit to being quite excited about. My overal game of E3 2009 as to go to a title that was flawless throughout the week in more ways then one, and was marketed at me more then anything else. While I won't deny my childlike excitement for the next Assassins Creed and a new Mario Galaxy game, it was Naughty Dog's offering that truly blew me away. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is my game of E3 2009, why you ask? Well for all sorts of good and worthy reasons. The demonstration was one of the best overall of E3 2009 and both trailer and multiplayer beta went a long way to make my excitement for Drake's latest run in with evil and nasty folk rise to unregistered levels.
As I said, I could have easily picked out quite a few games. Assassins Creed 2 is everything I wanted from a sequel to a game I absolutely adored and I'll be discussing that in much more detail in a future blog. The PSP Go! was surprisngly impressive despite it's over the top pricetag and Project Natal as all sorts of amazing possibilities if used to it's full potential. There is a whole bucketload of things I could have pointed out, but I felt Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was the worthy game of E3 2009. Everything about it's showing was solid, tight and well planned out. It even made my Nintendo Wii addicted mate James say 'I want that game' out loud, that alone make it worthy of this award. This award is given for my views alone, so you'll probably disagree with me and that's perfectly fine. Having read other peoples views of E3, it seems it's a generally split impression on what one game truly made this years event. But when I never expected my excitement to reach a higher level, Naughty Dog go and blow the roof off my house of videogame excitement. That's why it's awarded this award.
GAME OF E3 2009: UNCHARTED 2: AMONG THIEVES.
MY GAME OF E3 2009.
Well I think these awards have gone on long enough, compared to the oscars these virtual fake pieces of meaningless junk won't mean a damn to the winners. But it's a chance for me to be a little selfish and discuss some of the games or moments that truly made E3 2009 for me personally. As I said at the start, every gamer and his angry pet rabbit write up their own general views on E3 and I do intend to discuss the event and it's content in greater detail in the coming weeks. But for now, if you spent your precious spare time reading this, then you are very welcome to stay in my massive house of excitement.
Thanks for Reading,
Joseph Bayliss (TrueEnglishGent) (Twitter: JosephBayliss)
Well E3 is over, and while it's taken me sometime to get around to providing my perspective on this golden videogame event in Los Angeles, California. What best place to start then in the general giving of fake awards. Now every gamer and his dog will write up their own opinions and even give out their own awards on the games and technology that impressed them the most. I see there being no problem in me jumping on the award bandwagon myself, and will hopefully in the process of this article put across some of the games that greatly impressed me. If anyone knows me from my past writings, you can probably already guess some of these winners. But there are a few surprises in there to. I've basically followed the basic award system when it comes to E3, giving awards to categories of the actual event. It all ends with of course the game of E3 2009. So please enjoy my rambling thoughts.
This rather odd award, goes to the one game that I was most disappointed to not see or hear of at this years event. It was a rather easy choice and while the lack of Dead Rising 2 was also a sad frustration having been such a fan of the original. It was easily the ghostly figure of Half Life 2: Episode 3 that frustrated this gamer the most when E3 eventually shut down for another year. Seriously Valve? What the hell are you guys up to. I still recall the early belief we gamers had in expecting a new episode of Half Life 2 every six to eight months, where are we now. I've lost count in fact, since Episode 2 fans have been indeed eager to hear anything, just ANYTHING of Episode 3 and all we've been given were these rather average pieces of concept art some months back. Strangely Valve had somewhat of a bad E3 this year, at least in the public image form.
Of course I'm speaking of Left 4 Dead 2, the rather oddly and surprisingly poorly named sequel to the brilliant zombie killing shooter. As been received with a surprising degree of anger by fans, even the most dedicated L4D players seem to be a little on the shocked side to see a sequel announced so early. Especially when one considers the extra content Valve promised gamers after the release of the original. As much as I love Left 4 Dead, I would have rather seen Episode 3 in it's place anyday. Come on Valve, get finished with that new Source engine for the health of all gamers around the globe.
No, this is not an award related to World of Warcraft (damn you Warcraft, for destroying the enjoyable use of the phrase 'wow'). It is infact an award given to the game that simply made me say 'wow' out loud. To give it it's basic meaning, this award is given to the game that graphically most impressed me and I was given a nice choice of great looking games for me to choose. While Team ICO's 'The Last Guardian' impressed me greatly, it was another Playstation 3 exclusive that simply made me go 'wow' to even my great surprise. While I'd already knew that the folk at Naughty Dog could make one great looking game after the fine looking Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. It was infact it's sequel that had such an affect on me. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves had first been given the style treatment in the form of a trailer, but it was the on stage demonstration at the Sony Press Conference that truly blew me away. While I was eager to see this latest adventure for Drake having been such a fan of the original, I wasn't expecting it to graphically blow me away.
Elena's back, yay!It was a great E3 for Uncharted 2 overall and developers Naughty Dog can be proud of being one of the best developers currently pushing Sony's hardware to it's upmost potential. Even the most dedicated Xbox 360 fanboy could not be impressed with the demonstration shown at the press conference. Seeing Elena back was also quite a nice surprise in the previously mentioned trailer, plus the surprisingly good Uncharted 2 multiplayer beta kicked off on the Wednesday of the E3 event. So Sony were clearly looking to push this big exclusive title in a marketing sort of way, though footage of the game would have been enough. It was more then worthy of this 'wow' award.
THE 'THAT PRESS CONFERENCE, DEFINATLY WASN'T BORING' AWARD?
WINNER: Sony Press Conference While Microsoft put a high bar of expectation with a well thought out and entertaining E3 press conference, and while I didn't fall asleep to the Nintendo press conference like I did to Ubisoft's attempts this year. It was Sony's showing that truly impressed me the most. Of course the general winner of this award will depend on your views to each of the three main videogame giants and while I have no loyalty to any specific console. It was still the Sony press conference that I found to truly produce what I expect to see from such an event. With a number of exciting reveals in the form of a new online Final Fantasy game, the Last Guardian from renowned developers Team ICO and of course the PSP Go! which had been leaked a day to two before the event had even kicked off. We got to see a fine selection of games, this choice was partly affected by the demonstration of Assassins Creed 2 and God of War 3, not to mention Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Infact there was a whole collection of games that excited me more then what I saw at Microsoft's conference.
PSP Go! This award is very user specific as I said previously, I'm rather sure most of you will disagree with me and some of you will comment 'did you NOT see Project Natal?' but seriously speaking this award is given to the press conference that impressed me the most. Not impressed you, so please keep that in mind before posting some hate comments. I guess I should also mention Sony's Motion Controller, now I'll be discussing this further in a future blog entry but this impressed me more partly because of it's likeness to Nintendo's Wiimote. Some of you will and have been raging about Sony's attempts to copy the Nintendo Wii, but if this is truly where games are going. Then this motion controller could be truly where it's at, it's what I always wanted the Wii motion controller to be and personally. The Wiimote (with motion plus and all) looked rather inferior compared to this new way of gaming. That's just another reason why Sony's press conference was the conference of E3 2009 in my opinion.
THE 'YOU BETTER BE WATCHING THIS ONE LADS' AWARD?
WINNER: Just Cause 2 I'll admit it, I thought Brad and Ryan were joking when they spoke about their eagerness to check out the sequel to Just Cause. The ever so smartly titled 'Just Cause 2' is a surprising winner of this award, especially considering how poor I thought the original game was. Now this award hasn't just been awarded for a well produced and stylized trailer, it's been given for the fine 10 minute demo shown on Giantbomb itself. I was honestly greatly impressed with what I saw and the action looked tight, insane and bloody good fun. I believe it was Brad's game of E3 if I'm not mistaken and he as chosen well, having read other previews of the games showing at E3. It's clear that this is one sequel we weren't expecting to be excited about. But seriously, any game where you can hijack a super fast fighter jet wins in my book. Definatly keep this one on check, could be something special indeed.
THE 'TRAILERS DO IT BEST' AWARD?
WINNER: The Last Guardian
There was massive competition for this award as I was honestly blown away by a number of trailers that came out of E3 2009. So tough that I honestly don't believe there is one true winner, though of course I only have one virtual and fake award to give away so it as to go to one trailer. Keep in mind that I have only considered trailers featuring game footage or the game's engine in use. So that discounts the brilliant Assassins Creed 2 CG trailer that appeared at Ubisoft's press conference. This also discounts the absolutely stunning Star Wars: The Old Republic trailer to, as that was technically CG so please keep that in mind. So which company as the best trailer developer/producer/next hollywood director in their ranks, well I eventually gave this award to the beautiful trailer for Team ICO's The Last Guardian. While we had technically seen a trailer much like it some weeks before E3 when it was being called Project Trico. This new trailer shown at the Sony Press Conference was simply beautiful in all aspects. Showing what Team ICO do best. Plus it's perfect choice of music perfectly showed off what these much loved developers are famous for. CHECK OUT THE TRAILER!
THE BEST GAME OVERALL OF E3 2009?
Now while reading this you may have gotten the impression that I was very fond of Sony's push at this years E3, and I shan't say I wasn't. But I'm no Sony fanboy that's for sure (I shall never forgive them for how many PS2's that broke on me). But I was more taken aback by what they had to generally offer and while I was impressed with the showing of Forza Motorsport 3, the announcement of Crackdown 2 and of course finally getting to see The Beatles: Rock Band. A game I shall admit to being quite excited about. My overal game of E3 2009 as to go to a title that was flawless throughout the week in more ways then one, and was marketed at me more then anything else. While I won't deny my childlike excitement for the next Assassins Creed and a new Mario Galaxy game, it was Naughty Dog's offering that truly blew me away. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is my game of E3 2009, why you ask? Well for all sorts of good and worthy reasons. The demonstration was one of the best overall of E3 2009 and both trailer and multiplayer beta went a long way to make my excitement for Drake's latest run in with evil and nasty folk rise to unregistered levels.
As I said, I could have easily picked out quite a few games. Assassins Creed 2 is everything I wanted from a sequel to a game I absolutely adored and I'll be discussing that in much more detail in a future blog. The PSP Go! was surprisngly impressive despite it's over the top pricetag and Project Natal as all sorts of amazing possibilities if used to it's full potential. There is a whole bucketload of things I could have pointed out, but I felt Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was the worthy game of E3 2009. Everything about it's showing was solid, tight and well planned out. It even made my Nintendo Wii addicted mate James say 'I want that game' out loud, that alone make it worthy of this award. This award is given for my views alone, so you'll probably disagree with me and that's perfectly fine. Having read other peoples views of E3, it seems it's a generally split impression on what one game truly made this years event. But when I never expected my excitement to reach a higher level, Naughty Dog go and blow the roof off my house of videogame excitement. That's why it's awarded this award.
GAME OF E3 2009: UNCHARTED 2: AMONG THIEVES.
MY GAME OF E3 2009.
Well I think these awards have gone on long enough, compared to the oscars these virtual fake pieces of meaningless junk won't mean a damn to the winners. But it's a chance for me to be a little selfish and discuss some of the games or moments that truly made E3 2009 for me personally. As I said at the start, every gamer and his angry pet rabbit write up their own general views on E3 and I do intend to discuss the event and it's content in greater detail in the coming weeks. But for now, if you spent your precious spare time reading this, then you are very welcome to stay in my massive house of excitement.
Thanks for Reading,
Joseph Bayliss (TrueEnglishGent) (Twitter: JosephBayliss)
Nice blog, mate. Uncharted 2 is looking sweet and I love the beta. Good picks all around. Just Cause 2 is also looking mighty fine and I am speaking in a serious tone, given that I unconditionally loved the first one. I can definitely see Ryan and Brad's love for the game as well.
I agree, The Last Guardian was the best trailer. The Old Republic is definitely a close second, though. I also have to give a shout out to Alan Wake; that showing made so many folks happy, including Ryan.
Among Theives is looking really nice. The online demo showed a lot of potential. I never really thought about what my game of E3 would be. Maybe Borderlands. I'm stoked for Other M and Galaxy 2, as well.
I think you are mostly on the ball with this list, but I would have gone a different way on a few of your "TEGgies".
I was more surprised by Beyond Good and Evil 2's no show. After the leaked footage, I would have thought it was ripe for a reveal at the expo. At least, a behind-closed-doors-to-selected-press would have been some sign of life. I would hoping for information regarding the validity of the leaked footage, but I guess we will have to wait some more. I really didn't expect anything from Valve concerning HL2: Episode 3, on the other hand.
Borderlands and Squigglenauts have grabbed my attention. These games were largely off the radar before the conference and left with a lot of good buzz. But, I think people are missing out still on the potential of the MMO, the Agency. It looks really nice and I think it could be a a smooth fit for the console, as well. There is a pretty nice sized walk-through available for viewing online. The game has a nice pick-up and play vibe to it without the oppressive leveling requirement associated with larger MMOs.
"Elena's back, yea!" I said the same thing when I read that she had not been booted to sidelines in favor of a new hottie like early reports seemed to have suggested. Uncharted 2 was my game of the conference, too. Star Wars: The Old Republic would have received my trailer, though because I'm not entirely convinced how much of the Last Guardian is in-game assets. Since I can't tell (and that's a good thing) I'm going to toss out that prerequisite and give the "no-prize" to Bioware's SW MMO.
Other than that, I think your breakdown was pretty well reasoned. Good show!
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