E3 2010, Day 2

By Dan Birlew | Posted June 15, 2010 in Industry Insider | 1 Comment »

Nintendo held a press conference at E3 today. Their first announcement confirmed the rumored new Zelda game: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto demonstrated the game for the crowd in attendance. The Wii Remote acts as Link’s sword and Nunchuk controls his shield. The Nintendo Wii MotionPlus add-on makes sword and shield control more accurate. By holding the Wii Remote up in the air, players make Link hold his sword up to the sky, charging it with solar energy. Link can then throw sun beams at enemies. The full Wii Remote and Nunchuk appear in outline form in the game’s HUD, showing players how to use items, bring up the map and attack. The slingshot is fired by aiming the Wii Remote and pressing the A button. Link can throw bombs when the player holds the B button and raises the Wii Remote to throw. The graphics are somewhat realistic and proportionate to Twilight Princess, but the environments are brighter and more colorful. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is scheduled for release in 2011.

Mario Sports Mix was announced. The game is an arcade-style medley of sports mini-games starring Mario and other Nintendo characters, and will be coming to the Wii in 2011. The trailer shown depicted Mario, Donkey Kong and others playing hockey, volleyball, dodgeball and basketball.

Nintendo confirmed the rumors: Goldeneye will be re-released this holiday season as a Wii exclusive! This was probably the best first-person shooter of 1997 and definitely the best game ever released on the Nintendo 64. The James Bond character model will be updated to resemble Daniel Craig, and eight other classic Bond villains will be included.

Already scheduled for Japan, Wii Party is coming to North America. The game features 13 multiplayer party game modes that will make use of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, Wii MotionPlus, and the Balance Board. Wii Party arrives this holiday season in North America.

Also this holiday, the Mickey Mouse game Epic Mickey will set a new tone and direction for Disney’s much-beloved mouse. The game allows players to use paint to change the game world. Paint is used to create and paint thinner allows the player to erase. Using paint can turn enemies into friends, while using thinner “melts” them. Several other Disney characters are rumored to make cameos, and Epic Mickey features many locations from the Disney theme parks such as the Robinson Tree House and the Tiki Room. Stages will draw from the Disney stockpile, such as a Steamboat Willie stage. Epic Mickey will be exclusive to the Nintendo Wii.

Kirby gets his first game in seven years this fall with Kirby’s Epic Yarn on the Wii, a platformer with a cloth texture art-style. The game is the first from Masahiro Sakurai’s new studio, Sora.

Texas-based Retro Studios — best known for its work on the Metroid series — is developing Donkey Kong Country Returns, a sidescrolling platformer due out this holiday.

The Nintendo 3DS was confirmed at the end of the press conference, name and all. The 3DS is Nintendo’s fourth generation handheld gaming system after the Game Boy, the Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo DS. Here are the specs (from Nintendo.com):

• Size (when closed): Approximately 5.3 inches wide, 2.9 inches long, 0.8 inches tall.
• Weight: Approximately 8 ounces.
• Look: Final design is TBA.
• Top Screen: 3.53-inch widescreen LCD display, enabling 3D view without the need for special glasses; with 800×240 pixel resolution (400 pixels are allocated for each eye to enable 3D viewing).
• Touch Screen: 3.02-inch LCD with 320×240 pixel resolution with a touch screen.
• Cameras: One inner camera and two outer cameras with 640×480 (0.3 Mega) pixel resolution.
• Pre-Installed Software: TBA
• Nintendo 3DS Game Card: 2 GB Max. at launch.
• Wireless Communication: Can communicate in the 2.4 GHz band. Multiple Nintendo 3DS systems can connect via a local wireless connection to let users communicate or enjoy competitive game play. Systems also can connect to LAN access points to access the Internet and allow people to enjoy games with others. Will support IEEE 802.11 with enhanced security (WPA/WPA2). Nintendo 3DS hardware is designed so that even when not in use, it can automatically exchange data with other Nintendo 3DS systems or receive data via the Internet while in sleep mode.
• Game Controls: Touch screen, embedded microphone, A/B/X/Y face buttons, + Control Pad, L/R buttons, Start and Select buttons, “Slide Pad” that allows 360-degree analog input, one inner camera, two outer cameras, motion sensor and a gyro sensor.
• Other Input Controls: 3D Depth Slider to adjust level of 3D effect (can be scaled back or turned off completely depending on the preference of the user), Home button to call system function, Wireless switch to turn off wireless communications (even during game play), Power button. The telescoping stylus is approximately 4 inches when fully extended.
• Input/Output: A port that accepts both Nintendo 3DS game cards and game cards for the Nintendo DS™ family of systems, an SD memory card slot, an AC adapter connector, a charging cradle terminal and a stereo headphone output jack.
• Sound: Stereo speakers positioned to the left and right of the top screen.
• Battery: Lithium ion battery details TBA.
• Languages: TBA
• Parental Controls: Parental controls similar to the Nintendo DSi system will be included.

Early hands-on reports mention that looking at the 3DS is extremely hard to get used to; tilt the device too far to the right or left and apparently the effect is lost, as well as a proper view of the action. Demo trailers on the show floor included Metal Gear Solid 3D, Nintendogs and Cats, and Resident Evil: Revelations. However, hands-on reviewers were impressed with the ability to take 3D pictures, which it seems will be the system’s main attraction. Here is the trailer for the one launch day title scheduled to be available, Kid Icarus: Uprising:

Nintendo stated that 20 top game publishers are developing games for the new 3DS, including franchises such as Street Fighter, Ninja Gaiden and Metal Gear Solid. Titles mentioned include: DJ Hero 3D, Kingdom Hearts 3D, Saints Row, Madden NFL, Dead or Alive 3D, Ninja Gaiden, Street Fighter IV, Ridge Racer, Metal Gear Solid, Professor Layton, and Samurai Warriors.

Sony also held their press conference today. Kaz Hirai took the stage to assert that Sony was the true leader in 3D technology (this coming right after the 3DS announcement, of course). The audience was given 3D glasses in order to watch the presentations.

A 3D demo of Killzone 3 game play in action was shown. However, the screen bore a disclaimer that the presentation was “Pre-Alpha Code,” leaving me doubting whether the presentation was real-time or CG generated. But the graphics were spectacular, and the rocket pack the soldier used to board an offshore platform looked like fun. The rocket pack seems to turn Killzone into a platformer, like Metroid Prime. The game will be out February 2011 and will be compatible with PlayStation Move (the Sony equivalent of Kinect).

Jack Treton re-introduced the PlayStation Move, and the introductory video clip from GDC was shown. After all, why offer a repeat performance when you have video?

A game called Sorcery was demoed using the PS Move. The main character appears to be a young wizard like Harry Potter. Using the Move controller as a magic wand to cast spells against enemies and to repair a ruined environment was quite impressive.

PlayStation Move will be available for $49.99 on September 19th, 2010, in North America. 15-20 PlayStation Move titles will be available at launch. Several games currently on the market will receive a software update to become compatible with the PlayStation Move, including Heavy Rain and Resident Evil 5.

Heroes on the Move was announced, a game featuring Sony game characters such as Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, Sly Cooper, and others. This PlayStation Move game allows you to motion-control these six characters through a number of levels. Co-op play? Remains to be seen.

Jack Treton then turned attention to the PSP, announcing a new ad campaign for the system. Treton then discussed a game called inviZimals that will employ the PSP camera to take pictures and “capture” invisible creatures, then use them to fight battles in a game.

A quick CG teaser trailer for God of War: Ghost of Sparta was shown. Treton promised over 70 new PSP titles coming this fall. The following video montage presented footage from several games, including The 3rd Birthday, a new sequel to Parasite Eve exclusive to the PSP.

One of the developers of Little Big Planet 2 for PS3 took the stage. Several of the mini-games were demonstrated. Players can create their own objects and levels and build entire games in one night, and then play them.

Treton then announced PlayStation Plus, a subscription version of PSN that provides user with access to exclusive features and content. Hundreds of dollars worth of content, beta invitations, demos, title trials, and discounts on PS Store items. Available later this month for $49.99 per year, $17.99 for three months, three for first three months. The free ride for PS3 users is obviously over, although unlike Xbox Live it seems they won’t have to pay for DLC content above the subscription fee, like Xbox owners frequently have to.

John Schalpert from EA Games then took the stage and introduced the Medal of Honor franchise reboot. The game takes place in war-torn Afghanistan. The short teaser trailer announced a release date of October 12, 2010. The second trailer depicted a multiplayer map. On the whole, the game is very reminiscent of Battlefield: Bad Company or CoD: Modern Warfare. The game will include Medal of Honor Frontline from the PS2.

Then there was a live demo of a stage from Deep Space 2. The highly-cinematic stage featured Issac fighting a monster while it held him in its tentacle, beating him around the area as he shot it. Both Issac and the monster were jettisoned into space, where Issac shot a floating explosive canister to end the battle. Dead Space 2 will include the full Dead Space Extraction game previously exclusive to the Wii, with Move support.

The big surprise then came when Valve’s Gabe Newell took the stage. Newell has been outspoken against the PlayStation 3. He announced that Portal 2 would be coming to the PlayStation 3, and that Steam would be involved as well. He then introduced an amazing-looking teaser trailer that showed a deserted building rebuilding itself. Portal 2 will be coming to PS3 in 2011.

A trailer for Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood multiplayer, exclusive on PS3, showed clever assassin vs. assassin game play. The game is scheduled for November 16th, 2010.

Then there was a montage video showing off several titles, including Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Gran Turismo 5. The latter’s full trailer was shown afterward. November 2, 2010 is Gran Turismo 5′s release date. There followed a trailer of InFamous 2. Slated for 2011.

The final “surprise” was the announcement of a new Twisted Metal game for PS3 in 2011. They started a game play demo with team deathmatch multiplayer. 16 players online with up to four player split screen. Then then showed a new mode called Nuke. The demo panned through a massive stage and the speaker highlighted its features. The goal of Nuke is to destroy the other faction’s statue before they destroy yours. The way to win is to capture the faction leader and drag them to a missile launcher. By keeping them there long enough, the missile launcher will slowly activate. Once it’s fully activated, you sacrifice the faction leader to the missile launcher and it will fire at the other faction’s statue. The first team to do this three times wins. The game is playable at the PlayStation booth.

Tags: announcements, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, preview, PSP, video games