Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

This one is good, and I mean really good. It's very intense, even for someone who already knows the basic story. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas is a pretty famous story, and most people know of it at least in it's simplest form. Basically it keeps the main themes and central plot of the book - and by that I mean, there's a guy named Edmond Dantes out to get his revenge against the people who stole his life away from him. Otherwise it's been anime-fied. The Count is some kind of demon/vampire creature now (the Gankutsuou), and the story is set in the 50th century (in a sort of period future, meaning the clothes and architecture are very 19th-20th century France, but then there are fancy space ships flying around). The story also focuses less on the Count and more on Mercedes' son Albert and his friends. I often judge the value of an anime based on the emotion it elicits from me as a viewer, and I have to admit that the fifth disc of this series (there are 6) had me bawling.

The show is beautiful. On the fifth disc there is an art gallery (and another, different one on the sixth), and you need to look at this. It's a massive collection (perfectly paced with music) of background art, environment art, and paintings. You will never again doubt Gonzo's ability to produce something visually stunning (not that you should have doubted them to begin with, when they've done amazing work on shows like Last Exile, Trinity Blood, Saikano, and Basilisk). It's a very unique style of animation that you don't see very often, and it does take some getting used to. After a couple of episodes you'll just be mesmerized by the beauty, and that'll be that. Admittedly the show has some very bizarre elements near the end (like old fashioned sword duels inside giant mechs). Yet even as you sit there being weirded out by the flying mechs and devouring demon, you're still astounded by how amazing it all looks. You can't help thinking "This is so bad ass."

I think I've already said most of what can be said about the show itself. It's all about love, friendship, justice, revenge, hope. Many of the same themes that are found in Dumas' novel. So here's the plot of Monte Cristo, which is the same in both the novel and the anime. Edmond Dantes is engaged to marry the beautiful Mercedes. Everything is going well with him - he's getting married, he's inheriting his captain's ship, he's successful and people respect him. When his captain died, he gave him a package and a letter to deliver to two people, who unfortunately had ties with the recently exiled Napoleon. Edmond's jealous friend Fernand (a fellow sailor) and the ship's purser Danglars send a letter to the prosecutor Villefort, claiming that Edmond is a traitor. The innocent and naive Edmond quickly becomes a scapegoat (the letter connects Villefort's father with Napoleon) to save Villefort's career, and Edmond is rushed off to prison without trial. When Edmond manages to escape from prison years later, having had ample time to piece together his unfortunate fate, he vows revenge on those who ruined his life, including Mercedes whom he now finds married to Fernand. Fernand, Danglars and Villefort have all become successful and prosperous in his absence, and disguised as the rich Count of Monte Cristo, he sets about to destroying their lives as they destroyed his. In the book, he meets a man in prison who directs him to a great treasure which he finds after his escape; in the anime he makes a pact with the demon Gankutsuou, though the exact methods of amassing his fortune from nothing aren't really explained.

The book focuses on Edmond himself, but, as I mentioned, the anime focuses on Mercedes' son Albert and Albert's circle of friends. Still it follows the main plot fairly closely; almost all of the major events occur, though usually with a certain flair particular to this retelling's setting and style, and with the emphasis on Albert's development and relationship with his friend Franz, his fiancee Eugenie (a relationship vastly different from that in the book), his mother, and the Count. The ending is also changed quite a bit, but it's powerful, and it wraps everything up very nicely. So yes, it's The Count of Monte Cristo, and while the Count and his revenge is the impetus for the story, he mostly exists to drive Albert and force the young man to mature and awaken from his naivety. So it's also very much a coming-of-age story.

The music in the show is pretty good. The intro is "We Were Lovers," written and sung by Jean-Jacques Burnel. The music and lyrics are wonderful (and the tune is used several times within the show); the vocals...he's kind of all over the place, it takes some getting used to. But it's such a beautiful song, and the animation to go along with it is lovely as well. The end is another by Burnel, "You Won't See Me Coming." Also a stellar use of "Il dolce suono" from the opera Lucia di Lammermoor (the same song is sung by the Diva in the movie The Fifth Element) in the first episode.

The English dubbing is fine. I was only really bothered by the voice for Maximilien Morrel, by Tony Oliver. Yes, Maximilien is a gentle sort of man, but he's also a sailor and a soldier, and the English voice he is given is far too soft. I watched most (probably 90%) of the show in Japanese though. I just liked it more; particularly because Joji Nakata's voice (the Count) is incredibly sexy. And, well, that's important!

This one is definitely worth a watch. It was originally released by Geneon on 6 DVDs, but FUNimation has since acquired the license to the series (like many other Geneon series) and will be re-releasing the series sometime in 2009. The manga is 3 volumes, with the final volume being released by Del Rey in August of this year.

Paradise Kiss

Before I start to talk about Paradise Kiss: This awesome looking game will be coming to America this winter. Hooray! It's Namco/Bandai and tri-Crescendo's (Eternal Sonata) newest title for the Wii: Fragile. Definitely going to have to dust off the Wii for this one.

Jay, over at Toybox, keeps a running tally of all the anime he watches each year. I recently started keeping a list of the novels I read per year (so I can look at it later and scold myself for slacking off), and decided an anime list wouldn't hurt, so I could remember what I've seen. I don't know how accurate my current tally is, but I know the ones on there are shows that I've completed this year, at the very least. I count 24 (which includes a couple films, and a couple of re-watches). Which I think makes me about even with him, actually. :) Working on 25 and 26 right now (Skip Beat! and Gankutsuou). You may notice that there are not 24 corresponding reviews this year. That's because I'm slacking off with the writing...which I really shouldn't be doing (because I'll forget what I thought of the series). I'm going to have to work on this.

Now on to the review!

Paradise Kiss is a sweet romantic comedy (with lots of drama) based on the 5 volume manga series by Ai Yazawa (NANA). Now as the manga was so short, I managed to read it while I was waiting on the 3 DVDs to arrive in the mail, so I may be talking about them intermittently through this review. They stick pretty close together, with some minor changes; the biggest being a slightly ambiguous and rushed ending to the anime (specifically a very important development scene for Arashi; the series could have benefited from just one more episode really) against a better paced and more definitive manga ending, and also a lack of most of the humor that appears in the manga. The sex is also downplayed a bit in the anime, notably a (very) brief S&M scene between George and Yukari, which is entirely absent (it's not superfluous; it is actually important to George's character). But when you get down to it, if you like the story, you must watch the anime regardless; it's really something to see all the clothes on your screen in full design and color. And the clothes are a major part of Paradise Kiss.

High school student Yukari (nicknamed Caroline by her friends) is walking home from school one day when she is accosted by a scruffy looking boy (with safety pins sticking out of his lip and brow, ouch) who asks her to be a model for a fashion show. Entirely freaked out by his passionate approach she attempts to run away but is stopped by a large woman named Isabella, who kidnaps her and takes her to an underground sewing studio. Here she meets Arashi, Isabella, Miwako and George, a group of fashion design students at a near by vocational school. They want her to model their design for a scholarship contest. Taken aback by their bright personalities, strange clothes, and very different life philosophy, she initially declines the offer. To Yukari, the group is wasting their time, piddling away at a hobby, while she studies hard at a top school, trying to get into a good college to please her uptight mother. What she fails to understand, but quickly learns, is that this group of people is following a dream, working hard to become artists in a competitive field, working toward a goal - something that Yukari herself lacks. Yukari studies and attends a prestigious school simply because her mother wants her to; she has no goals or ambitions of her own. When she accepts their request to model George's dress, her entire life is turned upside down, but she grows and discovers her true self, the Paradise Kiss crew her inspiration. A romantic relationship quickly forms with the bisexual, arrogant, cold (he's totally emotionally warped), and intensely creative George that spins her life even more out of control. Somehow, through everything, she is able to convince George, her mother, and herself that she is capable of being independent, making her own decisions, and building her own life.

The English voice over is alright, though I preferred to watch the show in Japanese. Arashi's English voice was too...effeminate maybe? Isabella's voice, in both the English and the Japanese, was too feminine (it is a girl voicing her both times) for a trannie, post- OR pre-op. The English voice for George makes him sound kind of sleazy. In Japanese he seems colder and a little cruel at times. I like that version better. Even though it really makes me feel that poor Yukari is just being naive, and being strung along by George. But it's not that kind of show. His cold manner helps her grow as an individual. He genuinely does love her, that's very clear; but he is extremely cold toward her and there are many arguments and lots of tears throughout. Somehow the cold and overly critical George is exactly what Yukari needs to propel her forward in her otherwise stagnate life. George loves independent women, but the more independent she becomes the further it takes her from George, and if she tries to return to him, he despises her for it; it's a vicious cycle that remains dominant through the entire series.


[slight spoiler here]
The romantic in me wanted so badly for things to work out between Yukari and George but.... The nature of his personality.... The closer she would try to be become with him, the more he would despise her. He wants her to be independent and take responsibility for herself, which means she can't rely on him in any way, blame him for her problems, or choose him over things in her own life. They wouldn't make each other happy. Because in order for him to love her more, she has to become independent of him. And there's no relationship there.
[end spoiler stuff]


Actually Yuraki reminds me a lot of myself, but she's much stronger than I am. She broke away and excelled; I've sort of regressed. I'm just saying that I identify with the character. Though admittedly, my parents weren't as harsh. Or rather, I don't think I had the opportunity to see that, because I had no trouble keeping my grades up. It came easily, so I don't know how they would have reacted if I had been struggling like Yukari. But I can say that when I said "I want to go to college and study theatre," they were behind me 100% from the beginning. But I'm comparing myself with a fictional character built expressly to tell this kind of story, so reflecting on my life in comparison to hers is a little silly.

The animation style reminds me a lot of Mahou Tsukai...Natsu no Sora. But it's actually written by the woman who wrote the Nana manga. It does have the same director (Osamu Kobayashi), so I suppose it comes from there. Because the elements of comparison don't exist in the manga.

The story reminds me a lot of Banri Hidaka's I Hate You More Than Anyone, but I think Paradise Kiss handles it a bit better. More realistic anyway. Where Yukari pursues a modeling career due to the influence of the ParaKiss crew, the lead character of I Hate You... decides to become a hair dresser like the man who is in love with her because she sees the passion he has in creating something with his own hands (which is also one of the reasons Yukari loves George so much).

Paradise Kiss' 12 episodes are available on 3 discs from Geneon/Funimation, and in a box set. DVD extras include interviews with the Japanese cast and crew (including a wonderful presentation where the actress for Yukari, Yu Yamada, wears the realized design of the ParaKiss dress that her character models in the anime), clean credits (and it has a really rockin' intro), and some small art galleries (notably a collection of designs from a fashion design contest). The manga is available in 5 volumes from Tokyopop. Fox International is also considering a live action film adaptation of the story.

E3 09 Roundup

Eee, I've been committing to a few too many things lately, so this won't be as elaborate as I had planned.

Aside from the conferences I watched and summarized, there were other behind doors and non-filmed conferences from the likes of Konami, Capcom, Shigeru Miyamoto, and Square-Enix. This is where things like the next console Zelda title were hinted at. Many trailers were premiered this week, a lot of game play was showcased, and many things received greater explanation. So let's take a look at some of the incredible things that came out of E3 this year. You can also see many of these on the console of your choice.

Many of the major announcements (like God of War 3 and Assassin's Creed) I already highlighted in my previous blogs, so this time I'll be looking at everything else. There are plenty I'm ignoring, but I'm trying to point out the big titles (and will certainly be passing over games like Super Star Petz or whatever).

Here's a quick reference to my other E3 posts:
Sony
Nintendo
Ubisoft
EA
Microsoft

Spore Hero for the Wii. An action adventure game with the full creature creator from the PC game to use to make your hero.

Tekken 6. I shouldn't have to say anything else. If you don't already know what that is, then you probably aren't interested.

Arcania. A new take at the Gothic series. PC, 360, PS3.

Mafia 2. PC, 360, PS3

Demon's Souls A gorgeous looking PS3 RPG from SCEA and Atlus, that will hopefully play as well as it looks.

A Boy and His Blob - a new look at a classic game.

Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time for the PS3

White Knight Chronicles - PS3 RPG from SCE; might be worth getting a PS3 for.

Nostalgia - a great looking RPG for the DS from Tecmo

Rogue Warrior - PC, PS3, 360; Bethesda game based on the books by Richard Marcinko.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade - Nintendo Wii, very stylized JRPG.

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom - Wii

Magna Carta II - from Atlus for the 360

Alpha Protocol - think Mass Effect but with spies instead of aliens

Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny for the PSP, now with Kratos fighting action!

Warriors Orochi 2 for the PSP

Bayonetta - sexy female gun slinging action

The Agency - MMO espionage for the PS3

Saw - You know, of intense horror torture is your thing

Batman: Arkham Asylum - one of the most anticipated games of its genre, complete with Mark Hamill Joker

Overlord II: the first was a lot of fun, but very clunky. I played the demo last night and while they certainly fixed some things (they added a much needed mini-map), there are still some problems with the controls. Also I got stuck on a DEMO, which is not a good sign. In this one you topple the Roman Empire and club baby seals to death.

Astro Boy - DS, Wii, PS3, PSP

Quantum - action adventure game from Tecmo

Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier

Fat Princess - Never has there been so much controversy over a "save the princess" game; rescue your overly large beloved princess and capture your enemy's.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - PS3 and 360, with help from Hideo Kojima.

DC Universe Online - the other highly anticipated title of its genre.

Ace Attorney Edgeworth - Aaaah I can't wait! I hope it's out in time for my birthday, or at least Christmas.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 - all those boobs are just for the PS3

Heavy Rain - mystery thriller for the PS3

Alright I think that about does it. Most of the rest I've already talked about in my conference posts. Hopefully with everything you've found plenty of games to look forward to! I know I have!

E3 2009 - Sony

Sony now. I have to be honest here and say I don’t give a crap what Sony’s showing. I don’t have a PS3 or a PSP, and have no near or future intentions of getting either. The only thing I have an interest in is Team ICO’s next title, which might be enough to make me want to get a PS3, but it won’t be out for a while anyway. I don’t even care about God of War 3; I enjoyed the first 2, but I’m kind of tired of it personally.

And here it goes. Montage video to start with. Overlord, God of War, Little Big Planet, Ratchet and Clank, Singstar, FFXIII, Batman, Brutal Legend, Ghost Busters, Saw.

Please welcome Jack Tretton, CEO. “Wow. Thank God you guys showed up.” He’s joking about the leaks. Saying they won’t be outdone by anybody with press leaks. 364 games coming out on PS platforms this year. That is a BIG screen. Apparently it’s not worth watching anything unless it’s shown that big. He’s going over figures and history. 30% of total sales in 2008 were from Sony. Modern Warfare 2, FFXIII, Ratchet and Clank, Batman Arkham, Heavy Rain, Rock Band Beatles. But at least 3 of those will also be on the 360 Jack.

Talking about the PS2 now and how it’s still kicking ass 9 years later. Mine is still kicking, surprisingly. PS2 will get 100 new titles this year. “Today’s PS2 owners are ultimately tomorrow’s PS3 owners.” More facts and figures. More figures regarding PSN.

What consumers really care about – great games. Haha he says some of you have bags under yours eyes because you’re playing Infamous. It’s one of the more than 35 exclusive PS3 titles for this year.

Naughty Dog and Uncharted Drake’s Fortune. Co-Pres of ND is coming out for Among Thieves. Multi-player beta starts tonight. Demo – nice graphics. He’s scaling a building. Big sweeping view of the gorgeous environment. Showing off different player abilities. He’s shimmying across a wooden beam and a helicopter shows up and starts shooting at them. Big shoot out, and an explosion. It’s a really good looking game, fast paced, pretty intense.

Jack is back. Says “Only on Playstation” means not only exclusive, but because it’s only possible to make on Playstation. He’s talking about MAG now. They talked about this last year. It’s a huge massively multiplayer FPS game. 256 players fight each other on a single map. They’re pulling a bunch of people to show off a full 256 person battle live. Ground vehicles, air strikes, ground assaults. Squads are assigned objectives. A LOT of stuff is going on. It looks like there’s a bit of tactical strategy type stuff going on as well. It’s great that you can play with so many people, this massive battle, but the game itself (graphics, gameplay, etc) isn’t blowing me away or anything (it’s not bad, it’s just not OMG amazing).

Jack is back to talk about the PSP. It’s for gamers looking for a richer, deeper portable experience he says (a shot at Nintendo). Dissidia Final Fantasy on Aug 25, Assassin’s Creed Bloodlines in November, and a Rock Band title. Tween girls again. Hannah Montana with a Lilac PSP. People cheered, haha.

Kaz Hirai, CEO Sony computer entertainment. He’s talking about making the PSP better. I’m assuming this a lead up to the PSP GO, which was leaked last week. Wow it’s tiny; he pulled it out of his pocket. LOL “We call it the worst kept secret of E3.” It will not replace the PSP 3000 or the UMD. So they will still support the UMD format. PSP Go, by the way, is digital only. 50% smaller and 40% lighter than the original PSP. 16 gigs of internal flash memory (pretty good). The controls slide out, has Bluetooth tech and an M2 memory port. Media Go, used to access the Playstation Store. Sense Me – analyzes your music library to create a play list based on the mood you select. That’s neat. PSP toolkit price is being lowered by 80% to help developers. All future titles will be released on UMD and digital. So you can have either and still play all games. Available for $249 on October 1st.

He’s talking about a video delivery service. Now you can use it with the PSP. More content being added to PS store. He’s naming off a bunch of networks that will add content (Starz, G4, Showtime, Manga, E).

Kazunouri Yamauchi for Polyphony Digital. Introducing Gran Turismo for PSP. Full scale Gran Turismo (60 frames per second). 800 cars, 35 tracks with 60 layouts. Everyone’s got a new racing game this year I guess. Single player mode and mission challenge mode. Emphasizing that this is a full game, not shrunken down. 4-player racing. Trading and sharing of cars with other players. Video of the game in action. Great graphics. October 1.

Kaz again. Quality and authenticity. It’s a Metal Gear announcement. So here’s Hideo Kojima. Poor guy; will they ever let him make anything else? Does he want to? Oh, his translator is kind of cute. Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker for PSP. 10 years after MGS3 in the 1970s. Kojima is writing and producing and the MGS4 team is working on it. “It’s not a spin off or a side story.” Trailer. Takes place in Latin America (Costa Rica specifically). Has all the elements of a MGS game. “The legendary ‘missing link’ in the Metal Gear Saga,” the trailer says. “Monstrous foes incapable of feeling pain.” Uh, there are 4 Snakes here (clones?). LOL @ cardboard box; two Snakes hide under it and then run off.

Jack is back again. Resident Evil again, for the PSP. Little Big Planet, Socom, Monster Hunter, Motorstorm, Hannah Montana and Harry Potter, all on the PSP. Video of PSP titles. LBP, Ratchet and Clank, FF Dissidia, MGS, Soul Calibur, Tiger Woods, Persona (!!!!), Warriors Orochi, Tennis, Fat Princess, Rock Band, Petz.

Jack is back to talk about the PSN. Facts and figures. 51 PS1 classics are being added, starting today with FFVII. Talking about Home now. Talking about the poor saps who bought millions of virtual items.

PS3 montage now. Uncharted, Infamous, Madden, FF XIII, Batman AA, Brutal Legend, Ghostbusters, White Knight, Ninja Gaiden, Buzz, Ice Age, Tekken, Tiger Woods, something with a hamster, Overlord, Fat Princess, Singstar, DCU Online, LBP, Saboteur, Bioshock 2, Ratchet and Clank, God of War 3.

Jack is back, talking about Rockstar. Agent, PS3 exclusive. It’s an espionage game, set in the 70s.

Assassin’s Creed 2. Sebastian and Patrice from Ubi to show the game. Demo! Ubi showed a glorious cinematic, this is gameplay. Says it picks up right where the first left off. Beautiful. This guy isn’t an assassin at first, but becomes one, working with people like Leonardo Da Vinci; Ezio is using the flying machine to sail across Venice. Wow look at him go. Action slips right into a scene perfectly. Ooooo I can’t WAIT for this. Ezio has new techniques, like jumping from a tower and stabbing a guy, and double stabbing two guys next to each other. Now he stabs a guy while hiding in the hay. 30 different weapons in the game, 6 additional if you played Bloodlines on the PSP and connect it to the PS3. Wooooow. He has smoke bombs now. And he can SWIM. Oh wowowowowow. AC2, this holiday (Bloodlines too). Too bad I’ll be getting it on the 360, Sony. But thanks for getting me excited.

Jack is back to introduce Square-Enix. Here’s a video for FFXIII. Beautiful. Cinematics, in game scenes and gameplay, all look amazing. Boy Sony it trumping MS with all the extra footage they’re showing. Now he’s showing FF….WHAT? 14?????
Is he serious? Oh…no he’s not. That is not a nice joke. It looks really good. It’s NOT a joke. FFXIV Online. 2010, only on the PS3. I haven’t heard of this before. “So there’s one that didn’t leak out, huh?” I didn’t even know they were working on that. It’s not clear what it is; another MMO? Have to look it up later. It's just a cinematic, but it seems to be a new MMO. Not sure why they're making another one and not just adding to the one they already have. And I wish they'd stop putting them in the numerical series; they should be separate, like the Crystal Chronicles and Tactics games.

Jack is talking about motion control now. It’s a new controller. He’s assuring everyone it’s just a prototype (it’s kind of tacky). Live tech demo. 1:1 tracking. It’s basically a Wii mote for the PS3. It looks like it’s using the camera to track motion. The eye cam or whatever it’s called. So it tracks your movement as well as the object you’re holding in your hand. VERY early stage of development. Now he’s using it as a pencil to write on a piece of paper within the game. They’re just showing off various uses of the tool. As weapons, paintbrushes, with strategy games, and character control (he’s using two controllers, one as a sword one as a shield). It’s very sensitive and precise. Talking about this coming out by spring 2010. Would have been more impressive if MS and Nintendo hadn’t already shown of theirs (and theirs was in more advanced stages as well).

Jack is back to talk about LBP. And introduces Mod Nation Racers. “Play, create, share.” It’s a cutesy car racing game. You can create racers and race tracks. Well he just drove through a tree trunk, so it doesn’t seem super realistic. Will appeal to people who enjoy stuff like LBP more than people who like racing games. Good track creation tools, quick and simple, you can even change the weather. You can upload your tracks online.

Jack is back for a sneak peak at another title from TEAM ICO! Finally (though this was leaked, too). The Last Guardian. In Ico you climbed around a bunch of ruins with a girl. In Shadow of the Colossus you took down gigantic bosses. A big monster is chasing a kid through a hall in some ruins, and the kid drops off the ledge. The monster picks him up; it’s his friend. The boy climbs up onto its head and looks out over a ruined landscape. Absolutely beautiful. It’s this HUGE pet dog/bird looking thing (like a giant griffon almost), and it’s carrying him around everywhere, helping him up on ledges, swimming with him under water. Now THAT is worth buying a PS3 for.

Gran Turismo 5 teaser. Cars racing. Whatever. Still giddy over Last Guardian.

Here’s another franchise. This is likely GOW3. Yup. Design director is going to do a live demo. Kratos takes down some nasties in classic Kratos style. I assume if you liked the others you’ll like this one as it’s more of he same. Kratos is using harpies to fly across large gaps. A huge Titan approaches in the distance. Kratos glides across a smaller gap with some dark wings that come out of his back, then kills some stuff. And some more stuff. The Titan is still fighting its own battle in the background. Button combos for special attacks are back. I guess this is Apollo flying around on a flaming chariot, fighting the Titan. A big nasty chimera sneaks up on Kratos, and Kratos precedes to take him out. LOTS of blood. He rips the things horns off and stabs it in the head with them. March 2010.

Good spot to end things. Jack is back. Again with the “not just exclusive to the PS3 but only possible on the PS3.” “Other companies imagine the future of gaming, we show you the future of gaming.” Sony is always so snarky. And he wraps it up.


Come back later this week for a posting of various trailers and games that weren't announced during the big conferences.

E3 2009 - Nintendo

Nintendo is first this morning. Finding it hard to get excited. Last year they were so disappointing. I don’t really know what they’ll have this time. There’s supposed to be a core announcement (ie: a Mario or Zelda…and hopefully not just the new Zelda DS that’s already been announced – Spirit Tracks).

It was stormy all morning, but it’s calmed down now. If it gets nasty again later, I can just unplug the laptop and keep going.

Watching some G4 blabber.

Is the Nintendo DS(i) going to remain the dominant handheld? What’s going to beat it, the iPhone? Hahahaha. I think Nintendo is safe. iPhone may have good games, but it’s not a gaming platform.

Silent Hill 1 is getting redone for the Wii (also PS2 and PSP). Developer assures that it won’t just be a port or something, but will be a different game.

“Stop announcing stuff for soccer moms and 5-year-olds” G4 says. No kidding.

They’re running some trivia up on the screen, which you can see over at Kotaku. Some are really easy, some are a little hard.

And here it goes. Here’s Cammie, all in white (she was in black last year, yay fashion). She’s talking about how big video games are (as big as home video, etc). Now she’s mentioning that gamers aren’t the only players anymore, but your uncle or some random lady play games too now. Leap forward in game control and surprises in places you thought there wouldn’t be any left.

Talking about the biggest game icon now, sounds like Mario. Yup. Video showing the history of Mario…sort of. Really short. Moving Mario into the 4th dimension is the next surprise. New Super Mario Bros for Wii.

Treehouse Group guy mentions it’s not just more levels, etc, but more players. Four people are playing Super Mario. You can run around on your own or do cooperative actions (like carrying each other to reach higher places). It’s classic Mario, just with co-op play. Some new items, like a propeller suit. If the lead player gets too far ahead, everyone else…falls off the screen? Not clear if that’s a “death” or something. Cammie didn’t do so good: “This is why I make my living selling games not playing them.” Holiday 2009.

She says even Mario isn’t big enough to attract all consumers. Talking about Wii Balance Board/Wii Fit. Wants to make Wii fit easier to use – Wii Fit Plus. Helps develop a work out routine (sounds like what Ubi and EA were talking about yesterday with their programs) with a personal trainer. Adds some new activities. Choose programs to target specific body parts (like Ubi’s), and keeps track of calories (like EA’s). There’re also some fun games to play too. So Ubi and EA answered with their products, and Nintendo is basically countering with similar programs. Fall 2009.

Here’s Reggie Fils-Aime (Pres Nintendo of America). He’s talking about mainstream appeal just like Cammie was. Interface is the primary component. OK he’s talking about motion plus. Makes a game feel and play more real, not just look more real. Getting gamers off the couch (which the regular Wii mote didn’t really do). Fancy video that isn’t really showing anything. Ping pong player, basketball player, and a swordsman are waving a Wii mote around like a paddle/ball/sword; now an archer, golfer. Basically it’s showing that it’s like you’re doing the real thing. Microsoft’s Natal, if it works, will take this a huge step further.

Bill Trinen is back to demo with Wii Sports Resort (déjà vu, they pitched this last year). A Mii is skydiving and he’s moving him in the air with the ‘mote. A big group of Miis is falling in formation, and the parachutes open and you land in the Resort. Now he’s showing archery. It’s already loads better than Wii Play, which was the last game packed with a remote. Sports Resort will come with the Motion Plus add on. He’s using the ‘chuck as the bow string and the ‘mote is the bow in your hand. He’s bringing Reggie out to play some basketball with him. Bill “You shoot the ball at the hoop; you now that this is, right?” Reggie, sarcastically: “Yes, I do.” They’re being a little snarky about each others abilities. Shooting 3 pointers. You raise the remote and shoot like you would a real basketball.

Reggie is talking about Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, which will use motion plus (they will be packaged together). So will Grand Slam Tennis (also from EA like PGA) and Sega’s Virtua Tennis. “This new game in physical reality will have you muttering the same bad words you do in real life.” Red Steel 2 will be playable ONLY with motion plus (there ya go, have to have it to play). More 3rd party games were sold for DS and Wii than other platforms (really?).

Talking about RPGs, the story goes on inside your head. It’s a Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles game. The Crystal Bearers. Looks good. Also coming to the DS – oh this is the Kingdom Hearts game. This I WANT. Good looking trailer with Utada singing Passion.

“Bowser really does suck. And I mean that in a good way.” LOL Reggie. It’s called Mario & Luigi Bowser’s Inside Story; it’s for the DS. This fall.

A legendary RPG name is on its way back to portables. GOLDEN SUN DS! AWESOME. It looks great. 2010. Have to get that.

Cammie is back to talk about the DS and innovation. She’s talking about James Patterson (a mystery writer). Women’s Murder Club: Games of Passion – an interactive novel for the DS. I don’t read a lot of modern novels, and I don’t read any mystery, so I don’t know what this will be. But it looks OK.

New intellectual property from Ubisoft – Cop: The Recruit. About an undercover New York cop named Dan. He used to be a street racer, but got arrested, so now he works for the force. Racing and shooting.

*sigh* Girly fashion game for tweens and women in their 20s. Style Savvy for the DS. It’s the Japanese game Girls Mode.

Nintendo DS = diversity, Cammie says. “Something for everyone.” She’s talking specifically about the DSi now. Video of mostly a bunch of girls and a couple guys talking about the DSi. Personalization is the difference between the DS Lite and DSi. People don’t just consume, they create and share. Flip Notes Studio, an animation program, is coming this summer. Mario vs Donkey Kong: Minis March Again will be the first to let players design levels from the ground up. Available only as a download June 8th. Wario Ware DIY lets people design their own games from scratch. Cammie is better when she’s bubbly and smiley; she’s kind of subdued today. This summer you can upload DSi pictures onto Facebook. “No Nintendo DS creation is more anticipated than….Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks.” She didn’t give a release date for that.

Video “Everyone’s Game.” Another montage of random stuff. And here’s Satoru Iwata (global Pres.).

Aw isn’t he adorable with his heavy accent (he is). Talking about globalization and audience expansion (which he says people think is falling). Talking about targeting “Maybe” players to get new players. 149 people in US, Japan, Europe who “might” play video games. For every 2 people playing there’s 1 more waiting to play, he says. Those who never played games in the past will never play games in the future, he says. He says that people assume games are too complicated (I think that’s what he meant). But if they lower the bar they won’t satisfy skilled players. There’s a big gap between the experienced and the novices. Wants to use New Super Mario Bros, Wii Fii and Sports Resort to help bridge the gap; they’re “everyone’s game.” But he says this might not be entirely convincing. So he has one potential answer. Wii Vitality Sensor.

It’s like a pulse taker you put on your finger. …. So, this is for…what? It goes hand in hand with Wii Fit, I guess. He says it can help with greater relaxation. Traditionally video games give increased excitement and stimulation, but it will not be long before they help people unwind or even fall asleep, he says. Again…what is this going to do? …. Uh well…. Huh. That was…odd. He didn’t really give any real example of what would be done with it.

Cammie is back with more Mario news. For the first time ever, she says, a second full 3D title will appear on a single Nintendo console. It looks a little like Mario Galaxy. Um, OK a lot like Mario Galaxy. Exactly like Mario Galaxy. And it’s called Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Reggie is back. He’s naming off all the things they just announced. “But I’ll be honest, I read the blogs too. And I’ve been a gamer myself for a long time. I know there are still people out there listening: OK great, but I want more.” And he says this is usually associated with 3rd party titles. A new IP from Sega – The Conduit. Retails in 3 weeks. It’s a FPS with aliens. Capcom – Resident Evil The Darkside Chronicles. Leon, Claire, Steve, with some classic RE action. These are all really short trailers that aren’t showing much. Dead Space Extraction from EA.

What about Nintendo itself, says Reggie. Could a new edgy game be coming. A fresh look at a franchise. Team Ninja and Nintendo. That looks really nice. Looks great actually. Metroid: Other M. Samus is kicking some ass. Flips back and forth between 3rd person and platforming. 2010. Nintendo is delivering this year. But…where’s Miyamoto? Big finale? Zelda console maybe?

Reggie is talking about their goals of making everyone gamers again. …. No Miyamoto? A Nintendo conference without Miyamoto???? Wow. That was it. Sony is later.

E3 2009 - Ubisoft

Ubisoft now. Last one of the day. Tomorrow is Sony and Nintendo.

Ubi is opening with a mix of game shots – Ninja Turtles, Avatar, Rayman, etc.

The Soup’s Joel McHale? Whyyyyyy. I can’t stand this guy’s show. His kids are distracting him from his gaming time…which is funny, but…. Man I really don’t like this guy. Why is he introducing Ubi games? It’s basically a stand up comedy routine. He’s going to introduce someone but is joking about how he can’t reveal the name for whatever silly reason. And here comes the CEO, Yves Guillemot. Very heavy French accent, a little hard to understand.

Talking about…media conversions. Bridging the creative talents. I’m feeling bad because I can barely understand what this guy is saying. It sounds like he just said they created Bill Gates. Oh, now he’s talking about U Play. Allows consumers to create content to share. U share, U win, U help (will let someone help you if you get stuck in a game), and U shop. That’s cool. Launch at the end of the year for Assassin’s Creed, Splinter Cell and Avatar. Creating bridges with Lightstorm and Fox. Probably going to see some Avatar footage later.

Oh, there’s been a merger of talent. They’re going to work with Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg for Paramount’s Tin Tin (?). Now he’s talking about exploring technological break throughs (Wii mote, DS, iPhone).

Redsteel 2. Rayman and Shaun White, big sellers. Now talking about using cameras and microphones. Sounds like what MS was showing off during their conference. Wanting to be mass market, expand the gaming market, etc.

Managing director Yannis Mallat is here to talk about (in a much easier to understand accent) shaping the industry. Achieving true content convergence with Ubisoft digital arts. He’s talking about their work on movie special effects. Like James Cameron’s Avatar. He is thrilled to announce today that they are “devlahping” over 100 shots for the film. Ubisoft Digital Arts working on real time engines with pre-render technology (like AC) for movies. Assassin’s Creed 2 short movies….live action? For promotion. That sounds awesome, I can’t wait. Is Ubi trying to be the new WETA Digital? Ubi is becoming a full 360 (degree, not Xbox) development company (meaning branching out into many technologies and media areas).

James Cameron is here. Wow, there is some serious star power at E3 this year. He’s here, of course, to talk about Avatar. Every time I hear about this game I always think “The Last Airbender.” He’s talking about how when he first created this 15 years ago he was told it would be impossible with the current technology, so now he’s out to try again. He’s describing the film’s setting and characters – a forested moon called Pandora. Avatars are hybrid human and…the race they’ve created (which I can’t spell…Navid maybe, Navee). ….Good gracious he’s going over the whole freakin’ plot of this thing. I’m glad he’s excited but uh, leave us some film to watch, you know? Took him 9 years to develop some of this film technology. Sounds awfully impressive. How ‘bout showing us some? No, now he’s going on about picking the right video game company (Ubi, obviously). James, dear, we don’t have this kind of attention span (or I don’t anyway). Talking about developing a game both similar to and separate from the movie. Boy, 2 years of this, 4 years of that. This movie/game must be freakin’ amazing for all the time being sunk into it. Talking about working together hand in hand with Ubisoft to develop the game and film; some back and forth aid. Oh the movie is in 3D, so he wanted to get Ubi to make the game in 3D and…they went for it. Man, Cameron is really long winded. How about some footage of this amazing film/game? No…but he is telling us the game won’t contain movie spoilers (it comes first). And on and on and on. He’s getting a little repetitive now. Demo available this week. OH FINALLY. I have great respect for him but geez! That went on forever.

And here’s Joel again. ….. Wait all of that and no footage, WTF? Joel is afraid of the French guys. So, did they bring this guy in to tell jokes to wake them up after Cameron’s loooooooong speech? Too bad he’s not that interesting either. He’s talking about Redsteel 2 and Wii Motion Plus. FINALLY a trailer of something. A guy is swinging the Wiimote around (big sweeping motions) while the character in the game slices up some baddies. Graphics look good. He’s having a sword fight with a bad guy now, switches to a gun, and blows him away.

Creative director, Jason Vanderburg (that is NOT how it’s spelled) for RS2, with the lead designer. They’re going to do a live demo. Character is being dragged on the ground behind a motorcycle and you have to dogdge various things, like oncoming traffic and burning barrels. Neat looking cut scene, looks a little cell shaded. Some first person action with the sword. It’s mapped 1:1 with the Wiimote. So like Twilight Princess but way more movements and more precise, and it also measures the force you swing with. You can quickly switch back and forth between sword and gun. Looks like he’s moving the character around with the nun chuck. “We really believe that hitting things is fun.” Like doors apparently. Oh that was rad. He threw a guy up in the air, then jumped up and slashed down at him. This is really cool looking; it’s very responsive as well (and 60 frames per second, Jason says). Game will be bundled with Wii Motion Plus at launch.

Joel again. Blah blah lame attempts at jokes. More Shaun White is coming. Ought to work with Tony Hawk to use that skateboard peripheral, but then, they have the balance board with the Wii already. The new Tony Hawk game will be a good competitor for this.

Soccer, Academy of Champions. And here’s…Pele, a big time soccer player apparently. Some technical difficulties here. Joel jokes “The game does much more than this, right Pele?” Pele asks Joel if he speaks Portuguese or Spanish while they try to make the trailer work. Pele jokes that he doesn’t speak English (oh so this girl is his interpreter). Pele is doing really well with English for someone who can’t speak English. Oh, now he’s not speaking English anymore. Pele is happy to be there. Pele is talking about how important soccer (futbol) is to him. Joel shuts up (hooray) and lets the guy talk. Pele talks about how important children are. And now he’s talking about the game in general, and how happy he is to work on it. And now the trailer. Rated E for “comic mischief.” It looks like it’s about kids at a Harry Potter type school for soccer. It’s exactly like Harry Potter for Soccer. Clearly something meant to be cute and fun for kids than a serious soccer game.

“The only guy back there not speaking French” jokes Joel as he unfortunately takes over again. Talking about reinventing a successful product. Introducing…producer and creative director for Splinter Cell – Alex Parizeu and Max Beland, with French last names I can’t spell. Saw Splinter Cell earlier during MS’s conference, minus the adorable French guys. But that’s OK, because it looks totally bad ass. Oh the targeting thing is called “mark and execute.” It looks like it works really well. Joel is super excited, he seems to be a fan of the series. Max is going to play a demo. This is all the same stuff from earlier today. Sam is on his own in this one, looking for his daughter’s killer.

Joel is back making more bad jokes. Evolving interfaces. What is this? Ruse? Something about commanding armies, so probably a strategy game. Two way too intense guys are fighting a battle with a navy assaulting a beach. It’s a cool looking trailer; they’re moving their pieces around on a tabletop screen (not how the game works but it’s a neat effect). It’s a RTS. Joel makes more bad jokes.

Joel said “the industry’s fastest growing category: casual games.” NOOOOO. *sigh* A single guy claps for his “game packages are hard to open” joke. Sr VP of marketing Tony Key. Says he wanted to present the biggest seller. Asked the audience what the biggest seller was; I think someone said “Petz.” It’s Imagine. Oh joy. Pokemon, Imagine, Brain Age, Petz, Mario Kart, DS top brands. *sigh* Ubisoft tween games 2.0. Ugh geez. Tony says everyone wants to copy Ubisoft. By making games for little girls? Well EA had a whole to-do about them, so maybe so. *bangs head on table* Blah blah blah blah. Oh look, take a picture of yourself with your DSi and give yourself a makeover. Make crappy jewelry with your DS then order it in real life! The stars of Petz 2009. It has stars? Oh they’re hamsters or something. Teach your pets to become super stars! Oh it’s a new tween brand – Style Lab. Tony is definitely a sales guy, he’s pitching this stuff hard.

“What is the fastest growing genre over the last 12 months.” Fitness apparently. Felicia Williams, lead content designer, working with cameras in games. Sounds very similar to what EA is doing with Active. Tony makes a bad joke about the camera adding 10 lbs. What camera do they keep talking about? The MS camera I guess? Burn! She’s saying you shouldn’t have to use balance boards and wii motes, but your own personal exercise equipment or nothing at all. She basically said “all those others are not realistic and they suck.” Theirs is called Your Shape for the Wii…with a camera (so they’re competing with Wii Fit and EA Active). So not the MS camera. What camera? I guess…OH there we go, lol. It comes with the game. It scans your body, then you select the body area you want to work on, and it tells you what to do. A very chipper girl demos the game in a video. Why are all these fitness games on the Wii? Wii Fit, EA Active, Your Shape, all on the Wii. Where the market is I guess; lots of families have one.

Joel is back agaaaaain. Introducing Rabbids Go Home and Adrian Lacey. PLEASE stop making the Ryan Seacrest jokes Joel. Adrian runs out pushing a Rabbid in a shopping cart, and being chased by another. Boy Adrian is EXCITED. So you use shopping carts to collect stuff and build things. This is a cute trailer. A Rabbid jumps out at some poor kid grocery shopping. Havoc ensues and the Rabbids steal everything from cars to clothes from the humans. Now they’re gonna demo the game. Adrian is doing some jokes about Rabbids invading the Wii mote or something. He is way too into this. Bunny abuse is perfectly legal, as this guy throws a Rabbid around a closed space. You can customize your own Rabbid that will appear in the game and in cut scenes. Alright, I’m way bored now. It’s kind of funny, but I’m not really interested. You run around, collect things, run over people. You can also customize your cart. Did he just call it a “Wiimoot?” The Rabbids knocked an engine off an airplane and attached it to their cart for crazy movement. Ah, they’re done

Joel came back to introduce Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and NA Pres. Laurent Detoc. Another French guy. Oi, how long had I been sitting here? Boooring. He’s introducing some Game Arts people in the audience. Trailer. Leo and Shredder. Splinter and April. Mikey and Don. Play anyone, it says. Fight everyone. Have a brawl. It looks like Smash Brothers with Turtles. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Smash-Up. Those graphics are…not that good. Sept. 22.

Big titles? OH OH a sequel to a multi award winning title. It’s No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle. Now I want my boyfriend to shut up. He keeps making sarcastic comments and I can’t hear anything, lol. OK he went away. Anyway, I wasn’t at all interested in No More Heroes the first time so…I don’t really care this time either. Here is Tetsuya Yamiguchi (Mizuguchi?) (in the audience). Uh…so they said “Hey we’re making No More Heroes 2 but we’re not telling you anything about it.” Oooook.

Assassin’s Creed 2 now. Seriously this game is looking way sweet. “We are going to unveil something very, very surprising to me. I could not believe the quality of the visuals.” Oh? SHOW US. Yes, I know you sold millions of them (over 8 to be exact). November 17! Yay. Here’s a trailer. 1486 Venice, Italy. It’s a Carnival. Some guys in masks are standing around. And here he comes. Fireworks going off. Stabbed in the face! Er, neck. Blood gushing out. And there’s Ezio with a slow smile (oh he’s handsome, yay!). And another smirk as he stabs some guy with a pole. He’s jumping around (btw, you can swim in this one). This is gorgeous. OH YEAH. Yeah you don’t diss on his momma. He will stab you. He shot the blade out of his glove. Kick ass.

Good way to end the conference, with a bang. That was pretty much totally boring. Nintendo and Sony, tomorrow morning.

E3 2009 - EA

*huff, huff, pant* Man it's hot outside. Made it out to the mall, got my glasses fitted, and back home in half an hour. Love my glasses (almost the same as my previous frames), not so happy about my sunglasses. The frames are bigger than I remember, which meant the lenses are too. And they’re THICK. So all I see out of the corner of my eyes is thick plastic. And it sucks. They look very clinical, and not at all stylish or sexy. Might see if that’s a significant complaint to go and pick new ones (they’ve got a 30-day guarantee; not sure if this sort of thing applies, but if not, what does?).

OK, the blog really hates MSWord. It keeps trying to code it, but I just want to copy paste. Unfortunately it’s so much easier to type in Word than straight into the blogger for long posts like this. I’m going to have to find a way to work around it, because I wanted to go back in and add some trailer links, and it kept yelling at me. Annnnd problem solved.

Also, flip flips (the ones with the thing between your toes) are not made for walking…any sort of distance. I wore them downtown yesterday, big mistake, because I have blisters now, and they hurt.

And here goes EA.

Zombies? Oh no this has got to be for Dante’s Inferno. And it looks exactly like God of War, so if you like GoW I expect you’ll like this. I’m not really interested in the butchering of a classic piece of literature myself.

This guy is…I’m not sure (back edit: was John Riccitiello, CEO of EA). He’s taking about the Sims 3 launch tonight at midnight. Pointing out people in the audience who worked on Dante and Sims. Now they’re showing Sims 3. What I’ve seen so far has been really cool. The game takes another huge leap in innovation. Which is great, because no one wants to play the same damn game over and over again (I’m looking at you Animal Crossing).

12 great games from 12 creators. Chip Lang (?). To talk about stuff for the Wii I think. Oh he’s the general manager of EA’s Hasbro division (hate Hasbro, they ruined Dungeons and Dragons). He’s talking about Littlest Pet Shop games. *sigh* No one sitting over there is going to give a crap about this. Marketing – you buy the stuffed animal, type in a code and use the pet online.

Dyan Williams, SR producer of…Charm Girls Club. So I guess today is EA’s little girls debut game. Great. How do you start with Dante’s Inferno and then go to this? Some little girls onstage are playing the game on the Wii. They’re…teasing hair. They kind of look like Bratz. I was never very girly so…I really couldn’t care less. It’s makeover, clothes, crap like that. It’s a mini-game collection I think.

Need for Speed Shift. With Patrick Suderlond (?). More racing. Zzzzzz…. Is Need for Speed better than Forza? I have no idea. Driver profile – ties you in emotionally or something. “How you drive on the track defines who you are.” Tech problems with the trailer. So I guess what they’re saying is you can level up some sort of skill set based on how you drive. I’m not sure. He’s basically saying if you’re aggressive, you bump people (duh), and if not then you get better speed, etc. So…it’s literally how you use your controller. That’s not…anything special. It sounds like a bunch of fluff terms. Maybe I’m just not understanding what he’s trying to say. Wow that was some wreck; the camera moves around in the car and you look like you’re really crashing a car. And…he’s giving away a car to someone on Thursday. That’s nice.

Dragon Age Origins. Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk from Bioware (why can’t game people have normal spelled names). Mentions that it’s one of their most ambitious games, it’s dark, etc, with major decisions you’ll have to make. Trailer. Scantily clad lady there. Nasty orcs, demons and dragons. Very bloody, blood spewing everywhere. Girl in her undies…because I’m sure they totally had lace panties and bras back then. Armor looks good. SWEET. Oct. 20.

Mass Effect 2. Talking a bit about the first game, and Sheppard. “He’s a kick ass hero who will get the job done at any cost.” He sure is. Suicide mission into the heart of enemy territory. Shooter action, new characters, new worlds. First full game play trailer. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay. There’s the Normandy. Voice over sounds a little like Sheppard. “Sheppard, but you’re dead” says a blue alien chick (forgot what they were called). Some shooting here, guy falls out a window. Seth Green is back as the pilot. “It’s not the Geth.” So new enemies then. Explosions. Logo.

Moving on to EA Sports now it seems. Pretty much anything I cared about from them has already been shown. Sooo losing interest. Montage of real people doing sport things. And here’s Peter Moore. “Personal access to the emotion of sports.” “There’s no win like a sports win.”

Fight Night Round 4. Showing Ali and Tyson fighting each other. Talking about the physics engine. Where’s my manga…. Physics, strategy, style. Giving the characters real stats and size based on their stature and moves, so some realism here is what they’re going for. June 25.

New franchise. MMA. MMA? Oh, mixed martial arts.

Talking about their success with their sports games. Steve Chiang now to talk about online play. Tiger Woods PGA (browser game) and the new EA sports website. Team Builder for NCA Football 10 user content, team creators, all online. Team Builder is available now, game comes out in a month.
“We believe this next feature will end productivity in the American workplace.” Again building online communities. You can use your iPhone.

Bold new direction, eh? EA Sports Active. Talking about the Wii now. Peter is talking about the abuse and cynicism toward video games, but that EA Sports has helped lift the stigma. Video about active, showing people using it to exercise. Alison Sweden (?) is coming out to talk about Active as an exercise and weight loss program. 600,000 units sold.

Grand Slam Tennis on Wii, comes out next week. Works with Wii Motion Plus. Live stage demo, Peter’s gonna play with another EA guy (game’s producer). LOL at Peter’s comment on EA Sports execs being follicly challenged (they’re both going bald). They’re not doing so hot. A guy just snuck up behind them; professional tennis player I’m going to assume. It’s Pete Sampras (?), 14 time Grand Slam champion. “Let me explain how to play tennis.” Haha. Very good movement reactions. And that’s it from Peter.

Tom French, lead designer for The Saboteur from Pandemic. Trailer – skanky hoes dancing with soldiers. He tosses a guy from the roof that falls down in front of another soldier and splatters blood everywhere. Nice color scheme here, black and white, with red. Then it cuts to full color. Good looking game. “The Will to Fight” - when Sean fights the Nazis, the color comes back into Paris. That’s a really cool idea. “And yes, you can absolutely climb the Eiffel Tower.” Stealth, disguise, assassination, sabotage. Some 3rd person shooter action, then he hops into a car and drives off, to hide in the red light district. Haha, he got some while he was hiding in there, too.

EA Partners. He’s (the pres or VP, missed his name early on…oh it’s John Riccitiello) talking about partnering with other developers, etc. Leading up to:

Brutal Legend, Tim Schafer. He’s talking about the amazing cast they have. “People say did you make this game just to meet all these people? Yeah.” He’s talking about the story and characters. Showing part of a trailer. “Out of the light comes….a roadie. Armed with the power of metal and destined to become…a Legend.” Game looks pretty funny. Oct. 13. Video message from Jack Black. Should have gotten him to show up, though Jack Black can’t really compare to Ringo and Paul. Jack being Jack and a brief clip of game play.

CEO of Crytek. Cevat Yerli. Cyrsis 2. 360, PS3 and PC, simultaneously. So…maybe people will actually be able to play this one.

Sometimes you have the pleasure of actual news? Lol, is that what he said? Real Time World studio. Here’s Dave Jones for All Points Bulletin. So…it’s an online GTA sort of something? Showing off some great character customization tools. Trailer shows lots of crime, car jacks, robberies, shoot outs, car chases, boobs. This seems interesting, if I’m understanding it correctly. It looks like an online game where you can all play together in this city, interacting, fighting each other, etc. But they didn’t really explain and….

Now there’s some Star Wars music. And people in costumes walking across the stage. They have light sabers. Oh these have mics; must be developers in Jedi robes. Bioware and Lucas Arts. Ray again and Darrel Rodriguez. Star Wars TOR MMO. The fist ever fully voiced MMO. That’s pretty cool. One of the largest voice over projects in the history of games, Ray says. Every class will have its own unique story. This game has always sounded impressive but…also overly ambitious. I trust Bioware, but I worry as well. Cinematic trailer now. Sith lord walks by, takes down some bitches. Transport ship crashes through the wall and runs over some Jedi. Big light saber battle. Wow this looks amazing…for a cinematic. Game won’t be like this of course. (It will look like this.) But this is totally bad ass looking. “You were deceived, and now your Republic shall fall.” Ooooh snap. Oh Bioware, I love you so. Hell yeah that was stunning.

And they’re done.