current gaming

I love Telltale Games. I’ve been playing and adoring adventure games since I was old enough to point a mouse and begin navigating complex brain-teasers, but as I grew older and more bothered by the often nonsensical puzzles, the genre quickly faded into obscurity. Cue Telltale’s triumphant arrival on the scene to bring back my once-beloved genre. Even better, they’ve resurrected this stale game type by relying entirely on franchises that we already know and love. True, their attempts to bring Bone and CSI to the world of video games were kind of fumbled, but since then they’ve been on fire with consistent episodic releases for Sam & Max, Strong Bad, and Wallace & Gromit. I’ve enjoyed all of those to varying degrees, especially Sam & Max, so I was not remotely disappointed to hear that Telltale would be handling the revival of the much-loved Monkey Island series.

The result, unfortunately, has left me less satisfied than I’d hoped.

“Launch of the Screaming Narwhal,” the first in a planned five monthly episodes in the Tales of Monkey Island, was released last week. As with previous Telltale episodic games, Narwhal is relatively short, easily completable in a single three or four-hour sitting. Luckily, the scant running time is overflowing with strange, entertaining characters and clever dialogue that will keep you clicking through every option. Dividing the $35 asking price for the whole series on Steam, the first chapter comes out to $7. Whether it’s worth that much for less than five hours of hilarity is up to you, but before you rush out to buy it, you also might want to consider the gameplay.

Tales of Monkey Island trailer from Current Gaming

The kindest word I could use to describe the adventuring in Tales of Monkey Island is “old school.” Even more so than Sam & Max, the puzzles in Monkey Island are often goofy to the point of insanity. One early enigma forces you to mix a plant root into some grog to create “root beer,” a solution so inane that it would be frustrating if it didn’t take place in a small environment without many other options. Later tasks are not so blessed; as the world opens up, Narwhal becomes a game of figuring out what Telltale wants you to do next rather than what makes the most sense in any given situation with the tools at your disposal. Without giving too much away, there’s no reason I would have thought to try rubbing the big wheel of cheese I found across the front of a building if I hadn’t read it in a walkthrough. (So, yes, I did consult a walkthrough once or twice.)

There are also too many points in the game where progressing depends on simply walking around and talking to every character or showing them everything in your inventory until you find out some new piece of information. This is game design at its laziest, and while it’s less noticeable in such a short title, I still don’t think it’s particularly forgivable. In fact, it feels like these stretches where you’re not sure where to go or what to do next are blatant padding meant to mask the length, something that should be wholly unnecessary in an episodic release that most gamers understand isn’t going to be as long as a full retail release.

Narwhal also has a number of unique scenarios that stand out and provide some hope for future episodes. In particular, I loved using a treasure map to explore the island and search for buried loot. Having to dig into the inventory to pull out the map after every step was a bit less intuitive than it should have been, but this segment really added to the feeling of being a pirate much more so than anything else in the game.

I’m really torn here. Overall, my time back in the world of Monkey Island was enjoyable, full of laughs and pleasant surprises. But behind the fun, the game is built on some weak decisions that certainly feel like old adventure games…but only in so far as they remind me why the genre died years ago and has had so much trouble making a comeback. Veteran voyagers to Monkey Island needn’t hesitate to jump in, but if you’re on the fence about this revival, I’d recommend waiting until another episode or two are out to see if Telltale continues down the path of outdated design or if they improve the puzzles in the future. It’s great to revisit the past, but it’s better if we can learn from it.

Infamous is like most new video game IPs these days, which is to say that it doesn’t intend to be a “new IP” for very long. If a developer is pumping out all the time and resources it takes to create a modern-day blockbuster, chances are they want their idea to stick around for multiple iterations. They want to start a franchise. Sucker Punch has not escaped this basic money-making goal with Infamous, but they’re smarter about it than a lot of developers. Sucker Punch builds ideas that fit into a franchise mold extremely easily. With Sly Cooper, they had a goofy crime-caper cartoon not unlike the kind that could run for years on Saturday mornings. With their new PlayStation 3-exclusive Infamous, they draw on an entirely different, much darker source, but one that all the same lends itself to what’s sure to be a long line of releases.

Infamous is a contemporary digital superhero myth in the same vein as Crackdown or Prototype (which actually hit shelves right alongside it). Unlike both of those titles, though, Infamous attempts to create a sense of ownership for your actions. You become more and more powerful as the game progresses, but never all-powerful. In this way, it aligns itself with the Marvel Comics school of superheroes. Though your choices are limited and binary, you are still expected to learn the Spider-Man mantra: “With great power comes great responsibility.” In fact, protagonist Cole MacGrath is a lot like Peter Parker or most other Marvel heroes. He’s a regular boring guy, a bike courier of all things, who finds himself at the epicenter of a horrible accident that kills thousands and grants him undesired powers. He must overcome brutal street gangs led by maniacal supervillains, problems with his friends and love life, and a healthy dose of self-induced angst in order to save the city and become a beacon of good (or kinda evil).

If that’s not enough to convince you that Infamous could fit just as well into a serialized comic book, the game also features a handful of stunningly stylized hand-drawn cutscenes that make up for some clumsily animated in-game conversations. The story told in those scenes is a fairly traditional origin tale, but by placing the first Infamous game within that context, it is set up for sequels in a way that helps make up for the game’s shortcomings. Without resorting to full-on spoilers, this first game’s plot leaves us with a major tragedy for Cole, a complicated “sidekick” character, a small interesting supporting cast, and at least a couple of major villains who are likely to make comebacks. Somewhat silly ending twist aside, few games have left me more satisfied and eager for their continuation than Infamous.

Three Infamous walkthrough videos from Current Gaming

This origin story format does leave a few concerns, of course. In comics, character growth is entirely a matter of plot, something that becomes evident through the dialogue and the situations the hero is put through. Detractors who believe that superhero comics are immature or under-developed often point to their never-ending nature, a symptom which often causes them to re-live very similar problems rather than growing old or changing in any meaningful way. Batman must endlessly fight the Joker, Spider-Man must endlessly battle Green Goblin, and both must constantly be put in situations where people they love may be hurt in a way that can vaguely be interpreted as their fault, forcing them to face their nightmarish beginnings over and over again.

But in video games, character growth also springs from learning new moves and gaining greater control over your character as you become more accustomed to the game. By the time you reach the end of Infamous, Cole has a fleshed-out spectrum of powerful attacks, and you’ve had time to determine which are most useful for you. When the inevitable Infamous sequel hits…will those moves simply be wiped clean, forcing you to re-learn them? Or will you already have access to your powers from the first game but then learn another batch of moves on top of that? Sucker Punch faces a dilemma here. One path leads to the Metroid-esque frustration of having to find all of your abilities over again in each subsequent game, while the other leads to the controller-twisting complication of an ever-growing list of moves. And in between the two is the worry that players could get bored if things are not switched up in some way. Perhaps the introduction of new heroes with different power sets could solve this problem, although it remains to be seen exactly how that would fit into the world created in the first game.

Honestly, though, the biggest complaint I can hand Infamous is that its got the room to grow and figure that out. Sucker Punch has expertly laid the groundwork for what could be a very long-running series with its own universe of heroes, villains, and civilians caught in the middle. This beginning is far from perfect. Certain story threads — especially one involving a pirate television host broadcasting slanderous screeds about the main character — are cut too short or left hanging completely. But overall, they have crafted an excellent origin that has me wishing I could subscribe to Cole’s adventures monthly.

A couple days ago, a friend and I were sitting across the room from each other on two separate computers, both playing Plants vs. Zombies. As the repeating howl of the undead emanated from both of our speakers, I looked over at her and realized that the game was actually making us act quite similar to its green-skinned title characters…er, the zombies, that is. While the evil undead hunger for brains, all I’ve wanted for every moment of my day for weeks now is another long stretch drooling in front of my monitor playing this scarily addictive game.

Casual game developer PopCap has a long list of franchises popular among restless web browsers and soccer moms, many of which are extremely simple puzzle concepts or variations on games that have been around for a long time. In the last couple of years, though, the company has started to turn out some really unique and devastatingly addictive new games that take old concepts and spin them in completely unique directions. From Bookworm and Bookworm Adventures — which was doing the puzzle-meets-RPG thing before Puzzle Quest — to Peggle to even Bejeweled Twist, a surprisingly fresh take on their most well-worn game, the folks at PopCap have clearly been on some sort of creative streak.

Plants vs. Zombies trailer from Current Gaming

Plants vs. Zombies is the latest bit of brilliance to come out of that line-up. From the outset, it looks like an even more casual take on the tower defense genre, but as with so many of their games, a surprising amount of depth is hidden in that simplicity. Though the switch from the tower defense norm of being able to place towers anywhere as a line of enemies marches by to having the zombies come down a set series of rows may seem easier, it actually just means that you have a lot less space to work with and need to plan placement very strategically. And although you may begin the game with just a handful of plant-based weapons to choose from, by the end of the game you’ll be flipping through several dozen options, including some that only sprout in the evening, one that steals any metallic equipment the zombies might be using, and one that causes shots from other plants to light on fire and do more damage.

Your undead foes have a similar wide variety, forcing you to constantly mix up your strategies and try new things. The real genius of Plants vs. Zombies is that as fun as the moment-to-moment gameplay is, PopCap has designed the levels so that you’re rarely going to be doing the exact same build order over and over.

Things get even more mixed up in the bonus modes that get unlocked as you complete Adventure mode. These include super-hard levels, a zombie-themed version of Bejeweled, and even a mode where the tables are turned and you get to play as the zombies. The price tag may be tiny and the cynical may label it as “casual,” but there’s enough content packed in this game to keep players busy and engaged as long as most full-price retail console releases these days.

And therein lies the true horror of what appears to be PopCap’s dastardly master plan. They continue offering games that are priced and appear to be bite-sized, but those games somehow manage to suck days or even weeks from the lives of nearly everyone who touches them. Should this team ever want to take over the world, it’s only a matter of making sure they’ve got a new game of Plants vs. Zombie’s caliber out every month…and I fear they aren’t too far from that goal already!

Back in 2005, I was still a devoted PC gamer only just beginning to understand the joys and possibilities of console gaming. Thus while new Xbox 360 owners were taking in the intensity of Call of Duty 2 before the franchise became a yearly affair, I was busy joining up with the First Encounter Assault Recon. Despite the military acronym, F.E.A.R. set itself apart from COD2 and most other popular first-person shooters by having a theme and setting based neither in real-world war nor futuristic science fiction. Instead, developer Monolith filled F.E.A.R. with normal, every-day locations like offices and warehouses — okay, really just lots of offices and warehouses — recognizable locales warped by the paranormal. And I loved it, lapping up every second in multiple playthroughs.

This week I decided to play through F.E.A.R. once more, this time on the Xbox 360. If that’s not symbolic of my near-complete transition to console gaming, I don’t know what is. Unfortunately, my shiny happy memories of the game were left slightly rusted by this replay.

Are you scared yet? F.E.A.R. 2 review from Current Gaming

(Note: Image is from F.E.A.R. 2, which I sadly have not played yet. This article is focused on the original game.)

Before anything else, I should probably note that the port of F.E.A.R. from PC to 360 is far from perfect. Ported by Day 1 Studios rather than original developer Monolith, the 360 version has some random minor bugs and, for lack of a better way of expressing it, just kind of feels wrong. The aiming and turning is just a bit too slow to match the speed required of a game that was clearly designed for the fast movement of a mouse on the PC. But I mention these issues only to make it clear that the shortcomings I realized with F.E.A.R. are not related to technical issues at all.

Rather the problem with F.E.A.R. is that it’s an ambitious game held back by…well, fear, I assume. Monolith is a smart development team that had already worked on several games that pushed the boundaries of first-person shooters by the time F.E.A.R. was released, such as the extremely underappreciated No One Lives Forever series. With this game, they wanted to blend first-person action with horror, but for whatever reason they ended up skewing a little too heavily toward the action. That may not be such a bad choice if F.E.A.R.’s combat wasn’t so bland.

The major “innovations” meant to shake up F.E.A.R.’s gameplay were impressive enemy AI and the focus on slow-mo shoot-outs. The latter works well in the game, even if that concept had already been worn thin by Max Payne, its sequel, and a landslide of mediocre Matrix wanna-bes. Unfortunately, since the enemies are hyper-accurate bullet sponges, you really do need to rely on the time slowdown ability for almost every battle if you don’t want to be running low on health constantly. For the bigger enemies, such as mechs or armored soldiers, this is understandable, but when a room full of regular baddies is impossible unless you activate your super-power, it can get a bit annoying regardless of how cool the power in question is. And don’t even get me started on how confused I am by the Achievement awarded for passing the game without using any slow-mo. As for the AI of the computer-controlled baddies, it definitely was a big step for its time, but like most technical aspects of a game, those improvements never stop generation to generation, so it’s hard to be blown away years later.

Where F.E.A.R. should succeed — and quite nearly does — is atmosphere. Though the environments are repetitive to the point of boredom, Monolith uses every modern horror idea they can grab to create some genuinely creepy moments. The best of these are the brief sections where you leave the regular office corridors and hallways for strange hallucinations, complete with voices whispering ominously and short glimpses of a scary-looking little girl. It’s difficult to predict when these tiny chunks of terror will show up in the game, which is both a blessing and a curse. That there are so few of them makes the ones in the game all the weirder, but since it’s also the one thing that sets F.E.A.R. apart from any other average FPS…there just isn’t much here that stands out. Thinking back on F.E.A.R., those horrorific moments will always be what I remember about it, but the actual process of playing the game is so short on them that it’s barely worth it.

One game that kept popping into my head while I replayed F.E.A.R. was BioShock. The comparison may not be obvious at first, but I think it’s a fair one. These are both first-person shooters attempting to break out of the aforementioned one or two genres that most shooters get stuck in. Both want to frighten the player at various intervals. Both have gunplay that is relatively mediocre compared to a lot of other shooters but is spieced up by the inclusion of special powers (although BioShock obviously has a lot more of said powers to play around with). The biggest difference is simply that BioShock creators 2K Boston went all the way.

BioShock 2: New screens reveal devastating geyser trap from Current Gaming

(Note: Image is from BioShock 2, which sadly is not released yet. This article is talking about the original game.)

The real star of BioShock is the environment, the wonderful, creepy underwater world of Rapture. Unlike F.E.A.R. and its unnecessary focus on combat, BioShock never really pretends to be about something else. Yes, you have to fight off legions of messed up citizens. And yes, the epic Big Daddy “boss” battles serve as climactic set pieces in each area. But in the end, exploring the various regions of Rapture and slowly piecing together the mystery of what happened there is the real point of the game. F.E.A.R. doesn’t provide anything terribly interesting to look at outside of the nightmare sequences, and the game doesn’t have enough of those to keep players from inevitably feeling sleepy during drawn-out gunplay scenarios.

Perhaps all the monotony in F.E.A.R. would still leave a positive impression if the game had more of a point to it, but the plot never develops beyond a series of cliches cobbled together from Akira and various Japanese horror flicks. BioShock, on the other hand, has a fantastic twist that is actually hard to see coming if you haven’t played it or had it ruined — a real surprise in video games these days. Even beyond that, the plot can be analyzed and interpreted to have a greater message about the medium of games and how much control the player has over his or her action. I’m sure Ken Levine and the team behind BioShock would even hope that you take that idea and consider your life through its lens. Of course, I am not saying that you need to think about BioShock in this way nor that every game needs to have a deep intellectual meaning, but barring any other long-lasting, memorable feature, a worthwhile plot could have gone a long way toward making F.E.A.R. a must-play game for the long run instead of just an enjoyable ride for the year or two following its release.

Just to be extra clear, I’m not comparing F.E.A.R. and BioShock on some weird scale where only one of them can be good and the other must suck. Indeed, I don’t think F.E.A.R. sucks at all. But looking back on it and giving it a second playthrough years after its release, it’s clear that the game was created to be a great action game of its time rather than a great action game of all time. BioShock’s strengths merely help highlight F.E.A.R.’s weaknesses.

-Phil

What do you guys think? Any hardcore F.E.A.R. fans who want to defend the game? Or does anyone think I’m putting too much faith in BioShock’s lasting appeal? Leave a comment and let me know!

Every week, the gaming fairies fill a truck full of new releases and dump them into stores across the nation. Lots of websites will provide you with lists of what’s coming out each week, but I’d like to give a little more information (and hopefully some entertainment) with my weekly Hitting the Shelves article. Each week, I’ll be letting you know which games are arriving and which ones I’ll be picking up, and I want to know what you’ll be checking out as well! Read the list and then leave a comment with your picks this week.

The most impressive Wii graphics yet from Current Gaming

The Conduit (Wii) — I almost feel bad for The Conduit. This first-person shooter from previously unimpressive developer High Voltage Software has become a poster child for desperate Nintendo fans, proof positive that the Wii can support mature titles with great graphics from publishers other than Nintendo themselves. And hey, for whatever it’s worth, the game does sport some beautiful visuals. Unfortunately, every time I’ve seen it in action, the gameplay has left me concerned. The graphics may not be a whole console generation behind Halo 3 or Killzone 2, but if the shooting still isn’t as satisfying, that’s not going to mean much. Check out more about The Conduit on Current Gaming.

Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires (PS3, X360) — It occurs to me that I’ve spent at least 10 minutes desperately searching my brain for anything remotely interesting to say about the latest Dynasty Warriors rehash from Koei when all I really can think about is refreshing various news sites and Twitter over and over again for more info on this crazy Michael Jackson story. If Koei were to put Michael Jackson into the next Dynasty Warriors game as a secret unlockable character, it would be much easier for me to write these little description blurbs.

Fight Night Round 4 preview from Current Gaming

Fight Night Round 4 (PS3, X360) — It seems strange that EA has taken this long to release the next in their line of boxing games, especially since Fight Night Round 3 was practically a system-seller for the Xbox 360 based on its astounding graphics alone. But instead of continuing that success, EA got sidetracked by a goofy attempt to sell boxing to a wider audience with FaceBreaker.  Whatever the reason for that misstep, Fight Night is back. Unfortunately, it’s also got some stiff competition from the recently released and very successful UFC 2009 Undisputed. With Fight Night also now being handled by an enitrely new studio, I’m curious to see if it still has the stamina to be a major franchise. Check out more about Fight Night Round 4 on Current Gaming.

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (PSP) — I know I’m not alone in being one of those clueless Westerners who doesn’t understand the insane popularity of the Monster Hunter franchise in Japan, but as someone whose tastes often skew more toward the Japanese school of game design, I still feel kind of bad that I don’t get it. My own insecurities aside, Freedom Unite is the third Monster Hunter game for the PSP, although it’s considered more of an expansion to Monster Hunter Freedom 2 than its own seperate release. I downloaded the demo for it a couple of weeks ago just to see if maybe I’d been missing something awesome about the franchise, but still nothing clicked. Alas.

Overlord II (PC, PS3, X360) — Despite all its minor flaws, I really loved the original Overlord. I don’t think enough video games try to do comedy, and even less actually pull it off as well as this Codemasters gem. If this sequel expands the world and tweaks the gameplay while retaining that wonderful sense of humor, then it’s a clear must-buy for me. I’m a lot less certain about the Wii and DS spin-offs, Overlord: Dark Legend and Overlord: Minions.

Resident Evil Archives: Resident Evil (Wii) — Resident Evil Archives is one of those strange product choices where it really shouldn’t appeal to anyone but the biggest fans of the franchise even though people who love the series so much probably have already played and replayed the game in question many times in all of its various incarnations. This version of Resident Evil is a straight Wii port of the Gamecube remake of the PlayStation 1 original with the addition of some new Wii control options. Check out more about Resident Evil on Current Gaming.

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor (DS) — Hey, it’s my favorite obscure RPG publisher with a new release in their biggest obscure RPG franchise! Like so many of the Shin Megami Tensei games, Devil Survivor focuses on a demon invasion of Tokyo. This handheld spin-off mixes things up a bit by combining the series’ traditional turn-based combat with some strategy RPG elements. Reviews have been very positive, so it seems like Atlus has successfully captured the appeal of their long-running franchise in a new smaller form.

Spore Galactic Adventures (PC) — While Spore was easily one of the most promising and ambitious games ever developed, it ended up underwhelming a lot of gamers when it was finally released last year. Thankfully, EA hasn’t given up and plans to continue expanding on the possibilities of the game. As the first real expansion pack for Spore — I’m ignoring those silly creature part packs — Galactic Adventures improves the end-game by adding in the ability to create and accept missions. Completing these varied tasks also allows you to level up and receive new armor, weapons, and more. It sounds like a big step toward giving gamers more to do in Spore, and it may prove a fantastic reason to revisit this under-appreciated epic. Check out more about Spore on Current Gaming.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, X360) — To quote my friend David Ellis from his Twitter: “Transformers 2 breaks box office records. I’m officially quitting the human race.” In all fairness to Activision, Transformers is a concept probably better suited to a huge action game than a shallow summer blockbuster film, but I still suspect that if the game does well I’ll feel that special pinch of sadness that is reserved for those moments when my faith in my species dies a little bit more. Check out more about Transformers on Current.

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My picks for this week: Devil Survivor is obviously getting a purchase, but beyond that I’m also keeping an eye on Overlord II. Assuming the reviews are relatively positive, I think my enjoyment of the first game will push me over into checking this one out as well. I’m also intrigued by Spore Galactic Adventures, but since I hardly touched the original game, I’m not sure if or when I’ll find time to get this expansion.

-Phil

What games are you buying, renting, or avoiding altogether on this week’s list? Let me know in the comments!

The week before this year’s E3, Fallout 3 creator Bethesda announced a new original first-person shooter and released a teaser video with the promise of more info to come out of E3. Check out the video below:

Bethesda (of Fallout and Oblivion Fame) reveal new game: Brink on Current Gaming

This short video left me a little cold honestly. Sure, I always want to see what Bethesda’s up to, and I’m excited that developer Splash Damage is making a new game — their last release, 2007’s Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, was a great multiplayer shooter with a lot of unique twists on the genre, but it never really found its audience, a fate that could have easily crushed a lesser studio — but this first look at the game doesn’t really tell us anything. It didn’t make it stand out or raise my interest much at all.

Thankfully, the 20-minute demo I was given at E3 really cleared up that problem of why I should care about Brink…and Quake Wars is a huge part of the reason. Quake Wars took the normal online shooter formula and shook it up by giving players more interesting objectives than simply capturing the flag or achieving a set number of kills. Brink takes this concept to the next level.

You begin with an introduction to the game’s clever setting, The Ark. This artificial floating city was originally built as a home for the elite, but following mass-flooding from environmental disaster, it has become the last refuge for humanity, full of far more people than had ever been intended. Despite the overpopulation, you build one more person to inhabit the city with a deep character creation tool. You also choose one of two alignments for the character: Resistance or Security.

Whichever side you choose, you’ll be facing off against the other side’s forces, and this is where Brink’s brilliant gameplay mode-shifting mechanics come into play. In single-player, you’ll accept various missions pitting you against the opposing faction. Should you choose to change seamlessly to co-op, up to eight of your friends will be able to jump into your game with characters they created that are on your side. Is their assistance against the AI making things too easy? Switch it to 16-player multiplayer and that mission you’re on will become populated with real players using their real characters from the other side.

Regardless of which mode you’re playing in, there will be a variety of Quake Wars-style objectives that you can choose between to help further whatever mission you’re on. Harder objectives will earn you more XP. Want to just blast away at the enemies? Choose a kill objective. Want a bigger XP boost? Take on the objective to capture and interrogate an enemy soldier. And do it on your own, with friends, or against real players from across the world. This easy transitioning between single-player, cooperative play, and multiplayer modes means that a single mission or set piece can be played in several distinct styles, all of which will earn you XP toward improving your character, who remains consistent between all three modes.

The only question, then, is just how many awesome set pieces that work for all three modes can Splash Damage create? At E3, I was only shown one, an area called Container City that was built out of trash and boxes. The battle here raged around a huge crane that could be destroyed, repaired, and turned to your own use depending on which side you were on and what objectives you focused on. It was an intriguing scenario that looked like a blast, but if I’ve still got some concern. Multiplayer/co-op maps are inherently replayable, but does that mean Brink’s single-player experience will be significantly shorter than we expect from single-player shooters because all of the levels will be built for multiplayer and co-op as well?

If they can overcome this worry — or hell, even if they can’t, and we just get a shorter game, but one that successfully blends all three primary shooter play styles — Brink could be a revolutionary step for the genre. At the very least, I hope it’s a worthy successor to Quake Wars that gets a lot more notice from the gaming community.

I was first introduced to Japanese developer Vanillaware with 2007’s cult-classic PlayStation 2 action-RPG Odin Sphere. While no one could deny the beauty of that game’s stunning 2D art style, the game had some problems in its design. The simple-but-fun button-mashing combat was complicated by a radial item menu which challenged players to mix and match various materials in an alchemy system to produce the highest quality items. You could also plant seeds in the level that would grow and bear healing fruit after after sucking up enemy souls. This system definitely added a layer of complexity to Odin Sphere, but in the end it became a little too complicated for its own good, especially since you were more or less required to master these extra systems in order to survive the game’s sometimes brutal difficulty.

So the long and short of it is that I really enjoyed my time with Odin Sphere, but I ended up giving up well before the end, defeated but vowing to watch out for all future Vanillaware releases, hopeful that they may produce something as visually stimulating and fun but with slightly tighter design.

As of E3 2009, I can happily report that my hope was not misplaced in the least. Vanillaware’s latest is Muramasa: The Demon Blade, a Wii release being published by Ignition Entertainment (Odin Sphere was published by Atlus, but for some reason they didn’t pick up this one). And it looks freakin’ awesome, both literally in terms of its graphical style and in how it plays. For an example of the former, just take a look at this background image plucked from the game’s Japanese website:

Muramasa: The Demon Blade

Beautiful, right? That may look like concept art — and, for all I know, it very well may actually be concept art; I can’t really read Japanese — but the in-game environments look astonishingly similar. Vanillaware has done the smartest thing they could with the Wii hardware: developing a stylized game that looks beautiful within the limitations of Nintendo’s console. Because of that, this game is going to stand up as eye candy to the best offerings on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Sure, it may not be as realistic or visceral as Killzone 2 or Alan Wake, and it may be locked into 2D, but given a choice, there’s a good chance I’d rather be resting my eyes on Muramasa.

Then there’s the much-simplified gameplay. I’m sure some people loved the intricacies that Odin Sphere offered, but if you’re like me and found yourself intimidated and eventually annoyed, Muramasa is going to be a treat. While the trappings of an RPG remain — you can still level up, gain new weapons and armor, etc. — the focus is much more heavy on the action side. The two lead characters — one male and one female — have a variety of unique weapons, each with their own feel and special moves.

Button-mashing is possible, but if you really want to progress, you’ll need to learn how to pull off powerful combos and match the right moves and weapons to the right enemies. You can switch between three weapons on the fly. If you use the same weapon for too long or are too vigorous with the special attacks, the weapon will break, forcing you to switch it out while it recovers or deal next to no damage.

During one particularly harrowing boss encounter, I relied on the special attacks a bit too much, causing my weapons to continue breaking. By the end of the epic battle, I found myself switching weapons every 10 or 20 seconds, draining what little juice the weapon had left until it broke, and then switching to the next one while the others recovered. I barely eked out a victory, but it was clear that this kind of clumsy play will not lead to success in later levels.

I just can’t wait to traverse those later levels in all their lengthy glory. The two playable characters mostly journey through the same areas, but their levels get some tweaks and variations, and they get to fight unique bosses and pass through their own storylines, so hopefully there will be enough incentive for replay. Add on to that the promise of Metroid-style backtracking to open up areas you couldn’t access before, and Muramasa could be one of the longest 2D actions games since…well, Odin Sphere.

Just, you know, better this time.

-Phil

Every week, the gaming fairies fill a truck full of new releases and dump them into stores across the nation. Lots of websites will provide you with lists of what’s coming out each week, but I’d like to give a little more information (and hopefully some entertainment) with my weekly Hitting the Shelves article. Each week, I’ll be letting you know which games are arriving and which ones I’ll be picking up, and I want to know what you’ll be checking out as well! Read the list and then leave a comment with your picks this week.

Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled (DS) — As the generic name suggests, Black Sigil is a very traditional Japanese-style RPG. We’re talking turn-based combat, a high fantasy setting, and a magic-filled kingdom where a great cataclysmic event must be prevented. If there’s anything missing from the RPG cliche book here, let me know and I can pass it on to the developers.

Class of Heroes (PSP) — Class of Heroes is one of those old-school dungeon crawling games that Atlus nuts like me go crazy for. Your party can consist of characters of 10 different races, three different alignments, and 15 different “majors” (not to mention, of course, male or female), leading to hundreds of possibilities for a character. And you can take those characters through a boatload of twisting labyrinths filled with monsters and treasures. I’m shaking with anticipation just from typing all of that. God, I’m such an nerd.

Grand Slam Tennis (Wii) — While Sega is finally bringing their tennis franchise to the Wii this week, Electronic Arts is debuting their’s as a system exclusive. Though the character models are a lot more cartoonified than you’d expect from an EA Sports title, Grand Slam Tennis promises to have some of the most realistic racket-swinging ever thanks to included Wii Motion Plus functionality. Since this is EA’s first swing at this sport, though, we’ll need to wait and see if they can really hang on the same level as Wimbledon.

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings (DS, PS2, PSP, Wii) — This new original Indiana Jones video game adventure may not be making its way to next-gen systems, but it will give you the chance to step into Indy’s boots in a new way via Wii remote controls mapped to the iconic character’s in-game gestures. Or, you know, you could just use a normal controller on the PSP or PS2. I’m skeptical that the game will be any good, but the Wii version includes a version of the classic LucasArts adventure game Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis as bonus content.

The Legendary Starfy (DS) — Here’s one that kind of snuck up on me. Starfy is a long-running handheld franchise in Japan — this is actually the fifth game — but this is the first to make its way to North America. According to Wikipedia, fans of the series refer to its gameplay style as “marine platforming” because in addition to running and jumping, there’s a lot of swimming. Whatever you call it, the platforming and costume/power-swapping looks awesome and Kirby-esque to me, and I’m really interested in giving it a try.

Lego Battles (DS) — As the first handheld-specific iteration of the Lego series from Traveller’s Tales, Lego Battles is also the most original in a lot of ways. Most obviously, it’s not weighed down (or lifted up, depending on your opinion) by a popular license such as Star Wars or Batman. This game actually uses the DS’s unique stylus capabilities to allow you to build up your armies before you battle with them. It sounds like a fantastic (and slightly obvious) idea for a Lego game, so I hope it works.

Miami Law (DS) — For some reason I saw this handheld crime-fighting adventure plastered all over the place at E3 last week, but it didn’t leave me with a great impression. Point-and-click puzzle solving is mixed in with some busted-looking shooting and car driving sequences. The crime scene investigation seems like it could work, but the DS is rarely cut out for action gameplay, so I’m worried about those elements.

Prototype

Prototype (PC, PS3, X360) — With the PlayStation 3-exclusive Infamous having just arrived last week, gamers may be on a bit of super-powered open world game overload. But if you don’t have a PlayStation 3 or are already prepared to move on from Empire City, you’ll want to check out this Activision-published action game. Even better, unlike Infamous’s electricity-powered protagonist, in Prototype, you can take over the identity and subsequent abilities of anyone you come across, which hopefully means a lot more possibilities for bringing destruction to the giant city you’re roaming. Check out more about Prototype on Current Gaming.

Rock Band Unplugged (PSP) — In some weird way, Rock Band Unplugged is the best of both worlds in terms of Harmonix’s high-quality development history. It’s got fast-placed gameplay reminiscent of their original under-rated rhythm games, Frequency and Amplitude, but it also has the amazing track list and promised frequent downloadable content of its namesake, Rock Band. The 41 tracks included in the game run the gamut from Jimmy Eat World to System of a Down to The Who. Check out more about Rock Band on Current Gaming.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 (PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, X360) — Two EA Sports releases in one week! If tennis isn’t your game of choice but you still want to take a swing at Wii Motion Plus, perhaps you’ll want to join Tiger Woods for his latest outing (also available, of course, in regular controller form on several other systems). Beyond that, new features for this year include improved online, “Play the Pros” mode, and dynamic weather changing with data from the Weather Channel.

Virtua Tennis 2009 (PC, PS3, Wii, X360) — It’s been a couple of years since the last entry in Sega’s arcade tennis series, but Virtua Tennis 2009 is bringing a series first to the table: It’s finally going to appear on a Nintendo console. The one-time rivals have also made up by teaming to make sure Wii Motion Plus support is included as part of the Virtua Tennis package. But whether you’re playing with extra-realistic waggle or just using a regular controller, Virtua Tennis 2009 offers a complex character-creation system, 40 different courts, and a bunch of new strange tennis-based mini-games.

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That’s all for this week, but since last week was E3 and I didn’t have a time to do a run-down of releases from then (much less play any), let’s take a quick look at the major releases from last week as well.

Fuel (PS3, X360) — For hardcore racing game fans, Codemasters has been on a roll lately with a series of quality single-word titled releases like Grid and Dirt. Fuel is the latest and has a much more interesting concept than I would ever expect to find in a racing game: it’s an open world game with a post-apocalyptic setting. The world has been shattered by global warming, and while you’re racing around and making things even worse, you’ll need to avoid tornadoes, sandstorms, and other natural and environmental hazards. Sounds awesome, right? Unfortunately, I don’t know how it turned out, as virtually no reviews have been posted for the game yet. It’s almost like everyone was busy with something else last week or something?

A Red Faction: Guerrilla review without words on Current Gaming

Red Faction: Guerrilla (PS3, X360) — To be entirely honest, I wasn’t all that interested in Red Faction: Guerrilla. Sure, GTA on Mars sounds like a really fascinating concept, but the previous two Red Faction releases were mediocre first-person shooters, and Volition (the same developer behind those two last-gen entries in the series) is not exactly known for the highest quality games. But then I saw the video above, which was created by my old podcasting partner Arthur Gies to show just why he thinks the game is awesome. Needless to say, I’m aching to pick this up just as soon as I’ve cleared Infamous off my plate. Check out more about Red Faction on Current Gaming.

The Sims 3 (PC) — As one of the best-selling franchises of all time and EA’s biggest cash cow, I’m slightly ashamed to say that I’ve never really been able to get into The Sims. That said, I checked out this latest iteration at GDC and was impressed by the ability to play around with your virtual person’s personality and motivation to come up with actual goals. It’s a first for the sandbox series that could actually draw me in. Check out more about The Sims 3 on Current Gaming.

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My picks for this week: In addition to the obvious Phil choice (Class of Heroes), Red Faction: Guerrilla is definitely on my “buy soon” list, as is Prototype if it turns out to be up to the same standards as Infamous. I’m very curious about The Legendary Starfy and Rock Band Unplugged, but I’ll probably hold off on either of those until I’ve got a nice long trip that requires some handheld gaming.

-Phil

What games are you buying, renting, or avoiding altogether on this week’s list? Let me know in the comments!

Let me preface this post with an important caveat: I have not seen or heard anything more about the surprise Nintendo announcement of Metroid: Other M than was shown at the Nintendo press conference on Tuesday. On top of that, I thought the trailer looked awesome. It was stylish, fast, and brutal — everything you’d expect from a Team Ninja game. Of course…that’s not really what I expect from Metroid at all.

I love the Metroid series. In high school I probably rented and fully completed Super Metroid at least six or seven times, far more than any of the other games in the local video store’s paltry collection. I don’t think it’s remotely revolutionary to point out the elements that set Metroid apart from other third-person action games: tight controls, amazing atmosphere, and intricately designed environments created expressly with exploration in mind. In Metroid, I wanted to backtrack. I was driven to constantly return to areas I’d already traversed to test out my latest weapons and abilities and uncover new secrets. The worlds of Metroid were dark and mostly devoid of friendly life, but they were still alive in a way that made me push to map out every inch.

Now to be fair, Other M could totally pull this off as well. All I can say is that the trailer Nintendo showed didn’t fill me with confidence. The brief action-packed clip collection focused on the stuff that, Samus aside, looked much more Ninja Gaiden than Metroid. And looking back on Team Ninja’s flagship action series, they’ve never really been into creating worlds that are alive. Even the recent Ninja Gaiden 2 was plagued by last-gen-feeling setbacks like invisible walls and a sometimes-uncontrollable camera. Those problems aren’t going to fly in a real Metroid game, and hopefully with Nintendo’s help, they won’t have to, but I’m still worried.

Shadow Complex for Xbox 360

Then again, maybe I don’t need to worry so much. As the title of this post explains, the best new Metroid game of E3 was actually announced at Microsoft’s press conference, and it’s coming from Gears of War developer Epic, of all places. Shadow Complex is a new 2D Xbox Live Arcade title being worked on by the Epic-acquired Chair Entertainment, who previously made another 2D downloadable game, Undertow. That excellent multiplayer-focused game was largely ignored, but with Epic’s backing and a much tighter vision, Shadow Complex could be the game that really puts Chair on the map.

Spinning off from Orson Scott Card’s novel Empire, Shadow Complex begins in a bombed out city being sieged by shadowy paramilitary forces. You take control of a male character armed to the teeth and proceed to rush forward, gunning soldiers down like it’s nothing. Then you get attacked by a helicopter and get to enjoy blowing it up with little trouble. A powerful gun, rockets, grenades — your power seems unlimited. Then the game really begins, and you’re left with…a flashlight.

Donald Mustard, the founder of Chair Entertainment and the mastermind behind Shadow Complex, loves Super Metroid as well, and it shows. So many elements of the game seem to be an homage to Nintendo’s classic series, from the loss of weapons and powers at the beginning to the huge map, with a layout ripped straight from Samus’s visor. Different colored doors on the map represent different types of locked doors that will require a variety of weapons to get past. Want to open all the red doors? You’ll need to load up on missiles.

Add in giant bosses with specific weaknesses to exploit and a strange, desolate atmosphere, and you’ve got the closest thing to Super Metroid since the Metroid: Zero Mission on the GBA. The only down side is the seemingly Epic-influenced aesthetic. The game’s environments are varied — caverns, mines, a high-text security facility — but they’re all awash in a clean military sheen.

That said, Shadow Complex may actually pull ahead of Metroid in the realm of plot. After losing your girlfriend while hiking through the woods, you must explore the strange facility you’ve found underground to find out who has kidnapped her and why. And if that all sounds a bit too personal for an action game, keep in mind that Empire is based around a second American Civil War. Since the game serves as a set-up for the upcoming sequel book, there’s sure to be some intriguing plot twists.

So with all of that said, I must reiterate that I hope Nintendo and Team Ninja prove me wrong. I very much want Other M to be a fantastic experience befitting the Metroid name. But from what I’ve seen,  I’m fully confident that Shadow Complex will deliver everything I need on that front, and it will be doing it in just a few months as part of Microsoft’s Days of Arcade lineup this summer.

And we’re back! I’ve rushed over from the Nintendo press conference to Sony’s…and despite some awful seating, I’m going to be bringing you a liveblog of all the big announcements as they hit. Keep refreshing this blog post for all the latest!

1:06 — God of War 3 coming March 2010. A full demo will be playable on the E3 show floor. And with that, I do believe we are done. Keep watching the Current Gaming blog for more E3 updates throughout the week, and thank you for tuning in for these live blogs!

1:04 — The number of different large creatures and random bad guys attacking in just this short demo is really impressive. Almost as impressive as the awfully bloody methods by which Kratos gets rid of them.

1:02 — Kratos also has a power that grants him wings briefly so he can glide down to a location. As he continues through the temple level in the demo, a giant lava monster titan thing appears in the distance, and he gets to fight a giant centaur. To kill the centaur, he actually slices open his belly, which is very graphic and brutal.

1:00 — The gameplay here is classic God of War with few surprises. Slashing bad guy, ripping them in half, etc. There harpy creatures that Kratos can latch onto and kill as he uses them to reach higher locations. It looks like they’ll be a minor puzzle element.

12:58 — Hooray! Now we get to see the first few minutes of God of War 3!

12:56 — And now we get a teaser for Gran Turismo 5! Just showing the portable version wasn’t enough.

12:53 — Yep, same trailer. Giant flying creature and a boy riding him in a giant world filled with ruins. Last Guardian may be the title of this new game, it’s a bit unclear. Even though I’ve already seen this trailer, I’m psyched to know that it’s real. It looks fantastic.

12:52 — Ueda’s trilogy of videogames (including Ico and Shadow of the Colossus) is called the Last Guardian Trilogy. Also, the video they’re showing appaears to be the same one that was leaked a few weeks ago. We’ll see if it’s anything new.

12:51 — !!! Trico trailer about to be shown!

12:50 — One of the guys on stage is telling the other guy on stage that his demo was incredible. That seems unnecessary.

12:48 — Moving from a very barebones track to something that’s slightly more interesting. Tree, house, weapon, and sheep placement all possible.

12:46 — The track was super-easy to make, but it’s also pretty boring. I wonder how much work it will take to make really interesting levels and if the tools will be as open and lend themselves to the creativity that we’ve seen from the LittleBigPlanet community.

12:44 — The sample race they’re showing looks…pretty much like a kart racer. Goofy weapons, lots of drifting, huge jumps, and tricks, and some cool tracks. Now they’re showing off the track creation tool. Going to create one within five minutes.

12:42 — Looks like a cartoony kart-racing game where you create your character and vehicle. Showing off a racer named “Monkey Butler.” The aesthetic is pretty similar to LittleBigPlanet. It’s cute and you have tons of costume pieces to choose from.

12:41 — A new PS3 exclusive franchise in Sony’s “Play, create, share” line with LittleBigPlanet. It’s called Mod Nation Racers.

12:40 — Sony motion control device will be launching some time in spring 2010. Hopefully enough time for them to come up with some awesome games that utilize it somehow.

12:38 — And we’re back to archery. It’s like we never left Nintendo’s conference!

12:37 — Now he’s playing as a knight with a sword and shield. Precision allows for any kind of sword move you could think of…but again, looks kind of twitchy and strange when he’s supposed to be standing still.

12:34 — Showing a writing demo to show off precision, and now he’s using a paintbrush tool. Clearly this is much more accurate than the Project Natal stuff Microsoft showed up, which suggests that it has a lot more worthwhile gameplay opportunities to me. But I’ll still need to see a game using it before I really have faith.

12:32 — They don’t want it to be just a casual experience. Showing off first-person shooter mode. It’s really twitchy, though. I guess unless you have a very steady hand, it’s going to look like that.

12:31 — True 1:1 motion, etc. Dude is having a lot of trouble hitting a tennis ball and then a baseball. Yeesh. And now he has a giant cartoony sword. It looks pretty bad. “Imagine if you could be Ratchet and hold Ratchet’s weapons in your hands.” Okay, that COULD be cool. In the right game.

12:29 — Showing off an “engineering prototype” of a new controller. Apparently it has a colored orb that the PlayStation Eye can track. The example they give is choosing to cast fireball in an RPG and then waving with the controller to lob it. Not the most exciting example they could have provided.

12:28 — Oh, hey, Sony has a motion controller too! How about that?

12:26 — Contrasted with the sci-fi heavy FFXIII, FFXIV is much more on the fantasy side of things, with huge dragons, ships, etc. Looks like a very traditional…and online? Looks like the sequel to Final Fantasy XI. Huh.

12:25 — Whoa. We’re now getting the announcement and first footage anywhere of Final Fantasy XIV, which is apparently launching exclusively on PS3 in 2010. WHAT?

12:23 — As a Final Fantasy fan, I’ve got to say, the dialogue isn’t doing the series any favors. It seems very stilted, and the voice acting isn’t any better than it was in Final Fantasy X — that is, very unnatural. The battle system looks really bad-ass though and seems to have a lot more potential than the version I played around with in the Japanese demo.

12:22 — From caladein on Twitter: WTB No One Lives Forever 3 (or NOLF 1/2 on GOG.com or similar).

12:21 — And now we’re talking Square Enix. Sony’s running a Final Fantasy XIII video. Looks like a new English-language trailer.

12:20 — Assassin’s Creed 2 and Assassin’s Creed PSP will both be released this holiday.

12:18 — As would be expected from a sequel, AC2 will include more assassination techniques, including a totally badass-looking double takedown. Some AI will sometimes seek you out now as well, meaning just jumping into a hiding spot doesn’t always keep you safe. You can disarm enemies and use their weapons now, with 30 total weapons plus six bonus ones if you play Assassin’s Creed PSP and connect it to the PS3.

12:16 — You play a new ancestor in Assassin’s Creed 2, and it now takes place in the Italian Renaissance. The setting is definitely beautiful. Fireworks hitting the sky as you look out over the city from a high spot is crazy. Also, you get machines, including a flying machines. Definitely looks like Ubisoft is working on making more diverse gameplay.

12:15 — Ubisoft people taking the stage to show Assassin’s Creed 2. Looking forward to seeing some more of this one.

12:14 — New Rockstar property exclusive to PS3! The game is called Agent and is a spy/espionage story taking place in the 1970s.

12:12 — Man, this video is still running. There’s a lot of stuff in here, but it’s not only 2009 or anything. Still, kind of impressive to look at the breadth of stuff coming out.

12:08 — Video of PS3 titles playing. More Uncharted 2, Infamous, Final Fantasy XIII, Mag, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Brutal Legend, White Knight Chronicles, and more.

12:07 — Long video showing off the additions to Home since it launched last year. Still sleepy. Hey, now we’re moving on to PlayStation 3 stuff, awesome!

12:06 — I think I actually slipped into unconsciousness for a second while Jack was talking about Home. Sorry, Sony. On the plus side, they’re working with a bunch of new publishers to bring new game-specific content to Home.

12:03 — Now we’re talking about the PlayStation Network, which has 24 million registered users now. 50 PS1 classics are coming to the PlayStation Store starting today with Final Fantasy VII!

12:02 — Cheers for something! I think it had a dog in it? Also, I see Rock Band. I recognized that one with only half the screen!

11:59 — The video showing the new PSP games coming this year isn’t visible for me. But…it sounds cool?

11:58 — And another big PSP announcement! Resident Evil Portable will be a new RE title designed from the ground-up for the PSP.

11:56 — Weird. There are four different Snakes. I guess Big Boss and his clones? I wonder if there will be co-op play? Looks like Peace Walker will be out in 2010.

11:54 — The narrative here is definitely very much like Metal Gear Solid 3’s. Seems to be a prequel showing how Outer Heaven (the Big Boss-run nation from the original NES Metal Gear) comes to be.

11:53 — From WiFi_Pirate on Twitter: “Real Driving Simulator” huh… is there damage rendering in there yet?

11:52 — Kojima is adamant that it’s not a spin-off or a sidestory. He’ll be writing the script and producing and the MGS team will be working on it. They’re going to play the first trailer.

11:51 — Kojima says that with the Go announcement, the PSP is getting hotter. The new Metal Gear is titled Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, and it’s a PSP game taking place 10 years after Metal Gear Solid 3. It’s a “true sequel of the Metal Gear Solid franchise.”

11:50 — Whoa, new Metal Gear Solid announcement! Kojima taking the stage. This guy has got to be on stage for two of the big press conferences in one year!

11:47 — Video for Gran Turismo PSP playing now. It looks pretty, I guess? Geoff Keighley is claiming via his Twitter that there are some surprise games coming at this press conference. I hope so!

11:45 — Of course Gran Turismo PSP will also have ad hoc multiplayer for racing with up to four other players. You can also trade and share cars with other players. It’s like Pokemon for car nuts!

11:44 — 800 cars, 35 tracks, 60 layout variations on those tracks. Basically, a whole lot of content packed into a portable game. I’ve always found the ideas of portable racing a little rough, though, even when it’s done really well.

11:42 — The PSP news isn’t done. Yamauchi, who created Gran Turismo, is taking the stage to announce Gran Turismo PSP!

11:41 — Sony’s video service will now be available directly from the PSP, which should make it easier to grab movies for the go. A bunch of new TV and movie partners announced, including E, Starz, and a lot more.

11:40 — PSP Go launching at $249.99 on October 1st in North America and Europe. Yikes, same price the original PSP launched at years ago, but that seems awfully spendy.

11:38 – Introducing a program called “Sense Me” that auto-creates music playlists based on your mood. Could be interesting for people who use their PSPs to play music. I have this other thing, a whaddyacallit, iPod.

11:37 — Hirai says 2009 will have more big franchise titles on PSP than any previous year. New application being launched called “Media Go” that will make managing content between the PC and PSP easier. It’s what we’ll be using to connect  to the PlayStation Store on the PC now.

11:36 — PSP Go will not replace the PSP 3000 and will not mark the death of UMDs. PSP games will still be released on UMD for old PSP owners, which is probably good for the 50 million PSP owners brought up earlier in the presentation.

11:35 — Hirai says they asked developers and publishers how to make the PSP better…which leads to the latest version of the PSP. “We actually have a couple names for this little device. First we call it the Worst Kept Secret of  E3.” And the PSP Go is confirmed!

11:34 — Kaz Hirai is taking the stage to discuss the PSP now. DO YOU THINK HE’LL ANNOUNCE THE PSP GO?

11:33 — Focusing on PSP bundles like last year. Like a Hannah Montana bundle for teen and tween girls. I’m glad there’s stuff for tween girls in every press conference this year.

11:32 — We’re moving to PSP stuff. DO YOU THINK THEY’LL ANNOUNCE THE PSP GO?

11:31 — Mag will be running live on the show floor. It’s worth pointing out that graphically it’s not even in the same league as Uncharted 2 or other popular PS3 releases, but I think the huge number of players is supposed to help make up for that.

11:29 — The counter-play between the strategies on the two teams is really interesting here. It looks like there are a lot of options for what to do and you need to really change your tactics based off of what the opposite team is doing. But again, my worry would be how easy it is to understand what you should be doing when there are so many people and such a large area.

11:27 — The game’s lead level designer is leading the charge. I wonder if people who weren’t intimately involved in the game world’s creation will be able to get through these massive areas as easily?

11:25 — And now we’re onto Mag, which was first introduced during the press conference last year. Eight members of Zipper Interactive are up on stage to show off a live 256-player demo.

11:22 — Awesome set piece! Main character is attacked by a helicopter and has to run across the rooftops avoiding fire from the chopper while taking out baddies. I loved the original Uncharted, but this seems more memorable than any single set pieces from that. I hope there’s much more like it in the full game.

11:21 — Beta for Uncharted 2 multiplayer begins tonight. Now we’re getting a live gameplay demo that has the main character leaping across and climbing some extremely detailed rooftops. The view of the city is amazing and has a lot of people chearing and clapping.

11:20 — Evan Wells from Naughty Dog is hitting the stage to show off Uncharted 2. Easily one of my most anticipated PS3 games this year.

11:19 — Much bragging about the positive reviews for Infamous.

11:17 — Jack Tretton is talking about the PS2 right now and how Sony is still committed to it, even past the 10-year cycle that had set out to achieve. 100 new titles coming out for PS2 this year still.

11:14 — “Only the PlayStation 3 can show you the resolution we’re gonna see on this huge screen.” Or not see. Because my seat sucks. Ha! Okay, seriously, I’ll stop complaining now. But if some of the demos look funny because I only have a little over half of a screen, I’m going to bring it up, dammit.

11:13 — OMG SUCH A RUSH. Jack Tretton is on stage joking about all the press leaks and how we thought we might not show up. LOL, etc.