f13.net

Gonna dump PR I get in here. Figure others of you will be watching the live feeds and crossposting so  I don't have to hunt all that shit down while packing to move right? Right!

Microsoft Conference is in about 5-6 hours.
Sony and Nintendo are tomorrow morning.

Apogee (http://www.apogeesoftware.com/) is apparently still alive. I don't know how. But they're making Duke Nukem stuff, so your definition of 'alive' is as good as any.

Oh, right, Too Human demo is on XBL now for a couple days. Maybe Dyack can get back to making games that matter again. Like Eternal Darkness.

Fallout 3 Hands-on from IGN (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/888/888731p1.html)


This looks grim...

If ANYONE didn't think it would be post-apocalyptic Oblivion, they're crazy. I can only hope they figured out a better goddamn leveling scheme.

I am watching the live cast on and off from Kotaku (only place I could connect reliably to since it's straight chat). And it's dreadful.

Microsoft opened up saying some shit about new entertainment experiences and then rambled off 3 sequels (F3, RE5, and GoW2). Fail.


Folks, I give to you, the gaming press. Shoot me now.

Huh. 

Hmm.

The urge to make a Duke Nukem joke just isn't with me today.

Well then.

And there's coop mode.

I was desperately hoping it wouldn't be, but I knew it would be. Someone needs to drive a stake through the heart of Bethesda before they get any more franchises I care about.

Funny thing about Fallout 3.  I was talking to Killjoy and I said to him "It's going to be Oblivion with post-apocalyptic textures :x" and he replied "Yeah, it's going to be Oblivion with post-apocalyptic textures :inluv:" ... so, I predict it will sell like ten-dollar pussy and have a similar level of quality.

Microsoft paid big money for Portal - Still Alive to hit XBLA. Exclusive to the 360. New levels. New Achievements. I can't think of a game I'd want to play less with thumbsticks.

Netflix has teamed up with Microsoft. Let's assume you can attach your gamertag to your netflix account.


Yes it does.


Which I think is grouping without gaming. Or someshit. The new XBL blade system was shown. Not a bladesystem. Really the Wii fucked Sony Home and produced this new uninventive abortion.

Pigfuckers.

I am slightly worried that Shane Kim came up. If RE5 becomes a timed exclusive, I will go apeshit.

* Announced that GTAIV downloadable content coming later this year. Hasn't realized no one gives a fuck anymore.
* Says some shit about a thousand titles. Who cares.
* Banjo footage. Who cares.

I understand you hate life, but seriously, this new interface is sexy and very needed.

Microsoft just announced a Codemasters game. I think people are leaving the conference now. Or rather, they should be ^_^

Has Crescente always been this gay or is it a new development due to his perch atop Douchebag Mountain?

They need to bring back Allard. I fucking hate these guys.

Pretty much always. You can tell by his haircut.


Yes. They have made Microsoft COMPLETELY inaccessible.

By the way, Nix.

(http://www.joystiq.com/media/2008/07/msft-e308-keynote-9-8.jpg)

THIS IS NOT A GOOD REPLACEMENT.

So the Wii menu is coming to XBox Live now?  :awesome_for_real:

Not even. This is worse. The Wii menu is a clusterfuck, for sure. Just all that shit in some random pre-defined order that sits there making annoying sounds.

Meanwhile, this is more a veiled attempt at being minimalist like the PS3 XMB and absolutely failing. Fuck, it should've just been lists without pictures. I mean, if they're not gonna try, at least make it accessible.

Guitar Hero 4 gets Van Halen and The Eagles, exclusively. As in, no Hotel California for you Rock Band. FOR MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE (and a working worthwhile guitar) ^_^

I blame the iPhone.

You can reorganize and rearrange the iphone though!

(http://blogs.msdn.com/blogfiles/edunhill/WindowsLiveWriter/GettingstartedwithXNA_F498/clip_image004_2.jpg)

Yeah, cause THIS is so much better.

By the way, it's the vista style aero menu.

The Eagles suck.

Everyone and their dog turns off that extra shit ASAP. The 360 is not a PC thx. More game. Less productivity.


Hotel California doesn't. Sucka.

My roomie despises Duffy. He put up with her in the G4 stream, it crapped out and he had to switch to the IGN one. It's behind by 4 minutes so he had to endure her twice. :drill:

Well shit.  I'm going to have to buy Rock Band 2 for the System of a Down and Tenacious D songs, and I'm going to have to buy GH 4 for Hotel California and the probably-superior controllers.  Where's a merger when you need one?

where can i find the schedule of events?

Classy.

Anyway, I got real angry for a second when Wada took the stage at the end. Doesn't seem like he's announcing anything IMPORTANT.

Too bad about the Van Halen exclusive. Also, I want REM for RB!

Fuck. Wada came back out.

And.

That's the end of Sony.

FFXIII. Same release day as the PS3 version.

Rules on how to kill a giant.

There go a lot of "It can't be done because they don't have blu-ray" arguments.

Over 9,000 Discs.

Dont worry, they will just patch it all down to your hard drive.  :grin:

I prefer 10 second disc swaps to 45 minute hard drive installs :awesome_for_real:

Screw you all, I made a fresh thread for that!

Already moved. Sucka.

HAH! "Joins a growing list of former playstation franchises." Microsoft can't touch Nintendo and their silly motion, but they sure know how to twist a knife.

At some point, someone is going to explain to me how the exclusive thing works. Because it always seems that (both ways) the developer/publisher always plays the console manufactures. Makes me wonder, how much did Microsoft pay to get the game, over sony's payment to have them NOT give it to Microsoft.

Another thread i suppose.

Microsoft probably offered to fund the entire 360 development process and then some.

I am afraid to even venture into 2ch right now.

Did Sony even pay for FF to be exclusive? I thought it was just Square having always made them (FF7 and on) for PS, so they kept it that way.

I am sure the "well, if you don't pay us XXX , i bet Microsoft would" conversation has come up many, many times or the many many years. You know money changed hands.

I just wonder about the contracts on such things, and why we don't see more lawsuits.

As recently as a year ago, this was Sony's view of paying for exclusive games (http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/03/sonys-jack-tretton-we-dont-buy-exclusivity/):


and


I think recently Kaz has mentioned that they've been changing that philosophy a bit, but it looks like they aren't changing fast enough.

Well there it is then.

(http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/39720/smilies/1215947475893.jpg)

Someone at gaf posted that. Pretty accurate.

How financially disastrous was this announcement for Sony?

I was referring to the people who said it just couldn't be done on DVD and thus why it was PS3 only.

Other than a large number of disks, i expect a full blown dumbing down and downsizing of the game, to accommodate.

I don't think it'll be that extreme of a change. And stop quoting silly shit. :uhrr:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/36197.html?ref=embedfeat

Fallout 3 game play in all it's glory.

EDIT: And the official new trailer. Holy shit this looks hot...

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/36202.html

I think Sony's arsehole just prolapsed.

I think this only works if you have a financially-viable install base.  People who want to make good games will make PC games (unless they are Japanese, who will make PS2 games) while people who want to continue paying rent will make games on the PS2, DS, Wii, or 360.

My avatar on XBL is currently a small picture of Frank West.  This is preferable to having an avatar that looks like a Mii.

Spending $40 million to make an exclusive game for the PS3 makes no sense. Even S-E, who are terrible about multiplatform releases, have finally caught on to this.

As far as a Portal sequel, I love love love Portal but I'm not sure lightning can be re-caught in the bottle. The gameplay itself wasn't particularly awesome, it was just enough for 3-4 hours of play. The game is all about charm and a new experience that will be hard to replicate.

That looks shit hot. Other than the "real is brown" color palette, of course.

Yah, I started watching that with a certain amount of "ohh god, how badly are they going to violate the memory of two of my favorite games in a span of 4 minutes."  I feel good about what I saw and cautiously optimistic about the rest of the game.

...and as Schild said, will suck balls played with thumbsticks.

Messed around with the demo for about an hour earlier.  It's not bad but the controls really take a lot of getting used to.

I was wondering why the guy in the F3 video was floating all over...and he said "press the right bumper" to enter VATS...I forget this is being consolized as well as Oblivionized (same thing?). We'll see. I know the removal of turned-base combat looks like ass. VATS doesn't cut it. I guess I'll track down some meth and red bull before I play.

A lot of standing around taking lots of fire while dicking around.  :oh_i_see: And...you're standing there taking fire while watching the VATS playback. Really? That looks like shit.

Too bad, looks like they have some good ideas in there. As I said...we'll see. Right around the time the "What went wrong?" thread starts here at f13.

Left 4 Dead November 4th.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaand


HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA
HAHAHAHAH
AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH

DRAGON AGE COMING TO CONSOLES.

There's a bit of extra stuff on Major Nelson (http://majornelson.com), including full rips of games to HDD for faster load times and not having to listen to the 'jet engine in my house' optical drive (though you still need the disc for 'copy-protection purposes') and new display support options (16x10 AR and a couple of common WS monitor resolutions via VGA/HDMI), as well as web-based purchasing of XBLM content.

You mean like every other game Bioware has made in the last 5 years or so (excluding NWN for obvious reasons)?  Not sure why that is laugh worthy.

Because I get to see Sky whine like a bitch with a skinned knee.

Carry on then.

I don't think there's any way Sony will be able to recover from that FF13 multiplatform announcement.

I'm not sure if I give a shit about FF13 on the 360.

Yeah but I want Sony to do well so the competition is stronger.  I feel if one console gets all the games quality may go down.

Um this is both consoles getting the games.

Even with the 360's library the PS3 has been outselling it in hardware for the last 5 months. Of course the $50 price drop is gonna probably rectify this for a month or two. I dunno how many people who own a 360 are really going to give a shit about FF13 since they let every single other JRPG on the system sit in dusty piles. Japan still isn't going to buy the 360 even if they gave away free body pillows with it.

As for me, I'm still not buying a defective piece of hardware.

Mirror's Edge looks like a game designed specifically to torture me. An entire game dedicated to first-person platforming. Wow.

I like how the first level gameplay video they show repeats the same geometry at least 3 times.

There's something about the art direction that I like a LOT. Just watching that first gameplay video makes me breathe better for some reason. Of course I imagine it's going to be incredibly "on rails" due to the super-simplified control scheme, and after you figure out how to ninja across all of the levels right you'll never wanna play it again.

Sony needs a strong God of War 3 showing, some Kingdom Hearts 3 would be nice, and getting Bioware on the system would be nice.  This seems like a big deal, but I'm willing to give them their press conference to see if they can return fire.  Hopefully they have something up their sleeve.

My theory is this:

Square went to Sony and said - "Microsoft has offered us $50M+ for FFXIII."

But they said it in Japanese so the Microsoft people wouldn't understand, rite?

Anyway, so Sony goes, ok, fine if you make this happen.

And then one of 3 things happened:

1. White Engine MMOG is a PS3 exclusive.
2. FF7r or FF6r is happening.
3. They get the next Dragon Quest after the DS one AND Kingdom Hearts.

There's no way Sony didn't make out good on this.

Why would S-E have to negotiate with Sony and promise them anything?

Because Square just fucked Sony and Sony has supported the shit out of them left and right for 10 years?

My theory goes something like this:

S-E realized that selling FF13 only for the PS3 was in effect throwing away millions and millions of dollars.

Team ICO's third game should be announced tomorrow.

You make Sony sound so altruistic.  Any support they gave Square was mutually beneficial.  Now Sony's gaming division isn't pulling in the cash to give Square the kind of support to make keeping FFXIII exclusive worth Square's while.  Meanwhile, MS must be doing something right, because this is coming almost right on the heels of the announcements of Last Remnant's timed exclusivity and Star Ocean so far only being announced for the 360.

This isn't Square fucking Sony.  This is Square wanting to get the best return on their investment possible on what will likely be one of the most expensive to develop games this generation.

Velorath, the Japanese don't really think like that. American shit right there. It is, however possible, that the US branch made all of this happen and Yoichi Wada isn't getting any younger.

Bullshit.  Japanese businesses can be just as cutthroat as American ones when it comes down to it.  These guys all have shareholders to answer to and bills to pay.  It's nice to imagine Japan as some kind of magical land where giant companies care more about loyalty and helping each other out than they do about money, but that really just isn't the case.

Took a bit of time for this to register.  Are they fucking crazy?

I honestly don't know why that would make them crazy. Please to be explaining.

I think Gears 2 launches the same week.

They did announce it as a pc exclusive. I guess I'll just go play BG2 again and pretend Bioware folded.

Nintendo is running now right?

I never get tired of Nintendo gloating in their press conferences. It really must feel awesome for them to have been totally written off then come back and stomp throats.

Yes Nintendo is running now. I'm watching it here:

cc_girlsoftheolivegarden_05_allysa_720.mov 

So far announced Animal Crossing with a lot of connectivity stuff and voice chat.

Damn you, copy/paste!  :raspberry:

Girls of the Olive Garden have a presence at E3?

I, sooo, want to google Girls of the Olive Garden Allysa right now, but I am guessing it's NSFWl.

I totally did that on purpose. :awesome_for_real:

Anyway Nintendo showed off Wii Sports 2, Wii Music, no hardcore games, not even something like Wario. That's Nintendo for you though. Also the girls of the Olive Garden? Not that hot. (And the food probably sucks.)

Wii Music looked like it could range anywhere from really fun to epic fail. I didn't really get how it is actually played at all. Seems like you have to press buttons / waggle to get notes, and you control the timing and volume while it handles the pitch for you. Which means to play a song well you have to learn it by ear? Dunno, was hard to tell.

Real URL for streaming conferences: girl_in_barn_with_goat.mov http://livewire.ign.com/2008/e3/index.html

Katie and Shannon are cute, but I agree otherwise. :drillf:

What he said.  Your perception of Japanese business men is sorely lacking.

The isometric screenshots are still up, I wouldn't be too concerned. This isn't like their other games where it was being developed for the console and just ported to the PC, it is the other way around for this one. I think that will make a difference.

Gears 2 and Resistance 2 are both scheduled to launch around the same time.  Not sure why they'd bother porting Left 4 Dead to the 360 and then put it directly up against the launch of the the launch of two of the biggest console shooters.

L4D for 360 reads like an afterthought, it's clearly a PC-centric title.

Sony conference has started. The opening speech was basically a bunch of excuse making. Sony has a long-term vision, it takes a while for good games to appear, the PS3 is fun for the whole family thanks to the ability to save pictures on it (seriously), it's a Blue-Ray player, blah blah blah.

Riiiight. Just like Oblivion. Because that's exactly what Bethesda said.

You can have some of that koolaid. Me, I'll go have a bourbon, a scotch and a beer.

Dragon Age on console means there is zero chance of it being BG3. Very good chance of it being the next progression of Bioware console-friendly titles, it's been a steady progression KotOR - Jade Empire - Mass Effect. It's pretty obviously a business decision, consoles are where the big money is at when you can sell copies at $60/ea. I hope NWN doesn't factor into it, since that wasn't really even a game, let alone a Bioware rpg.

Schild, you can mock all you want, but it does suck. This news basically means the death of another great pc rpg developer. I forget you like short, linear,  lobotomized video games since you play them by the hundred  :awesome_for_real:

Hopefully some unknown Eastern Bloc dev will come out of obscurity and give us another BG2-style rpg some day.

Someone fucking grab a Sony rep and shake them until the stupid comes off.

Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty - downloadable over PSN "this summer" for $15

Wouldn't do any good. The stupid has been institutionalized.

This is pretty pathetic, now they're pitching the PS2 as a Wii competitor, claiming it's a family-centric system. (Because it has uh...SingStar) LEGO BATMAN PS2 BUNDLE! - for $150. Lol.

This is grasping for directions and buzzwords. Family-oriented, community-centric, social-interaction, blah blah blah.

Sony has the same problem they've had for years, trying to be everything to everyone. It's a supercomputer! It's a photo album! It's for families! It's the new Facebook! It's a blue-ray player!

Edit: Gran Tourismo TV? What the fuck is going on here? "Best Motoring" - a show dedicated to car reviews. I am NOT making this up I swear! Best Motoring! Wow.

They don't seem to have a singular focus, which looks especially bad after MS goes hard after "gamers" and Nintendo pushed the Wii and more DS content.

Oh boy, here comes Home.

Don't knock it too much, a segment of the fans of GT5 immediately know about Best Motoring (http://www.bestmotoringvideo.com/) and look forward to more content from the Japanese car show/film/mag producer.

Back to PS3 - Google on PS3! Lol.

Getting to DC Universe. This should be interesting.

Edit: Should not have shown it, horrible animation and half the things didn't animate at all.

Now we're watching clips of different devs saying how great it is to program for PS3. They are hurting for content in this presentation. The highlight was some charts.

But that was Bethesda! Bioware wouldn't lie to me!  :crying_panda:

BTW what's the source for the 360 thing? I can't find it myself.

Ugh... 80GB with the same functionality of the 40GB for $400 in September.  Way to make everything more confusing.  Now we'll have BC and non-BC 80GB's it seems.

I don't get why both Sony and MS think selling a half-dozen SKUs is a wise idea. I need a fucking spreadsheet to figure out which one to buy.

What I don't understand is if they are pushing PS2 at the low end.. they are totally going to confuse anyone trying to purchase/upgrade to a PS3.

Anyhow it just seems like the 40's are getting the 80gb hdd and a higher end sku will be around to replace the 80gb with BC, it's probably at the point where its more costly to source/build with the 40gb hdd.

Massive Action Game


 :awesome_for_real:

 :drill:
 :drillf:
 :uhrr:

 :ye_gods:

I saw it as "No more PS2 backwards compatibility. You want to play PS2 games, go buy a PS2".
Also no FFVII remake. Schild lied, people cried. :awesome_for_real:

The video rental thing is rather awesome. Compared to the netflix one, where two fees are involved.

Goes live tonight as well.

Price points vary too - $15 to purchase, $6 to rent in HD, and $4 to rent in SD.

No FFVII remake, and no Ico 3.

I *really* want to know how they are going to architect the backend to MAG.

So they talk up 256 players on the same server and show - a CGI trailer.

That was awful. Absolutely awful. Nintendo did their Nintendo thing, a lot of people aren't going to like it but what they showed at leat matches a certain audience. I can't imagine anyone being pleased with this Sony presentation.

The main PS3 message was imagine how awesome the PS3 will be in another 2 years. Seriously. That's the big takeaway - let your fertile imagination make up for lack of content. The words "imagine" and "future" were used about 30 times.

Here are some clips of developers saying how awesome the PS3 is. Imagine what great games they'll make! The PS3 is more powerful than other systems, imagine the awesome exclusives we'll get! Here are some CGI clips! Enjoy!

Me too, as a long time Planetside fan, could this be a PS2 with a new skin, and no client side detection?

Please?

EDIT: and keyboard and mouse control please thanks.

That's pretty much been the PS3 message since E3 '05.

I like how Nintendo is the new Apple where they announce adding features or products that've been around for years and somehow talking like they're the ones who came up with it and how it's so innovative. Oh, and retarded, tasteless people eat it all up too.

I mean holy shit folks, voice chat!

speakerphone > headset

Guitar Hero is for losers!  Where's my widescreen support!  I only play PC games!

Do you ever get tired of this shit?  Like, ever?

Matter of opinion, and the tech isn't new or original or worth giving a fuck about. I'm apparently never going to remove Smash from my Wii. At least I removed Smash for RE4 with my cube.

I'm half tempted to sell my Wii and buy a 360. Even broke it'd be a better investment at this point.

Did I hear someone say Kingdom Hearts 3 ? What about it ?  :ye_gods:

hahahahhahaha. 

I'll man up and admit it.  I'm excited about Animal Crossing.

You should be. Seeing as your picture is Bowie. :pedobear:

(http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2008/20080716.jpg)

Did you just insult Bowie?

Oooo. Dead Rising for the Wii.

The updated Witcher is scheduled for the fall. 

I think he's referring more to the group dynamic and how character development stems from who you pick and their alignments.

OK, seriously, Fat Princess looks hilarious (http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=327306). Third person fantasy CTF with cel-shaded cuteness combined with OTT blood splatter, with the 'flag' replaced by the eponymous obese royalty.

CAN WE GET A REMAKE OF FF6 SOMETIME THIS DECADE?  (hint: no one cares about gameboy advance)

I'd even settle for 7 since both times I tried to play the game, halfway through Disc 2 I got some weird error where I could not progress, and my save point was right before the point where I couldn't proceed. 

 :drill: :drill: :drill: :drill: :drill: :drill: :drill:IF YOU SEE ONE E3 TRAILER THIS SUMMER, MAKE IT THIS ONE! (http://www.gametrailers.com/player/36747.html?type=) :drillf: :drillf: :drillf: :drillf: :drillf: :drillf: :drillf:

 :awesome_for_real:

I lost IQ points watching that and now I want to punch someone out.

I... don't have words for what happened with Sony. Absolutely no explanation. I'm sorry. You could even see that platforms on the stage weren't used. Ugh. I feel betrayed.

Having watched that I don't understand what happened and kind of wish I'd just been rickrolled instead...

The minute an exclusive game starts getting developed for the PS3, they whip up a CG trailer and display it at E3 or GDC anywhere between 2-4 years before it's actually ready to ship.  For awhile it was enough to get people hyped up but when many of those games have so far failed to materialize years later, that trick loses it's effectiveness and now they seemingly blown through every surprise they had up their sleeve.  God of War 3?  MAG?  Are we supposed to expect these any time before Q4 2010?

BIG WORDS! EXPLOSIONS!

Also, what is Final Fantasy vs XIII?

Come on, Sony wasn't that bad, in fact they revealed the game I'm working on  :awesome_for_real:

This thread needs some Nintendo hate to counter all the Sony hate! (http://the-minusworld.com/2008/07/16/the-5-most-embarrasing-moments-of-nintendos-e3-conference/)

What game was that?

Ragdoll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic

Re: Duke Nukem Trailer? What in the holy monkey fuck was that? It's like Amateur After Effects hour for retards and heavy metal burnouts. It didn't even list what fucking platform these games(?) are going to appear on. Who thought that was a good fucking idea and where can I get the drugs he's smoking?

Yeah, time has not been kind to the whole "Duke Nukem concept".  He's like a pale 80's imitation of Kurt Russell, Bruce Campbell, and Rowdy Roddy Piper from They Live.  Actually, just typing that out it still sounds awesome, but somehow isn't. 

Probably because he's not Kurt, Bruce, or Roddy.

Yeah, I'm not sure why anyone cares about Duke Nukem anymore.  The FPS genre has already been perfected (sorta), so it's hard to imagine what an old has-been could do that was any different, other than offer up a plate full of nostalgia.

I thought that linked trailer was a joke.  I'm still not sure.


Anyhow, DNF, if ever released, will be a purchase based exclusively on morbid curiosity.  And it's bound to be completely terrible, though tweens and the tasteless (read: people who thought Minsc was HILARIOUS) will undoubtedly enjoy it.  Plus, boobs.

The PSN part of the Sony show (at least the games part) was pretty decent, as was the PSP part. The problem was the PS3 shelf software itself was entirely absent.

I keep telling myself that when I bought my PS3, at worst I was getting a decently priced Blu Ray player.  It is a strategy that is so far working nicely, as I cannot possibly be disappointed.

New prince of persia trailer (http://www.gametrailers.com/player/36270.html)

I'm getting a hint from that trailer that there will be coop.  I'd be so happy for a coop PoP.

I don't think so.  I think "Yorda" is just the new "Sands of Time" - you miss a jump and fall, she swoops in and lifts you back up.  They spent a lot of time talking about how smart she is.  It'd be nice though, wouldn't it, if they'd take a hint from RE5.