E3 2008 Rundown: Tuesday, July 15th’s Events

Even though GotGame didn’t make it to E3 this year (we were dancing for the people stuck in iPhone 3G lines…or trying to get one ourselves), we’re still keeping up on the event and its announcements, and will be keeping you up on it, too. Nintendo and Sony had their press conferences yesterday. Though there were some yawns throughout the day, we stayed awake for the sake of announcements like MAG, and the (unique) decision to bring GTA to the DS.

Nintendo Press Conference:
Nintendo made a number of announcements for new games and hardware for the Wii.  First-party games tended to be the most innovative of the pack, with a number of them taking advantage of the new Wii Remote attachment, the Wii MotionPlus.

-Wii MotionPlus:  Attaches to the base of the Wii Remote, giving the controller the ability to operate in 3-dimensional space.  This will allow new Wii games to take advantage of much more accurate motion control, with 1:1 response.
-WiiSpeak:  A peripheral designed to sit on top of your TV.  It’s essentially a microphone, designed to pick up all voices in a room.  Nintendo intends to bring players together with WiiSpeak, instead of the typical headset setup.
-WiiSports Resort:  Another pack of mini-games from Nintendo.  The games are themed around the idea of a beach-side resort.  Nintendo demoed a frisbee tossing game, jet ski game, and competitive fencing game, with more available at launch next spring.
-WiiMusic. Nintendo’s version of a not-so rhythm game.  Players are able to pick from over 50 instruments and simulate playing assorted songs.  There is no scoring in the game; players just hit buttons to play a note in the theme.  Works with Wiimote, nunchuk, and balance board, and has a multiplayer mode.
-Animal Crossing : City Folk: The Wii update for Animal Crossing.  Players can do whatever they want inside the world.  The city is now a 3-dimensional place for players to explore.  The time of day and seasons change in real time, (as expected), and gamers can play together and chat via WiiSpeak.  Available this year.
-Third-party games include: Ubi’s Shaun White Snowboarding, which is a basic snowboard game, heightened by use of the Balance Board.  Call of Duty: World at War was shown, though the Wii version has no exclusives.  And Lucas Arts’ Clone Wars uses the Wiimote to simulate fighting with lightsabers.
-Nintendo DS will have Spore this year! But apparently, only the Creature Creator, coupled with the ability to share it with the community.  Later this year, GTA: Chinatown Wars will also be available, finally meeting the greater community of 10 year-old girls’ demand for more games about killing hookers.

Sony Press Conference:
Sony had a much smaller showing than Nintendo, but definitely threw some goodies in.  They relayed that 130 titles will be released for the PS2 this year.  Most of it will be shovelware.  But for the PS3, I’m a little excited.

-PSP gets a bunch of continued franchises: Star Wars, Madden, LocoRoco, NBA, Patapon 2, and more. The Loco Roco sequel is slated for this year, with an improved physics engine.
-PSN will have a single sign-on between the PS3 and PC this fall.
-Resistance 2. Available this year.  Resistance will offer 8 player online co-op and up to 60 in multiplayer versus. Subtle changes in the art will brighten up the experience.
-DC Universe Online. A Superhero MMO.  Players fight alongside, or against, DC superheroes.
-God of War 3.  The sequel will be released spring of 2009.
-Infamous.  Brand new title for Sony.  The player controls a superhuman in the remains of a ruined city.  The game offers a Fable-esque choice of taking the good or evil path.  And ‘fists of lightning’ look sweet. Spring 2009.
-Little Big Planet: The most anticipated game for the PS3 for the past year and a half. No new features beyond what we’ve seen in demos, trailers, and at conferences, but it is definitely coming out this year. Sony also made their announcements via specially-designed Little Big Planet level, instead of PowerPoint. Clever and fun–we like it.
-MAG. Massive Action Game. Massive war game.  Up to 256 players (!!) can battle against each other.  Players join up in 8 member squads, which have leaders based on experience gained when your squad wins or losses.  Players are able to specialize their character’s traits.  In short, this looks bad-ass.

In other news:
-Activision showed off the new Guitar Hero guitar.  It includes an accelerometer and a sensor bar on the neck that only needs tapping to work.
-Maxis showed off the most polished version of Spore yet.  September 5th!
-Street Fighter 4 looks a bit…odd.  I don’t know if I can handle Chun Li without a cartoon face and body. We’ll find out for sure next year.