Top Five Movie Related Games Of E3 2011

 I had the pleasure of attending E3 last week, a beautiful yet confounding place that makes one feel privileged and deprived in equal measure. For those of you in the dark about how E3 works, most of the major new games had demos that were only watchable or playable by the gaming elite, by appointment only. Everyone else wanders over to the Activision Booth to play Modern Warfare 3 or 2K to pounce on Bioshock: Infinite only to find nothing more than a poster as the only proof of their existence. But this does not stop Muse. Sure, I can't speak to games like Uncharted 3 or Skyrim beyond what we've all seen online, but my film bloggery sixth sense successfully managed to track down and get in depth with my most anticipated movie and comic based games. And also helped me spot rando celebrity after rando celebrity (Casper Van Dien, Josh Gomez, Aisha Tyler, Scott Porter and ... Zac Efron?), but that's neither here nor there. So without further ado - my favorite movie related finds of E3 2011.

5. Captain America: Super Soldier

The big story surrounding this game starting back at Wondercon was how it held the potential to not suck. And huzzah, that potential seems to be being met! Nice visuals and environment, stellar voice acting, and fighting mechanics reminiscent of Arkham Asylum or even some recent Prince of Persia, this was the only movie-to-video-game adaptation of its specific ilk shown at the entire conference that I thought I'd actually play again (despite fun enough gameplay and a script by Marv Wolfman, the design and tone of Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters were a big turn off, Cars 2 was cute, but not for me, couldn't care less about Transformers: Dark of the Moon and while the Kirk/Spock co-op in the Star Trek is promising, I didn't get close enough to the game to judge anything for myself.) The free flow style combat in particular got my heart rate elevated for about a half second, which is more than I can say for a lot of the games I tried out over the course of these three days. Sega gets a lot of flack in general for distributing sub-par movie based video games, so I'm very curious to see how this turns out. The demo didn't sell me completely, by any means, but it definitely has me optimistic.

4. Kinect: Star Wars

When Kinect first hit E3 last year, the first thought through my mind and many others, I'm sure, was "So how soon til we get to use the Force?" Well, the answer is now! Or, more accurately, in about six months. Kinect Star Wars uses the motion technology for lightsaber slashing, force throwing, kicking, jumping, and the like, and while I'm still not entirely sold on this tech in a full game (Fable: The Journey, you're my only hope), I gotta admit this demo was a lot more fun than I was expecting. Your right hand controls the saber, your left the force, and sometimes you use both hands together (though where the lightsaber disappears to I don't believe was addressed....) to access the force to its fullest degree. To move forward, you take a step forward and kind of awkwardly lean in that direction and to accidentally roll-jump over an enemy you do some sort of combination of awkward leaning and awkward jumping. I still don't know how I did it, but it wasn't not badass...

The pros? I did feel like I was using the force. I went in the second group during my particular demo, which meant unfortunately to the detriment of my partner, my brain already had the moves down, so I kind of destroyed everything in my path before he had a shot. As the demo progressed, we were supposed to try out new moves like the jump kick! But in lieu of that, I continuing using the force to throw every robot in my path into the walls, the ceiling, each other. Screw jump kicking, HELLO, I HAVE THE FORCE, IMA USE IT, THX. I got a lot of joy out of a tiny five minute demo, not gonna lie.

The cons? Despite what anyone may say, the game is clearly on a rail. Yes, you can choose how you want to engage in combat, as demonstrated by the fact that I ignored the guy taking us through the demo and killed those robots how I wanted to kill those robots, damnit, but it isn't open world, you can't choose where to go. This will make for a supremely fun arcade style game that makes you feel like you are using the force, but doesn't exactly revolutionize gaming or prove that this tech can appeal to hardcore gamers (again, Fable, and Mass Effect 3's voice control, I'm looking at you). Another big con? I was told the game goes through all the universes/movies, which means however many hours of going through allthe universes/movies...as opposed to just the good ones. I don't need to spend anymore time with clone-troopers-JarJar-young-obi-wan than I already have. Seriously. Get it away from me. This may be a deal breaker. When Star Wars: Kinect: The Original Trilogy comes out however? I'll be there. Conclusion? Jury's still out on whether or not this will be a buy, but I did enjoy the crap out of throwing enemies around by merely raising my hand.

3. Lord of the Rings: War of the North

As someone who is not a fan of the past Lord of the Rings games, I wasn't even planning on trying this one out, but once I heard playing the demo got you entrance into the Lord of the Rings swanky, exclusive open bar/baron of beef/live orchestra over game footage extravaganza in the south lobby that I had been coveting all week, I couldn't get there fast enough. Good work, Warner Brothers Interactive and Snowblind Studios, good work.

The game is set during the movies, specifically during The War of the Ring, which concludes in Return of the King, but way up North. We were playing co-op and could choose to either be a human, elf or dwarf. I clearly picked the elf, cause it was a chick, and hello. Knowing absolutely nothing about this game, I just jumped in and started fighting, healing my teammates when they got hurt, shooting arrows at the baddies in the distance and staff bashing the baddies who were in my face face, and this was all having no idea what I was doing, what the controls were, what the end game was - literally all I knew was that wine was in my very near future. The game was so unexpectedly intuitive, that I didn't need any of that. I had a fantastic time figuring it out on my own and played for WAY longer than I probably should have. The only reason we died and had to stop playing was because whoever chose the Dwarf didn't pick up on the fact that he needed to save his teammates when they were dying and effed it up for all of us. Jerky, selfish dwarf. You know who you are. Bottom line is even without knowing all the details, I was almost sold - on brief gameplay and graphics alone. Once reviews come out around its August 24th release, I'll know for sure if I'll be making that purchase.

2. Arkham City

Okay, FINE, it's not technically based on a movie, which is why I won't be giving it the number one slot, but mastering the art of the comic book video game, especially one that has been brought to the big screen as eloquently as Batman has, is no easy feat. Arkham Asylum was a pleasant surprise because it worked so hard to be as specific to the character and universe of Batman as possible, that despite the hand to hand combat being somewhat less than impressive, the game still worked fantastically overall. Rocksteady Studios has hands down taken the universe and gameplay to the next level with the sequel. I watched a fifteen to twenty minute demo that showed off the awesome that is playing as Catwoman, then, thanks to some crafty maneuvering, and by crafty maneuvering, I do mean sheer luck, got my hands on the game for a solid twenty minutes, thus getting to see a lot more of the world that the standard twelve minute demo normally allowed. During this time, I hacked into the Tiger soldier radio system, went off track and nabbed a Riddler trophy, attacked a few giant groups of goons, used Batman's detective skills to uncover some vital ballistics information, used the new gliding system to fly around Gotham City and revisited one of all time favorite game mechanics - Batman's stealth takedowns.

I was positively giddy, being in this world again, especially now with the introduction of a solid open world, being able to fight more than one henchman at once (probably the most glaring combat omission from the first game), being able to use the surrounding environment in combat, new gadgets, and entire challenge rooms that open as you collect Riddler trophies. But what has me most excited? Hands down, getting to play as Catwoman. Her mechanics are slinkier, more stylish and yes, sexier, than Batman's, all while maintaining that strong sense of control I've grown to like so much while controlling the Dark Knight. She crawls, she whips, she's fast, and delving into her gameplay adds 10-15 hours to the game, which, if you only stay on course with the main storyline and play only as Batman, clocks in at 20-25 hours. But because playing her does enhance the overall story and certain areas are only accessible by her, the game developers highly recommend taking her for a spin. Confirmed new characters include The Penguin, Two Face, the aforementioned Catwoman and Hugo Strange, plus I got the strong sense that Robin may be making an appearance as well, though no one from the studio would confirm or deny. For more details on the game, arriving on my doorstep immediately upon its October release, head here.

1. Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7

Say what you will about casual gaming, but no one can deny that TT Studios has nailed the art of the movie based video game. Placing you directly into the story with extremely user friendly co-op gameplay, their titles have always been easiest to play with your movie obsessed, if not video game obsessed, friends, while acting as a completely enjoyable respite for the more "hardcore" gamers, a nice break from shooting zombies in the face and getting blown up by faceless enemy forces. Since Lego Star Wars: The Original Trilogy came out, I have been ecstatic for the possibilities, most specifically one - Lego Harry Potter.

Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 was, dorky as this is, a mini dream come true for me, both because the Harry Potter Universe is one I'll always choose to spend more time in, and because 1-4 meant eventually 5-7 aka when shit gets real. When the chance arose to play a level (Godric's Hollow, Bathilda Bagshot, Grave of Lily & James Potter, oh my!) and chat a bit with lead game designer and all around awesome dude, Arthur Parsons, I seized the opportunity. So what did I learn?

During the first four movies, the gang doesn't really venture much outside of Hogwarts, so Hogwarts acts as your main gameboard, Diagon Alley as the menu. But because so much of movies 5-7 take place outside of Hogwarts, the universe has expanded to such an extent that you can go take the train to London if you are so inclined. The new game is loaded with new mechanics, character specific abilities, and spells, 170 playable characters including Bellatrix, Slughorn, Umbridge, Lavender Brown, and Arthur Weasley, and some out of the box levels that will have you squirming with excitement. Parsons is a HUGE Harry fan, so when he heard about the game being developed while he was working on Lego: Batman, he jumped at the chance to be involved. And having a true fan at the helm makes a huge difference. Parsons let on that even more than the last game, this one would have inside nods to the books that will seem perhaps like made up additions to those that have only seen the movies, but will help make the game even more of a special experience for those of us who have devoured the books. He also confirmed the Deathly Hallows flying motorcycle level, the Order of the Phoenix flying on the Thames level, and perhaps the coolest tidbit of all, a 2D platformer, pop up book style, Limbo like level depicting the Tale of the Three Brothers. Plus, expect The Epilogue to rightfully appear as a bonus level.

Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7 hits stores around the time of the DVD/Blu-Ray release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two and I will own it and love it and marry it.

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And Muse's Favorite Game of E3 2011 Is...

I got to see a 15-20 minute gameplay demo and play the game itself for a solid 20 minutes and am in love. A big reason I am so ecstatic here is because most of the other games I tried and loved I already knew I would love - this came as a very pleasant surprise, as I think it VASTLY improves upon the original. More on this soon. For now - enjoy the video :)

Note: I didn't get to play any of the behind closed doors games, so Uncharted 3, Bioshock: Infinite, Skyrim, and Mass Effect 3 weren't in the running here.

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A Very Fangirl Perspective on E3 2010

Eruditechick and Loquaciousmuse here, with our final thoughts on all things E3 2010. We tried out all of the new products from Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft and a slew of soon to be released games. Other highlights included meeting some of our favorite Tweeps, running into a nice lady from Rockstar Games who offered to send us Outlaw to the End shirts, and the Scott Pilgrim Kegger. Oh and coming into possession of a giant Sims 3 bean bag chair. That was all kinds of awesome.

Enjoy our wrap up and see you next year!

Favorites:

EC: Fable III. Rock Band 3. Nintendo 3DS. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. So I guess it was a spectacularly girly year for me at E3. I played just about everything I could get my hands on, and of those playable experiences, I took the aforementioned four away as my favorites of the convention.

Muse: Fable III, Rock Band 3, Nintendo 3DS, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Green Day Rock Band (yes I know it's out already), Your Shape for the Kinect

Hottie female hero

Fable III

EC: [This section will be cross-posted over at GameRant.com, with more footage and in-depth review of gameplay!] Fable III takes the solid interaction ideas and progression of character abilities established in Fables II and makes them organic and tactile. No longer is there a three foot buffer, a magic force field between your hero and the world. Everything from fighting to hugging to playing with your dog has become an exercise in direct contact. Like a combination of The Sims and Red Dead Redemption, suddenly your fabled hero can directly manipulate the world as they come into contact with it, instead of being a kind of warping force that passes by and generates a reaction. This major step forward in gameplay is going to be enhanced by the fact that your hero is fully voiced, something a certain Star Wars game is also- rightfully- getting much press for. The models have been reworked so your hero isn't quite as hulking and genderless. The world is as bright, vibrant and carefully animated as Fable II, but looks even more lush. Your quest and end goal, also, are better defined. At the end of Fable II, you must make a personal choice, but the end result is ultimately that you can continue gallivanting about, hero-ing or villain-ing as is your want, extorting people for money by jacking up real estate prices or killing waves of balverines til your blue in the face. The goal for Fable III is more personal, and the way you get there will have as much effect on the outcome as your arriving. The voice talent is also RIDICULOUS. I am so excited.

Muse: I too loved Fable 3 and probably terrified the lovely British Lionhead producers who had to deal with 45 minutes of non-stop questions from myself & Eruditechick. BUT THERE WERE THINGS I HAD TO KNOW, OKAY?!?!?! I wrote about everything we learned here, but wish I had gone back on Day 3 to chat some more. In Fable 2, you could marry anyone who wanted to marry you, regardless of gender, and subsequently sex them as often as you wanted (...well...as long as said spouse is in the mood, of course.), but the sweet sweet love makin in Fable 2 happened entirely through sound - the screen always went black when anything dirty took place. I wanted to ask and make sure that nothing has changed in terms of same sex love & marriage. I saw plenty of the demo's hot female hero kissing decidedly less hot men, but will she get to kiss women as well? Does the kiss/touch feature play a role in bedroom seduction or does the screen still go completely blank? Am I total weirdo for wondering these things?!?! Would it have been totally awkward for me to ask the producers a slew of avatar-sex questions?!!? Probably. But don't act like you aren't curious also. Punk.

Awesome new drum set

Rockband 3

EC: Pro Gameplay. In the words of Brodie Bruce, holy shit. Nevermind that the game looks beautiful, nevermind that all of your Rockband content dating back to the first game and including all DLCs, expansions and band-specific releases are exportable into Rockband 3, leaving you with a library of almost 2,000 songs, nevermind that the intricacies of gameplay- harmonies, difficulty levels- have been made exponentially more interesting- one of the controllers if a freaking Fender guitar.

Let me say that again. One of the controllers you can buy for the game is a Fender guitar, that plugs into an amp, and is a guitar. It's a guitar. It's an electric freaking guitar. And not just an electric freaking guitar. It's a goddamn Fender, and it's beautiful. This freaking electric Fender guitar also happens to be a game controller. In Pro gameplay, you are presented essentially with scrolling tablature. It teaches you how to hold chords, how to pick lines. It shows you what string to strum and what fret to hold. You play actual guitar. If you unplugged it from your console and plugged it into your amp and followed along on the screen, you would still be playing the song. Because IT'S A REAL GUITAR, ARE YOU PICKING UP WHAT I'M PUTTING DOWN? JFC, WHAT? WHAT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH THIS SHIT? WHAT IS THIS, THE FUTURE?! WHAT?!

So I liked that.

Muse: Again, I'm right there with Eruditechick. HOLY FUCKING SHIT YOU GUYS. WE HAVE TO USE CAPITAL LETTERS FOR A REASON. THAT REASON BEING THAT PRO GAMEPLAY IS SO EFFING COOL YOU DONT EVEN KNOW TIL YOU SEE IT WHAT THE FUCK EFF.

We have similar ways of expressing our excitement, Eruditechick and I.

 For the specifics we discovered regarding Rock Band 3 - head here and prepare for your head to explode.

In terms of gameplay, I only tried out the keyboard and the drums, but I can tell you this much - with the addition of the symbols to the drum kit, drumming just got A WHOLE LOT MORE FUN. When you see a red, yellow or orange, I believe, you have the option of hitting its cooresponding symbol instead of the drum. This allows for a bit more flexibility & interaction and also makes you feel really cool. The keyboard was incredibly difficult for me at first, but by the end of the song, I had the hang of it. I'm looking forward to mastering the technique. I felt like I was in Josie and the Pussycats playing a keyboard up there and I LIKED IT.

Only PART of the line for Nintendo 3DS

Nintendo 3DS:

EC: Oh, that's right, it IS the future. It MUST be the future, because I'm holding what's one step away from a freaking holographic projection in my hands and using it to play with a puppy. While waiting in line at the Nintendo booth for my turn with the gadget that had been having its virtues be so vocally extolled since the press conference the day prior, I had a lot of time to think about what glasses-less 3D meant to me. In my head, I could see it. I could see a shiny square with a screen that had 3D images on it. I know what 3D looks like, this wasn't difficult. I had remarkable ease, during the waiting, conjuring a mental image of what the technology should look like. Should. Not necessarily would. Then they put it in my hands and it did. My mind was sufficiently blown. Other than the severe ghosting on even the gentlest of 3D settings for the Resident Evil non-interactive trailer, the technology was insanely effective. It's like peering into a diorama, and every once in a while something is thrust up out of it, into your face. Truly impressive, also, were the 3D camera capabilities which freaked me right the hell out and made me cackle in a rather unlady-like manner (quelle surprise!, cry those of you who know me and also happen to speak French), and the movie trailers. Tangled, in particular, the next 3D animated princess-centric fair from Disney looks almost painfully enjoyable, and even more so on the 3DS. Everything is probably going to be more enjoyable on the 3DS out of sheer principle.

Muse: Yes, we had to wait in line for about an hour and a fifteen minutes to get our hands on a 3DS, but it was worth every minute. It didn't hurt that Nintendo's booth was carpeted with white, plush happiness that was quite pleasant to sit on. I'd been dying to check out this new innovation, as, unlike Eruditechick, I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it could POSSIBLY look like. The idea didn't make sense in the head and I could not conceive of an image. When I finally looked at the 3DS screen, I was overcome with a sense of awe. Yes, you have to hold it a certain distance away to acheive the full effect, but a small price to may for utter brilliance. The first game I tried out was a Samurai fighting game, and all I found myself being able to say were things like "HOW THE FUCK" "WHAT THE FUCK" "HOLY FUCK"...you get the idea. I also tried a driving game (looked amazing, but I don't like driving games), watched some 3D trailers (How to Train Your Dragon) and gameplay footage (Kingdom of Hearts), took a 3D picture (I'm obsessed with it), took a photo of myself, which automatically modeled a 3DS Sims 3 character after me (fucking cool), and possibly my favorite bit - PLAYED WITH A 3D PUPPY. I was sad to have to say goodbye. Cause it looked like an actual puppy was stuck inside and it made me sad. Upon exiting the 3DS arena, my cohorts and I looked at each other and screamed loudly "SO. WORTH. IT." Cause it was.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.

EC: I'm not saying it's okay to go around surreptitiously stabbing people in real life, or not-so-surreptitiously jumping off of rooftops and stabbing people as you fall upon them from great heights in real life, but I am saying that doing these things to people over XBox Live is going to make my life substantially more awesome. The environments are the same we loved so dearly in ACII, the character models are compelling and fun, and the system of who is killing whom and who is marked for death is satisfyingly complex, but presented in a straightforward manner. Do want.

Muse: I also loved this demo. Eight people got to play at once, two sessions in a row, one to learn the controls and one to actually go for it, doing your best to assassinate your target - one of the 7 people beside you. This mode was instantly more enjoyable than most Xbox Live games I've partaken in. Sure, I still got pwned by the dude who clearly plays a lot of Assassin's Creed or just stabs people a lot, but I also got one really badass aerial kill, for which I was awarded 400 points! The concept is this - Pick your assassin, pick your special ability. A photo of the person you must kill pops up in the upper right hand corner. There is a blue indicator that gets more full, the closer to get to your target. When you see your target, kill him (or her - YES, there is a playable female character!). Of course, it's never as easy as it sounds. You are not only a predetor, but prey yourself. As you are stalking your target, someone is stalking you, and more than once I found myself dead JUST as I was about to make a kill. Also, if you start running after your target, he is alerted and will in turn run away and find a place to hide. You also get points for successfully evading your predator once the chase is on. Special abilities include throwing knives, smoke bombs, changing your appearence, creating clones of yourself and more. I gotta say, it was also wonderful to revisit that universe, the controls, and the gameplay. I've missed you, Assassin's Creed, and it's only been about two months!

A whole lot more after the jump!

Attendees and Harmonix employees rocking out before we TOOK. OVER.

Green Day Rock Band

Muse: This may seem like an odd choice as it is out already, but we must have performed at least 8 Green Day songs over the course of an hour and a half and that shit DID NOT get old. Green Day is fun to sing, play & harmonize to and I'm figuring out the best way to get it without paying full price AS WE SPEAK. Plus the Rock Band demo area of the South Hall was all the way in back so apparently no one knew about it? Or maybe the people who attend E3 aren't also the type of people who like to get on stage and sing? But Eruditechick and I couldn't get enough. You've sold me with that demo, Harmonix. I'm buying it.

Your Shape for Kinect

Muse: I waited so effing long to play this but I'm SO glad I did. The moment this was introduced at the Microsoft pressy, I knew I had to demo it and would most likely purchase it. And yes, I will be purchasing it. I will be saving up my moneys and purchasing it. It scans your whole body. Your whole body! And then you see yourself as a colorful shape or YOUR ACTUAL SELF, standing next to a digitized instructer who you are supposed to mirror. It was painful to see my pathetic knee-bends in relation to perfect-fake-computer-woman, but it also gives me something to work towards in an easy to measure and understand kind of way. When I hit the yoga poses correctly, the system told me so and the system was RIGHT. You can't cheat here - it sees your whole body. My favorite category was the Gym Exercise, for which they had kickboxing available to try. You punch and kick the green boxes and it's sofuckingcool I could do it all day. Plus, again, YOU SEE YOURSELF, so you know if you are doing it correctly or looking like a complete moron. Fun fact! The producer in the room with me said I had the highest score in kickboxing all day. SUCK IT. The only thing I didn't love right away was the controls menu. Unlike the other Kinect games, where you just hold your hand out like you're using the force, here you have to contort your arm & hand into strange positions to get the desired result. Hopefully that kink will be worked out, and then I can work out. Get it?!

Things We Liked Bunches But Don't Need To Own Immediately:

EC: Kinect. Sims 3. PS Move.

Muse: Kinect Games (other than Your Shape), PS Move, Wii Goldeneye

Kinect
EC: So, Kinect is pretty awesome. The concept is so fantastical that it's difficult to conceive of it permeating the industry and being something you can use for games that aren't dancing, working out or Wii party games on an XBox. That said, I desperately want Dance Central. DESPERATELY. And Your Shape looks amazing, although Muse will have to speak further to that, as she demoed it and I was too busy playing MvC3 to bother with that exercise shit. However, I will wait to get a Kinect until there is a Star Wars/Spider-Man/I Am A Super Hero and I Kick Your Ass/Respawn 1st Person Shooter for me to play on it. So plz hurry Microsoft omfg.

Muse: I definitely enjoyed this demo, even down the menus, that, as I mentioned earlier, require you to hold your hand out and keep it there, much like you are using the force and commanding someone to do something. It's fucking badass. The biggest thing I walked away from Kinect with was the feeling that suddenly my dream had true & I had acquired super powers. It makes you feel like all the power is in your own hands and I think people are really going to enjoy it. I totally get why Willow went power-mad, you guys. I got addicted after 5 minutes of gameplay. So much so that on the way out, I sneakily picked something on the menu again, because I HAD to. I just had to. We made friends with a dude from Microsoft outside of Kinect who told us about some...ways of using Kinect...with other games...that are in development...and some that are NOT in development..... but we're not sure we're supposed to repeat them, so hell no is this info going on the Internet. But keep an eye on Kinect.

Sims 3

EC: The Sims 3 for console basically trades the user's ability to create custom meshes and game mods for Karma Powers. This is... actually pretty reasonable, as one of the Karma Powers is, I shit you not, METEORAIN. I think I would rather have Sims3 for PC, but it would cost me lots more money, cuz first I'd have to buy a computer that could play it, and then the game, whereas I already have a 360 so buying it for console would therefore be cheaper. Either way, I'm getting it, I'm just going to get other things first.

Muse: I've never played a Sims game, but I'm sure I'd like it, especially after seeing the 15 minute demo presentation at the EA booth. I'll get it once it's discounted and have some lazy summer afternoons with nothing to do.

Erudite Chick's own hands demonstrating the PS Move.

Playstation Move

EC: PS Move is like Wii for grown ups, not that you could tell after waiting in line for forty minutes and being put into a room with Britney Spears karaoke. Muse and I sort of stared at the PS escort guy for a minute until he was like "Oh, did you want to play.... real games?" at which point Muse was like "YOU WILL GIVE ME SOCOM4 OR PERISH" and we were promptly walked to the correct room. After watching her play through the demo level, it was my turn, and I have to say I quite liked the mechanics of it. First off, the game is great. Nice cinematics, ambiance, the bloodspray was pleasing. Utilizing the aim/fire in one hand and the move/traverse with the other took me about ten seconds to get a hold on, and then it was away we go.

The gentleman walking us through the demo nervously remarked on how vocal I was, moreso than anyone he'd had play the game in the last two days, particularly with the obscenities, and also that I had picked up on the mechanics of the game- the fact that it's best to only tap the trigger in three second bursts to combat the gun's recoil, the targeting systems- with alarming speed. I took it as the compliment it was. Verdict: Me likey, but would rather play MW2 with the Kinect.

Muse: Things you need to do in your lifetime - play a game with Eruditechick that involves her shooting people. You will not be disappointed. Somehow, Eruditechick magically picked up the controls to SOCOM4 with the PS Move in about 30 seconds. I barely got a hang of it after 5 minutes. But I still walked away wanting to play more. The controls didn't frustrate me, like the Wii controls often do - they challenged and excited me. I'm not sure what the future of shooters really is with a 'mote of any kind, but it's definitely more fun, intuitive and full of potential with the PS Move then shooters have ever been on the Wii. Also, Little Big Planet 2 was super fun and if I get a PS3 bundle with a Move, hells yeah am I getting LBP2 as my first Move game.

Wii Goldeneye

Muse: This was super fun and definitely took me back to a very specific time and place, but it's for the Wii and the graphics bother me and I'm just not adept at wiimote first person shooters. I still think people with a Wii, who also have fond memories of [getting killed a lot in] Goldeneye are going to love this.

EC: I payed as Odd Job. I killed people with my hat. V.nice would play again.

Things We Wish Had Been Awesome But Weren't:

Muse: Tron: Legacy. Rise of the Six String.

EC: Disney Sing-A-Long.

Tron: Legacy:

Muse: Meh. Got bored after a minute.

Rise of the Six String

Muse: May win for best swag (I got like 8 guitar picks and Pacman ran out of lanyards, AND I DIDNT GET A GUYBRUSH DOLL CAUSE LUCASARTS WAS ALL PRIVATE ROOMY, STUPID LUCASARTS) and playing actual strings was definitely fun, but the drums made so little sense - a sensor picks up what you are doing so you dont have to actually hit the drums - that I just became frustrated and wanted to stop early. A valiant effort, but ultimately, nothing can touch Rock Band 3 and those Harmonix sexpots.


Disney Sing-A-Long.

EC: I am completely serious. Anyone who doesn't like to get wasted with their friends and sing A Whole New World isn't a human. The problem is, they've designed the game like four year olds are going to be using it, which, sure, they are, but not without supervision. The microphone did a shoddy job of picking up notes, and the after-effects- Alvin and the Chipmunk-ing your voice, turning it into a weird toneless roar, making you sound like a robot (not GLaDOS, just... just a weird unintelligible mush of electronic noise)- all suck. The technology exists to make this stuff neat, silly, fun, cool, whatever, but they don't do it here. One would hope Disney could expend a fraction of the same creativity, ingenuity and eye for aesthetic beauty to something that uses the catalog of their best movies and greatest songs that they did on the Toy Story 3 game or Epic Mickey. But they didn't. Boo.

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!

The Given: Marvel vs Capcom 3, duh.

EC: It's an upgrade. That's literally all it is. And that's pretty much all one could want it to be. Though I have a particular fondness for the character design in MvC2, dating back to X-Men vs Street Fighter, the new '3D' renders are slick and fun, the special attack screens are eye popping and well animated, the combos are the same as you remember them. Deadpool is there, so you know life is awesome. He beats people to death with his life bar. I mean... yes. YES. So, clearly I will own this. It gets its own category, though, because from the moment it was announced, I knew this to be the case. Mmmn. Marvel vs Capcom. Mmmmmn.

Games We Considered Trying/Seeing, But Didn't

Call of Duty: Black Ops

Muse: Treyarch. Meh. Will try it out if someone else buys it. But I'm good.
EC: I'd rather play CoD4.

Halo Reach

Muse: Not big on Halo
EC: I'd rather watch Red vs Blue.

Fallout: New Vegas

Muse: I've never played a Fallout game, though I do hear I would love it. As we were exiting the West Hall on Thursday, I glanced over, noticed the giant Bethesda booth and realized I had completely forgotten about the damn game. Oops.
EC: Fallout 3 was an exercise in patience for me. Which I failed. So... I dunno, I have to think about it.

Dead Space 2
Muse: I don't like terrifying, claustrophic games. There's only so much my soul can handle, people.
EC: I DO! I want it, but didn't get a chance to play.

Twisted Metal
Muse: Meant to try it out, but kept forgetting it existed. I've never played Twisted Metal so wanted to see first hand if this was something I'd be interested in buying. Oh well.
EC: I used to play this game! I'm sure I'll play it again. I'm not gonna buy it, though.


The Legend of Zelda - Skyward Sword
Muse: I wanted to try this because Ocarina of Time was one of those self-defining experiences that solidified my love of gaming in the first place. But. Wii. I don't know, man.
EC: Sadly, the more I see of what's next, the less impressed I become with the Wii. I can handle childish renderings, I'm all for style, but the blocky, chunky, pixel-y stuff... can't deal.

Donkey Kong Country 2
Muse: Really wanted to play this and convince my family to buy it for their Wii so I can go over there from time to time and play when I feel like wasting time. I LOVED the original Donkey Kong Country when I was a kid. Alas. Kinect was calling.
EC: It's on like, well, like it's predecessor, but I'm not compelled to purchase it.

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Harmonix. Creators of Awesome - E3 2010

Eruditechick and I had the pleasure of not only playing various Rock Band games for a good hour and a half over the course of our two days at E3, but also getting to learn about some amazing new features Rock Band 3 will hold when it comes out this holiday season. Here are some of those awesome additions to the Rock Band franchise that will have you peeing yourself. I said pee.

- You can drop out or in at any time, without affecting the score or gameplay. If you often have Rock Band parties, as I do, you know annoying it is when the drummer takes 5 and no one else wants to drum. "B. B. B. B. B. B. A. A. A. A. scroll scroll scroll. A. A. A." will now become "B. A." Only someone as dorky as myself & my fellow Rock Band geeks would understand how awesome this is. So don't feel bad if you don't get it. It probably means you're cooler than I am.

-You can also change your difficulty at any time, mid-song, without receiving punishment. WIN.

- Library Filtering. You can now sort which parts of your library to access through a filtering system. Categories include decade, length of song, Rock Band game, number of vocal parts, etc. So if your third vocalist needs to run to the store, but said "don't play any songs from the 60s or 70s without me", you can say two vocal parts, and songs only from 80s, 90s and 00s and BOOM. Or if you wanna have 70s rock night, or wanna end your party with a super epic long song, but don't know off hand which are which - filtering is your new best friend.

- Can play all the songs ever. Of which there are like, 2000. That's a lot. One question that didn't get answered - can you use 3 part harmony, pro guitar and keyboard for the non Rock Band 3 songs. Because if so? .... Nothing I could say could possibly capture the excitement.

- Song Rating. You can now rate songs after you play them. The better the rating, the more likely the song is to come up during random play/set lists. The lower the rating, the less likely. The system will also recommend songs for you based on the ones you've rated the best. Do I need this? No. But is it awesome? Yes.

- Saving Set Lists. Yup. You can now save your set lists and share them with friends, challenging them to beat your score. Interactive mix tape!

- Party Options. First - the Party Shuffle. Filter it if you want. Put it on party shuffle. Random songs, customized to throw you songs you like or would like. Can skip any song that comes up if you don't like it without disrupting the flow of the game. Second - the "Road Trip" option, which allows you to create a two hour set list that acts a tour, and when you complete it, you actually win the game. It allows you and your friends to have a more concrete goal when you are having a Rock Band party. "Hey guys, Road Trip time!" Two hours later - "YAY, we won! Let's get drunk! Oops I'm already drunk. YAY!" See?

- Keyboard. Two octaves, 25 keys. Use your midi keyboard or use THIS ONE as your midi keyboard. Play keys mode where you only use five keys, much like the guitar or base or use pro keys mode and PLAY THE FUCKIN PIANO. Will this help me how to learn piano?!?!! According to the cute and ostensibly too-young-to-be-that-smart Harmonix dude leading the Rock Band 3 demonstration, after practicing Bohemian Rhapsody endlessly on pro keys, he sat down at a piano and was stunned to discover he could actually play most of it off the top of his head. AHHHH WANT.

- Pro Guitar. It's awesome. It's more than awesome. It fills my heart with joy. It's a real guitar. That you can play. And the game gives you ACTUAL TABLATURE on the screen. I already play the real guitar and I love the idea that now I can practice and learn new songs WHILE playing with my xbox and getting acheivements and knowing concretely how much I'm improving and at what rate. So. Controller. Real guitar. And ALSO you can use this guitar as a midi guitar. It's like three birds one stone, people. THREE god damn birds. ONE effing stone.

It'll probably cost me 500 bucks for all this, but whatever, I'm doing it. It's so much awesomeness rolled into one product, there's no way it can be too expensive for what you'd be getting out of it. Oh dear god, the WANT is strong in this one. This one being me.

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Hands On & In Depth With Fable 3 - E3 2010

If you've been following my Twitter account, then you know Fable 3 was the #1 thing I wanted to get my hands on at E3 this year. Luckily for us, most E3 attendees have no idea how awesome this game was, so playing a demo for 45 minutes, complete with a walkthrough & all the answers to our questions from not one, but three amazing Lionhead associate producers, wasn't that difficult to score. Here are some photos, video footage and fun facts from our experience.

- Voiceover. This game featured actual in-game chatting. Instead of only being able to make noises when you interact with others, your hero actually SAYS THINGS. With a VOICE. Sure the grunts are still there, but with new feature, we get more of a feel of our character's place among the citizens of Albion.

-There is a swashbuckling character voiced by SIMON. EFFING. PEGG. who, as of right now, is available to make fall in love with you if you are playing a female hero. I really hope this doesn't change cause any character voiced by Simon Pegg, I want in love with me.

-Steven Fry is returning as a voice. Another voice? Playing the evil brother? MICHAEL FASSBENDER. Cue Eruditechick freaking out. Cause that happened. It was awesome.

-The menus are no longer in 2D, but rather fully interactive 3D environments. You talk to Jasper, your butler, change & dye clothes, etc, all by actually running around and engaging. This makes a huge difference as you feel like the game is more organic and continuous. It's. Awesome.

-YOU CAN MARRY YOUR FRIEND'S HEROES OVER THE INTERNET AND THEN HAVE KIDS TOGETHER AND WHOEVER IS IN CHARGE OF THE UNIVERSE YOU PLAY IN KEEPS CUSTODY OF THE KIDS IN SINGLE PLAYER MODE AND THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME AND I WILL HAVE KIDS WITH ALL OF YOU

-The female hero is effing HOT. The game designers noticed that the female hero in Fable 2 got WAY too masculine the more powerful she got. While she is certainly still taller than most of the men, now she is also smokin hot. Even the way she stands, neutrally, is extremely feminine. Win win win.

-The spell mechanism has completely changed. Now you wear gauntlets, each gauntlet representing a different spell. These spells can be combined to create super cool combo spells. All I could get out of the lovely producers was the following: There are six different spells. One spell is lighting, one spell involves throwing swords, and while slowing down time doesn't exist anymore, something similar does.

- Instead of cashing in experience for power ups (no more orbs?), whichever skill you use most gets automatically upgraded. This is pretty much the same as in Fable 2, but simplified. No orbs, no cashing in. Just using and getting more awesome as time progresses.

- The environments are fucking beautiful. Actual cursing is required to describe the beauty.

- Instead of having a whole wheel of gestures (which was confusing for many), you now have specific gestures to pick from depending on the person & situation and it's a whole lot simpler to get someone to like you. While I quite enjoyed the wheel, I also mastered it with my 40 hours of gameplay. But for a lot of people. I imagine it was just confusing and annoying. So simple = just fine with me.

-You are required to wear a chicken suit as one point.

-Your sword changed depending on your morality, down to what EXACTLY you spend your time killing. There are 88,000 different ways your sword can look, including the dropping of blood when you're super evil.

-Being able to touch others goes beyond holding hands, kissing, playing with your kid and hugging your dog. It also applies to combat, which now includes a lot more advanced moves, including grabbing

Below, you can catch three hands on gameplay videos. One features the touching mechanism as it applies to dance. Now instead of looking like an idiot, you're actually dancing with your partner, and in the process, making a Dirty Dancing reference. Another shows off the part of the 3D menu where you can change outfits, along with the hotness of the female hero. The final video shows off some of the fighting mechanisms.

This is still my most anticipated game of the second half of 2010. I'm so effing excited. 40 hours on Fable 2 will be nothing compared to the time I put into this. Oh video games. Why are you so awesome?

If you are attending E3 today, be sure to check out the Fable 3 area at Microsoft. If you are not attending E3, OCTOBER 26TH, BABY. Pre-order now!

Dance Gesture

3D Menu


Fighting

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MY BEST FRIEND IS BACK!

If stupid blogger could embed audio, I'd be playing that song from Sweeney Todd that has the word "friend" in it. Or maybe like That's What Friends Are For. Or...Why Can't We Be Friends? No, scratch that last one. Cause me and C-Cube ARE friends. Already. I don't know. Some song about friendship. Insert it here. That's what she said.

From Portal 2 (as if you had to ask)

[Kotaku]

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If You GOTTA Have Bathroom Ads

The ads in the bathrooms at E3 for Microsoft's Kinect. I kinda still wish the tech was called Natal. But whatever it's called, I want it. But that number better be in the double digits, MS.

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Quick Thoughts on E3 Day One - Assassins, Fitness, Fable OH MY!

E3 started today and while I will be attending the rest of the Expo, I spent today watching all the press conferences from home. The day included a healthy mix of "Wow" and "Snooze", the snoozers mostly consisting of driving games and sports. Cause I don't care about that shit. Sorry. 

Here are my highlights.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhoodfrom Ubisoft

Watching this activated my sense memory in quite the intense way and I am ECSTATIC to revisit this world. Oh how I love stabbing people secretly with my hidden blade! And now I can do it with friends?!?!! OKAY!!!!!  Winwinwin.

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier from Ubisoft

I've actually never played a Tom Clancy game, but I will absolutely be playing this one. Over the past year I've gotten very into games involving stealth and soliders. Joel McHale's enthusiasm (and face) didn't hurt the matter either.

Fable III

OBVIOUSLY, PEOPLE. I'm so excited for this game. And also dreading it. Because I logged 40 hours on Fable 2 and I'm not even actually done. I mean, sure I beat the game, but it's never REALLY over. And I was a fuckin pro. I don't remember how to be a master at the controls now, so it's gonna take some work to rock the third installment of the Fable series the way I rocked the second, but I KNOW I CAN DO IT. Already pre-ordered.

PC Games - E3 2010 - Fable III

Star Wars: The Old Republic from EA

Really makes you think of what could have been, huh? Siiiigh. I promise you one thing - I will enjoy every moment of this game. Well. Barring the gameplay is as good as this trailer. We'll know more tomorrow when G4 plays a demo live at 2pm PT. But you get your own starship. So. There's that. In any event.

PC Games - E3 2010 - Star Wars: The Old Republic

Scott Pilgrim vs The World

THIS CAN BE NOTHING BUT AWESOME

Xbox 360 Games - E3 2010 - Scott Pilgrim vs. The World 

Your Shape Fitness Evolved from Microsoft & Ubisoft

Yes, I am actually excited about this. Shut up. Look, I love it when working out is fun and involves points and using my video game console and eliminates the stupid "driving to the gym" part of getting exercise. But I hate having to hold a controller and step on a specific pad and all that Wii bullshit. This makes the Wii bullshit go away. So yes, I am excited.




That'll do it for Day one! I'm pretty sure Eruditechick would have some Gears of War on this list, cause she's cool like that. But don't worry, you'll get tons of Eruditechick's thoughts on gaming this week - promise :).

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