E3 2009: Project Natal, My Thoughts

So, just moments ago at Microsoft's press conference, they unveiled the latest peice of hardware they've been working on. A lot of people were speculating about it being a motion controller, and I suppose you can call it that... Except, there's no controller. Project Natal takes your body movements, tracks them in 3D space, and uses them in-game. There's also voice commands, and various camera tricks used to really make you feel like you're in another world, and immerse yourself in the game.

When they started to show it, I admit, I was VERY skeptical. At first, I thought Natal was just another kind of Eye-toy or Vision Camera. I thought it'd be a gimmicky little add-on that wouldn't provide any sort of substance. At one point during the conference, I even said aloud "oh, this looks sooo gimmicky". It wasn't until they demoed the girl on stage playing Ricochet (a sort of 3D kind of Super Breakout game using your body as a paddle) that I got really excited about Natal.

They demoed more than a pretty cool Breakout clone, they demoed a paint program where you use iPhone-esque gestures to paint a simple picture. They showed how you can navigate menus with motion control, and move your avatar around in real-time. They even got a program with a boy named Milo, created by Peter Molyneux and his team, who actually responded to your emotions and what you were saying to him. I was totally blown away!

The whole thing looks like it actually WORKS. I've tried other camera-controlled games, I've played Totemball with my Vision Camera, I've played You're in the Movies. NONE of that stuff really works, it's completely clunky, and you look like an idiot trying to do something that should be simple.

If Natal delivers on what it's promising (and it looks like it will), then this will be a giant leap in not only the Xbox's increased market, not only Video Game History, but it will be a giant technological advancement, and an achievement in modern technology.

Microsoft Press Conference (E3 2009 Liveblog)

Quick Thought On Why E3 Is Special

Alright so we are about to go live for E3 but I just wanted to mention something first. I finally figured out what makes me love the event. It is because unlike any business or industry E3 changes how we view the market in just a few days. Going into E3 we have a certain view on what we will see and what the year will look like. The day E3 ends though our entire viewpoint is changed. 

In industries such as movies, comics, or books while events like San Diego Comic-Con have new announcements they don't come as surprises. So with that lets launch our E3 live blog and get things going.

Happy E3 2009 Day Everyone!!!

E3 2009: Pre-Day Trailer Impressions

So, E3 hasn't officially started yet, but there has been a constant stream of E3 trailers showing up online. I've watched a handful of em' and here's my impressions of the ones I've watched:

---

Dante's Inferno - Link
This trailer was pretty short, and it makes the game look pretty generic. My hype level for the game has gone down considerably, which really isn't what a trailer should do...

Brink - Link
I've been a big fan of Bethesda's games for a while now. I think it really started with Morrowind, but Oblivion and Fallout 3 have also peaked my interest and have both turned out to be pretty awesome games. Brink looks like it might take place in the future, but I can't be entirely sure quite yet. All I do know is that I'm excited for it, and that's one damn realistic eye! even if it is pre-rendered...

DJ Hero - Link
I think the DJ Hero game has a lot of promise, and I think it'll probobly sell well, just cause it's so directly related to Guitar Hero. I'm not sure quite how it'll play just yet, but I'm interested to see. The trailer definitely looks like it has a cool style, and if they do it right, the game could be really fun, especially if you can mix multiple tracks together. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Alpha Protocol - Link
The trailer doesn't show any gameplay, but having seen the gameplay in action before, and hearing about all of the different action-RPG elements that are going in to the game, I can say that this trailer makes me pretty excited. I don't think this area has been explored much in video games before, and it sounds like it'd be great with the RPG elements.

Brutal Legend - Link
Not so much a trailer, but just a cutscene from the game. This makes me even more excited than I already was for Brutal Legend. The writing seems up to par with other Tim Schafer games, and Jack Black is hilarious as always, and really does a great job with the over-the-top voice acting.

Batman: Arkham Asylum - Link
While I'm excited for the game, this trailer makes it seem like the joker will be playable in the storyline on the PS3 version. Really, the Joker is only going to be playable in multiplayer, so it's not that big a deal. Still, it does look like he has some pretty cool attacks and stuff. Overall, my hype level for this game is middling, we'll see how it turns out, I suppose.

Mass Effect 2 - Link
Looking just as awesome as the first game, but I'm still confused... isn't Shepard supposed to be dead or a Geth or something? I mean, that's what the teaser trailer would have us believe, but now they have him here, running around, fighting aliens, and just being Shepard. I'm excited for Mass Effect 2, but also, pretty damn confused!

Lost Planet 2 - Link
Lost Planet 2 looks so different than the first game, that I'm not sure what to think. It's starting to look a lot more like Gears of War more than anything else right now, and while Gears is a good game, I kind of feel like if Lost Planet was to go in that direction, it'd just be generic and loose what really made the first game so appealing. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Heroes of Telara - Link
It looks like a generic fantasy RPG. Wizards, warriors, castles, giant orcs... I don't think you could get much more generic looking than this. I honestly don't know how it'll play but the animations and the style of the graphics are both just so underwhelming that I can't get excited much. The only redeeming value of this game is it's character designs, but it honestly doesn't look like something that would save the game.

Just Cause 2 - Link
I had a lot of fun with the first Just Cause, even though it had it's fair share of problems. Just Cause 2 looks like it takes a lot of stuff from the first game, and makes it even CRAZIER! I'm hoping they iron out a lot of the issues that plagued the first game, and make this a really solid open-world stunt action game. Viva la revolution!!

Split Second - Link
I'm kinda confused as to why Disney Interactive is involved with this game, as it doesn't look like anything even remotely Disney-related. Putting that aside, though, the game looks like it could be a pretty awesome racing game. It reminds me a lot of Full Auto, but hopefully this game will take the concept of that game, and make it into something that's actually fun to play. I am a bit skeptical, but I'm also fairly excited.

Dragon Age: Origins - Link
I'm already pretty excited about Dragon Age: Origins, simply because of the name, and because Bioware is making it... so this trailer only increases how much I'm anticipating it, even though there's not actually any gameplay. I kinda like how they have the metal music with the medieval setting, but I'm really hoping they don't have that actually in-game, cause it would probobly ruin the atmosphere for me.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 - Link
If it's anything like the first game (and it looks like it probobly will be), then it's going to be awesome! With the introduction of new characters like Venom and the return of other awesome characters from the first game like Deadpool... I can definitely say I'm excited.

Supreme Commander 2 - Link
So, I never played the first Supreme Commander, but I know it was made by a US developer. Now, Supreme commander 2 seems to be in development by... who? Square Enix?! I'm confused as to how or why this happened, but it looks like it's giving the game a very Japanese feel. between the designs for the characters to the designs for the robots, every thing looks very anime inspired, and I'm not sure what to think of it quite yet. I guess it won't matter too much since it's an RTS, and you won't see much of the character designs aside from cutscenes, but I still just think it's weird.

Need For Speed: SHIFT - Link
I've never been a big fan of racing sims like Gran Turismo, PGR, or Forza. I could never really get into them, because the driving is so precise, that it takes a lot of time to get good at playing it. However, I do like what this game is trying to accomplish, and I am a big fan of the in-car view, with the motion blurring helping yo set your sights on the road, and not so much on your impressive-looking dashboard. My hope for this game is that it won't have the high learning curve of other racing sims, but still provide that realistic driving experience.

And that's about it! I didn't watch any of the sports game trailers, because frankly, I don't care much about sports games. However, if you want to check em' out, here's some links for ya:
NHL 10
Madden NFL 10

This is episode 2 of the gaming diary. Here i talk a little bit more on my thoughts about the first big chunk of story after the beginning of Final Fantasy 12. 

Serenity Review

Originally released in 2005, Serenity is a movie continuation of a series called Firefly that ran on Fox for a short time. Demanding fans wanted to see a movie of the series since Fox held rights to the series, and had cancelled the show with questionable moves on their part. Joss Whedon who created Firefly listened to fans and headed the movie followup "Serenity". So how did a movie, which holds the record for having the series cancelled, but had enough fanfare for a movie play out? Quite well.

Serenity is about a crew of space pirates who hold amongst them an Alliance Assassin, protecting her from being taken by the Alliance. While this secret Assassin lives among them, the crew become aware of a terrible secret the Alliance never let people know regarding the terror of space: Reavers. 

I have to say, this movie is interesting. The characters are likable and they all support the main character Malcolm Reynolds. The other characters are alot of the time providing comedy relief, there are some good laughs during these times. Not gut busting but witty and word plays that make you smile. And it's the kind of movie you also will notice something new each time you see it, I tried so hard to notice everything happening, not an easy feat. But these characters aren't just comedy relief, the entire crew balances so well in the film. If you aren't familiar with Firefly and see this movie the characters keep you in the loop pretty well, I watched it with family, and they enjoyed it despite knowing nothing about Firefly.

Reynolds is a hard character to understand at times because his actor Nathan Fillion who I like, has a problem delivering dialogue in the right inflection. I also pity Firefly fans wanting another sequel, at the end they will see a moving scene that devalues the idea that the crew would be back for another movie. I won't say why because it would spoil the movie, but one can hope a sequel will be made :). Serenity is a good movie, it's not for everyone. Those who don't like it probably can't follow how fast it progresses. That's okay, Whedon didn't expect everyone would see this. But I imagine he didn't avoid trying to make it appeal to everyone, it wasn't the greatest transition from televison series to the silverscreen. But it has a fair share of filler not forced on people to help them understand the Firefly universe. 

Having said all that, Serenity is a good movie. A very satisfying movie with moments you probably won't expect, shocking moments and okay action. But it can reach beyond its fans if people around the fans are willing to sit down and experience the Firefly culture. It worked when I tried. 

I give it a 4 out of 5

Also, since I proudly call myself a browncoat. I have to say, if your into Sci-Fi you HAVE to see this movie. 

Trailers of the Month: May 2009

        

Ed's Picks:

Sherlock Holmes Trailer 

This is a no brainer for May, it’s part of the growing respect for Robert Downey’s performances, and it’s Sherlock Holmes. But this is no regular biopic, heck it even goes under 6 genres including Thriller, Drama, and even has some crazy looking action. I have to see this. 

The Princess and the Frog Trailer

Disney’s formal return to the 2D animation that created the Renaissance in the 90’s with box office after box office. This one makes me laugh and is an interesting reverse take on what happened after the princess kissed the frog. I want to see this, but when there are less noisy kids around. 

District 9 Trailer

Directed by Neil Blomkamp, fairly new in the business. This movie goes into the issue of humans meeting aliens and apparently messing up communication in them. A piece showing how we as humans need to change our behaviors in times of peril or meeting other species, sounds fun to me. I will definitely see this.  

G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra Trailer

As ridiculous as it sounds in this day and age a G.I Joe movie is coming, and the trailer has some cool moments thanks to the wonders of CGI. The slew of cast members makes me question whether this will stick with people, but the moments with the armor was the nail in the coffin to make me see this. I will see this and hope it doesn’t suck. 

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Trailer

A new Trailer came out in May, It showed some more footage. But the biggest one was at the end, the robot sucking sand which is likely Devastator. Another reason for me to see this movie, ILM made a kick ass looking devastator. I’d have to have broken legs to miss this movie. 

Runner up

Gamer Trailer

The makers of Crank bring us a futuristic look at death row inmates being used as MMO characters for real life stunts. If they survive they go free, as much as this defies logic as Brain Taylor and Mark Neveldine did with Crank. That movie delivered so this definitely should be fun. I’m still mulling over seeing this. 

TJ's Picks

The Road Trailer

The Road is based on the Pulitzer Prize winning book by Cormac McCarthy. I haven't personally read the book but the trailer that was just released is just absolutely phenomenal. It has a great atmosphere to it and from all i've been hearing if you see one movie this year it's the one to see. 

Sherlock Holmes Trailer

As Ed stated above this isn't just any ordinary biopic. I really don't know what to expect. The cast is looking brilliant with Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, and one of my favorite character actors Mark Strong. The trailer is fast and hard and looks to be a fun time at the movies.

Surrogates Trailer

Based on a graphic novel the film starring Bruce Willis looks like a great robot mystery film. I,Robot tried to tackle the same sort of ideas but never really pulled it off. The trailer for this though looks very appealing just from a stylistic view point. I hope to read the graphic novel before the film hits theaters.

District 9 Trailer

A alien movie put into the style of a documentary? Sounds odd at first but if you have watched Neil Bloomkemp's short film on the same topic you can see it's possible. Plus who doesn't want to see what the would be Halo director can do with a feature film.

Blood: the last vampire Trailer

Alright I have seen the anime of this, I believe there is a manga as well but I haven't read it. I never really loved the anime but it was very much made for it's medium. Seeing a live action version seems like a odd fit to me but the trailer looks very good and like a ton of fun.

Runner Up:

Taking Woodstock Trailer

The trailer looks pretty good. It also helps that Ang Lee's name pops up. My biggest concern is in the trailer is that Demitri Martin is the lead. I have faith in Ang Lee's direction but Im still worried about Martin. It's the reason why Im not confident enough to put it on my top trailers.