E3 2007

[The NZA]

 

So, we all know what went down last year, and since then, weve indeed seen the smaller company shows. Nonetheless, its coming, minus the booth babes, sadly.

 

Im hyped, as this looks to be Sony's chance to shine, with a lotta great games to show off after Game Day a few weeks back. I'm hopeful for news on a rumored firmware 2.0 update (bring us up to speed), rumble feature returning, MGS 4 in '07 and of course a price slash....any number of those things will really do it for me. What're you hoping for from the event?

 

For a crazy list of what's on the table, click here - its pretty long but covers most of the bases of what could likely be announced/shown. For something more concrete, click here for Sony, Capcom & EA's confirmed lineup. Was hoping for RE5 from Capcom, but what theyre offering isnt bad.

[The NZA]

...so here we are, the superbowl of gaming (is it still, tho? or is that GDC/PAX now?) starts wednesday, i think it goes Nintendo, then MS, then Sony on the last day, i could be wrong. Many of us're gonna see the benefits early, with X-Box Live and Playstation Network both promising content from the show, including demos, trailers, interviews and the like.

 

Some say there's an awful lot at stake at this year's show: Nintendo is outright owning in the short time this generation's been going (its still year 1 for all but MS), so there's momentum but there's still a lotta people still on the last-gen PS2 and such that need to be sold.

 

MS still has the lead for a short time before the Wii overtakes it (still not producing them fast enough, in some places) and there's a lotta speculation about the PS3 finally falling out of its slump to work on catching up with the price-cut well known and some great games, i think its their show to win if they bring the right things, but MS (my opinion) does not want to go head-to-head with a stronger namebrand, so aside from a great lineup from their corner, look for surprises like a possible pricecut of their own to keep the distance from sony, as well as try to get in on that Wii market of "casuals" whichi read to mean "people who dont like paying more than $250-300 tops for a system". Godforbid MGS4 gets a multi-plat announcement of any kind...

 

What's great is that there's a lot going for owners of every sytem. Here's the bigger names for the event:

 

Nintendo:

honestly, last i checked, they didnt mention too much, but you can expect:

 

Super Smash Bros

Metroid Prime: Corruption

Mario Galaxy

NiGHTS

Jenga?

Boogie

(unkown projects/DS ports?)

 

Microsoft

ill be honest, post-beta, im not expecting a great deal more of halo 3 info, but Mcfarlane's gonna be there to hock the figures so its gonna have a presense.

 

Mass Effect

Bio Shock

Devil May Cry 4 (both systems)

Super Puzzzle Fighter/SF II HD (natch)

Jericho (both. im interested, myself)

Half-Life 2 (both)

Blue Dragon

Halo Wars

Project Gotham Racing 4

Beautiful Katamari (better be both...)

Eternal Sonata (both?)

 

Sony

 

Folkore

Metal Gear Solid 4

Killzone 2

LittleBigPlanet

Heavenly Sword

Assasin's Creed (both)

Ratchet & Clank

Uncharted

Lair

Eye of Judgement (new eyetoy thing...we'll see)

God of War; Chians of Olympus (PSP)

 

 

All:

Fallout 3

Guitar Hero III

 

 

 

...i took the liberty of bolding the ones im personally keeping an eye on, both out of excitement and importance. Kilzone 2 has crazy-high expectations and no one's really known what its looked like since the CG trailer, tho buzz is good, we'l soon see. Biggest things im looking for are a street date on Metal Gear Solid 4 MS' chances at a price drop, possible hardware announcements from Nintendo, including an expected hard drive, and a new model Wii to uh, play DVD's, since somewhere that's being demanded.

 

Again, something for everyone. Anyone have their own predictions? Wannta make bets, any games youre paying special attention to?

 

 

Things that will make me a happy panda:

-MGS 4 remains exclusive, if even for like a year

-PS3 gets some form of proper Katamari love. Im not kidding, id trade GTA content for that any day.

-Announcement of PS3 firmware udpates bringing us up to speed in time for Home going public

-Bioshock goes multi-plat, somehow (was a rumor at one point?)

-MS does indeed pricedrop, Live gets cheaper too

-Nintendo knocks my fucking socks off by brining back franchises we havent seen in a while like Punch-Out!!, Pikmin, Animal Crossing, Kid Icarus, Mario Paint etc or you know, just something new/good.

[Boogie]

Oh man... Only if I could go...

[bishopcruz]

Halo 3 should have some big time presence, the game launches in a little over 2 months, we will see the Single Player for the first time, and it should be huge. If not, then I dunno what MS is thinking. I'm hoping for some updated Lost Odyssey as well. DMC IV should be fun, and I'm REALLY hoping that we finally get to see Ninja Gaiden 2. It's been officially unannounced for a while now, and Team Ninja always showcases some new stuff for E3.

 

Rock Band should be huge for all involve, there is a tiny rumor that MS might be getting some timed exclusivity, but I wouldn't bet on it. If they id, it would be huge though. Sony will have MGS 4, and some FFXIII, and of course, Lair, Uncharted, and Ratchet.

 

Nintendo, 3 games for this year, Mario, Smash Bros., and Metroid. They'll probably announce Animal Crossing, and Wii Fitness as well.

 

Hopes:

MGS4 for 360!!!!!!

Alan Wake dated.

Price cut from MS.

A reason to play the Wii

Assassin's Creed looking better than ever.

Prince of Persia 4

 

I think that Sony is in a position to steal the show in some ways, as they are now the underdog, and I think MS and Nintendo will be viewed very critically by the press and fans this time around. I still think MS will have the strongest showing of titles, but unless something big happens, I dunno if there will be the 'WOW!' we had last year. Sony is the company a lot of people WANT to do well, so they might just be the media darlings this time aroun if they can show some impressive stuff. Nintendo, I don't know, they will have to shed the 'minigame' image, and give some meat to the journo's if they want to win the PR battle this time around.

[The NZA]

Halo 3 should have some big time presence, the game launches in a little over 2 months, we will see the Single Player for the first time, and it should be huge. If not, then I dunno what MS is thinking.

 

what i meant to say is, you got a beta; single player aside, i dont know how much more you can show. Would a new trailer or gameply video really add to like the 5 mill or so pre-sales? I figure the one to watch for is Halo Wars cause i dont follow the series but ive seen nothing on that title.

 

I'm hoping for some updated Lost Odyssey as well. DMC IV should be fun, and I'm REALLY hoping that we finally get to see Ninja Gaiden 2. It's been officially unannounced for a while now, and Team Ninja always showcases some new stuff for E3.

 

I didnt know Lost Oddysey was on the table but it makes sense for this timeframe; NG2 i had no idea was on the table at this point, i was figure Tokyo Game Show.

 

Rock Band should be huge for all involve, there is a tiny rumor that MS might be getting some timed exclusivity, but I wouldn't bet on it. If they id, it would be huge though. Sony will have MGS 4, and some FFXIII, and of course, Lair, Uncharted, and Ratchet.

 

Not excited about Heavenly Sword/Goddess of War eh? Whered you read the Rock Band info? I only read the odd price difference in guitars or whatever.

 

Nintendo, 3 games for this year, Mario, Smash Bros., and Metroid. They'll probably announce Animal Crossing, and Wii Fitness as well.

 

i know nintendo's great at secrets, but you really expect Animal Crossing? ive seen fuckall on that one. Yeah, Wii Fitness/Health are likely candidates.

 

Hopes:

MGS4 for 360!!!!!!

Alan Wake dated.

Price cut from MS.

A reason to play the Wii

Assassin's Creed looking better than ever.

Prince of Persia 4

 

you can have MGS, in late '08. When im done.

i second much of your wishes. I thought youdve voted for a boshock demo tho (figure Mass Effect's too far off right now).

[bishopcruz]

what i meant to say is, you got a beta; single player aside, i dont know how much more you can show. Would a new trailer or gameply video really add to like the 5 mill or so pre-sales?

 

In a word. Yes. Showing off a SP that looks a lot better than the Multiplayer (as many are saying) will pretty much get the hype train going again. As we are so close to shipping, this is really the last major showing the game is going to have before it gets into my cold grubby hands. It should sell immensely well either way, but MS will want a Halo 3 clip or two on the major networks as they talk about what is upcoming.

 

I figure the one to watch for is Halo Wars cause i dont follow the series but ive seen nothing on that title.

I didnt know Lost Oddysey was on the table but it makes sense for this timeframe; NG2 i had no idea was on the table at this point, i was figure Tokyo Game Show.

 

We'll see, but as I said, Itagaki always has a new game to show each E3. 2005 = DoA4, 2006 = DoAX2, 2007 = Ninja Gaiden 2 (god I hope!).

 

LO has been pretty much absent since last TGS, and it IS supposedly going to launch this winter (yeah right) and considering the kinda lukewarmish response that it got from some journos, E3 would be a great time to show it off with its new battle system and the like.

 

Halo Wars come from some pretty good RTS developers, and we'll probably see our first actual gameplay footage at E3.

 

Not excited about Heavenly Sword/Goddess of War eh? Whered you read the Rock Band info? I only read the odd price difference in guitars or whatever.

i know nintendo's great at secrets, but you really expect Animal Crossing? ive seen fuckall on that one. Yeah, Wii Fitness/Health are likely candidates.

you can have MGS, in late '08. When im done.

i second much of your wishes. I thought youdve voted for a boshock demo tho (figure Mass Effect's too far off right now).

 

Mass Effect should be this fall, making this one of the most evil holiays this side of 2004. Bioshock demo could be sweet! As for Heavenly Sword, we'll see. It looks ok, but I never got the HOLY SHIT!!!! feel from it. I think that of the first party Sony stuff coming out, I'm most interested in Uncharted. But I think that might change wen they show GoW3.

 

Well, they have been hinting at animal crossing for like, ever, so I think now would be the time to show it as their big 3 titles are all out by years end. They need to give a better impression of what is coming in 2008.

 

The Rock Band info came from one of the blogs, it had to do with some promotional stuff not having the PS3 logo on it. Like I said, it's REALLY doubtful, and I don't even think I believe it. But it could be huge if it was. I think the reasoning behind it was that it was too hard to produce all the different accessories that they needed in time for the launch of the game. So focus on one console first, then do the other a little later.

[gunsmithx]

sony fanboy vs MS fanboy GO!

 

:P

 

personally I'm also hoping for more Too Human but considering last year...

 

oh and Ninja Gaiden 2 on Ps3 :P

[bishopcruz]

oh and Ninja Gaiden 2 on Ps3

 

Not for a while, DoA4 version? Maybe.

 

Too Human is in much better shape now than it was last year, so I figure we'll probably see it this E3, Dyack's wishes to not show non final shit be damned.

[gunsmithx]

Dyack is kinda bitter about it so I wonder how much we'll see... I'm hoping for some sort of demo anncounment or at least a date of some sort (one can dream)

 

I truely wonder at the end of the day how many true exclusives we'll see outside of 1st party stuff in a few years(I'm not counting timed exclusives.)

[The NZA]

DoA - jiggly titties bores me nearly as much as VF. I said it.

 

Oh, did they show Halo 3? man, i only saw Killzone 2, that's odd.

 

LO, by impression, sounded like an FF clone, and that's not a bad thing for a system not know for its J-RPG's, although odd that theyll have more than sony until spring. Still, i liked what i saw of the impressions, it just didnt hook me as much as what i saw of Mass Effect, that was indeed impressive. Also, the pre-E3 gameplay vid of Bioshock was good.

 

Uncharted looked even better than before. Heavenly Sword, like Lair, ill hype or not based more on the upcoming demos, but if youre actually expecting to hear about God of War III before, uh, i dunno, E3 next year i think youre out of your mind, personally, and that's even with your Rock Band talk.

 

As said on other fanboy blogs (where the fuck did my comments go?!), Sony owned the show, but that's likely cause Nintendo pandered to investors or something with failing Wii Fit demos, MS concentrated on retailers with '07 holiday stuff, and Sony gave the fans what they wanted with some surprises to boot: Killzone 2, MGS 4 exclusive, and everything this side of rumble, which got the unofficial "its coming soon" nod. If the euro guy woudla kept his mouth shut, itdve been noting but good momentum for them, but im still expecting good sales, we'll see if it holds though.

 

gunsmith: if youre not conunting timed, youre not really counting exclusives, are you? I was thinking about this the other day when playing Sonic collection on the Wii: over a long enough time period, nothing is exclusive.