New Portal Update Includes Mysterious Clues: My Money is on Half-Life 3

The online videogame community has been abuzz about a new patch for Portal that adds a new radio station that includes hidden messages pointing towards... what? No one knows yet. It looks like Valve has hopped on the viral marketing bandwagon. Lets just hope they get it right and the messages don't just point to a website with no information or a countdown timer that ends with another countdown

My money is on the messages being an early clue towards Half-Life 3, (or Half-Life 2: Episode 3), perhaps only the beginning of a larger and more mysterious viral campaign. I noticed that at the same time that Steam updated my copy of Portal, it installed a hefty update to Half-Life 2: Episode 2 as well, perhaps there are some clues there as well.

Interstate 76 coming to GoG

The best PC game of all time, (with the best soundtrack of all time), is being released on Good Old Games for $6 including the expansion pack and it will be reworked for compatability with Windows XP and Vista. If you never played Interstate 76, you owe it to yourself to buy it now. If you have already played Interstate 76, I don't need to convince you because you're already waiting with a credit card ready.

Protip: Never get out of the car.

Sony Press Conference Liveblog - E3 2009

-We have movement on the screen
-It’s the opening montage! Playing to Queen’s One Vision
-This is one hell of a long opening video
-Jack Tretton on stage now, he’s joking about all the leaks
-“We consider ourselves to be industry leaders at Sony and press leaks are no exception”
-He mentions that he’s nervous talking in front of everyone
-364 games coming out on Playstation platforms this year, (that’s PS2, PS3 and PSP)
-Sony is the only company with three successful consoles at once
-He’s mentioning upcoming titles, both exclusive and non-exclusive

-Playstation 2 time, mentions that current price is $99
-Sony is committed to PS2 as long as consumers are interested
-Nearly 100 new titles this year for Playstation 2
-“Todays PS2 owners are ultimately tomorrows PS3 users”
-Talking about sales in Latin America now, apparently they’re doing well
-24 million registered accounts on PSN

-Tretton says it’s time to talk about games
-Says Infamous is getting good reviews and is one of 39 PS3 exclusives in 2009

-Tretton just mentioned Naughty Dog, which means Uncharted 2
-A couple of guys from Naughty Dog are on stage now to talk about Uncharted 2
-They’re now demoing Uncharted 2 live, Nathan Drake is on the roof of a building in Central America
-He looks out over the city and it’s absolutely breathtaking
-It looks like Drake will be guided through a linear path through the expansive environment
-An attack chopper just showed up and is shooting at Drake, the camera pulls out cinematically
-Drake is now involved in a roving gunfight across the rooftops and through the buildings in the city, all the while with the shopper chasing him
-The combat and player movement is very fluid and lifelike
-The building just collapsed with Drake in it and Drake jumps face-first through a plate glass window

-Tretton’s talking about MAG now, thy’re going to show some live gameplay
-Someone from Zipper interactive just came out to talk about MAG and show it off
-They are going to show off a live 250 player match
-They just showed all of the people who are playing on the big screen
-The sheer size of a MAG multiplayer match is mindblowing when you see photos of all the 256 players at once
-They just pulled out to some sort of command map that shows the whole battlefield
-Gameplay-wise, MAG seems pretty generic squad-based action, with the quantity of players being the the only remarkable bullet-point
-Squads are responsible for taking care of individual objectives
-Graphically the MAG is a pretty average next-gen game with lots of browns
-Players can call in other squads for help as well as air-strikes
-MAG will make its debut Fall 2009

-Tretton is back talking about PSP
-Tretton is showing off the AA titles that have come out on PSP
-Global install base of the PSP is now over 50 million
-Mentions upcoming games: Rock Band Unplugged, Dissidia: FF and an Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines
-A Lilac PSP with Hannah Montana will be released along with other games aimed at teens and tweens

-Now it’s Kaz Hirai’s turn on stage
-PSP: Go is "announced," jokes are made about being the worst kept secret of E3
-Will be sold alongside PSP 3000
-PSP: Go won’t have UMD, all games will come through digital download
-PSP: Go will be 50% smaller and 40% lighter than current PSP, will have 16Gb if internal flash memory and integrated bluetooth and wi-fi
-PSP Toolkit prices will be lowered by 80% for PSP developers
-All PSP games going forward will be released digitally and on UMD
-PSP: Go will cost 249 dollars/euros and be released in North America and Europe on Oct 1, 26800 yen in Japan on Nov 1

-Gran Turismo is being shown running at 60fps, contains 800 cars and 35 tracks
-Gran Turismo: PSP will feature adhoc racing mode for up to four players, as well as trading of cars between players
-Not surprisingly, GT: PSP has visuals comparable with PS2. In other words: it looks fantastic for a portable game

-Hideo Kojima is talking about Metal Gear: Peace Walker on PSP
-The main team of MGS 4 will be working on the game
-The game will take place in 1974, graphics look pretty darn fantastic for a portable game, will star Solid Snake
-multiplayer has been hinted but not mentioned explicitly

-Resident Evil is coming to PSP in 2010
-PSP video montage showing Little Big Planet, Soul Calibur, Madden, Persona and Fat Princess among others
-The PSP montage was pretty long, but it's over
-FF7 will show up on the Playstation store
-Home has 6.5 million users
-Sony is now playing another game montage, they love their montages

-Tretton is talking up Rockstar, mentions a new PS3 exclusive from Rockstar called 'Agent'
-will involve espionage and assassins in 1970s

-Talking about Assassin's Creed 2 now
-Ubisoft execs showing off the game, set in the Italian Renaissance, as we already know
-It seems like there will be a wider variety of events and NPC actions going on in the gameworld during gameplay
-AC2 will involve gadgets like a flying machine built by Leonardo DaVinci, flying with the flying machine looks fun
-AC2 will incorporate use of a variety of weapons, 30 in total not counting six that can be unlocked if you own AC on the PSP

-A FFXIII video is being shown, not the same trailer from the Microsoft press conference
-visually it looks very close, perhaps indistinguishable from the Xbox demo
-FFIV has just been announced for PS3 only in 2010, my guess is a FFXI sequel

-Sony is pulling out their new motion sensing controller/camera
-It's a controller, but they're demoing it and it seems that it's being tracked flawlessly in 3d space
-It actually utilizes a Playstation eye and a new controller
-it looks pretty awesome actually, although it will probably involve buying an eye-toy and a controller for each player
-The controller is extremely precise; they're using it with a paint program
-
It's LBP time now
-Little Big Planet is getting Disney themes

-Mod Nation Racers just announced as the next game in the 'play, create, share' genre, exclusive to PS3
-Lots of customization of racers and racecars it seems, but racers are sort of plastic and mii/avatar-like, not sure in what way this game could only work on a PS3
-Showing a video of gameplay now, looks like Mario cart meets burnout, but without the wrecks
-The racetrack creator looks extremely easy to use; it's giving me Re-Volt flashbacks
-The developer made a complete track in about two minutes and it looked pretty good, not sure if there will be a lot of variety though, we'll have to see

-The new Ico game was just introduced; it's called "The Last Guardian"
-So far it's the trailer we've already seen
-Still the same trailer we've seen, except now it says "The Last Guardian" the creature looks absolutely amazing but the boy looks a little bit last-gen
-The gameplay mechanics are very fluid
-PS3 only of course

-Showing a Gran Turismo 5 preview now
-Looks good, seems it will involve several real racing organizations and tracks, also damage modeling!

-Time for God of War 3, the final game in the GoW series
-Starts off looking exactly like you would expect: same old god of war but with much higher quality graphics
-Kratos is fighting skeletons and killing/riding harpies
-A HUGE lava creature shows up as part of the environment, now a big ol' centaur shows up to fight... big surprise, it looks easy to kill
-The kill was pretty darn gruesome though
-Helios keeps flying through the scene
-Seems like there are a lot of mini-boss monsters around, a chimera this time
-Kills chimera brutally as you could possibly want, demo ends, game is due March 2010
-All the motions in the game were extremely fluid, looked great

-Tretton is back to wrap things up
-Press Conference OVER!

Nintendo Press Conference Liveblog - E3 2009

-The screens just lit up with a montage, as Mario would say, "here we go!"
-Heeeeere's Cammy, Dunaway that is
-She's talking about how everyone in the auditorium is involved in video games
-This woman's a robot
-She's talking about how big the video game industry is and how its growth is due to targeting non-gamers
-She says Nintendo is trying to grow their audience by attempting to 'create, surprise'
-She says that Nintendo will bring complete innovation and smaller surprises
-Sounds like it's time to start talking games

-A montage of Mario games past is showing, looks like we've got a new mario game coming
-Cammy says everyone remembers Mario's move to 3d, but they haven't yet figured out how to move Mario into the 4th dimension, whatever that means
-"For the past 15 years Mr. Miyamoto has been thinking about one new way to let you play a Mario game that's never been possible before"
-The answer is "New Super Mario Bros for Wii"
-Here's Bill Trinen from the Treehouse group
-New SMB will be more than just more levels, enemies and items, it's also more players
-It looks like New SMB for DS but with four players simultaneously and prize blocks give out an item for each player
-New item: The propellor suit, waggling the Wiimote will launch you into the air
-The screen pans in and out based on proximity of players, sort of like Bionic Commando Rearmed
-Players are ranked at the end of each level
-Not sure how they can label it "never before possible," this could have been made on the N64. Regardless I can't wait to play it
-They're done demoing
-It will be available Holiday season 2009

-Cammy's moving on to Wii Fit now
-Wii Fit has been the best selling videogame in america and around the world over the past 13 months, she says
-She says the balance board is being considered a platform due to its large install base
-Nintendo has been looking at how to make Wii Fit better and more beneficial
-The result is Wii Fit Plus
-It is "something for everyone"
-You can be your "own personal trainer"
-6 new excercises
-WF Plus will be better with targeting specific areas and will monitor burned calories
-New 'fun' activities will include juggling, skateboarding and a game that will involve platform jumping and dodging obstacles
-Wii Fit Plus will be available Fall '09 and can be purchased with a balance board or seperately

-Here comes the Regginator, Reggie Fils-Aime
-He says Nintendo havs become part of mainstream culture
-the primary driving force is 'interface,' with the Wiimote, then the nunchuck, then the balance board
-I think Reggie is a robot too
-Reggie is talking about the Wii Motion Plus, (WMP), now
-Time for a video montage of WMP goodness
-The video is showing off the WMP controlling minigames in Wii Sports Resort, stuff we saw at last year's E3
-Reggie is bring
ing out Bill Trinen to demo the WMP and Wii Sports Resort
-He's showing off the intro to Wii Sports Resort, apparently it will involve skydiving
-The controller is moving the skydiver in true 1:1, it looks pretty basic but it's a slick intro for the game
-The parachute opens and Wii Sports Resort is printed on the top
-Time to see archery
-The bow is controller by holding the Wiimote/WMP as the bow shaft and pulling the nunchuck back like a bowstring
-It looks fun and intuitive
-Trinen is bringing Reggie back out for a 3-point basketball contest
-Reggie: "I hope you shoot baskets better than you shoot arrows"
-Awkward banter ensues, scattered nervous laughter in the audience
-They're starting to shoot now
-They use the controller to reach down and pick up the ball, then shoot
-The player moves around the 3-point line and shoots from different angles
-Reggie wins and Trinen leaves the stage

-Reggie is talking about third party support for WMP
-Tiger Woods 10 will incorporate and be sold with WMP
-Grand Slam Tennis and Virtua Tennis 2009 will both include WMP support
-Reggie says now you can suck in-game as bad as you do in real life
-Red Steel 2 will be only playable with WMP, no gameplay shown
-More third party games were sold for Wii and DS last year than other platforms

-Reggie's talking about RPGs now
-An exclusive open-world RPG for Wii from Square Enix
-Video is playing, looks like a new Crystal Chronicles
-Yep, FF: Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers
-Now we're seeing video of a new Kingdom Hearts on Wii
-If you've seen or played Kingdom Hearts before, there aren't any suprises here
-Reggie is talking about Bowser now
-Showing a video of Mario and Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story, the art looks like the previous games
-Mario and Luigi play on the inside of Bowser on the bottom screen and Bowser is shown on the top screen
-It will be available in NA and Europe Fall 2009
-Reggie's teasing another RPG
-Golden Sun DS! A video is being shown
-They managed to capture the look of Golden Sun in 3D and it looks spectacular on DS
-Nice spell effects

-Cammy is back
-She's talking about how DS is a great place for third parties due to the install base of over 100 million
-The large install base allows developers to take chances
-Segue to James Patterson's Women's Murder Club: Games of Passion for DS
-It looks like Pheonix Wright with puzzle games mixed in gameplay-wise
-Now she's talking about a new gritty game
-Cop: The Recruit for DS by Ubisoft
-Gameplay wise looks like GTA III, but squeezed onto DS
-Time for a fashion game
-"Style Savvy" for DS, aimed at pre-teens to 20-somethings
-Cammy: "Nintendo DS = diversity"

-Talking about DSi now
-They're showing a video of people talking about the DSi, seems pretty canned
-Cammy says the DSi complements the DS lite due to the different features
-DSi has sold 2 million units in the past 2 months, DS lite has sold 400,000
-She's showing off Moving Memo now, now it will be called Flipnotes Studio and be available in the US this summer
-Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again will include a level creator and will be available through DSiWare on June 8th
-Levels will be sharable with other game owners
-WarioWare: DiY will allow players to create their own microgames through an in-depth creation tool
-Player-made microgames will be sharable
-DSi will be able to upload images directly to facebook
-Time to talk about Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
-What the hell, she moved on without showing it!?!
-Time for another video montage, there doesn't seem to be any point to it

-Cammy just swapped with Satoru Iwata
-I think he was born smug
-Nintendo splits people into three groups, active gamers, people who will never play, and people who might play
-Nintendo targets the maybes
-295 million people actively play games, he says
-149 million people say they might be interested in getting involved
-This all sounds incredibly scientific
-The nintendo goal is to create games that can satisfy every kind of game player even though skill levels and experiences are widely varied
-"making it harder for newcomers to join is dangerous"
-lowering the bar will not satisfy skilled players
-Iwata uses examples like Donkey Kong and Space Invaders to illustrate games that appeal to new gamers and skilled gamers
-He says Mario Kart Wii was a game like this and Wii Sports Resort and New Super Mario Bros Wii will be as well

-Iwata rhetorically asks what is next after Brain Age and Wii Fit?
-What the hell is this?
-He just announced that the next big thing is the "Wii Vitality Sensor," a clip for your finger, like you see at a doctors office that will monitor heart rate and other vitals
-I'm tempted to think this is a joke but he sounds serious, auditorium is pin-drop silent
-Iwata says it will help people relax
-Now Iwata is leaving, still looking smug

-Cammy is back, talking about Mario again
-A new 3D mario for Wii
-Time for another video
-It's another Mario Galaxy!
-Looks like there's some interesting new gameplay in this one, including Yoshi
-Super Mario Galaxy 2, no release date mentioned

-Reggie is back, he says he hears people in the blogs talking about wanting more
-He says there will be new, edgier games coming out as well for Wii
-He's showing a trailer of the Conduit, it looks promising, comes out in three weeks
-Now he's talking about Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles
-A trailer is showing, visuals are remeniscent of RE4, but an on-rails shooter
-It must be time for Dead Space: Extraction
-Yep, showing a trailer, it's graphically pretty impressive for a Wii game

-Reggie is teasing a new, edgier Nintendo developed game
-He says they brought in a traditionally mature developer to help
-Team Ninja? Yeah it's the Team Ninja logo
-It's something in space
-WHOA it's Samus, a new metroid!
-This is the best looking game graphically I've seen on Wii
-It looks like there's some side-scrolling and some third person action
-Metroid: The Other M, it will take players deeper into Samus' story and the Metroid universe

-Reggie's reiterating the conference bullet points now, looks like we're at the end!

Microsoft Press Conference Liveblog - E3 2009

-Something’s happening, the conference has begun!
-It looks like an intro for The Beatles: Rock Band
-The video seems to be a run through the various stages of the Beatles’ career
-It’s an awesome video actually, especially towards the end as they ride a giant blue rhinoceros to the tune of “I am the Walrus”
-Here come the Harmonix execs
-Talking about how important The Beatles were
-The Beatles: Rock Band is being shown off by the Harmonix house band now, the instruments look authentic and there are three vocal parts
-The multiple vocal parts will allow up to six players at once, how much would high-end instruments and three microphones cost?
-The game will ship with 45 songs
-On screen the game looks like the Rock Band we all know, but with The Beatles characters and locations
-The game will also feature downloadable albums... seriously, I’m going to wind up spending a ton of money on this game
-The game will feature actual recorded conversations between the band members
-The song 'All you need is love' will be exclusive, (no mention as to whether that is timed or not) to Xbox 360 as a 1st day download
-Danny Harrison just showed op for a moment, now Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison
-Holy bejeezus, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are on stage now
-Ringo: “The game is good, the graphics are good and we were great”

-John Shappert is on now
-Shappert is talking about what people want these days
-“today is about showing, not telling”
-apparently we’ll be seeing ten world premieres of games never before seen

-Here comes Tony Hawk to talk about Tony Hawk: Ride
-“The best way to experience skateboarding is the way it’s meant to be, on a board”
-A video is being shown, no real new information, the board peripheral looks pretty solid though
-Tony Hawk leaves

-A Modern Warfare 2 trailer is playing, one we’ve seen already
-Bruckheimer and Bay films have nothing on this trailer
-The Infinity Ward guys are on stage now to show off some gameplay
-it’s a snow/ice environment, probably the same as the one with the snowmobiles in the trailer
-the player is using ice picks to climb a frozen cliff wall
-The character almost falls and is saved by a teammate
-The visibility in this level is almost zero, the air is filled with snow
-The gameplay looks distinctly Infinity Ward
-There seems to be some sort of radar built onto the side of the weapon
-Enemies are coming after the player with snowmobiles, after dispatching the enemies, the player takes the snomobile
-An action-packed snomobile race with guns ensues and the game is shut off
-Shappert is back and announces that the first two Modern Warfare 2 map packs will be timed exclusives for Xbox 360
-Modern Warfare 2 will be out November 10, 2009

-The Squenix folks are here to talk about Final Fantasy XIII
-The translater is one of the best I've seen at any games conference
-Final Fantasy XIII is being shown off running on an Xbox 360, it looks as stunning
-time gauges have been added to the combat that will power up attacks
-They show off the 'Odin' summon and it looks pretty sweet
-Square Enix is targeting spring 2010 for the FFXII release

-Shappert is back talking about exclusives, says that everything from now on will be totally exclusive to Xbox 360

-Cliff Bleszinski of Epic Games and Donald Mustard of Chair Entertainment are on now, Cliff is wearing a Bill Gates mugshot T-shirt
-They announced the next Epic Games Unreal Engine 3 game to be released: Shadow Complex
-Mustard says the goal of Shadow Complex is to take the gameplay style of Metroid and Castlevania and bring them to next gen with modern design sensibilities and next-gen graphics
-Mustard: Shadow Complex is all about exploration punctuated by moments of combat
-The game will star Jason Fleming, a guy who stumbles upon a secret military complex with just a flashlight
-Visually the game is like Bionic Commando: Rearmed, but with the lighting and texture quality of UE3
-The gameworld looks huge and it seems that there is emphasis on creative problem solving
-As the game progresses the character will go from being a regular guy to a "weapon of destruction" with advanced armor
-Over 120 collectible items and over 10 hours of gameplay
-Shadow Complex will come out this summer

-Shappert is back and talking about a game called "Joy Ride"
-It looks like a party/kart racing game with a bit of stunt driving set in a road-runner environment with Avatars at the wheel
-It will be free to download and play, with microtransaction upgrades for cars, racers, etc.

-It looks like a trailer for Crackdown 2 now, all CG so far
-It seems there is now an infection in the city, and the shadow of some sort of monster is shown at the end
-L4D 2 trailer!
-It looks like this time there will be melee weapons: axes, chainsaws, etc.
-It will be only on Xbox 360 and PC, available November 17th
-Splinter Cell Conviction trailer now, Fisher has short hair

-A couple French guys from Ubisoft are on stage now to show of SC: Conviction
-Melee combat and interrogation looks awesome, it looks like objectives will show up in-game*
-This Splinter Cell looks far more fluid than the past iterations
-Gadgets will make a comeback in Sam's inventory
-While the game is stealth-based, Sam looks like he will now be able to clear out rooms using his ninja-like abilities
-SC: Conviction will be out in Fall 09 exclusively on Xbox 360

-Shappert is back and talking about racing... that means Forza 3
-Yep, he says it's coming in October, video playing now
-That was a very short video, must be an introduction
-Yes, here comes a dude from Turn 10 Studios with a fancy Audi R8 on stage
-They're going to show off the game now
-The game looks jaw-droppingly good in motion and will run at 60fps
-Now the guy's talking about car customization
-Now we see a video with people talking about how much they love custom painting cars through Forza and sharing them on Xbox live...
-The car customization and video editing looks pretty darned amazing though
-Turn 10 guy leaves the stage

-Halo 3: ODST time
-Joe Staten from Bungie is out now and wastes no time getting into showing off ODST
-Looks like the game starts with the trooper landing in a one-man drop ship, (flashing back to Quake 2 now)
-The player will have a new supressed smg and visor, supressed smg is pretty loud
-It seems that this game will involve some mystery solving and playable flashbacks, certainly new to the Halo universe
-Staten briefly mentions a new game mode that will be included with Halo 3: ODST called 'firefight'
-Uh oh, there's another Halo project
-Looks like a teaser trailer to me...
-It's Halo: Reach, coming 2010, the trailer didn't really show much but my guess is that it's the rumored squad-based game

-It's Sam Lake, the face and writer of Max Payne! Also there's another guy from Remedy
-They're playing Alan Wake on the big screen
-Environmental effects look darn good
-Alan is running around in a forest town in the dark, the lighting is nice
-Something invisible is picking up objects and chucking them at Alan
-Weird humanoid monsters are coming after Alan Wake now and he's destroying them with his flashlight
-He starts a generator and a floodlight comes on, destroying all the enemies in the area, I guess they don't like light
-Alan just shot off a flare to clear out the area, the smoke and lighting are superb
-"To be continued," the trailer ends, Sam says Alan Wake will be out spring 2010 on Xbox 360 only

-Shappert is back talking about entertainment
-last.fm will be integrated into the Xbox dashboard for free for Xbox live gold members only (this year)
-Netflix will now allow users to access and change their queue from the Xbox
-The HD video library on Xbox Live will be upgraded from 720p to 1080p and now 18 countries will be able to access the video store, also the videos will (supposedly) begin instantly
-Xbox Live Parties will be able to view video now
-Facebook will be integrated into Xbox live as well
-Felicia Day just showed up to show off Facebook... the nerds in the audience all just melted
-It looks like Facebook has been changed to fit the look of the Xbox dashboard
-She's talking about something called "Facebook Connect" now... it seems that games that support it will be able to post images straight to Facebook
-She just mentioned that Twitter will also be integrated into the Xbox dashboard and they will both show up this Fall
-Felicia Day is very pale
-She's leaving now and Shappert is back
-He's reiterating the presentation, maybe it's almost over already
-Nope, he just introduced Don Mattrick

-Mattrick Says there is still an IP missing from Xbox
-Hideo Kojima just showed up, is it MGS4?
-He says it's called "Metal Gear Rising"
-Apparently it won't star Solid Snake
-Teaser time, "Metal Gear Solid Rising: Lightning Bolt Action” starring Raiden

-Mattrick is talking about the origins of Xbox and Xbox Live now
-Oh it's motion controller time
-He says the controller is a barrier for too many people; it's definitely going to be the camera
-A commercial video is being shown that shows off some sort of motion sensing controller, it looks pretty darn good but it's basically an ad so who knows how accurate the depiction is
-The video just showed an ability to scan in a skateboard deck and use it in a skateboard game
-A girl just walked in front of the camera and it recognized her face and logged her into her live account
-The girl is checking out dresses with a friend while video chatting now
-A family is playing 1 vs 100 using their hands as buzzers; they’re playing against another family in another home
-a couple is navigating the dashboard to find a video using their hands, looks pretty slick

-Mattrick has returned and referred to the camera as “Project Natal”
-He says the only experience you need to play is life experience
-He says the sensor tracks 3D movement and recognizes voices
-Mattrick likes to clap at his own statements
-Natal will work with all existing and future Xbox 360s
-He just invited Steven Spielberg onto the stage, hot darn Microsoft has some star power this year
-Spielberg says they’ve been asking how videogames can be made as approachable as other mediums of entertainment; most people are too intimidated to pick up a controller
-He says the key was to make the technology invisible
-Spielberg says Natal is similar to the move from square movie screens to cinemascope, and then to Imax
-“What Microsoft is doing isn’t about reinventing the wheel, it’s about no wheel at all”
-Hopefully this means Boom Blox 360

-Spielberg leaves, the creative director of Project Natal is being trotted out now
-Dude’s name is Kudo and he looks like he should be hanging out outside a high school trying out pickup lines… a real slick looking guy
-He’s showing off How Natal can control the dashboard and control Avatar movements… it isn’t working too well, the Avatar looks like it has bone-itis
-Now he’s having a girl show off a game/tech demo called Ricochet, it’s pretty impressive
-The player’s representation on screen is moving exactly like the girl playing with almost no lag
-Kudo just mentioned referenced “preset waggle commands” like it was something dirty
-Ricochet looks like Arkanoid using your body as the paddle
-Time for another tech demo, it’s called Paint Party
-Kudo has the creative director of Microsoft Game Studios working the tech demo
-He’s using his movements to throw paint on a canvas and using voice commands to choose the colors, it looks pretty fancy
-He says “pose” and the camera begins showing the outlines of all the people in view of the camera
-Between two people, they manage to make a pretty convincing looking elephant, seems like they’ve practiced
-He says “cheese and the camera takes a shot and uses it as a stencil to place an elephant in the painting
-“Development kits are heading out to our partners today”
-Kudo leaves and Mattrick is back

-Mattrick swaps with Peter Molyneux who’s giving us the business about what interactivity really means
-Molyneux says Lionhead has been working with Natal for a while
-Video Time
-in the video, a woman approaches a TV with a boy on a swing and says “hi Milo”
-The boy comes towards the screen and addresses the woman by name, apparently the camera recognizes her
-The kid, Milo, seems to be responding to what she says and her facial inflections and conversing with the woman
-This is done in enclosed environment, but it looks like the interactions are pretty fluid… it’s a bit creepy actually
-The woman is drawing a fish on a piece of paper and holding it in front of the camera, which scanned it in, pretty impressive
-The video ends, Molyneux leaves after a few words

-Mattrick is back, clapping again
-He’s wrapping things up now, the word ‘watershed’ has been thrown around quite a bit in this presentation
-Conference is over!

Battlefield Heroes Beta

I just acquired a key for the Battlefield Heroes Beta via Fileplanet. For those of you who may not have been following its long development, Battlefield Heroes is a browser-based, free-to-play, ad-supported Battlefield-style game with a cartoony aesthetic reminiscent of Team Fortress 2. Check out the official website here for further information.

Apparently all you need to get a key at Fileplanet is an account with them, (at no cost). If you're anywhere as interested in Battlefield Heroes as I am you should immediately create an account at Fileplanet and grab a beta key. I haven't gotten the chance to dive in yet, I'm still downloading the browser plugin to play, (which is basically the whole game), but once I get a couple hours of play in I'll throw down some impressions on it.

Happy Zombie Apocalypse Survivor Appreciation Day!

Hurray for fictional but cool sounding holidays, they're the new internet rage! Today we're celebrating the release of the free DLC for the insanely popular and enjoyable zombie-shooter Left 4 Dead. The DLC, entitled "Left 4 Dead Survival Pack," includes versus mode versions of the Dead Air and Death Toll campaigns, (which should have been in included in the game to begin with), and a new game mode called 'survival.' Survival will pit a team of survivors against increasingly large and frequent waves of infected with the only goal being to last as long as possible across 12 specialized maps. If you've ever played Horde Mode in Gears of War 2, you know the setup.

The pack runs at about 100Mb and as was mentioned before it is free of charge. If you own L4D on Xbox 360, it's already available for you to download and if you own it on PC, it should be up available sometime later today.

PS2 on PS3, how might it work? (aside from how it already does)

According to an interview with GamePro, SCE's Hardware Marketing Director John Kohler mentions that Sony is "absolutely interested" in providing downloadable Playstation 2 games, which would be similar to the Xbox Originals downloads available on Xbox Live. Of course, Playstation 2 games would have to be emulated on all newer PS3 consoles, since those newer models no longer contain internal legacy hardware to run said PS2 games.

This brings up the following questions:
-If Sony were to go through with such an endeavour, would the emulation software be coded into the firmware of the Playstation 3 or will the games themselves be reworked on an individual basis to run on the PS3?
-If the emulation software for PS2 games is coded into the Playstation 3 firmware, will it allow the newer PS3 consoles to run PS2 disks, or will consumers be forced to re-purchase the games that they may already own through the PS3 online store?

None of this is certain yet as it is unclear whether or how actively Sony will pursue downloadable Playstation 2 games, but should it happen, I really don't want to be forced to download a copy of Shadow of the Colossus when I have a perfectly good copy sitting in my stack of games.


Source: GamePro (relevent information on second page)

Microsoft's TGS 2008 keynote

Microsoft's keynote at the Tokyo Game Show has just ended, and with it came several announcements, including at least two major ones:

• Tekken 6 will be released on the Xbox 360. This will be the first time that a Tekken game has arrived on a non-Sony platform (not counting arcade). Release is set for fall 2009.


• The speculation is over regarding Bungie's next Halo project. Halo 3: Recon has been confirmed as a Halo 3 campaign expansion, (a "standalone-expansion" according to xbox.com), where the player plays as an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper and will also include new multiplayer maps. Release is set for fall 2009. Check out the new trailer at Bungie's website here.

Other highlights of the Microsoft keynote:

• Last Remnant will premier exclusively on Xbox 360 on Nov 20, 2008.


• Star Ocean: The Last Hope will arrive on Xbox 360 February 19, 2009 in Japan and March 3, 2009 in North America.


• Ninety Nine Nights 2 was announced exclusively for Xbox 360.


• Space Invaders: Extreme, Arkanoid: Live, King of Fighters Ultimate 98, Metal Slug 7 and R-Type all were announced for Xbox Live.


• The "New Xbox Live Experience," (NXE) will launch November 19 2008 globally, (that's the new blades system and avatars, etc.)


• The Flood have been announced as a race in Halo Wars, which is set for an "early 2009" release.

Nintendo remains nebulous regarding Wii storage solution

In an interview in Club Nintendo magazine, (roughly translated by the website Nintendo Everything), Reggie Fils-Aime and Shigeru Miyamoto offer vague, half answers regarding a much-needed storage solution for the Nintendo Wii.

From the website:

"We are working on a storage solution and it is especially important in America because our consumers are using Wii Points for the Virtual Console and WiiWare. I want the people to have the right expectations; We have never said that it will be a hard drive nor have we mentioned how we will fix this issue, but we are going to deliver a better way to store the games." Miyamoto added that gamers should expect an announcement in the future, as Nintendo is researching different technologies to provide Wii owners with some sort of relief.

So it seems that Nintendo plans to investigate and possibly release a storage solution of some sort that may or may not be a hard drive and they plan on announcing it in the future rather than shocking everyone by hopping in the Delorean, going back in time and announcing it in the past. Boy am I glad that's cleared up!

Also in the article

• Miyamoto reiterates that Nintendo is working on the next Zelda, which I'm happy about but honestly isn't any more shocking than Toyota saying they plan on releasing a 2008 model Corolla.


• Miyamoto states that there shouldn't be too many more peripherals for the Wii.


• There will be no Wii demos on the Nintendo Channel and no Nintendo DS redesign until sales slowdown.

Who else enjoys Good Old Games?

The fine folks over at CDProjekt who made The Witcher, one of my favorite games of last year, are rolling out their "old school" games website: Good Old Games and if you sign up before September 8, you can get in on an early access beta. Not only are fantastic, classic games available for a mere $5.99 - $9.99, ("less than the cost of a lunch at some lousy diner" as the website reminds us), but the games will all be DRM-free and optimized to run on Windows XP and Windows Vista. If any of you are like me and have run into countless hassles attempting to play classic games on your modern PC, (thank the Maker for ScummVM), you'll appreciate that last point.

Did I mention that the games will include various extras like soundtracks, guides, instruction manuals, artwork, add-ons and bonus packs to make that six to ten dollar price point even more appealing? I didn't? Silly me. Get your arse on over to their website and check it out for yourself, whether you miss the good old days and want to relive them, or you flat out missed the good old days and want to live them for the first time.

Google picking up steam

Google has just released Google Chrome. Previously Google has already released several other products and services to compete with and undercut Microsoft, (Google Docs, Gmail, Google Talk). Google has also created a mobile development platform called Android.

Who wants to take bets that Google announces a complete PC operating system within the next five years?

Halo 3... Mythic?

There has been rampant speculation following the release of the following screenshot taken by the guys at Addict Gaming during PAX.

Not much is known regarding what this Halo 3 "Mythic" screen means, although since then, more screenshots have been taken from PAX of new map-pack related achievements and the the website theorizes on what this "Mythic" thing might be. An expansion to the campaign, perhaps?

While I certainly wouldn't mind more Halo sooner or later, what I really want is a patch or update that lets Halo 3 render at a higher resolution, or some sort of severe antialiasing support. While the textures are sharp and the artistic design is fantastic, if you play on a big TV there are some unpleasant jaggies that make my eyes sad.

iD on iPhone

Forget all those claims that the iPhone is as powerful as the Dreamcast. That's old news. In a recent interview with Forbes, John Carmack, (co-founder of iD software, the company responsible for Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake and graphics engines galore) gives some of his opinions on the iPhone and how it might push mobile gaming forward. Carmack claims that despite hardware differences the iPhone has power relative to the PS2 or original Xbox, and mentions that iD mobile is working on a "graphical tour de force" for the iPhone that will be part of one of the existing iD IPs.

Microsoft announces that Games for Windows Live is free, effective.... NOW!

Today at GamesFest 2008: Seattle, Microsoft announced that the Multiplayer-related features of Games for Windows Live will now be totally free rather than having the tiered price structured with a Silver membership being free and a Gold membership being $49.99. Such features that will now be available for free include voice chat, friend lists, cross platform play, achievements and gamerscores. Microsoft's "About Games for Windows - Live" page has been updated today to reflect this announcement.

Other announcements from Microsoft include the first official word on Direct X 11 and the features it will contain as well as a new marketplace for Games For Windows - Live.

NY Governer signs video game laws... "for the children"

Today, Governer David A. Paterson of NY signed a "Package Of Bills That Will Protect The Public Safety And Rights Of New Yorkers" including a bill that "establishes an advisory council to conduct a study on the connection between interactive media and real-life violence in minors exposed to such media," and will "require new video game consoles to have parental lockout features by 2010, and mandate that games sold at retail disclose the ratings obtained from the gaming industry's voluntary rating system."

Link to the press release HERE. (The relevent section is about five paragraphs down).

I'm not going to go into the insanity of making parental lockout features required for video game consoles but excluding TV service providers, DVD players, computers/web browsers, etc. I'm not going to go into the many reasons why I disagree with passing legislation on these matters in general. I'm not even going to go into the fact that the press release states that the advisory council will study "the connection," (not a possible connection), between interactive media and real-life violence, indicating that they have already decided that there is, in fact, a connection without the inconvenience of actual data.

Still, don't you think it would make more sense to create this advisory council and actually wait for the results of the studies before enacting legislation based on the assumed result?

P.S.- In order to add insult to injury, the section of the press release regarding videogames has been lumped into the same paragraph as sex offenders. Nice.

E3 2008 Sony Keynote Summary

For those of you who missed out on the hour and a half of announcements, excitement and PR fromSony, here is a handy bullet-point summary. The statistics and PR bluster have been intentionally left out, go somewhere else to see developers blabbing about how they're starting to get used to programming for the PS3 or how many PS3, PS2 and PSPs sell per year.

-Resistance 2 will have 8 player online coop, 60 player online competitive modes and is scheduled for a November 2008 release

-Playstation 3 Greatest Hits will arrive late 2008 at a $29.99 (US) price point, and will include Resistance, Motorstorm, Warhawk, Call of Duty 3, Fight Night, Need for Speed Carbon, Rainbow Six Vegas, Assassin's Creed, The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, and Ninja Gaiden Sigma

-Playstation 2 development will continue with games like NCAA Football 09, Tiger Woods Golf 09, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Warriors Orochi 2, Singstar Pop 2, Yakuza 2, Madden XX and Mercenaries 2

-The Buzz series will be coming to PSP and PS3 later this year

-A new Playstation 2 bundle including the PS2, Lego Batman and a DVD of The Justice League: New Frontiers will be available in the fall for $149.99 (US)

-Playstation Network will feature a new service that will allow downloading of full length TV shows and movies. The media content partners involved with this service include Sony Pictures, Fox Film & Television, MGM Studios, Lionsgate, Warner, Disney, Paramount, Turner Entertainment and Funimation.

-TV shows on the new service will be available in standard and hig definition and will start at $1.99 (US) per episode and movie prices will range from $2.99 to $5.99 for rentals and from $9.99 to $14.99 for purchases. All downloaded content through this service will be transferable to the PSP

-A new PSP entertainment pack including a silver PSP, Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters, and National Treasure 2, Book of Secrets, a 1Gb memory stick and a voucher for Echochrome will be available in fall

-A new game in the Resistance series, Resistance: Retribution, has been announced for the PSP and is scheduled for a spring 2009 release.

-An 80Gb version of the Playstation 3 will be available for purchase starting in September, it will have the same functionality as the current 40Gb Playstation 3

-God of War 3 "announced" exclusively for Playstation 3

-infamous, an open-world superhero-ish game, will be coming exclusively to Playstation 3

-A multiplayer action game under the working title MAG, (Massive Action Game), has been announced exclusively for the Playstation 3 that will involve up to 256 player multiplayer split into 8-player squads and will involve RPG style character growth

E3 2008 Nintendo Keynote Summary

For those of you who missed out on the hour and a half of announcements, excitement and PR from Nintendo, here is a handy bullet-point summary. The statistics and PR bluster have been intentionally left out, go somewhere else to see How many Wii consoles have been sold in each country or what the ratio of male to female DS owners has been for the past three years.

-Shaun White Snowboarding announced for Wii and will utilize the Wii balance board, scheduled for October 2008 release

-Animal Crossing: City Folk announced for Wii, scheduled for release on November 16, 2008. It will utilize the new Wii Speak microphone for community communication

-Wii Speak peripheral announced, a microphone that will sit on top of a television that will pick up voices of everyone in the area

-Star Wars: The Clone Wars-Lightsaber Duels announced as Wii exclusive, releasing Holiday 2008

-Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party will offer more minigames, this time utilizing the Wii balance balance board, releasing Fall 2008

-Call of Duty: World at War will be released on Wii utilizing the Wii remote as a control device and will contain cooperative gameplay, releasing November 2008

-A sequel to Guitar Hero: On Tour has been announced, also for Nintendo DS, titled Guitar Hero: On Tour: Decades

-Spore: Creatures will involve the "core elements" of Spore which are creativity and sharing, (creating and sharing creatures). Spore: Creatures is scheduled for a September 7, 2008 release on Nintendo DS

-Pokemon Ranger: Shadow of Almia will be released for Nintendo DS on November 10, 2008 in the US

-A new installment in the Grand Theft Auto series, Grand Theft Auto, Chinatown Wars, has been announced for the Nintendo DS and will arrive in Winter 2008/2009. It will be set in modern-day Liberty City and feature a new game engine and new characters

-Nintendo is testing the Nintendo DS for use as a sort of local information hub. One example being that it might be used at an airport to find gates, departure times, local hotels and restaurants, etc.

-A virtual cookbook with recipes, tips and more is in use in Japan and an English version will be released in November

-An addition to the Wii remote, called Wii Motion Plus, has been announced that will supposedly make the remote more precise and responsive (1:1 motion control)

-Wii Sports: Resort has been announced as a beach-themed sequel to Wii Sports and will include one Wii Motion Plus with the game. Mini games shown that will be in Wii Sports: Resort include a frisbee game, a wave-race looking game and sword dueling game. Wii Sports: Resort is scheduled for Spring 2009

-Shigeru Miyamoto's official title has apparently been upgraded to "gaming legend" and will be introduced on stage as such henceforth

-Wii Music has been announced and will utilize the Wii remote, nunchuk and balance board to play over 50 virtual musical instruments in real-time to play along with various songs and melodies

E3 2008 Microsoft Keynote Summary

For those of you who missed out on the hour and a half of announcements, excitement and PR from Microsoft, here is a handy bullet-point summary. The statistics and PR bluster have been intentionally left out, go somewhere else to see how many items have been purchased on Xbox Live or how many more Xbox 360 consoles have been sold than Playstation 3 in North America.


-Fallout 3 will get "substantial" downloadable content exclusive to Xbox 360 and Games for Windows

-Resident Evil 5 will have full online cooperative play

-Resident Evil 5 will get a "Friday the 13th" release on March 13th 2009 in Europe and North America, and March 12th 2009 in Japan. (2009? Haven't we waited long enough for this game already?)

-Fable II development has been completed

-Peter Molyneux announces a new "innovation" for Fable II, "Friend Orbs"

-Cliff Bleszinski shows off Gears of War with new enemies (tickers), new weapons (flame throwers), new activities (Brumak riding), and new gameplay modes (Horde)

-Gears of War 2 is dated for a November 12th release worldwide

-NBC/Universal Studios have been named as partners in downloadable content on Xbox Live, (which includes NBC, USA and Sci-Fi

-The next Xbox update will include a complete overhaul of the interface and menu as well as the addition of a Mii-like avatar (designed by Rare) that will be built in to the gamercard

-A "Community" channel will be added to the Xbox interface including "Live Party," where up to eight people can chat and share photos, watch a video together or play as contestants in gameshows on the new "Primetime" channel to win actual prizes

-Geometry Wars 2: Retro Evolved announced exclusively for Xbox Live Arcade

-Galaga 2: Legions announced exclusively for Xbox Live Arcade releasing next month

-Portal: Still Alive announced exclusively for Xbox Live Arcade in Fall, with new levels and achievements

-An unknown game based on South Park announced Exclusively for Xbox Live Arcade

-Xbox Live Community Games, (XNA created games) will release in Fall

-An exclusive partnership with Netflix will allow Xbox Live users who subscribe to Netflix watch more than 10.000 movies and TV episodes

-Netflix movies and TV shows will be sharable with up to seven friends through Live Party

-The first exclusive Grand Theft Auto 4 DLC will hit before the end of the year

-Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts and Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise are set for a Holiday 2008 release and the original Banzo Kazooie has been announced as an Xbox Live Arcade download scheduled for a Holiday 2008 release as well

-Scene It: Box Office Smash will be the first Xbox game to integrate Xbox Live avatars online

-"You're in the Movies," a game that uses (and includes) the Live Camera to put you in a a cheesy movie green-screen style

-Metallica's new album, Death Magnetic, will be released in its entirety in September for Guitar Hero 3, and then again along with Guitar Hero: World Tour in Fall

-Lips, a new sing-along game exclusive to Xbox 360 has been officially announced and will be released this holiday season with motion sensitive, wireless microphones

-Rock Band 2 will debut as a timed exclusive for Xbox 360 in September with 84 songs on disk, all with master tracks

-All downloadable tracks for Rock Band as well as most on-disk tracks from Rock Band will be playable on Rock Band 2

-Infinite Undiscovery will be released exclusively for Xbox 360 on September 2nd in North American, 5th in Europe and 11th in Japan and Asia

-Star Ocean: The Last Hope will be releasing to Xbox 360, in Spring 2009

-The Last Remnant will be released on November 20th 2008 worldwide as a timed exclusive for Xbox 360, and will also be released on Games for Windows

-Final Fantasy XIII has been announced for Xbox 360 and will be released concurrently with the version for Playstation 3

Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy, Get it Now Free!

I have a sort of love/hate relationship with FilePlanet.com. I can't recall how many times I've lost my place in a long download queue just because the site didn't refresh the screen properly. On the other hand, from time to time they decide to do something suspiciously gracious like giving out Psi-Ops for free. That's right, FilePlanet has Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy available for free download, no strings attached, and if you haven't gotten a chance to play it, you have absolutely no excuse to not click on THIS LINK and play a game that is fantastic and underrated, yet not without it's flaws.