Games, games and more games

By James Harrison

Created:
06/02/09 7:25pm

Last updated:
06/02/09 7:25pm

No comments

It’s the week of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, and for the video gaming world it means press conferences, reams of PR speak and announcements, announcements, announcements.

Over the years, the event has grown popular enough that most of the major press conferences are broadcast, both on television and over the Internet, to the general public. Luckily for those of you who don’t care to sit and be pitched to for two hours, I sat through them and can give you the highlights.

Microsoft opened the week by showing off some nice multiplatform and exclusive games — most notably “Halo 3: ODST” and “Metal Gear Solid Rising.” However, the highlight this year wasn’t a game but a new technology. Natal is a new motion sensing technology that utilizes a camera. The tech even impressed Steven Spielberg, who seemed excited to develop something utilizing it.

The next two conferences were by software publishers. Electronic Arts, or EA, didn’t really show anything too groundbreaking, but it was more than enough to whet people’s appetites. The less said about Ubisoft’s conference, the better.

Nintendo is the king of the video game world and its conference showed it’s not rocking the boat. They showed a lot of stuff that people have already seen, such as Motion Plus, a new add-on to the Wii Remote that will allow greater precision in movements.

They did have a few surprises for the audience, though, in “Super Mario Galaxy 2” and “Metroid: Other M,” a new game developed by Team Ninja, best known for their work on the Ninja Gaiden series.

The last to present was Sony, coming in with a marathon of a press conference. It was interesting watching them spin a year that, frankly, wasn’t that kind to their PlayStation family.

While they had some surprises, such as the announcement of an exclusive “Final Fantasy XIV” — which looks to be a massively multiplayer online RPG — there wasn’t really anything that could be considered game-changing. On the whole, they presented a fairly solid lineup. In particular, their preview of what is coming to the PlayStation Portable looked really cool and worth watching out for.

Overall, this year was kind of disappointing. Nothing really shocked the world in the way that the announcement that “Final Fantasy XIII” coming to the XBox 360 did last year. Still, there should be plenty of good stuff for those who just enjoy a few good games.

Commentary

Add your $0.02, go to the comment form or follow the comment feed

About Entertainment Blog

The features desk discusses everything from weekend happenings to the latest movies, music and celebrity gossip.

Check out the Entertainment Podcast for more from the features desk.

Follow this blog in your feed reader

FEATURED CLASSIFIEDS: More classifieds »

In Employment:

In Apts. For Rent:

FALL/SUMMER 1-2 bdrm apt.

In Services:

SEND VOCALISTS to your Valentine.

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK:More reprints »

A firework display shimmers and shines above Cooley Law School Stadium Sunday night after the Lansing ...
Florence Welch, lead singer of London-based indie group Florence and the Machine, throws up a sign of ...
As deconstruction of the MSC smokestack continues, bricks pile up at the foot of the once iconic MSU ...
Paige Triezenberg, a global and area studies senior, uses a small trowel to clear dirt around an animal ...
Bournville, England resident Trevor Workman plays the carillon for the first Muelder Summer Carillon ...