Swords and castles have been done to death in RPGs. So have spaceships. But tights, wigs, tricorn hats and muskets? That's a bit fresher, especially given the slight whiff of Dickens emanating from those dim, cobblestone streets.
Yeah, we know. Day two wasn't as big as day one. It never is! Just because it wasn't as big, though, doesn't mean it wasn't big.
We still saw a ton of games. Wrote about a ton of games. And posted a ton of screenshots, photos and trailers from a lot of the games we saw.
Plus, there was the Konami press conference. Nobody will ever forget the Konami press conference. Ever.
What We Got Right (And Wrong) About The Nintendo 3DS
How To Troll The Xbox 360 Kinect Users You Know And Love
Xbox Live Vs. PlayStation Plus!
My Two Favorite Xbox Kinect Experiences So Far
PlayStation Move: Every Announced Game, Right Here
The Conduit 2 Eyes-On Impressions: Re-Rigging the Adventure
Hands-On With Four More Terrific 3DS Games
Shank Hands-On: A Long Chain of (Dead) Fools
The New Mortal Kombat Cuts Deeper Than Ever Before
Konami E3 Liveblog Is Right Here, Hopefully With Lightning And Whips
Lost In Shadow Hands-On: Yes, It's Fantastic
A Golden Gun For Your GoldenEye
Silent Hill 8 Coming To Xbox 360, PS3 In 2011
NeverDead Will Dismember You
Otomedius Excellent Combines Xbox 360, Gradius & Boobs
There Will Be No Medal Of Honor Beta This Week, Xbox 360 Owners
But How Will I Charge My PlayStation Move?
Gran Turismo 5 Might Have "Too Much" Detail
Gears of War 3 Changing Things Up To Stay Out of The Rut
The WTF Photo Of E3 2010
Vanquish Is Full Of Stylish Bullet Time, Smoke Breaks
How Long Should We Expect To Play Final Fantasy XIV?
How Parasite Eve Went From Cell Phones To the PSP
Nintendo Might Go 3D With Next Console
Rumor: 3DS Allows Game Installs?
You Got Tekken In My Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2
Kevin Butler, VP Of Gamer Inspiration
Metal Gear Solid Rising's E3 Trailer: See How You Cut
NBA Jam's E3 Trailer
Gran Turismo 5 Hits The Top Gear Test Track
Debut Trailer For Kid Icarus: Uprising
Civilization V's Trailer Is A Love Letter To PC Gamers
Yeah, Ice-T Is In Gears Of War 3
Final Fantasy XIV, The E3 Trailer
The WTF Video Of E3 2010
Alice In Chains? Dubai? This Must Be The Spec Ops Trailer
Microsoft Demands Action
E3's Cup Runneth Over
Method Man, Redman And...Hair Man?
Resident Evil Also Shambling Onto The Nintendo 3DS
Animal Crossing 3DS Screens Are Already In Debt To Tom Nook
These Aren't (Or Maybe Are) The Force Unleashed II Screens You're Looking For
Some people thought this would be the week Nintendo unveiled the successor to the Wii. It wasn't. And while that day will inevitably come some day in the future, it doesn't look like it'll be any time soon.
"I do not think that there is an immediate need to replace the Wii console", Nintendo President Satoru Iwata told Reuters at E3. "But of course, at some point in the future, the need will arise."
"We currently do not have an answer as to what point in the future that need will come."
Ah, of course you do. It can't be too far off.
"When we first launched the DS and the Wii, very few people thought that we would have the success that we have had so far. Because of that, Nintendo had no choice but to try to create that market for those two platforms ourselves."
"So when that time comes (for us to release a new platform) and we are able to garner third-party support coupled with our own properties, we will be able to create a very healthy environment for that platform."
Third-party support is one thing. Good third-party support for a Nintendo console, now that's something else entirely.
Nintendo sees life yet in the Wii [Reuters]
Just because Marcus Fenix has a neck of steel doesn't mean he has a heart of steel. He is a man, and men have feelings. Which he may indulge from time to time, when he's not busy chainsawing things.
It's a feature that wasn't disclosed during the public unveiling of the Nintendo 3DS, but Japanese business newspaper Nikkei is reporting that the new handheld will allow users to install games on its onboard storage.
According to the paper's report, "multiple games" can be installed off their original cart, meaning users could stock up on a few titles and take them on the road without needing to swap cartridges.
As the report comes from a business paper (not specialist press), and hasn't been confirmed as a feature by Nintendo, we're labelling it a rumour for now.
If it's correct, though, it's an interesting case of piracy affecting console design for the better. One of the key reasons people like to use R4 cartridges (aside from the obvious cost "savings") is the convenience of having games stored on a single cartridge. If the 3DS allows users to do that officially and legally, who knows, maybe it'll make a dent - if only a small one - on the levels of piracy on the handheld.
Or the handheld's onboard memory will only make piracy more convenient, since people won't even need cartridges to store their games on any more. Guess we'll see how it pans out in a year or two!
[Nikkei, via Andriasang]
If Spec Ops: The Line was a movie instead of a game, and had released this trailer in 1994 instead of 2010, with all that slo-mo and Alice in Chains, it would be just about the most awesome thing ever.
Since it's not, though, we have to take it for what it is: a shooter that lets you use terrain to shape the battlefield. Somewhat unique, sure, but that won't shake the fact it's also about a team of American soldiers fighting a war in a country full of sand, which is less unique.
In an interview with Japan's Nikkei, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has hinted that the company's next home console may, like the freshly-unveiled 3DS, go 3D.
"If you display a 3D image, the image quality becomes extremely bad, so we'd probably do it with the next system", he said. "We're thinking that the timing should be once the 3D television adoption rates crosses the 30% mark. We're looking at the adoption trends."
This is a curious comment, as it seems to go against everything Nintendo has stood for over the past decade (and longer!). The company lagged behind on disc-based media despite "adoption trends". It has twice passed on true surround sound. It even said nothankyou to the high definition generation with the lo-fi Wii.
So why the enthusiasm for 3D? Is it that big a deal that even Nintendo is looking at jumping on a technological bandwagon? Maybe not by itself, but if there's a 3D market and a HD market to cater for (as 3DTV sets also spend most of their time as regular HDTVs), that's obviously enough to get Nintendo into the game. Or at least thinking about it.
[Nikkei, via Andriasang]
If you woke up as a clone of a man betrayed and killed, and were in a position to pick up a lightsaber and use it, would you? This guy is.
The Force Unleashed II deftly side-steps the ending of the first game in just this manner, meaning you're now back in (sort of) the same body ready for the same kind of action. Only with slightly better graphics!
I have been trying to tell you that Konami's press conference was wacky. But if my liveblog didn't convince you....if a photo didn't convince you... then this video will. I guarantee it.
I'm sure the developers of the Konami games you see here were trying well and speak better English than I do Japanese. A for effort guys. And an A for oddness.
(Thanks to everyone who sent it to me... yeah, weird press conference when the Lucha Libre spontaneous slapfest is not one of the oddest things at the event.)
