Interview: Activision studio head, Dave Stohl

Activision’s development ethic is one of stability, based on large franchises capable of longevity and market leadership. The shocking news of Infinity Ward’s meltdown earlier this year, can only have been intensely troubling for the publisher’s EVP of studios, Dave Stohl, but the “unfortunate thing,” as he describes it, appears to be in the past for the exec. Talking to VG247 at E3 earlier this month, he looked only to a future of rebuilding the studio and reattaining former glory.

There was some little Bungie deal to chat about as well. Frapper le lien.

VG247: There’s been a very big shake-up recently with Activision studios in general. Obviously, you’ve had some very good news and some not so good news in the past six months. How do you feel about the general structure of Activision’s development at the moment?

Dave Stohl: I feel really good. I’m really excited about the partnership with Bungie. Obviously, I think that’s great, and it’s something that a lot of us worked on for a long time, and that’s exciting. I feel really good about the way people are reacting to what we’re doing with Black Ops, and just the general reception. I’m really proud of the work that Treyarch’s doing. It’s not a great position to have to follow up such a massive title. It scares me every day. But they’ve really risen to the challenge. It’s great to see the reaction to it, you know what I mean?

This title has been so driven by Treyarch from a creative standpoint. It’s been really nice to see it.

On the IW side, what I feel good about it the way we’re able to… People ask me this all the time. It is still a huge recruiting drive. I’ve been a development guy for a long time, right? Recruiting at IW is not a problem. What we’re trying to do is say that IW is a culture, it’s a way of doing things, there’s a lot of people there and there’s still a lot of passion for doing it. We’re trying to rebuild, trying to help them and support them to rebuild. So people are stepping up, new people are coming in and we’re setting the bar so high. And we’re making sure it fits with the culture of what IW actually is. So far so good.

The fallout of what happened with Vince and Jason; does it worry you beyond “the internet”? Do you think there’s a perception that Infinity Ward will never get back to its glory days, and that that perception will impact what they do next?

Dave Stohl: They being?

Infinity Ward.

Dave Stohl: Infinity Ward. Look: it was a really unfortunate thing, for sure. We are a big company, you know what I mean? Forget about a company; we’re a development organization and we have a lot of good people in it. We’ve got a lot of really, really hard-working people that are so focused on what they’re doing now. And, at the same time, we’ve got a lot of good people that are helping to support them get back to hopefully where they’ll get to, and I think that they will.

You know, to me, rebuilding IW is about culture and talent, and we have the wherewithal to help them get there. I think there’s a real desire. There’s a real desire to do it. I think they’ll get there, and we’ve got a ton of hard-working super-talented people. People say “Activision,” but it’s Neversoft and Treyarch and it’s VV in Albany and it’s Bizarre Creations; it’s people all over. There’s just a ton of talented development.

I’m not taking anything away from what Infinity Ward was or is, but all I can do it focus on supporting them and setting the bar so high that they keep what they have and what they had, and that’s a focus on excellence and a culture that works the way it does.

Is there still a focus on Call of Duty, though?

Dave Stohl: We’re not saying right now. There is definitely a strong shooter philosophy there, for sure. And I think that there’s a short- and long-term view on the whole thing. But I think we’re rebuilding a studio that can go off and build great new franchises in the future.

There seems to be something of a land-grab going on at the moment. The bigger third-party developers that were affiliated to single-platforms are going multi-platform en masse. What it’s like to be in an environment where you have these large, established developers saying, “Hey, we want to go multi-platform. Are you the right guy?”

Dave Stohl: It’s a good place for us to be, because, in the case of Bungie, you’ve got someone coming from a single-platform background, but we have spent a lot of time with this central Demonware network portal. We have a network back-end that supports Call of Duty across platforms, so they know what we’re doing, and how well we can support. When we start talking to them about what they’re doing, or how we can partner with them or how we can bring support to it, I think in this day and age everyone needs this kind of support. It’s not just platform support; it’s platform and network support, experience outside Xbox Live or whatever platform they come from.

Over the months we talked it became such a great partnership, because they are so buttoned up, and they are so passionate about their idea, and they’re so passionate about not just their development but how they reveal it to the consumer and they so get what is cool about the concept. I love that. There’s so much passion. They think about what it looks from the inside, about what it looks like from the outside; the whole thing. They really have a great, comprehensive plan for the game and the release.

The thing that was really exciting for me was the long-term aspect of it. That enables us to work together in a much closer way than you would otherwise in a normal contractual relationship. They’re incredible, but we’re there when they need it.

To go back to your question, I think that with people looking for that type of support and partnership, we’re in a great position right now, because we’ve spent so much time on a cross-platform network, on all that stuff that people need. It’s very hard to build. Not only do we have it, but we’ve shown what we can support with it, with a back-end the size of Call of Duty.

Do you think we’re seeing a change in the publishing landscape in general? You’re starting to enter into these types of contracts with bigger developers and we’ve just seen Insomniac sign with EA. We’ve seen Itakagaki-san and THQ announce the first deal in the THQ Partners project. Do you think it’s a trend?

Dave Stohl: I don’t know. I think it’s interesting that it’s all just happened. I personally don’t think it’s a trend. For me, I think the important part of our partnership with Bungie was the longevity of it. I think that, to me, makes it something beyond. It’s not a one-off deal kind of thing. It’s a partnership. For Activision that’s really important, and it was really important for me. I don’t know the nature and the specifics and the nature of the other deals, so I can only answer for us: a key piece of the partnership was that, while it’s not an acquisition, it’s a partnership to the point where we feel very comfortable actually partnering, instead of having maybe an old skool, one-off contractual relationship.

Would you consider the relationship with Bungie going forward a bit more going forward a little more like the relationship Activision has with Blizzard, where you’re working on an integral level with all your processes?

Dave Stohl: Obviously, Blizzard is part of Activision, so there’s less contractual issues in terms of ownership and things like that. I will say that my hope and intention – and I know this is Bungie’s intention – is for us to work very closely, much more like we work with Blizzard in that sense, but obviously it’s a little bit different. Right now they’re really focused on launching Reach which is important, but that said, the integration has been great and the partnership with the people has been great.

We want to integrate them more than maybe an outside developer would usually be integrated.

How significant for Activision as the company is the Bungie deal? Obviously there are very few developers of that size in the world, but are we going to see you sign any more similar deals over the next 12 months?

Dave Stohl: I don’t know that. What I will say is that any deal that we do like that would have to be something where we have a long-term partnership. As you say, there are very few of those deals to be done, but I think those are the kind of deals we need to be focused on. That’s in addition to our own internal development. I think that the deals need to reflect that kind of structure for us.

Bungie was large enough to match your philosophy?

Dave Stohl: Yeah. Large and long-term. As we all know, the development times are longer now, the commitments are greater. Supporting the back-end requires all sorts of expense, work, blood sweat and tears. It needs to be a long-term partnership, I think, for it to have that type of structural work. And you want to see it through, too. I’m super-excited about it. Obviously, we haven’t announced timing, or anything like that: they’re focused on launching Reach. But the process is going to be cool, the launch is going to be incredible. I’m really excited.

When are we going to get any kind of information on it?

Dave Stohl: I don’t want to say anything because I don’t know exactly. Not now [laughs]. But it’s going to be cool when you hear about it. You’re going to be stoked.

Interview – Valhalla’s Tomonobu Itagaki and THQ’s Danny Bilson

[Interview by Patrick Garratt]

VG247: A question for Itagaki-san first of all. Can you tell us why E3’s the right time to announce Devil’s Third?

Tomonobu Itagaki: People around me kept saying a million times, “We want to announce it, we want to announce it, we want to announce it.” So we had to do it.

Are you pleased now that you can show you’ve moved on from Team Ninja, on from the past and onto something new?

Tomonobu Itagaki: I’m always going after something new. I like a new challenge. Of course, this is going to be a big franchise. There’s the possibility of developing this thing to different media; this is going to be a trans-media type of game. I’m always trying to find a new genre. This is really exciting.

Danny, you must be thrilled to sign the game. How significant a deal is this for THQ’s core output?

Danny Bilson: It’s significant in that it’s a part of a strategy we have at Core. Itagaki-san is the first major piece of talent that we’ve signed, but our strategy is to not acquire studios: it’s to work with talent. We’re seeking out some of the best talent in the world to build games for us. They were the first. You’re going to see two more announcements in the next six months of major talent coming to work here at THQ as well, and I’m really excited about what that’s going to do for our line-up.

Another one for Itagaki-san. The action genre is very well developed, and you personally pushed it very hard in your time at Tecmo. Can you just give us a top-line feel as to how you’re going to advance the third-person action genre with Devil’s Third?

Tomonobu Itagaki: This is one important piece of information for you: this is a shooter-action game.

Was it important for you to move beyond ninjas and incorporate guns into the game?

Tomonobu Itagaki: It’s not that I’m abandoning the style of Ninja Gaiden or Dead or Alive. I think they’re both really good games. We’re not abandoning it. I’m trying to incorporate the know-how that I’ve established, and also the career I’ve developed over the years, into this new shooter game. I’m just trying to tackle a new challenge.

Why did you specifically pick THQ as a partner for Devil’s Third?

Tomonobu Itagaki: Danny and I are really alike. You know, only after ten minutes of meeting each other, we really got close to each other, and we were playing a beta version of the multiplayer game downstairs right after we met.

There’s been a lot of talk of 3D and motion here at E3, but your games do tend to stay very much in the core action space. Are you excited about 3D and motion, or are you sticking to the pad for Devil’s Third?

Tomonobu Itagaki: The PlayStation 3 version is going to support 3D visuals. I myself have a 3D TV in my living room, so there’s no impossibility that it’s in my house. But to be honest with you, we have to first spec out the power and strength of PS3, and after we do that, we can start talking about it, so I can’t promise anything at this point.

Danny, you’re in a very competitive space in signing up studios like this, up against the likes of Activision and EA. What do you think THQ brings to the table that attracts developers like Itagaki-san?

Danny Bilson: I think what you’re going to see is the best developers in the world coming to THQ over the next year, because our system is completely different to the other companies. Of course, we can be competitive in the deal, but it’s not about that. At THQ Core, our marketing department and our product development department work as one, together under my supervision. I come from creative, so at THQ, games are built from a creative [standpoint] first, then marketing looks at it and figures out a creative campaign. We don’t do market research on, “What do kids want to play?” We make games that we want to play, and we hire professionals. We are very professional, and we play games all the time. What we’re building at THQ are the games we want to play the most.

This is very radical compared to the rest of the business, but this how we beat the competition, and this is how we get to better quality. No market research is ever going to tell you what the next hit is. If it did, we could all go home. Just tell us what to do, guys. But there’s a giant industry that propagates that. That’s great for the other companies; it has no place at THQ Core. If you talk to any of our marketers, what they do is respond to the marketable software, and they create creative campaigns. We are the most artist-friendly organization in the world now, because THQ Core is run by a creative leader, not by a business leader.

This is radical for the entire entertainment business today. It is not radical for the entertainment business of 20 or 30 years ago, when some of the best art was made in cinema and in the world in the 70s. It was all driven by the artists.

We are at THQ Core an artists-driven company. And it’s completely different from everyone else. We’ve also detached forecast from spend, and that means the sales crew can make up whatever numbers they want. No one can ever forecast anything for real; it’s just a guess. Once you detach that, we can ask what it costs to make a game incredible and what it costs to make that game sell, campaign-wise. It doesn’t matter what the forecast is. It’s what we believe. It’s what our artists and our teams believe in this game, and I think what you’re going to see on the show floor here today is the first wave of artists-first software. And you’re going to see more talent coming to THQ.

Honestly? To compete with our friends at Activision and EA? I think they’re going to have to start worrying about competing with us. Everybody wants to work here. There are two big announcements coming that will blow your mind.

Literally blow my mind?

Danny Bilson: Yes.

Awesome. I like that.

Tomonobu Itagaki: To respond to that comment – and this is just an analogy – but I like to develop apple fields, in a location where no one would imagine apples would grow. So, once the apple field’s established, apples will grow and we’ll get a lot of [apples]. But I’m not really interested in people that are only interested in how to optimize the cultivation of the fruit.

I like to grow oranges too. [Everyone laughs] So that’s what the next franchise will be, huh?

One last one for Itagaki-san. He’s one of the world’s leading games creatives, and his departure from Tecmo must have been a difficult period. It was a very public period. Is he glad to be able to put it all into the past and work with a partner that’s so open to allowing him to realize his vision?

Tomonobu Itagaki: I’m going to talk about two things.

OK.

Tomonobu Itagaki: Firstly, when I resigned from Tecmo, there was difficulty, but there were two things I had to finish there. I had to let my art director guy, [Hiroaki] Matsui, finish making the game he was leading, which was Ninja Gaiden 2. He had some unfinished business from Ninja Gaiden 1, so I wanted him to complete what he wanted to do.

Another thing is that my daughter cries and cries. She says, “Daddy has to make Dead or Alive.”

[Everyone laughs – Itagaki-san says in English, "True story," then hands back to the translator.]

It took about a year to convince her. But, you know, that’s two years ago. I have new friends, a new company and a new partner. It’s something really exciting, and something you can really look forward to, I think.

Interview – Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg

Aaron Greenberg is not the man you expect him to be. Once famed for his tirades against 360’s competition, Xbox’s director of product management is not actually green. He is, in fact, very pleasant. He smiles; he laughs; he exudes a relaxed air you wouldn’t have naturally associated with an integral player in Microsoft’s E3 planning, speaking first thing on a Wednesday morning smack in the middle of the show. He gives great dictaphone.

VG247 quizzed the Xbox boss on Kinect, the core, the politics behind securing exclusive reveals for the Microsoft press conference and why he’s not convinced the market’s right for a 3D push.

How’s E3 been for you so far?

Aaron Greenberg: It’s been a great show. We’ve been working hard for many months to share a lot of our innovations during E3. It’s exciting to finally have it out there, get people to have hands-on with Kinect and let everyone see the brand new Xbox 360. We’ve had world premieres of some of our big games like Halo’s campaign, Gears of War 3, Fable, etcetera. Lots of stuff to share.

How difficult has it been for you to marry showing off the hardcore stuff like Gears and the very casual stuff like the Rare games?

Aaron Greenberg: I think what’s really unique about the Xbox 360 is that we’re the only platform that’s able to show that range. We really believe that we can deliver the best blockbuster core games in the industry and also offer new experiences that allow a more casual user to come in as well.

I mean, we started that evolution a few years ago with things like the New Xbox Experience, adding movies, music and so on to the service. We added social networking last year with things like Facebook and Last.fm, and now this year we’ve added Kinect on top of all that, taking those experiences and making them controller-free, adding new experiences with Kinect; it’s all part of that evolution.

But at the same time, we’ve never had a bigger year for core games as we’ll have this year. Last night was a great example of that. We had a dedicated event just for Halo: Reach and we premiered the new Firefight mode. At the same time there was a 30-minute Cirque de Soleil special on Nickelodeon and MTV here in the States for the Kinect world premiere.

We’re able to speak to different audiences at the same time. We’re uniquely positioned to have that range and that variety of experiences.

There’s been a large amount of debate as to whether the motion camera is applicable to the core. Our audience is very much “core”. Do you even need to tell them that this is a core gaming device, or is this something you want to focus on the casual side with?

Aaron Greenberg: There’s a couple of things. One, I’m a gamer too. The first thing I think gamers want to be reassured about is that we’re not going to take the games that you know and love and the gameplay that makes sense with a controller and replace it: this is additive to what exists today.

We’re investing in building great blockbuster games that are made to be played with a controller, and we’re adding new partners like Crytek to our family, and we’ll continue to invest. But at the same time this allows us to add new experiences.

As a more core-oriented guy, I’d say the thing I’m more excited about is the entertainment functionality, the dashboard navigation and the voice navigation. The ability to interact with just my hands and my voice is just super-cool.

When people get hands-on, what we’re hearing from people is that, even when they’re playing the stuff that’s designed for a broader audience like Joyride, it’s so much fun to play, to just jump in and jump out: it’s just a different type of experience. It may not be the type of game you play for an hour, and it’s not about clearing levels and spending 15 hours play, but it’s still a lot of fun. The replay value is still really high.

I was told just before the show that you can plug a controller into Kinect. Can you play the Kinect games we’re seeing with a controller, or are they only playable with the camera?

Aaron Greenberg: Kinect is so revolutionary that the games we’re designing for it are built from the ground up uniquely for Kinect. The controller-based games are on one side, the Kinect games are on the other side. You can’t just plug in a controller and use it. We believe that the difference in the interface is pretty substantial, and having 16 buttons versus mapping different parts of your body and voice control…

That said, we know that millions of sensors will be out there starting this holiday, and that will enable us to add functionality and augment the experience. So you could see voice and some scenarios where we could add functionality that’s optional to games that are designed primarily for a controller, but add some functionality on top of that: we absolutely plan to do that.

One of the stand-out moments of you conference was the Metal Gear: Rising trailer. It looks phenomenal. It’s a major coup for you to get that in your conference. Can you give our readers a little insight into the sort of politics that goes on behind being able to show a game like that for the first time in your conference?

Aaron Greenberg: Well, the fact is that Don Mattrick, the head of our business, has a great relationship with Kojima-san, and we are obviously big fans of the Metal Gear series. We all grew up playing it.

As we thought about this generation, you’ve seen that our strategy is to have the most exclusives and the biggest blockbuster games. We’ve invested in Halo, and Gears of War, and Fable, and Alan Wake, and Crackdown 2, and a lot of the big titles that we think you’ll buy an Xbox 360 for.

At the same time we realize there’s a whole set of big franchises that we never had on our platform, things like Final Fantasy; Metal Gear was a great example of that. We feel like we’ve kind of removed that. Now, all the biggest games are really available now on Xbox 360. If you’re a gamer you have to have an Xbox, because that’s where those games are at.

To have Hideo Kojima come back this year was the perfect follow-up to last year. We were very cognizant about the things we promised last year and wanting to deliver: this is one example of that. When we unveiled Project Natal last year, we showed a vision with the video and some of the tech demos we did. We feel like we’re here and we’re delivering on that. It’s real, it works. I think we’re way over-delivering on things like voice and navigation, that no one ever expected. Plus there are really a lot of great games that are just scratching the surface, because we’re just talking about our launch line-up at this point.

Your core content’s entering a transitional phase. Bungie’s moving out with Halo and we’re seeing Gears of War 3, which is the third part in the trilogy. A lot of your big first-party product studios are moving on to different projects, or going multi-platform. How are you keeping 360’s core output together? Is this a difficult time for you, or do you see it as an opportunity?

Aaron Greenberg: On a macro level, I think what we’re seeing is that the big, independent studios are absolutely going multi-platform. Bungie’s one example of that, but the nice thing is we have a great relationship with Bungie. They’ve built a big base of fans, obviously, not just with Halo but what’s happened with Xbox Live. We think we need to be the platform of choice for their titles and we’re excited. We know that whatever they’re working on for the future will be great.

At the same time there are benefits for us, because we’re seeing studios like Insomniac going multi-platform. We’ve always admired their creativity and the brilliance they bring to this industry, and so to be able to now share that is exciting as well.

That’s just the independent guys. Then we have all the studios that we own internal, like Lionhead and their work in Europe, and Rare. We have a bunch of internal studios like Turn 10 which you’re seeing here at the show. And then a whole series of partners we’re working with to being great exclusive games to the platform.

We’re really investing heavily, and adding and building our core, just like we have over the last few years. The announcement we made with Crytek for Kingdoms is just one example of that. There are many more of those in the works as well.

I’m not sure if you watched the Sony conference yesterday or not, but there was a huge focus on 3D. You’re both talking a lot about motion at the moment, but 3D for them is incredibly important. They make 3D TVs, and there’s an obvious marriage there. I think it’s something you personally have spoken out about and said it’s a really expensive thing for the consumer and could potentially ostracize an audience. Do you still think that, or is this something you’re going to have to adopt into the 360 output at some point?

Aaron Greenberg: We’re a fully 3D-capable console today. We support 3D games that are in the market today. If you look at things like Avatar and the new Batman game, and some of the titles that were announced in 3D [at E3] like Crysis 2, they’re coming to Xbox 360. There’s no confusion that anyone looking for a 3D gaming experience will find those same experiences on the Xbox.

We’re also demoing here, behind closed doors, movies in 3D running on Xbox 360. The capability is there. The question is whether or not the consumer demand is there. That’s the unanswered question. We’re not a consumer electronics company that’s trying to sell 3D TVs, so we have the benefit of waiting until the market responds. We’re going to take probably more of a pull than a push approach.

What we’re excited about with things like Kinect is that we’re able to deliver fun new experiences that don’t require you to buy a new TV, that we think we deliver great value. As we think about our total cost of ownership story, we can really scale something that will be approachable to a very broad set of consumers. When you start to get into technologies that require you to buy new TVs or buy expensive glasses… The experiences may be fun, but the more expensive it gets, we know the more narrow the market opportunity becomes.

Technologically we’re ready and capable and demonstrating that, but we’ll wait for the market to respond.

Bungie – Reach is a “sad goodbye” for the team

Not just for the team Bungie

Bungie’s exec producer Joseph Tung has said that team will miss developing Halo: Reach now that the team is almost finished with it.

Speaking to Eurogamer, Tung said that Reach is a “sad goodbye” for the studio.

“The team is extremely proud of the game,” he said. “There’s always stuff that falls by the wayside, but I think we got everything in that’s critical to the game and more.”

Tung also revealed that that Reach will not offer Kinect support, explaining: “I wouldn’t say it’s not suited, but for us, Kinect came online when we were already a year and a half into production and it was impossible to think about integrating it at that point.”

The developer did add that the studio will be supporting the game in the future although he wouldn’t comment on what all the “support” entailed.

“We expect to put the same support into Reach that we did with past games,” he said.

“Reach is absolutely a full-fledged project at Bungie. The number of features you’re going to see overall is greater than any other project we’ve shipped.”

Speaking of Reach, VG247 had a chance to sit down with lead designer at Bungie Lars Bakken during E3. You can read up on that through here.

Halo: Reach is out on September 14.

Interview: Lionhead boss Peter Molyneux

Love him or hate him, Peter Molyneux is a major figure in global entertainment. His habit of “upselling” his projects has earned him the nickname Six Gun Pete, but we found the Lionhead boss in relaxed form in Los Angeles last night. We spoke with him after going hands-on with Fable III.

The Microsoft Games Studios Europe creative director talked about Fable, his relief at Kinect’s formal reveal, and why Milo isn’t on the showfloor at E3 this year – to most people, any way.

Warning: Mid-way through the interview, Molyneux dropped a big Fable II spoiler. You’ve been warned.

Hit the break for our full chat with him.

[Interview by Patrick Garratt]

VG247: I’m not going to talk about this game [Fable III] first. I want to talk about the other game. The one we didn’t see and the one I want to see: Milo. Where is Milo, Peter?

Peter Molyneux: So, it is in development, it still is in development. We’re continuing to develop it; it was decided not to show it here at E3. You know what I’m like, I would show it every day of the week. And actually, you when I look at it, I think there’s some smart reasons why we didn’t show it.

Now, it is pretty amazing, it is actually on show to celebrities. But it is amazing; it’s ten times more amazing then you think it is. You can see it in July if you go to Oxford. Because I’m doing a talk at TEDGlobal on Milo in July.

VG247: I’ll do that.

Peter Molyneux: It’s worth going to. And it’s an amazing honour to be able to do a TED talk. It’s a big thing.

VG247: How pleased are you that Kinect has finally been announced? Obviously, you are a huge ambassador for the system.

Peter Molyneux: You know, I’m going to say some really positive things here. The huge problems that Microsoft and their technical team solved is just an outstanding feat. And really, that technical team, who aren’t getting any press or any recognition, really deserve a medal, because they took one of the hardest problems to solve and they actually solved it. And it works. It works well.

And the experiences that you see at launch are good, they’re robust and they work. But I would encourage you and the whole world not to think of those experiences to define what Kinect is. It just gives you a glimpse of the future. I think that those launch titles are great, but the second wave of titles is where the real greatness comes.

VG247: You’re talking about next year?

Peter Molyneux: Here’s the thing. When you’ve got something as radical as what that is, when there is nothing in player’s hands, when you’re thinking about seeing their body and their face and hearing their voice, it’s going to take some time to bake.

And really, it’s only been around for a year. These are huge design problems to solve.

VG247: You’ve said that you built Kinect functionality back into Fable. You said that quite early on. That’s still the case, clearly?

Peter Molyneux: Yes, it is. It’s another thing that was chosen not to show at E3, or not to really comment about.

VG247: Well, I just played it. I want to kill Walter, and I wasn’t allowed. Why can’t I kill Walter, Peter?

Peter Molyneux: Well, you can kill him. We’ve just disabled that. That is part of the story which is being crafted for the game.

Now, it’s a problem when you’re at somewhere like E3, because the thing about Fable is I want you to actually love Walter. The character is voiced by the actor [Bernard Hill] who played King Theoden in The Lord of the Rings, and we built him up for about six hours for this point that you just played then, downstairs. When he goes blind… I don’t know if you saw that moment?

VG247: Yeah, I did.

Peter Molyneux: I want you to first of all feel angry that he’s gone blind. And it’s so much more interesting that he’s gone blind than died, because being blind is something we’re all scared of.

After that, you go into desert and you’re literally dragging him along. And as he gets weaker and weaker, he gets heavier and heavier and you get slower and slower. And I want that point to come where you just think “I’ve gotta leave him”.

VG247: I did leave him.

Peter Molyneux: I know, but it’s an A or B choice at the moment. I want that to be more emotional, and I want you to be walking away from him and him to be calling out and saying, “Please, please don’t leave me.” I want you to feel the emotion of that moment.

It’s very hard to capture that at E3. If you choose to kill him, then you should be able to kill him, for sure. Of course, when you’re king, you can do all sorts of things to him.

VG247: The lady that was showing me the game downstairs said there were children in the game, and that they were working. I asked if you make working conditions for the children better and she said yes immediately.

Peter Molyneux: And you can make them worse.

VG247: Right. It’d be fair to say you are obsessed with these sort of moral choices. It is a life-long obsession from what I can gather.

Peter Molyneux: It is, it really is. It started in Black & White and it went on. Half of these choices you make in Fable III are made while you’re becoming a revolutionary.

And they’re very easy to make, these promises to people. Take our politicians, for instance. And what we’ve done this time is that those promises become choices later on: do I keep my promise or do I break my promise?

There’s this character called Paige, and she says, “Look, when you’re king, I want you to turn all of these factories into schools.” And you have that choice. The consequences of taking that choice later on is really interesting, because that is what power is all about. It’s all about choices.

It’s all about you just saying, “I don’t care I promised that, you know, times have changed.” And there’s a really interesting saying which I wrote on the wall: “Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” I think that’s a really interesting thing for people to feel.

We allow you to be king, and we make it very hard for you to keep all of your promises.

VG247: I remember you saying – I think it was in the first Fable or Fable II – that very few people were actually evil.

Peter Molyneux: That’s very true. Especially Americans. Like, five percent of Americans were evil.

VG247: Do you expect to see a similar trait in this game, or are you going to force people to maybe be a little more evil?

Peter Molyneux: Well, I’ve got a really, really interesting stat to do with Milo that’s even more interesting on the good and evil side. But I think when you actually give a choice to be blatantly evil or good… I suppose some Americans really struggle with the evil side. Take the end of Fable II, for instance: will you save your dog and let all these people die?

People find it a little bit easier to make that decision because it’s less about what they’ve been taught as kids, that you must never be bad or never swear. And it’s more about, “Oh my God, what would I sacrifice to save my loved ones?”

There’s a lot more of those sort of choices in there. You’ve made these promises and you may want to be good to all of them, but you’ve got limited resources. That’s what our presidents and prime minister struggle with – I mean, in America, Obama promised faithfully that he would shut Guantanamo Bay, he would revolutionize the health service and neither have happened 18 months later. What happened?

He could have just picked up the phone and said, “Shut the damn place”. Why couldn’t he do that? And I think that’s a very interesting moral choice. People will struggle more with it because there’s no point in putting these moral choices if everyone chooses good all the time.

VG247: I had heard quite a lot of talk earlier this year that Fable III would be a pseudo MMO. There was a lot of rumour about that. I’m assuming that’s kind of correct, in that you still have some kind of multiplay?

Peter Molyneux: Yeah, we’ve still got the Albion orbs. Now you can invite any of those, or any of your friends at any point in the game. They come in as their own hero with their dog. They are free to do whatever they like in your world, so be careful.

VG247: Can they kill characters?

Peter Molyneux: They can kill characters in the game.

VG247: They can literally affect the story?

Peter Molyneux: They can affect the story. There are times we make sure that doesn’t happen. As the owner of the world, you’re the only one that can turn safety off.

Because we felt it was very frustrating and unfair if someone had come back to a town and someone’s slaughtered your entire family. But if you turn off safety, then it’s fair game. Also, you are free to marry your co-op player and you’re free to have children with your co-op player.

That means co-op players can have sex.

Or, if you don’t want to do that, you have your man and you’re playing with another man, you are free to go into business partnership, which is kind of almost the same as getting married; but with a man.

VG247: Can you be gay?

Peter Molyneux: Absolutely.

VG247: You can?

Peter Molyneux: Oh yeah.

VG247: Can you get married?

Peter Molyneux: Yeah, you can have same-sex marriage. And you can adopt as well. And there’s sexual diseases. Getting that through Microsoft geo-poli is tough, I can assure you.

VG247: How are you finding the 360 as a piece of hardware? Are you finding it limiting at the moment? Are you up against it?

Peter Molyneux: I’ll tell you what; it’s a brilliant thing that we’re releasing Fable III on PC. Because, I’ll let you know, I still love the PC. I think it’s a different machine nowadays; it’s got some weirdness about it.

I still like the 360, I just miss the, “Hey, what it’s going to turn into next year?” But you know, it’s definitely a nice bit of kit. I think things like Kinect really extends the life a bit, for sure.

Fable III release on October 26, 2010 for Xbox 360 and PC.

Interview – Epic’s Rod Fergusson

Epic showed off Gears of War 3 in a big way during the Microsoft press conference at E3 this week by debuting the game’s new co-op mode, Beast, and a more open-air feel that contrasts greatly when compared to Gears 2.

With a new look thanks to an upgraded Unreal Engine 3, and new ways to fight for your survival against the Horde and a new imposing threat, Epic is confident that Gears 3 will be a satisfactory conclusion a storyline that started back in 2006 with the original Gears of War.

During a Microsoft party last evening, VG247 had a chance to sit down and talk to the game’s executive producer Rod Fergusson, who shared with us the developmental thinking behind adding four-player co-op to series already renown for cooperative experiences.

[Interview by Patrick Garratt]

VG247: So, Gears 3 is the end of Gears of War.

Rod Fergusson: It’s the end of this story. It’s the end of the trilogy, basically, the conclusion to this epic trilogy to give a satisfying ending to the player so that he feels as if he’s actually accomplished something.

So, it’s really focused on giving some closure and the feeling of like “Yeah, I’ve done it. I’ve gotten the story done”. We’re not going to answer everything, because we think that mystery is necessary to make the world compelling, but at the same time there are a lot of open questions and we want to help them resolve those”.

VG247: The game has had a bit tech upgrade since Gears 2, and it looks much better. A lot of people think that in those terms that Gears 2 is kind of “it”, so to see the way Gears 3 looks with the lighting upgrade – you think you won’t get any more out of it – so what’s next? Are you looking at the next wave of hardware now?

Rod Fergusson: Unreal Engine 3 is just constantly changing. With every game, we make an improvement on Unreal Engine 3 and with it being two years since shipping the last Gears we’ve got the new lighting model and the new shadow model – we have new vertex animation to make the world more interactive, I mean there is a a lot of great stuff. So, Unreal Engine just keeps improving and improving.

That’s one of the things we hold ourselves to. Every time we release a new Gears game, we kind of want to be the bar set for the industry and then to say “Hey look, we think this can be the game that people want to buy to show off their HD system, to show off their projection television, and show what the Xbox 360 is capable of doing”.

So, we hold ourselves to that, yet it’s hard. I mean, name a trilogy that has all three games on the same platform.

VG247: I can’t.

Fergusson: Exactly. I mean it’s not like we have the luxury of the same hardware each time. We are doing it on the same hardware every time over and over again.

VG247: I don’t think that it would be overblown to say that you are really are beyond anything I have seen in terms of the actual tech, I mean you really are ahead of the curve. Bulletstorm is a classic example of that, as it is a really good looking game. I mentioned to the Ghost Recon guys today that if you look at the Gears of war games, they are really pushing things technically. And they basically said, something along the lines of “Yes, we find it hard to keep up”.

Fergusson:[Laughs] See, with a simple engine license they can keep up step and step with us if they really wanted to. [Laughs]

VG247: This time around you have four-player co-op, which is something you wanted to put into Gears 2. Is this something you felt you sort of had to do – I mean, was it a goal that you felt you needed to attain from a personal level or studio perspective, or do you think it really adds to the game?

Fergusson:In terms of four-player co-op over two-player co-op, we felt if we started at the right place – I mean if you think about it, it’s an unbelievable challenge. We don’t look at it as “Oh let’s take the main character and clone him three times”, we’ve been trying to do it from a character driven perspective and to write a story where there is always four people around all the time is really hard.

But we look at the way we like to play and we look at what our strength is and how people think about us in the industry – when you think Gears of war you think co-op. So, we’re looking at other games that are doing four-player co-op and we’re like “That’s our space, we own that space. We helped redefine what co-op was on that platform [360]“, so we want to reclaim that. Yet we want to do that in a unique way, by having unique characters to drive that.

So to us it wasn’t so much about having a technical responsibility. It was really about making a really compelling four-player co-op. I mean, I’m playing four-player co-op in Red Dead right now in a posse – and that’s what’s going on now. And that’s another reason we created Beast mode – I mean right now our most popular mode is Horde, and it’s a five-player co-op mode. So again, we’re playing to our strengths and Beast mode is a five-player co-op and it’s just so much fun and you can do it cooperatively.

VG247: Watching the first look at one of the levels in Gears 3 during the demonstration at Microsoft’s event was really great, I mean there it was on the screen with all these oranges and yellows. It was rather amazing looking. Were you pleased with the reception it got?

Fergusson: Oh yes. Definitely. I mean, you know, that’s what were about – creating these water cooler moments where people go, “Man that is bad ass!”, and yeah, it is bad ass.

Gears is a game with a group of people who are building a game they like to play. The Gears series is the only game that I worked as hard as I have to make the game so I can go home and play it. We are building a game that we love to play. So we want to have those spectacular moments in the game whether it involves a Berserker or a bag and tag execution – all that stuff. It’s like give me something memorable, you know? And that’s the way we design as level you know, like “Tell me the five things you want to do in this level”.

VG247: How difficult is it though to maintain the momentum and keep the player engaged. Essentially, how do you make sure there is never a boring moment?

Fergusson: Part of it is making sure the core combat is very cool. So, on one hand you will have this spectacular moment, and then switch back to core combat and with the executions and weapons and the creatures – it is constantly fun, right? Then we have what we call a pallet cleaners, which is like a vehicle moment thrown in, or something like that so it switches it so that when you go back to core it’s exciting again. It gives you a little bit of a break.

For us, we feel that one of our biggest success, and one we really focus on, is the notion of pace. That’s why we look at this as a having a “summer blockbuster pace”, one that is a bit of a roller coaster ride where you’ll want to keep moving. I mean, people criticize us for Gears 1 and the amount of story we had – but really we just wanted to keep the pace up. Really, when you look at it – we did customer service satisfaction surveys after it came out – that was our number one stat because 95 percent of people felt the pace was just right.

We also had huge numbers of people who made it all the way through the game. It pulled them through it – the pace kept them going. That’s what we focus on. Every time we play through the game, we are conscious of whether it’s the right pace, if we are hitting the right beats, and is it fun all the time.

VG247: In the first Gears, you had the cover mechanic….

Fergusson: Yeah, they were saying we weren’t innovative, but we said, okay well we’ll take your non-innovation there and see who wins this argument [laughs].

VG247: The second game had a different art-style to it and then it also had sections of combat where you would have to clear a section that added completely different elements to the core gameplay – ones that were different. So, what are we going to see in the third one that is different?

Fergusson: In terms of core combat we really have lots of things, like new executions, new weapons, new moves, the usual things you would expect from a sequel. We’re kind of bringing back a slightly older design philosophy to apply to four-player co-op because at the end of the day when you look at Gears 2, whether it be because we were inside a worm or because we were underground running in a tunnel, it was a little bit more linear just because of the environment that we were in.

With four-player co-op you can’t have those kind of environments and spaces, so we wanted to open up the world, throw some cover down, and let four people go out and try and find a way to deal with this threat and being able to team up a certain way, or move forward a certain way. That is one of the big things we are really pushing for we want to get back to these combat bowls – which is what we call them – and enemy square moments where you can split up and take out a control center instead of people being stuck in more of a long hallway.

VG247: Right because the first Gears was more of an open air experience where as the second one was more of a claustrophobic experience.

Fergusson: It’s a mix really. We think of it as an hourglass, ya know. There’s a bowl, and then we get you where you need to go, and then there’s another bowl. But when you have four people looking for cover and looking for different ways to deal with the threat, you’ve got to give them some flexibility there. If you allow one way to do something for four people, they’re going to be banging into each other and shooting each other in the back – and that’s not fun. This way, it’s all about giving them choice and opportunity.

I think its more of emergent gameplay and flexibility. Where a different situation can play out differently because you have so many choices now.

VG247: Is this the last Gears of War game that we’re going to see on Xbox 360?

Fergusson: I don’t know. I mean, we’re focused on Gears 3 right now and we’re focused on saying that this is the conclusion to this story. But whether there’s more stories or other ways to explore the universe – I’m not saying, but this is going to be a satisfying end for the players.

The player are going to love the way this story ends and it’s going to feel good and like they played through the whole trilogy.

E3 Sony and Nintendo…

I can’t seem to find any videos of the conference and unfortanely I won’t be able to do it like I did with Microsoft so I’m just going to put the links to what happened here:

Sony E3 press conference – everything in one place

So let’s start at the beginning.

First up from Sony was news that Killzone 3 will be releasing in February next year, with full Move and 3D support. Not bad for starters, however much more was to come.

Rudely interrupting Peter Dille, was none other than Kevin Butler who came on stage, to talk up PlayStation Move and also throw a tirade of abuse at the competition.

It was probably one of the funniest things ever seen at E3, with pants being wet with laughter all over VG247 towers.

After that madness, came news that 40 developers and publishers are working on Move, 70 PSP titles are coming to PSP by the end of the year and also news that Sony are to release PlayStation +, a brand new subscription service.

The Megaton’s were still to come though, and when Sony announced exclusive content for EA titles Medal of Honor and Dead Space 2, as well as exclusive content for Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and Mafia II  – the crowd when into rapture mode.

Once everyone calmed down, they were at least safe in the knowledge that Sony couldn’t top what had just happened.

Oh how wrong they were.

Out steps Gabe Newell to introduce Portal I2 complete with Steamworks on PS3, followed soon after by David Jaffe to announce a new Twisted Metal.

Oh – and Gran Turismo 5 was finally dated in the US for November 2. Finally.

Here is the full round up:

• New Twisted Metal for PlayStation 3 announced
• Gran Turismo 5 dated for November 2 in US, Latin America
• Mafia II content exclusive to PlayStation 3
• Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood MP beta exclusive to PS3
• Dead Space Limited Edition on PS3 has Extraction
• Portal 2 coming to PS3 with Steamworks
• PS3 to get exclusive Medal of Honor content
• Sony announces PlayStation +
• Jack Tretton: 70 new psp titles by year’s end
• Sony reveals Move titles
• PSN: Over 50 million users signed-up since 2006
• Move dated for September in West, October in Japan
• Kevin Butler appears at Sony E3 conference
• Heroes on the Move revealed
• Move support for Tiger Woods PGA to come via dlc
• Sorcery demoed using PlaStation Move
• Sony: 40 Developers and publishers working on Move games
• Sly Cooper Collection confirmed, is 3D compatible
  
• Killzone 3 releasing February 2011, has Move support
• One speaker Surround Sound for PS3 coming this fall
• Sony launch PlayStationPlus website

E3 2010 – Nintendo megatons get rounded up

Nintendo dropped more than a couple bombshells on us during it’s E3 press conference.

The shockers mainly came from a MGS being made for 3DS, the promised Kid Icarus game, Donkey Kong no longer being a rumor, and of course, the new Zelda title.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata talked all things technical with 3DS, Miyamoto demonstrated The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and of course the new Kirby game along with Epic Mickey were shown as well.

Get it all rounded up below.

• MGS 3DS title is Snake Eater in 3D
• Metal Gear being shown on 3DS at Nintendo booth
• E3 2010 – Nintendo press conference live!
• Nintendo reveal 3DS games from EA, THQ, more
• Kojima announces Metal Gear 3DS title
• Epic Mickey shown at Nintendo E3 presser
• Nintendogs confirmed for 3DS, also has cats
• Zelda Wii called Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
• GoldenEye 007 announced for November
• Kid Icarus announced for 3DS
• Just Dance 2 revealed
• Golden Sun: Dark Dawn announced for DS
• Nintendo 3DS revealed for first time – plays 3D movies
• Nintendo announces Kirby’s Epic Yarn for Wii
• Nintendo announces Mario Sports Mix
• Donkey Kong coming to Wii this holiday season
• Zelda: Skyward Sword releasing next year

Gran Turismo 5 information blow out

It  has been a long time coming and now thanks to E3 we know a few more facts about Gran Turismo 5.

Gran Turismo 5 will feature more than 1000 licensed cars from the world’s top manufacturers and more than 20 tracks with more than 70 variations, including famous world circuits, city courses, and other environments.

The game will also feature real-time visual damage with adaptive and accurate car deformation based on point of impact and velocity.

One of the main additions is a brand new online and community mode which features the ability to go head to head against up to 16 players, although there are also other online modes which allow you to host private races with lobbies supporting up to 32 players per lobby.

Text and Voice chat will also be available online.

In addition to the above the game includes the following:

• Various professional race modes from around the world such as NASCAR, World Rally Championship, Super GT and more.
• Two-player split/screen mode.
• Career mode returns with a full world map, licensed car dealerships, tuning and body shops, and car washes. Start your car collection, customize them to your liking, and live the life of a pro racer.
• Compete in franchise mainstays like point-based Championship Race series and hone your skills with License Tests.
• Gran Turismo TV Video gives players access to an online clearinghouse of great motorsport video programming (both HD and SD – all broadcast quality) through PSN. Users can now export this content to the GT PSP Museum (GT PSP required).
• Photo Mode and Photo Album allows users to capture their greatest GT moments, and share with friends. Players can stage and capture stylish shots from a number of angles and locations.
• Photo Album can be shared online, and the Online Replay Album lets players capture replay video from their favorite races and upload them to YouTube for the world to see.
• Players can create custom soundtracks from music stored on their PS3s to play in-game.
• Players who own Gran Turismo PSP and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue can transfer cars unlocked in that game directly to their garage in Gran Turismo 5 for use in Arcade Mode through special cross-talk interoperability.

Gran Turismo 5 releases on November 2 in the US. I’m still tracking down a EU date from Sony.

Here come the Rooster – Spec Ops: The Line video

2K has released the E3 trailer for Spec Ops: The Line, and if it doesn’t get your heart pumping a bit, you’re dead inside.

Granted, a lot of it may have to do with the Alice in Chains song attached to it – but still, a shoot-em up in the desert with some of Seattle’s finest grunge – well, let’s just say I liked it.

It’s better than the creepy Bjork song from the first video we saw.

The game is being called “the most provocative shooter yet” by the game’s producer. Hopefully he’s right.

It’s slated for 2K’s FY11 on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 and an open Beta is expected sometime before release.

THQ teases WK40K: Space Marine

THQ has put out some screens and a video for Relic’s Warhammer action-shooter, Space Marine.

In it, players “don the armor of one of the emperor’s chosen in a battle for the very survival of humanity”.

Awesome.

It’s a third-person affair set in space containing a mix of melee and ranged combat, and is slated for Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2012.

More of the game will be shown at gamescom in August.

ALSO READ THIS just in case, I may take a while to post Nintendo, Activision and Sony E3 conferences because I’m waiting for a video, where it “shows” what happened, so it may take a while, I’m sorry for anything, I just don’t like not posting the full thing, plus I haven’t seen those three conferences

Shank gets E3 trailer

EA has released a trailer for its upcoming PC, PSN and XBLA beat’ em up Shank.

Shank is looking like a highly polished title, which sees you work your way through the levels equipped with double pistols, double shanks, a chainsaw and all other manner of weapons.

The game certainly has an experienced team behind it with God of War series writer Marianne Krawczyk behind the script, and experienced animator Jeff Agala, former director of Atomic Betty, as creative lead.

Shank is set for released this summer on PC, Xbox Live Arcade and PSN.

P.S. This game rocks so hard :p

PES 11 gameplay trailer!!

Konami has released a brand new gameplay trailer for PES 2011, showing off player animation and in game action for the first time.

The trailer shows off  the new feint system and the all-new power bar that allows the user to determine the exact strength and placement of passes, shots or throw-ins in the game.

It’s looking pretty awesome actually, I’m impressed Konami, really impressed!

PES 2011 is due to land on PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii and X360 this Autumn.

EA and Ubisoft presses…

..all together again :p

I ain’t gonna do this like Microsoft, because it gives a lot of work, and I still have a lot of things to put here, so I’m only gonna do those with Nintendo and Sony, and only gonna post those when the videos of the presses are available.

So here’s the conference of EA and Ubisoft:

Microsoft’s E3 press conference…

…everything together and fluffy :p

1

So overall we had a couple of interesting things:

CoD: Black Ops Gameplay Demo – Meh, nothing I didn’t expect actually, was more hyped than should, now I’m a little disappointed, overall the game looks nice, but I hate the explosions, he shoots missiles to nowhere and it makes a black cloud!? WTF is wrong with that? Wrong fireworks? Yeah I don’t like it, other than that, it’s nice. They showed a couple of interesting moments, the cave part was the beginning so they showed it, the jungle part was more for the graphics and the chopper part, we all know why: EVERYONE TO THE CHOPPA!!! Basically because people were getting bored.

Gameplay Demo Rating – 7/10

All CoD: Black Ops DLCs are coming first to Xbox360 until 2012 – I don’t actually think this is that big of a deal, because they didn’t say it was exclusive all the way until 2012 or if it was like the MW2 ones, exclusive for a month or so, in that case it only means that until 2012 all DLCs of Black Ops will be exclusive for a month or so only, which doesn’t make that much of a difference, but if it’s the other case, exclusive all the way to 2012, then hell yeah it’s a big deal, CoD series are tired and milked already but as we can see people still buy it, A LOT, so yeah I think it may win some money for Microsoft, but nothing interesting for gamers.

Announcement Rating –> 6/10

Metal Gear Solid: Rising Trailer - FINALLY!! A f***** trailer! And people most awesome trailer of Metal Gear (yeah I think they should take the Solid out of this one) I laughed so hard when I saw him cutting the watermelon, oh Kojima I love you <3 but now really awesome trailer, I was surprised with them showing the gameplay in the end, but really happy, until now I liked it, must have definitely, also liked the cutting mechanism, showing where he’s gonna cut and stuff. For me one of the, if not probably the best, announcement of the Microsoft conference.

Announcement Rating –> 9/10

Gears of War 3 Gameplay Demo – I liked it, unlike Black Ops I think they showed really interesting parts, loved to see the new lambent biatches in action, plus the BERSEKER IS BACK!!! YAYY!! My love one from Gears 1 is back and lambent likee! Plus they were playing in four-player co-op, also liked the trading weapons part, which will serve as a HUGE help. I’m happy with the new environments where to play, all green and stuff, different from the others and better in the part where the 3rd game is about the finale and how the world changed, and now they’re showing it, through fights in jungles, boats in the sea, etc. Another factor I liked was how fluid was the fight, much more than the other 2, and how the Lambent interacted with the Locust. Liked the new suits and the new MELEE attack, from the old Pendulum Rifle, I saw better gore, not so exaggerated and better more realistic, overall really liked the demo, especially the end! The new mode they talked about Beast, I bet it’s probably a mode where you play as the Locust and/or Lambent, but as the Lambent are the neutral maybe you don’t play them, but it’s a possibility and would be a great one if the mode would be you (Lambent) VS Locust VS Gears, that would be awesome, or as Locust, anyway just a free-for-all, anyway anxious what it is about.

Gameplay Demo Rating – 8/10

doesn’t get the 10 because the surprise factor wasn’t present, this was something everybody already expected

Fable 3 Trailer – So we now have a date: October 26 if I heard it right, that’s good, I think we didn’t have one until now. The trailer was actually the best Fable trailer I’ve seen, it had gameplay, it had story it had everything it needed too, perfect hype for a wonderful game, this is another one I want, besides that there isn’t much more to say from the trailer.

Announcement Rating –> 7/10

Codename: Kingdoms – New exclusive biatches!! Looks a bit like 300/God of War, but the problem may be Crytek, due to its noobness in 3^rd person action adventures, well at least I think it’s gonna be 3^rd person. We all know Crytek for her “we push the graphics to the limits!! Likeness” but we don’t know her for her console experience and her blockbuster like gameplay. Sure Crytek made Crysis, it’s nice, awesome graphics, but gameplay is good not blockbuster GOOD and the story, the story is just predictable, I hope that I’m wrong to Crysis 2, I’m not saying I hate Crysis, actually I bought Crysis 1 and I loved it, but I think that it may be risky to do an agreement with a developer that just began her console experience, maybe it’s too soon, but I hope that other companies may help the project and that another Gears/Halo/Fable/Mass Effect blockbuster game may come from this.

The trailer was nice overall although it didn’t actually show us anything, except three guys with weapons and a whole lot of bodies, and something related to madness, oppression and other related themes, maybe the game will be about some revolution or something, I bet that if the story keeps like the trailer it will be awesome, I do not want to be a Xbot but, in my opinion this single trailer owns all of God of War series, I have GoW 1 and 2 and I didn’t like them that much, too much puzzles, not enough action and gore from a game that is suppose to rule the gods.

Announcement Rating –> 9/10 (it doesn’t get the 10 due to Crytek, but hey let’s hope I’m wrong)

Halo Reach Gameplay Demo – Another gameplay demo, another thing people already expected. Overall it was nice but not enough. I liked the new HUD, I liked the explosions, I liked the new weapons, I liked the new sprint and the new melee attack!, I liked the new environments and I liked the gameplay especially the space war part (real surprise there), I’m a fan of Halo, and right now my favorite one would be ODST or 2 (I hated from the bottom of my heart Halo 3), I loved ODST because it was different, it changed, it marked a change, it was a whole different level of Halo, and I loved, and right now that’s how I feel towards Halo Reach, it’s different and I love it. But there’s one thing that I think they should change about Halo, it’s time for a different enemy, in Halo 2 they introduced those mutants or whatever, I can’t recall the name right now but people liked it, they didn’t get upset, as we can see right now, in Gears 3, Epic introduced us the Lambent, people like it, some love it (like me, I love new challenges), overall it was a great move from them. So why Bungie, why not new enemies? I’m kind of tired of seeing the same old Covenant all over the games; at least introduce us to a new kind of Covenant. It’s the only flaw I see (well not that there aren’t others, but the main flaw in my opinion).

Gameplay Demo Rating –> 9/10

Kinect Demonstration – In here we saw the dude (which was black, I’m not being racist or anything, but I think they chose him due to that rumor of Na…Kinect not being able to recognize people of color) talking and showing how Kinect will be able to recognize your voice and your body and as you can select music, movies and everything else with your bare hands. Next we saw a woman talking about videoKinect, which is a video chat with Kinect, in which both people could watch movies together, among other things, overall people need to see that Microsoft is looking to Kinect as a tool to make things easier and more accessible and not as a controller or gaming device, people only think of Kinect to play and obviously get disappointed at its first results, games of sports and adventures, but with the right perception and the right point of view, Kinect will be accepted and people will realize its true potential, because I sincerely prefer something without a controller (kinect) rather than a sensor controller (move and wii), it is more challenging to make games for it and if made right probably much more fun, especially for parties. Overall I think it was a good presentation, nothing special but nothing boring either, they showed the essential and it was enough.

Kinect Demonstration Rating –> 8/10

ESPN coming to Live – Although only for gold members, I think it may be a good addition, mostly for Americans, because I doubt that will be coming to Europe soon, and if it is, it will be like always, Portugal won’t have it. As I said it’s a good addition, but for me, no difference, I don’t need it.

Announcement Rating –> 7/10 (although I don’t like it, I have to say it’s not that bad)

Kinect Games:

Kinectimals – or whatever it name was, wait a minute, was it NintendoDogs? Ohh it was EyePet, really for god sake, does every console need a game of you and a pet? The answer is no. Plus it seemed to have a little bit of lag.

Kinect Joy Ride – We had already seen Joy Ride, but now it is Kinect Joy Ride, and also it won’t be free anymore. Yeah…I’m starting to doubt I will buy this game.

Kinect Sports – This one seemed a little more interesting because of football (yes in Europe football plays you! Oh wait that’s in soviet union) and volley, which at least for me are sports that I haven’t seen in another games, well maybe volley yes, but football sure haven’t seen on wii. Fun for parties.

Kinect Adventures – Maybe the most fun one for parties, probably yes, actually liked it, full of potential, let’s hope they take it.

Overall, the thing I like the most about Kinect games is the use of avatars, finally I see some use of the avatars we make.

Kinect Games Rating –> 7/10 (I hoped to see better games, maybe a couple of “hardcore”)

Fitness Evolved – Mom will probably like this one :p And now I have another excuse to play consoles, its for my fitness! Yay more games to play and more time to fry my xbox :p Anyways, I think its well done but maybe a little bit confusing with so much information, although with some practice and a little bit of time I think anyone can master it and begin to workout at home, like he would at any place.

Announcement Rating –> 8/10

Dance Central – Another game from Harmonix and people did I get excited seeing this, and let me tell, I’ve NEVER danced in my whole life, never, the only time I think I would have to dance would be in my wedding (due to obvious reasons), but its not that I’m not social or anything, is just that I don’t know how to dance and I don’t want to make a fool of myself, and that is why I’m excited about this game, because it may give me the confidence to go out and dance in discos and stuff, that’s how people should look at it, this game is maybe the first music game I see that teaches me something, yes I’ve played Rockband, I’ve played Guitar Heroes, for what? To click in a bunch of buttons and learn nothing? No, with this I can learn to dance, and maybe I will buy it, depending if I get Kinect or not, but I may, just may, ask for one in Christmas or in my birthday, which basically is the same thing (my birthday is in 23^rd December :/ yeah it is bad, you don’t need to ask).

Announcement Rating –> 10/10 (this single announcement made my day)

Star Wars Kinect Gameplay Trailer – OMG OMG this is gonna be awesome, I can so see myself playing that (I’ve reached the point where my opinion is based on omgs and stuff like that, my brain is melting from this :p), swinging my arms while dodging stuff and doing force pushes (the force is strong with this one!!! Aka me). From what we saw in the gameplay trailer, I can see every movement he made be done by the person playing and recognized by Kinect, because every move I saw was unique, which means every action will have its movement, there’s no way that you won’t be able to do all of them, and that Kinect won’t recognize it. The only thing I would love to see with it, would be a lightsaber to use, with an on/off button, and a mechanism which would vibrate when stumbled with another lightsaber, but obviously, that would lose all the Kinect point, and would simply become a wii, but I’m not saying it should be mandatory to use, maybe like a peripheral, an optional buy just for the fun, but the question is, if it starts going like that, in no time, it ends up being a wii.

Announcement Rating –> 9/10 (it will be mind-blowing)

Kinect Forza – Will this be a Forza 4 with the possibility for Kinect? Will this still be Forza 3 with an update for Kinect? Will this be a Forza only for Kinect? That, those questions my friends, they didn’t answer, what they showed was some functions of Kinect in Forza, but let me ask a question, don’t we already have steering wheel controllers with pedals? Isn’t that realistic enough? I’m not saying you shouldn’t put an option for Kinect, its okay, I simply can’t see the point, you want to give an opportunitie for those who don’t have those steering wheel controllers but which have Kinect, to be able to experience a realistic driving too? You may be right, but I prefer the steering wheel controller, I certainly think it’s more realistic, nevertheless it’s a good addition.

Announcement Rating –> 7/10

New Xbox360 – Just when I bought my Xbox360 the new came out, but I’m not surprised, I was expecting it, and I already bought the 360 because this version will only be in Europe in July 16 if I’m not wrong, and in Portugal it will be even later, so yeah I don’t regret it, people say it was probably the best moment, I say it was the most expected, so it really is nice, all blackie and stuff, I think the new model is gorgeous, a lot of people say it is ugly, why? I think its modern and different, and now its improved, no more ps fanboys saying: we have wi-fi you don’t ahahahah!!, yeah we have it now too, sureee we don’t have blu-ray, but I don’t need it either, that and 3D, those two things I don’t need and won’t need for another 10 years.

Announcement Rating –> 8/10 (expected)

Overall – I think the presentation was nice, a lot of people say it sucked, worst presentation from M$, etc etc, probably right but it didn’t suck, people just expected too much, like another game announced, maybe more hardcore presentations, but what did you thought? Kinect isn’t hardcore, and I doubt it will be anytime soon, sure THQ (I think it was them) have a 50million dollars plan for Kinect (a game that costs to make that much) but that will only do it if the response to Kinect is right, and with this much haters I don’t think it will, I want it, I’m no hater but I’m no fanboy, but I must admit it looks nice. Anyway I think the presentation was nice, you got a bit of Gears 3, you got a bit of Halo Reach, you got a bit of Fable 3 and even a new Crytek exclusive 360 game announced, what do you want more? The moon in a stick??

Overall Rating –> 8/10

Bad news…

I arrived a while back from an waterpark and immediatly began seeing E3, because has I arrived it started (the microsoft part) and then I finished sawing it now. But the bad news is I won’t be able to provid the fast E3 coverage, tomorrow I’m going to Lisbon (Portugal Capital) and it’s gonna take the whole day, and today I’m literally dead from the waterpark and can’t do much in this condition so I beg ur pardon and excuse me while I go lie the hell down in my bed and die :p

LA Times goes behind the scenes of tomorrow’s Natal event

The LA Times has gotten a sneak-peek from Microsoft on what to expect during tomorrow nights’ Natal Experience event at the Galen Center.

According to the article, Cirque du Soleil will be performing a 45-minute number based on how Natal helps one “overcome obstacles”.

“It’s a story about humanity, about a quest and about overcoming obstacles,” said Michel Lapris, the artistic director for Cirque du Solei. “In history, there have been discoveries that have made us leap forward as a civilization. But those technologies demanded that we master their language, the language of machines.

“This time, it’s the machine that’s adapting. The human is at the center, doing what comes naturally. Moving, jumping, talking. And it’s up to the machine to interpret what that means.”

A cast of 80 performers along with a crew of over 100 designers, set builders, engineers and seamstresses came down from the troupe’s Montreal studios to prepare for the event.

“This is a massive investment for Microsoft,” said Aaron Greenberg. “For us, it wasn’t about the money. It was about creating an experience that would be remembered forever.”

Pat will be at the event, and while we’ve been told that no cameras or other electronic devices will be allowed, the show will be broadcast live.

Here’s the broadcast schedule in case anyone got confused over the announcement from May – and this is straight from Microsoft PR:

• Sunday, June 13, 7 PM PT: World Premier of Project Natal for Xbox 360, broadcast live via Spike TV and GTTV

• Monday, June 14, 11:30 AM PT: Xbox 360 E3 media briefing, broadcast live via Spike TV and GTTV

• Tuesday, June 15, 1:30 PM ET: MTV airs World Premier of Project Natal for Xbox 360 (previously recorded at the Sunday night performance, not live)

WHY DOESN’T IT START ALREADY

Pachter: Xbox 360 Slim, PSP2 will be at E3

Michael Pachter has used the latest episode of his Pach Attack show to predict a Xbox 360 Slim and a PSP2 appearance at E3.

The Wedbush Morgan analyst predicts that the Xbox 360 Slim will come with motion camera Natal build in and cost around $299: something he’s already predicted once before.

Pachter wasn’t quite as positive when it came to Wii HD, though, saying he feels that Nintendo will probably release the console as it would be too late now to complete with Sony and Microsoft’s motion efforts.

Finally the analyst said that he believes that Sony will reveal a PSP 2 at E3, adding that the device will include a built-in camera and video camera. Pachter predicts that it will be a “multipurpose device” which will give the iPod a run for its money.

That’s despite VG247 being told that, because of Sony’s plans to reveal the premium PlayStation Network on Tuesday night UK time, a PSP2 reveal would be held off until either gamescom or Tokyo Games Show at least.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World trailer

No…not the movie…not the comics (how could that be?)…yes the game :/ oh god what this world come too.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World has a trailer, and it’s full of samurai fighting, beating up baddies, guitar minigames, and plenty of 2D flair.

Announced during Comic Con 2009 by Ubisoft Montreal, comic creator Bryan Lee O’Malley’s vision looks like it has come to life rather well.

The game is expected sometime this year on XBL and PSN.

E3 trailer for The Agency released

SOE has put out a new video for its action- shooter, The Agency.

The game takes place in an online persistent world full of  bullets, bombs and other dangerous things you would expect to happen in the life of an “elite agent in a world of superspies and rugged mercenaries”.

The E3 trailer for the video is below.

Sony will more than likely be showing its shooter-MMO at E3 next week.

It’s slated for release this year sometime.

Fallout: New Vegas gets swinging E3 trailer

Bethesda’s showing Fallout: New Vegas in a massive way at E3 next week. This is one way of showing it.

The E3 trailer for the Obsidian spin-off shows off the first public gameplay footage of the RPG.

It releases this fall for PS3, 360 and PC.

ZOMG excitement