Joystiq

Joystiq goes to E for All

Kevin Kelly — 2008-10-03T13:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Action, Online, Casual

E for All remains the ghostly and distant third cousin of the previous mammoth version of E3 that's open to the public, and it takes place inside the carcass of that fearsome beast, the Los Angeles Convention Center. While we misjudged the time and arrived two hours early, that gives us plenty of time to peruse the schedule and pick our poison.

So far the highlights include:

A treadmill race across Azeroth
Meet and greet with Billy Mitchell
Samples of Gamer Grub, snacks developed for gamers
Hands-on with Ubisoft's Far Cry 2, Tom Clancy's End War, Shaun White Snowboarding, and Activision's Guitar Hero World Tour
Putting our butt in a Boom Chair
And the... Los Angeles Unified School District? "Participating students will obtain a deeper understanding of video games and how they can be incorporated into their future careers from speakers - including Fatal1ty - who will describe their experience with video games and ways to break into the industry." Run kids, run.

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Will Wright calls E3 a walking corpse

Kevin Kelly — 2008-08-29T06:00:00+00:00

Filed under: E3, Business

The latest bandwagon that people seem to be hopping onto is the "Let's bash E3" express. We've had our own prognosticator proclaiming that the video game expo is past its prime, and now Will Wright is joining in by delivering a couple of swift kicks to the ribs. Then he backed over it a few times with his car before driving to his giant Scrooge McDuck pool of money and diving in.

In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, he calls the ailing conference "the walking dead" and says that the recently slenderized version of E3 from last month was "such an abrupt end to what was E3..." At least he could have bought it flowers or something while he was busy pronouncing it to be a living corpse. The nerve of some people.

We're just about to get some shuteye before launching into the crazy realm of PAX 2008, and we'll see if E3 does indeed look like a zombie in comparison. Maybe all it needs is a little makeup.

[Thanks, Jonah]

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Nintendo sends Thank-You note to E3 attendees

Ross Miller — 2008-08-14T00:47:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, E3

click to embiggen

We received a nice letter from Nintendo of America today, thanking us for our attendance at their E3 2008 media briefing (we think the community has already sent their messages to NoA). At first, we were excited to have authentic signature from famous Nintendo executives Reggie Fils-Aime, Cammie Dunaway and Denise Kaigler (we like to collect them like pokemon).

Our excitement then quickly turned to utter disappointment (some would call that appropriate). As it turns out, every attendee got the same letter, complete with the same signatures in the exact same spots. After we discovered the names were stamped on, their eBay value immediately dropped from US $0.01 to three pieces of hair and a first-print of Daikatana.

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Joystiq hands-on: IndieCade games galore

Kevin Kelly — 2008-08-13T08:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Arcade, Culture, Features, PC, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Online, Puzzle, Strategy, E3, Casual, Galleries

One of the things we made sure to do at E3 this year was to spend a significant amount of time with the IndieCade folks. Then we sat on that info long enough for some of these games to get picked up, have a successful release, come out with sequels, spawn movies, novels, comic books, become part of the general pop culture bloodstream, and then fade into nostalgia, and for that we apologize. Actually, I'll apologize, I did it.

But in all seriousness, a lot of the more fun and innovative stuff we saw at E3 wasn't actually being churned out by big studios and publishers, but being worked on by small groups with tiny budgets and just a love of gaming. Read on to find out all about the IndieCade games that we saw on display, and why you'll want to be playing them now.

Gallery: E3: IndieCade 2008

First of all, IndieCade is an organization that "encourages, publicizes, and cultivates innovation and artistry in interactive media," and it serves to help make the connection between independent game developers and publishers. In other words, they exist just to help these games get seen. We saw them at E3, and we're planning on spending time with them at PAX and E for All as well later this year. Here are the games we spent time with at E3.

levelHead

Easily my favorite game from IndieCade this year, levelHead uses machine-readable codes in order to know which way you are holding the game cube that you play with. On the screen, this translates into a representation of a man trapped inside the cube you're holding, and you have to tilt it in three dimensions in order to try and get him to escape onto different sides and eventually into other, more complicated cubes. It's tactile and fun, and you really get the sense that there's a poor little guy trapped in there. Pure awesome.

Democracy 2

This is an incredibly robust political strategy and simulation game that works like a neural network. Everything is linked together, and it's like Sim City on steroids. You have to micromanage everything from teacher strikes to civil unrest to keep your country happy and balance tax revenue while trying to get reelected. The graphics were fairly slick, and you'll see spokes that show how interconnected everything is, a bit like the technologies in Civilization. Presidents should have to spend time with this game as a prerequisite to taking office.

The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom

This game is about bending the space/time continuum in order to manipulate time and physics to get delicious pastry treats. This game was explained to us like this, "Well, it's this guy P.B. Winterbottom can bend the space/time continuum, and he loves pie." Sounds perfect to me. The gameplay looks simple, but quickly gets complex as you can "record" your moves in the past, and then play then to affect future outcomes. For instance, if there's a pie in the sky, and a seesaw in front of you, you can't just launch yourself up there. However, if you "record" yourself jumping on one end of the seesaw, you can take your present self to the other end to get launched skyward and achieve piedom. Delicious. It's also presented in a sort of steampunky silent film manner, and is being developed as an Xbox Live Arcade title.

Gravitation

Love 8-bit art and style? Then you'll love Gravitation. This game is about "how mood cycles affect creative endeavors, and how those endeavors in turn affect familial relationships." Okay, that sounds pretty deep and complicated when all I did was shove a huge chunk of ice into a fireplace to stop the flames. Still, the quirky art and the way the game only opens up more and shows you the world as you begin "relating" to it was pretty fun. It also had the advantage of making me want to go out and play some Pitfall, which was quite a plus.

JoJo's Fashion Show

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm a male. Combine that with the fact that I would never in a million years pick up a game called Jojo's Fashion Show, and this is a real hard sell. However, I had fun playing it. Why? It's simple and fun. This was one of the slickest looking games out of IndieCade, probably because it was from Gamelab, who was responsible for Diner Dash and BLiX. You are basically assigned styles like "Brazilian" and you have to put together outfits that you think match that style for a runway show. Sounds dorky, but I liked it. I also hate Project Runway, so they've done something magical here.

ibb and orb

This co-op game is like a world full of Japanese vinyl toys come to life, because it's just that cute and cuddly. You'll have to rely on your partner to get through the levels, and the graphics are mesmerizing if not sickly sweet. They put extra stress on teamplay in this title, and it looks like an alternate dimension version of LittleBigPlanet. However, the weirdest fact about the game is that it is basically an Unreal Tournament mod. Don't ask me to explain how that one works. Unfortunately, the designer wasn't there so I couldn't ask him. Still, this was tranquil fun.

The Graveyard

This wasn't really a game, per se, but more of an effort to illicit moods and emotions from the "player." You simply control a very old woman as she walks around a graveyard in a black and white world at a snail's pace. You could eventually amble her over to a bench where she'd sit down, but that was about it. It's meant as more of an art piece than an actual "game." It was haunting and beautiful, with amazing graphics, but it would definitely be more at home in an exhibit in an art museum where the viewer would be allowed to walk the character around.

Darkgame

This unique game features a strange octopus-like contraption that you have to plop down on your head, and it feeds pulses to your noggin to indicate what direction the enemy is in. Basically, there's a robot you and another player are chasing, and when you catch him, you get his gun and start chasing after the other player. However, when you have the gun, your screen goes dark. So, you have to find your opponent using only the pulses on your head. It was both strange and fun, and you'd find yourself closing your eyes to help focus on the pulses in order to play better. I felt like Kevin Costner in the snowy scene in The Bodyguard. Hold me.

Video Reel: Block H, Dark Room Sex Game, Prototype161: The Lonesko Abduction, Rider Spoke

There was also a video reel of games being shown, most of them with some alternate reality / augmented reality elements to them. Rider Spoke uses bicycles mounted with Nokia N800's to play the game as you roam the streets, and Prototype161 is a huge ARG with players as detectives in both online and real world events. Block H is an FPS mod set in Northern Ireland (and quite frankly the least appealing titles we saw at IndieCade) and tries to mesh the real world within the game.

However, the strangest game IndieCade didn't have on display but did have in the video reel was the boringly titled Dark Room Sex Game. It's played with a MacBook Pro using modified Wiimotes, and two players have to use only their ears to try and move their "partners" in tandem to achieve sexual climax. There's no graphics, only sounds, and you swing the Wiimote to make your male or female moan in the correct rhythm. Strange? Yes. Sexy? Not really. Bound to be fun at parties? You bet. I asked why they didn't have this on the floor and they told me, "We think Nintendo might object to people flailing their arms around to produce sex sounds while using Wiimotes." Damn you, Nintendo.

Stay tuned for more IndieCade goodies from PAX and E for All.

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Variety judge disagrees with majority of E3 award winners, loves public drunkenness

Kevin Kelly — 2008-08-12T16:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Action, Adventure, RPGs, E3

Ben Fritz writes about video games for Variety and was one of the E3 judges this year -- and he's not too happy with this year's winners. He calls Mirror's Edge "gimmicky" and the Gears of War 2 improvements "minor." He was really pulling for Resistance 2, which he felt offered up a lot more than the original, and we'll admit that's a good point.

However, he really laments the fact that Fable 2 didn't win anything. He hated the original Fable, but thinks that "the human interactions, from multiple gay marriages to public drunkenness, seem really fun" in the sequel. He also admits that he didn't care for last year's Super Mario Galaxy and disliked Mass Effect. Which is probably why the second comment from Just A Guy is "You suck."

Update: Ben Fritz actually contacted us to let us know he didn't hate Super Mario Galaxy, he just "didn't lavish superlatives" on it. He goes on to tell us that the review he wrote of the game was "positive," but you can judge for yourself right here. With friends like that, who needs negative reviews? However, he did point out (and rightly so) that the headline implied that he doesn't like the E3 awards. In actuality, "I just personally disagree with the majority of the winners." Our bad, and we've fixed that.

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All our E3 2008 impressions are belong to you!

Ross Miller — 2008-08-01T17:25:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo DS, Features, PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, E3, Mobile

We thought it'd be best to start off the month of August by cleaning house and collecting all our E3 impressions from around the Joystiq Network into one easy-to-peruse guide. In case you missed anything (and there's a pretty good chance you did), check out all of our impressions from E3 2008.

Multiplatform

Age of Booty (E3 hands-on)
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway (E3 hands-on)
Dark Void (E3 hands-on)
Dead Space (E3 hands-on)
Fallout 3 (E3 hands-on)
Far Cry 2 (E3 hands-on)
Flock (E3 hands-on)
HAWX (E3 hands-on)
Left 4 Dead (E3 hands-on)
Mega Man 9 (E3 hands-on)
Mirror's Edge (E3 hands-on)
Neopets Puzzle Adventures (E3 hands-on)
Puzzle Quest Galactric (E3 hands-on)
Red Faction: Guerilla (E3 hands-on)
Resident Evil 5 (E3 hands-on)
Sonic Unleashed (E3 eyes-on)
Silent Hill: Homecoming (E3 hands-on)
Stormrise (E3 eyes-on: Stormrise)
This is Vegas (E3 impressions)
Tomb Raider Underworld (E3 hands-on)
Tom Clancy's EndWar (E3 hands-on)
Wheelman (E3 impressions)

Nintendo Wii

Animal Crossing: City Folk (E3 hands-on)
Bayonetta (E3 eyes-on)
Castlevania Judgment (E3 hands-on)
Cooking Mama: World Kitchen (E3 hands-on)
Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility (E3 hands-on)
LEGO Batman (E3 hands-on)
Lost in Blue: Shipwrecked (E3 hands-on)
Mad World (E3 eyes-on)
Mario Super Sluggers (E3 bats-on)
Major Minor's Majestic March (E3 hands-on)
Monster Lab (E3 eyes-on)
Raving Rabbids TV Party (E3 buns-on)
Wario Land: Shake It! (E3 hands-on)
Wii Sports Resort (E3 hands-on)
Wii Music (E3 hands-on)
WiiSpeak with Mario

Nintendo DS

Away: Shuffle Dungeon (E3 hands-on)
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (E3 hands-on)
Chrono Trigger (E3 hands-on)
Elebits: The Adventures of Kai and Zer (E3 hands-on)
Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness (E3 hands-on)
MillionHeir (E3 hands-on)
Ninjatown (E3 hands-on)
Pokemon Ranger: Shadow of Almia (E3 hands-on)
Populous DS (E3 hands-on)
Princess Debut (E3 hands-on)
Retro Game Challenge (E3 hands-on)
Rhythm Heaven (E3 hands-on)
Rock Revolution DS (E3 hands-on)
Rune Factory 2 (E3 hands-on)
Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise (E3 hands-on)
What's Cooking? With Jamie Oliver (E3 hands-on)

Sony PSP

Buzz! Master Quiz (E3 hands-on)
Resistance Retribution (E3 hands-on)
Super Stardust Portabl (E3 hands-on)

PlayStation 3

Crash Commando (E3 hands-on)
Fat Princess (E3 eyes-on)
Flower (E3 hands-on)
inFamous (E3 eyes-on)
Motorstorm: Pacific Rift (E3 hands-on)
Naruto: Ultimate NInja Storm (E3 hands-on)
Killzone 2 (E3 hands-on), Multiplayer Q&A))
PixelJunk Eden (E3 hands-on)
Rag Doll Kung-Fu: Fists of Plastic (E3 hands-on:)
Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty (E3 hands-on)
Valkyria Chronicles (E3 impressions)

iPhone

de Blob (E3 hands-on)
Fable 2 (E3 hands-on)
Force Unleashed (E3 hands-on)
iPint (E3 hands-on)

Peripheral

Ion Premium Drum Set (E3 sticks-on)
Novint's Falcon Controller (E3 Hands-on)

Civilization IV: Colonization (E3 eyes-on)
Crysis Warhead (E3 Hands-on)
Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 (E3 Hands-on)
Damnation (E3 Impressions)
Dragon Age Origins (E3 impressions)
Empire: Total War (E3 impressions)
Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising (E3 Impressions)
Project Origin (E3 Hands-on)
Spore (E3 Q&A)
Wanted (E3 impressions)
Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II (E3 impressions)

Xbox 360

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts (E3 hands-on)
Galaga Legions (E3 Hands-on)
Gears of War 2 (E3 multiplayer hands-on)
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 (E3 hands-on)
Halo Wars (E3 hands-on)

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The Joystiq E3 2008 Awards

Ludwig Kietzmann — 2008-07-31T09:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Features, PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Meta (about Joystiq), E3, Galleries

With the bleeps and bloops of our beloved games -- and we suppose Mega Man 9 was the only thing that sounded like that, really -- echoing through a cavernous and lifeless Los Angeles Convention Center, it was clear that this year's E3 was different. But the more things change, the more they stay the same. We still got to play some promising games, we still had to endure some rotten ideas and we still had to roll our eyes at corporate PR foibles. Thankfully, that's exactly what the Joystiq E3 2008 Awards are for.

Gallery: The Joystiq E3 2008 Awards

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Joystiq E3 hands-on: Tomb Raider: Underworld

Richard Mitchell — 2008-07-23T09:55:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo DS, PC, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, E3

click to embiggen

The room is stuffed with a handful of game journalists. It's dark. Drifting from the (very nice) speaker system are the sounds of ocean waves lapping against a boat. On screen, Lara Croft stands on the wooden deck wearing scuba gear. Thrifty girl that she is, it looks like Lara didn't want to spring for a wetsuit with legs in it. Apparently not worried by the deep cold of the ocean, she dives into the water. It's time for me to play Tomb Raider Underworld.

Gallery: Tomb Raider: Underworld E3 08

The underwater world is wide and open. Sharks are swimming nearby. One of them charges Lara, no doubt drawn in by the tasty proposition of her svelte, uncovered legs. Thankfully, Lara's packing. A few shots with a harpoon gun and the shark is dispatched. For those who don't want to kill the exotic animals (and humans) in Tomb Raider: Underworld, assistant producer Adam Phillips tells me that players can also use a tranquilizer gun. And then, there it is, the reason for this briny adventure, a stone ruin.

Naturally, the entrance to the ruin is closed. Blocked, to be more precise, by a giant gate comprised of three golden wheels, each adorned with several eye glyphs. A puzzle! The solution looks simple enough, just align the three open eye glyphs in the center. Of course, only one of the wheels has the axle needed to turn it, so I have to go find the other two. The first one is in a cave directly outside the ruin's entrance. Easy. The other one isn't as obvious.

Thankfully, Lara has a new trick to help her find them. Bringing up the pause menu, I activate a 3D map. Acting like sonar, I ping the local area and the map assembles itself around Lara. It turns out there is another cave, though it is obscured by seaweed, which explains why I couldn't see it before. I go nab the third axle and bring it back to the golden wheels, align them, and watch the ancient machinery grind the door open. It's all very spectacular.

click to embiggen

Inside, Lara finally finds dry land. Pulling out of the water, she emerges into a cavernous chamber with a giant doorway at the end. One problem: the doorway is blocked by a humongous Kraken. There is a large spiked platform hanging above the Kraken. That looks like it will come in handy later. There are two bridges extending to the platform from either side, holding it in place. They will have to be retracted before I can make use of it.

Assistant producer Adam Phillips explains that each level in Tomb Raider: Underworld contains one large, overarching puzzle that is composed of several smaller puzzles. The small puzzles can be solved in any order, giving the game a certain degree of non-linearity. In this case I have to decide which bridge I want to retract first. I opt for the right one.

I start climbing a stone wall, making my way to the top of the chamber. I direct Lara to some hanging stalactites and leap to grab one. The leap to the next stalactite misses by a mile, sending Lara sprawling to the chamber floor. I expected Lara to more or less home in on the next one, but no. No matter though, as I find another entrance to the gear chamber that works the right bridge. Phillips explains that there are multiple routes to the puzzles in Tomb Raider: Underworld. Oh, good.

click to embiggen

He also takes a moment to explain that Lara grows progressively dirtier as she gallivants about in the game's eponymous tombs. This is plainly evident as Lara's legs, arms, and face are streaked with dirt and grit. So yeah, um, Lara gets dirty now.

Anyway, I was solving a puzzle. The Kraken, it turns out, is strangling the machinery that runs the bridges, so I whip out the magnetic grapple to pull out a support ring in a stone column. The column tumbles, crushing the Kraken's tentacle, forcing it to withdraw. I set the gears in motion and make my way to the other gear chamber.

Before arriving at the gear chamber, the Kraken assaults Lara with whip of its tentacle. At this point, Lara's "adrenaline" kicks in, which slows down the gameplay, allowing players to focus on the action and make a quick decision. Phillips explains that this is a way to implement the fast thinking gameplay of a quick time event that still keeps control in the hands of the player. A deft leap and the tentacle misses Lara's legs by inches and subsequently destroys the platform I was standing on. Once in the opposite gear chamber, I solve a similar puzzle and am finally free to release the spiky platform and drop it on the Kraken.

click to embiggen

Of course, once Lara flips the switch, the Kraken decides it would rather live and gums up the platform's counterweight chains with its tentacles. No matter, as Lara is capable of taking out the chains with her trusty pistols. The platform crashes down on the Kraken, crushing it and clearing the way forward. On that climactic note, my demo is over.

Improving on and adding to the already solid foundation in Tomb Raider: Legend, Underworld looks to be another great entry in the recently revitalized franchise. Look for it on 360, PS3, PC, Wii, PS2 and DS starting November. 18.

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Joystiq E3 Hands-on: Novint's Falcon controller

Mike Schramm — 2008-07-22T18:00:00+00:00

Filed under: PC, Action, Simulations, E3, Peripherals

You make your way down the hallway in City 17, and push open the door into the bright sunlight reflected off of concrete. A Combine soldier stands before you, so you life your semiautomatic weapon, and as you pull the trigger and fire, the gun recoils in your hand. Another Combine stands across the viaduct, and when he fires at you, you feel the bullet strike you from the left, so you turn, and feel the gun jump in your hand again as you take him out.

That's the ideal experience with Novint's Falcon controller. The controller itself is about an eight inch orb that sits on your table, with a three-inch sphere sitting on the end of three arms coming off of it -- like a Soviet satellite sticking out of the globe. The idea is that you push the little sphere around to move your cursor, and the three arms provide resistance against whatever you bump up against. We got to use the controller at E3, and the verdict is that while it does provide a nice experience, the costs might be a little overwhelming for most players. More after the jump.

Gallery: Novint Falcon controller at E3

The Falcon technology behind the Falcon was actually developed in a laboratory -- it was originally designed to be used for medical applications, as well as sold out to oil and vehicle manufacturing companies for different applications (see Update). But, as the PR rep from Novint told us, the company's founder somehow felt that the gaming market would be more the place for it (either that, or the aforementioned medical and manufacturing industries decided it wasn't their thing either). Whatever the backstory, nowadays the Falcon is used to control videogames, something it actually does a pretty good job at.

We were first shown a demo piece of software, with all of the various applications of the Falcon's feedback mechanism on display. On screen, there was a 3D metal ball, with all kinds of dents and textures on it, and there was a hand cursor that could be controlled with the Falcon. And sure enough, as we moved the cursor over the ball, and "rubbed" the textured globe, we could feel the various indentations in it. It was a strange sensation -- something virtual made real. We were also shown an iced globe (the cursor felt as though it slid right off of the ball when we pushed against it), and one "made of molasses" (so that wherever the cursor pushed through the ball in 3D space, it slowed down and gave resistance).

Finally, the best demo we were shown was the last -- a small circular ball weight was attached to our cursor on screen, and in the controls, we could feel the weight of that ball pushing against it. As we swung the controller around, it responded in kind, as if we really were flinging a heavy yo-yo around. As it sits on the table, the controller is impressively stable -- the PR rep told us that as hard as we pushed against a surface in game, we'd never be able to move the controller, and though we pushed with all of our E3 Red Bull and various junk-food enthused might, the controller stood firm in providing resistance against us. It really is an amazing piece of equipment.

It's just too bad it's not quite fit for prime time. After seeing the impressive demo, we were ready to get our hands on with the Falcon in a real game, and so Half Life 2 was loaded up for us to play and try. The game did feel like the description above -- the gun does recoil in your hand, and you can feel which direction you're being shot from. But none of the texture or weight effects come into play here, and the game is not fundamentally different -- at least not different enough that it's worth paying the $189 price for the controller.

And the cost isn't only financial -- just to get the controller running with certain games will take a bit of time and work. The Half Life 2 mod is available from the Novint website (and supposedly straight from a piece of launcher software called Nvent that comes with the controller), but we took a look at the options screen, and while it's super complicated (a dream for anyone who wants to experiment with a "3D haptics" controller), that makes it not very easy to get it working exactly the way you want it to. And forget about getting it running with an unsupported game -- while Novint says they're working with EA, Codemasters, and a number of other companies, and they say they've got some really great ideas for others (they want to get a "spell gesture" system working for games like World of Warcraft), almost none of it is available at the time of this writing.

In short, it's hardly a simple or easy experience. There's a lot of potential here -- that demo was very impressive, and the Falcon seems like an ingenious piece of design. And there is some software to be had, at pretty outrageous prices, on their website. But until Novint gets software developers putting out quality Falcon-specific games (or, at the very least, gets existing games to easily and simply use the Falcon hardware), the controller isn't much more than a $189 demo, and definitely nothing even the most hardcore of PC gamers will want to spend their money on.

Update: Novint provided this on the background of the Falcon: "The technology for the Falcon was developed by Sandia National Laboratory, not the hardware. The software applications have been used by various companies including Lockheed Martin, Chrysler, Chevron, Mobil, Aramco, and Harvard University. Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Novint has an exclusive worldwide license to over five years of pioneering research from Sandia National Laboratories, which developed some of the first 3D touch software in the world, and has developed the only low-cost (sub $1000) high-fidelity hardware solution available for consumer or commercial applications." So the technology was developed in a lab, but the actual controller was developed via a license from Novint. Our apologies for the misunderstanding.

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Joystiq E3 Q&A: Spore detailed

Ross Miller — 2008-07-22T07:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Mac, PC, Simulations, E3

During our time at E3 last week, we were able to spend about an hour with a very patient Maxis Producer Thomas Vu, who guided us through a near-final build of Spore (the whole thing) and answered a barrage of questions. Here's what we gleaned from our play session, broken down into each phase:

Gallery: Spore (E3)

Cell Phase

What you eat and how you evolve your cell determines what body parts you get for the creature creator. We were shown a timeline thattracked each "evolution" of your cell and whether it was more carnivorous, herbivorous or omnivorous.

Tribe Phase

If you want your planet to be themed, you can create Sporecasts, a collection of themed creations you can call upon to propagate your planet (e.g. "Star Wars" or Muppets). Vu did not provide details on how it works, but we did talk about searching for themed creations using the Sporepedia tag system. If you don't want to use the Sporecast system, you can also let the game automagically add life to your planet.
While all camera shifts can be done via the mouse, you might find it helpful to know that the arrow keys and page up/down also work to change your perspective.

You can add accessories to outfit your characters -- hats, grass skirts, tribal masks, etc. They all share the same color scheme as your creature and they add to your complexity.
Vu said how your creature is built determines the tools it will have at its disposal; the accessories, however, will always be the same.

NEXT >>

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Joystiq E3 sticks-on: Ion premium drum set

Ross Miller — 2008-07-22T06:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, E3, Rhythm

click to embiggen

Last week, a handful of Joystiq crew got to make fools of themselves on the mini-stage before Harmonix's Rock Band Bash featuring The Who. Set up for us on stage was the new Ion premium drum set for RB2. Over the span of the night, we drummed through a handful of songs to get a feel for the set.

The drums themselves are very sturdy, and the cymbals are quieter and responsive. If you get a chance to play, our first recommendation is to make sure the cymbals are placed as far as comfortably possible from the pads so that you don't accidentally hit one while intending for another. We did that more than a few times and it threw us off a bit and caused us to miss a few more notes than we normally would have.

Some of the issues we had are due to how Rock Band programs the drums, which are great for the standard set but don't necessarily transfer well to the Ion premium kit:

Songs with fast, repetitive hi-hat beats (i.e. when you need to use two hands) will generally assign the hi-hat to the red pad, meaning you'll have to change your mindset back and forth on songs that capitalize on it, such as "Debaser" or "Everlong." The red pad is not able to have a cymbal attached to it.
Songs that feature both open and closed hi-hat sounds generally assign the sounds to separate pads such as yellow and blue, while in real life you'd have a foot pedal to open and close the cymbals. The Police's "Message in the Bottle" highlights both this problem and the previous issue since it assigns the closed and open hi-hats to blue and green, respectively, for a large chunk of the song.

A lot of our concerns can be chalked up to being unfamiliar with the new set, but for the $300 price tag, we're perfectly comfortable rocking out with the set we already have, or the smaller, expandable RB2 set (which you can bet will also be usable as a functional electronic drum set).

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The unbearable smallness of E3 2008, in pictures

Kyle Orland — 2008-07-21T22:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Features, Interviews, E3, Business, Fashion

After last year's detour to Santa Monica, E3 returned this year to its traditional home at the L.A. Convention Center. But the more things stay the same, the more they change, as they say (if they're a bit confused). Despite the return to the old location, much of this year's E3 had an empty, ghost town feeling when compared to E3s past. The general lack of participating developers and publishers, combined with the strict, invite-only attendee list combined to make a show that seemed incredibly small in the incredibly large convention center. To see just how small, check out our "E3, then and now" gallery, which compare scenes from previous E3s to similar scenes from this year's show.

Gallery: E3, then and now

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E3 2008 news roundup

Ross Miller — 2008-07-21T10:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo DS, PC, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, E3

Since we landed in Los Angeles for last week's E3, we've posted hundreds of articles. Knowing that there's a (very) small percentage of Joystiq readers who don't visit our site every 5 minutes, we've decided to collate all of last week's biggest news items to make sure you didn't miss the most important parts. (For breaking news from each of the big three press conferences, check out our highlights posts for each).

Microsoft

Sony

Nintendo

General

Brain hurting from the immense volume of E3 news? Check out all of our E3 highlights including a rundown of the biggest news from each of the Big 3's E3 2008 press conferences!

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Joystiq E3 hands-on: Flock

Ross Miller — 2008-07-21T08:30:00+00:00

Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Puzzle

In a nutshell, Flock is an evolved form of Lemmings: Using your ship and it's various beams, you guide sheep, chicken, cows and pigs past obstacles and into the Mother Flocker (be careful about slurring that name). The game will also feature co-op and a map editor. Although we weren't able to see either feature in action, Capcom's Kraig Kujawa told us their goal is to implement cross-console map sharing.

Gallery: Flock (XBLA, PSN, PC)

Part of the fun is failing, as Kujawa seemed to prove by spending most of the session either showing me different ways to kill my flock or doing it himself. There are some benefits to killing, as the flock will leave behind slabs of meat that can be used to distract enemies.

Kujawa provided some insight into the focus testing of the game. The aim of the developers was appeal to as many people as possible, male and female. What came from that is the inclusion of "angels" that flies up off screen after one of your flock members dies (think: Milky from Blur's "Coffee & TV" music video). Another decision that came from focus testing was the removal of timers; you can take as long as you want to finish a level, although you earn medals depending on how fast you finish.

Best part of the demo? A Rube Goldberg-esque level that ends with one sheep being catapulted into the Mother Flocker. Kujaway told us an improved version will likely be making its way into the final game. Flock is coming this holiday season to Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and PC.

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Joystiq E3 hands-on: flower (PSN)

Ross Miller — 2008-07-21T07:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 3, Simulations, Casual

Before E3, the last time we heard anything about flOw dev Thatgamecompany's newest project was November 2007. Cut to last week, when TGC Creative Director and co-founder Jenova Chen guided us through an early build of their upcoming PSN title flower (note the 'o' is now lowercase).

Like flOw, it's really hard for us to confidently form an opinion on the abstract idea (check out PS3 Fanboy for their praises). We hope Sony decides to release a demo with this game. Videos and previews will not do flower justice; it's a game worth trying for yourself.

Gallery: Flower

According to Chen, the entire game was inspired by finding a balance between urban life and desire of nature, hence the working subtitle "life in balance." If flOw is a haiku, he said, then flower is a poem. The two games share many similarities: simple controls, no tutorials, and an atmosphere best described as "soothing." However, what flower has that its predecessor lacks is structure and Trophies. (Chen explained that Trophies are being mandated by Sony, however the developer is implementing them in "an interesting way.")

"We can already predict flower's reviews: It's a soothing and interactive piece of art, but it's not a game. And we're perfectly fine with that."

Each of the flowers on your apartment windowsill opens a level, considered the flower's dream sequence. In the one we played, we used the Sixaxis the glide the petal around a hilly and tree-less field (newsflash: The petal cannot crash), and any button pressed lets you speed up the trajectory.

As you flow-t around the level, bumping into other flowers will increase your botanical army. Groups of activated flowers unlock more flowers to touch and can turn a yellow patch of earth into a lush growth. Chen said that each level will have different objectives and it is up to you to figure out what they are. There are also secrets in each dream, he said, although we didn't find any in our brief demo.

Chen dubbed the game "intellectually M-rated," but for the ESRB, we're confident it'll be E for Everyone. We can already predict flower's reviews: It's a soothing and interactive piece of art, but it's not a game. And we're perfectly fine with that. Chen said they are contractually obligated to produce one more game for PSN. If the naming and analogy trends continue, we look forward to next year's "short story" flowerpOt.

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The Political Game: E3 is dead

Dennis McCauley — 2008-07-18T22:50:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Features

Each week Dennis McCauley contributes The Political Game, a column on the collision of politics and video games:

For more than a decade the Electronic Entertainment Expo was a must-see event for game retailers and media types. While it's true that in recent years E3 had become an exercise in wretched excess, that was, in fact, a large part of its charm. By day E3 featured massive, massively noisy game displays laid out end to end to end in the cavernous main halls of the Los Angeles Convention Center . By night dozens of game industry parties kept L.A.'s bartenders and sushi makers off the unemployment lines and gave a generation of scruffy game journalists an all-too-brief taste of the good life. In 2006, its final year as an extravaganza, a reported 80,000 people streamed past E3's exhibits.

But beyond that, E3 put the modern video game business on the map. You could be certain of national T.V. coverage from all of the major networks. The top newspapers were there as well. The media coverage of the show's bright lights, booth babes and nonstop bells and whistles made mainstream America sit up and take notice of a form of entertainment it had previously held to be child's play, and for geeky children at that. Of course, the gaming press went absolutely nuts during E3 week, pushing screen shots and trailers and interviews and whatever else it could get hold of to millions of eager readers.

To paraphrase Mick Jagger, I used to love you, E3, but it's all over now.

After the 2006 show game publishers decided they were spending too much money. Doug Lowenstein, the respected ESA president who started E3 in the mid-90's, read the writing on the wall, polished up his resume, and moved on to greener pastures. In between Doug's departure and the arrival of his replacement, Michael Gallagher, the ESA threw together a low budget, patchwork show in Santa Monica for 2007. For a variety of reasons, it bombed.

"Compared to E3's better times, it was the equivalent of holding the show in a closet."

With the show back in L.A. this year, attendees were hoping to recapture some of that old E3 glory, but it was not to be. If anything, this year's show was worse than Santa Monica. Not only was it poorly planned and poorly executed, but holding it in the LACC was a cruel, if unintentional joke. E3 veterans who recalled the glory days when the massive confines of South Hall and West Hall were filled to the brim with towering game exhibits stared blankly at the locked doors of those once-bustling rooms. This year's show floor, such as it was, amounted to four rows of small booths in a drab room off the Convention Center's main hallway. Compared to E3's better times, it was the equivalent of holding the show in a closet. One major industry figure I spoke to quipped that the Into the Pixel game art exhibit had more square footage devoted to it than the show floor. At one point in mid-show I stood next to a former high level game company exec who waved his hand at the nearly vacant lobby outside West Hall and summed up his feelings in a single word: "Appalling." Ubisoft North America president Laurent Detoc, told the San Francisco Chronicle, "E3 this year is terrible. The world used to come to E3. Now it's like a pipe-fitters show in the basement."

I can't disagree.

But it wasn't just a couple of money guys complaining. Game industry worker bees complained that scheduling press conferences on the same days that the expo was open led to no-show appointments as some overbooked media types opted for the press conferences instead of their scheduled meetings. And then there was the embarrassment of having only 50 people show up for Gov. Rick Perry's keynote. Or less than a hundred for the ESA CEO's state-of-the-industry speech. And, without the big E3 buzz, the national media stayed away in droves. It didn't help that there were no major announcements or surprises to speak of at the show. GTA on the DS? Cool. Got any game play footage? No?

Never mind.

"It didn't help that there were no major announcements or surprises to speak of at the show."

You can lay some of this, of course, at the feet of the ESA, which operates the show. On the other hand, it was the game publishers who wanted to spend less money on E3. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Without the substantial E3 revenues of the big years, the ESA was forced to raise its membership dues, reportedly by as much as 400%. And some publishers(Activision, Vivendi, LucasArts, id, Crave to date) have bailed because of that. Don't be surprised if a few more jump ship now that the show is over, leaving the ESA in even worse financial straits. Eventually the lack of revenue, be it from E3 or membership dues, translates to cutting back on the services that the ESA provides to the industry: lobbying, IP protection and free speech issues.

So, were game publishers better off with an expensive E3 and a healthy ESA to represent their interests or with a terminally ill E3 and a fragmented, underfunded ESA?

The answer seems obvious. What's also obvious is that you can go ahead and schedule that trip to the beach you were planning for next July. You won't be coming to Los Angeles.

E3 is dead.

Dennis McCauley is Editor of GamePolitics.com and writes about games for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Opinions expressed in The Political Game are his own. Reach him at

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Spotted@E3: Igarashi hard at work on next Castlevania sequel

Kevin Kelly — 2008-07-18T12:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Arcade, Nintendo Wii, E3

The poor guy must have been tuckered out from carrying that whip around all day. The last three press events we've been to that he was at, he was wearing the same white shirt, cowboy hat, boot and whip getup. Do you think he opens his closet in the morning and just has dozens of duplicates of that outfit all lined up and ready to go?

We just hope he's not tired from all the Castlevania Judgement Wii-mote shaking action. That can really take quite a toll on the body.

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Live from the Joystiq Post-E3 2008 Party!

Ross Miller — 2008-07-17T21:07:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Meta (about Joystiq), E3, Galleries

click to party-size!

Yes, we are actually live blogging our own party -- we have an addiction. Stay tuned for images and updates from the party with special guest The Who [Update: Turns out The Who couldn't make it, but we do have Rock Band 2] and if you're within 100 miles, get over here!

Gallery: Joystiq Post-E3 2008 Party

6:35PM PST: Yes, Rock band 2 is in the house. And so is another surprise special guest ... Naughty Dog! They've brought some goodies of their own to give away, including two very special items: a copy of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune signed by the entire development team and a Naughty Dog staff T-shirt -- also signed by the entire NDI crew!

6:43PM PST: Aaaaand more surprises -- the Nyko gang booked it here from the L.A. convention center with boxes full of Wii, PS3, and 360 accessories to give away to our most special-est guests ... you!

7:04PM PST: Mucho cool stuff spotted so far. 'Stiq reader Eric Dobson brought in his home-made Master Chief Spartan helmet. Ed "SpaceGhost2k" Webb, creator of the most excellet (custom) Joystiq faceplate for Xbox 360 (among many others) stopped by to show off his work, which we'll be giving away on the site in the near future.

7:07PM PST: This one reader demanded we take his picture so he could see it on the site. Who are we to deny our readers?

7:21PM PST: Kyle Orland just passed along word to the Official Joystiq Live Blogging Desk of the Joystiq post-E3 2008 Party that there is a ratio of approximately .33 women to ever one man at our event. Girl gamers, where are you? Oh, another fun fact: the 19 pizzas we ordered? Gone in two minutes.

7:40PM PST: The Joystiq House band (Randy, Ross, Barb, and special guest Arne Meyer of Naughty Dog) hits the ... virtual stage to perform "Chop Suey" by System of a Down. We fail. Oh, someone turned on the "no fail" option. Thanks!

8:11: Amidst the chaos, we'd like to give a very special shout out to longtime Joystiq reader, EJ, who was kind enough to stop by the gathering, toating an Xbox 360 sporting a metric ton of DLC. Thanks!!

8:29: We're not just sharing our video game spoils, oh no, as someone just slipped into the seat next to us and asked if he could plug his iPhone into our laptop for a little extra juice. Share and share alike, we always say.

8:44: We're starting to notice a trend: the rate of dispersial of the crowd is proportional to the rate in which we give away swag. We're into the 170s with our raffle, which means we've given away about 170 games and 170 pieces of random swag (t-shirts, tchochkes, etc.). Gone early on was the five-piece Raving Rabbids. We still have Sneak King available, and that is shocking. SHOCKING, I tells ya.

8:47: We hear Wrath of the Lich King has gone beta. No more liveblogging, time to actually blog!

8:58: And we're back. In case you're curious, here's the beta news.

9:08: We have a winner. Partygoer #186 just won himself the signed Uncharted and Naughty Dog staff shirt. To quote the lucky winner: "You guys just made my life."

9:19: The swag is gone. We repeat: the swag is gone. Even Sneak King.

9:50: The Joystiq Podcast crew has taken the stage to "rock us hard!" (or something to that effect). They've announced that they are to be called The Blueberry Muffin Tops! Everyone is cheering. It's electric. Chris, Justin, and Ludwig are being joined on the drums by Ross Miller himself. They're picking a song ... it's "Pump It Up" by Elvis Costello!

10:00: What a performance (and only one controller-sleep-mode-induced song pause)! Someone grabbed a video. We're putting it up. Okay, Chris is thanking the crowd and ... that's it. The Joystiq post-E3 2008 Party is a wrap. We want to thank everyone who came out to hang out. Thanks to Harmonix for blowing our minds with Rock Band 2, Nyko for the peripherals, and Naughty Dog for showing up -- and providing the excellent Uncharted swag. Also, thanks to the NOS folks for keeping everyone caffeinated. In conclusion: it was like a good dog. It was good. G'night!

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