Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr proved all rumors to be true when they showed up at the Microsoft Convention to introduce Beatles: Rock Band. Set to release for all three platforms, XBLA already has “All You Need Is Love” as a downloadable song. With the Beatles: Rock Band package will also feature a wireless Rickenbacker 325 Guitar Controller, a wireless Gretsch Duo-Jet Guitar Controller, and a wireless Ludwig Drum Set.
EA Sports announced they will release EA Sports MMA. A mixed martial arts game appearing to be made to rival UFC Undisputed. No word yet as to which platforms the game will be for, although all are likely. Its still not known whether or not this will be a one game deal or a series (like the Madden franchise.)
EA Sport’s Fight Night 4 is announced to release June 25th for the PS3 and XBox 360 instead of the scheduled June 30th date. The gameplay is said to be deeper and much more controlled. Some screenshots show that the game looks incredible and should rival THQ’s UFC Undisputed for best fighting game on the market.
Bungie has just announced a new Halo game called Halo Reach. There is no word on what type of game it is, but it will most likely take place during the events of one of the first major plot points in the Halo timeline: the fall of Reach. Reach being a planet inhabited by Humans, that was taken over by the covenant. What makes the battle of Reach so important is because it is here that the original group of Spartan Warriors were wiped out, leaving Master Chief as one of the only Spartans in left existence. The game is set to be released in Fall of 2010 so it will most likely be a fully fledged Halo experience rather than an expansion like ODST.
Probably the least expected and talked about sequel made an appearance today June 1st 2009 at Microsoft’s E3 press conference: Crackdown 2 was shown in trailer form. For those of you you who missed the first game, its a sandbox game similar to Grand Theft Auto, only your a cop that can become supercharged allowing you to jump, run, and attack in a way that’s closer to a super hero than an officer. Not too many details of the title are out yet, the trailer was not that of gameplay footage. We’ll have the info of how the game will play soon. UPDATE: Until then check out the trailer thats up now
Left 4 Dead 2 was shown off at Microsoft’s Press Conference, the video was only a trailer but the game is available to play at the show floor. The game this time takes place in the American south, Louisiana to be exact. The game’s new feature will be melee weapons, an aspect that wasn’t in the original. Where the original title had you just hit the undead with your gun, the squeal will allow players to wield chainsaws, bats, frying pans and a many other weapons. Interestingly enough the game also takes place during the daytime, the original took place completely at night. Value has mentioned the game will have a “deeper” level of cooperative gameplay, stay tuned as we learn more.
UFC is one of the fastest growing sports in this country. There has been a flood rush of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighters over the past two years and between Pride and UFC, now mainstream America is getting in on the action. UFC had released a game back in 2004; UFC: Sudden Impact which had limited success. With the first game released since the contract with THQ back in 2007, UFC Undisputed proves to be leaps and bounds above its predecessor.
UFC Undisputed features 80 different UFC personalities, ranging from the fighters themselves to the ring announcer, Bruce Buffer, to the girls holding the round signs outside of the octagon. There are also several venues such as the Mandolin Bay Casino and Madison Square Garden.
THQ, who is behind all of WWE’s Smackdown titles goes with a different approach to the conrols in UFC Undisputed. The analog sticks become the trigger point for many moves and takedowns. Along with the extended use of the analog stick, combos are also a big part of the game. The best way to describe UFC Undisputed is crossing Fight Night with Tekken. The controls are a little difficult so grasp when first playing but after a few minutes of playing they seem more natural.
UFC Undisputed also features a create-a-fighter mode, and while this is a great feature for the game, it lacks some of the finer parts found in the Smackdown titles. Through the create-a-fighter you can go into a career mode, starting off with limited attributes and joining a training camp to progress and become better and stronger. The career mode is bases off CRED. Players can accumulate CRED by booking fights, doing guest appearances, wearing sponsorships on your trunks and of course, winning fights. Higher CRED unlocks new trunks, better practice equipment and better sponsors. UFC fights are booked similar to boxing matches, they span a few weeks from fight to fight, not like in WWE where you fight every week. One quirk I noticed in the game that the years progress very quickly, yet your fighter’s age stays the same on the tale-of-the-tape display before a fight. Not a major flaw but something that is noticeable.
The online play is relatively solid, comparing to that of Fight Night or Smackdown vs Raw. However, with a weaker connection, it may become difficult to counter or takedown opponents, so two strong connections are really needed to get a nice playing experience.
WWE Smackdown vs Raw has been one of the flagship franchises for THQ, so it will be interesting to see if the release of UFC Undisputed will spark more competition between the two franchises. This will only result in better quality games and more in depth graphics. Many people shun the WWE franchise for their sometimes spotty impact reactions with the fighters, UFC already showed an improvement with that so that puts more pressure on the SVR franchise to deliver this holiday season.
Overall, UFC Undisputed established itself as a contender for fighting games. It will be interesting to see if the UFC franchise will put out games on a yearly basis and rival WWE’s sales. Round 1 is in the books, and it’s shaping up to be a great battle. Overall score: 8.5
Ah 2005 … if you think about it, it was not that long ago. Sony’s E3 press conference was suppose to show the full details about the PS3. Sony presented it but with limited detail on its pricing and arrival but one things for certain. They clearly knew they had a power house on the table but does it all come with a price ?. We will cover Sony’s E3 press conference  from E3 2005 to the up and coming E3 2009 to give you a better understanding of what we mean.
Sony E3 2005 videos
When it comes to Sony they have a huge history of of trying to blow the competition out the water with their consoles. Now with the very successful PS2 thats sold millions of units needed a following … its Next Gen brother to say the least. 2005 seem to be that year however with a lot of promise under the hood it seemed to be all but perfect. Since the many components of the PS3 up until that point wasn’t put together so what did that year was many promising rendered trailers to pass as targeted footage. Appearing that year was a Killzone 2, Final Fantasy 7 tech demo, Devil May Cry 4, Heavenly Sword along with other trailers. Many of these trailers we just pipe dreams of what they thought the system could deliver in the future.
Sony’s E3 2006 Press recap and videos
Â
Hosted by Kaz Hirai, the ’06 E3 presentation was reviewed as third (in a bad way) out of the three main companies. The price was set high for the PS3 with $499 for the 20GB version, while 60GB version cost $599. The 20GB version was a stripped down model of the 60GB version. No Wi-Fi internet, no flash card readers and no chrome trim with the logo in silver. Both had a Blu-Ray player built in. Date of release was set for November 17th.
As for the games, Heavenly Sword, Resistance, Need for Speed: Carbon and Tiger woods ’07 did pretty good for launch games. As for the bad ones like Genji: Days of the Blade, it might have been doomed from the start. At the conference the presentation was criticized and still to this day. There were many previews and trailers consisting of Afrika, Eye of Judgement, Tiger Woods ’07, NBA Live ’07, Madden ’07, Need for Speed: Carbon, Gran Turismo HD, Resistance: Fall of Man, Killzone 2, Tekken 6, MGS4, Final Fantasy 13 and Final Fantasy 13 Verses.
Â
They showed the new PS3 controller with the new SIXAXIS motion controls and no rumble features. Many believed that they were copying off of the new found hype of the Wii (Playing IS Believing). They demonstrated the motion controls with a rubber duck then with the game WarHawk, which worked out pretty well for the game.
The PS2 actually was still going strong with the release of God of War 2.
The only thing that upset the public was they initially stripped down the PS3 from was mentioned in the ’05 E3 press conference. From two HDMI ports to down to one, from three ethernet ports to one and six USB ports going down to four. The recent iterations only include two now.
 Sony’s E3 montage 2007
E3 ’07 started the change for stability for Sony’s PS3. After the release of the PS3 things had to change for them in 2007. First, out with Kaz (this means no more RIIIDGE RAAACER). So hosting duties were given to Jack Trenton. Jack presented the debut of Sony’s new social network: HOME. Jack was shown on screen meeting up with Kaz within one of the lobby areas. Kaz then showed a new PSP, slimmer, lighter and more battery life. Echochrome, Patapon, and Final Fantasy Tactics previews were shown as up and coming releases. Chewbacca also came out and showed a brand new Star Wars PSP model with Darth Vader on the back along with the PSP Battlefront Pack. Also Lego Batman PS2 bundle will be $149 and also include a DC movie DVD. From what you can already witness they were still trying to make the PSP’s presents here to stay.
Hideo Kojima presented a new trailer for MGS4 and new trailers of a list of games took stage, such as Stranglehold, Time Crisis, Little Big Planet, Gran Turismo HD, Tiger Woods ’08, Unreal Tournament 3, Burnout Paridise, Skate, Uncharted, Army of Two, and Killzone 2. Phil Harrison presented games that can be downloaded through the Playstation Network. Socom:Confrontation, Pain, Warhawk, and Wipeout HD all did well with their PSN releases as Sony’s big push become full downloadable games for the PS3.
This change of pace for Sony was pushed by all of the games that were finally reality instead of focusing on the hardware possibilities of the PS3 like in ’06. For the most part the main hardware news was about the PSP. Surprising though, there was no mention about Final Fantasy 13!
 Sony’s E3 montage 2008
E3 ’08, Once again hosted by Jack Trentton (Why change a good thing?). The Show was kicked off with a demo of Resistance 2. Jack mentions that a bunch of games are receiving a discount for the holiday season. Some of the new ‘Greatest Hits’ games were Call of Duty 3, Motor Storm, Ninja Gaiden, and Assassin Creed.
Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty was to be released that summer. A new PSN trailer was shown of Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty, Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fist of Plastic, Flower, Crash Commando and Fat Princess. Sony will also open a PSN Video Store. You can view selected movies and also transfer them to your PSP.
New Playstation HOME areas were coming in the next few months and more on the way. Mass Multiplayer Online games were on the way to PS3 with The Agency, Free Realms, and DC Universe.
Â
A new trailer reel was shown containing Little Big Planet, Motor Storm: Pacific Rift, The Agency, MGS4,007: Quantum of Solace, Ghostbusters, Soul Calibur 4, Resistance 2, Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm, Mirrors Edge, Resident Evil 5, Singstar, Guitar Hero World Tour, NBA 09, Killzone 2, Fallout3.Â
On deck for 2009, God of War 3, M.A.G., and Infamous!
This conference was one of the best presentations Sony has had. With a strong line up of games, new areas in HOME, new features on the PS3 and promising future.Â
Â
Sony’s 2009 E3 has a lot of rumors surrounding it.  We are just going to have to wait for all of the information. News on God of War 3, Heavy Rain, Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time, Uncharted 2, and Final Fantasy 13 sounds promising which we all can’t wait for!!
In our Second segment of this E3 edition, we take a look at the Nintendo E3 montages/recap over the past 3 years. Although Nintendo took a different approach with this next gen console war by not focusing on graphical power, we will see if they delivered on their promises.
Nintendo E3 2006
Nintendo’s first true E3 involving the Wii was in 2006. It was here the public got to see many of the now classic games in the Wii library, including Mario Galaxy, Metriod Prime 3, and Wario Ware: Smooth Moves. The montage in 2006 heavily emphasized not only the games themselves but the people actually playing them. In the montage we see older people, teenagers, and kids enjoying the games. More so then perhaps other groups; women, of all ages. The Wii’s new target was clear: everyone, from the gamer, to the mom’s, to the grandparents, the Wii was meant for everyone.
Nintendo E3 2007
Nintendo in 2007 was all about their new peripheral based game: Wii fit. Miyamoto reveals the balance board and game for the first time to the public and the audience overall seemed to like it at the time, many didn’t think however it would reach the powerhouse levels it did when released that summer. The big N also showed off another peripheral, the much less successful Wii zapper, basically a shell for the wii-mote so you can feel like your holding a gun, not a bad idea but it didn’t sell. The other major showing was of course Super Smash Brothers Brawl, the game Nintendo fans had been clamoring for, the game was pushed back from its original release date. 2007 was a pretty strong year for Nintendo, many of the games showed that year are still driving sales 2 years later.
Nintendo E3 2008
Here we are at one of the more controversial E3s for Nintendo. E3 2008 was a fairly uneventful showing for Nintendo, most of the “core” games being Animal Crossing, and Wii sports resort. This was also the infamous showing of Wii Music where the Nintendo big wigs all have a musical number using the game’s mechanics. Overall fans didn’t take kindly to all the casual games being shown that year and shunned Nintendo for it. Since then Nintendo has had a fairly dry year with only a handful of interesting games being released that year.
