Coffee Talk #161: 10 Cool Things I Saw at E3 2010

Now that my eyes and ears have settled down after being bombarded by the glorious conference known as E3 2010, I wanted to go over a few of my favorite things. Rain drops and roses and whiskers on kittens…wait, that’s not what I meant. I wanted to go over a few of my favorite things I saw at the show. In no particular order, here are 10 cool things I saw at E3 2010.

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Now that my eyes and ears have settled down after being bombarded by the glorious conference known as E3 2010, I wanted to go over a few of my favorite things. Rain drops and roses and whiskers on kittens…wait, that’s not what I meant. I wanted to go over a few of my favorite things I saw at the show. In no particular order, here are 10 cool things I saw at E3 2010.

  1. Nintendo 3DS: Forget PlayStation Move, Xbox Kinect, and Sony’s 3D stereoscopic gaming. This is the technology everyone at the show was buzzing about. Although I want to see how well it works for hours of entertainment, it’s brilliant for minutes at a time.
  2. Kirby’s Epic Yarn: Charming and stylish art coupled with clever make Kirby’s Wii debut a triumphant one.
  3. Disney Epic Mickey: Charming and stylish art coupled with clever make Mickey’s Wii debut a triumphant one.
  4. Star Wars: The Old Republic: I bumped into BioWare’s Dr. Greg Zeschuk and he gave me a personal demo of the game. Never mind that I missed a meeting because of this. Similar to if someone asks if you’re a god, if Dr. Greg asks, “Do you want to see the game?” you say yes! He’s awesome. The game is also awesome…and could be the end of me.
  5. Return of the “Big” E3: After a few years of mini-E3 in Santa Monica, people weren’t sure if E3 would return to its former glory. All the money spent on making this year’s show a spectacle shows that it’s back. You’d never know that the economy is in a major recession and the gaming industry is way down in terms of year-over-year revenue. E3 2010 was loud and proud! The only thing missing was Sony’s ridiculous parties.
  6. Child of Eden: This was — by far — the most interesting motion-control game I saw at the show. Of course it would take someone like Tetsuya Mizuguchi to make motion this cool.
  7. Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom: I was disappointed that The Last Guardian wasn’t at the show, but I found a substitute that’s more than worthy. This game reminded me of Ico with more involved combat. I’m really looking forward to this one.
  8. Crazy Activision Concert: A chick in a bikini climbed up a 50-foot stripper-pole…and a ridiculous amount of artists performed.
  9. Dance Central: Harmonix’ upcoming dance title was surprisingly fun. I gave it bonus points for having Bell, Biv, DeVoe’s “Poison”, but I was impressed by how well it used Kinect in a fun way. Sorry Dance Dance Revolution. This game makes you look silly.
  10. Razer Onza Controller: I was super excited about this product when I first heard about it in January and even more excited after I spoke with Robert “Razerguy” Krakoff about it. After playing with one at E3 2010, it’s the peripheral I want most for Xbox 360. Sure it has a wire, but it also has some unique features and the superb build quality Razer is known for.

Well, there’s my list. Obviously I didn’t get to see everything at the show and tomorrow’s column will consist of me whining about the things I didn’t see. For now, I’d like to know what caught your eye at E3 2010. What games and hardware have you amped?!?

The Search For Tony Hawk Shrek

When the GTTV guy tweeted about Activision unveiling a Tony Hawk Shrek game, I got super excited. I love Tony Hawk! I love Shrek! These are two great tastes that will taste great together, right? Alas, after three days of scouring the E3 2010 show floor, I could not find this game. I pestered dozens of Activision employees with lines like, “I know you’re showing Tony Hawk Shrek behind closed doors. Just confirm that it exists!!!” Sadly, nobody was playing ball.

Either Tony Hawk Shrek is so spectacular that Activision is guarding its secrets as if it were Colonel Sander’s magical blend of herbs and spices or this title is the videogame equivalent of Atlantis or the Loch Ness Monster. Does anyone have any information on Tony Hawk Shrek or is it one of those “world exclusive” dealios?!?

(Yes, this article was a rib.)

Shacknews Previews Batch One

Hey guys! Here’s the first batch of E3 2010 previews I’ve written for Shacknews. If you have a chance, please check ’em out. Feel free to discuss them over there or over here. Be nice to the Shackers if you choose to visit, okay?

Splatterhouse — It’s bloody and has an area informally referred to as the “Butt Plug Microwave Room”.

NBA Jam — It’s ugly, but good old-school fun.

Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom — This is my sleeper hit of the show. It’s kind of like Ico with more involved combat.

Kirby’s Epic Yarn — I frickin’ love this game!!!

EA Sports MMA — The striking is tight, which isn’t a surprise since it’s based on Fight Night’s punching. I didn’t get the hang of grappling just yet.

Disney Epic Mickey — This will be another Warren Spector masterpiece. It’s a great platformer, with cool art and a fun gimmick.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword — A lot of people weren’t high on Miyamoto’s demo, but it looked sluggish because of all the interference. It’s absolutely true. Going hands-on with the game is a different deal. I’m positive this will be another great Zelda title.

Grading the “Big Three” at E3 2010: Nintendo vs. Microsoft vs. Sony

Another E3 is in the bag and it’s time to judge how the “big three” did at this year’s show. Usually I just rate the companies’ respective press conferences immediately after the last one, but since I was working for the excellent people at Shacknews, I didn’t get a chance to. Using the pressers and what was shown on the show floor, I’m going assign letter grades to Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony. I’d love for you to do the same thing in the comments section!

Microsoft: Kicking off the major pressers was Microsoft. The format was very strange. It kicked things off with a third-party game and close the show with a hardware refresh. Sure, it’s a pretty big deal that the Xbox 360 will have first dibs for all Call of Duty map packs and add-ons, but I was surprised that Halo and Gears didn’t get the money spots — they certainly looked fantastic and deserved the rub. Closing out the show with a new product is fine, but updated hardware doesn’t quite fit the bill. It’s cool that Microsoft went all Oprah and gave everyone free consoles, but I thought the company would have been better off plugging a first-party game in that slot. (On a side note, I found it hilarious that Epic’s Mark “Chocolate” Rein was standing up and clapping when he found out about his free console. The dude loses more money having a brain fart than I make in a year. Ha!)

On the non-gaming front, the ESPN announcement is potentially huge. Unfortunately, it’s not for everyone. Your ISP has to be on the ESPN 3 partner list, from what I understand. In something that I’ll have file as “sucks for me!”, my ISP, Time Warner, is not on the list.

Obviously Microsoft had to talk up Kinect at its press conference. Unfortunately, it didn’t play well at the presser. The good news is that the product was much more interesting on the show floor, particular with games like Child of Eden (expectedly awesome) and Dance Central (surprisingly fun).

Grade B-: If I was just going off the presser, it would have been a C+, but Microsoft had a lot of great stuff at its booth. While most of the Kinect stuff I saw wasn’t fun, the cool gamers for Kinect were better than the cool games for Move.

Nintendo: I thought Nintendo absolutely killed it at E3 2010. It had the best games and the most interesting new hardware. I was actually scared that Nintendo’s presser would have put me to sleep with a 20-minute presentation on the Wii Heart Rate Monitor Vitality Sensor. Instead I was bombarded with classic franchise after classic franchise returning to the Wii — Zelda, Donkey Kong Country, Metroid, and Kid Icarus dazzled millions of longtime Nintendo fans.

As a show, Nintendo had the best conference. Shigeru Miyamoto, Satoru Iwata, and Reggie Fils-Aime are the best “personality” executives from any of the big three. The presser also had the best pacing and flow.

I’m not sure how it played for everyone at home, but Nintendo was the talk of the show at E3 2010. It had the tech everyone wanted to see with the 3DS (at times the line took more than two hours) and it had the journalists’ darling game in Kirby Epic Yarn. Disney’s Epic Mickey also played well — yes, a third-party game for a Nintendo system was one of E3’s highlights.

Grade A: Nintendo owned the show. I want to hear some of you that are in the “Nintendo forgot about me” camp complain about the company’s E3 2010.

Sony: Sony’s performance was mixed. In terms of content, I thought it had a better presser than Microsoft, but it was about 30 minutes too long and cut into everyone’s E3 show floor time (which nobody was happy about). Sony did get the loudest pop of any of the E3 pressers with Kevin Butler’s performance. The company also had the biggest shock with Valve’s Gabe Newell on stage hocking Portal 2 for PS3 with Steamworks.

Sony had two pieces of new tech to push — 3D gaming and PlayStation Move. 3D gaming is interesting, but it’s probably not something that will take off this generation. It’s just too expensive for most people. Killzone 3 is okay in 3D, but I thought MLB: The Show was better. As for Move, the tech is cool, but Sony is having a hard time showing that it’s more than just Wii in HD.

In terms of games, there’s a lot for PS3 and PSP owners to get excited about. The two biggest were Gran Turismo 5 and Twisted Metal. I’m not really into the former, but the latter was way fun. The third-party games like Assassin’s Creed 3 (with the beta being PS3 exclusive), Medal of Honor (also with exclusive content), Dead Space 2, The 3rd Birthday, and Kingdom Hearts looked great.

Grade B-: Sony gets points for a wide variety of great games, solid tech, and Kevin Butler. It loses points for taking way too long, keeping everyone from the show, and failing to make the tech seem like fun. Steamworks on PS3 is huge and I’m not sure why people aren’t making a bigger deal out of this.

[poll id=”54″]

Now it’s your turn! Take the poll and let me know which company had the best show in your opinion.

Greetings From E3 2010!!!

– E3 2010 has been fantastic so far, but totally surprising. I can’t believe that my two favorite games of the show (so far) are Wii titles!!! Kirby’s Epic Yarn and Epic Mickey are just incredible. They’re very different, but I’m digging them for the same reasons — clever gameplay and unique art direction.

– The Activision party was the most impressive, but EA’s Bulletstorm party was the most fun. It’s always nice catching up with Cliffy B and having a “normal” conversation with an old friend.

– I met “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes…but I didn’t bring him any plunder. His son was there too. Cody is a handsome young man. I wonder if he’ll look like his dad in 30 years.

– My mark out moment of the show was when Iga said hello to me at the Konami booth. Wow. The dude that made the best Castlevania games ever said hello to me!!! I must have made an impression on him on the handful of times we went out for karaoke in Tokyo.

– I’m still taking meetings and cranking for Shacknews, but I’ll be checking in when I can. Real content is coming soon!!! For now, let me know which E3 2010 games have got you excited.

E3 2010 Videos: Activision’s E3 2010 Party

As promised, here are a bunch of videos from Activision’s crazy E3 2010 party. They were all taken on my HTC Evo 4G, so the quality isn’t the best. They’re quick and fun clips that’ll give you an idea of what last night was like. In the immortal words of Booker T, “Can you dig it, sucka?!?”

E3 2010 Party Pics: Activision Takes Over the Staples Center

Activision threw one of the most ridiculous E3 parties I’ve ever been to. First off, the company held it at the Staples Center — you know…that place where the Celtics are going to beat the Lakers later today. Secondly, the sheer amount of talent that performed was frickin’ crazy! Kicking things off DJ Hero 2 style were Z-Trip, deadmau5, and David Guetta. Usher was next with his smooth voice and slick dancing (and numerous backup dancers).

Tony Hawk was supposed to perform, but there were issues with the half-pipe, so he just skated by and talked about Tony Hawk: Shred (not Tony Hawk: Shrek). The highlight of the night for me was a two-song set by Jane’s Addiction. Maynard James Keenan (Tool and A Perfect Circle) performed Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” with a choir. Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell totally rocked a somber version of “Black Hole Sun” with an orchestra. A dancer performed on a pole that was at least 50 feet high! N.E.R.D. had a great set that promoted True Crime: Hong Kong. This was followed by Rhea, a protege of Pharell Williams.

Eminem closed out the show with a handful of songs, accompanied by Travis Barker (Blink-182) on drums and joined by Rhianna for a song. Think about all the talent that performed! Incredible, hey? Most of my friends were at a Capcom party and I missed them, but this Activision party is something I’ll remember forever. (I do have other thoughts on this spectacle as a verbal entertainer and someone thinking about ATVI shareholders…but that’s a story for later.) Enjoy these pics and stay tuned for some videos!

Look kids! It’s deadmau5!!!

Usher puts on such a great show. He’s a true “performer”.

I totally marked out for Dave Navarro during this excellent set by Jane’s Addiction.

Watching this woman climb a 50-foot poll was entertaining and scary at the same time.

Eminem closed the show with authority.

Tetsuya Mizuguchi Makes Motion Controls Cool with Child of Eden

Q Entertainment’s Child of Eden is — by far — the coolest motion control game I’ve seen for PlayStation Move and Xbox Kinect. The game is being published by Ubi Soft and it pretty much looks like Rez with motion controls. There’s probably more to it than that, but Rez with motion controls sounds awesome to me. As most of you know, I’m a total mark for Q’s Tetsuya Mizuguchi. Of course it would take someone like him to make motion controls cool.