E3 2010 Recap: Another Big Event

The summer season is in full force and once again another Electronic Expo Event has come and gone. For those keeping count, this was the 16th expo to take place and it was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Once again, we got a chance to see the heavyweights like Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft show off what new surprises they have in store for the video game fans. Nintendo gave us our first introduction to the Nintendo 3DS which is Nintendo’s brand new 3D powered portable gaming device. Sony spoke more about their plans to advertise the playstation Move and also discussed their intentions to create a brand new paid-subscription service for the playstation network called ‘Playstation Plus’. Microsoft would not be left out of the sensor discussion as they hyped their own user-sensory device – Microsoft Kinect. All the major developers were on hand and they showcased the latest games to come out this holiday season as well as some new surprises which won’t be on store shelves for another year or two. Here’s a few of the games that caught our eye at the event…

Rage

-Rage is a first person shooter from id software. The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic world after an Asteroid crashes down and kills everything in sight. The survivors of the crash are humans who hid in pods buried deep beneath the ground and have now awaken to find themselves in a desert-like atmosphere. Of course, what would a post-apocalyptic world be without mutants as the enemies trying to kill all of the humans. This game will be running on a brand spanking new game engine called id Tech 5. Unlike other first person shooters, this game will feature a strong racing element to the game as the developers worked hard on trying to add racing combat as a main plot element in the game. Gamers will be able to drive dune buggys and also try to kill each other online with vehicles as the racing will be a strong multiplayer component of the game as well.

WWE All-Stars


 

-THQ San Diego has finally created a wrestling game which has current WWE Superstars go up against some of the legends of the ring. The debates can finally be solved as John Cena faces off against the the Ultimate Warrior or Randy Orton vs. Macho Man Randy Savage. This new game is a departure from the WWE Raw vs. Smackdown series as the new game is more of an arcade beat em up mixed with combos and over the top animations. Aside from the great feuds present in the game; we like the fact that a video game publisher is coming up with a brand new original property for a series that is usually the same game every year with only a few added elements brought in to freshen up the game.

Portal 2


 

-Portal 2 is a first person puzzle platform game and is created by Valve Corporation. The game allows gamers to control a portal gun that can be used to transport your robot character through different objects as you try to complete each mission. Many games under development are first person shooters that rely on blood and violence for entertainment and we liked this game as a nice change of scenery that involves using the brain a bit more to solve logic problems rather than pumping someone’s chest full of lead bullets.

Goldeneye 007


 

-A remake of the original N64 masterpiece is making its return to the Nintendo Wii but with some notable differences. Actor Pierce Brosnan will not be returning in the game since he is no longer playing the role of James Bond in the movie franchise. Instead, actor Daniel Craig will reprise his role as Bond and the game’s plot and level design will be slightly altered to reflect this change. The game will still have the great multiplayer capabilities as it did before but might experience some technical difficulties or lag possibilities since this is a online title on the not online-friendly wii machine. Since there are limited (and good) first person shooters on the Nintendo Wii, we expect that this game will do very well financially for Eurovision – the developers of Goldeneye 007.

Kid Icarus: Uprising


 

-We know that Nintendo showed off some cool new first-party titles like Zelda,Mario and Donkey Kong. But who cares! There’s a freaking Kid Icarus sighting! It’s been 19 years since the last Kid Icarus game hit store shelves. The plot will once again revolve around the protagonist Pit trying to stop the evil Madusa from taking over the world. The game will feature a mix of air and land combat and feature a multiplayer death match mode where 6 players can try to frag each other with the same weapons that will be used in the single-player portion of the game. However, the game will not be on the Wii device and instead will be released in 3D on the new Nintendo 3DS portable system.

Bulletstorm


 

-Bulletstorm is another first person shooter with big expensive graphics. What we like about this game is the funny humor and wit of the game and the idea that you get extra points for trying to kill the bad guys in fun ways by testing out the unique level design that is given to you. For instance, if you see a poisonous plant nearby, why not shoot your opponent into it and watch the poisonous plant finish off the job for you. There is no multiplayer mode in this game as the developers prefer for gamers to join up in co-op mode and try to work together to take out as many baddies as possible.

Epic Mickey


 

-This game is being created by famous video game architect Warren Spector. Spector is working in collaboration with Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios to finish the project. The game is an open world concept with RPG elements and a morality meter that changes based on how good or bad you make Mickey Mouse be in the game. The plot involves Mickey accidentally destroying a world meant for lost or forgotten cartoon characters and in order to put the world back together Mickey must use a magical paintbrush to fight any antagonists that try to stop him from repairing the world. The game features the first major appearance of ‘Oswald the Lucky Rabbit’ since 1928 as a major Disney character after Disney re-acquired Oswalt from Universal Studios in 2006.

Every year, there are a ton of games franchises that are coming out with sequels or new intellectual properties which are in the process of being finished. We can’t discuss every single new game coming out so we leave those to the large video game/entertainment websites to do on their own.We merely try to focus on some of the games which we think will be successful and which look new and interesting and aren’t always on the radar of most gaming fans. We still highlight some of the big games fairly often but if there’s something new and unique then we’ll try to tell you about it. Here is the yearly round up of games which we expect will sell very well once they are released…

Call of Duty: Black-Ops
Fallout: new Vegas
Street Fighter 4: 3D Edition
Donkey Kong Country Returns
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
F.E.A.R. 3
Deus X: Human Revolution
Dead Space 2
Crysis 2
Mortal Kombat
Halo: Reach
Gears of War 3
Fable 3
SOCOM 4
Killzone 3
Little Big Planet 2
Infamous 2
Gran Turismo 5