The E3 Expo is happening this week. That means excitement, adventure and really wild things. Microsoft kicked things off as usual with an impressive press event, and ended with a giant announcement. There’s a new Xbox 360 model, and it’s shipping now.
This video started making the rounds earlier in the week, and it’s been generating a lot of interest. If you somehow haven’t seen it yet, you’re in for a treat. It’s an eight minute long pitch for a new ‘Mortal Kombat’ movie. And it actually looks pretty decent.
It’s a pretty big week for games, even if there aren’t too many titles for core gamers. You’ve got yet another $60 ‘Rock Band’ expansion and a golf game hitting shelves this week, but the PSP holds strong with a visual novel and, of course, ‘Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.’
I think it’s fair to say that the rollout of 3-D TV this year has been… confused, to put it mildly. Although the hardware is ready (in the form of 3-D capable HDTVs and Blu-ray players), where is the 3-D content to go with it? The few 3-D Blu-rays pressed to disc so far have all been manufacturer exclusives paired up with the purchase of specific HDTVs or BD players. And that doesn’t look to be changing any time soon. There are few firm release dates for 3-D Blu-rays the rest of this year. How can people get excited about the purchase of a 3-D TV if they don’t have anything 3-D to watch on it? There’s also the matter that many people find 3-D movies to be gimmicky and annoying, and would rather watch those same movies in 2-D anyway. But what about 3-D gaming? Is that a concept we can all get behind?
’3D Dot Game Heroes’ is an incredibly fun game. There’s no getting around that; it’s just plain fun. And of course it is – it’s a ‘Zelda’ clone, and ‘Zelda’ clones are fun. I’m pretty sure it’s one of the fundamental truths of the universe that top-down action games in the style of ‘Link to the Past’ will always be enjoyable.
The game’s got roots in the old school, that much is obvious from the onset. Yet for every wonderful homage and every clever bit of dialog, there’s also something absolutely maddening.
No, this isn’t an explanation for our weird habits. That’s something better left to sociology majors. I’m not even trying to comment on human behavior. There are swan-wearing Icelandic singers that do that far better than I could. I just want to talk about content consumption, why it is that we can watch the same thing over and over again – and why that, in some cases, we prefer it.
It seems that the summer lull that yearly affects the videogame industry is upon us already. Only lackluster titles await this week, and things don’t seem like they’ll be improving any time soon. It’s time to catch up on some of those games you’ve been neglecting. Or go outside, if you’re into that sort of thing.
I love movies. I love videogames. But some things just shouldn’t be combined.
Remember that incredibly awesome ‘Super Mario Bros. Crossover‘ game, in which the original ‘Super Mario Bros.’ had been reprogrammed to incorporate other classic NES characters? Did you waste as much time playing that as I did? Like, playing with every single one of the new characters? Well, the designer is now in the process of adding Ryu from ‘Ninja Gaiden’ to the mix.
That’s right, the ninja who can climb walls and throw shurikens will be slicing his way through the Mushroom Kingdom. Dear lord, as soon as this update is released, there goes my productivity for a few days again.
[via Topless Robot]
It’s one of those rare weeks where I really wish I owned a Nintendo Wii. Sure, it’s not high definition, and there’s nearly no 3rd party support, but Wii owners get to play Mario games.
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