E3 2010 Day One: Highlights and Lowpoints

E3 is, and has been since it started, the biggest gaming event of the year. Whether it be a new console, a new major name title, or a bold new project, E3 is THE PLACE to premiere it.

The first day of the convention is over. So what's my opinion on day one? ...Meh.

Hightlights:



Everything about Natal- I'm sorry, Kinect, that wasn't a game.
"Project Natal" was the big reveal done by Microsoft at last years E3. It once again took the spotlight, now named "Kinect", during the Microsoft Press Conference this morning. And you know what? It looks nice. The technology is really impressive. For those who don't know, it's a camera which tracks you in 3D space to track your movements and lets you interact with the console without any form of controller. And the features other than, y'know, actual games are really nice. You can watch movies on it and fast forward/rewind just by reaching out and grabbing the time bar on the screen. You log in simply by waving at the screen and Kinect will find your profile by looking at you, and then log you in. The video chat is also impressive, you can video chat without any sort of headset, with anyone else with a Kinect. Then you can move around and Kinect will track you, without you having to move the camera. You can even watch a movie with whoever you're video chatting with, and a third screen will pop up with the movie on it. I'm skeptical of how well that will work, it seems like it will have latency problems, but it's a good idea. ESPN will be free to watch for anyone with Xbox Live Gold, with over 3500 different events, or whatever. I couldn't care any less about sports. Overall as a media center it looks like it'll be incredible, and probably worth getting just for that aspect for some people.


New Xbox Model - Shipping TODAY

Microsoft shocked me personally today announcing a new redesign of the 360 that is NOW SHIPPING. That's big. You can get one next week. $299 will get you a 250 gig hard drive, built in wi-fi support, and supposedly, a whisper quiet system. Which is good. I may actually get an Xbox now. Maybe. Possibly. It could happen.


Hope


I NEED THIS NOW. NOOOOOWWWWW.



Rayman!

A Rayman 2-d sidescroller that has nothing to do with rabbits? Yay!

Lowpoints:
Kinect Games

A Mario Kart Ripoff? A Mario Party Ripoff? A Nintendogs Ripoff? 4 Wii Fit Ripoffs?

The lineup of Kinect games is one of the biggest "Screw you!"s Microsoft has ever done. It shows that Microsoft has realized they can make money by ripping off the Wii, and plan to do just that. The dance game by Harmonix looked pretty okay I suppose.

Laser Tag


THIS IS A VIDEO GAME CONVENTION. STOP SHOWING US THINGS THAT DO NOT COUNT AS VIDEO GAMES. USING XBOX TO TRACK SCORES DOES NOT MAKE IT A VIDEO GAME.


Michael Jackson: The Game
No, you didn't read that wrong. Someone is making a game based on the king of pop. It's everything I hate about rhythm games. It puts you in the shoes of Michael Jackson and has you sing and dance in concert. It'll work with the Kinect for Xbox and the Move for PS3. It will also be terrible. IT'S BEEN A YEAR PEOPLE, GET OVER IT, MJ IS DEAD.


Star Wars Kinect


Ugh. This could be so good, but looks so bad. This shows all the problems with Kinect, and motion controls in gaming. It never looks authentic. Something about the movements just look off. You CANNOT swordfight without having any feedback, and those beams look TERRIBLE. This game just looks so bad.

Kinectimals Demo

I saw that Microsoft. I saw you try to convince us Kinectimals isn't garbage using an adorable little girl, and an adorable little tiger and it's named Skittles and it fell and oh my gosh it's SOOOO CUTE- Sorry, I had prolonged exposure to ADORABLE there for a second.

The Lady Showing Off the Kinect Video Chat

i r da gud public speaker durpity durp


Why No Blu-Ray?
Since they're going through all the trouble to redesign the 360, why no blu-ray? It seems like a pretty big oversight to me. Even if you don't use it for games, just the ability to play blu-ray movies would be nice.

In Soviet Russia, Kinect Controls YOU!
Here's a video of the Star Wars game being "played". Impressive how the character moves before the player, isn't it? What's that? This is proof that this Kinect demo was fraudulent and it's not that responsive? Yes. Yes it is.

Final Comments:

What an underwhelming first day for E3. Here's hoping tomorrow will be better?

TOR Playable Species, What Is And Isn't Possible.

So. I like the Knights Of The Old Republic games. Specifically, I like KOTOR1. I didn't think the second one was very good compared to the first. But that's because Bioware left the series and the second one fell into the hands of others. It was good, the gameplay was a step up from the first, but overall the writing, which was the big draw of the first game was not.

So I'm very excited for the new MMO sequel to the games, "Star Wars: The Old Republic". So much so, that I've become a semi-active member on the TOR forums. My name is Zuldim, in case anyone cares to look me up on there.

Now, there's been a lot of talk on there, because while a lot has been reveal on the game (scheduled for Spring 2011 release), playable species have not. They've been confirmed to be in the game, but no specifics have been given. I've seen a lot of speculation on what species will and will not be in the game, so here is my opinion on what is likely, what is possible, and what is unlikely. (Most of my research was done on wookiepedia)

*Spoilers for KOTOR and KOTOR2 follow*


Humans
Duh
Likelyhood: Confirmed


Twi'lek
Twi'lek played a big part in KOTOR, are widely popular with fans, appeared many times in the movies, are known to have connections with the force, and can speak basic. I would be shocked if they were not playable.
Likelyhood: Almost a given.


Zabrak AKA Iridonians
You had an Iridonian companion in KOTOR2, Bao-Dur. Iridonians are well known because of Darth Maul, and they can obviously have a connection with the force. They can also speak basic.
Likelyhood: Probable.



Wookies
Everyone loves Wookies! Unfortunately, they cannot speak basic, due to their physiology, and all the classes are confirmed to have the same voice for each race. All classes are also confirmed for each race, and Wookies cannot have a connection with the force.
Likelyhood: Highly unlikely.



Gand
Gand are a popular fan favorite among the TOR forums, but they're relatively unknown outside of the hardcore KOTOR fans. They can have a connection with the force, and speak basic (I think) though.
Likelyhood: Unlikely.


Jawa
There is only one Jawa known to have had a connection with the force, or be able to speak clearly for that matter. It's possible they could be in as the "short race" ala Dwarves in WoW, but they only ever wear those same robes, so armor would be a problem.
Likelyhood: Very unlikely.


Selkath
In KOTOR Manaan, homeworld of the Selkath was an entire planet you visited. I liked Manaan, and the Selkath were kind of cool I guess, but they really seemed to value neutrality. They've been known to have connections with the force, but I don't recall one ever speaking basic. They may have given up neutrality in the past 400 or so years since KOTOR though, and it's possible some can speak basic and choose not to.
Likelyhood: Possible.


Droids
Droids can't use the force, and cannot have a moral compass with which to make decisions.
Likelyhood: Not gonna happen.


Rakata AKA "The Builders"
The Rakata were one of the first races to discover the force, and used it to conquer the galaxy with unspeakable acts of evil (they were the ones who turned Tatooine into a desert planets, from the lush planet it used to be). Eventually, however, the dark side corrupted them, and they fell. Since then, only a few remain, they have regressed to tribal days, with little to no technology, and have lost connection to the force.
Likelyhood: Extremely unlikely.


Kel Dor
Kel Dor can speak basic, and use the force. The character narrating the timeline videos that are being released is a Kel Dor, which could be interpreted as a hint. The only thing about this is that they aren't well known enough.
Likelyhood: Possible

Other races not worth mentioning: Tusken Raiders, Ewoks, Sarlacc (THAT WAS AN APRIL FOOLS JOKE AND YOU ALL KNOW IT), Whatever the heck Yoda is.