Posted July 17, 2008

E3 is a wrap. Roll the Xbox.com and Inside Xbox credits…

The Redmond, WA, crew:

Production:

• CH4MELEON (Chase Dignan)
• SeaMonkeee (Sally Nordquist)

Editorial Assistants:

• Trainspotter (Michael Burns)
• meggigirl (Meghan Bush)
• KentKong (Kent Miller)
• KP (Kevin Paul)
• madSeamstress (Suzanne Saviano)
• Kara Swenson
• W1gg1n (Tom Wiggin)

Design:

• Upupdowndown (Dusty Diamond)
• tyreal (Dylan Eddy)
• aswedeoversea (Lina Eriksson)
• cowlik (Clint Harrison)
• Corporal Clink (Dan Nicholas)
• RevJackDaniels (Erik Olsen)

Editors:

• Jet City Gamble (Mark Austin)
• GhostCatfish5 (Mark Rose)
• Canuckgrl (Erica Moore)

Lead Producers:

• Dammy (Amber Mancino)
• sOoZyQ (Susan Lim)
• Aznrebel2008 (Johnny Pak)

The Los Angeles, CA, crew:

Video & Photos:

• Clampower (Reeve Baily)
• Video Monkey (Craig Mathewson)
• PiX3LMonkey (Daniel Brunner)
• Bruce Whitaker

Reporters:

• Editer (Denny Atkin)
• Major Nelson (Larry Hryb)
• Trixie360 (Christa Phillips)
• Treit and True (Ryan Treit)

Production Assistant:

• Judd Hemming

Managing Editor:

• Highbury Gunner (Colin Hurlock)

Posted July 17, 2008

Actually, Ryan and I got 30 minutes to play Fallout 3, but it felt like five. We were dropped into this post-apocalyptic RPG at the exit of Vault 101, as we headed out into the wasteland outside. Exiting the vault leveled us up, and we were able to distribute our experience points on skills (such as heavy weapons or explosives talents, lockpicking skills, etc.) and pick up our first perk. We chose “Lady Killer,” which gave 10% extra damage against female opponents and “opened up additional dialog options,” though alas we didn’t get time to see exactly what.

We ran into a group of bad guys lurking around an abandoned elementary school, and put the V.A.T.S. assisted targeting system to good use, first targeting the arm holding the weapon pointed at us, and then after knocking the gun out of the baddie’s hand, zeroed in on his head and removed it with graphic precision. Then we headed to the town of Megaton, where we met the sheriff, agreed on a quest to help undo a really, really bad decision the town’s initial settlers made, and then… Ran out of time! Even that short taste of the game was delicious. September’s ship date can’t come fast enough. ­– Denny Atkin, Gamertag: Editer

Posted July 17, 2008

Either MTV and Harmonix hired the best The Who cover band in the world for their party Wednesday night, or they succeeded in throwing the coolest. E3. Party. EVER. –Denny Atkin, Still Rockin’

Posted July 16, 2008

Codemasters’ Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising is about a year away, but it looks like it might end up being next year’s premiere combat simulation. You’re trying to push back a Chinese invasion of the Skira islands north of Japan, and you have the freeform ability to decide where to fight on the 134 square miles of island (it takes 4.5 hours to walk across in the game). Other cool stuff includes 70 realistic weapons systems and 50 vehicle types, dynamic weather systems, and optional troop management.

Also from Codemasters and coming later this year are Damnation, a “what if” game where the Civil War went on for 40 years and you have to use a variety of weapons and your ability to traverse and climb structures to help take down the enemy. Rise of the Argonauts is shipping soon, and this action RPG is a must for anyone who ever loved mythology as a kid. The designers have done a great job updating making the classic heroes, creatures, and demigods fit in with exciting gameplay and the kind of graphic dazzle we expect today, while still maintaining the feel of the Greek heroes we saw pictured in our history books and on Star Trek. – Denny Atkin, Gamertag: Editer

Posted July 16, 2008

When I walked into Microsoft’s E3 booth I had no idea that I would shortly send any and all passersby into fits of hysterics. Alas though, I drew the shake-your-booty dance mini-game at my You’re in the Movies appointment.

Rather than recreate the stiff-jointed Tin Man impressions of my immediate predecessor though, I was seized by a tremendous shot of ill-conceived confidence, and so launched into a series of ass waving, arm flailing convulsions set roughly, and I mean roughly, to the beat of the music.

I didn’t stop there though. After a brief respite spent playing Halo Wars and Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts (more on those later), I cut loose my rap chops with an inspired, strictly legit rendition of Bust a Move, which, as I warmed to my work, became progressively more animated.

Permit me now to apologize to those who bore witness to my temporary (one would hope) break from common sense … hey, is that DDR over there?

Posted July 16, 2008

While half the team is on the road here in LA, there is another team of unsung heroes diligently working to publish the content coming from E3. Unsung? Well, we are here to sing their praises. Huge thanks to Amber, Susan, Erica, Johnny, Sally, Mark and Mark, Chase, Tom, KP, Meghan, Kent, Mike, Suzanne, Kara, plus Erik and his team of designers.

Sally, shown here, and her grasshopper Chase are building web pages like a pair of ninjas who must avenge the dishonor of their dojo.

See Johnny. See Inside Xbox. See Johnny publish videos. See Johnny work himself into an early grave. Sad Johnny.

The Community can be a circus. KP is the acting Ringmaster while Trixie360 the Clown is in LA. The lovely Meghan pulls off a precarious balancing act on her tightrope.

Behold the elusive Amber in her natural habitat. She is an elegant creature yes, but make sure you do what she asks or she shall flay thee with her claws and fangs. Oh yes, you will be flayed.

All kidding aside, we couldn't make the pretty pictures go without the crack team back in Redmond. So huzzah for Redmond! --TriXie360

Posted July 16, 2008

Attention Sonic fans! Sonic Unleashed plays so fast, looks so beautiful and requires such twitch reflexes that longtime fans who vividly recall their time with Sonic on Genesis may weep openly with joy and nostalgia at the sight of it. You’ve been warned.

Sonic Unleashed’s big E3 reveal though is its new day and night system. Daytime finds Sonic at his swiftest, hurtling through each level at supersonic speed as the camera snaps between capturing Sonic from behind and shooting the action from a classic, 2D side-scrolling perspective, depending on which angle best suits the action at hand.

At nighttime however, Sonic mutates into a comparatively lumbering, heavy hitting beast complete with enormous arms that can stretch outward either to smack silly an enemy across the screen or reach out and grab a ledge after slightly misjudging a jump.

This nighttime Sonic experience dials the action back from the breakneck pace of the daytime levels, helping to keep the whole game fresh while offering a more traditional action/platformer.

Wait till you see this badboy in action. You haven’t seen speed like this anywhere. Not the last Sonic game, not Burnout Paradise, not anywhere. –Ryan Treit

Posted July 15, 2008

It’s my first E3 and I was very excited to see my first Microsoft E3 Press Briefing. What I discovered is that some of the coolest photos happened behind the scenes.

Here's the Xbox.com/Inside Xbox crew in our backstage work space. Major Nelson is twittering the Press Briefing.

This is my buddy Reeve ClamPower Baily, who is busy editing a video for Inside Xbox. I'm not sure what trixie360 and Highbury Gunner are doing.

All the video geeks and media monkeys pause to check out Peter Molyneux's Fable 2 Demo.

The lovely Duffy, singing her hit song "Mercy." All the guys were ogling her at rehearsal, so I got this photo especially for Highbury Gunner. -- Pix3l Monkey

Posted July 15, 2008

You can now add the newly announced Stormrise from Creative Assembly to the same console-focused real-time-strategy mix that Halo Wars and Tom Clancy’s End War currently occupy.

Our brief demo in the E3 booth highlighted a console-friendly control scheme Creative Assembly boasts will focus almost entirely on just the two thumbsticks and a single button.

Here’s the basic breakdown. You use the right thumbstick to call up what Creative Assembly calls their “lighthouse beam.” You then rotate the beam with the thumbstick and release it to select the unit that currently falls under the beam. Likewise, you can simply flick the stick to grab control of the closest unit in the desired direction.

When combined with a camera that captures the action up close in personal, more akin to a game like Full Spectrum Warrior than classic RTS three-quarters perspective, this innovative selection mechanic allows for swift, and more importantly, accurate unit selection.

If all goes well, Xbox 360 appears to be on the cusp of the first age of legitimate real-time-strategy games on a console. – Ryan Treit

Posted July 15, 2008

At the 2K Games showcase, Gearbox Software’s Randy Pitchford gave us a first look an early version of Borderlands. The game’s a co-op first-person shooter with strong role-playing elements, such as quests to solveand skills you can level up. (Pitchford said it may be the first “RPS.”) In the demo we saw, you and your partner were fortune hunters, on a quest to recapture stolen enemy technology from a group of bandits hiding out in an iridium mine. The action was fast-paced, with lots of alien creatures such as carapaced Skags keeping you in combat even when you’re not facing humanoid enemies.

The environments of the desolate settlement world looked fantastic, but what was really impressive was the combat. The demo started with co-op vehicular combat, with one person driving and the second player shooting, Warthog-style. In first-person combat, the developers have added over 600,000 weapons so far. (Yes, you read that correctly.) Weapons are procedurally generated, mixing characteristics such as accuracy, range, and power, with features like scopes and poison effects.  If you pick up weapons you don’t need or like, you can sell them between missions at the settlements. As you gain more combat experience and level up, you can enhance skills such as accuracy or reload times.

Borderlands won’t be out this year, but after that impressive early demo, it’s gained a top slot on Ryan’s and my “Most Anticipated Upcoming Games” lists. –Denny Atkin, Gamertag: Editer

Posted July 15, 2008

You know a game is good when there’s just as deep a crowd surrounding the game stations as there is at the open bar, and it so was last night at the Gears of War 2 multiplayer party. We’ll have a full article discussing the game’s various multiplayer evolutions soon, but I’d like take a second to chat up the newly announced and standout game-type, Horde.

Horde pits you and four comrades against waves of ever increasing, ever more dangerous enemies, or as Denny put it, Gears of War meets Space Invaders! What I really like here are the breaks between each enemy wave. Defeat one and you’re granted a few welcome seconds before the next, more powerful wave begins, allowing you to regroup and reset your strategy, or in the case of last night’s party, sip your libation of choice and gloat over your dominating stats. Just as important, you’ll find a bar in the upper left hand corner that tracks how many enemies remain in the wave, so you always have at least a rough idea of where you stand.

Also, while largely cooperative, you’re given a score after every wave you successfully defeat, so competition is still very much a part of the proceedings. Trust me, you don’t want to be the guy sitting on a single kill in a room full of journalists with access to an open bar.

Loud and rambunctious as the bar was, there wasn’t a great deal of fluid teamwork on display, though after shouting a few suggestions and instructions to the guy sitting next me, it’s apparent that good, defensive tactics and communication can work wonders in this game mode.

Okay, gotta go. Housekeeping just knocked on my door and I gots to skedaddle to the convention center. Look for more Gears of War 2 multiplayer details soon! – Ryan Treit

Posted July 15, 2008

Go backstage at the Microsoft press briefing with this all-around view.

Posted July 14, 2008

Jump into the show with this 360-degree view of the press briefing.

Posted July 14, 2008

Games editor Denny Atkin and I were able to get a sneak peak at EA Sports' latest innovation, Dynamic DNA at the EA press briefing. Bear with me here, the name might sound a touch vague, but the feature’s execution is brilliant. Here’s how it works. Rather than update rosters from time to time to account for trades and update the occasional stat, Dynamic DNA tracks every conceivable statistic and tendency (this is the same tool NBA general managers and coaches use) for every player and every team.

This “DNA” then is used to define every player and team’s tendencies and abilities. For example, if Kobe tends to cut right to the basket from the top of the key in real life, he’ll do the same in-game. Likewise, the Dynamic DNA also showcases where each player confidently shoots the ball. This is highlighted with colored “hot zones” that overlay the court in real-time.

Much more importantly though, if a player changes their tendencies or starts shooting lights out from a different spot, the game will track and account for that.

This works for team plays as well, so if you call up your quick-button plays (e.g. pass to the post, pick and roll, isolation) you’ll see how often each team calls each play dependent on who has the ball and what position they’re in.

Now here comes the real kicker. Ready? Dynamic DNA is updated daily! Your game will literally change every day for as long as the season goes on. NBA LIVE 09 will be the first game to use this feature, but you can bet your bottom dollar it won’t be the last. Exciting stuff! --Ryan Treit

Posted July 14, 2008

Valve’s cooperative (up to four players) zombie apocalypse shoot-em-up Left 4 Dead looked in fine form at EA’s press briefing, but it wasn’t just the gore-filled action that piqued the crowd’s interest. Rather, it was Gabe Newell’s announcement that a dynamic, AI-powered “director” would shape the game’s content on-the-fly depending how you and your team play.

Given as an example, Newell showcased two different teams at a zombie infested gas station. The first group, who had been struggling along, encountered a small trickle of undead that they dealt with swiftly before moving on.

The second, more skillful group encountered a massive wave of aggressive, sprinting zombies that threatened to overrun them. Better yet, when the good guys polished them off, the gas station crumbled and exploded in a huge pillar of flame and flying debris, punctuating the end of the fight. The point here is that the “director” scales not only the difficulty, but also the visual and dramatic rewards, all on the fly.

Seen in person the feature is outstanding, but it really only gets better the more you think about it. This is what E3 is all about. Discovering new features like the "director" that not only work for the highlighted game, but could really change the way we play games going forward. Gotta love it. – Ryan Treit

Posted July 14, 2008

What a day, and it’s still going. The crew and I arrived at the Los Angeles Convention Center at 7:30am to prep for the big show—our annual Press Briefing. Major Nelson and I ran around shooting video, and I was lucky enough to get the chance to interview Duffy, the British pop star who performed her hit “Mercy” at the briefing. She looks like Brigitte Bardot and sings like an old Soul Diva. She was super friendly and we chatted about singing for jaded gamers, her amazingly successful year and her plans to hook up her Xbox 360 on her tour bus. Watch out for the interview on Inside Xbox this week. -- TriXie360

Posted July 14, 2008

The Microsoft Press conference just wrapped up, and as the crowd files out, conversations are all over the place. The news that Final Fantasy XIII will be available Day 1 on the Xbox 360 generated huge buzz as the attendees filed out, but fact that the New Xbox Experience update coming for the Xbox 360 is akin to launching a new console generation without requiring anyone to actually buy a new console is definitely attracting big attention.

We saw games we’ve been anxiously anticipating. The first-ever live demo of Fallout 3 showed stunning post-apocalyptic detail. Guitar Hero World Tour is bringing us The Eagles and Metallica, and Rock Band 2’s going to deliver AC/DC and a debut single from Guns n’ Roses. We also got a look at some awesome new titles, including the incredibly cool looking party game Lips, the hilarity of You’re in the Movies, the fast-action of Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2, and the Xbox LIVE Arcade update of one of my all-time favorite games, Portal: Still Alive. Plus, a South Park game coming in 2009!

A highly anticipated update to one of last E3’s crowd-pleasers: Resident Evil 5 is coming in March, and will feature co-op play! Peter Molyneux always gives good demo, and after seeing him show how “ambient orbs” make connecting with your friends in Fable 2 for co-op play an unobtrusive experience that never pulls you out of the game, October can’t come quick enough. Following the co-op theme, Epic’s Cliff Bleszinski showed an amazingly intense Brumak battle and announced 5player co-op in Gears of War 2’s new “Horde” mode. Are you sensing a theme here? Nobody can touch Xbox LIVE’s multiplayer experience now, and it’s getting even better.

Not just through games, either. The “new Xbox experience” isn’t just going to put a better-looking, easier-to-navigate face on Xbox LIVE, it will also add some slick features like LIVE Parties that can join games together, avatars, and the new Xbox LIVE Primetime channel where hundreds of players can join together in games like 1 vs. 100. One of the coolest things mentioned, though, was the ability to combine a LIVE Party with the new support for Netflix instant watch to let you watch and chat about movies at the same time with friends all over the country. Virtual MST3K, anyone?

Those are just some of  the highlights. My “Insider Moves” cohost Ryan Treit was at the conference as well, and once he pulls his jaw off the floor, he’ll be posting a full report on the event in the Articles section soon. --Denny Atkin, Gamertag: Editer

Posted July 7, 2008

The 2008 Electronic Entertainment Expo is back in Los Angeles this year, and it promises to be one of the most exciting yet for Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE. It's an industry-only event but we've got your inside ticket to the show, bringing E3 home to you with Inside Xbox on your console and here on Xbox.com. 

Our battle-hardened crew will be storming the floor of the L.A. Convention Center, kicking off on July 14 and running through July 17, to bring you the E3 experience.

Major Nelson is already lining up exclusive interviews with bigwig industry insiders, and TriXie will undoubtedly try to crash a few VIP parties. Video Monkey is ready to bring you the sights and sounds of the show, and our intrepid Inside Xbox game gurus (Ryan and Denny of This Week in Xbox) will be grabbing as many controllers as they can for hands-on impressions of all the hot games. On top of that, look for detailed coverage of the press briefings, exciting new game trailers, and sweeping panoramas from the show floor.

Of course, we'll also be blogging the show (welcome to our blog page, by the way!) with new posts around the clock, tracking down all the latest and greatest E3 has to offer. With Inside Xbox and Xbox.com, you won't miss a thing.

Stay tuned. E3 is only a few days away!