E3 2010

Jun 18, 2010

This year's E3 has come and gone, and I thought I'd post a few thoughts on various things introduced at the event. To make things easy, I'll organize things by platform.

PC Gaming

Portal 2
This may be the game I'm most excited about. Whereas the first Portal was an "experiment" of sorts, this second title looks to be a full-fledged game. The puzzles sound much more insidious (physics paint!), and the new milieu of the game looks incredible. Portions of the trailer I watched are very funny, as can be expected. And hey, it's Valve we're talking about here. This will definitely be a winner.
Rage
id Software's new intellectual property looks incredible. Part racer, part first-person shooter, this game looks like a boat load of fun. It's pretty, too, as expected with titles from id (humans still look a little too fake, however; they need to drop the 'bloated' look). I'll probably pick this one up when it's released.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
If this game is as fun (and as deep) as the first one was, I'll definitely buy in. If it's as lame as the second one was reported to be, I'll skip it. Nevertheless, the trailer looks great.

Nintendo Wii

Lost in Shadow
This upcoming adventure game looks really impressive. You play as the shadow of a young boy, separated from him at the beginning of the game. The ultimate goal is to reach the top of a tower, where the boy is being held. But the twist here is that, as a shadow, you can only use other object's shadows as platforms. Manipulating light in the environment looks like a large part of the puzzle mechanic. This is another very inventive title that looks promising.
Zelda: Skyward Sword
What's not to like about a new Zelda title?
Kirby's Epic Yarn
Kirby's Epic Yarn has an incredibly unique art design. This time around, Kirby is an outline of yarn, and moves through a similarly designed environment. I've seen plenty of comments around the web poking fun at the seemingly "gay" presentation of the trailer; but this looks like an inventive, fun game to me.
Donkey Kong Country Returns
I was a big fan of the Donkey Kong Country games back on the SNES, so I'm really looking forward to this one. Some of the older games were ridiculously difficult; hopefully some of that difficulty will be ported over. The graphics in this one look fantastic.
Epic Mickey
Mickey Mouse goes on an epic adventure, using various paints and paint thinners to modify and navigate the world. The fact that this game includes a Steamboat Willie level, complete with the old artwork style, is epic in itself.

Nintendo DS

Nintendo 3DS
The next iteration of Nintendo's hand-held looks interesting. I'd have to see the 3D effect in person to get a good feel for it, but all the press I've read has sounded promising. There are some neat sounding titles coming for this new platform and, if they're fun enough, I may just have to upgrade.

XBox 360

Kinect (AKA Project Natal)
I'm not exactly sure what to think about this. I've read in several places that Microsoft really butchered the unveiling of this tech, opting for 'family-friendly' titles similar to what's already on the Wii. That being said, Child of Eden looks like a phenomenal title that makes terrific use of the new technology. Only time will tell how this stuff works out. I think it's funny, however, that Sony and Microsoft are just now trying to catch up to Nintendo in motion control. Nintendo gets a lot of hate from the hard-core gaming community (a small portion of which is justified), but they're obviously doing something right; otherwise these companies wouldn't be entering this space.

I'm sure there are a few items I've missed in this rundown, but these are the ones that really caught my eye. For those of you who followed this year's event, what are you looking forward to?

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