As originally posted on www.ccgr.

org Bright eyed, bushy tailed, I woke up this morning in happy expectation of this years opening to E3; otherwise known as 'Gamers Christmas in July. Which is weird, considering it's June. Either way, I grabbed a bottle of Root Beer and planted my rump firmly in front of my desk for the next few hours, hoping for awesomness to rain from the Microsoft flavored heavens. Poppy showtunes start off the presentation. I can live without those, so I'm using the time to wipe the sleep from my eyes. Or, in reality, to nap on my desk for a few minutes. Global media briefing? What kind of...never mind. Starting off with Halo 4! They certainly aren't afraid to throw out their killer apps that quickly. The live action trailer reminds me of the stink that happened over Killzone 3, however. Graphically, the title is definitely sharp. I don't think anyone is surprised at that. What I was surprised over was the Covenant. I thought those guys were taken care of? Must've just been the Elites what made peace with humanity. Ah well, the new enemies look [i]awesome[/i]. Weapons are pretty sweet looking too. Has a sort of Ancients from Stargate, feel, with the moving and levitating parts. Master Chief, along with his jetpack seen in the earlier trailer (which I am still not convinced is not just space maneuverability jets) also sports multiple visors in this trailer. I wonder if multiple visor settings will be a gameplay mechanic? One can always hope. Also, Cortana going insane...actually sad about that. A recently released issue of Game Informer mentioned that AI's in the Halo universe start to degrade and are taken out of commission after several years. They also pondered whether or not her exposure to Gravemind would be able to change anything. Here's hoping they don't kill her off. Don Matrick (senior VP of something or other) walks on stage now to applause and eager faces to start the preamble. Why does it seem every console out now is suddenly the number 1 selling console in the world? Someone's playing with statistics again. And doesn't the PS3 also offer all, or most, of those media features? Hmm...windows Live connectivity? Nope. Hinting at something new. Violent. But wait...is that a [i]Splinter Cell[/i] title? Oh snap. With Sam Fisher? What did I miss by not playing Conviction yet? Weird sort of bullet time mechanic "Killing in motion" is used to target multiple enemies and take them out in rapid succession. Seems sort of the like the mechanic introduced in Conviction (though I've not played yet, and so may be wrong). I like it, though it seems, from the demo, as if the game is more stealth action rather than the pure stealth of the traditional series; another facet brought in by Conviction. Sam also seems much more agile than I'm used to; scaling dirt walls, flipping over barricades and doing all manner of fancy knifework with incredible speed. That's also not Micheal Ironside voicing Sam. It uses Kinect for voice commands (Sam, or rather the man playing, calls in an air strike in the demo) using it. Fancy. Sam seems to be tracking down a list of assassination targets known as 'the blacklist'. Shipping Spring 2013, [i]Splinter Cell: Blacklist.[/i] EA Sports' Andrew Wilson takes the stage next. Madden (august 28th, 2012; gotta love specific release dates, even if I'm not looking forward to the title) and Fifa (this fall) are using Kinect extensively. They're really pushing Kinect this year. Not that the voice commands aren't cool (especially in Splinter Cell). Fifa keeps track of how you react to the ref, and throws down penalties if you respond badly (in the demo, a guy cursed and was flagged for it). Nice. That's actually a really cool mechanic. I know some people who wouldn't be able to play with the Kinect on. Now the focus switches to Madden. Blast, who is that guy? He's a quarterback, I know. I missed the name. Kinect connectivity is actually pretty cool in this title too; the game responds as you speak the calls. Again, not a title I can appreciate, but I can see how the voice

features could be used. Magics? I like magics. Looks fun! Fable, The Journey (holiday 2012). Seems to be a rail shooter version of Fable. Didna expect that. Kinect, of course, but that may not be a bad thing; You use your hands to throw various forms of magic. No complaints over that. Wish they'd shown more. Hopefully they'll release some info over the course of the Expo. Blast, missed this guys name too. What is wrong with me? New Gears game though. Looks like...Byrd takes lead? I need to play Gears 3 as well. Gears of War: Journey. Release date is TBA, far as I can see. Surprised that there's not a lot more on this title. It was a short, few seconds clip that really showed nothing about the game aside from its existence. I do love me some Forza. Forza: Horizon looks...shiny, at least. They've added new features, like what looks to be real-world driving on car-laden highways and byways, as well as a day/night system. Not much is shown, but it looks as though they've amped up the crash mechanics too. Assuming that wasn't just a demo trailer; but we all know they wouldn't do that to us, right? Forza Horizon releases October 23rd, 2012. Yusef Mehdi. Caught that one. Always nice to see a familiar face from last E3. The Bing media search on Xbox is getting genre voice searching. Cool thing, if you have a Kinect. Uncertain why they're listing as a feature something other consoles, or TV guides, or entertainment companies already had standard, though. It's also getting 12 other languages to use as well. Culturally unsound as it is, I never considered that it did not use other languages already. Xbox is also getting Nickelodeon, Paramount movies, Machinima, and a world channel I did not understand the name of added to its entertainment repertoire. Also looks like they're getting an NBA channel thing, of sorts, as well as an NHL (next season, he said) channel. And later this year the Box is getting 24/7 ESPN. Yay? I suppose if you enjoy sports, you may be thrilled. The voice control, which they [i]really[/i] seem to be pushing, is pretty fancy I guess. It's just sports to me though, and I didn't buy the console to watch TV or movies. Or, for that matter, to listen to...Xbox Music? Looking at Xbox Music, it looks like a repackaged version of their Zune software. Which is good stuff, but hardly new. Seems as though it's a cross platform sort of thing, throwing your music around various devices. Now the X360 is getting a fitness program from Nike, presented by Stefan Olander (a higher up from Nike). What is this conference turning into? A shoe ad? A multimedia presentation? Nike believes if you have a body, you are an athlete. Inspiring, Creepily enough, Nike fuel (a service they offer aside from Xbox related stuff) seems to track your every move and help you 'get fit'. That, however, just leads into the Nike+ (plus is the name, not an addition sign) Kinect training is a 'digital training experience'. Still spooky, but it's a creative thing in its own way. You're able to compete against others in fitness over Xbox Live. It's an Xbox flavored Wii Fit, basically; but still a cool thing, I guess. For those who are interested. I am not. Releases later in 2012. Though it strikes me as funny how many 'core' gamers (you know, the ones Microsoft is supposed to cater to) made fun of the Wii for having Wii Fit. Wonder what Sony is going to dream up for the health crowd? Mark Whitten walks up now. I forget his title, but he claims people love their smartphones and tablets and the connectivity they offer. I don't have a Smartphone or a tablet, actually, and really don't see the point. Now he's talking about that new way of connecting they mentioned earlier. Though I am personally wondering if we really need to watch bonus features as we watch the show. New name: Xbox SmartGlass. It seems to work cross platform as an app. He's showing off the fact that he can track the characters from [i]Game of Thrones[/i] as they travel in the TV show...yay? As well as stopping the

movie on, say, his iPad, and picking it up in the exact same spot on his TV, and the iPad screen turns to special features about the movie. Now he's talking about [i]immersive entertainment[/i]. And it works with games too, not just movies and TV, apparently. He wrote a play in Madden on his tablet and it showed up in real time on the big screen. In Halo 4 (again, using an iPad as the portable device) it seems to act as both a bonus features showing, but also as a way to act as a hub for multiplayer endeavors. That's the first feature I've seen that I consider cool, to be honest. Well, that's not true. It's cool tech and very impressive, but just not...game related. Now he's going on about 'No one uses the browser on consoles'. Which isn't true, and humorously enough was also a defense tried by Sony last year at E3 on one of the hosts on G4, only to be rebuffed with actually, I used it yesterday to watch YouTube. Anyway, Internet Explorer 8 is coming to Xbox later this year. Not my choice of web browser, and no word whether it'll require Live Gold in order to use. It also seems as if it requires Kinect voice control to use (or at least use smoothly) and/or a tablet or smartphone phone using SmartGlass. He shows off a Prometheus trailer he reached only by voice. Both SmartGlass and IE are coming this Fall. Supposed to work with devices (TV, smartphone, tablet) you already own. Windows 8 advertisements now. Connecting computers, game, everything else. Dear sweet monkey fudge, where are the games? Daniel Bissom, and something Gallagher walk on stage now to show off a Tomb Raider trailer. First time I've seen the new look. It showed Laura using a bow extensively as well as 'traditional' Tomb Raider weaponry. I like the bow mechanics, actually; enemies also react to where they are shot with it (prompting me to make an 'Arrow in the Knee' joke to myself) and she'll also be able to use multiple arrow types (the demo showed normal arrows, as well as flaming ones used to set off gasoline, much to the men standing in the puddle's chagrin). It also showed off a skydiving segment (actually, a falling out of a plane segment) in which the player controlled her flight (or falling with style) as she tried to avoid trees. Interestingly enough, it also appears as if the Laura character will show damage as she takes it. The First piece of DLC available will be an Xbox exclusive. More new games? Yay! I was starting to lose hope. And better: world premiere exclusives, the bread and butter of game consoles. Now they're showing a clip of Ascend: New Gods", which shows a rather big monster of sorts fighting off other monsters in titanic fashion. Not really much is shown, other than the fighting style favors God of War. Coming out 2012. Only other thing I have to say is that's a big critter. Next thing is...not much. No name, and no title that I saw, only a bike that seems like a female (and deadlier) version of Kit from Knightrider sitting on a stand. Shiny and favors Tron in it's graphical scheme. Coming 2012, whatever it was, so I expect more info revealed later. Funnily enough, they threw 'Director of Pirates of the Carribbean' up in big letters as a major thing, but left"And Rango" in small letters near the bottom. Visually, reminds me of Tron (again) mixed with Portal. All the clip shows is wildly shifting architecture two orbs that seem to want to connect with each other. Title is: Matter, for Kinect releasing 2013. . Unfortunately, I cannot spell the names of the Capcom people taking the stage. Sorry guys. They're showing off Resident Evil 6. Leon is back, it seems, with a lady partner I first took to be Claire. Nifty! They've added in Turok style melee kills. Hopefully, that'll be something you can use throughout the game and not just in certain sequences. Now they're entering a building to escape the zombie laden streets, and I have the urge to scream Don't go in there! Leon blows up several dozen shuffling dead in gory, limb tearing fashion. Now they're trying to get to a helicopter and...yep, it's blowing up and the pilot has turned zombie. Fairly cool trailer, actually. It definitely follows in the footsteps of the fourth and fifth entries of the series.

Alex Ruiz is now showing off [i]Wreckateer[/i], an Xbox live exclusive, and another Kinect title. You use Kinect to control projectiles and blow up stuff. No complaints here either, except they're really, really pushing Kinect this year. Wreckateer is launching on Live this summer. Next is [i]South Park: the Stick of Truth[/i]. Tray Parker and Matt Stone, creators of South Park, are showing it off. Hey, now he's making fun of SmartGlass. I like him a bit more now. They're stressing that it had to look like the series does in order to stay true to it, and it actually does. Fans will be pleased, I think. Now they're talking about how tricky it was to imagine the locations and maps of the series, since normally they'd just cut to them. In the Stick of Truth, you play the New Kid in Town and try to fit in with 'the crew' in order to save the city. These guys, considering they actually talked about a game, brightened up the conference a bit. Though with "Everyone knows Jews can't be saviors" joke, and a knowledge of typical South Park humor, I'm likely going to pass. Now Usher pops up on the screen and is talking above an upbeat pop tune about how he helped out with a game. My Internet decided to be lackadaisical again at this point, and starts freezing up a bit. But I can already see where this is going. Or hear it, rather. And...yep. [i]Dance Central 3[/i]. Seems as though Usher is actually at the conference coming out from backstage. With FIRE. Can't go wrong with fire on a stage show. Judging from the still shots I'm getting of the scene (internet...oh the internet) I'm not missing much. I mean, I saw the fire. What else is needed? Now if only the audio would die too. Ah, just did. Now I feel stupid for asking. Where, may I ask, are the games here? This has turned into a music video, but it is better than the SmartGlass stuff. Tempted to go get a sammich...Nah. Cool enough though, the real world dancing of Usher and his crew is blending seamlessly into DC3. Oh snap that note was sour. Hurt my ears. Don Mattrick again. Makes a joke about 'Ushering in the future'. Nice. Talking about connecting everything for entertainment, and you can tell he's leading up to something, but still. I have no need to connect my TV to every facet of my life, and even less so to connect my mythical smartphone into every movie and song I have at my house. But then Call of Duty Black Ops 2 pops up on the screen, and I am satiated. Very futuristic, very cool. It's making the leap the original Modern Warfare did compared to the original Call of Duty, and is set in 2025. The demo shows a city under heavy attack by drone fighter planes, complete with decimated cars and scenery. Looks like perhaps it features multiple path selection, but I could be wrong. Weapons have, obviously, taken a futuristic leap as well. He's showing off a sniper rifle with an epic scope capable of tracking enemies through solid objects. Wait what? Clip editing for sake of time? I'm pretty sure everyone would want to see the whole thing, time issues or otherwise. Now he's using a PDA like wrist device (a smartphone with SmartGlass, probably) to call in several UAV's for fire support. Sweeeet. And then a building falls over in slow-mo because of a fiery explosion. Now, oddly different feature for a CoD game, he's flying a plane. A futuristic plane, complete with motion tracking HUD. Now the slogan The future is...BLACK pops up on screen. Looks pretty amazing, fanboi as I may be. And then...it's over, with the same pop music it started off with. I'm filled with equal parts excitement and disappointment. The games that were shown off I'm looking forward to, especially Splinter Cell, Black Ops 2, and though I never thought to say it, the Tomb Raider game. But there weren't many games shown off; an acknowledgment of another Gears game, and a Dance Central game (really looking forward to that one), and what feels like several hundred Kinect titles and several hours on the subject of connecting various media devices into a conglomerate network. I can't say I'm thrilled over the fact that the conference seemed less fun this year, with more 'global media presentation' and less 'here's our new games'. Here's hoping the rest of the Expo reveals more X360 titles of worth, and that Sony and Nintendo

up the ante on their conferences. <--Da Chozon1. As originally posted on: www.ccgr.org