(thanks to Alan Richey for the killer banner above)
Welcome to Untitled Gaming, repository for unfiltered, uncensored opinions on all things related to games, and best of it all, it comes from two adults that don't live in their mothers' basements. Additionally, we do not think it's the coolest thing in the world to scream racist and homophobic slurs, all in the name of drawing attention to our sad, little lives. We do other less obnoxious things to draw attention to our sad, little lives.
Oh, and we've been accused of podcasting from time to time. You can check out the most recent one just to the right of the blog.
We're here to have discussions, so please enjoy and engage us in the comments!
I am not quite sure what to think after I saw the end of the Microsoft conference. On one hand the Kinect came off looking like a crappy PS2 Eye Toy all over again, but on the other hand some of the voice command was OK. There was not a single 'new' game that I could get excited about, and even Gears of War 3 looks like more of the same (but still a day one purchase for me). Fable 3 is also a purchase, but I knew that going into it.
No, it was not the games that surprised me, it was the ESPN announcement, for no extra charge! I do not even pay for cable right now, so if this is really what it sounded like (and I am leaving room to be let down by blackouts of local sports, please I hope this doesn't happen) then I will be in heaven. In an age where live sports was the only reason I wished I had cable/dish, Microsoft may have my solution. I would have never guessed this going into it, especially with how much they rape you for sports on the iPhone/PC/etc, that is why I seriously doubt that most of the content will be free, and fear many games will be 80 Microsoft points, etc.
The one game announcement that does have me pumped for the holiday is Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, especially considering it is being made by Criterion. I did not care at all for last year's Shift, but this fall I should be done with Blur, and unless Sony actually gets off their ass and finishes Gran Turismo 5 this new NFS may turn out to be my racing game of choice for the holidays.
This is so not my fault. Tony started drinking at 9AM and then just kinda showed up at my house, ready to record. Lucky for you all, I filled him full of caffeine and pain-killers, and we rolled this motherfucker out. We combed through our sources and the internet to find every potential game worth talking about, and assembled a 3-hour EPIC PRE3 show for you that hearkens back to the old days of Untitled Podcast madness. Gone are our recent attempts at concision and we lay out for you a plentiful harvest of information and correct opinions.
From Dragon Age 2 to Rock Band 3 to The Last Guardian to the final Nintendo 3DS specs, we have it all for you, and we tell you exactly what we're watching for, what's got us excited, and what the Cardinals were doing while we recorded this.
Keep an eye on this blog, as each day, both of us will be carpet-bombing you with updates and opinions, be sure to keep an eye on both of our Twitter feeds for moment-to-moment reactions:
PLEASE let us know what you wanna hear about from us, and also let us know what you think is going to be the hottest shit during the show!
I'll give you one teaser here. I'm gonna keep a sharp eye on Brink. It's being developed by Splash Damage, who I think are the absolute best when it comes to class-based shooters, and the mix of single-player and multi-player sounds amazing. Check it out.
That looks hot. I like how the cinematic trailer really gives you a feel for the type of gameplay they're shooting for. I trust the guys at Splash Damage, and can't wait for this one. Keep an eye out for it @ E3.
First, we must absolutely indulge in an old tradition:
I never, ever get tired of that. God, I used to love G4TV.
Anyway, so we'll be doing some E3 podcasting and some E3 blogging. We're recording on Saturday, and will have it out a bit earlier than usual, due to some crazy scheduling, and then throughout the week I'm going to blog a bit each day, and I'll try to bug Tony into doing the same. Additionally, you can follow Tony and myself (Blaine) on Twitter, for our fairly-live reactions to each of the pressers and announcements. Somehow, some way, we're going to do a post-E3 podcast. I don't know how, but maybe we can do something cool and different with the wrap-up podcast.
It seems, more and more, like this is the year that a) console makers are justifying the lack of new & more powerful hardware by introducing various waggling methods, b) waggling methods might really catch fire and replace what we know and love as 'fun games,' and c) that my cynicism might take a real punch to the nuts because Bioware & Squenidos team up into a Voltron of gaming awesome and introducing a waggling method for menu-navigation and win my love forever.
So, yeah, it's going to be an interesting year for me, because I have my expectations way lowered. While I'd love to see something about Dragon Age 2 & Mass Effect 3, I'm expecting Bioware to throw all their weight behind establishing Star Wars: the Old Republic as the WoW-killer that EA needs. Now, this isn't a bad thing, but it's something I already know exists ... in the distant future. A release date and pricing scheme would be nice.
Additionally, Nintendo is going to show the 3DS with a handful of awful kids' games, and I'll do what I do with their handhelds every time and wait until they start releasing either original interactive stories or Final Fantasy ports in the system's second or third year.
The PSP2 has the chance to be great IF IF IF there's a second analog control. If there's not, it's going to be a hard sell and Sony should fire every fucking moron that was involved in that decision.
Natal & PlayStation Move also have a chance to be very cool IF IF IF the software is there. They need to demonstrate this technology as something so immersive and accurate that it is truly a better gaming experience than the controller or mouse/keyboard combo. The lack of force feedback is a real problem, though, just like on Wii.
Which leads me to what E3 should always be about, which is the GAMES. I don't think there's anything coming out the rest of this year that I'm really, really excited about, which is a very strange feeling for me. Dragon Age 2, Gears of War 3, Final Fantasy XIV, Star Wars: the Old Republic, Guild Wars 2, and maybe Mass Effect 3 are all next year. I am curious to see if Obsidian can take the Fallout 3 formula and make it NOT painful to talk or fight in the game, with their Fallout: New Vegas.
So, we'll see. I'm pumped for E3, but it's a very tempered, curious 'pumped.'
What about you? How are you feeling going into E3? What's got you pumped? What are totally negative about? Are there going to be any surprises this year? If so, WHAT?
As always, thanks for reading, and expect to see a LOT here over the next week!
Posts
