Topic: Big Official E3 2011 Thread of Information Spam

[idolminds]

The National Entertainment Collectibles Association, Inc. (NECA) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Valve Corporation to produce consumer products based on all of Valve’s titles. Merchandise will include action figures, toys, board games, accessories, and apparel for all Valve properties. “When Valve approached us to make their content, characters and art come alive in the physical world we were of course excited at the possibilities,” said Joel Weinshanker, President of NECA Games, “We quickly realized that our two companies have a similar view on how to ensure products exceed expectations of devoted fans and are thankful to be working with them”.

Blah blah bl....board games, you say? Could be interesting.

[MysterD]

PC Gamer - Carmack is itching to work on Rage 2 already.

[sirean_syan]

My thoughts on the WiiU?

Anyone remember putting these in the Intellivision controler? Now you don't have to worry about losing or bending them. Either that or Nintnedo just remembered how well the DS has sold and thought putting side information on a second touch screen was the reason that a lot of good games came to it.

[Xessive]

The DRM for most of their games that have SP portions got scaled back a bit.

Basically, when you boot a game, it does an online DRM check.
If you lose your connection, you can still keep playing and whatnot.

AC2 and SC: Conviction got this patched in, after lots of complaints.
AC: BH supports this out-the-box.

Hmmm...I don't know if POP: Forgotten Sands got this patched in, though.
It used to be the "Always on DRM," when I played it.

I'm curious what they'll do w/ for DRM w/ Trackmania 2.

EDIT 1:
AC: Revelations trailer.
Now showing demo.

EDIT 2:
Ubi's show has been over.
WTF @ the trailer for Defiance. Need more info...

Yep, PoP:TFS works the just like AC2 and SC:C. I haven't tested yet but I believe HAWX2 has gone (or is going) that way as well.

I'm always pleased to see such despicable schemes failing and getting redacted. However it's still pretty crap that it doesn't stop some publishers from trying.

On to another topic: will the PS Vita have any kind of physical media or is it completely bound to the PSN Store?

[idolminds]

Vita games will also ship on carts.

[idolminds]

This one will make Que happy. Magical Drop V spotted at E3, coming to PC.

[MysterD]

Daniel Erickson of Bioware just confirmed Star Wars: The Old Republic [PC MMO] for 2011.

IGN showing off Deus Ex: HR right now LIVE.

[Quemaqua]

So juiced for a new Magical Drop, and in HD on PC?! Hells yes! Que be a happy boy.

[MysterD]

GameSpot -> The Witcher 2 - X360 Version.

But chances are you know about the extraordinary ways in which choice manifests itself in The Witcher 2. Your more pressing question may very well be: how does it look? The version we saw was a pre-alpha build, so it did not represent how the game will look at release. But our first reaction was: "Hey--this game looks really great on the Xbox 360."

CD Projekt is aiming for the equivalent of the PC version's medium settings on the Xbox 360, and while we noticed some animation hitches, screen tears, and a few frame rate dips, that's par for the course at this stage. The art design still shone through, and Gop was proud of how the art design was always their first concern with the visuals.

He stated that even Witcher 2 players enjoying the game on low settings are incredibly pleased with how the game looks.

The team's goal is to make sure that The Witcher 2 runs smoothly at at least 30 frames per second.

[MysterD]

Torchlight 2
Joystiq -> Torchlight 2 also will have LAN support.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution
IGN Gameplay Videos - Part 1; Part 2; Part 3.

Trackmania 2
Gamespot - hands-on impressions.

Mirror's Edge 2
PC Gamer -> Rumor - Mirror's Edge 2 might be powered be Frosbire 2.0

[MysterD]

Kingdoms of Amalur: The Reckoning
Around 42 minutes of gameplay and Q&A w/ KOA.

Bastion
IGN -> Gameplay footage w/ Kasavin that goes for almost 10 minutes.

[idolminds]

Heres kind of a cool game coming for the Wii.

Go Vacation trailer

It looks like Wii Sports Resort, but open world. Looks fun.

[idolminds]

Get ready to laugh.

“You have this 800-pound, 10-billion-dollar gorilla in the room that is Zynga, and just like Apple, is not even mentioned in the same breath as the other three main competitors,” Mr. Johnson said.

You really think Zynga is in the same game development league as Sony, MS, or Nintendo? Really? REALLY? They make a lot of money, I'll grant them that but their actual games are...well, shit.

Ok, heres the best part:

An employee showed off new Electronic Arts games, using an Apple iPad 2 plugged into a large flat-screen television. As he played a first-person-shooter video game, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, it seemed as if the iPad was essentially the controller for the game. No expensive gaming console was necessary.

I really don't know what the author of the article was thinking. The cheapest iPad you can buy is $499, which was the price of a PS3 5 years ago. You could go buy a brand new PS3 and the latest Battlefield game and still have enough money left over to buy two more brand new $60 releases.

[gpw11]

I see what he's getting at, but you're right.  It's not really the same thing at all.

[Xessive]

I think in his mind he figured "It's a controller attached directly to the TV! No console required!" while completely neglecting the heavy cost of the iPad and its TV/HDMI connector. Also, I think it would be connected by wire, giving another edge to current consoles' wireless controllers.

I'm not convinced about the iPad as a major gaming platform, however casual games I can see working really well (as they already seem to be). I can't imagine the iPad would make a comfortable controller, especially since any touch-based controls will not have any tactile physical texture so I'll have to constantly keep my eyes on where I'm touching. Aside from that I don't think its battery power can handle extended gameplay with heavy graphics. Sure, you could just plug it in but you'd be tethered to both the TV and the power supply making it even more ridiculous. How to rectify that? Someone will inevitably suggest making a wireless controller for the iPad (or perhaps even using iPods as controllers) bringing us back to square 1, and maintaining the iPad's status as technically the most expensive gaming platform to date.