The story of Illusion of Gaia is familiar but not quite trite. Ragtag small town boy meets princess. Occurrences and mishaps move the plot. Dungeon battles lead you to loot or liberation. The story’s charm makes its overall predictability tolerable, even enjoyable. Its plot even resolves with other familiar J-RPG morals, which won’t be spoiled here. The most unique aspect of the story is that our protagonist, Will, travels through a space portal into a virtual utility closet, where a talking statue (Illusion of Gaia’s namesake) can power you up, save your game, be an enormous plot hole, and let you transform into other more powerful beings.

The battle system is an active hack-and-slash, which can get tiresome, especially in larger dungeons. The mechanics and breadth of the battle system are remarkably narrow, which makes the game accessible to more casual adventure game players. No leveling, no real upgrades, no massive inventory to manage. The transformation into other powerful beings, mentioned above, adds a great extra dimension to the puzzle aspect of the game’s dungeons. Solving a dungeon involves using different characters’ powers. However, these other characters seem glued in to the story, and don’t really get much story-related development.

The game has a fun item-collection sidequest, one that increases its replay value by a factor of exactly one (provided you missed it the first time, like I did). This is another glued-on part of the game that doesn’t really have any bearing on the story.

The music in Illusion of Gaia is remarkable. It sticks in your head, and is the right blend of happy and creepy to really push you deep into the story. It isn’t as outstanding as the music from some of the more high-profile SNES RPGs, but to this day I can still recall almost the entire soundtrack.

The graphics are immersive and well done. While not tremendously lush and detailed, the visuals are still iconic and lovable. It’s laid out like many SNES titles — Secret of Mana and Terranigma instantly come to mind.

So, how has it aged? Like most Super NES RPGs, it’s aged very well. The game is still enjoyable, and was developed to fit comfortably into the capabilities of the Super Nintendo. The adventure RPG genre evolved quite a bit over the years, so the format and playing experience of Illusion of Gaia continues to be unsurpassed by newer consoles and newer titles (with the possible exception of Dreamcast and its four million RPG titles). The graphics and sound flow naturally, and the mechanics are familiar and well tuned for the console.

Illusion of Gaia is a casual and charming game that has aged well, and it’s worth playing again. It’s like watching a 1990’s romantic comedy on cable. It might not be the blockbuster you’d go out on a Friday night for, but it’s perfect to spend your Saturday afternoon with. So leave your pajama pants on, put on your
Illusion of Gaia shirt (did I mention that came with the game? And that I had one?), and prepare to get nostalgic.

Enter EarthBound. EarthBound, for the uninitiated, was by merit one of the best Super Nintendo RPGs, standing unceremoniously with Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy III (FF6 as we know it now) and Super Mario RPG at the pinnacle of 16-bit roleplayers. Despite a poor reception in the USA (due in part to an ironic marketing campaign that backfired), many of those who played EarthBound were drawn deeply into to the game’s universe. Fan communities sprung up, and anticipation of a sequel was high.

Then began the turmoil. Mother 3, the sequel to EarthBound (Mother 2 as it’s called in Japan), fell victim to the high-speed come-apart that was the 64DD. Years after the game and its development platform had been scrapped, bitterness and disappointment were still potent in the minds of fans, especially because so much of the game for the N64 was complete. Each year, an increasingly organized mob of EarthBound fans would gather to watch trade shows and expos go by, where rumors of a new announcement were always met with a predictable “Nope” or “Sorry”.

As the years went on, the relationship between these fans and Nintendo became almost farcical. Petitions, PR stunts, and grassroots campaigning made it harder and harder for Nintendo to deny the existence of their franchise’s rabid following – a franchise they’re content just sitting on. Even more torturous for the fans was watching a sequel finally come to the Game Boy Advance in Japan… but not come to the USA.

The fans have been resourceful and crafty and have translated Mother 3 themselves. But it would seem that after such a long history of adversity, EarthBound has become somewhat of an inside joke to Nintendo of America, and the fans their whipping boys. Most recently at E3, a mysterious door labeled ‘Dr. Andonuts’ was sighted, behind which real Nintendo folks were encamped, curiously silent on the subject of the door’s implication for the future of the EarthBound franchise. The fans once again were driven into a frenzy of speculation that has yet to die down. Furious for an explanation or a hidden meaning, the fans continue to carry on like a crazed ex-girlfriend, becoming more obsessed as they become more upset.

It’s likely that we will never see an official Mother-related release in the USA again. Shigesato Itoi, the mind behind the franchise, has indicated he will not pursue the franchise further. Odds of a release of EarthBound on Virtual Console are pallid and slim (most concretely based on music licensing issues). This fact, however, has not prevented Nintendo from continuing to invoke the name of EarthBound — look at the Super Smash Bros. series and their use of both Ness and Lucas. Whether truly intended or not, each reference provokes the battered fan base even further.

Teasing is nothing new to the world of gaming (or marketing in general), and it’s a very effective way to reinforce interest and stickiness in a brand. But what is the advantage to Nintendo’s persistent teasing about EarthBound, a property that stands to make the company almost zero money in the US without any sort of release? Is it innocent corporate nostalgia that unknowingly evokes bitterness in the consumer, or is it abusive behavior toward gamers whose only sin was supporting an exclusive Nintendo property long after release? It honestly feels like Nintendo is corralling EarthBound fans into one of the most sinister videogame long-trolls of all time.

In any case, ask an EarthBound fan how it feels to play along with Nintendo’s cruel joke and they’ll give it to you straight: This game stinks.

I like beer. I like it a lot. I drink it, brew it (soon commercially) and write about it. And while it’d be nice to believe that I would never let the packaging of a beer sway my purchasing habits, I’m also honest enough with myself to know that’s not the case. It doesn’t have to be flashy or colorful, necessarily (though Ralph Steadman does have a way of catching the eye), but it has to appeal to me. I have bought — and not bought — beer based solely on my whims and the design on the six pack holder.

Now back to games. I do not, and have never, bought games based on the design on the box.

I like the art, and bought the game, but the two aren't related

It’s okay if you took a minute to let that sink in. It’s really not contradictory at all, though. A third thing to know about me, in addition to the love of beer and willingness to buy it based on packaging, is that I’m cheap. Oh so goddamned cheap. You could call me ‘frugal,’ and I wouldn’t stop you, but while very nice it would also be a lie. A combination of obsessive ‘price per pound’ comparisons and a wife less willing to be okay with the costs associated with my hobbies* means that it takes plenty of careful consideration before I pull the trigger on a game. If you only knew how much I went back and forth on Blur vs Red Dead (I went with the latter and, so far, am regretting my choice).

So then, the difference: I can buy six kinds of beer (assuming $10 for a six pack, growler or 22oz bottle**) for the cost of a game. We can debate actual vs perceived worth, and I’m all for it in the comments because I’d like to get the kind of traffic Dave got for his Onlive article, or how it’s easier to spend smaller amounts of money more often, and yeah, sure: that’s true. But the why doesn’t matter so much as the end result, which is that I am infinitely more likely to walk into the Village Beer Merchant unsure of what I’m walking out with than I am Gamestop.

The difference is infinite because I will not buy a game, ever, without having done research. It may not be enough to guarantee I’ll love the game (goddamn Scribblenauts), but I am going to know about the game, what kind of game it is, and quite probably who made it and what the media they’ve released leading up to its release are. Games aren’t impulse purchases for me, and the only time they have been was in the days of the Game Gear, where I can clearly recall wandering around Zappers with my grandfather, trying to choose a game for myself for Christmas (it being a Game Gear game, I sadly was in a no-win situation).

It may be expensive, and French Canadian, but damn it's tasty

So while game boxes can certainly be nice to look at — we’re in discussions here about some way to display the ones we use in our reviews on the site — and I appreciate them when they’re done well, no. Cover art does not influence my opinion at all. Even if Trois Pistoles looks like it could be promo art for Darksiders.

This post was part of Gamer Banter, a monthly video game discussion coordinated by Terry at Game Couch. If you’re interested in being part of this, please email him for details. Other takes:

Silvercublogger: Don’t Cover The Art, Unless…

The Average Gamer: Cover Art

Aim for the Head: Browsing the Aisles

SnipingMizzy: In the eye of the beholder

Extra Guy: On Books and Covers

Zath: How Important Is A Game’s Cover Art?

carocat.co.uk: Cover art? No, thanks!

Pioneer Project: The game box’s big moment

Man Fat: How Important Is A Game’s Cover Art?

* The exception to this is my Xbox Live Gold account, which she insists we keep because while we can watch Netflix on the PS3, Wii or Boxee PC hooked up to the TV, the user interface and speed  on the 360 really is second to none

** ‘Buy PBR lol’ is not an acceptable response, and only makes you look like a hipster douche

I prefer the cart, thank you very much

It’s not that I have anything against the games themselves. I play them at Anthony’s house when he downloads something new, and I have had a great time with games like Flower and Frat Games: Pong Toss, but nothing beats the feeling of truly owning the retail game. Opening the plastic shrinkwrap for the first time, looking through the instruction manual and proudly displaying the box on your shelf amongst it brothers and sisters are part of the gaming experience for me. Plus, who doesn’t love when your friends come over and the first thing they do is look through your games to see what new titles have been added since the last time they were there? Hearing them say stuff like “Oh man you got NinjaBread Man?”, “I want this game so bad!” and the always popular “Dude! You gotta let me borrow this”.

I’m unfortunately not made out of money and it’s nice — especially when I’m broke — to be able to borrow games from friends. I also like to lend them games in return. Speaking of being broke, its also impossible to trade my downloaded games in for store credit towards new games. I bought my Xbox 360 by trading in Wii games; my Wii by trading in PS2 games, my PS2 with Dreamcast games, my Dreamcast with Saturn games and my Saturn with Genesis and Sega CD games. I haven’t payed out of pocket for a system since I bought my 32X from Zapper’s when they were going out of business in the late 90s. Unless they can come up with some kind of trade-in for downloaded games that gives you some of your credit back while deleting the game from your system I can never be totally sold on the idea.

It's not a future I want to see

Some companies are starting to work towards an eventual shift to all digital distribution, but luckily for me Sony isn’t one of them. Some of the PSP’s biggest digital releases have gotten retail releases at bargain basement prices. Pixel Junk Monsters, Fat Princess and Patapon 2 have all gotten UMD releases for between ten and twenty bucks a few months after their digital counterparts.

With the PSPGo and PSP-3000 sharing the market, all the big PSP releases are getting both UMD and digital releases, appeasing both those that love retail copies and those that don’t want to bother with having to lug games around with them and switch UMDs every time they want to play something else. And I can appreciate that. I can almost see how having all your games already on a handheld could be easier, but it still just isn’t for me.

At least for the time being, its a great time to be a gamer no matter what your purchasing preferences may be… well, maybe until Activision starts charging us for every time we even think about a Call of Duty game. That will be a dark day indeed.

Android has made great strides over the past three years, but Google’s mobile OS is far from perfect; especially in the game department. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a plethora of well-written and fun games to enjoy — like Polarbit’s Raging Thunder or Distinctive Wireless Inc’s Hockey Nations to name a couple — but it’s nowhere near the volume needed to compete with Apple’s iOS, much less be considered a viable gaming platform. Sadly, I’ve seen no attempts on the behalf of Google to lure developers to the platform. I could understand the dilemma if the Android phones on the market were lacking power, but Verizon’s Droid series or HTC’s even more powerful Evo 4G have enough going on under the hood that visually appealing games are not only possible, but have the potential to be quite impressive.

One deterrent might be that that Android’s app market is an absolute mess. It’s almost impossible to find a good selection of apps without sifting through a lot of garbage. I suppose that’s one of the pitfalls of having a mostly unregulated market, but it could easily be remedied by having a sort-by-rating option. The “top games” concept that’s currently implemented seems flawed to me because if the metrics used include download volume. It gives an unfair advantage to applications that have been on the market longer, even if they’re crap. Solitaire should not have been the number one game for over a year.

Maybe the reason that game developers aren’t flocking to Android is because they still don’t see it as a worthwhile source of revenue, but with the amount phones that sport the OS, that’s definitely an outdated assumption. At this point it might be a good idea for Google to throw some money around to eliminate the poor reputation Android gaming has received over its early years. Similar to the way Microsoft is trying to ditch the stigma of Vista.

Not the Droid gamers are looking for?

A perfect example of how the OS isn’t taken seriously is Electronic Art’s attempt at developing for the platform. I was interested at the idea of being able to play the beloved series “The Sims” on my phone. I downloaded the game only to find out that it isn’t maintained and doesn’t work on all versions of Android, which was not mentioned in the notes. The game wouldn’t even start on my Motorola Droid. The comments section revealed that I wasn’t the only one with this problem. In addition, the comments from the people who were actually lucky enough to be able to play the game were all negative, citing the fact that it didn’t compare to the iPhone version and that it was limited and stripped down. A recent search through the market shows that they’ve now removed the app entirely and it appears they have dropped support for the platform altogether.

Yet another reason why Android wouldn’t appeal to me as a game developer is how fragmented and inconsistent the OS currently is. Most of the Android-powered devices on the market right now aren’t running the latest version. I’d imagine the differences in the versions make it very difficult to keep games running smoothly. Google has announced plans to bring all phones up to date and only release major updates to the OS annually, but until they do this it will continue to be a shackle on the little robot’s leg.

So what would I like to see in the future for Android gaming? I’d like to see less Facebook-esque games; I think we’ve reached a point where there are enough variations of “Bubble Burst”, “Jewel” and Simon in the market. I’d like to see less weak attempts at copies of iPhone games. If you are going to steal an idea, either make it as good or better than the place you stole it from. There should be more original Android games. Something unique might carry the appeal Android needs to get some talented iPhone developers to jump ship. Personally, I’d like to see less exclusive Android games and less exclusive iPhone games. It’d be nice to have some more crossplatform games.

I’d like to reiterate the fact that the current generation of Android phones definitely matches and in some cases exceeds the capabilities of other mobile phone platforms to run games; but the fact that I have more fun playing Chrono Trigger and A Link to the Past via the Android SNES emulator than any of the games in the Android market is a sad testimony. Until the Android community acquires the developers with the skills and talent necessary to create games worth playing, it won’t hold a card to the iPhone, much less the dedicated handheld gaming consoles from Nintendo and Sony.

The future can be glimpsed by taking a a look at the performance of a juggernaut from the previous generation, a series like Halo. Halo 3 has outsold Halo: ODST despite having come out first. The multiplayer in ODST is the practically the same as Halo 3’s, and that lack of innovation is likely what kept fans from buying in. While it remains to be seen what numbers Reach will pull (it does have its own unique multiplayer), it’s possible people are moving on from Microsoft’s flagship franchise due to a lack of change. Let’s look at the facts: Call of Duty saw tremendous growth when Modern Warfare and its sequel came out. It’s likely Activision’s franchise is now the more popular option.

Pretty, but similar

And while there have been other sequels this generation, many of them can be considered ‘definitive versions’ of previous-gen efforts. God of War III is largely a prettier version of the same games we got on the PS2, and Soul Calibur IV is an extension on its forebearers in the same manner. Grand Theft Auto? Same deal. Tekken? Six was where things stopped. Curiously, none of these series’ have seen a sequel announced.

One has to wonder, then, what the teams who usually work on these games are up to. It’s possible Soul Calibur V is quietly being toiled upon, awaiting announcement. And Grand Theft Auto V is practically an inevitability… but maybe not this generation. It’s probable these teams are working on something else behind the curtain, something new and exciting. We won’t know until their projects are announced, but the pattern followed last generation has already been changed. There were usually about two years between sequels. God of War to God of War II? Two years. Soul Calibur II to Soul Calibur III? The same. GTA III to Vice City: one year, with San Andreas following two after that. Now, God of War III just came out, but Sony Santa Monica has already said they’re giving the franchise a rest. Soul Calibur IV came out on July 27, 2008. Unless they’re going to drop a surprise installment on us in the next two weeks, they’ve also deviated from the pattern.

It stands to reason that the increase in development time and resources will slow down the turnaround process on sequels, but games are announced in early stages all the time. Hype is key to success in this industry. If there’s a new entry in an established series heading out it would be bad business to keep it hidden for so long. That’s why it’s more likely there are new concepts and games being built that have yet to be revealed.

Will these new experiences end up making use of Move and Kinect? Possibly, but there’s currently no barometer on how successful motion input will be commercially on the HD systems. This means companies would be less likely to put fresh properties into unproven markets — look at how that’s turned out on the Wii?

This generation is unique in the fact that there’s the potential to truly stretch the capabilities of the current systems. Resident Evil 4 stretched the Gamecube and PS2 thin, and Shadow of the Colossus nearly brought Sony’s machine to its knees. But these were only the beginning of what could have been. Imagine what developers could put out if they were forced to work within the confines and limitations of this generation — forced to create new visual pallets and gameplay quirks to differentiate their titles instead of simply upgrading what we already know. We’re not ready for this generation 2.0 yet, and the industry should take advantage. Maybe it wouldn’t be just Wii Fit and other non-games expanding the industry into new territories. Maybe then the industry could grow as a whole.

For those just tuning in: there’s this guy named Roger Ebert. He reviews movies. In 2005 he answered a reader’s question about video games, saying ‘for most gamers, video games represent a loss of those precious hours we have available to make ourselves more cultured, civilized and empathetic.’ The internet (or at least our section of it) exploded. In 2007, Clive Barker decided to argue with him, and he responded: ‘Art seeks to lead you to an inevitable conclusion, not a smorgasbord of choices.’ Then this year, in response to a TED talk, he wrote an article bluntly titled ‘Video games can never be art.’ Two and a half months later, he wrote an apology — of sorts — titled ‘Okay, kids, play on my lawn,’ probably in response to everyone dismissing him as an old coot who had passed his relevancy.

Jews did 9/11

I think this is all missing the point, though. Roger Ebert, though surely ignorant of it, is trolling the crap out of the internet.

Let’s look at the facts: Four times now he has said inflammatory things to a community he is not a part of, knows little about and has no interest in joining. These are spaced apart every two to three years, so just as people are forgetting about him he pokes his head back in and says ‘oh by the way, don’t forget!’ and then we all froth at the mouth. His last post, ostensibly an apology, says ‘I still believe this, but I should never have said so. Some opinions are best kept to yourself.’ In other words, ‘I’m sorry I told you your mom was a whore with the face of a horse. A whorse. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s true — oh god is it true — but, little 7-year-old Billy, I guess I shouldn’t have told you.’

(‘Whorse’ just came to me as I wrote that sentence, fully formed like some sort of Greek God. Obviously my genius is being wasted.)

How is this different from me making a post about how all furries are perverted nutjobs who like to commit bestiality? I don’t believe this, by the way, though I do find it highly suspect that the word is spelled ‘best‘ and not ‘beast,’ as would make sense. The furries have infiltrated the ranks of the dictionarians, clearly. But I digress.

boxxy is art

Now then, my saying that Ebert is trolling all of us is different from my saying that he’s intending to be trolling all of us. It’s absurd to think that he would be doing this as some sort of publicity stunt or traffic grab. He’s Roger goddamn Ebert, and say what you will about the man but fame and attention are not things he is lacking. Similarly, if you were to tell him that he’s engaged in trolling, I doubt he’d know what you were talking about. But intent is separate from reality, and slipping hemlock into food given to a king is regicide any way you slice it.

In his most recent column he says that Sony offered to lend him a PS3 so that he could play Flower. I so wish he had, so that he could have written a follow up post, ‘Games are art, but the 360 is for fags.’

As for whether or not games are art, I don’t care. I considered weighing in, but that’s irrelevant to the topic at hand, that being an excuse to ramble on about whatever it is amuses me. Any further discussion would just take away from the magnitude of ‘whorse,’ which is the only thing about this editorial that matters.

Keep in mind, though, that innocent or not, Ebert is trolling. There’s no use in arguing with a troll. Tell him to play Flower, or Braid, or BMX XXX, and you’re wasting your breath. We can agree on one thing, Ebert and me, and that’s from his 2007 Barker rebuttal where he brings up prejudice, and how we’re all affected by it. ‘Games may not be Shakespeare quite yet,’ he says, ‘but I have the prejudice that they never will be, and some gamers are prejudiced that they will.’ Which is why it’s curious, three years later, that he would bring it up again. There is one solution, and one solution only: he needs to stop paying attention to us, and us to him. No more columns about video games. No more jackass game bloggers, content to scribble in obscurity because they find the scribbles quite amusing, writing about art. We must all do the mature thing: draw a line down the center of the car and you stay on your half and I’ll stay on mine.

Anthony
5. The discovery of an Ocarina of Time remake
It’s not often anything is leaked by Nintendo, but someone out there discovered images of an unannounced project on Nintendo’s E3 press site. The images were removed quickly by Nintendo before being put back up the next day, after the remake for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was confirmed. This discovery brought attention to an exciting possibility before an official announcement and created even more buzz around a company who had their best E3 showing in years.

4. Twisted Metal for PS3 is real, Jaffe’s pants ablaze
David Jaffe is many things — a great game designer, a candid and memorable personality — but he can add “liar” to that list in the best possible way. He firmly denied his company, Eat Sleep Play, was working on a new Twisted Metal for the PS3… all the way up until Sweet Tooth rolled onto the stage in his ice cream truck o’ death. The truth is Jaffe’s involvement in this project will only benefit the product, and that’s the most important part.

3. James Mielke calling Microsoft out
What do you showcase when trying to sell your new device at the industry’s biggest trade show? Pet simulators and casual games, right? You certainly wouldn’t want to include the core-gaming crowd at all, and leave Child of Eden out of the show. There is some controversy surrounding this story, but the original reporter stands by his story as accurate, even if Child of Eden’s producer James Mielke attempted to retract his statement. According to the report, he said Microsoft “fucked up” by leaving his game out of their presentation, and while Kinect’s showing might have resonated with soccer moms, it certainly did nothing for the hardcore crowd. In this respect, Mielke would have had a point, regardless of post-interview damage control.

2. Behold: Kid Icarus Uprising and the power of the 3DS
The unveiling of Kid Icarus is one of the things I’ll always remember. I was making a chicken sandwich in the kitchen and set my laptop on the counter. As it was cooking the trailer started rolling — the second I saw Madame Snakehair I knew. The ensuing jump-kick was unexpected, but my excitement could not be contained. And honestly, I thought it was a Wii game when I first saw it. I can see now, upon closer inspection, that it’s not quite at that level, but it’s damn close. The 3DS has got some kind of magic under its hood, that’s for sure.

1. Konami’s madhouse
Who won E3? Nintendo had the best show in my opinion, but I’ll likely never watch it again. Konami’s trainwreck, on the other hand, is well-suited for multiple viewings — you’ll discover something new every time you watch it. Whether it was Russell Simmons of Def Jam taking the stage and immediately swearing (“I was just fuckin’ with Nick about his socks”) or the rise to internet glory seen by Ninety Nine Nights II producer Tak Fuji (“Extreeeeeeeeeeme”), every presenter brought their own brand of delightful insanity to the stage. There will probably never be another conference like it and is a must-see in every respect.

Dan
5. 3D and motion control reigned supreme
I’ve already bitched about this enough. There were two very clear themes this year at E3, and I’m far from sold on both.

4. 3DS actually isn’t horrible
I know what I said yesterday about 3D, but everything I’ve heard about the 3DS is that it’s actually not bad. Of course, ‘well it’s not the worst thing ever’ is far from a glowing endorsement, and I’ll need to see it for myself before passing any sort of final judgment, but the single best news about this handheld is that you can, at any time, just turn the 3D off. Maybe you won’t want to! You’ll definitely be missing out on some of the game, but you’ll at least be able to play it like you would a game today. I expect many, many gimmicky pieces of shovelware, at least at first, but then it seems like we might see some interesting new experiences.

3. Heavy plays to nostalgia
I’m not actually sure how I feel about all of the old games being brought back. I’ve never played Kid Icarus (stone me now), but Donkey Kong Country, that was good, right? And Twisted Metal! Yeah! Though while it’s nice to get updated versions of franchises I loved when I was younger, it seems… easy. Much easier to whip the crowd into a frenzy listing off names than to develop a new IP.

2. Kinect’s fever dream event
Cirque du Soleil, elephants, families suspended from the ceiling, some sort of 2001 journey involving Kameo and crowd interaction via lighted shoulder pads. ‘Welcome to the event: here’s your poncho and here’s your tab of LSD.’ The twitter streams of the journalists there, utterly confused, were probably more entertaining than Kinect itself could ever be.

1. We have always been at war with Eastasia
Gabe Newell admitted that he had been critical of Sony in the past, sure, though I’m not going to give him two points for honesty because not acknowledging that would have made his entire presence at the Sony press conference a sham. What was amusing, though, was that he said ‘PlayStation 3 is the most open platform of all the current generation consoles and has worked extremely hard to make the platform the most desirable for consumers and developers.’ I’m not sure what Sony has done differently in the three years since he said ‘The PS3 is a total disaster on so many levels. I think it’s really clear that Sony lost track of what customers and what developers wanted,’ except for maybe Kevin Butler driving up in the Sweet Tooth truck and delivering a large burlap sack full of money. I don’t hate Sony or the PS3 — last year I enjoyed its games much more than the 360’s — and maybe there have been changes made that I’m just not seeing, but this was a 180 flip for, as I see it, no real reason.

Then we have the irony of Sony touting the greatness of their simplistic motion control games, having dismissed it entirely in the past. And let’s not forget John Schappert, announcing a plethora of exclusive special editions for the PS3 and bringing up the ‘Blu Ray lets us put more on the disc‘ thing again, when last year it was ‘the power of Xbox.’ You know, because he worked for them. I know you’re supposed to say nice things about whoever’s paying you, but do you need to make it so obvious?

Keith
5. Pac-Man the TV show
In the 80’s, cartoons based on toys and video games were all the rage. Pac-Man was Hanna- Barbera’s first cartoon based off a license and it rocked. If the new 3D Pac-Man cartoon can be even half as good as the silly 80’s cartoon, Namco might just have a winner on their hands. Plus this cartoon won me half-a-point in out E3 predictions so it’s a double winner!

4. Xbox 360 slim
Redesigns have always been a sign of a successful home system throughout the years. The NES, SNES, Genesis (a few times) and even the PS2 have all gotten smaller as time went on and every one of them saw a sales bump because of it. The Slim 360 is a great deal with the bigger hard drive and wireless abilities all at the same price. It might be just what some gamers that were still waiting to upgrade needed to make a decision on which system to go with.

3. Kinect only works while standing up
From the moment Microsoft announced Natal I was a little unsure of its usefulness in today’s motion loving gaming world. After seeing it in action on an episode of Smallville this past year I was no longer unsure. It seems to be an expensive EyeToy that only works if you stand up and only supports two people at a time. Unless Milo can make a comeback and bring with him all the originally promised features Ill just stick to my PS2 and EyeToy: Monkey Mania. I love monkeys <3

2. David Jaffe is a liar!!
Some people may have gotten upset that David Jaffe lied about a new Twisted Metal but I think it was a stroke of genius. With the advent of the internet its hard for any company to keep secrets about new games in development, and for the first time in years I was genuinely surprised from the Twisted Metal 3 announcement. I felt like I did the first time I saw Super Mario Bros. 3 in the movie The Wizard. Go Jaffe!

1. Nintendo 3DS looks to rock the world
As a PSP gamer I was only slightly interested in what Nintendo would be showing in the handheld department but the 3DS may just make me convert. Resident Evil and Kid Icarus easily looks better than 90% of the games on the Wii. A Zelda remake and promises of more 3D remakes is mouthwatering. Plus the idea of possible future 3D video chat is just icing on the cake. I’m sold.

Dave
5. Nintendo 3DS games look pretty impressive
Although we couldn’t see the actual 3D aspect of the new Nintendo 3DS, I was very impressed by the trailers that were shown off. Games like the new Resident Evil look amazing, and if Nintendo can deliver the 3D graphics they say this system can create, this is going to be easily the most impressive handheld device ever released.

4. Halo Reach has space battles
This is probably mostly because I am a huge Halo fan, but I was incredibly excited watching the Halo Reach campaign trailer. Watching the jet take off and fly into space, and then transition to a space fight was such an awesome moment. Air vehicles have existed in the Halo series, but this is something completely new and I can’t wait to check it out this fall.

3. Microsoft unveils the slim Xbox 360
Although it felt a little tacked on at the end of the press briefing, that doesn’t take anything away from how awesome the new Xbox 360 is. Sure the design isn’t spectacular, but the 250gb hard drive and built in wireless make this a substantial upgrade over the previous model. Oh, and how do you not get excited about the fact that it costs the same price as the current model. I am seriously considering adding another Xbox 360 to the house after seeing this thing.

2. New Twisted Metal
Twisted Metal was probably my favorite game series from the original Playstation, and the announcement of a new Twisted Metal might finally be the reason for me to go pick up a Playstation 3. The game looks amazing and the presentation and the conference was surprising to say the least. Personally my favorite part of the Sony press briefing.

1. Sony forgets about the PSP?
Nothing decent announced for the PSP this years, except that it exists and they’ve got some new commercials on the way. The one thing I hoped for more than anything else at this years show was the announcement of a new PSP, and such an announcement was no where to be seen. Instead we heard about a bunch of games we already knew about, and saw a new marketing campaign aimed at pushing those games. Seriously disappointing is the only way to describe it.

I think it’s useful to point out that although OnLive is up and running, you still cannot just sign up and start paying them money at the moment.  Currently your only option is a sign-up page that allows you to apply for their founding members program.  Upon being accepted into the program (I received a response after about a week) you’ll be given one year of free access to the service with the option to continue for $4.95 a month after that.  After receiving your invitation and filling out the required forms, you’ll be prompted to download a small file and then you’re off to the races and ready to jump in.

The application loads relatively quickly, but an important item to note is that in order to launch the program you have to be using a wired connection.  That’s right, at the moment you are not able to connect to the service over a wireless connection.  It’s unfortunate because one of the highlights for me about this service was being able to play games on my laptop that I should have no business being able to run.  Personally I was able to get around this by connecting to the wired port on my Airport Express, so there are some potential ways of getting around the limitation.

After you load everything up you’ll be brought to the main dashboard which has a number of options available to you.  The Games tab is where you can shop for new games (I’ll get more into that in a little bit), there is also a spot to modify your profile, check in on your friends, play your purchased content, view game clips, and check in on what other people are playing.  The most exciting part about the interface is how well everything flows together.  As you transition between menus and watch video clips, everything is seamless and there are no loading screens to be found.  The amount of video content that is delivered without requiring a separate load is quite impressive.

The marketplace is something I feel like I should get into a bit more since it’s one of the places I have the biggest problem with.  Now, granted I have a full year subscription to the service, I still find it hard to swallow the full price they are charging for copies of some of the games.  $50 dollars on top of a monthly subscription is a lot of money, especially when you consider you only own these games as long as the service is active.  Some games do allow you to purchase either a 3 or 5 day rental, but there doesn’t seem to be any consistency as to what each game costs or whether or not they offer a rental period.  Not to mention, the selection of titles available to purchase or rent is very limited at the moment.

So lets get into the real reason you’ll want to pick up and try this new service, the games.  Although yes, there is a limited selection of games, you do have the option of playing some major releases such as Borderlands, Assassins Creed 2, and the all new Lego Harry Potter.  If you’re interested in checking out a game you can play a 30 minute demo of the title.  The first game I decided to try out was Just Cause 2 and I was incredibly impressed with how well the service performed.  The game loaded up very quickly, and looked great.  Surprisingly, the controls were extremely responsive, and it was actually hard to tell that the game was not running on my own machine.  I’m running a previous-generation white Macbook that, under ordinary circumstances, would not have any chance of running this game or most others on the service.

Although the game looked and played great there were a couple instances of lag, but they were few and far between.  I did notice this a bit more while playing Unreal Tournament III, but that could have also been my own internet connection so it’s hard to tell.  I don’t believe the quality is quite as good as if you were able to run the title on your own computer, but for those people that can’t, it’s definitely a reliable and solid experience.  I do want to point out that my experiences with each title were only short play sessions of fifteen to twenty minutes with each game, so I don’t know if the sessions would be consistently great with longer periods of gameplay.

To sum it all up, I can say that you should definitely at least check the service out, especially if you can get into the founding members program since the first year is free.  I don’t know how much I’ll personally utilize the service unless the game selection becomes a bit more robust.  What I’d like to see is more PC specific titles made available such as Crisis or perhaps the upcoming Starcraft 2, both of which are games that I currently have no way of playing.  Since I own an Xbox I have no reason to purchase and play games like Borderlands or Assassins Creed 2 on my computer since I prefer to play on my console.  It would also be nice to see the pricing system get worked out, and maybe the cost come down a bit.  Either way though, its definitely worth your time to check out, and if you already have, let us know what you think.

Call me crazy, but I’m not sold on Kinect. Microsoft has been hyping their solution to the Nintendo’s runaway success since E3 2009, but it seems to have lost some of what made it look appealing in the year between then and E3 2010. If the house that Gates built is comfortable with putting out an Eye Toy 2.0, then all the more power to them, but that will ultimately leave consumers disappointed.

Let’s look at the problems highlighted by this year’s showing first. Multplayer is going to be a big hit with the device, right? Look at all the fun people had playing doubles in Wii Sports’ take on tennis. Four people makes for a hell of a match. Well, expect half of that to translate to Kinect, since it can only calculate data for two people at a time. Maybe it will be a big hit with couples, but it’ll be a tougher sell in the party environment the Wii thrives in. The more people you can involve at once with something like this the better — nobody likes being left out of the fun, and if they are they’re happier knowing their turn is coming up quickly.

Then there was word from the showfloor this year was that Kinect will not work unless its users are standing. All of the promotional videos show people navigating menus from the comfort of the couches in a seated position. The official line right now is that it’s a feature they intend to include, but right now “Sitting is something we’re still calibrating for.” Granted, many of the games would be a good deal more fun because of this. Look at something like the upcoming Konami snowboarding game Adrenalin Misfits. Playing that while seated is all-but-impossible. But would you really want to play a driving-sim like Forza in an upright position? It’s certainly not a technology that will lend itself well to long sessions of single-player gaming if that’s the case.

So there’s a potential handicap on its multiplayer value, and a possible problem with solo sessions… surely Kinect will make up for this in creative and unique ways, right?

Milo. Put this kid on a milk carton, because he’s MIA. Maybe he missed his connecting flight to LA this year? Oh sure, Peter Molyenux said he’s still in the works. But there’s a fundamental problem with that sentence: Peter Molyneux said. Name a game he’s worked on that’s actually made its way to the market (RIP BC, we hardly knew ye) and I’ll provide a list of promised features that fell to the basket beneath the guillotine. Those who have been burned by his empty promises, well-intentioned or not, have learned to take anything he says with a grain or two of salt. For example, one of his most interesting features, the ability to see things you’ve drawn, may not even be included in the final product.

A feature promised* by Molyneux

The item-scanning feature promoted in last year’s promotional video seems to have been left by the wayside, as evidenced by its complete lack of mention this year. You will no longer be able to scan your own deck into the latest skateboarding game, much less doodles scrawled on a scrap of paper should this end up being true.

Yes, I’m aware of the disclaimer on the bottom of the video. But people have expectations when something like this is shown. Sony showed the Move at E3 2009 and it was fully capable of its hinted features come showtime a year later. It’s like walking into a house filled with the aroma of fresh-baked cookies, only to find it was the air-freshener making your mouth water. One of Kinect’s most unique and exciting abilities will be lost if this feature doesn’t make into the project in some capacity.

Of course, if Microsoft really wants this to succeed, the marketing department will have to be on their game. And they’ll likely do their best to push it into the public eye. Expect talk-shows to feature demonstrations in order to sell to the soccer moms who helped drive Wii Fit sales. “Oh, little Johnny will get use out of this too, and I can do pilates,” she may muse. But will she be willing to pay the price? It’s hard to judge when Microsoft hasn’t revealed it yet. Should they end up sticking with the oft-rumored $150 price point it may be a hard sell. The Wii costs only $50 more than that. In case you forgot, that’s the entire system. Will a $300 bundle with an Arcade unit (also rumored) be enough to win the casual marketplace over?

There’s also the matter of the core-demographic ignoring the device as well. Microsoft failed to show anything off that would grab the attention of Halo fans (nor will they) or other types of typical Xbox customers. Only one game at the show truly had the potential to do that — Child of Eden — and it’s not even an exclusive. Sega was, as of now, the only publisher to step up and pledge hardcore support. Activision, currently the largest third-party publisher, is hesitant to support it at all. Why not give the millions upon millions of people who already own an Xbox 360 a reason to buy this device? It worked for Nintendo when they launched with The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, as well as many of the other launch titles.

The truth is, it’s really going to come down to marketing versus word of mouth. If Kinect can make it into enough homes and function in a compelling manner, then people will pay hand-over-fist to get their own. But the deck is stacked against it as it stands now — it clearly isn’t living up to what it could, or based on early promotions, really should be. There’s a bit of time between now and the November 4 release date so things could shape up. For this thing to succeed, they’ll have to. Otherwise we’re looking at yet-another device to provide an amusing-but-forgettable experience in the world of alternate input schemes.

It all comes back to something Molyneux said (here we go again) in reference to the competition. “They seem very similar in their scope. I know Sony and Nintendo would argue that they are different, but they kind of seem the same. They enable certain sorts of experiences, and they are analogous to Kinect.” Those “experiences” also had it together upon their reveal. Their “scope” was fully-realized and promises delivered upon. Will Kinect do the same? Maybe, but it appears more likely to shrink away in the shadow of its own hype, buried beneath its broken promises.