I’ve been excited about this since David announced it, and seeing the video and reading David’s blog it only increases the excitement. More information can be found at www.gaikai.com

Our Gaikai team has been working really hard for the last year, we demonstrated our tech privately at GDC, then LIVE (hands on) to most of the major publishers at E3.

For the people that visit my blog, I wanted to flick through some demos and show the experience under the following conditions:

(1) No installing anything. (I’m running regular Windows Vista, with the latest Firefox and Flash is installed.)

(2) This is a low-spec server, it’s a very custom configuration, fully virtualized. Why? To keep the costs to an absolute minimum. We had 7 Call of Duty games running on our E3 demo server recently.

(3) Data travel distance is around 800 miles (round trip) on this demo as that’s where the server is. I get a 21 millisecond ping on that route. My final delay will be 10 milliseconds as I just added a server in Irvine California yesterday, but it’s not added to our grid yet. (So this demo is twice the delay I personally would get, the good news is I don’t notice it anyway.)

(4) This server is not hosted by a Tier 1 provider, just a regular Data Center in Freemont California. Also, I’m not cheating and using fiber connections for our demos. This is a home cable connection in a home.

(5) We don’t claim to have 5,000 pages of patents, we didn’t take 7 years, and we do not claim to have invented 1 millisecond encryption and custom chips. As you can see, we don’t need them, and so our costs will be much less.

(6) We designed this for the real internet. The video compression codecs change in realtime based on the need of the application (or game), and based on the hardware & bandwidth you have. (For Photoshop we make sure it’s pixel perfect.)

(7) Our bandwidth is mostly sub 1 megabit across all games. (Works with Wifi, works on netbooks with no 3D card etc.)

(8) If you hear any clicks, they are coming from my wireless headset microphone. I won’t use that next time I promise.

(9) I made a few video cuts using Windows Movie maker to cut out dead air. Like Need for Speed has far to many menus with loads & delays between them. So I tried to keep the pace up so you see plenty of demos

(10) I keep getting asked what operating system we use. We are completely OS agnostic, some demos come from Linux, some come from Windows and will ultimately support streaming from MAC servers too.

Publishers, you know how to contact me if you want to be in our Private Closed Beta. (There’s no work involved.)

Gaikai Technology Demo (JULY 1, 2009) from David Perry on Vimeo.

I asked David the main burning question that I could think of earlier today.

Anj: Do you have an estimate or a projected date when more public open testing might occur for all the gamers out their itching to try out Gaikai?

DP: “Not yet, we are working out deals with data centers right now.   Best thing is to sign up by requesting a login here: http://www.gaikai.com/login/?redirect=%2Fdemo%2F Then mention they are in California.  That’s how to get on our radar.  We will contact them as we get closer.”

Of course we’ll continue to track the progress and see how it develops and drop information as things progress.

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ACCLAIM GAMES ANNOUNCES RE-DEVELOPMENT FOR “SPELLBORN”

The Chronicles of Spellborn to re-launch with micro-transaction model in 2010.

Los Angeles, CA (June 29, 2009) – Acclaim Games announces the re-development of their recent MMORPG The Chronicles of Spellborn which was released in February, 2009. The development is planned to carry into 2010 and will include several enhancements and changes to the current game. The enhancements and development of the new model will be carried through a joint venture between Spellborn NV and the development studio of Frogster Asia Co. Ltd. based in Seoul, the Korean studio bringing its expertise in the field of free-to-play and micro-transactions.

After the re-development, the current subscription model will be switched to a free-to-play system supported by micro-transactions. This will open the world of Spellborn to all players and give them a chance to experience the rich lore and game-play in its entirety.

Players who are currently playing the game will be able to continue playing the game in its current form via the subscription service. At the point where the new version is released, any unused subscriptions will be credited to their accounts. Any players who wish to register for a free account can sign up now at http://spellborn.acclaim.com.

What Lies Hidden, Must Be Found

In The Chronicles of Spellborn players enter an impressive online game world containing scenic landscapes, majestic cities and the remnants of a shattered world. Alone or with a party of friends, PC adventurers step into a fantasy realm consisting of varied shards: habitable pieces of the destroyed world floating in the magical Deadspell Storm. Those who want to prevail in the involving combat of The Chronicles of Spellborn need to apply their mighty arsenal of skills actively with mouse and keyboard. Battles with bloodthirsty creatures, intelligent hostile factions and other human opponents in Player vs. Player battles are waiting. An innovative and tactically challenging combat system with third-person shooter-like controls and a unique rotating Skill Deck provides a breath of fresh air amidst the more traditional MMORPGs. Thanks to a largely extended Unreal Engine 2.5, The Chronicles of Spellborn boasts stunning 3D graphics, spectacular effects and countless elaborate details. More details can be found on the official website: http://spellborn.acclaim.com

About Acclaim Games

Acclaim is a revolutionary company with a familiar name. Three years and 7 million registered users ago, former Activision CEO Howard Marks purchased the Acclaim name looking to revive one of the video game industry’s former giants. With the help of renowned game director David Perry, Marks succeeded. Today, Acclaim offers some of the finest in multiplayer online gaming while using a new, free to play business model. Acclaim strives to offer its users a fun, community-oriented experience with a selection of titles ranging from casual browser games to hardcore MMOs. To learn more, visit www.acclaim.com

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“All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances.” - William Shakespeare

If all the world is a stage, then the internet has become the amphitheater of humanity. Beyond television, radio and print, the reach of the internet is so massive, that at any given moment, someone somewhere is probably looking at something you posted up.

It’s a thrilling and daunting thought, and with the last few weeks of Iran and now the passing of Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and even Billy Mays; Twitter and other social media networks have risen higher into the social consciousness. So to carry on the analogy that started us off, Twitter is in a way the mini monologues of the internet citizen’s, letting voices be heard at warp speed across the planet.

But let’s put that aside as I’ve already written about Twitter and social media before in various context and look at something else. The community of the internet - if we’re all players on the net-world stage, like any group, communities are formed and communities connect and grow through common discourse and shared experience.

I think the most repeated question I’ve been hearing the last two days has been,

“Where were you when Michael Jackson died?”

Nothing draws people together like shared experience, and evidently the death of the “King of Pop” is one of those titanic events that affects the world. This was the passing of a musician, certainly and without a doubt a singularly amazing talent and one of a kind, but still a musician. I’m not going to sit here and look deep into society over that one musician. That would take all day and is not my topic.

It’s that sense of community that grows and is fostered through interaction with people. Love it or hate it Twitter has a decidedly large and many times tight community of users. Yes we all might follow a handful of celebrities and we know we’ll likely never talk to them through Twitter or any other means in meaningful discussion; however we still feel a part of something greater.

All the time growing up I’d hear “Oh you’ll go on to do great things” or “Find something greater than yourself too be a part of and you’ll find your destiny”

On reflection those platitudes are meant to inspire and encourage us as children to go forth and find our place in the world, make our mark and so forth.

But when you look at the sum total of human communities there is nothing greater to be a part of than a community, to contribute, to communicate and yes even to argue and debate.

With the advent of the internet, we find our communities have grown to giant scale as we connect and meet people whom share our interests, or we find some commonality with, even if we only connect through disagreement.

Iran is another occasion where lives are being directly affected in one place on earth, yet through the tools of social media and the internet it has reached out the brought a new resonance of purpose through people on the other side of the planet. Humanity despite all our petty jealousies, all our arguments, anger, dislikes, we consistently come together for some greater goal. We draw together, break down barriers and we protest against injustice, we battle tragedy; we comfort the hurt and aid the helpless.

Why though is it that it’s only when these great events happen that this kind of movement occurs? It’s a bright day in the pages of history when we lay our mundane lives aside to stand together against something, yet when the event has passed and things return to “normal” then it’s back to our regular patterns of life.

If all the world’s a stage, we can shine bright for one act then move back to become background, trees , and other bland set pieces for someone else’s production.

The potential for human growth is so painfully obvious when all the actors combine for one great scene that it’s tremendously sad when the great drama comes to a close and we’re back to rebuilding the scene for the next great segment.

If all the world’s a stage, we find ourselves wondering if the scene before ever really happened, when things go back to the quiet mediocrity of our lives.

But therein lies the answer, look at our communities, our offline and our online communities, with great ideas and the willingness to share and implement them, build on them, we can affect great change, even through the silliness of social media we can each of us as an actor on the world stage make an impact if we take our roles seriously and use the voice we’ve been given.

This is probably why out of anything I could have done, am so in love with Video Game Industry, entertainment really can change and affect the world. While we have such one of a kind people in our world like MJ, we have ourselves, and we have each other that can organize and make something amazing.

Video Games will and are changing the world, the way we are entertained, the way we interact with each other, and the way we can find common ground through our entertainment. Perhaps I am putting too much on the shoulders of “silly games” but I suspect that out of any other human endeavor, entertaining each other just like great drama and tragedy is one of those real force multipliers that can build bridges and bring all of us together as one large and creative human community.

From our smaller communities of family, friends, co-workers, network contacts, and just those silly celebs we follow on Twitter, the sense of community found in life and on the internet is that “Something greater” your parents told you to be a part of.

If all the world’s a stage and we are merely players, ad-lib your lines, use your voice, and work with the orchestra of life to change the world.

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Alrighty boys, girls, visiting extra-terrestrials, dimensional tourists and astral beings. The last couple of months have been busy for us as you’ve read and seen, our readership numbers have reached new heights, and since Tiffany’s fantastic E3 coverage we’ve been a little quiet. There’s of course a reason for this, mainly we’re organizing some big things, and also we’ve got work and other things going on in the personal space. We’re not making money in this, so when chances come up to make money we generally jump on that first.

However we’re not going to let things slide too long on AS, fear not, I have some new articles coming soon, I know Tiffany is busy playing and testing every single game she comes across, so I suspect she’ll have some reviews and other goodies coming down the pipe soon.

I’m also talking to a couple of others to pen us some things in different areas and always open to anyone interested in adding to our stream of consciousness. Those I won’t make any grand announcements on these things though, wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise. But there are some good and big things coming.

As for myself, I’ll be rolling out my usual stream of Industry commentary and other game goodness, I will note that I’m debating dropping political and other assorted rants from off of Integral and moving them into their own segment of the site so as not to clutter up our readership.

On a personal note, I’m working on a children’s book, so that will likely cut into my article blogging time, but I’ll manage to keep my end up, and if anyone has ideas on what you think i should cover, my digital door is always open to comments, ideas and suggestions!

Now then,

There’s some other things developing but it’s very early on to speak on those, so while you wait, go cheack out The Fan Hub and enjoy some great flash game goodness, let me know how you like it, Paul and Matt are working hard on it, and I expect great things! Or pick up a copy of the Boss’s book “David Perry on Game Design” and bounce over to the GameDesignBook.org to discuss or even contribute to the next edition! It’s an awesome read and resource that DP and Rusel DeMaria put together.

Oh and though i did say political and world news stuff may be moving to a new section, I will say, we at Anjel Syndicate stand in spirit with the people of Iran fighting for their freedom.

That covers things from me, looking forward to Summer ‘09, stay frosty people.

~Anj.

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Sony President and CEO, Jack Tretton steps on stage and thanks everyone for showing up even though most of today’s big announcements have already been leaked to the media already.

He announces that 364 games are coming out this year for the three Playstation platforms this year. He then goes into talking about the PS2 system and how it’s still going strong in its 9^th year. In April the price dropped to $99 and has outsold all next gen systems so with these kinds of numbers Sony will support the PS2 as long as there is a market for it. With that said 100 new titles will be coming to the PS2 console.

Sales have tripled in the Latin Americas since last years E3, PSN has 24 million subscribers worldwide, and Infamous has most likely been played non-stop since its release.

Jack introduces Evan Wells from Naughty Dog to show us gameplay footage of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. He walks us through an action packed scene in the game and announces that multiplayer beta starts at midnight for those who have their beta codes. Uncharted 2 will be released this fall.

Andy Bodwen from Zipper Interactive is up next to show us some in game footage of MAG. This will be a full 256 player match with eight players at the show and the rest back at Zipper headquarters. Each squad consists of eight members with the squad leader choosing the objective for his squad to perform. Each member helps to rack up points by completing all tasks that it takes to complete the objective. MAG is scheduled to release this fall. Gameplay footage: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-mag/50270

Jack comes back on stage and talks about the PSP selling 50 million units so far. Bundles have helped the sales of the PSP and they have more bundles planned for release. Their will be a Rock Band Unplugged bundle, Dissidia bundle, Hannah Montana bundle with a lilac PSP, Loco Roco bundle and Patapon bundle.

Kaz Harai takes the stage and announces the PSP Go. He lets us know that the PSP Go will be 50% smaller and 40% lighter than the PSP 3000. This version of the handheld will not replace the 3000 series, but sell alongside it for user who want to go digital. The system will include 16GB flash memory, built in wi-fi, integrated bluetooth, slide controls, and an additional memory card slot. To make transferring media easier to the PSP 3000 and the PSP Go a new media manager will be released called Media Go. This manager will make it easier to manage and transfer content from your PC to your PSP. Coming around the same time as PSP Go is another application called Sense Me. This app will analyze your music listening habits and music and make playlist suggestions to you. All PSP games going forward will be released digitally and in UMD format to support both systems. PSP Go will release on October 1^st in North America and Europe and on November 1^st in Japan. As of today, video delivery will be made easier with the addition of the video store under the PSN store on your PSP.

Gran Turismo PSP will be coming on October 1^st and will be a full scale game featuring 800 cars, 35 tracks, 60 layouts, four person multi-player mode, sharing & trading of cars with your friends, and a single player mode that features time trials and a mode to improve your driving style. http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-gran-turismo/50303

Hideo Kojima takes the stage to announce Snake is coming back to the PSP in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. This game will take place ten years after MGS 3 and will be a true sequel to the game. This game will release in 2010. Trailer:  http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-mgs-peace/50262

We are told that an all new Resident Evil game is being developed for the PSP, but no trailers, screens, or dates given. Then they roll the PSP lineup video: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-psp/50874 it features such games as Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, Little Big Planet PSP, Motorstorm: Artic Edge, Tiger Woods 10, Madden 10, Hannah Montana, Rock Band Unplugged, Unbound Saga, Petz Hamsterz Bunch, Crimson Gem Saga, Fat Princess, Pixel Junk Monsters Deluxe, Jak & Daxter: The Lost Frontier, Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny, Echochrono, Socom: Fireteam Bravo 3, Pangya Fantasy Golf, Invizimals, Fate: Unlimited Codes, and  Dissidia: Final Fantasy. 

Playstation Network has 11 million subscribers in North America and 24 million worldwide. FFVI will be available on PSN today for download to your PSP or PS3 system. Home has become widely popular since its launch and has seen areas from several sponsors. New areas from Infamous, Buzz, Ubisoft, Namco, Capcom, Eidos, and Activision will be coming in the future. Disney will be releasing costumes for Little Big Planet from some of Disney’s greatest movie titles.

Cue up the PS3 game line-up montage video featuring titles such as Uncharted 2, Madden 10, FFXIII, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Brutal Legend, White Knight Chronicles, Ghostbusters, Heavy Rain, Saw, Buzz Quiz World, Ice Age, MAG, Tiger Woods PGA 10, Dirt 2, Guitar Hero 5, Mafia 2, Bioshock 2, God of War 3, Tekken 6, Overlord 2, Dark Void, G-Force, Planet 51, Hustle Kings, Trash Panic, Critter Crunch, Katamari Forever, Eyepet, DC Universe Online, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, The Agency, Singstar: Queen, Fat princess, Little Big Planet, The Saboteur, Fuel, Infamous, Fight Night Round 4, and Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time. http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-playstation-3/50818

Jack steps back out on stage and talks a little about the PS3 exclusive coming from Rockstar games called Agent which will be a 1970’s espionage game. He also talks about Lost Planet 2 coming in 2010.

Next up we have representatives from Ubisoft Montreal to show us gameplay footage of Assassin’s Creed 2 and scheduled for a holiday 2009 release. They state there will be 30 different weapons and six unique weapons that you can unlock if you play Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines on the PSP. Gameplay Footage:   http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-assassins-creed/50252

Jack comes back an introduces some special footage of FFXIII for PS3 coming Spring of 2010. Footage: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-final-fantasy/50266. After the trailer he announces that another Square-Enix title will be coming in 2010 and PS3 will be the only console it will be available on at launch. He then tells us it’s FFXIV and cues up a trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-final-fantasy/50331, the trailer shows it’s actually FFXIV Online which means another MMO will be coming to the PS3.

Sony then went in to showing us their motion controller that is in the works for the PS3. It was just a prototype, but it looks like a wand with a glowing ball on the end. It will work with the Eyetoy camera and we were shown some tech demos on what it can be used for. Footage: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-playstation-3/50276 and http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-playstation-3/50277.

Jack returns to the stage to talk more about the Play, Create and Share focus for Sony. With Little Big Planet becoming such a hit he introduces a new game that will be available in 2010 that will allow players to once again “Play, Create, & Share” Introducing Mod Nation Racers from United Front Games, this game is going to be a modern take on kart racing. You will be able to create your own race tracks, characters, and cars then upload and share them with the MNR community to play and rate. We are shown some footage of the game and creation aspect, http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-mod-nation/50294 and http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-mod-nation/50295.

Now another game announcement exclusively for the PS3 from famed developer Fumito Ueda and Team Ico; introducing the third game in the Ico trilogy, The Last Guardian. http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-the-last/50284

Now we are shown a Gran Turismo 5 trailer that will finally be released for the PS3 since GT5: Prologue will become a Greatest Hit on June 16^th. http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-gran-turismo/50803

Well Sony decides to close the show with gameplay footage from the start of the game in God of War III. The game is scheduled to be released March of 2010 and here is the footage for your viewing pleasure: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-god-of-war/51094, make sure to watch all five parts for some pretty intense action.

Well that is the end of Sony’s conference for this years E3 and hopefully we’ll get some release dates and more info on some of these game announcements, soon.

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Nintendo kicked things off this morning with their E3 conference. While waiting for it to start they flashed bits of Nintendo trivia and fun facts on the screen. Gamers and the press are wondering what announcements will be made. Will we see any legacy titles or known Nintendo IPs?

The conference is beginning as Cammie Dunaway steps out on stage. She is talking about Nintendo’s focus being “Everyone’s game”. She then asks “What Nintendo character has been in 200 game titles and sold over 200 million games?” The answer of course is Mario! She states that Mr. Miyamoto has been thinking how to bring Mario to you in a new way for the last 15 years. Introducing New Super Mario Bros. Wii, the game will feature multiplayer mode for one to four players. Boxes will have the possibility of generating an item for each player. A new propeller suit was shown that lets players jump higher and float down slowly with a shake of the Wii mote. This game is scheduled for a Holiday 2009 release world wide. Trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-new-super/50245

We move on to Wii Fit and how it has sold over 15 million units in the 13 months since launch. This game has been a bestselling game worldwide. So coming this holiday season Wii Fit Plus will be available bundled with the balance board and as a stand alone product for those who already own Wii Fit. The game will feature six new strength and yoga exercises, 15 new balance games, and you will be able to customize your workouts so you can continuously workout without having to stop for menu options. Trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-wii-fit-plus/50243

Reggie Fils-Amie takes the stage and talks about how Nintendo has pushed the console beyond mainstream gaming into mainstream culture. This brings us to the discussion about Wii Motion Plus and Wii Sports Resort. Wii motion plus will release on July 26^th alongside Wii Sports Resort. You will be able to buy the attachment separately or bundled with the above mentioned game. Wii Motion Plus will add a new sense of realism to your games. It will be able to detect the angle of your wrist, how you are holding the Wii mote, and give precision control. Now Wii Sports Resort was shown at last year’s E3 press conference, but as a reminder it will be a whole slew of new activities that take place at a beach resort. The game will include archery, sky diving, basketball, wakeboarding, Frisbee, table tennis, golf, bowling, power driving (jet skis), canoeing, and cycling.

Wii Motion Plus will play an important role in future gaming also. Games such as Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, Grand Slam Tennis, and Virtua Tennis 2009 will all include playability with or without the accessory though your game will be enhanced if you have one. The game Red Steel 2 will come bundled with Wii Motion Plus also, and can only be played with the attachment on your Wii mote.

Reggie then moves on to let us know that more 3^rd party games sold on Wii than any other platform with the DS running second across all genres of gaming. This leads to focusing on one genre in particular, RPGs. Reggie said if Wii Motion Plus is all about the physical reality, than RPGs are mainly about what goes on inside your head. He then goes on to talk about some of the new RPG titles coming out for the Wii and DS platforms. First up we have Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-final-fantasy/50244 . This game will be exclusively for Wii and features a highly interactive environment and open world adventure. Square-Enix is also releasing exclusively for the DS the newest adventure in the Kingdom Hearts franchise. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days will release on September 29^th and is the story of Roxas when he is was a member of Organization XIII in the timeframe between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. The game will feature a 4 person local multiplayer mode also. Check this out: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-kingdom-hearts/50213 . So what game could have Mario and Luigi shrink down to microbe size and ingested by their arch enemy Bowser? Introducing Mario and Luigi RPG: Bowser’s Inside Story, this story takes our brothers on a journey to explore the inside workings of Bowser. North America and Europe will see the release of this game in the fall of 2009. Debut Trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-bowsers-inside/50278 . Reggie states that a legendary RPG franchise is coming back to Nintendo portables. It’s been gone quite a while and after going dark six years ago, 2010 will bring back a new dawn with Golden Sun DS. http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-golden-sun/50273

Cammie comes back out on stage to talk more about the DS line and how the install base has exceeded one hundred million. She then talks about innovation and creativity and introduces us to three new games coming to the DS platforms. James Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club: Games of Passion will release on October 13^th and will appeal to casual gamers and mystery readers alike. The game features three playable characters, searching for hidden clues, analyzing scientific evidence and interrogating suspects to find their motives. http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e309-debut-womens-murder/50347 . For gamers who want a grittier and open world style game then check out C.O.P: The Recruit. This game tells the story of a NY cop who is forced to go undercover to unravel the conspiracy that framed his partner. http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-c-o-p-the/50308 . Switching gears to the fashion industry a game called Style Savvy will appeal to all the aspiring fashion designers out there. Nintendo is hoping this game will expand game play for pre-teen and 20 something female gamers. In this game you will be able to run your own fashion boutique, sell more than 10,000 fashions, customize your shop, compete in runway contests, and shop in other player’s boutiques around the world. Trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-style-savvy/50251 .

DSi sales in America have equaled over one million units since its launch 2 months ago and another 400,000 DS Lites have also sold in that timeframe. In today’s world people don’t just consume entertainment they create it and then share it. To inspire and utilize people’s creativity three new DSiWare games will launch this year. Flipnote Studio will allow players to create their own mini movies and then share them with their friends. http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-flip-note/50311 This game will be available summer 2009. Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again will allow players to create their own levels from the ground up and upload them to friends locally or through the wi-fi connection. You will be able to download this game starting June 8^th from the Nintendo Store on your DSi. Trailer:  http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-mario-vs-dk/50239 . WarioWare: DIY will include a feature that will allow players to design their own game from scratch and share them with other DIY owners. http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-warioware-diy/50326 . Beginning this summer you will also be able to upload photos from your DSi directly to your Facebook page which will make sharing your photo creations much easier.

Satoru Iwata takes the stage and explains that when Nintendo talked about expanding the gaming audience to a wider variety of people, naysayers said it couldn’t be done. Now that Nintendo has shown that there is a gamer in all of us the naysayers say the trend is fading. He says people are divided into three basic groups, those who are active gamers, those who will never play video games, and those who might someday try a video game. In Japan, the US and six countries in Europe there are 295 million active gamers and 149 million people who are in the maybe category. The ability to appeal to new players will decide the fate of new gaming platforms. He states that no one was born an expert gamer and that the imaginary wall between skilled gamers and new gamers must fall, because we all were once a new player ourselves. Nintendo wants to create games that will appeal to everyone no matter what their skill level of game playing is. He uses Mario Kart Wii as an example of a game that has satisfied gamers of all skill levels and is still going strong every day.

He then explains how Brain Age challenged players to train their brain and Wii Fit challenged players with balance. The newest product that Nintendo is working on is called the Wii Vitality Sensor. Basically you stick your finger inside this gadget and it reads your pulse. No game play examples or launch dates were given for this item.

Cammie steps out on stage again and starts talking about Mario again and how we’ve already heard announcements for 3 other titles he will appear in. Well hold on to your seats, because Mario will be appearing again in another 3-D adventure on the Wii. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is shown on screen and coming some time in 2010. http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-super-mario/50233 .

Reggie steps back out to show us trailers for three very unique titles for the Wii platform. First up we have The Conduit releasing in about three weeks is a sci-fi first person shooter that will feature online play. http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-the-conduit/50255. Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles will feature well know franchise characters in an all new adventure. http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-resident-evil/50297 . While Dead Space: Extraction will tell us about the events that led up to the disaster of Dead Space, http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-dead-space/50240 all three games will be available before year end.

One last announcement of a new edgier game with help from a company that has a proven track record in the mature space, cue trailer and we are introduced to the Team Ninja and Nintendo logos. Metroid: Other M will be unlike any other Metroid game you’ve played before, deeper into Samus’s story and further into the Metroid universe. The game is scheduled to release in 2010. Trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-metroid-other/50237 .

This wraps up the Nintendo press conference and some interesting announcements were made.

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The conference opens with a video montage of new titles and already released ones from Konami. Some of the games in the montage are Saw, Pro Evo, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, MGS, DDR, Winning Eleven, Zephyr, Digimon, Zombie Apocalypse, Karaoke Revolution, and Pop n Music Wii.

The Konami Vice President takes the stage and is talking about sales and how great 2008 was for Konami, mostly due to the release of MGS4: Guns of the Patriots which will become a Greatest Hits title on June 16^th.  He also makes it clear that Konami is more than a gaming company, they are a multi-entertainment company. Trading cards, mobile phones, arcade games and much more are part of the company’s cross platform announcements.

Trailer time and it appears to be the previously announced titles from Kojima Productions. Mr. Kojima himself takes the stage to a huge round of applause! He states that he would like to brighten the world with news about his new title. He says that E3 is a sad place without big announcements. He is going to talk about the four new titles in development from Kojima Productions. First up is Metal Gear Solid Arcade which will be a coin–ops game. This title will have a special machine and interface and will be available in 3D if the player wears special goggles. eKonami will be used to connect the machines together.

Up comes the trailer for Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, this is the same trailer that was shown at the Sony conference yesterday. The main character of this title will be Naked Snake set ten years after MGS3 in 1974. This will be a true sequel to the game and not a side mission or side story. He also states that “Yes” two people can get into the cardboard box as shown at the end of the trailer. The game will release for PSP some time in 2010. Trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-mgs-peace/50262

Now we are shown a trailer for Metal Gear Solid: Rising. This will be primarily a stealth espionage game with Raiden as the main character. The game will be available on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. This will be the “next Metal Gear series” for next-gen consoles. This title is also scheduled for release some time in 2010. Trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-metal-gear/50036

Kojima states it is now time for one little surprise. Cue the trailer and we hear Patrick Stewart narrating while a figure holding an ornate cross looks at a castle across a fog covered landscape. The trailer looks very interesting and supernatural. The music swells and the words, Castlevania: Lords of Shadows appear on the screen. Castlevania will be reborn in 2010 for the PS3 and the Xbox 360. Kojima asks, “Did you like it?”  Out steps Dave Cox from Konami Europe. He tells us that they are taking this epic adventure and re-imagining it on a grander scale. It will be a rich, open game world with a hero looking for retribution and salvation. The game is in development with Mercury Steam along with Konami Productions. Kojima says that Castlevania was created in Japan, but in order for the series to be more appealing in the years to come it had to be done this way. Kojima says his role in the game is mainly a support role. Mr. Cox promises to deliver something special that will meet the expectations of a 3D Castlevania title. This game will release world wide in 2010. Trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-castlevania-lords/50684

Saw trailer appears on screen and out steps Tobin Bell, star of the Saw movies. He talks about how playing and developing Jigsaw as a character has been a thrill. He also worked with developers closely on the game as the voice of Jigsaw and Billy the Puppet. The game’s producer John Williamson is brought onstage to walk us through some game play footage. He talks about the characters and inhabitants of the game world. Footage: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-saw/50446 . The game will be released this fall for PS3 and Xbox 360 and a downloadable version for the PC will also be available.

Out of no where we are presented a Karaoke Revolution trailer. This game will be available this fall for PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii. The game will feature customizable avatars, new performance venues, and improvements to the singing interface. The game will also have weekly DLC and be backwards compatible with content from previous releases.

The next presentation is Dance Dance Revolution. With the series still popular on the PS2 they will be adding master tracks and a board game style to the game. For the Wii version of the game it will be compatible with the Wii balance board and will make use of the Wii-mote and Miis. The work-out mode will include punching and hip bumps to make it more of a work-out and a lot more fun. A PS3 and Xbox 360 version will be available with eight arrow mode and the mat will include eight directional pads. This will be the first DDR game for the PS3. All versions should be available this fall.

Two new titles are up next, WireWay for the DS will feature the main character Wiley on a quest to defeat aliens and win the heart of his chosen love. Players will need to propel him through levels by slingshotting him from wires that he grabs a hold of. There will be power-ups, combo techniques, breakable walls and hidden items. The game will be available this fall. Next we have Deca Sports 2 for the Wii. This sequel will feature 10 new events, online multiplayer and other new features. The trailer showed clips of hockey, tennis, kendo and mogul skiing. Team customization and leader boards will be available for the online play mode. This game will also be available in the fall.

Last, but not least a clip of a man searching for his daughter is brought to the screen. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is not a remake of the original Silent Hill game, but a re-imagining of it. The Wii mote will serve as your flashlight while the nunchuk will control your movement through the game. The game will also include a psychological profiling component that will evaluate the way the player goes through the story and adapts to it. The zombies will work together to catch you and cling to you. If you are surrounded by too many they will drag you to the ground and smother you. The game is also being made for the PS2 and PSP and will be as wildly inventive as the Wii version.

Gameplay footage: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-silent-hill/50463

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So yes, I’ve been a bit quiet on the IM’s and Twitter since Tuesday, and now you know why lol. I boogied on up to the shop to buy The Sims 3 Collector’s Edition, that’s right, I coveted the 2 GB Plumbob Flash Cart XD

Now goodies aside I’ve poured quite a few hours into exploring the game since I brought it home and installed it. I was of course excited, as any Sims fan, and it is amongst one of my foremost guiltiest of guilty pleasures.

That said, I am impressed in some of the new features of this iteration, but as always there’s some things that need to ironed out to which I hope EA doesn’t take it’s sweet time making us wait for patches.

Good Impressions

• Customization during Create-a-Sim - is better than ever, I’m not sure which part excites me the most, the enhanced body/face controls, the colour pallet and swatches allowing just about any colour and/or combination of colours to adorn your sim with. Or the Personality Trait system that can help make for a really diverse sim personality. Honestly, I think the Trait system has the most impact on Sim creation, but the colour and pattern system scores creative points.
• Social Interaction - is more detailed and presents itself as more realistic, it’s not just lump all kinds of actions together and get the friend points up, you can make mistakes, traits play a big role, and you can’t just flirt with everyone anymore lol. The Traits you selected when creating your sim also offer up some unique social interactions. My Favorite so far is being a “Great kisser” (Art imitates life, I know XD) that open up some interesting actions and opportunities.
• Story Progression Mode - The world moves and changes around you in real time. That’s something I always wanted to have happen in the Sims. In 2 of course characters may make friendships while they’re in your active vicinity, or they bought stuff in stores, but in 3 the world and other sims go on about their lives, with or without your input. That’s definitely a long way to helping keep the play experience fresh as the town and it’s citizen’s grow and change around you changing the social dynamic of the city along the way
• Age controls - Finally, you don’t have to play with cheat codes or monkey around with modded objects or the green juice, you can extend or contract Sim life spans, or just click aging off entirely in the safety of the options panel. So easy, Epic Sim Age FTW!
• Skill Growth - I was going to list this in the undecided category, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it’s a good thing (In my mind) That Skill progression right now, isn’t quick and dirty. You can’t throw on the funny helmet, have a rejuvenator handy, jump on the career reward item and grind out a Skill in a Sim-day or two. It takes work, and it takes time, there are several avenues for skill growth which is nice (If you can afford them without cheating) The Items, the Classes from Community Lots and books, plus some activities I’ll mention later all help, but it’s not as I said, quick and/or dirty.
• Books - Speaking of the Book system, I like how you don’t just automatically unlock things from skill building, I like a challenge and being able to decide what i really want my Sims to learn. If I don’t want them to waste time cooking things I wouldn’t eat I don’t have to teach them the recipe lol. Buying music to add songs to my Sims repertoire is a nice touch, it adds more time consumption to the game play of course factoring money generation, skill learning etc, but Sims games are meant for long term time investment, and should be more reflective of taking time to accomplish things. (IMHO of course)
• Jobs - For once, Jobs actually have a dynamic quality to them, you go to work of course, but it’s not make X friends, have x skills, get promoted. You have a selection of what you do at work (including skill building) Your Mood + Skill progression + co-worker relationships + more all affect your performance, thus brings promotions, it’s not simple and straight forward, You actually have to have your sim work a bit to get ahead, yet another nice touch.
• Opportunities - So far I haven’t had too many of these pop up, but it’s a nice side system that adds more dynamic to day to day sim life and work. The Job ones remind me of the usual “Chance” cards, but are more in-depth and don’t have direct pass/fail. Some require some work, some have time limits, and there are probably other qualities I’ve yet to experience. The Skill related opportunities pop up through the magic of the telephone (Makes me think of GTA a touch). Specials I have yet to discover, but we’ll have more in our full review I’m sure.

That’s a good list right there, I could go on and on, but this is about first impressions, not the history of the world.

Undecided Impressions

• Neighborhood System - I’m really not sure how I feel about the set up for towns, in a way I like how it generates a town fully loaded, but right now there’s a default one, and then the free downloadable one “Riverview” . You can’t create new Neighborhoods from scratch which is one of the things I really enjoyed, but I’m hopeful they will release something to do that. And Editing the neighborhood, building extra lots and the like is round about, and a bit of a chore to accomplish, plus you cannot add new lots that I’ve seen yet. Again, hopefully that will be in the first expansion or a stuff pack.
• Sim Needs - While filling or failing to fill needs affects your sims moods(moodlets) I’m not sure if this is a bug or not, but Needs or at least some fill really quickly, while others do take time. I’m not sure I like how quickly Social needs fill, or how long it takes Fun to fill without a specific trait related item, though perhaps it’s due to my not using cheats and using cheap items with my sim XD
• The Sims Store - Of course, the introduced during Sims2, Sims Store is already up and doing business online. While I know people feel jilted by this, which is understandable, it’s just business, and while I won’t buy everything in there, and it time we’ll see the user created objects start to show up. I will say that it’s no big surprise, MMO’s especially triple A titles charge you for the game, then a subscription, at least the store is optional, but they need more and better hair for male sims

Bad Impressions

• Time - The clock is buggy in Sims 3, you can put it on ultra speed, but for many it doesn’t actually take effect, unless, like me you focus the camera and zoom in tight on the floor so that all the stuff happening in town is shut out and you get ultra speed XD.
• Graphics - Given the described system requirements, you would think that Low or Medium settings would at least have some richness to them, but it seems to roll it too just about or a bit above Sims2 quality, while yes technology for computers changes constantly and if we all had uber systems this wouldn’t be an issue, we all don’t, so not catering to some degree to lower end computers does leave a bad impression when The Sims is one of the biggest game franchises ever, not good to annoy your loyal fans.

So far I haven’t run into much else that falls into the Undecided or Bad categories, but this is of course opinion on my part, so check it out and decide for yourself.

Do I feel The Sims 3 is worth the price I paid for it?

Yes

Will the majority agree with me?

Time and sales results will tell.

If I were to give a score based on my first impressions, I’d say 8 Plumbob Flash Carts out of 10!

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As you all may have heard already FFXIV was announced at the Sony press Conference. The game will be available for PC and PS3 at this time. Waiting for the conference to start, it seems to be running a bit late. They are not allowing cameras inside, so I had to watch this through live blog from G4TV

Since the press conference has to be translated from Japanese to English it seems that they will be focusing strictly on FFXIV and handling this as a Q & A format. So I will write both the question asked and the answer given so all information is relayed.

An announcement was made confirming that the game will be on PS3 and PC, but they are considering other hardware including Microsoft hardware.

Q: What are the ties to Final Fantasy XI, if any?

A: While you may have noticed that some of the same type of races appeared in the trailer, the world of FFXIV is different from FFXI. The reason that we made the races similar to the FFXI races is so FFXI players could choose a similar type of race in the new game. For example, in movies, you might have an actor that plays many different roles. Please, think of it that way.

Q: What happens to Final Fantasy XI now that we’re moving to FFXIV? Are you going to phase it out or continue to publish new content for XI? How will the development team be split?

A: The development for FFXIV started 4 or 5 years ago with primary ideas. Development started a few years ago, while FFXI was still being supported. FFXI will continue to be supported. There is another year of content planned. There are no plans for the near future to stop development on FFXI.

Q: What influence have games like World of WarCraft had on the development of FFXIV?

A: As with WoW, we want to aim a bit for the casual user. However, we don’t want to make a copy of WoW. We believe we will have things that are unique and will stand out from that game.

Q: Will combat be more action oriented or turn-based?

A: We cannot talk about the battle system at this time.

Q: FFXI has evolved a lot over the years, especially in the areas of player accessibility and the ability to solo. Will you carry over features like level sync and other features to FFXIV?

A: Yes. All of the knowledge and experience we gained from FFXI will be used in the development of FFXIV. At the launch, we intend to have content for solo players as well as large-scale battles. We want a wide-variety from the start.

Q: Are you planning a simultaneous worldwide release or will it be released in Japan first?

A: Yes. At the launch, this will be a worldwide simultaneous launch on PS3 and Windows PC. English, Japanese, German, and French versions released at launch.

Q: Will all servers be worldwide or split by territory?

A: The current plans are to have worldwide servers that are cross-platform and cross-region. We will do a beta test and look at the balance and player experience. We want to look for a good balance between region and cross-region play.

Q: Will you be taking feedback from your FFXI users?

A: Yes, we still get a lot of feedback from our FFXI players and will continue to take feedback as we move into beta. The game will change as it goes.

Q: Will you try to move players from XI to XIV or will they be separate communities?

A: It’s up to the community themselves. We envision users that will hopefully play XI one day and XIV another. They will be independent, but users are free to play both.

Q: Are there plans to localize the game in Spanish?

A: Currently, there is no Spanish version in development. We’ll consider it if enough Spanish-speaking users demand it from us. Getting good translators in Japan is hard, but if there’s enough demand we will consider it.

Q: How can users transmit this demand?

A: We will conduct marketing research.

Q: Is there any special element in the MMO genre that you will improve with this game?

A: Our plan from the beginning was to make the best Final Fantasy game available. That is our vision for XIV. Then we thought, how can we make the best FF game and we came to the conclusion that it would be an MMORPG. It was decided to make the best FF first, then led to the decision to make it an MMORG and use that genre. However, we are trying to implement a lot of new systems that other MMOs haven’t used in the past.

Q: Why did you decide to make a new game rather than continue to evolve FFXI?

A: It all comes down to; originally, FFXI was designed for the PS2. It then moved to PC and Xbox 360. A lot of people have asked for a port to the PS3. With an MMORPG of this size, you have to develop new content. Porting to a new technology would take a lot of effort. Instead, we decided to use that time to make something new.

Q: Yesterday’s trailer that was shown was that running of a console or was it pre-rendered?

A: There were parts that were pre-rendered and parts that were running on the in-game engine.

Q: Is that the quality you’re aiming for? The scene with the Galka fighting, is that what you’re aiming for?

A: Yes, that is the part that was running in-engine.

Q: In that scene, we saw many parties and many enemies. Is this the new focus: many parties fighting many enemies?

A: I cannot say too much, but we hope to have battles that are many vs. many and many vs. one.

Q: What would you like to emphasize with this game? What is different from FFXI?

A: For FFXIV, the keyword that we’ve been using is “The Growth and Development of the Character.” We will have the same type of storytelling and high-quality graphics. We also want to expand and create new in-game systems. The player can grow & develop in a more natural way without putting too much weight on the player. We will expand the job system to make it fairly different from the one in FFXI. Another very important concept that takes a different direction from FFXI, for FFXIV we want to make it so the player can choose to play solo, in a party, 40 minutes, all-day… there will be content for ALL of those play styles and systems for all of those play styles.

Q: On the beta process, will current XI players get in?

A: As with the actual release date of the game, we don’t have a concrete beta schedule yet. We will have a beta and look forward to more information about then shortly.

Q: Will FFXI characters be portable to XIV in any way?

A: The game is completely different. XIV does not take place in Vana’deil. There will not be any XI character transfers to XIV. However, the character design is familiar and XI players will be able to create a similar character. We will NOT be using PlayOnline, but friend lists will transfer over.

Q: If I’m new to the MMO genre, why would I choose FFXIV over other games?

A: We believe that players will fall in love with the world & story that we have created.

Q: I’ve been seeing information that the title is free to play, is this true?

A: No pricing has been decided at this time. It is still TBD.

That was the last question of the session. On a side note that question came from our G4 blogger who actually received that question from a few people in the blog chat prior to the start of the session. Since the MMO world was shocked to hear that a new FF MMO was in the works, I hope that this answered some of the questions you may have. Hopefully more information will be released soon since it was stated at the Sony conference that this is planned for a 2010 release. I for one am hoping there a quite a few changes made to this title since I could not get into FFXI battle system.

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