GameFocus E3 Preview: Mass Effect 3

Million of units sold worldwide, a memorable hero, a rich cast of supporting characters, numerous awards and universal gamer acclaim. To Mass Effect fans, this sci-fi space opera is just as great as Star Wars or Star Trek. At least, it is for me. Travelling to distant worlds and building key alliances, among other things, while saving the galaxy and fighting for freedom...all are ingredients for success, provided it’s done right. And BioWare’s dedication to deliver the best gaming experience isn’t new. Knowing right from the beginning in 2006 that the Edmonton-based developer would slowly build up towards the epic third chapter that is Mass Effect 3 (especially for those who will be carrying over their ME1-ME2 save games), my E3 demo in Los Angeles was one of the most anticipated moments of 2011.

Presented as the pinnacle of the Mass Effect experience and after eight years of intense hard work, this ambitious series reaches its climax in 2012. Commander Shepard’s new mission is to enlist the help of key personnel scattered across the galaxy, retrieve critical war assets, and liberate facilities in an effort to save Earth from the malicious Reapers, who are determined to harvest the green planet’s resources and subsequentially destroy it.

As Shepard and his squadmates travel to Sur’Kesh (Mordin Solus’ homeworld) to secure a female Krogan, a rare species in the Mass Effect universe and the key to unite the divided Krogan worlds. The demo showcased the different ways gamers can tackle missions in the game, whether it’s the tactical route using squad-based movements (via the Power Wheel, which is once again used to set powers and queue up attacks) combined with a fluid cover-to-cover system a la Gears of War for both stealth/flanking strategies or the universal run n’ gun path. Among the improvements and additions, Shepard now has an Omni Blade, a glowing knife used for efficient closed-quarters-combat or to surprise an enemy from behind with a deadly takedown. Hand grenades are also part of Shepard’s arsenal. Going towards a more action-focused Mass Effect and giving players further offensive/defensive tactics, Bioware is literally augmenting Shepard’s "badass level" up a notch, as if he wasn’t bringing enough pain already.

Nothing to worry though, despite having evolved into a third-person action-shooter, Mass Effect 3 still has an interesting RPG aspect. On top of the dialog and moral choices Shepard will face throughout his journey, weapons can be modified - via work benches - for visual preferences and statistical values but also, to adapt to the different play styles. Character progression was also expanded, giving the possibility to branch out towards various powers and skills. Casey Hudson, the franchise’s executive producer, pointed out that despite being the conclusion of an epic trilogy, Mass Effect 3 was also designed with the intent to allow beginners who have never experienced the first two games to jump right in, as the third chapter opens up the future of the Mass Effect series after this trilogy concludes.

Hudson closed out his demo with a segment towards the beginning of the game. Those who’ve been following the franchise know that Shepard has a troublesome past. Detained on Earth for hearings (on previous actions in the game’s universe), his hearing is being cut short as Reapers land and attack. I won’t be detailing what happens because I have a personal issue with spoilers. However, I must say that action games rarely get to touch the sentimental cord. As much as a game like Gears of War 2 managed to get out a few tears outta me, I never thought Mass Effect would ever put me in that same state. Proof that video games aren’t always about pew-pew-pew and immature fun. Immersing storytelling is important and its one of the reasons why BioWare strikes gold with pretty much every title they make. At this point, it wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you that Mass Effect 3 is my most anticipated game of 2012. Hopefully its yours now too. Look out for it.

http://www.gamefocus.ca/previews/10282.html

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GameFocus E3 Preview: Far Cry 3

With so many first-person shooters going the scripted-action route, it’s nice when there are those that go in a different direction; or at the least offer a varying experience. UbiSoft Montreal revealed Far Cry 3 at E3 this year and after checking it out behind closed doors, it’s nice to see that the developers are offering up an open-world mentality with its upcoming shooter.

Far Cry 3 has you taking control of Jason Brody, who is stranded in a unnamed South American country. He’s has been captured and his girlfriend has gone missing (or possibly worse). The demonstration at E3 began with your character hearing a story from a deranged man named Vaz, who then proceeds to throw you down a cliff and into the water below. You manage to free yourself from the restraints and the boulder holding you down and then begin to make your escape.

Although everyone who watched the Ubisoft Press Conference got to see, for the most part, what I also saw behind closed doors, what the public video didn’t show was just how open-ended your execution can be. For starters, the game offers a lot of branching points and paths to discover. Not only is there an overall story, there will be numerous side-paths to discover and experience, which will drastically change the way in which a person plays the game.

The level objective in the E3 demo was for Jason to get to a helicopter in order to escape. In the public demo, the lead decides to take a more direct approach and attacks the compound head-on where the helicopter was located. While this was a more violent and risky approach, in our private demo, they decided to take a more in-direct route and try their hardest to avoid detection.

This time around, the player moved to an area from the side, managed to find a sniper rifle and commenced with taking out targets that way. Of course, he was eventually spotted, but not before dishing out a healthy dose of stealthy death upon a large group enemies. Things then got really interesting; after alerting the guerrillas, Jason uses a zip-line to traverse over the enemy campground and get closer to the helicopter. Although being fired at, he manages to land in the water and to stay alive. Thanks to the fact the water that surrounded the compound was deep, it made it harder for the enemies to spot him, meaning he was then able to get around without being shot at. Of course, you can only avoid detection for so long, but luckily in both demos, Jason gets to the helicopter and tries to force his way out of the vacinity.

The demonstration at E3 was extremely short, but thanks to the introduction of Vaz, who appears to be one really messed up character, my early interest in Far Cry 3 is already at a high level. With the game expected sometime in 2012, I look forward to seeing and hearing more about Jason, Vaz and the many other characters were are bound to meet up in this mysterious country in the months to come.

http://www.gamefocus.ca/previews/10357.html

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GameFocus E3 Preview: Batman: Arkham City

In 2009, Batman: Arkham Asylum surprised many people and managed to swoop in and take numerous Game of the Year Awards from different publications, including our own. With the follow-up, Batman: Arkham City, scheduled to release later this year, we had the chance to watch a demonstration of the game that showcased a bit of the combat Batman will encounter, the look of Gotham City and of course, the inclusion of Ms Feisty Pants herself, Catwoman.

For starters, Arkham City promises to be a large game and from the demonstration we got, that was an understatement. When the presentation began, we were treated with Batman gliding across the city and the amount of detail was nothing short of incredible. You could see for miles in front of you and every bit of Gotham City was accessible.

Of course, the environment isn’t the only thing that made Arkham Asylum such a great game; it was Batman’s fantastic combat and that is still intact with Arkham City. We were shown to a massive brawl that saw Batman duke it out with over a dozen different thugs that unleashed unleashed by Penguin. The mechanics in play here here was absolutely seamless and vicious for both sides. In the demonstration, the member of RockSteady’s team who was playing the game for us was trying to achieve the highest possible combo, but the best he could muster was an 11-hit combination. This was nice to see since it promises that even the best of brawlers will encounter a challenge when the odds are against them.

But out of all the highlights that are being showcased regarding Batman: Arkham City, it is the inclusion of Catwoman that stands out the most. For some, it may seem like her addition is unnecessary, but from the first moment you see her, its easy to see that her bring thrown into the mix is going to fit in just fine. Sex appeal aside, she moves and acts extremely different from Mr Wayne’s alter ego. Rather than having the Detective View that Batman has, her Thief vision allows her to see items that enemies are carrying or secret areas to explore. Also, she has the ability to crawl on walls and ceilings, which makes it possible to get to areas enemies can’t reach and is impossible for her to be seen.

Her combat is also quite different than Batman; the approach they took in the demo was to have her go the Sam Fisher route, avoiding detection as much as possible. The objective was to steal keys to open a safe and to dispose of each enemy without alerting the others. This was possible thanks to her ability to crawl on the ceiling and using cover to sneak around. When pulled off properly, it was very satisfying watching her take out two foes in one easy and quiet swoop.

Based upon what I saw, Catwoman will be extremely welcomed and her character is so interesting that I hope the writers behind Arkham City do a good job at making her arc as engaging as Batman’s without compromising the Dark Knight’s main plot. Thankfully, Batman: Arkham City is scheduled to arrive in stores this October and to be honest, that day can’t come soon enough.

http://www.gamefocus.ca/previews/9913.html

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GameFocus E3 Preview: Saints Row: The Third

Since we last saw them, the Saints have catapulted into international celebrities with their own brand name (energy drinks, merchandise, etc.) and flocks of adoring fans. This time, they’ve jumped ship, leaving Stilwater for the lovely Steelport. There are still multiple gangs the Saints will take on, but the major opposing force is The Syndicate (whom is still in full control of Stilwater as well) that wants to further their dominance across the world. It’s like Biggie said “Mo Money, Mo Problems”, so despite their success, the Third Street Saints will still have to lay down the law.

The E3 demo was set in an area controlled by The Luchadores, a Mexican gang who wears wrestling masks (hence the name). Volition used the open-world playground to show off some of the new features in the game. Variety is key here, with players having more options to customize their clothing (a space suit!!) and interact with people. They can run up behind a person and body slam them face first into the concrete along with performing similar fighting moves like punching a pedestrian in the crotch. Some onlookers did react, but for the most part they were oblivious to the violence occurring nearby.

Next up were melee weapons and in shocking fashion, the player pulled out a giant purple dildo bat and started beating people with it. Yes, it’s as funny as it sounds. A more violent weapon, the apoca-fist, consisted of punching people with large mitts and watching them explode into chunks. After that the player ran over to a vehicle and jacked it by jumping through the driver’s side window and drove around with improved controls that allow you to stop and turn in an instant.

Unfortunately, Saints Row is also known for its floaty physics. Volition said they overhauled the physics engine and demonstrated the improvements by participating in the Tank Mayhem event (one of the mini-games; something else Saints Row is known for). Anarchy reigned supreme with explosives raining down on everything and the tank creating vehicle pancakes after running them over. Next the player piloted a VTOL (vertical take-off and landing jet). Graphical pop-in was still apparent like before, but keep in mind that this is still an incomplete build of the game so that could improve before release. The pilot spotted a gang of Luchadores standing together, so he called an air strike that simply obliterated the crowd.

After landing the craft on a rooftop the player jump and rolled off safely onto the ground. The remaining section of the playground showed the player driving the manapult, a vehicle with a cannon on the back. Suck in bystanders with the cannon, then launch them into buildings or the air. Players can even jump into the manapult and shoot themselves into the air before deploying a parachute. Needless to say, the mayhem SR3 has lined up is nothing short of nuts.

Once we were done with the playground, it was time ti check out a story mission. Essentially, it consisted of a bank robbery led by the player who was accompanied by three gang members. All four of them were dressed up in Johnny Gat bobble head suits and they looked awesome as they fought a bank full of enemies. Humorous dialogue and ludicrous scenarios (signing an autograph during the chaos and hitching the vault to a helicopter) were sprinkled in during the mission as our hero attempted to stay on top of the vault while fighting off waves of bad guys. The demo ended with the vault slamming to the ground and the player in custody.

Based on both what I saw and the audience’s reaction, Volition has definitely demonstrated that Saints Row is the go-to franchise for outrageous, over-the-top amusement with excessive violence thrown in to make a chaotic cocktail. Saints Row: The Third appears to continue its predecessors’ tradition of fun filled entertainment that begs to be shared with friends. We’ll have to see if the rest of the game can live up to this sampling once it launches this November.

http://www.gamefocus.ca/previews/10290.html

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GameFocus E3 Preview: Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary

When Halo CE debuted it proved that first-person shooters could work well on consoles. With that in mind, 343 Industries has maintained the classic gameplay by running two engines (the 2001 original and last year’s Halo: Reach) simultaneously. Remember how powerful the magnum was? It’s back along with the same physics and AI.

What the dual-engines also means is that you can swap between the new HD graphics and “Classic Mode” by pressing a button on the fly, just like in the recent Monkey Island HD releases. They switched a few times during The Silent Cartographer level that was demoed and 343 assured us you can do this as often as you want.

343 Industries also has some other improvements planned, like audio recorded through Skywalker Sound for an optimized surround sound experience. Terminals have evolved from simple text to full-on cinematics as shown in a teaser trailer. Always appealing to their hardcore fans, finding all of the terminals provides story hints for the upcoming Halo 4. 343 is also exploring other avenues to bridge the gap between Halo 3 and 4 and one venue is an upcoming Halo novel from author Karen Traviss.

Other enhancements include a two-player an online co-op mode for the campaign (YES!) and competitive multiplayer on Xbox LIVE (YES!! x 2). The Reach engine allows for “breathtaking visuals” and other advancements like the use of jet packs that will bring something new to the experience. Seven maps (one of them is a Firefight map) are included and 343 said Anniversary and Reach players can play together provided they have the same content.

During our Q&A, someone asked if Halo 2 would receive the same HD treatment - a question 343 said they have been repeatedly asked - and they had nothing to announce at the time. Right now Halo CE Anniversary and HaloFest, an event commemorating the Halo 10th anniversary at PAX, are their primary focus.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary will launch on November 15th, 2011, exactly 10 years from the date the original released, and will retail at the value price of $39.99. Stay tuned for more details as the release date approaches. 

http://www.gamefocus.ca/previews/10356.html

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E3,Wii U

 ESA announced that 46,800 game industry professionals, investor analysts and retailers attended E3 2011, the figure is higher than 45,600 from 2010 and 41,000 from 2009.

Codemasters announced its online portal has been compromised by hackers, a breach on June 3rd resulted in customer names, addresses, email addresses, telephone numbers, encrypted passwords and order history being compromised.

Square Enix producer Yoshinori Kitase said that he would be interested in making Final Fantasy VII-2, and it would have to be a really big budget title.

Nintendo revealed that the LCD display in the Wii U controller would be 854 x 480 pixels.

Nintendo mentioned that Wii games running on Wii U will not be upscaled, they will look the same as in Wii.

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E3 2011: Final Fantasy XIII-2 is Better than XIII

A lot of fans were disappointed when Final Fantasy XIII was released last year. While the presentation looked phenomenal, the game lacked in the gameplay area as there were no towns to explore, and the game was mostly linear. With the direct sequel to XIII coming in less than a year, fans of the FF series will be happy to know that XIII-2 is already a lot better than XIII from what we have played this week at the show floor.

The flaws that fans noted in XIII were mostly fixed while adding some new elements to make XIII-2 more enjoyable than its predecessor. If the battle system of the first game was an annoyance to the fans, they will not be pleased to know that the battle system is left intact. However, the developer of XIII-2 added a cinematic action event to add a little twist into it. At every time the player is about to finish a boss, a Quick Time Event will commence. Simply follow the on screen prompt and the boss will die.

When it comes to the town issues, Square Enix was pleased to tell us that there are towns to visit and a lot of NPCs to interact with. To have a better understanding on an area, players will be talking to a lot of NPCs as they will to give you a brief background on the place. In other words, players will feel that the game is more livelier compared to the linear direction of XIII.

In the demo they showed behind closed doors, a new character named Noel was introduced. No further information was revealed about the character except the young boy is carrying two swords and for some reason, Serah and him are on a mission to take Atlas, the machine that humans created in Cocoon. Since what they were showing is a demo, they didn’t reveal as how Atlas was created.

Another worthy addition that Square Enix added in the game is to allow players to have the power to choose. At some point in the game, there will be area where the players will have to choose from different options. Think of these options as an alternative way to play out the story. It’s unconfirmed however if FFXIII-2 will have multiple endings since one of the main features of the game is making decision and facing the consequences the player tackles through the game.

In terms of graphics, it’s pretty much the same as XIII as the engine used on the sequel is the same. The little thing they noted on the graphics is that players can expect to see a lot of special effects. The segment that showcases the special effects that are mentioned was a secret scene they showed behind close doors where Lightning in a new armor is fighting a Chaos Bahamut while she’s riding Odin. The battle and cinematic action they showed was beyond epic!

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E3 2011: Dark Souls PS3 Is Superior, 360 Version Heavily Compressed Onto One Disc

When Demon’s Souls was released several years ago by Atlus in North America, it was a PS3 exclusive. With the follow up title, Dark Souls coming this year, it will no longer be a PS3 exclusive title as a Xbox 360 version is coming as well. Now, the big question is, which of the two versions is better?

While playing the demo of Dark Souls at the Namco Bandai booth today at the E3 show floor, one of the questions I asked to the Namco Bandai representative is to what are the sacrifices From Software had to do in order to put it on the Xbox 360. A simple answer given to us is, “a lot of compression has to be done on the Xbox 360 to make it stay on a single disc”.

When it comes to compressing a game on the Xbox 360, we all know how much quality it loses. For players who are thinking of purchasing Dark Souls on the PS3, expect the data to be uncompressed, thus having better quality in terms graphics and sounds. Take note that the lead platform of Dark Souls is the PS3 and the Xbox 360 is a direct port.

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E3 2011: Final Fantasy XIII-2 Developer Interview

RPGSite: The battles seem much more dynamic with set pieces going on… could you talk about this approach?                                                                                                                                  
Kitase: We actually didn’t take any inspiration from any western RPGs. Not cautiously anyway. On the other hand, the Paradigm Shift system from Final Fantasy XIII was quite popular but most people liked it so we actually carried it over to make it a different version—not completely the same. Two  examples, in XIII-2, you can actually recruit monsters and make them work for you, and there are more than 150 types of monsters there for you to capture, and they can help you. They progress the same as characters do in any RPG. Second, you’ve got one called Cinematic Action, so like in a big battle against a boss character the Cinematic Action element is put in so it’s more dynamic. And in every single way we want to make sure the player has some kind of interaction with the gameplay.

RPGSite: Do you feel that fans were disappointed with the original Final Fantasy XIII? Are there any features in Final Fantasy XIII-2 that were direct actions based on fan feedback and fans of the original?
Kitase: I think that XIII was criticized by other people we think because it was meant to be story-driven. But it was so much so, that people thought it was quite linear, which people didn’t like. So before we started making XIII-2, we decided that we were determined to take all the negative comments seriously, and rectify every single one of them fairly and properly. So this new game is more player driven, than story driven, so that the player will have very active involvement. There’s a lot more things you can do and explore, like towns and other things, and also you can choose what you want to say to a NPC.

RPGSite: One of the deepest criticisms that has been made was the lack of the traditional Final Fantasy town. In response in interviews, it was said by someone in the development team that making towns on a high definition system is actually quite difficult. So is that something that has finally gotten easier now? Have they developed ways to make it a quicker process? To make it a more painless process? Or can we still expect the towns to be smaller than what you would have found in games like Final Fantasy VII-IX.
Toriyama: Like Kitase said earlier, we did take it seriously that there was a huge criticism over no towns—we know people didn’t like it and so we took that and have towns in the new one. And you can explore the town and you can talk to all the people, and that will lead to other situations. Shops, as well now in XIII-2 you can find certain characters you can talk to and they can sell things to you and you can make purchases. I think if we created towns in the same way as we did for Final Fantasy VII-IX, it would be quite boring, and so it is very difficult. So with that we put an AI in every single person living in the town so they can do their own things. They may sit down and chat, or they may talk to their family members, or somebody they want to talk to, so they do their own actions. In that sense, it’s a quite different type of town you would find in a Final Fantasy [game].

RPGSite: At point did you decide to make Final Fantasy XIII-2, and what was the reason behind it?
Kitase: We actually made the decision to make a sequel right after the worldwide launch of Final Fantasy XIII. Around the time we were visiting the United States and other European countries on the promotion tour, we actually got a lot of positive reactions from the fans, and also obviously Final Fantasy  XIII was luckily a commercial success with 5 millions units sold around the world—over 6 million. But we just felt generally that people wanted a sequel anyway, and while making Final Fantasy XIII we thought that the characters and the universe had more potential, not just squeezed into one title.

RPGSite: Will Final Fantasy XIII-2 be using a chapter based system, as far as story progression goes, because that was in Final Fantasy XIII, people thought that system made it too linear… will XIII-2 similar in that sense?
Toriyama: There isn’t an awful lot I can tell you on this subject, but we have changed that structure, because obviously people didn’t like it—there is a new one. For details on that, we’ll have to wait until TGS, but one thing I can tell you is that for the first time in the Final Fantasy series, XIII-2 will have multiple endings.

RPGSite: Could you explain why you went back to the Paradigm System for the battling? Was it because it’s a direct follow up from Final Fantasy XIII? Or do you guys feel like you’ve found the perfect balance in a battle system for the series?
Kitase: We decided to carry it over into the new game for of course the reason you just mentioned. Because it’s a sequel, it just seems, you know, the right thing to do, so we stuck to the same system. Also, it was quite popular in XIII, so we thought it was the best battle system to incorporate it into this game as well.
Having said that, it’s not just that we’re implementing the same battle system, but actually like I told you a bit earlier, you can capture and recruit over 150 different types of monsters, so that is a great addition and also more acutely strategic gameplay you can enjoy It compared to XIII.

RPGSite: Is there a common theme between XIII-2 and XIII? For instance, I noticed that in XIII-2 we have rap music going on when you’re exploring areas in town, and the whole introduction was this J-pop spectacle, so can you elaborate on this? Difference similar like those between X and X-2?
Kitase: It’s a different case than X to X-2 was, than in XIII to XIII-2. When we made X-2 we wanted to change absolutely everything, including music and the taste. X was more of an asian atmosphere, while X-2 was more pop style, so it was a total departure. Opposed to that, XIII to XIII-2, the seriousness of their universe and the way the story unfolds will remain unchanged. We just wanted to add some new elements, but the basic ideas have not changed much. It’s not like X to X-2 were it was a completely different thing. XIII to XIII-2 is an actual sequel. When it comes to music, in XIII Masashi Hamauzu did the music and he was quite popular which had an orchestral feel to it and that will actually be maintained as well, but with new elements.
What do you think of the music in XIII-2?
RPGSite: Unexpected. It reminded me of Persona… which that stuff can be brilliant depending on the situation.
Kitase: Obviously we want to make adjustments, because, like you say, if we stick the same kind of music all the way through, it might sound a bit out of place, or be a bit strange. We made it so every thing has an appropriate tune.

RPGSite: My proper question is about side quests, and the end game. One problem that a lot of people had with the original XIII and some of the other recent Final Fantasy titles is that once you finish them, there really isn’t that much to do. In XIII there were side quests, but they were all these monster hunt quests—there was nothing else. So I’m wondering if they’re looking at post game content stuff to do after the game is over, and if they’re looking at more variety of side quests during the game as well.
Toriyama: We mentioned the multi endings earlier, so it’s in relation to that so we can’t tell you very much about it. For people who have already cleared the game once, from the second playthrough on there are replay values attached to it. It’s a lot like New Game+, it’s the same system, so there are items and features than can entice you to keep playing. As far as side missions, there are more side missions a bit like in Red Dead Redemption. So it’s not just the hunts, it’s the other types of missions as well. One of the criticisms we received about Final Fantasy XIII was there was not enough mini games, and people want to see more of them, so that’s some of the things we added as well.

RPGSite: I had some questions about some of the new elements you’re throwing into the battle sequences. For example, you mentioned monster collecting earlier on… how do you exactly collect monsters in battle, and on a side note, what specific thing triggers the Cinematic Actions? Are they automatic? Or do you have to fill certain conditions for them to play out?
Kitase: Firstly, how to collect monsters. At first you have to defeat the monster, and when you meet certain conditions, at some certain rate obviously, it will enter you party and start working for you. You can mix them like if you play a card game and make a deck—it’s a bit like that.  When it comes to the Cinematic Actions, there are two types: first is the one you saw in the demo against Atlas. When you take on a really big boss, when a certain level of damage has been inflicted on the boss, then it happens. Another thing with the Cinematic Action is, with some of the monsters you can collect, capture and make work for you, some of them can trigger those Actions.

RPGSite: You talked a little about Red Dead Redemption. Can you explain how that influenced you?
Toriyama: Among the millions of games that came out last year, Red Dead Redemption was adored by a lot of Japanese developers, including ourselves. Our game is not as open-field as that game, obviously. We did take some inspirations, however. For example, missions can happen anywhere rather than having to go to a certain shrine, or base or something, and that’s from them. In this game you see lots and lots of chocobos and you can ride them. The kind of feeling you get as you ride the chocobo, it’s a bit like the way you ride a horse. It’s a really refreshing feel good experience, and that’s one thing we learned from the game.

RPGSite: With Final Fantasy XIII, a lot of people felt that the Xbox 360 version was not as good as the PlayStation 3 version. What are you going to do to make sure the 360 version of XIII-2 is at least as close as it can be to the PlayStation 3 version?
Kitase: What we believe is even with Final Fantasy XIII there wasn’t an awful lot of difference when it comes to real time graphics. It’s about the same. When it comes to actual movie files, which was very heavy, the compression capacity of the two consoles was quite visible. In the meantime, we are now capable of event scenes/drama scenes as real time graphics rather than movies. The real problem that was causing so much difference between two versions, is a relatively small amount… it only makes up a small percentage of the entire graphical elements in XIII-2, so it’s not going to be a very big issue anyway.

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IGN: PlayStation Vita Is "Region Free" Says Sony VP

In a PlayStation Vita session for European and Australian press at E3 today, Michael Denny, Sony's Vice President of Sony Worldwide Studios Europe, confirmed that - to the best of his knowledge - Vita would be region free.

This means games from any region will play on systems from any region. This is in line with the PlayStation 3 - which is also region free, but not with the 3DS, which has region restrictions. Good news for PlayStation fans who want to check out niche Japanese titles or purchase games while travelling.

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The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (X360) Screens

GameSpot posted new screens for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (X360).

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E3 2011: New screens released for Catherine on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360

Several new screenshots have been released by Atlus for their upcoming Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 puzzle-adventure title, Catherine.

Atlus has released another set of new screens for their upcoming multiplatform title, Catherine. The latest images showcase more gameplay from the nightmare portion of the game in which you must run away from terrifying monsters by climbing up a wall of blocks. As Vincent, you have to grab and pull movable blocks into to create new paths.

Catherine is developed by the same team responsible for the critically-acclaimed Shin Megami Tensei: Persona series. The puzzle-adventure title will be released for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 in North America on July 26th.

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PC World Hands on With Sony's PlayStation 3D Display

Sony hopes to bring 3D to the masses with a low-cost PlayStation-branded television it announced at E3 in Los Angeles.

At 24-inches, the 1080p display is aimed at dorm rooms, bedrooms and family dens, but would be too small for large living rooms.

The big benefit for gamers over other 3D displays is that Sony's shows different full-screen images to different players.

"Ordinarily when you're playing two-player mode you use split screen," said Sony hardware product manager Patrick Chen. "With the new technology in this display you can get full HD per person while you're wearing the glasses."

The display did work as advertised. Without the glasses it looked as if two screens were placed on top of each other. A switch on the top of the glasses toggles between first and second player images. Sony wouldn't say how it worked, but it likely has to do with the active shutter glasses.

The television can display 3D movies, which are playable on any PlayStation 3. It also has additional HD inputs, including two HDMI inputs and one component input.

The screen did look a little dim, but Chen said that's typical of 3D displays, and it wasn't helped by the bright show floor lights.

The PlayStation 3D display bundle comes with the television, an HDMI cord, Resistance 3 and one set of active shutter glasses for US$500. It will be available in the third quarter of this year.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/229776/hands_on_with_sonys_playstation_3d_display.html

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New Deus Ex: Human Revolution E3 2011 Footage

Take a quick look on a gameplay from two different missions from the newest Deus Ex game.

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E3 2011: Need for Speed: The Run Preview

Personally, one of E3 2011's biggest surprises came during the initial demo presentation of Need for Speed: The Run. This latest entry into the increasing confused franchise features sections in which you get out of the car and start running around on foot. Seriously, what the fuck? 

The section of The Run being shown off at E3 has a moment like this in which your car rolls over and you’re forced to remove yourself from it and hightail up a building's stairwell and along the rooftops in a bid to stay ahead of your pursuers, known only as ‘the mob’. However, rather than a ‘proper’ chunk of gameplay this section plays out like an interactive cut-scene, your interaction limited to quick-time event button prompts.

For example, you need to hit a button at the right moment to safely land a rooftop-to-rooftop leap before fighting a cop in a longer QTE sequence of timed presses and button mashing. During the cop sequence the action changes very slightly if you miss a button prompt, too many misses and you fail. Other than that though, there’s no way to alter the course of events.

Despite there not being all that much going on in terms of gameplay, this on-foot section performs its job of keeping you active throughout a scene that would otherwise have been entirely passive. However, there’s that old QTE problem of focusing on your button prompts and not properly concentrating on the on-screen action.

Apparently, these sections comprise only ten percent of the whole game, so anyone (like myself) worried that these moments are going to appear on a par with the racing should perhaps worry a little less. 

The premise of the game is that you’re taking part in a cross-country race from San Francisco to New York City. Although we’ve seen action that takes place in the urban sprawl of Chicago thus far, the games’ developers, EA Black Box, have said that we’ll be racing through other environments such as deserts, farmland and mountain ranges throughout the race. We’re told that the game packs over 300km of track which, we’re also told, is three times more than any other Need for Speed. It’s also the first time that the series will feature real world locations.

Black Box are staying tight-lipped regarding The Run’s story elements but the rough outline is that your character, Jack, is having problems with ‘the mob’ and that’s one of the reasons he’s in the cross-country race. Why entering the race can help solve his problems is as yet unknown.

There’s no doubting that this E3 demo is exciting, there’s not a second in which to relax or take your attention away from the screen. Starting with a race through the city against other ‘The Run’ contestants, running from the mob across rooftops, beating up a cop and stealing his car before trying to escape a helicopter, it’s a sure-fire contender for ‘Most Intense’ game of E3 2011. Whether that's a good thing or not is something i'm currently unsure about.

Said helicopter shows the usual lack of interest in protecting the public by firing its machine gun and rockets your way, exploding them all over downtown Chicago. You can go some way to avoiding the onslaught by trying as best you can to stay out of its spotlight. The demo ends with your police car upside on the railway tracks following a gas truck explosion, Jack escaping the wreck just before a train smashes into it (so long as you pass the obligatory QTE).

Visually it looks wonderful, presumably because it has been built using the same Frostbite 2 engine as Battlefield 3. The running scene packed that cinematic shine, explosions feel satisfyingly ‘meaty’ and the draw distance looks good. But, it’s the lighting that is perhaps most impressive. The glow from an exploded rocket, the red-blue flicker of police lights against the walls and ceiling of tunnels and the contrast between light and dark all combining to create a wonderful visual spectacle.

From what I could tell the E3 demo is pretty linear, although apparently tracks will feature alternate routes and short-cuts (as is the tradition for the ‘arcadey’ entries into the series).

The ‘Autolog’ system that was introduced in last year’s wonderful Need for Speed: Hot Pursuitreturns – in all honesty, if a racing game doesn’t feature some variation on Autolog then it’s missing a trick. Of course, the Autolog integration means you can compare your race times against friends and what not.

What’s troubling about Autolog in The Run’s case is that the constant high-action set-piece moments are sure to distract you from setting the fastest possible time. Black Box are going to have to balance things just right if they hope to incubate any form of serious competitive play.

The Run will feature other multiplayer elements but no details have been passed on to us as yet.

Terms like ‘Hollywood’ and ‘blockbuster’ are being thrown around by Black Box when talking about this game and it’s hard to argue against it looking suitably cinematic. However, this is the same studio responsible for the Undercover, Carbon and ProStreet editions of Need for Speed so (without trying to sound too cruel) I’m unwilling to get my hopes up too much until I’ve seen more of it.    

Need for Speed: The Run is due on 15 November, 2011 in the US and 18 November, 2011 in Europe for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PCs. Wii and 3DS editions are also in the works.

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E3: Itagaki - Japanese Publishers 'Sort Of Pretend They Know What They're Doing'

Outspoken developer Tomonobu Itagaki, currently developingDevil's Third for THQ, tells Gamasutra that while Japanese publisher management doesn't understand games, crucially, U.S. execs do.

"The head, the guy I'm involved with, is [THQ's EVP of core games] Danny Bilson. As you know he can make movies, he can write novels, scripts, he can do TV, and he can do games as well, and also he's a businessman as well. He's that kind of guy, so it's really fun to do business with that kind of guy," Itagaki told Gamasutra in an interview conducted at the E3 show, currently ongoing in Los Angeles.

"More so in the U.S. than in Japan, I think there are a lot of top management people who actually know how to make games. I think there are more people here like that, than in Japan. I think it's a good thing."

In Itagaki's view, having a background in game development is crucial to making the right decisions: "Those guys know how to make games -- so they know it takes money to make good games. Those two aspects are on a direct one-to-one relationship. So I think it's very practical to be that way."

However, that's not as often the case in Japan, he says. "In Japan, management people sort of pretend they know what they're doing. Those management people, they say, 'I love games,' but they don't know how to make them... It's the opposite of practical. It's not practical."

Itagaki did tell Gamasutra, in the answer to a later question, that he couldn't say for sure exactly what the situation is at all Japanese companies. He famously resigned from and sued former publisher Tecmo over unpaid bonuses. He settled with the company, which was later acquired by Koei, last year.

For his part, Bilson said last year at the IGDA Leadership Forum that he doesn't see the need to tell developers how to do their jobs. "It waters down a concept, and it costs a fortune," he said. "It costs a fortune for all that iteration!"

"That's what creative management is. It's enabling talent to get their vision through," he said. 

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Skyrim gameplay footage

Skyrim gameplay footage straight from E3. 

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Nintendo Wii U E3 Videos

Here are some Nintendo Wii U E3 videos for you so enjoy.

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E3 2011: Hands-on with the Nintendo Wii U Hardware

Project Cafe no more, Nintendo's next console is Wii U and as predicted, it features powerful new graphics processors and a brand new controller that sports a 6.2-inch touch screen. Though the system is in its early stages, we were able to get our hands on the Wii U and get a sense of the hardware and experiences we can expect to see next year.

While the console was present and viewable through a plexiglass cutaway panel, Nintendo wanted all eyes on the new controller, and with good reason.

The Wii U controller is likely to draw comparison to the Dreamcast controller, but the touch-enabled display is no gimmick. Nintendo isn't providing details about the integrated display, but so far we know that it is a single-touch touchscreen LCD with a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Though Nintendo didn't specify whether or not the controller boasts "HD" resolutions, it is clear that they haven't taken a similar approach to the Wii U as they have with the DS line, which features fairly low-res displays. The integrated display on the WIi U controller is crisp and clean, with no visible lines of resolution. The displays are bright and vibrant, though the units I used had a cool blue color temperature.

The controller is partnered with the Wii U console, and despite previous reports to the contrary, cannot be used as a standalone device. The controller communicates with the Wii U using Bluetooth and RF technology, in the same way that the Wiimote does with the Wii. How exactly the video is processed and delivered remains unclear; however, there was no discernible lag between video being displayed on TV demo stations and the video being presented on the Wii U controller. 

The touch display is also pretty responsive, whether you're using a simple tap of the finger or the included stylus. As concept demos at Nintendo's press conference showed, the display also tracks finger or stylus movements across the surface, making swiping gestures and pen-style sketching pretty effective. 

As for the tangible controls built along the edges and base of the controller, the controls felt surprisingly familiar. Though separated by the display, the dual analogs, d-pad, action buttons, shoulder buttons, and rear-mounted triggers were intuitively placed and easy to reach. The grips on the bottom allow you to get a firm grasp, but don't impede your ability to hold the controller vertically or casually along the edge.

Much to my dismay, there were no demos involving the built-in camera or the system's video conferencing functionality, but Nintendo's promotional videos suggest that the picture quality is improved over those used in the 3DS.

Then, of course, there are the internal sensors, which include a gyroscope and an accelerometer. Though the idea of tilting a controller to control in-gamer characters and features is fairly intuitive, using the gyroscope to control in-game perspective by holding up the controller and looking around was more difficult.

In one demo, Battle Mii, the gyroscope-based perspective controls are used along with the dual analogs to move a hovering craft, which at first can be quite cumbersome, but with practice the precision gyroscope becomes almost like second nature.

For a controller as large as the Wii U's, weight becomes a concern, but it actually felt comfortable to hold. Unfortunately, Nintendo has not specified what the approximate weight will be, and unfortunately, since the prototype controller was wired into a demo station, it was likely lacking a battery pack. Since, however, Nintendo will be using a rechargeable battery pack instead of AA or AAA batteries, they'll have more flexibility in terms of weight distribution.

Then, of course, there's the mystery of the console itself. Like I mentioned, the unit was hidden from close inspection by a special compartment, but from that limited vantage I was still able to get a sense of its design and scale. Though it has rounded edges and variations in the front interface, the Wii U is comparable to the original Wii in terms of size and aesthetic design.

Many of the console's technical specifications are still a mystery, but so far we know that the system has HDMI, S-Video and composite video output, with support for 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p, and 480i resolutions, which present media localized on the system's flash memory, external SD cards, or USB thumbtacks. As IGN's sources had originally indicated, Nintendo has confirmed that the system will be based on IBM Power-based multi-core CPU, though they have not discussed the GPU architecture.

All of the software on display were either limited mini-games or just tech demos, so the true graphical prowess of the system is likely to be revealed closer to launch. It was still clear from what was there, however, that the Wii U is packing some decent power under the hood.

There are certainly some lingering questions about the Wii U's performance, how the controller works, and what other applications the system is capable of.

Nintendo says the system can support up to four Wii Remotes at once, but the company has not specified how many of the Wii U controllers could be paired at once. In all of the demos presented at E3, as well as all of the publicity photos and videos, only one controller is being used. Could this mean that the system can only power on Wii U controller at once? Are there limitations in terms of the specific pairings of graphics quality and controller gameplay mechanics that can be used?

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