-Jack Tretton takes the stage, talks about the history of the PS brand.
-Seems like a genuine guy, no fake marketing facade
-My browser died
-Back in - I'm assuming I'm seeing a gameplay demo of Resistance 2
-Looks like Gears in FPS mode.
-Graphically stunning though...fighting this ENORMOUS monster thing.

-It was indeed Resistance 2.
-Ted Price, an Insomniac dude comes out and details the plot outline.
-Takes place in 1953 America
-Chimera have been breeding and taking over cities.
-8 player online co-op, 60 player online vs.
-Showing latest trailer which shows off a new level.
-short subliminal screen "Abraham (something).com"

-Jack is back on stage talking about user generated content.
-Obvious lead up to Little Big Planet
-Sony team created a level in LBP to run through the presentation
-Giving sackboy a Celtics jersey and matching headband. cute.
-Sackboy jumps across an interactive bar graph - really cool thing they're doing here.
-Whoops Jack said 5 Billion units sold, the screen says 5 million.
-Will begin distribution to Latin America
-Greatest Hits games available for 29.99

-Playstation 2 update
-New games coming this year:
-NCAA football 09
-Tiger 09
-Star Wars, Foce Unleashed
-Warriors Orochi
-Singstar Pop
-Yakuza 2
-Madden XX
-Mercenaries 2

-New Buzz games
-PSP version and PS3 version
-New PS2 Bundle this fall comes with Lego Batman and Justice League DVD and will sell for $150

-Playstation Network update
-Talking figures
-Ratchet and Clank Future Quest for Booty
-Shorter game and at a lower price, but still with high production value.
-Focusing on platforming and exploration
-Available this summer for $15

-new PSN games
-Fat Princess
-Pixel Junk Eden
-Crash Commando
-Pain Amusement Park
-Flower
-Siren Blood Curse
-Ragdoll Kung-Fu - Fists of Plastic

-GTTV
-Footage of racing events from around the globe.
-Brower died again...
-OK back - GTTV is available 8/1 through GT:Prologue

-PS Home
-Binding factor for the PSNetwork
-new video on Home progress
-Looks pretty much the same as we've seen before

-PS Video Service
-Rental and purchase available
-Content is portable - it can be transferred to your PSP, welcome to 2005's iPod.
-Demo of PS Store, now with Video tab. Pretty standard stuff.
-This is all available tonight. New titles added each week.

-PSP
-New Entertainment pack
-Family Friendly, Ratchet and Clank pack for $199
-Resistance Retribution announced for PSP, trailer shown.
-Over the shoulder shooter. Looks pretty intense.
-Coming out Spring '09

-Montage of PSP highlights for this and next year
-Star Wars: Force Unleashed
-Madden 09
-Loco Roco 2
-NBA 09: The Inside
-Super Stardust Portable, how does a twin stick shooter work on PSP?
-Lego Batman
-Patapon 2
-Buzz Master Quiz
-Valkyria Chronicles

-Back to PS3
-Talking about automatic YouTube uploads.
-Life with Playstation

-DC Universe Online
-DC MMO

-80GB Core Pack now available for $399

-2008 lineup rundown
-Little Big Planet
-MotorStorm Pacific Rift
-007 Quantam of Solace
-New Socom
-Ghostbusters
-Soul Calibur IV
-Resistance 2
-the Agency
-Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm
-Mirror's Edge
-Resident Evil 5
-SingStar
-Guitar Hero World Tour
-NBA 09
-Buzz Quiz TV
-Killzone 2 (Really, releasing this year?)
-Eternal Sonata glimpse in there!

-What's to come - God of War III
-TRAILER GO!
-Cinematic, no gameplay shown - "In the end - there will be only chaos."

-Infamous trailer
-Looks pretty sweet
-Coming Spring '09

-New Game MAG: Massive Action Game
-Supports battles of up to 256 players
-8 player squads, led by good players
-Character Growth
-Trailer shown
-Lots of stuff blows up
-Aside from the massive battles, looks pretty generic

That's it - that was a long one.

OK so we're hoping to see: Kid Icarus, Animal Crossing, info on Wii Motion Plus, a new Zelda and a storage space solution, maybe a new DS and maybe some others...let's see what they deliver...

-New Marketing Lady comes out, talks about being a Mom. lame. Oh man, she's showing pictures of snowboarding with her kids.
-BORING! Get to the point...
-She "needs help to practice snowboarding from a friend..."
-Shaun White is apparently her friend. He's on stage demoing the new balance board snowboarding game. Mike Ness', "Ring of Fire" plays. Looks ok.
-New Marketing lady is now playing with Mr. White. She's doing pretty good, but looks like an idiot on the balance board...this is so freaking lame...
-Shaun White seems like a cool guy.

-Iwata takes the stage
-Touting success of the company.
-Discussing the mixed market approach (hardcore/casual)
-He hopes we enjoy the Surprises coming today...
-He leaves the stage...

-Katsuya Eguchi - Creator of Animal Crossing - video plays.
-"Animal Crossing: City Folk" coming in 2008
-Graphically no better than the Cube version
-"The town is where you live and do things you like."
-"The city is a brand new place to explore"
-Auctions where you can buy and sell items
-Visit fashion designer, or hair salon, put on your Mii mask.
-Many people can visit a single town together.
-New microphone option "WiiSpeak" sits on top of sensor bar. Comes with the game.
-Showing a fishing contest with people talking over the VOIP

-Reggie takes the stage
-Wii has sold 10 mil in US, DS has sold 20 mil.
-Showing three new games that take advantage of Wii

-Game 1: Star Wars: Clone Wars trailer shown, "Coming Holiday 2008"
-Game 2: Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party uses balance board. "Fall 2008"
-Game 3: Call of Duty: World at War uses zapper attachment. Graphics look good. "Coming Soon."

-New Marketing lady is back on stage.
-Discussing DS
-Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades coming this fall
-Players can "song share" with others with different versions of the game.
-Spore Creatures
-Creature creator easy to use with stylus
-Ability to share creatures with others.
-Meh and meh...
-New Pokemon Ranger game coming in November
-GTA: Chinatown Wars coming this winter.
-DS use as a flight helper (find local hotspots, luggage pick up etc.) this is being tested.
-Cooking Navi coming to US in November.

-Reggie returns to the stage
-Talking about the Wii Motion Plus
-"Makes the Wiimote more precise, more responsive, more intense."
-"Renders every slight shift of your wrist or arm into the gameplay."

-Wii Sports: Resort first game to utilize the motion plus.
-The Motion Plus will come packed in with Wii Sports: Resort.
-Demoing three games from this disc.
-Showing 1:1 motion.
-Frisbee dog fetch throwing game. Lame.
-Jet Ski game shown - rev the throttle by making the motion with the Wiimote.
-Sword Dueling. This is what we have been waiting for. That looks pretty fun.
-Coming Spring '09.

-New game announcement...
-Big dramatic build up...
-Some guy playing virtual drums with a Wiimote and Nunchuck. Oh and balance board too for foot pedals.
-Looks difficult to keep a rhythm.
-Miyamoto takes the stage.
-Playing virtual saxamophone with Wiimote. Jamming with the drum dude.
-Miyamoto is a rock star.

-Wii Music
-Designed along side with the "Wii: (fill in the blank)" games
-No need to follow note patterns to play songs.
-No mistakes - it assigns a note based on the song you're playing.
-You can play over 50 different instruments.
-Piano, Violin, Guitar, Taiko Drum
-The drummer guy's name is Ravi Drums (?)
-The full drum set has a tutorial mode which can teach you to play drums.
-Wii Music does not evaluate your performance, but it does record your performance. One player can record each part and put it all together.
-Demoing full band playing together - playing Mario 1-1 theme. Sounds terrible. No one has any rhythm.

-Reggie and New Marketing lady come back on stage.
-Recap of show.
-Denouncing the "fad" talk of Wii and DS.

That's it...that's it?

So we got a new Animal Crossing, Wii Sports 2, and Wii Music. No new Zelda, no Wii storage solution, No new Kid Icarus, blah...

Hey, so E3 is here and the announcements are afoot!

Nintendo tried to steal a little thunder by revealing a 1:1 peripheral that attches to the bottom of the Wiimote. More details on that will be revealed tomorrow.

Microsoft's press conference was first today at 1:30 Eastern.

Here's what went down.

-Live demo of Fallout 3

-Live demo of Resident Evil 5, release date
announced - March 13, 2009

-Peter Molyneux, "Fable II is finished" - demo of Fable II. Really cool co-op invite feature demoed. Release date - October, 2008

-Gears 2 trailer. Cliffy B comes out. Shows co-op demo of the game.
-carry a shield and use it as mobile cover.
-Wow! Hammer of Dawn fire looks so freaking sweet.
-Flamethrower shown
-Riding a Brumach (sp?) hinted at
-Release date November 7, 2008.

-Microsoft dude says that games are officially the highest grossing form of entertainment.
-says that Msoft is the current market leader
-12 Million people are Live members.
-$1Billion spent on XBL/XBLA since launch.
-10,000 movies and TV shows available on the service.
-NBC, Universal new partner for video service.
-Available today in US

-New system update
-Available this fall
-New interface/dashboard - blades are gone
-Avatars shown - more detailed Miis.
-Will include avatars in games
-Avatar udpates will be constant (new clothes, etc.)
-Friends list is replaced by visual avatars on the community channel
-"Live Party" is a chat room on XBL - you can share photos by streaming them with everyone in your party
-"XBL Primetime." Play 1 vs 100 MMO online with a Live host and win real prizes.
-Uno Rush - new XBL game.

-New XBLA Games
-Geometry Wars 2 demo...ooh 4 player co-op!
-Galaga Legions - wow this looks sweet. Available next month.
-GLaDOS announces PORTAL: STILL ALIVE New levels and achievements - available this fall.
-New South Park game in 2009.
-XNA games coming out this fall.

-Exclusive partnership with Netflix.
-Netflix+Gold subscribers can view "Instant Watch" feature
-share Netflix movies and TV shows with your Live Friends.

-Shane Kim announces that 1000+ 360 games available by end of year '08.

-Banjo Kazooie trailer. BK1 available on XBL this fall.
-Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise trailer, scan real cards with XBL camera to get new Pinatas.
-New Scene It trailer. Avatars will be implemented.
-You're in The Movies announced. Vision camera, puts you in an animated little dealy - pretty much EyeToy: Play. But then it complies your footage into a B-Horror movie trailer. You can also make edits. Game will come packed with vision camera.

-Guitar Hero: World Tour
-85 songs on disc.
-Van Halen, the Eagles, and Metallica are exclusive to Guitar Hero. No one in the audience cares - haha.

-New Karaoke game: Lips. Download tunes from your Zunes or iPods. Comes with wireless light up mics. Developed by Elite Beat Agents guy.
-Uh...someone named Duffy comes out and sings "Mercy" ??? Just as not cool as it sounds. God, how long is this song? Halo 4 could have been announced 6 times already. Oh man. This sucks. I wish I could see how uninterested the audience is. Finally over...

-RockBand 2 set list unvieled. 82 songs on disc. Noteworthy tracks - new Guns and Roses track from Chinese Democracy debuting in RB2. Bob Dylan song. ACDC - Let there be Rock. 20 free bonus tracks available for download.
-All previously purchased DLC and RB1 disc based songs will be available in RB2 (you can rip the tracks from RB1 so no need to disc swap) - 500 potential songs avaialble for play in RB2.

-Final Guest - President of Sqare Enix takes the stage...my heartbeat speeds up...
-Infinite Undiscovery - Available 9/2/2008...ok...
-Star Ocean - Available Spring 2009...ok....
-Last Remnant - 11/20/2008, trailer shown, also available on Games for Windows...he walks off stage. that's it? Boo.
-WAIT he comes back out...a trailer starts up - dragons are flying...jetpacks...OH MY GOD - FFXIII!!!!! Available at launch on 360 in NA and Europe. Word.

That's it friends.

So Valve has posted an open casting call for Portal 2's main sidekick/antogonist/Atlas. Cave Johnson will be filling the role of Glados this time around. Cave...

might not know how science works, but he knows how people work. Used to [get] what he wants...A born salesman, leader, [and] evangelist. People trust him, even when his plans are clearly dangerous...Either he doesn't see or chooses not to see the ramifications of his actions...Starts to lose his grip on humanity as the story progresses...as he isoltaes himself from people around him, he loses touch with reality

Sounds like Ben from LOST. This is awesome.

Though I haven't been keeping up with the web toons for a few years now, the mere mention of Homestarrunner and it's ilk always brings a smile to my face. Now in their first ever console based outing, the cast of Homestar Runner will be in their very own game for WiiWare coming this June.

"Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People" is being developed by adventure vets, Telltale Games - whose claim to fame is the beloved Sam and Max series.

Creators of Homstarrunner.com will be working very closely on the project to provide voice work and ensure consistancy with the cartoons.

The game will be delivered episodically over five episodes. No word on pricing, but when you can make prank phone calls and check Strong Bad's email - who's not gonna buy it?

www.homestarrunner.com
Kotaku Story

YOUR HEAD A SPLODE!

According to Japanese gaming mag, Famitsu, The much loved adversary of courtroom cassanova Phoenix Wright is getting his own game. Miles Edgeworth will star with his lovable bafoon of a friend, Dick Gumshoe in an all new evidence gathering escapade on the DS.

No word yet on release date or price, but I think we can all be a little excited about this one.

So, if you have been a regular reader of this site (is there anyone at all reading my rants?) you know that about once a year, my church has something we call Super Wicked Awesome Nintendo Night or SWANN. It takes place in Red Bank, NJ at the Trinity Episcopal Church on White St. (Next to Hobby Masters) It's going down Friday 2/1 from 7:00 to 11ish - its a great time.

We get people to volunteer to bring their TVs and systems and its just a huge gaming party with whatever people bring.

Guaranteed to be there:
Rock Band/Guitar Hero
DDR (and some serious DDR kids)
Tons of Wiis
Tons of kids for you to PWN!

If you want more info,
you can email me at brandonamurray@gmail.com

Or check out theorb.org for a low down on the church its taking place in.

Don't worry, we won't try to convert anyone...

So I have about a 2 hour commute to and from work. I travel with my wife, which is nice in the evening when we can talk about our day - but she usually sleeps in the morning. So what to do to keep my mind away from murdering everyone on the road? Video game podcasts. I just recently starting getting into them, so I haven't heard all of them, but I've touched the major ones. So here is a breakdown of what I've listened to:

1up.com/1 Up Yours Podcast - These guys know what they are doing. Well thought out segments, frequent big-player guests from the industry, sponsors, the whole bit. 'Casts are usually about 1 1/2 - 2 hours in length with little to no time wasted on crap. RECOMMENDED

ign.com/GameScoop Podcast - Like the 1 Up Yours Podcast, these guys are very professional - which is expected as they have arguably the most popular gaming site on the net. However you get the sense that they cannot truly speak their mind as there is a guy in a suit who does not speak but influences conversations with snarled looks and threatening gestures. There are, however, some very funny bits that sometimes do not even relate to gaming, but all in all - RECOMMENDED

joystiq.com/Joystiq Podcast - Very similar to 1 Up Yours, but a little sillier. Over the top sound effects and music cues and honest straight talk about the industry make this one a definite RECOMMENDED

destructoid.com/Podtoid - I couldn't stand more than 5 minutes of this one. Terribly terribly unprofessional. There are guys participating over the phone with huge gaps of dead air due to the delay. Jokes that fall flatter than YOUR MOM (that's the type of jokes they use) and useless commentary on stuff that no one cares about. Love the site, hate the cast - NOT RECOMMENDED

Wow - OK, there is a game called Passage. This is the link to download it and this is the discussion on Destructoid about it.

The game if the definition of simplicity in terms of graphics and sound, and the definition of profoundly moving in terms of concept and "story". Aries death be damned, this is the saddest I have ever been after playing a game.

ign.com has the first pictures of the Nyko wireless nunchuck attachment for Wii. It looks to retain the same style of the first party chuck, save for a power button, power light, wrist strap and the connector. Funnily enough the connector that syncs the Chuck with the Wiimote looks like the original concept designs Nintendo showed when unveiling the attachment.

Now we have a problem though - if there is no wire connecting the two controllers, it is technically no longer a nunchuck.