E3′s over, but that doesn’t mean you’ve seen every bit of information that came out of the event. Oh no. Here’s every single thing that came out of E3, starting with the liveblogs of Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. What did Penny Arcade think of the event? Well, they weren’t all too impressed with the big three’s offerings. That might be a little harsh, but yeah, we could see that. Make the jump to decide for yourself.
“Why does this work in Wal-mart” Marc Whitten asked, rhetorically. He’s the General Manager for Xbox LIVE and the guy in charge of the new Xbox 360 dashboard system known as The New Xbox Experience. “Visual is a better way of exploring…you’re actually good at discerning things visually.” And if such is the case, it makes sense why Microsoft has ditched the endless lines of icons and text in their Xbox 360 setup, opting for a minimal experience not so different from Apple’s Front Row.
You know that the iPhone is powerful enough to render 3D games like Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, as well as various other ones we covered in the marathon review session, but just how powerful is it? How does it compare to actual gaming handhelds like the Nintendo DS and PSP? An EA developer put it this way. On a scale of the three, it’s in between the DS and the PSP, but sliding more towards the PSP. That’s right. In terms of power, you can expect to see games that look at least as good as the DS once developers get enough (read: more than four months) development time with it.
A normal game demo features a kiosk, maybe a couch, and it’s all a pretty ho hum experience save for the fact that you’re usually playing a game that won’t be released for anywhere from a several months to a few years. But when testing out Rock Band 2, it’s set up on a stage with professional lights, mixing boards and speakers. And, of course, their add-on fog machine. It all reminded me how freaking expensive this whole music game madness has become, but also just how far it had come.
The PS3 40GB model is getting pushed aside in September by a bigger, badder PS3–the 80GB is back in full swing. Dubbed Core Pack, it has “the same functionality” as the 40GB model, but you get double the storage for the same US$399 price. Looks they’ll stay ahead of the Xbox 360 storage-wise for the standard model. Update: Press release below, though it doesn’t add a whole lot more info.
Unveiling the new Home, Sony revealed that video rentals and purchases are finally coming to the PS3. Video will be fully integrated into the PlayStation Store, which will have a new video section. And you can transfer them to your PSP via USB, and have them on multiple devices at once! Standard and high def, with rentals running US$3-US$6 and US$10-US$15 for purchases. It takes about an hour to download a two-hour movie. Most of the major studios are on board (Kotaku has a partial list in their liveblog), and it goes live tonight!
A small, but happy change in the PlayStation Network: Starting this fall all PlayStation users will have a single sign on that works across PS3, PC and PSP. One. That works across all three platforms. Simplicity and logic, meet Sony.
Coming this Fall to North America is the LEGO Batman PS2 bundle, which includes the LEGO Batman game and the Justice League: New Frontiers flick for US$149. I would buy this machine if it had a Batman logo on it, especially if it was released in the next two days as my Batman slobbering becomes fully torrential leading up to Thursday night. Still, not too bad.
We’re here at Sony’s E3 press event, preparing for the onslaught of hardware and software news they’ve got planned for today. Could there be a price cut? A new WiiMote-like peripheral? Just new games? Just old games? Whatever it is, it’s going to be shown on the giant stage full of Sony’s TVs. It’s about to start, so keep refreshing so you can see the exciting Sony-ness. Sony-osity. Sony-manium. Update: It’s started!
