I really feel like a kid at Christmas, it's E3 time baby!! Probably the biggest event of the year for gamers alike. And this year looks like it is going to be bigger than ever. We've got precisely 5 hours and 40 minutes (at the time of writing) to go before the first of the "Big 3" kicks off the festivities.

Don't know about you reader but it seems like Microsoft have been sincerely quiet about their presentation whilst it seems like everybody else is "accidentally" leaking trailers and informations on their upcoming games, hardware. What does it mean? Does it mean Microsoft has huge announcements to make that will blow the competition out of the water or does it mean that the race is on for all competitors to show off their babies first? I was thinking that Microsoft has huge announcements to make (such as an Xbox portable, or something bigger, I could be wrong) and since the competition knows it, they're trying to distract the attention by leaking their info early. Who knows? Speculations are pretty wild right now.

In the lines of speculations, I also heard Nintendo were also pretty secretive about their announcements. I read that we could be in for a treat with a new Zelda game and a new Mario game in the pipeline, now that would be really cool. There is also rumours that a new version of Wii Fit currently dubbed Wii Fit + will hit the shelves for christmas. Nintendo, I think, will be the dark horse of E3 this year especially since their poor presentation last year (Wii Music anyone? *blows his trumpet*).

Sony, on the other hand, seems to be the only one pretty open about this year show. First off, we already know what games they will be bringing to the table. The biggest one being God of War 3 for a lot of people, but also FFXIII versus, Heavy Rain, a new Metal Gear and some other titles. Their worst kept secret, the "PSP GO!", is also something to look out for. Despite some very few details about the specifications, we're still not quit sure of what this baby is capable of. I sincerely hope that Sony is going to announce a price cut for their flagship system, maybe in the form of the PS3 Slim, which according to speculations (again) is much cheaper to produce. We'll just have to wait and see.

We've got a lot to look forward to from the "Big 3", personally, I am looking forward to seeing more Heavy Rain, Bioshock 2, Mass Effect 2, Metal Gear Solid news, Halo ODST. What about you? What are you most looking forward to?

[UPDATE] I have now witnessed Microsoft's press conferenced and am still wowed at what they have shown. It certainly is a big improvement over last year's conference that's for sure!! They have announced the following: all movie content instantly accessible (no more downloads) in full 1080p HD, Facebook and Twitter will be coming to Xbox, gamewise, we have Splinter Cell: Conviction, Forza Motorsport 3, Shadow Complex, Joy Ride, Alan Wake, Halo: ODST, Halo: Reach, Crackdown 2, Left4Dead 2. All these titles will be 360 exclusives. Other games were Rockband: Beatles, Tony Hawk Ride, Modern Warfare 2, FFXIII and the big surprise: a new Metal Gear game featuring Raiden as the main protagonist. Last but not least, was the peripheral I was least looking forward to, Microsoft's new motion capture add-on otherwise known as Project Natal. Let me tell you this: IT ABSOLUTELY BLEW ME AWAY. It comes very close to what we've seen in that film "Minority Report". A few demos were made, showing off what this baby can do, and, honestly, this gizmo went from my least desired to my most wanted gadget of the year. This cannot come soon enough. Full details can be found on Gamespot features.
I'm looking forward to seeing what Nintendo and Sony have in store for tomorrow, and I'll be there to comment on their conferences. Feel free to comment yourselves.

[UPDATE] Nintendo's press conference was way better than last year, the highlights being that they finally have announced quality titles for their flagship console. A mass of games were announced, most of them we already knew about, they are: New Super Mario Bros Wii, Wii Fit +, Wii Sport Resort, Final Fantasy Crystal Bearers, Super Mario Galaxy 2, The Conduit, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, DeadSpace: Extraction and Metroid: Other M. Nintendo has also announced the following games for the DS and DSi: Kingdom Hearts, Mario & Luigi: Bowser Inside Story, Golden Sun, Women's Murder Club "Games of Passion", Cop the Recruit, a fashion game, Mario vs Donkey Kong: Minis March again, Wario Ware DIY and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. Nintendo also showcased some of the peripherals they will be releasing for the Wii, they include the Wii Motion + and the Wii Vitality Sensor. They announced that Wii Motion + will be included in several sport games bundles including Wii Sport Resort, EA Sports titles and Virtua Tennis 09.
Overall, Nintendo did good, they have finally restored my faith. They have really put the emphasis that they represent everyone's game, and I believe they have delivered.
As usual, let me know what were YOUR thoughts on Nintendo's presentation.

[UPDATE] Finally, Sony's press conference was last to go. They certainly have shown that there is going to be an enormous wave of titles coming to their platforms, most of which were showcased in the form of videos. But the most interesting was Sony's exclusive titles for the PS3, they were: inFamous, Unchartered 2, MAG, Final Fantasy XIV online, Mod Nation Racers, The Last Guardian, Gran Turismo 5 & God of War 3. Sony also unveiled their new addition to the PSP family, aka the "PSP Go!". Sony said they would wow us with the amount of titles available to both download and purchase along the release of the new PSP and they have, the titles were: Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid Peace Walkers, Resident Evil Portable, Assassin's Creed: Bloodline. The others titles announced for the PS3 were Assassin's Creed 2, Final Fantasy XIII. In terms of hardware, they have announced that they are working on motion controllers and showcased what the said controller could do with some tech demos. Despite the fact the controller works well in conjunction with the Eye Toy, there was a fair amount of glitches notably the demonstrator failing to hit a ball. Overall, Sony's presentation was good, tons of games coming our way, again, let me know what your thoughts were.

MY THOUGHTS:

The "Big Three" have certainly delivered this year, the games I am most looking forward to are (in no particular order): Crackdown 2, Metal Gear Solid Rising, Alan Wake, New Super Mario Bros Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid Other M, Unchartered 2, Mod Nation Racers & Metal Gear Solid Peace Walkers. In terms of presentations and wow factor, my top three this year are Microsoft (1), Nintendo (2) and Sony (3). The main reasons being that Mircosoft's Project Natal is a true innovation, a leap towards the future. I especially like the idea of face recognition, voice and gesture command and I seriously cannot wait to try this incredible piece of hardware, and there is also the strong line up of titles coming our way, not as many as Nintendo but satisfying enough. I placed Nintendo second as they have a strong, balanced line up of more mature titles and games for everyone, they really were better than last year. Sony for me had to be third. One thing I really despise is arrogance, and this is precisely how I perceived their presentation. Although they have a strong line up of games coming up, they failed to impress with Sony only exclusives, instead we were treated with rolling videos of games (most of which were multi platforms) because they spent too much time boasting about the "only possible on Playstation" experience which we know isn't true. But the nail in the coffin was the Wiimote rip off, something that looked more like an adult entertainment device than an actual gaming device. I was excited to see more Heavy Rain, more of the "35" sony exclusive titles but we only got to see 8 for the PS3. Also, despite the fact the PSP Go! looked real tasty I felt that 16GB of internal memory was small and the fact that it takes M2 cards instead of SD was another big mistake (considering the M2 format has officially been dropped by most phone makers including Sony Ericsson themselves).

Please note that this last chapter contains my personal opinion on the three presentations, but I would also like to hear from you, what your thoughts were about each presentations, and what games are you most looking forward to.

Thanks for the read!

It's fair to say that a lot of people are bashing into Capcom for various reasons. I think that most of the complaints originate fromCapcom's recent habits of charging their consumer base a premium for gaming related content.

Whilst I can't help but appreciate what many people are saying, at the end of day, Capcom is a business, they are doing really well at the moment and they are taking full advantage of the situation. Can't blame them really, I personally would do the same, there's no such thing as a free world! If you do not like being charged a premium, don't pay (simples).

Other complaints are related to the quality of their games going downhill. One can't help but wonder: WHAT? If anything, the reason Capcom is sitting on piles of gold right now is the fact the quality of their games have gone up and up consistently. People would not buy the games if they were crap now would they? Recent games were pure joy of entertainment and the sales figures really show: Lost Planet, Dead Rising, Devil May Cry IV, Street Fighter IV and Resident Evil V to name a few. And let's not forget another lot of great titles coming our way too: Bionic Comando, Lost Planet 2, Dead Rising 2, Dark Void and, of course, Marvel vs Capcom 2 (imo the greatest brawler ever conceived).

Looking back at what Capcom has already offered us and looking at what's coming at us, Capcom is only serving quality on a silver platter. Do you seriously believe Capcom has lost its way? If so, you owe it to yourself to look at other games manufacturers and see if they too are sitting on top of the world. Right now, I can only see Capcom up there, the rest may have delivered quantity but they sure as hell haven't provided consistent quality.

Thanks for the read!

My reasons for bringing the subject is that we have just moved to Malta from the UK. I found that games in Maltaare twice as expensive than in the UK. So where does that leave the casual gamer? I guess Gamespot is being used by millions of people around the globe, so there must also be other locations where games are too expensive.

Initially I thought that paycheck levelin Malta were high which would have reflected the level in the game's retailprice. As an example, I bought a copy of Resident Evil 5 Steel-book edition for €89, normal games retail at an average of €60 to €80 especially for PS3 and 360 games. In the UK, the same game in the same steel-book edition retails at £34.99 (Source: Play.com NB: this was the lowest price I found for that particular edition in the UK). I was told that the average annual salary in Maltais around €12000, so that begs the question: how can people afford games at such prices? Not only that, but it is quiet clear thatthese prices makesaccess to games very difficult for the general public.

I genuinely believed thatthe Game Industry was making the next generation of games accessible to the masses, turns out it is not applicableeverywhere. I would understand this scenario in less fortunate parts of the globe but for Europe, I find it rather appalling. France is also another example ofhigh retail price, Resident Evil 5 Steel-book editionretails at €67.99 on Amazon France, even regular games seem to cost around €50 to €70. It's kind of crazy, considering that you get the exact same game across the channel for much less money (people in mainland Europe can freely purchase games from UK websites and same goes for UK peeps purchasing from mainland Europe).

The Euro rate is not great at the moment so it would not make any sense for UK peeps to retail in mainland Europe, but it sure is benefitial to European shopping in the UK. What do you think? Do you live in a country where games are overpriced/really cheap? If so, which one and how much?

It's my second blog and I do not intend to go bashing on "fanboys" any longer, simple waste of time. Instead, I would like to concentrate onto games.

Has a game ever affected your lifestyle? I am sure it must have happened to the best of us. In my personal case, I have to say that Shenmue (back in the Dreamcast short lived days) really changed my lifestyle, in a way.

I had never really been into this sort of game before, and I solely purchased the game based on articles I read in various gaming magasines. I bought the game on one of my days off (which were very limited as I worked in the hospitality industry at the time), and brought it back home with haste wanting to get as much of it as I possibly could before the day was over.

Half past six the next morning, I was still playing. The story had absorbed me, I could not put the game down. All I could think about during my work shift was the game, what was going to happen next. I had to know. Sleep had become a thing of the past (although caffeine was starting to have no effect on me what so ever). Same pattern repeated itself, got home, turn the Dreamcast on, slammed the game in, and my life merged with Ryo Hazuki's life. You can safely say that dinner did not even occur to me that day either. I became so tired that I fell asleep playing the game.

It took me a very long time to complete the game, I cannot recall how many days it took but I am pretty sure it was well over a week. I remember wanting to make sure I was not missing anything in the game and turning every stones possible. The way the game ended, it was obvious they were not going to leave it there, I must say that I was a bit disappointed at the end, being left with such a gap.

How do you restore your normal lifestyle after playing such a mammoth game? It took me a while to adjust, that's for sure. What about you, reader, have you had a similar experience with a game? If so,which one? And how did it affect you?

One can say that fanboism has always been around. Although one can also say that fanboism has changed over the many years video games consoles havehit our homes.

Back in the days where Nintendo and Sega dominated the gaming market is when I remember my first fanboy encounter. I, myself owned a Sega Megadrive, and the rest of my friends had the Super Nintendo. Now I know that the console wars started much earlier than that but it would not be fair on me to comment on something I did not experience.

My friends and I used to pick on each other for the quality of games, the amount of games, the amount of colours our console could produce, and so on so forth. In a way, very much the same way that people are bashing into each other nowadays. If you ask me, looking back at this type of debates makes me smile, as it has always been good fun and in good terms with my friends, we even went as far as swapping consoles or even do a get together to play those games the other did not have, something that regrettably is not happening anymore.

Over the years, and with access to the internet becoming ever so popular, the relationship between game console owners shifted violently. In my opinion, the fact that people do not know each other yet communicate together on a subject dear to their hearts is the fuel to this fire. Things would be so different if the people fighting each other with opinions knew each other, things would be so different if they actuallyspent time together, but no, I feelthe internet has taken that away.

I found it difficult to cope with people with sole purpose being to defend their "brand", in my mind, I always wondered what it is that makes them so proud, what is it that makes them so defensive. Having had the Megadrive, the Playstation, the Dreamcast, the NeoGeo Pocket, I decided to try out the other consoles and their flagship titles, I was fortunate enough to being able to rent some of them at the time.

I guess I could have called this my "awakening". I was playing on completely different platforms, completely different games. I actually enjoyed the whole experience. The first console I tried out from that day was the Nintendo 64, the games I picked were Mario 64 and Zelda. It rocked my world. The only regret I had was that I could not afford to buy those other systems, so at the time, I never got to finish either games.

It soon became my sole purpose to "try" ALL consoles from that day forth. I actually went as far as saving money to buy those systems I had not played and that day became the day I played for the games and not the consoles anymore.

This is where I have a profound grudge against the so called "Fanboys", the people calling each other names such as Fonys, Xbots, and so on. Whilst I understand that some of them only make pesky attacks to defend their pride, I strongly despise the fact they openly talk about what they do not know, what they have not experienced.

By knowledge and experience, I do not mean going to a friend's house and tried a game for a couple of hours, I mean live and breath in enemy territory long enough to understand why it is people chose a brand over another, what it is that makes a game greater than another, why one's opinions is so firmly set in the ground. Until then, I will always feel like stepping into one of the so popular "fanboy" discussion and fight back.

Call me whatever you wish, to me, if you have the balls to attack someone else because of their preferences not knowing why they actually have these preferences, you are nothing less than an arrogant sellfish idiot.

Thank you for reading

Consoles owned:

Sony (Playstation one, PS3, PSP), Sega (Megadrive, Game Gear, Dreamcast), Neo Geo (Neo Geo Pocket Colour), Nintendo (Gamecube, DS, DS Lite, Wii) and Microsoft (Xbox, Xbox 360)

Consoles tried:

Sony PS2, Sega (Mastersystem, Saturn, Nomad), Nintendo (Gameboy, NES, SNES, N64)