It's been a good long while since I've enjoyed a good racing game. Back at the start of the decade I devoted much time to Midtown Madness 2: An arcade style racing game which let you loose in free-roaming versions of London and San Francisco, to rip up the streets and race against a variety of AI opponents in licensed cars. Midtown Madness 2 was a great game which I now view as a classic, and probably the best fun I've have with a racing game… until now. Burnout Paradise made quite a few waves back in 2008/9, and as ever I join the bandwagon long after the main party has ended. A PC version was released in February last year, and amalgamated many of the previous updates to create what Criterion Games dubbed "The Ultimate Box". Despite not including any of the premium DLC, Burnout Paradise on the PC is a fantastic racing game. More than anything else, it captures perfectly the thrill of travelling really, really fast. Although Paradise City itself is very non-interactive, it forms a great backdrop to some incredibly exhilarating driving. To make things more fun, because of the complete lack of humans whatsoever, I like to agree with Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw's idea that Burnout Paradise is set in a post-apocalyptic future where sentient cars have taken over the planet and that the only human left alive is the guy on the radio, DJ Atomica. What's even better though is that when you crash (and believe me, this happens very often), you are rewarded with a slowed down, blow-by-blow cinematic view of the wreckage of your vehicle being thrown across the road or crunching into oblivion as it slams headlong into a wall. Although there is some rubberbanding on the AI, they are normally sensible enough to be a challenge, but not an insurmountable one. There is also a good variety of events, my favourite being Road Rage, where you must takedown a certain number of AI cars by ramming them off the road. The online integration also works really well, in that Road Rules and Showtime Rules are automatically collected and streamed into your game, so you immediately know who you need to beat in order to rule the road. All in all, a great racing game, and one that I hope to return to, after I finish my newest set of travels in Post-Apocalyptia…

Yes, Fallout: New Vegas is here, and my journey back into the Wasteland is in full swing. I am definitely enjoying New Vegas to an equal degree to that of Fallout 3, and reminded me fully why I loved that game so much. I would raise a few minor criticisms: The bugs are back and are still annoying, and the Mojave Wasteland doesn't quite have the same number of recognisable landmarks as the Capital Wasteland did. So whilst there is the Hoover Dam and the Lucky 38 tower presiding over the glitzy New Vegas Strip, it doesn't really compare to the US Capitol and the Washington Monument in terms of wow factor. However, the Wasteland is more detailed and true to life in several places, to such an extent that if you look at pictures of the real-life Goodsprings, Nevada on Google Earth, their General Store looks extremely similar to the one in the game. Nonetheless, the Mojave feels more alive and vibrant, in that there are more minor quests and more towns with NPCs just going about their daily business. I would also say that the main questline is better than Fallout 3's "hunt to find my father" narrative, although it does weave about a bit when getting near the end. Nonetheless, the introduction of factions and reputation lead to some interesting developments, which can shift the entire balance of power in the area. The reputation system more or less makes Karma irrelevant, and it still becomes a bit irritating when you gain a Karma loss by stealing from the oppressive, enslaving Caesar's Legion. Generally, the things which have been done right: The great quests, addictive gameplay, many characters, locations and better orchestral soundtrack, far outweigh the negatives of the crashes to desktop and the lack of music on the radio (although I love Wayne Newton as Mr. New Vegas). Generally, if the DLC is done to Point Lookout standard (the best of Fallout 3's DLC), I could imagine spending a lot more time in the Mojave in the months to come.

P.S. Very good news off the back of my previous BioShock 2 moaning: 2K Games decided to wisely un-cancel Minerva's Den and the patch for the PC version, and they are due to be released in the next few months. Apparently this was done because of the large outpouring of feeling from the community, so it just goes to show that if you care about something enough, people can change things. So I'm glad my email helped to sway the management's opinion. My faith in 2K has been partially restored and they have been tentatively removed from the Publishers Blacklist (Ubisoft remain however). I guess this means I will need to amend a section of my lengthy BioShock 2 review. ;)

To: Christoph Hartmann, Managing Director, 2K Games.
Complaint concerning bad business practice; BioShock 2 PC

Dear Mr Hartmann,

I have been a player, and I must confess a fan of your company's video games for quite some time. Indeed, I have very fond memories of the games from your now consolidated developer PopTop Software, such as Railroad Tycoon and Tropico. Since the release of BioShock original in 2007, I have been most encouraged to see your company helping to publish and develop intriguing, entertaining and thoughtful video games, which help to stimulate and engage the player in different ways.

However, it is with a deep sense of regret and disappointment that I must inform you that over the past year my positive feelings towards your company have waned and have alas been extinguished by the shambolic standard of customer service which has been provided to users of the PC version of BioShock 2. I am unfortunate enough that my copy of BioShock 2 does not function correctly on my PC, and frequently crashes to desktop after playing for approximately half an hour. Despite this major flaw, I very much enjoyed the game, although still prefer the original. Following lengthy investigation, through both contacting your support department via email and by my own diagnostic tests, I have been forced to conclude that it is your game which is causing the crashes, rather than an issue with my computer. Despite my numerous support emails to your company and despite promises of patches which might correct these issues, it has recently been announced that there will be no further updates to the PC version of BioShock 2, and therefore, no way for me to play the game I bought as intended.

Furthermore, it has also not escaped my attention that the downloadable content for BioShock 2, "Protector Trials" and "Minerva's Den" previously slated for release on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, has only been released on two of these platforms. It appears to be the case that these will no longer be released on PC whatsoever; a retraction of the statement previously issued. Naturally my disappointment is tempered heavily with a sense of resentment, in the fact that your company made a commitment to bring content to the PC, and then have manifestly failed to deliver on this commitment.

As far as I can see, such decisions as to no longer patch the PC version or to support it with DLC were made from a business standpoint: No doubt your accountants calculated that it would not be very profitable to continue to support the PC further. However, from a ethical standpoint, your company's decisions are almost the definition of bad business practice. Companies that fail to deliver on their commitments, or do not support their products fully are not acting in an ethical manner, and are not going to forge good relationships with their customers. I consider the relationship of trust which exists between company and consumer as an important one, from which brand loyalty and optimism bias can be obtained. Nonetheless, I'm sorry to say that in this instance, I feel like my trust has been broken.

I regret to say that this fiasco has severely damaged my opinion of your company and affiliated developers, and I will likely be refraining from giving you my custom in the future.

Yours sincerely,

Gareth Brading.

Apologies to those of you who are fed up with me complaining about BioShock 2: I swear I will endeavour not to bring it up again. Save to say 2K Games are now listed alongside Ubisoft in my publishers blacklist. Next time I will write about something different and more fun: Likely Burnout Paradise. :)

In the same way that Andrew Ryan came to view his Objectivist utopia as a disappointment, I have garnered similar feelings from BioShock 2 so far from playing through once and am now beginning a second run through, in order to gather any achievements I missed the first time around. It's not that the game is bad; it isn't, and the gameplay itself is perfectly fine. Shooting will probably be more satisfying for fans of action-shooters, and being able to use plasmids and weapons at the same time is a very sensible move. The biggest issue is very simply that Rapture isn't mysterious anymore. The atmosphere is stale and hardly ever engrossing, despite the best efforts of the level designers. It's kind of like walking through a theme-park version of Rapture, which has been designed to mimic the real thing, but you can always see the cracks in the paintwork. The first game was a slower and statelier affair which revelled in giving you masses of atmosphere, and whilst BioShock 2 tries its best to convey the same feelings, it only very rarely succeeds. The audio diaries are mainly boring, with very few of the old characters returning. Tenenbaum, who was supposed to factor heavily into the story, turns up near the beginning and then completely disappears. Graphically it also seems worse than BioShock in some areas, with the occasional blurry texture ported in. However, please don't let my comments lead you to believe the game is a write-off. The plotline, although nowhere near as interesting as the original game, is nonetheless proficient at driving you forward, although the final, ultimate ending is just as bad and as sudden as the original game was. Environments are spacious and nicely designed, and there are a greater variety and number of enemies to attack. Plus, I gather multiplayer is quite fun, even if it doesn't appeal to myself.

But what really disappoints me about BioShock 2, beyond the game itself, is the support (or should I say, lack of it) which has been given to the PC version. Despite the fact that the game crashes to desktop every forty-five minutes, certain sounds don't work and several other faults, 2K Games are yet to release a proper patch correcting such issues, despite the fact that it has been promised for eight months. Just glancing into their forums shows you how frustrated some players are. Furthermore, the DLC of Minerva's Den and the Protector Trials is still unavailable for PC users, despite being announced as coming to the platform and already being released on consoles. I want to play their DLC, but if they don't release it then I can't give them my money. I had trouble with the original BioShock before it was patched, and I fully anticipate I will have trouble with BioShock Infinite when it eventually arrives (and it looks incredible by the way). What I just wish is that 2K would at least tell PC users why it is taking so long to patch a game. It really isn't rocket science. I don't want to accuse them of preferential treatment of the consoles, but from where I'm standing, it's looking like it. Of course, I only say this because deep down, I still like BioShock 2 very much, and am glad that the series continued. My disappointment is manifested because I yearn for what could have been, and wish that those who are tasked with safeguarding it do not seem to be acting in their best interests. I feel I should mention though here at the end that soundwise, the orchestral score is just as strong as ever, so that is one area at least where the bar was certainly achieved.

OK, BioShock rant over, it's safe to come out now. :)

So I was faced with a choice (because "a man chooses"): I could either not write any blogs within August and be irritated that I had broken with protocol, or I could whip something up at the last minute. As you have no doubt guessed, I opted for the latter choice, so be grateful you have something to read. :P Just a general gaming update this time though. I've been engaged on a full-scale job hunt for several weeks now and despite sending out numerous applications the only response I've got is to be a fake juror for a day. Still, I refuse to be downhearted just yet. There are still plenty of fish in the sea. Anyway, in the past fortnight I have played through Machinarium. As should be clear if you read the Monkey Island blog I did relatively recently I am a very big fan of adventure games, and Machinarium is an excellent example of why the point-and-click will never die. The game manages to convey an emotional and thoughtfully cute story, and it does it all entirely without voice acting. Atmosphere is entrenched via sound effects and a beautiful soundtrack, and the story plays out in these wonderfully delightful hand-drawn cartoons that appear in thought bubbles over the character's heads. The game is pretty short, but it is nonetheless fiendishly devised. Some of the puzzles require quite a bit of thinking, but the in-built, two tier hint system usually keeps you going. Only think I didn't much care for was the mini-game you had to play to open the hint book, which was always the same pastiche of Defender for the Atari 2600. Nonetheless, a beautiful game with a quirky and loveable personality. Still occasionally been playing Mass Effect 2, but after finishing Project Overlord (a very worthwhile set of DLC missions with a good story and soundtrack) I'm just waiting for The Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC before I continue onward.

I also had been playing some of Mirror's Edge. At first, that game really impressed me. It looks simply stunning and the action parkour/free-running aspects of the game are great, since there is a great sense of speed and flow to your movements, since you are body aware (in gaming terms, if you look down you can see your feet: Dr. Gordon Freeman for example isn't body aware). But the trouble is after a while, the game forces you to confront large groups of armed thugs in armed combat, and that's where it all falls apart. Either you'll die as you attempt to attack these guys in hand-to-hand, or instead you will have to deal with the terrible shooting mechanics. It would have been far better if you were never forced to fight, but always had the option to flee, and usually this is the better course of action. The sad thing is that I have reached a point in the game where fleeing would require running past half-a-dozen commandos with assault rifles, and I never manage to survive the encounter. I still think there is a great niche to be cornered with first-person platform, because when Mirror's Edge does things right, it just feels fantastic. Finally, I thought I should mention that I actually found my original floppy disk version of Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge in the attic. I was thrilled, and immediately endeavoured to look after it. It took a little while to find a computer with a floppy drive so I could copy the files, but thanks to ScummVM it works like a dream. So in the end I played through both the Special Edition and the original, and both are equally amazing. Currently playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. with the intent of finishing it one day (downloaded the Complete 2009 Mod and it's like playing a different game), as well as creeping through my second-playthrough of BioShock 2. Oh, and I started up Batman: Arkham Asylum again, and it's still amazing.

There we go, and without a second to lose. ;)

This marks the third recurring tagging fad I've been around for (the last one I know of was in November 2009), and I'm kind of glad they continue to perenially pop up. They help to stimulate an idea of community inclusiveness, and so that's always good. Anyway, this time I have been very kindly tagged by Big_Bad_Sad, and the tagging has a musical slant. You should know the rules by now, but I have attached them as standard. You may notice that my music tastes seem to be stuck mainly in the past, and I'm happy with that. :P Doing this demonstrated how seemingly my most popular year for music is 1967.

You've been tagged, here are the rules:

1. Put Your iTunes (or other music player [WMP!]) on Shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write down the name of the song no matter how silly it sounds!
4. Put any comments in brackets after the song name.
5. Tag at least 10 friends. Anyone tagged has to do the same, because fun pointlessness spreads like a virus.

1. If someone says, "Is this okay?" You say...

Idiot Wind – Bob Dylan (1975, Blood on the Tracks)

2. How would you describe yourself?

Tea for One – Led Zeppelin (1976, Presence) [Ha, kind of oddly appropriate.]

3. What do you like in a guy/girl?

(Further Reflections) in the Room of Percussion – Kaleidoscope (1967)

4. How do you feel today?

Maybellene – Chuck Berry (1955)

5. What is your life's purpose?

Hitsville UK – The Clash (1981)

6. What is your motto?

Remember – The Jimi Hendrix Experience (1967, Are You Experienced) [Pretty good.]

7. What do your friends think of you?

A Hazy Shade of Winter – Simon & Garfunkel (1966) [I Am A Rock would have been better.]

8. What do you think of your parents?

But I Might Die Tonight – Cat Stevens (1970)

9. What do you think about very often?

One After 909 – The Beatles (2003, Let It Be… Naked version)

10. What is 2 + 2?

Sensation – The Who (1969)

11. What do you think of your best friend?

Mean-Eyed Cat – Johnny Cash (1955) [Mean-Eyed? That's rather cruel.]

12. What do you think of the person you like?

Down Down – Status Quo (1974)

13. What is your life story?

Late Home Tonight, Pt. 2 – Roger Waters (1992, Amused to Death) [Perhaps…]

14. What do you want to be when you grow up?

Thoughts and Words – The Byrds (1967)

15. What do you think of when you see the person you like?

Green Eyes – Coldplay (2002) [Green eyes are nice, you have to admit.]

16. What will you dance to at your wedding?

Let It Down – George Harrison (1970)

17, What will they play at your funeral?

This Glass World – Yusuf (2009, artist formerly known as Cat Stevens) [Personally I'd like Fairport Convention's Who Knows Where the Time Goes?]

18. What is your hobby/interest?

I'm Waiting for the Man – The Velvet Underground (1967) [This takes on a new meaning if you understand the song lyrics.]

19. What is your biggest fear?

Plastic Fantastic Lover – Jefferson Airplane (1967)

20. What is your biggest secret?

Is There Anybody Out There? – Pink Floyd (1979, The Wall)

21. What do you think of your friends?

Jigsaw Puzzle – The Rolling Stones (1968 )

22. What will you put as the title?

It's All Too Much – The Beatles (1969) [Perfect!]

There you go. Shame there were no mentions of Eagles, Fleetwood Mac or The Kinks, but on the whole it was reasonably representive. And since in both previous instances I never tagged anyone before, I feel that this time I should really tag someone, so apologies/congratulations in advance. :D So prepare for the onslaught of the tag! :P It follows in Comments.

As far as I am aware, the very first computer game I ever played was Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, in or around 1995. As I have said before, being around six at the time, the game was vastly too complicated for me, and to tell the truth I never made it off Scabb Island. All I knew was that the game was about pirates, and being a typical six year old, I loved pirates. My other main recollection is having to use a code wheel (entitled Mix 'n' Mojo) to unlock the game and actually play it, which I gave to my Dad to fathom out. I also think we had the floppy disk version, because it came inside a huge box. Sadly, I have no idea where my original copy of the game is now. Either it was given away, lost when we moved house, or is sitting in some box in the attic, gathering dust. Lately I've been going rather Monkey Island crazy, first buying the episodic Tales of Monkey Island on Steam, before also downloading Monkey Island 2 Special Edition, which was recently released (or re-released, as the case may be). I had already played and loved The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition last year, and was very pleased when I heard LucasArts were continuing to look after their adventure games catalogue. In general, Monkey Island 2 Special Edition is simply brilliant. It sounds great, it looks great, and it plays like it should. Switching back and forth between the old and revamped looks never seems to get tiring. It is not without its minor flaws, namely the removal of the opening credits sequence and removing a funny joke from the end credits (bring them back LucasArts!) and there are some sound volume issues within the cIassic version, but aside from that, it is just about everything you could hope for from an adventure game release, and fully shows off why the Monkey Island games are so respected. It also explained to me how Stan came to be stuck inside a coffin, which you later free him from during the following game.

The first Monkey Island game I remember playing all the way through (and still play), still think is the best of the series and was the first game with voice acting is The Curse of Monkey Island. The principle voice cast from Curse, including Dominic Armato as Guybrush, Alexandra Boyd as Elaine, Earl Boen as LeChuck, Leilani Jones as the Voodoo Lady, Patrick Pinney as Stan and also Neil Ross as Wally B. Feed all reprise their roles in both MI1 and MI2 Special Editions, and half of them (Guybrush, Elaine and LeChuck) also did the voice acting in Tales. As before, having the dialogue voiced adds another layer of hilarity to the script, because it helps to bring the lines to life. Hearing Guybrush say "Cheese squiggles! My favourite!" was an example of remembering something I had previously forgotten, since I recalled my vain attempts of trying to get them without having Guybrush's hand bitten off by a baby alligator. The newly recorded soundtrack also sounds gorgeously lush, and certainly is in the running alongside Curse as the best sounding Monkey Island game. There is also the option to hear snippets of a developer commentary recorded by original game designer Ron Gilbert, and designer-programmers Dave Grossman and Tim Schafer, who all gathered in the same room to reminisce about creating the game. These portions of commentary are excellent, which makes me wish there was simply more of it! According to 1UP, nearly 3 hours were recorded in total, but only around 30 minutes of that actually appears in the game. I was also very impressed by Tales of Monkey Island, Telltale's latest episodic arc in the franchise. Its high point is certainly the episode entitled The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood, but it is generally a welcome return to form for the series. I definitely hope to see more of Guybrush in the future, and I wonder what LucasArts will re-release next. My wish is Grim Fandango. :)

Well, a day late and with a massive computer scare hopefully averted, it is nevertheless time to look back and dish out the most coveted awards in the business; those which I care to dream up in my sleep. It's been another great E3, and I have a few shout out to get through before we get to the awards themselves. First, to all the staff at GameSpot who helped to bring us the largest amount of video content ever for a single E3, and who despite several technical hitches, persevered to give us an excellent show. Hats off to all of you, because without you, E3 simply wouldn't be E3. Also many thanks to all of my fellow Moderators for expertly handling the +1,000 people who were often besieging the chat rooms, and for making this E3 feel both friendly and special. Also shout out to the small band of guys who were in Room 4 during GameSpot's Day 2 Stage Show: You were all marvellous, sorry I couldn't be there with you on Day 3. :) Again like last year if you haven't already, I recommend checking out Giant Bomb's great trio of Bombcasts summarising many of the major events of the show, and also have some pretty incredible guests (Paul Barnett I love you!).

My impressions generally was that E3 this year was excellent, although at the corners you could see the madness E3 once was in the past starting to return in some places, due to it being large, over the top and in your face again. Perhaps next year E3 may need a bit of trimming around the edges to prevent it from becoming chaotic. The quality of games generally was exceptionally high, and I for a time struggled to find games suitable for the Worst Exhibited Game category. Still, anyway, onto the awards. I've tried to give each category five nominations, with then a winner and a runner-up selected. Feel free to disagree with my selections: They are merely my personal subjective choice. And that was E3. Sims gang, represent. :P

Highlights

Best New IP
Brink
Bulletstorm – Runner-up
Kung Fu Rider
Rage – Winner
Sorcery

Biggest Surprise Announcement
GoldenEye
Kid Icarus: Uprising
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit – Runner-up
Portal 2 on PS3
Twisted Metal – Winner

Most Impressive Press Conference
Electronic Arts
Nintendo Company – Winner
Sony Computer Entertainment – Runner-up

Best Chat Room Meme
BEARDS – Winner
Skittles the Tiger – Runner-up

Best Exhibited Game
Crysis 2
Dead Space 2
Fallout: New Vegas
Portal 2 – Winner
Rage – Runner-up

Lowlights

The Kuhn Prize for Despicable Use of Phrase "Paradigm Shift"
Sony Entertainment's Jack Tretton – Winner

The 3DRealms Award for Best Game We Didn't See
Batman: Arkham Asylum II – Runner-up
Sid Meier's Civilization V
Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Winner
Diablo III
Singularity

The Politician's Certificate for Biggest Waste of Time
All Kinect casual games at Microsoft conference – Winner
Innergy demonstration at Ubisoft conference
Kinectimals and "Skittles" at Microsoft conference
NCIS cast crash GameSpot's Stage Show, Day 2 (2nd Year) – Runner-up
The Sims 3 on consoles philosophy at EA conference

The Big Rigs Trophy for Worst Exhibited Game
Bionic Commando Rearmed 2
Bodycount – Winner
Sonic Colors
The Agency
WWE All Stars – Runner-up

Due to unforseen circumstances, I'm afraid I've had to cancel writing the last two Expositioned! blogs for the time being. My computer has contracted some kind of virus or malware, which has disabled my internet connection, stopped my sound and graphics card and corrupted system restore. McAfee Security also didn't detect it, and will now no longer work either. In short, my computer is dead in the water. Looks like I'm either going to take it somewhere to be repaired (and incur a heavy fee for doing so) or bite the bullet and wipe the entire system and reinstall from scratch. Luckily the computer last backed-up only at the beginning of the month, so I shouldn't lose too much.

Huh. Computers, eh? :(

Friday Edit: Great news! I was able to restore my system by booting from the disk and then using a system image created on 1st June to recreate my hard drive to that date. It seems to be working alright now, and I've run extensive deep scans of the computer just to double check whatever caused the problems has gone, and well as clearing out all temporary internet files. I'm definitely keeping my fingers crossed and touching wood that everything remains ok. I'm just glad I didn't have for fork out over £100 to repair it. :)

Since the computer seems to be in working order, expect E3 awards blog either later this evening or tomorrow. 8)

Welcome back to Wednesday, or as I like to call it, Friday Minus 2. We're in the middle of E3, and the major press conferences are over, and now the show floor is open for those privileged few to wander around and see what the developers have to offer. But it's time to look back to yesterday, and the Nintendo and Sony conferences. Into the breach! :P

Nintendo Press Conference

Definitely a strong and solid showing from Nintendo this year, with relatively few distinctly casual games, and many more which would appeal to Nintendo's core demographic of players. They began with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, for which Shigeru Miyamoto materialised/teleported onto the stage to show off some gameplay. Unfortunately, there were evidently some teething technical issues, and Miyamoto had some trouble shooting the bow or getting sword swipes quite right. From listening to the reactions of other people who have played the demo, it seems that technically it is proficient, and that the difficulties that happens during the conference were mainly a localised incident. Reggie Fils-Aime did most of the actual hosting, and Cammie Dunaway was nowhere to be seen. The Wii Vitality Sensor was also not mentioned whatsoever, suggesting that its development has either been put on hold or even cancelled. Not surprised, considering how event Satoru Iwata didn't seem to know what it would do last year. Nintendo's roll of games continued with Mario Sports Mix, which is a min-games collection, and Wii Party, which is a mini-games collection (featuring Balance Boat!). Those represented some of the most casual-oriented games Nintendo announced, and were mostly uninspiring.

More games included Disney's Epic Mickey, which looked like an interesting Mickey Mouse platformer where you could jump inside cartoons, and Kirby's Epic Yarn, which had an extremely cute art design and showed Kirby being Kirby. The nostalgia was well and truly being churned by this point; as Nintendo went on to announce another GoldenEye, as well as Donkey Kong Country Returns. The music for the former was probably the best thing about my first impressions of the game. Not sure what to think about GoldenEye, as too much time has probably progressed for it still to be the game-changer it once was. Then, to much smoke and mirrors, the 3DS was announced and displayed, with Nintendo President Satoru Iwata coming to the stage in order to hold it up. Apparently it has a 3D depth slider which will change the 3D effect visible, and comes with a slide pad, which is essentially an analogue stick. And to go with it, there were some games including Kid Icarus: Uprising, which has been suspected for a long time and gained some rather large cheers from the crowd. Then Iwata ran down the list of developers who agreed to make 3DS games, including Square Enix making another Kingdom Hearts, and Kojima working on yet another Metal Gear. The highlight of the whole conference was the advert for the 3DS, where Iwata and Miyamoto were swallowed by the handheld, and Reggie was burnt to a crisp by Bowser. All in all, a good show, but once again, nothing utterly brand new that didn't rely on existing franchises.

Sony Press Conference

Of all the developers, Sony easily showed off the most games-per-minute during their conference. There were so many games mentioned I'm finding it rather difficult to recall them all, partly because for some of the conference there was some extremely bad lag and buffering issues happening in both GameSpot's and YouTube's feed. Started off with a little Killzone 3, also in 3D (but you need glasses for this kind), The Sly Collection, Shawn White Snowboarding, the new Mortal Kombat, Tron Evolution and more being mentioned in quick succession. There was also naturally a lot of talk about the PlayStation Move, Sony's answer to the motion control question. The first game they showed for this was Socrery, which felt a bit like a Harry Potter rip-off where you cast spells and defeat enemies. The Move will act as a wand, which is somewhat prophetic. Tiger Woods also moves with the Move, with a Golfing game that looks suspiciously like a golfing game. Move will be coming this September, and will be selling for $49.99, plus $29.99 for the navigation controller. This seems like a rather bad idea, considering that you will normally need both, so selling them separately for different prices doesn't make a whole lot of sense. One "surprise" was Valve's Gabe Newell, who is/was one of the PlayStation's critics, popping up and saying that Portal 2 and Steamworks will be coming to the PS3. There was also a great trailer for Portal 2, featuring another great line from GLaDOS; "I think we can put aside our differences, for science… You monster."

The highlight of the conference for me was probably Kevin Butler (or should I say, the actor that plays Kevin Butler), came out and gave a short and rousing speech about gaming. GT5 also finally was given a release date for this coming November, which is good considering the enormous amount of time that game has been in development. Jack Tretton held the floor for most of the conference and was solid, only occasionally showing his nervousness. LittleBigPlanet 2 made an appearance as well, and it looked pretty good, continuing that same Indie vibe the first game had. Perhaps the biggest issue with Sony's conference was that it was too long; reaching a full two hours. With so much being discussed, by the time Twisted Metal was shown off at the very end of the conference, complete with an ice cream van, I had quite forgotten most of the stuff that had happened in the first hour. All in all, Sony showed off a huge amount, and is clearly on the ball for their development cycle this coming year. They were very keen to stress that the PS3 apparently does everything.

There were a lot of things shown off on GameSpot's first stage show, but since I didn't watch all of it past midnight, I'm not best placed to tell you about it. I suggest watching it yourself would be the best solution. Tomorrow, I'll hopefully bring you details on the games I was interested in specifically at this year's E3, before we finish up on Friday.

Have a nice day. :)

E3 2010 is out of the starting gate and heading into the inside corner as we kick off the first of my series of E3 blogs, summing up many of the high points (and low points) that the biggest industry event in gaming can provide. As always, you can expect a fully non-partisan summation; because I am a wannabe journalist would values the pursuit of truth over and beyond petty company lines. Let's get started!

Microsoft Press Conference

Microsoft's conference was decidedly uninspiring, and in hindsight, the worse of the three major conferences yesterday. Microsoft decided to devote most of the conference to showing off Kinect, the new name for Project Natal. I for one think the name Kinect is absolutely abysmal and basically rings of spin and marketing, but the main issue with Kinect is that it is evidently a dramatic attempt to siphon some of the casual market from the Nintendo Wii. The games they exhibited for it included Kinectimals, a pet game similar to Nintendogs which featured a terrifying smiling tiger called Skittles, who has very quickly become an unlikely meme phenomenon (in the chat room at least). Kinect Sports was their version of Wii Sports, Kinect Adventures was a typical mini-games compilation and the fitness game Your Shape was an obvious emulation of Wii Fit. The question I wanted to ask Peter Molyneux was where Milo had gone. Last year they showed off the admittedly creepy prospect of interacting with characters that seem to display genuine emotions, but none of that innovation was evident anymore. It just felt like cashing in.

Despite Kinect, there was a smattering of real games to be found. Gears of War 3, despite not interesting me in the slightest is bound to get a warm reception in some quarters. Hideo Kojima was once again wheeled out to talk stiffly for a few minutes about Metal Gear Solid: Rising, which has Raiden slicing and dicing everything from people to watermelon. Looked rather cool to me, which is saying something because I've never played any Metal Gear Solid. Although saying this, it did have the subtitle, Lightning Bolt Action, which seemed rather clichéd. Halo: Reach, Call of Duty: Black Ops and Fable III were also shown, with Peter Molyneux popping in to very briefly show a trailer for the latter. I suppose what was really missing from the conference were shocking announcements, because everything shown was already known about. Don Mattrick also failed to give a price point for Kinect, which leads me to suspect that Microsoft itself doesn't know what they are going to charge for it. The show rounded off with the new Xbox 360 "slim", for want of a better descriptor being unveiled; confirming the leaked Italian advertisement for it was valid. The conference basically is a big battle cry for the casual market Nintendo currently dominates, and Microsoft wants a slice of.

Electronic Arts Press Conference

Electronic Arts put on quite a show. They had a bit of Dead Space 2, which seems to disconcertingly take place in an Art DecostyIe space station called Sprawl, making it feel slightly like BioShock in space. It ended with Isaac Clarke being sucked into deep space, which is like, totally Commander Shepard's signature death move. They also had Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, a series I remember with relative fondness because it was one of the few PS2 games I played quite a bit of (never having a console when I grew up). Looked rather cool, still scratching that same itch of police car chases. There was a weird moment when someone jumped up and started talking about Philosophy and The Sims 3 coming to consoles. There was also Bulletstorm, which looked totally insane and had some awful dialogue. Like, some of the worst lines you could ever imagine coming out of a video game. The gameplay itself looked quite interesting, if rather violent. Medal of Honor also had a look it with a trailer. There was also Crysis 2, looking gorgeous as always inside a ruined Grand Central station. That game has got me interested now. There were also one or two (or maybe three) casual games mentioned which deserve no coverage here, because they are of little interest to us. All in all, pretty solid and standard. EA seem to be heading on the right track.

Ubisoft Press Conference

Despite having the same rather unfunny host as last year, Ubisoft conference was not the washout disaster/torture device we all remember, but wish we didn't have to. There was no James Cameron for one thing, which instantly improved the show by several degrees. Ubisoft did show off some genuinely interesting games: Assassin's Creed Brotherhood for example, which showed Ezio apparently dying at the hands of the Templars as they invaded his walled villa in Italy. There was also a demo of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, which I admit looked very cool, especially the sniping from afar. Raving Rabbids are also going to be travelling through time, and the conference opened to Children of Eden, which is essentially Rez 2.0, played with Kinect on 360 and usual controls on PS3. But alongside these real games were some extremely weird titles which seemed more casual, but also seemed just bizarre. Shawn White was alright, but there was one distinctly hippy game called Inergy. I have absolutely no idea what it was about.

And that's it for today, because I am utterly exhausted. No way can I stay up until 6am tonight/tomorrow. I am going to bed. E3 may have beaten me, but not for long. 8)

P.S. Now with extra pictorial goodness! I was too tired to add them last night.