E3 2011: Day 1 Streetpass results

After the first day of E3, here’s that day’s results.
7:00 AM – Turned on 3DS

8:04 AM – Arrived at downdown LA, received first street pass – CommanderVideo! I don’t have a picture to prove it, but its greeting was “bittripgame.com.” But the Mii was a skinny figure with a Samus mask on – sounds like him. It makes sense, though, to make your Mii a virtual business card.

9:35 AM – 10 new people added (which is the max, I soon realize)

11:18 AM – 8 new people. Started to use them to unlock more pieces and play “Find Mii” since you can only use 10 at a time. So the first 10 people were wasted. Hmm, I got a ceo!

11:26 AM – 6 more people?? Okay, play some more…
11:31 AM – 9 more?? Okay, I need to get ready to enter the convention floor.
3:56 PM – 10 new people. Which doesn’t surprise me. But it’s a good time waster while waiting in line for events. Got someone from RockstarLeeds.

6:46 PM – 10 more people added. I got Zoidberg! And I’m exhausted.

Total number of new Miis Day 1 E3 = 54

E3 2011: Sony's successor to the PSP, the PS Vita!

Let the portable console wars begin!  Sony unveiled their now-officially-named PSVita device!  Priced at $249 for the Wi-Fi version and $299 for the 3G/Wi-Fi version, the PSVita will be released near the end of the year, sporting dual analog sticks and a touch-interface in the back.

Again, will reserve judgement until I get more hands-on, but this is going to be very interesting.

E3 2011: Nintendo's first pics of Wii U and touch-screen controller

Still playing catchup to the recent Nintendo press conference, but here are the first pics of Nintendo's newest console, the Wii U!

I'm holding reservations until I can get more hands-on with the devices, but from the looks of it, it appears that Nintendo's trying to simulate an extremely large version of the Nintendo DS, with the touch-screen as a handheld, and the TV as the large "top screen."

What do you guys think?

Pre-E3: What type of gamers make our games?

Everyone enjoys video games, but how much history is within each member in the industry?

When we judge video games, we rely on our own vast knowledge and history of video games in our lives whether we know it or not.  And with the many years that video games have been a part of our lives, we tend to forget that not every gamer was born with the same background.  For all we know, half of the engineers for Bioshock never owned an NES at all.

So I'm preparing an interesting questionaire to ask certain people on the floor, just to gauge how historically steeped is our video-game industry peeps are.  Some of the questions I'll be asking are:

• What was your very first system/console you played?
• What was your very first system/console you owned?
• What is your most favorite game?  Did you play the original of it, or a remake?
• Have you played in an arcade before?

I'll probably make more questions than this, but it would be great to know what type of gaming background various figures in the video game industry hail from.  I'll be providing pictures and job title details of the people that participate as well.

3DS street pass progress - E3 edition

Since getting my Nintendo 3DS, I've tried for a while to activate my street pass and accumulate my friend list. So far, I've been only able to acquire 4 friends total so far. With E3 just around the corner, I expect these numbers to wildly grow after each passing day. So, I'll post my street pass progress at the end of each day at E3 to see who I may run across.

While a majority of them will probably be other attendees' Miis, there's the small hope that I might snag a couple of video-game-industry Miis in the process!

Preparing for E3 2011...

It's that time again.  Time to stretch out my walking legs and get the skinny on the latest games that will engorge our eyes for the next year.  It's E3 season, all the players will be there, and I'll be in the thick of it all.

While I'm only an attendee, I'll still try to gain insight into whatever information I can get my hands on.  That being said, please submit to me any questions you'd like me to ask while on the showroom floor, either as a comment post or as an email to gameritisguy@gmail.com.  Bear in mind that results may vary due to schedules and, well, chaos of the convention.  But I'll do my best to get the answers you want. 

And all throughout next week, I'll be giving my best coverage from the showroom floor in both my blog here and in akiba-station.com, so be sure to check both sites for the latest and greatest!

L.A. Noire, or Ace Attorney without the training wheels

L.A. Noire is like a graduation from all the Phoenix Wright games; your choices aren't on a linear path towards being right, and you have to really focus on people's facial tells.  Okay, so there was that Apollo Justice game where you had to focus on people's facial tells, but they were all on cartoon images.

The great thing about the game is that, for the most part, the game continues on no matter what choices you make.  So you could be going down a completely different lead, arrest the wrong person, and let the actual criminal escape.  The game will still lead you down the story as if it was intended, and will not get in your way.  And even if you completely botch a case, you can always replay it again until you get it right.  I've went through one case already where half of my interrogation with a witness was botched, but I ended up catching the criminal in the end.  When the case was over, small hints inform me that if I had asked the right questions, I would've solved the case sooner than expected.  It's all these little "what ifs" that keep replay values high.

Add to this that all cases are set in mini-episodes, and you have a game that is sandbox-y yet still linear in story-telling - two things that I can completely get behind on.

InFamous...finished! (as good guy)

Much like completing Portal right before Portal 2, InFamous is now finished and tucked beneath my "complete" belt, and I'm ready for the sequel.  Going to probably go through the game as evil Cole now and see how my choices change me.

Games I've never played until now: InFamous

Game: InFamous
Release Date: May 26th, 2009
Reason for not playing it: Hate having to choose.

Playing games with morality never was a strong point in my book for a video game.  There are always two choices to make, and whatever choice you made would always make you wonder about that other choice.  And you know you'll have to play the game all over again a second time just to make those alternate choices - that is, IF the game is good enough to tolerate through a second playthrough.  Luckily, InFamous is quite good at being a good game.

I think the morality system overall turned me off from InFamous.  Just the thought of having to play the game a second time just to make evil choices instead of good riled me up, making me want to say "what, you think you're good enough to play a second time just to see how things would've turned out?"  I should've known the answer to that already if it's a game from Sucker Punch, creator of the wonderful Sly Cooper series.

After starting up InFamous, in no time did I make the analogy that the game was like Sly Cooper in a HUGE playground.  It's like playing Sly Cooper 2, where you play a Sly who already has the prior knowledge from the first game to run on tightropes, climb on pipes, and spire jump on pointy structures.  No joke, I spent a good amount of time jumping on the "no vehicle" poles by the park, going full parkour from pole to pole.  The amount of attention to climbable points on a building is ridiculous.

Cole's ability is the power of electricity, which I largely thought was just a one-note ability.  Turns out it's only the theme for performing projectile attacks, grenade blasts, seismic drop blasts, hovering, speed-grinding, energy-sapping, enemy hand-cuffing, and more.  Plus, the game does a great way of doling out a story in which you restore a city from being without electricity to lighting it up like a christmas tree, Okami-style.

While the morality system seems to be very simplistic and almost entirely straight-forward (Cole's inner monologue tells you what's good or bad), the lasting affect of your choices really shines in the game.  As you favor one side over the other, not only do you and your missions change, but the environment changes.  Walls get plastered with poster propaganda, pedestrians change their attitude towards you depending on your side.  Overall, you get a sense that your actions really do affect these NPCs.  Even the tiny missions come off as random incidents, notifying you with the "point of interest" indicator.  These range from just viewing the televised reports in the city to focusing on a pedestrian's cry for help for assistance.  These things not only make the gameplay more immersive, but it makes the surroundings feel more real.

Verdict:

Almost 2 days to the 2-year mark that I haven't played InFamous, and I can't believe I let this game slip past my radar.  Even though I'm borrowing my friend's copy of the game, I'll certainly download it for free once the PSN is back up.  I'm glad I'm playing InFamous now, especially with the sequel coming out soon which will have the Uncharted 3 multiplayer Beta!

Chrono Trigger released for Wii Virtual Console!

Chrono Trigger has finally been released to the Virtual Console, so if you've avoided getting the original SNES cartridge, the PSX re-release, or the DS re-re-release, you can get it now on the Wii!

To commemorate my already-insane love for this game, I now present to you the video of my "To Far Away Times" LBP2-created tribute level!  (Thanks, JHKthree!)

If a game is re-released 3 times over, you know the game is well-renounced.

Portal 2 (single player mode)...finished!

With many articles willing to spill out the game's story and secrets as if the writers expect gamers to play as fast as they did, I'll keep mine very short and sweet.  I will say this, though - Portal 2 is definitely longer than the original Portal.  And I'm playing single player mode again.  And again.  And again.  At least until they release more levels in the summer.

I'll still need a partner to complete co-op mode, though.

Portal 2 (and Steam copy) arrives promptly

Not long after I finished the first Portal, Portal 2 one arrives at my doorstep today.  And because it's a PS3 copy, a free copy on Steam is inside as well!

I'm probably one of the last amongst my friends to acquire a Steam account, and I have to say, the service is nice and refreshing.  Not only do you don't have to deal with the excess cardboard clutter one usually deals with for computer games, but everything's associated to your online account.  It's nice to know that my games are still with me when I change hardware.

Plus, with the added benefit of playing with other Steam players through my PS3 game, I can choose my preference of control.  That being said, finishing Portal re-introduced me back to the ol' "keyboard and mouse" control scheme that I'm now on the fence.  Though, if I ever feel like changing back and forth, at least my game saves to the Steam cloud, so I don't have to be playing both games concurrently to play catch-up.

Rock Band 3...finished!

I think after 2 iterations, the Rock Band franchise has reached its peak. Granting Pro Mode for drums, guitar, and keyboard; introducing the Rock Band Network; incorporating the triple harmony from Beatles Rock Band, and the pause/resume feature from Lego Rock Band - this is the ultimate culmination of everything that's good or worked with Rock Band. And it's going to be hard to top, even for Harmonix.

And now with the new Fender guitar in my hands, Rock Band has become my guitar instructor and seeing some extended gameplay as I train my fingers. This game will always be in play, through all other future releases.

Portal...finished! (Finally)

Thanks to a friend's free Steam copy of Portal, I've finally played and finished the game in about a solid 4 hours. Now I've fully fleshing out those "the cake is a lie" references made throughout the years. After playing the original game from start to finish, I'm really looking forward to the sequel coming out this week.

I'm probably one of the few (if not, last) gamers that haven't finished Portal, but at least I've rectified that wrong. It wasn't that I didn't want to play the game - the gameplay concept was so simple and so unique, and executed so elegantly that you'll just have fun screwing around instead of trying to solve the puzzle.

I'm sure I'll kill as much time in the sequel coming out later this week.

It's out, so I'm ready to rock out.

Now that the stringed Squier Stratocaster is actually in my possession, I'm intimidated. My early years of Guitar Freaks, my days with Guitar Hero, and my many months with Rock Band are meaningless to the real thing. There's no comparison - no more buttons, flicking a poor-excuse-for-a-string plastic bar, and wailing on the solo buttons.

And despite the $279.99 price, my guitar-playing friends assure me that the price is still decent for a Fender guitar, let alone one that is compatible with Rock Band 3. You can't help, however, that the absence of the Midi Pro Adaptor (another $40) was done on purpose to keep the price point below $300.


I'm now moments away from realizing that all my expert mode scores with a plastic guitar will mean shit now. But I'm gonna at least get a poor score on a real guitar.

Fourth time's the charm?

As a gamer who's bought into the pseudo-fourth generation Nintendo DS (Not counting DSiXL...that's just a DS with steroids), it's a little odd for me to say that I'm comfortable NOT putting a screen protector on the bottom screen. After so many iterations, Nintendo seems to have done it right this time around.

I want to really chalk it up to me being lazy for getting one in the first place, and I'm typically uber-OCD when it comes to scratches on my screens. But the new touch screen has endured many fingerprints and stylus, enough for me to almost never purchase a screen protector again.

For a good week now, all I've used is a microcloth to buff out fingerprints and hardened stains, and the screens remain spotless. The hardware is proving to be quite reliable in endurance, and now only its heavy price-point is what will drive me to add the extra protection.

And, for the record, I only apply screen protectors on the touch screen. Unless you have people that will insist on touching the top screen because they believe both are touch-sensitive, I don't even bother with the top screen.

Generic "3DS has arrived" article, with pics

Yes, I got the new Nintendo 3DS. See picture above.

I also got Super Street Fighter 4: 3D edition. It is also in the picture above.

Can I play now? What? One more pic? Alright.

Who reads these kinds of posts anymore anyways?

Portable gaming = casual gaming

Let's face it - if you ask people what their favorite casual game they like to play is, most will answer some Facebook game. It's simple, it's fast, and it's only a separate window or tab away from instant 5-minute bursts of gameplay. But what about the other times when you're not smack-dab in front of a computer or laptop? Then you turn to a portable device.

Whether it's a DS, PSP, or even just the iPhone, portable gaming has been engrossing us for some time. And what better way to kill a few minutes on the go than just messing around in some mindless gameplay? But today, I'm not talking about the simple games that you can get away with for minutes at a time - I'm talking about whittling down full games.

You are either a gamer that can sit down for hours and play one game straight, or someone like me, who can only afford to play a game every few minutes. And what you can do in those few minutes, depending on the game, can be limiting. But it seems that many games (whether directly or indirectly) realize this, and portion their game to smaller, bite-sized pieces. They know that portable gamers will have to take out their system, boot/wake it up, get comfortable, and be patient long enough to sit through the intro to play a few minutes more of their games. Please note this - the longer you make gamers wait for the game to load, the higher the chance they'll just turn off the game completely.

Since my time is so scarce, there's only a couple of games I'm currently playing that can optimize what little time I have.

Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days

I continue to play Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days on the DS, spurred only by the thought that the game is canon to the story. Unlike the larger-scale games on the PS2, this DS addition is portioned out in a series of missions that I can choose whatever order to tackle them with. Most of the game has you in a central hub talking to other NPC characters and such, and the other half is embarking on missions that can be as short as 2 minutes - perfect for a quick break. It's these little bites at a time that I'm progressively making progress in the game in hope that I'll finish it soon so I can start up Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep.

Pokemon White

Pokemon is one of those games that cater to both hardcore and casual gamers. Hardcore players can (and will) sit for hours leveling up their pokemon to ridiculous levels and clear the game in a solid week. Casual gamers, like myself, will probably take the minutes that we have and engage in the short random battles you encounter in the wild, which can last seconds. So, in 5 minutes worth of time, you can polish off good 20 battles if you're powerful enough.

Pokemon: an unexpected ordeal

This past Sunday was host to the release of Pokemon Black and White on Nintendo DS, and normally I wouldn't care so much. The last time I played a Pokemon game was Pokemon Platinum, and even then I couldn't get into the game. Maybe it was all the micro-tasking, or the extra quests. So what would compel me to try it again this time around? Rare pokemon.

GameStop had a promotion where you could download Celebi, a rare pokemon, into a previous Pokemon DS game, and the last day for the promotion was this past Sunday - the same day as the launch of the new Pokemon Black and White. In a moment of hesitation, I bought a used Pokemon DS game Saturday to grab Celebi, with the intent of returning the game for a full refund within 7 days after I transfer it to the new game. I even placed a pre-order for the game at GameStop just in case, because my original intent was to pre-order the game from Amazon and get their $10 Gift Certificate.

Then things got complicated.

I thought the transfer of Celebi to the new game would be as easy as turning it on and sending it on its way. Turns out the method of travel would not be unlocked until I earn the first 2 badges. Second, Amazon's delivery of the game (even with 2-day shipping) was scheduled to arrive on Wednesday. Given my already complex work schedule and the 7-day used-game return policy,
earning 2 badges before Saturday was gonna be a feat for me. I had no choice; I bought the pre-order from GameStop.

The way I see it, if I get a 2-day head start in earning the first 2 badges now, I can spread out my gameplay time. At the same time, when my Amazon order arrives, I'll simply use THAT game as my return to GameStop. Hopefully by then, I'll have achieved 2 badges by then, granting me access to the device that will finally allow me to transfer Celebi to the new game, and giving me the green light to get a full refund on the used Pokemon DS game I purchased just to get the free Celebi pokemon in the first place.

Easy, right?

LBP2 level finally published!

At long last, the second version of this level is complete! I'm trying my best not to monitor the level and just let it sit, but history marks me as an impatient man.

A musical level creation: before and after LBP2

While everyone out there created unique and personal levels when the first Little Big Planet game came out more than 2 years ago, I spent a solid 2 weeks composing my musical tribute to Chrono Trigger. The game's musical tools took a backseat to all the other creation tools established, giving players the "bare bones" in what they could utilize. Limited instrument selection, one-note emitters, and roughly about 2 octaves worth of notes caused many people like me a large amount of grief in composing our favorite melodies.

But what I thought to be a challenging and near-impossible task became one of my most proud achievements in the first game - to create a musical melody to the ending music of Chrono Trigger - To Far Away Times. With only a few edits to the original song and a single different note to accommodate for the higher-octave note, I published my piano-only tribute to the LBP community.

The game's constraints, however, populated my level to such a degree that I could barely fit anything else in it. Decorations were practically non-existent, with the exception of a couple of stars and the earth, and I offered my pixel-rendition of one of the sprites used in the ending sequence as a prize bubble.

As if to answer the struggles of musical composers from the first game, Little Big Planet 2 gave players a midi sequencer, giving players a large group of instruments to use, all fully-scaled. Even better still, the midi-sequencer has its own limit, meaning that you can fully max out your midi sequencer without having to deal with space issues in your main level for creation.

Today, I'm adding the finishing touches to yet another 2 weeks worth of meticulous assembly and scrutinizing detail in my first published level in Little Big Planet 2, again for the same musical tribute. And the difference in construction vastly improved. To give you a sense of this, here's a quick list comparisons between both 2-week projects in LBP1 and LBP2

LBP1 level - (Entire level ETA 2.5 weeks; 2 weeks for song, half week for graphics and decorations)

• Only instrument used was piano, used sheet music and ear as reference.
• Scales were ranged to 2-3 octaves, hard to hit really high or low notes.
• One note per speaker, so chords were 3-4 times the work.
• Most of song made the cut, some parts were cut due to level constraints.
• Entire music components made with physical materials, which filled up the level fast.
• Had barely enough room left to add a pixel creation as a prize at the end.
• Decorations were sparse, and vehicle was a plain box to propel switch that triggered song.

LBP2 level - (Entire level ETA 2 weeks; 1 week for song, 1 week for graphics and camera work)

• Composed of 7 different instruments that closely matched the song.
• Full-scale octaves, so every high and low note was covered.
• Song was completed in its entirety - nothing was cut.
• Midi-sequencer had own capacity limit, completely separate from the main level capacity limit.
• Not only were all graphical components able to fit the level, but all necessary camera work and coordination were configured and setup in the sequencer.
• Entire level is a cut scene, requires no user interaction to enjoy.

Just from the pictures alone, you can see how much cleaner the format is. Everything is laid out and labeled accordingly, and it's so easy to manage. The final product, when it's done, will speak volumes.

Little Big Planet 2...story finished!!

If you're playing Little Big Planet 2 just as a game, you're missing out on the big picture. While the story mode itself is roughly about 7-8 hrs of gameplay, the levels themselves are so creative that you'll want to play them over and over again in awe. Just think...all the levels that were designed for the game were created with the very same tools at the players' disposal. In a very defiant way, Media Molecule just demonstrated their upgraded toolset with this sequel.

Earning more objects and stickers to use in your own imaginative levels are another incentive to replay the story levels again, especially when some of them require more than one player to achieve.

And even if you're the more reclusive type, there's plenty of levels online by other players that will last you quite some time.