Matt
Nintendo and Sony have now had their say, following on from Microsoft's blitz of mediocrity. They obviously were inspired, and continued the theme of "basically adequate" without taking Microsoft's lead on the "Innovate by doing what everyone else is doing" strategy that MS has stitched up right now.


Neither Sony nor Nintendo have new hardware to show, despite rumours, and there were some baffling ommissions from both camps. From Sony this included Home, which was glossed over as an "it will blow your socks off when it comes out" without actually saying when it will come out. Little Big Planet was a big feature of the Sony presentation, and they even used it to "create" the figures and graphs for their presentation. Which is frankly awesome. Nintendo were lacking in offering solutions to issues such as inadequate Wii storage and having absolutely the worst online presence possible.

Right now then, it's all about the games, and over the remaining days we'll be having a better look at the shiny new stuff that's started to come to our attention, including the ones shown at the press conferences.

AJ
Today seemed to be altogether...sparse. Even though both Nintendo and Sony at their press conferences, not a lot new or exciting came out of either. I guess that is to be expected now that we’re smack in the middle of the current cycle of consoles. Still Nintendo managed to come up with a couple of surprises even though there wasn’t anything with a real big bang. Most notable were the Music game we already knew about, Animal Crossing and a Wii Sports sequel. The music game is the same one we saw at the Wii launch; the one where you can play instruments without actually playing instruments.. just waving the controller around and mashing random buttons. In other words, another game aimed at removing any actual skill from game play to make it accessible to anyone from 2 to 102. Basically you don’t choose the notes, you just choose the rhythm. The resulting on stage demo was just a little short of painful. Luckily my computer speakers have an off button. I expect this to be a little like EA’s Boogie. Entertaining for the youngsters, but gets boring very quickly without any actual “game” behind it.


In addition to that bundle of excitement, was the announcement of a another Wii Sports game. This time featuring the new “upgraded” motion sensor for the Wii Remote. The game itself holds little interest, but the inclusion of a gyroscope sensor in the wii remote is very interesting. “Didn’t the wiimote already have 2 motion sensors”, I hear you ask. Yes, one for pointing and one which detected acceleration of the controller. Whilst the pointer is quite precise, the accelerometers used in the Wii remote aren’t nearly as precise, and as a result leave many games without that 1:1 feel of control. This unfortunately is a major reason that Wii remote gestures have been useful for little more than gimmicky games. Those who have played a lot of Wii games will have found the motion sensing a little “iffy” at the best of times, useful only for large generalised motions or short shakes. This lack of precision is one of the major reasons why games like Star Wars Force Unleashed doesn’t utilize 1:1 control of the lightsaber; the controller simply isn’t accurate enough. This new add-on will fix that, and should allow a lot more control for games where it was previously lacking... think tennis with top spin, back spin, side spin etc. In short, it will make the wii remote work like we all thought it would originally.

Finally, in something of a back flip by Nintendo, the upcoming Animal Crossing: City Folk will make use of a microphone for online play. I’m more than a little perplexed why Animal Crossing gets microphone support and yet games like Mario Kart and Smash Bros which really NEED a microphone missed out. This new iteration of Animal Crossing will allow players to hang out in other players’ towns and do fun stuff like go fishing, try on new clothes, play games and... ummm... other stuff I guess.... almost sounds a little like Fable 2. Oh well, at least you can vent some frustration verbally next time Mr. Resetti pops up to give you a serve.

Oracle
Day 2 of E3 has unleashed even more goodies to give us gamers wet dreams for months to come! One in particular caught my eye, I am Alive - an action survival title from Ubisoft for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Not much can be said about the game as of yet but if you have glimpsed at the trailer you'll instantly know a few things. The main characters name is Adam and he's in a world full of shit. The city of Chicago is hit by an earthquake destroying everything on the surface. The gameplay will be focused on problem solving (nah der).

"In the end, there will be only chaos!" God of War III was announced today for the PlayStation 3 by SCEA. I was recently introduced to GoW by playing Kratos on the smaller screen and I must say that I was left hooked and begging for more. The game is expected to hit shelves next year.. god damn it.


I saved the best til last. It felt like a punch to the face while reading WOLFENSTEIN Trailer E3 2008 spread across my monitor early in the morning. Holy shit, let the good times roll! Nazi's, check, castle, check, mutants, check, explosions, check, scifi weapons, check, 20 second teaser to leave die hard fans crying for more, check.

Anna
Everything's quiet even though key notes from Nintendo and Sony have come through. Sony has finally proven the rumours true with the 80gb model PS3 (also confirmed to his Australian shores at some point with more details on this "core" pack still to come) announced alongside some Bioshock demos and news on the guntastic Borderlands. There have also been some less than impressive hands-on for the new Harry Potter, Halo Wars (ok, admittedly that's got a bit more buzz going for it), DDR and Tiger Woods on the PSP.

Animal Crossing for the Wii has captured my heart despite my misgivings about the motives behind making such a game. There's nothing more I am looking forward to than paying my mortgage back again. And again. All just in time for Christmas. And perhaps LittleBigPlanet might make it by then this year too.


FlOwer, the new game from the makers of Flow, is making a slight impact though the actual release of new things is leaving me rather uninterested in the whole spectacle that is E3. Companies give little trailers that are made up of screenshots we've already seen, giving information we already know. I'm still waiting for that surprise - and something tells me I'm going to be disappointed.

Brett
Do you know how early chickens wake up? I once briefly dated a girl who lived next door to a guy who had some chickens and early every morning they'd be clucking and making chicken sounds and waking me up. I'm not the best looking man in the world either, especially in the mornings when I get some puffy eye going on, so the chickens waking us up before I could have a shower wasn't good and I'm not too sure that the whole chicken problem didn't account for the end of the relationship. Sometimes people say to me, "Brett, you shouldn't eat so much KFC" and I say to myself "No, Fuck those chickens, they deserve to fry in a mix of however many herbs and spices before I eat them in a burger".

Cav
Which you thought I would overlook THQ shedding a little more light on the latest WWE game Legends of WrestleMania? You did? Well deduct 5000 points, go to jail, do not pass go and draw four! I for one am looking forward to seeing some old-school faces and managers grace my TV screen in gaming format again. I am actually looking forward to the Managers. They were the heart of Wrestling for a long time. They would be the voice of the Superstar, spruiking before, after and during matches. The intriguing ‘Grapple’ combat system will hopefully shine a refreshing light across a genre that will eventually become stale if something isn’t done soon. This has to be a big hit with gamers as Midway and TNA Wrestling are to release their own game in the next few months. Can they issue a wakeup call to THQ and the WWE like EA and skate did to Tony Hawk and Neversoft?


Obviously young Jae couldn’t contain himself any longer when he spilled his guts all over the front of our site and spread the word on Rockstar and their intentions to produce a Grand Theft Auto game for the Nintendo DS. I really like the sound of this, as it kind of breaks the ‘kiddie/family friendly’ image that Nintendo have earned. I am also interested in how they are going to use the stylus .... stabity, stabity, stab – stab. I don’t want to even think about what happens when you ‘acquire the services of a professional’!

Sony also announced the release of the 80 gig model. I still don’t think that more HD space is going to make up for the lack of backwards compatibility and never will. Thank god I still have love for my Pink PS2

Phil
There were two things that excited me during Nintendo's press conference. One -- Animal Crossing: City Folk. I've never played an Animal Crossing game before, and I can't wait to try the newest one out. The other announcement that made my day was Wii MotionPlus. An attachment to enhance the motion sensitivty to a pure 1:1 response is going to be huge. Too many games are coming out with waggle controls that just don't work very well, and the gameplay suffers because of it. This will ensure perfect on-screen representations every time, and the potential is unlimited. I can't wait to see what ideas developers can expand on with Wii MotionPlus.

The rest of the lineup was more of the same casual stuff. I can't exactly fault Nintendo for going this way, considering they are all richer than Jesus because of it. Besides, Wii Sports is pretty fun. Wii Music, on the other hand, might not be all that hot. Awkward Nintendo corporate shills standing around pretending to have fun while embarassing themselves worldwide does not a good game make.


Oh, and there's GTA: Chinatown Wars for the DS. That cute little friendly console all those parents bought for their innocent children now features violence, drugs, killing and hookers. Awesome!

Oh, and Sony ... errrr, nope. Nothing there.

Jae
Wow imagine a megaton atomic bomb was due to go off around 2am today. You're miles away behind nuclear proof glass (if there is such a thing) waiting to see that gigantic mushroom cloud form. Instead all you get is this tiny poof, no not Anthony Calea. Well that was kind of how it felt watching the Nintendo press conference. No mention of a memory capacity expansion that we're all waiting for, no strong promotion of the Wiiware or no new Mario/Zelda/Metroid/Kirby/Kid Icarus for any of their platforms. All we get is a Motion Plus add on to milk us for more accessory money, Animal Crossing which bores me to death and a second Wii Sports title. How lame did they all look playing Wii Music, not needing to press any buttons or do any movements in time with the beat? They might as well call the title Wii Music for Baby Groovers! Nintendo you've really dropped the bomb here and gone too far down the casual gamer brick road.

Sony, Sony, Sony. You've definetly got a great holiday line up this year but I was really hoping you'd surprise us with something so good you'd blow my mind! Like how Mickey does. Home with no release date is kind of getting old. Just release the open beta so that at least you've got something to show. Of course unless the firmware upgrade to do so will crash your PS3 and turn it into a cyborg killing machine that grills steaks. MAG looks interesting but how many games with lame titles like this actually make it into the big league? The Rachet and Clank Future Quest for Booty looks like a winner for DLC, I can't wait to see who they poke fun at in this game. God of War 3 was expected but perhaps some gameplay footage or new innovation could've been revealed. The PSP is picking up some steam with many sequels hitting us and a brand new Resistance title for the little fella means I'll be spending less time "touching" and more time with an awkwardly positioned knob, again not Anthony Calea.


I have some solice in the title poised at the Nintendo DS. Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars looks to be a formidable step forward for the kids with small eyes and flat feet. A game where everyone across the world can see how tough life is in Jae's world. I've been Rockstars real life inspiration for the past 25 years. They've paid me the rights to take portions of my life and re-invent them into a 64-bit game. Scenarios like when I had my first stabbing of a jealous ex-girlfriend, the time I was a mule from Singapore to Los Angeles and the time I fell in love with Hentaichi, a Geisha. Oh Hentai why did brother Wang have to have you deported? Why!?

Starks
Does anybody pay attention to those McDonalds ad's? You know, the ones where they show a juicy Big Mac that looks amazing, and you can't wait to sink your teeth in and have a big bite! The chips look fantastically fresh, and the coke is bubbling and effervescent! It makes you rush down to Macca's and buy a Big Mac meal! Then, when you do, and you open it, you're greeted with a sagging old bun, a dry meat patty dripping with fat, and salad that looks like it's just come out of the snap lock bag. The chips are soft and oily, and the coke tastes flat and more like mineral water because the manager is trying to save money by using less coke syrup than usual. To me, that's what E3 commonly reminds me of; An incredible advertisment and glorified sales pitch of the up and coming games. Yet when they're released, the games themselves just don't look quite as good as they were presented.

Even so, I've managed to find the silver lining. Two of them, to be precise. The first, known to a fair few, is Little Big Planet. Seriously, every time I see this game presented, it just looks better and better. The tag line they used in the conference was that it will 'kill power point', and after seeing what they were doing it is one that I imagine will be true. Presentation and creativity are two of the biggest and most important things the business world hold dead. The better your presentation is and the more it captures the imagination of those viewing it, the higher it is held in stead. Dead seriously, with the way Sony were presenting figures and data through Little Big World, the worlds worst marketer would be a chance at selling ice to an Eskimo - That's how fantastic it looked! The interactive element and lifelike reactions of the Sackboy (Not to mention his facial expressions!) were the most incredible thing I have ever seen on a game in a long time! If for just this game alone, I will be buying a Playstation 3. The fact it sold me just by being a presentation tool blew my mind. I got visions of presenting a new product to the Johnson and Johnson board at work utilising Little Big Planet - Essentially, it's flexibility and utility means it isn't so much a game to me as it is a tool with immensely entertaining qualities. The fact you can play it competitively by building against another play with the intention of sending their Sackboy or Sackgirl into a lava pit was clearly the icing (As well as the cherry) on top of the Chocolate Mud Cake.


The second game that piqued my curiosity was Little King's Story. A God-Game and Life Simulator, this really looks like one of the more unique Wii games that will not only take advantage of the Wii-mote to new levels, but keep the more serious Wii-owners entertained for hours, especially since Nintendo's newest console has lacked games with depth. The fact that Little King's Story has forces players to invest time and energy into the game is definately a box that Nintendo has been looking to check for a little while now. Although it's early days for the game itself, it looks like a cross of Beasts and Bumpkins, Populous, and Civilisation rolled into one. I look forward to seeing where this one goes!