The Electronic Entertainment Expo certainly ain’t what she used to be. Formerly a mecca for game industry insiders looking to get their hands on the latest and greatest, hear exclusive announcements and witness the booth babe-studded spectacle, it was all ruined by GameCyte’s Jesse Henning has since shrunken to a tiny invite-only affair designated the “Media & Business Summit.” Industry analyst Michael Pachter believes the show is “virtually useless” even for those able to attend, as the important announcements are now revealed beforehand. Sucks for journalists perhaps, but what about readers like yourself? If the announcements break early, you get to read them early, and partake in more of the excitement than ever before.
Today, we’ll highlight the best announcements to hit the presses before a single E3-bound journalist hits the Los Angeles tarmac.
1.) Microsoft’s Xbox 360 $50 Price Drop:
Rumors of console redesigns and price drops flow like cheap wine in the gaming blogosphere, but as early as June 26th the rumors of a $50 price drop for the 20GB Xbox 360 started to solidify in the pages of major retailers. While the Kmart circular discovered by one High-Def Digest forum user turned out to be for refurbished units only, the Hollywood Reporter soon obtained confirmation of the real deal from an anonymous “major retailer,” and from there on the bloodhound tipsters at Kotaku were on the scent.
Best Buy, GameStop, Circuit City and Target have all leaked the price drop in one form or another, and the Wall Street Journal own anonymous sources reported the same this morning. If there isn’t an official Microsoft confirmation on July 14th, there will be an awful lot of confused journalists.
2.) Konami’s Castlevania Judgment:
Back in April, Siliconera discovered that Konami had filed a trademark application for the phrase “Castlevania Judgment” in connection with video game software. This was unusual — because for some time now, Castlevania titles have followed a fairly rigid naming convention: Harmony of Dissonance, Aria of Sorrow, Curse of Darkness, Lament of Innocence, Portrait of Ruin, etc.
The lack of a full “X of Y” subtitle foreshadowed change, but few guessed just how far the series would stray from its 2D platformer roots: Nintendo Power revealed that Castlevania Judgment is a online 3D fighting game for the Nintendo Wii, slated for Fall 2008. Can’t say exactly how it will play, save that subweapons are involved, but you’re welcome to speculate further as you look at the first batch of pictures.
3.) Square Enix’s Chrono Trigger DS:
As early as February of last year, Square Enix let gamers know that there was the slimmest of possibilities that a Chrono Trigger remake might eventually see the light of day. To say that plans were up in the air would be a gross understatement. But on July 1st, a Japanese magazine scan had begun making the rounds, and a countdown with a very familiar-looking clock was found on the Square Enix website.
The very next morning, Square Enix announced Chrono Trigger’s triumphant return on the Nintendo DS, with a new dungeon, wireless play, “dual-screen presentation” and touch-screen functionality. Judging by the trailer alone, it looks more enhanced port than remake… but there are still plenty of reasons to be excited.
4.) Capcom’s Mega Man 9:
Another game confirmed by Nintendo Power, Capcom’s big pre-E3 reveal is Mega Man 9, an original 8-bit title with bosses designed by series creator Keiji Inafune himself. The title’s existence was first leaked by the Australian OFLC ratings board in mid-June.
Though there was some initial controversy over where, exactly, we’d be able to play the game — Capcom insisted at first that the title might well be WiiWare-only — IGN confirmed Thursday it would see release on XBLA and PSN as well. Expect to pay about 1000 Wii Points, unless you’re into that newfangled downloadable content stuff.
5.) Sega’s Stormrise RTS:
No convoluted tale of rumor and reward here: Sega’s Stormrise announcement is as straightforward as they come, with just a simple press release and some screenshots to its name, released in the calm right before the E3 storm. An original RTS from the developers of the Total War series, Stormrise is “purpose-built” for consoles and claims to be “the first fully 3D RTS.”
Where plenty of strategy titles have divisions between air and ground units, Stormrise wants to raise the bar a little higher (and lower) for what can be considered multiple layers of combat. They call it verticality:
Stormrise also allows units to be commanded in the air, across rooftops, on the earth’s surface and even underground, this unique idea of “verticality” introduces multiple layers of gameplay that must be mastered for strategic advantage.
Sega was kind enough to provide a pre-E3 trailer; with any luck, we’ll get vertical ourselves early next week.
6.) Ensemble’s Halo Wars:
Halo Wars‘ announcement is old news; but the nearly 7,000 word interview 1UP conducted with lead designer Dave Pottinger is certainly not. While Pottinger sidesteps around details being saved for E3, it’s hard to imagine an interview with this much detail and insight into game mechanics coming out of the busy convention itself. It’s the kind of pre-E3 treat that — just perhaps — has been made possible by the show’s lessening importance to the industry.
But what do you think? Do you prefer your gaming announcements all conveniently packaged in the short span of a few convention days? Or are you enjoying this growing trend towards early announcements, and rather developers not put all their eggs in one basket?
July 14th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
How about this: http://www.infendo.com/wii/nintendo-announces-new-wii-motionplus-wiimote-attachment/#comment-47868
The Wii “MotionPlus” attachment, which adds extra functionality to the wii-remote, giving you a 1:1 movement experience. It has it’s ups and downs, but think of it as the “n64 Expansion pack” for the Wii. I’m sure the net will be rampant on information about it after the show, but I have to say I’m interested. Hopefully the first first-party title to need it will COME with it, much like the Balance Board, or the extra remote with Wii-play.