Warp Zoned Presents
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Most Recent: PS3
Sony @ E3 12: Wonderbook is a new AR for your living room
Dust off your PlayStation Eye: Sony announced Wonderbook, an interesting augment reality experience for your living room. Andrew House came onstage to announce this strange and innovative new product. It’s a physical book that has AR capability, and it actually looks pretty darn neat. Moonbot Studios is working on the first Wonderbook, Diggs Nghtcrawler, inspired by film noir.
House also announced that J.K. Rowling will be working with Sony. The first book will be called Wonderbook: Book of Spells. Sony will be developing a relationship with Pottermore, Rowling’s massive online presence.
Sony then went on to demo Wonderbook right then and there. The crowd seemed very quiet – either surprised at being, well, surprised, or simply unsure about the product in general. At least, that’s how I was feeling. The demo itself was a little buggy – one of the spellcasters couldn’t quite get her spell to work perfectly. All in all, this seems like some pretty good stuff aimed at kids… and rabid Harry Potter fans.
Posted in News, PS3
Tagged Diggs Nghtcrawler, E3 2012, Wonderbook: Book of Spells
Sony @ E3 12: Far Cry 3 will have four-player co-op
Dan Hay has been a busy man today. He came out on stage at the Sony press conference to announce that the team at Ubisoft wasn’t just working on one Farcry game, but rather they were working on two. He then dropped a bomb on the crowd: Far Cry 3 will have four-player co-op. There’s a dedicated four-player campaign, and, of course, a map editor.
It looks beautiful in co-op, but I’m confused. At its heart, the Farcry games are based around isolationism and paranoia. While you did have your buddies in Far Cry 2, there was really no one you could trust. How are they going to overcome an environment they’ve worked so hard to build and maintain?
Sony @ E3 12: Assassin’s Creed III lets you captain a ship… seriously
Although I’ve already seen a lot of Assassin’s Creed III today, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Ubisoft had more surprises in store for us. You can captain your own ship, which is as awesome as it sounds. You are in control of navigation and weaponry, sailing into the high seas and attacking other ships. The weather is generative, so at any moment, a storm can break out, and with it heaving seas.
But there’s more. Once you cripple another ship, you can board them and begin melee combat. I know you’re here assassin!
Jack Tretton then came out to announce the exclusivity: there’ll be a new PlayStation 3 hardware bundle with a console, the game, and exclusive DLC for the game.
Posted in News, PS3
Tagged Assassin's Creed III, E3 2012
Sony @ E3 12: Quantic Dream brings out its new game, Beyond
David Cage came out on stage during the Sony press conference, making a lot of gamers happy (myself included). The new title, Beyond: Two Souls, touches on the spiritual. Cage went on to talk about what happens after death, and the game’s main character, Jody Holmes. The game will follow her for 15 years, and she is being played by Ellen Page.
They showed a scene from the game in real time. The scene had Jody in a cop’s office, silent and frightened and refusing to answer his questions. It started out slowly, but then changed into the supernatural, with a coffee cup smashing into the wall, and the cop leaving. Once she was alone, she said “they are coming,” and a SWAT team appeared. After that quick demo, there was a trailer for the game, which just had more clips of Jody fighting, riding a motorcycle, and things blowing up.
Heavy Rain was one of my favorite games on the PlayStation 3, so I’m excited to see what this game has in store for us.
Posted in News, PS3
Tagged Beyond: Two Souls, E3 2012
Ubisoft @ E3 12: Assassin’s Creed III is a revolution
Ah, the moment everyone was waiting for: a beautiful trailer for Assassin’s Creed III. The assassin ran through the camp, took a horse, rode it into the middle of battle, then single-handedly (and with much finesse) took out a bunch of British soldiers. He took out his quarry – viciously, as always – bringing a smile to Washington’s face.
Francois Pelland, producer, came onstage after the trailer to give a live demo. Running through the New England woods in winter, climbing and leaping from tree to tree – the gracefulness translates beautifully here. But the first battle was against wolves, who come after you when you kill a deer. Not very exciting, but certainly successful in immersing you in this time period new to the franchise. When the player returns to the camp, it’s clear that he was on a fetch quest, and that there are a plethora of these available.
And then came the real combat, which was as amazing as can be expected. After stringing one soldier up, he grabbed another and used him as a shield against the enemies’ bullets, then danced among the rest with his axe. The assassination goes off beautifully, with the same familiar gameplay and cinematics we’ve all grown to love.
Pelland explained afterwards that the true enemy in this game – and in all games in this franchise – have always been the Templar. Don’t get caught up in seeing the British as the enemy, but rather keep the real focus in mind. And don’t be afraid to kill whatever gets in your way – whether it has two legs or four.
Ubisoft @ E3 12: Far Cry 3 is full of insanity
Ubisoft started it off with a bang – “hot girls” dancing to Just Dance 4, and then the Far Cry 3 cinematic starting out with a topless savage lady. They did eventually get to some gameplay, after showing more of the stunning graphics.
Dan Hay, producer, and Jamie Kean, lead game designer, were on hand, playing the demo and explaining some of the background. We saw yet another bow and arrow, too, making this the third game – after Tomb Raider and Crysis 3 – to sport one.
It may seem like just another shooter, but then everything starts to get a little trippy. This is unsurprising with this franchise, especially after the strange voodoo-esque native intro scene. The second game was a little dry for my taste (I didn’t really want to play through Apocalypse Now, thanks very much), but I think this game may have sparked my interest.
Hay also talked about the expansiveness of this open world game, saying you have an entire archipelago of islands to explore – and that’s just in the single-player campaign.
Far Cry 3 will be released on September 4.
EA @ E3 12: Crytek brings the awesome with Crysis 3 gameplay
It’s been a pretty good press conference day so far, with EA rounding out its conference with some sweet gameplay of Crysis 3. It’s time to slip back into your Nanosuit and get busy wrecking things! There’s no time for a manual override of a piece of equipment? Stomp it up – what else is your suit good for? Oh, right – turning invisible, jumping up onto a roof of a building, and just generally running around and blowing things up. Same old Crysis.
Of course, there’s the same old talk about the urban jungle, which comes out when Prophet pulls out his, um, insanely high tech bow and arrow and shoots down a helicopter. Wow. It’s still over a year away, but I have to say I’m pleased with what they’ve got so far.
EA @ E3 12: Need For Speed: Most Wanted coming in October
Criterion has just left the stage at EA’s E3 2012 Press Conference where they showed off Need For Speed: Most Wanted, their open-world take on one of “the best games in the franchise.”
Need For Speed: Most Wanted will be available on October 30 for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.