E3 2011: What to Expect When Your Expecting

The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is the biggest gaming exposition in the world and happens only once a year. In only two months time, the gaming community will get their first glimpses on brand new games, hardware, software, online services and all manners of gaming goodness. The speculation of what will be shown has already begun and it seems like they’ll be some pretty big announcements coming our way this June. So what should we expect from this year’s effort? What announcements will we hear? What surprises are in store? What will be the focus of the ‘Big 3’ (Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo)? And most importantly of all, will this show live up to the seemingly insurmountable hype?

Let us see….

Sony

Priding itself in having the most technologically powerful gaming system on the market (the Playstation 3), Sony tends to focus its E3 press conferences on how it will outdo its competition from a power standpoint and this year looks to be no different. A new handheld console (the NGP), 3D games and the most accurate motion controller on the market (Playstation Move) will no doubt be the centre-points of this year’s monstrous effort. The NGP in particular will most likely be the main attraction and Sony are going to give everything they have to make sure that the successor to the ill-fated PSP ends up stealing the show. With Nintendo about to unveil its next home console, the chances of the NGP being the most talked about thing on the show floor is slim to none. But at the very least, Sony are going to give everything short of selling their left nut to make sure that by the time the show is over, people will be saving their shiny little pennies for a chance to play that sweet, sweet hunk of Sony hand-tech.

Son'y NGP will get an official name, release date and price point at this year's show.

As for 3D and Move, expect almost every Playstation 3 game to be “3D enabled” and with Move compatibility of some sought or another. Also expect to hear a lot of Sony execs proclaim that the best way to play the upcoming third party titles (such as the inevitable next entry in the Call of Duty franchise) is with the Move controller and that all other platforms can go and suck it…..(ok maybe they won’t say that last bit).

But what of first-party exclusives? We already know of the absolutely amazing looking ‘The Last Guardian’ by the legends at Team Ico, but what else can we expect? Along with a boat load of first-party NGP titles, expect to announcements of the next God of War, Warhawk (remember that game?) and quite possibly the unveiling of the much rumoured Metal Gear Solid 5.

Microsoft

Microsoft is probably going to have the toughest challenge this year as, unlike it’s competition, it has no new consoles to announce (that we know of at least). Instead, Microsoft will undoubtingly focus its conference (yet again) on its gangbuster selling motion controller, the Kinect. We’ll no doubt hear about how great it is and how it’s sold a bazillion units since its launch late last year (5 bazillion units to be exact) but we can also expect to hear much about the coveted “second wave” of games for the system. You see, launch titles of new consoles or peripherals tend to be pretty sucky (as was plainly obvious by the Kinect’s line-up of silly body-jiggling “sports” ventures) and so it’s the second wave that tends to showcase just what kind of mettle a new system is made of.

Less of this, please.

Attempting to show that Kinect is something for both the ‘core’ gaming audience as well as the casual, expect to see motion controlled versions of franchise favourites such as Gears of War and perhaps even Halo. Speaking of which, the first attempt at the Halo series by newly established studio 343 Industries may very well be on display at Microsoft’s conference. In all honesty, I hope this doesn’t end up being the case. I love Halo but I think it’s time to give that series a rest for at least the next couple of years. Having said that, Halo is Microsoft’s cash-cow and the chances of them not putting out a new Halo anytime soon are about the same as hearing Nintendo announce  ‘Super Mario Bros.: Mushrooms and Hoes’ as the newest title in their coveted franchise

Nintendo

Speaking of Nintendo, the gold standard of E3 announcements will be made this year by none other then this age-old publisher; that being, the next gen home-console announcement. That’s right, Nintendo aren’t lying on their Wii-enriched laurels any longer and are moving on with their next home console effort which is currently going under the codename Project Café. Project Café has to be one of the worst kept secrets in gaming history as we already know quite a lot of the specifics of what is sure to be another huge sales hit for Nintendo. From a technological standpoint, the console is supposedly even more powerful then the PS3 and Xbox 360, will support 1080p high definition and will come complete with a more traditional hand-held controller (thank God). Most interesting of all is that this all-new controller will feature some kind of touch screen tablet harboured right in the middle of it which may include the ability to ‘stream’ games from the console right to the controller. How exactly that is all going to work I’m not sure but there’s no doubt that this new console is the most exciting thing going down at this year’s show.

Could this be what the controller for Project Cafe will look like?

While ‘Project  Café’ will be the focus of Nintendo’s press conference, we should also expect to hear more about what’s next for the 3DS. Just like Xbox’s Kinect, the 3DS will soon be receiving its “second wave” of gaming titles which will no doubt be showcased on stage as well as on the show floor. Games such as Super Mario 3DS (rumoured to be a hybrid of Super Mario 64’s 3D style with old school 2D Mario side scrolling) and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3DS remake will be on full display along with new instalments of other Nintendo staples. But what about the little ol’ Wii? The console which firmly re-established Nintendo as the most successful game publisher in the world must surely warrant some kind of attention, right? All I can say is they bloody well better had because right now my Wii is little more then a rather expensive and technologically impressive paper weight. I’m sure we’ll see The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword presented on stage again (hopefully without the technical glitches this time around) but what about brand new IP’s? Is it to much to ask for something non Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong or Metroid related? I hope not, because Nintendo is in desperate need of a refurbishment in the software department and this is their opportunity to show that they are more then just a four-franchise pony.

Other Thoughts

If there’s one thing that seems almost certain about this year’s show it’s that it should be a heck of a lot better then last years mediocre effort. Sony’s 2010 conference was a completely unfocused mess, Microsoft’s was a display in boring motion controlled casual titles and Nintendo’s featured new editions of stale franchises and the mere promise that their 3D enabled handheld would actually work. I know I’m sounding negative here but I really feel that the ‘Big 3’ can do so much better then the fairly lacklustre approach of last year’s show. I don’t expect a new console announcement every year or anything like that but what I do expect is for each publisher to deliver a focused, well-presented exhibition that feature original, good quality titles that actually make me want to spend the $90 in order to play. Gaming isn’t a cheap hobby and if Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo want me to continue to fork out mountain loads of cash for their products then all I ask in return is to for them to show me something worthy enough to warrant such an investment.

With all of that said, I am truly looking forward to this year’s show and believe it will live up to the enormous hype laid before it. If you’ve never followed an E3 before and are interested in seeing the many conferences, announcements and gaming media galore then I suggest going to IGN or Gamespot who usually feature a ton of videos and images from the show. Just don’t watch any of their E3 analysis because, well, it’s terrible. For that I suggest going to Gamecritics.com instead. They do a fantastic job of giving objective, non-fanboyish analysis on all things gaming and their E3 podcasts are always intricate and thoroughly entertaining.

Enough with the cheap plugs already!

Now go watch E3!

Film Review - Thor

3 and ½ out of 5 Stars

Marvel Comic’s ‘Thor’ is perhaps the biggest character in Marvel’s line up to have never received the live action film treatment…….until now. Opening this week is the brand spanking new adaptation directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring relative new comer Chris Hemsworth as the God of Thunder Thor and Tom Hiddlestone as the villainous God of Mischief, Loki.

The film centres on the Gods of Asgard, a civilisation of intergalactic beings with tremendous power and the ability to travel between their homeworld and nine other realms with the use of incredibly advanced technology. Chief among the Asgardians is Thor, the heir to the throne of Asgard and one of its most powerful and respected warriors. After inciting a war with Asgard’s mortal enemies, the Frost Giants, the arrogant and ego-driven Thor is stripped of his powers and cast out of Asgard; forced to live a life as a mortal being on the planet Earth. As Thor attempts to regain his God-like abilities, the forces of evil, led by Thor’s half-brother Loki, make their play for Asgard and the almighty power that lies within it.

While not in the quite in the league of ‘The Dark Knight’ or ‘Iron Man’, ‘Thor’ is still one of the more enjoyable comic book adaptations to come out over the past ten years. It has almost everything you want from a film of this sought: big action, powerful characters, a fantastical story and a few laughs thrown in for good measure. It also greatly succeeds as an adaptation; being true to the spirit of the comic book’s characters and story whilst simultaneously bringing a fresh, science-fiction style approach to the presentation. Here, the magical abilities of the Asgardians (such as Thor’s storm controlling hammer, Mjolnir) are the result of their advanced, alien technology. As Thor makes clear in the film, on Asgard, science and magic are “one and the same”. The filmmakers made this change primarily so the character could “blend in” a little easier with the more science-based heroes such as Iron Man and Hulk. After all, Thor is scheduled to appear in the upcoming ‘Avengers’ adaptation and the thought of having an actual God amongst the line up of more grounded superheroes may be a little difficult for the average film-goer to accept. As a Marvel comic book reader and fan of this character in particular, I personally loved this change. Something about it just seemed…….right. It was so right in fact that I found myself wondering why the science fiction explanation hadn’t been used in the modern line of ‘Thor’ comic books. I know a lot of hardcore fanboys (and girls) will whinge about this alteration (after all, that’s what they’re best at) but I personally felt this to be a welcome change and I’m happy that they went in this particular direction.

As far as the acting goes, ‘Thor’ features quite a few standout performances from a range of well known and not-quite-so-well known actors. I was particularly impressed with Chris Hemsworth’s portrayal of the film’s titular character. At 6 foot 3 and with a physique that made my ego shrivel up and go cry in the corner, I didn’t need to suspend much of my disbelief to conceive of Hemsworth as an almighty, Asgardian God. He has great presence on screen and his chemistry with Natalie Portman (playing love interest Jane Foster) was one of the film’s many highlights. Of course, I’d be remiss if I failed to bring up Anthony Hopkins as the King of Asgard, Odin. He’s absolutely perfect for the role and his legendary presence is undeniable. I only wished we’d seen more of him in the film’s 2 hour long running time.

Of course, ‘Thor’ does have a couple of small weak points that prevent it from being a member of the comic book adaptation elite. Chief amongst them is the action and the fact that, well, we don’t get a whole lot of it. The film is undoubtingly at its best with Thor in full flight; annihilating foes left and right with the swing of his hammer and devastating the forces of evil with his God like powers. Unfortunately, scenes like these are few and far between. Thor is ‘depowered’ for the majority of the movie and although the filmmakers do a great job of pushing the story of a powerless Thor forward, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed that we didn’t get a little more in the action department. Additionally, while the character’s of Thor, Loki and Jane Foster are all well developed, the characters of Sif and The Warriors Three are fairly underdeveloped. I understand that they only had 2 hours to establish the fantastical world of Thor and to tell a story filled with characters and creatures that require lengthy introductions and explanations but I still would of liked to have seen these characters ‘fleshed out’ a little more. Another small complaint I have regards the casting of Volstagg, played here by ‘Punisher: War Zone’ star Ray Stevenson. While I have no problem with Ray Stevenson as an actor, he simply doesn’t suit the part of Volstagg; a character best known for his voluminous appearance. I don’t quite understand why they couldn’t have just cast an actual obese actor as opposed to hiring the fairly fit Stevenson and simply stuffing his costume with padding. Still, the good thing about all of these complaints is that they are all easily rectifiable. If (or should I say when) the studio does decide to make a Thor sequel, most of these complaints could (and probably will) be easily taken care of.

More then anything else, Kenneth Branagh’s adaption of ‘Thor’ is a fun, fantastical popcorn flick that anyone who enjoys big action adventure films should enjoy. It’s a great adaptation with some well done performances and with just enough drama and comedy to keep everyone entertained. Good job, Marvel Studios! I can’t wait for a sequel.