X-Men Begins

Hey there everyone. Sorry haven’t been posting lately. Lots of school and almost no time to write about stuffs. Its only now that I get to actually have time to actually update this. Before we begin though, without further ado, the new X-Men: First Class trailer:

Awesome stuff. Doesn’t sound like James McAvoy may have much of an accent, but it is there.

Few changes may soon come to Inside the Briefcase as I make sense of things. Don’t worry it will be for the best. And hopefully the ads won’t seem like a distraction, I know how that can go.

Now video game news. Recently Sony unveiled pictures of their new gaming peripheral the NGP. *cough*NeoGeoPocket*cough* But its just a prototype name so it isn’t the official name yet. Just think of it as the PSP 2 for now. Here are some official pictures:

This little picture reveals some new stuff, including new software and a mention of mobile support. It is said that there will be more than one version. The other includes Wi-Fi support. This is already sounding expensive… (pictures are from engadget if you didn’t see the logo by now)

Now here’s one taken in person. Oooo shiny…

Thumbsticks

Here’s the back. Touchpad consists of the circle, triangle, square, and x symbols. Wonder why…

Comes with a built in camera as well. PSP is sad.

More buttons. Apparently the photographer was desperately trying to find a UMD drive and is disappointed to find none at all; I assume.

And a USB port. The touch pad on the back is also apparently shiny.

Well, here’s a couple more things about this thing that they make announcements about:

Hardware and Software

• High-resolution, touch-sensitive OLED screen
• Built-in WiFi
• Wireless 3G connectivity
• Tilt-sensitive SIXAXIS (remember that?) controls
• Three-axis electronic compass
• Built-in GPS
• Front and back facing cameras
• Buttons: D-Pad (up, down, left, right), dual analog sticks (finally), action buttons (triangle, circle, X, square), shoulder buttons (left, right), start, select, volume controls, PS button, power button
• New LiveArea service and new application Near
• Built-in mic
• Built-in stereo speakers
• Capacitative multi-touch pad on back of the device

Read here for more specs and details.

Now what's to make of Sony’s new system? Well for one thing, expect this thing to be pretty freaking expensive. So many features. And I believe to be the wrong features that will not make it sell as much as they want to. Here’s why:

Do I want one? No. Not right away anyway. I expect it to be expensive. Way more than a 3DS right now. There’s also nothing really getting me excited or anything that will make me want this thing. It seems way too excessive. 2 touch pads?

This thing also sounds like a smaller iPad with two different models. Both that feature either mobile or Wi-Fi support. Do we even need the mobile support? One thing that really turns me off about this thing is the touch software it uses when you first start it up. It looks like a PSP knockoff with really bad software. Why would they make it that way? I also even doubt the capabilities it supposedly says it does. PS3 graphics? I have no doubt it will be simulated, but it isn’t actual PS3 graphics. That’s BS on Sony’s part for making sound better than it is.

Sure it looks nice, but I’m afraid it may just become another PSP. Like mine. Gathering dust. Rarely played. And is mostly used for old PlayStation games. Unless I see something groundbreaking; No, thank you Sony.

In other news, hackers continue to make Kinect a lot better than what Microsoft did with it (Warning: Video contains footage from Dead Space 2, you may be scared and see spoilers):

Update: E3 2010 Day 2: Nintendo Pwns and Sony Sucks Again

There’s nothing I can say that can really explain how epic and awesome Nintendo’s conference was. At the top of the list the two most awesome things announced and shown where these two:

Its here and works beautifully (not seamlessly though, I’ll explain further).

Yay! New Zelda Wii game!

See two things to get excited about already. Nintendo was full of surprises. You can say Nintendo won E3 overall. Just about every single thing they announced needed some kind of cheer and applause. The 3DS presentation was one for the ages. Nintendo always comes up with clever stuff, no matter how silly it is. The same can be said for the 3DS trailers that were shown. The 3D was simulated since 3D can’t be shown again when recorded. Its like one of those things you can only see in person. You can view more pics here. Details as follows:

· 3D Switch Button (in case nausea may and probably will kick in)

· 3 Cameras, 2 up front, for 3D pictures, and one at the front for the regular 2D pictures. I assure you it won’t be used as much.

· Analog Stick, also used as a Slide Pad (As shown in this Metal Gear Solid 3DS trailer, yep getting a Metal Gear game too)

· A touch screen they kept utilized in the system

· And possible touch Home, Start, and Select buttons

· And of course the 3D [wide] screen using some kind of black magic

I seriously wish I could see the 3D. There’s no image or video that can show what those people are seeing exactly. It’s some sort of new unique 3D system that’s being used there. Some awesome witchcraft there.

The first game to be announced for the 3DS was this:

Kid Icarus finally returns. Guess there was good reason to wait so long for a new game to appear. And for the new 3DS system which is nice. An appropriate greeting as well. And dude, that’s 3DS gameplay? That is high quality stuff there.

Before this was the Zelda Wii announcement. I thought 3DS was bigger in a way. But Zelda was also awesome.

Mr. Miyamoto-san explains the game (by video and somehow being dubbed much like a Japanese movie), but instead hands it off to a presenter, who sucks:

And then Mr. Miyamoto makes an appearance! Epic stuff here.

Now for more announcements. Tons of Nintendo games were announced. I aint kidding, take a look:

Another Wii party game, with a literal name this time. And somehow this American Family understands Kanji.

Goldeneye was also officially announced. You can see the leaked yet HQ trailer in the previous post. Now time for some Epic Mickey footage. Man, I can’t get enough of Epic Mickey either:

And some gameplay:

Awesome, just awesome. In the gameplay you will notice the cutscenes are different from the gameplay. Its quite beautifully drawn and is meant to be the way it is. Its a nice touch to a great looking Disney game. This will be on my buy list for sure.

Now here come some surprises. A really great secret Nintendo has kept is the next Kirby game. The trailer, also epic, explains all:

A painfully cute game. What's this?! Another surprise!?:

I totally didn’t see this coming. Jesus, things like this really take the wind out of you when you see so much epicness in one sitting. A slew of 3DS games were announced to make an appearance, although they may not be launch titles. The most important include: Resident Evil: Revelations, Kingdom Hearts 3D, Street Fighter IV, and Metal Gear Solid Franchise. More epic stuff. A Nintendogs for the 3DS was announced, and +Cats. Because they just go well together don’t they? You could also watch Hollywood movies on the 3DS, in 3D! Clever. Before the show was over a surprise has arisen. A ton of girls appeared with 3DS’ were attached to themselves and were going to about each person in the room so that they can preview the 3DS for themselves. Oh, lucky people….

That was it for the Nintendo Conference. Sony was, well, only about a couple of things were worth mentioning. Sony may soon abandon the PSP as the only title announced was Patapon 3. Very disappointing. What was surprising was this:

Why Valve, why? Can’t you see how much Microsoft (kinda) and Nintendo is kicking so much Sony ass right now? I mean, its cool, but why can’t the Xbox 360 get some Portal cube hearts….

Playstation Plus was also somewhat of a surprise. It was rumored Playstation would get a kind of Xbox Live service, and they did and its worse than Xbox Live. Oh, how low can one system sink? Its only going to get worse. The service for a year is $49.99, and 3 months is $17.99 (Xbox live is cheaper). Apparently you get tons of free content and discounts on stuff, but if people pay, more things will be PSPlus exclusive. It will get worse I can guarantee that. And I also heard that the DLC you buy with Plus is only available as long as you have the subscription. Come again? Even Xbox Live doesn’t pull that crap. Yep, online will soon be no longer free. What a sad day for Sony. Its probably because of all the money they lost on PSP Go’s and PS3s. Well, new Xbox 360 it is.

Oh, and this was announced:

Killzone 3 was also shown in 3D. And there’s not much else worth mentioning. Sorcery did look a bit promising, not enough to entice the Playstation Move on me though. Kevin Butler, Playstation’s Human Mascot, made an appearance which was the only epic thing seen in the whole show. His speech was impressive. Take a look if you wish. I understand if you hate him though. You can either like him or hate him:

I especially like the zingers he makes towards Microsoft. They had it coming.

That’s it for Sony. Like I said, disappointing and just a bit horrible. Nintendo recently made some new announcements which include new 3DS games. And they are remakes of old Nintendo 64 games! More awesome stuff.

Starfox re-returns! Also take note, this is a demo. Yes this is being played at E3 as we speak. Not sure if that’s all the touch screen will be used for, I certainly hope not, but still a remake is still awesome. More screens here.

This is more of a rumor than an announcement, but holy crap! Its Zelda: Ocarina of Time remade for the 3DS! Kotaku explains it was found when rummaging around Nintendo’s E3 site.

And here are the rest. First pic is Paper Mario 3DS, Mario Kart 3DS, and Pilot Wings for the 3DS. Finally, since Wii never got it, I might as well settle for the 3DS to get Pilot Wings.Pikmin is till making its way for the Wii, but apparently wasn’t E3 ready. Well, thank you Nintendo, for giving us the future. Sony…I can’t even look at you anymore. For shame.

Time for a shiny new Marvel vs. Capcom 3: FTW trailer:

E3 2009: Part 3 - Sony Conference

As E3 is slowly winding down here is whats covered so far for my E3 blog watch:

Microsoft Conference

Nintendo Conference

Now we continue on with Sony's E3 conference with whats to come:

I have to be honest, I am not the fan of Playstation I was when Playstation 2 was on top of the game. There were a few things that impressed me at Sony's conference that peaked my interest, but its not making me buy a Playstation 3 right away. Here's a few reasons why: It lost 2 major video games; Final Fantasy series and Metal Gear Series to Xbox 360. It basically copied Project Natal and Nintendo Wii's Wiimote and put then together, which didn't impress me at all. Here's the Conference Clip:

I mean look at the thing, it looks like both Natal and Wiimote combined. Think about it, your going way beyond Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report" with Project Natal. Also when I saw the graffiti demo, I thought, they copied Wii. Wii is developing something similar and better called WiiSpray. The motion controller is quite odd with the sphere on top. I think that was the early design of Xbox's GameTrak controller as well. All copied stuff here Sony.

Lets see, I'm no Uncharted fan, but this is basically Gears of War and Far Cry mixed of the PS3. But what I really liked out of the whole conference was the introduction of MAG. What this monster lets you do is play up to 256 players online. I heard of this, but passed it thinking it was impossible. I was blown away:

After that theres some Hanna Montana PSP bundle coming, how lame. Now is the time when the worst-kept secret of E3 is revealed: The PSP GO. I'm serious they even name it that. They say it won't kill the PSP-3000 nor the UMD; it will someday. Here's a small pic of the new PSP. Its more than 50% smaller and 40% lighter than the PSP-3000. Here are some of the specs:

• 16 GB of Internal Flash Memory
• Integrated Bluetooth
• No UMD Drive

And thats all thats known so far. Also a new PC application is made avalible today called Media Go, which is supposed to make things easier from their previous Media organizer. Also something called Sense Me is coming to PS3 and PSP to generate Playlists for you. PSP Go will be out October 1st for as much as a Wii which is $249.99. I'm getting a PSP-3000...

Gran Turismo PSP is previewed, how long ago was that announced? Anyways a new Metal Gear Solid Game was announce which looks promising. Its called Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for the PSP, and whats this? 4 Snakes!?:

That was cool. Also a Resident Evil Portable is announced, when will it come out? That is unknown so far. New PSOne classics are hitting the store to play on PSP and PS3 including Final Fantasy VII, finally!

Another Final Fantasy is also announced which is said to be online, and skipping a bunch of unimportant stuff we come to Mod Nation Racers which looks really cool:

Now a new Team ICO game is announced which is like a cross of ICO with Shadow of Colossus:

Its also a cross of "The Neverending Story's" Falkor and "Where the Wild Things Are".

Now to the last of the event; God of War III which is stated to be the last of the trilogy; its not:

You can continue to watch the Gameplay after the video ends by clicking the next part. Well, not sure what else to say. Metal Gear Arcade was also announced and 2 things I noticed was missing was the Zune HD and the PS3 slim. I would like to know more about the Zune HD and wither PS3 slim is real. Not sure what else still needs to be announced, but just in case if it needs a post I will update it here.