- Nintendo was the only console manufacturer whose press conference I could get into. I've already blogged about the problems others allegedly had getting in to Sony's conference, and I hear that invites for Microsoft's big press party were limited to only a few people from a few publications (though anyone with MTV got all the basic info.). Nintendo's seemed comparatively easy to enter -- give a business card, get a blue ticket for your swag (more on this later) and go on in, no need to even check against a list. Does this speak to Nintendo's comparatively more desperate need for coverage compared to the other two console makers?
- The conference itself started at 9:47 a.m., long after the 9 a.m. planned start time and even after an announcer said it would start "in five minutes" at 9:25. Announcements from the fire marshall explained that the delay was to make sure a clear path was available through the standing room only crowd in case of a disaster. I have to say, even after the throngs were moved closer to the walls, I felt that if a fire broke out, we were all doomed.
- The conference started out with some nice talk about Nintendo's history and philosophy from Nintendo marketing head Reggie Fils-Aime. Reggie had some fighting words for Sony in regards to the PSP vs. DS battle, but nothing nearing the infamous "kicking ass and taking names" line that introduced him to the world at last year's conference (more on that in a later post, I hope).
- The Elektroplankton demo was very impressive, but upon reflection, Nintendo's claim that every bit of sound there came directly from the game was a little suspect. I wonder exactly how much of that performance was actually running on the DS and how fooled the gathered press was by all the razzle dazzle (my guess for both answers is "not much").
- Nintendo reiterated its previously announced relationship with GameSpy to provide online gameplay for Nintendo DS titles, making them the first media outlet mentioned in the press conference (but not the last). These sorts of mentions are one of the perks of being on both the editorial and infrastructure sides of the gaming industry, I suppose.
- Reggie stressed that Nintendogs got a perfect score from Famitsu. The audience remained reverently silent. Do most of these people know what Famitsu is? Do they know how hard it is to get a perfect score there? Do they care?
- Reggie also mentioned that the game has "the game blogs panting and slobbering," a reference no doubt to The Puppy Times. Does one blog constitute a groundswell of support? Have I missed all the other gaming blogs that have panted and slobbered for the game? Is this yet another sign that blogging about games is becoming a rising force in the media landscape? Discuss!
- The crowd seemed pretty stunned when the Revolution was actually shown. Guess they hadn't read their USA Today that morning.
- One brave soul actually booed when Nintendo revealed that the Revolution would have digital rights management support. A one-word editorial in a press conference where no skeptical questions or non-Nintendo opinions were given any voice. I love it!
- There was an audible sound of remorse from the audience when it was revealed that Nintendo wouldn't be showing the controller today. I think part of the appeal of these conferences for the press is being able to say you were there when this or that mega-announcement was made. Looks like we'll have to wait a little longer for this one.
- The crowd went a little crazy when Nintendo revealed that 20 years of old Nintendo games would be downloadable on the Revolution. First of all, this fact had already been revealed by USA Today for anyone who did some light morning web surfing, so the level of surprise was surprising. Secondly, it was near impossible to tell how much of this enthusiasm was real. Two people in Nintendo shirts were sitting behind me at the conference, whooping very loudly throughout the presentation, often at inopportune times. I talked to them after the conference was over and they confirmed that they were being paid by Nintendo (Nintendo of Canada, specifically) to sit there and cheer on their employers. From the sounds of it, other pockets of paid supporters were dotting the audience, trying to drum up support at key moments in the conference. It's a surprisingly effective strategy... if people are cheering all around you, it feels somewhat uncomfortable if you're not at least clapping or showing some sign of interest. In this way Nintendo can cause what might be a stoic, cynical audience to become a welcoming, cheering one for chump change. Then again, maybe the audience is just filled with enough Nintendo fanboys to achieve this effect anyway. But if that's the case, why were there paid supporters sitting right behind me?
- Near the end of the presentation, Nintendo's president Satoru Iwata told the assembled press that we could "begin to make educated guesses on game experiences" based on the limited information about revolution features given that day. Way to encourage baseless speculation, Nintendo. I think Nintendo is hoping the press' "educated guesses" will generate a lot of baseless hype for the Revolution based on features Nintendo didn't even have to come up with or deliver. So get guessing, everyone! I'll start you off: "Maybe the next Mario game will allow you to play all the levels of the previous game that you download, except now they'll be in full 3D and you can use all the items from all the games and the controller will smell like mushrooms." Your turn!
- Nintendo's show ended an hour after it started, and the assembled crowd rushed out to be the first to post their Zelda: Twilight Princess videos on eBay.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
AftEr3: Press Conference Ponderings
Speaking of Nintendo's press conference, this year's was the first major first-party E3 press conference that I have attended. Some thoughts on the experience.
AftEr3: Wood, Nintendo, and the G4 Marketing Machine
I'm back, and ready to blaze through all my notes and thoughts from E3.
First on the docket is G4's Tina Wood appearing at Nintendo's press conference. If you didn't witness this spectacle yourself, you can watch it on Gamespot. Tina is introduced about 23 minutes in by everyone's favorite cult of personality, Nintendo Chief Marketing Officer Reggie Fils-Aime. I'll let him speak for himself
"We thought maybe an outside perspective would help illustrate [Nintendogs], so we've given an advance copy of the U.S. version to Tina Wood, host of G[4]TV.com, the hit interactive show on G4 video game TV, and she joins us here today to put her puppy through its paces."
I'm pretty sure I made an audible gasp when I heard this announcement (this was drowned out by the Nintendo employees behind me whooping and hollering, but that's for another post). Wood proceeded to show off a dog she had made in the days before the conference and had the dog interact wirelessly with a Mario-hatted dog controlled by game creator Shigeru Miyamato.
Tina's appearance at the conference was probably attacked most vociferously by Brian Crecente of Kotaku, who wrote "it was sort of appropriate that the little affair wrapped up with Shigeru Miyamoto's dog fucking Tina Wood's." Wood defended the appearance on her own blog, writing "I did not do this to kiss the rears of Nintendo. I did it for the company I work for and am passionate about and the opportunity to work with a man I absolutely admire." Wood also mentioned that she did not get paid for her appearance.
Getting paid is not the issue here, though. The real question here is whether Wood herself, and G4 in general, want to be considered independent, journalistic entities or simply a part of the video game marketing behemoth. If it's the former, I think that letting Wood on this press conference is a mistake. Most of the gaming press was in the audience of this conference, reporting on the events instead of taking part in them. Generally, it is not the media's job to help a company make its pitch, and putting a major TV personality in that position doesn't help one's credibility. Even if Wood's participation didn't affect her opinions about Nintendo and its products, the mere appearance of a conflict to her audience should have been enough to give her pause if G4 wants to maintain a reputation of fair, balanced coverage of the video game race.
But that is a major assumption. I'm not sure that maintaining any sort of independence is G4's goal at all. I'm more inclined to believe that G4 is simply part of the game marketing machine, and anything they or any of their talent does should be taken with a large grain of salt.
Need evidence? Check out G4's press release section where they trumpet programming like "Nintendo DS Day," "Halo 2 Day" and "GTA TV," and programming promotions with GameFly and America's Army. Look at shows like Video Game Vixens and CinemaTech that show off game videos and characters with little to no intelligent commentary. Look at an interview with G4 founder/CEO Charles Hirschorn in the latest Game Informer in which he talks about G4 branching out to provide gaming services in addition to television programming. All of it points to an entity that wants to use its content mainly to help sell games rather than to analyze them.
This is not to say there's nothing worthwhile on G4, or that all of G4's content is totally controlled by advertisers. But moves like Wood's appearance at the Nintendo conference reinforce the impression I get that G4 as an entity is more interested in selling a lifestyle than in covering the business and art of gaming; more interested in providing entertainment than unbiased analysis; more interested in becoming Entertainment Tonight than the Hollywood Reporter.
First on the docket is G4's Tina Wood appearing at Nintendo's press conference. If you didn't witness this spectacle yourself, you can watch it on Gamespot. Tina is introduced about 23 minutes in by everyone's favorite cult of personality, Nintendo Chief Marketing Officer Reggie Fils-Aime. I'll let him speak for himself
"We thought maybe an outside perspective would help illustrate [Nintendogs], so we've given an advance copy of the U.S. version to Tina Wood, host of G[4]TV.com, the hit interactive show on G4 video game TV, and she joins us here today to put her puppy through its paces."
I'm pretty sure I made an audible gasp when I heard this announcement (this was drowned out by the Nintendo employees behind me whooping and hollering, but that's for another post). Wood proceeded to show off a dog she had made in the days before the conference and had the dog interact wirelessly with a Mario-hatted dog controlled by game creator Shigeru Miyamato.
Tina's appearance at the conference was probably attacked most vociferously by Brian Crecente of Kotaku, who wrote "it was sort of appropriate that the little affair wrapped up with Shigeru Miyamoto's dog fucking Tina Wood's." Wood defended the appearance on her own blog, writing "I did not do this to kiss the rears of Nintendo. I did it for the company I work for and am passionate about and the opportunity to work with a man I absolutely admire." Wood also mentioned that she did not get paid for her appearance.
Getting paid is not the issue here, though. The real question here is whether Wood herself, and G4 in general, want to be considered independent, journalistic entities or simply a part of the video game marketing behemoth. If it's the former, I think that letting Wood on this press conference is a mistake. Most of the gaming press was in the audience of this conference, reporting on the events instead of taking part in them. Generally, it is not the media's job to help a company make its pitch, and putting a major TV personality in that position doesn't help one's credibility. Even if Wood's participation didn't affect her opinions about Nintendo and its products, the mere appearance of a conflict to her audience should have been enough to give her pause if G4 wants to maintain a reputation of fair, balanced coverage of the video game race.
But that is a major assumption. I'm not sure that maintaining any sort of independence is G4's goal at all. I'm more inclined to believe that G4 is simply part of the game marketing machine, and anything they or any of their talent does should be taken with a large grain of salt.
Need evidence? Check out G4's press release section where they trumpet programming like "Nintendo DS Day," "Halo 2 Day" and "GTA TV," and programming promotions with GameFly and America's Army. Look at shows like Video Game Vixens and CinemaTech that show off game videos and characters with little to no intelligent commentary. Look at an interview with G4 founder/CEO Charles Hirschorn in the latest Game Informer in which he talks about G4 branching out to provide gaming services in addition to television programming. All of it points to an entity that wants to use its content mainly to help sell games rather than to analyze them.
This is not to say there's nothing worthwhile on G4, or that all of G4's content is totally controlled by advertisers. But moves like Wood's appearance at the Nintendo conference reinforce the impression I get that G4 as an entity is more interested in selling a lifestyle than in covering the business and art of gaming; more interested in providing entertainment than unbiased analysis; more interested in becoming Entertainment Tonight than the Hollywood Reporter.
Friday, May 27, 2005
We'll Be Back After This
Didja miss me?
Sorry for the long post-E3 quiet period. Between the show, the parties, writing for NPR and GameMethod (great guys, by the way), battling jet lag, making up for a week's worth of missed work at my day job, losing my home Internet connection temporarily, planning for Memorial day, and so forth, it has been a bit tough for me to get back into blogging. But I'm sure you've all been too busy with similar problems to even notice, right? Right!
I'll be diving back into the usual schedule in a big way next week with lots of outdated E3 commentary. Until then, there are plenty of other sites out there writing some great stuff. Go read one of them.
Sorry for the long post-E3 quiet period. Between the show, the parties, writing for NPR and GameMethod (great guys, by the way), battling jet lag, making up for a week's worth of missed work at my day job, losing my home Internet connection temporarily, planning for Memorial day, and so forth, it has been a bit tough for me to get back into blogging. But I'm sure you've all been too busy with similar problems to even notice, right? Right!
I'll be diving back into the usual schedule in a big way next week with lots of outdated E3 commentary. Until then, there are plenty of other sites out there writing some great stuff. Go read one of them.
Monday, May 23, 2005
The Swag Ratings
You might think that E3 is all about the games, but based on the bags full of stuff that everyone lugs back on their plane rides, that might be a little naive. It's really all about grabbing everything that isn't nailed down! Here's my unofficial ranking of E3 swag, broken down into general categories.
- Stuff related to games - Controllers, carrying cases, game demos, a Nintendo DS stylus, video cards -- they're cool and they ostensibly have to do with your job. Bonus! Sometimes these need to be won in contests
- USB memory sticks - Eminently useful, and they get bigger every year.
- Shirts/Hats - Stuff to wear to next year's E3.
- Toys/plush figures - Great for giving to annoying younger relatives, or using to decorate your desk.
- Bags - To hold all the stuff you're taking back home, of course.
- Posters/Post Cards - If you can get them home and find a place to put them up, I guess they're OK.
- Lanyards - Outside of E3, I can't think of the last time I used a lanyard.
- Buttons - If you can think of a situation where your Tony Hawk's Underground button will be appropriate to wear, I'd like to hear it.
- Press kits - Actual game information? Who cares?!
Thursday, May 19, 2005
E3 Journal: Scenes from Day 1
What a day. Between the running around meeting developers and playing games for GameMethod.com, I managed to take some notes on things of interest for VGO readers.
- A lot of game journalists no doubt started the day pissed when they found out that a power outage knocked out the media registration area, forcing those without their E3 badges to wait in lines of an hour or more in a big white tent outside. Not a good way to earn good will from the press.
- Yahoo Games! was one of the first booths I hit. They're offering some sort of hybrid service that offers games for download and also offers game writing content from partners like GameSpot and GameSpy, according to a PR person on the floor that may not have had a clue. The big media trend going into this year's E3 seems to be combining editorial and game content under one company roof. Much more on this when I have much more time.
- GameSpot's booth had a nice little glass-enclosed area where you could see all the people putting up a ridiculous amount of content during the show. I could almost envision a taskmaster walking around in there with a whip. "Post screenshots faster, worm!"
- I saw Adam Sessler of G4's X-Play, walking around the Nintendo booth this morning, talking about the new Game Boy Micro on camera. I tried to snap a picture, but a personal security guy stopped me and handed me a card with designated times when I could take his picture and get his signature. Forget that! I promptly took a few steps away and snapped some shots while he wasn't looking. You hear that, Sessler? Your goons don't scare me!
- Picked up the new Nintendo Power at a cubby today. Was excited to see it ever since finding the press release buried in yesterday's Nintendo media kit (they didn't even mention it at the press conference. Lame!) I like the new logo a lot, and the page layout reminds me a lot of Wired, which is a good thing. Haven't had a chance to really get into the new content yet... expect more on that when I have time to sit down and read through it (which might not be till my flight out of here).
- I also ran into Gabe from Penny Arcade at the Nintendo booth (at least I think it was Gabe. That was almost 24 hours and many drinks ago). We had a quick talk over some Mario Kart DS about how game PR and game journalism have a sort of symbiotic relationship that makes them almost indistinguishable. He seemed like a nice enough guy, and he pretended to know of me, so... yay.
- I got one of the last free media lunches being given out at 1:05 today. The roast beef was worth every penny I didn't spend. If you missed it yesterday, swing by room 105 above and to the right of West hall today between noon and one and show your media badge for some good, free grub courtesy of the ESA.
- Ironic moment #1: A sign at the door: "Due to increased security concerns, all badges must be scanned before entering." Of the four times I entered different halls today, my badge was only scanned once. At the end of the day, I just sauntered by without a guard even looking at me. I felt really secure.
- Ironic moment #2: Game Informer said they were giving out 35,000 issues during the show. Tips and Tricks said they gave out 10,000. The folks at the Ziff Davis booth at the end of the day had no idea how many magazines they had given out. Because really, who's going to ask?
- Ironic moment #3: I found a kid near the end of the show who admitted to being 15 when questioned. His dad was very nice about it, explaining that he is friends with one of the organizers. When I took a picture of him, as one of my contestants might, it came out blurry to see. Argh!
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
E3 Journal: Party Hard Party Hard Party Hard
When I got to the Golden Gopher at 6 p.m. sharp (yes, I'm a big nerd) no one else was there. By the time I left at 9 p.m., I had met roughly two dozen of the greatest game journalists around. Thanks to Adam Jacobson, Mike Musgrove, Marty Poulin, Joel Johnson, Brian Crecente, Tim Stevens, Amit Runchal and Alex, Colin Campbell, and everyone else who came out but didn't give me a business card to let me remember them in my half-asleep state (I know there's a few of you). Also a big thanks to Dave Thomas for pretty much setting up everything and making the cheesy IGJA sign at the bar. Biggest thanks to Bhu Srinivasan at Sports Gamer for making liars of us and giving $200 worth of free drinks to the guys who came out. Because of this generosity, we've all agreed not to force you out of business, as we were planning.
No thanks at all to anyone who knew about the party but didn't come. We'd better see you at the next "not an E3" party, tenatively scheduled for May 10, 2006.
No thanks at all to anyone who knew about the party but didn't come. We'd better see you at the next "not an E3" party, tenatively scheduled for May 10, 2006.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Quote of the E3 Moment
"We interrupt our regularly scheduled weekly newsletter to bring you this important announcement: 'AAAUUUGGGHHH! E3!'"
-From Gamespot's Weekly Newsletter
-From Gamespot's Weekly Newsletter
The Revolution is Broke!
Who broke it? USA Today's Steven Kent did, with a story in this morning's edition coming ahead of the 9 a.m. Pacific press conference. You may remember that Kent broke the story of the Nintendo DS for USA Today just over a year ago today. Hey, Nintendo... save some for the rest of us, huh?
The story includes a picture and some light details of online capabilities and backwards compatibility, but is a little light on details, some of which Nintendo will undoubtedly reveal in a few hours. I'll be there, attending my first first-party E3 press conference. Watch this space for my impressions as soon as possible.
The story includes a picture and some light details of online capabilities and backwards compatibility, but is a little light on details, some of which Nintendo will undoubtedly reveal in a few hours. I'll be there, attending my first first-party E3 press conference. Watch this space for my impressions as soon as possible.
Monday, May 16, 2005
Problematic Press Passes?
I've heard anecdotal evidence that the third time wasn't the charm for some members of the media who tried to get in to Sony's grand unveiling of the Playstation 3 this afternoon. Derek Signore, a member of the GameMethod team with whom I'll be covering the show, tells me approximately 100 to 200 people, including him, were turned away from the press conference despite receiving online confirmation for their attendance. It seems that members of the press who registered their spots a month or less before the conference were put on a standby list and had the most trouble getting in. Sony reportedly gave no advance warning that the conference was overbooked or that people would have problems getting in.
Some people who had problems, including another member of the GameMethod team, were able to use their contacts to join the approximately 2,100 who filled the 1,800 seating capacity sound stage. Still, Signore tells me that press from sources ranging from U.S. News and World Report to Gamespot were not allowed in. Many foreign press members were also reportedly turned away due to a lack of translators. A large group of the rejected reportedly gathered at the Starbucks across the street from Sony's Culver City Studios while the conference was going on.
To be clear, this is all based on anecdotal, hearsay evidence that I have made no effort to confirm. I myself didn't attend the conference, or see the lines of people turned away for myself. I'm just reporting what I'm hearing at this point. Have your own Sony press conference horror story? Want to report a general problem getting access to anyone at E3? Fill out a comment below or write me about it.
Some people who had problems, including another member of the GameMethod team, were able to use their contacts to join the approximately 2,100 who filled the 1,800 seating capacity sound stage. Still, Signore tells me that press from sources ranging from U.S. News and World Report to Gamespot were not allowed in. Many foreign press members were also reportedly turned away due to a lack of translators. A large group of the rejected reportedly gathered at the Starbucks across the street from Sony's Culver City Studios while the conference was going on.
To be clear, this is all based on anecdotal, hearsay evidence that I have made no effort to confirm. I myself didn't attend the conference, or see the lines of people turned away for myself. I'm just reporting what I'm hearing at this point. Have your own Sony press conference horror story? Want to report a general problem getting access to anyone at E3? Fill out a comment below or write me about it.
PrE3: The First Annual "Too Young for E3" Awards
For years, the ESA has been maintaining the myth that E3's no-one-under-18 rule is strictly enforced. Anyone who has been to an E3, though, knows that, there are always a few obvious minors running around the show floor, despite the ESA's best efforts. Anecdotal text reports of the phenomenon are wide-ranging, but photographic evidence doesn't seem as prevalent (one exception). It's time to change that.
If you see any young'uns at this year's show, snap a quick picture and send it to kyle.orland@gmail.com with the words "Too young for E3" in the subject. The person who takes the best photograph will win a strategy guide for XenoSaga Episode II which the good people at BradyGames were kind enough to send me. The best photos will themselves be featured on this blog after the show. Get your entries in by midnight on Sunday, May 22, or I'm not your friend anymore.
As a side-contest, also feel free to send in your best story of a person you know or meet at the show who is obviously not a member of the "industry," as it were. You know the type I'm talking about. They use their Gamestop-owning cousin to get them a pass. They buy tickets from departing attendees after day one. They make up fake companies and business cards to get their badge. They STAND IN FRONT OF YOU IN THE NEVER ENDING LINE TO SEE THE NEW ZELDA GAME GOD YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN BE HERE THIS IS A TRADE SHOW YOU'RE NOT IN THE INDUSTRY GO HOME ALREADY!
*cough*
Sorry about that. No prize for the best such story, but you'll sleep better knowing that you helped bring to light problems in the E3 admittance process. Photographic evidence of these attendees is also a plus. Good luck!
If you see any young'uns at this year's show, snap a quick picture and send it to kyle.orland@gmail.com with the words "Too young for E3" in the subject. The person who takes the best photograph will win a strategy guide for XenoSaga Episode II which the good people at BradyGames were kind enough to send me. The best photos will themselves be featured on this blog after the show. Get your entries in by midnight on Sunday, May 22, or I'm not your friend anymore.
As a side-contest, also feel free to send in your best story of a person you know or meet at the show who is obviously not a member of the "industry," as it were. You know the type I'm talking about. They use their Gamestop-owning cousin to get them a pass. They buy tickets from departing attendees after day one. They make up fake companies and business cards to get their badge. They STAND IN FRONT OF YOU IN THE NEVER ENDING LINE TO SEE THE NEW ZELDA GAME GOD YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN BE HERE THIS IS A TRADE SHOW YOU'RE NOT IN THE INDUSTRY GO HOME ALREADY!
*cough*
Sorry about that. No prize for the best such story, but you'll sleep better knowing that you helped bring to light problems in the E3 admittance process. Photographic evidence of these attendees is also a plus. Good luck!
PrE3: On the Road Again
As I write this, I'm roughly 38,000 feet over Albequerque, NM, making that annual trek to E3. At least three of my plane-mates are also going to the show -- one is attending his first E3 with Digital Entertainment News, the two others are using old Gateway credentials to sneak their way in (and stand in front of you in line for that game you have to play before deadline, no doubt). I've already seen five PSPs (not including mine), which is five more than I have seen outside of a store before today. If nothing else, this E3 has given me a chance to play some two-player Lumines for the first time, so it's alredy a qualified success.
Just because I'm in transit doesn't mean I'm not keeping up the world of game journalism, though. With an hour to kill in the airport this morning, I skimmed around an article entitled Fear and Loathing at E3 over at Defunct Games. While it doesn't quite hold up to comparison with the piece it draws its name from, it has still got some great tips for journalists attending the show.
I also picked up a copy of the latest Time magazine at an airport newsstand, lured by the sight of Bill Gates and the Xbox 360 on the cover. Indeed the cover story is all about Microsoft and the "hip ... killer app of video games" as the cover boldly proclaims. The sub-head on the article itself talks about how the new system "changed your living room forever" (note the past tense). These are some bold claims, considering the system is months from release and has yet to sell a single unit, or even show a playable demo to the general public.
Lev Grossman's relatively meaty eight-page article covers a lot of ground. It talks about the Xbox 360's hardware design and how un-Microsoft it is. It discusses what Microsoft is now calling "Digital Entertainment Lifestyle" and the business model of delivering all sorts of digital content to an online-enabled, one-stop, set-top, living-room box. It talks of the growing market for games and the need to attract new gamers. It even includes a great sidebar on how gaming is no longer limited to a nerdy niche and another on some of gaming's rising personalities, from Fatal1ty to Will Wright.
(It also has another sidebar, "From Geek to Chic..." on the history of games. The timeline fails to mention the NES but does note the seminal release of "Thrasher: Skate and Destroy" which, the timeline notes, was "the first game with an old-skool rap soundtrack." I'm sure we all remember where we were when this important event in gaming came to pass. To its credit, the timeline does mention Electronic Games, the first video game magazine, and pictures an issue with the now amusingly outdated headline "Can Asteroids conquer Space Invaders").
Where the article is most lacking is in describing exactly how the Xbox 360 will revolutionize actual games (and not the "digital entertainment ecosystem" as Microsoft refers to the rest of the system's functions). The article spends a good three paragraphs talking about the system's ability to crank out amazing graphics, making the somewhat dubious claim that "one reason games aren't considered art is because they don't look like art," in the process. It also claims that extra-detailed faces -- like those seen in The Godfather -- will "suddenly" be able to "emote," unlike the "blocky, too smooth cartoon faces" seen on current systems. Sounds a lot like Sony's lofty promises for the PS2's "emotion engine" to me.
The article does spend two pragraphs backing this up with a rather vivid description of Call of Duty 2. Supposedly, the new technology will make the game a "startling leap forward" over the original in terms of emotional impact. But it's not entirely clear where this decription is coming from -- whether Grossman was working from a video or a live demo of the game, or even if he was just repeating promises from Microsoft PR.
There's also some discrepancy in the reporting of Microsoft's current market position -- the text cites DFC intelligence for a 68/17/15 percentage split for Sony/MS/Nin (respectively) in the current North American market, but an acocmpanying graph cites NPD data showing a 56/25/19 split. By no means a small difference.
These are nitpicking complaints, though, for what is overall wide-ranging analysis of Microsoft's new system and its strengths and vulnerabilities in the next round of the console wars. It'll be interesting to see if and where Sony or Nintendo will pull off their own mainstream cover features.
Just because I'm in transit doesn't mean I'm not keeping up the world of game journalism, though. With an hour to kill in the airport this morning, I skimmed around an article entitled Fear and Loathing at E3 over at Defunct Games. While it doesn't quite hold up to comparison with the piece it draws its name from, it has still got some great tips for journalists attending the show.
I also picked up a copy of the latest Time magazine at an airport newsstand, lured by the sight of Bill Gates and the Xbox 360 on the cover. Indeed the cover story is all about Microsoft and the "hip ... killer app of video games" as the cover boldly proclaims. The sub-head on the article itself talks about how the new system "changed your living room forever" (note the past tense). These are some bold claims, considering the system is months from release and has yet to sell a single unit, or even show a playable demo to the general public.
Lev Grossman's relatively meaty eight-page article covers a lot of ground. It talks about the Xbox 360's hardware design and how un-Microsoft it is. It discusses what Microsoft is now calling "Digital Entertainment Lifestyle" and the business model of delivering all sorts of digital content to an online-enabled, one-stop, set-top, living-room box. It talks of the growing market for games and the need to attract new gamers. It even includes a great sidebar on how gaming is no longer limited to a nerdy niche and another on some of gaming's rising personalities, from Fatal1ty to Will Wright.
(It also has another sidebar, "From Geek to Chic..." on the history of games. The timeline fails to mention the NES but does note the seminal release of "Thrasher: Skate and Destroy" which, the timeline notes, was "the first game with an old-skool rap soundtrack." I'm sure we all remember where we were when this important event in gaming came to pass. To its credit, the timeline does mention Electronic Games, the first video game magazine, and pictures an issue with the now amusingly outdated headline "Can Asteroids conquer Space Invaders").
Where the article is most lacking is in describing exactly how the Xbox 360 will revolutionize actual games (and not the "digital entertainment ecosystem" as Microsoft refers to the rest of the system's functions). The article spends a good three paragraphs talking about the system's ability to crank out amazing graphics, making the somewhat dubious claim that "one reason games aren't considered art is because they don't look like art," in the process. It also claims that extra-detailed faces -- like those seen in The Godfather -- will "suddenly" be able to "emote," unlike the "blocky, too smooth cartoon faces" seen on current systems. Sounds a lot like Sony's lofty promises for the PS2's "emotion engine" to me.
The article does spend two pragraphs backing this up with a rather vivid description of Call of Duty 2. Supposedly, the new technology will make the game a "startling leap forward" over the original in terms of emotional impact. But it's not entirely clear where this decription is coming from -- whether Grossman was working from a video or a live demo of the game, or even if he was just repeating promises from Microsoft PR.
There's also some discrepancy in the reporting of Microsoft's current market position -- the text cites DFC intelligence for a 68/17/15 percentage split for Sony/MS/Nin (respectively) in the current North American market, but an acocmpanying graph cites NPD data showing a 56/25/19 split. By no means a small difference.
These are nitpicking complaints, though, for what is overall wide-ranging analysis of Microsoft's new system and its strengths and vulnerabilities in the next round of the console wars. It'll be interesting to see if and where Sony or Nintendo will pull off their own mainstream cover features.
Friday, May 13, 2005
A Chat Transcript, Maybe...
This is Kyle Orland, reminding you that this is not a transcript of last night's Xbox360 unveiling, no matter what SiliconVally.com says.
"Its official announcement at Thursday night's half-hour MTV "special" (transcript) confirmed much of the hype that prefigured its debut."
-From the Good Morning, Silicon Valley blog. Links are from original.
"Its official announcement at Thursday night's half-hour MTV "special" (transcript) confirmed much of the hype that prefigured its debut."
-From the Good Morning, Silicon Valley blog. Links are from original.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
My Favorite Xbox360 spec
From the Xbox/Xbox360 Comparison on Kotaku
Audio Channels
Xbox: 256
Xbox360: More than 256.
Because, really, how much difference is there between 257 and a million?
Audio Channels
Xbox: 256
Xbox360: More than 256.
Because, really, how much difference is there between 257 and a million?
Xbox360 MTV Premiere Not Quite LiveBlogging Adventures
Kyle Orland (9:08:41 PM): Hey there, Kyle Orland and Dan Dormer here, chilling out 20 minutes before the premiere of MTV's Xbox 360 presentation on MTV. Say hi, Dan.
Dan Dormer (9:09:12 PM): Howdy, all. I think we're in for a treat tonight.
Kyle Orland (9:09:28 PM): Right now I'm enjoying the Real World Road Rules Challenge
Kyle Orland (9:09:42 PM): A perfect lead-in for an Xbox show if I've ever seen one
Dan Dormer (9:11:34 PM): I suppose. A mediocre spin-off of a reality show leading into what will be, undoubtedly, a glorified advertisement. Similar to the massive amounts of Ford trucks in a 24 without commercial breaks. Except those are more intense, and invoke nail biting.
Kyle Orland (9:13:13 PM): Personally, I'll be looking to see just how much gameplay footage is shown tonight. If there isn't much, it could indicate a tough time making the November 2005 launch date.
Kyle Orland (9:13:39 PM): If there's more mindless celebrity prattle than gameplay...
Kyle Orland (9:14:06 PM): "The momentous event is almost here..." just saw an ad
Kyle Orland (9:14:25 PM): With a special performance by The Killers! They're no Motley Crue, but...
Dan Dormer (9:15:13 PM): Well, I believe that we're going to see: J Allard talk about the HD-Era, laughable size comparisons of Elijah Wood to the Xbox, and "enough" trailers and gameplay footage to hold the hardcore crowd over till Monday evening.
Kyle Orland (9:15:50 PM): Yeah, that's a good call. Will the footage be actual gameplay or pre-rendered trailers?
Kyle Orland (9:16:03 PM): And will the audience be able to tell which is which
Kyle Orland (9:16:06 PM): ?
Dan Dormer (9:17:02 PM): I think if we see any type of footage, it'll be pre-rendered. I don't know if a clear distinction will be made by the programmers, though. In fact, I highly doubt it.
Dan Dormer (9:18:00 PM): The only exception I could think of is Perfect Dark Zero. We might see playable action of that game. Of course, I could be completely off the mark here.
Kyle Orland (9:18:20 PM): Any predictions for number of mentions of Halo?
Dan Dormer (9:19:26 PM): I say 10 times, but that's if they don't ask celebrities what their favorite games are.
Kyle Orland (9:20:00 PM): We'll be sure to keep count.
Kyle Orland (9:20:57 PM): Ten minutes to go... we're gonna take a quick break to get ready and type it out live during the show. Our full conversation will be posted a little after 10, so be sure to come on back once the show's over. See you then.
*Time Passes*
(Note: My computer clock is slow, so there chat logs are about 4 minutes before real time)
Kyle Orland (9:26:21 PM): Here we go!
Dan Dormer (9:26:32 PM): Ah, they're pushing the ability to play over the world.
Kyle Orland (9:26:34 PM): Wow, there's a lot of girls in this montage.
Kyle Orland (9:26:40 PM): CHEERS! APPLAUSE!
Dan Dormer (9:26:49 PM): Elijah!
Kyle Orland (9:27:00 PM): Pro gamers are cool
Dan Dormer (9:27:08 PM): I heard there is a Lord of the Rings tie-in.
Kyle Orland (9:27:10 PM): That looked like perfect dark
Dan Dormer (9:27:24 PM): The Pimp My Ride guys... wow.
Kyle Orland (9:27:37 PM): What's an Elijah Wood appearance without a Lord of the Rings reference
Dan Dormer (9:27:41 PM): JS: BIG MOMENT!
Dan Dormer (9:27:50 PM): It's like he's Reggie without the Nintendo fans.
Kyle Orland (9:27:54 PM): Obligatory history! Whee!
Kyle Orland (9:28:04 PM): Did Pac man just eat Asteroids?
Dan Dormer (9:28:13 PM): I like recognizing the indie music they play in these shows. I've already heard some Bloc Party and Tegen and Sara.
Kyle Orland (9:28:26 PM): PlayStation 2 does not exist. History... revised!
Kyle Orland (9:28:42 PM): The future of gaming is a girl in a blue dress?
Dan Dormer (9:28:47 PM): The future of gaming is a girl with a bag?
Kyle Orland (9:28:57 PM): She's the Xbox! OMG!
Kyle Orland (9:29:01 PM): oh, there it is
Kyle Orland (9:29:05 PM): Looks familiar...
Kyle Orland (9:29:10 PM): Wonder where I've seen it before
Dan Dormer (9:29:13 PM): Okay, that's a little better. This is too much for my tastes, though.
Kyle Orland (9:29:16 PM): Oh yeah.... EVERY GAMING WEBSITE
Kyle Orland (9:29:25 PM): interconnectivity?
Kyle Orland (9:29:28 PM): is that a word?
Dan Dormer (9:29:30 PM): They're pushing the customization factor a lot.
Dan Dormer (9:29:40 PM): Possibly. We'll check after the show.
Kyle Orland (9:29:54 PM): Time for the Killers, so we can talk instead of watch.
Dan Dormer (9:30:01 PM): Wow, there are like no real transitions.
Kyle Orland (9:30:08 PM): Elijah lied... he said it was the first time we had seen the system.
Kyle Orland (9:30:13 PM): LIAR!
Dan Dormer (9:30:29 PM): Well, I did see Halo on one of the screens.
Kyle Orland (9:30:36 PM): Is this Killers video running on an Xbox?
Kyle Orland (9:31:00 PM): There's certainly enough unecessary effects
Dan Dormer (9:31:12 PM): It wouldn't be inconceivable.
Dan Dormer (9:31:20 PM): Oh, that's not the case.
Kyle Orland (9:31:34 PM): Nope, looks like they're live
Dan Dormer (9:31:40 PM): Indeed.
Kyle Orland (9:31:43 PM): So far, it's not quite as bad as Spike TV
Kyle Orland (9:32:03 PM): But I'm still waiting for any real information
Dan Dormer (9:32:14 PM): Well, I gathered three tidbits.
Dan Dormer (9:32:43 PM): Always connected, personalization, and always hi-def.
Kyle Orland (9:32:54 PM): Hi-def... Duh!
Kyle Orland (9:33:04 PM): The Killers are.... still... singing
Dan Dormer (9:33:12 PM): Well, it is in widescreen.
Dan Dormer (9:33:26 PM): Even this show is prepped for hi-def, looks like.
Dan Dormer (9:33:37 PM): LIL' JON: FREE XBOX, YEAH!
Kyle Orland (9:33:47 PM): Wow, that was like 5 seconds of gameplay clips
Kyle Orland (9:33:54 PM): They looked a lot like Xbox 1 games though
Kyle Orland (9:34:02 PM): commercial-within-a-commercial time
Dan Dormer (9:34:04 PM): Oh, have you seen this commercial?
Dan Dormer (9:34:15 PM): There's a cellphone exclusive category.
Kyle Orland (9:34:19 PM): No I haven't... best VG based on a movie, eh?
Dan Dormer (9:34:24 PM): Yeah.
Kyle Orland (9:34:34 PM): wait, what's this?
Dan Dormer (9:34:37 PM): Does this count as a Halo mention?
Kyle Orland (9:34:40 PM): Samsung is pimping the Box!
Dan Dormer (9:34:45 PM): Because they were using the music.
Kyle Orland (9:35:02 PM): Not quite
Dan Dormer (9:35:09 PM): Ah, too bad.
Kyle Orland (9:35:24 PM): At this rate, the half hour's gonna be over and we will know next to nothing
Kyle Orland (9:35:33 PM): Maybe we should just read Kotaku's exclusive.
Dan Dormer (9:36:22 PM): I like the new look of the unit.
Kyle Orland (9:36:30 PM): Just kidding... what kind of mindless media consumers would we be then?
Kyle Orland (9:36:45 PM): Yeah, very sleek
Kyle Orland (9:36:59 PM): Not as boxy
Kyle Orland (9:37:11 PM): But I've thought that for weeks now
Kyle Orland (9:37:24 PM): We're back!
Kyle Orland (9:37:31 PM): Oh, no, another Samsung commercial
Dan Dormer (9:37:34 PM): No, not yet.
Kyle Orland (9:37:48 PM): Showing HDTV's on regular TVs never seemed to smart to me
Dan Dormer (9:37:51 PM): Will my Xbox 360 only work with a hi-def TV from Samsung?
Kyle Orland (9:37:53 PM): You can't tell how good it looks!
Dan Dormer (9:38:15 PM): And we're back.
Kyle Orland (9:38:17 PM): Samsung would like you to believe that
Kyle Orland (9:38:37 PM): Tony Hawk on Xbox Live... that's big
Dan Dormer (9:38:43 PM): American Wasteland - finally on Xbox Live!
Dan Dormer (9:38:49 PM): Tiger Wood's golf - nice render.
Kyle Orland (9:38:54 PM): Tiger Woods... looks OK
Dan Dormer (9:39:08 PM): Need for Speed, Madden - more renders.
Kyle Orland (9:39:12 PM): Most likely
Dan Dormer (9:39:19 PM): SWAY: THE HOLY GRAIL OF GAMING!
Kyle Orland (9:39:20 PM): Hard to tell for sure, but it doesn't look like real gameplay
Kyle Orland (9:39:31 PM): The west coast touch?
Dan Dormer (9:39:41 PM): Wait... they're pimping out a Xbox? I'm scared.
Kyle Orland (9:39:48 PM): They're putting it in a car?
Dan Dormer (9:39:56 PM): I think they're modding the unit itself.
Kyle Orland (9:39:57 PM): Remember... customizable!
Kyle Orland (9:40:03 PM): Oh, I see
Kyle Orland (9:40:07 PM): Halo!
Kyle Orland (9:40:11 PM): 1 (Halo Count)
Kyle Orland (9:40:27 PM): So this is an ad for Xbox... and for an MTV show
Kyle Orland (9:40:39 PM): Marketing... tooo... thick.... can't breath
Dan Dormer (9:40:52 PM): Wow, I wonder what type of crane they need to move that monster.
Kyle Orland (9:41:11 PM): They wouldn't let them pimp an Xbox360?
Dan Dormer (9:41:29 PM): Nope. They're not special enough.
Dan Dormer (9:41:36 PM): This seems a little interesting.
Kyle Orland (9:41:44 PM): Montage of designs... nice
Kyle Orland (9:41:50 PM): Wireless!
Dan Dormer (9:41:56 PM): I like seeing the evolution of the console design.
Kyle Orland (9:42:15 PM): Faceplates
Dan Dormer (9:42:21 PM): Customization. They're appealing to the current market.
Kyle Orland (9:42:21 PM): It's like a cell phone... but bigger
Dan Dormer (9:42:33 PM): They're selling people on the Xbox 360.
Kyle Orland (9:42:38 PM): Live Marketplace
Kyle Orland (9:42:42 PM): Buy buy buy
Dan Dormer (9:42:45 PM): JA: EBAY FOR VIRTUAL STUFF
Dan Dormer (9:42:58 PM): Halo!
Kyle Orland (9:43:05 PM): Why unlock outfits when you can spend real money on them?!
Kyle Orland (9:43:06 PM): 2 (Halo Count)
Dan Dormer (9:43:18 PM): Uber gamers.
Kyle Orland (9:43:32 PM): Inside Rare... that's a bit of a coup
Dan Dormer (9:43:51 PM): Okay, so how much more do we really know?
Dan Dormer (9:44:01 PM): Wireless, customization of faceplates, and downloadable content.
Kyle Orland (9:44:20 PM): All stuff that had been all but confirmed on the net
Kyle Orland (9:44:30 PM): But still news to most viewers, probably
Dan Dormer (9:44:43 PM): Okay, but maybe this is more digestible to many people who don't follow spec leaks.
Kyle Orland (9:44:48 PM): That Madden clip should get the masses salivating
Kyle Orland (9:44:58 PM): Even if it doesn't look very real
Kyle Orland (9:45:02 PM): i.e. gameplay
Dan Dormer (9:45:24 PM): So I'm saying there is a value to this program still, but I think they're being overly deceptive in terms of the graphic powers of the Xbox 360.
Kyle Orland (9:45:48 PM): Well, it's hard to say
Kyle Orland (9:45:55 PM): It could be a real-time rendering
Kyle Orland (9:46:04 PM): At the very least, it's unclear
Kyle Orland (9:46:12 PM): I doubt most viewers are even considering the issue, though
Dan Dormer (9:46:36 PM): Yeah, I think they just wanted the general info.
Kyle Orland (9:46:41 PM): No one has picked up a controller yet...
Kyle Orland (9:47:10 PM): Ten to one that'll be in the next segment
Dan Dormer (9:47:37 PM): Well, I think that's a definite since they promised a Perfect Dark Zero deathmatch.
Dan Dormer (9:47:44 PM): Back again.
Kyle Orland (9:47:46 PM): Oh yeah
Kyle Orland (9:47:50 PM): We're back
Kyle Orland (9:47:55 PM): He's in
Dan Dormer (9:48:06 PM): RC: Everyone is in.
Dan Dormer (9:48:30 PM): Gears of War, Tom Glancy, Project Gotham, Quake 4, Call of Duty 2, The Darkness, Saint's Row, etc.
Kyle Orland (9:48:34 PM): Wow
Dan Dormer (9:48:36 PM): I think I missed one or two.
Kyle Orland (9:48:38 PM): That was almost five seconds each
Kyle Orland (9:48:47 PM): NBA2K6
Kyle Orland (9:49:07 PM): He's very British
Dan Dormer (9:49:28 PM): Ah, such a typical girl gamer response.
Kyle Orland (9:49:39 PM): Pro gamer profiles... pretty nice
Kyle Orland (9:49:48 PM): Girl gamers tend to have pretty strong personalities, at least those in the media
Kyle Orland (9:50:29 PM): Wow, those wireframes are gonna sell tons of units
Dan Dormer (9:50:39 PM): I believe so.
Kyle Orland (9:50:52 PM): Pro gamer vs. celebs... this is gonna be a tough match
Dan Dormer (9:50:53 PM): He's sitting really close to them.
Dan Dormer (9:51:04 PM): 50 players or more?!
Kyle Orland (9:51:07 PM): 5,000 polys, 100,000 background, 50 players
Kyle Orland (9:51:13 PM): destructible stuff
Kyle Orland (9:51:20 PM): This guy could be a game journalist
Dan Dormer (9:51:33 PM): Wow, imagine if real journalists were more like that guy.
Dan Dormer (9:51:43 PM): Banjo!
Kyle Orland (9:52:03 PM): "elements I've never seen in any FPS..." such as?!?!?!
Kyle Orland (9:52:17 PM): Most of that looked like real gameplay
Dan Dormer (9:52:21 PM): They're obviously enjoying it. They weren't blinking.
Kyle Orland (9:52:27 PM): and also looked a lot like an Xbox 1 game
Kyle Orland (9:52:42 PM): "Don't touch me, I'm still playing." Wow
Kyle Orland (9:53:02 PM): Japanese hip hop star?
Kyle Orland (9:53:44 PM): They're not showing the players and the screen in the same shot...
Kyle Orland (9:53:51 PM): patched together later, I guess
Dan Dormer (9:54:02 PM): I can't tell where renders end and actual footage begins.
Kyle Orland (9:54:31 PM): The stuff with the split screen looked a little different (i.e. worse) than the stuff without
Dan Dormer (9:54:40 PM): Wow, that guy was taking the loss bad.
Kyle Orland (9:54:47 PM): ELIJAH: XBOX 360 IS GONNA BE AMAZING
Dan Dormer (9:54:49 PM): Xbox 360 universe?
Kyle Orland (9:55:15 PM): And closing out with the Killers
Dan Dormer (9:55:28 PM): Well, you don't hire a band for just one song.
Kyle Orland (9:55:35 PM): That was... fast
Dan Dormer (9:55:40 PM): Yeah, it was.
Kyle Orland (9:55:51 PM): I feel like we barely got to see the system.
Kyle Orland (9:56:19 PM): Looks like Perfect Dark Zero is gonna be the big game, as it was the only one playable.
Dan Dormer (9:56:40 PM): Well, they had information if you were looking for it.
Kyle Orland (9:57:12 PM): Yeah, and enough pizzazz to keep it from being dry. Not surprising given it's MTV.
Dan Dormer (9:57:30 PM): I think that, to people who don't read gaming sites heavily, it provided enough information. Would it sell them on a system? I'm not sure, and I think that's what MS was really trying to do tonight.
Kyle Orland (9:57:57 PM): Well, that list of games was prety impressive
Kyle Orland (9:58:10 PM): I'm not sure they were trying to outright sell the system as much as increase the mindshare
Kyle Orland (9:58:26 PM): Get people thinking about it in advance of more info. at E3 and the months before launch
Dan Dormer (9:59:21 PM): Those who really don't read game sites might have this as one of the only sources of information between now and launch.
Dan Dormer (9:59:45 PM): And I think that looking at it like that, I could put off buying an Xbox 360.
Kyle Orland (9:59:53 PM): Don't forget Microsoft ads
Kyle Orland (10:00:06 PM): Even if you don't read mags, those'll be in your face.
Kyle Orland (10:00:34 PM): They've got six more months to sell this thing... this was only the beginning.
Dan Dormer (10:01:23 PM): True. I just feel that with the time they had, Microsoft could have done more to inform viewers. Though, maybe they're hoping for increase curiosity on their part, and want them keeping up on info for the Xbox 360.
Kyle Orland (10:01:33 PM): We're five minutes into "Viva La Bam," anything you want to say before we sign off?
Dan Dormer (10:02:25 PM): I think I've said all I have to till Monday evening. Thanks for reading, and I was totally off on the amount of Halo mentions.
Kyle Orland (10:02:47 PM): Yeah... Perfect Dark is the new Halo it seems.
Kyle Orland (10:03:06 PM): Personally, I think this pretty much makes it Microsoft's E3 to lose.
Kyle Orland (10:03:39 PM): Media's gonna have to try real hard to cut through the buzz after this.
Kyle Orland (10:03:56 PM): Back to the grindstone... see you at E3, Dan.
Dan Dormer (10:04:12 PM): Yes indeed.
Editor's Note: Interconnectivity is a word
Dan Dormer (9:09:12 PM): Howdy, all. I think we're in for a treat tonight.
Kyle Orland (9:09:28 PM): Right now I'm enjoying the Real World Road Rules Challenge
Kyle Orland (9:09:42 PM): A perfect lead-in for an Xbox show if I've ever seen one
Dan Dormer (9:11:34 PM): I suppose. A mediocre spin-off of a reality show leading into what will be, undoubtedly, a glorified advertisement. Similar to the massive amounts of Ford trucks in a 24 without commercial breaks. Except those are more intense, and invoke nail biting.
Kyle Orland (9:13:13 PM): Personally, I'll be looking to see just how much gameplay footage is shown tonight. If there isn't much, it could indicate a tough time making the November 2005 launch date.
Kyle Orland (9:13:39 PM): If there's more mindless celebrity prattle than gameplay...
Kyle Orland (9:14:06 PM): "The momentous event is almost here..." just saw an ad
Kyle Orland (9:14:25 PM): With a special performance by The Killers! They're no Motley Crue, but...
Dan Dormer (9:15:13 PM): Well, I believe that we're going to see: J Allard talk about the HD-Era, laughable size comparisons of Elijah Wood to the Xbox, and "enough" trailers and gameplay footage to hold the hardcore crowd over till Monday evening.
Kyle Orland (9:15:50 PM): Yeah, that's a good call. Will the footage be actual gameplay or pre-rendered trailers?
Kyle Orland (9:16:03 PM): And will the audience be able to tell which is which
Kyle Orland (9:16:06 PM): ?
Dan Dormer (9:17:02 PM): I think if we see any type of footage, it'll be pre-rendered. I don't know if a clear distinction will be made by the programmers, though. In fact, I highly doubt it.
Dan Dormer (9:18:00 PM): The only exception I could think of is Perfect Dark Zero. We might see playable action of that game. Of course, I could be completely off the mark here.
Kyle Orland (9:18:20 PM): Any predictions for number of mentions of Halo?
Dan Dormer (9:19:26 PM): I say 10 times, but that's if they don't ask celebrities what their favorite games are.
Kyle Orland (9:20:00 PM): We'll be sure to keep count.
Kyle Orland (9:20:57 PM): Ten minutes to go... we're gonna take a quick break to get ready and type it out live during the show. Our full conversation will be posted a little after 10, so be sure to come on back once the show's over. See you then.
*Time Passes*
(Note: My computer clock is slow, so there chat logs are about 4 minutes before real time)
Kyle Orland (9:26:21 PM): Here we go!
Dan Dormer (9:26:32 PM): Ah, they're pushing the ability to play over the world.
Kyle Orland (9:26:34 PM): Wow, there's a lot of girls in this montage.
Kyle Orland (9:26:40 PM): CHEERS! APPLAUSE!
Dan Dormer (9:26:49 PM): Elijah!
Kyle Orland (9:27:00 PM): Pro gamers are cool
Dan Dormer (9:27:08 PM): I heard there is a Lord of the Rings tie-in.
Kyle Orland (9:27:10 PM): That looked like perfect dark
Dan Dormer (9:27:24 PM): The Pimp My Ride guys... wow.
Kyle Orland (9:27:37 PM): What's an Elijah Wood appearance without a Lord of the Rings reference
Dan Dormer (9:27:41 PM): JS: BIG MOMENT!
Dan Dormer (9:27:50 PM): It's like he's Reggie without the Nintendo fans.
Kyle Orland (9:27:54 PM): Obligatory history! Whee!
Kyle Orland (9:28:04 PM): Did Pac man just eat Asteroids?
Dan Dormer (9:28:13 PM): I like recognizing the indie music they play in these shows. I've already heard some Bloc Party and Tegen and Sara.
Kyle Orland (9:28:26 PM): PlayStation 2 does not exist. History... revised!
Kyle Orland (9:28:42 PM): The future of gaming is a girl in a blue dress?
Dan Dormer (9:28:47 PM): The future of gaming is a girl with a bag?
Kyle Orland (9:28:57 PM): She's the Xbox! OMG!
Kyle Orland (9:29:01 PM): oh, there it is
Kyle Orland (9:29:05 PM): Looks familiar...
Kyle Orland (9:29:10 PM): Wonder where I've seen it before
Dan Dormer (9:29:13 PM): Okay, that's a little better. This is too much for my tastes, though.
Kyle Orland (9:29:16 PM): Oh yeah.... EVERY GAMING WEBSITE
Kyle Orland (9:29:25 PM): interconnectivity?
Kyle Orland (9:29:28 PM): is that a word?
Dan Dormer (9:29:30 PM): They're pushing the customization factor a lot.
Dan Dormer (9:29:40 PM): Possibly. We'll check after the show.
Kyle Orland (9:29:54 PM): Time for the Killers, so we can talk instead of watch.
Dan Dormer (9:30:01 PM): Wow, there are like no real transitions.
Kyle Orland (9:30:08 PM): Elijah lied... he said it was the first time we had seen the system.
Kyle Orland (9:30:13 PM): LIAR!
Dan Dormer (9:30:29 PM): Well, I did see Halo on one of the screens.
Kyle Orland (9:30:36 PM): Is this Killers video running on an Xbox?
Kyle Orland (9:31:00 PM): There's certainly enough unecessary effects
Dan Dormer (9:31:12 PM): It wouldn't be inconceivable.
Dan Dormer (9:31:20 PM): Oh, that's not the case.
Kyle Orland (9:31:34 PM): Nope, looks like they're live
Dan Dormer (9:31:40 PM): Indeed.
Kyle Orland (9:31:43 PM): So far, it's not quite as bad as Spike TV
Kyle Orland (9:32:03 PM): But I'm still waiting for any real information
Dan Dormer (9:32:14 PM): Well, I gathered three tidbits.
Dan Dormer (9:32:43 PM): Always connected, personalization, and always hi-def.
Kyle Orland (9:32:54 PM): Hi-def... Duh!
Kyle Orland (9:33:04 PM): The Killers are.... still... singing
Dan Dormer (9:33:12 PM): Well, it is in widescreen.
Dan Dormer (9:33:26 PM): Even this show is prepped for hi-def, looks like.
Dan Dormer (9:33:37 PM): LIL' JON: FREE XBOX, YEAH!
Kyle Orland (9:33:47 PM): Wow, that was like 5 seconds of gameplay clips
Kyle Orland (9:33:54 PM): They looked a lot like Xbox 1 games though
Kyle Orland (9:34:02 PM): commercial-within-a-commercial time
Dan Dormer (9:34:04 PM): Oh, have you seen this commercial?
Dan Dormer (9:34:15 PM): There's a cellphone exclusive category.
Kyle Orland (9:34:19 PM): No I haven't... best VG based on a movie, eh?
Dan Dormer (9:34:24 PM): Yeah.
Kyle Orland (9:34:34 PM): wait, what's this?
Dan Dormer (9:34:37 PM): Does this count as a Halo mention?
Kyle Orland (9:34:40 PM): Samsung is pimping the Box!
Dan Dormer (9:34:45 PM): Because they were using the music.
Kyle Orland (9:35:02 PM): Not quite
Dan Dormer (9:35:09 PM): Ah, too bad.
Kyle Orland (9:35:24 PM): At this rate, the half hour's gonna be over and we will know next to nothing
Kyle Orland (9:35:33 PM): Maybe we should just read Kotaku's exclusive.
Dan Dormer (9:36:22 PM): I like the new look of the unit.
Kyle Orland (9:36:30 PM): Just kidding... what kind of mindless media consumers would we be then?
Kyle Orland (9:36:45 PM): Yeah, very sleek
Kyle Orland (9:36:59 PM): Not as boxy
Kyle Orland (9:37:11 PM): But I've thought that for weeks now
Kyle Orland (9:37:24 PM): We're back!
Kyle Orland (9:37:31 PM): Oh, no, another Samsung commercial
Dan Dormer (9:37:34 PM): No, not yet.
Kyle Orland (9:37:48 PM): Showing HDTV's on regular TVs never seemed to smart to me
Dan Dormer (9:37:51 PM): Will my Xbox 360 only work with a hi-def TV from Samsung?
Kyle Orland (9:37:53 PM): You can't tell how good it looks!
Dan Dormer (9:38:15 PM): And we're back.
Kyle Orland (9:38:17 PM): Samsung would like you to believe that
Kyle Orland (9:38:37 PM): Tony Hawk on Xbox Live... that's big
Dan Dormer (9:38:43 PM): American Wasteland - finally on Xbox Live!
Dan Dormer (9:38:49 PM): Tiger Wood's golf - nice render.
Kyle Orland (9:38:54 PM): Tiger Woods... looks OK
Dan Dormer (9:39:08 PM): Need for Speed, Madden - more renders.
Kyle Orland (9:39:12 PM): Most likely
Dan Dormer (9:39:19 PM): SWAY: THE HOLY GRAIL OF GAMING!
Kyle Orland (9:39:20 PM): Hard to tell for sure, but it doesn't look like real gameplay
Kyle Orland (9:39:31 PM): The west coast touch?
Dan Dormer (9:39:41 PM): Wait... they're pimping out a Xbox? I'm scared.
Kyle Orland (9:39:48 PM): They're putting it in a car?
Dan Dormer (9:39:56 PM): I think they're modding the unit itself.
Kyle Orland (9:39:57 PM): Remember... customizable!
Kyle Orland (9:40:03 PM): Oh, I see
Kyle Orland (9:40:07 PM): Halo!
Kyle Orland (9:40:11 PM): 1 (Halo Count)
Kyle Orland (9:40:27 PM): So this is an ad for Xbox... and for an MTV show
Kyle Orland (9:40:39 PM): Marketing... tooo... thick.... can't breath
Dan Dormer (9:40:52 PM): Wow, I wonder what type of crane they need to move that monster.
Kyle Orland (9:41:11 PM): They wouldn't let them pimp an Xbox360?
Dan Dormer (9:41:29 PM): Nope. They're not special enough.
Dan Dormer (9:41:36 PM): This seems a little interesting.
Kyle Orland (9:41:44 PM): Montage of designs... nice
Kyle Orland (9:41:50 PM): Wireless!
Dan Dormer (9:41:56 PM): I like seeing the evolution of the console design.
Kyle Orland (9:42:15 PM): Faceplates
Dan Dormer (9:42:21 PM): Customization. They're appealing to the current market.
Kyle Orland (9:42:21 PM): It's like a cell phone... but bigger
Dan Dormer (9:42:33 PM): They're selling people on the Xbox 360.
Kyle Orland (9:42:38 PM): Live Marketplace
Kyle Orland (9:42:42 PM): Buy buy buy
Dan Dormer (9:42:45 PM): JA: EBAY FOR VIRTUAL STUFF
Dan Dormer (9:42:58 PM): Halo!
Kyle Orland (9:43:05 PM): Why unlock outfits when you can spend real money on them?!
Kyle Orland (9:43:06 PM): 2 (Halo Count)
Dan Dormer (9:43:18 PM): Uber gamers.
Kyle Orland (9:43:32 PM): Inside Rare... that's a bit of a coup
Dan Dormer (9:43:51 PM): Okay, so how much more do we really know?
Dan Dormer (9:44:01 PM): Wireless, customization of faceplates, and downloadable content.
Kyle Orland (9:44:20 PM): All stuff that had been all but confirmed on the net
Kyle Orland (9:44:30 PM): But still news to most viewers, probably
Dan Dormer (9:44:43 PM): Okay, but maybe this is more digestible to many people who don't follow spec leaks.
Kyle Orland (9:44:48 PM): That Madden clip should get the masses salivating
Kyle Orland (9:44:58 PM): Even if it doesn't look very real
Kyle Orland (9:45:02 PM): i.e. gameplay
Dan Dormer (9:45:24 PM): So I'm saying there is a value to this program still, but I think they're being overly deceptive in terms of the graphic powers of the Xbox 360.
Kyle Orland (9:45:48 PM): Well, it's hard to say
Kyle Orland (9:45:55 PM): It could be a real-time rendering
Kyle Orland (9:46:04 PM): At the very least, it's unclear
Kyle Orland (9:46:12 PM): I doubt most viewers are even considering the issue, though
Dan Dormer (9:46:36 PM): Yeah, I think they just wanted the general info.
Kyle Orland (9:46:41 PM): No one has picked up a controller yet...
Kyle Orland (9:47:10 PM): Ten to one that'll be in the next segment
Dan Dormer (9:47:37 PM): Well, I think that's a definite since they promised a Perfect Dark Zero deathmatch.
Dan Dormer (9:47:44 PM): Back again.
Kyle Orland (9:47:46 PM): Oh yeah
Kyle Orland (9:47:50 PM): We're back
Kyle Orland (9:47:55 PM): He's in
Dan Dormer (9:48:06 PM): RC: Everyone is in.
Dan Dormer (9:48:30 PM): Gears of War, Tom Glancy, Project Gotham, Quake 4, Call of Duty 2, The Darkness, Saint's Row, etc.
Kyle Orland (9:48:34 PM): Wow
Dan Dormer (9:48:36 PM): I think I missed one or two.
Kyle Orland (9:48:38 PM): That was almost five seconds each
Kyle Orland (9:48:47 PM): NBA2K6
Kyle Orland (9:49:07 PM): He's very British
Dan Dormer (9:49:28 PM): Ah, such a typical girl gamer response.
Kyle Orland (9:49:39 PM): Pro gamer profiles... pretty nice
Kyle Orland (9:49:48 PM): Girl gamers tend to have pretty strong personalities, at least those in the media
Kyle Orland (9:50:29 PM): Wow, those wireframes are gonna sell tons of units
Dan Dormer (9:50:39 PM): I believe so.
Kyle Orland (9:50:52 PM): Pro gamer vs. celebs... this is gonna be a tough match
Dan Dormer (9:50:53 PM): He's sitting really close to them.
Dan Dormer (9:51:04 PM): 50 players or more?!
Kyle Orland (9:51:07 PM): 5,000 polys, 100,000 background, 50 players
Kyle Orland (9:51:13 PM): destructible stuff
Kyle Orland (9:51:20 PM): This guy could be a game journalist
Dan Dormer (9:51:33 PM): Wow, imagine if real journalists were more like that guy.
Dan Dormer (9:51:43 PM): Banjo!
Kyle Orland (9:52:03 PM): "elements I've never seen in any FPS..." such as?!?!?!
Kyle Orland (9:52:17 PM): Most of that looked like real gameplay
Dan Dormer (9:52:21 PM): They're obviously enjoying it. They weren't blinking.
Kyle Orland (9:52:27 PM): and also looked a lot like an Xbox 1 game
Kyle Orland (9:52:42 PM): "Don't touch me, I'm still playing." Wow
Kyle Orland (9:53:02 PM): Japanese hip hop star?
Kyle Orland (9:53:44 PM): They're not showing the players and the screen in the same shot...
Kyle Orland (9:53:51 PM): patched together later, I guess
Dan Dormer (9:54:02 PM): I can't tell where renders end and actual footage begins.
Kyle Orland (9:54:31 PM): The stuff with the split screen looked a little different (i.e. worse) than the stuff without
Dan Dormer (9:54:40 PM): Wow, that guy was taking the loss bad.
Kyle Orland (9:54:47 PM): ELIJAH: XBOX 360 IS GONNA BE AMAZING
Dan Dormer (9:54:49 PM): Xbox 360 universe?
Kyle Orland (9:55:15 PM): And closing out with the Killers
Dan Dormer (9:55:28 PM): Well, you don't hire a band for just one song.
Kyle Orland (9:55:35 PM): That was... fast
Dan Dormer (9:55:40 PM): Yeah, it was.
Kyle Orland (9:55:51 PM): I feel like we barely got to see the system.
Kyle Orland (9:56:19 PM): Looks like Perfect Dark Zero is gonna be the big game, as it was the only one playable.
Dan Dormer (9:56:40 PM): Well, they had information if you were looking for it.
Kyle Orland (9:57:12 PM): Yeah, and enough pizzazz to keep it from being dry. Not surprising given it's MTV.
Dan Dormer (9:57:30 PM): I think that, to people who don't read gaming sites heavily, it provided enough information. Would it sell them on a system? I'm not sure, and I think that's what MS was really trying to do tonight.
Kyle Orland (9:57:57 PM): Well, that list of games was prety impressive
Kyle Orland (9:58:10 PM): I'm not sure they were trying to outright sell the system as much as increase the mindshare
Kyle Orland (9:58:26 PM): Get people thinking about it in advance of more info. at E3 and the months before launch
Dan Dormer (9:59:21 PM): Those who really don't read game sites might have this as one of the only sources of information between now and launch.
Dan Dormer (9:59:45 PM): And I think that looking at it like that, I could put off buying an Xbox 360.
Kyle Orland (9:59:53 PM): Don't forget Microsoft ads
Kyle Orland (10:00:06 PM): Even if you don't read mags, those'll be in your face.
Kyle Orland (10:00:34 PM): They've got six more months to sell this thing... this was only the beginning.
Dan Dormer (10:01:23 PM): True. I just feel that with the time they had, Microsoft could have done more to inform viewers. Though, maybe they're hoping for increase curiosity on their part, and want them keeping up on info for the Xbox 360.
Kyle Orland (10:01:33 PM): We're five minutes into "Viva La Bam," anything you want to say before we sign off?
Dan Dormer (10:02:25 PM): I think I've said all I have to till Monday evening. Thanks for reading, and I was totally off on the amount of Halo mentions.
Kyle Orland (10:02:47 PM): Yeah... Perfect Dark is the new Halo it seems.
Kyle Orland (10:03:06 PM): Personally, I think this pretty much makes it Microsoft's E3 to lose.
Kyle Orland (10:03:39 PM): Media's gonna have to try real hard to cut through the buzz after this.
Kyle Orland (10:03:56 PM): Back to the grindstone... see you at E3, Dan.
Dan Dormer (10:04:12 PM): Yes indeed.
Editor's Note: Interconnectivity is a word
GameSpy Edits Cause Public Stir
A recent blog post by freelance game reviewer Nich Maragos has turned in to a minor public relations debacle for IGN/GameSpy. The post, written early yesterday, indicates Nich's displeasure with edits made to the text and score of his review of Donkey Konga 2 for GameSpy. The article's editor added "an extra star and a half ... from its submitted version, along with several laudatory phrases that I didn’t write and certainly don’t mean," Maragos said in the post. "I hated the game. It’s not a 3/5," he added.
The review has since been taken down and Maragos has updated his post with a conciliatory message, saying that the issue "was resolved pretty quickly after my initial complaint." But what was the issue exactly? And what ramifications does its resolution have on other game reviewers and editors?
"Yes, it was edited, but no, it didn't go beyond the usual editing scope," said GameSpy Editorial Director John Keefer when asked about the changes made to the review. Keefer refused to identify the editor assigned to the review, but noted that the editor "feels terrible about how this happened." The edits were made to correct what the editor saw as too much of a music focus in Maragos' original review, Keefer said. "We scored the orignal game four stars and this new version hasn't changed much aside from some gameplay tweaks and music selection," Keefer said.
While defending his editor's decisions, Keefer also acknowledged some problems with how GameSpy handled the situation. "This was a rare breakdown in communication," he said. "We did not talk to Nich about changes before we made them, a move that goes against our standard policy." Keefer would not reveal the exact wording of the internal policy, but did say that the "common sense" policy "has been addressed with the editor and ... reinforced with the entire staff." GameSpy has "a very open relationship with freelancers and try to address their concerns whenever possible," Keefer said.
For his part, Maragos confirmed in an e-mail that he was no longer angry about the situation. "I felt wronged at the time, but they've done a very quick and exemplary job of addressing the problem, so I'm satisfied. It seems to have just been a communication error."
This attitude seems to have done little to silence Internet message board accusations of advertiser-influenced bias, charges that Keefer vehemently denies.
"We are NOT influenced by ad buys, tech licensing deals, the fact a beta was on FilePlanet or the fact a game may use GameSpy Arcade," Keefer said. "Conspiracy theorists may not want to hear this (or believe it), but editorial integrity demands a separation of church and state. I was in the newspaper business as an editor and writer for 15+ years before coming to the gaming press. That stuff wouldn't fly in the newspaper biz and I try to make darn sure it does not happen here."
What of the removed review? Keefer said that it may be assigned to another writer, but any replacement review would be examined to "see how well the new writer justifies his score." In any case, I think it's safe to say that GameSpy's editors will be very careful not to make any unauthorized edits to that or any other review any time soon.
Watch this space for my personal thoughts on this issue in the coming days.
The review has since been taken down and Maragos has updated his post with a conciliatory message, saying that the issue "was resolved pretty quickly after my initial complaint." But what was the issue exactly? And what ramifications does its resolution have on other game reviewers and editors?
"Yes, it was edited, but no, it didn't go beyond the usual editing scope," said GameSpy Editorial Director John Keefer when asked about the changes made to the review. Keefer refused to identify the editor assigned to the review, but noted that the editor "feels terrible about how this happened." The edits were made to correct what the editor saw as too much of a music focus in Maragos' original review, Keefer said. "We scored the orignal game four stars and this new version hasn't changed much aside from some gameplay tweaks and music selection," Keefer said.
While defending his editor's decisions, Keefer also acknowledged some problems with how GameSpy handled the situation. "This was a rare breakdown in communication," he said. "We did not talk to Nich about changes before we made them, a move that goes against our standard policy." Keefer would not reveal the exact wording of the internal policy, but did say that the "common sense" policy "has been addressed with the editor and ... reinforced with the entire staff." GameSpy has "a very open relationship with freelancers and try to address their concerns whenever possible," Keefer said.
For his part, Maragos confirmed in an e-mail that he was no longer angry about the situation. "I felt wronged at the time, but they've done a very quick and exemplary job of addressing the problem, so I'm satisfied. It seems to have just been a communication error."
This attitude seems to have done little to silence Internet message board accusations of advertiser-influenced bias, charges that Keefer vehemently denies.
"We are NOT influenced by ad buys, tech licensing deals, the fact a beta was on FilePlanet or the fact a game may use GameSpy Arcade," Keefer said. "Conspiracy theorists may not want to hear this (or believe it), but editorial integrity demands a separation of church and state. I was in the newspaper business as an editor and writer for 15+ years before coming to the gaming press. That stuff wouldn't fly in the newspaper biz and I try to make darn sure it does not happen here."
What of the removed review? Keefer said that it may be assigned to another writer, but any replacement review would be examined to "see how well the new writer justifies his score." In any case, I think it's safe to say that GameSpy's editors will be very careful not to make any unauthorized edits to that or any other review any time soon.
Watch this space for my personal thoughts on this issue in the coming days.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
A Very "Special" Advertisement
Tony Walsh over at Clickable Culture is of the opinion that Canada's CTV network is being less than forthcoming about its re-airing of "MTV Presents: The Next-Generation Xbox Revealed" 30-minute infomercial event. Tony takes issue with a CTV news anchor describing the show as a "special" rather than a bought and paid for advertisement from Microsoft.
Perhaps there's a technicality here that I'm not aware of, but my understanding is that a TV "special" consists of premium programming content of a non-commercial nature. While it's arguable that all television content is commercial in nature, there is a difference between programming that pads the space between ads (i.e. most television programs), and programming that consists entirely of advertising (i.e. MTV).
While I'm not sure that MTV consists of "entirely advertising," as Tony claims, I do see what he's getting at. MTV consistently uses its programming as a promotional vehicle for celebrities and products of all sorts, and anyone expecting totally unbiased presentation from anything on the network (outside of the MTV News segments, perhaps) isn't paying attention. I'm assuming CTV usually holds itself to a different standard, though, and describing the show as a "special" is unclear at best and deceptive at worst (I'd lean towards the former, but I've been known to give public broadcasting the benefit of the doubt).
Going a little further, Tony suggests that this misleading promotion might run afoul of Canada's public broadcasting laws. He quotes a statute that says, "Broadcasters shall ensure that advertising material within a newscast is clearly distinguishable from the news information adjacent to it. To this end, any commercial message broadcast within a newscast should not be read by the newsreader." Not being an expert on Canadian media law, I can't really comment on CTV's legal position here, but it does seem like they're violating the spirit, if not the letter, of the statute.
On a slightly related note, Microsoft might be wondering whether it's getting its money's worth for tomorrow night's broadcast. Information about the Xbox 360 has been leaking like a sieve for the past few weeks, the the extent that information about the system's hardware specs, casing and controller design are all easily available to anyone with an Internet connection and a desire to look for them.
Sure, there's no guarantee that all this information will pan out, and there haven't been any leaks of live gameplay video yet. Microsoft itself might be actively leaking the information to build up hype for tomorrow night. But still, a bit of the mystique surrounding the system has undoubtedly been eroded. With Microsoft paying what's likely millions of dollars to give the world the first glimpse of this system, I'd think they'd want it to actually be the first time the world actually saw the system.
Regardless, I know that I'll be watching tomorrow night, along with much of the rest of North America, to see what all the fuss is about. VGO contributor Dan Dormer and I will be putting a little spin on the liveblogging concept for this one... we'll comment on the show live, but wait to post the comments until just after it's over, so you don't have to tear your eyes away from the TV for a second. Watch this space for more details.
Perhaps there's a technicality here that I'm not aware of, but my understanding is that a TV "special" consists of premium programming content of a non-commercial nature. While it's arguable that all television content is commercial in nature, there is a difference between programming that pads the space between ads (i.e. most television programs), and programming that consists entirely of advertising (i.e. MTV).
While I'm not sure that MTV consists of "entirely advertising," as Tony claims, I do see what he's getting at. MTV consistently uses its programming as a promotional vehicle for celebrities and products of all sorts, and anyone expecting totally unbiased presentation from anything on the network (outside of the MTV News segments, perhaps) isn't paying attention. I'm assuming CTV usually holds itself to a different standard, though, and describing the show as a "special" is unclear at best and deceptive at worst (I'd lean towards the former, but I've been known to give public broadcasting the benefit of the doubt).
Going a little further, Tony suggests that this misleading promotion might run afoul of Canada's public broadcasting laws. He quotes a statute that says, "Broadcasters shall ensure that advertising material within a newscast is clearly distinguishable from the news information adjacent to it. To this end, any commercial message broadcast within a newscast should not be read by the newsreader." Not being an expert on Canadian media law, I can't really comment on CTV's legal position here, but it does seem like they're violating the spirit, if not the letter, of the statute.
On a slightly related note, Microsoft might be wondering whether it's getting its money's worth for tomorrow night's broadcast. Information about the Xbox 360 has been leaking like a sieve for the past few weeks, the the extent that information about the system's hardware specs, casing and controller design are all easily available to anyone with an Internet connection and a desire to look for them.
Sure, there's no guarantee that all this information will pan out, and there haven't been any leaks of live gameplay video yet. Microsoft itself might be actively leaking the information to build up hype for tomorrow night. But still, a bit of the mystique surrounding the system has undoubtedly been eroded. With Microsoft paying what's likely millions of dollars to give the world the first glimpse of this system, I'd think they'd want it to actually be the first time the world actually saw the system.
Regardless, I know that I'll be watching tomorrow night, along with much of the rest of North America, to see what all the fuss is about. VGO contributor Dan Dormer and I will be putting a little spin on the liveblogging concept for this one... we'll comment on the show live, but wait to post the comments until just after it's over, so you don't have to tear your eyes away from the TV for a second. Watch this space for more details.
PrE3: "Believe it or not, it's..." a Funny Ad From G4
When I first watched this video that I found on Kotaku, I nearly fell out of my chair laughing. It loses its cheesy goodness after about the 40th or 50th viewing, but, man, that was a half hour of my life that I won't regret wasting.
*cough*
Also be sure to check out G4's "E3 Health & Safety Tips For Hardcore Gamers" which includes the gems "don't get high" and "pee... and pee again!" Thank you, G4. Thank you for reminding me to pee.
*cough*
Also be sure to check out G4's "E3 Health & Safety Tips For Hardcore Gamers" which includes the gems "don't get high" and "pee... and pee again!" Thank you, G4. Thank you for reminding me to pee.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
The Annotated E3 Swag
I don't think most people who haven't been to E3 realize how much free stuff is available to attendees. Companies literally thrust the stuff at you, hoping their little tchotchke will get their product a little more mindshare in your coverage decisions. Last year, my first E3, I naively decided to collect as much of this free stuff as I possibly in between taking pictures and helping with the coverage for GameCritics.com. I think I did pretty well, but my aching back for the next week suggested otherwise. Have a look:
(Click the image for a larger version in a new window)
Follow along with me:
1- A Champions or Norrath calendar and a totally unrelated Metal Gear Solid 3 promotional CD (featuring the hit theme song: Snake Eater!). The MGS3 discs were a much-coveted item -- a CD in a holder shaped like a vinyl record case, with a nice little poster to boot. Konami gave out limited numbers every 15 minutes, so people had to hang around the booth and swarm the guy handing them out before they disappeared. It wasn't a pretty sight. The calendar I gave to my cousin.
2- Nintendo's promotional binder, featuring information and pictures of all of Nintendo's games at the show. One of the most informative pieces of swag in this picture.
3- Postcards and fliers for literally dozens of games from all sorts of publishers. If they were sitting on a desk, I picked some up. I'm still not sure why.
4- A Magic the Gathering starter kit, featuring a CD copy of the Online version of the game and a starter desk of cards. Below that, an assortment of informational CDs from various publishers including Vivendi Universal, SNK, Tapwave, THQ, Gizmondo, Activision, Eidos, Bandai, Nintendo and PlayLogic. Many booths required a business card to get these discs... I quickly ran out of the paltry number I took. Lesson: take plenty of business cards!
5- A cute little AlterLife purse from NCSoft containing a thin can ofJapanese (oops, see comments) likely Korean Coca-Cola (adorned with Lineage II characters) and a pop-up book promoting AlterLife, along with lots of other little goodies. I gave the purse to my sister, but I kept the coke can for my desk. The poster, of Prince of Persia 2, was too large and cumbersome to make it on the plane... I threw it out at the airport.
6- Stuffed pokemon characters! Two Bulbasaurs, a Charmander and a Pikachu (I did not get a Squirtle, unfortunately). These were given out at the Nintendo DS section of Nintendo's booth. As you exit, you scratch a DS screen to reveal which toy you've won. These also went to my sister. Behind those, six sets of Game Boy Advance SP headphones, specifically designed to work on a system that lacks a headphone jack. A big bin of these was sitting in a corner of Nintendo's booth with an attendant handing them out. I kept one and distributed the rest to friends.
7- An Ashen comic book from Nokia's press conference bag, and a Rifts RPG game book signed by the creator from a trivia contest at Nokia's booth. No, I had nothing better to do.
8- Six Nintendo DS T-shirts, also given to those departing the DS section of the show . I just kept going through and getting shirts throughout the show. On the last day they seemed desperate to get rid of them. All but one of these went to friends. I also snagged shirts promoting Gizmondo (two), the Phantom, and City of Heroes. I saw a few people on the floor wearing WarioWare shirts from 2003 saying "My swag is better than yours." I was so jealous! Shirts are like the Rolls Royce of E3 swag... the one item you're guaranteed to be happy you took. Get as many as you can.
9- Game demos for the new Sly Cooper, Ace Combat, 989 Soccer, and Crash Bandicoot/Spyro the Dragon games, plus a full version of the America's Army expansion (which can also be downloaded for free). A few of these are still sitting unopened in my living room.
10- Three hats, one from ApeXtreme (now a collector's item!) and two from Logitech. I think I've worn one of these once. They aren't very fashionable, even at the ball game.
11- Various small things including a classic video game expo paperweight, my n-Gage press pass, six special edition E3 2004 Nintendo DS styluses (guess where they're from) and a deflated ball which I think was promoted Lineage II (these were EVERYWHERE at the show). Not pictured - A handful of Tony Hawk's Underground 2 band-aids that an attendant handed me. One of these turned up in my wallet the other day. No fooling!
12- Twenty-four magazines. That's right, 24. Many were from little cubbies throughout the showfloor that had daily copies of the Hollywood Reporter and Variety (both of which gave E3 cursory coverage), as well as traditional game magazines like Game Informer and EGM (both with special pre-E3 issues). GamePro gave out free copies at a small kiosk, and Ziff-Davis had a massive booth where free issues were distributed two at a time (I snagged XBN, GMR, the Official Playstation mag and a few others). Also, a guidebook to the show floor and special E3 editions of GameDaily for each of three days of the show, and a copy of nGage Insider from the Nokia conference. I'm likely forgetting some more mags in this list.
13- A cool, camouflage bag promoting Pathway to Glory from the Nokia conference. This is what I used to carry most of my swag through the show.
14- An equally cool camouflage notebook from the Nokia conference and my E3 media badge and holder, with included pen and pad. This was a lifesaver, making it easy to carry a camera, a notepad, and a variety of swag bags with only two hands.
My swag-grabbing advice to all the first-timers... pace yourself! Decide if you, or anyone you know, will really use that pair of Tecmo nose tweezers. Just because it's free doesn't mean it's worth lugging around all day.
(Click the image for a larger version in a new window)
Follow along with me:
1- A Champions or Norrath calendar and a totally unrelated Metal Gear Solid 3 promotional CD (featuring the hit theme song: Snake Eater!). The MGS3 discs were a much-coveted item -- a CD in a holder shaped like a vinyl record case, with a nice little poster to boot. Konami gave out limited numbers every 15 minutes, so people had to hang around the booth and swarm the guy handing them out before they disappeared. It wasn't a pretty sight. The calendar I gave to my cousin.
2- Nintendo's promotional binder, featuring information and pictures of all of Nintendo's games at the show. One of the most informative pieces of swag in this picture.
3- Postcards and fliers for literally dozens of games from all sorts of publishers. If they were sitting on a desk, I picked some up. I'm still not sure why.
4- A Magic the Gathering starter kit, featuring a CD copy of the Online version of the game and a starter desk of cards. Below that, an assortment of informational CDs from various publishers including Vivendi Universal, SNK, Tapwave, THQ, Gizmondo, Activision, Eidos, Bandai, Nintendo and PlayLogic. Many booths required a business card to get these discs... I quickly ran out of the paltry number I took. Lesson: take plenty of business cards!
5- A cute little AlterLife purse from NCSoft containing a thin can of
6- Stuffed pokemon characters! Two Bulbasaurs, a Charmander and a Pikachu (I did not get a Squirtle, unfortunately). These were given out at the Nintendo DS section of Nintendo's booth. As you exit, you scratch a DS screen to reveal which toy you've won. These also went to my sister. Behind those, six sets of Game Boy Advance SP headphones, specifically designed to work on a system that lacks a headphone jack. A big bin of these was sitting in a corner of Nintendo's booth with an attendant handing them out. I kept one and distributed the rest to friends.
7- An Ashen comic book from Nokia's press conference bag, and a Rifts RPG game book signed by the creator from a trivia contest at Nokia's booth. No, I had nothing better to do.
8- Six Nintendo DS T-shirts, also given to those departing the DS section of the show . I just kept going through and getting shirts throughout the show. On the last day they seemed desperate to get rid of them. All but one of these went to friends. I also snagged shirts promoting Gizmondo (two), the Phantom, and City of Heroes. I saw a few people on the floor wearing WarioWare shirts from 2003 saying "My swag is better than yours." I was so jealous! Shirts are like the Rolls Royce of E3 swag... the one item you're guaranteed to be happy you took. Get as many as you can.
9- Game demos for the new Sly Cooper, Ace Combat, 989 Soccer, and Crash Bandicoot/Spyro the Dragon games, plus a full version of the America's Army expansion (which can also be downloaded for free). A few of these are still sitting unopened in my living room.
10- Three hats, one from ApeXtreme (now a collector's item!) and two from Logitech. I think I've worn one of these once. They aren't very fashionable, even at the ball game.
11- Various small things including a classic video game expo paperweight, my n-Gage press pass, six special edition E3 2004 Nintendo DS styluses (guess where they're from) and a deflated ball which I think was promoted Lineage II (these were EVERYWHERE at the show). Not pictured - A handful of Tony Hawk's Underground 2 band-aids that an attendant handed me. One of these turned up in my wallet the other day. No fooling!
12- Twenty-four magazines. That's right, 24. Many were from little cubbies throughout the showfloor that had daily copies of the Hollywood Reporter and Variety (both of which gave E3 cursory coverage), as well as traditional game magazines like Game Informer and EGM (both with special pre-E3 issues). GamePro gave out free copies at a small kiosk, and Ziff-Davis had a massive booth where free issues were distributed two at a time (I snagged XBN, GMR, the Official Playstation mag and a few others). Also, a guidebook to the show floor and special E3 editions of GameDaily for each of three days of the show, and a copy of nGage Insider from the Nokia conference. I'm likely forgetting some more mags in this list.
13- A cool, camouflage bag promoting Pathway to Glory from the Nokia conference. This is what I used to carry most of my swag through the show.
14- An equally cool camouflage notebook from the Nokia conference and my E3 media badge and holder, with included pen and pad. This was a lifesaver, making it easy to carry a camera, a notepad, and a variety of swag bags with only two hands.
My swag-grabbing advice to all the first-timers... pace yourself! Decide if you, or anyone you know, will really use that pair of Tecmo nose tweezers. Just because it's free doesn't mean it's worth lugging around all day.
Meet The Ombudsman (and Others) at IGJA's "Not an E3 Party"
If you're going to be in the L.A. area for E3 and you're reading this, it's likely that you'll enjoy the International Game Journalist Association's "Not an E3 Party." The shindig will be going down at the Golden Gopher bar, a few block Northeast of the L.A. Convention center (view map) on Wednesday, May 18 from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
While the party won't include the free food, drinks, swag and games that make most E3 parties worthwhile, it will also not include the shilling PR people and interminable press conferences that tend to drag down other E3 parties. Look at it as a chance to chill out and meet some of your fellow game journalists in a totally relaxed environment amid the swarming chaos that is E3.
I know there are some other parties overlapping this, including ones from Ziff Davis and GameSpot, I believe, but trust me, no one will miss you there. Swing on by, even if it's just for a few minutes, and connect with your fellow game writers and VGO readers. See you there!
While the party won't include the free food, drinks, swag and games that make most E3 parties worthwhile, it will also not include the shilling PR people and interminable press conferences that tend to drag down other E3 parties. Look at it as a chance to chill out and meet some of your fellow game journalists in a totally relaxed environment amid the swarming chaos that is E3.
I know there are some other parties overlapping this, including ones from Ziff Davis and GameSpot, I believe, but trust me, no one will miss you there. Swing on by, even if it's just for a few minutes, and connect with your fellow game writers and VGO readers. See you there!
PrE3: A Touch of Class From G4
If you're headed to E3, be sure to stop by G4's booth, where they're promising "G4 'Booth Babes' will be on hand to provide zealous gamers with much-needed thumb massages to provide relief from their three-day immersion into E3," according to a recent e-mail. No word yet on whether the girls will massage any other appendages, but it is the logical next step.
Monday, May 9, 2005
PrE3: Preparation
The biggest video game show in the world is a little more than a week away, and that means video game journalists from around the world are gearing up for three-plus days of "walking, meetings, more walking and then more meetings." To psych everyone up for the trip, I'll be doing my best to post links, thoughts, and questions about the gargantuan gaggle of gamers that is E3 throughout the week.
It's important to be prepared, so here's a collection of links I've come across to help prepare you for the big show:
It's important to be prepared, so here's a collection of links I've come across to help prepare you for the big show:
- CG Online: Preparing For E3 - Good, if short, advice about what to expect from the show -- useful for complete newcomers. Especially important is the advice about free stuff. If you value your back, please limit the intake in your bag.
- Gamespot: Stupid Pants Operation - The video is 50+ minutes, but every second of this behind-the-scenes look at GameSpot's coverage of E3 2004 should be required viewing for game journalists trying to get a feel for the show. The most telling thing, for me, was that everyone claimed it was "fun" and it was "worth it," but everyone looks absolutely miserable after pulling 24 hour days for the better part of two weeks (imagine that!). Forty GameSpot employees put out over 1000 articles over the span of E3, which should give you an idea of how much work a show like this actually is for a major game site.
- Ownt: E3 Interview - For a different perspective on E3 preparation, read about what the ESA has to go through to put on the show every year. Fun fact from the interview: "Roughly 1,000,000 pounds [is] suspended from the ceiling," at E3, so if an earthquake comes when you're in Kentia Hall, look out! Another fun fact: "The 18 years and older rule has always been strictly enforced." Didn't seem that way last year. I may have to run a contest for the best picture of an obviously under-18 attendee next week.
- BioWare: Road to E3 - Yet another perspective on show preparation, this one from developer BioWare, shows what it takes to run a successful booth before, during and after the show, complete with plenty of pictures.
Sunday, May 8, 2005
Exclusive: Next Generation is Coming Back
"As a brand, Next Generation helped to define an era of massive growth and unprecedented creativity in the game industry. Future believes the coming of a new generation of consoles and the spread of new platforms, such as online and mobile, signify another such era."
-Next-gen.biz
This site can now reveal that Future Publishing will be re-launching the Next Generation brand as a free web site -- next-gen.biz -- in June. There are currently no plans to re-launch the print version of the magazine, which was published by Imagine Publishing between 1995 and 2001.
The official announcement will come in a press release any day now, but the Web site reveals a lot of information about the new incarnation. The site will be managed by editor-in-chief Colin Campbell and consultant editor Christian Svensson, who co-created the Next Generation Online site back in 1995, and published by Future USA.
Besides the two editors, most of the content will come from freelance contributors, which the site is actively seeking. The site says it's looking for writers that "have strong opinions" and are "stylish, original and witty."
In another major departure from the rest of the game journalism crowd, the new Next Generation "will not be offering product reviews as such," according to the Web site. It's not exactly clear what this means, but my source tells me that the site's focus will be more on the development and business sides of the industry rather than consumer-oriented, "X-out-of-ten" reviews. My source also mentioned that important names from Next Generation's past may be involved in the new site.
That's about all I can reveal for now (probably more than I should reveal, in fact). Personally, I couldn't be more excited that this important and influential name in game journalism is coming back, albeit in a slightly different form. Look for continuing coverage of this exciting development after the official announcement.
Update: (May 8, 2005, 3:30 PM): Some small details were changed to protect the identity of my source.
Update: (May 8, 2005, 5:15 PM): Added some background information about the print mag and the editors.
-Next-gen.biz
This site can now reveal that Future Publishing will be re-launching the Next Generation brand as a free web site -- next-gen.biz -- in June. There are currently no plans to re-launch the print version of the magazine, which was published by Imagine Publishing between 1995 and 2001.
The official announcement will come in a press release any day now, but the Web site reveals a lot of information about the new incarnation. The site will be managed by editor-in-chief Colin Campbell and consultant editor Christian Svensson, who co-created the Next Generation Online site back in 1995, and published by Future USA.
Besides the two editors, most of the content will come from freelance contributors, which the site is actively seeking. The site says it's looking for writers that "have strong opinions" and are "stylish, original and witty."
In another major departure from the rest of the game journalism crowd, the new Next Generation "will not be offering product reviews as such," according to the Web site. It's not exactly clear what this means, but my source tells me that the site's focus will be more on the development and business sides of the industry rather than consumer-oriented, "X-out-of-ten" reviews. My source also mentioned that important names from Next Generation's past may be involved in the new site.
That's about all I can reveal for now (probably more than I should reveal, in fact). Personally, I couldn't be more excited that this important and influential name in game journalism is coming back, albeit in a slightly different form. Look for continuing coverage of this exciting development after the official announcement.
Update: (May 8, 2005, 3:30 PM): Some small details were changed to protect the identity of my source.
Update: (May 8, 2005, 5:15 PM): Added some background information about the print mag and the editors.
Wednesday, May 4, 2005
Who Cares About Zelda? More Ads!
I was pretty excited when I saw the upcoming Legend of Zelda sequel on the cover of the latest Electronic Gaming Monthly at a local game store. So you can imagine my surprise when I pulled my copy out of the mailbox yesterday (my mail service sucks, by the way) and saw not Zelda but:
ColdWinter! (click any picture to see a larger version)
After a few seconds' thought and some careful examination, I figured out what was going on. The apparent ColdWinter cover -- complete with EGM logo, slogan and mailing label -- was just an advertisement glued on to the actual cover on the left side.
Flipping the fold-out ad-cover open makes the attachment's commercial nature a little more apparent (the below is a two-page spread, if you can't tell):
And, of course, flipping again reveals the true cover:
Having encountered a similar EGM cover attachment in the recent past, I thought I knew what to look for: namely, a big note saying "advertisement," on the front of the cover coverer. No such luck this time. Until you actually open it up, this looks like just another EGM cover that happens to feature ColdWinter and not a paid-for advertisement. I don't see this as a comforting trend (can you have a trend with only two points?). At this rate, in another few months, maybe the actual cover content will be directly bought by advertisers.
All right, that's probably an unfair exaggeration, but I still don't think this is the right direction for EGM to be going with this sort of ambiguous advertising. Your thoughts?
ColdWinter! (click any picture to see a larger version)
After a few seconds' thought and some careful examination, I figured out what was going on. The apparent ColdWinter cover -- complete with EGM logo, slogan and mailing label -- was just an advertisement glued on to the actual cover on the left side.
Flipping the fold-out ad-cover open makes the attachment's commercial nature a little more apparent (the below is a two-page spread, if you can't tell):
And, of course, flipping again reveals the true cover:
Having encountered a similar EGM cover attachment in the recent past, I thought I knew what to look for: namely, a big note saying "advertisement," on the front of the cover coverer. No such luck this time. Until you actually open it up, this looks like just another EGM cover that happens to feature ColdWinter and not a paid-for advertisement. I don't see this as a comforting trend (can you have a trend with only two points?). At this rate, in another few months, maybe the actual cover content will be directly bought by advertisers.
All right, that's probably an unfair exaggeration, but I still don't think this is the right direction for EGM to be going with this sort of ambiguous advertising. Your thoughts?
Monday, May 2, 2005
Contradictory Quote of the Moment
"Assembling blocks is easy and challenging."
-From PunchJump's review of Lumines. No, it doesn't make much sense in context either
-From PunchJump's review of Lumines. No, it doesn't make much sense in context either
Sunday, May 1, 2005
Historically Relevant Quote of the Moment
"GameStop has never simply digested its competitors into complete homogeneity with its existing business model. It's historically taken what it can from them and made it part of its business. For instance, after acquiring Funcoland, Gamestop began a program of intense promotion behind Funco's in-house magazine Game Informer, turning it from a much-derided catalog into a giant that claims the highest circulation of any American game magazine."
-From 1up's feature on the Gamestop/EB Games merger.
-From 1up's feature on the Gamestop/EB Games merger.
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