There were a good few entries this time around, but our draw for the draw for a pair of tickets to see Apocalyptica, Dir en Grey, and Evaline has come to a close. The winner has been notified (you know who you are!) regardless of the lateness of this announcement, which we sincerely apologize for. However, we still hope that you participate in future contests…there might just be another one soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

For those who didn’t win, don’t fret! You can still order tickets through here.

Apocalypitica and Dir En Grey
With Evaline
Wednesday, September 1st
Doors 5pm | Show 6pm
Tickets $27.00
All ages

Actor, Sato Takeru will be playing Himura Kenshin who is a legendary assassin.  Takeru is currently in popular Japanese drama “Ryomaden” as Okada Izo who is a Samurai of the late Edo period.  Since Takeru plays the role of a Samurai very well, he was chosen to play Kenshin as well.

The shoot for the movie will start later this summer, more news as it develops.

j-Summit New York

Date: Saturday July 10, 2010

This time, we will feature the J-Rock/V-kei influenced rock band, ‘Geist’, from Baltimore MD , the most reputable J-rock trio, Lilac, a revolutionary R&R band, Stella’s Attic, for their second appearance and a vocal-bass-percussion trio, ‘The Lonious Monkeys’ as well as a hip-hop dancer, Nobuya, and an idol unit, Rib-bon.

Plus Special Project from Japan (TBA)

Venue : The Studio@Webster Hall / 125 E 11th Street NYC

Doors Open at 5PM / Show starts at 6PM. 18+ ID (Valid ID’s are required)

Tickets: $10 (advance) / $12 (door)

Performers

Geist : www.myspace.com/geistband

Lilac : www.myspace.com/lilacofficial

The Lonious Monkeys : www.myspace.com/shioristevedavid

Stella’s Attic : www.stellasattic.com/

Nobuya : www.nobuyan.com/

Rib-bon

JSNY Mailing list:

1) join us on Facbook http://www.facebook.com/pages/j-Summit-New-York/103573459689793?ref=sgm

2) email us [your full name] and [email address] to jsummitny@gmail.com to be added to our JSNY mailing list

( $10 admission and win Special Prize – drink ticket, Artist goods, CD and etc.)

j-Summit NY offers a welcoming environment to enjoy music (J-pop, J-rock, Visual-kei) and fashion (Goth-loli, Kawaii) for all fans and artists!! We are creating a community focused on the connections and cultural exchanges (modern, classic) between Tokyo and NY. These exciting events will be held periodically, so keep up-to-date with information!

Join us

We welcome various types of artists, such as singers, bands, dancers, and performers!

Wanted: Event stuff, promoter

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Executive Producer : Katsu Oiwake / mok management.

jsummitny@gmail.com mokmanagement@gmail.com

Media/Director : Hiroshi Kono / Mar Creation, Inc.

contact@marcreation.com tel: 917-400-9362

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Miyavi recently performed at Chicago’s own House of Blues, and what a performance it was. He enthralled the audience with his antics, jokingly asking the audience what his name was, flicking the microphone to get everyone to yell it, and making wide strums on his guitar to see if the drummer would be quick enough to throw in a beat. The man had charisma like no other musician I’ve yet to see.

While my time in the photo pit only lasted 3 songs, it was more than enough time to catch Miyavi in some interesting poses. More photos after the break.

Surprisingly after many sub-par Sonic games, Sega has decided to make a decent downloadable title. Dimps, the developers of Sonic Advance 1 through 3 and Sonic Rush have been working on the title. Sonic 4 introduces Sonic 1 & 2 all over again with similar boss battles, gimmicks, and special stages. It may not be the best idea but it’s good that they have played it safe instead of introducing shit that would allow the game to be broken. At E3, Sega shows us the first level in Sonic 4, Splash Hill Zone which is obviously an homage to Green Hill Zone. Splash Hill Zone contains everything you would expect from the “grass cliche” zone of a Sonic title ranging from standard loop-de-loops to your Green Hill turbo tubes and Emerald Hill corkscrews. The biggest surprise that Sega had to show for the game is Dr. Eggman’s first boss machine from Sonic 1 which has made it’s return. Sega had introduced phases for bosses in Sonic 4 in which the boss would have a standard pattern until damaged enough times. The boss would go in a “berserk” mode where it would be more aggressive with its attacks e.g. the Egg-Mobile literally spins to try and smash the red iron ball on Sonic. The only really thing that is revolting is the fact that the music is utter uninspired shit… or rather it wasn’t composed well. There have been many comments on the physics of the game and how there wonky and they should realize that it doesn’t have to be perfect to be good. The only major flaw is being able to spam the homing attack which makes Eggman look like a joke even during an aggression phase. It’s about time that Sega stops popping out shitty Sonic games even though it may not be as developed as the classics. (<- Debatable) Good thing for Sega is this isn’t the best Sonic title shown at E3…*GASP*

Sonic Colors

Okay this is the last Sonic game on the list but I gotta admit, two good Sonic titles being developed at the same time; this is a new record. Hate it or love it, Sonic Colors plays similarly to the day stages in Sonic Unleashed without the werehog and the constant spamming of the boost button. Dr. Eggman (or Robotnik, whatever floats your boat…) has built a gigantic amusement park in same where he has captured these alien creatures known as Wisps held hostage and Sonic must race through the perils in Eggman’s twisted amusement park. There are wisps that show up in levels to help Sonic progress through the stage while giving him access to alternate routes along the way. While running through various levels of the game, the game will change from a 2.5D perspective to 3D and vice versa like in Unleashed. While the game is in a 3D perspective, there will be minor platforming to do and it is more of racing against the clock to get to the next part of the level as fast as you can. However, in the 2.5D Perspective, Sonic will have to use his platforming skills to get across to the next area. Two stages were shown in the demo with a boss battle for the first. The game begins with Tropical Resort Zone which takes the look of a “tropical resort” and tosses it into outer space. The second zone revealed is called Sweet Mountain Zone which is an entire level of Sonic racing through mountains of hamburgers, donuts, and other detailed dessert. Two specific wisp powers were shown in the demo at E3 along with two partial levels. The first of the wisp powers is a Laser Spindash which allows Sonic to bounce through a 3D section of the stage and destroy all enemies caught in the dash. The second wisp power is a drill that allows Sonic to dig underground at super-fast speeds, allowing access to hidden areas and faster routes making it a mini-game of its own. Sonic Colors has been praised for the games graphics especially on the Wii and quality music that tosses Sonic 4′s OST in a garbage bin. From what I have seen, I think it is the level design that definitely deserves praise. One of the weak points in Sonic Unleashed were the levels filled with cheap death after cheap death from countless bottomless pits and terrible drifting at extreme speeds that the game expected you to master. In Sonic Colors there doesn’t seem to be a deranged learning curve that prevents you from just popping in the game and having fun which is a major plus. The boss shown is a huge merry-go-round attraction which Sonic must loop around to avoid projectiles and smash the core from within. The full boss wasn’t shown with Sega cutting the hit points of the boss to three, teasing us with an epic adventure waiting to be revealed on the release date. Sonic Colors is also being developed for the DS using the same exact engine from Sonic Rush and it’s sequel, Sonic Rush Adventure. Improvements have been made with less bottomless pits and the wisps give Sonic many different abilities such as different shields. All three Sonic titles were announced to be released 4th Quarter, 2010.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

The Castlevania series has always been a success when applied in a 2D environment but has always failed when a 3D title was released. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow may be the franchise’s saving grace in 3D. Gameplay is very much similar to the God of War series in which you whip your weapon around to mercilessly slaughter your foes. Except for a chain with blades on both edges, the player controls Gabriel Belmont who wields a whip like the other Belmonts in almost every Castlevania game. The story begins with the main character, Gabriel Belmont who fights against supernatural creatures as a member of the “Brotherhood of Light”. His wife, Claudia is killed by a supernatural and is stuck in a phase in which she is neither alive or dead. Gabriel seeks to find the God Mask to bring her soul back while fighting off the factions of the Lords of Shadow. The whip known as the “Combat Cross” will be Gabriel’s main weapon which is upgradeable. His whip will be used for solving puzzles and crossing gaps and pits instead of just combat. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow shows very high quality in its graphical fidelity and legendary voice acting with some of the greatest such as Patrick Stewart and Jason Issacs. Konami explained that it will stay true with the Castlevania series retaining werewolves and of course, vampires. Like with Sonic, there is more then one game of the same series that was revealed at E3.

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair

Konami had also announced a second Castlevania title known as Harmony of Despair. This downloadable title has the gameplay mechanics from Symphony of the Night and adds six player co-op. The game consists of various dungeons where each player must ascend to each boss and defeat the boss as quickly as possible. The experience point system has been taken out and replaced with characters finding weapons across the map to get through the level quicker either in co-op or competition. It’s a shame that you can’t play as any of the Belmonts and can only choose up to the recent main characters from Alucard (Symphony of the Night) to Soma Cruz. (Dawn of Sorrow) It’s really a disappointment that it was announced as an XBLA exclusive when the fans from the Nintendo era (Castlevania 1 through 4) or the Sony era (Symphony of the Night); neither which are affiliated with Microsoft. Come on Konami, at least make a PS3 release…

Shank

An interesting downloadable title by EA, Shank is like a 2D Devil May Cry complete will all the badass gun and swordplay with a comic book style. Shank plays like the obscure SNES title, Ninja Warriors being a beat-em-up on two-dimensional plane. Even though you can only move left and right like your traditional 2D platformer, Shank offers a variety of weapons to slaughter your enemies as well as athletic abilities to get from one place or another. The demo shown at E3 2010 starts you off with a blade, two guns with infinite ammo, and a few grenades. With these weapons, players could pull off a variety of stylish combos by slashing, throwing, and shooting airborne enemies while keeping ground against surrounding enemies. Shank offers platforming abilities seen in games like Ninja Gaiden and Shinobi ranging from running off walls to doing acrobatic jumps to gain leverage. Shank has yet to have a release date to be announced.

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood

A spinoff of the Assassin’s Creed series, Brotherhood carries off from the end of Eizo Auditore da Firenze’s journey in Assassin Creed II. Eizo continues his journey to Assassinate the sacred Templars who are eager to end his life. The demo shown at E3 begins with an epic strike from Templars who are attacking Ezio’s adobe. In Brotherhood, Ezio can now mount cannons to fire at enemies and also has a few new counter attacks against enemies. Combat remains the same in which, countering is the key to defeating enemies. The game is said to take place in Rome where Ezio will train assassins that will serve to help him defeat the corrupt Templars. A new online multiplayer component was developed for Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. Multiplayer has been explained to be similar to single player in which one player will try to assassinate another using stealth and gaining points for the amount of creativity and stealth that player uses. Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood has been announced to hit stores November 16, 2010.

Mafia II

Mafia II is the sequel to the highly acclaimed Mafia from 2002. The sequel of Mafia takes place in an open fictional city called Empire Bay. The game pays homage to many mafia themed movies. The story is centered around former WWII veteran, Vito Scaletta who comes back from the war finding his father dead and mother in debt. To pay off the debt Vito begins working for a crime family and eventually rises to becoming a made man. The game is open-world with ten square miles to explore containing over 100 areas that can be accessed from apartments and stores to warehouses. 2K Czech has revealed that a game will feature a lot of destructibility to add during combat. Combat has been re-tooled and plays similar to recent third person shooter such as Gears of War and Uncharted adding a cover system to gameplay. Unlike the Grand Theft Auto series, Empire Bay will be fully opened with no restrictions from the start of the game. Many weapons from the first game make a return along with new World War II era contraband such as the MP40 and M3 SMG. Mafia II is shaping up to be the best open world game to be released as of this year. The game has been announced to be released in North America on August 24, 2010.

E3 2010 hasn’t really given the boost that prior E3′s have had with the exception of Nintendo. Crappy motion controls and peripherals have been forced into the spotlight while many games have been overlooked due to the embarrassing conferences from Microsoft, to Ubisoft, to Sony, and most importantly Konami which failed to show off any new Metal Gear Rising. Hopefully things will turn up for the better at Tokyo Game Show this fall.

Being extremely noticeable, there’s been an apparent pattern with both Sony and Microsoft trying to monopolize off of their own motion controls to try and gain a casual audience for their respective consoles. Personally, this has been a detriment to the more “hardcore” gamer such as myself and I found myself lacking any love for the new Sony Move. However, that doesn’t mean Sony’s conference ended in failure. Like Nintendo, they too had a few surprises to reveal.

Killzone 3

At the beginning of their press conference, Sony immediately showed Killzone 3 in its alpha stage which looks pretty good if you don’t mind constant pop-up. Killzone 3 looks gorgeous to say the least with snow along the turbulent winds and ocean waves crash onto nearby icebergs. The action and destruction happening runs at a consistent frame rate of 30 and is perhaps one of the best looking FPS’s of all time. The demo begins with Sevchenko and Rico from the second game, fighting the Heighast on what appears to be a ruined complex in an arctic-like area. Differences from the second game are quite noticeable with more open areas to fight the Helghast instead of a completely linear path in previous titles. A new addition to gameplay seems to be the jet-pack which allows for more evasive and strategic maneuvers against enemies. The demo ends with Sev on a turret in an epic shootout against the Helghast fighting from the complex.

For almost the entire first hour of Sony’s conference, the Move was supposed to be the star of the show. Taking a trip into the future, the Sony representatives thought it would be entertaining and insightful to discuss 3D gaming for their console. It seems that the gamer demographic needs to have a sacrificed frame rate and a lower resolution for an optical effect. Thankfully after all of the greatness of 3D gaming, Sony gracefully shows us the Move and the originally it provides going against the Kinetic and Wii Motion Controller. Tiger Woods Golf definitely got the crowd pumped with constant lag and so many drives in the sandpit that you just want to strangle yourself.

All sarcasm aside, whether you like it or not, the Move is a more precise version of the Wii Motion Controller. Sony also had gave us a little surprise of what a Move gimmick game would play like. Prices were revealed that Sony was going to sell each Move controller separately and with a $99.99 bundle.

Sorcery

Sorcery is a game that fully utilizes the Move’s motion controller. From what the tech demo showed, the positioning of the move controller effects how the protagonist in the game holds his magic wand. Attacking seems simple and easy by just quickly thrusting the motion controller and the protagonist will shoot a beam from his wand in a similar fashion from the player’s movements. Sorcery also has plenty of unique features in there game without having to force the Move gimmick. Using various potions allow the protagonist to transform into different creatures to be able to traverse hidden areas in the game. The player’s magic wand can shoot out many other types of magic other then a beam. From what was shown in the demo the player can fire ice beams to freeze enemies, a line of fire can be used as a temporal barrier, and a whirlwind can be used to trap enemies and toss them across the area. Magic can also fuse to do more damage; e.g. in the demo a whirlwind can mix with the line of fire which creates a firestorm to add insult to injury to foes. Sorcery was a sight to see and maybe Sony is really trying to appeal to the core gamer with innovative motion controls.

After the Move’s presentation, Sony introduced a new component to the Playstation Network known as Playstation Plus. Playstation Plus is an added subscription to get the best out of everything from the PSN. Playstation Plus allowed for exclusive early demo releases, reduce prices on downloadable titles, and much more that were only briefly explained. Hopefully now, PSN can compete with XBLA with the edge of not charging extra for online play.

Little Big Planet 2

Finally after the 3D and Move concepts were tossed out of the way, there was a hunger for games and Sony showed us a few new titles. The first one which was announced sometime ago was LBP2. Media Molecule shows that in Little Big Planet 2, much more then a simple platformer can be constructed. New tools allow for the creation of A.I. bots known as Sackbots which can be customized in creator levels. Levels can be connected to form “creatable sagas” and a new interface allows for friendlier creator tools. Along with existing controls, LBP2 has the option to use a mouse and a keyboard for Level and Game Design enthusiasts to play with. LBP2 is one the more original and innovative titles in Sony’s line-up which seems more than just an expansion pack.

Final Fantasy XIV

Infamous 2

It was kinda disappointing to see a short trailers of Infamous 2 and FFXIV. Final fantasy XIV shows bits and pieces of turn-based online gameplay while Infamous 2 shows a total rehashing of Cole MacGrath. It’s a shame that they’ve changed Cole’s entire appearance and raspy voice to a more generic, Nathan Drake. The graphics are much better then the first and ice power seems to be gained by Cole as teased in the trailer.

Portal 2

It wasn’t a surprise to see Portal 2 revealed at E3 but it was one hell of a surprise to see them reveal the game at Sony’s press conference. It quickly went from Value being to lazy to develop games on the PS3 to them giving Sony the best version of the game. (I was hoping to see Kevin Butler, letting loose on that asshole, Gabe Newell…) The game begins with the protagonist, Chell from the 1st game entering GLaDOS’ various personality cores while again being put through tests. Portal 2 will introduce a two player co-operative mode which will have more complex puzzles then in single player to encourage for the team to work together. There will be a separate storyline for the co-op campaign with its own unique plot and setting. Valve introduced exclusive Steamworks features on the PS3 version which would allow for automatic updates, DLC, and community support.

Twisted Metal PS3

It was a complete surprise to everyone that David Jaffe (Producer of the God of War Series) would appear and reveal a new title in the Twisted Metal series. Eat Sleep Play is working on the game along with the original developers from Incognito Development. The game is very much similar to previous installments, having copious amounts of gore, heavy metal, and all-around destruction. New vehicles were shown ranging from a rodent catching car, to motorcycles and helicopters. Two mode; Team-Deathmatch and a original mode known as Nuke. were revealed for multiplayer. Team-Deathmatch plays as you would expect: gain points for your team by causing destruction and exploding your opponent’s vehicles. Nuke plays like Capture the Flag in which a team must capture an enemy Nuclear Missile and charge it at the friendly base. Once charged, the missile fires at the enemy statue and whichever team destroys the opposing team’s statue wins.

Sony’s Press Conference was almost a complete letdown with there showing of the Move and 3D for the PS3, it was something that aggravated core gamers: the meat of their audience. But at the end, they deliver with a few surprises not so much to make them the best showing though. It’s too bad they tried to shove the Move down our throats and tease us with 30 second trailers of PS3 exclusives; it was a disaster that not even Kevin Butler could save… (Part 4 Coming Soon)

After the previous lackluster E3 conferences Nintendo had, it was thought everything would change as soon as they revealed the next Zelda game. This year, Nintendo had brought everything to the table… well almost everything.

Zelda: Skyward Sword

Nintendo had finally revealed the latest installment in the Legend of Zelda franchise titled Skyward Sword. Not much of the story has been detailed but the game mechanics that people were hyping were revealed. A new control scheme was revealed. The player can finally control Link’s sword with the Wii Motion Controller. Horizontal and vertical sword slashes can now be perform by easily swinging the Motion controller. The nunchuck is used for blocking with shields and/or using miscellaneous items that are held in Link’s left hand. Link can also jump to ledges making for more complex item positioning.  Bow & Arrow game play is similar to the Zelda spin-off, Link’s Crossbow Training where the player would use the nunchuck and motion controller to align and fire at desired targets. The presentation was also gimped as Miyamoto desperately tried to play the game at the conference but with no avail, failed. Personally, I had longed for a darker, more sinister style in the franchise but the new art style goes for a more colorful, Wind Waker style with adult Link in the player’s control. Nothing has really changed and it seems that Nintendo is still aiming for the same audience almost 15 years straight. Overall what was shown at the press conference, Zelda: Skyward Sword is shaping up to be another clone of Ocarina of Time which sadly had to be remade a few more times.

Donkey Kong Country Returns

Back in early 90s there was this thing known as 3D pre-rendered graphics that were visually amazing at the time. In 1994, Donkey Kong Country was the head honcho of the pre-rendering fad and would spawn a bunch of graphically impressive sequels with a great soundtrack to boot. It was a surprise when Nintendo revealed a new sequel to the infamous Donkey Kong Country series. After years of non-platform games, including Donkey Kong Jungle Beat and Donkey Kong: King of Swing, it was refreshing to see a new DK platformer in the works. Unfortunately though the game was not being made by Rare (Sadly no David Wise compositions) but instead Retro Studios, the creators of the Metroid Prime series. But to my surprise, Retro Studios has done a fantastic job to bring the nostalgia back to DKC with new elements added to keep the experience fresh. The story involves Tiki’s stealing Donkey Kong’s hoard of bananas so Donkey Kong and his companion Diddy must go and reclaim them just like in the first Donkey Kong Country game. Unlike it’s predecessors, DKC Returns appears to be missing the Kremlings but in return updates gameplay from previous installments giving us different styles of gameplay. Donkey Kong retains his mechanics from previous DKC titles where as he rolls to defeat enemies, slaps his hands on the ground to defeat enemies, collecting K-O-N-G letters to gain extra lives. Diddy Kong is given a jet-pack last seen in Donkey Kong 64 to help progress through tougher platforming sections. Even from a newer producer, DKC Returns adds new platforming elements such as accessing different planes on a level in the 2.5d environment. One major disappointment besides the absence of kremlings are the sudden absence of DK’s animal buddies. From falling ruins to volcanic mine cart rides, Donkey Kong Country Returns definitely delivers with its epic presentation. Though it’s not the only game that shocked us with epic proportions…

Kirby: Epic Yarn

Never have the words “epic” and “yarn” so close together but the new Kirby game brilliantly brings those two concepts together even if it does sound a little strange… Kirby: Epic Yarn has a unique art-style in which everything in the game from the  characters to the environment is in some way outlined in yarn or relates in arts n’ crafts. Unlike other Kirby titles, Kirby attacks with a piece of yarn from his own body that can attach to various bolt-like objects to swing and progress through the various levels in the game. The pink marshmallow can also grab pieces of the environment and flip them or push them toward them with an effect that is similar to flipping a page through a book. Like with Donkey Kong Country Returns, Kirby retains his ability of gaining enemy abilities that will help him progress through each level. If yarn doesn’t impress you there are still a few surprises left.

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn

While Nintendo bombarded the audience with announcement after announcement, it was believed that Nintendo would only cater to the main franchises. No one expected them to bring a long lost sequel to a cult-favorite RPG. That’s when Golden Sun: Dark Dawn was revealed coming on the Nintendo DS. The third game in the series, Dark Dawn has a similar appearance to Golden Sun 1 & 2 on the Game Boy Advance with updated 3d graphics from an aerial point of view. The game utilizes the touch screen to perform psychic abilities such as moving statues. The combat mechanics remain similar to the previous installments but now with updated 3D graphics. RPG fanatics should look-forward for Golden Sun: Dark Dawn which will be released 2010-2011.

Metroid Other-M

Last year it was announced that Team Ninja, creators of Ninja Gaiden and the Dead Or Alive series would team up with Nintendo to produce Metroid Other-M. This year gameplay was finally shown off to the public. The game mixes 2D Metroid gameplay along with the first person mechanics that were introduced in Metroid Prime. Gameplay looks solid with epic bosses and graphics that really push the Wii Hardware to its limits. A mature game showing gave off a refreshing aura from all of the kids titles shown before it. Hopefully Team-Ninja will add some extra jiggling features to the experience. Finally when all was said and done, no one thought that Nintendo would have anymore surprises in store if not for a new Starfox game…

Kid Icarus: Uprising

It has been over 15 years since Nintendo had released a sequel to Kid Icarus. After witnessing his appearance in Super Smash Bros Brawl, it seemed that the angel, Pit would star in his own game. Finally on the new 3DS, Pit is going to have an adventure in his new game, Kid Icarus: Uprising. The story as shown reveals that the goddess of darkness, Medusa who has returned from the first Kid Icarus seeks revenge the goddess of light, Palutena and the young angel Pit. Gameplay seems newer then ever, tossing the extremely difficult gameplay mechanics and the infamous Eggplant Wizard out of the window to introduce the new and angst Pit who shouts obnoxious and ridiculous puns. From what was shown, gameplay will include 3rd Person hack n’ slash elements along with 3D shoot em’ up style action.

The 3DS:

The last attraction shown at Nintendo’s conference was the 3DS, a portable gaming device that is visually similar to the DS. It’s top screen gives off a 3D effect while the bottom retains it’s touch screen. The amount of 3D effect on the top screen can be controlled via analog switch. Two added cameras were shown on the top of the 3DS. The 3DS uses new hardware that allows the portable system to display graphics of the Gamecube era with decent resolution. Various games and amazing tech demos were shown on display such as a Metal Gear Solid title, a new Mario Kart, and a remake of The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time. A release date has been confirmed for March 2011.

From there it seemed that Nintendo would have the best showing at E3 and Sony was up next… (part 3 coming soon)

Motion controls were the real highlight of this year’s E3, from the Sony Move to the Microsoft Kinetic, it was a battle for supremacy.  With the Kinetic, Microsoft had also revealed a new, slimmer Xbox 360 model that would rid of the infamous Red Ring of Death. It seemed all too good to be true nonetheless, it was an exciting double conference for Microsoft.

With the motion sensing of the  Kinetic, players would literally become the controller as dreamed in sci-fi literature and this holds true. Kinetic would capture the player’s movements and work with the games supported for it but also with added convenience of browsing and using the Xbox 360 dashboard without the need of a controller. Although, the Kinetic performs as it was intended to, there was a bit of a downside about the library of games that are compatible for the peripheral.  Unlike the Wii Motion Controller and Sony Move, the Kinetic was made in mind for “Kinetic only” games: ones that are developed exclusively for the peripheral. Speculation of a high priced motion camera device seemed to pricey for the casual gamer demographic which has yet to be announced.

Expected from many, Microsoft had introduced the brand new Xbox 360 Slim that has slimmed into an hourglass shape. The new 360′s would be on shelves days after E3 and were priced at the original 360 price of $300 while lowering the price of the original 360 models buy $50. A clever marketing act by Microsoft claimed that these newer, slimmer 360 models wouldn’t have the RROD (Red Ring of Death) but instead a flashing red light that has been stated by a Microsoft representative that it has nothing to do with the prior RROD error. And be warned, the system does not like being shaken with a disc inside…

After the showing of both Kinetic and the Slim 360, Microsoft had revealed the games coming to their console. The following are my opinion about the games with the most impact were shown at Microsoft’s conference.

Metal Gear Solid: Rising

Veteran video game developer, Hideo Kojima appeared to show everyone the new Metal Gear Solid title MGS: Rising that stars MGS 2′s protaganist, Raiden. The trailer showcases that gameplay will be sword-based, most likely meaning close quarters and shows that many of the things in the game can be chopped by Raiden’s sword from soldiers to brick columns. A key gameplay element in the game is entitled Zan-Detsu meaning to cut and take referring to actions that can be done in the game from dismembering enemies to taking their leftover supplies. The trailer ends with a humorous watermelon cutting by Raiden which is something expected from Kojima who has always used wacky and comedic actions whilst previewing his titles.

Gears of War 3

It was expected that Epic Games would pull out the big guns and showcase Gears of War 3. As it would seem, the action is still over-the-top and as epic as it can be if not more. Epic Games’ Cliff Bleszinski had previewed a demo which had the COGS pitted against the locust army and the new threat of mutated locusts, The Lambent. Gameplay seemed smooth and crazy as ever with new moves added such as physically attack enemies against cover and planting a live grenade on a locust to use as a trap for nearby enemies. Cliff also revealed four player co-op and a new online mode known as Beast for GOW3 which plays sort of like a 3rd-person real-time strategy game. The player would control different classes of locusts to try and kill the COG soldiers in order to win which seemed like a cool new and original development.  The game has been set for a release on April 5th, 2011 in North America.

Halo Reach

As always Halo has been an extremely popular franchise created by Bungie and their new game, Halo Reach has proved itself the potential of besting the disappointing campaign that was in Halo 3. From normal Halo combat to added armor abilities and to 3D shoot-em-up space combat, Halo Reach is setting up to be the best in the franchise and one of the best shooters on the 36o.

Microsoft has had quite a strong aura at the beginning of E3 but Sony and Nintendo also had their share of the spotlight…(part 2 Coming soon)

The 13th Has Passed, which means that our draw for two pairs of tickets to see Miyavi in Chicago are now done with. There were plenty of entries, but only two could claim the prizes. With that said, congratulations to the winners Bennylee and Erica, you two are the fortunate ones that get a pair of meet-and-greet passes to see (and meet) the great musician himself at the House of Blues Chicago on the 23rd! We’ll be in touch with you to set you up with your passes– be sure to check the e-mail addresses that you used to send in your entry.

For those of you who entered and didn’t win, don’t fret! Tickets are still on sale for Miyavi performances across the United States, including his Chicago tour date.