perpetual memory loss

Today I drug myself to my computer to begin the process of writing more cover letters and to scour the internet for more jobs.  It never happened though because I made myself a pot of coffee and turned on the TV and as I was searching around I saw that G4 was having their E3 coverage.  Some days it is down right fantastic to be a nerd and today was one of those days.  I spent the better part of the day watching Microsoft’s XBOX 360 E3 presentation.  It was two hours chalk full of surprises that whetted my appetite for the fall releases.  So for those of you that are gainfully employed here are some of my favorites (in no particular order).

The Beatles Rock Band–even though I generally suck at Rock Band I will think about getting this game just because it looks great and I love The Beatles.  Besides how cool would it be to play Drive My Car in Shea Stadium in front of 50,000 screaming fans?

Modern Warfare 2–the first Modern Warfare was awesome and I didn’t even explore the multi-player features, a mistake I won’t make again.  It looks like Infinity Ward upped the ante on this version and the level displayed at E3 looked great–especially when you get to drive and fight on a snowmobile, which had a Bond feel to it.  The 360 version will also have two exclusive map packs.

Halo: ODST–Bungie is one of those developers that I will pretty much buy anything they make because they are one of the best out there.  The fact that this is a new Halo game, which plays differently than previous incarnations, and you can count me hyped and excited to play this game.  Also Bungie teased a prequel to the Halo series entitled Halo: Reach.

Splinter Cell: Conviction–I have been anticipating this game for a long time now, and am glad to see that it is finally about to be released.  Ubisoft revamped the whole game in order to add in features that were used in Assassins Creed.  The game play looks fantastic and it looks like Sam Fisher will be able to move and interact with the environment at a level unheard of in previous Splinter Cell incarnations.

Alan Wake–this game has been in development for what seems like 10 years, but it is finally set to be released and it looks like it will be worth the wait.

Left 4 Dead 2–The first L4D was zombie killing at its finest and I expect the second version to be even better.  Valve is a publisher that is in the same category as Bungie, Rockstar, and Epic.  They know how to make good games, and I will buy pretty much anything they make.  Besides there is nothing better than killing zombies with a group of friends, and the inclusion of a chainsaw makes L4D2 a must have.

Well those are the games that I am looking forward to playing this fall, but there are plenty of other games that are coming this fall: Tony Hawk: Ride with a skateboard controller, Metal Gear Solid: Rising, Final Fantasy XIII, Forza 3, and Crackdown 2.  For Microsoft to get the MGS and FF franchises on the XBOX is a huge blow to Sony and just continues the trend of developers moving from Sony to Microsoft.

The last hour of the press conference dealt with the XBOX Live.  Coming soon is Last.fm streaming (free for XBL Gold Members), which I am looking forward to since I use my 360 to play music since I don’t own a radio.  This will make it easier for me to listen to music without dealing with the problems of compatibility that I keep running into with music that I buy off of iTunes.  That is one of the most frustrating aspects that I have encountered as of late.  I hate buying  music on iTunes and then having to pirate the same music because it won’t play on my XBOX.  Hopefully this alleviates that problem.  Also coming is immediate 1080p streaming of movies and tv shows and live parties, so friends can watch said movies and tv shows together over the net.  Hopefully this will mean that NetFlix streaming will be ramped up to include HD support.  It seems like Microsoft has ceded Blu-Ray to Sony and instead is content to prepare for the future by staking their claim on digital content.

Microsoft is also teaming up with Facebook and Twitter, and will be integrating both social networking sites into XBL, as if I needed another way to check my Facebook account.  Microsoft will also be offering live TV via the Sky news for people in the UK.  Hopefully eventually Microsoft will find a way to allow people to subscribe to cable via their XBOX.  I’m tired of the Time Warners, Coxes, and Cablevisions of the world.  If they find a way to add tv to the XBOX it will add a much needed competitor to the cable world.

The last big feature that Microsoft unveiled was their Natal software.  Natal is Microsofts attempt to free the gamer of those pesky controllers.  (Unfortunately no controllers means I will have to find something else to take out my rage on when I die for the umpteenth time.  Maybe I’ll invest in a bunch of N64 controllers that I can hulk out on when the situation calls for it.)  The footage was reminiscent of Minority Report, and if Microsoft can pull this off on the level they want to it will be amazing.  The problem will be integrating this technology into games in real-time without it coming off as being a gimmick.  Unlike the Wii there will be no pre-programmed motions, and Natal should be able to recognize all movements of the players and translate it in real-time into the game.  It will be interesting to see if they can pull this off, and if they do, what developers like Rockstar, Bungie, Epic, and Valve will be able to do with this technology.

It is an exciting time to be a gamer and these next few years will undoubtedly increase my love affair with my XBOX.

*Thanks to neverbesocial for the term Holy Smackers which I completely stole from him.

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