E3 2011:Dead Island: Last Chance on the wall gameplay

E3 2011: Rage to come on 3 disc on Xbox 360

The Wii U controller is, in some ways, more of a traditional controller than the Wii Remote. Its button layout is similar to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 controllers, and Nintendo’s own GameCube controller. The biggest difference from other contemporary controllers, besides the giant touch screen, is that the Wii U controller replaces dual analog sticks with dual circle pads, and analog triggers with regular buttons. 

If you want to feel what Nintendo’s Wii U controller is using instead of analog sticks (like the stick found on the Wii Nunchuk), you don’t have to wait for the Wii U to hit stores. Just pick up any old 3DS right now and check out the circle pad on the upper left side. This slider functions on a basic level as an analog input — the further you push it in a direction, the stronger the effect is. 

The thing is, analog sticks work much better than circle pads. There’s less friction and they are more sensitive to slight tilting movements that are so essential for tracking and popping tiny heads in the distance. Most people have been using analog sticks since the Nintendo 64, and so far the Wii Remote’s pointer functionality is the only thing that’s been an acceptable replacement for a stick on consoles (PC gamers have the all-powerful mouse). 

This lack of analog sticks on the Wii U controller is especially unusual since Nintendo popularized the analog stick themselves, deeming it the only way to control Mario in 3D space. The purpose of the circle pad on the 3DS is, ostensibly, to save space. It’s unclear why the sticks fell out of style on the Wii U controller, since there’s plenty of space for sticks — the thing is massive. 

The rear triggers on the Wii U controller are simplified buttons, unlike the sensitive analog triggers you would use to gradually accelerate in any modern driving game on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. Again, the 3DS shares similarly lacks analog triggers if you want to check it out. This seems like less of a big deal, but the loss of the standard analog controls altogether may dissuade gamers from playing multiplatform games on the Wii U. It’s hard to imagine the various advantages of the controller outweighing basic loss of functionality that even the GameCube controller had a decade ago. 

The Wii U controller is still a prototype, and if Nintendo is truly serious about wooing the biggest third party developers, you can count on those porting existing games like Aliens Colonial Marines to make a fuss about the lack of analog controls. But that might not be enough — so we’ll lay on the pressure too — and you should let us, and Nintendo, know about your concerns in the comments below.

(Source: IGN)

Personally, this E3 was not that great in my opinion. On the top layer, the ingredients are there that would make this year a spectacular event: new home console being unveiled, new portable gaming system, host of games that are eye popping and FREAKING YOUTUBE ON XBOX 360. However, Nintendo Wii U is not a next generation system by any means, not saying that it’s not gonna be fun but it is a sub-current generation system in terms of graphical abilities. It’s basically a current Wii with a new controller, updated RAM, CPU and GPU. It’s essentially the DSi of the home consoles….not impressed by any means.(Sure, it’ll be fun to play with friends, just like the Wii is, but really this isn’t gonna compete with the Playstation 4 or Xbox 720-whatever they call it). Playstation Vita, which is carrier locked to AT&T, was boo’d very loud by the scores of AT&T haters(Can you blame them if you had a iPhone.) Great processing power, great features, and 3G service but I doubt this can topple the Gameboy/DS/3DS train that Nintendo has been on for 20+ years.Which brings me to the games, which again are great but nothing that was brand new really stuck out to me, more video games series that we know and love but nothing that was amazingly fresh or new. 

Overall, I’d give this year a 7 out of 10. 

In a wide-ranging interview with Kotaku regarding the new Wii U console, one of Nintendo’s chief game designers, Katsuya Eguchi, confirmed that the system’s proprietary disc format will hold 25 Gigabytes of data. That squares with our own reporting from before E3 and puts Nintendo in a good place to run games that fill up a single-layer 25GB Blu-Ray disc, the format used by current console king of large game discs, the PlayStation 3.

Eguchi declined to comment on our report, from the same people who told us about the 25GB, that the system’s internal flash memory is 8GB. Earlier today, a Nintendo rep explained that the new console will support external USB drives, for added storage capacity.

We’ll have tons more about Wii U, including a lot of insights from Eguchi about what makes this console special for Nintendo, in the coming days.

(Source: Kotaku)

Our long Mario Party drought is over! The last game in Nintendo’sMario Party series, Mario Party 8, was released in 2007. And the latest entry, Mario Party 9was revealed today at the E3 gaming expo in Los Angeles.

The Wii game currently doesn’t have a release date, and it’s unclear whether Nintendo’s Nd Cube, which developed Wii Party, will be crafting the game or not.

(Source: Kotaku)

Continuing a “multimedia” promotional strategy that’s seen such wonders as the latest Street Fighter movie, Capcom has asked Hollywood production company Screen Gems (part of Sony Pictures) to whip up a Devil May Cry feature film.

It’ll be a live-action project, written by Kyle Ward, who has also penned the upcoming (and long in production hell) Kane & Lynch movie adaptation.

The news, coming today from an official Capcom announcement, confirms a report from earlier in the year.

Those hoping this will feature the old Dante, sorry. Capcom says this film will be based on the new Dante design for the upcoming series reboot/prequel, DmC.

(Source: Kotaku)

Respawn Entertainment, the new studio founded byCall of Duty creators Jason West and Vince Zampella following their messy split from Activision, is of course working on a shooter. But what kind of shooter? A future shooter, that’s what.

The game is being published by EA, and at an event earlier today EA Games’ Frank Gibeau said that, alongside Insomniac’s Overstrike, Respawn’s title is one of two “sci-fi-oriented shooters” on the company’s books.

This isn’t too surprising; it had long been rumoured that Infinity Ward (at least when Zampella and Young were still there) was working on a sci-fi shooter, so it must be great for the pair to actually get the chance to make it.

Gibeau says this will allow EA to finally compete directly with games like Halo and Gears of War in a genre the company has traditionally had little clout.

(Source: Kotaku)

E3 2011: Twisted Metal gameplay footage

 Ubisoft and Nintendo revealed today that the Assassin’s Creed series will be coming to the new Wii U console. Sadly, Ubisoft played coy on just which game that would be, so it could be an all-new game, or it could just be a port!

(Source: Gizmodo)

Supaboy which will play old Super Nintendo games on it

We’ve already covered FIFA 12’s new features and talked about the new EA Sports Football Club. After spending some serious time with the features today, the most striking element of the game is witnessing how objects react to each other – both from player collisions, the ball, and every combination in between. 

More than any other year, every player on the field feels like a solid entity. If a striker is slide-tackled and tumbles to the ground, his body becomes a new obstacle and can cause a chain reaction of falls. These are weighted objects slamming into each other. Sharp players might leap out of the way, but the unsuspecting crash into a pile. It’s strangely realistic and something that FIFA has never achieved before. Every knee, toe, and cleat is a potential obstacle and the ways players bounce, grab, and move around each other is exciting to watch. 

These reactive elements also apply to the way the ball travels from player to player. Try to slide a pass past a defender and it might just clip his toe, going off course. Or it could pop off an opposing thigh and soar beyond its target. Every joint and angle that a player can now collide with is just as potent against the ball itself. After the whistle blew, these collision details felt unpredictable, but the realistic physics soon took over and it’ll be difficult to return to FIFA 11’s old system. 

When two players run directly into each other, one with the ball, the result is dependent on many factors. One player may be knocked to the ground, or the offensive player might hang onto the ball while muscling through his cover. It took a minute to get the hang of these reactions, but they feel natural. Again, there is an overwhelming sense of both the weight and momentum of the players running across the field. 

There’s still a lot to learn about FIFA 12 that Electronic Arts is not ready to disclose just yet. Mode tweaks and additions are still hidden away. The only teams on display at E3 were Arsenal and Chelsea and the overall journey to completion isn’t quite there. But from some hands on time, the collisions – ball deflections and players crashing – are fantastic. FIFA 12 is doing physics right.