GameCritics.com Podcast Episode 36: E3 2010 Wrap-Up, Kinect, Move and 3DS

[quote=Tim Spaeth]I couldn’t name a Kirby game without Wikipedia. [/quote] Dont go talking Kirby smack. He’ll eat you, and still your abilities. I’ve never played a kirby game, that was not on a hand-held. My first was Nightmare in Dreamland on the GBA. Which was an updated port of a classic kirby game. I learned of that one, from a TV commercial. Eight years ago, a hand-held game getting a TV spot was a big deal. I remember it, because they used the music from the Johnny Rivers’ song “Secret Agent Man”. The thing about kirby, is that it is… Read more »

To add to my previous comment regarding the Zelda presentation(forgot to put my name I think):

I found it a bit negative and unfair for the GC crew (as a whole)to knock Zelda big time for keeping the same formula installment after installment, but then harp on Miyamoto so much for a bad tech presentation. If you expect the Zelda gameplay to be the same year after year, then you should expect the controls to be solid as well, despite a slip in the presentation.

[quote=Gamevet]If Bluetooth was the real problem, then why didn’t this happen with the Twilight Princess showcase during that E3? I believe the GC staff made the right call on this one. Nintento and Miyamoto borked this Zelda showcase, and would have been better off calling it what it was, instead of making weak excuses.[/quote] How many years ago was the Twilight Princess shown? How many handheld devices were in the audience then compared to now? Or any other devices competing for the same signal pool? It was just either bad luck or poor planning, not realizing what the environment was… Read more »

I’m a Kid Icarus fangirl, and most of the reasons why don’t have to do with the actual game. Like Brad said, Nintendo marketed it like a triple-A title. Kid Icarus was a character in a Saturday morning cartoon called Captain N: The Game Master, which is where I first saw him. (I’m several years younger than most of the hosts). He was small and cute and had an adorable speech impediment, and I was a 9-year-old girl.

It was the first game I’d ever played where you moved upwards (I hadn’t played Ice Climbers or the original Mario Bros.) In levels where you were on firm ground–like the Overworld–you moved horizontally. The way your position would shift made total thematic sense, because you were moving from the Underworld to the heavens, and it gave the game a (visual, kinetic) narrative structure, unlike “Mario climbs trees sometimes.” Is it groundbreaking now? No. But it was a pretty unusual bit of sort-of-cinematics at that time.

When I finally got to the end (Kid Icarus was an early game I beat, so there’s that bit of nostalgia), I felt seriously let down. I couldn’t have told you why, although I knew it had to do with Kid Icarus becoming Man Icarus, complete with beard and six-pack. There are so few female characters in games, and here was this child angel that wore a toga and looked really cute. So I could…”pretend” is too strong a word, but subconsciously think of Pit as “girl-like.” Link had the same appeal to me, and so do all the effeminate boy-heroes in Japanese RPGs that look more like actual women than the female characters do.

I have an honest question here; genuinely no snark intended: What was the game that made Kirby important? I’ve owned hundreds of Nintendo games over the years, and not a single Kirby game. I couldn’t name a Kirby game without Wikipedia. I know him from the five minutes I spent with Smash Bros, but is he actually considered one of Nintendo’s marquee mascots? If so, how did I miss that phenomenon?

[quote=Vince] You guys are ‘hardcore’ gamers. I know you all had to have read impression from the people experiencing the games for themselves. Shouldn’t you? You don’t live in a gamer cave where the only impressions that matter are your own, right? Yes, Miyamoto’s demo was frightening. I had to cover my eyes. But, knowing that the Wii’s Remotes are bluetooth, and knowing how many journalists carry bluetooth enabled devices, isn’t it possible that some interference was going on? No, its just easier for you to believe the Wii is a broken system, even though you haven’t played the game… Read more »

[quote=Zolos] But with regards to pricing i think you forget that with Kinect that is the total amount you need to spend for (i assume) at least 4 players maybe? The Wiimote and PS3 move however you need to spend much more if you want 4 people to play.[/quote] True, but I haven’t heard of any good motion-games that actually feature four players, so it may be a moot point. The best motion game for the Kinect (Dance Central) can only handle one. The Gladiator game for PS3 can reportedly handle two people, but also only two controllers, which means… Read more »

Finally got around to listening the podcast. To be honest i did not really follow E3 this year due to the World Cup. The one thing however that i did read about was impressions on the 3DS. A lot of people who got their hands on the handheld were really excited about it and i think it’s one of those you have to see it to understand the big deal. Tbh it’s the first 3D product i want to known as i am not impressed about 3D movies and tvs so far. As for the rest, i am under the… Read more »

You don’t seem to understand what I’m saying. I’m not against innovation at all, but if you’re going to change everything or the most important things, then you might as well make a new IP. Back on topic; this is supposed to be about Kirby. Ask yourself, what is the coolest, most unique, and best thing about Kirby? If your answer is anything but the ability to absorb enemies’ powers, then you’re lying to yourself. I never said Epic Yarn wouldn’t be a good game, (it’ll probably be great) but it has no business being called a Kirby game. The… Read more »

On Kirby/Zelda. You completely missed the point I was trying to make. It isn’t fair to say that I’m complaining about innovation in Kirby and expect that I would complain the same way about innovation in Zelda. This “Kirby” game is extremely innovative because of the yarn mechanic, and it’s an exiting new take on 2d platforming in general. However, it is not innovative to take the defining characteristic of a character, the only thing which makes him interesting, and scrap it. If we follow your line of reasoning, then it would be totally ok to release a Zelda game… Read more »

[quote=Jeffrey Matulef]I also wanted to defend Epic Mickey. I’ve not played Deus Ex, so I can’t compare, but I think the paint and thinner mechanic is pretty great. Maybe it’s because I really like exploration in games, so the idea of searching for secret passages with thinner, or using paint to uncover a series of platforms to find an alternate route really appeals to me.[/quote] Do yourself a favor and get Deus Ex! The graphics are not up to date (obviously, since it’s an ancient game) but the game itself holds up really well. Deus Ex let you freely decide… Read more »

[quote=Richard Naik]I honestly have never given a crap about E3.

Sure I care about games or new tech or whatever that gets revealed, but the event itself has never even held the slightest interest to me.[/quote]

I dont think the “E3 Craze” is nearly as big as the hype would make you believe. The majority of people I know that play games, have never cared about E3 (the event) in the slightest.

especially “announcements” where we dont get to see anything. Where its just a logo or vague concept art.

[quote=Jonathan]Li-on. You’re basically right; there were a lot of sequels, but there were a few new ideas too, The Fight, Gladiator and Sorcery for Move, Dance Central (the idea of a dance game isn’t technically new, but it’s never been done like this), Enslaved: Odyssey to the West might be decent, Epic Mickey should be fun.[/quote] I don’t know how Gladiator compares to Red Steel 2 (which I really hope will have a HD variant now) and Enslaved looks really pretty, but so did Ninja Theory’s last game Heavenly Sword. HS turned out to be a repetitive, albeit pretty, button… Read more »

I’m 24 minutes in, and I’m wondering… have any of you guys heard of the Virtual Console? You can play an awful lot of old games at $10 or less apiece. That’s exactly what you’re asking for, right? Also, the tech demo’s on 3DS are just that, tech demos, and I have to admit that I’m a little embarrassed about how people are freaking out about playing a game they already have before with shinier graphics, but that doesn’t mean we’re gonna get those game remakes, which is how it should be, as they’re all on Virtual Console anyway, you… Read more »

Jim, Vince. If they had a bold re-imagining in mind, why would they not tell us? Look at the pattern of things that happened at this E3; they talked about their bold new look for the Metroid Series, and they talked about the completely new ideas for the character they claim to be Kirby, then they talked about the re-invention of the Golden Eye saga, so why would Zelda be the exception, especially if it’s what the (non-Japanese) fans want? Tim. You’re right, at this point it does us no good to speculate about whether or not Bioware can pull… Read more »

The Chi 3 joke was the highlight of the podcast 😉 Two hours is just too long! I think it would have been better to make 2 shorter casts instead of this extremely long one. The only thing at E3 that got me somewhat excited is the 3DS, and to some extend Portal 2 (despite being a sequel). The rest of the show… meh. Another Zelda *yawn* a new Kid Icarus *shrugs* Killzone 3 *yawn* Gears of *yawn* 3, Final *yawn* XYZ… was there some outbreak of a virus that affects creativity at last years E3, that people return just… Read more »

[quote=Jim]I am confused on how you are all saying it is the same old Zelda game. They showed a small area off that was created solely for E3 designed to show off the new controls. There was nothing shown that would lead me to believe that it is the same game as always. They have stated that it wont be the standard ‘overworld-dungeon-overworl-dungeon’ setup we are used to. Seems as if you are watching the demo and filling in the blanks to your liking (or disliking, as it were).[/quote]Skyward Sword may turn out to be a bold, fresh, re-imagining of… Read more »

I am confused on how you are all saying it is the same old Zelda game. They showed a small area off that was created solely for E3 designed to show off the new controls. There was nothing shown that would lead me to believe that it is the same game as always. They have stated that it wont be the standard ‘overworld-dungeon-overworl-dungeon’ setup we are used to. Seems as if you are watching the demo and filling in the blanks to your liking (or disliking, as it were).

First off, thanks for all of the comments. I’ll stop saying three people listen to me make an ass of myself every time we do a show and amend it to like six. Double digits of listeners, here we come! Randy: Your comments about the 3DS price point make sense to me. I wouldn’t be surprised if this thing was $250 at release. I wonder how that will affect sales if it turns out to be true. Where’s the line where parents say “I’m not paying X amount of dollars for a handheld for my kid”? I’m guessing it has… Read more »

Sinan, first of all, I forgive you for not explaining yourself. Anyway, when you say that WoW gave each of its races/classes origin stories, I think you’re giving Blizzard a bit too much credit. In WoW, you have a very interesting backstory for each of the races, but not so much for the classes (excluding the Death Knight). Basically, you play through fifteen or so levels of race specific areas before you join the “main” world, and everything becomes the same for every player. In truth, the “unique” part of your story in WoW only lasts for a few hours… Read more »

Regards Old Republic and story, it was very late in the day for me when it came up, I think it was one of the last things we discussed so that would have made it around 5am my time, so hope you can forgive me for not explaining myself too well. I think you’re right, I am probably a bit too cynical of SW:TOR but it’s hard not to be when there is so much talk and no bite. I guess from my perspective, I look at the way BioWare talks about specific origin stories to introduce their classes/races and… Read more »

The Skyward Sword demo onstage was bad, but I think you need to give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt when they tell you that they’re having technical difficulties. I’ve watched countless live demos of that game and read just as many previews from journalists who actually played it at E3, and it’s clear that the problems during the press conference were exclusive to the press conference. With regards to SWtOR, it’s true that the interface looks rather WoWish, but the fact that you have to cover so many games has clearly limited the time you have available to spend… Read more »

This may sound odd and possibly even hypocritical given that I write about games on a fairly regular basis, but I honestly have never given a crap about E3. Sure I care about games or new tech or whatever that gets revealed, but the event itself has never even held the slightest interest to me. I’ve never had any desire to go, never watched any of the press events, and never tried to declare an E3 “winner”. I just read the recaps after the fact and watch all the trailers I’m interested in and leave it at that. I love… Read more »

The funny thing about the 3DS for me is that I’m least excited about the 3D part of it. I don’t give a crap about 3D movies or games at this point, but I like my DS a lot and the idea of one with beefed up hardware, a bigger screen, and the slider/nub was enough to get me interested. The 3D is like an afterthought when I think about it — and given my awful experiences with the Virtual Boy years ago, almost a negative.

isn’t that like hating on FF XIII without getting past the first 25 hours?