E3 Awards-Part 2

I'm back with the second half of my E3 2008 awards which include the best handheld, downloadable, and overall games. Games were picked based on how good the actual game was (based on what I was able to see) as well as how well it showed at E3. These aren't to be cofused with my most anticipated games (which I may post later). These are what looked and showed the best at E3. Now let me hand out some awards:

Best Handheld Game

This goes to the best game that appeared on a handheld at the show. This award goes to:

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (Konami, Konami)

Of all the awards, this was the hardest one for me to pick. Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia and Resistance: Retribution were basically dead even. They both look spectacular on their respective systems. Ultimately, I gave the edge to Castlevania. The art feels more reminiscent of Symphony of the Night than the other DS games which is a good change in my opinion. They also added some other good additions to this entry like a new female protagonist, the new glyph system, a power-up that allows you to slingshot yourself around levels, and more environments outside the castle. It seems this could be the best Castlevania game in a while (and that's saying something with the quality of recent titles). Having said that Sony Bend seems to be doing a great job in bringing Resistance to the PSP and adapting the controls to Resistance's faster pace (compared to Syphon Filter). It also deserves a mention for how good it looks.

Runner-up: Resistance: Retribution

Best Downloadable Game

This goes to the best game at the show that will be available by downloading it through one of the three console's online stores. This award goes to:

Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty (Sony Computer Entertainment, Insomniac Games)

There were a ton of great downloadable games, but Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty rose above the crowd. This new Ratchet actually picks up where Tools of Destruction's cliffhanger ending left off and even though it's a downloadable game it has graphics and production values as good as most full games. It's basically a 3-4 hour mini-Ratchet adventure for $15. But it also looks to change things up with a bigger focus on platforming and puzzles along with a new wrench that allows you to manipulate things in the world. It looks like a great way to hold over fans until Ratchet's next big adventure while adding some new ideas to keep things fresh.

Runners-up: Fat Princess, Flower, Galaga: Legions, Mega Man 9

Overall Game of the Show

This award goes to the game at the show that impressed me the most. It had to both seem very promising and show well. My Game of the Show is:

Prince of Persia (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal)

Of all the great games at E3, Prince of Persia impressed me the most. It started with the gameplay being shown in motion for the first time in a very well-made trailer. That was just the start though as the gameplay demonstrations that would occur over the course of E3 really showed off a lot more of what this game has in store. The Prince's moves have been overhauled as he has many new ways to move about the environment including cooperative moves with his new partner Elika. The game features what you'd expect from PoP with influences from games like Ico and Okami along with the new duel-type combat and more open level design which all look to make the game stand out among others in the genre. I'd heard about many of these features, but seeing them in action in the beautiful new artstyle was really impressive. It's tough to know how all these changes will ultimately work out, but the game looks extremely promising and fresh. It definitely earned my Game of the Show.

Runners-up: Far Cry 2, Gears of War 2, inFamous, LittleBigPlanet, Mirror's Edge, Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty, Resident Evil 5, Resistance 2

Well, that wraps up my E3 Awards. I may follow up this up with some eyes-on previews of some of the video demonstrations I saw from E3. I'm also going to now start to get to work on some reviews. So, keep an eye on Video Game Oasis for more new posts soon.

E3 Awards-Part 1

E3 is over and now that I've had a chance to see a ton of media and coverage of the show, I'm ready to hand out some awards. This portion is going to focus on some special and specific awards. Now, let me me hand out some honors (all runners-up are in alphabetical order not ranked).

Most Original Game
This is awarded to a game that brings new things to the table. In a world of sequels and borrowed ideas, it's nice to see fresh concepts that help games separate themselves from the pack. This award goes to:

Mirror's Edge (EA, DICE)

This was a close one between Mirror's Edge and LittleBigPlanet. Both are really original games, but having seen LittleBigPlanet for over a year and Mirror's Edge really having it's coming out party at this E3, I went with Mirror's Edge. Mirror's Edge screams originality from it's unusually crisp and clean visuals to it's first-person perspective platforming. Instead of shooting everything in sight like you usually do from this view, you'll be running, jumping and climbing through environments with a unique control scheme. Even though you can use guns, combat is more about melee and disarming enemies. In fact, holding guns actually slows you down. Mirror's Edge is definately a breath of fresh air.

Runner-up: LittleBigPlanet

Best Graphics-Technical
This is given to the game that ticks off all the boxes you look for in the graphics area. It needs great textures, animations, character and object models, and so on. All this must combine for a visually stunning game from a technical perspective. This award goes to:

Killzone 2 (Sony Computer Entertainment, Guerilla Games)

While Killzone 2 doesn't quite look like the infamous E3 2005 target render, the game looks pretty close and it's still rather early with KZ2 set to release in February 2009. Watch some videos of the single-player campaign and you are in for some stunning visuals. The gun models look fantastic and the animations for Helghast hopping over rails look great. Add in plenty of incredible effects and details and Guerilla is creating one of the best looking games we've seen yet. There were plenty of great looking games at E3 and I've noted some of the best in my runners-up below.

Runners-up: Crysis Warhead, Gears of War 2, Prince of Persia, Resident Evil 5

Best Graphics-Artistic
A large part of a game's graphics come down to the artistic design. This award given to the game that excels in the artistic design side of graphics. Anything from the artstyle to the character designs to the type of environments falls into this category. This award goes to:

Prince of Persia (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal)

The new Prince of Persia has a very unique artstyle. I actually can't think of any other games that look too much like it. The developers are calling this new style "illustrative." The characters have a cel-shaded type look to them, but it looks more three-dimensional. They also have these thin black outlines that look really good and let the characters stand out from their environments. The characters we've seen so far (The Prince, Elika, and The Hunter) have great designs and the environments seem more fantasy-themed than in previous entries in the series. It's a very attractive look when it all comes together.

Runners-up: LittleBigPlanet, Madworld, Mirror's Edge

Biggest Surprise

This award kind of explains itself. It goes to the thing that happened during the show that shocked people the most. The one that dropped jaws to the floor. This award goes to:

Final Fantasy XIII coming to the Xbox 360

E3 2008, as I've said before, was a bit light on surprises. But when Final Fantasy XIII was revealed to be coming to the 360, it was pretty shocking. I've thought for a while that of all the PS3 third-party exclusives FFXIII was the mostly likely to stay exclusive, but I was clearly wrong. While I don't think it's the end of the world like many PS3 fans do, it's definately a big deal and was certainly a huge surprise.

Runners-up: Fat Princess-the name and the game, Resistance: Retribution-Resistance getting an entry on PSP

That's just Part 1 of my E3 awards. In Part 2, I'll give out awards for best handheld, downloadable, and overall game. Keep an eye out for it soon.

E3 Impressions

Now that E3 is over, I want to give my impressions of the show including the Big Three's press conferences and some other thoughts. I'll start with Microsoft's presser. Generally, it was okay, though much of their content didn't appeal to me. They opened with demos of some big games which confirmed rumors of RE5's co-op in a pretty good demo and great look at Gears of War 2. I wasn't real impressed with Fallout 3's demo, but that's mostly because they made it look like a shooter and didn't really show off more of it's depth though the game seems quite promising. Fable 2 looked pretty good, but it doesn't really interest me. A large part of their conference was spent on the new Xbox Live interface, party system, and some casual oriented stuff. This included their new avatars, some movie games, Lips, and and their deal with Netflix. The Netflix deal seems big, but the rest felt kind of like copycats of Miis, Singstar, and Eyetoy games. If this helps expand their market then good for them, but I'm not sure it will and this portion of the conference was just not doing it for me. Microsoft did impress me with their upcoming line-up on XBLA though. New content like Geometry Wars 2, Galaga Legions, and Portal: Still Alive along with the fact that the original Banjo is coming to XBLA has me excited. I've never gotten to play the N64 Banjos and was hoping to before getting the upcoming 360 Banjo which also looked like a lot of fun at the show. They ended the presser by showing off their trio of Square Enix RPG's and announcing that Final Fantasy XIII would come out on 360 as well as PS3. I'm not a big RPG guy, but it's becoming apparent that the 360 is the system to have with the above RPG's on the system as well as games like Mass Effect, Fable 2, and even Too Human (though that one seems not quite as promising). This was accentuated by the fact that Sony hasn't had much in the RPG area on the PS3. I was a bit let down that Microsoft didn't announce any big new games or tease anything for 2009. I would have loved to know that Alan Wake still exists or have actually seen what Bungie was supposed to show, but Microsoft seems content to just talk about this year. They do have an upcoming line-up including Gears 2, Fable 2, Banjo, and some other great mutli-platform games coming this year, so, the 360 seems to be in good shape.

Gears of War 2 looks to be the 360's biggest game this fall.

Nintendo's conference and general E3 performance was easily the worst of the Big Three. Their presser was focused on three big Wii games in Animal Crossing: City Folk, Wii Sports: Resort, and Wii Music. I'm a big Animal Crossing fan, but the new one isn't the jump I was expecting. It looks really similar to the previous games. I'll get it anyway, but I hope there is a lot more new stuff to do than it appeared. Wii Sports Resort looked fun and the Wii Motion Plus looks like a neat new add-on, but I'm kind of tired of the amount of peripherals I've bought for the Wii. I'm likely going to have buy three extra ones to go with the one I'm assuming comes with the game so me and my friends can play it together. While those games look pretty good, Wii Music did nothing for me. It looks like you just kind of randomly hit buttons and move the controllers to play music. It just doesn't appeal to me at all, but I guess it's not supposed to appeal to me. They also featured some third-party games like Shaun White's Snowboarding and Call of Duty, but they didn't interest me either. I was just hoping that Nintendo would give me some traditional games to look forward to, but all they basically did was tell us that the Zelda and Mario teams were working on new games and they were making a new Pikmin (which didn't even happen at the presser). A teaser for the new Zelda Wii or Pikmin and at least I'd have something to look forward to. Heck, at least show some of the new Fatal Frame or WarioLand at the conference. Nintendo failed to impress me with any new first-party DS games as well. The GTA announcement was surprising, but I'm not sure how it will turn out. At least, give me news on bringing the next Prof. Layton game over here. Overall, the Wii and DS software at the show didn't impress me much outside of a few standout titles like the Madworld for Wii, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia for DS, and a few others.

It seems while this guy was sleeping in the corner, three hooligans broke into his house to mess with his stuff.

I came away more impressed with Sony's presser than the other two. Mostly I liked that they showed off their PS3 line-up for this year as well as some for next year, they showed a bunch of promising new titles for PSN, and gave me some games to look forward to on the PSP. They had some demos of games like Resistance 2 and LittleBigPlanet (this one was neatly worked in to replace the typical boring powerpoint stuff). They also showed off games for 2009 like inFamous as well as teasing God of War III and Zipper's M.A.G. Killzone 2 and Motorstorm: Pacific Rift were also featured in a sizzle trailer that had some other multi-platform games coming to the system in it (though I thought that KZ2 and MS:PR would be more prominent in the conference though they had a bigger presence at the show itself). They also showed off a great line-up of new PSN games like Fat Princess, Flower, Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic, Pixeljunk Eden and some others. The star of this portion (in my opinion) was Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty. It's a small, $15 downloadable Ratchet adventure that will hold us over until the next full release. One of my biggest gaming worries recently has been what the PSP had coming up software-wise in the future, but I've got a few games to be excited about now. LocoRoco 2 and Patapon 2 were really announced last week, but both sound great. But they also surpised me with the announcement of Resistance: Retribution, a promising entry in the series by Sony Bend for PSP, and Super Stardust Portable. They announced a new video store that went up the night of the presser, too. The conference was a bit longwinded maybe and I'm not sure why they talked about the PS2 as much as they did, but I enjoyed it overall. They've given me games to be excited for on PS3, PSN, and PSP as well as some games to look forward to in 2009 which made for a good conference I think.

We'll finally be able to get LittleBigPlanet this fall.

E3 as a whole was pretty good. It was severely lacking in big announcements, but it had a bunch of really promising games that we either saw some more of or gameplay of for the first time. I'll talk about my games of the show later, but there were a lot of great third-party games to go along with the first-party stuff I mentioned above. EA had Mirror's Edge and Dead Space. Ubisoft had Prince of Persia and FarCry 2. Capcom had Resident Evil 5 and Street Fighter IV. And that's just to name a few. But I have to wonder what will become of E3 in the future. People generally seem unhappy about its current set-up. Moving it back to May may help to bring the big announcements back which would seem to be a good idea. Some have suggested that opening it to the public over the weekend might help, too. But I'm merely a guy who watches from home and I'm not sure what the best solution is, but it will be interesting to see what shape the show takes on next year.

I enjoyed watching all the media and news trickle in from E3 this year and think it was much better than last year. I'll be posting my Games of the Show and maybe some other awards soon, so, keep an eye out for them.

My Most Anticipated Games of E3

For my final post before E3 starts up tomorrow, I want to talk about the games I'm most looking forward to at the show. Since I've already talked about unannounced stuff I want to see in my wishlists, the focus here is stuff we already now about. Well, here's what I'm excited to see:

5. Resistance 2 (Sony Computer Entertainment, Insomniac Games)



I really enjoyed the first Resistance. It was really fun with friends and had a bunch of cool, unique weapons. Insomniac looks like its making the sequel a ton better and they haven't let me down before. I've actually seen quite a bit of Resistance 2 on GameTrailers TV otherwise it might be higher on the list. I'd love to hear about some new weapons, more on how the co-op campaign will work, and maybe see a new level. Either way I'm pretty much sold on Resistance 2 already, but I'm excited to see a bit more on it.

4. Beyond Good & Evil 2 (Ubisoft, Ubisoft)


They haven't actually announced the name to this game as far as I know, but Ubisoft released the first teaser trailer at their show in May. It told us basically nothing, but it told us that there would be a new BG&E. The original was a great game and I'm hoping we'll see something more on the game at E3. I'm guessing we'll just get a second teaser trailer maybe featuring Jade or another character, but seeing anything more would be great.

3. Infamous (Sony Computer Entertainment, Sucker Punch)

Sucker Punch is stepping in a new direction with Infamous. They'll be leaving the cartoony platformers behind in favor of their new sandbox, superhero game. We've seen a trailer and a nice article in Game Informer on Infamous, but from what I understand there should be a gameplay demonstration at E3 which should really help us to see how this game is coming along and I'm excited to see how it looks and plays.

2. Tomb Raider: Underworld (Eidos, Crystal Dynamics)

The old TR games were pretty good, but they were getting stale and I thought Crystal Dynamics did a good job of reinvigorating the series. With Legend, they brought a more up to date control scheme and made a pretty good game. Anniversary was another solid title, but Underworld looks to improve on what the previous titles did with a new game engine, bigger levels, more elaborate puzzles, better combat, and new abilities for Lara. The only problem is I haven't seen any video of the game. So, I'm really loking forward to finally seeing how it looks in motion later this week.

1. Prince of Persia (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal)

The new Prince of Persia sounds incredible. Ubisoft easily could have cranked out another sequel similar to the last few (and to be honest I would have been fine with that), but instead they've decided to really take some new directions with the franchise. The level-design has become more open giving players more choices and the game more replayability. The combat has been overhauled to focus on fighting one enemy at a time. The Prince (a new one) now has a new partner in Elika who helps you with combat, platforming, and puzzles. But it also keeps the focus on the series' great acrobatic platforming. All this sounds great, but finally seeing some gameplay footage will really help us to understand how it will all work out. Plus, Ubi has come up with a bold new artstyle that looks beautiful in the screens, but I can't wait to see in video. That's coming this week and it really can't come soon enough.

Those games plus all the potential surprises has me really excited for E3. I hope you guys liked my Pre-E3 coverage. I'm going to have some updates throughout E3 about what I think of what is going on. And then when the show is over, I'm going to give out some best of show awards by platform and for things like graphics, maybe best trailer, and other stuff like that. I hope you guys enjoy E3.

E3 Predictions Part 4: Third-Parties

To finish off my E3 predictions, I'm going to take a stab at guessing some of the new stuff third-parties are going to have at the show. Here's what I've come up with:

-Capcom will announce and show the first trailer for Dead Rising 2 for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. The game should be scheduled for a 2009 release.

Everyone is tired of Dead Rising 2 rumors, we just want to see the game already.

-Ubisoft will announce and show a trailer for Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 3 for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. They will also show off their new IP I Am Alive for the first time. Expect both to come out in 2009. Splinter Cell Conviction will be a no-show.

-EA will officially announce Skate 2 for Xbox 360 and PS3. This will be accompanied by a teaser trailer (one more substantial than the ones we've seen online already). Expect it to release sometime in 2009.

- Rockstar (or Take-Two) will announce a new game. I'm guessing it will be Max Payne 3. If it's not Max Payne 3, it will probably be their next-gen old west/spiritual successor to Red Dead Revolver. Either way I'd expect it to release sometime in 2009 for PS3 and Xbox 360 (though the old west game could be PS3-exclusive).

-I expect Sega and Platinum Games to show some gameplay of Bayonetta. It should be impressive.

-Ninja Theory will announce their next game and who is going to publish it. It will be a PS3 and Xbox 360 action game similar to Heavenly Sword based around melee combat, but with a more present-day or near future setting.

Heavenly Sword was a good start. I'd like to see what Ninja Theory is up to next.

-Fallout 3 will be the most popular pick among the gaming press for E3's Game of the Show. Resident Evil 5 will probably be the second most popular.

Well, that's it for my E3 predictions. Some of these I'm sort of guessing on, but I think these are all major possibilities. I hope you enjoyed them. If you want to share some of your predictions please do so in the comments. I'll be back later today with the games I'm most looking foward to seeing this week at E3.

My Nintendo E3 Wishlist

Well, this is the last of my Pre-E3 wishlists. This one's all about what I would love to see from Nintendo. A new Legend of Zelda for Wii probably would have topped this list, but it was one of my predictions that it would be at E3, so, it's not eligible for this list. Same with the 2D Metroid DS. So, here is what I came up with:

5. A big new IP from Nintendo

Well, Nintendo has been coming up with new IP's like Wii Fit, Wii Sports, and Nintendogs, but I'm thinking something more aimed at the traditional gamer. The last new thing in that nature I believe was Pikmin. They've been sort of relying on Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Smash Bros., and so on. A new IP along the lines of these is what I want. A character-driven action or adventure type game might be good. I'm thinking for the Wii, but eventually it could have a DS installment too.

4. Better Third-party Support for the Wii

Mad World is as promising as any currently announced upcoming Wii game.

My favorite games on the Wii have been Nintendo games. You know Twilight Princess, Galaxy, Mario Kart, and Smash Bros. There have been some good third-party games like No More Heroes and Rayman Raving Rabbids. Zack & Wiki is pretty good and I've heard good things about Boom Blox. But I'd like more good stuff. I think the upcoming game Mad World looks really good. The Conduit also looks promising. But I'm hoping to see more interesting games for Wii that intrigue me like Nintendo's efforts do. Also, mini-game collections are okay, but I have enough of them. I'm talking more traditional type games.

3. Super Smash Bros. DS

I'm actually kind of surprised that this hasn't happened already. Smash Bros. on DS seems like a great idea. It wouldn't need as many characters or stages as Brawl, but it could have some different characters and stages more based on the DS games maybe. You know use the Mario model from NSMB, Link and Zelda from Phantom Hourglass, Peach from Super Princess Peach, and so on. Maybe some stages based on those games as well as maybe Brain Age, Picross DS, or Tetris DS. Throw some third-party characters in like one of the Castlevania DS characters or Contra 4 characters and some other Nintendo characters not included in the console versions. I think it would work really well.

2. A new New Super Mario Bros.

Yoshi should really make an appearance in the next SMB platformer on DS.

I'm in no way suggesting that should be the name. I'm thinking that since NSMB was sort of a new take on the original SMB, a sequel could be a New Super Mario World or New Super Mario Bros. 3 even (I'm skipping 2 because it was different in the U.S. and Japan and the other two would make more sense to me). I mean if it was a NSMW it could have Yoshi involved and a flying powerup, maybe even a map more in line with World's map (one big one instead of the individual world maps like NSMB). This one is actually kind of likely. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw this at E3.

1. A new land-based Zelda game on the DS

I want it to be sort of like this, but with less water and more Hyrule.

Number 1 and 2 were sort of a toss up for me and this one is a bit ridiculous to expect. For one Phantom Hourglass came out last year. And likely by the time a new handheld Zelda comes out, Nintendo will have a new handheld system out. If it still has a touch-screen, my request will still work sometime down the line. I really enjoyed PH and thought its touch controls worked really well. What I'd like is a land-based one set in Hyrule like A Link to the Past or even The Minish Cap. It could have a new Link and Zelda, and Ganondorf as the main villian would be really cool as well, but retain the artstyle of PH. Some new unique items that haven't appeared in other games would also be good. I'd love to see this down the line at some point.

Honorable Mention:

Nintendo's Biggest Franchises appearing in some form on WiiWare

Nintendo's biggest series appearing on their still young Wiiware program would be great. Metroid, Mario, Zelda, Star Fox, Donkey Kong. I did in my predictions say that one of Nintendo's big franchises would be announced for WiiWare, so, it got an honorable mention only. It also might cut into some of my DS wishes, but some sort of spin-off or smaller entry in these series on WiiWare would be cool. A DK sidescroller or some sort of Four Swords-type Zelda game. Maybe something like Star Fox 64. I believe this would help the new service a lot.

There are my ideas Nintendo. Feel free to make them happen. I'll finish up my Pre-E3 coverage with third-party predictions for the show and what games I most want to see at the show.

E3 Predictions Part 3: Nintendo

In part 3 of my E3 predictions, I'm talking Nintendo. Nintendo's E3 plans are interesting because we know very little about their plans for the Wii or DS in the future. So, we're pretty much guarenteed some new stuff from them and here's what I think they'll show at E3:

-Nintendo will show off Super Mario Sluggers for Wii, Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse for Wii, Warioland: Shake It! for Wii, Kirby Super Star Ultra for DS, Fire Emblem: New Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light for DS, and Mystery Case Files: Million Heir for DS. These should all be playable.

-The new Animal Crossing for Wii will be shown off and be set for a Fall 2008 release date. It should be pretty similar to the previous Animal Crossing games, but with more stuff to do in town, more other animals to interact with, and more interaction with other players online. Also, of course expect plenty of new and old activities to involve motion controls like fishing and bug catching for instance.

-Either a new Kid Icarus or a new Pikmin will be announced and set for a Fall 2008 release date. Both are in development, but they'll only show one. I'm thinking it will be Kid Icarus, but if Kid Icarus isn't shown, Pikmin will be shown. I doubt both will be shown though. Whichever it is will be shown in trailer form and be playable on the floor.

Pit should be starring in his own game on the Wii after appearing in Super Smash Bros. Brawl earlier this year.

-Wii Music will be a large focus of the press conference. It will be set to release in the first half of 2009. It will allow you to play various music minigames based on playing various musical instrunments. This should be their "Wii ____" game aimed at the more casual audience like Wii Sports and Wii Fit before it. It's possible that their is another one of these"Wii ____" games as well. Also, I'd expect some other casual games for DS to be announced.

-Retro Studios will have a teaser for their new Wii game. It won't be related to Metroid and it should be a new IP. Expect it in the second half of 2009.

-They will announce a new 2D Metroid game for the DS. It will be set for a 2009 release.

The DS could really use a new 2D Metroid game along the lines of this one.

-Nintendo will brag a lot about Wii and DS sales and their expanded audience.

-Nintendo will show off some new Wiiware games. One will involve a major Nintendo franchise (possibly Mario or Donkey Kong). They'll help with the Wii's storage issues somehow for Wiiware purposes, but there won't be any harddrive attachment.

-The press conference will end with a teaser for the next Legend of Zelda game for Wii. It will give us an idea of the artstyle and a bit about the theme of the story and gameplay, but don't expect any details outside of what's shown in the trailer. I expect it to be a new Zelda game (different Link and Zelda and so on), not a sequel to Twilight Princess or any other Zelda game. I expect the game to release in Fall 2009.

The new Legend of Zelda game for the Wii is what I want to see more than anything else from Nintendo at E3.

Let's be serious. If Nintendo did all that, they'd have a pretty great E3 conference. That leads me to believe I'm a bit off somewhere. I mean my Zelda Wii and Metroid DS predictions are probably the most unlikely of all my predictions for E3. But Zelda seems right time-wise to me and it seems like we always have a big DS game to look forward to from Nintendo (like NSMB or Zelda before), I'm guessing a 2D Metroid will be next. Anyway, we'll see next week. I'll have my Nintendo wishlist and other misculaneous E3 predictions later this week.

My Microsoft E3 Wishlist

Just like I did for Sony. This is my wishlist for Microsoft and the Xbox 360. These are the kind of things that would be good for Microsoft if they did happen, even if they're not likely. Here's what I've got:

5. Itagaki starting a new studio with Microsoft

With Itagaki and some other Team Ninja members seemingly leaving Tecmo, I'm thinking that maybe they could start a new studio with Microsoft. This would make sense since Itagaki is such a "360 guy" and him and the other leaving members would have so much experience with the 360. While I'm all for Itagaki supporting multiple platforms, with Bungie and Bizzare leaving Microsoft and Bioware now with EA (which I believe will result in more multi-platform games from them), Microsoft could use a new internal developer to help first-party development. This seems like it would make sense.

4. Bungie to announce that rumored third-person action/adventure/shooter Halo prequel

Seeing a third-person Halo game at E3 would be interesting.

EGM's Quartermann started this rumor a while back. I've only just started playing through the Halo series, but this sounds cool. I've always liked third-person games better than first-person and it would be interesting to see what Bungie could do with something a bit different. It would still be familiar though and people love Halo, so, this would be good for Microsoft. I might have put it a bit higher on the list, but I already said Bungie would announce something at E3 which could be this.

3. Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame remake on XBLA from Ubisoft

This one may seem kind of strange, but I really liked Prince of Persia Classic. I've also never played through PoP2, so, this would be really cool for me. This would sort of falls to Ubisoft, but PoP: Classic is my favorite XBLA game that I've played and a similar remake for Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame would probably be just as good.

2. DOA5 or Code Cronos from Team Ninja

Seeing more of these ladies at E3 would be a good thing whether it be in DOA5 or Code Cronos.

Well with all that's going on with Team Ninja, this seems pretty unlikely at the moment. But I think Team Ninja will survive this whole thing and continue to make good games. DOA5 would be cool and I'm sure it's still coming, but I'd like to see what the heck Code Cronos is. It supposedly involves Ayane and Kasumi and being the Ninja Gaiden fan I am, I'm dreaming of some kind of action/adventure starring the two DOA ladies. That might be awesome. Well, whatever Code Cronos is or DOA5 would be good for 360 owners.

1. Alan Wake showing up again at E3

Alan...where have you been?

Alan Wake looked awesome when it debuted in 2005. It looked great again in 2006. Unfortunately we haven't seen it since. I don't think we'll see Alan Wake at E3, but I really want to. It's one of the main reasons I wanted to get a 360 having already owned a PS3. A total blowout on the game would be great. Or just a gameplay demonstration. Or even a new trailer. Let me see some more on the game and tell me it will be out sometime before 2009 ends and I'll be pretty happy.

Well, that's what I came up with for MS and the 360. This list was a bit harder than Sony or Nintendo's since Microsoft only has the one system and they don't have as many established franchises, but I think these things would be good for 360 owners. Keep an eye on Video Game Oasis for my Nintendo E3 predictions and wishlist soon.

E3 Predictions Part 2: Microsoft

Today, my E3 predictions continue with the focus shifting to Microsoft. Here's what I think Microsoft will have planned for it's Xbox 360:

-A new Xbox 360 with a 60 GB harddrive will be announced to replace the the current model with the 20GB HDD.

-Solid release dates this Fall will be announced for Gears of War 2, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, Fable 2, Halo Wars, and Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise. Too Human should also be present and playable along with the rest of these games. Don't be surpised if Fable 2 or Halo Wars slip to 2009.

-Microsoft's new motion sensitive controller will be introduced and be similar to the Wii Remote. This will be used to help push the 360 as a casual oriented game system. It should be compatible with both Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, and possibly Halo Wars. Microsoft should also introduce a couple of other games for the casual game market that use this new controller. Also, the controller will be bundled with either an upcoming game or the Arcade 360 unit (with no HDD).

Expect the new Banjo to be one of a number of games to support the new motion-sensitive controller.

-Avatars will be introduced as an alternative to gamerpics as part of your gamercard. They'll be incorporated into some of the new games that support their new motion sensitive controller. Should be available by the end of the year.

-Lips will be unveiled as a karaoke-type game with a microphone controller pack-in. New motion controller may be compatible with it as a mic. Will be released in Fall 2008.

-Forza Motorsport 3 will be announced for a 2009 release, probably May or June. Plenty of details should accompany it as well as a trailer.

-The first trailer of Halo: Chronicles, Peter Jackson's Halo project will be shown. Set for a 2009 release.

-Microsoft will brag about the exclusive GTA IV downloadable episodes, but I don''t expect any details on them.

-Bioware should show a new RPG for the 360. Possibly a sequel to Jade Empire or Mass Effect. Now that they are with EA, it might not be exclusive to 360 or appear at Microsoft's press conference. Expect some looks at other third-party games coming out this holiday season for the 360 even if they're not exclusive.

A sequel to Jade Empire would be a nice surprise at MS's press conference.

-Bungie's next project will be revealed.

-Alan Wake won't be at the show and Rare won't have anything other than the new Banjo and Viva Pinata games for the 360.

That's what I'm expecting from Microsoft for E3. We'll have to see how these predictions turn out. I'll continue my E3 coverage as the week goes on with my Microsoft/Xbox 360 wishlist and my Nintendo predictons. Feel free to tell me what you think Microsoft will do at E3 in the comments

My Sony E3 Wishlist

I've made my predictions for what I think Sony will have at the show. But now I'd like to list a few things that I'd really like to see for the PS3 and PSP even if they're not very likely. Here's what I've come up with:

5. Lumines III for PSP from Q Entertainment

Oh, the hours I've spent playing Lumines and its sequel on PSP.

Lumines and Lumines II are two of the best PSP games out there. I would buy a sequel in a heartbeat. All they would really have to do is come up with all new music, skins, missions, and puzzles. Add a new Vs. Computer mode and multiple challenge mode difficulties like in Lumines II and this could be pretty great.

4. A new Devil May Cry or Resident Evil game for PSP from Capcom

These two franchises would both be a really good fit on the PSP. Action games with fixed cameras work well with the PSP's one analog nub set-up (look at God of War). This and the fact that it's a great action series is why a DMC game would be great for PSP. An RE4-style Resident Evil game would also fit the control scheme well since it doesn't need a second analog stick. With these franchises history on Sony platforms a new, original entry in either of these series would be a great addition to the PSP's software line-up.

3. A Super Smash Bros.-type mascot fighter for PS3 from Sony

Some would pick on Sony for ripping off Nintendo. I on the other hand would just be happy to be able to duke it out as my favorite Sony characters. Popular Sony characters like Jak and Daxter, Kratos, Ratchet & Clank, Nathan Drake, Nariko, Wander (from SotC), Sly Cooper, Gabe Logan, and well I could go on for a while. Throw in some third-party fighters like Dante from DMC, Solid Snake from MGS, and some Final Fantasy characters and some items and stages from other Sony games like Patapon or Gran Turismo and this could be pretty awesome. Is it going to happen? Probably not. Would it be cool? Absolutely.

2. A new Sly Cooper game for PSP

While almost every major Sony PS2 franchise has made an appearance on the PSP, Sly Cooper has yet to do so. With the Jak and Ratchet series having successful games on the platform, I think a new Sly game would be really fun. While I'm not sure who would develop it or where it would fit in the storyline, I would love to see more of Sly, Murray, Bentley, and Carmelita on the PSP. This one actually seems a bit more likely than 3, 4, and 5 on my list, so, maybe it will actually happen. You never know.

1. A new Jak and Daxter game for PS3 from Naughty Dog

They look a bit angry. I bet it's because they're not in a PS3 game yet.

The Jak and Daxter series is my favorite in gaming, so, this is sort of a no-brainer for me. While Uncharted might be my favorite game on the new set of consoles and I'd like to see more of the franchise, I'd love to see ND continue both of their frnachises on the PS3. There has been some evidence that a Jak PSP game was being worked on by ND, but I'm thinking they put that to the side to focus on the PS3. While I'd welcome a Jak PSP, I think seeing what ND could do with the gameplay and graphics of J&D on PS3 would be something special. Most of all I just hope we haven't seen the last of Jak and Daxter.

Honorable Mentions:

Team ICO's next game is unveiled for PS3

I've already predicted this won't happen at E3 and that they will show it at TGS this year. I'm guessing it will come out at the end of 2009 either way. Team ICO is incredibly creative and I'm excited to see what they come out with next, but this only gets an Honorable Mention because I know it's coming eventually. I mean seeing it at E3 probably won't make the game come any sooner, but I would still love to see it.

A new Motorstorm for PSP

I'm not sure how this would go. Part of Motorstorm's appeal are the graphics and track deformation. These wouldn't be as good on PSP, but the controls and great racing with the variety of vehicles could be carried over. This could either be a small project for Evolution to work on or Bigbig Studios (Evolution is their parent studio) who have done the Pursuit Force games on PSP could work on it. This could be another game to look forward to on the PSP.

Captain Qwark 2D-platfomer as a Downloadable Game on the Playstation Store

With Insomniac pretty much guaranteed to have Resistance 2 and a new Ratchet game at E3, this isn't likely. But it is worth an Honorable Mention in hopes of it coming to be some time down the line. Remember the minigame in Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal where you as Ratchet played a little 2D-platformer starring everyone's favorite bumbling superhero Captain Qwark. That's what I'm talking about here. A small downloadable game for $10 or less with gameplay similar to what was in UYA, but maybe a bit deeper.That could be pretty fun stuff I think.

Any of those would make it a better E3 for Sony in my opinion. Keep an eye out for my Pre-E3 coverage for Microsoft and Nintendo coming later this week.

E3 Predictions Part 1: Sony

For my E3 predictions for this year, I'm going to start off with what I expect from Sony. Well, let's get right to it:

-The big focus of the show should be on four PS3 titles: Resistance 2, LittleBigPlanet, Motorstorm: Pacific Rift, and Killzone 2. They'll all be playable. KZ2's multiplayer should be revealed as well as new weapons for Resistance 2. Expect tons of coverage on these games. SOCOM: Confrontation should also be playable.

-Infamous should have a new trailer as well as a gameplay demonstation by Sucker Punch. It won't be playable and will be set for a release in 2009.

-Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty from Insomniac will be revealed in trailer form. It will be a stand alone downloadable game (meaning not DLC for Tools of Destruction). Probably won't be playable. It will be smaller R&C adventure than ToD, will be about $20-30 and will be in the Playstation Store in September or October.

I'm positive we'll see more of our favorite lombax, his robot buddy, and plenty of pirates.

-There should be a montage of PSN games like flOwer, Pixeljunk Eden, SIREN: Blood Curse's first episode, Wipeout HD, and Elefunk (plus the Ratchet game above) at the press conference. They should be playable as well.

-A teaser/trailer for Uncharted 2 will be shown with a vague 2009 release, but it will likely come out Fall 2009. It won't be playable and not too many details until sometime in 2009.

-New trailers will be shown for Tekken 6 and White Knight Chronicles. Bothe set to release in the first half of 2009 exclusively on PS3.

-They'll show off the PS3's upcoming video download store. They will also show off some gamespaces and other things in Home, but will be vague about its release (I'd guess Early 2009 though).

-A new Syphon Filter PSP will be announced and shown in trailer form. Set to release in the first half of 2009.

-LocoRoco 2 will be announced and playable. Set for a Fall 2008 release.

I'm expecting to see these guys rolling around on PSP's again at E3.

-There won't be a whole lot of support for PSP from third parties.

-Sony will close the press conference with a teaser for God of War III for PS3. It will likely just be CG with 2009 showing up at the end. It could have some gameplay snippets (though I doubt that), but info on it will be scarce until next year. I wouldn't expect it until Fall 2009.

-Team ICO's PS3 game won't be there (expect it at TGS this year). Heavy Rain will also be a no-show.

That's what I'm guessing for Sony at E3. I'm excited to see what they have to show this year. Keep an eye out for my PS3 and PSP wishlists as well as the rest of my E3 predictions coming this week. Feel free to comment on what you expect from Sony at E3 or what you think of my predictions.

What's Coming Up on Video Game Oasis

Well, it's been a bit since I've posted anything on here. I've really been in planning mode. During next week, I will be having my Pre-E3 coverage. I won't be attending E3, but I will be paying close attention to what is going on and watching and reading all about it in a couple weeks. But just like many gamers out there I have my own predictions and wishes for what will be at the show. To kick things off, my brother and I will be recording a podcast on Sunday which we hope to have up on the blog on Monday or Tuesday (unless something goes completely awry). On there we will talk about all things E3 from what Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo will reveal at their press conferences to what will be the Games of the Show. While me and my brother will both make some predictions on the podcast, I will throughout the rest of the week post my official predictions for Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft as well as one for third-party related predictions. I'm also going have a wish list for each company (you know what I want to see from them, but probably won't). Then after the show, we're planning to do another podcast where we look back at what happened at the show as well as seeing how my predictions turned out (and from here hopefully the podcast will be a regular occurance on here). Plus, I'll be updating the blog throughout with coverage or impressions of stuff I've seen.

And while I thought I would have reviews ready by now, I should start having them soon (though I may wait until the E3 stuff is done). I'm going to do it for the most part as I described earlier, but I don't think I'm going to rate individual parts like I had planned. It just makes things a bit too complicated. I'll still have a summary and an overall rating though. My first batch of reviews should include Secret Agent Clank for PSP, Ninja Gaiden II for Xbox 360, and Professor Layton and the Curious Village for DS. I may also follow up with some reviews of games from last year like Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, and Super Stardust HD for PS3. Hopefully you'll enjoy everything I have coming up next week and in future.