E3 '09 Sony Conferance

As soon as I got home I turned on the live E3 footage at Gamespot. I happened to turn it on just at the beginning of the Final Fantasy 13 trailer. I was pleased with what I saw. The graphics met expectations; gameplay was smooth but not so different from other games. But I am sure that story will be the highlight of the game. From what was shown in the trailer, the setting was unique and interesting. I can’t wait to try it out.

Then, Sony announced a PS3 exclusive that was on development at the same time as FF13. Final Fantasy 14 was totally different than 13. While the latter featured high tech scenery and lots of machines, the former had a setting based on medieval tech, mixed with a few machines. FF14 is, like FF11, a MMO.

But the Highlight of the show was the motion control “wand” that they showed for the PS3. It was very much like the Wiimote, but they only had one trigger (at least they only mentioned one). The difference was that the wand could be tracked through 3D space with and orb on top of each. They were extremely accurate. Additionally, two wands could be used at the same time to simulate things like a bow and arrow, sword and shield, and other things.

The wand was also efficient at drawing, selecting, and writing. They showed the wands being used in a pseudo RPS game, where a group of tanks could quickly be selected and ordered around. In fact, the wands were very much like a mouse in that scenario. Perhaps RPS games will finally find a proper place in console gaming.

In contrast to Microsoft’s “Natal” project, the wands were very different. While Natal was aimed at people who may have never played a video game before, the wands were aimed at people who play video games moderately. I won’t comment on which is better because I have very little idea what each will be like in real game situations. It will be interesting to see where they go.

Next, Sony showed off a game that combined several ideas together, to make something different. It’s called ModNation. From the gameplay demo presented, it looked like a cross between, Spore, Far Cry 2, and Mario Cart. First we saw how the character and vehicle customization worked. This part was like spore. You could select different parts to create a character. It looked like there were quite a few parts to choose from, as well as some pre-made characters and vehicles.

Then we saw some racing that looked like Mario cart. They performed power-slide around corners, picked up weapons, and blew up their opponents. But the really interesting part of the game was the track editor, which looked like the map editor from Far Cry 2. The terrain was built the same way, decorations included a “town brush”, sheep, and trees. Needless to say, ModNation looked extremely customizable, fun, and a great addition to the PS3.

One of the most anticipated games for the PS3 is God of War 3. For those not familiar with the franchise (I did not play either of the originals) Cratos is a man demi-god with the soul purpose of taking revenge on Zeus and the other Gods for putting down the Titans. God of War 3 is brutal to say the least. The combat was smooth as butter and included such perks as slow-mo finishing kills, combo kills, and lots more kills.

You bash your way through hordes of monsters that vary greatly. Near the end of the demo, a gigantic monster appeared and stated to rip apart the fortress you were in. Although they ended the demo just before the fight with it, we did get to witness a fight with a much smaller, but tough centaur like creature. Animations were fluid and different. I think this may be the best title for the PS3.

And so ends the PS3 press conference, and the first of 5 conferences of E3. I can’t wait to see what is in store for us next.