Since it’s a slow news day (potential “Zone of Enders” sequel aside), I thought I’d take a look ahead towards this years E3 conference by going back.

You see, E3 has had a lot of problems over the years. Developers drop out, games disappear, Jamie Kennedy makes an appearance…they even got rid of the booth babes. Against it all, though, sometimes a moment can emerge from the show that wades through all the trouble and dodges the press leaks to emerge from the other side as a real surprise. Here are a few.

Introducing Killzone 2….Sort Of

The big reveal trailer has been E3’s trump card for many years. “Metal Gear Solid 2“, “Halo 2“, lots of other 2’s…they’re usually a pretty big deal. Over the years, game developers have turned the video game trailer into an art, which often translates to the trailer being better than the game.

There is no greater example of this than the infamous “Killzone 2” trailer. Spearheaded by the unveiling of the Playstation 3, Sony’s 2005 conference was a runaway success, and “Killzone 2” was the highlight. The first “Killzone” was a shoddy attempt at Sony trying to make a “Halo Killer”, and was a mediocre success. The footage shown for the sequel, however, was so dramatic and technologically mind blowing that it would have stood out amongst the packed line up on its own. However, the hype was bolstered by Sony’s insistence that what people were seeing was in fact real time.

Of course that would turn out to be a big fat lie. “Killzone 2” was a good looking game, but it was nowhere near the trailer in any respect. Why this ultimately hurt Sony by taking the focus away from its otherwise amazing conference, for a brief time the debate over the trailers authenticity was all anyone could talk about.

The Original Shocker

It was E3 1995, the very first E3, and Sega CEO Tom Kalinske took the stage and told everyone that due to unprecedented demand (Disclaimer: real demand may not have been unprecedented) Sega would no longer be meeting its originally promised September 2nd North American release date. Instead they would push the release date up and anyone interested could buy the system that very day for a retail price of $399. It was a bombshell in the industry without precedent before or peer sense.

Of course in classic Sega tradition, just when it looks like they’ve taken the world by storm, a rival comes in and parts the clouds. In this case it was Sony’s Steve Race who took the stage and simply said “$299” and walked off. The message was clear. Sony’s system was going to cheaper, have more developer support, and better launch titles. All fans had to do was wait for it. The Saturn meanwhile angered retailers who suddenly had to sell a lot of Saturns without a chance to promote, and had an unspectacular launch that kicked off a mediocre system.

Still, it was a shock.

Read the rest of this entry »

In his latest Q&A session, Shigeru Miyamoto said he’s prioritizing the Wii MotionPlus for the next game in the Zelda series. One of the biggest complaints about Twilight Princess was that the swordplay didn’t closely enough mimic the motions of the controller.

“In this (installment of the series), we’re using MotionPlus to make you feel much more like you’re actually fighting while holding a sword in your hand,” said Miyamoto. At E3 this year Shigeru had said he wanted to make the next Zelda Wii MotionPlus exclusive, but that might not be the best idea as far as sales are concerned.

“In the previous game, you aimed at things by pointing at the screen, but this time we’ll use MotionPlus to create a much more convenient targeting system and a more pleasurable playing experience.” Sounds like music to my ears. I really despised the point-for-aiming thing, and if the Wii MotionPlus can solve some of the fencing woes, it should be a nice improvement.

The Q&A is in Japanese for now, but Nintendo usually posts an English translation shortly after.

I tried to find a bigger picture of what you see at right, but there just wasn’t much out there so it’ll have to do. That’s a picture of the newest poster up on Club Nintendo, which features Link’s many faces over his 20-year history. The poster is one in a set of three, the other two of which are promos for Phantom Hourglass and Twilight Princess.

For 350 coins you’ll get this great piece of memorabilia along with the other two posters. To be honest, I don’t even care about the other two posters. This one is good enough by itself. The prom posters measure 22 in x 28 in while the “History of Link” poster comes 16.5 in x 28.7 in.