In the chaos that is E3 coverage, it's normal for a few big stories to slip through the virtual cracks. As such, we've done a quick recap of the most interesting and underrated stories to cross our desks. Read on as we tackle new partnerships, fascinating technologies and the cutting edge gel-based platforming! Gaze in wonderment at the next big Aussie-made game, the incredible disappearing/reappearing Sly Cooper and more!
The Xbox 360 Slim's Smarter Than You ArePatch: The death of the 'Red Ring of Death' aside, not much has been discussed about the new quality control and safety processes that Microsoft has introduced within its redesigned Xbox 360 Slim console. The most interesting of these is the new 'pre-emptive shutdown' and it works thusly: if your console detects that its internal temperature is rising, it will boot up a warning that, to prevent damaging the CPU, your Xbox 360 will shut down. A small light at the centre of the power button will then begin flashing and only after the temperature normalizes and the light goes off will you be able to resume gaming.
It's thinking.
This, along with the redesigned case's extra ventilation, is a fairly frank admission that the first Xbox 360 models were clearly giant heat-traps that had some issues distributing said heat. It also speaks of the RROD's place in negative brand image that the fault system is now much more discrete; the power brick's light now turns red if a fault is detected.
Portal 2's Paint PartyPatch: Oh, Portal 2; already you're looking like the sequel we were all hoping for a heady mix of platforming, puzzle-solving and humour that doesn't fall back on gimmickry to get it over the line. No, instead the gameplay additions in Portal 2 lend to the game's complexity, paving the way for new kinds of physics puzzles.
At the centre of this is paint. Or gel, as it were.
By using portals as a distribution method, you can launch paint blobs through the air in arcing fountains, coating surfaces in a reactive coating that adds unique physics qualities such as frictionless motion and flubber-style bouncing. Suddenly every surface is potentially a piece of the puzzle; the lateral thinking conundrums this will create make me a little bit queasy. As an innovative piece of mainstream game design, it makes me horny. Is that wrong? Yeah, probably.
Ubisoft Backs Kinect with Great TitlesPatch: I wouldn't blame anyone for being overtly sceptical of Microsoft Kinect at this point; a dismal presentation at E3 deflated the carefully built up marketing spin in one sweeping blow and only a collection of great software and practical applications are going to save Kinect from stagnation. Frankly, Ubisoft may well be the first developer to bring out titles that really put Kinect to great use and its E3 presentation highlighted two strong titles that sprinkle hope on the budding platform like a fine coating of powdered sugar: Child of Eden and Your Shape: Fitness Evolved.
Finally - a Kinect game we can really get behind.
Child of Eden appears to be the semi-sequel to one of my favourite games of all time, Rez. Using Kinect's hand-sensing to guide the simple circular cursor around the screen, the action blends rhythm and music with on-rails shooting and hazy, hallucinatory visuals to impressive effect. Tetsuya Mizuguchi fans won't be surprised in the slightest but his presentation arguably demonstrated the first true gamer's-game for Kinect. Your Shape, on the other hand, takes Kinect's body-scanning ability and puts your actual physique into a compelling health and fitness application and it looks compelling, thoughtful and admittedly approachable.
The Crytek and MS Love-inPatch: Why are there so few mentions of this story? German developer, Crytek, one of gaming's foremost technological trendsetters and creators of both Crysis and the formidable CryEngine middleware series, is working on an exclusive title as part of Microsoft Game Studios. That's massive news; we're led to understand this means they've been partially absorbed into Microsoft's collective development pool. Codename: Kingdoms, teased with a pre-rendered clip of battle-scarred warriors and not much else, is all we have to go by at this stage. Will it be a swords and melee first-person action title? Or will it fill the void left by the conclusion of the Gears of War third-person-shooter category? Time will tell.
To be certain, though, this announcement is a resounding call of support for Microsoft's core-gaming market; Crytek and Epic both create industry leading middleware engines and they hold sway over shooter fans the world over. Having Crytek enter the fold on Xbox 360 with a fresh IP can't be anything but a great thing for gamers.
XCOM: The Next Breakthrough Aussie-made GameBilly-Tim Shimshaw: With all the upheavals in the Australian political system over the last few days it's gratifying to know that Canberra's still good for something making games. Yes, 2K Marin, which is actually two studios under one name, is behind XCOM, and it's the Canberra studio (as opposed to the Californian one) that's taking the lead on the project.
Aussie games development lives!
As you'd know if you read our XCOM preview, this title takes many of the core tenets of the original game and transposes them into a first person viewpoint. You'll still have a base of operations doing research into the alien threat and developing new weapons and you'll still choose which missions to go on (and bring along squad mates), but the action will be much more in-your-face. No, this isn't just a straight-up shooter. In fact, the enemies you'll come up against are so unknown that the first time you see one the best course of action will probably be to get a sample or photo of it for the lab, because you won't have the weapons to fight it
