So, as some of you know, I finally became a GameStop manager on New Years eve of 06. It's been a great run, and I've been getting some sweet inside scoops on things and perks just because I run my own store; trust me when I say, I love my job.
What some of you may not know, is that a perk of being a GameStop manager is to go to the annual GameStop conference where all the vendors/game companies get to sit us, district by district, and talk to us about all the new games coming out for the holiday season, and the future, and why we should push their products. There's a good handful of stuff I can't talk about, and there's a good chunk that I can.
Another big awesome perk of this conference is that us managers are thrown our own personal mini-E3 game playing extravaganza. I got to play some really good stuff; Rock Band, Guitar Hero III, Assassin's Creed, TimeShift, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Ratchet & Clank Future, Project Gotham 4, Call of Duty 4, Portal, Eye of Judgement, Contra 4, Castlevania Chronicle X, DDR Wii, Mario Galaxy, Phantom Hourglass, WWE Wii, Resident Evil: Umbrella, and I even got Koji Igarashi's autograph! (Nerd glee!!!) There's one game that this board will care about, so I'll speak specifically on that, Mario & Sonic @ The Olympic Games; I played that, too.
The game is developed by Sega. That alone gets people to sigh, and slowly start turning away, because anything with that name slapped on a game usually turns into crap.
"But wait!", says I. "Would you believe me if I said that I had hands on with it and it was GOOD?" Yee-GADS! Yes, my fellow MoFoers, the game was actually fun. While my personal detest to the fact that Sonic isn't automatically kicking everyone's ass at the 100m dash, (as everyone in the industry is also saying this), it doesn't deter the game's fun. If you're expecting me to say that the game is a AAA title, don't hold your breath; it's not. Is it worthy of a purchase? If you get a lot of friends and people in the house, or if you're a high-score-whore, buy it.
The games they showcased, (100m dash, 100m hurdles, Archery and the Hammer throw), played very smoothly. With the dashes, you hold down the B button to get your character on the mark and ready to burst. As soon as "GO" is heard, you let go and start running... literally. If you've played Rayman: Raving Rabbids, you know what I'm talking about; you "drum" your hands up and down as if you were running - for hurdles, you press B to jump the hurdles. It's actually quite satisfying when it's a close race.
The hammer throw is very satisfying. You press A to start and then you lift your Wiimote upward and start spiraling it as if you were a cowboy with a lasso in the air. Once you get a good kick on it, you press B to let go and shoot it into the air.
Archery was GREAT. The Nunchuk acts as your bow, and the Wiimote as your bowstring. You hold B and pull back on the Wiimote (bowstring), then on screen, you get two cross-hairs. One is the Wiimote, the other is the Nunchuk. With the tilt function in the nunchuk, you have to overlap both cross-hairs to get a focused shot, and then you release! Cool thing is, if you don't release straight, (as in, say you @#%$ your hand up slightly), your shot WILL be off. Add some wind into it, and well you have a hellova fight.
The game was done very well. There were more games to be played, but most everyone picked those 4 within the game, so I can't speak on those.
Well, that's it. It was fun. If anyone's got questions on any of these games, feel free to shoot. Some games I just can't answer on, though, so if I can't, I won't.
Sonic Rush Adventure, Olympics game is good, NiGHTS at Christmas...
Sega are having a season of not screwing up.
Good for them.
Also, sounds like you had a good time out there, Jin. Could I hear your thoughts on Rock Band and Umbrella Chronicles. I'm curious about those ones.
NiGHTS... oh man, I WISH I could have played that, but alas, they did not have that set up. They did, however, show us new gameplay never before seen. Fans of old, hear me when I say you should fear not, for it looks oh so sweet. Unfortunately, this was also just video footage, so how it controls, I still have no idea.
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Could I hear your thoughts on Rock Band and Umbrella Chronicles. I'm curious about those ones.
Oh-hoho, man, Rock Band. If you're a huge Guitar Hero fan, and spent countless of hours on GH1 and 2, let me just say that your anticipation of Rock Band should be ten fold. Personally, this game needs to be out NOW.
Harmonix had their booth setup as a stage, which was awesome. On screen, the drummer was in the middle, and you had the two guitars to the side. Up top, you have the mic's piano roll along with the karaoke-esque upcoming lyrics. If you haven't seen it, here's one of Rock Band's trailer on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HUnRN92ja0 ; short and sweet.
The new Rock Band guitar is perfect. It's a little bigger than GH's to give it a more realistic feel. The buttons are faced in within the neck of the guitar, to make it look realistic as an onlooker. To the player, the buttons are softer, and there are absolutely no problems with sliding across the buttons. Then, as you probably know by now, there's the same set of the 5 buttons higher up on the neck. These are the exact same buttons, and are only there for added "coolness" factor. Play on hard or expert and wanna jam out those solos and make it look even more real? Climb up the neck! Also, the buttons are a lot smaller, (just like a real guitar, the fret gets smaller), so in truth it's actually a lot easier to pull off those solos with the hammer-ons and pull-offs.
The drumming... oh how I wish I could have gotten in line twice to try that out. A fellow manager of mine played alongside with me, and there was nothing but good things to be said. He's a regular drummer at home, and he says it couldn't feel any more genuine than that. You have the four pads. To tell what color they are to compare what to play on screen, the rings of each pad is lightly colored to their corresponding on screen counterpart color layout. You have the petal on the bottom, representing your kick, which onscreen is displayed as a line taking up your whole section, (as opposed to the one disc for a note), so it's perfect to tell when everything is coming up, and when you gotta hit what.
As to what I SAW? Well, when there were 4 people up on that stage jammin', and they all know what they're doing, holy crap, you just want to start clapping along and wooing and everything. It's the most authentic thing you can have.
Singing's, cool. When songs have dead-lyrics in between and have claps, chimes, or cowbell, you can clap to the beet on the base of the mic so you don't bore yourself on not doing anything.
The great thing is, depending on how well you do on a song, you get freedom moments. These come mostly for the drummer and singer, to nail your OWN solo or high pitched wail. On the bar, it's represented by all the colors being flushed, and for the singer, his bar turns into a yellow sound wave, giving you the go-ahead to either wail those awesome high pitched 80's rock screams, or to just "talk to the crowd" and earn points; pretty much do what you want.
The guitar and bassist also gets their solos, but these usually come in the end of a song that has that prolonged ending. Just like the drummer, the colors on your bar will flush completely, and just cut a solo out; whatever you want.
Graphically, the game is A-MAZING. A great art style got placed on the characters on stage, and the best thing is that they worked on the lip syncing to this game to match every song word for word, unlike GH's random mouth-moving along with the sound stuff. Guitarists and drummer hits their note with even MORE accuracy on screen than GH ever did.
To add to the awesomeness, Pelican is working on a "Flood Lights and Fog Stage Set" piece of accessory, which they apparently worked hand on hand with Harmonix. Plugs into the USB port, and the lights will flash along to the song. $99 though. We've yet to see it.
I'm huge on this game. Don't get me wrong, Guitar Hero III ain't bad, and I can't wait for that one, either, but Rock Band is on a totally different level of want and greatness. These two games will be the must have game this holiday, I know that much.
As far as Umbrella Chronicles, it's actually cool. It's a rail-shooter, so unfortunately there's not a lot more I can say. The game looks beautiful, though. Nothing is pre-rendered, so we're looking at nothing but polygons on screen, which is surprising. You get a LITTLE bit of camera freedom, but not much. When attacked by a zombie, you shake em off in different ways, which is nice. The Wii Zapper with the game makes it a bit sweeter to play, but it won't add any extra "oomf" to it, except that you'll probably aim a little better. I'll be damned if I'm still not buying it, though. 
I am bursting with jealousy....but I am very glad to hear that Mario and Sonic doesn't suck, thanks for sharing Jin! 
Since it seems to be press-Jin-on-details hour, how was Portal? The trailers look awesome to be and I can't wait til I pick up the Orange Box, so is it as cool as it looks?
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how was Portal? The trailers look awesome to be and I can't wait til I pick up the Orange Box, so is it as cool as it looks?
Surprisingly enough, they had Portal running on the 360, at a smooth 60 frames, (though sometimes it would chug down... I couldn't tell if it was a VSync issue). Caught me off guard that they didn't have it set up for the PC.
Portal is... well, it's hard to describe from what you've already heard and seen. It's a big puzzle quest. A huge puzzlegasm, should I say. Is there a huge gap to cross? Throw a portal on the floor below, throw a portal on the wall overhead facing across the gap, jump down at top speeds towards the lower level portal. The speed in which gravity has you going will shoot you through the higher portal, fast enough that you will cross that gap.
Need to move a block somewhere because you need something heavy to press down a switch? Pssh, portal it over. Got a row of sensor turrets ready to shoot you down? Portal one on top of the other one and cause a domino effect as you knock them all down and have them all shoot at each other and blow each other up in the process - it really is hard to describe, as all the game is is "break the 4th wall", but it's a lot more fun once you actually get your hands on it.
While portal was fun, though, my main attraction is still Episode 2 + Team Fortress 2 (FINALLY!)
Assassin's Creed man...you know it blew your mind, now blow ours. But Rock Band yea...I knew it would "rock". Good to hear M&S is worth my purchase. But umm how was Super Mario Galaxy man...come on...spill it!
How is COD4? Worth a closer look? I'm a modern-warfare whore, but does it have much to it other than being a modern-warfare game?
Unless it just absolutely, totally 100% Grade A, Makes-Sonic-Heroes-Look-Good Sucks, I'm gonna buy it anyway if I have the money, just because I feel a certain obligation to support a formerly-WW2 franchise for realizing that WW2 died back in 1945...and 2003-4.
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Assassin's Creed man...you know it blew your mind, now blow ours.
You got it. The game is nothing short of AMAZING! I really see it as being game of the year. Just as you expect, there is huge freedom in doing whatever it is you have to do, as long as you get the job done. And just as they said, anything protruding out to 2 inches is scalable. Often times, I got stuck going up with nowhere else to go because there was nothing else to grab on to!
You can mingle with the crowd, use them as cover by mixing in with them, or if you have to bail, push them out of your way with the triggers. You can climb as far up as you'd like, and when you jump down for the kill, strike him down on the floor and then stab him in the face! The combat is amazingly well done, too. All the action animation is fluid, and the sword fighting felt spot on. My only disliking was blocking... for the demo, you kinda just held a button and that was it, he blocked. But throwing an enemy into a crowd of enemies so you can knock them back and give you time to haul ass? PRICELESS.
Which is literally what I did, I turned around and bolted and started climbing on things. I jump across to some beam, picked myself up and shimmied to a roof top. From there it was either the river, a wagon of hay in the middle of a dead alley, or stick around for the rooftop guards that were arrowing for me, so I went for the hay!!! You land inside so quick that guards lose track of you, very nicely done. My only gripe on this is that it felt a little automated. I wasn't aiming directly for the hay stack, but the game I guess imagined that I wanted to head there, so it guided me perfectly in. Don't get me wrong, that made it more cinematic and fantastic, but it would've been nice if I controlled that 100%.
As you fall, the camera goes fish-eye with speed-blur and line effects, the sound goes muffled and short-to-loud wave sound is heard until you land.
Everything what you've seen of the game is what you will get your hands on. It plays REAL smooth and when you pull certain things off it's insanely satisfying. And when you don't, you will laugh your ass off. I tried to do the same thing as the hay stack my first try but instead to a canopy... yeah, I missed. Death soon followed. XD
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But umm how was Super Mario Galaxy man...come on...spill it!
Beautiful game. The color scheme is amazing; this game will truly show the full color power of this system. Everything was crisp, detailed, and stuck true with the Mario family-friendly simplicity - not to say that's a bad thing. The first demo had you get used to the entire thing. From what I gathered, it looks like the story starts by Mario waking up on this little world in some galaxy, and these bunnies start teaching him how to "compose himself" on a different planet... then the tutorial starts! FIND AND CATCH THE THREE RABBITS!
It's a little disorienting at first when you start running upside down, but after a minute or two, everything sinks in and you know exactly what you're doing. Then again, when you start chasing the rabbits in a circle, while you're upside down, you get a little confused. You can jump into craters that'll take you across the entire little planet and out another side. Grab the star markers to shoot you to another planet; spin the wiimote as fast as you can in a 360 fashion, and shoot Mario along to the next planet.
Speaking of wiimote, you can use that to your advantage. Point at the baddies to throw these gems you pick up at them, then finish them off by kicking them or jumping on them.
This other level unfortunately I didn't get to play, but I saw. This one introduces you to the bee suit. He transforms into a bee, and then he has a limited time of flight. The point of this area was to go to this big queen bee and fix her itching problem. You literally go on her, grab her fuzz, and start climbing all over her, Shadow of the Colossus style. When you find the star pieces, they're scattered in 5 pieces... you pick the 5 pieces off of her, and the star appears across the galaxy on some other planet. Find the star traveler thing, and shoot your way to the next planet, etc, etc.
I can already say that this one is already far better than Sunshine, because, well... let's face it, Sunshine sucked.
I feel...so alone. ;;
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How is COD4? Worth a closer look?
Oh GOD yes. Go to GameStop (if you have one), and pre-order it for your 360: we are handing out beta codes for all pre-order customers. Download it and have fun with that.
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I'm a modern-warfare whore, but does it have much to it other than being a modern-warfare game?
Well, I won't lie. It's just modern warfare, but since it has its own story arc to it, it makes it more interesting. The weaponry and hi-tech gadgetry of today goes along with it, so say goodbye to all 200+ WWII games and welcome to the 21st century!
Let me tell you, this game, on the 360, runs at a full 60 frames per second. No hiccups, no chugging, no vertical sync issues. This game is beautiful. PHENOMENAL. The lighting effects, the texture details, it is amazing how realistic everything looks in that game.
The first level they showcased to us was on a tanker that was over run by terrorists, and in the middle of a god awful storm. The lightning shimmers off of every little piece of metal on that ship, the rain particles are amazing, the sound, the boat rocking back and forth, goes for good stuff. The AI was also smart as hell. They will take cover and grenade you when needed. Have a horde of us coming at them, they will haul ass out of there.
At the end of that one map, the ship starts to sink, and everything is tilting and takig you down with it. You follow your dudes to one end of the ship and you see your chopper there, waiting on you. Everyone is making it, you're last in line, you JUMP (and yes, you are controlling EVERYTHING), and you grab the ledge of the chopper door, you're slipping! You see your dude's hands start gripping for the door, your comrades are screaming for you, you start to fall back then WHAM, a hand grabs your arm, your team grabs that dude and they all pull you back in for safety.
After that, a cinematic begins as your chopper flies out, with a nice pan of the sinking ship with the dark storm clouds and lightning creating an amazing piece of lighting off the chopper as it flies towards the camera.
Jaw droppingly delicious.
Then there's the one level you might have seen off of that first trailer with some rundown city in the middle east. You cross the bridge and you see a chopper just spirals down to your left, it blows up, and you see particles flying EVERYwhere. You take a turn, it gets real dark. You hear a dude call for your night-visions to be set to on. You do it, and as you cross through a torn down building, you see everyone's laser guided guns' lasers going across the field.
It's insane, and it's all real time, at 60fps, total mayhem. Those videos are not a gimmick. This shiznit is "fo'reals", I played it.
I wish I could tell you I've tried the multiplayer, but I haven't yet. My buds who did had nothing but good things to say about it.
*edit: I speel guud and haf guud gramore.
Awesomeness! Thanks for the tidbits Jin.
But I have a PS3...anyway, thanks a lot. You're making me drool, Jin. <3
No kidding dude. I wanted to cry when it was all over. Almost all the vendors were there, and they only gave us FOUR AND A HALF FRIGGIN' HOURS TO ENJOY IT ALL 
But I got to see Randy Ortin, the little dude from Jack Ass, Todd McFarlen was there (eh), but my favorite of all, as some of you may know, was Koji Igarashi. For those who DON'T know who the hell that is, he is the Belmont family's father. Yes, you dolts, I speak of grandaddy-Castlevania! He was awesome. He was there with a black cowboy hat and leather whip. It was AWESOME and totally had a geek moment.
He was giving out the game inserts for Castlevania X for PSP, and signing them. I SO WISH I had a camera, and wish I would've brought my boxed copy of Castlevania II, and Castlevania DS. I would've had him sign my DS cart, but I don't think his signature would have fit
All I know is, I want Rock Band... friggin' NOW. I told the dude who was walking everyone through it while I was in line, "Is there any way you guys can push the release date forward? As in like, tomorrow?" Then everyone around me is like "YEAHH! C'MON DUDE!" "Nope, sorry... the only way you can do that is if you beat me over the head and take all our equipment." Followed by much saddened "Awwwwe"s.
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"Nope, sorry... the only way you can do that is if you beat me over the head and take all our equipment."
And so occurred the first murder at the GameStop conference...
Hahahah! Man Hiro I was thinking the same thing. lol
Just a few questions, any news on Ice Blue or Enamel Navy DS Lites coming to the states, and how bout Sonic RPG? Finally, about Mario and Sonc Olympics, I'm not too surprised it's good; remember they said Miyamoto was supervising it and I know he does a good job.
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Just a few questions, any news on Ice Blue or Enamel Navy DS Lites coming to the states, and how bout Sonic RPG?
Sorry, bud. Those are all no shows. All Bioware had to blow us away with was Mass Effect, which was beautiful in it's own sense, anyway.
And yes, while MS@O was supervised by Miyamoto, it was still mostly developed by Sega. Usually that curses it to death.
