WEEK OF
E3!
Comic Updated July 14,
2008
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Monday, July 14,
2008
All right, so the show's not what
it used to be -- I'm STILL excited about E3. I miss the media circus, the
carnival atmosphere, publishers cramming entire transplanted European castles
into their booths on the show floor, but that was all window dressing. The
REAL E3, for me, happens before E3 officially begins -- the publisher press
conferences. Everything that happens afterwards is just gliding on their
jetstream.
In particular, I'm looking forward
to the first details on Animal Crossing Wii. Yes, I KNOW there are games
with shooty blood people coming out, I haven't turned my back on them. You
gotta understand, though, Animal Crossing for Gamecube was the game that
broke me offa G.T.A.: San Andreas. That took some doing.
What am I hoping for, this sequel?
Lots, honestly -- I hope you can do more than six things in your town proper,
this go around. I hope those more than six things are more interesting,
individually, than being able to water flowers or fire a slingshot that can
only shoot things that are directly above you. I DEFINITELY hope they brought
back the real holidays, or I'll be sorely put out.
I'd like for the NES games to
be put back in, though that's a longshot, financially, given Nintendo's new
grasping, squeezing retro game policies. A guy on IGN had a good idea regarding
that -- skip the NES stuff, make old Game Boy games unlockable, instead.
It's not like they're making any cash off of 'em, otherwise. And if Nintendo
ever gave a poop about targeting its Western audience, it mighta
listened.
Wifi, I think needless to say,
is going to be a big part of this iteration. And bully for it -- that was
definitely the big saving grace for AC: Wild World, after they cut all of
the cool stuff out. Still, it needed serious improvement. Friend codes suck,
of course, but they're a one-time hassle, and it's not like you can talk
sense to Nintendo on 'em, anyway. Still, there needs to be a way to MEET
new people in AC, online -- monitored lobby towns, for instance, or even
an adults channel (if they could come up with a term less-oozing with
suggestiveness than 'adults,' of course. The people looking for a nice, clean
game will be put off, the people looking for hot 'n' spicy Animal Crossing
roleplay will be sorely disappointed).
Other big thing about wifi they
need to fix -- the actions aren't one-to-one when you have a guest over,
which really screws up one's ability to set up custom gaming experiences.
That is, if I whack you with a net in my town, you may or may not see it
happening in yours. That's a MAJOR blow to those people hoping for a decent
deathmatch.
Anyways, the conferences start
around noon, Eastern time, and there'll be news a-plenty a-flowing then!
(there BETTER be, after the disappointing display at LAST year's E3). Enjoy
the comic!
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Friday, July 11,
2008
Look, a SECOND update in the same
week! Oh, new winds are blowing, children.
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