Now that E3 attendees have had a chance to try out the new revision of Nintendo's portable console, critiques of the 3D effect and updated layout are starting to filter in. Opinion thus far has been mostly positive. Wired writes, "The graphics, which are much more advanced than you’d expect from Nintendo, left me pretty much in disbelief. They're on a level with Sony’s PSP, probably even a little better than that. But the eye-popping 3-D effect makes everything that much richer." According to the Guardian's Games blog, it works "beautifully." They add, "You can perceive 3D only if the console is directly in front of you, but this is fine for handheld gaming. I actually found it pretty adaptable in terms of viewing from different vertical positions. It was much more sensitive if the handheld was turned slightly to the left or right, but really, it coped perfectly with the slight shifts and jerks you'd get on a morning commute." During Shigeru Miyamoto's annual dev roundtable, he explained how Nintendo felt that particular types of games, such as shooters, benefit more from the 3D effect than others, and how Nintendo hopes to update as many older games as they can to incorporate 3D gameplay in addition to 3D graphics.

http://games.slashdot.org/story/10/0...ly-Impressions ...

Valve says Portal 2 is "way worse" than Half-Life 2 in terms of giving away spoilers.

Speaking to our E3 minion in Los Angeles, Valve boss Gabe Newell said the problem with showing off Portal at the trade show is that once you know the solution to a puzzle you can just run straight through the final game.

"One of the challenges of showing this game here is that it's difficult to give people an idea of what kind of game it is," he said. "The level of spoiling with this game is so hard - way worse than Half-Life 2."

He added that for that reason, "we probably won't have a demo."

Valve revealed at Sony's E3 press conference earlier this week that Portal 2 will be coming to PS3 along with its Steamworks development suite.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

Japanese newspaper Nikkei is claiming that Nintendo’s new 3DS handheld will allow users to install multiple games onto its inbuilt memory chips, cutting out the need to carry around separate game cartridges.
Andriasang says users will be able to select from any installed game from the main menu.
If true, it’s a very brave move for Nintendo. Any in-built capacity for executing code from internal memory will surely make it easier for pirates to get custom code running on the machine.
Recent estimates pin the value of handheld piracy at £29bn. Senior industry execs have cited DS piracy as one of the main reasons behind the handheld’s struggle at retail, and major releases such as Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars are also said to have suffered as a result.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/39649/E3-2...l-games-on-3DS ...

With core game support for Move growing at a steady pace, the lack of traditional Xbox titles included in the Kinect launch line-up has stirred a few feathers. But Microsoft Game Studios’ corporate VP Phil Spencer says that this will be rectified… over time.
“Do I think that over time you'll see what I'll call a broader set of games? Yes,” he told IGN.
“Every one of our studios has Kinect and they're thinking about ways that technology, that part of the platform, can impact the creative that they're doing. Turn10 got on stage and showed how they think it integrates into the Forza experience. I thought that was good.”
And keeping very much in line with the casual, family-friendly nature of the platform holder’s E3 showing, Spencer was keen to point out that there’s more to gaming than just the core audience.
“It's entertainment for everybody,” he added. “We went out with a launch portfolio of more than 15 games for Kinect this holiday, thinking that we have something for everybody.

“Now, gaming is broad already. There are a lot of people out there with different tastes. We can look at what sells and you see a lot of different things selling. Now at launch are we going to touch everybody with their specific instance of what they want? Some yes, some no.”

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/39644/E3-2...get-core-games ...

Brink will not be released until 2011.
VG247 reports that a Bethesda PR claimed the sc-fi shooter has been pushed back from its original autumn 2010 release window – a date given after an earlier delay. No reason was given for this setback,
The game is being developed by Splash Damage for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. It takes place in a dystopian future where the Earth has flooded and the remnants of humanity live on floating cities.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/39641/E3-2...ntil-next-year ...

Frontier is developing Kinectimals; a key first-party published release for the Xbox 360's much hyped Kinect motion control system.
The excessively cute children's game somewhat apes the pet-raiseing template most successfully implemented by Nintendo's Nintendogs, and lets users form lasting relationships with virtual wildlife, or flounce around on the floor impersonating a tiger cub, depending on your perspective on Kinect and its physical interaction model.
Still, visually Frontier's creation looks impressive, and being developed as it is by Braben's studio, the quality bar will no doubt be suitably high.
Today on his Twitter feed, Braben revealed his delight at the fact that Kinectimals has received an unnamed 'best of E3 nomination.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/3...ty-Kinect-game ...

Super Mario Galaxy 2 has been dethroned from the number one spot in Japan by another new Wii title from Nintendo, as role-playing game Xenoblade takes the top spot.

A spiritual successor to the Xenosaga series, the game was created by Nintendo-owned developer Monolith Soft (not to be confused with F.E.A.R. developer Monolith Productions in the US) and sold 83,000 units in its debut.

Sales for Super Mario Galaxy 2 remained strong though, with an additional 73,000 units sold this week. This saw the total so far in Japan pass the half million mark after just three weeks.

The second highest new entry of the week was the PlayStation 3 version of Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, with 64,000 units sold. The Xbox 360 version entered the charts at number 18 with less than 12,000 units sold. The series, which has always enjoyed a cult following in Japan, is now published directly by Take-Two Interactive Japan, rather than Capcom.

Capcom did have a new entry in the charts this week though, with Nintendo DS retro compilation Mega Man Zero Collection entering at number four with 22,000 units sold.

The final new entry in the top ten was also a Western developed title, with the PS3 version of Avalanche Studios' Just Cause 2 debuting with 19,000 units at number six. The 360 version entered the charts at number 24.

The Media Create Japanese software chart for the week ending June 13 is as follows:

01 Xenoblade (Wii)
02 Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
03 Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City (PS3)
04 Mega Man Zero Collection (DS)
05 Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 (DS)
06 Just Cause 2 (PS3)
07 Fairy Tail: Portable Guild (PSP)
08 Pro Evolution Soccer 2010: Blue Samurai Challenge (PS3)
09 Friend Collection (DS)
10 New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...r-one-in-japan ...

Microsoft has told GamesIndustry.biz that it will announce the price point for its motion-based control system Kinect at this year's gamescom.

The Cologne event, taking place in mid-August, will also see a raft of new announcements on product.

That's according to country manager for Entertainment & Devices at Microsoft Germany, Oliver Kaltner, who explained that the company was keen not to distract people from the accessibility of Kinect at this point.

"I believe that the price point is not the critical topic, but something you need at the end of the communication in order to place a product properly into a market," he told GamesIndustry.biz Germany at this year's E3 Expo. "From that standpoint pricing is an important topic for our target groups, our partners and, of course, also for us.

"I also think it is the right decision not to determine price points now, because it distracts completely from our actual core story with all its possibilities in the area of gaming, movie, music and social entertainment. We firmly believe that we can offer an unique innovation.

"We have first and foremost a product to offer that doesn't have any entry barriers - which means that the access to fun, family entertainment and social entertainment is a direct access. I would never be able to communicate all these aspects if we mentioned a price point.

"That would mean that the price is the key point of our message, and it does not belong there for now. We will find a price which is attractive in the market," he added.

The company is currently under pressure from rival Sony, which priced its Move peripheral at £39.99 / €39.99 / $49.99 this week, while reports put Kinect at a rumoured figure of $189 - despite speculation last year that Natal (as it was known then) would come in at around $50.

"You develop a product, you look at the markets and at a certain point you end up being confident that it offers good value for money and is relevant in the market," continued Kaltner.

"Beyond that we have to consider that E3 is a very important event for the whole industry. But we are still two weeks in our last fiscal year. That means we are in the middle of the endgame of finalizing our budgets and we of course use our insight from E3 to evaluate the market volume again.

"Being responsible for the business in Germany, it comes in handy to still have a certain flexibility. In eight weeks we are at gamescom and we will know the price not later than that, because we will start to sell [to retail]."

And Kaltner also revealed that there was plenty more to come from the Cologne event this year, with Microsoft lending it strong support.

"Microsoft is without doubt the significant force at E3 this year," he claimed. "However, for me personally it is even more important what I can learn out of that for gamescom.

"I am very proud to say that Microsoft as a corporation did understand, how important gamescom is. We will have a much bigger and more spectacular appearance at gamescom this year than we did last year.

"We have invested well - and because we did not unveil everything on E3 we will have also for gamescom a lot of fresh information."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ng-at-gamescom ...

Ubisoft has revealed Innergy, a new peripheral that monitors body readings and aims to lower stress. Key to the game, unveiled during Ubisoft’s E3 press conference, is the Innergy Sensor – a biofeedback tool that measures heart rate variability, blood flow and pulse, akin to Nintendo’s Vitality Sensor.
The game itself guides players through a series of scenarios that help identify personal sources of stress and offers a range of breathing exercises designed to relieve this. An illustrated diary helps them track their progress.
“It has been an exceptional experience creating this game in collaboration with such leading talents,” said Ubisoft’s creative director Sebastien Kochman.

“Our creative and technical teams are working together to build a game that is unlike any other product on the market: entertainment that offers real benefits that players can feel everyday in their body and mind.”

http://www.casualgaming.biz/news/302...y-Sensor-rival ...