June 1, 2005

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Amidst the extravagant set-ups and displays boasted by E3’s South Hall, Ubisoft’s King Kong was the biggest and brightest of the peacocks. In fact, it holds the record as being the company’s largest and most elaborate booth. King Kong will grace store shelves at the beginning of the holiday season, in conjunction with the December 2005 release of the film. Ubisoft anticipates King Kong to be their most successful game of the year. We were fortunate enough to nab a spot in the Ubisoft mini-theater, nestled in a theme park-reminiscent bamboo structure. Exhibitors were in top-secret mode, demanding that all recording devices (including cell phone cameras) be turned off and put away. After the small room went pitch black, the viewing began with commentary by top collaborators Peter Jackson and acclaimed Ubisoft game creator, Michel Ancel.

May 25, 2005

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Recently at E3 we had the unique opportunity of viewing a playable demo of EA’s upcoming 3^rd-person action title, The Godfather. If you haven’t yet read anything about the Godfather, it’s meant to be a free roaming game in a style similar to Grand Theft Auto (which is probably a taboo around the EA folks). Generally speaking, players will have the freedom to do anything, including but not limited to intimidating people, killing, extorting, jacking cars, and general thuggery. One fresh and new feature supplied by The Godfather will be the Einsteinian premise that for every action you make there will be a reaction. This extends beyond the base reaction of “I beat up a pedestrian and six cops came after me.” The Godfather will employ a more refined system where if your malicious activity gets written up in the news the cops will put out an APB for your arrest for being a public disturbance. The idea of respect which was a hallmark feature of the movie and book series is also in this game.  You extort shops for protection fees and you can give the police chief a kickback to keep your good name off of the most wanted list. The Godfather is supposed to bring finesse to the world dominated by GTA clones.

To read the rest of our first impressions of the Godfather, read on.

May 20, 2005

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With the soaring popularity of MTV’s “Pimp My Ride,” and the faithful following of the “The Fast and the Furious” movies, its no wonder that game manufacturers are still gripping to the arcade racing genre, focusing on car customization.  Rockstar’s latest foray into the genre comes in the form of Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition, a new addition to the Midnight Club franchise.  Midnight Club 3 goes over the top sometimes and uses too many arcade elements and too much pop-culture lingo and attitude.  However, for any faults that Midnight Club 3 has, there are plenty of assets to keep the game interesting and to make it worth your purchase or rental dollar.

Read on for our full review of Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition.