Author: Richard Mitchell

In their continuing E3 coverage, Xbox.com has posted an interview with the developers of Rainbow Six: Vegas. While I’m not sure I agree that Las Vegas is “awe inspiring”, I am excited about this game. Besides the obvious location, one interesting new feature mentioned is rappelling and “fast roping”. These skills will allow players to take their game to more vertical realms. The online component looks to build on the persistent character creation of the last game, though the developers assure that skilled players will still be able to compete with those who have better equipment. Some sort of website stat tracking is also planned but was not elaborated upon in the interview. Another cryptic quote: “We plan to use Marketplace in ways no other titles have done so far.” What does that mean? True episodic content perhaps? I’m guessing it’s overinflated marketing talk but we’ll wait and see. Expect more info at E3.

Word comes down from IGN that Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball 2 will be making an appearance at E3 this year. According to Famitsu, however, appearances is all we will get. That is to say, no playable form of DOAX2 is expected. 8bN isn’t complaining though. After all, looking is half the fun of DOA, isn’t it? Still, there is hope, as this is still only a rumor. There is still a chance that journalists and fanboys will get to lay their hands on their controllers come E3.

 —image from DOAX official site.

—UPDATE: A lot of people are being directed here by search engines. If you’re looking for the trailer, find it here.

In SEGA’s third road to E3 announcement, they have revealed World Pool Championship 2007 and World Pool Challenge 2007 for PS2 and PSP respectively. The sceens show off some of the hot pool action we can expect from the titles. This is an interesting announcement if not quite as dazzling as Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz or Virtua Tennis. I’m sure—at least I hope—SEGA has another ace or two up its sleeve.

In an interview with an internet radio station, Nintendo of Canada’s Director of Marketing, Pierre-Paul Trepanier, confirmed that the Revmote will feature force feedback and that “[Nintendo] will show more at E3”. The interview was conducted in French, so whether or not he was referring only to a rumble feature or something more complex is up to interpretation. I would imagine he was referring only to the standard rumble feature. Of course, Nintendo has yet to reveal the other “big secret” about the Revolution, so who knows?

—via Mozlapunk [thanks, Thomas]

In SEGA’s second day of pre-E3 press releases, it has announced a new Super Monkey Ball title for the Nintendo Revolution. Among the new features is the ability for the monkeys to jump by flicking the Revmote upward. There was no confirmation on how the rest of the game will be controlled, only that Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz will take advantage of the Revolution’s abilities. I’m really excited to see what else SEGA has up its sleeve for E3. It’s shaping up to be a big year for games.

My friend, Thomas, tipped me off to this little wonder on Gizmodo. It’s a portable DVD player, obviously, but look at the back. That’s right, it’s a GBA slot. I assume the controls are on the unit itself, though the article didn’t mention it. You can even hook up more GBAs for multiplayer action. The unit is crammed with other functionality as well, including mp3 compatibility. Very cool and likely to be very expensive.

According to the newly released E3 trailer for Capcom’s up an coming 360 game, Lost Planet, a demo is supposed to arrive May 9th. The trailer does not specify what form that demo will take, but I’ll just go ahead and assume it’s coming to the Xbox Live Marketplace. It damn well better. I don’t know that I’m particularly excited by this game. All of the gameplay footage I have seen is too rapidly cut, so you never get a chance to really see what’s happening. It is being produced by Keiji Inafune—the man responsible for Onimusha and Mega Man. I was fond of Onimusha, though I have only played the first one. We’ll see if this is any good come May 9th.

[UPDATE] Reader thomdano clues me in to the fact that not all of you know what Lost Planet is. Here is a link to some trailers, including the one mentioned above. I thought the trailer was only available on Xbox Live Marketplace. I was wrong. Please don’t hurt me. 

Lost Planet is a third person action game featuring ground combat and some rather impressive mechs. Players fight it out with other humans as well as some freaky monsters. The game’s protagonist is modelled in the likeness of Korean actor Lee Byung-Hun. The story involves the aforementioned mechs and monsters as well as “Snow Pirates,” which sounds like a sexual euphemism to me. So there you go.

Microsoft has officially rolled out the digital red carpet leading to E3. The first story kicking off this coverage? An interview with Peter Moore of course! It’s pretty much what you’d expect. He highlights some of the things you can expect at E3 (Mass Effect, Blue Dragon, Viva Pinata, etc.) and touts Xbox Live. What’s really great is that this year, Xbox 360 owners get to download E3 content from Marketplace. Very cool, Microsoft. Very sneaky. Anywho, read more about it here.

Gamasutra has posted a nice, if short, interview with Ralph Baer—contender for the title of “Father of Videogames“. It’s not a long piece—and surprisingly has a few typos—but it’s a good read. An interesting passage:

 . . . Baer predicted that individual electronic devices that only had one use were “on the way out”, and instead there would be a single device that would attach to televisions to allow people to do a variety of things, such as view pay television, buy items, even play games. If anything, since the title of father of home video games might be hard to wrangle from a certain other party, perhaps a more fitting moniker might be the Nostradamus of gaming.

Nostradamus of gaming, huh? It’ll have to do I guess. The article briefly summarizes Baer’s achievements. He actually predicted quite a few of today’s gaming technologies. The article even mentions that Baer is currently working on a new kind of wireless dance pad for current systems. Considering his most well-known idea was stolen by Nolan Bushnell, he is understandably quiet about the technology involved.

Baer’s feelings on today’s games: Too complicated for him, but not for the kids.

Image credit: The Dot Eaters