E3 Game Line-Ups - Part Two

More companies are announcing their line-up for E3, and one of the most interesting rosters comes from Capcom, who now have an E3 preview page up on their site. Highlights include Resident Evil: Outbreak (the online Resident Evil for Playstation 2) and Onimusha Blade Warriors (more of a fighting game?), as well as other new Maximo and Onimusha titles, though sadly there are no screenshots available there. Also announcing their product line-up are Eidos Interactive, whose press release mentions Thief and Deus Ex: Invisible War from the Spector-headed Ion Storm, plus interesting Legacy Of Kain and Tomb Raider sequels. Finally, a preliminary list of E3 titles bundled out of Sony Europe by Eurogamer includes Gran Turismo 4, Syphon Filter: Omega Strain, Eye Toy (using your Playstation 2 plus a camera add-on), Ratchet and Clank und Jak and Daxter sequels, and plenty more. Excited yet?

lots of innovation

[toddhunter]

Is anyone bringing out a decent game that isn't an expansion/sequel/rip-off?

Re:lots of innovation

[tdelaney]

Well, I suppose you could call it a rip-off if you *really* wanted ...

But check out Greyhawk: The Temple of Elemental Evil [troikagames.com] by Troika [troikagames.com]. Designed to be a faithful adaption of the original module to the computer and 3.5 edition D&D rules.

These are the guys who made Arcanum [troikagames.com], and includes many of the principal designers and developers of Fallout [interplay.com] and Fallout 2 [interplay.com].

How are we suppose to keep up?

[gklinger]

Forgive me in advance as this is slightly off-topic but after reviewing the impressive list of interesting new games, sequels and online-capable versions of current games, I couldn't help but ask, who has time to play all these games?

I had a Playstation 2 and a Gamecube (as well as all the consoles that came before) and my collection of games was growing much faster than I could play them. I was overwhelmed and gaming became less fun and more like work. I finally had enough last October after losing a month of my life to Animal Crossing (don't ask, you either love it and become obsessed or think its completely stupid). I have since sold my systems and all my games and rediscovered all kinds of 'analog' hobbies like reading and going outside.

I get pangs when I hear about cool new games but my brain and my bank account just can't take any more. Am I the only one feeling like this?

Re:How are we suppose to keep up?

[rowanxmas]

Yeah, My roomate pays for everything.

Re:How are we suppose to keep up?

[Bearded Flamingo]

Well, I guess life is all about choosing, because you just cannot have it all. Personally I don't have too much time for games, so I try to choose wisely. I limit myself to buying 2 games per quarter and that's it. And sure, from time to time it happens that after I bought a game another great game is released that I really want (like right now, I just bought SC4 and now Tropico 2 is out!) but too bad... It is just a matter of character I think.

Re:How are we suppose to keep up?

[tankdilla]

Yeah I think if you want to keep up with each and every cool game that's out, you have to have a lot of freetime, a lot of money, and be focused on video games near to the point of slight autism. I have a nice growing stack of PC games going now, and if I'm lucky I'll get to play each game once a week for like 4 hours, with a few games getting 2 and 3 days of play. But there are too many good games out now to keep up with them all. I think you gotta just latch onto a game or a few games for awhile, enjoy them, and smack yourself if you get the urge to get the latest hot game. Of if you're not a masochist you can just tell yourself don't buy new games. Going outside helps too, and now that summer is around the corner hopefully I can get away from the games for awhile.

Re:How are we suppose to keep up?

[2sleep2type]

I find this is a real 'problem'. I like to get involved in a game but only have a few spare hours a week. I tend to spend quite a long time to finish a game then move on to the next one. I'm always hopelessly behind the times (I'm playing System Shock II at the moment, and really enjoying it). But this does mean I can pick up games that have stood the test of time and are now cheap.

I went through a short phase of buying the latest greatest thing to come out and ended up with a pile of games I have hardly

A little for everyone

[FortKnox]

No one goes out and buys every single game (well... some do, but its rare). In fact, I only have a gamecube and a PC. Seeing as I have a wife and child, I rarely have the opportunity to fork over $50, and rarely have an opportunity to enjoy the game (like after my son goes to sleep).

However, I do like certain types of games. I'm really looking forward to the new Thief game. That will probably be my next purchase, and after that I'll pick up Deus Ex 2 (if I have the hardware to run it). That should last me the rest of the year. This past year was spent with metroid (and recently, Zelda). I've mentioned 4 games I've played in the past while. I guess most wouldn't consider me much a gamer anymore, but I still enjoy games and get excited when new ones come out.

So, I guess, what I'm saying is just to filter out everything except the ones that really interest you. Don't look and wish you could play them all. You can't. Just look for the ones you would enjoy.

Re:How are we suppose to keep up?

[Grinn]

If you have a console I highly recommend check out GameFly [gamefly.com] which is like Netflix [netflix.com] for games.
For 20 bucks a month you can rent all the games you want ( having 2 out at a time ) for any of the 3 consoles. It's a great way to weed through the over hyped crap that comes out. And if you happen to like the game you can keep it "out" indefinitely, or even purchase it and GameFly will mail you the box, manuals, etc.

Note that I really don't recommend GoVoJo [govojo.com]. They have awful turnaround times and their site isn't

Re:How are we suppose to keep up?

[tenman]

Another similar game rental site Red Octane [redoctane.com] It's only 18.95 a month as opposed to the 21.95 charged by GameFly

Half-Life 2

[Nicolai Haehnle]

Okay, I seriously don't get this. It's the second time something like this has been posted on /., and there's _still_ no reference to Half-Life 2 [hl2hc.tk] in the article?

Network RE Movie

[Wyvere]

There is a nice Network Biohazard (RE: Outbreak) movie here [capcom.co.jp] in MPEG format. (Large and small sizes available).

Resident Evil Online

[Rudy Rodarte]

As you guys all know, I am hardcore Nintendo, but Resident Evil online may be the game that makes me buy a PS2. Along with rumored price breaks, it makes the system more attractive.