General gaming

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• Our E3 2011 Regrets
• E3 2012: The Challenges Ahead
• What's Worth Seeing at E3?
• E3 Thoughts and Predictions Vol. 3: Sony
• Dota 2 Primed to Dominate the Competition as a Free-to-Play Game
• E3's Most Memorable Moments
• Gaming's Classic Spirit Finds an HD Outlet on PlayStation 3

Our E3 2011 Regrets Posted: 01 Jun 2012 09:25 PM PDT Feature Share it: Tweet 1UP COVER STORY 1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF MAY 28 | E3 2012 Our E3 2011 Regrets Cover Story: 1UP fesses up about their dumbest predictions from last year. L ast year, when we collected our thoughts for an article of the most anticipated games of E3 2011, some of us said some pretty crazy things. I mean, can you blame us? In the rush of excitement for the biggest trade show in the video game industry, it's easy to get a little carried away. But while listing bold predictions and anticipated games is a common trend before the big show, we decided to complement our E3 coverage this year by going back to address what we said the year prior. Check out which of our editors had to eat some crow and join in and share some of your own predictions and anticipated games from last year's show.

E3 2012: The Challenges Ahead Posted: 01 Jun 2012 08:26 PM PDT Feature Share it: Tweet 1UP COVER STORY 1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF MAY 28 | E3 2012 E3 2012: How Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft will set the stage for the next generation. Cover Story: 1UP fesses up about their dumbest predictions from last year. I n just a few days, Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo will be taking the stage at E3 to articulate their individual visions with an eye to the future. The agendas will be different, but each platform holder has a particular point of emphasis that they will likely be highlighting this year, the goal being to transitition smoothly into the next generation. Here's what to expect.

What's Worth Seeing at E3? Posted: 01 Jun 2012 07:45 PM PDT Feature Share it: Tweet 1UP COVER STORY 1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF MAY 28 | E3 2012 What's Worth Seeing at E3? Cover Story: We round up the finest attractions confirmed to appear at this year's show. E 3 has already bared most of its contents to the public, leaving our staff with no choice but to wait in agony until the future of gaming reveals itself to us in a private setting. But this situation isn't as terrible (or disgusting) as it sounds; having something to anticipate sure beats a bunch of dull games taking us by surprise, then boredom. Each of your intrepid 1UP pals has pinned down at least one game they're looking to get their filthy mitts/eyes on at this year's E3, and, as expected, these selections comprise some of the most exciting showings within the entirety of L.A.'s convention center. Check out our choices, and make sure you tell us your own in the comments section below! Jeremy Parish:

E3 Thoughts and Predictions Vol. 3: Sony Posted: 01 Jun 2012 02:57 PM PDT Feature Share it: Tweet 1UP COVER STORY 1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF MAY 28 | E3 2012 E3 Thoughts and Predictions Vol. 3: Sony Cover Story: 1UP offers one final round of press conference prognostication. W e've pleaded to the Nintendo gods, and did our best guesswork on what Microsoft may have hidden up their sleeves. Now it's time for us to fire off one finally volley of predictions for the E3 press conferences, this time with an emphasis on Sony. What PS3 exclusives might be revealed? Will we see any hint of long lost titles like The Last Guardian? Will Sony give us a reason to keep our Vitas charged? Come back after the press conference and laugh at how very wrong our predictions were. And to hear us banter about what Sony may have in store for us at E3, take a listen to Episode 18 of Games, Dammit! Jeremy Parish: On the whole, Sony is doing a solid job of providing gamers with a variety of software for PS3 and Vita. They've covered just about every possible base: The Last of Us, God of War: Ascension, Sound Shapes, that Nintendo rip-off series, Sly Cooper, The Unfinished Swan, etc. The problem is that I don't get the impression many people really care. The Vita in particular struggles to sell games despite being kind of an amazing system with a great lineup. I feel like Sony is peddling the same kind of content it always has without much regard for how the market has changed these past few years. What I really want to see from Sony is something to galvanize us. Make us care! The Last of Us is the only Sony title on the horizon that genuinely seems to excite gamers (well, and The Last Guardian, but...). Sony needs to shake things up, simple as that. Not with a new console, and not with more try-hard Nintendo impersonations. We need a comeback by the amazing, innovative Sony that rocked the '90s.

Dota 2 Primed to Dominate the Competition as a Free-to-Play Game Posted: 01 Jun 2012 01:55 PM PDT After remaining coy on the subject for quite a while, Valve confirmed months of speculation by announcing Dota 2 will be free to play. That means upon release, you'll be able to download and play the game free of charge, with microtransactions being the way Valve makes money off of it. As is usually the case in these situations, the developer is claiming you won't be able to pay to win, a common concern among free-to-play game players who don't want their ability to succeed determined by the size of their wallets. Unlike many other cases, it's very clear Valve has a point here as the only things which can be purchased with real-world money are cosmetic items. It may sound like a gamble to bank purely on players' desire to customize their look, but Valve does have experience with the free-to-play model. Team Fortress 2 went free last summer following the addition of an in-game store in September 2010, while the game still costed money to purchase. While it may be best known for the hats it sells, where TF2's store differs from Dota 2's is in its sale of in-game weapons and items. You're able to spend real-world money to acquire guns, shields, jars of urine (yes), and the many other items at players' disposal.

E3's Most Memorable Moments Posted: 01 Jun 2012 11:55 AM PDT Feature Share it: Tweet 1UP COVER STORY 1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF MAY 28 | E3 2012 E3's Most Memorable Moments Cover Story: Before E3 2012 explodes into being, we take one last look at our favorite E3 memories from years past. W ith E3 2012 and its inevitable glut of crazy game news bombshells only a few short days away, we're taking one last look at the show that we've known over the years and revisiting our favorite moments. Sure, we're there for work, but we're fans of games, too. So we have plenty of fond memories of E3 from years gone by. These are just a few of ours -- what are yours? Jeremy Parish: The most vivid memory I have of E3, surprisingly enough, dates from a couple years before I actually began attending the show. Not that I take the opportunity to attend E3 for granted by any means, it's just that there's something a little thrilling about playing the role of spectator. Such was the case during E3 2000, when Konami unveiled Metal Gear Solid 2 running on the oh-my-god-how-can-any-game-system-be-this-powerful!? PlayStation 2. They didn't dump a ton of info out onto the Internet or show off the game in a big theatre; instead, Konami demoed the game reel periodically at its booth, making footage of the game hard to come by for a while for those of us not on-site. And even once sites like IGN began hosting videos, their bandwidth -- a far more precious resource in those days -- couldn't handle the demand. So I spent an entire day of work ignoring my day job in favor of hitting refresh over and over again, desperate to see the trailer. It was totally worth it, though. Did you see the way those melons exploded and ice cubes melted? Damn, son.

Gaming's Classic Spirit Finds an HD Outlet on PlayStation 3 Posted: 01 Jun 2012 10:58 AM PDT Feature Share it: Tweet 1UP COVER STORY 1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF MAY 28 | E3 2012 Gaming's Classic Spirit Finds an HD Outlet on PlayStation 3 Cover Story: Ni No Kuni and Sly Cooper bring PS3 a whimsical touch frequently lacking in modern games. G ritty grey grimness. Bald space marines. Massive tree-trunk-like men rendered with oily ropiness by Unreal Engine 3. These are the images that dominate current-gen games -- and why not? Clearly, they're what sells to the core gaming audience, and publishers would be fools to ignore the tastes of the masses. But too much of any single thing can grow old over time, and for some gamers (myself included) the relentless badassery of HD gaming fare can feel almost suffocating. Sometimes, it would be nice to have a little humor to leaven the darkness -- humor that doesn't revolve around how hilarious it is to curbstomp a bad guy's skull like a meat balloon -- without being all cutesy or ironic about it. How about a little earnestness for once? Thankfully, both Sony and Namco Bandai are content to be fools, bringing two beautiful, colorful, sincerely whimsical games to PlayStation 3: Sanzaru's Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time and Level-5's Ni No Kuni. Neither of these games are new or unexpected, but despite being known quantities they stood out at a recent industry-wide pre-E3 event by virtue of going against the grain. They lack the seriousness and realism of the other big-budget games on display, yet they aren't aimed specifically at young audiences, either. Both Sly and Ni No Kuni recall a vanished era of games (we called it "The PlayStation 2 age" -- you might have learned about it in school) when developers could take a lighthearted approach to design without being apologetic about it.

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