Hasta La Gadget!

At E3 this year we were absolutely sure that Nintendo would finally release the details of its finger-trapping peripheral, the Vitality Sensor. The company revealed the thing the year prior and, well, it sure seemed like time to make it official. But, that didn’t happen, and Nintendo’s Cammie Dunaway (star of the 2009 Vitality Sensor reveal) told Game Set Watch why: there was just too much other stuff. Yes, Nintendo “had a really packed agenda” and was too busy showing off another Metroid sequel, another Zelda sequel and, shocker, another Kid Icarus sequel to make room for something that is actually new. She continues that E3 is “noisy and adrenaline-filled, and loud and stressful, and it just didn’t seem like the best environment to introduce a product that’s really about relaxing.” So, here we are, left sitting alone, index fingers coldly exposed to the elements, forced to find other ways to relax on our own.

Nintendo explains Vitality Sensor’s absence at E3: show was too ‘loud and stressful’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Jun 2010 12:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Before the Electronic Entertainment Expo started last week, I wrote a roundup of ten of the biggest rumors surrounding the show. Now that E3 is over, we know which of the rumors actually were fact. Here’s our scorecard.

1. Nintendo 3DS: True. Nintendo’s new gaming portable was the company’s biggest hit of the show. We got a tiny bit of hands-on time with the 3DS, and from what we could tell, the hardware is everything we had hoped for. Nintendo has successfully ended all doubts surrounding its ability to created 3D effects without the need for glasses.
2.  PSP 2: False. While Sony restated its commitment to the original PlayStation Portable (though any mention of the PSP Go was conspicuously absent), it didn’t announce any plans for a successor.
3. Xbox 360 Slim: True. Microsoft exec Don Mattrick concluded Microsoft’s E3 press event with a neat little trick: He lifted up a fake Xbox 360 to reveal the company’s new slim model. It has built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi and a 250GB hard drive, all for $299.
4. PlayStation 4: False. As expected, a big, old no on this one. Sony is far from the end of the PS3’s 10-year life cycle.
5. Wii HD: False. Another long shot that didn’t happen. Nintendo fans will have to settle for some new Wii titles–and, oh yeah, that new handheld.
6. New Versions of Nintendo Classics: True and False. New versions of Zelda (The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword) and Kirby (Kirby’s Epic Yarn) were announced for the Wii. F-Zero was nowhere to be seen. Starfox 64, meanwhile, will be making an appearance on the forthcoming Nintendo 3DS.
7. New GoldenEye Game: True. Thirteen years after the release of the original, GoldenEye is coming to the Wii. The game will feature the likeness of current James Bond Daniel Craig, as well as Dame Judi Dench.
8. Grand Theft Auto V: False. GTA fans will have to keep waiting for the latest addition to this popular series. Oh well, at least we have Red Dead Redemption.
9. Half Life 2, Episode 3: False. More waiting on this one, as well.
   
10. Star Wars Battlefront 3: False. We did get to see more of Star Wars: The Old Republic, if that’s any consolation.

Last week’s E3 show was pretty wild. All the major players upped their game quite a bit — pun intended. Here’s my breakdown of the show.

Microsoft: The folks in Redmond led the way with an intro launch party featuring a custom performance from Cirque de Soleil. That was just to warm things up — when it came to actual announcements, Microsoft took a two-tiered approach. On one hand it’s building on the success of long established titles like Gears of War, Fable and of course, Halo. On the other it’s taking the time to re-boot the Xbox 360 with Kinect, which brings controller-free gaming to the platform, as well as adding voice and gesture controls. I think Kinect is a major leap forward in the gaming experience that will appeal to both mainstream and casual gamers. With a streamlined new Xbox 360 and an impressive set of launch titles debuting alongside, Kinect is more akin to a console launch than a peripheral. Overall, I’d say Microsoft is in the lead post-E3 and very well positioned for holiday.

Continue reading Entelligence: The aftermath of E3

Entelligence: The aftermath of E3 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Jun 2010 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Now that OnLive’s beta is (kind of) out the door — a “bumpy takeoff” as coined by founder Steve Perlman — the company is talking about its future plans. One of those happens to be a piece of hardware dubbed the MicroConsole that’ll serve as the link from the service to your TV. Talking with Joystiq at E3, Perlman said it expects to push the device out “by the end of 2010” and that beta users are already using it. So, when can we get in on that beta?

OnLive’s MicroConsole coming by end of 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Jun 2010 23:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With its Ear Force line, Turtle Beach has turned the gaming headset from niche product into must-have accessory for many serious gamers — particularly those engaging in some warfare of a modern variety. The wireless, 7.1-channel X41 model sits on the high end, but Turtle Beach is now offering those on a bit of a budget a new option: the Ear Force Z2. At $69.95 it isn’t exactly cheap, but compared to the other products on the segment it is something of a bargain. Click on through for our impressions.

Continue reading Turtle Beach Ear Force Z2 ears-on

Turtle Beach Ear Force Z2 ears-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Jun 2010 18:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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