Big Download has now come to the end of its coverage of E3 for its 2010 installment. We went to cover and for the first time to film tons of activities at or near the Los Angeles Convention Center. We saw some good game demos, saw some that, well, didn't wow us and saw some really odd stuff along the way.While other web sites and media outlets like to give out awards to games at the show, our philosophy is that giving awards like "Best RPG" to unfinished products is a little silly, especially since very often the final game doesn't turn out as well as its E3 demo. So as we did last year, we are giving awards in categories that are a little different and also showcase what it's actually like to attend the event for those of you who can't go. As always we hope you like it.
UbiSoft demos Battle Tag at E3 2010 press conference: Ok, it's Lazer Tag with plastic guns, targets and more but you will be able to collect the stats from your battles on your PC. Um, what? What does this have to do with PC gaming? Even Joel McHale, the host of the Ubisoft press conference, seemed to be a bit confused as to what this was supposed to be. We are still scratching our heads on this one.
Maniaplanet reveal at Ubisoft E3 Press Conference: We knew that developer Nadeo was working on their racing game sequel Trackmania 2 for its new owner Ubisoft but we had no idea that the company was expanding into other genre. The announcement of Maniaplanet, which promises to give PC games a way to not only make cool racing content but also cool FPS content (Shootmania) and RPG content (Questmania) came out of left field for us.
Virgin Gaming revealed to be gambling console service: Sir Richard Branson's return to the gaming industry was highly anticipated when it was first leaked out just before E3 began. However the final announcement of what Virgin Gaming actually was all about was a downer. It's a console gaming-only service where you can put your money down to play games online and supposedly win money and prizes. Having seen so many of these kinds of operations crash and burn on the PC platform over the years makes you wonder why Virgin is getting into this field.
Best Cinematic Trailer
Second Star Wars: The Old Republic CGI trailer: E3 2009 was the place BioWare showed its debut CGI trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic. For E3 2010 BioWare did it again with another spectacular five minute trailer sequence trailer Hope. These two trailers are right up there with the best that Blizzard has created for its games and needless to say blow away anything created for the prequel movie trilogy in terms of drama (sorry George).
Download the Star Wars The Old Republic "Hope" Trailer at Big Download (419 MB)
Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Capcom proved with the PC port of Super Street Fighter IV in 2009 that it can make a fighting game that looks and plays well on our platform. With Marvel Vs Capcom 3 using the same engine from Super Street Fighter IV we can't wait to play it on our console but we would love it even more if it were stored on our PC drive. Plus, Deadpool! You gotta love that fourth-wall breaking mercenary.
2K Games' XCOM demo room: We loved seeing the new XCOM game at E3 2010 but our enjoyment might have been heightened due to the incredible demo room that the upcoming 2K Marin shooter was being displayed inside the 2K Games exhibit. The 1950's kitchen motif done incredible well, right down to the tiles. All in all a great piece of art direction. Special kudos to the 2K Marin team member who made the presentation light up with his thick Australian accent.
Chick next to Zombie to promote Dead Rising 2: We don't think we need to say anything more about why we picked this entry to win.
Crysis 2: While we don't know what the final product will be like in terms of gameplay there's no question that Crytek's visuals for Crysis 2 blew us away when we checked out the behind-closed-door E3 demo. From the detailed textures in the New York City landscape to the massive battle with the alien mech to the end where skyscrapers were crashing down live in the game engine, the game looks good. Real good. Will it play as well as it looks? Fingers crossed.
Activision's pre-E3 press conference: The publisher's big E3 press event, held at the Staples Center the Monday before E3 officially began, was billed as a "preview event" so naturally we thought we would see some live demos of games like we saw at Ubisoft and EA's press conferences earlier in the day along with some surprise game announcements. Instead we got (after the event had been delayed by an hour beyond its scheduled start time) dancing, live DJs, Usher, and more musical acts and Tony Hawk and skateboarders that wanted to do a huge stunt but apparently were not able to pull it off before the event began. All of this stuff was linked with some gameplay footage of Activision's E3 line-up on a massive screen. It was cool and all (and it was clearly an expensive shindig on Activision's part) but it really had little to do with, you know, games.
Big Download's E3 2010 coverage is sponsored by:
The Baconing (6/23/11)
X Rebirth Screenshots
Rise Of Immortals Nysuss Screenshots
The Witcher 2 Screenshots
Trackmania 2 Screenshots
Prey 2 Screenshots
Mass Effect 2 - Arrival Screenshots
Magicka Vietnam Screenshots
Choplifter HD Screenshots
Super Street Fighter IV isn't available on the PC, only Street Fighter IV is. Capcom is still withholding stuff from the PC. For example, RE5 Gold Edition which is also not on the PC. Disappointing.Posted at 2:59AM on Jun 28th 2010 by Unknown