Lv42′s E3 Favorites
E3 has come and gone, and of course that mean's that there is plenty of time to talk about what we liked, or in some cases, didn't. Each of our writers has outlined (roughly) two things that they were most excited about at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo.
Michael Brown – Editorial Director
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
It's no secret that I am absolutely in love with the Professor Layton series. Just the fact that our own Justin Potts has access to so many extra Layton games (and the movie) makes me absolutely green with envy. So of course I was excited when Nintendo revealed that they are bringing the 3rd Professor Layton game to North America on September 20th. The game looks to be more of the same although that's definitely not a bad thing. The Diabolical Box was probably my game of 2009; will The Unwound Future win the title this year?
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn
The original two Golden Sun games were also some of my favorites, and when Nintendo revealed this latest installment during their press conference at least year's E3 I could hardly believe it. The sheer announcement was enough to make me excited although very little was shown at the show (or even within this past year). If you listen to our podcast you'll know one of the things I was hoping for was more info on Golden Sun DS. We know now it's called Dark Dawn and is launching this holiday season. This game also doesn't seem to be changing up the series' formula but if its as good as the originals I won't have any complaints.
Joel Cornell – Managing Editor
Epic Mickey
Joel: Ha, so you guys wanna team Mickey up with Square?! Kingdom Hearts?! HA!
Disney: Yeah, we think it could be cool.
J: Ha, yeah right, we'll see when that hap… oh, really? Wow, this is amazing. Is there more?
D: Yeah. Next, we're actually getting Warren Spector to do his take on Mickey, making him a tinge darker with a more impishly heroic side. It's Warren's been collaborating with Pixar to fully realize this.
J: …so do you want my money now or later?
D: Later this year will be fine.
Fallout Online Beta Starting
When Bethesda picked up the rights to the Fallout MMO off of Interplay's corpse, there was a condition in the contract stating that the bankrupt Interplay had 24 months to raise $30 mil and start development… which they did, using the money from selling theFallout license. I'm really not sure who I want making my Fallout MMO (yes I am), but either way, the beta is here. We haven't actually seen much of what Interyplay's doing with it's prodigal son, but I'm holding my breath anyway. Miracles can happen.
Nick Tringali – Executive Editor (in haiku form)
Nintendo 3DS
The 3DS
3D without any glasses
and fun games to boot
Portal 2
Aperture Science
has fun new technologies
but only next year
Talk Is Cheap – 3/8/10
There's lots to talk about on this week's episode of Talk is Cheap! Michael, Erika and Joel chat with Lead Designer at Twisted Pixel Games, Sean Riley ('Splosion Man, The Maw, Comic Jumper) about Michael's feature, On the Front Lines: Studio Tour of United Front Games, Matthew's feature, 10 of Video Game's Most Menacing Characters, news about Portal 2, Justin and Michael's reviews for Heavy Rain and finally an interview with Sean about the process behind 'Splosion Man and some info about Twisted Pixel's latest game, Comic Jumper. Be sure to visit Twisted Pixel's website here.
On Indie Compendium, Erika talks about Condition, a retro, side-scrolling run and gun platformer. You can play the game on Newgrounds.com here. She also talk about Sushi Cat, a Peggle-esque game with a bouncing cat and tons of sushi – what more could you want! if you haven't already checked out the title, be sure to do so here. Finally, we talk about 2010 IGF Finalist, Limbo, and its summer release on XBLA. This stylized indie game has been in development since 2006 and has finally resurfaced for all to see! Be sure to check out the teaser trailer for the game here.
Joel and Michael also makes some special mentions in this week's Comic Compendium. First up is Warren Ellis' latest comic series, Captain Swing and the Electrical Pirates of Cindry Island (quite a mouthful, isn't it?). Later, Michael talks about Robert Kirkman's The Astounding Wolf-Man as well as Mass Effect: Redemption, a four issue comic series, and Mass Effect: Ascension, a science-fiction novel. To top things off, Erika talks about the recently released Black Dynamite, a parody of '70s-era Blaxploitation films.
Send us your thoughts to podcast@levelfortytwo.com. You can direct download the episode here, or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes here.
[Mind the perpetual fan in the background, everyone! We're working on it!]
