Konami Pre-E3 Event

Dear Reader,

So Padinga sent me to cover the Konami Pre-E3 bash at Sony Pictures yesterday. It was a classy, enjoyable affair with plenty of free booze, and if I do say so the bartenders made a mean Seven and Seven. Oh right, and they talked about some games. I always forget that part. Here’s a few pictures, and then a little video after the jump.

The conference was split into two sections: the show floor, where various low-profile DLC games were playable, and the video presentation, where the AAA stuff got touted and trailered.

Puddle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK6Yp54iCm4

The highlight of part one was this game, “Puddle.” A very cool Playstation Move title, “Puddle” is a physics puzzler where you move the environment around to guide a bunch of liquid through a series of hazardous challenges. Everyone’s favorite was the Human Body level, which is shown above. This is, by far, the best use of the Move I’ve personally experienced. My only hesitation about the game is that the levels felt quite short. I hope that was just a demo thing.

“Puddle” will also be on XBLA, but without Kinect support. God only knows what the point of the game would be without motion control.

Skullgirls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Esjus4n_eSo

Here we have “Skullgirls,” a 2-D fighter in the mold of the “Marvel vs. Capcom” series. The art is very “Scott Pilgrim,” and as I understand it some of the key art staff worked on “Pilgrim” so that makes sense. I must admit, though, this one was more fun to look at than to play. The world was really cool and distinctive, but the gameplay itself felt blocky and slow. 2-D fighters have to move like a rocket’s strapped to their behind, and this one did not.

Silent Hill: Downpour

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCf1WprpW94

This is “Silent Hill: Downpour,” a new entry into the franchise which they honestly talked very little about. Most of the warm-up to the trailer was some B.S. set visit to the new movie no one’s going to see, and then they were like, “Oh yeah there’s a game.” So even though I actually loved this trailer and thought it was really cool, I’m refusing to get my hopes up.

Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater (3DS)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCK7IAQ3UvY

Here’s a short clip from a “Snake Eater” behind the scenes, which was part of the video presentation half of the show. I was really impressed with what we were seeing, and it wasn’t even in 3-D. Very cool stuff. I didn’t manage to grab it on film, but at the end of the “Snake Eater” trailer, Yoshi showed up, hiding in the jungle. I don’t know if that was a joke, or if they meant something by it.

Hideo Kojima

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfxdXBeAZTs

Hideo Kojima showed up in a very long-winded video skit that attempted to A) justify his not coming to E3, B) glorify his name in all the Earth, and C) get everyone excited for “Transfarring,” which I’ll get to in a second. For reasons passing understanding, Konami elected to dub Kojima’s voice into English, even though he was being interviewed by a guy who was speaking English. It was incredibly distracting, and kind of killed the momentum of the thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4nPHOj2g_k

Here’s a clip explaining “Transfarring.” I’m not showing the whole thing because it goes on forever, and involves a lot of bizarre, WTF humor (not in the good way). This “Transfarring” thing seems to be pretty simple: play the same game on your PSP and PS3. Kojima also said that he plans to make Transfarring happen between the NGP and PS3 as well. It’s an admittedly kind of cool concept, although it might not amount to the complete “lifestyle change” they tout here.

Other Random Notes:

-Kojima confirmed he’s working on a new multi-platform IP, for which he built a new engine called “Fox.” Now maybe this means nothing, but when Kojima was given a choice for which controller to use to show the engine, he let a very pregnant moment pass and then picked the 360. It seemed like he meant something with that, I don’t know.

-A teaser for a new “Contra” game appeared at the very end. It was literally a fireball that made a “C,” and then it ended. I didn’t even know what it was supposed to mean.

-They unveiled a new IP called “NeverDead,” which is kind of like a “Devil May Cry,” 3rd-person action shooter with demons and whatnot. The twist, as the title suggests, is that your protagonist can never die. Even if his body parts all fall off, he just rolls around as a torso until he collects them all again. It’s funny, but I’m not sure it makes a great game. Here’s a short clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPTREi5OF0Q

-AA

the spirit is willing, but the flesh is spongy and bruised.