First post: GDC announcements abound!

Well this, this is my first post on here, so I might as well jump right in. I'm Matt, I really like games, and I decided I wanted to do a blog on Oleville to keep people current with what's been happening in the gaming industry. If you're wondering, just up front, I have biases towards adventure, rhythm, RPGs, and fighting games. I also tend to like Sony a little better than Microsoft (heretoforth referred to as M$), though I definitely respect the later.

Anyway, I'm sure few of you know that GDC was this week: the Game Developer's Conference, in which developers come together to discuss some of the big themes and topics around the industry, along with introducing new projects. Luminaries like Shigeru Miyamoto (creator of Mario, Zelda, and most of what else people know and love about Nintendo), Cliffy B of Gears of War fame, and Sony PR head Phil Harrison gave talks, and sound fresh gameplay videos and announcements were made. Some of the headlines:

--Sony FINALLY unveiled it's online architechture for PS3. Pretty much ever since Sony announced that the PS3 was going to be $600 back at E3 '06 (Rest in Peace, E3), Sony has sort of lagged behind the competition, especially in terms of press reports. The PS3 launch was somewhat of a flop hardware-wise, with a shallow starting lineup, gripes about the lack of online functionality compared to the robust Xbox Live, and gimmicky motion tilt controller. Combine all those problems with Sony's continued arrogant and bull-headed marketing and press philosophy, and it seemed that Sony's fan support was starting to waver (mine included)...but in the last week or two, they've started to turn the corner. They hinted that they might bring rumble back into the PS3 controllers, which has been a common complaint among fans, and with the announcement of Home, their online set-up, Sony seems to be somewhat back on track towards gaining market share in the US in the next generation.

--Anyway, Home...imagine sort of like The Sims, Second Life, the Wii's "Mii" system of creating a personalized avatar, and Xbox Live's media content, and you can get a pretty good sense of what Home is. You create your own personalized avatar (the customization options looks pretty extensive) and apartment, and interact with thousands of other people through a headset, USB keyboard, or quick phrases brought up by the D-pad. Minigames like bowling and billiards are in the common areas, and you can shop for and watch movies, previews, and whatever else Sony has up their sleeves (music? downloadable game content? I think so). I gotta say, it looks pretty awesome.

--M$ has been in front with the 360 so far in this new generation (though don't get my wrong...the PS2 is still beating everybody by a long shot, thanks in part to God of War II, the PS2's last great hurrah, coming out next Tuesday), and they continue to show a strong plan leading up to this holiday season, which looks to be pretty awesome. Besides the apocalyptic madness that will be the Halo 3 launch, Gears of War was one of the best games of the year last holiday season, Mass Effect looks to be the RPG of this summer (made by Bioware, the guys who did the popular KOTOR games), and they managed to steal away Sony's exclusivity rights to the GTA franchise (GTA4, btw, comes out this October for both 360 and PS3). While they didn't have much new to say at GDC, they've been doing very well for themselves. New content on Xbox Live continues to come down the pipes (including the original TMNT arcade classic coming in time for the new movie...booyah!), and it seems nothing can defeat the juggernaut that is Halo 3.

--Nintendo, in the meantime, has sold more Wiis than many people expected, and it's recieved a lot of fan and press support. The fun, simple controls of the built-in Wii Sports has attracted everybody, including your enfeebled, half-dead grandparents, to pick up a game controller, which is exactly what Nintendo was planning to do. Starting with the DS's cultural wunderkind Brain Age, Nintendo has been aiming outside of its core constituency to bring in other gamers...older people especially. And it's working... even my mom, a long video game-basher (stop playing and do your homework! UGH!) got a DS for her birthday and has been enjoying Sudoku, Brain Age, and Clubhouse games ever since.

--Oh, did I mention that Nintendo has the portable games market by the balls? Um yeah, they sell at least 100,000 DSs every WEEK in Japan, and almost as many here. While the PSP has finally started to ship some cool games and looks to get better this year, it's still getting its ass kicked by the DS on both sides of the pond. I myself love my little DS Lite I got last summer, and already have almost a dozen games for it...and I'm excited for Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, FFXII: Revenant Wings, and FF Crystal Chronicles all coming out this year for DS.

For more GDC coverage, check out:
Phil Harrison's presentation on "Home"
a new trailer for The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass for DS
the hot new trailer for Super Mario Galaxy for Wii
God of War II for PS2
and, for the sake of Halo fanboys everywhere...the Halo 3 commercial which debuted a few months ago

Lastly, here's what i've been playing lately, and what I think:

--I just finished up Oblivion, finally, after starting it in September. For those who don't know, Oblivion is the sequel to Morrowind, the very popular Xbox and PC game by Bethesda studios, and it basically adds on to everything you had in Morrowind: a huge world to explore, hundreds of NPCs to talk with, hundreds of quests to complete, 21 different skills to master, and absolutely gorgeous visuals. I played on the PC, and it's the first really "next gen" game I've played, at least visually. After taking a break in Nov/Dec/Jan after hitting the 60 hour mark, I picked it back up and finished it a couple days ago, clocking in at 110 hours (I play slow, ok?)...and I still haven't done the Nights of the Nine expansion, or the upcoming Shivering Isles, which looks to add tons of new content and areas to explore.

--So, having finished Oblivion, I'm taking an RPG break to play Dirge of Cerberus, despite the lukewarm reviews it received. Hey, it's FFVII, ok? I'm not a huge VII lover, and i think it's vastly overrated by the teeming hordes who have played it (message to posers who have only ever played VII: just because you've played ONE RPG doesn't mean you know anything. Period.), but it's good stuff and it looks pretty. =)

--I've also been working on FFIII for DS, a couple Japanese-only games for DS I picked up in Akihabara when I was there during interim (Osu! Tatakae! Oendan is a rhythm-based touch screen game with awful/awesome J-pop and J-rock selections, and Shonen Jump Ultimate Stars is a Smash Bros. type game with famous anime characters), and of course Elite Beat Agents.

lastly, in case anyone is interested and/or wants more: I implore you to check out these sites, as this is where I get most of my info:

www.1up.com with links to lots of video via www.gamevideos.com, the 1Up guys do a good job offering previews, features, and news in a somewhat even-headed way.
www.joystiq.com great gaming blog, with great features, links, polls, and more
www.kotaku.com another good gaming blog