It was a pleasure to spend some time with the fine people at the Majesco booth at E3. They were showing off a wide range of titles that I was able to spend some hands-on time with. I got to check out 23 new Microsoft Kinect Titles. Take Shape is a fitness game that has you and your friends or family pairing up to form shapes as they approach you on a conveyor belt. Anyone who has ever watched the sensational TV show from either the USA or Japan called Hole in the Wall knows what I am talking about. the game has you forming many crazy shapes wither by yourself or with a partner. It causes some very funny moments as you find yourself in some very interesting positions. This game could simply not be played on anything other then Kinect. I also was able to mess around with Hulk Hogan’s Main Event. This is the first ever wrestling game on Kinect. Its over-the-top, cartoony graphics go very well with Hulk Hogan’s tongue-in-cheek wrestling nature. The game seems very accessible, has a deep create-a-wrestler mode and I was able to see some of the training sessions. Hulk Hogan was training you how to use a chair in the ring to fight your opponent. The action seemed very responsive and the game looked like it was a lot of fun. The last of the trio of Kinect Titles I was able to see was another fitness title called Mind N Motion. The goal of this game was to train the mind and body at the same time. It looked a little rough around the edges, but with a little bit more polish, I think it will come into its own.
Next up was Bloodrayne Betrayal. It is a 2D side-scrolling Action Platformer that is coming to the XBOX Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network. This title re-imagines the first two Bloodrayne games with an all-new hand-drawn graphical style. This was one of the most unique=looking titles I was able to see at E3. All the animations were running very smoothly. The game boasts Speed Run-style gameplay and will be out at the end of July and early August in a tiered rollout for the two different consoles.
Lastly, I was also able to spend time with four different Nintendo 3DS titles. First was a Shmup called Nano Assault. In this game, you are inserted into a virus and given the task of taking it out from within. This was easily the best looking third party title I saw at the show for the 3DS. The gameplay was easily accessible and it even looked good with the 3D turned off. That was followed up with a splash into the ocean for Jaws Ultimate Predator. The build I saw was still pretty early, but being able to eat people and other little sea creatures, while playing as the biggest, baddest shark around seemed pretty cool. When the game comes out this October or November, only time will tell if the game will provide enough originality and variety to make it even more appealing. I then zoomed on over to check out Face Racers, the first Kart racer that will be launched on the 3DS this September. The thing that will set this Kart racer apart from the others is the ability to use the 3DS camera to put your face in the game. It has you make four different emotional “faces”, which are used at different parts of the game. Pass somebody up? Make a smiley face, get hit by an opponent’s oil slick, make a frowny face – you get the ides. There are also unlockable costumes you can use to really trick out your racer. The custom emotional faces will only work in flattened 2D mode. Finally, the last game I spent time with at the Majesco booth was Pet Zombies. This is a pretty straight forward pet simulator where you are tasked with keeping your pet happy, fed etc. The twist is that your pet is a flesh eating Zombie. Where your little Nintendog wants you to be affectionate and rub its belly, your Pet Zombie wants you to torture it and taze it in order to keep it happy. The person walking me through the demo assured me that it was family friendly, however, I would definitely not let my 7 year old play a game that encouraged her to torture a pet for fun. I like Zombies, but this seems like a feeble attempt to cash in on the Zombie craze that is happeining ion our society right now.
All in all, I had a great time checking out these titles at E3 with Majesco. The real standouts for me were Hulk Hogan’s Main Event and Bloodrayne Betrayal. I liked the wrestling game simply for its nostalgic value, while the Bloodrayne game was very pretty to look at.
