Hey Got Gamers!

This week’s episode of Got game is brought to you by the Organization for Getting John Stamos on the Cover of Video Games. Currently that organization only includes Momin, Christine, Coop and Calhoun; but we’re dedicated. We also have mocked up cover art on our side…. how could we fail?

As always you can hear our John Stamos talk, and all the other running jokes in the audio file below this sentence, but we just call it the post-broadcast podcast of the June 25th 2011 Edition of Got Game.

[audio:http://goo.gl/fb/g6z3X]

This week on Got Game the crew discusses:

• The release date for EA’s FIFA 12
• The technology that will or will not make up the Wii U
• Jack Tretton’s latest words to Forbes Magazine regarding the PlayStation 4
• A 19 Year Old Englishman who was arrested on suspicion of hacking Sony, Nintendo, and others
• SEGA getting hacked on the 20th anniversary of the original Sonic the Hedgehog game
• The announcement of EA’s NHL 12 cover athlete

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And like we promised, here is what the cover for NHL12 will look like.

We also get all the details on Batman Arkham City with the game’s Director Sefton Hill.

And Calhoun fights some televisions during his review of Trenched.

Hey Got Gamers,

Everyone on the show wants to thank you for your support and understanding during our E3 coverage. Due to technical difficulties we were unable to record a program with a level of sound quality that was high enough to air on Sportsnet Radio the FAN590.

Instead, we decided to put all of our coverage here on our blog; and you guys not only forgave our technical issues but you made June one of our greatest months ever for blog visits. On behalf of everyone here at Got Game/Sportsnet Radio the FAN590, THANK YOU for your understanding and your support.

Sadly, last week meant the end of our iron-man record. It was the first time in over 2 years that there was not a regularly scheduled episode of Got Game on the air. We still have 1 record left though, the location of our weekly post-broadcast podcast. As always you can find that podcast in the audio file below this paragraph.

[audio:http://goo.gl/fb/bbDDK]

This week on Got Game the crew discussed:

• The Madden Franchise losing some heavy hitters from its development team
• Both Bioware and Bethesda getting hacked
• Electronic Arts opening up a chain of EA SPORTS retail stores
• The sad sales figures for L.A. Noire and the whole gaming industry during the month of May
• The question of when can there be too much DLC?

Here’s the trailer for the Call of Duty: Black Ops 3rd DLC “Annihilation”

And we still found the time to play a couple of E3 interviews that we recorded in Los Angeles. First, Zack and Momin talk to EA Sports‘ NHL 12 producer: Sean Ramjagsingh.

Then in the second of our two interviews, Calhoun chats with Double Fine’s Brad Muir and Chris Jurney about Trenched.

And as promised you can hear our full Trenched interview in the audio file below this sentence.

[audio:http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand/Interview_trenched-bc-20110618.mp3]

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Plus, Calhoun Comes Gets Some Duke Nukem Forever in our review section…

…Before Zack sees how electrifying inFAMOUS 2 is…

…While Momin and Christine team up to review the co-op friendly Hunted: The Demon’s Forge.

Hey Got Gamers,

It’s sad to see E3 come and go for another year. It’s a long difficult week, but it’s always a wonderful and special time. We did our best to take you on a journey through the halls of the convention center, and we will continue to do that with a collection of interviews that we tapped during this past week (we’ll tell you more about those in the coming weeks as we play them on our show).

For now, I just wanted to make a convenient post for anyone still interested in hearing our podcasts. You can download them all at the bottom of this post, but here are the streaming versions of all the shows we did while on the ground in Los Angeles:

1. E3 Day Zero Podcast – The crew recaps a day of E3 media briefings and pressers.
[audio:http://bit.ly/m2h8GJ]

2. E3 Day One Podcast - The crew discusses hands on time with the Wii-U, SSX, Need for Speed The Run, Forza 4 and more.
[audio:http://bit.ly/mSiSU6]

3. E3 Day Two Podcast – On no sleep and lots of coffee the crew discusses the PlayStation Vita, XCom, Bioshock Infinite, NBA 2K12, Battlefield 3, HALO Combat Evolved Anniversary, Microsoft’s Summer of Arcade, and more.
[audio:http://bit.ly/mlTYRx]

4. E3 DAY Three Podcast – The crew fits in Modern Warfare 3, Call of Duty Elite, Batman Arkham City, Spider-Man Edge of Time, Driver San Fransisco, Far Cry 3, RockSmith, and as many other games as we can fit in during this show we didn’t expect to do.
[audio:http://bit.ly/lvyx4T]

5. E3 WRAP UP Podcast – Our wrap up of the last 4 days of the E3 convention.
[audio:http://bit.ly/kOyAP9]

A picture is also worth a hundred words. So here are some images that we snapped while on the floor of the Los Angeles Convention Center, or during some of the press conferences.

And as promised, here are the direct links to download any of our E3 podcasts:

• DAY ZERO – MONDAY
• DAY ONE – TUESDAY
• DAY TWO – WEDNESDAY
• DAY THREE – THURSDAY
• THE WRAP UP SHOW

Today was a big day for us here in LA.  Hopefully you already know that, having listened to the daily podcasts.

While wandering around the 2K Booth I was able to finesse my way into chatting with Eric Gordon of the LA Clippers, as I waited for what ended up being an exclusive and lengthy sit down with Robert Jones from 2K Sports.

He/they weren’t revealing any features at this point… instead, they’re just showing off some of the developments/advancements since last year’s game.

One of my (few) concerns from NBA 2K11 was the defensive AI.  I pointed out to Jones that I felt the CPU was playing dirty in some instances, in that the AI would nullify fast-break opportunities all too often, by always being in the sweet spot of the passing lanes.

They’re working on creating more passing animations, and improving the flow from that standpoint.  Guys will fill the lanes better, and you’ll be able to dish out lead-passes.

They’re also working on the free throws (which were obviously very tough to deal with, unless you played with the same team every time and were used to specific players’ animations).  Nothing is set at this stage of the development, but what 2K was showing me for 2K12 was a faint blue arch that moved as you started your stroke.  It’s not final… and it may not even make it into the game… but it didn’t take away from the atmosphere and felt like a BIG leap forward.

Presentation has been amped up REMARKABLY as well.  They were showing off the Finals, so in the pre-game set-up, they had new, dynamic (never the same twice), cut-scenes with in-game clips (no CGI/video).  They’ve got 3D rotating player models for the starting line-ups, and even better crowd animations.  You won’t find the same kind of importance in game 53 of your season, that you will as you advance through the playoffs.  They said this will give players more of a sense of accomplishment, all while taking away from the repetition.

The coaches also look great.  Rick Carlisle looked exactly like Rick Carlisle.

They completely re-graphed the skin tones for everyone (the detailing is impeccable now), with truer muscle definition.  The faces are also MUCH closer to the real-thing, with the eyes getting a major boost from a graphical standpoint.  Dirk actually looks pretty much exactly like Dirk.  The Big 3 look identical to their real-life counterparts, as well.
2K’s goal is to make NBA 2K12 more “human”… and by that, they mean working on things like if you commit a turnover, you won’t see all of your guys RUSHING back to try and make a stop that’ll never happen.  It doesn’t happen in real-life… some guys bust their asses… others don’t.  It’s about finding the perfect balance… and one that obviously changes depending on the flow of the game – just imagine if one team’s getting blown out.  Are they going to try as hard down the stretch, as one would in a 3-point game?
The animations are stitched together even better… and the contact-adjustments while trying to dunk/make a lay-up are even more authentic.

I asked if there would be anything like the inclusion of Jordan this time around… they couldn’t comment.
They wouldn’t even say if it was just a one-year contract, or something bigger.

When I saw them show off “NBA on the Move” (the PS Move compatible mode of the game for the PS3) at the Sony keynote, I was worried that it was basically just a copy/paste with updated rosters… and some horrible Move functionality.

However, having seen NBA 2K12 for a solid half an hour, with only myself and a developer, I can truly see how much they’re ensuring that the next installment will be more than just a fresh coat of paint on last year’s masterpiece.

I’m writing you with my back all tense and sore, feeling well beyond my 30 years of age, while lying on the uncomfy lounge chair in the Howard Johnson room I’m sharing with Momin “Big Dog” Qureshi.

If you’re reading this you  probably already know that this is my first E3.

I’ve learned a lot so far.

For instance, even if you feel like you’ve packed light (notebook (an actual notebook), a netbook, and a bottle of water), by the end of the day, it will probably leave you feeling broken and elderly.   Or at least, that’s how it works in my case.

I encourage you to check out our daily podcasts; They feature me getting rather snarky, while we delve into everything we’ve seen each day.  It would be best for all of us, if you just went ahead and subscribed, too.  That way, you’ll automatically get the latest edition when it’s available.

I’m not writing this to just push the podcast, though.  I actually wanted to share with you some visuals.

This was our first true E3 moment.

Rejection.

We arrived about 45 minutes early for the Ubisoft press conference on Monday (after our plane had been delayed nearly 2 hours, forcing us to miss EA’s festivities).

The line was moving pretty well.  Until it wasn’t.

With about 10 (it was actually about 50, but for the sake of dramatic effect) people in front of us, the security guard with the oddly coloured eyes told us they weren’t allowing in any more people.

Tired (we had all risen at roughly 4am for a scheduled-to-leave-at-8:30 flight) and hungry (we’re mostly human), we figured we’d head down to the LA Convention Center to pick up our media badges.

…that took approximately 63 seconds, after we had spent about 20 minutes trying to hail a cab.

After sauntering out through the back exit directly into the scorching sun we caught a bit of a break.  A shuttle bus directly to the Sony press conference.

As we were arriving, we had verbalized thoughts of crossing the road and grabbing a bite to eat at Subway.

I’m glad we didn’t.  There was free Subway, in addition to roughly a dozen other (see: better) options for nourishment within the Sony grounds.  It was awesome.

Gorgeous day.  Free food.  Free bevvy’s.  Solid tunes.  Oh yeah… and video games.

This was at the LA Memorial Sports Arena.  It was pretty awesome.  We were all well-fed and happy.

…not to mention leery of feeling the sting of rejection again.

We made our way over to the entrance and planted ourselves directly at the front.  When they eventually opened the doors, we got some sweet ass seats.

You don’t need me to re-hash what they showed off, right?  You listened to the podcast.

Right?

Cool.

Cool Cool Cool.  (I miss “Community”)

After the press conference, Sony showed they still know how to party.

Mix Master Mike was on the 1′s and 2′s.  Then Jane’s Addiction took over.  Momin and Chubb were happy.  Calhoun did not display any emotion that I can recall 24 hours later.  I will assume it was contentedness.  I was having a blast.

Even though the PS Vita hands-on line was frikkin HUGE (we’ll get our own time tomorrow – you should probably check the podcast).

I woke up at about 4:40am.  Called my wife.  Had breakfast.  Walked to a rumoured shuttle bus that may or may not have existed.  We couldn’t find the hotel that served as it’s loading dock, so we ended up walking all the way to the Nokia Theater.  It was gorgeous out.  All good in the end.

…because we got to see what Nintendo had in store.

…alright, it wasn’t that spectacular.  And the “Wii U” isn’t quite as sexy as I’d hope.

but we’re in LA.  And that’s awesome.

So was the music of Zelda.

Once the Nintendo presser was down, we took the stroll to the Convention Center, where E3 would officially get going about 90 minutes later (all the 1st party press conferences are held off-site).

Right off the bat, we had a 2-hour booth tour with EA.  We’d see NHL 12, SSX, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (Curt Schilling’s studio’s first game), and Need for Speed: The Run.

…they were also showing off Battlefield 3 (our special tour for that is tomorrow), Star Wars: The Old Republic (Thursday), Mass Effect 3, Sims 3, Madden NFL 12, FIFA 12, etc.

Everything they showed off was incredible.

I’m very excited for what lies ahead.

In the meantime… tomorrow I’ve got an early hands-on gathering for the PS Vita in the Sony booth.  We’re also booked or 2K, Microsoft, Battlefield 3, and Atari.  I’m still trying to finesse my way into the Batman: Arkham City booth.  The cue was longer than a line-up for Drop Zone.

A long day lies ahead.  Time to recharge and rest up my ailing back.

I’d try to end this off with more grace and style… but I’m exhausted and I need to make sure that I pass out before my roommate’s snore-train rolls into the HoJo.

Talk with you tomorrow.

So as I mentioned on last week’s show… I got the opportunity to host a Call of Duty: Black Ops LAN tournament in Mississauga.

It was put on by the fine folks at We Got Game! (no relation).

There were 18 teams consisting of 4 gamers – all of whom had their eyes on the big cash prize and a long day of competitive gaming.

From my standpoint, I was looking to have a little fun with the festivities and I tried to create some light-hearted trash-talking between the teams.

The defending champs, Sauga’s Finest, clearly weren’t too interested in the chirping aspect… neither were the youngsters of the tournament – Snipers.

These were kids  cold-blooded COD players who just wanted to have a little fun were looking to dip their hands into the cookie jar.

Check out the guy with the mohawk, who says “confidence isn’t his thing.”

…He was probably the most confident one there.

After roughly 12 hours of grueling, pizza-driven, gaming… Supreme reigned just that, out-lasting Dead on Site in the final.

I wasn’t able to see the champ crowned (or de-throned), but I did get the chance to speak with Supreme’s Dylan Clancy – who shared some of the strategy and history of the team.

[audio:http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand/Interview_Supreme-ZC-20110602.mp3]

I had a lot of fun with the tournament… and I know all the competitors had a great time, as well.

It was We Got Game!’s first event in their new digs by the 403 + Dundas… but they’ve got plenty of plans and schemes for future events.

If you’re interested in learning more for corporate events or private functions, check out my chat with the Founder and President, Dave Miller:

[audio:http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand/Interview_DaveMillerWGG-ZC-20110602.mp3]

photos courtesy of CRICHCreative