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    GAME manager's conference, my thoughts.

    Just come back earlier this evening from game's annual managers conference, thought i'd post some of the stuff i saw there, well the stuff that impressed me anyway

    Perfect Dark Zero running on final dev-kit 360 - posted brief impressions here

    Pro Evo 5 PSP - had a match against one of the other managers, was very impressed with it, though i'm not very good sadly. good controls and graphics, but was only allowed 10 minutes play as we were split into groups and ushered from booth to booth too quickly.

    Sonic on DS - Old school sonic split across 2 screens, very fast and a bit disorientating moving quickly between the 2 screens but once i was used to it it was fine, played the first 2 levels then the boss, on the boss battle it was still 2d movement on screen but the boss and sonic himself were done in 3d and it worked very well, had a lot of fun with it and then the battery died, i was playing on the only DS not connected to a charger - gutted!

    Far Cry XB - Didn't get a chance to play it myself as I wasn't quick enough to get to the machine, there was 4 boxes linked together for a 4-player deathmatch and it looked like really good fun, with solid gameplay, nice level design, and some nice weapons thrown in for good measure.

    Res Evil 4 PS2 - (just a presentation with the capcom rep playing it in front of us all) Was pleasantly surprised by this one, wasn't expecting it to be enough of a difference from the GC version to warrant buying it again, but I'm gonna now I've seen it. there's a few new weapons but we were only shown 1, The Plagas Remover (something like that), similar in size and held the same way as the mine thrower, a charge up weapon that fires a beam of blue laser through the bad guys. And 5 hours of extra gameplay in the form of an extra set of missions for Ada, which is intertwined with the storyline of the main game ie when leon first enters the village and is attacked by the villagers, Ada is actually there too and helps Leon by ringing the church bell which causes the villagers abandon their attack. You see Leon running around in the background during this bit. This was the only part of the extra gameplay shown to us.
    Although they said it was 5hrs extra gameplay, they quoted the main game itself as being 25-30hrs long, and being the RE4 freak that I am, i've managed to complete it on the GC in around 3? hours on expert (proud of that i am) so depending on how good you are it could equate to a lot less playing time, but still worth picking up imo. oh and there'll be a ltd ed. metal cased version a la halo2, doom etc.

    Gun XB - again shown played by the rep. Basically Red Dead Revolver but with a more realistic look and feel to it. looks nice and I loved Red Dead so i'll def be keeping my eye on it.

    Note - anything from Activision i probably won't have much comment on as the reps were so uninspiring it was unbeleivable, I fell asleep for most of the first presentation cos the guys talking were just so dull.

    The Movies - looks pretty interesting, basically a resource management game, was done by activision so again not much else I can say as i was half-asleep.

    Nintendogs - Obviously already available and some of you will already have played or own, couldn't help falling in love with those cute little puppy's (of the dog variety ) though. Together with Sonic and bomberman I'm now convinced I need to own a DS. Also see attached 'comedy' thumbnail below

    Ultimate Spiderman - looked quite a fun game to play, with the added aspect of being able to play as Venom, with 'stylised comic book style graphics' (Note to Activision - JUST CALL IT CEL SHADING FOR ****S SAKE!!!). Honestly, the amount of times in the space of 10 minutes that the rep referred to the 'unique comic book style graphics', i wanted to get up and throw something big and heavy at his head! Anyway as I said, despite the uninspiring presentation the game does look like fun to play, with the same structure as Spiderman 2

    Everybody's Golf PS2 - I was very impressed with this game, especially since I just don't do golf games (or golf in general), the cutesy graphics were very inviting, the controls nice and easy to get to grips with, and overall my first impressions of it were a definate thumbs up.

    Real World Golf - Been selling it instore now for a couple of weeks and hadn't bothered checking it out myself (simply couldn't be arsed with the hassle of putting it back in the box after having a go), anyway had a littlle go of it today and quite liked it, the gametrak motion sensor thingy works surprisingly well and I found myself getting a par for the course (3) on my very first go (beginners luck), I think i'm slowly converting into a golf fan. Not sure if/when the novelty of the gametrak will wear off but i can see it lasting a fair while, and good for playing if you've got your mates round.

    The Matrix: Path of Neo - Looks very nice indeed, but I really can't tell what it'll be like to play but i'm keeping my fingers crossed. Something that might be worth noting though, the reps went on about how great enter the matrix was for them and how it sold x amount of copies, but did not acknowledge just how crap it was, make of that what you will.

    I'm very tired right now so i'll start to wrap things up, there was some others I wanted to mention but can't quite rember so will add to it later.

    Oh and I managed to squeeze out of the EA rep the launch date for 360 (i know its the worst kept secret but this is pretty much an official date);
    While presenting us with footage of Need for Speed Most Wanted they told us the release date for that is Nov 25th. I noted it down and asked at the end if it was going to be a launch title and my answer was: "Yes, although with embargo's we cannot disclose any info we have regarding the date of the xbox360 launch"
    Schoolboy error on their part.

    Regards.
    Kev.
    Attached Files

    #2
    cheers matey.

    will probaly get PS2 Resident Evil 4 and I don't care what you other nasty folk say (I'm a sucker for RE).

    Surely more RE4 can only be a good thing, no?

    No, I don't want Kotatsu Neko barking on about ripped textures etc. It WILL make me smile.

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      #3
      The footage shown was actually pretty good, it was shown on a projector and whilst not as impressive as the GC version, it was certainly of a high standard (granted I was pretty tired my eyes could have lied to me.)

      bit of a non-conclusion there which is why I didn't comment on graphics in my original post, but seeing as you brought it up...

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        #4
        Hmm very interesting stuff...am feeling more hyped reguarding the 360 by the minute, can't wait until the Nov 25th

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          #5
          i really really can't wait till the movies !

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            #6
            Just remembered also, they passed around the pad and dvd remote (proper one) for the 360, its got a nice weighty feel to it, the buttons are very comfortably located, definately a worthy successor to the current s controller.

            As for the DVD remote, not much to say really, its a DVD remote! I don't know much about the whole media centre thing MS are pushing, need to swot up on that, but obviously everyone who does know will already know what kind of functionality it offers.

            It was also the first i'd learned of the ability to stream media from ipods etc, they even raved on about how you could stream from the PSP, which i thought was very un-corporate of them, effectively promoting their main competitions product.

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              #7
              yeah but they don't want to alienate psp users, they don't have a portable of their own so by saying you can use a psp or ipod with a 360 then psp owners won't need to own a ps3

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                #8
                Originally posted by FreelancePolice
                so by saying you can use a psp or ipod with a 360 then psp owners won't need to own a ps3
                Good point, I was thinking along similar lines but you hit the nail on the head there.

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                  #9
                  Its not that they are supporting PSP use, its just that PSP is a removable USB mass storage device like the iPod so its just fortunate you can use it! Probably be able to use our mobile phones etc too.

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                    #10
                    It was enough for me when they said we could use ipods, speaking of which, got a free ipod nano whilst I was there.

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                      #11
                      a free nano *is v jealous*

                      how did you manage that?

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by booth83
                        Ultimate Spiderman - looked quite a fun game to play, with the added aspect of being able to play as Venom, with 'stylised comic book style graphics' (Note to Activision - JUST CALL IT CEL SHADING FOR ****S SAKE!!!). Honestly, the amount of times in the space of 10 minutes that the rep referred to the 'unique comic book style graphics', i wanted to get up and throw something big and heavy at his head! Anyway as I said, despite the uninspiring presentation the game does look like fun to play, with the same structure as Spiderman 2
                        But it's not Cel Shading though. Cel shading emulates cartoons that are painted on 'cells' - usually just a line around the character with minimal shading. The comic book 'inked' look emulates the work that artists put into each picture, especially shadowing detail, and in this case an airbrushed look.

                        Anyway, yeah looks great. I'm not a massive superhero fan but this one definitely looks interesting.

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                          #13
                          Originally posted by FreelancePolice
                          a free nano *is v jealous*

                          how did you manage that?
                          They always give the Game Managers really nice **** to take home from the conferences. It wouldnt be a problem except for ive worked for 2 ****ing AWFUL managers at Game, assuming that poor, lazy, thick managers, with the man management skills of Pol Pot are the norm, there would have been a hefty percentage of cocks at that conference that really needed a P45 above all else.

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                            #14
                            I was going to ask if you got a Nano... I was in the Apple Store (Regents Street) buying one on the day they came out, and the two blokes behind me in the queue were buying 26 of the bastards for you lot. Thank **** I got mine before they decimated what little stock the Apple Store had.

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                              #15
                              During one of the presentations about own brand stuff, there was a family fortunes style quiz at the end of the session, I didn't actually win it myself, another manager did but gave it to me as a gift, which was nice

                              And 22 people won 360's, lucky bastards!

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