Definitley Not Live Blogging Nintendo's 2011 E3 Conference

This year, just like 2009, I missed the live stream of Nintendo's E3 conference, tuning into GameSpot's feed just after it finished. After fiddling around with that stream for a while and getting nothing but the same couple of seconds at the beginning looping over and over again, I headed over to G4's recording and bashed out my thoughts second by second in Notepad.

What on earth will Project Cafe turn out to be? Are there literally no other games coming out for the rest of the Wii's lifetime. Will we ever find out anything about Skyward Sword? All these questions and more will be answered. Off we go:

• -:--:-- Gah, dammit! I guess the press conference is just finishing in real time. I'm staring at a spoiler-filled wall of logos. Luigi's Mansion 2 and Kirby Wii are the ones immediately jumping out at me.
• -:--:-- Right, back to the beginning. Looks like the audience are being treated to some Zelda trivia.
• 0:00:16 Okay, that stream isn't working at the moment, so I've switched over to the G4 recording. The conference is kicking off with Skyward Sword and a live orchestra accompanying the video. I guess that answers the question of orchestrated music in Zelda then.
• 0:00:41 I think I spoke too soon. This seems to be a video for the 25th anniversary of Zelda.
• 0:04:02 Pretty cool so far. Looks like this is some Skyward Sword footage. Link and a girl are riding on birds through the air. I'm guessing you're going to have to rescue her at some point.
• 0:04:33 I really love that OoT artwork. I wish I could get it at wallpaper size.
• 0:05:23 It's Miyamoto. Man, that smile is infectious!
• 0:05:47 I guess we've heard the Skyward Sword title music already then. I can't believe they're still using the same crappy font for Skyward Sword logo. :D
• 0:06:50 More orchestrated Zelda music. Fine by me.
• 0:07:23 Oh, Miyamoto, you're just too cute.
• 0:09:09 A Zelda game for each platform for the 25th Anniversary. One of them is Link's Awakening DX for the eShop.
• 0:10:07 Some OoT 3D talk, nothing new though.
• 0:10:48 Free Zelda Four Swords for the DSi. Nice.
• 0:11:20 Skyward Sword for the Wii during the holidays.
• 0:11:40 A gold Zelda Wiimote is coming out with the game. I think I'll be needing one of those.
• 0:12:08 Skyward Sword is "great exercise". Hopefully that doesn't mean a total waggle fest.
• 0:12:16 There's lots of content in Skyward Sword. Sounds good to me. I know some fans will be pissed about them cramming in extra stuff to make it longer though; just you wait.
• 0:13:01 Zelda concerts for each region. Hopefully we get recordings of those too.
• 0:14:07 Yep, looks like they're offering a CD as some kind of tie-in with Skyward Sword. I wish they'd put some of these soundtracks on iTunes or something for once though.
• 0:15:07 Some more of the guys who worked on Zelda over the years come on stage, including Anouma. Zelda timeline reveal imminent!
• 0:16:00 That's the end of that segment. Pretty cool.
• 0:16:44 Iwata takes to the stage.
• 0:17:03 Nintendo - keeping the stock photography industry in business since 2006.
• 0:17:59 Sounds like the Cafe announcement. A platform that's attractive to all players? We'll see, Iwata, we'll see.
  
• 0:18:43 Deeper games and wider appeal to all gamers. Well, he's certainly talking the talk.
• 0:19:10 Full details not coming until a little later. Hmm, they usually have a bit of a roundtable talk later on too don't they?
• 0:19:52 No Cafe info for the moment. How about some 3DS games though?
• 0:20:06 Mario Kart. Wouldn't it be nice if the balanced the single player for once this time?
• 0:20:19 Was that a hang glider coming out of Mario's Kart?
• 0:20:36 Star Fox 64 3D. Looks like the old voice acting is still in. Yay! I'm hitting L AND Z twice.

More impressions and some lengthy analysis after the jump.

Definitely Not Live Blogging Microsoft's E3 2011 Conference

It's almost a week later now, but let me to take you back to the halcyon days of last Monday, where Microsoft blew the lid of their E3 offerings with my own real time impressions. I missed the live conference, but watching the GameSpot recording allowed me to pause the proceedings and make many more non-insightful comments than if I was watching it live. Lucky you.

Although I've never done this for the Microsoft conference, I have watched it as a prospective customer of theirs for the last few years and last year I finally got around to buying a 360. With a year's worth of playing neither dudebro-pleasing first person shooters nor Kinect shovelware, will Microsoft have anything to offer me during this? Is there even a slight glimmer of hope that Rare will ever get to make anything besides Kinect Sports? Well, let's find out:

• 0:00:21 Kicking off with Modern Warfare 3. Never actually played a Call of Duty game, let alone a Modern Warfare game or even many FPSs for that matter. Let the excitement commence.
  
• 0:02:43 Swimming slowly underwater for almost three minutes now. Thrilling. There must be big reveal at the end of this surely.
• 0:02:55 A second checkpoint? You haven't even done anything yet!
• 0:05:29 Shooting military guys from a first person view. This is innovative stuff.
• 0:08:00 The demo guy gets out of the sub and we're taken on a tour through a harbour full of naval vessels laying waste to an American city and being bombed to shit in return. Looks cool, but there's very little in the way of gameplay here.
• 0:08:40 Look at that sky; UK Resistance must be turning in it's grave
• 0:10:00 MW3 - "big", "epic" and launching on Nov 8.
• 0:10:35 Hi, Don!
• 0:11:12 Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games - The World's Greatest Storytellers™.
  
• 0:12:03 Tomb Raider.
• 0:14:43 Looks nice, but super-linear.
• 0:15:30 Man, Lara's not having much luck with that torch.
• 0:17:22 You know, if she stopped talking to herself so much, maybe those zombie guys would have a harder time finding her.
• 0:18:18 "Visceral combat" - it's the only kind I care about.
• 0:18:21 I'm cautiously optimistic about Tomb Raider. I'm digging the visual style, but I hope it turns out to be more that a series of linear corridors, broken up by a few quick time events.

More impressions and some final thoughts after the jump