GDC, Day 2

Second day and boy was it a good one. Let's get the smaller news out of the way, and then talk about SONY. Because they basically ruled the news today.

OnLive to launch in the US on June 17.
The new way of gaming is coming this summer with the OnLive system. OnLive was announced at last year's GDC. It was revolutionary as it is the first gaming service to offer full console like games at full graphical capacity without the need of a graphics card through cloud computing. OnLive will work through any PC, and people can also buy a seperate box and controller to play OnLive on a television. The service will cost $14.95 a month, plus other fees for rental and purchase of new games, the details of which were not revealed today.
-OnLive impressed me last year, and it is definitely something to keep your eyes on. The most interesting thing is the fact that most computers in the last 10 years can use this service. Cloud computing is giving people who can't afford high quality graphics to enjoy new games. The lack of no details on game pricing worries me, though. As it is the first of its kind, I wouldn't be surprised if it is a little pricey. But I think OnLive is definitely something to check out.

Modern Warfare 2 DLC called "Stimulus Package", release on March 30.
360 owners will be receiving the first of many DLC maps for Modern Warfare 2 in March. Infinity Ward announced that MW2: Stimulus Package will be releasing in March to cure what they call the terrible epidemic of "Mapathy". Through some small viral marketing, IW states the new maps will cure the tiresome tasks of having to play the same maps for too long.
-I'm sure this DLC will sell a shitload. IW could call it "Shit Package" and it would sell tons. The Mapathy thing is amusing, however. Does IW have a cure for "This-game-has-too-many-glitche"-itis? How about "Why-is-everyone-in-this-game-an-idiot"-enza?

Tiger Woods 11 to have a first-person mode.
After the surprising announcements of yesterday, EA Sports surprises with yet another announcement. Tiger Woods will be the first golf game to have first-person golfing. This will primarily be used by the motion software for the Wii and PS3, but can be used with a traditional controller. The mode is all that you would expect from a first-person golfing perspective, but it is interesting.
-This is actually kinda cool. EA Sports actually innovating is a gigantic surprise to me. It's nice to see that a sports game like this isn't getting left out in terms of new and engaging ways to play. I hate sports games, but this mode might actually get me to try Tiger Woods 11 out. Not purchase. Hells no. But I'll try it. EA Sports surprises deserve that much from me.

John Schappert of EA comments on the Infinity Ward/Activision scandal.
Today at GDC, John Schappert made some comments about the IW scandal, stating that the entire situation is dissapointing. Pointing out the firing of West and Zampella, Schappert says that the idea that "they're going to [be] spending their future dealing with litigation and lawyers rather than crafting the next great experience [is not] a win for them, I don't think that's a win for our industry. I think that's disappointment." Schappert continued to say that the Modern Warfare franchise is great, and it is sad to see the franchise not getting the creative ability that sent it into fame in the first place. He finished with saying that he feels "no one has won".
-First off, John Schappert is a very smart guy. His work at Xbox was second to none, and he is part of the reason the 360 is so successful. That being said, he is completely correct with these statements, and although he could have used the issue to push his company on a pedestal and smash their biggest rival, he didn't. He, just like any gamer, is sad to see some of the best developers go. Schappert's comment on how "no one has won" is spot on. West and Zampalla are out of a job. Activision has just stuck their head into something stupid, again. Gamers are left with a broken franchise and two less from the great amount of talented developers. Activision sucks, you know that?

Now, on to Sony. Sony held a big press conference today, and most speculation was that this conference was to reveal their new motion system. Well, that speculation was correct. Sony today showed off their motion system in full, finally giving it a name: "Move". The Playstation Move is the motion controller we all saw at E3 this year, and a particular emphasis was made that Move will be sold by itself, with a Playstation Eye with which it does not work without, and with a PS3 itself. Move at the conference seemed to be a big focus for Sony's strategy right out of the gate. Starting off with the peripheral itself, the controller looks like a very sleak WiiMote type of device. The device even has a nunchuck like attachment, called the "sub-controller", that has an analog stick and many other buttons. Of note, the controller has many more buttons that a WiiMote, and it appears that all buttons from a Dualshock, minus the second analog stick, have been implemented into the Move.
Sony also focused a lot on software for the device, making sure to do something Nintendo had not. Sony showed off tons of software for the device. This included a Wii Sports type of game, with table tennis and other sports. This showed off the basic functions of the device, and Sony made sure to point out that this controller has 1:1 sensitivity. Sony continued to go more and more hardcore with the device, showing that the device is not a device for the casual, but for all Sony players. A Street-Fighter like game was shown off, showing the devices accuracy with pinpointing punches. An RPG game was shown with a sword and shield mechanic. Sony even showed how existing games can be implemented with Move, as they showed off LittleBigPlanet with the Move. The game was in co-op, with one player using a traditional controller and the other using the Move to move pieces.
But not other software reveal was bigger than that of SOCOM 4. Sony revealed that SOCOM will be fully playable with Move. With the attached sub-controller, gamers can use the Move to issue commands, shoot, and do everything else in SOCOM 4. This was so surprising, and it shows Sony's commitment to making Move a hardcore device as well as a casual device. At the end of the conference, as Sony is always dedicated to the people, A demo PS3 with Move was set right in front of the conference for all attendies to try.
-I was sceptical about Sony's controller at first, but this conference proved to me that this might be a gigantic competitor to not only the Wii but to Natal. Although it is pretty blatant that Sony has copied Nintendo in many ways, it appears they have refined and fixed what Nintendo could not do. The controller itself and the sub-controller seem to be very hi-tech versions of a WiiMote, and are much more fluid in design and implementation. The fact that the face buttons are the same as a Dualshock make the controller better, too. By far the most interesting fact about the controller is the 1:1 functionality. Nintendo could not do this when they started, and it was a good 2 years before they created WiiMotion Plus to add a mimicked version of 1:1. Move seems to have true 1:1, which means that every movement done will translate EXACTLY on screen. The software definitely was the best for me, however. The fact that Sony is trying to push this as a hardcore thing as much as a casual thing is great. The fighting game and the RPG look like great ideas, and it actually shows that a gamer doesn't have to sacrifice great classic gaming because it is with motion control. SOCOM 4 is impressive. The fact that they are pushing a long awaited and cherished franchise sequel with their new motion control is super risky, but if it pays off, it could be the thing that pushes Sony over Microsoft or even Nintendo to console supremacy. Of course, I can't say much until I see SOCOM 4 with Move in action, but the motion controller war has started off hot.

Other news of the day:
-LEGO Universe begins it's closed beta today.
-EA Sports announces EA Sports Active 2.0 for the Wii, DS, and the iPhone.
-Gran Turismo 5 is confirmed for a release this year. (Interestingly enough, when crowd members heard this at the Sony Conf today, they laughed)
-Happy Wars is announced to be released on XBL by developer Toylogic, who assisted on Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
-Blue Dragon: Awakening Shadow is announced.
-Final Fantasy XIV to be set in setting of "sci-fi meets fantasy".

That's it for today, fellow gamers. Man, did GDC heat up today. Stay tuned for the next couple days. Oh, and I forgot to mention this. The small topics that I don't dedicate a response to will be coming back. I want you readers to pick what little stories you want me to elaborate more on, and I'll dedicate a whole blog on these small posts. So look at the ones in this post, check back on yesterday's, and continue to check on the next couple GDC blogs.

Bye.