Metal Gear Solid 3D
Generally speaking, the game looked interesting last year when it was merely a technical demo using features from Peace Walker and showing generally higher-polygon models. However, it became clear that this was not sustainable, and we’ve ended up with something akin to MGS3, except on the 3DS with stereoscopy, gyroscope, camera camouflage, and other features unique to the Nintendo 3DS. I don’t know what to say, but it comes off to me that the game has ended up being more of a port to the Nintendo 3DS instead of the ambitious high-polygon sneaking game it initially revealed itself to be, which is disappointing.

MGS Collection
Who didn’t see this coming? MGS2, MGS3, and Peace Walker in HD on the PS3. It was bound to happen sooner or later, the question was a matter of when. I’m eager to see what the Transfarring feature will be in-between my PSP and Peace Walker, however. MGS3 should also look graphically pleasing.

ZOE Collection
Oh my god, they’re actually doing this. Seeing Jehuty in (1080p?) HD is already going to be a day one purchase for me. Though Transfarring with the NGP… well, should be interesting, though I wonder what they’re going to do with the lack of pressure-sensitive buttons. I just wish they made ZOE3 as well.

Transfarring
Kojima has already alluded to this kind of concept, where one can share savedata between the PS3 and portables, being able to play on the go on your PSP or NGP, come back home, and play on your PS3. He did this since last year, which made Sony rather nervous, and then he again alluded to it during the showing of the NGP. Sony again tried something similar with PSP Remaster, but they have yet to announce a concept for sharing savedata between the PS3 and NGP. So Sony got the first dibs on PS3/PSP savedata sharing, but Kojima will likely have the last laugh on PS3/NGP savedata sharing. Ultimately, I suspect Transfarring will use something like a cloud data service where savegames are stored and can be picked up by both the PS3 and NGP. I worry though about whether this will require Playstation Plus, or if it will make the feature free altogether, or be something totally independent of Playstation Plus.

Fox Engine
This was a long time coming, and I thought it really did take Kojima a while before finally coming upon this idea. This is pretty much the same as Capcom’s MT Framework, except Kojima’s take on it. If you’ve read my blog entries before about MT Framework, you already know my take on the Fox Engine. I suspect it won’t be used for the PC, but you never know in this day and age.

Overall
Generally speaking, Kojima’s showing for this E3 was actually rather small in comparison to a lot of the other E3 appearances he’s made. His studio has only been able to announce ports of existing games (ZOE especially, though I am looking forward to that), as well as plans for a streamlined engine to make games on the PS3, NGP, and 360 easier to develop in one shot. This essentially highlights the stress brought about by the generation of high definition console gaming; studios, even Kojima Productions, feel the heat from not being able to produce a game per year like the western studios generally do, and yet at the same time they don’t want to be putting out mindless sequels nor do they want to take the risk with IPs without having to invest a lot. I suspect Fox Engine is the end result of Kojima’s analysis of the situation, but why it didn’t happen sooner is a mystery, since Capcom already fielded their MT Framework.

Overall, a little disappointed that new games weren’t announced by Kojima Productions, but I’m not going to lose any sleep over it. Though, I would really like a ZOE3, not an MGS5, for example. Go risky with the new IPs and go all out; but I suppose it’ll have to wait until they’ve finished the Fox Engine.

By the way, Transfarring is a very strange word, don’t you think?

Addendum
It appears a lot of the news sites have been reporting that MGS2-3, Peace Walker, and ZOE1-2 will be 1080p. So far though, MGS2-3 have been stated to be 720p, and Peace Walker is 1080p. That’s all according to the official website. As far as I know, there’s been no confirmation what ZOE1-2 will be.

Incoming
HG 1/144 00 Qan[T]
HG 1/144 Avalanche Exia Dash
HG 1/144 Astraea Gundam (actual)
HG 1/144 00 Gundam Seven Sword/G

2010
November – MG 1/100 00 Qan[T]
November 2 – Gran Turismo 5
November 25 – Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu 1.5
December 1 – Monster Hunter Portable 3rd (I do hope there’s a download version!)
December 22 – Virtual On Force

2011
February 24 – Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity
??? – Phantasy Star Online 2

Will update if anything more comes to mind.

Let’s start with the bad parts first. First off, split-screen does not allow for multiple profiles, which is a big bummer. It also doesn’t allow online players to join in, nor does it allow you to enter multiplayer matches. This was a big feature back in Halo 3, would have been nice to see this actually implemented in Lost Planet 2. Secondly, the game does not save between missions. It does save between chapters, and I think something is saved still even though you exit mid-chapter, but I haven’t had a chance to look over whether or not rewards or boxes are saved through this.

Third, you can’t restart from a mission. If you die on a mission, you have to restart the entire chapter. I would have preferred an option to restart the mission specifically, but it would cause a massive rank drop if I did. I’d rather take a rank drop than have to restart the entire chapter. Finally, as a nitpick on my own part, I would have liked options in co-op to do things like disable story cutscenes, so that I wouldn’t have to have everyone press Start to skip.

Now that we’ve pushed past the infrastructure/design issues, let’s move on to the good. The graphics are outstanding (if you play normally, not in split-screen), with attention to detail all around, including the environment, background, etc. Sound and ambience also matches quite well with the levels, which are not subpar in design like GameSpot and IGN would like to have you believe.

Controls are still the same as you’d expect from Lost Planet 1, but if you want the control scheme you liked from there, you’ll have to tinker with the control types available. They offer several, but it would also have been nice to configure your own. That said, the controls change when you get into a VS, so this might possibly complicate things.

Online play is also quite enjoyable. Campaign play online stresses the co-operative aspects by quite a margin, so communication is key. For example, if someone needs a VS to get rid of a boss as quickly as possible (which they can), then other players that opt to give up their VS will be rewarded when they slay the boss in said time. Or, players can lead others to hidden areas or ledges that will give them an advantage in battle later. AI partners that fill in the player slots are actually pretty well designed, doing specific things to help support you, such as shooting T-ENG at you, or bringing up ammo to a giant railway gun. However, they stop short of actually finishing mission objectives; that’s your job, after all.

Competitive multiplayer splits off into three categories; player, ranked, and faction. Player matches are the same as you’d expect; you create your rooms with settings you’d like, fill people up and start. Things you do in player matches will affect your career level, but credits for the LP2 Slot Machine are not offered. Ranked matches are the same as player matches, except they count in leaderboards. It also follows a system similar to Halo 3′s matches, where matches are randomized along with the players, and players can vote on what kind of rules or maps they’d like to see. Faction matches involve weekly arenas where players align with a faction and fight in these arenas for the week to try and let their faction win. Once you pick a faction, you can’t change until the next timeframe.

One thing to note is that there is now a DNF% counter, or “Did Not Finish %”. Basically, if you disconnect or leave a game early, this % will go up, and if it passes 30% then your career level cannot improve through any of the match types. Though it would be nice if the DNF% counter would weigh actual disconnects less compared to people leaving the game early via other means.

Customization runs across many aspects. You have character parts, which you can customize across five different characters, each representing a different faction. You level up each character to unlock more parts, and if your career level is high enough, you can mix and match parts (so I hear). Weapons are gained through the LP2 Slot Machine, where you spend credits to earn new weapons, emotes, abilities, or titles.

Emotes are used in-game for doing animations just for fun, and titles are simply displayed beside your name. Abilities actually change your character’s features. Remember what CAPCOM said about the T-ENG gauge not dropping anymore? It’s actually because of a default ability you have. You can change it up to do things like become totally silent, invisible on radar, higher attack power, and so on.

In summary, Lost Planet 2 is still an enjoyable game if you can get past the infrastructure/design issues with the game, which I hope CAPCOM fixes in the future. It’s not a game that I’d rate down to 5.5/10 or 6/10 though; in those cases, the reviewers were totally not in line with those who played the game in the videos before. On the other hand, reviews ranging above 70% do indicate there are infrastructure issues with the game, which do need tending to.

If CAPCOM is reading this, I’d also like to see the ability to save the music played in the Main Menu. That’d be awesome.

Seriously, this reviewer needs to start looking for a different career. Problems he has with the game:

• “Poor level design”, without justification as to why
• Complaining about the B button being context-sensitive; look at MGS4 and Peace Walker!
• 2:13, he stands there and shoots at a giant Akrid, just asking to get swiped
• Controls being “clunky”, but they’re the same as Lost Planet 1! (BTW, IGN gave that 8.0+)

If this is the level of reviews that are out there right now, then I’m not interested in reading them anymore. I’ll play my games, **** you guys.

1. Sign up for Capcom-Unity
2. Get your code at Lost Planet Community

Simple, right? Too bad site is slow, lol…

P.S. Codes are not valid until March 31.

Just a FYI.

Also, Gears of War in Lost Planet? LOL!

http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/27577
http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/27580
http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/27581
http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/27583

Back in 2005 and 2006, Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo made pledges to make their consoles region-free. Do you want to see how far those pledges went?

Microsoft

Started off touting how all its games would be region free. Then, they backtracked and said any games made by Microsoft would be region free. Turns out this ended up being the case, as some games like Steins;Gate are region-locked to Japan only.

Also, you can’t buy Japanese games from Games on Demand if you’re in America, and vice versa. Doesn’t matter if you have a Japanese 360 or not, it is IP-locked. Same goes for their video store.

Finally, programs like 1 vs. 100 are also region-locked by console; even if you have a Canadian IP, if the console isn’t then you can’t go in.

Sony

Sony does a little better, but still not enough. All their PS3 and PSP games are touted to be region-free, that’s great. PS2 games are still region locked, though I imagine that’s more related to licensing agreements from the past that just bite them back in the ass.

However, their video stores are country-locked. Canadian users can’t access the US Video Store, and neither can UK users. We also can’t access the Japanese video or comic store. Gee, I wonder why? It’s not like they can compete with one another, since only people who can understand the language will benefit; the rest of the masses not so much.

Also, their comic book reader for the PSP is region-locked. The US comic book reader will not work on UK and Japan PSPs, and the Japan reader won’t work on US and UK PSPs, etc. Guess what this means if someone happened to bring their PSP into Japan, wanted to buy a comic and then read it? Given the PSP has a crappy resolution to begin with, they are better off buying a cold, hard copy of the said comic.

Nintendo

They started off saying they would be region free. Are they in any way? I won’t even go there.

Looks like the Japanese side has put up a place where people can register clans. Basically allows people to mail other clan members using the web interface, though the system is still in development as you can probably tell.