GDC 2007

GDC, although not finished, has received its key note speeches from Nintendo and Sony (it ends March 9th).

Nintendo

The Wii has not had a overwhelming number of great titles since its release, furthermore, this speech was hyped up the night before when Shigeru Miyamoto said he had a lot to say at the speach having recived a standing ovation. However, nothing was actually said. The speach started 30 min late and only finished 15 minutes late. He rambled about the principles of games developments which is all well and good, except thats all he did. He did not talk about any plans for the Wii, or even up coming games they are making.

Sony

Not often I praise Sony is it? However, their speech was far more interesting. It was mainly about a new free internet service they will (hopefully) be releasing later this year. It is a social game called "Home." You sign in to it and go to a virtual world. Once you have created your avatar, you go to the lobby. From here you can meet friends and go to a number of places. Namely, a bowling ally, a cinema where you will actually be able to pay to watch real films (providing Sony get copyright) and go clothes shopping. On the last example most clothes will be free, however, Sony hope to include the opportunity to buy say Nike clothes at a fee. Also, you have an apartment. You can get loads of, once again, branded stuff. There is going to be a fairly impressive physics engine in this game, and you will be able to kick your furniture around. This sounds really good and, although not enough to make me rush out and buy a PS3, I am beginning to think it kind of rivals the 360.

I am slightly concerned that as this could be the gaming event that takes over as the new E3 it was deathly boring. Good thing I read it for you to give you a concise version.

On a unrelated note, one poor person sold is PS2 days before Sony announced the downgrading of the PS3. On a more positive note, 1000 games are scheduled to work on launch and Sony said they would prioritize the good games.

Full PS3 preview coming soon...