Amethyst's Shiny Pebbles

One of the things that saved my sanity in advance last week was looking forward to the slew of gaming announcements that would inevitably be made at E3.  I couldn't pay as continuous or as detailed attention as I did at this time last year but here's just a few thoughts.

Sony's Move controller: What Penny Arcade said.

Microsoft:

• Kinect or whatever it's called: Wait, didn't I play all these games a few years ago, except with a controller in my hand?

• Deal with ESPN: Don't most people get ESPN through their cable agreement already?  What's the big deal here?

Nintendo:

• 3DS: I very much want to hold one in my hand and see if it's as amazing as most of the initial impressions claim it is.  Yummy technology!!!!!  Good move to compete with and differentiate from smartphones.  This'll be big in Japan, and may be big in the USA, we'll see.  

• Zelda Skyward Sword: Not thrilled with the art style, mostly 'cuz I adored Twilight Princess so much.  Then again, haven't played it.  If gameplay is good, this will be an obvious must-have.  Intrigued by the more-or-less 1:1 sword motion, am wondering whether it'll get more complex than horizontal/vertical.

• ummm.... nothing else really caught my eye, maybe because I had a lot less time to give to E3 this year.  Little sorry not to see more of Okamiden (now tentatively scheduled for 3/11), Xenoblade and the like.  OTOH, my gaming hours are few; best not to have TOO many temptations on the horizon!

In other gaming news: I finished Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations.  *happy sigh*  Last case VERY good storywise, gameplay less difficult than other episodes.  It was really great to have a cartridge where several of the games related closely to each other and made one long arc.  And nice to see old friends from earlier cartridges too.  I've now started Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth.  Not too far in yet.  I feel the walkaround method is clunkier than the old "navigate a reticule around the screen" to examine things - I keep walking just past points where the Examine button appears and then having trouble forcing it to reappear.  I can understand the desire to freshen things up (and being able to talk to multiple people at a site is nice), but if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  Oh, and anyone who commits a crime of any sort in Edgeworth's office is a nitwit.  Just sayin'.