QuickJump QuickPeek 73: Rumors, teases, and how the swine flu outbreak affected E3 2009
And the build up for E3 2009 continues. The good news is that the pre-E3 dry spell hasn’t quite started yet, but we’re in the final stretch here, folks. Everybody and their mother — or grandmother, in the case of Old Grandma Hardcore — is getting ready for June’s big event. That still a week away, though. Now as for this week, we once again saw rumors, denials, confirmations and teases about what we’ll be seeing not just at the upcoming annual game expo but for the rest of the year as well. Read on for all the big news that flashed across the QJ front pages the past seven days.
And the build up for E3 2009 continues. The good news is that the pre-E3 dry spell hasn’t quite started yet, but we’re in the final stretch here, folks. Everybody and their mother — or grandmother, in the case of Old Grandma Hardcore — is getting ready for June’s big event.
That still a week away, though. Now as for this week, we once again saw rumors, denials, confirmations and teases about what we’ll be seeing not just at the upcoming annual game expo but for the rest of the year as well.
It feels like the calm before the storm is here. News has started to come in smaller amounts this week as we get closer to the Electronic Entertainment Expo. It may have been a bit of a slow news week, but that doesn’t mean there was no news to speak of.Link: PSP Weekend Warrior
With E3 so close, I’m sure a lot of people are looking forward to finally knowing if there’s a new PSP coming out soon or not. A new PSP model would be a brand new nut for homebrew devs to crack with their hammers of code. But that’s in the future, and we’re still stuck in the now. The now is nowhere near bad, though, as the PSP homebrew scene is still churning out some rather impressive apps and games for the Sony handheld.
Link: PSP Homebrew Weekend Warrior
By our estimations, the Hideo Kojima tag is the one that’s seen the most use on our PlayStation 3 blog this week, thanks to all the hubbub surrounding his next project. It’s Hideo-rific!
Link: PS3 Weekend Warrior
If all the rumors about Microsoft‘s hardware are true, then Microsoft is probably scratching its head right now with its disclosure security fail. Then again, leaks and snitches are as old as secrets. For this edition of the Xbox 360 Weekend Warrior, we’ll take another look at the rumorama updates surrounding Microsoft’s supposed new hardware.
Link: Xbox 360 Weekend Warrior
This week is heavy on the Wii. We’ve got publishers and first party devs all looking to pack more games for the Wii. There’s Bethesda and their big plan, XSEED and their Ju-on game, some from Capcom, and even a dead rumor rises from the grave to come to the Wii. To cut a long story short, the Nintendo Wii is gonna get swarmed by new games in 2009.
Link: Nintendo Weekend Warrior
The iPhone front this week is all about the games. We’ve got all sorts of news for this recap – info on the latest games for iPhone and iPod Touch, info on upcoming releases, price drops, and even games that had to be taken out of the App Store.
Link: iPhone Weekend Warrior
Industry News & E3 2009 Watch:
Two things stood out in this week’s crop of industry news: the Electronic Entertainment Expo (otherwise known as E3) and the growing swine flu pandemic. Now, E3 is instantly understandable, but what does the H1N1 virus have anything to do with games? For starers, if you get really sick that would probably cut down on your game time at the very least, but the main reason is that it has actually caused a few development studios and publishers to skip the annual expo.
The first company to announce that it was reconsidering its E3 plans was Capcom’s Japanese division. Capcom eventually confirmed that Dead Rising 2 executive producer Keiji Inafune was canceling his E3 appearance. With the top guy not attending, Dead Rising 2 was also pulled from the event.
Link: Capcom Japan reconsiders attending E3 on account of Swine Flu
Link: Capcom no longer showcasing Dead Rising 2 at E3
Two other Japanese companies also cut down the number of their E3-bound staff due to the virus outbreak. Square Enix canceled the E3 attendance of its Kingdom Hearts team. An unspecified number of Koei’s Japanese staff also pulled out of the event. Both companies’ US- and Europe-based staff, however, will still be in attendance.
Link: Square Enix, Koei cut number of staff attending E3 over swine flu fears
Be that as it may, E3 is still definitely a go. Heck, they’ve even released the floor plans — one of the most valuable resources any E3 attendee can have. I’ve never been a big planner, but knowing where everybody is definitely helps. Now if only we exactly what they’re bringing to the floor. Hey, sticking around for a “mystery game” that turns out to be Hannah Montana Saves Christmas or whatever is not my idea of fun.
Link: E3 Expo 2009 Floor Plans unveiled
Putting all the mystery E3 announcements aside, we also got to hear about some games that we already know are coming. Answering an earnings call, GameStop exec David W. Carlson revealed the release of four major titles by October and November.
Of course, it’s always a bit of a hit-or-miss thing when retailers slap release dates on games. Sometimes they’re just pure speculation, sometimes they’re spot on. Kinda like analysts. Or psychics.
QJ Front Page:
From stalwarts like Fanjita and Dark AleX to the new breed like Davee, we’ve covered a wide assortment of PSP homebrew developers in our QuickGuide – Who’s Who Edition. With E3 on the horizon, though, we’ve had to cut back on the QuickGuides as we scramble to prepare for what promises to be another successful expo.
For the last edition of the QuickGuide, we present to you a look at the life and times of StrmnNrmn, the man who stormed the PSP scene with his Daedalus legacy.
Link: QuickJump QuickGuide #16: StrmnNrmn, storming the PSP scene with his Daedalus legacy
In addition to the QuickPeek you’re reading right now, we also rolled out three special editions focusing on the big three’s hardware announcements at last year’s E3. These special editions offer a quick look back at the things that happened, things that were said, things that would have been better off had it actually occurred — basically a trip back down memory lane — during the big 3’s E3 2008 experience.
Link: E3 2009: QuickPeek Special Edition – Microsoft last year
Link: E3 2009: QuickPeek Special Edition – Nintendo last year
Link: E3 2009: QuickPeek Special Edition – Sony last year
And that’s it for this issue of the QuickJump Quickpeek. Next week we’ll be continuing with our E3 specials, so keep an eye on those. Since we covered the hardware stuff this week, I guess you already have an idea of what we’ll be shining the spotlight on next time.
Keep jumpin’, folks. QuickPeek out!