June: A Techno Nerd's Dream

This month has been awesome if you're a gamer/Apple nerd. First, we got to see the awesomeness that is the iPhone 4, then there was E3, which is a huge conference where the video game industry unveils their newest games and technology to the world, to market their consoles, and get people pumped to go buy them.

First things first, iPhone 4:

I've been waiting for this phone for a long time, ever since the 3GS was released just a few short months after I bought the 3G. I thought about upgrading, but listened to some rumors of a major overhaul, and decided to wait. I'm glad I did. I was planning on going and camping out on launch day (because I'm a nerd, and we do stuff like that), but I am scheduled to work that day, so I thought I'd preorder the phone instead. That was a mess. I was trying for 1 hour before I finally got confirmation that my order went through (5-6 am PST). It is supposed to come on launch day, but AT&T sold out of preorder phones by 4:30 EST on day 1 of preordering, so we'll see if I'm lucky. Today I have been sitting and waiting for my old and crusty 3G to update to iOS4 all day, so I thought I'd blog.

Now on to E3 2010:

I like video games, a lot. Mostly I like the ones that challenge my brain more than my thumbs. I also like a game to have a great story, or back story, and humor always helps too. Granted, I do like regular beat-em-ups, RPGs, and shooters too (sometimes mind-numbing destruction is a great way to unwind at the end of the day), but these usually have to have some special edge (like Marvel vs Capcom 2, Elder Scrolls, or Team Fortress 2). As much as I like games, I don't purchase games too frequently, because I'll only buy a game if I know I'm really going to enjoy it. I get more use out of my PS3 as a bluray player, or for streaming netflix, than I do for gaming. So usually when E3 comes around, I am more excited about the hardware than the software. This year, however, the hardware was... meh. I'm not all that excited about the Playstation Move, or the Microsoft Kinect (formerly Project Natal). Don't get me wrong, they will be fun, but they are nothing new. The only new thing about them is that now we have release dates. I was really hoping for a newer, more awesome version of the PSP, but nada there. I was on the verge of feeling a little let down by this years E3, then they wrapped up the hardware talk, and got into the software, which was AWESOME. So here are some of the titles I'm excited about:



And



So those are ok. The one I really can't wait for though is Portal 2. The original Portal remains one of my favorite games ever, it is an original puzzle game with a hilarious story. Here is the trailer for the original:



Basically you wake up as a test subject for the Aperture science Portal device, and have to perform many death defying tests under the guidance of a female, robotic voice, which promises you cake and grief counselling when you are finished. Eventually, you find out that the computerized voice that has guided you through the whole thing is trying to kill you and you need to escape. You then find out that the whole facility has been abandoned for some time (or maybe the robot killed them all), as you come upon messages written on walls in hidden areas that read things like "The Cake is a Lie." Eventually you face the robot, tear it apart and get sucked outside in a huge facility meltdown. Once the game is finished, you are treated to this song as GLaDOS (the AI robot controlling everything) assures you that the test was a success, and she is still alive.



At the end, while you are lying outside the facility unable to move, a robot shows up and thanks you for "assuming the party escort position," and drags you back inside. If you know me, you can see why I love this game. It is an intellectual puzzle with a hilarious and mysterious story. The game came bundled with Valve's Orange Box, with Half Life 2 and Team Fortress 2, because it was a short game with a new theme, and the company saw it as a bit of a gamble, so it was released as part of a package with other "hit" games. I bought the package, just for Portal, and it remains the one game that I will play over and over. So, if nothing else at E3 excited me, the following trailer would have been enough:



Dude, I can't wait.