More World Cuppings

So we have another day of solid World Cup action behind us and another of the big contenders made their first showing today. At the same time we had the first day of E3 and a few interesting announcements from both EA and Ubisoft. So there's a lot going on right now in the world and I've got a bit to talk about. Plus I tried to get a job giving food to sick people which is hardly as selfless as it sounds. So a quick recap of the day's events before I bugger off to bed.

The first match of the day was Denmark vs Netherlands in a match that I will freely admit I entirely missed the first half. I stayed up far too late last night in order to wake up at 7 to catch this game. Netherlands are always contenders and this year they have a convincing team so I would've expected to have missed something important in the first half. That proved not to be the case and as soon as I started watching the second half upon waking up I was able to catch the own goal that put Denmark down. These second tier European teams are doing really poor this tournament, except of course Slovenia, and show that just being European isn't enough to do good anymore. The powerful Dutch were able to add another one before the final whistle. According to the commentary team I didn't miss much and all the action happened later on.

The next match of the day was one that I was looking forward to since it involved my favorite Asian nation, Japan. They took on Cameroon in a match that everybody, including myself, believed they stood no chance for a result. Amazingly the Japanese were able to pull a goal ahead thanks to Hasebe and they hung on thanks to some solid defending. Cameroon were the latest African flop in this tournament as they simply crashed against the Japanese. They got some shots but just never turned up the heat on Japan. Thankfully the Asians seem to have worked past their pre-tournament losses and are ready to perform. Being able to take down Cameroon should put them in a good mind for matches against Denmark, which they can win, and Netherlands, which they can't. I'm looking forward to more of the Blue Samurai!

The final game of the day was the defending champions, Cheataly, and South American scrappers Paraguay. The unheralded Paraguay team were major underdogs in this match simply because of the Italian pedigree. The idea of pedigree being enough to win was shattered when Paraguay put a goal in the net and holding their lead going into half time. The Italians were stunned, as they thought they would be awarded the win simply for being Italian. Believe me they really are so delusional. I want no team to lose more than Italy and it looked like I was going to get my wish until nearly the end of the game. Italy pulled back the goal they gave away earlier and brought the score to 1-1. This would be the final score as neither team could do any more. Maybe the Italians got confused and thought they had the one goal and had to defend it even though it was a draw. Fucking Italians...

Alright now moving on to E3. I don't want to spend too much time talking about this today as I didn't see too much special, but a few big points deserve some attention. G4 had some pretty limited coverage today, just showing the big presentations from EA and Ubisoft. Those companies did have a few big games to show off but there wasn't any coverage from the floor of E3 for some reason. I really wanted to see more of the less well known companies and games instead of just the big companies showing games we already know about. That said I did see some stuff I really liked. Assassin's Creed Brotherhood was perhaps my highlight so far. The creator was there to demo the opening (presumably) of the game in which the Borgia family assault Monteregginioni and level the city I spent so much time and money building up. What I thought was a non-interactive video turned out to be gameplay! It was beautiful to watch the chaos of a city collapsing under your feet, buildings falling on your head. It comes out in October and believe me I'll be picking the up these new adventures of Ezio.

Star Ward The Old Republic was shown off by EA. Well it sort of was shown. They had a video that was clearly an FMV (is FMV an archaic term?) and not gameplay. Granted it was a brilliant video, but it didn't do anything to give us any more information about the game. Not that I care because I don't play MMOs. This one has my interest because the games it bases it's lore on were so good. I just want to see more. Fable III was a game I already wanted but after seeing the trailer I am anticipating it all the more. Disappointment may have been the biggest issue with the first two games but I'm going into the third game with far lower expectations and should be satisfied.

Microsoft Kinect, don't care. Not for me. I'm not into motion controls.

That's all for today.

Action from Africa, Los Angelesf

These daily blog posts are becoming my pre-sleep ritual while at the same time the World Cup is becoming my morning ritual. Saving these posts until it's the last thing I do before going to sleep is probably not the best idea I've ever had since I'm not totally motivated to write out longer posts. But I'm writing them and that's what counts.


WORLD CUP
This morning I woke up at 7 a.m. to catch the Slovenia-Algeria game. While I was definitely up for the game it just didn't have the quality or draw of South Korea-Greece and I found myself slipping back to sleep for a majority of the game. Hopefully that won't become something that repeats itself. It's not really too early, it's just that I was struggling to really care for these teams. I was pulling for a draw but Slovenia got a 'lucky' goal that really had me feeling sorry for the Algerian keeper. He really didn't know what that Jabulani ball was going to do and reacted as if it wre a normal ball. Hard luck to him. Sadly this puts Slovenia ahead of England and USA, meaning we MUST beat Slovenia next weekend or our World Cup is over after the second game for the second tournament in a row.

The second game was much better. I got two cups of coffee in me and was much more prepared. My mindset was full on soccer. It was Ghana vs Serbia in a match I really anticipated. I've long thought (well since Drogba's injury) that Ghana will perform the best of any African nation at this tournament. They are unsung heroes and have put together brilliant youth squads, even winning the U20 World Cup last year. So I was firmly behind Ghana and they duly delivered. It was an even match for most of the time and then Serbia made a critical error by fouling Ghana in the box and giving up a penalty and a goal. Ghana are the first African team to win a World Cup game on African soil and I bet they feel real good right now. They're on course to move to the next round for the second time running.

The third game of the day was Germany-Australia and it went much as expected. I never truly thought that Australia had much of a chance given Germany's strength. England-USA had a believable underdog, Germany-Australia certainly didn't. The Socceroos gave up an early goal and it set the pace for them. Germany scored freely for the rest of the game, seeing four seperate players get one in the net. The Aussies best player, Tim Cahill, got a red card that will see him banned for two matches meaning he's done for the tournament. Sad result for Australia, but a damn good showing for the Gerries.

So another day of fine soccer action from South Africa, but tomorrow promises to be even better. Japan are in action against Cameroon and can hopefully make up for their string of awful showings, defending champs Italy get their first run out, and perennial contenders Netherlands are out to trounce Denmark. Can't wait! Not getting any less excited, this stuff is tons of fun.

E3
Tomorrow also marks the first day of the biggest yearly event in video gaming, E3. Though, as I've stated before, I have never had the chance to attend that doesn't mean I don't follow it with great interest. The G4 coverage starts, mercifully, after the final World Cup match of the day so I'll be able to keep tabs on both. I don't really know what is expected to come out of this years event in terms of big stuff, aside from the crappy 360 and PS3 knockoffs of the Wiimote, and I'm genuinely anticipating what surprises are on hand. Here's a short list of some stuff I'm interested in learning more about from E3.

- Uncharted Waters Online - Series hasn't seen a release since the SNES and I want to check out what this is all about.

- Nintendo 3DS - Can't really get my head around 3d gaming without the awkward goggles. Haven't looked into the tech, so I'm interested in how this new system will work. The DS is good, so perhaps this will be too.

- X-Com - Remake of the classic PC series that combines the R&D and strategy. Strategy is removed in place of FPS, but it honestly looks really good based on the trailer. Want to see more.

- Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - What sane man didn't find Ezio Auditore di Firenze to be the coolest motherfucker on the planet?! So the lackluster ending to his story, one that didn't even involve him as more than a messenger, didn't do that man justice. This game remedies that and gives us more Ezio. Really want to hear more about it.

- Back to the Future - Just announced recently were the BttF episodic games by the makers of Monkey Island and Sam & Max. I really need to see some solid details on this game as soon as possible because the idea excites me to no end.

- Indy Companies - The little guys often come out with the biggest ideas and we first hear about them every year at E3. These companies are no names, but they are ambitious and exciting. We'll see what these guys come up with.

- Other Games: Fallout New Vegas, Civilization V, Lucha Libre AAA, WWE Online, Fable III, Lufia DS, Warriors Legends of Troy, Victoria 2

I'll update you after the end of the show next week and let you know how much I've learned about these things. Some day I'll be there and be able to write on the fly updates. It's invite only and I don't work anywhere that would warrant an invite... yet. Expect to hear a lot about gaming tomorrow. Expect ruminations about specific games and a grand arc on the state of the industry, genres and companies tomorrow.