The Gaming Today crew at E3 is back with their insights into Day 2 of E3. You can find out what the guys think about Nintendo, Sony, and the Activision not-quite-E3 press conference.

Personally, I think Sony had the most impressive of the so-called ‘Big Three’ press conferences, but if you want to see what our guys on site thought, you’ll have to tune in.

This episode is available for direct download here.

As always, you can send comments, snide remarks, or suggestions to podcast@filefront.com. You can check out the entire File-N-Forget back catalog of episodes at http://podcast.filefront.com.

You can also check out the File-N-Forget Podcast on the iTunes Music Store.

Last month the rumor that Microsoft would try to take on SingStar with a singing game of thier own was not really much of a rumor at all, but until it was confirmed we could not post it as a fact. It saves us from having to wipe egg off our faces. However, with E3 confirming the details of the game, we can now say it is a fact, and we have a video from E3 featuring hipster dorks singing along to the game and screens of the good clean and wholesome version of Amy Whinehouse, Welsh pop singer Duffy (whose first name just happens to be Aimee).

Lips will offer wireless motion-sensitive microphones with the game disc and the ability to sing from your own music collection of DRM-free songs. This is the first and only singing game that offers interactive motion-sensitive microphones to make your party rock all night long,  whether you can sing or not does not matter. Lips encourages players to toss apprehensions out the window, which if you have ever been to a karaoke bar you would know that apprehensions have nothing to do with it.

Features:

• Two wireless interactive microphones. Featuring stylish interactive motion sensors and lights, the microphones respond to singers’ actions and can be used as percussion accompaniments. With the freedom and encouragement provided by the high-quality wireless microphones, everyone can live their singing dreams in style.
• The best music. “Lips” will include a diverse selection of songs, including your favorite blasts from the past such as “Bust a Move” by Young MC, as well as new songs from breakout artists such as “Mercy” by Duffy and “Young Folks” by Peter Bjorn and John.
• Sing your music collection. “Lips” allows people to customize their experience with the songs that matter most to them by singing along with friends to the music from their personal collection.
• Play along. Using the standard Xbox 360 controller, up to two people will be able to join the fun and choose from a variety of percussion accompaniment to play along with the music in “Lips.” By placing control of various tambourines, claps and of course the ubiquitous cowbell at the fingertips of anyone with a controller, “Lips” creates a social entertainment experience for friends, co-workers and kids alike.
• Constant flow of new music. From the songs that will come with the game, to your own music collection and the ability to download new tracks from Xbox LIVE Marketplace, “Lips” will continually provide new music to bring people together and keep the party going.

Lips will be out around Christmas this year. Click here for the screens.

Infinite Undiscovery is the newest fantasy RPG developed by tri-Ace exclusively for Xbox 360. A collaborative project with the development studio which created Star Ocean and and Valkyrie Profile, Infinite Undiscovery contains a real-time world woven of countless threads where their choices will spin many different discoveries.

Deep in a forest, in one of the Order’s prisons, a young boy named Capell was being held captive. His captors called him the “Liberator,” though he had no clue as to what they meant. On the third day of his imprisonment, he was rescued by a spirited young woman named Aya. She was a member of a small band of brave warriors who had gathered under the banner of Sigmund the Liberator to free the world from the iron grip of the Order. Upon meeting Sigmund, he was surprised to find a man who shared his very face and appearance. This meeting would change Capell’s life forever and shake the foundation of the world itself.

FEATURES

• Discovery & Impact: The actions you choose to take upon new discoveries will have a real-time impact on the world
• Situational Battles: Players will be confronted with a variety of dramatic situational battles such as executing a daring escape while a gigantic ogre follows in hot pursuit, or waging battle amidst towering tidal waves. The dynamic environments change and respond in real time, creating an entirely new experience never before seen in the genre
• A Seamless World and Real-time Action: Combat, exploration, and other actions all take place within the same environment, seamlessly shifting between each game facet. Battles are carried out in real-time, bringing the vibrant fighting sequences of the STAR OCEAN series out of the traditional battle screen into a beautiful and lush environment
• Connect Ability System:17 characters join the hero, Capell, with unique Connect Ability actions that allow the player to tap into their abilities and take direct control

Infinite Undiscovery will be released worldwide on September 2nd. You can view more E3 screens here.

Dark Void is what you’d get if you somehow broke the laws of science and mated Gears of War, Crimson Skies, and The Rocketeer. And trust me, I mean that as a huge compliment. The demo on the showcase floor of E3 2008 was a very early build according to the presenter there, but I was still able to get a good feel of the game and the vision they’re going for. So far, it looks like they’re on track to make a game that should definitely make for a unique experience when it comes out. Read the full article »

Namco Bandai has released five trailers and quite a few screens from their upcoming Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World.

For those who are unfamiliar with Tales of Symphonia for the Nintendo GameCube, the newest installment Dawn of the New World follows the journey of two new young heroes, Emil Castagnier and Marta Lualdi, as they seek to uncover the mystery of why their world has fallen into ruin. In their quest, their paths will cross with the original cast of Tales of Symphonia including Lloyd and Colette, as well as a summon spirit known as Ratatosk who claims to be the lord of all monsters.

Dawn of the New World will introduce a new monster recruitment feature in which players can capture more than 200 unique enemies and train them to actively participate in battle. Players can then feed these monsters to make them more effective, and even evolve them into several new fearsome forms. The game also features an updated real-time battle system that lets players move freely in all directions around the battlefield, execute unison attacks and take advantage of a new elemental alignment system for more strategic depth. Dawn of the New World will give players complete control over a full roster of Tales of Symphonia characters and ally monsters, letting them customize their adventure party into hundreds of unique combinations.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World is a Wii exclusive and a release date for North America and Europe is to be announced soon. You can view more E3 screens for the game here.

• Classic Tales – Return to the world of Tales of Symphonia and discover the aftermath of the merging of the two worlds
• Over 200 unique monsters – Capture, collect, and feed monsters as they grow, gain experience and even evolve into completely new, more powerful beasts
• Enhanced for the Wii™ Console – Environments, characters and effects look better than ever
• Evolved Battle System – The Tales RPG trademark real-time battle system returns with an all new free run system, dynamic unison attacks and a strategic elemental system
• It’s your Party – Customize the party with unlimited combinations of monsters and characters throughout the adventure
• A decade of Tales – Celebrating the Tales 10 year anniversary in North America

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Trailer 5

If you like the Call of Duty games, and you like explosions, then you will dig this trailer that was shown at E3 for the upcoming Call of Duty: World at War from Activision and Treyarch. I know that the WWII shooter genre has been done to death, but this looks pretty damn cool.

The game will utilize the CoD4 engine and in the game you will have the ability the burn down the buildings and foliage within the war-torn pacific. Gamers will be up against Imperial Japan this time around and thanks to Gulf War Veteran, and military adviser Frank Kearsy, the way the Japanse fight suppose to be authentic, brutal, tenacious and shocking.

The Last Remnant is expected to be released sometime this Winter for the Xbox 360 and like other RPGS Star Ocean: The Last Hope and Infinite Undiscovery, it is also being developed by tri Ace for Square Enix.

Long ago, the world was filled with Remnants – mysterious artifacts from an ancient civilization. But as time passed, the powers of the Remnants began to shift the world’s balance. As the rift widened between those who ruled and those who were ruled over, a new era dawned: one of countless frays brought upon the world by those enslaved by their own lust for power. A thousand years later, the journey of one young man begins…

Imagine a vast, war-torn battlefield, scarred by years of conflict where countless enemies surround the player, who is backed up by his own army. Threatened by numerous foes and saved in the nick of time by allies, players will feel the true tension of a soldier on the battlefield. The Last Remnant features a battle system has been carefully crafted to deliver a brand-new experience for gamers, as they control forces in massive battles between up to seventy different units at once.

PS3 owners will also be able to get in on this upcoming RPG, but a tentative release schedule has yet to be announced. For more E3 screens hit this link.

No, I am not lying, I am not being sensational, this is what was told to MTV Multiplayer.  I have been sitting on this news since yesterday and I cannot take it anymore, because I don’t know whether to be excited or a bit pissed off about it.

Stephen Totilo was at Activision’s unofficial E3 press conference Tuesday evening and like everyone else there he heard that Guitar Hero: World Tour would be compatible with non-GH instruments. Ok, so that piqued his interest enough that he sought out some clarification from two Activision reps that were standing by.

By the gaming gods, these wonderful Activision representatives confirmed that “the age of cross-game instrument incompatibility is nearing its end”, and supposedly the Xbox 360 version of GH: World Tour will be compatible with instruments from the first Rock Band. No tests have been made for Rock Band 2 due to the fact that neither game has come out yet, but other third-party drum sets will work with GHWT as well.

Here is where I get a bit annoyed. Activision will not comment on whether this compatibility applies to Wii, PS2 and PS3 versions of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, but at the same time another rep told Stephen that “a recent auto-downloaded title update to the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith should make that game compatible with non-GH guitars, including the Rock Band ones.”

Great news, hip hip hooray, right?  Maybe. Here is the rub – the new instruments for GHWT and RB2 are a step above what was released before. Granted, if you can afford, or have the space for all these peripherals, great. I just think is almost a little too late, and they should have done this not long after Activision took over the GH franchise. I know that both companies are in the business of making money, but if the peripherals were to be compatible with both games they would sell more games in the long run.  The way to make theirs stand out from the other would be with the instruments themselves. They would all still work, but each would have something that would appeal differently to different people, and that is where their “war” should lie.

The thing that is really pissing me off about this is that so far it is just for the Xbox 360. No comment about the other versions hopefully means that they are currently working on how to do this. They better hurry if they plan to release GHWT in September. The main reason I am pissed, and if think I am silly, fine I feel the way I feel and that is that – I had planned on getting both games for the PS3 in the Fall. My huge purchase was going to be a PS3 and GHWT, and later getting RB2 and just the stand alone game for the original Rock Band. Now, I have to get one for the Xbox 360 and one for the PS3 and here is my dilemma. If I get them for Xbox 360, and RB2 for the PS3, I can’t play all my RB1 stuff. Therefore I would have to get them all for the PS3 and spend a fortune on the peripherals. Honestly, I am more pissed because it is making my head hurt more than anything trying to think about how to go about this. The only saving grace for me getting the Xbox 360 version is that all the GHIII content will work as well, and that is the version of that game I have – so, I suppose it is just best to buy the Xbox 360 versions anyway in the long run, but I have issues with XBL that I will go into at another time.

It is great news for some gamers, and not for others. I guess we will see how things develop, but in the meantime, I am just going to go sit in my corner and sulk until I figure out what I am going to do. I have been so slammed with E3 stuff that I cannot even remember my phone number let alone how to think properly.

The 1UP Show is at E3, just like everyone else. Well not quite like everyone else. They’re actually still locked in the building, pushing out content for all y’all as fast as they can.

Cliff Bleszinski came by and played some Gears of War 2,  but it was mostly the same thing they saw at the Microsoft press conference, but he stuck around for a little buddy-buddy time with David Ellis and Thierry “Scooter” Nguyen.

This is just the first of three special episodes of The 1UP Show, one for each day the show.

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Thus far, Sony’s has been the best press conference of E3 2008, hands down. Their turkey melts were delicious, as were the mini-quiches and those fruit drinks they were passing out. The wait staff was prompt and efficient, particularly around the open bar. All I had to do was say “beer,” and there’d be one in my hand within seconds. Oh yeah, and they talked about games or something like that, I think… Read the full article »