The Mike Abundo Effect

The E3 2008 trailer for Final Fantasy XIII doesn’t tell us much about the gameplay that we didn’t already know — namely, that it’s blazingly fast. Instead, it shows us more of what we already know: it’s big, and it’s pretty.

Oh, and it’ll be on the Xbox 360 too, in North America and Europe. Japanese gamers will need a PS3. The game’s new catchphrase, “The future belongs not to those who wait,” fits well with the new no-wait combat system.

I’ll say this for the Street Fighter IV E3 gameplay trailer: that’s some interesting voice acting. And some interesting new super moves, too. Read the rest of this entry »

A Filipina gaming executive once told me she went to E3 just to see the Black Eyed Peas. Recently, friends of ex-Level Up COO Sheila Paul defended her ridiculous use of irrelevant offline marketing in the comments section of this post. To see where Sheila’s path of ever-bigger offline gaming events was leading, check out what E3 2007 has become. Yes, I’ll miss the booth babes, but I won’t miss the irrelevant extravagance.