The biggest news you missed from E3 2011

Motorstorm: Apocalypse cancelled in Japan

Motorstorm was one of the first series to showcase the PS3’s power, but after a couple of games, they needed to shake things up for the off-road racer. The third game in the franchise was subtitled Apocalypse, and had the novel idea of shifting terrain during races thanks to natural disasters like earthquakes. Sadly, that fun angle took an unexpectedly dark turn after the devastatingly massive earthquake in Japan just one week before the game’s planned launch. Out of sensitivity, Sony delayed the release, with Apocalypse hitting US stores in early May. The Japanese release date was delayed indefinitely, and during E3 last weekSony of Japan quietly cancelled the title.

Even though we enjoyed the game, we totally understand the cancellation. Though no official reason was given, with Japan still on the long road to recovery from the disaster, so we can see why customers might not appreciate a racing around shattered cityscapes. After this, perhaps the next game in the series will be called Motorstorm: Relaxing Park just to be safe.

Wii U doesn%26rsquo;t play GameCube games

We’re big fans of the GameCube (we even put Wind Waker at #5 on our top 100 games list), but we’d bet 99% of Wii owners never used its backwards compatibility, let alone knew that the waggly console could play the GameCube’s minidiscs. The casual players must have looked quizzically at the GC controller ports on the top, shrugged their shoulders, and resumed playing Just Dance. But if you’re one of the few that still enjoy the occasional round of Pikmin 2 or Mario Sunshine, you’ll want to keep your Wii around, because the Wii U doesn’t play GameCube games.

This should probably have been assumed before the console was even announced, though when we heard Wii U played Wii games, we figured emulating GC games wouldn’t be that hard. Yet Nintendo matter-of-factly let us know they were kicking the purple lunch box to the curb. It’s a sad day for Nintendo devotees, but look on the bright side: this gives Nintendo the chance to sell GC games on Virtual Console! Aren’t you excited at the prospect of paying $15 to download Billy Hatcher?!?

The Silent Hill PS Vita game is beingdeveloped by WayForward

One of the sleeper hits of E3 for us was BloodRayne: Betrayal, a gloriously bloody adventure with some of the most beautiful 2D graphics our eyes have ever seen. We weren’t surprised it was from the team at WayForward, a developer that may not be a household name, but has been creating some of the best old-school 2D games of the last decade. Just pick-up Shantae, A Boy and his Blob, and Contra 4 if you don’t believe us. During an interview about BloodRayne, the dev confirmed they were working on another surprising title, the just revealed Silent Hill game for the PS Vita.

Silent Hill: Book of Memories is shrouded in secrets similar to the franchise’s famous fog, though we have heard the game will have a multiplayer aspect. Our biggest quandary is how many dimensions the game will be in. WayForward is at its best in two dimensions, but Silent Hill is at its core a 3D series, and the Vita is such a graphical workhorse that 2D visuals seem even less appropriate, as much as we’d like to see them. The title seems very early, so we probably won’t see what it looks like for a while, maybe not until E3 2012.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is only $39.99

Halo fans have grown accustomed to paying ridiculous prices for the newest Halo. They could put down $59.99 for the standard edition, but that’s for losers. They’d rather pay $100 for ODST with a custom controller, $150 for Halo: Reach with a crazy statue, and an unforgettable $130 for a cat helmet. You pay big money for that kind of prestige, but the Halo 1 remake looks to be dodging those steadily increasing price tags, as the Anniversary Edition of the original adventure will retail for a shockingly reasonable $39.99.

What’s the big deal Microsoft, our money not good enough for you? Think we aren’t worthy of paying $200 for a special edition that comes in a briefcase shaped like an original Xbox and has a recorded greeting from Bill Gates inside? $40 for the remake of a decade old game may seem rational to the non-Halo lover, and we’re glad Microsoft is treating us with some respect, but it just doesn’t fit with the history. Mark our words, there’s still half a chance a $100 collector’s edition will be revealed before the November 15 launch date.

Jun 15, 2011

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