Sonic the Hedgehog’s gone through a rough time since the glory days of the Sega Genesis. We’ve been given so many unfulfilled promises of “This is the return to the Sonic you know and love!” each year that the announcement of a new Sonic game is akin to an announcement that there’ll be a new Madden game out in the fall.
Well, after having checked out Sonic 4: Ep 1 at E3 this year, I’m gonna go ahead and say this is the return of the Sonic you know and love!
All joking aside, if there were a game for that cliche to actually hold, it would be Sonic 4. The developer I sat down with reiterated that they tried to keep the feel of the old Genesis-era Sonic titles and that if you were to put this game in the timeline, it would fit in right after Sonic and Knuckles. (yes, the one with the crazy add-on cartridge) Since that’s the last time I remember having actual fun with a Sonic title, I’m gonna go ahead and say that’s a good start.
The game certainly plays as such and is a fairly delightful (if not entirely familiar) romp down memory line. I can say the game looks sharp on the iPhone and will probably look better on the iPhone 4. It’d probably be my platform of choice as it’s a great game to play on the go in bursts. The tilt controls were pretty awkward and difficult, though. You can check out the video walkthrough further down for a better idea on how the game looks.
An interesting thing you may notice about the game is the ominous “Episode 1” subtitle attached. Sega promises 16 levels in EP1 with more episodes to follow after. Now, I’m not so sure why a platform game that’s light on story needs the episodic title treatment. One reason might be to release new level packs soon after, but my efforts to narrow down the timeframe for new episodes were unsuccessful. The best I got was tentative agreement that they would come out faster than Half-Life 2 Episodes. I think we can all agree that’s not saying much.
Regardless, if you’re in the mood for a nostalgic 2D platformer, this game should excite you. Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 will be released on the iPhone, XBLA, PSN, and WiiWare “later this year and priced competitively.”
I gotta admit to poppin’ a little stiffy when Bungie revealed that the Halo Reach campaign would incorporate space combat in the vein of Wing Commander or Colony Wars. I love a good space dogfight and can only hope there’s more of it in the full campaign than the couple of minutes we were shown at the Bungie booth at E3 2010.
Bungie confirmed that up to four players playing the campaign co-op will be able to pilot a Sabre in the game. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to do so in player vs player Matchmaking. Yeah, I’m disappointed too, but Microsoft’s got a hell of a spinoff game idea if they ever wanted to, you know, print some money.
Campaign Space Combat Gameplay Video:
“Firefight 2.0”:
Building on ODST’s Firefight game type, Bungie’s added a lot more customizeability to Reach’s Firefight. Some the things we’ll be able to change are the number of rounds in a game, the types of enemies we face, and the weapon/armor ability loadouts that we take into battle. From there, we can save the customizations and upload them to our Bungie File Shares for others to download.
At first I was concerned that this would fracture the player base, but Firefight’s four player focus on cooperative survival means that each game will be fairly self contained. Each player is going to be dealing with the same conditions in a given play session. I just hope there’s a better way of discovering and playing the best user generated gametypes. I always found it difficult in Halo 3 to find and play custom gametypes that weren’t available in matchmaking buckets.
In the live gameplay video below, you’ll also see the unimaginatively named new weapon, “Target Locator” in action. Frankly, they could have called it “stapler” for all I care. Nuking stuff from orbit never gets old.
Finally, for those who played the beta, “Generator Defense” actually turned out to be a test for Firefight 2.0. I’m glad it turned out to be a gametype tuned for AI enemies. As a player vs player gametype it got very one sided and frustrating at times.
After making it alive out of downtown Los Angeles last week, I thought I’d start the week off by posting my big picture E3 2010 recap first and then work on putting up individual title previews as the week progresses, Memento-style. I’ve got a ton of good stuff from E3 and I’m just one dude, so bear with me this week while the sausage is made.
Contrary to what some sensationalists will say, the gaming industry is not crumbling before our very eyes. E3 2010 was not a complete disaster, nor was it an undeniable success. It was, for lack of a better term, average. Generally, the most memorable E3 years tend to be those where new console generations are announced or a blockbuster game franchise debuts on said new consoles. Unfortunately, we just happen to be in the current generation’s mid-life point. A new Halo title for Xbox 360 just doesn’t have that “wow” factor of being the first Halo title on the Xbox 360. In spite of this, it was still exciting to try out new ways of playing games in the form of motion and 3D gaming. Whether or not this actually panned out…well that’s an issue we’ll get to.
The Press Conferences
I want to address the “Big 3” press conferences first. Video game pundits and fanboys alike take part in the yearly ritual of declaring “Who won E3?” as if the show was a competition. I’m not going to pretend I’m above this sort of thing, so here’s my ranking of the press events:
1. Nintendo
2. (tie) Sony and Microsoft
Nintendo’s event was far and away the most compelling of the show. It was tightly presented, contained minimal gaffes (only miyamoto’s controller issues), and had the most “surprises” in terms of great games we didn’t know about prior to the show (Goldeneye, Kirby, Donkey Kong Country, Epic Mickey). To top it off, Nintendo announced a new piece of hardware that we had heard only rumors of before, the 3DS. With a robust roster of developers and franchises (e.g. Metal Gear, Resident Evil, Kingdom Hearts), the 3DS looks like it’ll be a force to be reckoned with next year.
Sony’s event wasn’t as embarrassing as Microsoft’s, presentation-wise, but didn’t provide much in the “wow” department. A new David Jaffe-helmed Twisted Metal game is pretty cool, but it doesn’t quite carry the weight of a Donkey Kong Country or Goldeneye remake. An appearance and endorsement by Valve’s Gabe Newell as “best” platform for Portal 2 was a huge coup for Sony’s credibility. Playstation Move wasn’t as cringe-inducing as Kinect’s demos the day before, but didn’t do much to sell the platform as anything more than a glorified Wiimote.
I had already written about Microsoft’s presentation last week. It had some really cool moments (ESPN and New Xbox 360s for everyone!) balanced by some facepalmy ones too (every word uttered by an executive, Kinectimals). Overall, I felt it evened out to around Sony’s level once I took into account the peaks and valleys of the presentation.
As a short aside, I really feel that Apple has raised the bar for geek press events since the iPhone announcement in January, 2007. Steve Jobs’ and crew are incredibly well rehearsed keynote machines. Say what you want about the guy, but he doesn’t give ho-hum or embarrassing (wifi issues withstanding) presentations. Every time you hear him talk, you can’t help but feel the urge to buy whatever he’s selling to you. Sony/Nintendo/Microsoft? Not so much.
The Show Floor
If you’ve never been to E3 before, the best way to describe it is an indoor Times Square. There is an overwhelming rush of sensory overload the moment you walk into either of the large halls. Gigantic 100+ inch HD screens pepper the showfloor. Disneyland-like booth constructions, like a haunted house or a post-apocalyptic shelter, are the norm. It’s quite unlike anything you’ve seen indoors.
There’s no way I could see everything at the show, even over the course of three days, so I tried to sample the titles I’ve been anticipating prior to the show along with the new hardware that was announced. I also kept my eyes and ears open for stuff people were buzzing about and caught a couple of interesting titles I would’t have thought of otherwise.
All three console manufacturers (Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft) and virtually all of the major games software publishers had a presence at the show. Countless other small games publishers and accessories manufacturers had booths as well. There was even a company called “Gamer Grub” that sells “performance snack foods.” Yeah. Really.
Other than Blizzard (who are so big they have their own yearly expo, Blizzcon), the only major games publisher that was conspicuously absent from the show floor this year was parent company Activision. However, the big A-B’s presence was still felt during the week as Uncle Bobby Kotick put on an absolutely ridiculous $6 million concert/party on Monday. We’re talking indoor fireworks and a private concert that would put many music festivals to shame. (some artists: Eminem, Rihanna, Chris Cornell, deadmau5, David Guetta, Usher, Maynard James Keenan, Jane’s Addiction) I mean, why spend the money on an E3 booth when you can just throw the most insane party ever. Fuck Cirque du Soleil’s Kinect premiere, why didn’t MTV broadcast this event?
The Takeaway Themes
I came away from E3 2010 taking away 3 prevalent themes: Motion Gaming, 3D Gaming, and Sequels Galore. I had originally intended to elaborate on these themes in this recap, but ended up with a 3000 word monstrosity, so I split this up into another article. You can read that here.
Here is the TL;DR version:
3D Gaming – They work as advertised. The effect isn’t annoying and is actually kind of cool. Not significant enough to warrant replacing your home theater or current Nintendo DS, though.
Sequels Galore – We’re getting too many sequels too frequently. They’re becoming too predictable and unexciting. It’d be great if we increased the time between major franchise entries at the very least. Ideally, the interim years would see the release of more original titles.
Motion Gaming – Mixed bag here. The first party Kinect and Playstation Move titles were generally uninspiring, but there were a couple of standout third-party games that make convincing arguments for buying a motion gaming controller. Dance Central by Harmonix and Child of Eden by Ubisoft are titles that couldn’t have been done with current consoles and provide truly fun experiences. If I had to pick between the Kinect or Move, I would go with the Kinect. Simpler, cheaper, and true hands-free motion gaming is hard to argue with.
My two biggest concerns with 3D gaming going into the conference were: “Does it work without being a hassle?” and “Do I really need 3D in my games?” After some hands on experience with 3D, I came away from E3 2010 with an answer to at least one of those questions.
I had some hands on time with both the Nintendo 3DS and Killzone 3 on the PS3. Microsoft was conspicuously mum on the 3D front, deciding to focus all its energies on the Kinect. (I believe Crysis 2 is the only 3D enabled title on the 360, but didn’t have a chance to demo it) On both the PS3 and 3DS, I could say that the 3D definitely added a sense of depth that wasn’t there before.
Nintendo’s 3DS worked as advertised in bringing a 3D display to the venerable DS platform. Although most of the demo content was not playable, they served to show off the 3D display fairly well. Watching the Resident Evil and Metal Gear 3D tech demos, I could definitely see distinct people and environments in the foreground and background.
Sony was wise to feature a snowy level to show off Killzone 3 in 3D. Falling snowflakes clearly popped out without becoming distractions. HUD elements and updates were made salient by the added depth. As for the 3D glasses themselves, I can attest that I didn’t even notice them once they were on. In fact, they fit comfortably over my existing glasses without much issue. All in all, I was fairly impressed by the fact that going 3D on the PS3 didn’t detract from the experience at all.
The meatier question is if 3D enhanced the gameplay experience at all, and based on what I experienced, I’d have to lean towards no. Talking with Killzone developers at the Sony booth made it crystal clear that the actual game itself was identical with the 3D version. Apparently, you’re not missing anything crucial by not going 3D, just some visual eye candy. I came to the same conclusion after the 3DS hands on as well. Of the playable games there (Nintendogs and a novel face-mapping picture shooter), none showcased any mechanics that couldn’t be done with current hardware.
Perhaps I’m being too idealistic about my expectations for 3D. After all, visual eye candy can be a big draw in playing new video games. My issue with 3D currently is that developers aren’t building titles from the ground up as 3D titles. They’re adding it in their games almost as an afterthought. It’s just another bullet point for hardware manufacturers to sell new devices. The reason Avatar was such a big draw for me in 3D was because James Cameron intended for viewers to watch the film in 3D. Most films use 3D as a gimmick, a way to charge more for tickets. When compelling, high quality games start coming out using 3D in an integral way, that’s when I’ll start to take a real hard look at it.
If someone handed me a free 3D enable TV, sure I’d play the 3D version of Killzone 3 on it. It was kinda cool and didn’t cause me discomfort or anything. Would I redo my entire home theater for the experience? No, it’s just not worth it yet. The same goes for the 3DS, albeit on a much smaller scale. I might end up picking one up simply because I’m a gadget junkie, but I’d actually be more excited about the games now possible with the added analog stick rather than the 3D display.
Sequels and Remakes Galore
I’m worried the games industry is falling into the same trap that Hollywood and the music industry did by depending too much on the “guaranteed” money of a blockbuster sequel. Take a look at some of the more ballyhooed titles from this year’s E3: Halo Reach, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Gears of War 3, Twisted Metal, Gran Turismo 5, Portal 2, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Donkey Kong Country Returns, and the list goes on and on. What do you notice? That’s right, they’re all sequels or franchise “reboots”.
Part of the reason why E3 gets less exciting each year is that most of the new titles announced are predictable sequels. We know they’re coming and we know roughly what to expect from all of these. Publishers sometimes use this sense of familiarity to sell us on franchises we’d given up on. During my hands on demo with the new Castlevania: Lord of Shadows at the Konami booth, I was asked if I was a fan of old school Castlevania. Naturally I answered,”Of course.” The Konami rep then proceeded to reassure me that I would “love” this new title because it was a return to the series’ roots. Only I couldn’t really tell from the two demo levels I played since I felt like I just played God of War with holy water and throwing daggers. It definitely was a return to a series’ roots, just not Castlevania’s. Later, he explained that the E3 demo was a taste of pure action levels. He reassured me that the famous Castlevania level structure would be present in the full game. I’ll take his word for it.
The point I’m getting to is that sequels are not necessarily a “bad thing.” It’s just that they narrow the possibilities of what developers can create and what consumers can play. With an established franchise, there’s only so much developers can innovate and experiment with there before they run the risk of alienating potential sales. On the flip side, consumers only have so much time and money to devote to video games. Given the choice between say, Call of Duty 7 or Vanquish, most people browsing in the store are going to go with the established franchise. This in turn encourages publishers to devote more and more resources in repeating that “hit” and tighten the leash up on developing brand new properties.
I’m not advocating that the games industry stop producing sequels. Every industry needs its cornerstone products. Hell, I’m personally excited to play each and every one of the titles I mentioned earlier. What I’m suggesting is perhaps a toning down of the frequency of sequel production. Give us a few years to breathe between installments. Make each successive franchise entry a truly monumental event. (Yes, I realize that it’s been a few years since Gran Turismo or Donkey Kong Country entries, but isn’t that why they got the ovations they did in their respective presentations?) Challenge developers and gamers in the meantime. Give us more titles like Portal or Braid or Rez. Who knows, maybe these new titles can be the foundation for a new generation of money printing machines.
Motion Gaming
Microsoft and Sony made their motion gaming intentions known at last year’s E3 with their respective announcements of the Kinect (Project Natal) and Playstation Move. This year, both devices were actually available for everyone to play. I had a chance to try both of them out and couldn’t help but wonder one thing:
What the hell were the first party developers doing for the last year?
The derivative gameplay offered by Sony and Microsoft’s titles left me decidedly dismayed. Kinect Sports (developed by the once proud Rare) was essentially a Wii Sports clone. Kinect Adventures was a glorified Wii Play mini-game collection. And Kinectimals? Sorry, Microsoft, I’m not 9 years old and I don’t need to pay $60 to play with virtual tigers on screen. Sony didn’t fare much better with its lineup either. Beyond your obligatory minigame collections in titles such as Sports Champions and Start the Party, Sony showed some glimmers of hope with Echochrome and Sorcery. Echochrome incorporates the move controller as a light source puzzle game, while Sorcery evokes images of Harry Potter spell-casting. At least these two titles looked like games one would want to play for more than one session. None of the above mentioned games would sell me on a new device, though.
Where was the truly novel and amazing stuff like last year’s Milo demonstration for Kinect? Was it all just smoke and mirrors? Why are we stuck with clones of pre-existing Wii titles? I imagine it must be a low-risk way of cashing in the casual market by showing the general public, “Hay! We can do intuitive casual games just like Nintendo!” I’m not sure if shoving the same gameplay experiences down even casual consumers’ throats will work so well, no matter how much more accurate than the Wii your motion controller is.
That’s not to say all is doom and gloom for these motion inputs, though. Harmonix and Ubisoft both showed great titles that have pretty much sold me on fun experiences that couldn’t have been done on a normal controller. Harmonix’s Dance Central made dancing with yourself (sup Billy Idol) look cool. Full body dance tracking is something that has never been done on a game console before and I’m not sure it could have been done without the Kinect powering it. Not only that, the game is actually pretty fun even if you are a dance club wallflower. Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s (Rez, Lumines) new psychadelic music shooter Child of Eden impressed the shit out of me at Ubisoft’s press event. It’s a bit hard to explain so I’ll let this video demonstration do the talking. Since it’s published by a third party, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this one on both Move and Kinect.
Interestingly enough, I think a compelling solution may be to combine both movement input systems as one. I could imagine wanting to hold a controller for a swordplay game, while I wouldn’t want to be holding anything if I was learning a dance routine. Ostensibly Microsoft has more room to work with in this scenario, as Kinect’s camera is much more precise than Sony’s Playstation Eye. It’d be easier to add a control peripheral than to sell users on an expensive new tracking device.
All of this leads us to the million dollar question: Is all this stuff worth it?
For me, Dance Central and Child of Eden have sold me on the Kinect. Hell, the novelty of being able to act out Minority Report almost sells me by itself, shitty minigames be damned. If I had to go with one motion controller solution, it’d have to be the Kinect if just for the simplicity factor. Coupled
With Move, there’s three separate peripherals to keep track of: the Playstation Eye Camera, the Move “motion” controller, and the Move “navigation” controller.
Milkawha?!
I just had to look up all that stuff and will probably get the “motion and “navigation” controllers messed up for the rest of eternity. I guarantee you that the average consumer will get confused by all of this come Christmas shopping time too. Sony will have you believe that their motion gaming is “only” $49.99, but you’ll have to buy a $40 Playstation Eye camera and a $29.99 “navigation” controller in order to get the full experience. You won’t need a new camera for each additional player, but you’ll have to get another set of Move controllers per person. It’ll end up being $200 for a “full” 2-player Move experience, while the Kinect is simply $150 for all you will need.
Pricing issues aside, the Kinect has the added benefit of being truly hands-free. During my Move hands-on at the Sony booth, I had to recalibrate the controller by holding the controllers in several positions like a traffic cop. Each time someone new wants to play, you’ll have to do this. It’s no small annoyance if you have a big group of people wanting to play. Kinect requires recalibration too, but there’s no wristband tethered controllers to take off and pass around.
It’s been an absolutely crazy first two days at E3! I’ve barely had time to sit down and gather my thoughts. Rest assured that over the next few days I will be posting some thoughts and previews on some of the more noteworthy titles I had a chance to get some quality hands on time with.
In the meantime, I’m putting up all of the photos I’ve taken on the showfloor the past couple of days. There’s no captions yet, but you should be able to figure out what’s what.
Seriously, if I hear another video game executive speak the words “redefine”, “amazing”, “entertainment phenomenon”, or “transformation” again, I’m going to RAGE quit gaming.
Microsoft’s 2010 E3 presentation was filled with hyperbolic marketing speak, planned pauses for nerd applause, unrehearsed speakers, and awkward catcalls from the audience whenever an attractive woman took the stage. It reminded me of the much maligned Nintendo presentation from 2008 where the Big N just talked about how much money they made and finished with a dude air drumming for Wii Music. Only the strength of Microsoft’s gaming franchises and a couple of other big announcements kept this presentation from real embarrassment.
At the end of the day I do realize that it’s a presentation on video games from video game executives. Still, would it kill them to actually read and rehearse what they’re doing? It’s not a trivial amount of money being thrown at these things, you know. Plus, Microsoft is trying to reach a “mainstream” audience by live-broadcasting this event all over the web and on television. Why take the chance of embarrassing your company and your products on the big stage?
Here are 6 impressions I came away with from the press conference:
Awesome Sequels – We saw Call of Duty (7): Black Ops, Halo: Reach, Gears of War 3, Fable 3, and Metal Gear Rising (granted, not a “true sequel” but clearly wouldn’t be a big deal without the name attached) demonstrated. All of these titles look great and will be huge sellers. However, did anyone really need to be convinced of this? It’s cool seeing these titles being played live, but as a fan of previous franchise entries, you’re going to buy them regardless of what Microsoft shows. Where are the original new games? Where’s the stuff that really “redefines entertainment?”
Kinect UI – Finally we’re entering the age of Minority Report-esque screen interfaces. If it’s as responsive as demoed, it could really change the way we consume media on a console. Voice commands? Meh. It’s almost always less cumbersome to navigate via a physical input device. Controller < Mouse < Pointing with finger. Seeking in a video file is a perfect example of how great the interface can be.
ESPN – LOVED this announcement at first. The only reason I even have cable TV is because I enjoy live sporting events. ESPN on my console would save me a ton of money each month from my cable bill. Add an interactive score ticker, HD streaming, rewind/fast forward capability, and some neat polls/trivia widgets and you have a real compelling product for sports fans. Acouple of things tempered this excitement, though. 1) You need to have an ISP provider that plays ball with ESPN. I’m not sure if you need to have cable TV service too, but that would just make things pointless if so. 2) The service is basically ESPN 3, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It just means that we’re not getting a simulcast ESPN-prime for free – that means no Sportscenter, no Around the Horn, etc. We’re getting one off live events at their programming whim. Regardless, it’ll be a welcome addition since we don’t have to pay for it.
Kinect Games – If this is the stuff that “redefines entertainment,” I want my old entertainment back. Kinect Sports, Kinectimals, Kinect Joy Ride, Kinect Adventures, Your Shape, and Dance Central are the Kinect titles demonstrated. With the exception of Your Shape and Dance Central, all of these are first party titles. Let’s talk about the Kinect____ titles first. They all look like Wii Sports/Wii Play/Wii Fit minigame knockoffs. I seriously hope Microsoft isn’t planning to charge $59.99 for each of these, because I’d have a hard time justifying that for a bundle of all of them. Every one of those titles looks like something I would play once and never touch again. Regarding Ubisoft’s Your Shape – *yawn*, “fitness genre”. I will say it looks a lot more useful than having to deal with a Wii Fit balance board, though. Dance Central by Harmonix was by far the most interesting title demonstrated. The technology to execute a real dance-move game has not been available until now and it looks quite fun, even for someone like me who’s normally too embarrassed to dance.
Kinect Proof of Concept Games – We’re treated to a glimpse of the future with a short Star Wars trailer and a Forza tech demo. The Star Wars stuff may as well be CGI without knowing how the actual gameplay works in a live setting. Also, it took us how long to get a decent modern Star Wars game? Consider me skeptical until proven otherwise. As for the Forza stuff, it looks graphically impressive and I’ll definitely want to check it out on the floor. There’s lots of menus and choices to be made in a racing simulation and the Kinect UI should help out greatly there. I can’t help but be concerned over the long term viability of controlling a driving game holding your hands out and pantomiming, though. Where are the pedals? Won’t my arms get tired? Just because something is intuitive doesn’t necessarily make it a great experience in the long run.
New Xbox 360 (Stealthbox) – What? We got an extended demo of a little Asian girl playing with a virtual tiger and barely a couple of minutes to describe an radical redesign of your flagship product? And it’s shipping right now?! Milkawha?? The new Xbox 360 does look pretty sleek (albeit slightly ZOMG STEALTH FIGHTER COMPUTER CASE mod), with built in 802.11n and vastly superior noise reduction. If I didn’t own an Elite, I would jump at the chance to upgrade. As it is, I can’t justify the $299 price for what amounts to more hard drive space and less noise. Definitely a good time to buy an Xbox 360 for the first time, though.
I really hope the Kinetic titles are much better in person. The idea of affordable motion capture technology is very compelling, but most of the titles Microsoft showed here were uninspiring at best. Harmonix has the right idea with Dance Central, but it’s not a system seller. Where’s the Halo or the God of War or the Mario of Kinect?
Well, due to the ineptitude of AT&T in providing adequate SMS or data service at Coachella this year, most of my tweets during the festival didn’t get out. All in all, I enjoyed the music and the festival. At least, when I could actually be in the venue.
Here’s a rough timeline of what would have been sent out (some of them actually did manage to squirm out):
Day 1
2:15PM – Left house at 12:30 and still stuck in immovable traffic. Had to pee on the side of a main road, public be damned.
3:30PM – Stuck in a immovable line to get wristbands for event entry. People are cutting in the front because there’s no security.
4:30PM – Officially pissed that I missed one of the bands I wanted to see the most, Yeasayer. Regretting coming to this thing.
4:45PM – Line is finally moving. Apparently the ticket scanning system went down for a couple hours. Heads better roll for this bullshit.
5:15PM – Feel a bit less cranky after eating some surprisingly good Thai BBQ. I can hear Tom Morello playing a song I don’t know.
6:00PM – She & Him is surprisingly entertaining. The songs are a lot more uptempo and fun than I was expecting. Delightful festival warmup.
6:05PM – Have to admit, zooey deschanel is lookin pretty adorable on stage http://twitpic.com/1g4wq9
7:45PM – Even a mediocre live band like Passion Pit can be great fun with the right crowd. Dancing/singing with the chorus of Little Secrets was a great moment.
8:15PM – I know everyone swears by Grizzly Bear, but I’m finding his set boring. It’s one of those “you have to know the material” situations. I didn’t.
8:25PM – Stopped by La Roux. She sounds okay, nothing extraordinary. Not going to wade through that crowd for “In For The Kill”.
8: 45PM – I only know the Echo and the Bunnymen hits. They’re not playing them, so I’m getting out of here.
9:15PM – The sound for LCD Soundsystem is amazing.
9:30PM – James Murphy is incredibly awkward on stage. He could have command of the crowd, but he’s rambling like a insecure nerd onstage.
10:15PM – LCD Soundsystem had a couple chances to be an epic set, but never quite got there. Going to walk by Vampire Weekend.
10:20PM – Heard Cousins being played and promptly turned around to get a beer.
10:30PM – Pretty ridiculous that the main stage is playing a recorded Vampire Weekend song while the actual band is on the other stage.
11:15PM – Jay-Z makes his entrance by rising from under the stage floor to the intro of “We Run This Town”. As the bass kicks in, he authoritatively commands the audience to bounce. We obey.
11:45PM – The soundsystem here is unreal. Hiphop bass has never sounded so clear. Best mainstream rap show I have seen so far.
12:25AM – Big Pimpin’ starts. The crowd starts to go nuts before Jigga stops it, telling us that we aren’t ready yet. He then continues on with another song. Fucking awesome.
12:35AM – No Dr. Dre or Alicia Keyes appearance, but we get Beyonce as the surprise guest.
12:45AM – Damn, I didn’t plan on staying for all of Jay-Z, but I couldn’t resist.
12:50AM – I have to make a decision to see the end of The Whitest Boy Alive or deadmau5 – I go with Whitest Boy, but really wanted to do both. Damn you, scheduling!
12:55AM – Erlend Oye looks like a dweebier young Bill Gates, if that’s even possible. Still, this set is really good. I gotta see them when they tour next.
3:30AM – Fuck traffic and crowds and lines and godawful parking infrastructure.
Day 2
3:15PM – Well that wasn’t as bad getting in this time. Took a back route and lot. Missed my boy Frank Turner, but a noon start time is untenable.
3:30PM – Day two starts with bluegrass from old crow medicine show. Haven’t seen a guy string his own guitar in awhile. http://twitpic.com/1gmxkt
4:45PM – Have a nice spot by the soundboard for Beach House. The music is inoffensive, but not really grabbing me. Guess it’s a similar situation to Grizzly Bear.
5:40PM – Man does the girl from Gossip have pipes, this is an awesomely fun set. Crowd loves them.
6:20PM – Holy shit, the entire LCD Soundsystem band is on stage, along with more people I don’t recognize. It’s madness in here.
6:35PM – Stayed for the last couple songs of The Raveonettes set. I like them, but the end of their set was a far cry from the energy level of Gossip’s.
6:45PM – Well, The XX is good music for listening to while you’re eating dinner.
7:15PM – Seem to have found a great spot for Hot Chip with a raucous group of South Americans who sing and do chants. This is going to be awesome.
7:45PM – Steel drums are back, baby! I was wondering where they had gone, but I’m positive I’ve seen at least 3 bands use them so far.
8:20PM – Using Aterciopelados’ set to recover. They’re actually not bad rockers. Too bad I don’t understand Spanish.
9:35PM – Some kid tries to move past me in a crowd. He says he’s trying to get away from his mom who’s in the crowd behind him for fear she’ll ground him from video games for 2 weeks. wat.
9:45PM – Spent the last 50 minutes in the dance tent with Kaskade and David Guetta. Sensory overload. Bass made my entire body shake. Wish I had drugs.
9:55PM – Major Lazer is fucking amazing!! There’s two Chinese dragons onstage with a black chick in a wedding gown. This is a real party.
10:15PM – Get news that Danny Devito ran shirtless across the stage during Faith No More. That sounds fun.
10:30PM – Muse is way less intense than that dance tent was. They still rock though.
11:20PM – Man, The Dead Weather really vacillate between awesome and boring. Love the blues stuff, hate the slow shit.
12:00AM – F. Dee and mac from it’s always sunny in Philadelphia bumped into my friend wearing a paddys pub shirt at the beer tent and I wasn’t there!
12:15AM – Eating pizza while on a bench with a view of Tiesto on the main stage. I think I’d need to plan my day around Tiesto to properly enjoy his set.
12:18AM – Is it just me or does Tiesto look like Christian Slater? Also, lasers.
12:20AM – Someone brought the wrong visuals for Tiesto, the screen just addressed “Austin”.
12:22AM – There we go, Coachella lets make some noise!
12:50AM – Having to decide between the end of 2ManyDJ’s or Devo, I go with Devo in the hopes of getting “Whip It”. Got old dudes stripping into tshirts and boxers instead.
4:00AM – Fuck traffic and crowds and lines and godawful parking infrastructure.
Day 3
2:45PM – Really surprised to have made it inside the venue in time to catch the end of Local Natives. They were pretty good.
3:45PM – No idea what to have expected for Mayer Hawthorne, but this is kinda cool. Fairly young white dude singing soul. People are dancing, including shirtless pothead in front of me with a gut and no pectorals.
4:10PM – My friend explains to me the lols of Mayer introducing his “break up song” with “Coachella I’m sorry to do this to you but…” Hilarious.
4:15PM – Walk by Deerhunter, didn’t look like a meat jackpot Deerhunter set so continued to De La Soul.
4:20PM – De La Soul is pretty boring. Nothing else to do but sit on the grass and chill. Too lazy to walk to Florence and the Machine for a couple minutes.
4:50PM – Surprised to hear Sunny Day Real Estate play Seven so early in their set. Not complaining, this song rules.
5:20PM – Decided to check out Yo La Tengo. Love the pop songs and synchronized light dancing, really dislike the masturbatory jam sessions. Cool how all 3 band members play everything.
6:15PM – Really dig the soundscape that Jonsi/Sigur Ros create. The songs seem a bit more uptempo than Sigur Ros. Plus he’s got a really cool festive outfit and headdress.
6:50PM – Made it into a nice spot by the soundboard for Miike Snow. The band comes out in masks and amidst smoke.
7:15PM – The album is good, but the live show is amazing. This stuff needs to be turned up LOUD!
7:30PM – Would definitely see Miike Snow again.
7:45PM – There’s a ridiculous amount of people for Phoenix, not going to bother getting close for this.
8:00PM – Just realized I only really like 1901 and If I Ever Feel Better from Phoenix anyway. Glad I got to hear those at the end.
8:15PM – Holy laser light show at Little Boots! She’s pretty fun too.
9:05PM – Caught the last few minutes of Orbital’s DJ set. Heard an amazing mix of Halcyon with Belinda Carlisle and Bon Jovi. Lamp shades baby!
9:30PM – As much as I love Radiohead, I’m pretty sick of The Eraser. Some of the songs just don’t translate well to large venues.
9:30PM – That being said, adding someone like Flea really makes the bass come alive for songs like Harrowdown Hill.
12:30AM – Forewent gorillaz to beat the coachella traffic. Surprisingly it worked! Already at the daily pint in Santa Monica playing shuffleboard.
