Here are some of my personal highlights from the GDC expo floor. Most of the booths this year were technical rather than games-oriented, but there were some interesting new gadgets and a few games on display.

Sony Move

Taking center stage for Sony at the GDC was the newly-announced Sony Move, being demonstrated through a title called Eyepet. This “augmented reality” title put the player in charge of caring for a furry little gremlin whose endearing mannerisms bordered on the creepy. Demonstrated functions included washing him, taking him on a ride upon a drawn plane, and soaping him down with your hands. Also on hand was a technical demo for the Move itself.

Inspired by the difficulties other developers had with the Wiimote, the Move nonetheless shares some of its difficulties with its competitor when it comes to precise motions and Z-axis detection. There’s promise, but it doesn’t seem groundbreaking; the same basic drawbacks to the Wiimote are still present in that the Move still has trouble with precision movements and movements in-game do not correspond intuitively to movements in the real world. Fortunately, Sony plans to market the Move as an optional accessory for many compatible games, rather than a core system requirement.

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Remember this old demo video?

Now, if the hype over the Apple Tablet wasn’t making you go crazy yet, think about this. Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 will be compatible with Mac OSX.

Ho. Lee. Shit.

blah blah they copied Windows Live blah blah it will be impossible to play SC2/D3 without an Internet connection (even single player). Blizzard says they want to make the game more immersive, I say they want to crack down on piracy and don’t care if it dicks players on laptops with intermittent wireless access (namely, people like me). Keep it classy, Blizzard.

2 new videos from Blizzard’s Starcraft 2 have just surfaced.  The video above is their latest cinematic trailer that shows the struggle between a Protoss and Zerg.  The video below is clips from the single player campaign.  Both videos will surely make any Starcraft fanboy or Korean mouth water. (more…)

August 23rd is just around the corner and as expected, the rumor mills and newswires are going cah-razay!  Here is a small summary of whats going around the net for Blizzcon.

But, before we get to it, I would just like to announce that PixelatedGeek will be there for the people who (a) didn’t get a ticket and (b) don’t want to pay for the internet stream.  During the keynote and costume contest, we will be live blogging the events.  That means, right when we hear something good or see a costume on stage, it’ll be posted on the site, right away! Now, on to the news and rumors.

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While this was done 100% in jest, it DOES hit on a few old gripes with Starcraft, comically. Be sure to view in HQ to read the in-game chat comments.

Blizzcon 2009 website is finally launched.  August is getting closer and all you Blizzard fans are feeling that tingle in your pants.  But many of you are thinking, “But, will I even get a chance to buy a ticket?”  Yes, last year’s ticket sales system was a joke.  It was worse than trying to get a Bag of Crap from Woot.com. F5 keys around the world were crying in agony from the constant browser refreshes on the ticket sales page. Well, Blizzard has announce how they will be selling these hard to get tickets this year. More on that after the break.

1st half of tickets go on sale on May 16. 2nd half on May 30th.  People who cannot make the convention can watch via DirectTV. The ticket price has gone UP to $125.

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