It's funny that my last blog post was almost a year ago to the day, and it covers the same thing. Watched all three console press conferences, and I can honestly say each one offered something new.
Microsoft started things off with their big guns, "Halo 4" and "Forza Horizon", which looks both fresh and familiar, a hard trick nowadays. Then a quick tease for "Gears of War Judgment," setting up a new chapter in this franchise that we know wasn't going to end just yet. A lot of love for Kinect again, and more dashboard apps. I have to admit, SmartGlass does seem like a ripoff of Wii U's new tablet Gamepad, but at the same time it works with just about any tablet/smart device and seems to be biased more towards controlling the dashboard than controlling the gameplay. Overall, I liked it. Good news: "Halo 4", "Forza Horizon", new "Gears of War". Bad news: No tease of Xbox 720, no major Kinect upgrades.
Sony divided its time between both Vita and PS3, although I was kind of distressed. They showcased a stunning new original IP, "Beyond", and then immediately after devote a lot of time to a "Super Smash Bros." ripoff in "PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale". It was also apparenty they were desperately trying to build up PlayStation Move by devoting another large chunk of time to it and a new add-on, Wonderbook. Wonderbook, basically a big AR Card, does give authors and game designers a chance to work together and to get kids interested in books (always a good idea), but this seems kitschy to me ... and too little too late to save Move, at least for this generation. Good news: "Beyond", "God of War Ascension". Bad news: No tease of PlayStation 4, nothing new on "The Last Guardian".
Nintendo had the day to itself to showcase Wii U. They started things off Sunday night with a webcast introducing the Gamepad, the Wii U "new controller" from last show. Definitely a lot of improvements from what we saw last season, and what better way to show those off than with Miyamoto-san's latest, "Pikmin 3" and "New Super Mario Bros. U". The Wii U is getting some third-party love, although some of the games shown ("Batman Arkham City Armored Edition" and "Mass Effect 3") will be old news by the time they hit for Wii U; that said, the all-new properties for it, like "ZombiU" and "Aliens: Colonial Marines" look very promising. And between you and me, I would expect "NintendoLand" to become Wii U's pack-in game when launch date (prediction: Sunday, November 18) and pricing (prediction: $299.99) are finally announced. Good news: Great new Pikmin and Mario titles, third-party support for Wii U, a whole separate presser planned for 3DS. Bad news: No pricing/release details, no "Super Smash Bros." details
A sidebar here: I am hoping that Nintendo thinks about their market and releases some different SKUs for Wii U. There are tons of Wii Remotes and Nunchuks out there already, so give users the opportunity to buy just the console and the GamePad. Also offer a full starter set with the added controllers for those who no longer have a Wii or have never bought one. I predict that an "upgrade pack" (console and GamePad only) will come in at the $299.99 figure I mentioned above, with a "starter pack" (console, GamePad, Wii Remote Plus and Nunchuk) hitting at $349.99.
So, who won? Again, Microsoft is standing pat with no truly new equipment, but some eagerly-awaited content. Sony had fewer distractions, but Vita's modest sales figures and desperation to move Move shown through. Nintendo didn't quite hit a home-run with Wii U, but I liked what I saw, so call it a standing triple. In order of performance: Nintendo first, then Microsoft and lastly Sony, but all reasonably close, so no clear winner this year.