Oh I love E3. Right when summer starts and I have no worries in the world. The time when old user's log back in to connect with their past friends and of course get the latest and greatest emblems.
So let's get straight to it. In my opinion, Nintendo blew the competition out of the water. Right off the bat is a new Zelda game, Skyward Sword. We asked for it and we got it a year later. Next is Mario Sports mix. Who doesn't love these Mario games?A couple of casual games are thrown into the mix. People can complain all they want, but I wouldn't mess with a winning formula either. Then the hardcore games start rolling in again: Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, Kirby Epic Yarn, Goldeneye, Dragon Quest, Metroid: Other M and Donkey Kong Country Returns. Nintendo had the most shockers and really pleased most of the core gamers. Everything single title made me excited. Even the new Mario Sports game looked like fun. They didn't even have time to announce many of their biggest games, such as Pokemon Black/White and the re-releases of old N64 games on the new handheld The 3DS was just icing on the cake. Finally no glasses! And so many different companies buying in to the new technology. I do wish that the 3DS looked sleeker. It kinda looks clunky, like someone tried to mod their own DS. Hopefully there will be a makeover. Not diggin' the metallic colors either. I would still rate this an A+, because what more could you really ask of them at this point?
I had really high hopes for Sony.When I saw the price of the Playstation Move though, I was disappointed. $50 for the main controller and $30 for the sub-controller? That's $80 a person, not to mention the cost of the camera. Oh, and in some games, you might actually need 2 main controllers. That means one person will have to buy almost $200 of peripherals. Looks like a family investment here. Not to mention that I still think that Kinect/Natal has a better future considering nearly everyone has a Wii and mainstream consumers don't really understand how the Move is technically superior, besides of course the HD. A lot of great games emerged though, but the only new news was Twisted Metal. They did, however, gain such exclusive like The Medal of Honor Bundle, Dead Space Bundle, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood beta and missions, Portal 2 with Steam integration, and of course the exclusive 3D game aspect (like Crysis 2). They were still lacking the knockout titles such as Kingdom Hearts 3, The Agency, The Last Guardian, and of course Final Fantasy 13 Versus.Too many high expectations for them though, especially since there were rumors of a PSP2. A new premium serice of PSN was announced. I'm not getting it, but if I already had it, I would keep it. In terms of presentation, Sony won because who doesn't like Kevin Butler, the "VP of Sharpening Things"? Marcus looks to be like a great addition as well (Saw the ad on ABC today. Go Lakers!!!!!). I'm giving them a B-.
Finally, there's Microsoft. Conference starts off with...Call of Duty. Big hit, you must admit. Then goes into the watermelon chopping Metal Gear Solid Rising. At first thought, I'm like, "Wow, these are gonna be great games!". Then I realize that these are also 3rd party games. It's not like Microsoft had the exclusive edge, so this part just felt like filler. Then there's the "Only On Xbox" section. Halo Reach, Gears of War 3, Fable III, and Crackdown 2. Big games, but no big news here. Then there's Kinect (before known as Project Natal). As gimmicky as the games in the demo may be, I believe that there is something here. Not really in terms of gameplay (I don't want to act a fool when controllers are easier and doesn't require massive play areas), but in terms of usability. Voice commands is nice. Then there is video chat. With all of the buzz about Microsoft and their "internet cloud" they have the power to weave and interconnect many of their biggest properties like Windows Live, Xbox Live, and the up and coming Windows Phone 7. The games on the Kinect aren't impressive at all. I don't care about Skittles, exercising games are old news, you can't teach a white guy to dance, and if you want to be immersive, I don't want to drive an invisible steering wheel, especially considering the amount of lag time between the system registering your movements and the output on the screen. Finally there is the new 360 SKU (SKU Ticker is up to double digits now probably). Weird dents, old tray system, and it's only a little bit smaller. I hope there's no power brick. Wifi is finally built in though, so welcome to the club. I give the conference a D+. There is a lot of potential if Microsoft can perfect the cloud to seamlessly connect your life.
And now I wait for my emblems to come in. Still missing quite a few. Luckily I have screenshots.
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