Alright, so I'm back. I took last week off since it was E3 week and I wanted to just soak it all up before I wrote about it. So this post will be about some of the new things and upcoming games I found most exciting from E3. I will break it up into the big three (Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo) this time and I will follow up in a couple days with the games that really stood out to me.
Let start with the company, that in my, opinion “won” E3. Sony. Yep, you heard me. Sony had the best showing. They came out at their press event and showed some of the best of what the company offers to gamers. Uncharted 3 looks better than Uncharted 2 and that game was pretty much everyones number one game of 2009. The Resistance franchise looks to be back on track after a not so hot second installment. Of course there were some games missing as well. The Last Guardian was nowhere, not even at the show. No Metal Gear, huh? So what, you might ask, made Sony the winner in my eyes? One number...$249. The once codenamed NGP handheld from Sony was given it's official coming out party. Although they should have stuck with NGP or PSP or really anything other than PS Vita, which could be the worst console name....well...ever. They did get the price right. At $249 it is the same price as the 3DS and anyone that looks at, or even reads about, the differences between the two will be hard pressed to choose Nintendos offering over the Vita. The Vita boast graphics very close to the PS3, an OLED multitouch screen, a back touchpad, and ...wait for it...Dual analog sticks. In short, it is at least twice the machine the 3DS is for the same price. In fact with that announcement coming before Nintendos conference it put a whole different spin on the Nintendo event.
This was supposed to be Nintendos year. They were not only going to show what amazing games were coming for the 3DS, they were also showing off their brand new console that would once again change the face of gaming. Just one problem, they didn't follow through on any of it. I bought a 3DS, I had faith that Nintendo would come through with amazing content for device. And they did, by their standards. Only problem was that Sony had, less than 24 hours earlier, raised the bar so high with the Vita that Nintendo had no chance to impress anyone. So when Nintendo rolled out Mario Kart, Super Mario, Kid Icarus, Luigis Mansion 2 and Starfox it was great, but there was a voice in the back of my head that kept saying “none of this is as cool as the games on Vita”. So, that was kind of depressing.
Then there was the big announcement of the new console. The Wii-U, I have no idea who is naming these consoles but they should be fired. If you haven't seen the new controller let me try to describe it. It is what you would get if an iPad and a xbox controller had some kind of bastard child. Oh and you are still going to be using all the the stuff you collected with your Wii too. All the Wiimotes and nunchucks and balance boards all work with the new system. I think it best if you don't know to just watch the video. So, really not the homerun I was looing for from Nintendo either.
Then there was the big announcement of the new console. The Wii-U, I have no idea who is naming these consoles but they should be fired. If you haven't seen the new controller let me try to describe it. It is what you would get if an iPad and a xbox controller had some kind of bastard child. Oh and you are still going to be using all the the stuff you collected with your Wii too. All the Wiimotes and nunchucks and balance boards all work with the new system. I think it best if you don't know to just watch the video. So, really not the homerun I was looing for from Nintendo either.
So now to Microsoft. Well it is obvious that Kinect is here to stay as it was a huge part of the Microsoft press event. And as has been the case the last two years as well a large part of show was also dedicated to non-game additions to the Xbox 360. This fall “The New Xbox Experience” (yeah they are using the exact same terminology again) will launch and will include a live TV channel, Bing, and MMA. First the TV thing, from different stories I've read it looks like Microsoft was planning a big unveil of the service at the show. However, they couldn't get the deals in place to actually announce any partners. My guess is we will hear a lot more about this in the coming months as more actual partners are signed. But from what they showed it looks to be the long talked about IPTV service for Xbox and will include almost all the bells and whistles you get from your provider now. It may not have all the channels right away, but it may grow into something that could replace your cable or satellite service. The addition of Bing essentially gives you a media search function for your xbox. The example they showed was Xmen. The person simply said “Xbox, Bing, Xmen” and a list of all the Games, demos, Videos (both in Zune and Netflix came up. Making it easy to find whatever it is your looking for. And finally, there will be MMA live matches on Xbox live. If this is the kind of thing you care about I'm sure you can find more info somewhere. All I know is that you can watch guys fight and root for them like you can on the current ESPN service as well as follow stats.
It looks as though Microsoft has ripped a page out of Sonys playbook. They are now trying to push Kinect on the hardcore by finding a way to “enhance” the core game we all play with Kinect. In other words they aren't going to force you to play Kinect, but if they make it look cool enough hopefully you will. The big way they showed this off was with Mass Effect 3. You can now read dialog prompts in case using the stick on the controller is too diffacult for you to figure out. The one that caught my eye though was being able to call out orders to your team in battle. I always hate pausing action to give orders, it takes me out of the action, this will hopefully give me control with out the loosing the illusion of being in the thick of it. Of course then there were the obvious Kinect software annoucements Dance Central 2, Kinect Sports Season 2, and Star Wars Kinect all looked like like great uses for the device.
And now the big stuff, Halo Anniversary was officially announced. If you don't know, what they have done it essentially reskinned Halo: Combat Evolved with graphic quality close to that of Reach. The really cool part is that the original game is running under the new polish so it not only plays identically but you can turn off the shiny new layer at any time and take a look at the difference. The really, really, cool part is that they are re-imagining the classic multiplayer maps for CE for use with Reaches multiplayer. Team slayer on Blood gulch anyone? And now the grand finale Halo 4 was also announced, however we wont see it until holiday 2012. Although that sounded great overall what they showed was a bunch of stuff we already knew about so all and all not that exciting as far as games go.
It looks as though Microsoft has ripped a page out of Sonys playbook. They are now trying to push Kinect on the hardcore by finding a way to “enhance” the core game we all play with Kinect. In other words they aren't going to force you to play Kinect, but if they make it look cool enough hopefully you will. The big way they showed this off was with Mass Effect 3. You can now read dialog prompts in case using the stick on the controller is too diffacult for you to figure out. The one that caught my eye though was being able to call out orders to your team in battle. I always hate pausing action to give orders, it takes me out of the action, this will hopefully give me control with out the loosing the illusion of being in the thick of it. Of course then there were the obvious Kinect software annoucements Dance Central 2, Kinect Sports Season 2, and Star Wars Kinect all looked like like great uses for the device.
And now the big stuff, Halo Anniversary was officially announced. If you don't know, what they have done it essentially reskinned Halo: Combat Evolved with graphic quality close to that of Reach. The really cool part is that the original game is running under the new polish so it not only plays identically but you can turn off the shiny new layer at any time and take a look at the difference. The really, really, cool part is that they are re-imagining the classic multiplayer maps for CE for use with Reaches multiplayer. Team slayer on Blood gulch anyone? And now the grand finale Halo 4 was also announced, however we wont see it until holiday 2012. Although that sounded great overall what they showed was a bunch of stuff we already knew about so all and all not that exciting as far as games go.
There you are, my thoughts on the big three. They are a bit disorganised, but I am still unsure of a clear message from anyone and its been more than a week.What do you think? Was E3 all you hoped for? What was your surprise of the show?
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