It’s been a couple of weeks since E3, and much of it has been done to death. But I held off writing about it because I wanted to digest it all and see how I really felt about things.
Turns out I didn’t really need to do that, as my initial response hasn’t changed – I’m still unimpressed.
For an E3 that had so much build up, so many rumours, and so much damned POTENTIAL, it ended up being so… boring. As a result, I thought I should like to look into why this was the case, because in truth there was some damned cool stuff on show, yet I still found it a little off.
I’d like to go over the press conferences first, because in reality, E3 is all about the conferences, and a little bit about the games on show (unless you’re actually there, in which case the story is probably quite different). Here we go.
Microsoft
I’m not sure what to say about Microsoft. It felt like… well, to be honest, it felt like the Xbox 360 has reached the end of its life. Much of what was on show were existing licences that were reaching their zenith – not a bad thing, but nothing new. And what was Microsoft pushing – what did they think was the big differentiator? Kinect and motion gaming.
Now I’m not about to diss Kinect, as I do believe it’s really cool tech, and consider it to be underutilised at present (although I don’t think that a gimmick needs to be added to every title that is released from now until the end of time), but it just felt like they were saying, “Hey! Look! There’s life in the old dog yet!” and it was… uncomfortable, to say the least. It was a bland presser, and was held up by big name franchises. New Halo? Great. Nothing new for an Xbox conference.
That said, there were some interesting games on show. Modern Warfare 3 and Gears of War 3 were predictably awe inspiring, and the Sesame Street Kinect title just looked rad (hey – I have a toddler, give me a break). But the other games on show felt… Kind of lame. The “advertisement” for Motion Sport Kinect 2 just felt like that – an overacted, strained advertisement. And Star Wars Kinect? Lame. HUGE let down. I’m not against on-rails titles, I’m against shit titles. And that looked really shit. Of course… the Star Wars fan in me will still play it. Le sigh.
Anyway, there was fun to be had, and overall, I’m glad to have watched Microsoft’s presser, but I really think the same old story is starting to get old.
Sony
I really wanted to be blown away by Sony this year. I had huge expectations for PS Vita, and perhaps my feeling of disappointment was due to my increased expectations, but I just felt like the Sony conference wasn’t as impressive as it could have been. To be honest, Sony looked to be erring on the safe side this year, and weren’t talking themselves up like they usually do. In some ways, they were the stray dog with its tail between its legs, and it was a bit sad to see that they didn’t go balls out like they have in the past… Anyway, perhaps it was only me that saw things that way, but it felt… restrained.
Anyway, Vita. I AM impressed and I do want to buy one, but it left me wanting, and I wanted this E3 to answer all my questions – the damned thing will be released this year, goddammit (well… in some places, at least). But what did Sony do? They showed the same friggin’ thing they showed at Tokyo Game Show when the NGP was announced, and they showed some video of the titles being created for it. Oh… and they announced pricing, which was pretty important, I guess. But overall? Meh. I wanted to know details around what they were trying to achieve, but they seemed to shy away from it. And still no firm release date – TGS 2011 isn’t far away…
To be honest, I think Sony has good intentions with Vita, but perhaps they don’t want to out themselves before everything is done and dusted. If PSV players can compete against PS3 players, or if PS3 games can carry over to PSV (with cloud saves) then my dreams are answered, and I’m a happy man. But hey – who knows? We’ll find out soon enough (and these ideas were on show at E3 in some form, they just weren’t outed as outright standard FEATURES).
Apart from that, Sony went through the usual motions, with little fanfare, and things were much like they were with Microsoft. The games looked fun (there were some cool demos, and the ideas behind that Dust 514 game look very interesting indeed), and the next year looks really promising, but the winds of change are stirring.
Nintendo
Here was another announcement that I wanted to be blown away by – the successor to the Wii. Nintendo finally looked to be targetting the hardcore, and things looked promising – and to be honest, the unveiling was impressive at the time – but Wii U just left a bad taste in my mouth (ewww Wii, hehe… sigh). There were a lot of questions left unanswered – as was to be expected – but far worse than that, the questions that were answered just validated a whole bunch of fears…
Here’s just a couple of tasters. Circle pads. WTF, Nintendo – Sony learnt their lesson, why can’t you? Hardcore gamers (and let’s face it, they clearly stated they were targetting hardcore gamers AND casual gamers with Wii U) don’t want Circle pads, they want analogue sticks. So you can take your proprietry control scheme and stick it in your bum.
No DVD/Blu Ray. Look – I understand you want to push down your costs, but I doubt Blu Ray tech REALLY costs that much these days, and I strongly believe that putting a Blu Ray player in the system will increase your sales. How can I suggest this? Because I know a lot of people that have given in and bought a PS3 just because it has a Blu Ray player. And you know what? Having additional functions is just another reason to turn the damned thing on in the first place. My Wii has sat and gathered dust over the years, while both my Xbox and PS3 have performed numerous tasks. Think on that a moment. I don’t want to buy any OTHER Blu Ray player, I’d prefer my gaming systems did it. I’d prefer they did EVERYTHING.
Short-range connection for controller. When I saw this thing unveiled, and heard that you could transfer the game to the controller’s screen if someone else wanted to use the TV, I was blown away. It was sold on that premise alone. FINALLY, I could continue shooting folks in Battlefield from the comfort of my bed, or from the confines of the water closet… But no. Apparently, the goal is for the range to be limited to the room that the main machine is in. What a huge waste of a GREAT idea.
And let’s stop there for now. Truth is, it’s still a good year away, so things are likely to change somewhat. But if you take a quick look at history, you’ll see that Nintendo usually does exactly what they say, and (much like Apple) they don’t bend to what the consumer demands – not immediately, at least. So I don’t think we can expect any of my major complaints to be fixed, although I’m still hoping the wireless range for the controller can be improved…
All of that said, I do harbour some hopes for the system. The idea that you can use the WiiPad as an internet browser while watching TV and what-not – that’s some pretty good added value right there (then again, look at the browser and ‘net integration on the 3DS – I have good reason to be concerned). I guess I can’t dismiss the unit outright, but it could be so much more, and it pains me to see Nintendo overlooking what just seems to be common sense. Oh – and if this system is crippled by another limiting online experience, then it will be the last Nintendo system I buy, I think…
And the rest of the Ninten-show? Well, to be honest – I’m starting to get tired of Nintendo franchises, and as usual, the rest of the show was jam packed with news on upcoming Nintendo same old, same old… Sure, the games are fun – which was recently demonstrated very well by both Kirby’s Epic Yarn and Donkey Kong Country Returns – and part of me thinks COOL every time I see Mario rnuning around doing, well… anything, but there is rarely anything NEW in a Nintendo conference, and that’s a little sad. The 3DS didn’t have any announcements that made me glad to have bought one, and the Wii just needs to go away and die a silent death.
Man, I must be in a bad mood or something.
Other E3 goodness
Anyway, E3 isn’t ALL about the pressers. At least, it’s not supposed to be. But to be honest, there wasn’t much that made me jump for joy this year. There was the obligatory Call of Duty game, as well as its rather formidable opponent in Battlefield 3 (both of which I am very keen for, but the E3 demos didn’t do too much to excite me, apart from looking very sexy). Batman Arkham City – that looks great too, and so does Bioshock Infinite. Oh, and Skyrim? OMG – I can’t wait for that damned game to come out (Bethesda know how to market their product… they had demos – albeit the SAME demo – all over the internet). The Elder Scrolls games are among my favourite titles, so I was probably MOST excited by Skyrim, but… I want E3 to be about new things. New feature announcements are one thing (and the Skyrim demo had a satisfying amount), but new game announcements are so much better. And there wasn’t anything outstanding this year.
So… yeah. Overall, it felt disappointing to me. I felt let down. Perhaps I’m just thinking that PS3 and Xbox 360 have reached the end of the line, and I’m a bit bored by more of the same old crap, but above and beyond that, I was disappointed by Nintendo’s somewhat lacking vision of the future, and also by Sony’s reluctance to share details on their vision of the future of handhelds. I don’t know – perhaps my expectations were higher than they should have been, or perhaps I’m getting grumpy in my old age, but it all just felt tired and overdone this year. Still, I hope to be pleasantly surprised by the reality of things.
/negativity
8-bit Bleep 