the electronic entertainment expo this year was one of the best shows i have seen. while it ended about 2 weeks ago, i'm going to talk about it now.
E3 decided to let it's doors open to the public, or at least the people who could afford tickets, again this year so the show was bigger and badder than last year when it closed it's doors to the public and only let people of the industry and press in. so on with the games.
Microsoft
Microsoft showed that it had lots of money this year during it's press conference, by having Ringo Star and Paul McCartney come to show off the beatles rock band game, Tony Hawk with his latest game Ride, which includes a skateboard without wheels peripheral. and all of their new exclusive titles. Modern Warfare 2, Mass Effect 2, Splinter Cell Conviction, Halo ODST, Halo Reach just to name a few, oh and a Metal Gear Game. Microsoft sure came out swinging. towards the end of their press conference they showed off their shot at motion control with project natal (pronounced Nah-Tahl) a completely hads free way to game. it showed of some really cool features, such as face recognition, because it's too hard to work the profile system, picture scan technology, a microphone, and several other things that seem a bit too cool to be true. Mr. Molyneux showed up to speak about his project with the natal, and praised it like it was the second coming. the game that was showcased buy lion head studios CEO was a kid. quite literally just a kid, but he's got a cool british accent. it was neat to see how the character in the game recognized that the player was a bit worried during the tech demo, either because of facial recognition or voice tone. however it worked the player had a full flegged conversation with this AI. so, if you're worried about your kids not making friends, or if you don't have any yourself you might want to look into this game. microsoft made some announcements that clearly stated that they want their xbox 360 to be the only technological device that anyone uses ever, with their partnerships with facebook, twitter, and last.fm. microsoft has invaded the living room and is taking over it seems, and it looks like they wont stop until every one has an xbox 360.
Nintendo
Nintendo's press conference was like a 3 course dinner, with a bland and uninteresting appetiser, which was the samething you had for lunch(Nintendo bragging about how they still have a vice grip on the handheld market). an equally bland with questionable side dishes for the main course( showcasing new games for the DS, like proffessor layton, and some style game for the girls, several RPGs, golden sun included, and a few more casual games). then nintendo ended the meal with the best desert you've had ever(new metroid game with a side of mario galaxy 2). what i have to say to nintendo is this. yes we know that you still rule the plain of handhelds, yes we know that you have sold more consoles than sony or microsoft combined, yes we know that you still have you're core franchises, and yes we know that you have plenty of people playing games that weren't playing games before. about that last point. what really bothers me is that they would show case games for that causual crowd. for those of you that have no idea what the causal crowd is, it's those people that play peggle, diner dash, cake mania(which are the same games by the way) bejeweled, and other games that were invented soley for the act of killing time. nintendo announced several games of that nature, when people who play said games don't even know that E3 even exists. they only know of it because either their kids or friends who are gamers keep on talking about it even though it ended 2 weeks ago. so nintendo make some games yourself! it's hard to i know, but if you can come up with another unique title like pikmin, which in my opinion is nintendo's latest original franchise and not those Wii instert noun/verb here. it would really be beneficial to you and to the comunity of gamers and game developers alike. people look up to nintendo because they've lasted this long. please don't keep seling yourself out to casual games it's a crying shame what you're doing to yourself nintendo, pick it up. until you do, i'll be playing mass effect on my xbox 360.
Sony
nothing much to tell here due to microsoft buying out some of sony's exclusives(metal gear, final fantasy). sony introduced a new PSP, with nothing all that impressive or new, it no longer requires umds, that's cool...right? and they showed of a wii mote painted black with the playstation symbol slapped on. sweet. they still have good games though, god of war, ratchet and clank, and as word has it, a new game from the team that brought us ICO and Shadow of the colossus.
E3 in general
there were a lot of original games showcased this year at the show. WET, the Sabatour, Brink, Alan Wake, and Brutal legend to name a few. however there was also a lot of titles with the number 2 in them. mass effect 2, modern warfare 2, bioshock 2, left 4 dead 2(6?). it's not that i'm not exited for these games, it's just that they are all sequells, some continuing the story others a completely new episode with the same engine. i'm both proud and appreciative of the original games that are coming out, good on you for making them! but all these sequels. i am indeed looking forward to what happens next in rapture in bioshock, i am looking foward to what is to become of commander shepard in mass effect 2, and what historical figure can i kill next in assassins creed 2. but other games like left 4 dead 2, i though that this was going downloadable content for my game. i like the game left 4 dead, i really do, however 4 campaigns are just not enough, you can only play through them so many times until you can play them with your eyes closed, even with the random elements generator. but oh well thats how the cards fall. all in all it was a good show, and i still would like to go there one of these days. perhaps i'll actually be a video game journalist and be able to publish my thoughts in a magazine, or atleast online and get payed for it. E3 is out there and it's calling to me.
