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E3 2008 Roundup: Focus On The Positive!

Bwana — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:30:32 +0000

Ah yes, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). That conference that all console gamers look forward to. It has a history of providing us with insight into upcoming gaming titles, new features, and new hardware. Over time the conference has lost it’s glitter and mass appeal. Last year’s E3 had it’s moments, but overall, it wasn’t all that impressive. This year was no better.

I’m sad to say, E3 2008′s keynotes from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony were worse than last year. I went on record to call them out in 2007 and seemingly, here I am again to basically do a repeat of last year. Rather than rant on all the poor presentations, I think I’m going to focus on the positive aspects of each keynote and stay there.

Microsoft

Dashboard redesign and Avatar System – I think Microsoft is taking a step in the right direction by improving the Xbox Live experience. The blade system, while not completely gone, was started to show its age compared to Sony’s Home and Nintendo’s Mii avatar system. The concept of “live party” parallels PS Home’s emphasis on gathering friends in a room in order to watch videos, view photos or play a game. It’s pretty clear that Microsoft borrowed some ideas from both Nintendo and Sony, but I can’t blame them for it since Sony and Nintendo have generally done the same.

Final Fantasy XIII comes to 360 - In my mind, this was Microsoft crown achievement of the event. Very few saw this coming and the way they announced it was fairly creative. Even though FFXIII will retain PS3 exclusiviity in Japan, you have to wonder how Sony will recover from such a huge blow. I mean, this is Final Fantasy!! This is a momentum victory for Microsoft which will widen the gap that Sony began to close in 2008. Well done, Microsoft.

Nintendo

Wii Motion Plus – I have mixed feelings about this new peripheral that Nintendo announced. I believe by increasing the accuracy in the existing Wii-mote, they have enabled the way for new types of games. Nintendo announced Wii Sports Resort, which is essentially Wii Sports 2. It shows off the new abilities of the Wii Motion Plus add-on with a sword fight and a “Wave Race” type game. My mixed feelings are derived from Nintendo’s “yet another peripheral” syndrome. How many more do we need? There’s the Nunchuk, the classic controller, the Wii Wheel, the Wii balance board, the Wii gun, and now the Wii Motion plus. Is every new game going to require a new peripheral? We’ll see.

Wii Music – I have mixed feelings about the newly announced Music game, Wii Music, as well. Imagine Rock Band, without the instruments. Wii Music employs the Wii-mote and the nunchuk to simulate movements used in playing instruments. Sound gimmicky? Well, it is. It does look like it’ll be fun for a couple of weeks and on holidays, but, I can see this title collecting dust next to Wii Sports. Nintendo made it a point that they are making it a goal to stay ahead of the game, but it seems like more of the same to me.

Sony

PSN Video Content – Starting tonight, Sony will be offering video content on demand on the Playstation Network. This is one of the few announcements which will come to fruition in the next coming days. While Sony is still playing catch-up in this area, I think they are making strides in the right direction. Why? By offering the ability to transfer downloads the PSP, they are presenting a value-add to owners of the Sony brand. This is standard and high definition video for sale and rental. Good show, Sony. (no pun intended)

Massive Action Game (MAG) – From the OMGWTFBBQ dept, Sony pulls out an unexpected title called Massive Action Game, or MAG. MAG is very early in development but promises a 256 player online experience with 8 man squads in each “world”. Wow? This seems too good to be true and a lot of folks are crying foul until they see it in action. Me? I’m hoping it also comes to PC since I ain’t too good at first person shooters on the PS3. Otherwise, this thing screams I gotta have it. I heard 5 people say right after the announcement, “I’m getting a PS3 for this.” I think this announcement was a must-have given the FFXIII situation. Sony had to restore faith in those who have invested in their brand, and I think announcing MAG was a good start.

As I stated earlier, there were so many things that I didn’t like this E3, and some of them even were stated in the positives. I want to keep the tone of this post positive so that gamers will know that competition between these three companies is constantly driving them to win your loyalty. Very few industries can demonstrate such dedication to delivering new and shiny every single year. I do hope, for the sake of the future E3 conferences, that Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony jazz up their presentations. Sony really impressed me by using LittleBigPlanet to demonstrate business numbers. Hello! Now that’s innovation. I hope Microsoft and Nintendo do something else next year. These presentations are painful to sit through.

Sony attempts to save E3, but fails

Bwana — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 02:04:10 +0000

After my Microsoft and Nintendo rants, I didn’t know if anyone could change my thoughts about this year’s E3. Veronica Belmont hinted on today’s Buzz Out Loud, that the word on the show floor is that this may be the last E3. It’s starting to feel that way. Anyway, let’s talk about Sony.

Sony conducted their E3 press event today and did what everyone expected them to do: Pimp Playstation Home. Playstation Home was announced a few months ago and now is in beta. Jack Tretton began the keynote as a Playstation Home avatar and we saw this theme throughout. Home looks cool and all, but we had seen it all before. Sony then announced a new PSP which has improvements (unlike a Halo edition Xbox 360 which is painted a different color) in the form factor, battery life and video performance departments. A welcome change while keeping the same price of $169. Sony announced PSP entertainment packs that I could care less about which included branded PSPs and exclusive games. So far, it was still a yawner in my mind.

Then Phil Harrison stepped on the stage. It all changed from here. Phil went into further details regarding the improvements of Playstation Home including the ability to lauch stuff from within Home (that’s what I expected anyway) but also, cell phone integration. It was a little surprising to see him upload a picture of the audience from his cell phone to PS Home. Not earth shattering, just surprising.

From this point, Sony went in a fury of game announcements and most notably, new games! One that stood out to me was Echochrome. Oh my God. This game made me tingle the same way LittleBigPlanet did earlier this year. It’s a simple puzzle game that screams brilliance and innovation. That’s what I’m talking about people!!! Nintendo, Microsoft, Listen!! They showed a lot of the same games that Microsoft showed, but in a glancing manner if you will. They didn’t focus on Resident Evil 5, or Rock Band, or Call of Duty 4, but focused on new features and unannounced games (save the Motorstorm demo) They showcased a nice Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer which was completely realtime on the PS3, but it wasn’t actual gameplay. The gameplay will come next week. I’m looking forward to seeing it, because the trailer was amazing.

Sony ended the presentation with probably the most impressive title at E3, Killzone 2. Even though I’m not a fan, it still looked impressive. Very impressive. There was more applause during this presentation than all of the others. Notice I didn’t even mention Heavenly Sword, LittleBigPlanet or Gran Turismo which were expected killer titles for PS3. Sony gave us new stuff to drool over and that’s what E3 is/was all about.

Even with Sony’s presentation, it still couldn’t save an overall lackluster E3. Microsoft and Nintendo produced two total yawners and Sony produced an average E3 presentation. It wasn’t enough to save it though. This year’s E3 is officially a bust says this blogger. I fear, it is the nail in the coffin to the whole conference.

Nintendo continues the yawn fest

Bwana — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 01:15:40 +0000

What is with E3?

First Microsoft, now Nintendo. Nintendo held their media event today at E3, and I gotta say, I’m disappointed. The presentation was ok as Reggie has decent speaking skills, but the actual content was my issue. Sure Nintendo is doing very well in terms of sales of consoles (even though they refuse to ramp up production to meet demand), and they have captured the “essence of casual gaming” if you will. I’ll agree to that. One of my issues with Nintendo has been their lack of *good* 3rd party support. All of their killer titles are Mario or Zelda related, every single one: Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Brothers, and Mario Kart. All of these titles are coming soon and were showcased. There were also a bunch lame videos displaying something we already know. Non-gamers like the Wii. What about those of us who don’t care for these Mario titles? Nintendo offered Wii Fit. Hunh?!?!

Wii Fit uses another type of controller which allows you to do these “mini games” that keep you in shape and track your progress. Nothing groundbreaking, as physical fitness has all kinds of neat toys you could utilize. I understand that Nintendo is trying to encourage “active” gaming, but there’s a much bigger gaming world out there guys, and you’re losing it. Oh and speaking of controllers, they released a cheap looking plastic gun and a driving wheel. You’re at E3, and you’re announcing controllers. This guy on Joystiq comments said it best:

This needs to be said: This was an abysmal showing indicating the future of Nintendo and the Nintendo platforms. Truely a depressing realization for any true gamer. Nintendo is not going to focus on innovative gaming they are just going to sell you more peripherals and mini games.

Whether Wii Fit will “sell” or be “successful” is irrelevant in my mind. The direction Nintendo is going is not one that I like. That’s it folks. That’s all the meat at E3 for Nintendo. There were some 3rd party titles announced: Soul Calibur and Geometry Wars are a couple that come to mind, but nothing impressive. These are ports with the, dare I say, “gimmicky” controls tacked on with a tiny bit of new content. Where is the Gears of War for the Wii? Where is the Resistance Fall of Man or Motorstorm for Wii? Where are the games Nintendo?

Sigh, anyone want my Wii? (LOL)

E3 kicks off with a yawn

Bwana — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:08:55 +0000

Last night, Microsoft conducted a press event at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. I watched the event on G4 and streamed it live on bwana.tv. If you wish to see a detailed list of what was announced, visit xbox360fanboy for ample drooling and over-excitement. Overall, it was a yawner. The presentation itself was poorly done with lots of errors and awkward moments, and the announcements were mostly predictable and “ho-hum”. The only real surprise was the Disney partnership, since AppleTV is indirectly competing with the Xbox 360. I wonder if Steve Jobs knew about this, or was he consumed with the iPhone launch.

At any rate, some cool games were Mass Effect, Assassin’s Creed, and Bio Shock. Call of Duty 4 was clearly the best game visually which was surprising since Microsoft puts Halo 3 on a pedestal. Personally, I never was interested in Halo since I’ve pretty much seen it all before in games such as Tribes years ago. But hey, FPS fun is not always about innovation so I don’t blame people for getting into it with their friends. Oh yeah, there was an announcement regarding a new Halo edition 360 model. It got exactly 3 claps from the audience and a yawn from me. Let’s hope Nintendo and Sony do something more exciting today or this E3 will officially be a bust.