Some Musings on 2011 E3

Courtesy of Game Fluke

Right. E3.

As is tradition, I watched all three conferences (Sony on a recorded stream the next day due to its 1AM live showing) and provided my usual sarcastic responses to the games, people and announcements on Twitter.

It was good to see a healthy amount of cynicism directed at everything Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft showed. My personal responses to the Twitter community were all in jest. Just because I was sarky to everything, didn’t mean I wasn’t impressed. It’s merely because there was enough wooping and fanboi’ism on Twitter that another person creaming wasn’t really needed.

So, what the hell happened?

Overall

The biggest thing worth noting is that Valve were yet again missing with Half Life. I’d blogged the weekend before the 5 things I wished to see this year, before capping it at one. Never mind though, they’re probably hard at work on the series in between their mountain-of-money-skiing.

Back to the big three – Microsoft was abysmal. Sony actually impressed me. Nintendo, well, we’ll get to that. uGet me? I’ll also weigh in with Ubisoft and EA before the blog’s up.

Microcrap

There has never been a more apt GIF (thanks Mike!) in the history of the internet for Microsoft’s keynote. Kinect Kinect Kinect. Everything must be Kinected. Nevermind the audience that’s supported you for years and helped you reach the point you have, they can go waggle themselves to sleep. CoD Generic Shooter III opened. Lara Bourne: Running Simulator came second. Star Wars Lite with Kinect. Massive Effect Three.

Then some rubbish about UFC and pressing buttons while it shows. EA popped up, Live TV appeared, Fable was destroyed. Hyperactive fake kids, some Disneyland Kinect Adventures clone showcased. ZZZ.

It was seriously weak. Gears of War III was paraded to the expected cheers. Halo HD (Hi, Die) edition was shown along with Just Dance 2: Booty Edition and eventually, the already leaked Halo Snore…sorry…4 capped things off.

Dull, unsurprising and quite worrying. (I own, but never play my Kinect)

So-lonely

Tada! The Vita. The PSV looked generally impressive. It was running Uncharted: Mini Edition to a mouthwatering effect. Then a Diablo clone was shown. Then the ten minute battery life of the super-handheld-iDS-touchy-feeling-slab ran out.

Oddly I want one. It looks like the PSP done right and that lasted me four years, maybe more, before I sold it early 2011. With the PS3, Uncharted continued to justify a PS3 purchase while EVE dropped a MP shooter that intriguingly links to the CCP developed MMO on PC.

There was a fancy PS3DTV that supposedly has a cool faux split-screen effect to allow two people to play at once.

Starhawk also popped up with a CG trailer that looked as though it was ripped from the Core Vs. Arm Total Annihilation FMV trailer.

Helicopters also exploded – the main trend for the entire E3 conference.

uSayWhat?

I need a 3DS. Nintendo finally showed off a portfolio that justifies the purchase of one. Mario Kart, Mario, Luigi’s Mansion, Kid Icarus and Starfox. Poke-catch-them-in-the-street-huh?-mon edition as well. To be honest, Nintendo had a strong conference, one of the best from the three in recent years.

I personally didn’t spooge every second (unlike a lot of people on Twitter), but they did do very well. The 3DS is extremely cool and looks like it’s getting the support it deserves.

The WiiU, Wii-U, Wii U also showed up to confusing effect. Sorry Chris, I understand you ‘got it’ but I (like many) needed your help explaining what it was. To save time, I’ve pasted my thoughts from the GamePress forums:

I watched the whole thing and it wasn’t until I chatted to several people on Twitter that I understood what the hell it was. That’s not a good press conference, regardless of the product or the innovation on show. It should explain clearly what it is and how it works.

On the actual topic of the Wii U (the name’s what also confused me because I thought it was something directly related to the Wii, which it is, but it’s not…), while it might be (or suggested to be) more powerful than the current crop (it won’t beat my PC), it has surprised me that it’s taken this long. If the graphical leap is massive, then it’ll do well with the hardcore.

If there’s serious innovation with the controller (I can’t imagine it being comfortable for anything major hardcore, it’s massive after all) then props to Nintendo. If you don’t own any next gen devices, obviously it’s a valid purchase choice  if you’re into bigger titles. If you own a Wii and just that, it’s a logical step up.

It has however taken them a long time to come about with this – many people will already own a ‘high-def’ system and are ingrained with community and cost in it. It won’t make them shift.

Only time will tell what it’s like, but investors were hardly impressed.

On Drugs

Seriously Ubisoft, (remember this?). Dick jokes? Mr Caffeine. This will summarise.

EA? Add 12 to every title and show ME3 again. Also, don’t forget some casu… OH HOLY CRAP LOOK AT BF3.

Thanks to Daniel for prompting this blog and Sinan for his awesome 143 Word reviews of the conferences.

Tagged: 2011, E3, E3 Thoughts, gaming, marco fiori, Microsoft, Nintendo, PSV, Sony, Vita, Wii U, WiiU