So the first one I saw was Microsoft's conferense, which was good, but still worst of the three. Of course, a lot of the show was about their upcoming motion sensing camera killer machine thing, Project Natal. Or as it is now known, Xbox Kinect, a name I'm torn about. It makes sense and all but it just sounds wrong. Then again, that's what everyone thought about the Nintendo Wii when it first launched, and look how that turned out. Anyway, it isn't about the device's name, it's about it's capabilities, which from what was shown was very impressive. It may not have any titles of interest for me personally, but seeing what it was capable of was impressive none the less. Much like the Wii, Kinect is marketed towards a more casual crowd, which clearly shows through the titles they demonstrated. Think Wii Sports, Wii Fit and so on, but with better graphics and from the looks of things, even better controls. The thing about Kinect is that it isn't just a controller, it's a device you put in front of your TV (directed at you, not the TV) that allows you to control your games by scanning and recognising your entire body. So combine my Wii comparison with better graphics and that and you'll have a good idea of what Kinect is all about.
Now, the bad thing about it is that it took up most of Microsoft's show, which is kind of boring if casual games aren't your thing. They did of course show other games as well, such as Gears of War 3, Fable III, Halo: Reach and bunch of other non-Xbox 360 exclusive titles. What was shown of Gears of War 3 wasn't much, but it made me interested at least. Cliff Bleszinski showed off some of the 4-player co-op action of the game, which featured mutating lambent (bad guys) and female COG soldiers. All of which made me excited, but more about seeing how the story turns out than anything else. I mean, don't get me wrong, it looked great and all, but in the end it was pretty much more Gears of War. With sexy ladies and mutating monsters in four player co-op, so it's all good! Other than that, the only other exclusive game that interested me was Fable III. Peter Molyneux came on stage, talked for a while and then presented us with a trailer. It didn't show any gameplay of it other than in trailer-form, but my love for it's predecessors is enough for me to be happy about the promise of another game in the series. What they did show wasn't all that impressive really, but they didn't show much at all, so I guess we'll see how that one turns out. As I mentioned, they also showed off Halo: Reach, but since I have absolutely no interest in that game or that series in general, I didn't pay much attention to it. But hey, I guess it makes the Halo fanboys happy, right?
The day after it was time for Nintendo's and Sony's press conferences, but one at a time makes writing easier, so I'll start with Nintendo's. They started out by showing off a new Zelda game, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Again, I've never played nor been interested in the Zelda games, so I don't have much interest in a new game in the series. What I can say is that Shigeru Miyamoto came out on stage to demonstrate it. To me, it looked very much like Twilight Princess but brighter, with new controls and new gadgets and weapons. The demonstration had a few technical issues with the Wii Motion Plus, which didn't do too much damage, but it's a shame that they couldn't show it off properly. At least for the people who cares. Anyway, the show went on and they went on to talk about numbers here and there, and how the general misconception that the Wii is a fad, is WRONG! Proven by sales figures. Then they started showing off some new games in trailer form, such as Kirby's Epic Yarn, Disney's Epic Mickey, Mario Sports Mix and so on. I say "and so on", because I have no real interest in any of those games, but what I do have an interest in is Donkey Kong Country Returns, which was announced at their briefing. It isn't a remake, but an entirely new game for the Wii. It did have some of the same music though, but that's fine by me, because the music in that game is great! They showed a little bit of it in the form of a trailer, and judging from that, it looks very much like the old school gameplay you know and love, but with better graphics, new levels and probably a couple of new game-mechanics as well. So I'm officially stoked about it, and it will probably be the next Wii game I buy, something I haven't done since I bought the first Super Mario Galaxy.
Now the other big thing at Nintendo's press conference was of course, the Nintendo 3DS. Their upcoming portable successor to the DSi. And man oh man, what an awesome little machine it is, or at least seems to be. It's pretty much a DSi with better graphical capabilites as well as the ability to show it's image in 3D, as well as taking pictures with it's three built-in lenses, also viewable in full 3D. All without the need for 3D-glasses, so it will definately be interesting to see how well it works when I can finally get my hands on one. Even if that may be a good while away. They also announced a slew of developers that had signed with them to make games for the N3DS, and I mean a lot of them. And it wasn't just Nintendo and some guys you've never heard of, but big developers like EA, Activision, Harmonix and so on. So yeah, interesting stuff indeed!So, on to the third of the three, Sony. Their show had some great stuff for us to enjoy, maybe even so great that they stole the show for me. The show pretty much starts with them telling us that 3D is big and here to stay, and by telling us about Killzone 3 and how it will be 3D-enabled when it launches next year. Subsequently followed by some gameplay in 3D, which doesn't really do much for people like me who are watching online, but they gave the audience that was present 3D-glasses and urged them to put them on. I can't really say anything about the 3D in the game but what I do see was graphically impressive, just like Killzone 2 was. Other than that, though, there really isn't much of interest to me about the Killzone games. Sure, they look good, but from what little I played of the second one in the series, it just felt like your run of the mill shooter. Albeit a really, really good looking one. Then they went on to talk about how they are giving the PSP a big marketing boost with great deals and new games. On top of that, we supposedly need to "step our game up" with the PSP, because that's the only place you can do that according to Kevin Butler and some kid in their commercial for it. While that's all fine and good, I and probably everyone else who watched was disappointed, since we were all suspecting Sony to say something about a rumoured PSP 2. But no, they're sticking with the current PSP, which I think can work, but I doubt it will, unless they start releasing really, really good games for it. They did announce new games, but given it's success in the annals of history, I don't think it'll work this time either.
Of course, since both Microsoft and Nintendo are doing it, so are Sony. I'm talking about motion sensing technolgy. Something they're calling Playstation Move. It looks pretty much like the standard Wii controllers, but with a big glowing ball on top. When they showed off games for it, it was more or less the same deal as with their competitors, very casual focused games, sport games and cutesy throwing stuff-games. However, they seem to have more 'real' games coming to it than both Microsoft and Nintendo, which is good. It seems to work well enough, but there wasn't anything that got me excited.--Stand by, for an important announcement from the Aperture Science Emergency Surprise System: Deploying surprise in 3... 2... 1...--
Portal 2! PORTAL 2! At SONY's press conference! Aperture Science had previous to E3 announced that there would be a surprise at the event. But I doubt anyone had expected it to be at Sony's conference, although I must admit that I had a sneaky suspicion while watching the earlier parts of it, that it would be here. Why? Because it hadn't appeared as Microsoft's conference, nor at Nintendo's, so where else could it be? Especially since Gabe Newell, founder of Valve, had been very outspoken about what he thought of the PS3 a few years back (it wasn't pleasant). So yeah, surprise indeed! Gabe Newell entered the stage as soon as GlaDOS had announced and deployed the mentioned surprise. He goes on to tell us that Portal 2 will be available on the PS3, and not only that, but it will be the best version of it on any home console. It will also use Steam throught the PS3 for automatic updates, Steam achievements and so on. I'm guessing that's a big part of why Gabe went with Sony for this one, the ability to update his game at will, without Sony having to approve everything first. A process he had to go through with Microsoft. After that announcement he gave us a very cool looking trailer, in which we see GlaDOS booting up and what looks like rebuilding the Aperture Science facilities. Telling us: "It's been a loooong time, how have you been? I think we can put our difference behind us. For science. You monster.". While watching this, I am of course giddy as hell and overjoyed by just hearing GlaDOS's sweet, sweet voice again. So I am more hyped than ever about Portal 2, and I can't wait till I get to play it next year.
After that there was one more surprise, they showed a trailer that showed two cab drivers arguing about some car combat games. One of the drivers leaves, and the other, cigar smoking driver throws away his cigar. The camera follows the cigar as it falls to the ground, where it is subsequently picked up by none other than Sweet Tooth from Twisted Metal, using it to set his head on fire, and telling us that "it's good to be back!". After that, David Jaffe of Eat, Sleep, Play, Inc entered the stage and showed us some gameplay from the new Twisted Metal game. I haven't played any of the previous games in the series, but I've always enjoyed it's dark and gritty style. So I guess time will tell if this game will be any different. With that said, I have to say that while watching them play it, all I could think about was how much I liked Vigilante 8 back in the day.And that, my friends, is it for today. My highlights and thoughts of the big three's press conferences. There is undoubtedly stuff I've forgotten or have been too lazy to go back and add, and I will do so tomorrow. Other than that, since E3 isn't over yet, I will be updating with more jibberish about more games during the week.
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