So E3 has come and gone, and the news is still coming at pretty steady rate. This E3 had quite a bit more than usual riding on it due to it being the final major show before both the Nintendo Wii and the Sony PS3 are released this fall(November 17 for the PS3, unknown for Wii). Well now that all the big news is out in the open, I feel it's time to throw my opinion into the mix.
There will probably be many posts to follow with commentary on happenings from E3, but the most pressing news to respond to is the moves made by the Big 3: Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. I'm just gonna go down the line for this one.
Nintendo:
For many a fanboy, this was the moment they had been waiting for for years. The next Nintendo system would truly be revealed in all its glory, with working Wii-motes and playable games to shock and amaze. Although we've heard this sentiment many times before, there is a large contingent that believes that this could truly be the system that launches Nintendo back into the console market forefront. While all Nintendo systems have been unique, this one has an ability to truly seperate itself from the PS3 and XBOX 360 and turn the console war into a spectator sport for the Big N.
Nintendo didn't take long to stir up much drama and excitement at their press conference before E3 began in earnest. They pulled out all the stops, showing an incredibly fun looking new Mario game, the wildly anticipated new Gamecube Zelda touting enhanced Wii functionality(fishing anyone?), Metroid Prime 3, the new Super Smash Bros. featuring Solid Snake, and many many more games. After the conference though, the real work began. Nintendo Showed off some 26 playable games in their incredibly busy booth. The lines to try out the much hyped Wii-mote were in a word, epic. The response varied wildly depending on the game, but the sentiment was largely that while it may not come quickly(remember the DS launch), it will be only a matter of time before greatness is achieved by a developer with true imagination and the will to attempt something truly original. I myself saw several games that point towards my buying a Wii at launch, dominated by Super Mario Galaxy. More on that later.
Microsoft:
Few people were focusing too hard on Microsoft going into E3, the fact being that their system had already been to market for some time. There were even those who thought the entire pre-show conference would be a thinly veiled plot to talk about Microsoft's new operating system Vista for 45 minutes before showing the Halo 3 trailer. Thankfully this wasn't the case. Maybe it didn't have the anticipation of the other shows, but there was definitely things to see.
The biggest news (other than Halo 3 of course), was probably the release of Grand Theft Auto 4 this October 17th, both on PS3 and Xbox 360. This is huge news for Xbox owners, because the normal progression has been for them to get an only slightly cleaned up port of the latest GTA a year after Playstation 2 owners. Despite that date not really being that far away, no screens or video of any kind were shown. This isn't really a surprise from Rockstar though, as the last three GTA's have been unleashed upon the world usually with only a month or two worth of serious media coverage. Obviously judging from sales, this hasn't been a big problem. Several other neat things were shown, but many of them are stilll far off. Bioshock and Gears of War are of intense interest to me, but I should probably buy an Xbox 360 before I get too excited.
Sony:
I must admit that I was incredibly curious about how Sony would approach this conference. Many people in the industry suggested that the delays to the PS3 would only worsen, pushing the date back to early 2007. This would of course mean that another important holiday season would be missed as Microsoft and Nintendo ate away at Sony's formidable market share. However the word came down at the Sony Press Conference that the day was set(Nov. 17th), and so was a price. Due to the long list of impressive features that were listed previous to the show for the PS3, many worried the price would be painfully high. Well their fears were confirmed, as Sony announced a two-model approach similar to the 360, selling for $499 and $599 respectively. The thud when that news hit the floor was nothing short of deafening, and as E3 closed only days later, there were already t-shirts vowing a boycott of Sony's expensive machine. The feature list for both systems had also gotten a pretty dramatic trim from previous stats, and there were more than a few angry fans who felt lied to.
However when the dust cleared, there were still games to see. While of course the new Metal Gear Solid and Gran Turismo games looked jaw-dropping, as did Assasin's Creed, everything else as seen through this gamer's eyes was decidedly lackluster. Sure it all looked pretty, but nothing screamed at me and begged to be played. Also there was the obvious fact hanging over the whole thing that for $600, it better be pretty amazing. I can't deny that MGS4 will be hard to stay away from even at that price, but there better be some other games to woo me by that time. Otherwise its the big middle finger to Sony, and I don't think I'm alone.
So there you have it folks, another E3 come and gone and lots to consider. As usual I'll be here to update you as the war wages on.
There will probably be many posts to follow with commentary on happenings from E3, but the most pressing news to respond to is the moves made by the Big 3: Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. I'm just gonna go down the line for this one.
Nintendo:
For many a fanboy, this was the moment they had been waiting for for years. The next Nintendo system would truly be revealed in all its glory, with working Wii-motes and playable games to shock and amaze. Although we've heard this sentiment many times before, there is a large contingent that believes that this could truly be the system that launches Nintendo back into the console market forefront. While all Nintendo systems have been unique, this one has an ability to truly seperate itself from the PS3 and XBOX 360 and turn the console war into a spectator sport for the Big N.
Nintendo didn't take long to stir up much drama and excitement at their press conference before E3 began in earnest. They pulled out all the stops, showing an incredibly fun looking new Mario game, the wildly anticipated new Gamecube Zelda touting enhanced Wii functionality(fishing anyone?), Metroid Prime 3, the new Super Smash Bros. featuring Solid Snake, and many many more games. After the conference though, the real work began. Nintendo Showed off some 26 playable games in their incredibly busy booth. The lines to try out the much hyped Wii-mote were in a word, epic. The response varied wildly depending on the game, but the sentiment was largely that while it may not come quickly(remember the DS launch), it will be only a matter of time before greatness is achieved by a developer with true imagination and the will to attempt something truly original. I myself saw several games that point towards my buying a Wii at launch, dominated by Super Mario Galaxy. More on that later.
Microsoft:
Few people were focusing too hard on Microsoft going into E3, the fact being that their system had already been to market for some time. There were even those who thought the entire pre-show conference would be a thinly veiled plot to talk about Microsoft's new operating system Vista for 45 minutes before showing the Halo 3 trailer. Thankfully this wasn't the case. Maybe it didn't have the anticipation of the other shows, but there was definitely things to see.
The biggest news (other than Halo 3 of course), was probably the release of Grand Theft Auto 4 this October 17th, both on PS3 and Xbox 360. This is huge news for Xbox owners, because the normal progression has been for them to get an only slightly cleaned up port of the latest GTA a year after Playstation 2 owners. Despite that date not really being that far away, no screens or video of any kind were shown. This isn't really a surprise from Rockstar though, as the last three GTA's have been unleashed upon the world usually with only a month or two worth of serious media coverage. Obviously judging from sales, this hasn't been a big problem. Several other neat things were shown, but many of them are stilll far off. Bioshock and Gears of War are of intense interest to me, but I should probably buy an Xbox 360 before I get too excited.
Sony:
I must admit that I was incredibly curious about how Sony would approach this conference. Many people in the industry suggested that the delays to the PS3 would only worsen, pushing the date back to early 2007. This would of course mean that another important holiday season would be missed as Microsoft and Nintendo ate away at Sony's formidable market share. However the word came down at the Sony Press Conference that the day was set(Nov. 17th), and so was a price. Due to the long list of impressive features that were listed previous to the show for the PS3, many worried the price would be painfully high. Well their fears were confirmed, as Sony announced a two-model approach similar to the 360, selling for $499 and $599 respectively. The thud when that news hit the floor was nothing short of deafening, and as E3 closed only days later, there were already t-shirts vowing a boycott of Sony's expensive machine. The feature list for both systems had also gotten a pretty dramatic trim from previous stats, and there were more than a few angry fans who felt lied to.
However when the dust cleared, there were still games to see. While of course the new Metal Gear Solid and Gran Turismo games looked jaw-dropping, as did Assasin's Creed, everything else as seen through this gamer's eyes was decidedly lackluster. Sure it all looked pretty, but nothing screamed at me and begged to be played. Also there was the obvious fact hanging over the whole thing that for $600, it better be pretty amazing. I can't deny that MGS4 will be hard to stay away from even at that price, but there better be some other games to woo me by that time. Otherwise its the big middle finger to Sony, and I don't think I'm alone.
So there you have it folks, another E3 come and gone and lots to consider. As usual I'll be here to update you as the war wages on.
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