E3 2010

E3 has come and passed yet again and this year's E3 was simply fantastic. Lots of nice reveals from the industry but also some disappointments. I know this recap is a little late but I needed a bit to decompress from following the actual event not to mention I finally got around to some back catalog PS3 games in Metal Gear Solid 4 and Heavy Rain; both of which I found to be fantastic titles.

Okay, lets start off here. E3 kicked off with Microsoft's press conference as per usual so that's where we'll begin.

1) Microsoft - For the last few years Microsoft has done a great job of opening the event. Last year we got treated to a live demonstration of Beatles: Rock Band and an on stage appearance by Paul and Ringo. They pulled out a lot of stunts last year. This year however seemed a little subdued in comparison. Sure they started off with some high octane stuff with a demo of Call of Duty: Black Ops but it failed to maintain that momentum. And I'm not saying what they showed was necessarily bad, but it didn't hold the same level of hype and excitement compared to previous years. I think the main problem was that they focused on Kinect far more than they needed to. Looking back there weren't many games that were actually demo'd that weren't using Kinect. I think for your average consumer, that's a problem.

Here's what I liked about the Microsoft conference.

 - Metal Gear Solid: Rising

 - Call of Duty: Black Ops

 - Fable 3

Short list? Yea. That's mainly because almost everything else that was shown was for the Kinect add on. You have to market your new hardware add-on, yea, but you know what else you have to do? Highlight the non Kinect titles that will be released later this year. X-10 is come and gone and Microsoft doesn't usually have a big presence at the Tokyo Game Show so that basically was their chance to show off a lot of big titles that are coming in the next couple months. And to be honest, even though Halo is their flagship title, considering so many people got to play it in the beta I think showing a lengthy demo of it was a bad move. No matter how good the space battles look. They closed out by announcing the brand new slim 360 model. Bigger hard drive, sleek new design. Badly kept secret but that's one sexy looking piece of machinery so I'll give them bonus points for that.

2) Nintendo - Completely the opposite of what I was expecting here. I was shocked that Nintendo didn't do their usual move of coming out and highlighting facts and figures in front of the crowd. What did they do instead? They came out the gates running as they introduced a brand new Zelda title with a lengthy demo to follow. Also on the way was a new Mario sports title, the return of Donkey Kong, and a new Kirby game. They also gave a release date to Metroid: Other M. They did this while also introducing their new 3DS hardware. 

3-D gaming is going to be the next wave, or so marketing executives seem to think and Nintendo is hopping on that boat after starting the motion gaming revolution so many years ago. The list of developers on board ranged from the likes of EA, Konami, and Ubisoft. No date and price were given though they did have models on hand for journalists to demo and a big reveal in that the rumored Kid Icarus project that was long thought dead was in fact a 3DS title. Nintendo really had a lot of show off here and they did it effectively. They didn't linger too long on any one product and thus gave all their hardware and software a fair shake at being shown. They still stand as the best conference of the show to me. Although they're followed closely by..

3) Sony - Sony always takes the road less traveled and I'll never understand why. But in their own way, they seem to know what they're doing and manage to be successful. This year was no different. They followed Nintendo's lead in introducing their own brand of 3-D gaming as they demo'd Killzone 3 which looked absolutely magnificent. David Jaffe was on board to announce the new Twisted Metal game and we got glimpses of some of Sony's 3D lineup which included the long awaited Gran Turismo 5, Sly Cooper's return in the Sly Collection, and Crysis 2. Of course one of their biggest reveals was Valve's commitment to the PS3 as they are bringing Portal 2 to the system, claiming the "PS3 version is the absolute best" version of the game. They pulled no punches.

Sony started a new campaign for the PSP, making sure to emphasize the size of the PSP library. Considering they dropped the PSPGo last year, there wasn't really much focus on the hardware side of the PSP, strictly the software which is good when they have so many titles coming out for it in the upcoming year. Also announced was the Playstation subscription service for the Playstation Network and lastly, the Playstation Move. Couldn't forget that Playstation was making their own venture in the motion gaming business. They didn't spend too much time on it but the couple of games they demo'd

Overall all three conferences showed a good look into what the rest of the year holds for us gamers. Granted, some conferences more than others but we have a good idea of what to expect. If I had to rank the shows I'd say Nintendo came in at number one, followed by Sony and then Microsoft. I really just think Microsoft missed the boat on announcing their fall line up. Not to mention Sony may have stolen some of their thunder in announcing that the Move would be priced at $49.99 while it seems like Kinect is gonna be more in the range of $149.99. Motion gaming appeals mainly to the casual gamer and that's who they're trying to attract. Here's the thing though, you can buy a Wii and motion plus and have your motion gaming fix or buy a 360 Slim and Kinect. When you do the math, it's better to get the Wii and Motion Plus unless you already have a 360. 

I get it's a very advanced piece of technology, but you may be pricing yourself out of the motion wars. That is unless they're banking on selling a lot of these to casual gamers who already have 360s. Time will tell though.  Now that the show is passed I can get back to regular posting and tweeting.