June 15th-17th, 2010
Yep, it's almost that time of year again. E3...the biggest press related gaming conference this side of the globe (some argue the Tokyo Game Show is more significant). So to recap the importance of the event to the non-gamer readers:
E3 (Electronics Entertainment Expo) is the time and place where electronic companies from around the globe come in and present what is currently in the works and what to expect for the next year or so. This is usually the time when gamers get a glimpse of trailers, gameplay or demos of upcoming titles or simply when gamers find out about new titles that will be in the works. The event is not open to the public but journalists are allowed to use modern tech (live feeds, social networking) to bring all the news to the public. So in essence, this event sets the tone for the gaming world since if a major title is revealed it could push those on the fence about purchasing that game or console to make the jump.
In this post I will try and address what I consider are things that should be seen at this year's E3 with regards to the 3 gaming companies: Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony. It'll be a mix of predictions as well as expectations so hopefully I address as much as I can, or at least that I can think of right now.
Ninty
A good title to justify a Wii purchase?
Without getting into a flame war, which i probably will allude to through this post, I personally never have considered the Wii as a direct competitor of the 360 or PS3. However, once must recognize the success of this console to date and so to that I tip my hat. My reluctance to purchase this console wasn't so much that it wasn't fully HD capable or that it didn't offer many features that came standard with the other 2 (watching DVDs, a decent online network), for me it was the games. From what I saw, Wii gamers were drawn in by Wii Sports, Wii Fit and the good ole plumber cow, Mario. To me, these titles didn't feel 'hardcore enough' and given that most of the non-Nintendo titles were mediocre when they were reviewed, I felt that it didn't make sense to get a console for just a few games.
During 2009 we found out that an upcoming Metroid title for the Wii was being developed by Team Ninja who are better known for their work on the recent Ninja Gaiden as well as the Dead or Alive series.
Why I haven't gotten any of these titles, I don't know.
Any who from sample gameplay/trailers the title does seem to have a Ninja Gaiden influence and being a Metroid title, I'm sure it won't let down. Recently, the new Super Mario Galaxy 2 has been rolling up the excellent review scores around the globe. It currently has a Metacritic average of 98 based on 27 reviews which is extraordinary.
Aside from the Metroid title, there's not many other titles that I think of that are coming up this year, thus E3 would be a good time for Ninty to tell us about what else we can expect. I suppose a new Zelda title wouldn't hurt but like the plumber, the cow needs to be let in the pasture for a while before you can milk it for good milk. There have been rumors of a new HD Wii but they haven't really surfaced much though it wouldn't surprise me since the theme of this year's E3 will probably be motion tech.
As far as the hand held market, Ninty has a good hold of it in the US but not in Japan. Will the 3d DS help maintain dominance? What new features can we expect with the device? Would a phone integration help it tap into more consumers? I'm sure I could go on about the handhelds but I don't intend to right now.
So to summarize Ninty at E3:
-Show more Metroid gameplay before release (August)
-Surprise us with new titles on the system (Starfox? dare I say Kid Icarus?)
-Give Sony and Microsoft access to the Virtual Arcade so as to make more money off of it
-If a new console is introduced, give current Wii owners a deal/incentive on why it's in their best (financial) interest to make the move up
-No more Mario. The plumber needs some time to rest and given the positive response to Galaxy 2, it'd be best to quit now and perhaps bring him back in 4-5 years.
-Show the 3d DS in action. I hear that no glasses will be necessary, prove it.
Microsoft
Now for the heavyweights, first up Microsoft.
As I mentioned earlier, this year's E3 may be seen as the year of motion tech since Microsoft and Sony are releasing peripherals that they hope will bring some Wii owners into their console reaches. As we know, Microsoft is taking a bold step with its project Natal by eliminating all need for controllers or any peripheral other than one's own body. At a press event last year they demonstrated the capabilities of the device as being able to recognize body gestures and movements to facial and voice recognition. Indeed, this is quite an impressive device. That is, if it can execute everything as it claims to. Rarely if ever, has Natal done a live demo or one that isn't pre-rendered to show it in action. As a gamer, I feel that they are either keeping things under wraps for a massive unveiling of the device in action, or they haven't worked out all the bugs just yet. In any event, we shall see this device at E3 and I'm hoping it delivers because of the controller-less concept.
As far as my criticism on this device, I just have a couple. The first one is the games in general. Over the past weeks there's been articles/rumors posted on the internet about developers having to use up a lot of the CPU's power to run the device. I understand that computing all the different gestures and actions for all people in play (I think you can have up to 4 different people playing at once) takes power, but will this bring down the remaining cpu's power and thus produce games that don't look or play as good as one would expect them to? Then again, perhaps the amount of power is minimal and games will not be affected, but this goes back to my point about not seeing enough of it at the moment. While it can be argued that since the device won't hit store shelves until Christmas 2010 which would justify Microsoft not being in a rush to show live demos, I would also argue that if Sony's Move is released in the fall, the lack of Natal in action may have casual gamers going for Sony's device since it'll be out sooner.
My second criticism for Natal would be the fact that a controller less device would prevent any type of shooter from being played properly. Now before you all give me reasons why I'm wrong, here's reasons why I think it will be a problem. Shooters can't be played if you can't well, shoot. Though it's impressive that Natal can detect gestures, I haven't heard anything about detecting finger gestures and movements. Unless it's that precise, people would have a hard time being able to get their character to pull the trigger. I suppose the voice recognition could serve as a cue to fire but who wants to keep saying "Fire" over and over? There's also the issue of turning. Unless the game consists of moving forward, there's no way to turn around more than perhaps 45-60 degrees without losing site of the TV unless you have a multiple screen curve setup. Sure, there can be a 'set' gesture to let the game know you want to turn left or right (again voice?) but when in the heat of battle, this can become quite tedious and frustrating. And yes, a controller would help with this but then what's the point of promoting a peripheral free device?
Why do I make a big deal out of shooters? Well, if you haven't guessed it by now, I can guarantee that a majority of 360 owners are FPS fans. Nothing wrong with that. But when you have a new device in the works, it's very helpful if you can incorporate it into past games or future ones. Think about it, [supposedly] 40 million consoles around the globe, if you can incorporate Natal to a shooter title, even a 1-5% adoption rate is well worth it. More so if you can set up some incentive for current console owners to get the new device.
Now, perhaps the angle of Natal is strictly to get the Wii audience, which is fine because it's a large friggin market. But, they shouldn't forget about their core audience which have kept the console going. I may be wrong on all my accounts and I actually hope Natal proves me wrong on this shooter issue because I do believe it's a device that if properly implemented is something I would like to have in my home .
As far as titles. I'm sure we're all aware of Halo Reach and of the 3rd Gears of War title and of Fable 3. The other titles that I can think of are multiplats: LA Noire, Metal Gear Solid Rising, Castlevania Lords of Shadow. So perhaps we'll have a surprise announcement of a new IP or a new installment in a series. I also have read/heard rumors of a Slim Xbox 360. I don't know much about it but if slim means cheaper [and hopefully more reliable], then it'd be a nice option for those of us that haven't gotten a 360 yet.
So to summarize Microsoft at E3:
-Show Natal in action, not just on stage but w/demos set up for the journalists
-Surprise us with new titles that aren't shooters
-If a slim exists, give us price and features
-Tell us why Live is or will remain better than a Premium PSN
Sony
Finally, Sony. Now, perhaps because I am a Sony follower, a fanboy at times, I will argue that 2009's E3 should have been dubbed "The Sony Show" because most of the 'wows' and surprises came from Sony:
-gameplay of 2009's Game of the Year Uncharted 2
-God of War 3 demo
-1st official trailer for Gran Turismo 5
-Announcement of Final Fantasy XIV
-Kojima's announcement of Peace Walker for the PSP
-First look at the motion controllers now know as Move
-Tease of Agent by Rockstar
I won't go into detail about the Move, but as far as the good aspects of the device: better accuracy than the Wii, buttons that allow for movement in any type of game, supposedly low price ($100-$60). As far as criticism on the move, my major 'beef' is that it's a Wii-HD simply stated. I think that it's a bit on the late side of motion controls' life cycle and so the Move isn't going to capture as much of an audience as if it had been released a year ago. Since there's not many titles that we're aware of for the Move, E3 would be a good time to show and demonstrate just why it's logical to go from the Wii to the PS3 or what the Move offers that the Wii can't. Despite the success of the Wii, I don't think that entering the motion market is really something that Sony and Microsoft needed to do but any attempt to get some gamers to adopt a console besides the Wii is good enough for them. So in summary, the Move needs good games in order to really stand out, otherwise it'll get ignored by Wii owners or overshadowed by Natal.
Now onto the games.
Last year Sony emphasized a theme for their console: "only possible on ps3" as well as arguing that "it was all about the software." While I would agree that [exclusive] games do indeed set a system apart from another, it seems most people don't truly believe that as a recent Nielsen study showed that PS3's were being purchased for the Blu-Ray function rather than for the exclusives. So go figure, lol.
There's a bunch of rumors which most likely will come true (like last year's worst kept secret: PSP Go!). Among these: PSN premium service and a PSP2. The consensus seems that the PSN+ would allow for unlimited downloads of PS1 classics, and first dibs on Betas as well as unlimited media (videos) of some manner. There's also a recent confirmation of HBO shows coming to PSN for download. As far as a PSP2, rumors say that it will be touch screen but obviously w/a PSP button layout. Last year I heard about a Playstation phone and so perhaps this PSP2 will have call capabilities, we'll see.
As far as games, there's a lot of rumors about what we will see and what we may hear about. I'll jump to the summary now since this post is getting a bit tiresome (like your mom).
Summary for Sony at E3
-PSP2? Why should we buy it after the failure of the Go!?
-Premium Service, what is the right price and features?
-Confirmation of titles: Aside Killzone 3; Infamous 2, Resistance 3?
-Release date confirmations: Gran Turismo 5, Final Fantasy Versus XIII (is it still exclusive?), Final Fantasy XIV, Last Guardian or Agent trailers/gameplay?
-Jaffe's secret project: he says no new Twisted Metal yet we've been teased about the contrary. Given he's the man behind God of War 1 and the previous Twisted Metals I give him the benefit of the doubt that his newest product will be awesome
-Kojima's secret title(s): he used 'mecha' to describe a project he was working on (Zone of the Enders 3?)
-3d gaming: demo I guess?
-Titles for the Move
So as you can see, this year's E3 can be bigger than last years. A lot of things are being kept under wraps by all companies (as they should) and other things we've already come to confirm by now thanks to the internet. So hopefully i can come back and see where I predicted right and where I didn't.
Honorable Mentions:
-Capcom says it'll announce a 'bomb shell' of a title at this year's E3 (new Devil May Cry, new Onimusha? New Mega Man?)
-Virgin games may make a return. Yeah, that company that made games back in NES and I think some SNES games; also an airline. Their boss said he'd make an announcement at E3 so we'll see what announcement this is.
-New titles from Ubisoft, EA, Activision? Recall that Activision signed a contract w/Bungie so we may be seeing something new from the latter for all platforms. Also, Insomniac has confirmed a joint partnership w/EA to make some multiplats.
phew, so much to say. Thanks for reading friends.
Aside from the Metroid title, there's not many other titles that I think of that are coming up this year, thus E3 would be a good time for Ninty to tell us about what else we can expect. I suppose a new Zelda title wouldn't hurt but like the plumber, the cow needs to be let in the pasture for a while before you can milk it for good milk. There have been rumors of a new HD Wii but they haven't really surfaced much though it wouldn't surprise me since the theme of this year's E3 will probably be motion tech.
As far as the hand held market, Ninty has a good hold of it in the US but not in Japan. Will the 3d DS help maintain dominance? What new features can we expect with the device? Would a phone integration help it tap into more consumers? I'm sure I could go on about the handhelds but I don't intend to right now.
So to summarize Ninty at E3:
-Show more Metroid gameplay before release (August)
-Surprise us with new titles on the system (Starfox? dare I say Kid Icarus?)
-Give Sony and Microsoft access to the Virtual Arcade so as to make more money off of it
-If a new console is introduced, give current Wii owners a deal/incentive on why it's in their best (financial) interest to make the move up
-No more Mario. The plumber needs some time to rest and given the positive response to Galaxy 2, it'd be best to quit now and perhaps bring him back in 4-5 years.
-Show the 3d DS in action. I hear that no glasses will be necessary, prove it.
Microsoft
Live Demo?
Now for the heavyweights, first up Microsoft.
As I mentioned earlier, this year's E3 may be seen as the year of motion tech since Microsoft and Sony are releasing peripherals that they hope will bring some Wii owners into their console reaches. As we know, Microsoft is taking a bold step with its project Natal by eliminating all need for controllers or any peripheral other than one's own body. At a press event last year they demonstrated the capabilities of the device as being able to recognize body gestures and movements to facial and voice recognition. Indeed, this is quite an impressive device. That is, if it can execute everything as it claims to. Rarely if ever, has Natal done a live demo or one that isn't pre-rendered to show it in action. As a gamer, I feel that they are either keeping things under wraps for a massive unveiling of the device in action, or they haven't worked out all the bugs just yet. In any event, we shall see this device at E3 and I'm hoping it delivers because of the controller-less concept.
As far as my criticism on this device, I just have a couple. The first one is the games in general. Over the past weeks there's been articles/rumors posted on the internet about developers having to use up a lot of the CPU's power to run the device. I understand that computing all the different gestures and actions for all people in play (I think you can have up to 4 different people playing at once) takes power, but will this bring down the remaining cpu's power and thus produce games that don't look or play as good as one would expect them to? Then again, perhaps the amount of power is minimal and games will not be affected, but this goes back to my point about not seeing enough of it at the moment. While it can be argued that since the device won't hit store shelves until Christmas 2010 which would justify Microsoft not being in a rush to show live demos, I would also argue that if Sony's Move is released in the fall, the lack of Natal in action may have casual gamers going for Sony's device since it'll be out sooner.
If 3d is incorporated, even better for it.
My second criticism for Natal would be the fact that a controller less device would prevent any type of shooter from being played properly. Now before you all give me reasons why I'm wrong, here's reasons why I think it will be a problem. Shooters can't be played if you can't well, shoot. Though it's impressive that Natal can detect gestures, I haven't heard anything about detecting finger gestures and movements. Unless it's that precise, people would have a hard time being able to get their character to pull the trigger. I suppose the voice recognition could serve as a cue to fire but who wants to keep saying "Fire" over and over? There's also the issue of turning. Unless the game consists of moving forward, there's no way to turn around more than perhaps 45-60 degrees without losing site of the TV unless you have a multiple screen curve setup. Sure, there can be a 'set' gesture to let the game know you want to turn left or right (again voice?) but when in the heat of battle, this can become quite tedious and frustrating. And yes, a controller would help with this but then what's the point of promoting a peripheral free device?
Just point and say "pew pew"
Why do I make a big deal out of shooters? Well, if you haven't guessed it by now, I can guarantee that a majority of 360 owners are FPS fans. Nothing wrong with that. But when you have a new device in the works, it's very helpful if you can incorporate it into past games or future ones. Think about it, [supposedly] 40 million consoles around the globe, if you can incorporate Natal to a shooter title, even a 1-5% adoption rate is well worth it. More so if you can set up some incentive for current console owners to get the new device.
Now, perhaps the angle of Natal is strictly to get the Wii audience, which is fine because it's a large friggin market. But, they shouldn't forget about their core audience which have kept the console going. I may be wrong on all my accounts and I actually hope Natal proves me wrong on this shooter issue because I do believe it's a device that if properly implemented is something I would like to have in my home .
As far as titles. I'm sure we're all aware of Halo Reach and of the 3rd Gears of War title and of Fable 3. The other titles that I can think of are multiplats: LA Noire, Metal Gear Solid Rising, Castlevania Lords of Shadow. So perhaps we'll have a surprise announcement of a new IP or a new installment in a series. I also have read/heard rumors of a Slim Xbox 360. I don't know much about it but if slim means cheaper [and hopefully more reliable], then it'd be a nice option for those of us that haven't gotten a 360 yet.
At this point it wouldn't surprise me.
So to summarize Microsoft at E3:
-Show Natal in action, not just on stage but w/demos set up for the journalists
-Surprise us with new titles that aren't shooters
-If a slim exists, give us price and features
-Tell us why Live is or will remain better than a Premium PSN
Sony
Boom!
Finally, Sony. Now, perhaps because I am a Sony follower, a fanboy at times, I will argue that 2009's E3 should have been dubbed "The Sony Show" because most of the 'wows' and surprises came from Sony:
-gameplay of 2009's Game of the Year Uncharted 2
-God of War 3 demo
-1st official trailer for Gran Turismo 5
-Announcement of Final Fantasy XIV
-Kojima's announcement of Peace Walker for the PSP
-First look at the motion controllers now know as Move
-Tease of Agent by Rockstar
I won't go into detail about the Move, but as far as the good aspects of the device: better accuracy than the Wii, buttons that allow for movement in any type of game, supposedly low price ($100-$60). As far as criticism on the move, my major 'beef' is that it's a Wii-HD simply stated. I think that it's a bit on the late side of motion controls' life cycle and so the Move isn't going to capture as much of an audience as if it had been released a year ago. Since there's not many titles that we're aware of for the Move, E3 would be a good time to show and demonstrate just why it's logical to go from the Wii to the PS3 or what the Move offers that the Wii can't. Despite the success of the Wii, I don't think that entering the motion market is really something that Sony and Microsoft needed to do but any attempt to get some gamers to adopt a console besides the Wii is good enough for them. So in summary, the Move needs good games in order to really stand out, otherwise it'll get ignored by Wii owners or overshadowed by Natal.
I tell ya, that's a smoke in the shape of Sweet Tooth!
Now onto the games.
Last year Sony emphasized a theme for their console: "only possible on ps3" as well as arguing that "it was all about the software." While I would agree that [exclusive] games do indeed set a system apart from another, it seems most people don't truly believe that as a recent Nielsen study showed that PS3's were being purchased for the Blu-Ray function rather than for the exclusives. So go figure, lol.
There's a bunch of rumors which most likely will come true (like last year's worst kept secret: PSP Go!). Among these: PSN premium service and a PSP2. The consensus seems that the PSN+ would allow for unlimited downloads of PS1 classics, and first dibs on Betas as well as unlimited media (videos) of some manner. There's also a recent confirmation of HBO shows coming to PSN for download. As far as a PSP2, rumors say that it will be touch screen but obviously w/a PSP button layout. Last year I heard about a Playstation phone and so perhaps this PSP2 will have call capabilities, we'll see.
As far as games, there's a lot of rumors about what we will see and what we may hear about. I'll jump to the summary now since this post is getting a bit tiresome (like your mom).
Summary for Sony at E3
-PSP2? Why should we buy it after the failure of the Go!?
-Premium Service, what is the right price and features?
-Confirmation of titles: Aside Killzone 3; Infamous 2, Resistance 3?
-Release date confirmations: Gran Turismo 5, Final Fantasy Versus XIII (is it still exclusive?), Final Fantasy XIV, Last Guardian or Agent trailers/gameplay?
-Jaffe's secret project: he says no new Twisted Metal yet we've been teased about the contrary. Given he's the man behind God of War 1 and the previous Twisted Metals I give him the benefit of the doubt that his newest product will be awesome
-Kojima's secret title(s): he used 'mecha' to describe a project he was working on (Zone of the Enders 3?)
-3d gaming: demo I guess?
-Titles for the Move
So as you can see, this year's E3 can be bigger than last years. A lot of things are being kept under wraps by all companies (as they should) and other things we've already come to confirm by now thanks to the internet. So hopefully i can come back and see where I predicted right and where I didn't.
Honorable Mentions:
-Capcom says it'll announce a 'bomb shell' of a title at this year's E3 (new Devil May Cry, new Onimusha? New Mega Man?)
-Virgin games may make a return. Yeah, that company that made games back in NES and I think some SNES games; also an airline. Their boss said he'd make an announcement at E3 so we'll see what announcement this is.
-New titles from Ubisoft, EA, Activision? Recall that Activision signed a contract w/Bungie so we may be seeing something new from the latter for all platforms. Also, Insomniac has confirmed a joint partnership w/EA to make some multiplats.
phew, so much to say. Thanks for reading friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment