Now keep in mind, I am just a student, I am not actually at E3, most all of my information was taken from IGN, Gamespot, and other gaming journalists. I am just looking at these games being played, not playing them personally, so my impressions are limited. Also, the Xbox 360 is my current console I play games on, but I refuse to talk Nintendo and Sony with bias, I have been affiliated with their platforms in the past. However I was able to watch the press conferences on G4. This is where I shall start my limited coverage, starting with Microsoft's, then Nintendo's, and last but not least Sony's.
Microsoft
Unlike the other two press conferences, I didn't see as much as a full on assault in terms of headlines, game announcements, etc. This one did the things that were as expected nothing more nothing less. There were trailers and demos for their major franchises, a little bit of third party footage in the form of Call of Duty Black Ops but the trailer for Metal Gear Solid Rising got me seriously awe-inspired. The exclusives were awesome, Gears of War 3 and Fable III will be hits, I was not expecting space combat in Halo: Reach which is great considering there haven't been a lot of great dogfighting games recently, but the partnership with Crytek possibly pleased me the most.
I have a thing about a large amount of franchises rather than new IP's. Yes, it's always awesome to see a great game improved upon, but seeing a trailer for a new game that no one is expecting is always exciting. Crytek's upcoming "Codename: Kingdoms" seems reminiscent of the film and comic book 300, so it'll be bloody, and it if it's what I expect it to be, we'll be looking at Microsoft's answer to God of War. I wanted a new IP and they certainly delivered something. Considering this is Crytek I want them to push the console to a point before it melts and it to tech demo for the capabilities of what the console still has on offer with an otherwise very solid gameplay system and great replay value.
Now Microsoft wants to challenge competitors with motion controls, and they sure seem to know how to make gamers skeptical about the recently retitled Kinect. For one, I am thoroughly impressed by the hardware, seeing how it tracks the body as a skeleton instead of just a controller in your hand will be way more interesting than the wiimote and Playstation Move. Now I mean that the hardware is more interesting but the games shown and how they presented them was not what I hoped for. Games like Kinect Adventures and Kinect Sports disappointed not because they were more kid friendly but they did not seem to use the camera the way I want to see it used. I want to see games that have zero canned animations whatsoever, and these two games in particular probably did use the hardware to a great extent, however the character the demonstrators were controlling didn't exhibit actions that were exactly what the person was doing. These two games themselves just don't look like they will go down in the classic status of something like Wii Sports.
What I wanted to see more of was Kinectimals, which is something of an answer to Nintedogs as a pet simulator. The game it's self could end up being pretty good, but with all due respect they shouldn't have had a child demonstrate it. Since it's the hardcore fans like me who are watching the conference, a young girl playing with an adorable tiger sends a message to Microsoft's core fanbase that Kinect isn't what we want. Still -guilty pleasure alert- , if Kinectimals ends up about as good as Nintendogs, I'll be interested. Then gameplay for Joy Ride was shown, and the demonstrator just sounded like she was acting having fun whereas I want to hear a person going in depth about the game. Considering the competition for kart racers will be between this, Modnation Racers, and the Mario Kart Series, Joy Ride better do something special beyond the use of Kinect. Unfortunately the game that was shown off that was probably the best use of the peripheral was of a game I'm not interested in at all. Dance Central from Harmonix had the characters on screen actually matching the player one to one. It looked fantastic and will be a noticeable step up from Dance Dance Revolution, however dancing isn't my thing. Then there was the fitness game from Ubisoft, which too was what it was, did it well, but it still won't be on my radar. I think I'll start jogging thank you very much.
Microsoft is trying to push "controller free gaming" but it wasn't good enough. By directing the attention towards the casual market they forgot a few things. I personally like the Wii games for what they are, hell Wii sports is pretty damn good, but in comparison, some of these games looked too fluffy and less appealing than those on Wii. Speaking of that, Nintendo has Mario and I didn't see a true Killer App Kinect launch title. Kinect Sports and Adventures looked more like alternatives to Wii Party games than something they pushed to be bigger and better. Considering this is the casual market, Microsoft will have to bundle Kinect with future consoles and at a price well below 400 dollars or better, the standard 300 to be the most competitive. Even then consumers could buy a Nintendo DS with Mario Kart and Nintendogs over Kinect's alternatives. It's a double edged sword, but with great use of the tech from Turn 10's Forza 4 and navigating the Dashboard using the camera is a great first step towards the computers from Minority Report. I have a feeling that like the 360's launch, Kinect will start slow but eventually there will be titles that create a bigger fanbase.
I would not consider Kinect a failure, we have already seen the tech demos, now it's time for the developers to use it. There will be those that take advantage of it's capabilities and those that don't, and since there will be 3 consoles with motion controls, competition will breed innovation. Kinect was not the disappointment, there were others. Microsoft did nothing to preview the summer of arcade. The arcade is great because we get new titles to let us relax before the holiday season, and there was nothing to help that anticipation. They gave a list afterwards, but I want to be anticipated with great announcements and demonstrations for Monday Night Combat and Castlevania that would build up hype. Next, Crackdown 2 was only mentioned, there was no new footage, trailer, or demonstration. I could only imagine how awesome a live demo of four player co-op, the new toys, and all that great over the top action would've been shown on stage. Finally, because Rare left Nintendo to work with Microsoft, I want to see new and interesting titles. These guys were the developers of classics: Goldeneye, Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark, and Conker. Yes they have recently released updated ports of some of their N64 games to XBLA and made the intriguing Viva Pinata games, but they did not show what was to be a classic. Kinect Sports has the Rare charm to an extent, but it's an alternative to something that is more or less a classic, not something truly creative.
The conference was good, but as I said before it was not a full on assault. The Halo: Reach demo was cool, but it would've been fantastic to see the firefight reveal at that time rather than later with and ending that with a statement claiming the Halo series will once again be the most feature rich shooter available. Gears of War 3 was just a gameplay demo, not much in the way of explanation, and no new trailer. I truly feel if there was more on Crackdown, a more unique rare title, details on what is a solid line up on the downloadable titles, and great assurance that Kinect will have games for Microsofts core audience, this press conference could've end up better at being more well rounded than their competition.
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