While I didn’t get out to last week’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E³), I was really glad to see the show return to the more recognizable “under the big top” format. At a time when just about everyone is forced to cut costs wherever possible, it was nice to see some of the industry’s big hitters pull out all the stops once again. At the very least, it gave us all a lot more to watch than the very weird “editorial speed dating in office parks” feel of the last two years.
This year’s show was poised for success from the start – we’re far enough into this console generation that most developers understand how to get the most out of the hardware, but we’re not quite to the point where everyone expects to see new all-new consoles unveiled. E³ 2005 was the most boring show I’ve been to, with the big reveal of the PS3 and all the tech demos and non-games that came with it. This year was mostly focused on the games. Be sure to check out the big honkin’ E³ coverage summaries over at Kotaku and Joystiq, just in case you missed anything. Read on for my highlights (and a few not-so-highlights) from the big keynotes of the show.
The Good: M-soft came out strong right out of the gate with The Beatles: Rock Band. They managed to have Paul McCartney and Ringo Star onstage, turning an otherwise ho-hum demo into a newsworthy event for even non-game press. Perhaps most importantly, they created the most newsworthy event of the show for non-enthusiast press, and managed to have the surviving Beatles on stage with all sorts of Xbox branding behind them. It’s a multiplatform title – in fact, the first Rock Band to ship day and date on the Wii as well as the PS3 and 360. But Microsoft has managed to “own” this game in the minds of exactly the type of casual gamers that will eat up The Beatles: Rock Band — and a system to play it on.
The Bad: Microsoft managed to grab headlines with their project Natal camera system. Essentially, at-home, real-time motion capture for gesture controls in games. It looks like it works pretty well, and is much easier to set up than Microsoft’s earlier efforts with the Live Vision camera. But I still can’t get excited about applying that technology to games. I guess time will tell, as no release date or even a price point are in sight yet.
The Rest: All in all, Microsoft had a strong showing with those two reveals, and then a lot of smaller, fan service announcements. The first ever Final Fantasy game on Xbox, a Metal Gear Solid multiplatform title, and a ton of sequels to familiar Xbox franchises rounded out their hour.
The Good: Last year, the enthusiast press felt abondoned by Nintendo, with their keynote centered around Wii Motion Plus and the pack-in game, Wii Sports Resort. This year, they made sure to take care of the hardcore set, with ample stage time given to a new Metroid game by Tecmo’s Team Ninja, The return of Mario Galaxy, and the very classic feeling New Super Mario Bros. finally brought to the big screen as a fun coop game for up to 4 players. Charming, timeless IP goes a long way toward keeping the Big N in good graces with their loyal fans, and they delivered quite a bit of love for them this year.
The Bad: The Wii Vitality Sensor is… puzzling at best. I’m an unabashed Nintendo fan, and I stand by the notion that failures along the way like the Virtual Boy are essential for a company to foster the free thinking brand of R&D that could deliver the Wii unto us. But the idea of a peripheral that pinches you on the finger so it can get a read on your pulse… I just can’t see the application here into anything that would make a fun game. I’ve been wrong before and I really hope I am in this case, but Nintendo certainly didn’t help its cause by not even really demoing this at the show.
The Rest: I was honestly hoping for a little more of a preview of what’s coming down the pipe for DSiWare and WiiWare. They’re both underutilized networks on the best-selling pieces of hardware out there. Beyond that, 6 new exercises and 15 minigames added to Wii Fit Plus doesn’t sound like very much new content to me. I’d prefer to see them deliver more exercises throughout the year as DLC.
The Good: Team Ico revealed The Last Guardian, the sequel to Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. True to form, this one will be a PS3 exclusive, and looks to be hauntingly beautiful. I will probably buy it on launch day, and cry at least once by the time I beat it. So will you, if you happen to have a soul and a PS3.
The Bad: Sony’s gesture control (was this a requirement to present his year!?) just seems way too early to show to the public, and I’m willing to bet they wouldn’t have if Microsoft hadn’t made such a big splash with Natal.
The Rest: I’m intrigued by the PSP Go. That tiny form factor looks to solve a lot of the issues the original design (and subsequent iterations) had to deal with, but not all. The screen’s still not protected in your pocket, which is a much bigger deal to me than the fact that there’s only one analog nub. Sorry, FPS fans.
It’s puzzling to me that the PSP, which has had such a hard time reaching any audience other than teenage boys is the first to market with a download-only portable system. Not to mention, one with a $250 price tag at launch. If they don’t market the Go hardware the right way, they could be left with a diminishing audience that feels burned about all the useless UMD’s they bought to go with their original hardware.
