Then Nintendo had to release a pre-E3 video, showing the details of the Wii U's functionality. This just increased my hype for their conference even further. This early video showed us the capabilities of the console, from online functions to new details about the Wii U Gamepad and its screenless cousin, the Wii U Pro Controller. This was all coupled with a mid-presentation corny video that showed how communication between consoles and players could pan out...and although it was dangerously cheesy, it did manage to get the point across and also sneak us what appeared to be footage of a new game...with zombies in it! Those don't come out frequently, eh? EH?
Anyway, I was all geared up, and I was planning on watching every major conference even if I had to take longer breaks at work or what have you. E3 pretty much started with Microsoft's conference, which can be summarized in 3 points
- Halo 4 is on the way, and although I've never been a huge Halo fan...this one actually looks pretty sweet.
- Voice commands are the only thing Kinect is advertized for anymore. There was literally almost NO motion control shown in the E3 presentation, even where it seemed like it would be prominent such as the numerous sports games that were on show. Rather than showing a person kicking a ball for example, the presentation was more about being able to speak voice commands to your team to tell them what to do. This is fine I guess, I just find it a bit funny that Kinect was originally all about motion control and that's now being played down in favour of speaking to your console. XBOX! BING...TUBGIRL!
- Usher. That is all.
It's because they're Ushering in a new way of gaming or something.
They could have shown more fuckin' Gears of War Judgment or something like that because everyone wants more of Augustus Cole (i.e. Terry Tate)...but alas, it was not to be. M$'s conference just wasn't that thrilling...and really, Usher? I guess they showed some Tomb Raider and Resident Evil 6 gameplay, as well as COD: Black Ops 2. Tomb Raider looks neat, and I haven't played Uncharted or anything in that vein which means the style of the game won't be old and boring to me. I'll probably check it out. RE6 is looking...better, but that's all I have to say about that! COD ceases to interest me all that much, HOWEVER...I have to give them a bit of credit for BLOPS 2 since they're actually using their imaginations a bit more. Seems like you'll be blasting machines more than humans in this one, and it also takes place in the future, so it'll be at least cool to see what Treyarch can come up with since they aren't relying on the usual two COD-crutches: WW2 and 'Nam.
The next conference belonged to Ubisoft, if I'm not mistaken. And as far as I'm concerned they stole the fuckin' show this year! How weird is that? For a non-console producing company to have the most successful presentation just seems...off. Hosted by Aisha Tyler (who happens to be awesome), Ubisoft's conference was loaded with character and entertainment, while also showing some really cool games. Obviously Assassin's Creed III was shown, which looked good even though I'm not a huge fan of the series. Other games included Rayman Legends (which looks gorgeous, by the by), and ZombiU, the game that was previously hinted at in Nintendo's pre-E3. Pretty cool stuff on show here, and Aisha's dialogue and personality actually made me genuinely laugh, which is always good during a conference. Perhaps the coolest thing, however, was the demonstration of Ubi's new IP, Watch Dogs. I won't go into details here since you can just check out that video, but it's definitely got my attention.
Unfortunately I missed most of EA's conference...particularly where they showed Dead Space 3 :( However, after looking up the footage afterwards, I can safely say that although it looks quite different from Dead Space 1 and 2 (more action-geared, and with co-op play), it still looks like a well-polished game that has mad atmosphere. Yeah, it looks like it should be a Lost Planet game...but I have faith that it'll be a sweet game no matter what and I'm already sold. There wasn't much else interesting at EA's, actually.
Sony was next. I...strongly dislike Sony. Don't get me wrong, Sony makes good products as evidenced by the PS1 and PS2 selling so damn well, and even the PS3 is a pretty solid machine now that it's not 599 US DOLLARS...but they still bug me. Jack Tretton seems like a really cool guy! It's not his fault or anything. It's the fact that Sony is just a company that, when it comes to video games and console design, blatantly rips off of other contending companies. They did it with their PS1 controller, they did it with PS Move (clearly the Wii Remote and Nunchuk but Sony-branded), and now they're doing it with Super Smash Bros...one of my most favourite franchises. Just seeing the title "Playstation All-Stars: Battle Royale" is enough to irritate me, but to see gameplay that is EXACTLY like SSB with the exception of not needing to ring people out really pisses me off. Yeah, imitation is the highest form of flattery (or however that damn phrase goes)...but when imitation is one of the words you've just about become synonymous with, you know you have an issue. Enough ranting about that though. They also showed a new game called Beyond: Two Souls, from the creators of Heavy Rain, as well as The Last of Us. Beyond looks cool...I never played Heavy Rain but heard good things, and apparently this is like Heavy Rain on crack. So...good? The Last of Us, a seemingly post-apocalyptic action game, looks pretty damn cool, I'll admit. Seems like the old man main character and his 13-year old girl partner (WEIRD) traverse a vast city while trying to not get killed by other scavenging humans. The dynamic between the two characters looks cool though, and I'd be interested in seeing the game once it's complete.
That was all June 4th...and then Nintendo's conference was on the 5th at noon. I WAS SO DAMN PUMPED!
And then it was meh. They started off strong with Pikmin 3 being shown. I've never been a fan of Pikmin, but people love it and on the Wii U, the visuals look stunning...good sign so far! Then they showed New Super Mario Bros U, which looks like another 2D Mario game. Yeah, I'll fuckin' get it because I'm nuts about platformers and I know I'll have fun with it...but we knew about that game before the conference, show us something new! More footage was shown from a few third-party games coming out for the system, one of which was Batman: Arkham City. They spent a good 10 minutes demonstrating this game that no one really cares about anymore because it came out a year ago. Most people have played it through already...I wish they'd focused on something else, but oh well. Some videos of Assassin's Creed III and ZombiU were shown (with ZombiU looking quite promising, actually), as well as a new Scribblenauts for the Wii U. Pretty sweet actually, but not sure if it's something I'd pick up. Some 3DS stuff was shown...but not much. Another New SMB game (how many "New" games does it take before you can't call them "New" anymore?), as well as Luigi's Mansion 2 and a new Paper Mario...both of which look pretty neat, but I don't have a 3DS...YET!
WOOOOOO...seriouslyjustgivemeMetroid.
Alright, then onto some casual stuff...a new Wii Fit for the Wii U, a karaoke game called SiNG (working title, in case you couldn't tell), and then a mini-game compilation called Nintendo Land. At first this sounded really cool! A theme park where all of the franchises of Nintendo come together...I actually almost thought it was a real theme park for a moment, which would be SWEET. However, NintendoLand doesn't have too much of my attention just yet. You use your Miis and play games online with other people, but they're all minigame experiences only loosely based on Nintendo's franchises and nothing too intense.
And then the show...ended. You could tell that everyone was waiting for some bigass announcement at the end regarding a big franchise's debut on the Wii U, such as Metroid, Star Fox or F-Zero. No such announcement happened, and everyone cleared out of the presentation, baffled. Yes, every company has a weak year at E3 every so often...but Nintendo shouldn't have fallen into that category! They have a new system coming out, and I'm sure that they have some awesome things in the works for it...so why not show SOMETHING about them? Even just a name drop...like when Skyward Sword was first announced, and all they showed was that initial artwork of Link standing with Fi. Something like that at the end would have at least left everyone hyped for something amazing. Pikmin 3 is a good start and it looks cool, but it just felt like they should've had more. I dunno. Heck, they didn't even show a release date or price! Straaaaaaange...
And don't get me wrong...casual gaming totally has its place, and it's a great thing to see video games where families can get together and enjoy time together such as WiiSports or this new Nintendoland contraption, and in that respect I'm sure it'll succeed. The Wii's approach to casual gaming got my parents to actually play games with me again after years of being completely disinterested, and for that I'm thankful. However, there needed to be a bit more first-party material catered to the more hardened veterans, I feel. Even just a glimpse.
Anyway, my whole opinion on E3 this year is that it was mediocre at best. Not very many brand new titles were announced that were unexpected, even though the Wii U is supposed to launch this year, possibly in the Fall (that's a complete rumour, don't quote me). Personally, I'm definitely interested in Mario, Rayman and ZombiU...which is plenty to be excited about. I just wish they gave us a tad more to work with.
I assume some more info on the Wii U will be coming shortly regarding its launch, and yeah I'll definitely get the system...but I just thought I'd be jacked to all hell about it after E3 rather than being at the same hype level as I was beforehand.
Oh well! There's always next year! Experience Points to be coming up soon!
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