FIRST-PARTY DEVELOPERS
Microsoft XBox 360
One of the predictions I made about the XBox 360 press conference is that it would appeal much to its XBox fanboys. Mark that down as my first correct prediction. The press conference opened with a cinematic opening to Halo 4, and then a super awesome gameplay demo. Before the conference hit the quarter-way mark of the conference, trailers of Gears of War: Judgment and Fable: The Journey were shown. But that's a problem. That's all was shown: trailers. These trailers said very little about each game, in both game play and story. Heck, it seemed like we learned more about Fable: The Journey in the last E3 than we did this year. But it doesn't stop with the XBox fanboys. Microsoft also appealed to the FPS fanboys such as Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Resident Evil 6 and, to top it all off for the grand finale, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. The problem with appealing to fanboys is that it's a very easy task. All you have to do is give them a new game from their favorite franchise and you're good. And that's exactly what Microsoft did. These games were just your typical shooters, whether they're from the first person point of view or the third person point of view. These games were simple sequels in the story, for they added nothing to it gameplay-wise. Although they said Resident Evil 6 is your "classic surrival horror," with hero being all gun-ho, it's more like just a horror game, or even just a TPS (third person shooter) with zombies in it. I'm not sure if this is what Microsoft was going for, but they selled themselves off as the perfect system for the shooter fanboy.
The second prediction I got right was the XBox interlinking with the Windows tablet. Microsoft calls it "Smart Glass." Smart Glass, however, was not how I really envisioned it. I envisioned it to be more an additive to games, even as a possible controller. While their showcase of Smart Glass did discuss possible game uses for a short while, it showed it more to be another way to browse through XBox menus. I will admit, browsing on a tablet might be easier than using motion control or voice commands via Kinect, but it's still just another way to do what a controller can easily do.
Speaking of Kinect, Kinect did not come as strong as it usually did. Most of Kinect was limited to voice commands. The only Kinect on Madden 13 will be play calling. The only Kinect on Splinter Cell: Blacklist would be commanding teammates and operating menus. Along with other games, it left me asking, "Is this really Kinect? Why can't I just us the headset for voice commands?" It's true, I can hear and speak better with the headset than with Kinect. There was only 2 games that utilized the Kinect motion control, and one was an XBox Live Arcade. The one that was not was Dance Central 3. This surprised yet again. Harmonix takes its time making Rock Band games, and yet it makes sure to come out with an annual Dance Central game. If I had to take a guess, Microsoft pushes Harmonix to make a new XBox Kinect game. After all, the Dance Central series is the best selling Kinect game. Yet the presentation during the XBox press conference was lackluster. Nothing was mentioned about the gameplay, nothing was mentioned about the story. I really didn't know what Dance Central 3 was about. All we got was a performance from Usher.
Speaking of which, Microsoft gets the award for most celebrity endorsements. Usher endorsed Dance Central 3. Joe Montana endorsed Madden 13. But as many will say, the celebrity endorsements really do take away from the presentation. I already think cinematic trailers are bad enough, celebrity endorsement trailers are worse.
+Positives+: Continuing to promote Kinect, Smart Glass intergrating tablets with XBox
-Negatives-: Kinect was reduced to voice commands, too much appeal to XBox fanboys, too much appeal to shooter fanboys with too many shooter games, trailers lackluster with more cinematics than gameplay, too much celebrity endorsement
~Top 3 Games~: Halo 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Resident Evil 6
*Medal: Bronze*
Sony PlayStation
Well, I was wrong in my prediction that the PlayStation 4 would be announced. It wasn't even mentioned. Maybe the announcement that leaked a few weeks earlier was premature. But I wouldn't use that against PlayStation. Better to not give any details than give bad details or wrong details. What did hurt them was that they had a fairly new handheld, the PlayStation Vita, and mentioned it very little. The most it did mention was the connection between the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. Just like I did predicted, the PlayStation Vita can be used as a PlayStation 3 controller. Added to that, a game started on PlayStation 3 can be continued on PlayStation Vita. Very handy. I we ould even suggest it could work like the Wii U. When someone else wants to use the TV, the game can be switched from the PS3 to the PS Vita. The big difference, and big advantage, is that the PS Vita can be used more than 30 feet away from the PS3!
Continuing our discussion of hardware, Move wasn't talked about too much, but moreso the Eye Toy used for the Move. The new hardware technology is Wonderbook. Using agumented reality technology, the Eye Toy can turn a reading book into an interactive game. It debuted with The Book of Spells, written by no other than the wizard expert J.K. Rowlings. While I was amazed at the technology, this does seem more like a kids game.
The software leaves me 50/50 with pros and cons, positives and negatives, good and bad. The good news was that Sony did bring fresh, new ideas to their video games, from start to end. The first game introduced in the press conference was Beyond: Two Souls, from the same studio that created Farenheit/Indigo Prophecy and Heavy Rain. We know this is brand new and not a sequel because the creator hates sequels. But Beyond: Two Souls is using the supernatural, and that did turn out to well for Indigo Prophecy. That has me being cautiously optomistic. The press conference ended with The Last of Us, a survival horror game. This survival horror game looks more legit than Resident Evil 6. On the flip side, the bad news was the rest of the games were simply sequels that drew in the PlayStation fanboys. There was God of War: Assension, a prequel in the God of War series that was just a gory as the sequels. There was Far Cry 3, a sequel to the Far Cry series, which was just as racist. The cross between the good news and bad news is PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. It was a new game, similar to Super Smash Bros., where the all-stars from PlayStation battle it out. The presentation was quite fun. Real gameplay footage was played. The game will be offered on both the PS3 and PS Vita, and one game can be interplayed on both. Also, two new characters were annouced: Drake from the Uncharted series and Big Daddy/Mr. Bubbles from Bioshock. Drake was obvious and good choice, but I'm uncomfortably uncertain about the Big Daddy. It's not just because Big Daddy is a third party developer game, but if you remember, you played as a Big Daddy in Bioshock 2, and that game wasn't as fun as it sounded. But the overall game looked and sounded good. I would want to play it.
+Positives+: Brand new games, good intergration between the PS3 and PS Vita, Wonderbook was a good use of augmented reality
-Negatives-: Too many sequels to old franchises, no new home console, too little coverage on the PS Vita, needed more Move motion control
~Top 3 Games~: Beyond: Two Souls, The Last of Us, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale
*Medal*: Silver
Nintendo
The Nintendo press conference was so big, it took up 3 conferences! There was a pre-conference, focusing on the WiiU's hardware specs, especially explaining the changes as seen on the patent. There was the regular press conference, focusing mainly on the Wii U software. Then there was the post-conference focusing solely on the 3DS because there was no room for the 3DS on the other conferences! Nintendo was able to fully justify all the changes it made with the WiiU controller in the pre-conference. The control-pads were better for handheld devices, while joysticks were better for home consoles. I was sold on all the changes, I believe the controller is now better that they made the changes.
I'm sold on the games, too. 23 games were presented during Nintendo's 2nd presentation (the regular one). 9 games were from 1st party developers. 2 games were from 2nd party developers. 13 games were from 3rd party developers. Yes, most games were from 3rd party developers. Nintedo showed that they could play with the big boys when it came for the 3rd party developer games. To me, it showed that the 3rd party developers were still on board with the WiiU. The leader of the 3rd party games was Batman: Arkham City. This game was not simply a re-release or a delayed release. While it was the same game, it added features that used the Wii U game pad. For example, the Bat vision would be viewable through the Wii U pad's screen. And it would have all the DLC installed on the disc. But still, I think I rather just play the "Game of the Year" version of the game than buy the Wii U version. Nintendo did show a trailer compiling other 3rd party games on the Wii U, like Dark Siders 2 and Assassin's Creed 3. Yet there was no gameplay shown, and very little cinematics. Although the 1st party games are the minority, they got the most attention. The first game was Pikimin 3, which can be played with either the Wii U pad or Wii Motion Plus. This is good because most people said that the Wii Motion Plus was easier to use playing Pikimin than the 2 joysticks on the Game Cube controller. More Wii U games need this option, just like PlayStation 3 lets players choose between Move and the sixaxis. Another game I liked was Scribblenauts Unlimited. Scribblenauts in the past has been a basic puzzle game, but Scribblenauts Unlimited turned Scribblenauts into a open-word sandbox exploring game with a story. There was also New Super Mario Bros. U, which last year was called "New Super Mario Bros. Mii." But the 3D 480p Mario platformers are starting to seem repetitive, so there's nothing that sticks out to amazing to me. What I'm upset that I didn't see is was the new Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U. That was what was selling me on the new home console. Without it, I'm not really sold on the system. Actually, no game really sold me on the system, which made me want to say, "I need it now."
For their last presentation, the post-presentation, it was all about the 3DS, and the games it had. Nintendo keeps milking the return of the Mario platforming with New Super Mario Bros 2. It had me thinking of the Super Mario Bros. 2 for the NES as released in the U.S., but it's nothing like that. Still the game seemed like it was another sequel in the same franchise. At least they only did with the Mario franchise. And that's what I liked about the 3DS game presentation. There was a new Donkey Kong, Metroid, Zelda, Star Fox or Kirby. There were some repeats in old franchises, but it wasn't overdone franchises. A good example would be Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon. The Luigi's Mansion franchise hasn't been around too long, so it's too old or too overdone. I'm actually looking forward to it. Paper Mario: Sticker Star will give a new gameplay addition to the Paper Mario series that I like. Finally, last but not least, they briefly mentioned Pokemon Black 2 and White 2. It's for the Nintendo DS, but it will have advantages for the 3DS. This is just killing the Pokemon series for me, almost as bad as Pokemon Conquest. It's bad enough that they downgraded from precious stones to metals to colors, but now they are adding numbers?!
Altogether, Nintendo did everything they needed to do to prove the Wii U is legit. And they even were able to prove the 3DS was worth its price in the games they are making for it. It was interesting to see the 3rd party games that came out. There were T rated games, M rated games, but not all were shooters. See, you can have a good game without being a shooter!
Nintendo+Positives+: 3 conferences to cover everything, covered both WiiU and 3DS, covered both hardware and software, WiiU has 3rd party backing, Wii U offers serious games for the hardcore gamer, Wii U offers old franchises for fanboys, hardware changes were justified
-Negatives-: Nothing sets the WiiU apart as better than the XBox 360 or PS3, no must-have game, too much Wii U and not enough 3DS
~Top 3 WiiU games~: Pikmin 3, Scribblenauts Unlimited, New Mario Bros. U
~Top 3 3DS games~: Lugi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Paper Mario: Sticker Star, New Super Mario Bros. 2
*Medal*: Gold
Before I totally transist into the 3rd party developers, may I point out that I was correct in predicting that Nintendo would lead the way in two 2 screens/touch screen movement in the next generation of home consoles, and that Microsoft and Sony would follow? Microsoft and Sony thought they were in the right by not having motion controls like the Wii in 2007, but when everyone was going for Wii over XBox360 and PS3, they realized they were in the wrong and they followed suit quickly with Kinect and Move respectively. This time around, Microsoft and Sony didn't wait at all. When they saw Nintendo was adding a second screen, a touch screen, they quickly found out a way to do the same. As much as hardcore gamers won't like to admit it, they need to admit it: Nintendo is the leader in home consoles. If a hardcore gamer can't admit that, he is no more than an XBox360 or a PS 3 fanboy.
Alright, let's move on to third-party developers and their games. 2 third-party developers had presentations during the E3 week: EA and Ubisoft. Konami wasn't invited to have one, so they once again held a "pre-E3 kickoff" so they could host their little own press conference. To make it an even 3, I will include Konami with EA and Ubisoft. Once again, each will be ranked with a gold, silver or bronze for how they went about their press conference.
Konami
Although I'm including Konami, and although Konami's press conference was the same length as EA's and Ubisoft's press conference, there's really not much to say about Konami. Why? Konami continued their bandwagon of sequels to old franchises. First up was the Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) 2013. This sequel wasn't as bad, as it was a yearly release of a sports game, and the game did make improvements in gameplay that made the game feel realistic. Another sequel was Metal Gear Solid Revengeance, a Metal Gear Solid game in honor of Metal Gear Solid's 25th anniversary. This does take a new spin on the series, where the main charachter is an old character that has never been played before. The preview for MGS Revengeance was meant to be the center of the press conference, as there was a cinematic trailer, a gameplay trailer, and even a comical trailer. The Castlevania series adds 2 games to it: Castlevania: Lord of Shadows 2 for the home consoles and Castlevania: Lord of Shadow - Mirror of Fate for the Nintendo 3DS. I never was a fan of sequels within sequels (like Final Fantasy XIII-2), and Lord of Shadows doesn't help it, and Lord of Shadows - Mirror of Fate makes it worse. But the worse than sequels, or sequels within sequels, are "collections" because they are really just re-releases of older games. This time, it's a Zone of the Enders Collection. HD graphics, a demo of MGS Revengeance and a season of anime isn't enough to make me want to buy this game.
The other problem with Konami's press conference is that what it didn't have. It only briefly mentioned the Fox Engine, but it didn't talk about it it all. Did you know there was going to be a sequel to Little King's Story? It's on Konami's E3 display floor, but it wasn't mentioned at the press conference. Did you know another Silent game is coming out? After all the hype Konami gave the Silent franchise last year, between the Silent Hill Collection and Silent Hill Downpour (and even the movie!), Konami never mentioned it. Then again, maybe it's not worth mentioning. The PlayStation Vita game, which will be known as Silent Hill: Book of Memories, is called a survival horror game, but it looks more like a gung-ho horror game. Games weren't the only thing Konami was lacking. For example, Konami mentioned the Fox Engine, but barely spoke about it. Most importantly, Konami lacked a lot of dates for these games. We got things like "holiday 2012" or "early 2013." It wasn't the most reassuring.
Konami
+Positives+: Improvements in gameplay with sequels, approaching old games from new angles
-Negatives-: Only games were new sequels to old franchises, lack of details
~Top 3 Games~: Pro Evolution Soccer 2013, Metal Gear Solid Revengeance, Silent Hill: Book of Memories
*Medal*: Silver
Electronic Arts (EA)
Electronic Arts (EA) has always been neck and neck with Activision as the leader in third-party developers, so I expect a lot from EA. EA was a disappointment because they got onboard with appeasing their fanboys with sequels. They displayed 10 games, and all 10 games were sequels or some other kind of addition to the franchise. And the extensions were the worst. At least with a sequel, you have a fully brand new game, even if it's from an old franchise. But EA tried to get away with expansion packs and DLC. Instead of making a new Battlefield game, EA made 5 Battlefield 3 DLC packs. Instead of making a new Star Wars game, they just released more content on their Star Wars MMORPG. Come on, EA, I expect more from you. If you're just going back to your old franchises, at least make a brand new game, not just DLC or expansions.
What I did like about these presentations was that EA made sure their game trailers were not just cinematic, but also showed gameplay. At the same time, the gameplay did not show the full extend of the game. For example, EA failed to mention or demonstrate any Kinect use in their EA Sports games. EA also seemed more focused on social interaction with their games than actual gameplay. I play games to play games, not soically interact. Besides, from what I know and experience, most people don't care about your game progress posted on Facebook and Twitter.
And that's why I'm going to give Electronic Arts a worse rating than Konami. Both of them only gave game repeats, but EA tried to pass off DLC and expansions as new games, which is worse than passing of a Collection as a new game. While Konami's games were offering new gameplay ideas in their sequels, EA offered nothing new, or at least nothing the press conference showed. Much was expected from EA, and little was given in return.
Electronic Arts (EA)
+Positive+: Gamplay in trailers.
-Negative-: More focus on DLC and expansion than new games, only repeat games of old franchises, sports games did not demonstrate Kinect capabilities, too much social networking
~Top 3 Games~: Madden 13, Medal of Honor: Warfighter, Dead Space 3
*Medal*: Bronze
Ubisoft
I really don't know why everyone hates on Ubisoft, so much they can't get the spot as the number 1 third-party developer because they truly deserve it. The first thing that I like about Ubisoft the most is that Ubisoft does not fear the new handware on the consoles, but tackles them dead on to advance video games as a media outlet. This year, Ubisoft dove head first into the new Wii U pad. Out of it, we got Zombi U, a legit, M-rated (can you believe an M-rated game for Nintendo?) game for the Wii U. It can easily rival any zombie game out there. Also, to continue bringing old franchises to the Wii U, there's Rayman Legends, where players can control characters from all sorts of controls. This is a game for everyone. In the past couple years, the newest technological hardware Ubisoft interacted with was the Kinect for XBox. Years later, Ubisoft has not given up on Kinect, but continues to with Just Dance 4. And let's not for Sony, nor forget handhelds. Ubisoft conquered the new PSVita with Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation, which fully utilizes the PSVita hardware, especially the amazing graphics. Ubisoft doesn't need to make their own console or handheld, for their games show their talent on their own.
What I also like about Ubisoft is how they go about their presentation. All the other press conferences are serious business. Ubisoft also always has fun, from the people playing games to the annoucers cracking jokes. The celebrity endorsements don't take away from the presentation, but add to the fun. In this press conference, Flo Rida was the introduction to Just Dance 4.
It's actually kind of hard for me to think about what I didn't like from the press conference. If I had to pick something, the only negative would be a little bias towards my favorite genre, the music game genre. Ubisoft said nothing about their guitar game Rocksmith. Indeed, Rocksmith did have an important annoucement. A new edition of Rocksmith will be soon released in the fall, adding bass. If you already have a copy of Rocksmith, the bass upgrade will be available for DLC. Ubisoft really should have announced this. Rocksmith is rivaling Rock Band's Pro Guitar among serious gamers. Soon it will also be rivaling it in Pro Bass.
Ubisoft
+Positives+: Entertaining press conference, new games with new ideas, takes on new hardware challenges, something for all ages and all types of gamers
-Negatives-: Lacks mentioning Rocksmith
~Top 3 Games~: Zombi U, Rayman Legends, Just Dance 4
*Medal*: Gold
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