An “official” day of E3 is in the can! It was way different than what I had planned. You see, I received a call during Sony’s party on Monday and accepted a video gig that…well, you’ll see. Now here are some random thoughts on some of the things I saw, played, touched, heard, and smelled one day one of E3 2011.
– The Wii U controller is way more comfortable than I thought it would be. As most of you know, I spend a lot of time gaming on my iPad 2. Since the Wii U controller’s screen is smaller (6.2 inches), I expected it to be lighter. The trigger buttons on the top corners of the controller help it feel more secure in your hands than a tablet. I still expect a few people to fling these controllers across rooms or into their televisions, but most people will be pleasantly surprised by the feel of the Wii U controller.
– Most of my writer friends have BioShock Infinite pegged as the game of the show by a large margin. A few of them are backing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. There are a lot of cool games on display, but these two seem to be the ones that journalists are most impressed with.
– Sony’s 24-inch 3D TV seems like a decent value and it’s cool that it can support two players independently. That said, I wasn’t impressed with the output. The color quality was unimpressive and there was noticeable ghosting. However, I’m guessing that these TVs weren’t calibrated, so color quality could be better than what was shown. It seems like a good secondary TV or a nice dorm room set.
– I had an interesting chat with VentureBeat’s “Dancing” Dean Takahashi — one of the best reporters in gaming. He had an interesting theory on Wii U controllers. He envisions different controllers with different price points. The “kid” controller would be cheaper and only have the standard capabilities. A more expensive controller would pack in more features and be geared towards tech geeks. It’s an interesting idea, but I’m not certain it will shake out that way. That said, Dean is exponentially smarter than me and Nintendo is the master of selling accessories.
– It was fun teasing Insomniac’s James Stevenson (the best community manager in gaming) about Overstrike. I kept telling him, “Man, that Overbite trailer looked hot!” I did this to him on at least four occasions. Insomniac Ted Price didn’t find it as funny…or maybe he just thinks I’m stupid.
– I received an impromptu demo of a Kinect Fun Labs game tentatively called Music & Motion. When Microsoft showed Kinect Fun Labs during its presser, I suggested that the company eliminate the word “Fun” from the title. Music & Motion is totally fun! It’s a game that lets you use Kinect to play air guitar, air drums, air keyboards, etc. I can see it being a great party game that everyone can enjoy. I was baffled that this wasn’t shown at the presser.
– Battlefield 3 looks completely awesome…but I wonder if console gamers will be disappointed when their graphics don’t look nearly as good.
– This is the most fun I’ve had with my Nintendo 3DS. I have almost 100 Miis on my system and expect to get dozens more today. The future of 3Ds looks pretty excellent. It’s a shame that it launched with such weak software.
Anyway, I’m headed back to the show. I’ll check on comments while I’m there. There’s beer in the fridge. Be good and try not to burn the place down!
I think console gamers should be a bit more understanding that the 6-7 year old tech in their machines cannot match up to a mid market current PC. Of course some will fume over this but those are the ones who absolutely hate PC games or anything that their system can't produce.
I never paid attention to the bezel on that Sony TV. Interesting design choice. Retro in a way.
Insomniac's game reminded me of Brute Force. I bought that horrid game and regret it still. The character archetypes are very similar.
Overbite! The game is called Overbite!!!
lol I remember that game. Why did I waist my time beating it way back when, I will never know.
Thanks to Nightshade's FB bomb of game announcements, I am keeping my eye on Dragon's Crown now.
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2011-dragons…
The female animations are….well….interesting. Looks fun though. Any other games caught anyone else's eye aside from the big announcements?
I.
Need.
Sleep.
That is all.
How does the Sorceress not have back problems???
I think her robes double as a teddy….
Notice she is always bent over a little bit, definite signs of back problems. haha.
This game makes me want to buy a PornStation 3… or maybe just a Sorceress… and an Amazonian.
-M
I've watched that trailer 3 times. I might just buy this game on principle now. That cleavage makes Team Ninja envious.
FFXIII-2 was fun. More traditional features for old school RPG fans.
Good.
Good to hear that.
YAY!
So I'm trying out Twitter to see how useful it is and what the fuss is about. My info is HowingtonB
So far I notice that Ochocino tweets nonstop.
Hit me up @Nightshade386
No, Mr. Padilla, you got it backwards. You don't want to take the word "fun" out of "Kinect Fun Labs", you want to add more words to it so that it will be "Kinect Super Awesome Bright Fun Happy Time Fun Labs" so that the brand will have more appeal to the Japanese market. I mean, doesn't Microsoft need more penetration in the Japanese market? In addition, the avatars for that region should all be "anime" style, complete with androgynous genders and insane hair/clothes that would never really look good on someone in real life.
-M
@iceman
Penetration and Japanese market are so funny in the same sentence.
Head out of the gutter, Smartguy.
Can I leave mine in there, though?
-M
My thoughts on E3: (Please keep in mind that I did not attend E3 and I am still digesting more than half of the information produced from the show).
– Microsoft is publishing a whole bunch of games I want, but don't have time to play.
– Nintendo is the Japanese version of Apple (or at least it's trying to be).
– Sony REALLY wants to beat Nintendo in the hand-held market and sell lots of new TVs.
– EA and Activision are still evil empires, but I can't decide which one is worse.
I am strangely looking forward to Gears of War 3 more than I am to Halo 4. I love me some Halo, but I find myself gravitating towards the slow gameplay and more deliberate pace of the Gears Universe. It's just a shame that the story sucks. Bioshock Infinite is a must for me, despite not having watched any trailers or gameplay videos. I'm just a big fan of the series.
-M
I would have to agree completely with your bullet (dash) points. For as much as Nintendo says they don't pay attention to what anyone else is doing in the industry—they do. I am looking forward to Halo 4 more than Gears 3 though. Also, Gears of War has a story and plot??!! When did that happen? lol. I suppose it is there somewhere, but I feel like Cliff B. and Gears of War is the Michael Bay game of the industry (except for the odd part about it being slow paced). Big explosions, weak plot, good guys destroy huge monsters and bad guys with outlandish weapons and more big explosions. Yep it's all there.
With all of the hype around Bioshock I really need to borrow Atlas Shrugged from the library so I can read it and finish Bioshock and then Bioshock 2.
Wii U, Ico, and Halo CE are the only really big news coming out of E3 for me. The new content streaming out on other games is nice, but there weren't many shockers. Also, I refuse to care about Halo 4 until Microsoft puts a dev name behind it. Who is making it is a very big detail for Halo games to me.
@Sandrock
343 Studios. MS is just gonna hold on to games and release them in Nov now.
This holiday seasonal release is kinda bothersome. If your largest demographic is 20 something year old males…then they do not wait to get these games under a tree or in a stocking. They would buy them year round. Take Two's success proves that.
I agree wholeheartedly with this sentiment.
Back from day two! It's still weird living in LA for E3. All my friends are still out at parties. When I flew in from out of town, I'd hasn't out late. Now that I'm here, my own bed sounds comfy