PsEG's E3 Ramblings: June 15th, 2010

I have to sympathize a little with journalists for having to get a less-than-ideal amount of sleep. Only a little, though. They're witnessing enough interesting stuff firsthand that a week of no sleep should be more than worth the sacrifice.

This is what coffee's for, anyways. I know I'm downing my fill, but that's more insomnia than anything. So, how about some more completely stupid bullet points?

I'll be doing these bullet points in a more "typing as it's live" format than yesterday, though it's not like that matters.

Nintendo

• I guess I have the most expectations for Nintendo this year, which is probably not going to pan out very well for me. I'm hoping this 3DS is more mindblowing than expected, and the more I hear it mentioned, the more I really want a new F-Zero on the Wii. I don't care what Shigeru Miyamoto says: I adored F-Zero GX. It's the best arcade racer I've played, period.
• New Zelda? Of course that's always nice. Using the Wii Motion Plus? Man, was that awkward in the demo. When Shigeru Miyamoto has trouble using the controls, it's not a good sign whatsoever. Hopefully that's just an issue with an early version and the problems with trying to play Wii in a big auditorium. At least six months to work out the issues seems more than fair.
• Also, I appreciate translating for Miyamoto, as that makes the dialog a little smoother, but the talking over one another still seems weird for a press conference. That's just nitpicking, though.
• Mario Sports Mix looks good for what it is, which is something I probably won't play. I more want to mention how silly a name that is. Sports Mix. Why not just call it Mario Sports?
• OK, so Wii Party's Mario Party with the Miis. That seems about right. I'm surprised it took Nintendo this long to make a game of this sort.
• A Daniel Craig Goldeneye. I'm not sure what to think of that! I want a new Goldeneye game to succeed, but then again, that was a special experience back when it came out for the N64. I don't know if Activision can replicate the same feeling Rare created way back when, but I really want to see that work. In a world of Halo and Call of Duty, that would be impressive. I'll never be sold on Daniel Craig, though. I still think Pierce Brosnan is the best modern version of James Bond.
• I'm not a fan of Disney, but Epic Mickey's erasing and painting mechanic looks interesting. I have to admit the whole moral choice thing seems pretty played-out at this point. How do you save the world: by painting it fresh or erasing it clean? By hugging this kitten, or MURDERING THIS PUPPY? More games with grey areas of morality need to come out.
• Quick background: Kirby's Dream Land was the first game I ever beat (without cheating, and not counting unbeatable games) as a kid. I'm a bit impartial to Kirby games, as a result. Kirby's Epic Yarn is a hilarious name. I think the art style is spectacular, but Kirby...just doesn't look right to me. It's strange. The yarn/fabric style works well for the world, but kind of a "Wonder Woman invisible jet" type of odd for characters. Still, the gameplay in Epic Yarn looks really promising. Go Kirby.
• I don't know why I'm not a big Metroid fan. I don't hate it, but it's never really grabbed my attention. I finally tried the series with Metroid Prime, but it couldn't hold my attention. I'll chalk it up to a personal shortcoming. Anyways, Other M's a thing, I suppose.
• A new Donkey Kong Country! I got nostalgic hearing the music, and started humming along. While I didn't play 2, 3, or 64 much, the first Donkey Kong Country was one of my favorite platformers. Donkey Kong Country Returns looks very interesting, even if I was amused that the 3D models didn't look as good as the prerendered 2D of the original SNES title at times.
• Sounds like the 3DS has a good amount of bells and whistles, as it should. That's all good and well. I don't know why I'd want to view 3D movies on a tiny screen, but hey, whatever, it's nifty. Hopefully enough games utilize the 3D well enough to make it worthwhile, though I'm not sure I want to try it out until it's been well-tested.
• Ha ha!! Kid Icarus. Very nice presentation there. I'd say that gives the 3DS a pretty good chance. Not that it was ever going to have trouble anyways, unless the 3D's somehow terrible (and I doubt that will be the case). Nintendo's good at inspiring nostalgia with its music, too.
• Wow, and the third party announcements for the 3DS. Talk about a great way to inspire excitement without showing a single screenshot or trailer.
• OK, I think Nintendo did a very nice job with their press conference. Definitely a good amount of decent surprises, and Cammy Dunaway only haunted the online viewers. We obviously can't witness the 3DS in person, and Nintendo drove that point into the ground and managed to keep the idea of the 3DS exciting. There was no mention of the Vitality Sensor, which was good, and no mention of an F-Zero game, which was sad for me and my racing-addled brain. Still, a very good press conference overall, and compared to gaffes from previous years, the big issues with the new Zelda game seem minor compared to the rest of the highlights. It's up to Sony to try and outdo Nintendo for E3. We'll see if they can manage that.

Sony

• OK, slight rant time. I really don't care for 3D. Really don't care. I will only play 3D once I don't have to wear glasses or any accessories to see the 3D, and once I'm fully convinced it won't fuck up my eyes. This isn't just Sony's fault, of course -- it's also an issue with the 3DS -- but I really question this whole 3D movement, especially in TVs and bigger hardware that require glasses. Maybe you guys could focus on perfecting HDTVs first? That still seems a bit imperfect.
• Also, slight disclaimer: I don't own a PS3 and don't plan on buying one, so I can't really be sold on any of these games.
• That said, Killzone 3 looks nice. The player's soaking up a suspicious amount of damage, but the game looks very nice in 2D. The jetpacks are an interesting touch.
• Gran Turismo 5 in 3D. Now that's a game that could stand to benefit from 3D. Wonder how well it works at a high speed.
• Still, I wonder how much people are really going to adopt this 3D stuff. Seeing things over the Internet in 2D when they're trying to wow the live audience with 3D isn't helping me, that's for sure.
• I'm sure the Move controller helps a lot with precision compared to Kinect, and I like still having a controller for some...well, control, but I can't get past that glowing ball looking so dorky.
• Also, constantly taking digs at Microsoft is really giving Sony that Sega Genesis complex. Let your product speak for itself, guys. Being assholes just makes you look lame, and no even if you claim you're not trying to "stir the pot"...well, you totally are, dudes, and you know it.
• OK, fairness on the other end. I think Xbox should have made a Wii-like controller to work with Kinect. At least a tiny mini-remote or something that some games could utilize. The "lack of buttons makes it inferior" arguments are fair, and I think while Kinect's going to have just as much or more precision in its motion tracking compared to Move, it's going to run into barriers much faster than the Playstation Move's controller will.
• That said, with Sorcery and Tiger Woods Golf, all PS3's proven to me is that they can do what the Wii does with a teensy bit more precision. That's OK! But it's not revolutionary.
• Oh, hey, a chance to win a PS3 off Coke products? That's good! That's about the only way I'll get a PS3 at this point since I'm cheap as h-oh geez, Kevin Butler. Here comes more trash talking.
• ...or maybe not. That seemed a bit more peaceful than expected. A good cameo, at the very least.
• OK. $80-100 starting point for Move, and $40 game price point? I think the gauntlet's been thrown down. How Microsoft responds to this will be crucial. Personal thoughts? They should at least equal that price. $100 for Kinect, $40 for Kinect-only games. $150 and $60 for games will probably put them at a disadvantage. This is one point where Microsoft's gotta stop the high-price strategy and make their audience happy.
• A mouthy brat won't sell me on a PSP. I already struggle enough to enjoy my DS. That's probably more a personal problem than anything, since the game lineup looks neat, but ah well.
• A double-digit increase in connectivity is a bad way of saying anything. To me? That says 10%. Even if it's 15%, say 15%. No shame in that sort of growth so much as there's shame in trying to hide it.
• OK, back to stuff that makes me jealous of PS3 owners. Modnation Racers? Yeah, I wish I could play that. LittleBigPlanet 2? I wish I could play through all the crazy custom levels that people are inevitably going to create. The shown examples are crazy simple, but I'll be damned if it isn't interesting. The potential is amazing.
• Also, whoops, visible error message during the rocket arena demo! No biggie, though. Just found that humorous.
• Oh shit, a Plus subscription package that's the same price as Xbox Live Gold. This could create some flak. It seems to have enticing features, and I wonder if it'll force Microsoft's hand in what they offer their Gold subscribers versus their Silver members. Probably not, but again, that sounds like something we'll have to watch, to see what Sony offers its subscribers. Hopefully their free users still have an advantage over Xbox Live Silver peeps.
• Oh shit, Gabe Newell. THAT is a surprise. This press conference finally got interesting again. I'm a little disappointed Valve's switching console loyalty from Xbox 360 to PS3, but ah well. I'll be playing Portal 2 on the PC anyways. That's a nice grab on Sony's part, though.
• Man. Sony's biting back with all these exclusive grabs. This console war's getting a bit vicious and more real all of a sudden.
• The new GT5 trailer has NASCAR with the spoilers back on! They fixed that. Nice. I think it's practically a lock for GT5 to raise the bar on console sim racers. I hope there's as many new tracks as there appear to be, and I hope the gameplay isn't hampered by stupid license tests.
• inFamous 2 looks nice.
• TWISTED METAL. Very nice. Sony's doing a great job recovering from the earlier dullness. This is the sort of thing that makes me want a PS3. Hoping Crimson Fury's in it. Not convinced on the gameplay taking to the air or adding weapon types, the new game types, or the factions, but it's freakin' Twisted Metal.
• Oh, and I hope Twisted Metal does away with the key press combos for certain secret attacks. That was always a weak point of the series.
• What a long two hours. It ended quite interesting, however. I don't think it quite tops Nintendo, but the surprises definite outdid Microsoft. Microsoft's got some recovering to do for next year, I think, and I really wish I didn't have to say that, since I'm a loyal 360 owner. No whining about Sony doubling back on their word over exclusives, nitpicking over gameplay, or anything like that, Microsoft...just get out there and make your console look definitively better by comparison again. Sony's probably going to exit E3 with more momentum at this point.