E3 – Thoughts, Opinions and (way too early) Excitement

By Chris Rhodan

So, E3 was back to its old tricks, stepping out of the shadow of itself that it’s been for the past few years and reverting back into the  far more exciting behemoth it should be.

Quick satire of major announcements and my thoughts on some games from E3 after the jump.

Here’s a quick wrap of each console’s major announcements (warning: snarky cynicism ahead)

Microsoft’s press conference gave us some unexpected sequels,  Old men cashing in on new media, Yet another Halo game…. oh and a device that makes people lose control and flail their bodies around madly*.

Sony followed this up by announcing another handheld to get murdered by the DS juggernaut, A mysterious new non-GTA Rockstar game, another Final Fantasy MMO (that will probably come out before FF XIII) and unveiled their response to the Wii: A motion sensing magic wand.

Nintendo finished the major conferences off by copy and pasting Mario Galaxy, unveiled a (presumably) sexier and bloodier Metroid game, a new Golden Sun game for DS (finally)…. and a new peripheral that checks your pulse (and presumably warns you if you’re dead).

Oh, and Miyamoto also announced that he isnt announing a new Zelda for Wii at E3 this year.

Ok, with that snarky cynicism out of the way.. here’s some actual thoughts about what we saw at E3 this year:

Motion Controllers

First up, what was probably the biggest surprise announcement of E3: Microsoft’s “Natal” prototype. It was pretty obvious that both Microsoft and Sony were developing their own take on the new Motion-Control craze the Wii is thriving on (and don’t get me wrong, I’m not dismissing it as a fad, its a definite step towards the future of gaming), but I, like many people, were surprised to see Microsoft’s approach to motion control, wasn’t a controller at all but rather, an upgraded version of the PlayStation Eye(toy). While the technology behind it is fascinating and its clearly quite powerful (and the tech demos they had at the show looked fun and showed off it’s power very effectively), I dont see it really being more than an upgraded version of what the Playstation Eye was/is; a fun little attachment with interesting mini-games to enjoy, but completely ignored by main stream games.

Now, that may sound harsh, but theres a good reason for this; tactile feedback (or lack thereof). The reason the Wii controller suceeds so well as a motion controller, is that the user is physically holding the controller and imitating the action you’d actually make with whatever object  it’s meant to be (your imagination can easily fill in the blank slate that is the controller with whatever object it actually is, or if you lack imagination, there are thousands of Wii accessories in the shape of bats, guns, axes, racquets etc), and just as importantly, it applies feedback to the user through rumbling.  This combination gives the user the sensation of actually feeling like they’re doing the action in question, a feat which can’t be simulated through non-physical motion capture devices such as the Playstation Eye or the “Natal”.

Strangely, for a company that this generation seems so out of touch with developers (architecture unnecesarily complicated) and players alike (new PSP that still lacks dual analogs, and priced to rip off consumers), Sony’s option, while looking like a Wii Remote bred with a Magic Wand, apears to be similar in function to the Wii Remote and should please consumers and developers alike. While not revolutionary, as long as they fix the look of it (i.e. make it not look like a magic wand) it should actually suceed (which is more than I can say about the “Natal”), mainly for the reasons I outlined earlier about motion control and feedback.

Games, Games and more Games

Plenty of games were announced and/or showed off over the conference, heres some thoughts on games that impressed me (as a lounge chair enthusiast who wasnt actually at the conference). Bare in mind that I talk more about PC, Xbox360 and Nintendo DS games as theyre the three platforms I currently own.

Modern Warfare 2 (PC/360/PS3): When Infinity Ward announced they were making MW2, I wasn’t sure how to react; while COD4 was an amazing game, I was worried they’d play it safe and just retread the same ground as MW1. Thankfully, they’ve sent a precedent as COD2 much more than a re-tread of COD1 and their showing of the game at E3 removed any doubt from my mind. The snow level they demoed looked phenomenal, especially the whole rock climbing sequence (which looks like a lot of vertigo-inducing fun), and I loved the blizzard-battered Air Base where you couldn’t see more than a few meters in front of you, making it easy to sneak around (or get snuck up on yourself). Now I cant wait for this game… thankfully its coming out this year.

Splinter Cell: Conviction (PC/360): I haven’t played a Splinter Cell game since the early games of the series, and Conviction wasn’t really on my radar coming into E3, but it came from nowhere and sucked me in. Very much story-driven, Sam Fisher is out for revenge after the death of his daugher, cutting all ties to his organsitation and laws in his pursuit of those responsible. While the game appears very action driven, stealth is still the key in the game, and a lot of little additions to the gameplay make it a lot smoother and enjoyable, most notably the addition of a shilloute to indicate where enemies last saw you. Hopefully they’ll show more of this game off over the next couple of months, as it’s another game I’m already way too excited about (and again, thankfully it comes out this year).

Forza 3 (360): Forza 2 was probably my favourite serious racing game of all time (yes, better than all the Gran Turismo games to date) and I’ve sunk countless hours into the game, so I’m understandably excited for a sequel. While the trailer they showed looked amazing, they haven’t really showed off the gameplay itself, instead focusing on the car painting and video editing features (which are cool, but don’t necessarily appeal to me that much). However, they did discuss a couple of things that got me interested again; a track editor (which I’ll reserve judgement on until I see it) and a rewind button (which could be interesting if implemented well). Mixed anticpation for this one, but it interests me far more than any other racing game at the show .

Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story (DS): Nintendo announced a follow up to what is quietly one of the best RPG’s on handheld; Pokemon… err Mario & Luigi Partners in Time. No, I’m not kidding either, PiT (love that abbreviation) was a well designed JRPG that also introduced some real time elements to the turn based combat which sound gimmiky but, when combined with the Mario universe and an ample dosing of humour, made the game extremely enjoyable. As long as Nintendo stick to that formula, this game should be another great RPG on DS.

Golden Sun DS (DS): While the Mario & Luigi RPG series is a quiet achiever, the two previous Golden Sun games are regarded by many (including myself) as the best RPG’s on the Gameboy Advance. While not a lot of the game was shown, practically everyone who played the first two have been waiting years for the next game in the series, and this is definetly one to keep an eye on if you have a DS and enjoy RPG’s.

God of War 3 (PS3): God of War 3 finally had some gameplay shown during E3 and it looked like… more God of War. As a designer, I know I should feel disappointed that (so far) they haven’t really shown much that’s pushed the design of the game forward, but I just can’t. I loved the first two games, and even if the game doesn’t do much different and just looked better and pushed the story forward, it would still be one of the few games (among the likes of MGS4 and Uncharted) that really make me wish I had a PS3.

Assassin’s Creed 2 (PC/360/PS3): The first Assassin’s Creed game, to me, was a tech demo more than anything else. The gameplay fundamentals were there and the engine powering it all was clearly well developed and powerful, it just wasn’t polished and quickly degenerated into doing the exact same things over and over again. The whole time I played the game, I was thinking of how cool the sequel would be, since they had the mechanics in the game, but hadn’t developed them into a fun experience; and here that sequel is. The gameplay demo showed that they were trying to address most of the concerns with the first game, although obviously a demo won’t show if they’ve fixed the endless repetition of the first game, as well introduced the cool new renaissance era setting (and Leonardi da Vinci making devices such as the flying machine for the hero is a cool way of introducing some wacky looking, but interesting designs). Another game that I can’t wait to see more of as the year goes on.

The Last Guardian (PS3): The latest game from the masterful Ico team really let me down ths year. Don’t get me wrong, the trailer was great and all, but it was just an extended version of a trailer that was leaked a week before the show and they had absolutely nothing else to show of the game. I was really hoping we’d see some gameplay (at least video of gameplay if not a demo), but it wasn’t to be this year. This could be the game that finally convinces me to buy a PS3 and I really want to see something more substantial.

Brutal Legend (360/PS3): I think this was a game made almost specifically for me as I love Tim Schafer and I love heavy metal. Aside from the lack of a jump button (Shafer’s reasoning being “No jump because that’s what ruined Van Halen.”), I’ve seen nothing but positive feedback from the game and although I havent had the chance to check out videos of the gameplay, from what I’ve heard it’s incredibly fun. Based on his past works alone, I’d be excited about this game, but given it’s setting and a positive showing, I want this game as soon as possible.

* No offense to Felica Day, I love her work (and I only found that video through her own twitter updates)