Hey guys, 
 
I've been listening to Weekend Confirmed from this past weekend. Although they couldn't name the games specifically, Garnett, Jeff and John were all VERY gravely disappointed, and somewhat embarrassed by some of the games they've seen at pre-E3 previews this year. 
 
I'm guessing the GB staff have seen these as well, hope they give some hints on the Bombcast this week. 
 
But how does it make you feel? E3 is such a hype machine that everything is awesome, but it sounds like there'll be some real duds on display this year. 
 
I'm hoping that they're talking about a lot of middle-of-the-road type trash. If Gears 3 or Dead Space 2 are overblown, gross out gore-fests I'll be upset!

I think only Jeff was there for GB. Weekend confirmed did sound less than excited about the pre E3 judges week stuff, but they did say there was a handful of stuff that was amazing. I'll probably only watch the press conferences. I don't expect anything good from the Natal event or from Nintendo, as usual. The Sony and Microsoft stuff will have low points but there will be high points as well which will blow my mind.

Can you post a link to whatever your talking about? 

Well I can tell you that Nintendo never fails to disappoint. So at least we know that.

Fallout New Vegas will more than make up for any of the shit that's there

" Can you post a link to whatever your talking about?  "

I heard this too and I think it sparks a very interesting debate. Now that I'm a bit older, I'm definitely more aware that many games play to the lowest common denominator. Their comments seemed to point to issues with the content of the games, not the quality per se. There are plenty of games, the Gears of War series being one of the biggest examples, that I'm embarrassed to play in front of my fiance because it reinforces the idea that games are for testosterone filled teenage boys.  
 
That said, I am also happy we're getting games like Heavy Rain and Alan Wake (and Red Dead, from what I've heard) that speak to gamers as adults and treat them with respect. Yes, there might be sex and violence, but they are there for a reason and aren't marketing-driven features put in purely for the sake of titillation. 
 
More and more I find myself drawn to games with a compelling, mature plot over those which are the most "X-TREME!!!".  
 
I'll be interested to see what from E3 they were mentioning, and hope that it does not portend badly for the future of the medium. While I don't want to sound pretentious, I think it's important for games to grow in how they address an evermore mature audience.

I'm guessing that if there's any disappointment it's going to be because there's a ton of sequels that probably won't change a whole lot.

For those who didn't listen to the episode, what the group on the podcast talked about was how many games seemed to be focusing on blood, violence and general bad assery; they specifically mentioned one E3 game that was especially embarrassing, to the point where the EA suits sitting in on the presentation looked uncomfortable. Also, they did emphasize that the things that are really really good are still really really good; the general sense seemed to be that there was a greater divide between the great games and the not-so-great-to-outright-bad games, with the idea of middling games seeming to be a fading memory.
 
Now for my analysis: I think that a lot of that reaction might just be a certain amount of apathy and fatigue for the kinds of games that have dominated this generation of games and the last. Namely, the violence-heavy shooter and sci-fi epics seem to be of less and less interest to them and they are ready for more "mature" gaming. That same podcast, they had a pretty in-depth conversation about writing in games, where the same sub-par E3 offerings were mentioned, and they pointed to games like Heavy Rain as possible direction for the industry to mature into. The thing to keep in mind is that crew, especially John Davison, have long stuck their stakes into the argument of games becoming more of an "adult" medium, and adult in a genuine way rather than what a teenagers idea of what maturity might appear to be. 
 
Does this make me nervous for E3? Not really; honestly, I've never been more fascinated by an E3 simply because I have no clue what is going to be there games wise. Plus both Davison and Lee seemed to imply that while the crap was more crap than usual, the good stuff was also elevating to a new level as well. So yeah, there might be a flood of also-ran games that are coming out over the next year, but there also seems to be a lot of high-qualtiy titles they also are excited to see.

The fact "move" and "natal" were going to be big deals meant no matter what happened at E3 it would suck horribly bad,

Its possible that some stuff is being held back and kept more secret than ever before, considering that pretty much EVERYTHING got leaked early last year

" Its possible that some stuff is being held back and kept more secret than ever before, considering that pretty much EVERYTHING got leaked early last year "

" Fallout New Vegas will more than make up for any of the shit that's there "

" @Cheapoz: All they said was "the stuff that's bad is terrible, but the stuff that's good is really great." "

"The fact "move" and "natal" were going to be big deals meant no matter what happened at E3 it would suck horribly bad, "

I've heard the opposite from various games media insiders, actually.  I never listened to Weekend Confirmed before but I did hear they have said some nonsense / factually incorrect stuff before.  Not saying it reflects on their opinion of this, but it could.
 
Still only an opinion, but E3 is often disappointing these days because most everyone overhypes it in their head.

Didn't John Davison say something like there's 500+ games at E3?  Of course there'll be many crap ones among those.

*Sigh* Yet another year with no new Half Life announcement  and some more shit I don't care about. In other words, another E3...

The last thing I need to see is people being elitist about games and I'm seeing it right here.  Whether it's asking for "mature" or "adult" games or shunning the motion controls, the attitude reeks far too much of sticking one's nose in the air.  Generally this is the stink that envelops the "games as art" debate and why it's so scoff-worthy.
 
I would love more adult and different games but guess what I like good games first and if people continue to make them I will continue to play them.  Whatever those games may be, let them be because frankly trends are complex and aren't overnight.  That means games are a product of their time and all one can do sometimes is enjoy what good games come out.
 
I always get put off when people get up in arms about something that is not new.  How is this year different from every other year?  Why make a fuss now?  It just seems arbitrary and easy to make such statements because it does feel good to be the populist and town crier yelling at something to be better.
 
EDIT:  Someone does elude to a good point that it also depends on who's talking.  One source could be the cynic and another the optimist.  Usually they're both right which is to say it's the same old same old batch of awesome, disappointing, XTREME!, and indie/creative stuff.  The fun thing is seeing what and how many games fall into each category.

" Well I can tell you that Nintendo never fails to disappoint. So at least we know that. "

I'm still hoping some Metal Gear Rising gameplay footage will emerge.

" @Cheapoz: All they said was "the stuff that's bad is terrible, but the stuff that's good is really great." "

" Its possible that some stuff is being held back and kept more secret than ever before, considering that pretty much EVERYTHING got leaked early last year "

The Nintendo showfloor will rock everyone away.
 
Not the conference, of course.

There's talk of Criterion announcing SSX4 at E3. 
 
I'd be more excited at Criterion announcing NFS:Underground East at E3.

For the first time in years, I'm not really excited about anything before E3. All this motion sensing stuff, makes me go: meh.

" @Supermarius said:

" Its possible that some stuff is being held back and kept more secret than ever before, considering that pretty much EVERYTHING got leaked early last year "

It's not likely anything was held back, since if it wasn't shown to the judges last week, it won't get any E3 awards. It doesn't make sense for a game company to prevent their best stuff from getting awards. "

I'm gonna go ahead and guess this might be one of the games they're embarrassed to see... 
 

Splatterhouse. Yeah I think you're right.
I bet Crackdown 2 is another dissapointing one.

" Splatterhouse. Yeah I think you're right. I bet Crackdown 2 is another dissapointing one. "

" @I_smell said:

" Splatterhouse. Yeah I think you're right. I bet Crackdown 2 is another dissapointing one. "

Totally. Even when I saw the developer interview for Crackdown 2's multiplayer I thought, "Wow, they don't get it. They don't know what made Crackdown fun." "

I just saw that they filled the streets in Crackdown with zombies who all look about as interactive as the posts you knock over in GTA :/