Hey all,

Sorry I didn’t have time to post yesterday, between actual work and trying to watch press conferences I didn’t have much time to write. I know I’m pushing back my top #10 feature AGAIN, but come on! It’s E3!

So on to press conference impressions:

Microsoft:

Started strong, I liked the Halo 4 demo, and the Splinter Cell stuff looked great. The issue I had with these is that they looked very similar to previous entries in their series, nothing new there. A lot of Microsoft’s press conference felt like I was watching CES, not E3. Smart glass looks like it could be interesting, but aside from being used as a playbook for Madden, I didn’t see very useful gaming applications come out of it. The Gears of War trailer was there… But we learned nothing about the game from it, so I’m going to gloss over it mostly. The talk of “new IPs” was very underwhelming. Wreckateer and the other games they showed looked very uninspiring to me, but who knows, maybe that weird looking Gore Verbinski game will be interesting. The app stuff was a complete bore in my opinion (OK, it’s not “for” me, fine) but the sports stuff was nifty. My concern is that I will have to pay through the nose to actually watch hockey on my Xbox, and I won’t be able to get in market games anyway, so it will probably be a waste for me given that my hometown team is my favorite team (go Red Wings!). By the way, what IS Forza Horizon? I mean, I get it, but why? It just seems unnecessary. Ending with Black Ops 2 was probably smart for them, but ultimately it reeked of “we don’t have any good first party stuff in the pipes, enjoy this multiplatform game demo!” All in all, Microsoft’s conference was a little bland, but they showed stuff that will be very important for them over the next year. Oh yea, almost forgot, USHER! You guys like him, right? He’s cool, isn’t he?

EA:

Where to begin? I guess I’ll start with Gears of Dead Space, *ahem* sorry, Freudian slip? Anyway, the Dead Space trailer was a joke if you ask me. Did anyone really want co-op in Dead Space? And where was the atmosphere and suspense that made the first game good? Finally, can anyone get a sentence out without dropping an F-Bomb? I swear like a sailor in daily conversation, but even I don’t do it that much. Really the only other thing I got out of the EA conference was sports, sports, sports… I like sports, but not to the extent that it was pushed at the conference yesterday. I guess it just goes to show how much of EA’s revenue comes from sports games, and I’m sure there were plenty that were pleased by it. The Need for Speed announcement was cool, but unsurprising. The Battlefield stuff was a given, and they seemed to emphasize it too much. Finally, the Medal of Honor demo seemed a little too much like Battlefield for my tastes. Again, the EA conference was… fine. No surprises, a little disappointing at times, but everything they showed will probably sell gangbusters.

Ubisoft:

Oh Ubi, what would we do without you? Finally, my blood got pumping a little. Aside from a really weird Far Cry 3 trailer, this conference was on fire in my opinion. Watch Dogs is up there for my game of show so far. It looked awesome based on the trailer, and to have a real demo, and not just a CG trailer, shows me that the game may actually come out this console generation. Assassin’s Creed III looked phenomenal as always, I can’t wait to get on the Connor train this holiday season. Rayman was neat, and a fun treat. I don’t know what to think about Zombi U, it could be great, but Zombies are a little tired, and they showed nothing but a brutal CG trailer. Aside from the games, there was a lot of dancing, and a lot of comedic misses from the host Aisha Tyler, I wasn’t a huge fan of the theatrics, but the games were rock solid. Oh yea, Shootmania looks great.

Sony:

If I had to pick a day one winner, I’d have to hand it to Sony. Playstation All Stars looked great, The announcement of the Big Daddy as a character was a great surprise, and the Beyond announcement was phenomenal. I can’t wait to see what Quantic Dream has up its sleeve next. The Wonderbook looked really interesting, not something I would necessarily want, but it could go a long way in getting families on board with the PS3. The announcements of Assassin’s Creed: Liberation on Vita, and CoD: Black Ops Declassified for Vita were both great news. I can’t wait to get into an AC game on my Vita, and having a competitive shooter to play on my lunch breaks should be a blast. The further content shown from Assassins Creed just had me salivating a little more, I hope the nautical stuff is persistent through more than just one mission. Finally, what will almost assuredly win game of the shows across the Internet, the Last of Us looked downright mind blowing. My early prediction is that it will be the defining game for a generation. Sony knows what they’re doing, and I think they took the cake.

Hey all,

Sorry I didn’t have time to post yesterday, between actual work and trying to watch press conferences I didn’t have much time to write. I know I’m pushing back my top #10 feature AGAIN, but come on! It’s E3!

So on to press conference impressions:

Microsoft:

Started strong, I liked the Halo 4 demo, and the Splinter Cell stuff looked great. The issue I had with these is that they looked very similar to previous entries in their series, nothing new there. A lot of Microsoft’s press conference felt like I was watching CES, not E3. Smart glass looks like it could be interesting, but aside from being used as a playbook for Madden, I didn’t see very useful gaming applications come out of it. The Gears of War trailer was there… But we learned nothing about the game from it, so I’m going to gloss over it mostly. The talk of “new IPs” was very underwhelming. Wreckateer and the other games they showed looked very uninspiring to me, but who knows, maybe that weird looking Gore Verbinski game will be interesting. The app stuff was a complete bore in my opinion (OK, it’s not “for” me, fine) but the sports stuff was nifty. My concern is that I will have to pay through the nose to actually watch hockey on my Xbox, and I won’t be able to get in market games anyway, so it will probably be a waste for me given that my hometown team is my favorite team (go Red Wings!). By the way, what IS Forza Horizon? I mean, I get it, but why? It just seems unnecessary. Ending with Black Ops 2 was probably smart for them, but ultimately it reeked of “we don’t have any good first party stuff in the pipes, enjoy this multiplatform game demo!” All in all, Microsoft’s conference was a little bland, but they showed stuff that will be very important for them over the next year. Oh yea, almost forgot, USHER! You guys like him, right? He’s cool, isn’t he?

EA:

Where to begin? I guess I’ll start with Gears of Dead Space, *ahem* sorry, Freudian slip? Anyway, the Dead Space trailer was a joke if you ask me. Did anyone really want co-op in Dead Space? And where was the atmosphere and suspense that made the first game good? Finally, can anyone get a sentence out without dropping an F-Bomb? I swear like a sailor in daily conversation, but even I don’t do it that much. Really the only other thing I got out of the EA conference was sports, sports, sports… I like sports, but not to the extent that it was pushed at the conference yesterday. I guess it just goes to show how much of EA’s revenue comes from sports games, and I’m sure there were plenty that were pleased by it. The Need for Speed announcement was cool, but unsurprising. The Battlefield stuff was a given, and they seemed to emphasize it too much. Finally, the Medal of Honor demo seemed a little too much like Battlefield for my tastes. Again, the EA conference was… fine. No surprises, a little disappointing at times, but everything they showed will probably sell gangbusters.

Ubisoft:

Oh Ubi, what would we do without you? Finally, my blood got pumping a little. Aside from a really weird Far Cry 3 trailer, this conference was on fire in my opinion. Watch Dogs is up there for my game of show so far. It looked awesome based on the trailer, and to have a real demo, and not just a CG trailer, shows me that the game may actually come out this console generation. Assassin’s Creed III looked phenomenal as always, I can’t wait to get on the Connor train this holiday season. Rayman was neat, and a fun treat. I don’t know what to think about Zombi U, it could be great, but Zombies are a little tired, and they showed nothing but a brutal CG trailer. Aside from the games, there was a lot of dancing, and a lot of comedic misses from the host Aisha Tyler, I wasn’t a huge fan of the theatrics, but the games were rock solid. Oh yea, Shootmania looks great.

Sony:

If I had to pick a day one winner, I’d have to hand it to Sony. Playstation All Stars looked great, The announcement of the Big Daddy as a character was a great surprise, and the Beyond announcement was phenomenal. I can’t wait to see what Quantic Dream has up its sleeve next. The Wonderbook looked really interesting, not something I would necessarily want, but it could go a long way in getting families on board with the PS3. The announcements of Assassin’s Creed: Liberation on Vita, and CoD: Black Ops Declassified for Vita were both great news. I can’t wait to get into an AC game on my Vita, and having a competitive shooter to play on my lunch breaks should be a blast. The further content shown from Assassins Creed just had me salivating a little more, I hope the nautical stuff is persistent through more than just one mission. Finally, what will almost assuredly win game of the shows across the Internet, the Last of Us looked downright mind blowing. My early prediction is that it will be the defining game for a generation. Sony knows what they’re doing, and I think they took the cake.

agreed. ubisoft was the star of the show