I haven't watched the E3 news conferences in a few years. I just don't find BS corporate speak incredibly enthralling. In the past, I have read preview articles and live streams, but this year I watched Giant Bomb's daily updates on E3 and found myself perfectly satiated.

The show itself was quite underwhelming. I look forward to The Last of Us which looks like a much more serious (i.e. violent) Enslaved. I haven't really gotten into the whole post-apocalyptic genre that has become so popular recently.

The main thing that I took out of this E3: remembering to manage my expectations. I was super fuckin' excited for Heavy Rain and it was a great experience, but it didn't live up to my expectations. Part of the problem lays at my own feet, but the developer is to blame just as much as I am. We have seen studios with vocal leads that have energized the community for their game which in the end didn't live up to the hype (i.e. Silicon Knights/Too Human, Double Fine/Brutal Legend, Microsoft Game Studios/Fable, etc.). Also, on the console end, I have to temper my expectations. So many of us have bought into what Nintendo has been selling us for years; their system is for the casual and hardcore. (I have another article in mind to just talk about the Wii U, so I won't write too much on the subject now.) Nintendo does seem like it is learning from it's mistakes. They got some pretty hardcore games on board but many of those games won't be day and date with the other consoles, which is a problem. This time I am going to wait until Nintendo shows me that it is serious about getting people like me interested in their games for more than the regular Mario, Link, and Samus games.

Microsoft's line up was rinse and repeat. I'm kinda done with Halo. It looks good, but I just don't have the endearment for the franchise that I once had. Even Forza needs to take a break, in this authors opinion. I love racing games, but I am in the crowd of people who only needs one sim racer and one sports game every few years.

Sony seemed to have much more of a runners stride than Microsoft. Titles like The Last of Us and Beyond look really good. I hope Nintendo is getting some royalties from Sony because Picasso would be proud of Playstation All-Stars Battle Royal (google what he said about stealing).

Multiplatform games like Tomb Raider, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, and Star Wars 1313 look really promising. But, most of the other games either weren't for me or didn't look interesting. Part of my disinterest could be because of the plentitude of sequels. I like more of the same just like the next person, but sometimes that same tired-ass missionary position gets old. I need a break. I need a departure from the SSDD development cycle.

I am really excited for a few gems, but I am skeptical of a lot more of titles too. Hopefully, I will keep managing my expectations when it comes to using my money too.