I was sitting here, absent-mindedly drinking my tea and feeling slightly morose that I am just getting over flu (and in the summer to boot when the weather is just starting to improve), when I realised that I hadn't written a blog in over a month (apologies, I just forget sometimes) and I might as well write about something topical. So, with this big event called the Electronic Entertainment Exposition just around about finished for this year, it seemed the perfect opportunity. It felt slightly more like E3 this year than it did last year (despite, of course, the absence of various people who are now off doing other things), mainly because the show was held inside the LA Convention Center, which is just a building with the scale and grandeur necessary to lend weight to the event.

The Big Three

All of them claimed (as usual) that they were the most innovative, original and had gained the biggest profits. Microsoft decided that they would blatantly copy the Mii system on the Wii with their new Xbox Avatar system, down to the way the little people look, and having the Avatars star in various games. They also slightly took inspiration from PlayStation 3's Home, by having people chat to each other and play together, etc. Microsoft also had a bevy of games to showcase, from Fallout 3 to Fable 2 and Gears of War 2. My personal favourite was Fallout 3, which I am loving the retro-futuristic 1950's style (as though envisaging the future as was predicted in the 50's). They also had a variety of Live Arcade games, such as Portal: Still Alive, which I am guessing is a half-sequel with extra test chambers and challenges. Overall, a good conference.

Nintendo was rather lacklustre in several ways. They announced a remarkably large selection of new games and expansions and already known titles, such as a new Animal Crossing, GTA: Chinatown on the DS, Shawn White Snowboarding and Wii Music. However, although it is impossible to dent Nintendo's incredibly impressive financial record (which showed year upon year sales increases), all of their games have become extremely casual, pick-up-and-play titles. Whilst there is nothing wrong with this, and it is bound to rake in huge amounts of cash, many of the games didn't look like they would have long-lasting appeal. Focusing on the casual market is financially profitable, but it won't get people ever really excited.

Sony also had a large selection of game announcements and showcases, such as Resistance 2 (which had a 500ft monster smashing about), Killzone 2, LittleBigPlanet and MAG (Massive Action Game, which apparently will support over 200 players in the same FPS). They showed off their sales figures though the medium of a LittleBigPlanet level, which was infinitely fun and nifty way of putting across both the game and the often dull numbers and financial results. They talked about how great the PS3 as a Blu-Ray player was, and how amazing the PSP was generally because of the things you could do with it (although I'm not sure what they were specifically). An interesting conference again. If there had to be a winner (and there always does), then I would say Micro/Sony.

Any Other Business

The actual keynote address by the governor of Texas attracted a very meagre crowd (since he was incredibly obsessed with the Texan game development industry specifically), as did the speech by the ESA's president (which had a good rhetoric, but did really address some of the problems facing E3, such as dwindling attendance). Considering that Actiblizzard (I am going to constantly refer to them as that from now on) decided to coincidentally hold their own press junket just down the road from E3 at exactly the same time, many journalists hot-footed their way over to find out about a new Wolfenstein, Guitar Hero: World Tour and much else besides, leaving the ESA to cruise along in the slow lane the following morning. Business never changes.

So, on the one hand it was nothing like E3, and on the other, it remained true to form, or at least, the form which has been developing since 2007. Will E3 return next year? I think so, but the ESA will really have to think up some changes to the layout and style of the convention if it is going to survive into the next decade. With other events such as the Tokyo Game Show, the Consumer Electronics Show and E for All (which sounds to me like an advertisement offering drugs to people of all ages), E3 will have to work hard to show that it is still the best in the business.

Giant Bomb Addendum

“This is Tranquillity Base , The Bomb has landed.” Greetings! The site is moving slowly at the moment, but that is understandable given the level of traffic and sorting out the various bugs and issues that inevitably remain after launching. Overall, I am very impressed by the design and layout (although the forums could do with an overhaul), and think that the site should hopefully prosper into a useful and informative resource. Does this mean a complete abandonment of GameSpot? I would think not (in any significant sense), though The Bomb will hopefully be sharing some surfing time from now on.