E3 Presentation Review

As of about an hour ago, Sony wrapped up their E3'08 presentation, and that means that now each of the big three in the world of games have had their say - so now it's my turn. In a lot of ways, I felt that this year felt understated, full of news we've heard elsewhere, and a whole lot of catering to that darned "casual" base. In terms of big-name titles, again, we've heard it all before this week, and it was kind of sad that none of the companies decided to use this chance to announce something crazy - something preferably "hardcore" that would send people into a frenzy. There is one exception, but I'll get to that in a minute. Let me just go ahead and breakdown how I felt about each company's presentation, and what their various announcements mean to a gamer such as myself, who thinks of himself more along the lines of hardcore, if not at least devoted to the gaming culture...

NINTENDO: Of the three, the biggest disappointment had to be the Big N. While there was plenty to be proud of, with the Wii and the DS both being licensed machines to print money, the company did little to make people think it hadn't forgotten about the fan base that helped to pull them from the wreckage of the GameCube. Of all their various announcements, the only one I'd even have a big of interest in is Animal Crossing: City Folk, which will feature all the things we'd expect from a game that should create a community feel - this goes hand in hand with the new Wii Speak, which finally allows for chat, only in a group environment, making a mic open to a whole room. It's an odd take on the whole chatting concept, though from Nintendo I expect it. And while I'll be sure to play Animal Crossing, I was disappointed that Nintendo didn't mention a single game that hinged on any of the Holy Trinity - Mario, Legend of Zelda, and Metroid. Not only that, but I know a lot of folks (me included) were rather pissed and disappointed that no mention of a Kid Icarus game was made. Also, no new IPs, at least not any that aren't part of the current Nintendo philosophy. I mean, it's nice that Nintendo is doing well again, but it would seem that the way we've seen them go towards the casual market is here to stay, with the occasional scraps thrown to those who expect the glory days of Nintendo. I mean, Animal Crossing is cool and all, but it's not something like a new adventure for Link or the resurrection of a long-forgotten classic. All in all, Nintendo's outlook is oddly familiar, and doesn't look to change anytime soon.
BANNEN'S GRADE: C-

MICROSOFT: Now don't go hatin', fanboys, but of the presentations, Microsoft's was probably the best - but only by default. Microsoft opened E3, and they took that oppertunity and ran with it. Honestly, most of the show wasn't exactly a surprise. We all knew Gears of War II was going to kick ass, and sure enough, the demo of it certainly impressed. Actually, let me take this time to say that I think one of the big things I noticed was that Microsoft showed a lot of in-game demos and videos of their big games, both first party and third. This is a stark change of pace from Sony, which didn't show a whole lot of anything. If nothing else, Microsoft has some serious confidence in their library, and aside from all of the stuff I don't care much about - like the new Avatar thing and the Xbox Live redesign - the games look great, and that means a lot once the Fall rolls around and "Must Haves" start raining down like crazy. The pocket book is gonna hurt this year - and that's between all the consoles, not just the 360. Of course, Microsoft also ruled E3'08 because it had the ace in the hole, the one bombshell announcement. Final Fantasy XIII. Now that is an announcement. Personally, this doesn't mean much to me because I gave up on FF a long time ago, but I know it means a lot to many, many people. This is huge. Now, when it comes to big third party franchises, Sony's pool of exclusives big names is shriking. Along with GTA and Resident Evil, Final Fantasy is now a big game you can get on the 360 the same days it's available on the PS3. That's pretty important, and it stands as the one big surprise of the whole event. Well played, Microsoft.
BANNEN'S GRADE: A-

SONY: Sony's presentation was a confusing one. Of all the systems, I truly believe it has the chance to bring the most cool exclusives come this holiday, and yet the only games it chose to really focus on was Resistance 2 and LittleBigPlanet. I understand highlighting them, but I was stunned that more time wasn't spent on Killzone 2 which, aside from a ver brief glimpse during a montage, didn't make an apperance to speak of at all. I was also kind of pissed to not see more on inFamous, which could be the breakout sort of surprise Crackdown was for the 360. In general, Sony's presentation was just more looks at what we already knew about, and fairly underwhelming in that respect. Home, something I've slowly given up on over the last year and a half, was talked about ("your patience will pay off, I swear!"), and a new video was shown of it open world design, but no word was given on its progress or when we could expect the wider open beta to arrive for the masses - not even so much as "this Fall!" was said about it, and that makes me think this is something that will either come out in 2009 or not at all. It's funny, because Microsoft's new Xbox Live upgrades mimic much of the social networking Sony wants Home to do, and the new Live will be up and running in the Fall. Sony got totally faced on this one. For me, I was waiting for word on God of War III, and hoping it would be Sony's bombshell, maybe releasing this holiday to pull some folks away from their Gears fix who might otherwise not gel to Resistance 2's business. Sadly, all Sony had for Kratos was a very short teaser that showed zero of the game. Again, no date was mentioned. When all is said and done, Sony had the door left wide open for dropping some sort of epic bomb, and simply decided not to. It was a tame affair, and described nothing new. At least the big speech about Sony's profits was enjoyable, highlighted with a funny clip from LittleBigPlanet...
BANNEN'S GRADE: B

STANDOUT GAME: Sure, Gears of War II looks awesome, and my heart pines for Ghostbusters, the game that really stood out (primarily from Microsoft's presentation - another title PS3 breezed past) was Fallout 3. Sure, I already reserved my copy of the game, but that was simply because the pics I had seen looked neat-o. Now that I've seen the game in motion, I can hardly wait to get my hands on it. The "Bloody Mess" perk is this year's "Enrage Plasmid"!

That's it for my take on E3'08 and the big three. Hopefully, more surprises will appear at the next few events. Fingers crossed, maybe at PAX!?