E3, the world’s largest videogame trade show has been running in Los Angeles this week. And from a damp squib that was described as being like a “hospital corridor” (by Sega’s US boss) last year, E3 2009 has cooked up a storm. Here’s a personal and probably controversial view of the highs and lows of the show that brought videogames into the mainstream spotlight:
The Good
Project Natal Microsoft’s motion-and-speech-sensing peripheral was clearly the “winner” of E3 in terms of wow-factor. It out-techs, in one Microsoft Xbox 360 peripheral, Sony’s motion-sensing peripheral and Nintendo’s well-established Wii. It looks sleek and amazing… but… see below…
Grown-up games The list is endless, but particular shouts must go out to the Sony PS3 line-up of God Of War III, The Last Guardian (although like Ico and Shadow Of The Colossus, it probably won’t sell), Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Heavy Rain. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 exclusive line-up was nearly as good: Alan Wake and Splinter Cell: Conviction. For Nintendo’s Wii? It was all about the Team Ninja’s (creators of Dead Or Alive and Ninja Gaiden) reboot of the Metroid franchise with Metroid: The Other M’s fast-paced third-person combat. Multi-platform stand-outs were, of course, Modern Warfare 2 and the hilariously-brilliant Jack Black-fronted Brutal Legend.
Not-so-grown-up games If you thought Super Mario Galaxy 2 wasn’t going to get a mention, you were wrong.
The Bad
Project Natal Microsoft’s motion-and-speech-sensing peripheral leaves too many questions unanswered. When will it be out? How much will it cost? How much of what was shown was “real” and how much was created just for E3? (The signs on the latter, from hands-on demos, are encouraging).
Plus, Nintendo and other games companies working on the Nintendo Wii have struggled to capitalise on its formidable motion-sensing technology. Is the games world ready yet for the leap forward Project Natal represents? Or will it ultimately mean lots of novelty party games your gran can play come Christmas now making it onto the Xbox 360?
Milo Peter Molyneux’s demo of a small AI child, interacted with using Project Natal tech, was initially jaw-dropping. But how many of us want to spend real time interacting with a virtual child in such a dull, creepy way? The worry here is there’s too little game to play. It’d be a hit on the Nintendo Wii for teen girls. But how many teen girls will own a Microsoft Xbox 360?
Metal Gear Solid: Rising Rising was one of Microsoft’s big shots for the Xbox 360. Only it’s not being produced by Kojima (which might at least cut down on cut-scenes) and it’s a spin-off of the main Metal Gear Solid series and it’s not exclusive to the Xbox 360. What is it, then?
Left 4 Dead 2 The announcement of this game so soon after the original has left fans seething with anger. From everything that’s been shown so far, it’s almost as if EA’s policy of pushing one out every year has zombie-infected Valve.
Sony PSP Go Frankly, it looks a bit wrong (well, like the Sony Mylo, in fact), it adds little in terms of new functionality and removes the UMD drive. Which will hopefully be great for battery life, but isn’t so good if you already own and play PSP games.
Wii Vitality Sensor Why? Why? Why? Mainly, because Nintendo, it would appear, is keen to sell you another sodding peripheral.
Wii Fit Plus Again, Nintendo furiously milking a cash cow. But like Left 4 Dead 2, with far too little “new” to really make it worthwhile. It’ll sell millions. Gah.
The Ugly
Sony PS3 motion-sensing peripheral It looked wrong on its own. Stacked against the Nintendo WiiMote or Microsoft Xbox 360 Project Natal it looks wrong and old.
Great series, shame about the visuals New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker may be brilliant games, but the visual style of the former and the resolution restraints of the latter appearing on the Sony PSP mean they just look out-of-date.
Wii MotionPlus The technology that should have been in the Nintendo Wii to make it more accurate from the start now available as an add-on that, yes, costs you extra money.
Halo: ODST It will probably play great. But is it just me who thinks that maybe, just maybe, the Halo games (taken as a whole) were never that great fun in the first place, and that Microsoft and Bungie are now beginning to run out of ideas for the Xbox 360 series?
The Beatles: Rock Band Getting them to turn up was a big coup for Microsoft. But an entire game of The Beatles tracks doesn’t really appeal. It’d have potential as a downloadable pack for the main game. It’d be better to keep mining the more anthemic, rocky and metally bands Rock Band and Guitar Hero have done so well on so far.
Steven Spielberg Like The Beatles, Spielberg was a big coup. Microsoft used him to introduce their Project Natal Xbox 360 technology. But despite it getting extra media coverage, such big names tend to distract from the actual games.
So, that’s it. E3 2009 wrapped up. Let the jetlag begin. And what did you think?
