E3 console roundup

BlitzKrieg

Well all 3 had their go in the limelight:

Sony is just finishing up now:


Can read up on all three here:

Microsoft: http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=79377

Nintendo: http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=79529

Sony: http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=79495


comments?


My personal feelings:

Sony and Microsoft about tied in my opinion and Nintendo at the rear.

Microsoft: Being the oldest of the three consoles in the market they didnt do anything fancy, just provided a strong line up of upcoming games. No big hitter really, and the halo 3 trailer didnt go down a big way. I noticed some complaints about Moore's casual revelation of the *halo* 360, but personnally I perferred it over him tattooing himself or trying to be l33t. I think the best thing about the Microsoft conference was their assurance that every title bar 1 (resident evil 5) will be released this year.


Nintendo: Bit of a weird one, some great titles revealed, but they didnt really push em, and the revelation of new controllers does less to make me jump for joy but think of my already creaking wallet. Honestly compared to last year its a poor show from nintendo, but they are not the company that needed to be strong, they already proved they have a popular console...they just needed to assure everyone they have games for us all. Which in this case they failed.


Sony: hmmmmmmmmmmm...Ok the main feeling i got of this show was that it was very very reminiscent of microsofts last E3 show with its *live anywhere* segment followed by a long list of games with exclusive being thrown in every second word (the first was timed in case you missed it). Sony did pretty much the same thing, they showed of the *improved* psp (still stupid design wise, but lighter and longer lasting, and the tv thing is cool) and then went on about how the PSN network can be done *anywhere* etc etc (see, just like the Live anywhere speel) Then rounded up by a list of games.

On the list of games. there was good, there was ok and then there was oops.
The good were the usual suspects, littlebigplanet and MGS 4, joined by Infamous and other new titles, but apart from MGS 4 it was a blur how quickly they all went by.

The ok was another GT5 prologue pack (zzz) heavenly sword and drakes fortune. Also Home, looked alright, not as amazing as when it was first revealed, though it was nice that they worked it into the presentaion. But I'm sorry the *humour* was very annoying, most notable being the ridge racer comment to Kaz.

The oops was playing almost the same bloody showreal as microsoft and murmering out exclusives at titles microsoft has claimed dips to aswell, someone is lieing and until its cleared up most people will look at sony. My guess is that the microsoft are calling the titles for their Games for Windows line, while Sony are calling them for timed console exclusivity. But still ether way both sides should stop with the exclusivity babbling, giving me a headache.

There is one big question though...Where is final fantasy 13? Already its absence is fueling speculation that sony has lost it as a exclusive title.

But overall Sony did what Microsoft did last6 year, and honestly it was good for microsoft then and it should be good for sony this time, the problem is sony is facing a bigger mountain then microsoft was, the good news for them though is no one is blowing E3 away so they will come out looking very strong, the even better news is that it looks like nintendo dropped the ball this time making them look weak for the first time since the last E3. It really is up to the other parties, EA etc, whoever they push strongest over the rest of the week will come out looking best.

Overall as expected its been a very quiet E3, I guess with only needing to impress reporters and have them build up the titles (and of course the live broadcasting on both the 360 and ps3) probably encouraged all 3 to keep their presentations simple and straighforward.

RobertFoster

Nice round-up - I missed all three "live" and picked up on some of the main features, but you knitted it together nicely.

Any good sound-bites this year? What was said to Kaz about RR?

steviec

Well I missed Microsoft's what with it being in the middle of the night, from what I read it was a solid showing but no surprises at all.

Nintendo's was a bit of a train wreck. Half an hour of blowing their own trumpet about sales, followed by what seemed to be about five minutes of real games (with essentially no new information), followed by huge fanfare for a gimmicky peripheral that seems to be reaffirming Nintendo's new direction away from good games and towards money (not that you can blame them). I also found it ironic that after getting people to pay three hundred quid for a souped up Gamecube with a new controller, a year later they're alredy pushing even more peripherals on people. The wiimote - nunchuck combo hasn't even had a chance to establish itself yet.

Sony's on the other hand was very very solid. There were some disappointments - the new model PSP was something of a let down and doesn't seem worth an upgrade, and there was no mention of a new rumbling sixaxis as had been speculated. FFXIII was also absent for some reason which was a little surprising.

Aside from that however, it was stunning. Killzone, Haze, Unreal Tournament 3 all being exclusive for this year at least - every one of them potential Halo beaters (the previous UT games are already comfortable Halo beaters imo). The NCSoft announcement came out of the blue and it will be interesting to see where it leads.

Echochrome looks really cool and I want to play it now. Wipeout HD was a nice announcement too - I'm not the biggest Wipeout fan but it makes a perfect downloadable game to jump into. Then there was Infamous - that trailer looked stunning, I hope the gameplay lives up to it because it looks like it could be huge if it works.

Everything else we've seen before, but so many of them like MGS, Uncharted, Ratchet & Clank, Little Big Planet are still looking stunning. That's before even getting onto the third party stuff - people aren't going to be talking about a game drought on PS3 for very much longer.

So for me Sony came out on top - but I do have to qualify that by saying I just read the transcript of the MS blog and watched the more interesting game videos individually, which wouldn't have the same impact.

MS have already put demos out on marketplace though - Sony really need to follow suit on PSN.

Smellyirishman

Nice round up steviec (I liked your's too Blitz, before you get upset ).

UT3 is definitely a Halo beater....but on a console? Will be interesting to see, I know I'll only be getting it on PC. I didn't see the video, but Haze seems to getting a mediocre reception.

Just for reference, here is most of the exclusives that MS mentioned during there conference, I may be missing some and I may have listed some that are not exclusive so please forgive any errors.

This year (Listed in slight-"most-wanted" order):

Mass Effect
Blue Dragon
Lost Odyssey (Does this include europe, does anyone know?)
Bioshock
Halo 3
Eternal Sonata
PGR4
Katamari
Splinter Cell : Conviction
Fatal Inertia
Ace Combat 6
Viva Pinata - Minigames.
Naruto
Scene-it (mega-meh)

Next year or beyond:

Alan Wake
Halo Wars
Too Human
Fable 2
GTA IV Exclusive content (sounded substantial).

thelordofcheese

Out of the three, i only cared about the nintendo one, and while it was nowhere near as amazing as last years, it still done a good job of telling me what i wanted to know.

Not really sure about some of the extra peripherals yet, the mario kart one makes a kind of sense, and is optional from my reading of the report, the zapper...maybe, and the mat i assume is for other people, i.e not me. Prehaps the insane.

The only kicker is that all the release dates for Metroid, NiGHTS, maro kart, galaxy and brawl are all american dates. Given nintendos abusive relationship with europe it'll be a while before they are out here.

damn them, why do they taunt me so.....

BlitzKrieg

Next year or beyond:

Alan Wake
Halo Wars
Too Human
Fable 2
GTA IV Exclusive content (sounded substantial).

Was Alan Wake etc shown?

Cause I thought Moore's asurance was that besides Resident Evil 5, every game showcased at Microsoft's presentation is slated for this year,

and that all the games to be shown that evening were titles scheduled to be released this Christmas season. Only one game showed, it transpired, would be released next year, but you can forgive Moore breaking ranks for the likes of Resident Evil 5.

Also what is the mix up with Call of Duty 4?

Sony claimed it was on timed exclusive to them, but Microsoft had it shown for the 360 aswell slated for this year?

flogen

From what I've read of each of them (and it's only been bits and pieces) I'd say that overall it's a kinda luke-warm E3, at least for Europe. But coming a year after the big "next gen" conference last year it was never going to be all that amazing.

Nintendo:
A small amount interesting stuff (the zapper, mainly) but nothing major. The only thing that will save it for me is a list of 2007 launch dates for AAA titles in Europe - but I won't hold my breath for that - predictable but annoying.
Yet to be convinced by the Wii Health thing, but it might sway me when I see more. Had some interesting ideas that could be as fun as Wii Sports or as boring as... well... exercise.

MS:
Far below average - biggest announcement seemed to be the Halo 3 360, which was always going to happen.
Good to see an Elite date for Europe, and so soon too but I'm surprised that the Halo 3 console won't be an elite as well.

Sony:
Far better than last year, but that wasn't hard.
The badly needed PSP re-design seems minor and going by the few screenshots so far the difference is almost non-existant... I guess you'd get a better feel when it's in your hands, though.
With this and the PS3 price drop, this strikes me as Sony trying to put right their mistakes of last year... the only missing link is the announcement of a rumble feature, which they must surely be working hard on.

stevic wrote:

Nintendo's was a bit of a train wreck. Half an hour of blowing their own trumpet about sales, followed by what seemed to be about five minutes of real games (with essentially no new information), followed by huge fanfare for a gimmicky peripheral that seems to be reaffirming Nintendo's new direction away from good games and towards money (not that you can blame them).

All these conferences begin with trumpet blowing and sales figures, its par for the course.
As for the "gimmicky" peripherals, that was expected to happen once it was announced that the Wiimote would allow for attachments and I don't see how they're any worse than the likes of Singstar, Eyetoy or Guitar Hero.

As for a lack of good games, that's a matter of opinion and it's not one I can agree with yet - I think there's plenty of promising stuff on the way too (even if we'll get it late), certainly more must have games than I've seen on the other two consoles.

Ciaran500

BlitzKrieg wrote:

Also what is the mix up with Call of Duty 4?

Sony claimed it was on timed exclusive to them, but Microsoft had it shown for the 360 aswell slated for this year?

The 360 is getting an exclusive beta so I seriously doubt Sony are getting a timed exclusive.

KdjaCL

Nintendo: release dates that start far away nowt in between, still tho metroid mario and smash ...hmmm

360 havent turned mine on in 2 months nowt to make me turn it on till COD4. So still few months there.

ps3 when does a decent game come out for it?

Pc unreal


still tho nowt to play now only res 4 on wii.


kdjac

BlitzKrieg

I would be psyched about the 360, but apart from halo 3 and resident evil 5...all the games i want for it will be on the pc.

Smellyirishman

BlitzKrieg wrote:

Was Alan Wake etc shown?

Cause I thought Moore's asurance was that besides Resident Evil 5, every game showcased at Microsoft's presentation is slated for this year.

Nope, they were just mentioned in passing (note the "Next year or beyond" heading), apologies for any confusion/excitement caused.

steviec

CoD4 isn't a timed exclusive, I'm pretty sure that was a slip of the tongue.

They had the games clearly seperated out into 'here's the exclusives' then 'here's the other third party games', which CoD4 was part of - Tretton used the word exclusive before CoD4 but I'm sure it was a mistake.

BlitzKrieg

actually i think alot of people are downplaying that strength in the microsoft presentation, that every game they showed will be here for christmas. Admitable most of Nintendo's big hitters come roughly the same time, but it was a blow to Sony that there werent as many release dates attached to their big titles (apart from the disapointing Spring 08 for MGS4)

btw EA just released a sample song list from Rock Band:

Announcing songs available on Rock Band: The Who - Won't Get Fooled again, Mountain - Mississippi Queen, David Bowie - Suffragette City, Black Sabbath - Paranoid, Ramones - Rockaway Beach, Rush - Tom Sawyer, Bon Jovi - Wanted Dead or Alive, Nirvana - In Bloom, Stone Temple Pilots - Vasoline, Weezer - Say it Ain't So, Foo Fighters - Learn to Fly, The Hives - Main Offender, Strokes - Reptilia, Queens of the Stone Age - Go with the Flow.

Smellyirishman

BlitzKrieg wrote:

actually i think alot of people are downplaying that strength in the microsoft presentation, that every game they showed will be here for christmas.

I have to agree with you there. Ciaran500 and I were talking about that earlier and it should mean that MS have a few new games to show us next year and we are not following one game through 3 years of E3 coverage. Or, perhaps their line-up for next year is not very strong with a lot of their major first-party titles coming out this holiday.... dun, dun, dun....

Kiith

steviec wrote:

Aside from that however, it was stunning. Killzone, Haze, Unreal Tournament 3 all being exclusive for this year at least - every one of them potential Halo beaters (the previous UT games are already comfortable Halo beaters imo).

Does this exclusive include the PC version? Christ almighty it better not. I'd really be pissed at Epic if it is.

mcgovern

Kiith wrote:

Does this exclusive include the PC version? Christ almighty it better not. I'd really be pissed at Epic if it is.

Those are only going to be timed exclusives, 99% sure. Ubisoft already accidentally published released dates for Haze on PC and X360 (which was only a week or so after PS3 release date). UT3 will most likely be the same, afaik they've already shown footage of it on an 360 and if its on the 360, it will be on the PC.

Edit: UT3 confirmed timed exclusive

"Midway is extremely excited to release Unreal Tournament 3 on the PLAYSTATION 3 system and PC," said Steve Allison, chief marketing officer, Midway. "We expect Unreal Tournament 3 to set the bar for what a first-person shooter and next generation game can truly be."

Then on 360 early 2008.

Kiith

Ok, thats fine. As long as its on the pc first/joint first. Dont really care about about the 360/playstation3 version. Although, is it going to be cross-server compatible? I'd love to bitch-slap some console players in UT

mcgovern

Kiith wrote:

Ok, thats fine. As long as its on the pc first/joint first. Dont really care about about the 360/playstation3 version. Although, is it going to be cross-server compatible? I'd love to bitch-slap some console players in UT

I doubt it, PS3 is not compatible with PC and if its going to be out late on the 360, I dont' see them putting in the development time getting it cross-platform.