E3 - A Halo-shaped bone, a pleasing price point and... well, the Wii U

Over the coming days and weeks you'll likely read a lot of opinions about this year's E3. No two opinions I've heard so far are the same, but one thing is for sure; it's been quite a ride. Here's my overly long rant about the general show this year.



It seems like a year ago that Rob Bowling took to the stage to show off Modern Warfare 3. I dread to think how many words I've furiously mashed out on this keyboard since that moment, but that simply means there was a lot of stuff to talk about.

Microsoft, for me, had the same conference they've had for two years now. In 2009, they hit the nail on the head with great game after great game followed up by new hardware features and the Kinect, then named Natal. 2010 took a similar approach, but with less time on hardcore games and more time on Kinect, with nothing to really convince the hardcore of its worth.

2011 continued that downward spiral, only this time even the precious few core games couldn't be saved from the controller-free grasp. Kinect simply didn't do it for me in this conference, actually detracting from the Mass Effect experience (getting to say the line that Shepard... doesn't say?), and actually making Ghost Recon look even more boring.

Microsoft sent a message and that message was clear: We've got the hardcore on our system already, they're not going anywhere, they can chew on Halo 4 while Disneyland Adventures pulls in another audience.

It was an image more prominent at this E3 than any other before it, and I'm talking industry-wide. Hardcore gamers are the minority now; the sales lie in casual Wii titles and anything with a Call of Duty logo. Sony wasted a lot of time with the Move while failing to provide any compelling reason to buy the controller (although the jury on Irrational using it for BioShock is still out) and Nintendo were, well, Nintendo.

So while it definitely annoyed to see so much Kinect at Microsoft, it was also key to helping it settle in gamers minds that this isn't going anywhere any time soon. Not the message many wanted to hear I'm sure, but there it is.

Back at Sony camp, which many know I'm pretty well placed in, things were a little bit better. As a whole, the conference was missing that last announcement for an extra kick. Quantic Dream? God of War IV? Call of Duty Vita? The opportunity was there, but never came to fruition. But there were those cool hardcore announcements, like Dust 514 and BioShock heading to the Vita (the show's highlight for me).

But unlike Microsoft, Sony definitely had a key high point to their show - the Vita. The PSP successor came out swinging and for once, just once, no one was nay saying about new Sony hardware. It seems like they're actually getting things right for a change. Uncharted looking beautiful, a second chance for Modnation Racers, and heck, LittleBigPlanet looks like it was invented for this device. And it was all to that merry tune of the $250 price point.

I'm sure that there are a tonne of third party games that they could have shown on the handheld, thus Street Fighter X Tekken felt like a mistake. Having Cole is cool, but it doesn't make up for the fact you can't play two player without another copy of the game and another Vita. Fighting games, for this reason alone, just don't translate all that well to handhelds.

It was obvious Vita would be a focus, but PS3 missed out as a result. Sly 4 is cool (even though it will undoubtedly be butchered by Move), but you know Sony could have (quite literally) brought their A game, and they just... didn't.

Which brings us to Nintendo. Oh dear, sweet Nintendo. Nevermind them skimping on 3DS content (four games that we've seen before do not count and Luigi's Mansion 2 do not count, Reggie), what the hell is a Wii U and why would I want one?

I'm aware that the internet is going crazy over the system at this moment in time, and I'm not really sure why. They showed third party support; great. That support consists of games that will have released around half a year ago on PS3/360 by the time they get to Wii U. But these games will support the new slab/controller. Did people not play the Wii? How many of these games will really have meaningful use of the controller? And of those games, how many will be Nintendo first party? Most of them, for sure.

You also have to ask yourself why you'd pick up a system that will undoubtedly be outdated again in another two or three years. It just doesn't add up. Nothing but the mere mention of a new Smash Bros piqued my interest for the entire conference.

It sounds harsh, but 30 minutes of promised not backed up by real games is not enough for me to forget about the Wii. For that reason, Nintendo were the worst conference this year, I do believe.

Okay, stop calling me crazy; you loved the Wii U and you think Kinect looks awesome! I'm sorry!

It's been a good E3 and well worth the wait. I'll be excited for more Vita deets as the year goes on and I'll be sure to pick up a 360 in time for the new Halo trilogy. It's about time, I guess.