As a long time videogame consumer, I was glued to my monitor for the big three (Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony) press conferences of E3.  I craved information, and after the dust had settled I was enthused, excited, enraged, delirious, disappointed, and confused.  I would like to dive into the nagging questions, disappointments, and bouts of imagination that have been stirred following the three showings.

The Future of Gaming was E3 2009:  Ahh project Nata...I mean Kinect.  Coming into E3 I was a believer.  I mainly blew off the persistent rumors that the tech wasn't all there, preferring to give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt that they would pull it together before a retail release.  In this respect they seemed to have delivered, minus a few nagging flaws that might or might not get worked out.  In any case you have to start somewhere right?  The tech is certainly not going to be perfect out of the gate, but it needs to be up to a standard that does not hurt game design and gameplay.

Speaking of gameplay, prior to E3 I was legitimately excited by Kinect for the same reasons I was (and still am) for the possibilities of Wii motion gaming.  Kinect appears to have a real chance to, uh, connect with developers and inspire new game designs, gameplay, and genres.  After the 2009 E3 showing I was letting my imagination run wild.  Too bad no one at Microsoft (or associated developers) was doing the same. 

I only have one word to describe the games demonstrated for Kinect at E3 2010: shameless.  It is one thing to rip off another companies game ideas, but it is another to present them as your own at your conference like they are revolutionary concepts.  Where the Kinect could have been an innovative tool in its own right with its own identity, it is relegated to Wii knock off and looks like nothing but a money grab aimed at the "casual" demographic the Wii's success created.  A very disappointing turn of events for those hoping for the innovation promised just one year ago.

Have I seen this before?

Does Kinect have the potential to be more than what was on display at E3 2010?  Of course, but for now I don't see it actualized.  The most interesting thing about Kinect at the moment is its interface system, and I am not going to buy a new add on just to navigate menus, video chat, or pause ESPN. 

Child’s Play Anyone?:The Kinect lineup wasn't even the saddest thing Microsoft did during its conference.  The giveaway of new Xbox 360's to the gaming media was at best Oprah-esque and at worst looked like bribery.  It might have been a good gesture on Microsoft’s part to donate those machines to people who actually could use them, like the Child’s Play charity perhaps.

FPS Saturation:  My interest in first person shooters (FPS) has been flat lining for the last couple years so please keep that in mind.  If you love your FPS's and online trash talk then pay no attention to my ramblings.  Personally I just think that this market is beyond saturated and is growing stale.

So it is with little surprise that the myriad of FPS's (I'm including 3rd person here as well) announced didn't do it for me, even with their respective additions to each franchise.  Gears of War 3 looks like Gears 2 with four player Co-op, Killzone 3 has a 3-D mode (cost for user to experience this feature is unknown), and Call of Duty: Black Ops looks like “Modern Warfare 3”.  Oh and we can't forget Medal of Honor (i.e. Electronic Arts "Modern Warfare") and Bulletstorm (now with more blood and expletives!).

Soon to be played by Bruce Willis

Where were the ground breaking and genre bending FPS's?  This generation has seen a few already, including Bioshock, Left 4 Dead and Portal (of which a sequel was announced).  My interest was mildly ignited by Halo: Reach's big surprise of space battles, so I will remain hopeful there. 

In space no one can hear you scream...from teabagging

"3-D" is the new 3-D: In case you missed it, we are moving from "2-D" to "3-D" just like in the mid to late nineties when franchises moved from 2-D to 3-D.  Both Nintendo and Sony touted the future of "3-D" gaming through the 3DS (Nintendo) and thousands of dollars worth of new electronics that you do not own yet (Sony).  Nintendo (and other companies) are giving a number of their 2-D and 3-D franchises a "3-D" facelift on the 3DS, including Kid Icarus, previously a 2-D only franchise that will be both 3-D and "3-D".  Simultaneously, Nintendo shocked E3 attendees by converting a number of franchises that were given 3-D facelifts in the late nineties (Donkey Kong, Kirby) back into 2-D franchises but sans "3-D"...so far.  Confused yet?

The Empire Strikes Back: After a few years of being mauled by the gaming press for spending too much time speaking to other audiences other than those sitting in the conference venue, Nintendo put its game face on and delivered a perfectly balanced presentation.  Somehow in ninety minutes they managed to reach the “causal”, “bridge”, and “core” gamers by delivering excellent software that varied from the new to the nostalgic with a diverse set of genres and gameplay styles.  New Zelda with overhauled controls and game mechanics, new Kirby with incredible art direction and style, Wii Party for the family, Goldensun  and Dragon Quest IX for the role playing game crowd, it just went on and on.  They then topped this off with the announcement of a new handheld that offers “3-D” gaming without glasses, incredible third party support right off the bat, digitally distributed Hollywood movies, and graphics that might even make the Wii jealous.

Dual Message:  While Nintendo offered a well balanced presentation, Microsoft’s was all over the place.  Dismemberment in Gears of War 3 and MGS:Rising followed by a little girl playing with a virtual tiger does not make for a very cohesive message.  Jeremy Parish has a great discussion/reaction about this on his blog at 1up, I encourage you to read it.

What’s a PSP?:  While I enjoyed the Sony conference in general, It suffered from some pacing problems and little things that bewildered me.  The “Marcus” PSP ad campaign reveal seemed like a waste of time and the following PSP montage reel didn’t inspire me to run out and purchase any new PSP games.  If Sony is going to treat the PSP as an afterthought why shouldn’t I, especially with that shiny 3DS on the horizon.  At this point I think I will hold out for the inevitable “3-D” PSP2, assuming a PSP2 ever gets made.

PSP Go is a sad panda
 

Failure to Network:  The PlayStation Network Plus announcement was also confusing.  After initially deriding Microsoft for charging 50 dollars a year for online service and content, Jack Tretton turns around and announces the Plus service for 50 dollars a year for exclusive content.  Was I hearing things?  Nope, I was not.  More perplexing were the terms of the Plus system.  Tretton clearly states that you can keep free downloadable games and content for the duration of your subscription.  Does that mean that free and exclusive content is unusable should you leave the Plus program?  Don’t know, the details were not explained.

Steam Powered:  On the positive side, Steams integration in Portal 2 on the PS3 is an interesting move, but it is unclear how this will translate to Steam as a whole appearing on the PS3, if at all.  Even more interesting is what lengths Sony went through to get Gabe Newell on their show floor and make nice like he did.  Maybe the promise of an independently running Steam on the PS3 is all that it took.  Pretty interesting turn of events.

I love Stea..I mean the PS3

Were gonna need a Montage:  Overall Sony brought the games, for example, Infamous 2 looks like a good follow up, and Little Big Planet 2 will intrigue those that like to design their own game experiences.  I will echo the thoughts of others and ask where was The Last Guardian?  WHERE?  There is apparently time for PSP Marcus and a rant by Kevin Butler, but not The Last Guardian.  Next time how about more games and less marketing please.  Also how many times do we need to see montages with the same games repeated over and over, it was a little jarring.

The Last Guardian is also a sad panda

Move Along:  It is interesting to watch the development and progress of Kinect and Move happen simultaneously.  While one is busy ripping off Wii games, the other is shamelessly ripping off the Wii controller design itself (and a few games too for good measure).  In all likelihood the Moves ability to integrate more directly with traditional games might make it the standout in the long run and the Move, like Kinect, certainly has potential.  Sony went farther in displaying this potential than Microsoft did, but like Microsoft the Move software right now is currently lacking truly innovative ideas.  More Archery and boxing (even with limbs) is not enough.  Still the future of the Move is intriguing.

What does it all cost?:  Getting an accurate read on the price of hardware and controllers at E3 is always a tricky proposition.  With Kinect, there seem to be a number of people getting angry at the rumored 150 dollar price point. To be frank the lack of pricing information when Kinect is launching in a few months is disturbing.  Only two real reasons here; Microsoft either felt the rumored 150 dollar price would be a buzz kill, or they are contemplating a lower price.  Either way, Microsoft should have had this worked out before the conference.

On the other end of the spectrum, some have been championing the much touted 49 dollar cost of the Move while neglecting the full cost of the Move controller set.  Assuming you have an eye toy already, and really which self respecting PS3 owner doesn't, you will have to get at least two Move controllers (50 dollars each) and at least one navigation controller (30 dollars each).  This seems to be the bare minimum purchase to play all Move games, assuming that some games will require the use of two Move controllers simultaneously.  So that is about 130 dollars for one person.  If you want up to say, four Move controllers and four navigation controllers you are now talking about 320 dollars.  Regardless, things are not as simple as the 49 dollar announcement makes it seem.

Finally we come to the Nintendo 3DS.  While I can't fault Nintendo too much for not mentioning the exact specs or price at this stage, a ball park price figure would have been appreciated.  At this point it is anybody's guess, mine being that it will be in the 200-250 dollar range.  Also when is the release date?  Again a broad window would have made the wait a little less unbearable.  Fall 2010, Winter 2011, Spring 2011…the anticipation is brutal.

Overall I found more than enough to get excited about just from the big 3 conferences, and came away wishing that tomorrow was today so I can get my hands on all of these promising games and products.  My brain is about to explode from the 3DS alone.  I think it is important to remember that putting on a giant press conference must be a daunting task.  Companies have to walk a tight line that requires connecting with diverse audiences that include; consumers of various demographics, investors, potential partners, and of course, the gaming media that are sitting in the room as they speak.  It must be a difficult task to get everyone on the same page and understand your message.  And if they do not, well you can always give away one of these…