So, with my last blog post out of the way this is what I have to say... I'm excited for E3.I am excited that they are trying to bring back the old ways. The booth babes, the lights, the sounds and the spectacle that it all was. It doesn't seem like that many rumors have leaked out this year and I'm hoping that we will see some surprising announcements.

I'd like to go on record and say No... I don't think that we will see Metal Gear Solid 4 for the Xbox 360. I'd also like to say that we will finally see some hype for the full version of GT5, God of War III and possibly a brief teaser for either the next full Halo Prime (master cheif halo) or Gears III. What I'm pretty sure will show is Modern Warfare 2, Final Fantasy XIII and a preview of the new DLC for GTA IV from Rockstar Games.Things that would be funny but won't happen,peter moore will tatoo a game name or logo to his rear end to show off at a press confrence, essentially mooning the crowd with in game adds. The boothbabes will show mariohow to get some from peach andCliff Blazinkski (sp) will chainsaw SlyCooper

I hope all have a great showing but I think that Sony has the most to prove coming out of this years showing. Nintendo doesn't care and Microsoft for the most part is sitting pretty. Maybe Sony could get Square to do Parasite Eve 3.

Cheers to all and enjoy the show.

Currently I'm undertaking the task of getting a Masters in Business Administration and with the upcoming E3 conferences along with the rumor speculation I thought it a good time to reflect on the industry as a whole.

Nintendo: Currently the market leader this generation with the mass appeal of the Nintendo Wii (TM) and the Nintendo DS/DSi(TM). The games are innovative in that they require you to do different things to get the same input that you once recieved out of pushing button or a combination of buttons on the face of a controller. This seems to appeal to a mass audience in that they don't have to attempt to decipher complex controls, or do they? Last week I was playing Mario Galaxy with my 5 year old little brother, he seems to have a great deal of trouble comprehending the controls and what he needs to do with the WII remote to get it to do what he wants.meanwhile getting the sensor bar to react the remote in a very tight space seems to be difficult especially when the sensor bar won't stand up.

Microsoft: Rumors are abound that Microsoft inc. has started a new studio to make revolutionary games that will challenge the way we currently play them. Does this mean anew version fo the vision camera aka Sony Eye Toy (TM) or will they go the Nintendo route and strap us with a remote that we have to wave in the air to have a good time. Did Microsoft shutter all those other studios (Bungie, Ensemble, The Shadowrun guys)to save a dollar so that they may in turn open this new studio?

Sony: All I can really say here is poor Sony. They come from the Playstation 2 generation where they were the king of the hill. Now, not so much. They had a system which they felt was going to be far superior of the Xbox 360, as far as games have shown thus far this is not the case. Sony is losing money on every sale of the system, or every unit produced. Then some of their bigger titles that were supposed to use the Six Axis controll originally tanked,Lair(TM) anyone. Sony of course had their Eye Toy which I never really liked, but they tried to refine the movements with the six axis and I believe made the motion better with the Dual Shock 3 or so I've heard (I don'town a dual shock 3 controller, just a six axis) Also I've read articles where sony is trying to patent another motion technology.

Gamers have had strong outcry in what Nintendo has done in recent years with the move to the casual market and the pushing of their motion control and motion plus. My other brother and I were talking and he said something along the lines of " I work hard all day, I don't want to come home and have to waive my damn arms around to play a dumb game." what I think Microsoft and Sony have to realize is that there needs to be a market for both types of players and even though these companies want to get the most profit for the least investment I think alienating the core user base the ones that make them profitable year after year would be a mistake. People buy the WII, however, what is the attach rate on the WII. Nintendo makes a profit on the WII system itself from the get go they don't need to rely heavily on licensing and other things to make money. Albeit they make 3-5 dollars a system multiply 5 dollars by 50,000,000 consoles.

This long time old school gamer is scared for the future of gaming, scared for the mainstream attention and scared for watering down the gameplay and dumbing down the concepts to appeal to the masses. I like Sony, I love Microsoft and I think Nintendo at this point is a lost cause.. I've owned multiple systems from multiple companies (just look at my games library) and I just hope we haven't run out of history yet. A business is a business and the money lies with the masses lets hope the rest of us don't get left out in the cold. If the next gen goes wiggle and waggle this long time gamer thinks he'll sit the next round out.

Today is December the 4th, 2008. I have owned a Playstation 3 (TM) since the Christmas of its launch of 2006. I have yet to buy a second Playstation 3 game, however, I finally have some hope for the system as it will no longer just be a Blu-ray player. After the release of Ratchet and Clank and with the upcoming announcment of God of War III, I am finally looking forward to the PS3. I have even made a decision that I will buy Final Fantasy XIII on the PS3 as I have FF XII on the PS2, and FF IIX on the PSOne. Since I own all three of the consoles this generation, I believe that there are certain franchises that I will continue to buy on what I consider their originating system. The games that I would be really excited for would be the remake of Final Fantasy VII, I own but did not finish the original as I couldn't get past holding the X button to run. I would also like to plead to Square Enix to bring Parasite Eve 3 to the Playstation 3. Another purchase I would make if released would be Capcom remakes of the entire Resident Evil series, as they did with Resident Evil 1 on the Gamecube. Even though the PS3 has trophies now, I just don't find that concept as appealing as achievements on the Xbox 360. I don't know I think it is something about a large quantifiable number. Still at this very moment, it is sad to say that this is December 4, 2008 and I still only own Resistance 1 for the PS3 with the rest of my collection being made up of Blu-ray movies. I'm hoping that Sony can still show me a very diverse library. I haven't been able to figure out what all the hype is about the Metal Gear series, but I guess that is because I just didn't care for the three minutes of gamplay and then ten minutes of FMV. I did manage to get into the Resistance 2 beta which was fun, but didn't feel as polished nor as tight as the Halo 3 controls. I can't seem to get used to playing a first person shooter on the PS3 controller, I think its the same reason why I didn't like the Dreamcast controller and that being the controller is too blocky and doesn't fit naturally in my hands. If someone can come up with a good scheme to hold the controller or a more reliable layout for the buttons to make the first person shooter playable I would grateful as I be able to try games such as Killzone.