Hello!
Due to final examinations, I could only watch Sony's conference and a bit of Microsoft's. Both shows were good compared to last year's show. Microsoft wowed the audience with their latest technology NATAL which allows xbox 360 and NATAL device owners which is yet to have a name, to play various games without using controllers. The technology used in NATAL is the same as the one used in motion capturing only this time, 360 owners don't need to wear suits in order for the scanner to read their movements.
Another surprise thrown by Microsoft was Peter Molyneux' new project Milo which also makes use of MS's new project NATAL. Milo promises to push the boundaries behind NATAL's technology. It's a game where you fully interact with characters by using your own body. You can start conversations, ask them questions, explore in the world they live in and even give them objects! Even though it's still in the making, the conceptsounds very promising but would you take a word from MR. Molyneux?
Sony's conference started by showing a number of games available on PS2. I was surprised when I heard that they weren't going discontinue making PS2 as long as they announce games for it but the thing is, all I can see coming on PS2 is multi-platforms which not only look better on current generation consoles, they also play better.
Shortely after PS2 releases, Sony announced their new line of Playstation Portable, PSP Go.It might look like a normal PSP with a different design but the games it has are system sellers. The new PSP will launch with Metal Gear: Peace Walker, Resident Evil PSP and Gran Turismo PSP... Yes Gran Turismo on PSP along with other block buster titles such as Little Big Planet. Does it sound tempting now?
Moving on from PSP to PS3. All the time the show was on, I was waiting for Sony to announce new titles coming on their big shiny brick other than the ones we already know about and been waiting to hear updates on for the past few years. During the show, Sony did announce new exlusives coming on the PS3 such as Rockstar's Agent and Final Fantasy 14 which is going to be online. As well as new titles, Sony showed trailers of its biggest exlusives coming out this year including God of War III, Uncharted 2 andTrico which was named The Last Guardian. Popular multi-platforms were also shown such as Assassin's Creed which didn't look any different to me other than the setting which was breath taking by the way, but I doubt I'll buy it. Sony also announced that Square's most popular Final Fantasy game FFVII was available on PSN and that Home was coming very soon. I don't know how far do they mean by soon but it's coming!
Last but not least... Ok maybe it's the least interesting story I got for today, Sony introduced their new technology which is quite similar to Nintendo's Wiimote. Sony's magic wand allows gamers to play games differently by waving their wand. It is similar to the Wiimote and I fail to see the difference actually!.
Verdict: The show was better than last year's no doubt but E3 post current gen consoles was big. I wish for the show to regain its glory and become as big as it used to be and I wish more companies would work on new titles other than developing technologies. It's a good thing to work on creative ways for playing games but in E3, developers have the habit of... I wouldn't say talking big but showing something so small and so promising and releasing titles featuring those concepts without any addition to what we've already seen. E3 might be an important event for developers to share their plans with the audience but not keeping promises makes the event loses its credibility if that makes any sense. I don't want to watch misleading trailers because that alone won't make me buy the game, the final product will.
I'm not excited about Metal Gear Rising even though I'd love to play as Raiden again but I'm still pissed at Kojima after playing Metal Gear Solid 4. The title looks promising but I was sceptical as soon as I heard that Kojima wasn't the one who wrote the story nor directed it.
What was your impression on E3? My picks:
- Trico
- Uncharted 2
- Final Fantasy XIII