This year's Electronic Entertainment Expo is to be thought of in rather dire terms. A lot of companies (like Activision Blizzard) are not even showing up so the only reason to pay attention is for the big three to show what they have in store for gamers in the coming months. Yesterday, Microsoft came out and today Nintendo and Sony both get a chance to let gamers know why they should spend money on their stuff.
Microsoft: The Xbox 360 is pretty much at a crossroads. They have been out the longest, but they have had a number of slip ups along the way (limited stock, hardware failing). Microsoft came out Monday and gave the world a glimpse at some of the biggest games to come to the system in the next 8-9 months. They showed a demo of Fallout 3 by Bethesda which looks really good and I personally am excited for. Then they showed one of my favorite franchises Resident Evil 5. This one take place in Africa and has co-op play with a new female character tagging along with Chris Redfield. The demo I was most impressed with was Gears of War 2. This was my favorite game of 2006 and somehow it looks even better.
The surprises with Microsoft don't stop there though. They then showed off a retooling of the Xbox 360 dashboard. Instead of the bladed style that it used to have, it is now going for a more menu like look. They are also coming out with something called avatars where you basically created a Nintendo Wii looking representation of yourself and that will be like you profile picture of the old Xbox 360 dashboard. Personally, I am not to excited about this feature because I like the way the blades are now, but I can see how Microsoft is really trying to make it look more friendly to non gamers.
Along with the new dashboard comes new content providers for their video marketplace. NBC Universal will be provided a crap load of content in the coming months. What really sealed the deal for me though was their partnership with Netflix to provide their streaming movie service through the Xbox 360. If you have a netflix account that lets you watch their instant movie catalogue you will be able to do so from the comfort of you couch. I love netflix and think this was probably the biggest news at the show so far. With the games they showed and the new feature they provide I think they gave a great E3 press conference. Riley Rating: 8.0
Nintendo: A couple years ago everyone was looking at Nintendo like you look at a wounded dog. They were limping around and everyone was waiting for them to die. Now Nintendo is at the top of the mountain and they spent most of their conference stating that fact. They brought out a bunch of numbers showing how they are obtaining an audience who would otherwise not play a video game. They started the show showing Shaun White Snowboarding for the Wii. You can do it on the new Wii balance board and they had Shaun White himself showing just how easy it is.
They then showed a Wii version of Animal Crossing that left me unimpressed. It is more or less the same thing except you will be able to visit other players towns. It will come with a Wii microphone that is placed on your TV like the sensor bar and allow a whole room of people talk to each other. I don't know if I want what is said around me thrown around online into other people's homes, but I haven't tested it yet so I don't know.
They then showed a lot of stuff coming for the DS. Mainly another Guitar Hero game. There was a rumor stating that Nintendo would be coming out with a DS that didn't have the GBA (Game Boy Advance ) port, but now I seriously doubt that.
They also showed off their new little device called the Wii motion plus. It plugs into the bottom of the Wii remote and will simulate 1:1 motion with your body. They then showed off a new Wii Sports game that will take advantage of the device. Wii Sports Resort will have a beach vib to it. The game that got me the most excited was the sword fighting game.
Miyamoto (the guy that made Mario and Zelda) came out to show off another game called Wii Music. Unlike other music games this one will not have you hitting buttons to on screen stuff. You basically hold the Wii Remote like you would hold that real life instrument and then pretend like you are playing that instrument. They will have 50 songs for the game when it comes out. It looked really simple, but maybe they had a lot of practice with it.
I was really disappointed with Nintendo's conference. They came out, beat their chest for a bit and then showed everyone a bunch of games for people that just want to do something until they go out to drink. I really thought they would show off a new handheld or a storage solution to the Wii, but all they showed was a bunch of numbers and pictures of old people playing DS's. Riley Rating: 6.5
Sony has yet to com out so there are more surprises waiting!
0 comments:
Post a Comment