So, where's the opinion? part 1

E3 2010 has come to a close, and it's time for me to give you, my readers, my opinions on the event.  This year had some really awesome things and some really crappy things, and it's no surprise that this E3 has shifted the so-called "console war" to a completely different direction.  While I am reserving my awards for this year's E3 for next week, I did want to give my general thoughts on the event.  So I'll just go through the big conferences and tell you what I liked and hated, and then tell you what I loved and hated overall.

 

Microsoft flat out disappointed me this year.  In fact, as I write this part of the post, I find myself being even more disappointed that I have to write this.  E3 2009 for Microsoft was one of the best, if not THE best E3 for the company.  This year was a major letdown, and in my opinion, a complete failure.  This comes from what everyone was afraid of: Project Natal, or as it's called now, Kinect.  Controller-free gaming is revolutionary, but tech is nothing without good software, and Microsoft had none.  Every single game that will be coming for Kinect is a blatant rip-off of a Wii game.  Now, normally, this wouldn't piss me off as much.  It's only natural to think that some things will be rip-offs.  But when games like Kinect Sports, Kinect Adventure, Kinectimals are absolute copies of Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, and Nintendogs (or even EyePet from Sony), it really rubs me the wrong way.  At this stage in the console cycle, most people who have interest in these games have Wiis, and will not buy a Kinect or an Xbox for that matter if the games are carbon copies.  And it doesn't help that the rest of the software lineup introduced by MS were fitness games, dance games, and not one real game to appeal to the hardcore, which is a mistake in my opinion that will hurt Microsoft a lot.

Failure to appeal to the hardcore is something I would have never expected from Microsoft.  They have the most experience with the hardcore.  But Kinect seems to have no hardcore appeal whatsoever.  Sure, using voice and motion commands to control the dashboard and movies is great, but when there is no software, no real games to play, the device is near useless.  And the device is already showing signs of weakness.  No price has been officially announced by Microsoft, but several retailers are listing it as $149.99.  This is ridiculous.  No gamer will buy it for this much money.  Casual gamers, who probably have Wii's, will not spend any money for Kinect and an Xbox.  Hell, they could buy another Wii with that money.  The main demographic of Xbox users won't purchase it as most tend to be hardcore gamers and Kinect has no appeal.  Kinect has also caused a stir with it's ability to read the body when sitting down. MS assures you can play games sitting down, but many developers have stated their games have been made for you to stand up.  No one wants to drive a car standing up.  It makes no logical sense. 

There were some highlights in Microsoft however.  Many games look great.  Call of Duty: Black Ops and Metal Gear Solid: Rising showed that there are still gameplay elements to be explored in modern games.  Gears of War 3 brought back a great franchise, and the graphical improvements in that game look great.  In particular, it appears that Cliff Blezinski wants to end his franchise on a very, very high note.  Microsoft also announced some promising partnerships in ESPN, which unlike Kinect can create mass appeal, and Crytek, whose mysterious "Project Kingdoms" remains very intriguing.  By far the highlight of Microsoft's presense, to me, was Halo: Reach.  The singleplayer demo shows off so many great additions that Bungie is making.  The graphics are not just one step up from Halo 3, but possible ten steps up.  Much of what was great about the beta has made it to singleplayer, such as armor changing and armor abilities.  The music is great.  Elites are back and great.  Everything about that demo was great.  But the end was the best.  Bungie's reveal that Halo will finally go into space combat exites me like never before.  It looks so exciting, and I speak for most gamers when I say that this E3 ignited my excitement for the Halo franchise once again. 

It wasn't until EA's conference, though, that I started to really get excited for the near future of gaming.  EA's focus was almost completely for hardcore games.  I don't care what anyone has to say about EA's CEO, John Riccitiello.  He's made that company into a real game machine that gives their developers rights to their games, unlike Activision's CEO Kottick who shouldn't be allowed to play games, much less publish them.  Anyway, back to the games...

Lots of great games and announcements were at EA.  Dead Space 2 seems to keep the great horror of the first game while adding an appropriate amount of action absent from the first game.  It's nice to see that Isaac Clarke is now a character rather than a vessel for the player, with a voice and an actual face in the game.  Medal of Honor defeated any fears in me that it was going to be a Modern Warfare clone.  With a focus on realism, polish, and actual rewards for support and not just shooting faces, the Medal of Honor demo looked better and seemed to work better with less bugs in it's Alpha phase that Modern Warfare 2 does half a year after it's release.  Bulletstorm looks to be one of the funnest games every created.  Once I actually watched the demo and the absolute, over-the-top awesomeness of the game mechanics, I wondered why no one has made a game like this yet.  It seems so logical to add scores and creative kills to a first person shooter.  The game also took me by surprise by looking absolutely amazing.  As my friend stated "The wheel scene at the end of the demo looked better to me than Crysis 2". 

Finally, Star Wars: The Old Republic continues to look better and better everytime I see it.  It may be the only time that a CGI cut scene that shows nothing of the real game exites me more for the game than the game itself.  Whatever crack the studio that made this (Blur studios) was taking, everyone needs to be taking it.  Oh, and the game isn't bad either.  One of the highlights at this E3 was the announcement that players will have their own starships that will serve as their central hub, somewhat of a home space, if you will.  I for one love that.  Apparently, you have control over the aesthetics of this ship to an extent also.  Not only do I get to make a jedi, basically control everything about him, run him through a gigantic Star Wars universe, and play through missions made by BioWare, but I GET A FRICKIN' STARSHIP.  A FRICKIN' STARSHIP.  HOLY JESUS.  BioWare is the best.

Stay Tuned for Part 2 where I discuss my opinions on Ubisoft, Sony, and Nintendo.