I can't bring myself to care about E3

In the last couple of years I used to do an analysis on the big three conferences.  I would detail good business moves and bad ones, interesting new ideas coming out for the console, and horrible ones.

This year, I honestly am not invested with what's going on with E3.  

Just starting to watch the conferences just makes me depressed.  Sony wasn't super bad, but I'm not convinced that some of their exciting titles will stay nearly as exciting as they were presented.  Beyond is a story that can easily be fucked up, and boat stuff from Assassin's Creed's new installment looks totally staged.  Those are obvious complaints though.  The not so obvious complaint is that it seems Sony took many of the strategies that Nintendo and Microsoft introduced the last few years and just put Sony paint on it.  Also, there's not a lot of genuinely new things to be excited about, but that is a problem with the console industry as a whole.  Really, it's a problem with the video game industry, but that's another post for another day.  Sony is a frequent offender.

I love Nintendo like family.  It is the company that introduced me to gaming and the company will always hold a special place in my heart.  But man, did that conference have too.  much.  talking.  Nintendo is also a great example of focusing way too hard on social networking.  Most social networking that is successful evolves more organically than what they're trying to do.  Also, I have to agree with Cracked.com that there will be phalluses all up on your screen with WiiVerse.  Last year Nintendo won back the hard core gamer, just to lose them again this year with karaoke and online theme parks.  However, I'm sure they'll sell more unit again WiiU is being sold as an all around entertainment system, not just for video games. 

Microsoft had the longest conference, and it had some of the most exciting points.  Too bad those exciting points were not about genuine electronic entertainment.  It also had some of the least exciting points.  I will admit that I'm not a sports fan at all, so devoting a fifth of the presentation to sports game did not inspire me.  And then to add another huge chunk of "look, I can watch movies, and then I can watch them in Spanish!" was not impressive.  Voice control no longer a huge deal, since you've presented it the last three years.  And  no, Usher, despite being an attractive, rich singer, is not going to entice me to play your games.

I think, my fellow gamers, we have to admit to ourselves that we can no longer look to E3 anymore to provide us what we're looking for.  It is now officially covering the broader market of Electronic Entertainment, not just video games anymore.  Sure, there were some relatively smart business moves made this year, but none of them were really for the hardcore gamer, or even a gamer period.  They were for a broad market of consumers, broader than those of us who have lived by the high score and the controller.  

E3 is no longer for us, it's for everyone.  

We should've seen this coming as soon as the Wii became as popular as it did.  I don't want to fault Nintendo for the whole evolutionary change of E3, but it was the beginning of a new era, when it wasn't just for the elite fan who grew up with an Atari or NES in the living room and has had a console ever since.  Sooner or later a company would've have branched out in this way, and it makes sense it's Nintendo, who unlike Sony and Microsoft are, or were rather, wholly invested in video games.  To stay big, they had to branch out, and preferably be the first to do it.  Of course this is the solution.

For those of you feeling abandoned or neglected, do know that there is still a ton of devoted companies hoping to gain your allegiance for their video games, hoping you'll like their new thing.  I'm noticing most of the new things are on the PC, or come out on the PC first before graduating to digital downloads for Microsoft of the PS Network.  But it's definitely no longer going to be about the new video games at E3.  It's only going to be about new entertainment.  

Next year, I think I'm going to be even less invested in it.  I doubt I'm the only one.

An Angry Letter

Dear Games for Windows Live,

I have no clue why you decide you are important in my single player game, or why you must force your update upon me when I finally have a chance to taste the awesome in Batman: Arkham Asylum with the threat of NOT BEING ABLE TO PLAY THE GAME I JUST RECEIVED.

Your DRM practices are atrocious and I'm sure millions of stolen copies of this game have been distributed around the globe.  Just like roaches, online pirateers never die.  And insulting their intelligence is only going to make them work harder at hacking your game.

You have now successfully made you games harder for legit purchasers to play for the small profit you might receive for being a jerk.  And knowing you, that profit is a pitiful amount compared to what you grossed off this game.  I mean, you still made it for consoles, right?  Then what the hell is your issue, you greedy twits?

In conclusion, Games for Windows Live, I sincerely hope you die in a fire.

With hate,

d20 Sapphire

Comments on Microsoft's E3 Conference

I won't be saying too much of what I think of everything because the Nerd Couple Podcast will cover it, but I don't want you to be denied of my opinion until Sunday.  So here are some thoughts about the presentation as I watch it as I relax after work.

-Slow intro, took forever for me to get excited about shooting things, and that should not be an issue.

-Tomb Raider or Heavy Rain?

-Yay ME3!  What a preview should be.

-Guns are cool, making guns... cooler?

-Pay-Per-View on XBox, not surprised

-Gear of War didn't define shit, liar.

-No physical exertion please!

-That racing game music totally makes me sad for King Crimson

-NYAH!  That's all I know of Fable right now. And horses.

-So I can vacation at home?  This much closer to Surrogates becoming a reality.

-Never call out a fist bump little one, never.

-These games are looking too easy on Kinect.

-YOU'RE DOING THE SAME BAD THINGS YOU DID LAST TIME XBOX!  WHY?

-Okay the avatar stuff is kinda cool.

-So you have to know how to golf to play video game golf?

-Like they were ever going to stop making Halo Games.  Nice little taste though.

Microsoft's Kudo Tsunoda caught with foot in mouth

Kudo Tsunoda was rightly defending the new Kinect.  It's what you have to do when you work for a company--stand by the product.  But he seems to go a little to far, saying that Halo on the Xbox killed FPS gaming on the PC.  The article quotes hims saying "hardly anyone plays first person shooters on the PC anymore."

Really?

I am sure most of you fellow gamers would agree that this sounds outrageous.  Well, in response someone looked up some numbers, and before even America was at full force on Steam there were at least 266,505 people playing FPS' online via the Steam community.  This doesn't even include people playing on LAN networks or other dedicated servers.

Alright Kudo, could you please do some research before someone debunks your bogus claim in less than 24 hours.  I don't think any of the consoles are dying out soon, including the PC.  So those of you in the video game business, don't offend your competition until you know you have them beat.

I tried Kinect!

I am spreading the good word!  Or Microsoft's word... ha!  I accidentally made a pun!  *Ahem* continuing...

I discovered the Downtown Chicago pedway today thanks to my dad.  It's a fascinating system when you think about it.  Anyway, while travelling through the pedway I made my way to Macy's and found something magical...

A place where I could try Microsoft's new Kinect!  It was set up and I had to call the Boyfriend because I didn't believe it!

I had an hour before work so I tried it.  And guess what?  It works!

I played the title Kinect Adventures, and I just hit a ton of balls bouncing around.  It's definitely real exercise, so be prepared to not sit on the couch while you play.  Also, it'll take a while to figure out how good the reaction time is, but the system is accurate other than that.  It was funny to see what it did when I decided to scratch my head.

There was even a lady there to help sell the product answer questions and get you used to the system.  You have to be willing to exert energy though.  Some guys, who could've been your stereotypical FPS shooter dudes, missed out on a lot of points because they were unwilling to actually MOVE and INTERACT with the system.  The pictures they take at the end, lame!  At least I looked like I was trying when I played it, and I did decent for someone who hadn't done it before.

Also, I was wearing black clothing and it registers my torso fine.  There was no couch in front of it though, so we'll see if can register you just sitting on your couch at your home.

All in all, promising, but I think the hardcore gamers are still going to bitch.

Do you want to try it out?  Well, you can!  There are probably try out areas across the country, but I know about the one that is going to be in Chicago.

Macy's On State Street

(Old Marshal Fields and Co. Building)

Thursdays through Saturdays 

Noon to 8pm

Sundays

Noon to 6pm

Only until September 30th.

Why am I essentially helping Microsoft with their ad campaign?  Because I think if you're going to talk about a product, and it's available to try out, you should!  I think I shall take a look at it again next week too if possible.    :D

E3 Conference Impressions: Microsoft

I'm now officially underemployed again so I have time to actually watch and respond to the conferences that came out in the last 2 days.  I mainly care about the big 3 console producers: Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony.  I'm watching all three today in one way or another, so I'm going to tell you all what I think.

I realized in the middle of typing this it may be too long, so I'm going to do 3 posts, probably all in the same day.  With that, the first conference I am talking about is

Microsoft

They could've taken better advantage of being the first present of the big 3, other than boring me for two hours.  First of all, their presenters suck.  They vary from monotone voice, to obviously reading a teleprompter, to looking like the guy who tries to lure preteens to the back of his van.  Seriously the guy presenting Kinetic games looked more than one kind of sketchy with his jogging jacket, huge sunglasses, and 5 o'clock shadow.  I personally thing CEOs can be some of the worst presenters for their products, because they're not inherently salesmen.  Sure, they have to create a viable product, but they' not salesmen.
Considering there was a controversy last year about the natal not reading dark skinned people, they definitely made sure a couple dark skinned people did the demonstations.  Makes me wonder how they improved the technologly--if they actually did.  I'm only cynical because it felt like every presentation was obviously rehearsed.  The way people delivered lines, and the way that people went out of their way to explore the space with the kinect products, I can't help but be cautious of the product's actual performance.
The first part with the actual "hardcore" games was decent, but all stuff we were expecting.  They announced all that stuff last year, and the fans want more games that they know they'll love.  Instead, the majority of the Microsoft conference was how they are responding to the Wii.  And you can see by a lot of the games announced for Kinect that they are Wii games without the controller: Kinectimals, Kinect Adventure, Yourshape, that dance game I totally forgot the name of...
I am not trying to dis Microsoft, because I do like a lot of the games they offer, not a lot of the exclusives per se but they have a lot of games that I first experienced on their platform.  When I was purely a Nintendo fangirl I thought they were part of the money machine (which they are) but I've come to respect them and what they've done to continue having a gaming console be an entertainment system.  But a lot of Kinect is a direct response to one single competitor, and I don't think that's a good way to please the public.  This includes the casual gamers new to the market, or the hardcore gamers who've been button mashing and mastering for years.
The hardcore gamer in me (which to be honest, is a very recent part of my life) thinks Microsoft can suck it.  That part of me feels abandoned.  The casual gamer in me is intrigued, but already has a Wii, so doesn't need to buy Kinect to get that experience.  So, I'm in a position not to care about the one product they pushed the most.  Can I have more Gears of War, preferably on my PC?  No?  Why do I care?
Random realization:  Whatever the hell happened to the Milo project?
The new xbox has an interesting look, but for some reason it reminded me of a black maxi pad.  Just the way it bends in.  Sorry if that ruined it for a few of you.  Also, I congratulate Microsoft on the most obvious bribery ploy ever.  I'm not mad at them for it, but it's super obvious.

In conclusion

I think Microsoft has to stop responding to its competitors directly.  By making Kinect so obviously a Wii competitor, it isn't making it's own market to dominate.  It will always be fighting with a company it's trying to "catch up" with.  What they should do is make Kinect different from Nintendo and Sony.  Maybe immersive FPS?  I don't know, but it's their job to figure that out, and it's my job to reward that company with a purchase when they do.

Some Thoughts on E3

Alright, this thing called E3 is happening, and if you don't know what it is, you must've been living under a rock for about 15 years.  The big three console companies had their presentations, so for those of you that care, these are my thoughts.

 Microsoft started out with a huge bang this year that there was no way Sony or Nintendo could follow.  They are staying faithful to their market, especially with the announcement of Halo Reach.  Also, Metal Gear Solid: Rising was a great surprise, and I'm glad that the franchise can continue without sucking the life out of Snake.  Yeah geezer stealth!

However, the biggest thing to come out of Microsoft's E3 conference is the announcement of Project Natal.  Basically its a peripheral camera that is used as the controller input.  So instead of pressing A to kick, you actually kick, in the direction.  If you look at the intro video I linked to there's a lot of dorky miming involved, but it's fun dorky miming!  Its also a way to do video chat with friends, and apparently pick out pretty dresses for the party.  You know what I'm using to use that for? Across the country wine parties!

I think the big change that this could bring to video games is the need of literal skill to be good at some games.  You will have to physically kick better and turn faster in real terms rather than just having dexterous fingers.  It will be interesting to see how many traditional gamers will cross over. 

The scariest thing that has come out of this is the Milo Project.  This is a character that can read your voice and face and tell how are you feeling, and then you can befriend him.  Can someone say replacement for actual human contact?  Like there aren't enough of us who have at one point or another had relationships on the internet replace real ones.  There are already men out there that are in love with their real dolls, do we need people to marry people made out of pixels?

Despite my fears for the future, Microsoft definitely blew everyone away with Project Natal.  Some say that this is Microsoft's answer to the Wii, but I just think this is the natural evolution that would happen in response to the Wii.  If we find that immersive play is what the public wants, this is the next step.

Speaking of the Wii, I saw most of the Nintendo Conference through a live stream.  Like the last couple of years, it was NOT exciting to watch, even though some exciting things were mentioned.  But even the exciting thing were few and far between.  Most of it involved new mario games, like Super Mario Bros. on the Wii with four player action, and a new 3D Super Mario game.  The new Final Fantasty Crystal Chronicles game doesn't catch my attention too much but it is good that Nintendo isn't forgetting about some of its hardcore audience.  Oh!  New Metroid game!  Can't forget about that!  The Wii is going to have some good selection.

The Nintendo DS games were very "meh" to me.  A lot of them are already out in Japan, so porting them for the U.S. market isn't big news.  Also, the Golden Sun announcement may be big to RPG fans, but I'm not that into it.  

The vital scan thing for your finger on the Wii?  Really guys?  Not innovative at all.  I don't see how that's going to be exciting.  Nor do I see how the additions to WiiFit are going to be exciting either, but at least I know that already sells.

I don't care about Sony, but I'll discuss it a little bit here.  Essentially there are a lot of exciting games coming out for the PS3 that I would play if I could drop the bones for a PS3.  But I don't have the money so I am just going to wait until half those games will be on my future gaming PC that the Boyfriend will build.  Final Fantasy is continued to be sucked dry for big bucks, but I'm all cynical about the series in general.  Also more Metal Gear Solid with the original Snake, taking place in 1970.  

The PSP Go looks kind of spiffy, but also kind of pricey.  I don't know if i would pay that much for a portable system, since I already have a multimedia machine to watch movies on an airplane.  It's called a laptop.  And the new motion sensor?  Dude, now that you're the copy cat, that is not going to help your sales.  Do what you do well or do what everyone is doing but better.  Don't just do what the cool kids are doing because they're getting sales, because people can smell a wannabe from a mile away.

And that's all for now.