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.

Comments on Sony's E3 Conference

Joined near the end of the presentation, but I will go back later to watch the rest and edit this post.

UPDATE:  Thanks internet for posting that fast!  Now with the whole conference being commented on.  Again for full commentary, The Nerd Couple Podcast is where it will live later this week.

-Thank you for addressing the obvious issue instead of ignoring it.  We thank you for it Sony.

-Though, we prefer to be called fans and loyals than just "consumers".

-Yeah, getting hulu and netflix was a super smart move.

-I love how Uncharted is never looking the same as the last one.  Good job Naughty Dog.

-Outrun that water!

-Still using the glasses for 3D?  Lame!

-Resistance 3 dude needs to stop sucking at presenting

-PlayStation's presentation is just as boring as last year... yuck.

-3D in college is just going to increase ingestion of illicit drugs.

-DELICIOUS split screen without the split screen.

-Ladies and gentlemen, an NBA player who cheated on his wife!

-Medieval flay-your-wii2.0 around.  More accurate and responsive than the Kinect though.

-I'm old school, I like my inventory system.

-Can no one speak for this conference?  Holy crap more stutters than a studebaker in quicksand.

-Also, do you always need to use numbers?

-Yay Sly Cooper!

(... more when d20 Saphirre won't fall asleep on the presentation.  Which after a couple tries, seems to be never.)

-Video feed of your handheld is not suggested

- So it is called Vita... I would prefer vitae.

-TOO MANY TOUCHSCREENS.  I personally am too clumsy for that.

-You sure you want to marry anything to the Playstation Network?  She seems a fickle bride.

E3 Conference Impressions: Sony

Alright, the last one of the big 3, the one I was the least excited about watching yet still had some surprises up it's sleeve.  These guys have lost a lot of ground and status business-wise, but the next year may prove to be different.

Sony

Alright, watching this live while I'm typing this (and the last one to be honest) and I'm already forgetting parts of the presentation.  Sure, their speakers are better than the other two, but their presentations are not memorable to me.  It's very much a business proposal, and although there are a lot of fan favorites that are worth being excited about, the way it's being shown to the audience is not a way for me to remember what I am actually excited about.

One of the funniest things is going to the Sony presentation right after the Nintendo one, where they brag about 3d without glasses, and in the first video Sony asks the audience to put on their 3D glasses.  I can't vouch for how awesome the graphics were, because I wasn't there and they didn't bother mailing me glasses.  But the audience reception sounded good.  I don't think it'll catch one if everyone needs glasses to enjoy.  It's just one of those little things that seems annoying enough to prevent play.

Sony is doing with the Mov what I suggested Microsoft should do with the Kinect: make it their own and stepping away from where Wii dominates.  They even joke about how it's superior to Kinect because it has buttons, and how their games have vital features like arms and necks.  A good example of making the Mov different enough is the game Sorcery.  All you are is a dude with a wand and you're able to easily control a ton of stuff.  Also, the demos with the Mov didn't look over-rehearsed like Kinect did.  They don't have to prove too much--the tech they're using is almost identical to the Wii so we know it works and we now know people will buy motion games--they just have to make the games exciting and new.  Sorcery did that.  Heroes on the Move did as well.  Using the Mov for FPSs helps too, because Wii hasn't been super successful in that venture and Kinect hasn't proven you can shoot without a trigger yet.

Also, the speech about being a gamer, and taking pride in it, was hilarious.  Definitely was cheering along with the crowd on that one.

After that speech, however, it was just rambling of video game after videogame coming out for the system.  Sure, they have a ton of exclusives now, and they have great stuff out on the PSP as well (God of War is always a winner), but the data overload was WAY too much for me.  I couldn't deal with it.  Maybe it's because I watched all three conferences today, because the audiences loved the presentations. I think part of it was because a good number of people felt Microsoft had abandoned them, and seeing that Sony wasn't taking away their hardcore games made them extremely happy.  Sony didn't have to do much to make their gamers think everything was gold.  Meanwhile, here I am sitting at home trying to remember something that's worth typing, and my brains turning to mush as Jack Tretton appeals to his stockholders more than his gamers.

However, I am surprised they are the only one with a network interactive booth for their console fans.  Why hasn't anyone else though of something like this?  It's not that hard to do!  Well, when you're made of money, that is.

The end with Twisted Metal, although a lot of fun, just wasn't the way to end that conference unfortunately.  They should've ended it with something super new, like the last two.  Then again, they didn't know months in advance what the other two big guys were going to do.  Hindsight is 20/20.

Am I going to go out of my way to buy anything Sony showed today?  No.  My respect for them is still growing, but I'm not going to go out of my way to purchase their products.

In conclusion

I find myself impressed and bored at the same time.  Sony's business plan in impressive in the sense that they've stopped looking super pathetic and are basically sticking to games they know that they can do well.  However, the presentations of all the games, and the ad campaigns to go along with them (really?), left me bored.  I want some more excitement.  In fact, their presentation style has the same problem the Nintendo one from two years ago had: not exciting the customer base enough.  You have to know base is watching E3.  Treat them to remind them why they like your product.

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.