E3 2011 is over, and it’s time for us to tell you what we thought. We tasked various members of our staff with giving you their thoughts on what they liked from this year’s Electronics Entertainment Expo, as well as what they didn’t like. Giving you their thoughts today are four members of our crack staff here at GamesEyeView:
- Bill Gwilt (Media Relations Manager and Senior Editor)
- Jason Rode (Games and Movies Editor)
- Matt Cesca (Social Media Manager and Senior Editor)
- Ryan Roth (Webmaster and Senior Editor)
Here’s what we all had to say:
Of the “Big Three” (Sony, Nintendo & Microsoft) who was the winner of E3?
Bill Gwilt: The focus this year really seemed to be on the casual audience. As such, they’re this year’s winner. Microsoft and Sony to a lesser extent considering their PSN woes and a refocus on their part to gain positive press, seem to be targeting a slice of the Nintendo pie. Few would argue that Nintendo is last on the list of the big three in regards to their place with the hardcore gaming audience. Even fewer can argue with the fact they’ve ultimately been as successful as they have been because they’ve found their niche in catering to casual gamers. We, as hardcore gamers (just saying that makes me feel lame, but it’s true) hope this isn’t a trend that continues past an initial phase to grab a chunk of the market, but it’s very evident that the focus is out there.
Jason Rode: This year was a very interesting year for E3, and was full of surprises. Everyone was focused on something different. Microsoft showed a big commitment to the Kinect and the future of motion gaming on the xbox, Sony was infatuated with the Sony Vita, and Nintendo seemingly fooled the world by denouncing it’s revolutionary motion control, and introduced us to the Wii U, a high definition graphical power house with even more revolutionary control.
All in all, I have to say Nintendo would be the winner this year. Both Nintendo and Microsoft did a great job and not focusing too long on any single aspect, and showing us a large variety of what we could expect from them this year. Nintendo simply did it a little better, focusing in just a little bit more, and showing us a little bit more information. With a wide variety of 3Ds games (it’s about time!), and the amazing new abilities of the Wii U, their show was certainly a surprise to me, and I look forward to their upcoming titles the most.
On a quick note, I would say that Sony easily had the worst show. There was simply no focus for Sony. As soon as an announcement was made, they moved on to a new one. While it may seem great to shove so much information down our throats at E3, we didn’t get any time to really learn about their new products for the length of time we wanted. They also had the only moment in E3 where you could actually hear the audience groan in horror with the announcement of AT&T being the Vitas 3g network carrier.
Matt Cesca: I’m still trying to digest everything I’ve seen this week at E3. It probably goes without saying that I’m suffering from a bit of video game overload. But even still, I’m not 100% sure what to make of what I saw out of any of the press briefings offered up by the “big three.” Microsoft is infatuated with it’s Kinect controller, which while an interesting piece of tech (which I own) is still not the way I play the vast majority of my games. Sony is still trying to sell me on Move with games I don’t want to play or with tacked on control schemes to existing games, and 3D TV’s I can’t afford to buy. And Nintendo offered up a new system with no new games, no price, no specs, and a list of third party ports that will be a year old by the time their new system comes out (all shown running on either the PS3 or XBOX 360 at the Nintendo press briefing).
If it comes down to it, I have to pick Nintendo as the winner of E3 by default, because they had the most to announce this year. We got to see a lot of new games for the 3DS, and they did show us an interesting “concept” in the Wii U. I’ll need to see more before I really know what to think of it, but I can see the potential of the ideas there. I just cant help but feeling like it’s a placeholder for the next system. I just wish for the love of God they would change the name of that thing, because it sounds like the name of a basketball school that I’ve never heard of that’s about to get fed to Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
For me the loser has to be Sony. They spent a lot of time on the PS Vita, which while it’s competitively priced with the Nintendo 3DS and has some appealing games, it will be on the AT&T network. The massive groan from the audience during the press briefing at this news was audible even to those watching at home. That’s never a good thing. Another issue was that they never showed me enough of any of their games to get me hooked, and spent a good amount of time talking about a game that came out this week (inFamous 2). I’m not convinced Microsoft’s press briefing was much better, but at least I felt like I understood the games they were trying to sell me on and they had more titles that I was interested in. They also showed me some functionality to the Kinect that could be used in the games I want to play. I may not use it, but at least it’s nice to know that it’s there if I want to.
Ryan Roth: I found E3 to be very lackluster this year when compared to the past few. There was really no winner in my book. That is saying a lot coming from a non fanboy who owns all of the consoles (plus PCs), motion controllers and enjoys all genres. Most of the “surprises” we were already anticipating. The few that I didn’t know much about like the Playstation Vita and then Wii U left me indifferent.
I skipped over most of Microsoft’s Kinect offerings. Even the Kinect adaption in more of the hardcore games didn’t spark my interest. The Halo 4 teaser actually upset me a bit, but it’s expected that Microsoft wants to milk every last penny from their cash cow. Sony’s outage apology felt genuine (enough), but it was transitioned rather fast with no clear remedy for the future. I’m still not sold on 3D, but I will say their TV with two different images on one screen is genius. Again the PSV really wasn’t up my alley. Nintendo had a decent game lineup. The Wii U roused more questions than answers, but I guess that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It would be nice to see Nintendo reclaim their N64 glory days sometime next year, but I’m not holding my breath.
I really missed that pure nerdy excitement I’ve felt with the “top 3“ the past few years.
What was the best game of E3?
Bill Gwilt: While my heart tells me that I should regard Bioshock Inifinite or Mass Effect 3 as the best of the best, Sony’s crown jewel Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, to me, came away as the clear winner. With compelling trailers, dazzling effects and just enough revealed to work us into a lather and keep us wanting more, Sony and Naughty Dog nailed this aspect of their conference.
Jason Rode: For me the best game of E3 had to be Battlefield 3. Without messing around, EA popped in their demo and let us see some great new gameplay action. The detail, and effort put into the vehicles this go around is fantastic. Tanks felt much more like tanks this go around, and instead of just running into everything, skill in your shots, and strategy are required when using them. The graphics are unlike anything ever seen and looks completely realistic. I am also happy to see the high altitude A3 bomber coming back into play. This was a segment that everyone loved in the Call of Duty franchise, but barely ever used. So I’m glad to see Battlefield make some use of it!
Matt Cesca: Best game of E3? I’ve also got to say Battlefield 3. There were a lot of very strong contenders, like Bioshock: Infinite, The Elder Scrolls 3: Skyrim, and Mass Effect 3. But I’m completely blown away by everything I’ve seen with regards to this game. It simply looks amazing. In truth, I am a little worried about how much of what we’ve seen so far is on PC, and how much is actually on the consoles. But even still, as someone who occasionally plays shooters but isn’t a die hard FPS gamer, I really want to play this game. That’s saying something.
Ryan Roth: Bioshock Infinite looks great insane! The story takes place before the original games in a completely unique city called “Columbia.” Oh yeah, this city is suspended in air by giant balloons. Irrational Games has always had a knack for creating very unique and original environments, but this is ridiculous. I really love the first person shooter and role playing combo that Bioshock does. Crazy weapons and abilities in an over the top (pun intended) world…sign me up! This one stole the show for me.
Now that E3 is over, what is your most anticipated game of E3?
Bill Gwilt: Hitman Absolution. While it may not be the most popular game, Hitman fans around the world finally have cause to celebrate. It’s been five years since Hitman: Blood Money and while rumors have long swirled for an upcoming entry in the series, an official announcement with trailer made this year’s E3 a good one for me and for other fans of the series. Waiting for this entry in the series is going to be tough…
Jason Rode: Star Wars: The Old Republic. Without fail, every year, when I start to control my desire to have The Old Republic (read, stop checking my email for the beta invite every day), E3 comes around and shows me a new cinematic trailer to get me tantalized. Well this year not only did they have an amazingly awesome new trailer, they also posted their cinematic opening to game (check out our site for both!). BioWare knows their Star Wars, and Knights of the Old Republic is easily the best Star Wars game ever made (I can confidently say I have played 99.9% of all the Star Wars games ever made, officially endorsed of course.) so having a prequel, set up as an MMO has me on edge to finally be able to play this game! I am super stoked to play it, and have gone back to checking my email every day for the beta (read: Bioware, Please give me a beta invite!)
Matt Cesca: I’m probably not going to surprise anyone here, but for me the game I want to play the most is Mass Effect 3. I love sci-fi, I love the series as a whole, and I love to get completely lost in the story of the Mass Effect universe. The ability to effect events in the next game with my actions from the last makes me feel more invested in a the game’s story than I’ve ever felt before. When you add in all the things that we got to see this week: The omni-blade, mechs, turrets, shields, stealth, ground combat with Reapers, etc….I’m ready to start crossing off the days until next March so that I can get my hands on this game and find out how the story I’ve chosen so far unfolds (just so long as I don’t have to miss any of the good games coming out between now and then).
Ryan Roth: My gut wanted to say Mass Effect 3, but I just couldn’t push The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim to the side. They’re two very different RPGs, so it’s a tie. I can’t say that I’m overly interested in the ME3 Kinect features, I’m just ready to dive back into sci-fi universe I’ve grown to love. Skyrim should be equally fun on the PC, especially when the mods start rolling out. I’m excited to close a chapter with Bioware and start a completely new one with Bethesda. Now I just need to cross my fingers that these release dates are solid!
What was your biggest disappointment from E3?
Bill Gwilt: This year’s E3 was slightly bittersweet for me. If I had to side with one console vs the other, I’d say I’m a 360 man. That being said, I play good games and don’t discriminate in that regard. I’m not a Kinect owner and have been waiting for the ‘it’ title to pull me in. Thus, I was expecting this year’s conference to have a dramatic unveiling of some great new product that just never happened.
While I’m excited for the Disneyland Kinect game and Sesame Street’s Once Upon A Monster, those are more so that I can share my love of gaming with my daughter than anything else. I was expecting major announcements in regards to sports titles and instead got promises that EA games going forward will have compatibility built in, as well as a handful of ‘new’ titles that are little more than shovelware avatar based games. The closest Microsoft got was with Star Wars Kinect and with what appeared to be extremely woeful controls, either the game is more than the Kinect can handle or MS decided to demo the game too early. Either way, I was left with a semi-sour taste in my mouth and I’m not quite sure 2 children’s games that look to be incredibly well done will be enough to force my hand into purchasing a Kinect. Sorry Microsoft. You need to show me more for that kind of money.
Jason Rode:This one was a tough one for me to choose. My initial reaction was to say Modern Warfare 3. Having been a huge Call of Duty fan since its original inception, I hate to see the franchise fall into the repeated rinse and repeat franchise it has become. However, I have been disillusioned with this franchise since World at War already.
What I’d really have to go with would be Star Wars Kinect. Firstly, this title should be on the PS3. Why? Well not only is the Move more precise and faster at picking up motion, (check out the gameplay demo to see what I mean on this one) but it looks and feels like a bloody lightsaber! There are some instances where a lack of control could be a great thing…but if it involves lightsabers, than I want to be holding a lightsaber. The games visuals are nothing special, the control looks broken, and the timeline seems just weird. It seems like there is no real story involved in the game, and graphically reminds me of the old Obi-Wan title for original Xbox. Star Wars games had been finally making a comeback in their quality, with Old Republic, Force Unleashed, Lego Star Wars, but now seems to be receding back into the zone of rushed games and poor quality.
Matt Cesca: I have one huge disappointment from E3, and it may surprise some people. My issue with this title was that I wanted to see more of it, any of it, something! And I felt like Nintendo did a very poor job by not highlighting this game at all in their E3 press briefing. Nintendo has a history of abandoning old tech for the new as soon as they announce it, and I feel like a game that I really wanted to see, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, was completely lost in the shuffle. It was more or less mentioned as part of the announcement of the Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Celebration, but that was it. We didn’t even get to see this trailer at the Nintendo press briefing:
This to me is a huge disappointment. The Legend of Zelda franchise is THE franchise I’ve been waiting to get a new game for since the Wii’s release, especially since we bought Twilight Princess on the Gamecube rather than upgrading to the Wii at launch. That means that I’ve NEVER played a new Zelda game on this generation’s Nintendo console. That’s somewhat unthinkable. And the fact that it feels like Nintendo’s assuming that we’re either gonna buy it based on name recognition (who are we kidding, we probably are) or just sweeping this one under the rug in favor of their new poorly explained tech is baffling to me.
Ryan Roth: I’m going to be a little different here and single out a whole company instead of a game. Valve was a no show at E3. I’ve been waiting four years now for Half Life 2: Episode Three. I’d really love to finish up the series as it’s one of my favorite shooters. It also would have been a great surprise to hear something about a new Counter Strike or even little more on DOTA 2. Sigh, maybe next year.
Now it’s your turn to join the discussion. Who were you winners and losers of E3. What games are you most looking forward to? And who let you down the most this year? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below!
