Ok let's get this out the way. This E3 was a letdown and I'm being generous with these scores, because I wrote them as I watched each conference so you can probably drop all of them a step down.
Microsoft:
Presentation: B- The pacing was great, and speakers got up, and let their work speak.
Features: B+ Smart Glass, seems great in theory, now make it work in life
Games: D The games demoed well, but we knew about everything from 2011
Overall: C- Where are the new games, Halo/Forza/Fable/Gears/Multipl at was stale last year. Usher needs to retire, Timed exclusive DLC isn’t something worth bragging about. Underwhelming, but not bad.
EA:
Presentation: C+ Not much talking, which is a good thing, but kind of boring
Features: C+ Nothing really new, but Frostbite engine continues to impress
Games: B+ Again noting new, but great demos, good year for EA. No Insomniac :(
Overall: B- Everything there was great, but where is Overstrike from Insomniac. Most of the games shown were sequels. Where is the innovation this year?
Ubisoft:
Presentation: B- Would have been better if the guy backstage was left out as a host
Features: B Wii U games already take advantage of the hardware.
Games: B+ A large and diverse line-up of games. Watch Dogs WOW!
Overall: B+ Ubisoft did a great job this year. The female host was great, the demos and presentations were great, and the games all looked great, and Wii U 3rd party support is there.
Sony:
Presentation: B- Good, but the Wonderbook was a waste of 20 minutes.
Content: B- PS+, PS Mobile, and more sharing of PS goodness
Games: B+ Core game demos were great, but more would have been nice
Overall: B There were some slow parts, but the good parts were amazing. Quantic Dreams, Naughty Dog, and Sony Santa Monica have proven that they are 3 of the greatest developer in gaming. Vita didn’t have the presence I expected. That Wonderbook demo should have been cut all together, E3 was not the time or place for it. That could have been used for more PS Vita announcements or demos, since Sony decided to announce more stuff later that day. Where is Agent, where is Last Guardian, where is Final Fantasy 13vs., what else is coming for PS Vita.
Nintendo:
Presentation: C Good presenters. Corny jokes, acting, and one liners had me mute segments.
Content: C No Wii U specifics, just online coming and controller specs.
Games: A- Nintendo had a ton of games, even though only 1 or 2 were for me.
Overall: B The sheer amount of games helped Nintendo out. The show was corny, and the Wii U had nothing specified about it. What is the CPU, what is the GPU, how much RAM does it have, What does the OS look like, are we looking at a worldwide launch, the tablet controller is still wired at E3 this year, is the console itself in mass production and if so how many at launch, just too many questions left unanswered. But everything looked like it worked, and was on par with PS3 and 360 for better or worse. Where was Zelda, Metroid, SSB, Mario 3D? 3DS has a separate show, online only???
E3 Conference Overall: C+ This was probably one of the worst E3's I've seen (been watching since 2005). Where was the showstopper? Where was the winner? Ubisoft? Microsoft's show was a bad start to the over all Conferences. EA did slightly above average. Ubisoft did great with their games. Sony did great with their games, but Wonderbook....enough said. This was Nintendo's year to steal the show, and they did the same thing everyone else did. Ease by. Here's hoping the rest of E3 improves, because this was an overall meh simply because there was nothing really new and wowing out there.
"The Bristol-based (the UK) indie games publisher Auroch Digital and indie games developer Positech Games, today announced with great happiness and thrill that their hit-political title "Democracy 4: Console Edition", is coming to consoles (PS4, Xbox One, and the Nintendo Switch) via digital stores on June 5th, 2024." - Jonas Ek, TGG.
"Get ready for a lot of monkey business! Because today, SEGA® of America revealed new details for Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble™’s Multiplayer and Battle modes. Featuring both local and online play, along with a host of fun features, players are sure to have a ball when Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble launches for the Nintendo Switch family of systems on June 25th, 2024." - SEGA of America.
"The German-Austrian-based indie games publisher Toplitz Productions and indie games developer Game Island, are today super happy and excited to announce that they have just kicked-off an playtest period for their first-person survival/adventure game “Serum“ (the said playtest is live right now for PC via Steam)." - Jonas Ek, TGG.
Think you're giving Nintendo to high a score for games since they were largely remakes, but otherwise spot on.
Yeah this year was pretty meh. Sony should have shown more vita stuff, where was the gameplay? Where was Killzone and Soul Sacrifice? I was glad to see pikmin 3, and that zombie game looked pretty nice, but I really wanted some more core titles from nintendo, like a new metroid especially.
Microsoft was the only conference that didn't make me feel disapointed, but that's because I had such low expectations to begin with.
Ubisoft blew me right off my chair. I didn't watch their conference live because I thought it would be average. I watched it on Youtube yesterday and man!!
Watch Dogs was easily the best game to be unveiled at E3.
Very interesting E3 not the best not the worst but it was good. No doubt about it Ubisoft the French Game Developers stole the show hands down. Watch Dogs= Amazing a really good mystery game, Far Cry 3 is insane. Now Sony well Beyond two of us and The last of us really showcased the power of the PS3 and the advancements in gaming narrative and visual fidelity. What worries me and is official those dreaded smartphones, tablets, and ipads are taking over consoles. Case in Point the wii u:
Everything that the gamer needs can be done on the gamepad no need for the console. The Wii U gamepad allows the gamer to surf the web, watch amazon video, youtube, etc. plus play games without the need of a HDTV set or console. Is just a gaming tablet chained to a console.
Playstation mobile first PS one classics available for mobile devices i.e. smartphones tablets. Later PSN games soon Sony will abandon the whole handheld device and just go with bringing its gaming os to the mobile devices.
Xbox Smartglass, allows the interconnection of mobile devices with the xbox 360 i.e. able to surf internet explorer and the game interface with say mobile devices. Able to use say tv/movie special features with say smartphone or tablet while watching say film, etc.
Is and end of an era, the era of gaming consoles is slowly but surely coming to an end just like handheld gaming devices. Nice Review.........