The winners and losers of E3 2008, part one – the press conferences

The results are in. After an insane few days of news coverage and announcements, the flood's dried to a trickle. E3 2008 may well have been a pivotal year for the show, with some massive highs and tragic lows permeating the platform holder conferences, and an explosion of behind-the-scenes gossip left in the wake. Hit the link for VG247's round-up of which console manufacturers got high scores, and which binned all lives on the first level.

[PoSTedUP]

~

[Veryangryxbot]

Bro, everyone who is actually there are talking about the SOny games. Not about MSs E3 conference.

They had nothing to show for. New dashboard? Uh lol. And it looks like a kid mii version. Oh wait it is! hahaha, not like any xbot is super enthusiastic about that.

What about Lips? What about it! Nothing thats what. Its an inferior Singstar version. Hey guess what, PS3 owners had singstar since lord knows how long. It was even shown last year and the same retarded bots like this website claimed it to be "nothing special". So why are they suddenly so hyped about LIPS?

What else? So what about the games huh?
Fable 2 12 hours long? Haha fail.
Banjo failed.
Halo wars didnt make a showing. Just like Alan wait.
No new games announced. Didnt xbots say that MS will announce a bunch of new games because 360 is lacking so many games right now? So where are they?
What happened to Bungies E3 announcement? Pulled after seeing R2 and MAG lmao.

Now lets look at SONY. Day 1 Movie downloads, check.
R2 blows away croud. Check.
LBP proving to be Triple. Check.
New features of HOME. Check.
130 games for the PS2. Check.
MAG, massive 256 players online. Check.
GOD of War 3 announced. Check.
Top developers praising the PS3s power and confirming that its the most powerfull console. CHECK.

Day 2 Killzone 2 RIPS E2 apart and it STUNS and leaves jaws open!

And oh yea, 1 announcement about a PS3 GAME, made people angry over the net.

So yea, Sony won by MILES bro. MS wasnt even CLOSE. Anyone with an objective view knows that Sony won. Have you heard the applause after Sony closed their conference? The loud standing ovation? Yea it was louder than what they gave the competitors. ENOUGH SAID.

[thereapersson]

Why? Why is it that because MS steals an exclusive title they are crowned the winners of gaming? Congratulations, you have a game that is still on the PS3 and is furthermore second in development to the PS3 version. MS spent the rest of the conference showing stuff featuring ideas that they borrowed from other companies and a few trailers of games we already know about. No new IP's or anything of that matter, and they are still crowned the "winner of E3"

Give me a break.

edit: I do agree with them on the fact that INFamous was rather overlooked when it comes to the grand scheme of things at this year's E3. It could turn out to be a sleeper hit of the year.

[Jamie Foxx]

microsoft shelled out millions to get a game that will still be on the ps3 and still be exclusive to the ps3 in a country where it will sell the most as history suggests and where the 360 needs the most help= JAPAN.(work out the sense in that)

sonys conference was mainly purely about inhouse games. microsoft are seriously lacking inhouse games which is why they are relying on 3rd party developers for multi-plat titles as their E3 showed which frankly is embarrasing

as in the hiphopgamer interview where aaron looked very uncomfortable (great interview)360's lead is diminishing this time last year microsoft were bragging of over 10million consoles ahead of ps3 now aaron was gloating of 5 million(work out the sense in that)cant wait for this time next year!, multiplat titles wont win you the console war

[ukilnme]

Do we have proof that MS paid for FF? I hate to say it but it looks like a lot of the Sony "Faithful" are very butt hurt over that one.

[Real Gambler]

Remove the last 5 minutes of the Microsoft conference, and that would have been the most boring conference in the history.

You can read message number 11 for my view (or minutes per minutes) on both conferences. Microsoft lost big time.

[QuackPot]

FF established itself with the Playstations

FF fans would have played it on a Playstation

FF XIII will continue to be on a Playstation

....and now on a xbox 360. So what?

Least we forget that 360 base are strongly shooter NOT JRPGs fans.

[titntin]

I'm not a fan of any one company, and I freely acknowledge that MS has a history of getting its check book out to buy entire business and often to restrict competition.

But that is not the case here.

Square have made it quite clear that they made the decision to green light a 360 version by them selfs and they didn't need a financial incentive to do it. for a game thats obviously taking a long time and a lot of money, they decided it made sense to reach a wider audience, and if you put aside your fan glasses for awhile, it makes perfect sense for them to do so.

MS did not buy a FF13 port. It was free choice made by square. I'm sure the execs at MS made it very easy for them to make the decision, but it wasn't with the usual bribe...

[thereapersson]

Yeah, I don't get all the talk of bribes and payoffs. I think that because this game's expense was becoming very large, I think SE just needed to get this game to the systems in regions where they know for a fact it will recoup all the money the spent to make it.

Still doesn't excuse MS from this whole thing though.

[morganfell]

tintin I agree, I don't think that was the case here. I think square dumped far more money into FF13 than they planned.

My issue is vg24/7 giving MS the kudos for a conference based on 3 games that are multiplatform. Really, look at what they wrote for MS strong points. The other "winning feature" the use of avatars - MS is the last one to the party in announcing that - and the video sharing. That is the one thing they have no one else is up for.

Sony announces not only quite a few exclusives, but they show MS the future of digital downloads which is portability. They also announce astounding barrier breaking in online play - which is quite phenomenal when you consider the big MS showing was a 5 v 5 game. Tripe, pure and simple.

[N2NOther]

First of all they didn't STEAL anything and it's retarded to even suggest it. Secondly, whether you like the idea or not, it's still huge news and nothing that came after it even came close.

And it's not just FF XIII that people are saying they one for. That was the knockout blow, for sure, but they really showed a lot, like the article said, of great 3rd party titles, WITH RELEASE DATES, and also the Live update which is going to be pretty impressive. Is it Home? Nope, but then again, neither is Home.

[FPS nut]

Because they stole somthing that was reported as a PS3 exclusive and couldn't be done on 360 hardware, and... they stole it in front of the whole world, while Sony didn't even know about it. It was the greatest E3 pwning of all time. If I was a 360 fanboy I would be jumping for joy and burning PS3 fanboys on the threads. If I was a PS3 fanboy, I would be pissed and would be trying to spin this like you, and like you... I would hate all 360 fanboys for burning me in the threads. Playstation fanboys jumped all over the Xbox fanboys when PS fans got Bioshock, now it's come full circle and it's their turn to jump on you.

The important lesson here is if you are a raging fanboy, your going to get butned one way or another. It's ok to have a prefrence for hardware and argue features, but fanboyism should apply to games, not consoles. Seems here it's the Playstation fanboys who lost, Final Fantasy fanboys didn't lose anything. Final fantasy fanboys gained, because now the series will make twice as much money giving Square Enix the money to make the next FF bigger and better.

Gamers FTW, but it is fun watching some of the fanboys squirm, so I will enjoy the show :)

[Omega4]

MS clearly must be the winners, since if they held of showing two big new exclusives one of which was a new HALO yes a HALO their biggest frachise.

Clearly shows they felt they had the show beat....i guess FF13 being multiplaform can do that :)

[Amp]

Sony was the winner, not showing their new I.P., which has been decribed as the most gorgeous game to ever grace a console.. Tell me, what exactly did Microsoft do? Bought another game? They have to, heck even your Halo was a playstation 2 launch game, b4 Microsft got bungie. Microsoft has deep pockets, ill give them that.

[Real Gambler]

http://www.joystiq.com/2008...

"As the story goes, Microsoft's presser was originally planned to run two-and-a-half hours, but Mattrick wanted to get it down to under 90 minutes. For some reason, a Halo game was cut to make way for such content "

Stupid move, and another reason they lost in my mind.

[QuackPot]

@Amp

I didn't know Halo was POTENTIALLY a Ps2 game. I knew it was shown as a Mac game and Microsoft got lucky and spotted it then bought Bungie.

But it makes you think what would have happened with the xbox without Halo...and the Ps2 with it.

Microsoft would have made millions had they not built the xbox and instead ported Halo and other games to the Ps2. Makes you wonder.

[Vecta]

Actually AMP Halo was never going to come out the PS2...
It was originally intended to come out for Macs as a RTS then an FPS.
Once it became an FPS and was shown to the many publishers Microsoft instantly jumped on and bought bungie and made them put in on Xbox.

[Amp]

It was slated as a PS2 launch game, I still have the articles on it somewhere, this was from 1999, listing Halo as a PS2 launch game. It was out in fall 99, 1 year b4 the Launch, on 10/26/ 2000 U.S.

[Sk8boyP]

This article is fail. We all know that Sony won, Microcopy just bites off everyone, if anything happened during E3 it was that Microcopy just rehashes other companies ideas and release them as their own. Sony came strong with their exclusive PS3 and PSN line up, video store and progress with the PSN functionality. Nintendo not only has an underwhelmed audience but they were... FAIL.

[ps360s]

Final Fantasy 13 going to Xbox 360 was shocking but to say MS won the E3 is well...I think Sony did fab with their conference and if it weren't for the Final Fantasy 13 announcement then MS conference would'nt of got the winning status.

Oh well whatever, good games coming from both Sony/MS then I'm happy since I have both systems.

[juuken]

So Microsoft won first place because FFXIII will be multi-platform, and they only announced what...two exclusives or something...not to mention shameless rippoffs?

I know Sony won, and I don't need to read into this stupid ass article. Nothing on Microsoft's part interested me one bit except the FFXIII announcement, all of which pissed me off. I was hoping for Nintendo to make an impact but they disappointed me.

[B-Rein]

what, sony 1st place GOD OF WAR 3, RESISTANSE 2, SOCOM, new vid on HOME, showed NAruto ultimate ninja Storm, MAG (freakin 256 players) and other really good psn games, showed off SOE (sony online entertainment), new featured such as the video store, recordin game and put on youtube and some otehr things

ALL M$ did was shoin FFXIII goin multiplatform (yes still on ps3 and ps3 exclusive in japan), made rip offs LIPS copy of sing star, and Your in the movies looks simlar to Eye toy play 2 on ps2, avtar looks simlar to miis and home, the change of dash bord well thats new, also GOW2 yeh we seen Fable 2 yes know that rest were multi platform so who cares

[chrisnick]

if ur face is as pretty as ur words..then i would love to play with u................online of course...she's totally right though!!!...the article pretty much mentioned one big thing and basically said it outweighed sony's entire lineup...epic fail of an article a 5 minute high compared to 1.5hours of games, bundles, teasers and innovation?.......article is catastrophic.

[JeepGamer]

When EA runs around throwing money at people they universally called on it but all EA is doing is following the Microsoft business example that was in effect long before even Sony hit the console market.

What we saw from Microsoft is that they have enough money to throw around to get what they want and the ability to copy ideas from other people and somehow this makes them a "Winner".

[jkhan]

What worries me the most is, that MSFT intention is to make Sony run out of money. Sony is investing money in the right direction, in first party titles. If they followed MSFT suite, they would have been bank corrupted by now.
MSFT wants to draw this generation and make sony lose money heavily, so they can easily win next time & so far MSFT has been successful.

[AuburnTiger]

When you have unlimited resources the possibilities are endless.

[Real Gambler]

" MSFT wants to draw this generation and make sony lose money heavily, so they can easily win next time & so far MSFT has been successful.
"

PS3 is here for quite a few more years. They won't rush the PS4. So next generation, Microsoft will be against Nintendo while Sony will be able to wait on the side.

Nintendo will come up with a HD version of the Wii, compatible with the actual peripherals. Cheap and dirty, but people will jump on that. More online capability, HD and retro at a cheap price is all they need to do.

Microsoft actual hardware is already starting to feel old. They won't be able to wait for that wave to go by like Sony. They have two choices. They to come up with a really awesome 720 (quite possible, and since they have a decent install base, good sales possible) to compete with the then huge Nintendo fans base. Or pull-out. I seriously think they will simply do that, and come out with the "standard game PC configuration" that people were talking about. Remember, they have been burn twice so far, and even if they have money, they also have investors to please. Otherwise, they are stuck with just making better 360s for quite a while. Adding bigger harddrives, coming out with interesting peripherals, etc.

[QuackPot]

They are simply out to MONOPOLIZE the game console industry as they have Monopolized Operating Systems/Software on PCs.

This is so obvious as you see them willing to lose billions of dollars and spend millions more to drive Sony out....in the spirit of so called Competition. Whatever.

Open you eyes fanboys. Don't let this happen. Gears, Halo, Mass Effect, Too Human, Forza etc etc are software that can easily be ported to a Playstation.

Is it the games you love or is it the hardware?

[Ace Killa 08]

wats the purpose of a company competeing with other companies, be the victor obviously. sony wants to win MS wants to win and well really who said stealing other companies idea is breaking the rules? so far MS hasnt been threaten by a lawsuit by Wii or some other company. So really its a race to the top with any means getting there and monopolizing worked in the OS since almost everyone uses a Windows OS everyday of their lives, MS software related. So yeah monopolize is what every company want to do crush the competition to be the only one to make money

[Silver360]

MS Sony and Nintendo all want to control your home entertainment not just your video games each wants to be the only system in your house. F that bull buy them all and chose your entertainment a la carte. Being a fan boy can be fun at times, but in the end all of you are consumers and you have to check out all your options before spending your money. And for gods sake stop showing loyalty to a corporation that doesn't know your name from the kid down the street.

[titntin]

This site has long made its aliegences well knwon, so I never doubted what its conclussion would be.

"and it should be noted that the latter two were shown in the 360 conference, not in PS3’s. As it was put to us after the event, “As far as PS3 and 360 goes for ‘gaming,’ there’s just no contest any more."
If ever you needed to see their angle, you can see it quite clearly from these piece of prose. You could say that the reason these games were shown on the MS conference was simply because they had so little new first party core gaming to shout about. Its certainly true that Sony didn't show Third party titles, they stuck with exclusives.

Its not the way I saw it, but everyone has their own opinion and some opinions are pretty predictable.

[jkhan]

Ok So Microsoft won because they announce a game going multiplatform? I mean seriously what the hell? Microsoft press conference was boring till death until they announced FF-XIII is coming to there system and thats also only in Europe and US. Not in Japan, where the series is said to sell more than 50% of its s/w.
Sony's conference wasn't great, but it was surely better then Microsoft conference. Sony had lot more exclusive titles then Microsoft. Killzone2, Resistance2, LBP, Socom, Infamous, Ratchet, Siren, MAG, and teaser for God of War 3. Gears 2 and Fable 2 were the only interesting games from Microsoft roster.
I mean seriously this generation the media has lost all respect in my eyes.

[Sez]

http://www2.kleenex.com/au/

@juuken.
oh. you guys are too funny. b!tchen and cryin about MS winning the E3 show. stop it. sony didn't show or do anything we haven't grown to know sony for doing. showing CGI for games that won't be out for aleast a year or two from now. the only thing they showed of interest was GOD3. and again no gameplay or release date. just a trailer of a game we already knew was coming in 09 to 2010.

what MAG 246. yeah that game looks good.... oh wait that was CGI. go figure. hum didn't MS announce awhile ago that they will have a game with up to 3000 to 5000 on the same server.... what was the name again. oh thats right it's called HUXLEY for the 360/pc. what did sony do that made you think they won? NOTHING

[juuken]

ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL ABOARD THE FAIL TRAIN!

[thereapersson]

keep it up vega

[Sez]

the best you guys could do was post pics. come on. i thought sonyfanboys have more to say. i guess that what happens when you can't give a rebuttal to my comment.

for juuken. http://www.slim-fast.com/

for thereapersson. http://www.leadleader.com/w... this is you and juuken have fun.

[juuken]

THE FAIL TRAIN IS STILL WAITING VEGA!

[thekingofMA]

you used to be decent at insulting people, but now you resort to posting pics of dinosaurs? wow!

[juuken]

...It's part of the fail train catalog! >:P

[TheDeadMetalhead]

<<NOW INCLUDING 360S AND DREAMCASTS TO PLAY.>>

<<EPIC.>>

<<PLEASE BOARD NOW. WE HAVE DONUTS.>>

[Lord Vader]

Take off the fanboy goggles guys. Microsoft won this E3 easily. They had alot of surprizes this year, while Sony & Nintendo put me to sleep. That said, this one one of the worst E3's in recent memory.

[thereapersson]

Seriously, that's all people really are associating with E3 2008 now. The only other noteworthy thing from MS was the XBL / Dashboard revamp.

[princejb134]

how can you say MS won E3 easily
wii music sounded more exiting thank your comment
ppl was only surprised when they announced ff13

[titntin]

I would have loved it if MS really did have a good conference - I use and love my 360 too!

But it was rubbish!
GOW2, Fable 2, brilliant but we'd seen them lots before E3.
Portal on live was the best announcement. New interface - bout time but one of the real highlights.
Avatars - terrible.
Casual games, seriouisly derrivitive and not attractive to me.
FF13 - so what? A port of game I'll buy on 1 disc on the PS3.
What suprises?
Where was Halo? Where was Alan Wake? Where was Forza 3? Where was any sigle exclusive game that I didn't already know about? I went into E3 excited for GOW2 and Fable 2, and left again with nothing to add to the list except a downloadabel version of Portal.

[mistertwoturbo]

While I agree that overall this E3 lacked any real megaton excitement from all the big three. But I felt Sony delivered the most games.

All unique offerings from PSN like Fat Princess, Ragdoll Kung Fu, Flower, SOCOM, Ratchet & Clank: Quest for some @ss, and Crash Commando, Pixeljunk Eden, Elefunk.

Then the unique nontraditional way of talking about numbers using LittleBigPlanet.

Then Of course Resistance 2, Killzone 2, Valkyria Chronicles, Infamous, DC Universe, Motorstorm 2, God of War III annoucement and MAG announcement. With DC Universe, it looks like Sony is trying to lead the charge with console MMO's, including The Agency, and the unannounced NCsoft titles.

Then the new PSP games like Resistance Retribution, Stardust Portable, Patapon 2, NBA 09 and Locoroco 2.

Microsoft showed nothing but multiplatform games, with the exception of Gears of War 2 and Fable 2 (which both looks awesome). Then the rest of the presentation which we all know about.

Of course I agree the FFXIII is the biggest announcement since sliced bread. But to say they won at E3 is just straight up fanboyism. Where's Alan Wake? Halo Wars? Where's the teaser for the new Halo?

[Lord Vader]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008...

[Origin]

thats just sad if u use that for ur logic

[thereapersson]

You are using the NYTimes as your rebuttal?

[titntin]

@ Vader

Yeah - right the NY times is the pinnicle of knowledge when it come to the games buisness, right? They seemd to base their entire article on the buzz on message boards and blogs..

I'd prefer to listen to respected journalists who are known for calling it straight..

http://www.edge-online.com/...

See, anyone can post a link. It doesn't make your own view any more valid...

[umair_s51]

Xbox strenghts are Live and Games, its weakness is lacklustered sales in Japan and lack of support from casual gamers. what people dont realise is Nintendo's E3 was pretty good as it managed to please casual gamers.In other words making microsoft's job of appealing casual gamers a lot more difficult(Zelda games have always appealed to casual folks).
FF13 American\european release will not help microsoft do well in japan. while the ps3 was accussed of no games, well sony did just that they showed upcomming games.

[kingme71]

>>In summary, Sony’s E3 2008 press conference was like bad sex: going through the motions, the odd enthusiastic flurry, a weary wish it was all over and a forced climax.

Regardless of your opinion of Sony's conference, that (visual?) summary was great!

[Tyler Durden]

did he just compare a press confrence to sex

[kingme71]

Hehe, hope his girlfriend isn't reading that.

[AuburnTiger]

"Wii Music was worse. Yes, it’ll probably move huge amounts."

[thereapersson]

.

[Teabag Sony]

FFXIII going multi is truly huge. Yes MS showcased a multiplatform game but not just any multiplatform one of the most anticipated. This does indeed prove that MS is here to stay in gaming. Companies that were not interested last generation of gaming with MS are repositioning themselves to include them this time around. So this is why this round is going to MS.

[Sez]

i think thats why so many fanboys are upset. because last gen. no-one really wanted to port games over to the xbox. because they knew it wasn't profittable to do so. now there is a even playing ground. and sony is worried that the competition is taking way the very reasons for buying a ps3. theirs no such thing as loyolty when it comes to money. ask nintendo what happened when dev's left them for the ps1

[Word2BigBird]

You make it seem like "this round" is already over.

[Real Gambler]

How could you give a win to Microsoft...

"Aside from FFXIII, Microsoft’s showing was wall-to-wall gaming and service announcements. A complete Xbox 360 dashboard revamp and the inclusion of party-based movie-viewing and Avatars was genuinely exciting."

Conference was one hour and a half:

First 10 minutes: Fallout 3 demo. 6 kills. Wall, take one minute to aim. Shoot. (Fallout is an awesome game, but worst demo ever. And it's MULTIPLATFORM)

Next 10 minutes: Resident evil Demo. Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, coop to open a door. (10 minutes for Resident Evil???. Also MULTIPLATFORM)

Next 15 minutes: Fable II and Gears. Now we are talking. Those games did deserve more time. But were expected.

Next 5 minutes: Two new movie partner.

Next 10 minutes: We have copied the Mii and we have changed our long overdue dashboard (as expected).

Next 5 minutes: Netflix

Next 5 minutes: A few casual games. Banjo, KNB, Scene-it (copied on buzz)

Next 15 minutes: Urine the movie! Wow, you really have nothing to say if you spend 15 minutes showing this at E3.

Next 15 minutes: Music games. Multiplatforms, and Lips. Did we need that singer?

And then, the last 5 minutes: FF is now MULTIPLATFORM.

That was impressive? NOT
They had to show their other biggest game HALO, but it was cut so the show could be one hour and half only, but to show all those MULTIPLATFORM?! Stupid in my book. 90 minutes and only talking about the 360.

Now they go one and say: "Sony's conference was very long at over an hour-and-a-half"

First 10 minutes: Introduction. Playstation history. Too long in my book

Next 10 minutes: Resistance 2 (very cool huge monster) EXCLUSIVE

Next 10 minutes: Usual boring financial stats. No WAIT, he is using Little Big Planet as a powerpoint. Using a game to show stats. Show the potential of this great EXCLUSIVE game.

Next 5 minutes: Talk about PS2 and PS2 games like Yakuza 2, Force Unleashed, NCAA Football, Tiger Woods, Warriors Orochi 2, Singstar Pop vol. 2, Madden, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.

Next 5 minutes: PSN downloadable content like R&C: QFB, Crash Commando, Fat Princess (not my type for sure), PixelJunk Eden, Pain: Amusement Park, Flower, Siren: Blood Curse (ZOMBIES!), RagDoll KungFu: Fists of Plastic (Media Molecule!)

Next 5 minutes: Talk about Home. Beautiful Theme Rooms. Look better every days. Worth the wait.

Next 5 minutes: New movie-tv downloadable content: Sony, Fox, MGM, Lions Gate, Warner, Disney, Paramount, Turner, Funimation. Not bad.

Next 5 minutes: PSP Resistance Retribution! Cool. Star Wars, Madden, LocoRoco, NBA, a new Lego franchise, Patapon 2, Buzz quiz game with ad-hoc play.

Next 15 minutes: DC Universe online. Way too long. That's likely why they overshoot to 93 minutes conference!

Next 5 minutes: Montage of folks talking PS3. Not a bad idea, but kind of useless now. We know devs can program for the PS3. Nice to get a good word from Fallout 3 dev though. Game should look good.

Next 10 minutes: LittleBigPlanet, MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, MGS4, Guns of the Patriots, Quantum of Solace, SOCOM Confrontation, Ghostbusters: The Video Game, Soul Calibur IV, Resistance 2, The Agency, Naruto Storm, Mirror's Edge, Resident Evil 5, Singstar, Guitar Hero World Tour, NBA09: The Inside, Buzz Quiz TV.

Then God of War3, and MAG. Two great EXCLUSIVES. and wrappup.

Now, that's the conferences I've seen. There's no way in the world Microsoft conference did even came close to Sony. They were talking about PSP, PS2, PS3, PSN, so sure enough, they didn't had the time to show fallout and shoot 6 guys in 10 minutes.

Dream on.

[Origin]

u left off the other square enix games for xbox360
and infamous for the ps3

[Topshelfcheese]

Well the square games dont matter much since they are all multiplatform as well. Infinite Undiscovery is the only other exclusive and is a Tri-Ace game, i'll be buying it, but it wasn't really a suprise at all and they didn't show any gameplay for it.

I was actually suprised in the Ubisoft conference when they actually used a PS3 to demo prince of persia, its the only time during this E3 that i;ve seen a multiplatform game demo'd on the PS3

[Real Gambler]

Ouch I did forgot the other Square Enix games. My bad. Thanks for pointing that out. That's big points for Microsoft because they had to show that it wasn't only about FPS but also RPGs. Dang. It's too late and I cannot edit it anymore. Too late. In fact, in my head, they got huge points overall for showing that they were not just about FPS for most of the conference. But still, too much singing and making movie is not good either : )

I did remember about the Infamous game, but did they mention the name? Somehow, it didn't impress me much... So that's why I didn't mention it. Just saying great Infamous game with guy with lightning bolts coming out of his hands was not good enough for me. ; )

Sorry all ahead of time if I made any other mistakes (and I'm sure I did), but trust me, none were intended. Please report them.

I already have many disagree. Just don't disagree, say why. If I forgot another big game, cool. If you disagree but don't say anything, then you're just typical fanboys.

[QuackPot]

the new dashboard looks like a flashier version of the XMB but in a L formation(LMB).

Sony really needs to redo XMB as Microsoft has done with their UI. Make it prettier, simpler and faster and easier to use.

[Real Gambler]

" Sony really needs to redo XMB as Microsoft has done with their UI. Make it prettier, simpler and faster and easier to use.
"

Yikes, won't happen.

First, how could you make the XMB simpler and faster and easier to use. Can't be more simpler, faster, or easier to use! (I give you that it could be prettier, though it's customizable)

Two: they have started using the same interface in their TVs and Laptops! So they are kind of stuck to it now. It's kind of nice because people who will buy Sony's product will see the same interface all over. Their latest laptop came up with streaming built-in, which is basically for the PS3, and same XMB interface. Need to tweak your HDtv? Same XMB interface. Too cool.

[Word2BigBird]

There's no doubt Sony had the better conference. Aside from a few boring segments, they were all about games, games and more games. Their video service went live that day not "TBA" sometime in the Fall. What concerns me is whether they're loosing their grip on the JRPG genre. We've always known Sony to be synonymous with a crap load of RPG's, but non were shown at E3. BTW, please don't equate FF13 going multiplatform as an indicator that Microsoft won, it's just senseless.

[Topshelfcheese]

I agree sony had a better conference, but Microsoft is having a better E3 simply because 99% of multiplatform games are being demo'd with a 360 and that still shows you where developers mind sets have been, the only one i've seen use the ps3 to demo is Prince of Persia at the Ubisoft Conference.

[Origin]

i saw resident evil demo on ps3 and mercenaries 2

[QuackPot]

It's ridiculous how developers are quick to give the 360 demos but not so the Ps3.

Still alot of favouritism there especially if the game is finished on time for both consoles.

[Topshelfcheese]

@origin

I'm sure there are prolly a few more, but its still a majority for them to be demo'd on 360, and obviously the big demo'ing of RE5 was done at the MS conference.

[Real Gambler]

I do agree with you though, I also saw a lot of 360 demo in the rest of the E3 stuff, particularly some high producing games devs (not top games, just quantity over quality devs...)

On the other side, back to the conference thread, Sony did manage to show that most big devs (including Bethesda, Fallout 3) have no problems programming the PS3, so it's no longer such a big deal. That part of the conference was too long, but it was needed I guess. Should I remind you that even Ubisoft (Prince of Persia) had a kind word in Sony's conference about programming the PS3.

One of the other reason you see many 360? You need a dev box to show unfinished products. You cannot show an unfinish product on your day to day console. Now, with the head start that Microsof had, most devs likely have way more 360 dev boxes than PS3 dev boxes. Now when you go to the show, it's likely easier for them to pull a 360 dev box out of a programmer hand, than PS3 since they have less of them in house. (Though I suspect Microsoft and Sony are also quite happy to lend some , to the top devs too). Remember, if they bring in all their dev boxes to fill those game room at the back, then nobody is working at home! And they need lots to show as many games as they can. Or even have more than one station showing the same game. They likely also have lots of now obsolete 360 dev box that are almost just good to run those unfinished games, since newer version came out. So I'm not worrying to much about that.

[Yomiro]

Sony conference was better than Nintendo and MS.

[tudors]

.

[Topshelfcheese]

I think we can all agree that Nintendo should just not show up to these shows anymore. the only people that go to these shows or watch them are the hardcore gamers and they've proven that they don't care about that anymore. That women at their conference, almost made me want to swear off nintendo for life. "I'm a cool mom, i snowboard with my son, and i hurt my wrist doing it, cause i'm a douchbag"

-end rant-

[dro]

i really dont know y m$fan bois are so happy, ff13 is not exlusive and it is still coming to the ps3 and it is exlusive in japan,..deep down inside 360 fan bois knows that m$ did not show any thing apart from games that are also on the ps3, yh gears of war 2 is sweet but after that what eles, no brand new ip,....dmc4,gta4,was exlusive lost by sony but did it affect them in a bad way no,...the truth is ms is starting to show signs of not haveing the type of first party studios sony has to dish out new games, just wait till they show god of war 3 gameplay -_-

[dkp23]

Are happy that FF is coming to the xbox because they do not have to go spend $400 on a second console to play the game whether the quality is better or not. Not everybody has $$ to go buy two consoles that are priced extremely high.

[tudors]

Waiting is not a problem they are used it by now.....Whooooo

Here they come.

[titntin]

Please just go and play in the open zone with the other kids.

I've never seen you post a constructive or insightful comment on this site at all. You simply take pot shots at anyone who doesn't subscribe to you particular corporate loyalty. Its all so very tiring..

[rockleex]

JRPGs will be shown at TGS.

E3 was for Americans.

As Leipzig will be for Europeans.

[DFresh]

Microsoft just showed multiplatform games as demos, showed a sneak peak of Gears of War 2, and ended with a FFXIII Announcement.
FFXIII for the 360 doesn't start production until the PS3 version is all ready sold to the public. Which means if it takes 1 year to make a port and FFXIII comes out in 2009.
That means Xbots won't get FFXIII until 2010 and to make things even worse for Microsoft it won't be sold in Japan.
Plus you also know that FFXIII Versus is still PS3 Exclusive and Square Enix also has another secret exclusive for the PS3 in the works made by the director of FFVII.
=Shocked!

Nintendo had some cool innovation but failed to address their hardcore fans.
No new Mario Game, no new Zelda Game, etc.
=Fail!

Sony however did show a lot of great content and people knew it only they didn't show enough game play until behind the scenes when their conference was over.
=Impressed!

It wasn't until after that Sony Conference that Guerilla came out to show the new Killzone 2 multiplayer that that's what stole the show and made Sony win E3 2008.

In the end it worked out for Sony and I think they'll take this as a lesson to show real game play at other conferences next time around.

My Ranking of Winners at E3 2008.
1.) Sony - Barely slipped by but the multiplayer announcement for Killsone 2 and that sneak peak for God of War III put Sony at the top.
2.) Microsoft - I liked their conference but all they showed was multiplatform games as demos that they claimed were their own and ended w/ one announcement.
3.) Nintendo - Too much casual gaming and no games to satisfy the hardcore gamer.

[pete2711]

Why is FF goin multi so huge, Just wonderin as i have never played or been interested in this game nor does anyone i know.

[thekingofMA]

but i think you have to understand that the world is a bit bigger than just you and your friends

just FYI, that wasn't meant to be an insult, so don't take offense

[zer0man1]

For me E3 has always been about games and innovation. Which company has the best games coming out and who is advancing video game play to the next level?

Microsoft showed us a lineup of really cool games like Fallout 3, but most of the games they showed are multi-platform so I cant give them any points for that without giving points to the other consoles as well. They did show Gears of War 2 and Fable 2 which both look great and I cant wait to own, but that was about it for cool exclusives.

The new dashboard update and avatars were OK but I cant give them innovation points for a Mii clone and a copy of Sony's Cross Menu Bar (I cant be the only person who sees this).

I actually think that Final Fantasy coming to the 360 is a good thing. For years I have heard my friends who own 360s talk trash about how over rated Final Fantasy is and how it needs to die. Well all I have to say about that is "YEEEAAH B!TCHES OBVIOUSLY MICROSOFT DOSENT THINK ITS OVER RATED AND NEEDS TO DIE BECAUSE ITS COMING TO 360 SO SUCK IT TECHSON AND IMLAYINGHANDSONYOU YOU FANBOY A-HOLES". I'm sorry I just had to get that out of my system.

Over all Sony had the most exclusives and they get innovation points for MAG, 256 players has never been done on a console to my knowledge.

[dkp23]

As for Sony, they did show their exclusives briefly and presented a couple of new games, but the one thing I am missing in all this is release dates on these games. I can not recall release dates mentioned on games like GOW, Killzone, Resistance, or GT (correct me if I am wrong).

For Microsoft, they did not show anything new in terms of games except for FF. Yes xbox owners are going to be happy because they will not have to spend another $400 on a console to play the game and it was never expected to become multiplatform, the one thing the PS3 had an advantage on. I do not care regardless, I was going to get a ps3 once FF came out, but likely not anymore unless Versus has good reviews. The games that we knew were coming for MS had release dates Gears - November, Fable - October, the one SE RPG in September their two copied games in the holiday season. MS made clear the release dates in their presentation and showed demos of them as well.

[PimpHandHappy]

the only reason MS went after it was because they seen what MGS4 has done for PS3 sales and they want to limit the hype around Sonys exclusives!

They did it just to survive till 2010

[gamer_70]

I'm quite happy with Microsoft's press con myself, they announced everything i wanted to hear, looking forward to the update.

[Solid_Snake]

but i will respectfully disagree. MS "won" because they showed a whole bunch of multi-platform games????? Most of the games shown are coming on the PS3 also; Gears looked good, but Fable's presentation was underwhelming, and then Banjo? Most 360 owners on this site and others were/are hating on the avatars and the new dashboard. It's very basic and unappealing.

SONY showed off the most exclusives, and launched their movie sales and rental service almost immediately (it went up that night). Plus SONY's exclusives were mostly for games launching soon, and some are games for later in 2009 like GOWIII. I just can't believe MS could "win" by showing Multi-Platform games..

[Smacktard]

I agree with the standings in the article, but all of the big three had shoddy conferences. The best part about Microsoft's conference were the delicious Sony tears from the FFXIII announcement. But revealing a game that's going to be on another system shouldn't exactly make them a winner, cause frankly there was nothing else exciting about the conference. They really only won by default.

The only good part about Sony's conference was when Kaz said he'd single-handedly save the industry from the casual crap. That was kind of cool.

The best part of Nintendo's conference was the end. Oh, and how hilariously awful it was.