E3 2008: Nintendo & Sony Press Conference

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

E3: Nintendo & Sony Press Conference

Alright, my expectations are obviously too high. And since a have a similarly dissenting opinion about both of these, I decided to make it one blog. Lets take Nintendo's first, and I have to say, barring my biased opinion of what IPs Nintendo should be making more games for (Punch Out, Kid Icarus, New Zelda), the Wii did have a couple exclusive titles that look promising, on top of the new motion+ peripheral.

So here is a list of the big names and I will problem examine 2 of them:

-Shaun White Snowboarding (uses balance board)

-GTA Chinatown stories on DS

-Animal Crossing

-Wii Sports: Resort
which uses the new motion plus (and will be bundled with one accessory), has some pretty interesting game modes: including throwing a frisbee to your dog, some Samurai/Kendo style sword action, and a Jetski!! Reggie Fils-Aime used the jetski, and although he increases the dork factor (watching him play is ridiculous) it does look like a pretty good re-iteration of the Wave Race 64 days.

-Wii Music
presented by Miyamoto himself, this is another Rhythm game or so we thought. But at the presentation and demo of this, it really isn't a rhythm game at all. In fact, its more of a simulation to give the user a feeling of what its like to play music. But lets face it, Tuba on a wii remote really doesn't simulate anything. You just kind of push buttons when u want, move the wiimote around, and the tune plays its self (there is a certain amount of timing to get everyone in your party to get on the same beat). Although, with over 50 instruments, and 70 tracks, plus a authentic drum set simulator (this looks way cool), and directing an orchestra etc... this could be the kind of family fun oriented game people are looking for. And I really want to see my Mii playing a massive Taiko Drum.

Now onto Sony, who never fails to disappoint. Here were the things missing from their press conference.

-No new footage of HOME
-Only 4 Exclusives shown (Killzone 2, Resistence 2 and Little Big Planet are old news)
-Little Big Planet had another slight delay, by a couple weeks.
-A 30 sec. clip of GOW 3, which was dumb, because we already knew they were gonna make it, and there was no gameplay.
-What about Square Enix? Did they forget about you Sony....
-Were was The Agency? Its a game being made by your own production company and you barely mentioned it.... (I think it was in a video montage)

But what did Sony do good?

-Continued PS2 support (110 games slated over the next year)
-Lots of PSP games coming that look sweet (go LocoRoco 2!!)
-brought video rentals to the PSN and a bunch of new games that frankley look like more fun than Xbox Live's (save Portal)
- Killzone 2 does look incredible. So real, you can taste the dirt between your teeth.
- A mysterious fourth IP called MAG (Massive Action Game) that is highly ambitious. Designed to bolster online gameplay between 256 people!!! That has a complex military heiarchy, where you start as a grunt and can become a General. Also, looked very pretty. If they pull it off, it may change the gaming world.
-Best Stage presentation of the 3 press conferences.

So, even though Sony didn't have alot to say, they certainly know how to say it.