The big three have all made their presentations, but whose was the best?
The most recent Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) has come and gone, and the world now knows what to expect in the coming months from video game giants Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. Each company trotted out its best and brightest to introduce, sell, and otherwise hype its new hardware and software. There were a few surprises, a few new products (or at least new ways to use existing products), and a lot of open secrets confirmed. But mostly it was just underwhelming. Very few games appeared to be must-haves, and those that did were usually surrounded by a lot of uninteresting products. Below are reviews and grades for the 75-minute presentations put on by the big three gaming companies -- Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo -- last week at E3. It's difficult to declare a winner, since every company underperformed.
Nintendo:
Nintendo had the most to win and lose at E3. Things have been tough for the video game giant lately: an annual operating loss (its first ever), a slow launch period for its newest handheld, and a precipitous decline in Wii sales. E3 was meant to be the coming out party for the Wii U, which Nintendo hopes will reinvigorate its consumers and investors. Did Nintendo land a knock-out blow with its presentation, then? The answer is no. I don't believe Nintendo changed the minds of anyone in the audience or at home watching the expo online. For those who believe in Wii U -- myself included -- the presentation was an affirmation. For those who think it's a gimmick that relies heavily on recycled first party content, it was also an affirmation.
The Nintendo conference began, appropriately, with the heart and soul of Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto. The living legend spoke a few words in English before welcoming a translator so he could speak in his native Japanese. Miyamoto was there to talk Pikmin 3, easily the best game Nintendo unveiled at E3. "It's an all new Pikmin game," said Miyamoto, "with more detailed portrayal of the Pikmin thanks to the improved resolution of the hardware and greatly enhanced gameplay thanks to the unique controls." He's right. Pikmin 3 looks great, especially compared to current generation Wii games. And the gamepad brings new functionality to the franchise. But what Miyamoto said so simply and persuasively is exactly what the Wii U represents: it looks better and, because of the gamepad with its built-in second screen, it plays better.
Up next was Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America. If Miyamoto is Nintendo's heart and soul, Fils-Aime is its muscle. Where Miyamota speaks about games like an enraptured child, Fils-Aime speaks about them almost as a commodity. His presentation was one part investor meeting, one part sales pitch. Fils-Aime spoke at length about the software and hardware associated with the Wii U, confirming that the system will indeed support two gamepads. He also delved into "asymmetrical gameplay," which appeared to be the underlying philosophy in Wii U -- two people play the same game with different controllers (and different points of view) and thereby unlock two very different experiences.
Games introduced during the presentation included: New Super Mario Bros. U, Arkham City: Armored Edition, Scribblenauts Unlimited, Trine 2: Director's Cut, Mass Effect 3, Darksiders 2, Tank! Tank! Tank!, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Ninja Gaiden 3, and Aliens: Colonial Marines. It's an impressive line-up, but several of those games will have been out for roughly a year on other systems before they debut on Wii U.
The 3DS line-up was also strong: New Super Mario Bros. 2, plus new installments of Paper Mario, Luigi's Mansion, Kingdom Hearts, Scribblenauts, Epic Mickey, and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.
The final three Wii games on display at the Nintendo conference are especially worth noting: ZombiU, Lego City, and Nintendo Land. ZombiU is a new survival horror game designed by Ubisoft exclusively for the Wii U. If you needed any more evidence that Ubisoft is supporting Wii U in a big way, consider that its CEO Yves Guillemot personally introduced the game during Nintendo's presentation. It's fair to say that ZombiU stole the entire presentation. A M-rated, first-person shooter set during the zombie apocalypse? On a Nintendo console?
Then there's Lego City, which is basically Grand Theft Auto with Legos. Grand Theft Lego? It's basically an open-world crime-stopping action-adventure with the humor and charm of the Lego series. And finally, Nintendo Land, which I strongly believe will be bundled with the Wii U. Nintendo Land is a series of mini-games based on Nintendo's most enduring franchises: Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Donkey Kong, etc. Nintendo wants Nintendo Land to do for asymmetric gameplay what Wii Sports did for motion controls: make its purpose self-evident.
Pros: Pikmin 3, ZombiU, Lego City, the promise of asymmetrical gameplay, strong third-party support
Cons: Too many ports of year-old games; over-reliance on older franchises; no Metroid, Star Fox, or F-Zero.
Grade: B-. Had Nintendo shown a demo from a new Smash Bros., Metroid or Star Fox game, it would have made a significant difference. However, Nintendo proved in its presentation that it had a new mission and a new philosophy about video gaming -- asymmetrical gameplay -- and the third-party support to make it a reality.
Microsoft:
Halo. That sums up Microsoft's strategy for winning audience approval at its presentation, the weakest of the three. The first 15 minutes of the show was dedicated solely to a Halo 4 trailer. Now don't get me wrong: I love Halo. And Halo 4 looks excellent -- a lot more like Metroid Prime than the Halo games that fans have become accustomed to. But the trailer was followed by an hour of bad ideas, boring products, and trailers for games that can be played on systems other than the Xbox.
The first speaker at the conference was Don Mattrick, an industry veteran who currently serves a Microsoft's president of Interactive Entertainment. The Xbox is "the only device that brings together all your entertainment in one place," said Mattrick. And he's right. No other home console comes close to the Xbox 360 in terms of the total living room experience: video games, movies, Hulu, Netflix, ESPN, etc. Then Mattrick overplayed his hand, promising the "greatest line-up of games ever." Where, exactly? The games demonstrated at Microsoft's conference, these greatest ever, include a new Splinter Cell (that admittedly looks great), another Fifa, another Madden, and a new Gears of War game. However, the teaser trailer for Gears of War: Judgment, which is a prequel to the events in the trilogy, showed next to nothing. A lot of blurry red images, some Locust, definitely no gameplay.
The big unveiling was probably "SmartGlass," a new idea from Microsoft that allows Xbox users to connect their Windows phones, iPhones, iPads, and Android devices with their Xbox 360. The idea is that these devices work together to "immerse you in entertainment." For example, an Xbox user watching a movie on his television can use SmartGlass on his iPhone to bring up cast credits for the movie. Must be a pretty boring movie if he can't wait 90 minutes to see who played cafe patron #3. The real appeal of SmartGlass is using it to enhance video games. A demo showed a player using a tablet device to call plays in a Madden game that was being played competitively on the TV. A second, smaller screen that produces an asymmetric video game experience? Microsoft better get to the patent office before some other company steals that idea.
The idea of SmartGlass was best lampooned by South Park co-creator Trey Parker at E3:
Pros: Halo 4, Splinter Cell, Tomb Raider
Cons: Everything else
Grade: C-. You know, it's not fair to complain about Nintendo going to the well too many times with Mario and Zelda, when all Microsoft could summon was another Halo, another Gears of War, another Fifa, another Madden. Sure, Splinter Cell Blacklist and Tomb Raider look great, but they're not exclusives. Give us more games, not more Kinect voice commands and apps.
Sony
The best pitchman at E3 was Jack Tretton, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America. He knows how to work a crowd and, more importantly, he knows his audience and the strengths of Sony's products. Tretton started off the Sony presentation with Beyond: Two Souls, a new IP from Quantic Dream, the company responsible for Indigo Prophecy and Heavy Rain. For the first time, said Tretton, gamers will "lead the life of a video game character."
A big part of the Sony presentation was devoted to cross-platform play, the ability to play the same game on both the Playstation 3 and the handheld Playstation Vita. Basically the Vita becomes an enhanced controller for the PS3. Sony also teased "cross-controller" DLC.
Sony also teased a new Assassin's Creed for the PS Vita: Assassin's Creed III: Liberation, featuring for the first time a female assassin, and built from the ground up for Sony's latest handheld. When players link Liberation and the console version of Assassin's Creed, they can unlock weapons, skins, and new characters.
Other demos included Book of Spells, a game based on the Harry Potter universe with original writing from J.K. Rowling that looked dreadfully boring, and the prequel God of War: Ascension, which looks terrific.
But the best demo of the Sony presentation -- really the best demo of the entire expo -- was The Last of Us, a gorgeously rendered but disturbing look at life after an apocalyptic event. Sony concluded its press conference with a long and emotionally grueling The Last of Us demo that showcased the hardware power of the PS3 and the game design genius of Sony's development teams -- particularly Naughty Dog.
Pros: Beyond: Two Souls, Assassin's Creed III: Liberation, God of War: Ascension, The Last of Us, cross-controller gameplay
Cons: Book of Spells, PS Move
Grade: B. A well-rehearsed, well-researched presentation with some top-notch game demos. Sony proved it has some of the best exclusives in the world. Enough with PS Move and Playstation Network, already; there are better mousetraps out there.
The most recent Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) has come and gone, and the world now knows what to expect in the coming months from video game giants Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. Each company trotted out its best and brightest to introduce, sell, and otherwise hype its new hardware and software. There were a few surprises, a few new products (or at least new ways to use existing products), and a lot of open secrets confirmed. But mostly it was just underwhelming. Very few games appeared to be must-haves, and those that did were usually surrounded by a lot of uninteresting products. Below are reviews and grades for the 75-minute presentations put on by the big three gaming companies -- Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo -- last week at E3. It's difficult to declare a winner, since every company underperformed.Nintendo:
Nintendo had the most to win and lose at E3. Things have been tough for the video game giant lately: an annual operating loss (its first ever), a slow launch period for its newest handheld, and a precipitous decline in Wii sales. E3 was meant to be the coming out party for the Wii U, which Nintendo hopes will reinvigorate its consumers and investors. Did Nintendo land a knock-out blow with its presentation, then? The answer is no. I don't believe Nintendo changed the minds of anyone in the audience or at home watching the expo online. For those who believe in Wii U -- myself included -- the presentation was an affirmation. For those who think it's a gimmick that relies heavily on recycled first party content, it was also an affirmation.
The Nintendo conference began, appropriately, with the heart and soul of Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto. The living legend spoke a few words in English before welcoming a translator so he could speak in his native Japanese. Miyamoto was there to talk Pikmin 3, easily the best game Nintendo unveiled at E3. "It's an all new Pikmin game," said Miyamoto, "with more detailed portrayal of the Pikmin thanks to the improved resolution of the hardware and greatly enhanced gameplay thanks to the unique controls." He's right. Pikmin 3 looks great, especially compared to current generation Wii games. And the gamepad brings new functionality to the franchise. But what Miyamoto said so simply and persuasively is exactly what the Wii U represents: it looks better and, because of the gamepad with its built-in second screen, it plays better.
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| Miyamoto talking Pikmin. |
Up next was Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America. If Miyamoto is Nintendo's heart and soul, Fils-Aime is its muscle. Where Miyamota speaks about games like an enraptured child, Fils-Aime speaks about them almost as a commodity. His presentation was one part investor meeting, one part sales pitch. Fils-Aime spoke at length about the software and hardware associated with the Wii U, confirming that the system will indeed support two gamepads. He also delved into "asymmetrical gameplay," which appeared to be the underlying philosophy in Wii U -- two people play the same game with different controllers (and different points of view) and thereby unlock two very different experiences.
Games introduced during the presentation included: New Super Mario Bros. U, Arkham City: Armored Edition, Scribblenauts Unlimited, Trine 2: Director's Cut, Mass Effect 3, Darksiders 2, Tank! Tank! Tank!, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Ninja Gaiden 3, and Aliens: Colonial Marines. It's an impressive line-up, but several of those games will have been out for roughly a year on other systems before they debut on Wii U.
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| New Super Mario Bros. U, which will support up to 5 players. |
The final three Wii games on display at the Nintendo conference are especially worth noting: ZombiU, Lego City, and Nintendo Land. ZombiU is a new survival horror game designed by Ubisoft exclusively for the Wii U. If you needed any more evidence that Ubisoft is supporting Wii U in a big way, consider that its CEO Yves Guillemot personally introduced the game during Nintendo's presentation. It's fair to say that ZombiU stole the entire presentation. A M-rated, first-person shooter set during the zombie apocalypse? On a Nintendo console?
 |
| ZombiU, a Wii U exclusive from Ubisoft |
Pros: Pikmin 3, ZombiU, Lego City, the promise of asymmetrical gameplay, strong third-party support
Cons: Too many ports of year-old games; over-reliance on older franchises; no Metroid, Star Fox, or F-Zero.
Grade: B-. Had Nintendo shown a demo from a new Smash Bros., Metroid or Star Fox game, it would have made a significant difference. However, Nintendo proved in its presentation that it had a new mission and a new philosophy about video gaming -- asymmetrical gameplay -- and the third-party support to make it a reality.
Microsoft:
Halo. That sums up Microsoft's strategy for winning audience approval at its presentation, the weakest of the three. The first 15 minutes of the show was dedicated solely to a Halo 4 trailer. Now don't get me wrong: I love Halo. And Halo 4 looks excellent -- a lot more like Metroid Prime than the Halo games that fans have become accustomed to. But the trailer was followed by an hour of bad ideas, boring products, and trailers for games that can be played on systems other than the Xbox.
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| Halo 4 has many mysteries. |
The big unveiling was probably "SmartGlass," a new idea from Microsoft that allows Xbox users to connect their Windows phones, iPhones, iPads, and Android devices with their Xbox 360. The idea is that these devices work together to "immerse you in entertainment." For example, an Xbox user watching a movie on his television can use SmartGlass on his iPhone to bring up cast credits for the movie. Must be a pretty boring movie if he can't wait 90 minutes to see who played cafe patron #3. The real appeal of SmartGlass is using it to enhance video games. A demo showed a player using a tablet device to call plays in a Madden game that was being played competitively on the TV. A second, smaller screen that produces an asymmetric video game experience? Microsoft better get to the patent office before some other company steals that idea.
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| SmartGlass in action. |
"How many times have you been watching an episode of South Park and thought 'I'd like to be able to watch this on my television, while hooked into my mobile device, which is being controlled by my tablet device, which is hooked into my oven all while sitting in the refrigerator'?"Apart from Halo 4, the highlight of the Microsoft conference was gameplay footage from the Tomb Raider prequel. It's a fresh take on Lara Croft, and looks to be one of the best games released in 2013.
Pros: Halo 4, Splinter Cell, Tomb Raider
Cons: Everything else
Grade: C-. You know, it's not fair to complain about Nintendo going to the well too many times with Mario and Zelda, when all Microsoft could summon was another Halo, another Gears of War, another Fifa, another Madden. Sure, Splinter Cell Blacklist and Tomb Raider look great, but they're not exclusives. Give us more games, not more Kinect voice commands and apps.
Sony
The best pitchman at E3 was Jack Tretton, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America. He knows how to work a crowd and, more importantly, he knows his audience and the strengths of Sony's products. Tretton started off the Sony presentation with Beyond: Two Souls, a new IP from Quantic Dream, the company responsible for Indigo Prophecy and Heavy Rain. For the first time, said Tretton, gamers will "lead the life of a video game character."
A big part of the Sony presentation was devoted to cross-platform play, the ability to play the same game on both the Playstation 3 and the handheld Playstation Vita. Basically the Vita becomes an enhanced controller for the PS3. Sony also teased "cross-controller" DLC.
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| "I'm gonna make like this tree, and get the heck out of here!" |
Other demos included Book of Spells, a game based on the Harry Potter universe with original writing from J.K. Rowling that looked dreadfully boring, and the prequel God of War: Ascension, which looks terrific.
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| The Last of Us -- the best game at E3 |
Pros: Beyond: Two Souls, Assassin's Creed III: Liberation, God of War: Ascension, The Last of Us, cross-controller gameplay
Cons: Book of Spells, PS Move
Grade: B. A well-rehearsed, well-researched presentation with some top-notch game demos. Sony proved it has some of the best exclusives in the world. Enough with PS Move and Playstation Network, already; there are better mousetraps out there.
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