The Electronic Entertainment Expo Ennui

     When I was a kid, I used treasure the summer. There was no school, time to relax, and all the time in the world to play video games. And what else to jump start a little kid’s heart than the announcement of the fall library of video games at E3? The private, secret, VIP, developer-only trade show was the mysterious wonder I used to look forward to ever summer. I used to read Nintendo Powers and glean information from any other website/magazine I could get my grubby little hands on. I got obsessed with it; I wanted to go so badly. When it became a public event for a small time-frame, I just wished I could drive there. I don’t remember the rules but I remember it being super crowded and eventually, the restricted access again to anyone who worked in the industry.

Man...What I wouldn't give to be at E3 back in 2004

At this point, all I wanted to do was get an internship at Nintendo or Sony or Capcom. Then after realizing that was a failure, I kept trying to get jobs at my local Gamestops. But I had no luck. My dreams of seeing the unveiling of the Gamecube, Wii, Xbox, Xbox360, Playstation 2, and Playstation 3 (as well as all the cool handhelds) were fading fast. Eventually, I got over it. And for the past couple of years, the E3 just wasn't that interesting because nothing ever came out of it.

     Until last year.

     Nintendo came out with its new console , the Wii U, in clumsy and confusing presentation. I desperately hoped it would be everything I wanted: HD graphics, Zelda, third party support, and HD Zelda…Did I mention the HD and Zelda? Nothing screamed “epic” more than this. So this year's show came and I thought we'd get more details on this Zelda game. And I also thought maybe Microsoft and Sony would follow suit with their new consoles

     Boy, was I wrong.

     This was first ever chance I had to going to E3. Not because I own some well-respected blog/website (which I don’t). It was because of a friend who could let me in to the show floor on the last two days. Of course after watching the press conferences online, I decided not to.

     This E3 conference was probably one of the worst E3 conferences I can remember. Microsoft was trying to push its dead peripheral with the help of Usher.

Yeah! I don't even know what Kinect is, but let me dance to persuade you...

     Sony was trying to advertise a book that required too many peripherals. And Nintendo still was a confusing mess of a lot of talking about how “pressed for time they were” and video game reels that left you wondering how their launch was going to be successful. 23 games sounds like a lot, but it’s not much when you think that half of those games won’t come out in the launch window and the other half will come out maybe 3-4 months after system is released.

     It just seemed like everyone was copying everyone. Microsoft came out with Microsoft Glass which seemed like a cool idea, but was just copying the Wii-U. You have apps on your tablets and phones that can interact with things in game on the xbox. And with Kinect and such it makes all your little distractions work in unison. But I don’t care about learning about a movie and its cast while I am watching a movie. And not only that, I don’t want to use my tablet for it either. It just seems like waste. All Microsoft had to show were Halo 4 and Gears of War. Which, I’ll admit, are amazing games, but we already knew about them. And then the whole Usher thing…ugh…just…no. See, I was thinking it was going to be cool, because I thought Usher was going to play the game while in his concert, but it was just a performance and a bad one at that. 

This looks wonderful...

      Sony seemed to be copying Microsofts press conference as well. It kept pursuing the whole “music, video, and motion controls” strategy. It wanted to add more music and more movies. Like as if every gamer really wants that. Then it focused on the Wonderbook. It’s ridiculous when you think about it. I mean sure, it’s a neat idea, but think about how feasible it is for some who is interested right off the bat. You have to buy the PS3, then Move bundle and then the wonderbook and then download the book. The move bundle comes with the wand and then the camera. All the set up time is ridiculous and the cost would be crazy. Sure the PS3 is only 250 bucks. But the move bundle is 100 and who knows how much the Wonderbook will be.

A beloved franchise but by few.

And Nintendo. Beloved Nintendo. There is still some hope in the future. Their conference wasn’t too exciting though. It didn’t generate much hype besides Pikmin 3. And Pikmin 3 is too cultish for it to be a big hit, in my opinion. And then after that, things seem to go south. The third party support trailer was too short and showing games that are already out to demo the Wii-U wasn’t catching any attention. SiNG just ruined it for me (though maybe it would be a seller for people who want a weird karaoke machine). And the New Super Mario Brother Wii-U looked a lot like the Wii version. Nintendo said it had too many announcements to make in such a short amount of time. And though some projects look promising, like P-100, they were never given the spotlight. It left me puzzled, I honestly thought they would have maybe two or three different killer apps. Nonetheless, I am still hopeful in the future of the Wii-U and see how the launch fares and I am anticipating some amazing surprises in the future.

     One last thing I’d like to talk about, is Ubisoft. It has probably the best offering of titles out of any company there. Watch Dogs looks amazing. I’d urge everyone to look at the demo they had in their conference here:

     This game takes many different mechanics from all sorts of spy and action games and puts them all together in a very interesting and fun way. Hacking is the name of the game and with it comes so much knowledge and power. Being able to see every person’s name, personality, earnings, and secrets was pretty clever. The way people react was also astounding. The crash happened and all of sudden you realize the consequence of your actions. There in a car was just an innocent civilian, now in disbelief, witnessing his wife, dead, right beside him. You did that. I feel like that could imply many things about the games narrative as to morality and justice. Who knows?

     I guess that’s it. I don’t really have too many other thoughts on E3. Just felt disappointed. Ever since video games have caught the "casual core," I've just noticed too much focus shifted away from games and put on social media. I just think it's stupid to tell the whole world and all your friends on Facebook that you earned trophies. I think it's a waste of time to have fifteen different accounts (one for each game development company) so you can access your profile to play a game (damn you Ubisoft). 

     Also a few things: Check out the new humble bundle (www.humblebundle.com) and make sure you spread this blog. I want to try and see if I can increase viewer-ship. Maybe there are a lot of people who enjoy the ramblings of a young man who feels old and who also loves video games.Oh, but everyone should check out Agni’s Philosophy. The real-time in game tech demo from Square-Enix. It’s pretty jaw dropping.

Out.

He's like the Japanese Walt Disney...or maybe that was Miyazaki...