My thoughts on E3 2009

I figure everyone and their mother has already posted about the happenings of E3. They were probably a lot more rational, and maybe they were even at the event itself. However, they do not run my blog, therefore you are stuck with the slightly off, possibly uninformed, less magical opinions of yours truly.

The Microsoft conference pretty much blew my mind. Simple as that. New features for the Xbox 360 included last.fm, facebook, twitter, and 1080p HD movie downloads. I don't really care a whole lot about these additions because if I'm using the Xbox360, chances are I have my laptop open beside me. I'm also not very into facebook or last.fm (yet), so twitter is really the only thing I would investigate. However, if nothing else came from that segment, at least I witnessed the 100% pure adorableness of Felicia Day. Good. Lord. She looked soooo nervous standing up there talking to..idno..THE WORLD...but it wasn't like "Holy crap learn to TALK," it was "OMG YOUR SO CUTE AND AWKWARD BUT MOSTLY CUTE!"

As for game announcements, I'm not enough of a nerd to possess the level of excitement that Jake did. I predict that Metal Gear Rising is gunna be big, but I haven't played any MGS games so the announcement didn't exactly blow my mind. The Left 4 Dead 2 trailer, however, left me very torn. On one hand I think to myself, "Whyyy!?" because L4D just came out last year, is still widely popular, and doesn't leave much to be desired. Also, it's Left 4 Dead for a reason, adding more characters would make it Left 4x2 Dead and that's not really catchy. On the other hand I think, "Well as long as there are new infected to fight it could be pretty interesting, and a smart way for them to build on this franchise early." I just don't want it to end up like Guitar Hero/Rock Band where there is a new one out every month...reminiscent of the NOW audio CD series (what are we on these days, NOW 42?)

The biggest shocker of the Microsoft conference (to me, anyways) was Project Natal. I am very excited/happy/disappointed/terrified about this technology...so much that it gives me a bit of a headache. Basically, Microsoft has developed a motion control camera that kicks the Wii's ass SO hard that anyone witnessing the fight would be compelled to say "Oh no they didn't!" What exactly does this mean? It means that as a player of the video game you have literally no limits. You are the controller, there's no need to wave around some stupid white controller or waggle away looking like a moron. I think that it is incredibly awesome concept, but instead of paying $60 to play a game of dodgeball in your livingroom (just approximating how much a video game like that would probably cost), why not go outside in the sunlight and play a free game of with your friends? Just saying, that with America's obesity problem, should we really be encouraging children to plant themselves (whether on their asses or on their feet) in front of the television rather than using social skills and imagination? It is great technology to have if parents teach their children to balance things, but lately the amount of weak parents in the world appears to be increasing. To some of them it's just "easier" not to "deal" with their children, as if they are burdens.

What terrifies me more about Project Natal is the utilization of the technology. If you know anything about me, you know how in love I am with Fable and Fable II. So of course I was super excited when they introduced Peter Molyneux. I...cannot stress how terrified I am of robots. I understand that everything has a little bit of robot in it, but it is just the degree to which technology utilizes it's own brain-like things that scare me. The Milo demonstration gave me goosebumps because it did exactly what is was supposed to...make you feel like he was a real boy. No, Pinocchio, no! You are wooden and fake, and I don't give a crap if you lie to me because your nose will grow anyways. Milo is cute and awesome now, but what happens when he recognizes the bank card you leave on the table? Or when he starts chatting it up with the car and convinces it to crash and kill you? This isn't cinema...but it sure as hell feels like it. I am appreciative of the technology, I really am. I am highly impressed, and think that it can be used for a lot of good. But you can find grizzly bears adorable without ever wanting to pet one.

Next up was Nintendo. Aside some from previews for the DS & DSi I did not find any great information coming from that conference. I was not even very impressed with the games they discussed for release. Overall, Nintendo was a very boring, disappointing follow-up to Microsoft (in my opinion, of course).

Sony had a lot of interesting things going on too. I thought it was kind of lame that they kept promoting Infamous even though it was already out...shouldn't they be pushing what's to come? They spent a lot of time talking about the new PSP, which seems pretty cool but also rather ugly.

I did like the integrated clips of Bioshock 2, and the new Katamari, but my mind wasn't thoroughly blown until they showed the trailer for The Last Guardian. I haven't played Ico or Shadow of the Colossus yet, but ohhhh goodness do I want to play this game. Mostly, I want my own baby Gryffin, but I'd settle for it being CG and controlled by a cute little boy.

All in all, I thought that it was an impressive event, but to me the most interesting announcements came from Microsoft. I would love to hear your opinions on the conferences, and the details from anyone who may have attended!