E3 2009

[Gec]

So it seems this years E3 is quite a come back after it's short lived death.

So for what we've seen so far we got MS and their new Wii-killer project Natal. Very interesting, but I'll take this as a "wait and see" before I pass judgment on it.

Nintendo made some smart steps and did deliver some good surprises. 4 player New Super Mario Bros. for the Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2, a fresh new Metroid, just to name a few. And an awkward new finger pincher peripheral! (really, what the hell?)

And, I don't know if Sony's worth anyone's attention here.

But overall everything seems rather... interesting. Thoughts?

[solis]

I swear, Nintendo is TRYING to make their controllers look like sex toys.

[Gec]

At first the balance board seemed like a health gimmick. Then some of the other gaming applications seemed plausible. But I really can't see this new one outside of just being a complete health gimmick.

What next? A Wii Stethoscope? Wii Blood Pressure Cuffs? Wii CT Scanner?

[Gec]

Sorry for the doublepost.

I saw Sony's presentation of their new controller. For the most part Sony uses the same eye toy tech but with two remotes that have lit orbs that change color when you press certain buttons on it. In a way it is more advanced than the Wii in that it compares this way:

The Wii has no Motion Plus built into neither the remote and nunchuck. Sony's new controllers do.

The Wii's controllers are tethered, which limits how far the controllers can be apart. Sony's are wireless and act independent of each other. (Nintendo can fix this if they use two remotes for one person, but no one has done this yet)

The conventional Wii set up has little to no capacity of IR tracking (once again, it is possible but no one has done this for Wii). Sony's does which can make for more immersive FPS play.

I think Nintendo is about to be kicked off their perch.

[NUTCASE71733]

I think Nintendo's just fine, Gec. Especially since they got two new platformers coming out, which before such a thing hasn't been seen since the SNES days considering the rising cost to make big name platformer titles for the Mario series. Especially due to the attention givin to 3D platformers over 2D no thanks to Sony's entrance into the console biz back in the mid 90s.

Furthermore, the fact the original seven Koopalings are returning in New Super Mario Bros. 2 is likely enough to keep Nintendo aead of the game on it's own, but Mario Galaxy 2 is promising as Yoshi is in the game with a role identical to his role in Sunshine. I just hope he doesn't disintegrate if he falls in water this time.

And we also have Mario and Luigi 3, which features the return of Fawful, and the Pokemon HeartGold SoulSilver. I highly doubt Nintendo's gonna fall, especially if any other equally as large game news appears between now and August. Even if Nintendo ends up going into second or third, it wont be by a large margin.

[Gec]

Yeah, the platformers are great and all. But that has nothing to do with what Nintendo should be doing to improve how their controllers are currently being used. No one has tried IR tracking for the Wii. I'm just disappointed with how developers keep make silly flailing party games. I really want Nintendo to impress me with an IR tracking game.

Don't get me wrong. Nintendo already grabbed the market with the Wii. It's too late for Sony or MS to shift the current gen. It's just that nothing truly impressive has come from the motion controls.

[Arrow]

I think Nintendo is about to be kicked off their perch.

I doubt it. The motion controls aren't the only reason the Wii's beating the pants off everyone; it's also the casuals liking the large selection of games, and that the system is so cheap. Hardcore PS3 fans won't care that much about Sony's motion controls, and casual fans won't be spending $400+ for a PS3 anyways.

Sony's basically missing the point here.

As for the conferences, there were things I liked in all three actually; pretty good showing from all companies this year. Very much looking forward to the new Metroid and Golden Sun 3 though.

[NUTCASE71733]

I think Nintendo is about to be kicked off their perch.

I doubt it. The motion controls aren't the only reason the Wii's beating the pants off everyone; it's also the casuals liking the large selection of games, and that the system is so cheap. Hardcore PS3 fans won't care that much about Sony's motion controls, and casual fans won't be spending $400+ for a PS3 anyways.

Sony's basically missing the point here.

Thank you, you've helped prove the point I've been trying to make for the last thre eyears. Have a cookie.

[solis]

Especially due to the attention givin to 3D platformers over 2D no thanks to Sony's entrance into the console biz back in the mid 90s.

That's like saying over 90% of N64's and Dreamcast's games weren't 3D. All companies were guilty of this. Back in the 90s video game graphics were an endless race towards more realistic graphics and everyone was in that race.

[NUTCASE71733]

Especially due to the attention givin to 3D platformers over 2D no thanks to Sony's entrance into the console biz back in the mid 90s.

That's like saying over 90% of N64's and Dreamcast's games weren't 3D. All companies were guilty of this. Back in the 90s video game graphics were an endless race towards more realistic graphics and everyone was in that race.

No it wasn't, because that's not what I said. Don't start shoving words down my throat, thank you very much.

[Powerlord]

Price has always been one of the driving forces in the market. How Sony managed to miss that is beyond me, given that it's one of the ways the Playstation managed to beat the Sega Saturn.

[NUTCASE71733]

Price has always been one of the driving forces in the market. How Sony managed to miss that is beyond me, given that it's one of the ways the Playstation managed to beat the Sega Saturn.

What they don't seem to get is people buy game consoles to play games, not to play CDs, DVDs, MP3s, do taxes, find love, tune one's guitar, change the oil in their car, and all sorts of other things irrelavent to the concept of gaming.

Granted, Nintendo has done some similar things with the DSi and the Wii, but considering how they actually making games to take advantage of these features, they can get away with it. Sony just throws these things in with no disregard of how expensive it ultimately makes their console. Same with Microsoft and the X-Box.

My cousin's husband, who has an X-Box of his own and subscribes to Elegtronic Gaming Monthly magazine told me that Sony may end up pulling out of the console race if they can't turn a profit with the PS3. This is because by the time the current generation started, he said Sony only then just started to pull a profit from the PS2. And considering how they went and did the same thing with the PS3 as they did with the PS2, it's just gonna dig them in deeper I believe. If I'm wrong, I don't really care. Also the fact Sony has made their own nunchuk control setup is kind of pathetic, even with the benefits it has over the Wii control setup. I heard years ago that Sony had decided to "borrow" Nintendo's wii remote/nunchuk idea for their own use. I had only hoped it was rumor, but it seems I was proven wrong.

[Mad Adder]

Price has always been one of the driving forces in the market. How Sony managed to miss that is beyond me, given that it's one of the ways the Playstation managed to beat the Sega Saturn.

What they don't seem to get is people buy game consoles to play games, not to play CDs, DVDs, MP3s, do taxes, find love, tune one's guitar, change the oil in their car, and all sorts of other things irrelavent to the concept of gaming.

Granted, Nintendo has done some similar things with the DSi and the Wii, but considering how they actually making games to take advantage of these features, they can get away with it. Sony just throws these things in with no disregard of how expensive it ultimately makes their console. Same with Microsoft and the X-Box.

My cousin's husband, who has an X-Box of his own and subscribes to Elegtronic Gaming Monthly magazine told me that Sony may end up pulling out of the console race if they can't turn a profit with the PS3. This is because by the time the current generation started, he said Sony only then just started to pull a profit from the PS2. And considering how they went and did the same thing with the PS3 as they did with the PS2, it's just gonna dig them in deeper I believe. If I'm wrong, I don't really care. Also the fact Sony has made their own nunchuk control setup is kind of pathetic, even with the benefits it has over the Wii control setup. I heard years ago that Sony had decided to "borrow" Nintendo's wii remote/nunchuk idea for their own use. I had only hoped it was rumor, but it seems I was proven wrong.

Sony as a whole (their media production, technology, and entertainment divisions) have been shooting themselves in the foot for quite some time now. They certainly changed my mind on whether I would get a PS3; in fact, I now have a strict "No Sony products that I know of" rule, though some of the reasoning behind that has nothing to do with their game system so I'll limit my comments to just that.

To make Sony's "borrowing" of Nintendo's idea even worse, this is the same company that called the Wii-Mote/Nunchuck a cheap gimmick that will get old in a few months. This of course is just before Sony revealed their Six-Axis controller, which essentially used a watered-down motion sensor like they had in certain Game Boy Advance games. Now they just decided dive all the way in and copy Nintendo.

Plus, there's the absolute arrogance that Sony Computer Entertainment showed by claiming that $600 is a bargain for their system. They were asking almost as much for their system as the Wii and XBox 360's combined price. Last I checked, a decently equipped 360 is around the same price as the Wii, give or take $50. Sony's "budget" system is still $400, as much as the 360's deluxe model launched for.

Maybe when there's something must-have for the 360, I'll pick one of them up. Until then, I think I'll just build a high-end Linux box and stick to games that are compatible or run decently under WINE (like Guild Wars; gotta get back into that).

[NUTCASE71733]

Sony as a whole (their media production, technology, and entertainment divisions) have been shooting themselves in the foot for quite some time now. They certainly changed my mind on whether I would get a PS3; in fact, I now have a strict "No Sony products that I know of" rule, though some of the reasoning behind that has nothing to do with their game system so I'll limit my comments to just that.

To make Sony's "borrowing" of Nintendo's idea even worse, this is the same company that called the Wii-Mote/Nunchuck a cheap gimmick that will get old in a few months. This of course is just before Sony revealed their Six-Axis controller, which essentially used a watered-down motion sensor like they had in certain Game Boy Advance games. Now they just decided dive all the way in and copy Nintendo.

Plus, there's the absolute arrogance that Sony Computer Entertainment showed by claiming that $600 is a bargain for their system. They were asking almost as much for their system as the Wii and XBox 360's combined price. Last I checked, a decently equipped 360 is around the same price as the Wii, give or take $50. Sony's "budget" system is still $400, as much as the 360's deluxe model launched for.

Maybe when there's something must-have for the 360, I'll pick one of them up. Until then, I think I'll just build a high-end Linux box and stick to games that are compatible or run decently under WINE (like Guild Wars; gotta get back into that).

Exactly right, man. I myself may get an X-Box someday, primarily for Banjo-Kazooie Nuts and Bots (and any other Banjo-Kazooie game sure to follow) as well as Sonic 06 (had a fun time playing it when I rented it years ago, but sadly never got to beat it) and whatever else that might catch my intrest.

Shame Sony's so stupid with their consoles. I've been wanting to play Kingdom Hearts one and two forever, but the likeliness of a part 3 is kinda low now. Though I heard there was a Kingdom Hearts game for the DS. I might look into that one.

Personally I can't wait for the upcoming Ghostbusters game. In particular, the Wii version since the programmers did a complete revamp of the versions for PS3 and X-Box to make it work perfectly on the Wii. The obvious motion sensor control set up when using the proton throwers is a given, something I've always wanted to do when I heard someone throw around the idea of a Luigi's Mansion 2 being made for the Wii (which should still be done, IMO).

Also the Wii and DS versions will be using cartoony graphics, which I feel fits the comical edge of the Ghostbusters franchise. The movies (and obviously the cartoons) were ment to be humorous as well as a bit dark and somewhat scary. But Dan Akroyd stated that a lot of coedy comes from scary situations, so it fits perfectly here I believe (Shame some people don't get it and immediately call the Wii/DS versions bad just because of the graphics). Plus, Dan likes the Wii version of the game the best XD.

[solis]

I've been wanting to play Kingdom Hearts one and two forever, but the likeliness of a part 3 is kinda low now. Though I heard there was a Kingdom Hearts game for the DS. I might look into that one.

There will also be one for the PSP called Birth by Sleep. I do believe these two games are meant to explain all the backstory first and then they'll probably release III. Birth by Sleep is meant to take place before the first KH game and 358/2 days on the DS talks about Roxas during his days in Orginazation 13.

So it should hold people over pretty well until III, so you're not the only one waiting for it.