E3 Thoughts
It would seem that everyone is in a decidedly predatory mood this E3. While every major publisher and developer looks to steal the show with their latest offerings, it can be extremely easy to fall into the trap of trying to decide who ‘won’ E3.
Microsoft’s opening salvo was an impressive one, a presentation which got the entire industry talking. Their take on motion control- Project Natal, is definitely an impressive piece of kit. Lionhead studio’s tech-demo with the virtual child Milo was without question the talking point of the presentation. The level of interactivity with an in-game character is unprecedented. There is no doubt that we saw something that will have a profound effect on gaming; perhaps not this generation, but definitely in generations to come.
Nintendo’s presentation was a decidedly more familiar affair. When Nintendo take the stage you can be assured of a few things. They will not offer any new IPs. They will expand upon their current roster of franchises. Casual gaming will be their focus. Never ones to disappoint, Nintendo revealed that they would expand upon their casual brands. For the Nintendo fanboy in all of us, Nintendo then announced several sequels to popular franchises. There was nothing spectacularly innovative in the presentation, although there is certainly enough to warrant sporadic interest from the core crowd throughout the year.
Sony’s show was focused on their multi-tier brands. Those still clinging to their PS2 will be comforted to know that support is still there for the console in 2009-2010. The PSP GO! was revealed officially, showing that ergonomics are not a concern in this day and age. If I may pose the question why hardware manufacturers take such pains to create ergonomically sound controllers for their consoles, but insist that all handhelds are brick shaped and cumbersome to use? Sony then brought out their own motion controller, which for all intents and purpouses looked like a light-up dildo. Using the PS3 Camera, the pointer’s light is tracked and provides (almost) 1:1 control. The technology is in an early development stage, but it is clear that this could have several applications in existing game types.
Without delving into the specific exclusive titles coming soon, I’d like to focus on the technical side of things. It would seem that everyone was extremely impressed with Microsoft’s Natal presentation. So much so that any other motion control device was deemed irrelevant and laughable by those jackal-like denizens of most internet gaming sites.
While Natal is most definitely impressive and boasts a plethora of robust features, I can’t help but wonder how this technology will translate to current gaming. Can this be used in an FPS? Will we be able to have workable controls for say, a racing sim? From the looks of it, I can’t see how it can make the experience any better than the traditional method.Perhaps this will force developers to think about how this technology can be best utilised and (gasp) create some new genres of gaming. Wouldn’t that be nice?
Motion control is lauded as the way forward for fomenting immersion in games – frankly I think Sony’s motion controller does just as good a job in that aspect. The applications for Sony’s tech are much easier to anticipate. This tech lends itself well to current game mechanics such as FPS and RTS genres. It would seem that both companies are trying for the same concept, but are going separate ways about it. Nintendo of course, are now a few steps behind in motion control technology as well as processing power. That doesn’t mean that we can’t expect fun games to come from them beyond mini-game compilations. I have faith that the 2009-2010 Wii lineup will renew some faith in the system.
I’m interested in seeing where all this tech leads.With any luck, all companies will push towards providing unparalleled levels of entertainment in this generation and beyond.
I don’t particularly care who ‘won’ E3. The real winner will be the company with the games that are the most fun to play. Simple as that, fuckheads.
