E3 2013

[Mr. Analog]

So with the big 3 console makers now done their presentations, what are peoples' impressions?

Here are my thoughts:

Microsoft made a lot of blunders before E3, they DID show off a lot of games, the big thing people wanted to hear was some kind of acknowledgement of the issues being discussed before E3 like the 24 hour call home, like always-on Kinect, DRM (etc). Microsoft didn't make a sound about any of that stuff, my suspicion is they are in full damage control mode and didn't want to say anything else unless they know it will be met with approval. Speaking of sound they had sound issues which left one whole game demo without sound and intermittent sound on one of their biggest titles (Battlefield 4). Another criticism was much of the games shown were either in-game cutscenes or FMV, a lot of gamers wanted to see hands on.

Sony showed off its titles which look interesting, but the real coup came at the end where they took a big bite out of Microsoft reminding gamers of features that have become hot issues, namely you can play your games offline and you can trade/sell at will (no obstructive DRM). Obviously, this is Sony we're talking about here and i have no love for them, but I have this feeling that they may actually be learning from their past mistakes or at least have the savvy to see what Microsoft is doing wrong. Sony has been at the centre of dumb ideas for many years with it's console line so you have to wonder what the big gotcha is, likely it won't become apparent until long after E3.

Nintendo... my my my Nintendo what have you done. Originally they stated that they would have no and/or limited E3 presence and that was mostly the case, their presentation was pre-recorded. I believe they had also stated in the past that when they were going to announce games that the wait wouldn't be that long to shelf, well they certainly had a great list of titles, mostly anticipated, however most of the titles that really got me interested aren't due for another year. To me this is a death warrant, they do you have a few interesting titles lined up for the remainder of 2013 but honestly nothing I "gotta" have until December / Q2 of 2014? Lame.

From my perspective Sony seems to have the best console, it ties performance and (I can't believe I'm saying this) "freedom" together, the downside is there aren't a lot of titles that interest me. Microsoft and Nintendo have titles that look really interesting, in Microsoft's case their console (and attitude) hurts them, it's pricey, it has features I don't want and it's going to destroy used games. 1/3 of my collection of XBox 360 games are used. It's also not backward compatible so what's the point of upgrading anyway? Nintendo on the other hand has had their console twist in the wind since launch and they have what looks like a great lineup of games, unfortunately they are so far off in the future it may not matter. I know the 3DS takes up a lot of Nintendo's focus as it is insanely popular but yeesh, I was hoping to see a few more titles before Christmas.

So from a console perspective I'm having a lot of tentative feels and I think I will probably stick with what I have and probably continue playing games on PC more than anything else.

So that said, I was glad to see a few titles pop up at E3 AND there are rumblings that Bethesda may in fact FINALLY drop some hints about Fallout 4 (pleasepleaseplease). The new console wars have now moved beyond the initial salvoes and are digging in for a long fight, the question is will anyone care or will they just be distracted by Angry Birds on their phones?

[Melbosa]

Well I can say Nintendo is very disappointing.

Sony does have a good thing rolling at the moment.  We'll see what launch brings, but for now they are the better deal in terms of cost.

Microsoft is banking on some big endeavors.  Bold and scary for them as a console.  Time will tell and launch will be shaky I think.

I am going to watch all that Console stuff very carefully.  I am really intrigued by the Microsoft new features, so I'll be watching very closely.

The games have been "Yeah I knew those were coming...".  Hasn't been much Wow factor for me this year.

[Mr. Analog]

Yep, to me the big standout was Sony which knew that most of the games were already known but REALLY understood what is on peoples' minds.

As well the price Microsoft has set is basically ridiculous, they'd have to have something pretty damn amazing to entice gamers.

Nintendo's problem is timing, everything seems off. If they had all these great titles available for Q3 or Q4 it would have been awesome, but they don't. Like I say, lame.

[Lazybones]

Thoughts...

Backward compatibility probably doesn't matter as much to the majority of console owners. For me one the platform native version of a title is out I don't touch the old one anymore... Also I play lots of single player so once I finish a game it is basically done.  Nintendo's Wii requirement to have separate ports for classic controllers and memory cards basically ensured my game cube games never got used once we upgraded... I tried it once or twice but never looked back.. Don't think I ever put a classic Xbox game in the 360.

Sony clearly came out as the strongest platform to me but MS had some nice looking games. Since Sony has a trace record of broken promises and online services at launch, I will have to wait and see what gets delivered.