The big three's press conferences during the opening week of E3 2008 have come and gone. Having attended all three events, I can share with you what Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony showcased (and didn't). Some things were clearly a result of adapting and taking a little "inspiration" from each other. What were we left with? What rumors never surfaced? Check out the individual highlights below for a summary of what went down and what didn't, along with some of my impressions.
Jump to them here:
NINTENDO | MICROSOFT | SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA (SCEA)
Nintendo:
(see the briefing here)
Nintendo's President, Satoru Iwata clearly expressed the company's mission to bring the most unique gaming experiences and innovations. Nintendo's execs were cautionary about remaining stagnant and at the same time were proud of the wide acceptance of the Wii and DS. I thought that would lead to another revolutionary hardware announcement (maybe for the DS), but it really turned out to be news of an enhacement to the Wii Remote and a necessary device in today's age of gaming for voice capabilities. A couple of new hardware accessories for the Wii were announced: Wii MotionPlus (allows 1:1 motion tracking) and the WiiSpeak Microphone (finally, a way to voice chat on the Wii). Shigeru Miyamoto presented Wii Music, expressing it's not about accuracy and limiting you to a few instruments, but it's about having fun with over 60 instruments with up to four friends. The Wii Balance Board is also used in it for the drum's kick pedal.
Biggest showings:
- Wii MotionPlus with Wii Sports Resort game
- Animal Crossing: City Folk (Wii) with WiiSpeak microphone
- Wii Music
Other notable announcements:
- Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (DS) (no screenshots shown)
- Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia (DS)
- Shaun White Snowboarding With Balance Board support
Rumors that were a no-show:
- Larger screen DS
- Kid Icarus Wii
- Punch Out Wii
- Hardware solution for WiiWare and VC downloads
- Color varitaions of the Wii
Microsoft:
(see a transcript from the live blogging here)
Microsoft kicked things off with a showing of select games, although not all were Xbox 360 exclusive. Some more footage of games like Gears of War 2, Fallout 3, Resident Evil 5 and Fable II were shown. The focus turned next to the updated Xbox 360 dashboard (interface), which looked much cleaner. Avatars were finally confirmed. The move definitely feels reactionary to the Wii's Miis. It would have been nice to see a more unique effort on that front, although it does present a new way to share your media with friends. Not sure that the cartoon/3d look is appealing to the fairly hardcore multiplayer crowd that makes up the Xbox 360 space. You can see Microsoft is trying more commercial efforts with that and games like Lips and You're In The Movies. Those games also feel similar to what we've seen on PlayStation 2 with EyeToy and Singstar. The announcement of Netflix movies downloadable via LIVE drew among the biggest cheers. The conclusion of the event came with the surprise announcement of Final Fantasy XIII for the Xbox 360.
Biggest showings:
- Final Fantasy XIII coming to Xbox 360, no longer PS3 exclusive.
- Redesign of Xbox 360 Dashboard.
- Avatars: Similar to Nintendo's Miis, create your own identity online and meet with friends to share pictures, movies and play together.
- Netflix rental service via Xbox LIVE
Other notable announcements:
- Lips, with motion sensitive microphone
- You're In Movies: Mix live action footage with graphics on the fly.
- Banjoo Kazooie (N64) coming to Xbox LIVE Arcade
- Newly remixed Galaga XBLA game coming from Namco Bandai
- Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2
Rumors that were a no-show:
- New Halo game
- Motion based controller
- Minority Report-like dashboard interface
Sony Computer Entertainment America:
(entire briefing available from PlayStation Store, or details here)
Jack Tretton, President and CEO of SCEA, broke the ice noting a large turnout for the event and the two years he's lost on his life to bring the announcements to gamers. The pressure is surely on the PLAYSTATION 3, but things are looking up since it's rough debut. Metal Gear Solid 4 has helped create a spike in PS3 sales, prices of some PS3 games are coming down with its Greatest Hits Collection, Blu-ray has come out as the HD disc-based winner and the 80GB PS3 has become the standard PS3 model at $399. Most exciting was the news of a 256 player supported game, MAG. The pressure is now on to pull it off. Home is still in the works, but game themed environments were unveiled from games like Resistance, Uncharted and Warhawk. Longetivity of their gaming console's lifespan is what Sony made clear, along with efforts to push the gaming console space into MMO games. Sony definitely had the most polished presentation, but lots of promises that it will need to deliver on.
Biggest showings:
- MAG "Massive Action Game": 256 player battles.
- God of War III Teaser Trailer
- Business presentation via Little Big Planet (the most creative show of stats and info)
- Videos available for rental, and purchase, from the PlayStation Store.
Other notable announcements:
- Resistance: Retribution for PSP.
- $29.99 PS3 Greatest Hits games coming
- $399 80GB PLAYSTATION 3 Core Pack
- PlayStation Home game themed environments
- New PSP Bundle: Ratchet and Clank Size Matters PSP Entertainment Pack
- PS2 Limited LEGO Batman PlayStation 2 Bundle. It's still kicking.
Rumors that were a no-show:
- PSP Phone
- New motion based controller
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