Thoughts on E3 2010
Now I didn’t go or anything, but much like I’m sure most of you I’ve been tracking some E3 Activity over the internet. I’ll not bore you by rehashing the news items that I’m sure Kotaku or other gaming news sites have already covered for you, but I’ll just add my two cents.
First, while I am a fan of the name “Kinect” for Xbox’s motion control system, I am currently incredibly underwhelmed by what both it and Playstation Move have to offer. Most of what I’m seeing feels like off-brand Wii titles, and I’m already bored with those kinds of games on the Wii. What I want to see out of motion controls on those platforms is motion controls applied to “Triple A” HD games. Anything else is just being a Wii knock off and frankly, as of right now, I’d rather play these kinds of things on my Wii, if for no other reason than I have a Wii and the investment is already there for me.
The Xbox360 slim is an interesting product, though not one I am in a hurry to get. I will doubtlessly get one once my 360Pro bites the bullet, but no sooner. I see nothing compelling enough about it otherwise to get it sooner.
I’m really thrilled at the titles announced by Nintendo this year, which is the exact opposite of last. I can’t wait to buy a 3DS and will probably try to get one as close to launch as possible. I’m still using a classic DS, yes I don’t even have a DSlite, so this strikes me as the time to enjoy that Nintendo portable upgrade I’ve been waiting for. Zelda: Skyward Sword looks fun, I’ll buy it and play it without a doubt, and Kirby’s Epic Yarn looks fun enough for me to consider buying it, though probably not as a day 1 title.
Some of the games I’m most looking forward to from E3 are coming out this summer on XBL Arcade. Castlevania: Harmony of Despair looks like it could be a ton of fun for someone like me who absolutely loves the 2D “Metroidvania” games. I’m also really looking forward to seeing if Uber Entertainment’s fusion of Third Person shooter and DotA works out in “Monday Night Combat.”
Outside of the XBL Arcade view of things, my interest is piqued on Vanquish. So far Platinum doesn’t seem to be able to make a game I don’t at least enjoy, as I found MadWorld fun and Bayonetta incredible, so perhaps with Vanquish they can impress me again. I’ve also seen some pretty interesting gameplay footage of T.E.R.A Online which promotes that game from “oh another pretty Korean MMO” to “OOooo that looks interesting.” I will probably have to check it and Blade and Soul out when they each come out.
The most painful moment of E3 for me had to be the news that they were re-making Parasite Eve: The 3rd Birthday to PSP. I was a huge fan of the Parasite Eve games on PS1, and would normally revel in the opportunity to enjoy the ongoing adventures of Aya Brea and her struggle against the soft-science Neo-Mitochondria. Unfortunately, as much as I love Aya, I don’t love her enough to get a PSP, I really don’t. So sadly, just like the first publish of this game on Japanese cell phones in the early 2000’s, I’ll have to pass.
Finally, Vigil Entertainment’s WH40K: Dark Millennium Online and Relic’s WH40K: Space Marine both look like they could do a solid job of keeping me into the 40k Universe while GW’s tabletop product continues to do a fantastic job of keeping me out of it. Both games strike me as very risky as this is both Vigil’s first MMO and Relic’s first not-RTS, but based solely off trailers both games look very pretty and fun and epic. Of the two I’d say Space Marine has the greater chance of success since whenever I play Gears of War I always feel like a Space Marine, and now that feeling doesn’t have to be in my head only. That being said, I look forward to this PC-tweaked version of Darksider’s gorgeous engine on for 40K:DMO and seeing how the game play for it will actually work.
2011 and on has some pretty solid games on the horizon, and these games only add to the list of titles I’m looking forward to which include Guild Wars 2 and to a lesser extent SW:TOR. No fear for this gamer, I have plenty of titles to look forward to by end of this year and looking into the next!