Ben-DutkaSony's E3 press conference has come and gone for another year, and it's time to offer our thoughts.
First of all, they actually didn't spend as much time addressing the PlayStation Network fiasco as I would've expected, and interestingly enough, I didn't notice much of an apology. We got a lot of thanks to consumers and partners from SCEA president Jack Tretton for sticking with Sony, but "I'm sorry" wasn't really part of the speech. I was surprised and a little miffed, to be honest. But recently, I've been thinking about it another way-
They've apologized like crazy. Kaz Hirai did so when the PSN came back. They did it in every post at the PlayStation Blog. And once again, we have to remember to place the blame in the correct location. That was the fault of criminals and nothing more. While we could argue all day about the susceptibility of the Network, past weeks have essentially proved that nothing is safe, as both Nintendo and Microsoft has experienced hacking issues. And really, it was a good idea for Sony to step past that and focus on the games.
And speaking of the games, those were definitely in abundance at the conference. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception looks absolutely ridiculous and at this point, there isn't a single other game that is even remotely close to competing on that technical level (at least, not so far as I can see). I also liked the look of Resistance 3 , Starhawk , and DUST 514 , despite the fact that I will probably never play the latter. Oh, and you gotta love the return of Sly Cooper !
As for the PlayStation Vita, I've often talked about it in the past: no matter how slick it is, I remain on the fence simply because I'm really not a portable gamer. That being said, Uncharted: Golden Abyss looked incredible and the launch lineup of titles is impressive (love me some Wipeout ). Obviously, the Vita was the highlight of the conference, which is both good and bad. Personally, I was looking for an unknown PS3 exclusive that would finish the conference with a bang.
I really thought Sony started strong and put on a good conference for the majority of the time, but they sort of went out with a whimper. It really was lacking that one total surprise to blow us all away. And where the hell was God of War IV ? Or Final Fantasy Versus XIII , for that matter? I really expected to see GoWIV. It seems Quantic Dream isn't ready to present their next project just yet, but I also wanted to see more from the PSN titles…what about Journey ? Kinda wanted that one.
All in all, I'd say the conference was well-paced and I always appreciate an emphasis on the games, which has always been Sony's strong point. The Vita also looks like a winner and Uncharted 3 is just going to dominate the world. Just lacking a little oomph at the end, you know? If I had to assign a grade, I'd say a solid B.
I kinda agree on these points. Where was Square Enix in everything or are they having a press release a different day at e3?
For me i honestly wasn't expecting gow4….would have been neat to see something…but their is always the show in september
Last edited by firstc624 on 6/7/2011 9:40:44 PM
They have their own conference, but if Versus was staying exclusive they would have been there.
@world Really? I had no idea. When is it or did it pass?
I'm kind of disappointed with this years show. It seemed very lackluster. Most, if not all, of the games at the show were already announced. Nothing really jumped out…NOTHING!
I really, really, REALLY wanted to see what Square had up there sleeves as well as Sony's "ton of unannounced exclusives."
Also what happened to Contra. OMG I almost died inside when I saw the teaser; then they go and show absolutely nothing. I do know that there's such a thing called TGS but come on! I guess I'll go back to playing HC for now.
Same thing with DmC. The new trailer looked MUCH better than the initial reveal but again, nothing earth shattering.
As for Nintendo's new machine; color me a skeptic. I'll just stick to the PSP2(hate the name vita), and my good ol' trusty PS3. In essence, it can do almost exactly what the Wii U can. Plus, unlike the tab controller, the PSP2 can go all over and not be hindered by it's home console. Plus the $250 entry price is OH SO GOOD!
I give this years show a C-. I've seen much worse but damn….what happened!
EDIT: Forgot to mention the monitor; if it does what it's meant to than nice job Sony. The price point for 3D has been a turn off for a lot. To see them making huge strides to break that barrier is refreshing. Pushing the envelope at an affordable price is something they stumbled on in the beginning 😉
Last edited by Dridion on 6/7/2011 11:51:07 PM
@WorldEndsWithMe
Actually, I think that the reason that Versus didn't make an appearance during Sony's conference was because it's still nowhere near completion in general. Keep in mind that it didn't make an appearance during Microsoft's conference either. And Microsoft would have certainly loved to have the chance to brag about stealing yet another exclusive away from Sony.
I'm starting to think that Versus is only being worked on by a relatively small team within Square-Enix as opposed to Square-Enix in general and that the company is diverting the lion's share of it's resources toward the development of Final Fantasy XIII 2, the revamping of Final Fantasy XIV, and other more mainstream projects. Of course this also makes the idea of a 360 version seem somewhat far-fetched. I believe that Versus will at the very least be a timed PS3 exclusive.
I mean if Yoichi Wada did, as rumored, agree not to interfere with the development of Versus then it does stand to reason that he wouldn't be interested in lifting a finger to help the project along. Even so I hope that we will be getting some kind of new information on Versus.
Last edited by Looking Glass on 6/8/2011 8:40:54 AM
@World
I think the bold "PS3" at the end of every Versus XII trailer kinda hints at the obvious exclusivity. I would assume, with all of the tremendous occurrences in the home country of Japan, we can expect to see all of Tetsuya Nomura's projects and Kojima's presence at the Tokyo Game Show as a show of support to the country and people that are most important to them.
I agree with the grade of a B. Microsoft pissed me off though, there was literally nothing that I wanted to play (exclusive wise).. Well I WAS looking forward to Fable @ least and then they had to go and make a damn FPS Kinect thingamobob, that there took the cake.
On a lighter note those Disney & sesame street games looks sweet *SIGH* >sarcasm<
Last edited by GuyverLT on 6/7/2011 9:45:31 PM
It really sounded like an apology to me. You could tell Mr. Tretton legitimately felt bad about the whole issue, and even if he didn't use the phrase "I'm sorry" (I can't remember if he did), his demeanor, as well as his tone, delivered the message brilliantly.
The Vita stole the show for me. I've never been much of a portable gamer either, but the price point along with the multitude of features and slick titles sold it for me. It's a day one purchase for me, and I've never done that for a console.
And I couldn't agree with you more on the lack of a big moment. The ending was seemingly leading to something great, but sadly, there was nothing there. Oh well – there's no doubt in my mind that Sony won E3. Maybe by default, as I thought that Microsoft and Nintendo had very poor showings, but Sony won nonetheless.
He didn't say 'I'm sorry,' but he said he'd "like to apologize, both personally, and on behalf of the company, for any anxiety caused." Or something like that.
Sly 4 and that $500 3D package have me excited. So does PS Vita.
People have been poo-pooing all 3 companies' press conferences but probably because MS showed nothing exciting or unexpected and Nintendo raised more questions about Wii U than answers, though I think this next-gen console looks very intriguing.
Current-gen.
Yeah, I agree that the jury is out on how powerful Wii U is. Probably will be between the 360 and the PS3 in horsepower. We all know Nintendo isn't known for hardware.
Not to mention it won't appear for another 12-18 months. By which time PS3 and 360 (with HDDs) will cost between $199 and $249, and will be doing everything that the new, expensive WiiU can do – including integration with a handheld peripheral device.
SONY DOMINATED E3 THIS YEAR!!!!!
GAMES GAMES AND MORE GAMES and a little cheery good NGP pricing!!!!!
Thought my biggest let down was WHERE'S KEVIN BUTLER?
I was dying to hear another good gamer speech from him once more.
A few games they could of added into the mix as well, because I wanted to see some other PS3 titles as well.
Microsoft did okay nothing earth shattering.
Their whole thing was basically KINECT games after another. Ghost recon used kinect's features really well.
Their Highlights were:
Mindcraft
Youtube
Lot's of partner ship
Halo 4
uh can't think of anything else nothinc else extremely important.
and uncharted smooth no jagged lines or anything while gameplay!!!!!
SONY: everything was awesome!!!!
Last edited by thj_1980 on 6/7/2011 9:48:29 PM
I wouldn't say that Sony necessarily "DOMINATED" E3, since there weren't that many things announced at the show that we didn't already now about. But it is all about the games and Sony certainly had a lot of good ones to show off, which is why they take the cake again this year.
As for Microsoft and Nintendo, but both of their offerings were complete crap IMO
Halo 4. I know it has a huge following but it is seriously the only exclusive they have besides Gears and Alan Wake, and I don't really care for any of them. (I lol'd while typing this part since 4 is the same key as $, cause we all know M$ is milkin' it!)
And Wii U? That controller is an oversized Gameboy with a fancy screen and analog sticks. The thing is seriously more gargantuan than the original Xbox controller!
Last edited by Qwarktast1c on 6/8/2011 1:30:13 AM
I'm definitely sold on Vita (day 1 purchase), and I was glad to see gameplay of upcoming titles. I also like the support they keep giving PS Move with upcoming titles.
However, I never really was 'wowed' or surprised by some unknown title or project. I at least expected some 'FFVSXIII' coverage or ANYTHING on 'Agent.' The absence of Kevin Butler was also a slight letdown. Finally, the ending drum performance with some DJ kinda turned me off.
Overall though I'm content with their presentation and look forward to Vita.
Agent is no longer in development anymore apparently.
yeah it is, it just isn't exclusive anymore.
@sha4dowknight05
Don't you mean "The Agency" was cancelled? "Agent", from R*, was confirmed to be still in development no more than a month ago and was still an exclusive.
Last edited by The Doom on 6/7/2011 11:32:27 PM
Tretton was asked about exclusivity at E3 and he was like "We have to see where we are at with that" or something similar. Basically, he didn't say it would be so it probably won't be.
I read not too long back that Sony had secured the exclusive rights for Agent… Damn, we all got conflicting sources.
This was probably the least exciting E3 in recent memory. Noone dropped any bombs, like Ben said, and all in all, pretty much everything the companies showed off was already on the net. Just felt a little blah to me. Really excited for Uncharted 3 though.
I agree, only the NGP pricing were surprising. The games were awesome, but we all expected these games to be shown at E3.
I was really looking for that unknow exclusive to close
the show…Agent…were have you gone? But other then
that I thought Sony put on a good showing.
I agree, crappy presentation. It really hinged on whether or not you are a portable gamer excited about Vita. Too many things were missing ya know? Last Year they just slaughtered the competition, this year it was like meh where's all these unknown exclusives?
I rated it a 7.7, and I don't think this particular rape victim needed to apologize for being victimized but I guess they had to address the elephant in the room and I got the sense that Tretton was sorry. I loved his remark about the press, that was dead on.
Wasn't Square-Enix supposed to announce something huge? Or do they have yet to present anything?
Didn't really enjoy that Sony press conference myself. Flashing quick snippets of games and then focusing on a bunch of useless hardware didn't hold my interest long.
And we've got to stop talking about FFVsXIII as if it exists. It doesn't. It's nothing but a 5 year old pipe dream that's been tossed aside by a company that doesn't have a clue what it's doing.
Some folks might like that vita, but that monitor is pretty useless.
I agree. That monitor is cool and all, but I highly doubt I would ever get it at the price and size.
I imagine I'll jump on the Vita train as soon as they release a title I MUST have. I didn't get my PSP until Crisis Core was released. (Worth every penny with that title, by the way)
I play games at a desk in our family room to eb considerate to non-gamers. I'll be looking at the new monitor, it's bigger than the one I have, and has 3D. So I get 3D games without investing heavily in 3D. If I like 3D on the monitor and can convince the family, then there may be a big 3D TV appearing in the future. This monitor kind of acts like a taste test for 3D.
non-gamers deserve no consideration 😉
i think of all three conferences Sony came out on top with a solid showing. Yeah it probabl could have had abit of ommmph and there wasent anything earth shattering and some nice surprises like the 3DTV. But Microsoft seem to be flogging old franshcise to death and shoeing awkward kinnect controls into everything. i also thought it was funny that the new UI for XBL looked awfully familiar to the one i see everyday when i turn on my ps3. swap the back grounds from white to balck and hey presto, instant PS3 XMB.
As for nintendo, i though Sony had done some terrible launches but wow and the more i hear about WiiU the more i'm sure that they dont actually know what it is. the tech specs and media format reports from different sources dont seem to be consistant as as for ripping of footage from other console that was abit cheap for them. I also still dont really get the concept of WiiU much like an ipad, They are kinda cool and quicky, they dont some unique things but do i really need one considering the lack of funionality. i would replace my laptop with an ipad thats for sure and i wouldn't get one to compliment my laptop and that for me is the big question with the WiiU. Is it enough to convince people to buy it when it's not really needed. As for the controller well i can play on my ps3 upload save to cloud and them take my save and resume gaming where every i go which i think is more innovative if i can do a simular thing with WiiU but only in the confine of my house.
Sony with that in mind, Yeah this E3 really goes to Sony because while not setting the earth on fire they were solid and steady where as the other two seem to be suffering from trying too hard that they've forgotten to really push things in the industry forward.
E3 as a whole for me was the best E3 in years personally. The love for fighting fans was heaven.
Tekken Hybrid (the big one for me), SF X Tekken, SFIII HD, KOF XIII console announcement & SCV.
I was also impressed by the HD remakes to MGS & the SH collections. (SH3 in HD is the big one for me though).
Uncharted 3, Mass Effect 3,BioShock Infinite, Silent Hill Downpour, Dead Island, Halo 4 & Halo Anniversary, Gears 3, Ninja Gaiden 3 & that new Tomb Raider all look like must buys.
My only disappointment was the lack of VF5:FS announcement from SEGA & DmC, which looks like digital vomit in it's early stages. I mean wtf is up with the new look & starving, Dante!? I know it's early in development but i really am not liking the new DmC going by that teaser. It's wierd but if it was just a new IP then i'd reckon i'd probably be ok with it but the fact that it's part of the Devil May Cry family makes me feel bitter. I hope Ninja Theory prove me wrong on this & the game doesn't turn out to be aids on a disc.
Anyway, overall i was pretty damn impressed with E3 this year.
Yeah I would have loved some last guardian or a shocker from square about an rpg that we may actually care about. Sigh TGS is a long way away.
I think this e3 was very well for Sony. I mean great to see more move support to normal games. Great PS3 games. The fact that we are now used to see new gadgets every minute (say smartphones, tablets, etc.) doesn't mean the PSVita wasn't a bomb, I mean, where is all the hype surrounding the psp2 now? I remember the days when a lot of people were exited about this idea, of a new psp.
The 3D TV for me was THE BOMB of the show, that bundle is insane! And to add those points check the price on both PSVita and TV. Almost everyone of us had complained about the price tags, and Sony listened this time, you have to give credit to them this time.
For me this Sony press conference was a A-. The final detail for the A+ would be obviously an exclusive new game, or an existing franchise going exclusive or something like that. Or perhaps a new megaultrahidden secret remake that everyone of us want, that starts with F and finishes with inalfantasyVII????
Last edited by godsdream on 6/7/2011 11:23:33 PM
It was a good show. People really need to stop complaining about it sucking just because there wasn't any news for x-game chat for PS3. I mean at least 3-4 new exclusives were announced, they unveiled a PlayStation TV monitor, we know the official name of the NGP and its affordable price-point, Playstation versions of some games will get exclusive content…and all of that and more STILL wasn't good enough for some people? Kids these days I tell ya…
If there was an E3 for Sony to be less than stellar thus year would be it.
MS had a horrible E3.
Nintendo, despite revealing a new console, only seemed to care about showing off their new gimmick of a controller and came away a little bit better than MS but nothing I wanted.
Sony is the clear winner, showcasing games for everyone.
Wow, now that you put it that way, I totally agree. Had Sony pulled this last year they would have been up a $h!t creek without a paddle.
Still complacency = DEATH! Hope they don't get too comfortable. Things can change at the drop of a coin.
Wow I meant drop of a hat 😛 It was late.
Please, please, explain this to me. Here I am anticipating the e3 of the big three console presentations. Just to see it last a freaking hour to an hour and a half!
If e3 is a huge gaming convention and the place is too crowded to give them just the 2 to 4 hrs they want. Hold the press conference in another stadium or bulding. Who the heck is giving them time limits on their presentation?
I get it, I get it, the three consoles wood be nowhere without their 3rd party developers. Just saying.
And how can I forget, another year without Kingdom Hearts 3. Where are these people heads at? >.>
What can I say but say that I strongly agree with Ben's synopsis here.
As some have stated above, it maybe more of a "personal" E3 this year, whereby some game packages will appear more to some than others.
Uncharted 3 was phenomenal. I am sure we can all agree on this.
PS Vita is exciting, but I too am not sold on the whole package yet. I am not going lie about this, but I am concerned it may lose features along the way should Sony find security loopholes or other technical issues that may arise at the start of its life cycle. I don't think it will, but the PS3 experience has burnt me a little, hence my apprehension.
The entry price point is tempting, but remember, once you have bought into Vita you will realise quickly how much it will cost you in games. The system will be paid for by the high price of the games I think. I also believe that the Android and Apple onslaught will be relentless… and mark my words, within 24 months we will see 4 core tablets and the like to rival the Vita. Competitors will not let its lead stand for long even though its current design is quite evolutionary.
At the moment I am on the side lines. I want to see how all these technologies pan out. The WiiU was very interesting, but we will see what Nintendo can really do with it. Looks like they have no choice but go for the hardcore gaming market to buff up sales… if they don't they could very well be sidelined and eventually die… scary thought but companies don't last for ever…
Not overly impressed either way on the presentations. To be honest guys, I am actually more excited now about pimping out my new laptop for the end of the year with a mean CPU and GPU combination, with loads of memory (apparently you can put up to 12 gigs in the newer models now – and they come with USB 3.0 too! )… that will hold my attention for multi-platform gaming until PS4.
I will be investing though in a couple of the top PS3 exclusive games that come out between now and then, such as Uncharted 3 and the like.
Also interested in titles like Trine 2 etc. There should be enough around to keep me engaged anyway…
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
Last edited by Qubex on 6/8/2011 12:59:09 AM
Qubex,
The PS3 has never lost a feature related to PS3 gaming or BluRay playback. The dropping of PS2 support was a hardware cost issue, and the deprecation of OtherOS had zero impact on the machines primary purposes. I don't think you will see any significant feature changes in the Vita for the same reason, once a game uses it, it can't be removed. So no game related functionality will go away, especially if it's something done in software.
Yes, that is what I am hoping for. Let us hope no more security issues either 🙂
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
For the sake of the platform, let's hope Sony has figured out how to protect their games, even if the firmware is modified. For the sake of the users, let's hope that Sony has figured out how to catch and trace people attempting to access the system in unauthorized ways.
I still favor individualized encryption based on two factors for digital distribution, and systems that can detect attempts to hack them, or even modifications to firmware at runtime, resulting in a quick "phone home" and ban.
Realistically, I'd say nobody dominated E3 this year. Pretty even on all fronts from all companies.
MS was heavily focused on Kinect, which is both a good and bad thing. I reckon they're saving their big bang for next year where they'll announce a new console, hence these last 2 years being rather quiet on the MS front.
I'll give MS a B-
Sony gave us a speech about the PSN hack, even if it was pretty brief. They showed off heaps of great exclusives and some cool Move games, but Move, 3D and PSVita seemed to be the biggest focus of the show. Dust 514 looks very promising for hardcore RPG and FPS lovers.
I'll give Sony a B.
Nintendo was incredibly short and to the point. Wii is out, DS is old news. 3DS and Wii U were the biggest focus. Nothing on console games, just 3DS titles coming, all ports or repeats of franchises with little that seemed fresh. Wii U was shown off, but we only got tech demos, no official games to show off what this bad boy can do, and most of these looked like Wii games, not Wii U games. This early news raised more questions than it answered, and their show seemed to end with a bit of a whimper too.
I'll give Nintendo a B+.
So yeah, pretty even on all fronts. All had their strengths and weaknesses, but Sony seemed to have the most content and games.
Few surprises and the earlier leaks of the PSVita name and Wii U controller seemed to take the edge off what could've been exciting news and incredible surprises. Shame the internet has to ruin everything for everyone.
I'm hoping next year's E3 will bring a little more excitement and surprise with it. The spectacle was there, but the content seemed lacking, moreso for Ninty and MS. Time for a new generation of consoles to reignite the buzzm and here's hoping they don't all focus on touchy, motion gimmicks to sacrifice the hardcore gamer.
Can't deny that the PS3 exclusives are strong… it is keeping me engaged in the platform. I am still not sure about Vita… when I have it in my hands and playing I will get a better feel for it and whether it is worth the money.
We may have leakage about PS4 by E3 2012! This will be of great interest to me.
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
Last edited by Qubex on 6/8/2011 4:08:22 AM
Sony came closest to dominating, but you're right no one dominated.
Last edited by TheHighlander on 6/8/2011 10:15:06 AM
I liked Sony's press conference, it wasn't the best they did in this E3 compared to last years E3's, but it still was pretty good in my books. When I heard about Dust 514 I was glad we got a cross-platform game, and the concept of it seems really cool, I like how you can impact the war on a different planet and other possibilities it could end up doing.
And the price cut for the PS Vita I was surprised, I thought it might end up being a bit more up in price but it wasn't, and I loved the fact that they are making less expensive 3D TV's with PS Eye, Move (I believe that was in there?) And resistance, I can't remember what else was in it but that's damn awesome I believe for 150 it was? Memory is pretty fuzzy I was up all night.
If anyone knows the price just let me know I don't remember. :/
Last edited by Clamedeus on 6/8/2011 4:23:47 AM
TV w/ Resistance 3 = $500
Move Sharp Shooter w/ Resistance = $150
Ah, thanks Fane! That's a pretty damn good price though in my opinion.