Entertainment Newsline

A new feature here at EN, Eoin is joined by three fellow gaming fans to decide which company put on the better show at this year’s Electronics Entertainment Expo. E3 to you and me.

Eoin Mason: Welcome to the first Entertainment Newsline Roundtable. I am Eoin Mason, Head Editor and Writer of the website and today we’re taking on the biggest event in the gaming calendar. E3 started Monday and already each of the big 3 have showcased their titles for the next year

The Question is…who won? To help me are three gamers who are going to decipher who won out of the announcements that have come out:

Chris Nelson: Writer of the new Ask EN column (chris_nelson36@yahoo.com by the way – Chris)

Andy Duke: Host of the Andy Duke Party Line Podcast

Andrew ‘Ani’ Hersh: Blogger on ScrewAttack.com

Eoin: So guys, the first conference was for Microsoft and their XBox 360 titles for the next year and even a few non title announcements for their Dashboard system First thoughts?

Andy: I thought it was pretty underwhelming as a whole

Ani: I have to admit that when I first saw the new dashboard, I thought “oh great, a Mii rip-off” but after seeing what else the new system has to offer…I got to say I’m pretty psyched. The addition of trivia games where you can win prizes is a welcome addition. I’m a big game show fan and seeing that made me very happy

Andy: The dash has potential. But potential doesn’t always equal greatness. We’ll all have to wait and see. As for the other stuff: “You’re in the movie” has to be winning my award for worst game of the show. That was almost as embarrassing as the end of Nintendo’s conference. I was not too impressed with the “party games” that MS showed off and the fact that they spent quite a while on each of them didn’t help matters

Chris: The thing with marketing “party games” is a bit of a misdirection to my mind, aren’t all non-rpg games largely focused on multi/online play?

Andy: Yeah Chris. Pretty much every current game has a decent multiplayer, so “party games” are becoming kind of dated in that sense. Except for games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band, because those are such a different experience

Ani: The Live Arcade titles intrigue me though. New Galaga with online play, new geometry wars with online, and Uno Rush is a first day buy for me (I’m a Uno addict). The Netflix service should prove to be useful as well. Especially since you can watch with other people.

Andy: Yes, the Netflix feature is a huge coup for MS

Chris: That is a huge buying incentive for anybody looking at 3rd gen consoles too

Ani: As for the core games, they looked decent too. While they’re not my cup of tea, if they were I’d buy Fallout 3. I mean…you can shoot frickin’ teddy bears at people and make them explode. If that doesn’t sell the game, I don’t know what will *laughs* Overall, MS didn’t have the best conference but they are a big sleeper. They have titles now to appeal to every single kind of gamer out there. The money will be rolling in even more now.

Chris: They have that market cornered. I’ve spent many a night annoying my friend’s neighbours with Singstar

Andy: Agreed. Their conference wasn’t too great, but they are in no means dire straights

Eoin: I can’t help but think that, because of the lack of attention the hardcore games got, it might put people off of the other games considering I felt, they pushed those guys away. I’m not saying you should appeal to the hardcore all the time, but they are the people that got your console as the No 2 in the States

Chris: I think with MS, because they weren’t around until 2nd gen consoles, they are always a tad behind in these conferences, because they don’t have a franchise game as established as say the Mario series or Final Fantasy

Andy: I do feel that Nintendo and Microsoft did kind of shoot themselves in the foot by not really showing off their hardcore games at e3. I mean, for the most part, it’s the hardcore gamers that watch e3. You should be marketing to them save the more casual game marketing for magazines, TV, internet, and other ad mediums. I’m not saying they should only appeal to hardcore gamers, but it seems kind of stupid to show mainly casual games to a conference populated and watched by a majority of hardcore gamers

Ani: If hardcore gamers feel that they’ve been “pushed away”, they need to grow up. I’m sorry but MS can’t just appeal to only them, they’ll lose money in the long term that way. Nothing against any of you guys. This is a business.

Chris: I’m with Ani there, we’re all wrestling fans, and you saw what happened with ECW appealing to only one set of fans

Eoin: Speaking of Final Fantasy…how about that announcement of Final Fantasy 13 being a 360 title as well as a PS3 title? That could be the news of the conference

Ani: Yeah Final Fantasy was a nice surprise. I’m just getting into the series (I’ve only played III or VI as it’s know elsewhere) and can’t wait to play a next gen FF title.

Chris: That could hurt Sony in the long run too. Final Fantasy was *their* game. Pretty much like putting Mario on Xbox.

Ani: Yeah but it’s still a PS3 exclusive in Japan so it may not hurt as much as I thought. Japan lives by Square-Enix.

Chris: And schoolgirl underwear vending machines. Square-Enix and them. *laughs*

Andy: This is going to sound really snarky-ish and fan boy-ish, but I’ll wait and see about FF. Ports usually aren’t great, especially since the differences between the 360 and PS3 are so different.

Chris: The games have been developed for Playstation for long it will be a difficult port

Andy: and one little sentence stuck out to me. I may just be a slip of the tongue or miss-speak, but the Square-Enix people said “The 360 will be getting A VERSION of Final Fantasy XIII”, making it sound like the games will be different

Eoin: Oh yes, that’s true. But that could be because the guy who said it didn’t have the best English. *laughs*

Chris: Are we going to see a Demi-port then, like a lot of PSP ports? Kind of half-assed

Ani: I still think you’re reading too much into that, Andy. There’s going to be three versions of the game (RPG, versus, and the mobile phone exclusive to Japan)

Andy: It reminds me of how the Wii gets really poor ports/alternate versions of games (Tony Hawk’s downhill jam or whatever instead of Project 8 )

Ani: Yeah, but Wii doesn’t have the graphical capabilities of the 360 or PS3

Eoin: and it’s also pretty much a typical console, unlike the Wii

Andy: I don’t see those as 3 versions of the game. I see it as 3 entirely different games. The 360 is getting a version of the main game but like I said, it very easily could have been a miss-speak

Chris: That’s often the best part of these conferences. Watch how that rumour hits the net over the next week

Eoin: We’ll have to find out what that means in the stuff that comes after

Andy: But as a whole, I feel the 360 conference wasn’t too great, but had a great ending. Not bad, but nothing spectacular up until the ending

Eoin: Overall, I see everyone’s points. If they market it well, they could easily grab some of the Wii’s sales. But the conference, like Duke said, was not that good, but had a damn shocking ending.

Speaking of the Wii, this morning saw the conference for Nintendo showcase…well, more Wii titles and Shigsy playing a Sax!

Ani: I don’t think Nintendo’s pissed me off as much as they did today. They promise a big first party title and then don’t really deliver on it.

Andy: I feel the big tell for the Wii will be at the Tokyo Game Show. Nintendo has gone on the record as not being to e3-friendly

Ani: That’s true. E3 isn’t what it used to be. They have to do something at TGS though. Otherwise, they’re in BIG trouble.

Eoin: Yeah, with Nintendo having the Tokyo Game Show, they can afford to spread their announcements more which sort of hurt E3 a bit

Andy: If Nintendo doesn’t announce some stuff for the future, the next few years may see some big tide changes, and not in their future

Chris: Have they not reached the point in the international market, especially with casual gamers or first time buyers, that the Wii name is the big seller not the games it offers

Eoin: Yeah, they spent half of the conference reminding us of that *laughs*

Ani: Same thing last year Eoin. They are starting to get about as egotistical as Sony! *laughs*

Eoin: Not that I could blame them, really. But nothing really grabbed me about the conference, but somehow for me it felt right. Like Nintendo weren’t taking big leaps but you just know most, if not all, are going to sell big. Housewives took to Wii Fit like gamers took to GTA IV

Ani: I agree with you Eoin. They’re not in the poor house that’s for sure. Very surprised how much Wii Fit has sold so far.

Chris: They have reached a plateau, until the next Wii fit, or similar revelation comes along

Andy: But I feel they will eventually having to start to make some leaps, as each of the other two consoles is really coming into their own (and becoming cheaper as well)

Chris: Wii fit did fill a HUGE gap in the market. Before that you either had to have a dance mat or buy a Jade Goody or Nathalie Cassidy fitness video. (Ed’s note: If you don’t know who they are, you don’t need to know)

Andy: Yeah, it did. And I don’t mean it’s going to be anything immediate. But within the next couple years, I can easily see them losing a lot of ground.

Chris: That is true, the housewives will stop buying eventually, and they need something to pick up that slack

Andy: Exactly. And I hope this year isn’t an indication of what the Wii’s future plans are and I’m not cool with it. Just seems to be more motion. Tacking gimmicks on top of gimmicks

Ani: I’m kind off excited to see what Motion Plus does though. It sure creates a more realistic experience. Wasn’t waggling a main complaint by a lot of people?

Chris: I said at the start, and I’ve been proven wrong so far, that the Wii was gimmick in itself, and like Andy said before, the other consoles are now making ground

Ani: Good point Chris

Andy: T he thing is with Nintendo is, it’s really hard to grade their conference, because we’re not sure if they’re saving their big guns for TGS. If TGS doesn’t have any bombs, then yeah, not a great conference(s) by them

Chris: Something for a later roundtable recap then

Eoin: Indeed

Eoin: Speaking of making ground (Got to love the links); the last conference of E3 from a major Hardware provider was from one Sony. The people who gave us much laughter a couple of years with ‘RIIIIIIIIIIDGE RACER’ came to their own at this year’s E3 with a mix of heavy hitters and nice looking titles coming for the PS3 and PSP. Even the PS2.

Chris: Points for the Wrestlecrap reference Eoin.

Ani: Finally a nice conference for Sony. No giant enemy crabs here. I will say this though…it could’ve been better.

Andy: I thought last year’s was good

Ani: Yeah, it was ok but compared to this year, it was awful

Andy: I thought last year was kind of a “stop loss”

Chris: This is a big year for Sony in my mind. They have to make good on the PS3 and make these titles count

Andy: That’s where they started to turn things around. But this year, they really said “Hey, this is for everyone who counted us out”

Ani: Still surprised that there’s no release date for Home. They didn’t show much new footage either.

Chris: Still no footage of Home?

Andy: They showed 30 seconds-1 minute of home. I think it’s still a good thing they didn’t bog down the conference with a lot of home stuff. Talk about it when it’s close to being out

Eoin: Yeah. They didn’t hype it up as much as they have done before and then delay it countless times

Ani: I think MAG is going to be a disappointment however. Yeah it’s got 256 multiplayers but that novelty is going to wear off quick. You know there will be bugs and how do we know this game isn’t an excuse to debut a generic title?

Chris: Did the Yakuza sequel get a release date, or am I TOTALLY behind the times on that?

Ani: I don’t know. It was shown and that’s all I remember

Andy: Was I the only one who thought the PS2 titles looked terrible graphically?

Ani: Yeah they looked awful. PSP had better graphics.

Andy: That’s exactly what I was thinking, Ani

Eoin: Oh jeez, yeah. It’s pretty surreal they’re still making titles for it

Chris: I’ve noticed some games on the PS2 have looked poor for the last year or so, like they are shaving that budget for other things

Andy: what about the other games? Namely Resistance 2. MAG has serious potential, but it also has potential to be a mess

Ani: That looked good. If I was a hardcore gamer, I’d be excited at that.

Eoin: I’m not usually a fan of FPSs to be honest, but Resistance 2 looked very very good

Chris: 256 multiplayers has the potential to be a total clustersmurf

Andy: Yeah, I’m not a huge FPS guy either, but Resistance 2 looks great. Luckily (for MAG), they are doing it squad based. 8 player teams and hopefully the maps are GINOURMOUS.

Chris: I’m sensing pop-up and slow-down even on a 3rd gen

Ani: It’s inevitable. The question is will be a minor issue or a long drawn out one?

Eoin: I have a feeling it’ll be minor. They wouldn’t attempt this if they weren’t going to think about that

Andy: Yeah, an occasional hiccup is to be expected

Chris: It depends on how badly it affects gameplay

Andy: I have a feeling that playing smaller scale can be really fun. Maybe 64 or so o guys

Eoin: Like online paintball with more death

Ani: I’d kill for an online paintball game. Never would play in real life but as a video game, hell yeah!

Chris: Paintball in real life did it about 7 years ago. Good fun but had the welts for a week afterwards

Andy: Yeah. Resistance also seems to be having a robust multiplayer as well. 60 players

Chris: There is the risk with that of being down to 2 squads/players, either side of a ginormus map, and a long lag in finding each other or a troll that keeps their distance

Andy: That could be half the fun, though

Chris: If both sides are cooperating. 256….that’s a lot of troll potential.

Eoin: I was thinking that when Nintendo revealed the WiiSpeak. Animal Crossing should be a Rated 18 game for that reason *laughs*

Andy: Another big thing about the PS3 was some of the non-gaming aspects but what are your opinions on the new online stuff Sony revealed?

Ani: Sony’s new online stuff? Well I like the fact that you can preview movies. That’s cool

Chris: Huge selling point for casual/first timers

Ani: Little Big Planet looks interesting as well. The other PSN games looked like crap to me though

Andy: Siren looks good and the TV shows/Movies will be even better if they can sign on with NBC Universal. If WWE could sign with Sony as well, that would be awesome

Eoin: I’m psyched about LittleBigPlanet. That whole demonstration with it being used for the business stuff was great. If it wasn’t for the fact I’m a poor student, I’d be all over the PS3

Andy: yeah. That was good and creative.

Chris M Nelson says: Just looking at the E3 site, and as an RPG nut…Rise of the Argonauts looks badass

Ani: I also like the fact that certain PS3 games are going to be downloadable for like half the price. Smart move

Eoin: That was great too

Andy: Yeah, that’s cool, too

Chris: Again, and I’m going to sound like a broken record, huge selling point to casual gamers

Andy: PS3’s online is really getting great. If Home ever comes out, it’ll overtake Live, in my opinion.

Eoin: I think we’ve wrapped up all the main points so I think its best we go to our final thoughts of the conferences.

Ani: Ok, I’ll stay for this then

Eoin: Since you have to go briefly, Ani, I’ll let you start

Ani: I think Sony won E3 easily. Better online experience, cheaper prices and exciting exclusives prove that they won’t roll over. MS really is reaching out to everyone now and had a decent conference despite some really crappy moments. Nintendo is the big loser here. They need to cut down on the gimmicks and show off games with that great Nintendo game play. Sony is first, MS second, Nintendo third.

Chris: Underwhelmed by Wii news, but we may be misjudging Nintendo there, and they are making good steady bank with their gap fillers, so they don’t need to impress. Sony look to have given it the gas for this year and they need to, otherwise the PS3 is going to stay behind the frontrunners, Microsoft seem to be trying too hard to capitalise on the Wii’s core market, rather than continuing to develop their own identity. As far as rankings for E3 go, I’d go along with Ani, Sony clear winners, and MS just ahead of Nintendo, but it’s a false finish for them as we discussed

Andy: Nintendo’s conference was kind of lame, but like we already stated, they didn’t come into e3 to show off. But if TGS doesn’t go well for them, then they may start to be in trouble. MS’s was ok, and it looks like they’re branching out. This could be good for them. And the FF announcement can only be good for them. Sony is the big winner, however. They’ve always touted their famous “10 year cycle”, but this year; they started to make people believe in it. They area also starting to prove that this console war in this generation may be a marathon rather than a sprint

Eoin: For me overall, I have to agree that Sony dominated. They knew what they were doing and how they were going to play catch up, especially considering the news that came the day before. Microsoft, like Ani said, is branching out too much towards Wii’s market and I’m really not sure it’s going to work out for them. Having said that, the new Dash could potentially do really well if executed right. Nintendo could have no showed the conference and it wouldn’t have affected anything at all especially considering most of it was ego stroking but I was more impressed with their direction. So for me, and it may cause a bit of controversy, it’s Sony, Nintendo then MS. Mostly because of how dissapointing the MS conference went.

And that about wraps it up for the first round table. I’d like to thank Andy, Andrew and Chris for joining me and discussing the matters concerning E3’s major conferences.

If you’ve got any comments, any suggestions for Roundtables or you think we missed anything out in this edition, email Chris for our new feature ‘Ask EN’ at chris_nelson36@yahoo.com and we’ll make sure to cover it in the first column. If you want to check out yourself the conferences, go to the offical IGN/Gamespot converage right here and select ‘Press Conferences’.

Until next time, the only thing really say is to congratulate Sony. The official EN Classified winners of E3.