Musings on E3 2009

In case you don't know, E3 is the Electronic Entertainment Expo. It's by far the biggest and most significant trade show for the ever-expanding video game industry. Having been a gaming enthusiast for a few years now (perhaps two full decades) I keep a watchful eye on the yearly E3 spectacle.

If you want a full run-down on the event, check out these sites:
http://e3.gamespot.com/
http://e3.g4tv.com/e32009/index/
http://e3.ign.com/

I won't bore you with a half-hearted wrap-up, especially since I, yaknow, wasn't there. I'll just give you my thoughts based on all the news I've read and videos I've watched.

First of all, this year's show wasn't half bad. After last year's all-around snoozer, Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo all brought their A game to the floor. Well, their B game anyway. In Sony and Microsoft's case their unveilings of motion-sensing technologies seemed more like a B-movie, but more about that later. All in all the show was great, with equal parts of exciting new hardware, software, and services being shown.

Sequels, sequels, and more sequels. The video game industry has officially gone Hollywood with a slew of sequels and remakes which account for every single major game announcement at the show. It's as if the entire industry has either lost its creative muscle, or it has developed a severe case of risk aversion. The Big 3 (Sony, MSFT, and Ninty) are by far the chief offenders, but big Third party publishers such as EA, Activision and Take Two didn't far any better. In fact, I can't think of a single significant game announcement that was new IP. Not one. If you can think of one, please correct me.

I wish I had the Xbox 360 Arcade. The steady stream of remakes keep on coming to Microsoft's online store. I couldn't care less about the 360 and its core titles, but man am I jealous of the classic games that are being ported and remade on their 360 Arcade. Castlevania: SotN, Bionic Commando, TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-shelled and Perfect Dark. The list keeps going. At least Contra Rebirth is coming to Virtual Console. Sigh.

Me too meets waggle control. It was inevitable, but Sony and Microsoft made belated responses to the venerable (and well established) Wiimote. I kind of think it's too little, too late, but time will tell.

Microsoft's Project Natal is a video-based sensor bar that promises controller-free gaming. When I saw the demo of the guy waving his hands around to "hit" the balls on-screen, I instantly thought of Sega's the Sega Activator, an infrared octagonal controller that read a user's motions as they passed a hand or foot or buttcheeck over the infrared beams projecting up from the ground. That pricey peripheral had a couple of games released for it. I predict a similar fate for MSFT's Neo-Natal add-on. Not because it isn't an exciting new technology deserving of some success. I just can't think of any wildly successful add-on for any gaming console, much less one that was priced about the same as the console itself. I'm looking at you, 32X. And you too 64DD.

While Microsoft's anti-controller was cool, if a bit pie-in-the-sky, Sony's motion controller was pure comedy. Having already botched one release of a pseudo-motion controller, the Sixaxis, Sony dropped the traditional two-handed controller design and essentially took a Wiimote and put a colorful pulsating ping-pong ball on top of it. Seriously. And like Natal, it was essentially vaporware - a technology with attending tech demos. Weeee!

Call me when you've actually got something to show guys.

Oh, and btw, Nintendo also made a motion control announcement, launching a $25 add-on that increases the Wiimote's sensitivity. Somehow I think this one has a chance for success. Maybe.

Nintendo releases a 1.5 release. Wow. That pretty much sums it up for me. Nintendo, to me, is the Disney of video games. They have this market figured out like no one else. It's not even close. But as a gamer, it's absolutely infuriating. What am I talking about, you ask? It is that Nintendo's business model and release schedule look basically amount to this:

1) Launch a new console
2) Release one game per franchise for the system.
3) Sell many, many, many copies of each of these games at full-price for the life of the system.
4) Launch new console. Rinse, repeat.

What this means is that we see a new Mario, Zelda, Metroid, whatever, but once every 5-6 years (the tired Mario Party series being the lone notable exception). This as opposed to everyone else's release schedule which requires that their game franchises see a sequel once ever year, or two years in some extreme cases. For the most part those sequels are nothing more than new levels on the exact same game.

Amazingly, Nintendo announced the forthcoming release of Super Mario Galaxy 2, which Miyamoto admitted is a 1.5/expansion-pack sequel to probably their most significant game of this generation. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I sat that this announcement from Nintendo is a mini-miracle. I'm ecstatic about it! Maybe, just maybe they'll do this sort of thing with some regularity. I'm not holding my breath though - I'll bet you a million yen that it's a one-time occurrence.