E3 2011: The Big Wrap Up and Whose Crowned King of E3?

By Neal "NeoMahi" Evans

If there's nothing more that anyone ever takes from following us on the XZONE, the one thing they'll take away is that we all speak our minds. Its not about watering it down or softening the blow or leaning in a direction that we just don't believe in as a means of pulling in a crowd. We're just not interested in that. To and at the very core, we're gamers. We game and we absolutely love it! Its a hobby, and a really expensive hobby at that. We do it all for the love of the game. Its not about an article getting the most comments or the most likes. Its not about doing it all for a raise to make our paycheck fatter, its all about telling it the way it is. We're not Paster Phillips that draws in his Sunday Mass to fill the collection plate to sound like we're 'Holier Than Thou' like the guys running a business. He wants you there so he can make money. That's not us. We're gamers just like you, and just like you we want to know where to put our money. That being said, lets talk about gaming post E3.

E3 is all over with and we've discovered its a really depressing feeling. Its a week filled with the biggest news, reveals and announcements socking you in the face again and again giving you a glimpse into the future as to what we can expect with things that will forever change our gaming universe in the year, and or, years to come.

The time has come, as in days of old, in which we gather round the water cooler to talk about things that were said and things that were shown. We've pretty much covered the Press Conferences and our initial thoughts on those but, as the days go on, you learn and discover more as things are constantly evolving. As in pretty much everything in life, there's always the King of the Hill and the Biggest Loser (no we're not talking about weight loss in this one though one of us around here sure could use it). Overall, we were totally satisfied and left feeling as though you'd been to a buffet and gorged yourself fat (which brings back the weight loss again) and now its time to crown the king and the winner much like us going several rounds at Street Fighter. Hey, you can't win 'em all. So, that being said, lets get to it.

Don Mattrick

Now, I've never been the biggest fan of Microsoft's hierarchy. To me, I just get this snub feeling of over-confident fiends I'd love nothing more than to sock them in the face. Last year was really no different. It takes confidence to sell? That may be true but, how is it then others are able to deliver just as successful a presentation? Well, my opinion of that has begun to change. Don Mattrick, I think, is the start of that. You look at the guy or, you sit and talk with him or you watch him converse with others and he really has a pretty humbling nature about him. I don't think he's out for blood as the usual Microsoft mentality may be. He's very respectful of others, their opinions and their push to become successful. Success is something Microsoft has aplenty in the world with as many area's as they're in and they don't really need to be out to make enemies. Don Mattrick in Microsoft's gaming division could change that, should he have the power and ability to do so.

You've heard us state before, perhaps several times but Mattrick had the stage set so perfectly to take a stab at Sony this year for 'allowing the PlayStation Network to collapse' and it could possibly have done wonders to bolster and tote their Xbox Live all the more but, to the best of my recollection, not one word was even uttered concerning Sony or Nintendo is a negative way. The only hint of such was mentioned by Spencer as 'everything from this point on will only be on Xbox 360.' I find that incredibly respectable of Microsoft to be human and understand and not hit the Man while he's down. Kudo's to Microsoft for that and I applaud them for it. I went back and reviewed his interview with GT and he was there to sell Xbox 360 but made no attempt to backhand anyone and looked pleasant to visit with even stating that he himself was interested in what Nintendo had to offer as we've even heard Microsoft's Larry Hyrb irresistibly take notice of Uncharted 2 and play it. Perhaps Mattrick can fool the crowd and just knows the right words to sell us, we'll never know, but I think he did well.

Jackie T.

Similarly, to the best of my recollection, I don't recall Jack Tretton making mention of Microsoft nor Xbox in any way as a means to degrade or bring them down. Tretton was set to address the PlayStation Outage concern and dealt with it both professionally and personally. The guys not an actor and his sales tactic is clear but, there was legitimacy to what was spoken and it was handled very well. Tretton is a man to talk to with optimism and he does have that confidence. Sony has gone from being the number one selling console right down to number three for the first time ever in their gaming console careers and its not something he's let trip him having to clean up messes. He's continually worked to find what's going to mean the most to the PlayStation 3 and welcome it and its developers to the family and he's got the sense of humor to make a heavy situation feel incredibly light.

At the start of Sony's press conference, the weight was extremely heavy as the crowd awaited to see and hear how Sony would deal with the situation placed before them. I was surprised to see that it was Jack that would address the outage. I was expecting Sony's next in line to Howard Stringer Kaz Hirai. It was something to work through but, Tretton swung right back and delivered the Press Conference Sony needed sprinkled with that sense of humor. Tretton was also asked of his excitement learning of the new Nintendo console, again, as with Mattrick but, Tretton had stated:

"At the end of the day, I'm a fan of the industry and I root for everybody to be successful because I do be the rising tide of sal boats and we do get a lot of people that were telling me in the 80's that we're all going to be playing games on PC's exclusively and now people are telling me that people just want to play Angry Bird's on a smart phone." 

He's a business man and he sells games and technology and to effectively sell games, that gamer has to be in you. It was also brought up to Tretton, again through GT, about how he felt about the hackers. Tretton replied with:

 "I don't know. I prefer to focus on the people that enjoy playing games and those are the people that matter to me. I guess there's a lot of hobbies out there. Just not all of them that I can relate too."

Iwata

You know this guy by the name of Satoru Iwata. You're also familiar with Reggie Fils-Aime. What I don't understand with these two is how they work with Nintendo. Take a look at Shigeru Miyamotto. They're polar opposites as well as everyone else for Nintendo who took the stage. I suppose it provides balance though you really view Nintendo and their offices, for the most part, as organized chaos. Iwata and Fils-Aime, they're both totally down to business without a smile on their face. If there is a smile, its to show face. When we look at Miyamotto, he's more what Nintendo is known for. A smile. Its about passion for the game. Loving what you do.

Look at the gaming industry. Lets take Epic Games, Naughty Dog, BioWare, Bungie, Insomniac, Treyarch, Chair etc just to name a few. They're all built up of younger developers probably young adult to mid twenties and they're so into games and so driven by a love for it that it shows in their final product. Take a look at Nintendo and groups that develop for them, they're developers that have really been around the block and are experienced. Around since the beginning of gaming and that's seen in them. Nintendo should always be synonymous for a smile because that's what they claim they shoot for. Its all about gaming with a smile on your face through the whole experience.

The presentation of all three developers had flash. Nintendo had even upgraded the look of their stage which we were impressed with. Both Microsoft and Sony definitely had more to show on stage that Nintendo did as their press conference was predominately video wow, if not all video. Nintendo did have a live symphony though it didn't quite stand out to me as much as it did during the commentating of Zelda's twenty-five years. Maybe most didn't really digg it but, I grew up on classical music. I love it. Sony, mostly because of their after-party had a live DJ. Microsoft and Sony came close but, we're going to give the win to Sony with the amount of bigger games shown and their excellent effort and dealing with a tough crowd and rising above to show they can move on.

Such Detail

Sony opened up their E3 Press Conference with a huge bang beginning with Uncharted 3 and we couldn't be more excited for it. Its easily my own personally most anticipated game of the year. The tech that Naughty Dog throws together is astounding. I was a little worried that Uncharted wouldn't be able to stand up to Gears of War 3 this time around but I was completely blown away and totally surprised at what was shown and seeing it in 3D just really got me even more pumped to play the game. The other really big announcement concerning Uncharted 3 was the fact that Sony Computer Entertainment and Naughty Dog are practically giving away their competitive multiplayer experience. How that works from a business standpoint is beyond me. Naughty Dog, this time around, have opted to even state themselves that they're geared up to take on the biggest and baddest in the multiplayer ring. This is uncommon for Naughty Dog as up until Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, its all been about singleplayer campaigns and here, Uncharted 3 is only their second attempt. Isn't that something you want to use to sell the game? What if gamers pick up the competitive multiplayer and leave the singleplayer, their strongest point, to dust. Clearly, they know what they're doing and this, for me is unheard of. A total surprise but, its getting the game out to even those who aren't sold on Uncharted, for free! That's huge! More will in time, come up with their partnership with Subway restaurants but, I was surprised Naughty Dog were prepared to give it away.

$250 vs $250

The announcement details of the PlayStation Vita were just as big. PlayStation Vita is definitely going to give the Nintendo 3DS a run for their money. Its going to be really interesting to see how Nintendo reacts to the pricing of the PlayStation Vita (almost typed NGP as this is going to a difficult transition now), as to whether Nintendo was budge with their sales as low as they've been, or whether they'll stick to their guns and believe the 3DS has what it takes to take on the PlayStation Vita as it was announced the Sony would be partnering with AT&T to deliver a 3G experience for $299.99 or will give consumers the option to pick up a WiFi model at a $249.99 price point that packs 5X the power at the same price point and that's price point is a definite sweet spot as the moment Kaz announced it, the crowd were excited.

Its clear that Sony needs to focus on the unique nature and game style of the PlayStation Vita (almost did it again), to give it that differentiating feel as why gamers should invest in their hardware. The fear is that the PSV will become a port machine but really, most handheld's are like that. With Nintendo, you had the Game Boy that was hindered by the fact it was practically a super-powered calculator in terms of visuals. A black and green screen that played all the games the NES played like Tetris and Mario. The handheld was as powerful but, the game was done and a Game Boy logo was tagged on it. Still, with a good selection of unique titles like Little Deviants, the PlayStation Vita has solid chance and competing with the 3DS. The DS, is a different story.

Sony had shown a lot with the PlayStation Move and Medieval Move has a little concerned, though we were also concerned we didn't see Sorcery there either. Starhawk however, look amazing and we can't wait to get our hands on the final build. With what we've seen with multiplayer, fans of the series won't be disappointed and Starhawk takes it all to the next level.

The overall impression we've gotten with Sony is that Sony could potentially become the platform for online gaming. Their bases are covered. With games like Resistance 3, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, Starhawk and Twisted Metal to name a few that's insane! Sony certainly isn't letting up at all and even more exclusive content for games are still coming and Sony have chosen to play Microsoft's game.

In some ways, we're sort of disappointed here. Its awesome Sony fans will get to digg into BioShock and even use the PlayStation Move for BioShock Infinite but, didn't Battlefield 1943 come bundled with the Ultimate Edition of Battlefield 2? Sony gamers ought to be disappointed with what EA is doing. EA can do better than that. We're grateful that EA is giving us some lovin but, its all pretty cheap lovin.

Sony had an excellent show and we're not going to leave you in suspense here but we're claiming Sony as this years E3 Crowned King. Uncharted 3, their continued support with 3D and constant drive to keep the Core gamer driven to the PlayStation Move and their addressing of the PlayStation Network all comes together with their strength of First-Party titles and their continual support from third-party developers that are really warming up to the PS3, its only getting better and will continue to get better from here on out. Though we didn't get a God of War IV announcement, we're confident that will make it next year.

We've spent majority of the time on our King and the winner and we did that purposefully. With Microsoft, though they had some cool things to show with Kinect and Ghost Recon, that was about it and we're equally as drab as everyone else and will join with them in saying that Microsoft just didn't have it this year and really need to get it together next year. Likely the biggest of moment of Microsoft's conference to most gamers was the gameplay of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. But lets get real, its also coming to PlayStation 3 and Activision aren't going to let go Sony's momentum and the money they can make on the PS3 which is why the exclusive content coming first to Xbox 360 for Call of Duty, isn't far off on PlayStation Network.

Search Bing!

Bing was an announcement that really caught my attention. If there's that much more on that Dashboard that can be done with Kinect, as far as my navigation, that's great. One of my all-time biggest gripes with Xbox Live! is how cluttered it is. I was just on Live last night to finally download The Lab, and there were advertisements galore. Fall can't come soon enough for me as giving voice commands to search is going to be substantially easier so, on paper it all sounds great.

Everything else for Kinect was pretty meh. Microsoft still can't figure which audience they want to cater Kinect to and its a problem. While Disney and Sesame Street will cater to younger kids, Fable on a rail isn't exactly what I was looking for. No Steel Battalion was shown nor the creator of Panzer Dragoon's title was shown either. Kinect has no analog stick to move around and its going to kill them and their appeal to the Core gamer. Lets face it, motion control on Kinect is for the casual gamer who wants to play party games. The Core gamer still isn't convinced and what's more is the lag we're seeing. With PlayStation Move and likely Wii U, its smooth 1:1 movement. With Kinect, its not and we're not sold. When Cliff Bleszinski said that Quantic Dreams had it all wrong that were caterring to the wrong crowd with Heavy Rain and needed to cater more to women, well, Uncharted managed to do both capturing the attention for women who want that great storyline, but also that action and adventure with story and phenomenal multiplayer that core gamers want. Sony does in fact know how to cater their products and advertise them well. SCEA's CEO has his degree in Marketing. It couldn't have worked out any better.

But, Microsoft have always been in an identity crisis. They don't know what they want. With Nintendo, its always been about family games while Sony's mentality was similarly to Sega's. Give them the blood and gore of Mortal Kombat, so to speak.

The announcements of new Halo games I thought would really take the crowd, but I've been asking about that with gamers and they don't care. I think Halo really is on its way out and Gears of War is taking over. Perhaps the excitement is gone now that Bungie is no longer developing it. We don't agree that the Halo team remains at Microsoft. They left along with Bungie knowing each other well to work with Activision unlike Infinity Ward where some stayed behind. We don't quite buy that.

Gears of War 3 I think is going to struggle, as far as E3 goes. The demo that was shown, we weren't as impressed with as we could have been mostly because we'd already seen it pre-E3. We're still waiting for the big announcement that Cliffy B. promised will have the world talking. We honestly thought Epic Games were going to announce Gears of War was coming to PlayStation 3. Then the world would have talking.

As you read earlier as well, we weren't happy to see how Ice-T performed. He can play the game but, did they not give him a teleprompter to follow? Epic and Cliffy B. should have had their face burried in their hands. This was not their best E3 showing. Their last two were great but this year it didn't happen. I'd almost say their stage showing they ought to be ashamed of. It wasn't a surprise to us at all unlike its real competition this year being Uncharted 3 that blew us away and even its announcement with Chloe and Elena returning! That's why Sam Burnes hasn't been really shown as much and Tina in Gears 3, because Claudia's been busy at Naughty Dogs studio.

That aside, we're really interested in the direction that Horde Mode is going and we love it! We can't wait to get our hands on the final build or I guess, I can't wait to get my hands on the final build and play through the campaign. Producer Rod Ferguson talked about how you could play through the campaign as one side and replay through from a different view. We're still a little foggy on that and have to look into it more but, as long as we don't finish one and replay the same stage but a little differently following that, we're good. We don't want repetition. With Horde Mode, it was announced there would be mods for Big Head and Hands mode, and its really not what we wanted. Its gimmicky and its been done before and we hope that Epic Games had focused on other area's of the game. The money system works and its innovative and we love that RTS mix into the game. Its area's like that which we feel Epic will come closer to obtaining their goal of successful multiplayer. So we'll see how it goes when we can play the game in a few months.

U Come Play With Wii

Nintendo we were actually left with a bitter taste in our mouths. It wasn't the innovation with the Wii U that we expected. The Wiimote totally blew us away with innovation in gaming and motion control's first really big introduction into gaming. Wii U didn't do that for us. We, as well as I, believe that it's going to work well for the hardcore Nintendo fans. But, I also believe that those whom supported Nintendo heavily and moved on to the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, aren't going to have any real reason to go back. The specs haven't been revealed in detail yet, but the Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4 aren't going to be too far off and will offer a lot more power. From rumors I've heard, many third-party developers aren't exactly interested in developing games currently in production for the Wii U and that they'll be porting the 360 build to the Wii U similarly to how things started with PlayStation 3.

We're convinced that this may actually be the break Sony's been looking for in the sense that Sony will become the middle man. We know its easier to develop for the PlayStation 3 and port to the Xbox 360 to deliver better performance on both consoles and Uncharted 3 will drive the industry as far as developers to push for more and use the PS3 as their lead mostly because again, its easier to port but also that the PS3 has that little bit of graphical edge that will make sense to port to the Wii U, if that makes sense. Nintendo, like Sony, are really going to have to do the job themselves as far as getting the graphical finesse. Its also clear that Nintendo are going to work as Sony have this generation. The Wii isn't going to fall into the abyss as the Cube and 64 did as newer consoles came out. The Wii will remain for the casual gamer.

Nintendo's prime concerns right now are the cost of their controller and the yes confirmed that Sony have stated that:

 "SCE's worldwide studios boss has strongly suggested that the PS3 and PS Vita can effectively replicate the Wii U console. The boss noted already people are starting to ask about linking PS Vita and PS3 to do something similar, and he added that there is a lot of experimenting going on right now."

Even if this is something Sony hasn't had planned with the PlayStation Vita and its hardware is possible, this takes some umpf from Nintendo is a cause for concern. It even seemed to me as though Nintendo recycled their game showing of last year and the Core audience still aren't opening their wallets to pick up a 3DS. I'm at buyers remorse still as the game selection still just isn't there. There weren't so many rushing to Nintendo's hardware as you may have seen checking out Dance Central 2 or the PlayStation Vita. Nintendo also lost one of their big franchise exclusives to Microsoft and Sony's platform as Just Dance 3 will see other platforms. I suppose the tease of Smash Bros can get us excited. But, from shots we've seen of the actual hardware itself, the lack of a HDD may keep the cost down but, we've heard from developers as well that even though they're still warming up to PlayStation 3 hardware, that HDD in every console makes things all the easier along with the storage capacity of blu-ray disc.

Online Connection Capable??

This means as well, with such a leap, that Nintendo are really going to have to push their online services as well and really bolster up their online gaming. Nintendo consoles this far aren't the most ideal for online gaming. Especially when pitted up against Xbox Live which for the time is toted the superior online gaming experience but, Microsoft have chosen not to be just about online gaming but, several other media services all wrapped into one. That's going to be tough for Nintendo to work with and give as they're really pushing for the Core audience this time remember.

Perhaps we're just being to hard but, its that outlook of realistically looking beyond I warned you about at the start of this. We're looking at Sony's future and we whole heartedly believe that serious developers are looking more into Sony's platform more and more. PlayStation has a reputation of longevity in its console constantly and consistantly pulling a new rabbit out of its hat which is why Sony talks about their ten year life-cycle. Crytek may have claimed they maxed out the PlayStation 3 but, their execution of such didn't leave a lasting impression that leaves its gamers blown away in awe. So many other PS3 titles do. On the same matter, its believed and has been stated by EA that they've absolutely done everything with the Xbox 360. Gears of War 3 surprised us having found a way to get more but, Epics concern now has to be storage capacity and the fact that not all Xbox 360's have a HDD to work with. Gears of War 3 could possibly ship as a two disc set to get everything they want out their next experience. Sony's long touted ten year life-cycle isn't just words, its something that's been proven throughout their consoles as the Honda of gaming consoles.

Moving on to the rest of the show, I was disappointed to hear nothing more from Metal Gear Solid: Rising. Child of Eden was out but thankfully, we got a lot more info on Batman: Arkham City and we're not so worried about sharing the game with Catwomen. We can't wait to see what Hugo strange is up to and sock the diabolical riddler right in the sucker. Two-Face is going to get sacked and we can't wait to see what an iced over gigantic ice-box awaits us as we're still convinced the Penguin will show up at some point. We pray for the absence of Mr. Freeze for now. Batman and Robin still lingers on our minds crippling us in fear like Dr. Craine.

I'm as well interested in more that Ninja Gaiden 3 has to offer. It really seems as though Team Ninja are finding ways to Westernize the game and change things up and give us a different experience this time around and the game's graphics are beautiful as usual.

Its Voice Command. Only On Kinect?

Now, Mass Effect 3 has me scratching my head in a few ways and I think very shortly my questions are going to be answered unless Microsoft are waiting at BioWares door with a fat check in their hands. Again, at Microsoft's Press Conference, they put an emphasis on Voice and using the built in Microphone and voice recognition. Kinect had no other relation to Mass Effect in any way. The game wasn't even going to go controller free (again I believe its because an analog stick is absent) but, we've seen a Tom Clancy, that I believe was Total War, but the game ran on voice command so, this is nothing new. What I have to wonder is, isn't this something that could be done with the PS3 with the PlayStation Eye or even easier and less expensive, a headset Xbox 360 or Bluetooth? It a $20 headset versus a $150 dollar peripheral. If this was something Microsoft were aiming to sell the Core audience on Kinect, it sort of just flew out the window. There is, as of now, no other integration of Kinect in the gaming experience. The trailer looked great and we thought, wow, can this actually be done on a current gen console but, as we saw gameplay, it was very reminiscent of the PS3 version running on the new Engine. Don't get us wrong, none of this deters us from our initial interest in seeing this bad boy play in action. Its mearly that what was demoed and in the manner in which it was shown confused us.

With Battlefield 3, Twisted Metal, Modern Warfare 3 and so many other games to talk about, its impossible to fit it all in and really do justice giving credit where its deserved. We definitely expect Microsoft to unveil their new console next year and we look forward to the things ahead both this year with Skyrim ahead as well what we'll be seeing next year.

What are your thoughts on this years E3? Do you agree Sony have taken the show, or do you believe either Microsoft or Nintendo merit a win? Perhaps you think that none of them were worth the time taken. Sound off in the comments section below. Perhaps we hit a nerve somewhere along the way.

For all things E3, Microsoft, Nintendo or Sony and all other things gaming, check back with us as we keep you inside the X-Gaming Zone right here on the XZONE at ThumbDrive.