Microsoft's E32011 showing

[Zenks Renway]

I'm probably not in the right mind to give my 2 cents on this seeing that I don't own a 360 or Kinect but here's what I thought of it. I think Microsoft completely botched. Most of the stuff they showed was for Kinect, which I didn't really mind but most of the stuff they showed was just fun little stuff for fidgeting around on when you're bored like using your finger like its a sparkler to write your name and stuff. Cute ideas, sure, but like most of these cute ideas (Wii Music, anyone?) I can't see them having much longterm replay value... But enough of that, what about the games? Well... unfortunately that's where it gets out of hand with this showing.

The list of games Microsoft showed was pitiful, almost like they were trying to make some sort of retribution for PS3 gamers who've only just emerged from the PSN outage with their patience virtually tact. They showed almost no actual games at all. Yeah, Microsoft, instead of showing any material that people are interested in such as MGS Rising, you show off children's games... at a game showing where most of the audience is teen to adult gamers... How are these guys not insulted? I mean... Disneyland? It's just a cheap promotional plug!

And here's the best part- Double Fine, the developers renowned for making Psychonauts and Brutal Legend, 2 freaking badass and sadly overlooked games, come up. They show off a Sesame Street game of all things and I'm wondering "This has gotta be a joke, DF are actually just stalling on showing a sequel to Psychonauts or BL, right?..... Right?" But no, they're actually making this Sesame Street piece of crap. Congrats DF, I've now lost all my respect for you...

Gears of War 3 was shown. I don't like GoW but I guess if you're a fan of it you're probably interested, which is cool 8). Dance Central was also announced, which looks okay but TBH it doesn't look like the best rythm-based music game, even though I'm sure it'll please some owners of Kinect. And finally there's Halo 4... Yyyyeah, I don't really want to talk about it for fear of me nerdraging about how the game's probably going to suck. Sure, 343 Industries (naming your company after that little prick, huh? That's a good sign) has some of Bungie working with them on this game but it's a fact that developers made like this are usually terrible. Just look at High Impact Games, made of both former Naughty Dog and Insomniac people and what have they done? Ruin the Jak and Daxter series of course. But about Halo 4... Not to judge the game based solely on the trailer but to make a good trailer you need to leave a good impression and the impression this trailer gave was that claustrophobic people will hate this game. Plus, Cortana's back... Okay...

So overall I thought Microsoft did horribly with their showing. They showed hardly anything people would be interested in plus half of the games they showed weren't actual games.

Anyways, what did you guys think of Microsoft's showing at E3?

[DocWifi]

Yes its all going terrible, terrible wrong with Microsoft. They really just entered the motion race too late. And whats with the cutesy stuff? Surely they know that there are far more people that are over 5 years old that should be targeted. GoW is good but is not going to cut it on its own.

VG cats summed the E3 event well -

[Zenks Renway]

Heh. I actually thought Sony and Nintendo's showings weren't that bad- not that either of them were great though.

[Nintendo Master]

The main problem I have with Microsoft and Sony's E3 Showings is how they always have very little to announce. For example, Sony showed off the PSP2/NGP/Visa or whatever the hell it's called last year, building up unnecessary hype, knowing that the new system wasn't going to be released until almost two years later. At least with Nintendo their 3DS system was announced last year with only a matter of months until it was released.

I need to watch Microsoft's E3 fully before I make a judgement because I missed the live stream, but from what I've seen it was mainly quite dull. Like I said before, we want new, interesting announcements. Last year Nintendo announced 3DS. This year Nintendo announced Wii U. What did Microsoft announce this year? Well, they showed the already inevitable Halo 4 off, but other than that they just showed multiple games that had already been announced, complete with a very (and I mean VERY because I downloaded this myself) substandard free Kinect download. Seriously guys, are Nintendo the only ones who can excite people anymore?

Admittedly, Nintendo did show some games in their very early stages last year before fully revealing them this year, but that was needed to show people what to expect on their new handheld system. Microsoft had no excuse. To be honest, the only thing I really play on my Xbox anymore is Halo Reach. Nothing new really interests me that much. I'll probably get MW3 because I like the COD games, not because I'm a hyperactive fanboy who refuses to believe that anything else is better.

Just so you know, Nintendo is still my favourite company. It's just something about them; they always seem to pull off innovative new ideas well and everything they create has that unmatched Nintendo charm to it. I can't wait to get my hands on that Wii U and play some HD Zelda and Mario!