2009 E3 Big 3 Wrapup

As promised, here's my wrap-up of the big 3's press conferences for this year's E3. As usual, keep in mind that these are only my opinions. You don't have to agree, and you probably won't. I'm a type-B (devoted but level-headed and unbiased) Nintendo fanboy, and I have little love for Sony, so keep that in mind. As usual, I'll do my best to keep everything completely fair and unbiased.

The first conference, taking place yesterday, was Microsoft. And let me tell you, they really stole the show. The biggest announcement was Project Natal, a motion-sensing camera. It can track your motion in three dimensions, recognize your face and voice, and so on. It was shown with a motion-based painting game, a table tennis - like game, and most impressively, Milo. Milo is a boy you can talk to and interact with; he'll recognize you, listen to you, react to your facial expressions, and more. One journalist suggested the character commented on the color of his shirt, and looked disgusted when his creator, Peter Molyneux, was mentioned. I also read about someone trying a very fully-functional Burnout-like game with it, using realistic controls; steering, virtual pedals, etc.

The video for Project Natal certainly looked impressive, but I'm not sure it can really live up to the hype. After all, the Playstation Eye was supposed to do the same thing, and it certainly did not. Still, Project Natal looks like some powerful technology, and I hope they get it really working well.

Microsoft also had non-Natal games to show, of course. The first big one was the multiplatform Metal Gear Solid Reach, which will star Raiden. Left 4 Dead 2 will have new survivors and new melee combat, Assassin's Creed 2 looks awesome, and so on. New exclusives include Forza 3, which looks pretty much what you'd expect, and Halo Reach, a new Halo game that serves as a prequel to the trilogy. While most seem to assume it will be another FPS, I kind of doubt that they'd do another one, especially with Halo 3: ODST being almost a new game. They showed a lot of that one as well, and it looks like a very different single-player experience than playing as Master Chief. It seems more character-based, with The Rookie being a more relatable character and having flashbacks to other ODSTs. I'm looking forward to it. Crackdown 2 and Mass Effect 2 were also shown, and both look quite impressive.

Next up was Nintendo. Since the Wii already has a motion controller, and with their new hardware already known (the already-released DSi and the Wii Motion Plus), they kept their promise to focus on the games. They certainly started off with a bang: New Super Mario Bros. Wii, a Wii sequel to the severely popular DS game. It's the first co-op Mario platformer; people have described it as like a Mario version of Four Swords. On the subject of Mario, another first for the series will be Super Mario Galaxy 2, the first sequel to a major Mario platformer on the same system since the series entered 3D.

They then moved up to a sequel for another bestseller, Wii Fit Plus. It will feature a more personalized workout, new exercises, and new minigames. One I'm particularly excited about is basically a balance board - controlled platformer; while you play as your Mii, it's basically putting you in Mario's shoes. And there was even more Mario to show for the DS: Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, another DS entry in the Mario and Luigi RPG series, will feature adventures inside Bowser. Yeah. I'm not sure how they'll do it, but I trust them.

Another major Nintendo character getting a new game is Samus, with the upcoming Wii game Metroid: Other M. It will feature both traditional 3rd-person Metroid platforming and the first-person action from the Prime series. It looks stunning, and I can't wait to give it a play. Sin and Punishment 2 was also shown, and it looks pretty awesome. Same goes for Final Fantasy: The Crystal Bearers, which doesn't look nearly as kiddie as I expected. Dead Space Extraction also looked sweet.

The Wii Motion Plus was also shown in action, with Ubisoft's Red Steel 2 and some EA Sports games. Also shown were some pretty sweet games from Wii Sports Resort, including a skydiving one. It looks like the Wii Motion Plus will be a big improvement, so I'm looking forward to it.

There was plenty more love for the DS and DSi as well. Already announced in Japan, WarioWare: DIY will let you design your own WarioWare microgames. It'll be a DSiWare download. Two big regular DS games shown were the newly-announced Golden Sun DS and the long-awaited Kindgom Hearts 358/2 Days. There was also the GTA-like "Cop: The Recruit" and the DSi flipbook-making game "Flipnote Studio".

Sony had the last word this year, and they also announced a new motion controller. Unlike Microsoft's project, the PS3 motion controller looked a lot like the Wii Remote and Nunchuck, and didn't really seem to sport any better or more complex motion sensing than the Wii Motion Plus. It also requires the Playstation Eye, which didn't really get very far by itself. It would probably have been more exciting if Project Natal wasn't announced first, but we'll see which ends up being better. They showed a pretty cool sword-based tech demo, and while it didn't look any more impressive than Red Steel 2, it still looked pretty cool. Still, it's not going to make me buy a PS3 when I already have a Wii, so it doesn't do what I imagine they wanted.

Also on the hardware front, the already-known PSP Go. It's not a new console, but a redesign of the PSP. It has no UMD drive; instead, it has 16 gigabytes of on-board storage for downloaded games. From now on, all PSP games will be released on UMD and as downloads for the PSP Go. It will be priced at $250.

Before I move on to games, I'd like to express how stupid I find the PSP Go. It looks less comfortable, has a smaller screen, won't let you play PSP games you already have (thus not really allowing current PSP owners to upgrade), and doesn't add any substantial new features. Media sharing's nice, but it doesn't compare to the DSi's new features. It also costs $250, the same price as the Wii, $80 more than the PSP-3000 and DSi, and $120 more than the DS Lite.

Now that I'm done ranting, let's continue with the games. The PSP Go was primarily shown with the upcoming PSP version of Little Big Planet. There will also be a new Metal Gear game for the system, called Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker, which will be a part of the main series and not a spin-off. Resident Evil Portable is coming as well, an all-new game in the series, although that's about all we know. But perhaps the biggest PSP game announcement was the PSP Gran Turismo game, which was meant to be a launch title and was long thought to be vaporware.

It will be joined by Gran Turismo 5 on the PS3, which will be bigger than Prologue. Another big Playstation name coming to the system is God of War III, which looks pretty much like the other ones but with better graphics. Uncharted 2 was also shown, and what's really impressive about that game is the draw distance; you can see a LOT. Another impressive game was MAG; although its gameplay and asthetics are pretty generic, it's an FPS that supports over 100 people playing at a time.

There's also a new PS3-exclusive Rockstar game coming, called Agent. It's spy-related, but not much was shown. Sony thinks the exclusivity will sell as many consoles as GTA 3 did, but I'm not holding my breath. Next is the PS3-exclusive Final Fantasy XIV. That's right, XIII isn't even done yet and they're already working on XIV. It'll be an MMO, like XI, so it'll be interesting to see how that works on a console. The Last Guardian, by Team Ico, is another new PS3-exclusive from Team Ico, and it looks pretty sweet. I don't know much about it yet, but it looks beautiful.

So, what does this all mean? Now that the Xbox 360 and PS3 will have motion controllers, is the Wii dead? In short, no. In long: First of all, the appeal of the Wii is more than motion sensing, at least to the mass audience. It's the games, especially first-party ones, and the ease of use. It's meant to be something anyone can pick up and play; nice and simple. The other consoles don't have that; Project Natal requires getting a camera, and the PS3 one requires a camera AND a new controller. That's another thing: these new motion control tools are not part of the essential system; they're add-ons. Add-ons are great, but they never do as well as they would if they were essential to the system because not everyone will get them. See the Sega Genesis and its add-ons. Certainly the casual crowd will be weary of it. Price is also an issue; the PS3 has always been too expensive. And while the Xbox 360 Arcade is cheaper than the Wii, the camera tips it back in the Wii's favor. Then there's the fact that this late in the game, a lot of people have made their choices. Who knows, I could be wrong. But in my history of video game blogging, I'm usually right about these things. It'll be the Playstation Eye all over again.

It seems to be a theme for journalists and bloggers to pick a "winner" for E3. In that spirit, I'd have to say that if anyone "won" E3, it's clearly Nintendo. If not for what they presented, then for what their competitors presented. Sony and Microsoft, whose official stances have always been that the Wii's motion control is no big deal, coming out with their own motion controllers is the best affirmation possible of the Wii's success.