Is it just me? Or is E3 lacking this time round?

[Mookyjooky]

Maybe its just my perspective, and if it is, let me know... but I just feel that E3 is lacking that special something that the others had. (No, I dont mean booth babes) I just feel like the industry seems to be slowing down, maybe because it takes years to make a game now?

I feel like so far, we've seen, or knew this was all coming. Some examples.

MGS4 - Already seen it, now gimmie something I cant live without buying this game. To be honest, I would of rather a ZoE game.

GTA4 - Sounds great? Shots?

Nintendo Wii - Looks awesome, but for such a kinesthetic system, do videos really do it justice? No.

Gears of War - We've seen enough, now we just want to see it on shelves.

A lack of new handheld (and PC) games? - Whats up with that?

PS3 - Why does it still feel like complete bullshit? Can we get a playable demo?

Xbox 360 - The Vista stuff is cool (Live Anywhere) - but what about the announcement that you're fixing Backwards Compatiblity?

Nintendo, I love what you're doing, any idea on when you'll get a new franchise? I think Mario is getting tired of playing every sport. At least bring back kid icarus, ice climber or duck hunt. Ok, duck hunt is back - screens?

Why do all these games feel like we've seen them all before? Oh, because we've seen all them, at the LAST E3. Its been a whole year and some of these videos only have 20 seconds of new footage! WTF? Playable DEMOS, please.

I dunno, maybe its just me... discuss. =)

[evilmax17]

You forget last year. E3 '05 was one of the worst E3's in recent memory.

[Roufuss]

A lack of new handheld (and PC) games? - Whats up with that?


A lack of handheld games? DS has had a ton of new announcements, already, and the PSP is starting to get a few of its own (and will probably have more in the coming few days).

[shipwreck]

Let's wait until after today (the day E3 actually starts) to determine if this E3 is lacking or not. Today will be the day we'll actually get to see people's reactions to what is on the floor and what is playable.

[Mookyjooky]

Let's wait until after today (the day E3 actually starts) to determine if this E3 is lacking or not. Today will be the day we'll actually get to see people's reactions to what is on the floor and what is playable.

You're right. True, true.

[the3rdkey]

Duck is back with a gun!

[Apossum]

so far, It's all about Nintendo this year. There were some good announcements for the 360 and the PS3 presentation was more than a little disturbing.

The amount of good-looking DS and Wii titles is unreal though. safe to say that Nintendo is putting on it's best E3 showing ever.

[javeryh]

Well, I guess I'll disagree but I know where you are coming from - granted, I've become less and less excited about e3 as the years go by and that's probably due to just getting older and having a lot of other crap on my mind but this year's e3 has been pretty good so far (probably borderline great even). I always enjoy e3 more when we are on the cusp of a major launch and this year we get two of them - plus, one of the systems is looking to radically alter the way we play games forever. I'm definitely excited about that.

As for the press conferences themselves, I feel like it's become mostly marketing hype (instead of actually showcasing the future of the industry which was the original intent of the show) and really not much was shown that we didn't already know about. However there were a few gems in there from all three major companies and a couple of bombs dropped ($600+ PS3 anyone?). There are also two relatively new handhelds just hitting their strides and lots of cool games were shown for both.

Last year I really didn't give a crap about anything shown at e3 but this year I can rattle off 10 or more games that I'm buying on day 1. I actually think this year is about the best we can expect...

[Mookyjooky]

so far, It's all about Nintendo this year. There were some good announcements for the 360 and the PS3 presentation was more than a little disturbing.

The amount of good-looking DS and Wii titles is unreal though. safe to say that Nintendo is putting on it's best E3 showing ever.

I agree with that mostly... but Nintendo still hasnt sold me completely with the Wiimote. It looks great, and I'm sure I'll buy it. But I also expected the graphics to look a little better than a gamecube. Also, it really feels like most of these games are Gamecube sequels with wiimote tacked on.

I guess I'm just getting frustrated with the "Look at all this cool shit!" that Nintendo keeps throwing at me... yet I look around at stores and its nowhere to be found.

[BustaUppa]

I'm actually more excited than I've ever been about e3. This is the first year I'm really paying attention to it.

[Robobandit]

I agree with that mostly... but Nintendo still hasnt sold me completely with the Wiimote. It looks great, and I'm sure I'll buy it. But I also expected the graphics to look a little better than a gamecube. Also, it really feels like most of these games are Gamecube sequels with wiimote tacked on.

I guess I'm just getting frustrated with the "Look at all this cool shit!" that Nintendo keeps throwing at me... yet I look around at stores and its nowhere to be found.

yeah, I like what they're doing.. I think that their 27 playable titles (I think that is more than 360 and ps3 combined.. but I could be wrong) on the show floor for Wii is very impressive.

I'm sure we'll all be buried in hands-on impressions over the next 3-4 days.

[trip1eX]

It's all a big hurry up and wait. A meeting to discuss a meeting. That's what E3 is. IT's everyone looking forward to hearing about what they are going to have to wait 6-18 months for. I think this is standard Chinese Torture 101. :)

I gotta discipline myself to only look forward to when said product comes out. LIke the Wii. It excites me, but dam it's hard to get too excited 6 months out. I'm actually tuning out the Wii details now because it's so far away. I'll wait till November and start ramping up my excitement from there. IN the meantime it's back to the games that I have now.

The other thing that bugs me about E3 is everyone over-analyzing it. Oh they didn't announce this or show that or these guys 'won.' They treat E3 like the rest of the world revolves around it. LIke if you don't show game 'abc' then you're doomed!!! It's also too focused on trailers that aren't even actual gameplay. And trailers that show the game from a perspective you'll never yourself see from in the game aka showing the game off like a movie. Also it bugs me when folks give awards to best of show when said game wasn't even playable. Or they go ga-ga over a trailer. Give me a break. Trailers are a dime a dozen.

[Purkeynator]

I pretty much am in the camp that this year was a let down. There was really nothing unexpected shown. We pretty much already knew what was coming and got what we expected. More sequels. More expensive consoles. More gimmicks from Nintendo. I too felt like this was kind of a build up for a let down.

[MadFlava]

Unfortunately we are seeing less and less innovative titles coming out. Everything is either a sequel or clone of another popular series. Makes going through the long list of E3 games a chore. Sifting through the GTA and Halo clones to find anything remotely interesting. I'm excited that new systems made debuts but that was quickly quelled by the large price tags for the PS3. No real surprises, a lot of games that we saw last year but in finished form. These lack luster E3 could spell trouble for the future of the industry as a whole.

[Mookyjooky]

Unfortunately we are seeing less and less innovative titles coming out. Everything is either a sequel or clone of another popular series. Makes going through the long list of E3 games a chore. Sifting through the GTA and Halo clones to find anything remotely interesting. I'm excited that new systems made debuts but that was quickly quelled by the large price tags for the PS3. No real surprises, a lot of games that we saw last year but in finished form. These lack luster E3 could spell trouble for the future of the industry as a whole.

I agree, I mean, does Metroid Prime look at all different from Prime 1 or 2? Not really.

Playing through a game with a slightly tweeked skill-set is getting annoying the 2nd or 3rd time around.

I think ALL of us knew what E3 would bring, its like opening all your Christmas presents before Christmas. You're excited all to hell, but in the back of your mind, you're a little let down you ruined the surprise.