10 Things Kelly picked up from E3

I hate the video game industry.

This E3 was really kind of depressing. I had a hard time watching some of this stuff (and mostly didn't and chose to just read about it online), but with all the bull crap that goes into these presentations it's just.... it's painful. That is why I let other people watch it so that I can read about it later.

Anyways, here are 10 things I picked up from this years E3:



1) Microsoft is fully vested in the Kinect, whether it sucks or not. They are determined that this the revolution in gaming even if it is a terrible gaming device. I've been needing to talk about this thing, since I have played with it. An AMAZING piece of technology it most certainly is, and it is being wasted on video games.

But Microsoft wants to integrate it into everything. Minecraft for XBox 360 is pretty sweet, but Kinect integration? You mean, now all those people who enjoy mining for hours can now mine while swinging their arm up and down like it's a pick axe? Really? That sounds exactly like what every gamer has always wanted to do, thanks Microsoft!!!! But you know, I could just as easily do that with a Move controller or a Wiimote, so..........

2) Microsoft is clearly losing their foot hold on third party developers. Microsoft has never been known for excellent first party software and every decent studio they own wants to run away (*cough*Bungie*cough*), but the XBox 360 has enjoyed years of third party exclusives. For a long time, all Sony fans were either getting poorly ported versions of the same games, or weren't getting them at all. Developers did not want to develop for Sony's machine that was considerably more difficult to work with, but after years of superb first party titles proving what the PS3 was capable of, developers have been warming up to it.

So, Sony has finally won over third party support. What does that mean for Microsoft? All their "awesome games" are now also on the PS3. But don't let that stop you, Microsoft. Give those multi-platform games center stage at your presentation. Maybe no one will realize that they can also get it on PS3 (and PC, for that matter).

Or were you hoping that all those Kinect games were going to wow everyone? Oh wait! That's right, Gears of War 3 and Halo 4. Derp, my bad. Because no one saw those coming (I guess Patty didn't beat Halo 3 on Legendary.....).

3) Sony is fully vested in 3D. Seriously. STOP IT. One day the nation will suffer a massive migraine and 3D TVs will be to blame and then no one will want them anymore. Remember the last time 3D was popular? It was 1952. Let's take a cue from '60s and stop this crap now.

Fortunately, Sony is not madly in love with the Move. I am glad they still support it, but at least it is not on the forefront of their attention. This is a good thing.

4) Sony does have a sweet new handheld called the VITA. I really wanted to ignore this thing, I really did. But then I heard the word. And I'm very interested. But really, the only thing that has me keeping an eye out is the promise of cross-functionality with the PS3. Games will be coming out for both systems, and VITA gamers can play with their friends on PS3. This has promise. I am interested.

Oh, and $250? Sony pretty much said to Nintendo "3DS, what? Oh, that? Yeah, what does it do? Oh, nothing? Well, here, we're gonna sell this beast for the same price. K, thx!"

Sorry, but the 3DS has failed to impress me. But I guess Sony should be thankful. They have never outsold Nintendo in the handheld market in the history of ever until the 3DS came out. Once VITA comes, Nintendo will be scrambling to drop the price on that thing in a desperate attempt to sell it (at least until there are some decent games coming out that aren't ports of N64 games that we can play on Wii virtual console for $10).

6) Sony started out real well with their apology, until I realized something... They apologized for the outage, not for failing to properly encrypt customer information. The entire apology also smelled a lot like a PR fluff, basically saying "Sorry you were cut off from the greatest service in the existence of ever. We know it pained you to not be able to play our awesome games online and that sucks for you, but we're sorry it happened and hey, it's back so you can all go back to playing video games and buying things from the store." I took public relations classes, I know what this stuff looks like, and it was pretty much PR fluff.

7) Nintendo is out of their minds. The Wii U? Ok, first, watch this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TJ9oS9QDks&feature=related

I imagine that is what every Nintendo fan boy sounded like when the details of the Wii-U came out (I will have to call Patty's wife to confirm this)

I don't know where to begin on this. Part of me wants to jump up and down shouting "Wii-U!" too, but then there's the cynic in me that wants to run far, far away. Nintendo is kind of proving the fact that motion controls are NOT the future of gaming by moving away from those awful things. But this? A NEW innovation? I don't know if I can take it anymore.

I have a Wii. I avoid anything that using the "Wii-mote/Nun-chuck" like the plague. If it can't be played with a Gamecube or Classic controller, or the Wii-mote held sideways like an NES controller, I'm probably not going to play it. Sony has been using the SAME design since the Dualshock for PSOne, and it's still one of the best gamepads you can get for a console. It's going to take a lot to get me to put it down for something else.

But the new controller does have promise. I like the idea of playing Wii games on the controller. Remote Play for PSP should have been exciting, but it was widely unsupported and was extremely laggy. If I can take that controller outside and play Wii games on my porch, I'd be interested. Also, they need to work on support for more games like Four Swords and Crystal Chronicles, as they were on Gamecube.

But the design looks terribly uncomfortable to hold, and just.... really bulky. But I guess if people think that the iPad is a decent gaming device, then they should feel right at home holding this monster.

8) More crappy video games are coming out this year. Hope you like sequels to over rated games cause you aren't getting much else. The video game industry has clearly lost all sense of creativity as we keep getting shoveled the same games every year.

Oh hey, Tomb Raider! What does it have to do with Tomb Raider? They named the main character Lara Croft! Why do people do this????

At least there are a few creative minds out there, including.....

9) Vanillaware has a new game coming out called Dragon's Crown. If you aren't familiar with Vanillaware's Odin Sphere (PS2) or Muramasa (Wii), then you are missing out on two of the greatest games ever made. Unfortunately, neither game was able to see their full potential on either console. I have high hopes that the PS3 can bring the experience that Vanillaware's games deserve.

Oh, and it's a fantasy-style beat-em-up reminiscent of Golden Axe. So, combine one of my favorite developers with one of my favorite kinds of video games and you have a happy Kelly. Basically, this is the only game to be announced that has me going "SQUEEEEEEEE!!!!!"

10) If gaming continues on its current path, I'll probably give up gaming and pursue my love of the outdoors, lose some weight, and be physically fit again.