adam reeve

So the dust has finally settled on E3, now seems like a good time to take a step back and see what all the fuss was about. As expected, all three next-gen consoles were unveiled (to some extent) during the preshow, and I think there were more than a few surprises. First, the good stuff:

• Microsoft announced backward compatibility for the new Xbox. This is a big deal, both for new customers who will get a large game library from day 1, and also for existing players like myself who don’t want to keep both (rather large) boxes hanging around under the TV.
• We saw in-game action from a number of Xbox 360 titles, including Gears of War, which looked amazing. There were also some dazzling tech demos from Sony, but nothing much in the way of real live game play – their game demos were prerendered (even if they were “in spec”). I’m not too worried about that – they do after all have an additional six months or so to finish the thing.
• The design of the Revolution is really nice – compact, modern, and stylish. If anything it seems to borrow from their nemesis, the PSP. It’s just a shame it was only an empty box.
• The PS3 looks amazingly well kitted out. Very high specs on both CPU and graphics, blu-ray hidef DVD, and more expansion ports than you can shake a stick at. What really surprised me was the Compact Flash and SD card slots. Is this a first for a Sony device?
• The Revolution will be able to download and play all the classic Nintendo games from yesteryear – Mario, F-Zero, Golden Eye, etc. I’m not a huge retro gamer I have to admit, but I know this will appeal to a lot of people.

So all in all, some good stuff. The demos were way beyond what I expected, if they can really get games coming out looking that good, well I’ll be first in line to buy. Of course, not everything is roses. What went wrong?

• Nintendo showed an empty box. With no controllers. Seriously – guys – sort it out. It’s one thing to play your cards close to your chest, that makes sense given that you’re at least 12 months out, but really, people need something. All we really heard was “small box, old games, no details”. Colour me unimpressed.
• The world does not need another GameBoy. Stop it.
• The PS3 rendered demos – nice, but we simply don’t believe you Sony – you did it before with the PS1 and PS2. Come back when you have a real, live game.
• The Xbox360 design. I actually liked it at first, but I’m getting tired of it. A vast improvement on the original, but, just not right. Looks like Lego or something.
• What’s up with all the PSP games that weren’t on show? There were like 5 in the whole place. Sony – we know there are more games coming out, why the poor showing?
• Gizmondo. Give up. Now.
• The PS3 should not share it’s font with Spiderman. It’s not big, it’s not clever, and it won’t make me buy a console.

That’s it for now, if I think of anything else you’ll be the first to know!