My Thoughts on the Rest of the Conferences
For those of you still winding down from E3, I decided to give you all something to read in the meantime. Now that E3 is over and done with, I actually have a chance to write my thoughts on how the show went this year. I would have written something on the other conferences sooner, but you’d be surprised how hard it is to manage time for such tasks when you’re on the move.
Beginning with the Ubisoft conference, Aisha Tyler stole the show. Though she was reading a teleprompter, she seemed to be the less awkward one of the presenters and her quirks sounded like something she’d say regardless if she was on stage or not. Toby Turner, a YouTube star and Machinima partner, didn’t bring his A game this time around. He sounded like he was trying too hard and was stepping over Aisha’s toes. Even if it was scripted to be that way, it still made me cringe. He was this year’s Mr. Caffeine. The event opened with a performance by Flo Rida to announce Just Dance 4, which didn’t seem to impress anyone at the venue or those watching from home (I was in the office at the time).
Despite hearing others groaning already that the show was going to be another letdown, a pair of digitized knockers appeared on the big screen. Far Cry 3 hit the ground running with some nudity and vulgar language, and seemed to keep the viewers mesmerized throughout the presentation. I will admit the footage made me curious about the game, but I was unable to play the Far Cry 3 demo on the showfloor due to the long lines (which I guess is a good sign for the title).
Next we had some Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth, and Rayman Origins. Nothing really interesting for me there. That is, until ZombiU!
The reveal trailer definitely got my attention (looks like someone took notice of Dead Island‘s trailer tactics), and I’ll be writing about my hands-on time with the game soon. What I will say now is that the game does not disappoint!
Soon after, we got to see Assassin’s Creed 3 and from the reactions on Twitter, it didn’t seem like I was the only one wanting more from this game. Having this game set during the Revolutionary War is a welcomed and fascinating setting that we can’t wait to explore. Lastly, we had our first look at Watch Dogs, a new IP that has you playing as a master hacker who can take control of all electronic devices. Interesting concept that I sadly didn’t get to see on the show floor, but one that seems to have received positive reviews.
SONY
Next came the Sony press conference, which I sadly missed because of unforeseen circumstances. However, I was able to catch it afterwards and it seems to me like the conference that beat out all the rest. It began with the new title from Quantum Dream, makers of Heavy Rain, named Beyond: Two Souls. Jodie Marsh, a young woman played by Ellen Page (you may know her as Juno), is being questioned by a police officer about her identity. After some nicely rendered and acted out cutscenes, we see that Jodie has a companion, a disembodied spirit that follows her around and causes havoc when Jodie is in danger. The game takes place over years of Jodie’s life, and goes deeper into the background between Jodie and this spirit.
Although I couldn’t get into Heavy Rain, I will most definitely give this a game a try.
After Beyond, we got to see the new DLC for Super Smash Bros., Sony edition! Actually the game is called PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale, and it plays just like Super Smash Bros. except with a different cast. While I like the attempt, the fact that it doesn’t seem Sony even cares that it’s a direct clone of the Nintendo classic is disappointing. I would love to have seen a different style, even if it is the same fighting game idea. God of War: Ascension made an appearance, which I will write about later as I got to experience both the single-player and multiplayer at E3.
Then there was Assassin’s Creed: Liberation, which officially made Ubisoft the sluts of E3 this year. This PS Vita game will have an ethnic female assassin as the protagonist, which is a very refreshing change! Sony also touched on more cross gameplay capabilities between the Vita and the PS3. This followed by gameplay footage of The Last of Us, cemented Sony’s win this year as far as conferences go. Most of the games Sony spoke about were a hit, and while it did drag on when it came to the Wonderbook, PS Move was not driven down our necks like Kinect was at Microsoft’s press conference. Way to go Sony!
Nintendo
There’s not much to talk about when it comes to Nintendo’s press conference. I was sad that I had to miss this event as well due to transportation issues, but apparently I didn’t miss anything spectacular. It started it off with Pikmin 3 on the Wii U, and moved on from there to third party titles that everyone has already played or will play on other consoles. Mass Effect 3 was announced for the Wii U, as well as Batman Arkham City: Armored Edition and Aliens Colonial Marines (more on these later).
Super Mario Bros. U will of course be released along with the Wii U, along with something called Sing that no one will play.
It was also confirmed that the Wii U will support two gamepads simultaneously, which sounds cool, I guess? Oh, and you can apparently look like a zombie yourself using the Wii U, which is something Reggie demoed for way too long on stage. Luigi’s Mansion will be coming out on the 3DS, something we found out last year, along with a new titled called LEGO: City Undercover.
Not much else there… except for Nintendo Land, something all of us wish we can wipe from our memories. It didn’t help that Nintendo decided to decorate their booth like a theme park, so there was no hope for those of us in attendance.
Verdict
