E3 is well over, and in my Gamasutra analysis at the close of the show, I talked about what it was like to play with Kinect, among other things. In brief: Its target audience is "not us", and it'll work best for fitness games (which is what I asked EA Sports' Peter Moore about). Most importantly, after I saw "Project Natal" debut at E3 2009, I wrote an article for Kotaku highlighting how crucial I felt an object in hand is to gaming. My mind hasn't been changed.
Other thing: Nintendo finally had a great E3. Sony appeared confident. The game industry is going to get really exciting to watch over the next year or so -- both major platform holders are aiming for a mid-cycle "refresh", and we've very little visibility on how big the demand is for Move and Kinect. We also have very little visibility on how long it will take for me to stop typing "Natal."
So, what now? I sit and stare at the calendar and wait for Portal 2 and MGS: Rising to come out, I suppose. 31% of you said in the last SVGL poll that you expected that the biggest buzz out of E3 would come from a yet-unknown surprise announcement, but there were no surprises, really. Instead, the big focus was on new tech: 3D (including Nintendo's show-stopping 3DS) and motion controls.
The success of either motion control solution will depend on software and how consumers react to pricing, neither of which we can know yet. But based simply on what you saw out of E3, what're your sentiments? I've added a new poll to enable you to vote.
[Today's Good Song: 'Invisibility: Nonexistent', Kurt Vile]
30 comments:
I guess Move is pretty cool from a "I want an HD Wii" standpoint.
Overall though, I have to side with Kinect simply because it's a new mechanic. It may not be a great or terribly well-realized mechanic in the long run, but there it is.
I'd rather have something new and unexpected than a shiny rehash of something we've all seen before.
"...but there were no surprises, really."
I dunno, I'm pretty excited about Child of Eden and Journey.
I'm excited by the prospect of MGS3D, if for no other reason than to have a portable version of "Snake Eater", possibly Kojima's pinacle as a designer. At the same time it pisses me off, though, because it's not like I can afford to actually purchase a new handheld anytime soon, and certainly not for one damn game. Maybe we'll see a PSP version in the future, only without the 3D (and cool as the effect sounds in "Metal Gear", frankly I don't need it). As long as Kojima keeps making legitimate MGS titles for the portables (or actually delivers on his long-promised new IP), I'll be happy.
"Rising" looks fun and cool, but not coming from Kojima himself, I don't really know how much I care about it. Oh sure, I'll get it and enjoy it, probably, but I won't be standing on any lines for midnight openings when it comes out. Likewise, I'm a die-hard "Star Wars" fan, but I wouldn't give a damn about an episode 7 unless Lucas himself were behind it-- yeah, I know it's fashionable for fans to hate on him (just like Kojima, actually) but fuck that shit. "Rising" has the benefit of being a mid-point story whose end we already know, so it's not like it'll pose any massive revisions, and it has a nice hook in finally offering a game about being a Gray Fox-style cyborg ninja. Still, if the ball is dropped even a little, things could get mighty foul.
One thing that was a huge disappointment to me-- no news on "The Last Guardian". Also disappointing is the fact that nobody's really talking about it that much. As for Move-- well, maybe I'll finally play RE5 now, as only the Wii version of RE4 was all that fun for me.
I have to say, Kinect (and the entire prospect of using Motion Control as more than a gimmick in gaming) is looking pretty dicy, but Child of Eden looks like a really interesting use of it. And Kinect Sports seems like something I would actually play, blatant ripoff of Wii Sports though it is. It looks just barely different enough to be interesting, unlike the Move which is just a hair on the too-similar-to-what-I've-seen-before side for me.
The 3DS is what really had me drooling, of course. I've never bought into their incremental DS upgrades before, but that one is on my wish list no matter what the price is.
I loved some of the smaller games I saw coverage of that I never had heard about before, like Child of Eden, Journey, Project Dust and Lost in Shadow. Those sorts of things are always the most exciting bits of E3 news for me.
Oh, and one thing that bothered the hell out of me-- "GoldenEye 007" for the Wii, starring Daniel Craig. Don't get me wrong, I loved "Casino Royale" and "Quantum of Solace", but would it really kill them to do it with Pierce Brosnan? It would be as though they made a game based on "Goldfinger" and got Roger Moore to play Bond. Hell, when "From Russia With Love" was turned into a game a few years ago, they made damn sure to do it right with the dulcet tones of Sean Connery. Sheesh louise.
The Daniel Craig decision reeks of contractual obligation to me. My guess is there are some draconian IP stipulations that govern the use of Bond that require the current actor be portrayed. It's just too odd a decision to be otherwise.
It's hard to be objective about Kinect when you know you're not the target demo. But I showed my non-gamer wife the Microsoft press conference and she was SOLD. And if she can get into it, then we can have a good time together, and that's what matters.
Beyond that... the big themes that came out of this year's E3 are that 3D will be crammed down our throats whether we're ready for it or not, and that 2011 will kick an inordinate amount of ass. Oh, and Portal 2 will be amazing.
On Facebook I told someone that Kinect is to casual as Move is to hardcore. I am not a fan of Kinect for anything more than hands free navigation a la Minority Report. I hope we won't have to wait long for a photo browser that is kinect enabled. But my wife and kids will jump up and down for a kinectimal.
What I really wonder is how much the 149$ price tag attached to Kinect is going to affect the sales.
If people like us who are willing (more or less depending on our current situation I guess, I'm kinda poor right now) to pay quite a lot for games are not the target audience, is Kinect's target audience going to be ready to pay such a price if they already have a Wii?
I'm sceptic.
I'm fascinated by Kinect and its uses that are only auxiliary to what we think of as hardcore gaming.
I don't expect it to be the platform for the next killer FPS or RPG, but I do think it could be used to enhance good ones. I really want to be able to look around corners by craning my neck in real life, or to smack an NPC when they piss me off.
The handless control system is something that's been a pipe-dream of sci-fi for years. I don't think we can underestimate how much less intimidating it will be for the mainstream audience to use a system when they can point and yell (or just say "Computer! Enhance!").
And if it lowers the barrier to entry and means more diverse people enter into our hobby, I'm satisfied. It won't kill the hardcore, but it will lead to more variety and innovation in our games, and that's got to be a plus.
@Fred Z It is not science fiction anymore. Take a look at this TED presentation by John Underkoffler. He invented g-speak, a real-world implementation of the tech used for UIs in Minority Report.
http://www.ted.com/talks/john_underkoffler_drive_3d_data_with_a_gesture.html
@supergg2k
Oh, certainly it's been approaching, but this is the first case of it being a mass-market product, to my knowledge.
I, for one, welcome our hands-free overlords.
Everyone is saying Kinect = Casual, and I just don't think that has to be true.
Everything is casual at the moment because developers haven't had long to work with the hardware and so only have only time to make simpler (=casual) games for release. And of course they want to send a message to a new potential market. That itself doesn't me Kinect will only be used casually however!
The other misconception is that it is Kinect or controller, but there is no reason you can't use both. And I image over time (assuming penetration) that many hardcore games will let you play with the controller, but do other actions which don't fit on the controller, like turning you head to pan the camera, or hand gestures to control allies instead of a menu system.
The bigger question is how bad is the lag going to be? If it really is about one second like in the presentations, then Kinect might only be good for gestures. That of course is the downfall of the Wii, memorizing a bunch of arbitrary waggles, where a button would have been quicker and easier. It could still be useful for controls in addition to a controller though.
I think I see more in Kinect than a glorified Wii, as many here seem to think.
ANYTHING new benefits us all in the long run. All it takes is someone with a fertile imagination to plant something huge and reality altering. Dismissing something out of hand really is a loss for all of.
Personally, I can see Kinect benefit traditional controls by adding to the experience. Wouldn't it be cool to interact with the gaming environment by taking your hand away from the controller and say, picking up a piece of paper in game and reading it, or how about punching in key pad combinations, or whatever.
I see it as a good thing, not something laughed at ... just yet.
What will be interesting to see in the coming years is who brings the most casual gamers into the hardcore fold. As Reggie Fils-Aime talked about in the Nintendo press conference, they have released some really good "bridge games" that pull in casual gamers and ratchet up their skill level to turn them hardcore- games like New Super Mario Bros Wii, Mario Kart, and Smash Bros. These are games with casual appeal, but hardcore gameplay. It will be interesting to see if Nintendo gets them to make the transition, or if it will be the introduction of MS Kinect and PS Move that pull casual gamers into the hardcore market.
I think Nintendo looks better poised to win it, but it's going to be fun to watch how this all goes down.
I'm with juv3nal on this one: Child of Eden was a most pleasant surprise indeed and one of the highlights of the event.
A friend of mine used to work at Revelations on some of the Driver projects and that was quite surprising too. Looks wonderful, story-line's gone all "Life on Mars" on us.
Also, you know you're popular when: Haters hate.
Cliffy B made a really good observation on a recent 1UP podcast, that Kinect has massive potential as a hybrid control system alongside a traditional Xbox 360 controller, by virtue of adding both gesture sensing and voice recognition to the console. Hopefully the CPU drain that Kinect requires isn't too much of a barrier to this vision of the Xbox 360 future.
I think with Kinect, if it's not for "us", then it has to be at a price that Wii owners/potential Wii owners are willing to take a punt on. And with this $150 price point being bandied around, Microsoft are going to have a tough start ahead of them. In short, I agree with you. (Also, good point about Kinect/your living room not supporting four players. Hadn't thought of that.)
My sentiments? Strong E3 from Sony and Nintendo. Nintendo, in particular, showed off some high quality, core Wii titles and the 3DS looks to be worth the wait, if the hands-on impressions are anything to go by. Also, Resi and MGS 3DS? Sign me up!
Again with Sony, PR-wise they done good, but I can't help thinking all they're flogging a dead horse with the PSP. Nice to see that level of commitment, though, as a PSP owner myself. However, affordable 3D tech is still too far off, Sony's Move controller, while it looks cool, isn't going to be what keeps the PS3 going for the next five years.
Microsoft. Ah, dear Microsoft. Not the best E3. Most of the Kinect stuff they demo'ed didn't look like anything I'd want to play, but, interestingly, most of the good stuff came from third-parties – included within that, Child of Eden and Dance Central (you know, actual games). Further, unless you're a Gears or Halo fan, the mainstream first-party offerings appeared rather sparse. To be fair, they had to spend most of their time on Kinect, but it felt like they'd forgotten their core audience in the process. Really, they could have slapped the Kinect stuff in the middle, ended on Halo: Reach, then given everyone new 360s at the end; everyone's a winner. But, let me reiterate: not a terrible conference; however, as you said, Leigh, not for "us".
Consider I was one of those people who laughed at Wii, both the name and the commercials, when it first came out.
I forfeit any opinions whatsoever regard to Kinect and Move.
Metal Gear 3(D)...
What I want to know is when Naked Snake is sans an eye, will first person view revert back to 2D to emulate his loss of depth perception?
How many of you thought of that? ;)
I'm really sold on the 3DS, but I want to know price and backwards compatibility functionality. Will there be any form of enhancement? i.e 'upscaling' to fit games to the higher resolution screen. Will there be a 3DSXL on the cards in the future?
Ninty had a solid conference, the games announced are heavy on the nostalgia. But that is exactly what Nintendo do so well.
Kinect:
Kinectimals "Aww look at the widdle fuzzy wuzzy!" If I had kids I would have been completely sold. So irritatingly *cute*
The only game, well... 'product' that got me mildly interested and musing over a hypothetical purchase was Your Shape. Only for the sole reason that I am far to self-conscious to do aerobic type exercise around any other living human being. It kind of feels emasculating.
I've restarted a major health kick & the main CV work I do is on a cross-trainer. I could picture me genuinely using Your Shape regularly, with the curtains safely drawn… Then I can look a wally in private!
Dance Central looks like a lot of fun, and that seems to be the feedback from those that tried it. I know SingStar is huge over here in the UK, and with the right marketing and pricing strategy it really could make headway into that demographic over here.
The big question is "how much?" The GameStop placeholder price is $149.99? Which seems quite steep for a 'lifestyle' add-on for a core (hate that distinction, but it's crept into the industry lexicon) console.
Which brings me to the new xbox I quite like the form-factor it's a literal X Box, and appears to be of very high build quality. It says "I'm a serious machine…" but that combined with image that Kinect is seeming to portray. Its a strange juxtaposition…
Sony:
Was already sold on the Move to begin with. Where was the Last Guardian? Alas, TGS seems so far away.
The surprise of E3 wasn't a thing to me (well, okay, Child of Eden), the big thing there was a concept- Nintendo is awesome again.
Sure, they had a couple casual games thrown in there, but most of their conference consisted of describing new games, showing off some amazing creativity despite having older IP. They also did a somewhat detailed description of 3DS functionality that I enjoyed.
It was as if Nintendo pulled a Prodigal Son on core gamers - for years, they ran away and engaged in money-printing debauchery with some crowd who didn't really care about them, realized the error of their ways, and came back to us. Only this would be like the Prodigal Son coming back as Chuck Norris, carrying a T-Rex on his back and accompanied by Led Zeppelin.
Favorite part - I never thought I'd see the day that one of Nintendo's own games would be heavily influenced by Sin and Punishment, but there was Kid Icarus on the 3DS!
Sure, I know it's business, and the core will spend money on more games while remaining faithful unlike the casuals, but it felt just a bit emotional to see Nintendo come back home, if only for a year.
@JT"As Reggie Fils-Aime talked about in the Nintendo press conference, they have released some really good "bridge games" that pull in casual gamers and ratchet up their skill level to turn them hardcore- games like New Super Mario Bros Wii, Mario Kart, and Smash Bros."
And it's interesting to see that they are kind of tracing back their own history. With games like Kirby and Donkey Kong, they are aiming both at people old enough to remember and want to play those games but also at all those new gamers that want something a bit more complex than Wii Sports but not as much as Halo.
If games like those got us into gaming 15-20 years ago, it will probably work again.
I don't mind companies using all these motion controls as long as they give me the option NOT to use them. I just want my buttons thank you. It also pains me even more, being left handed... seeing that the Wiimote and now Sony Move are made for right handed people. Options people, options!
@Ujn Hunter
Good point, actually. I stopped playing EyeToy Kinetics when I accidentally punched through my oven. Just saying.
With $US150, I'd rather get a metal DDR pad. I know I know, need to get on with the time and all.
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