E3 is over. The excitement, anticipation and anxiety (for some of us) can now only be described as a collection of fading memories. But… before we close the lid on E3 2011 for good, I wanted to give you my thoughts on what Microsoft brought to the table during this year’s expo; namely, how well they did in garnering excitement for their platform during the press conference. As a primer, just know that I am a bit of a cynic, so keep that in mind.
All in all I was actually quite disappointed with Microsoft’s showing at E3. Sure, in the midst of the action and immediately following the conference, my heart was racing like a madman, but now that I’ve had time to step away from the spectacle that is E3 and process what I saw, hardcore Xbox fans have reason to be upset.
Way too much time was spent on Kinect, and while I understand that they need to promote their highly successful new piece of technology, they failed to wow gamers with any of its functionality. Let’s face it; none of the “hardcore” integration of Kinect was really all that appealing. The Ghost Recon implementation in the gun customization mode was all right, but it didn’t showcase anything couldn’t just as easily be done with a controller. Plus, how goofy did that dude from Ubisoft look hunched over, pretending to hold a gun? Why would you mime a gun and wave your hand to fire when you have triggers on a controller?
The voice recognition in Mass Effect 3 may be pretty cool for ordering around squad mates, but couldn’t that just be done with the headset? Also, reading a line of dialog and then listening to Commander Shepard say something different felt a bit odd. As for Lionhead’s latest Fable title and Crytek’s Ryse, lets just say that the showing was less than stellar, reinforcing the fact that Kinect is better geared toward the casual market.
Speaking of which, Tim Schafer walked to stage and to everyone’s disappointment announced a Sesame Street title. Talk about anticlimactic. One of the industries top developers comes out on stage to announce a title for three-year-olds? That’s just cruel. On top of that, games like Disneyland Adventures and Kinect Star Wars were underwhelming and undoubtedly geared toward a younger audience.
Not all was bad though, the press conference started off with a bang as Infinity Ward demoed Modern Warfare 3’s highly anticipated Manhattan level. In addition, the Tomb Raider reboot looked fantastic and will provide 360 gamers with a much-needed Uncharted-like experience. It’s important to note however, that both of these titles – although awesome – are third party games also set to arrive on competing consoles, so while it made for an entertaining view, it didn’t aid in elevating Microsoft to any new heights. In addition, Gears of War 3 and Forza 4 made fantastic appearances, but it’s nothing gamers haven’t seen before.
The saving grace of the conference was the Halo 4 announcement, which was spoiled by Microsoft earlier that day. Halo has been the lifeblood of the console, and their showing only served to reinforce that fact. The trailer looked awesome, but it gave us no indication of what actual gameplay footage will look like, and a holiday 2012 release is quite a while to wait. The fact that this marks the start of a new trilogy is nice to hear, though stating that upon announcing the series’ fourth installment is a bit strange. On top of that, Microsoft unveiled the long-rumored Halo: CE Anniversary, which will come at a budget price and feature a re-mastered graphics engine. While this is great news for Halo fans, it’s still the same game they played ten years ago with a fresh coat of paint. It’s a nice way to celebrate the game’s anniversary, but not enough to carry Microsoft’s skimpy lineup of exclusives.
On another positive note, the dashboard is getting an overhaul, this time featuring a much sleeker design reminiscent of Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 interface. Live TV is also on the way as well as DVR support. Another added integration is Kinect Fun Labs, which will allow the player to fully customize their avatar however they like – an intriguing but creepy concept if you ask me. Microsoft is certainly doing a great job in crafting their system to be the de facto hub for all of your entertainment needs, adding more and more functionality to the box every year. Let’s just hope they don’t compromise the hardcore audience in the process.
What are your thoughts on the Microsoft press conference? Let us know in the comments section below.
