E3 Next Week

[theFRANCHISE]

I'm cautiously optimistic about both PlayStation Vita and Wii U. While I'm 80% certain I'll purchase both, there's plenty of things that could change my mind in the next few months. Particularly with the Wii U, my concern is that the games might not live up to the hyped technology. As for the PS Vita, I'd like to see a little more besides it being an upgraded PSP. In fact, the only reason why I'm certain I'll buy a Vita is because I've been thinking about getting a PSP for awhile now but had factors that kept me on the fence.

Microsoft's presser was just outright horrible (almost as bad as UbiSoft's presentation), and the PR people they had on-hand didn't help change the smarmy vibe that their presser projected. I kept getting the impression from Microsoft that they were thinking, "Hey, we already have the majority of the hardcore gaming community owning our console, we don't need to innovate. Let's just throw a coat of paint over our UI and let's target the casual audience now with the Kinect! We'll make boatloads more! Yay!"

While Sony's presser revealed very little that we didn't already expect, they were aggressive in their announcements by going back-to-back with the marquee items on their agenda. I also liked the candor of Jack Tretton in addressing the PSN attacks, even though I still felt an air of artificiality about it. Honestly, though, I would've preferred Kaz Hirai to be the primary keynote presenter over Tretton since Hirai at least came off as sincere at times.

I didn't bother watching the bulk of Nintendo's presentation since I hate Reggie Fils-Aime.

EDIT- After reading more on the Wii U, I'm a little less optimistic now. The controller is actually bigger than I expected (which'll be cumbersome for extended play times), and the rumored specs and storage methods are underwhelming.

[EnVy_CaLiBeR]

[quote name='theFRANCHISE' timestamp='1307483873' post='694237']
I'm cautiously optimistic about both PlayStation Vita and Wii U. While I'm 80% certain I'll purchase both, there's plenty of things that could change my mind in the next few months. Particularly with the Wii U, my concern is that the games might not live up to the hyped technology. As for the PS Vita, I'd like to see a little more besides it being an upgraded PSP. In fact, the only reason why I'm certain I'll buy a Vita is because I've been thinking about getting a PSP for awhile now but had factors that kept me on the fence.

Microsoft's presser was just outright horrible (almost as bad as UbiSoft's presentation), and the PR people they had on-hand didn't help change the smarmy vibe that their presser projected. I kept getting the impression from Microsoft that they were thinking, "Hey, we already have the majority of the hardcore gaming community owning our console, we don't need to innovate. Let's just throw a coat of paint over our UI and let's target the casual audience now with the Kinect! We'll make boatloads more! Yay!"

While Sony's presser revealed very little that we didn't already expect, they were aggressive in their announcements by going back-to-back with the marquee items on their agenda. I also liked the candor of Jack Tretton in addressing the PSN attacks, even though I still felt an air of artificiality about it. Honestly, though, I would've preferred Kaz Hirai to be the primary keynote presenter over Tretton since Hirai at least came off as sincere at times.

I didn't bother watching the bulk of Nintendo's presentation since I hate Reggie Fils-Aime.

[b]EDIT- After reading more on the Wii U, I'm a little less optimistic now. The controller is actually bigger than I expected (which'll be cumbersome for extended play times), and the rumored specs and storage methods are underwhelming.[/b]
[/quote]
What specs did you hear?

[theFRANCHISE]

[quote name='EnVy_CaLiBeR' timestamp='1307486173' post='694250']
What specs did you hear?
[/quote]
I literally just closed the browser window that I had opened and can't get it back since my history automatically erases upon doing so.

But I'm pretty sure it was in the comments on Joystiq.com. Check their Nintendo section. It's not this troll's post that boasted something like a custom Blu Ray drive (Reggie already confirmed it won't do Blu Ray), but there's rumblings of Wii U having a processor that might actually be just barely more powerful than the PlayStation Vita. Internal memory is already confirmed to be flash storage (though they won't say how much) and the USB ports are likely meant for external storage drives.

[TheRavenouseD2008]

ok news Thursday 12pm set G4 on record guys and gals Madden 1 hour Q and A

[theFRANCHISE]

[quote name='TheRavenouseD2008' timestamp='1307489598' post='694261']
ok news Thursday 12pm set G4 on record guys and gals Madden 1 hour Q and A
[/quote]
While I'm already sold on this year's game with the ridiculous amount of new features, I don't think we'll be hearing or seeing anything more than we've already seen in the past month.

The new animations look amazing, the new features sound solid, and it seems as if they've done just enough to warrant a Day 1 purchase from people who were previously on the fence.

Also, it's no coincidence that this year's game showed promise right after it was announced that Creative Director Ian Cummings left EA Sports; Cummings had been a longtime EA employee but was blamed for many of the series' disappointments as he gained more influence over the games' overall direction in the past few years. Also, Cummings was very off-putting to many hardcore fans of the series, as he was pretty much a jerk when met with justified criticism. He was a guy who came across more as a PR man than a true Creative Director.

[theFRANCHISE]

The Wii U touchscreen controller is confirmed as being a resistive touchscreen rather than the capacitive touchscreen that the iPhone and most devices use these days. ([url="http://www.joystiq.com/2011/06/07/wii-u-controller-has-a-ds-style-touch-screen/"]LINK[/url])

I'm getting more and more disappointed as I read about these features.

[T3hRaven]

[quote name='MagicianCamille' timestamp='1307390253' post='693732']
Another cinematic video for Star Wars The Old Republic.

http://www.swtor.com/media/trailers/return

Well I don't know about you guys but that was the best 6 minutes of [i]my[/i] life.
[/quote]

Their first cinematic from two years ago is still my favorite, but Bioware certainly knows how to get people pumped about a Star Wars game. TOR is the only MMO that has a shot of taking some of WoW's market share, and I'm interested to see how it plays.

[quote name='theFRANCHISE' timestamp='1307483873' post='694237']
Microsoft's presser was just outright horrible (almost as bad as UbiSoft's presentation), and the PR people they had on-hand didn't help change the smarmy vibe that their presser projected. I kept getting the impression from Microsoft that they were thinking, "Hey, we already have the majority of the hardcore gaming community owning our console, we don't need to innovate. Let's just throw a coat of paint over our UI and let's target the casual audience now with the Kinect! We'll make boatloads more! Yay!"
[/quote]

I felt it was a disorganized and geared towards casual gamers, as you pointed out. Microsoft needs to realize that casual gaming is Nintendo's market share now and they can't compete with the Wii at this point. If I was running the show, I would have opened with the Halo Anniversery trailer, reminding everyone where Xbox came from and how it changed gaming before going into the bulk of things. I don't think it's smart to lead with a third party title, you bring out your big guns and hit Halo and Gears before anything else. Like last year, their Kinect demos were stupid and overplayed, however, I have more interest in that particular device than the Wii U or Playstation Vita.

[darklight1216]

[quote name='T3hRaven' timestamp='1307466852' post='694132']
Is it bad that I don't care about Nintendo anymore? I don't think their new Wii U is the thing that will get the hardcore segment interested in them again, it's another thing they made to appeal to casuals. I might pick up Zelda: Skyward Sword, but outside of that there wasn't anything for me to get excited about.
[/quote]
I'm pretty much done with Nintendo, but then I was always into Sony. My Wii basically only gets dusted off when I have company that wants to play Wii Sports. They want to appeal to the 8 year olds and the 80 year olds and that's all fine and well, but I'm more of a hardcore gamer and Nintendo just doesn't do it for me.

[EnVy_CaLiBeR]

[quote name='darklight1216' timestamp='1307503870' post='694348']
I'm pretty much done with Nintendo, but then I was always into Sony. My Wii basically only gets dusted off when I have company that wants to play Wii Sports. [b]They want to appeal to the 8 year olds and the 80 year olds and that's all fine and well, but I'm more of a hardcore gamer and Nintendo just doesn't do it for me.[/b]
[/quote]
And they never will.

[AwakenTheDemon]

Can you imagine motion control with that Wii U controller? You know, I'm sick of the "wii" name already. It was stupid to begin with...

[YYZ66]

[quote name='AwakenTheDemon' timestamp='1307400064' post='693822']
It's good to see Microsoft continuing to milk Halo for all it's worth. Halo 4. A new trilogy. *yawn* But then again I hated Halo from the first one, one of the most overrated series ever.
[/quote]

Halo 4: TSMM (The Search for More Money)

[TheRavenouseD2008]

[quote name='YYZ66' timestamp='1307549313' post='694469']
Halo 4: TSMM (The Search for More Money)
[/quote]

may the orbiter be with you

[T3hRaven]

[quote name='darklight1216' timestamp='1307503870' post='694348']
I'm pretty much done with Nintendo, but then I was always into Sony. My Wii basically only gets dusted off when I have company that wants to play Wii Sports. They want to appeal to the 8 year olds and the 80 year olds and that's all fine and well, but I'm more of a hardcore gamer and Nintendo just doesn't do it for me.
[/quote]

I love how the old school Nintendo fanboys act like a Zelda game once in a while qualifies as hardcore. Even then, I find Nintendo's games lack a degree of polish that titles like Mass Effect have. I prefer games with fleshed out characters, deep plots, and voice acting helps. As a first party developer, Nintendo still hasn't joined this century in terms of storytelling.

[quote name='AwakenTheDemon' timestamp='1307545382' post='694439']
Can you imagine motion control with that Wii U controller? You know, I'm sick of the "wii" name already. It was stupid to begin with...
[/quote]

Agreed on the name. That controller is just too big, I don't see it being comfortable to use for long period of time. Plus, how much of what they were showing is just a representation of what could be? The Wii didn't live up to my expectations with its degree of control, I can only believe this system will be the same.

Am I the only person interested to see where Halo 4 will take Master Chief? Every developer tries to find their series and keep making those games. Getting past the cash aspect, what's so wrong about trying to create a new storyline in the Halo universe?

[TheRavenouseD2008]

honestly I heard they may announce tomarrow what the Special on madden preorder will be

[YYZ66]

[quote name='TheRavenouseD2008' timestamp='1307556230' post='694503']
honestly I heard they may announce tomarrow what the Special on madden preorder will be
[/quote]

Order today, and the lockout will end tomorrow!

[TheRavenouseD2008]

[quote name='YYZ66' timestamp='1307642552' post='694823']
Order today, and the lockout will end tomorrow!
[/quote]

was that a roger goodell announcement lol

[YYZ66]

[quote name='TheRavenouseD2008' timestamp='1307652718' post='694927']
was that a roger goodell announcement lol
[/quote]

That would be nice, wouldn't it?
Come on Roger, make it happen! lol

[FerrariFan87]

The Nintendo Wii U controller looks EPIC!! I can't wait for the next-gen Nintendo console!

[TheRavenouseD2008]

[quote name='FerrariFan87' timestamp='1307919842' post='696127']
The Nintendo Wii U controller looks EPIC!! I can't wait for the next-gen Nintendo console!
[/quote]

actualy partialy stolen from Sega Dreamcast , and its not the greatest from the reviews I read its more geared to casual gamers

[EnVy_CaLiBeR]

Until Nintendo gets some new IPs other than Mario and Zelda that are geared more toward hardcore gamers, I won't even look that system's way. I'd rather wait for the Playstation 4 or Microsoft's next system. Those will more than likely surpass that system as far as specs anyway.

[FerrariFan87]

[quote name='TheRavenouseD2008' timestamp='1308013197' post='696620']
actualy partialy stolen from Sega Dreamcast , and its not the greatest from the reviews I read its more geared to casual gamers
[/quote]

That may be, but it still looks pretty impressive.

[EnVy_CaLiBeR]

According to Crytek, Microsoft is prepping to show the successor to the Xbox 360 at next years E3. They are currently developing Timesplitters 4 which is said to be one of the titles coming for the platform. It was also said that the game was being shown off privately at this years E3. ([url="http://www.videogamer.com/news/xbox_720_likely_at_e3_2012_crytek_on_board_2.html"]LINK[/url])

Looks like I'm getting the next Xbox then if it's true. I LOVE Timesplitters and it's one of my favorite shooters of all time. But like the article says, what about Halo 4? It wouldn't make sense to release a game of that magnitude on your current platform when you're releasing a new system. That's the one thing that boggles me about the report.

[T3hRaven]

I still think the next true console generation is at least 3 years away. The Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 have not been utilized to their fullest potential, developers still have quite a bit to work with. People are getting anxious about it because there hasn't been a console generation go this long before and they want a new one more because of timing than necessity.

[EnVy_CaLiBeR]

[quote name='T3hRaven' timestamp='1308104321' post='697084']
I still think the next true console generation is at least 3 years away. The Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 have not been utilized to their fullest potential, developers still have quite a bit to work with. People are getting anxious about it because there hasn't been a console generation go this long before and they want a new one more because of timing than necessity.
[/quote]
Actually, we still haven't passed last generation yet. We will be soon but still not older than last gen. PS3 will be five years old this year and the 360 will be six.

In my opinion, Microsoft and Sony could get by for the next couple of years with these systems. Nintendo had no choice but to release a new console. The Wii was a gimmick from the start and hardware wise, they couldn't compete long term with the 360 or the Playstation 3. The Wii was virtually invisible among the hardcore gamers and they are the ones who determine the longevity of your console.

Even if Microsoft announces the new system next year, I don't expect it to be released until a year or two after that and honestly, I believe Sony is likely to reveal their next console at the next E3. Sony usually releases a new console every 6 years so 2012-2013 would be around the right time to do so.

Playstation- 1994
Playstation 2- 2000
Playstation 3- 2006

If they both reveal them next year, my bias will pull me toward the Playstation since I've owned every Playstation system/handheld(except PSP GO) so I'll probably go with that unless Microsoft impresses me. Also, Microsoft needs more First Party Support because Sony is literally destroying Microsoft as far as that goes.