E3 Key Notes: Sony Was My Favorite
Disclaimer: I’m not qualified to write about E3 in a professional, unbiased manner. I’ve never been a big Xbox fan, kinda wanted a Wii, was always a little “meh” about the Playstation 2, and owned an under-used GameCube. We bought a PS3 back in January, and since then I’ve been watching Sony more closely. Other than that, I’ve got little to no idea about everything prior our purchase, console regardless, except for the big names. Galaxy, Gears, Killzone, you name it, I’ve barely watched it, let alone been hyped about it.
So now that you know that you’re not going to get an unbiased, qualified, professional review, let’s start! 
Not being an Xbox fan, I can say that I was rather bored throughout their keynote. Seriously. The speaker I felt wasn’t great, and the games they were showing off didn’t matter to me. Even the upgrades to Live, I couldn’t really care about. The bombshell about Final Fantasy 13? Yeah, didn’t see that one coming (I’m still playing through Final Fantasy 10, so it’s not like I’m the biggest fan, always liked the NES & SNES games though).
Overall, I feel that Microsoft delivered what people wanted. I find it funny that Nintendo re-iterated a famous Henry Ford quote, “If I’d asked my customers what they wanted, they’d have said a faster horse.” So instead of giving their customers just re-iterations of current franchises, they went a different route. Re-iterations aren’t necessarily bad, but okay.
Nintendo also seemed well aware that others were copying their innovations. Sony may be partially guilty, but the 360’s hands are very red at this point. The Xbox’s whole “me too” attitude was, when looking back, a little disconcerting. A Singstar-like game, an Eye-toy like game (You’re In The Movies) and Avatars (looked a lot like Mii’s). That’s fine, I’ll pass.
Now Nintendo’s keynote was good. It wasn’t great, unless you are a pure casual gamer, then it may have been wonderful. Reggie was great, as always, and being the former Nintendo fanboy, I can’t help but miss the lack of hardcore support on the system.
That being said, the new WiiMusic, WiiSports Resort, and the 1:1 motion sensing is going to sell quite well. I can’t help but feel a bit of remorse for those that bought into the Wii on the Metroid, Zelda and Mario games alone. While they are great franchises, nothing aside from “they are working on stuff” was announced. Brawl & Galaxy aside, there’s been nothing lately that I’m aware of (see disclaimer in the first paragraph) to satisfy the gamers that want to stay with the Wii but want games that aren’t being made for the system.
Sony, for me, was much more watchable. People have stated that the presenter wasn’t great, but I’ve got to say, I chuckled more as he presented than at either of the other 2 keynotes. It was also much more exciting, and you could tell that when the intro music started.
Resistance 2 looks like something I may have to get. Playing co-op with 8 of my PSN buddies is something that at least warrants a solid rental attempt. Little Big Planet, especially what was displayed for the customizations, was quite amazing. The note I wrote to myself read as follows, “Little Big Planet – wow. Customizable and awesomesauce all in one “.
Also announced was the PS3 greatest hits line. $29.99 for a copy of the following games: Resistance, MotorStorm, Warhawk, Call of Duty 3, Fight Night Round 3, Need for Speed: Carbon, Rainbow Six: Vegas, Assassin’s Creed, Elder Scrolls IV, and Ninja Gaiden Sigma. A little rich for my blood, but not much I can do at this point. At least it’s a start!
Then they started on the PSN stuff. I thought that the info for PS3 was rather short, but ah well, let’s see where they’re going. Then they announced Single Sign On for the PSN. Being able to log into your Playstation account from any computer and send messages to your friends, view stats and trophies (I would surmise), it all sounds great. Can’t wait for it.
Then the games for PSN were announced. The Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest For Booty looked pretty good. Then I found out it’s a $14.99 title. That’s sweet. Shorter than a retail game, but with focus on the goodness. I’ll check that out
They also announced Crash Commando, Fat Princess (I couldn’t help but chuckle – I’ll probably get that, although I have no idea what it’s about!), the PAIN update, Flower (no idea), and Ragdoll Kung Fu (interesting, but not my style). Definitely a bevy of options, and they look great.
Now, at this point, I will remind you again of the disclaimer in paragraph one. Why? Because this is the first real footage I’ve seen of Home, and it totally demolishes, in my opinion, Microsoft’s offering of avatars and a Live hub update. All I could think is, “This needs to be out now!“. I bet everyone has thought that before me, but it doesn’t make it any less wanted.
They also announced Movie & TV support over the PSN. Rentals as well as purchases. I know, it’s not NetFlix. Well, if you’ve seen the streamable content of Netflix, you’d know that it’s no biggie. The lack of NBC-Unversal content is upsetting (Heroes I like, PSYCH is my favorite), but with Fox Film, MGM, Lionsgate, Warner Bros, Disney, Paramount, Turner and Funimation, I think we’ll be okay. The fact that it’s coming out tonight is even cooler, and is available in HD if you prefer. You can also copy the content to your PSP – that’s pretty sweet.
Then they had SOE come out and show off DC Universe Online. While I like how it looks, I’ve got a spotty record of being pleased with SOE’s offerings. We’ll see how it progresses, but good grief, it looks like they’re covering their bases. Defintely would be interesting to fight alongside the Joker against Batman, or vice-versa.
Life With Playstation sounds great too. I believe it’s news, weather and a few other things. I had a short meeting at work at this point, so I missed some content here, but I know it’s coming out this month, for free, and I’m looking forward to it.
Content that I may have missed while in my meeting would go here.
Then they announced a PSP bundle with Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, National Treasure 2 and a few other goodies, due out this fall for $199.99. I don’t own a PSP, they look nice, and after seeing Valkyrie Chronicles, I wouldn’t mind looking into one. Especially with the connectivity support the PSP is receiving for the PS3.
The PS2 apparently is being bundled with the new Lego Batman this fall, as well as an animated DVD, for $149.99. 9 years old and still selling, that’s not a bad feat, now is it?
Then they went back to the PS3. They are upgrading the 40GB, non-backwards-compatible model to contain an 80GB hard drive, for the $399.99 price. They didn’t mention phasing out the current backwards-compatible model, but time will only tell. So we’ll have a 20GB, 60GB, 40GB, 80GB, and 80GB. No possible way to be confused now, is there?
Quick first paragraph disclaimer again, as the following are some more game overviews.
Next they showed off a few more games. First they played a montage, and I must say, the new Prince Of Persia looks SWEET!. Then they got into inFamous. Now that looks like my type of game. Seriously. That was never on my radar before (see disclaimer), and now it’s pretty much front and center. My thoughts were, “Infamous… wow… that looks like my type of game… wow. Simply… wow.” I’ll be buying that for sure (well, as long as the reviews are non-horrific). It’s due out in Spring 2009.
They had a trailer for God Of War 3. While I haven’t played any of them (apparently, you haven’t read the first paragraph disclaimer if this surprises you), I understand people’s enthusiasm. I hope it’s good, and I hope you like it. 
The final announcement was something new. Something unheard of, and apparently, “only achievable on the PS3″. That would be MAG. 256 players structured into 8 player squads, on 2 different sides. Character advancement (MMO? CoD4 style?) and automatic squad leader assignment. I know that what they showed was CG, but it doesn’t take away from how awesome it looks.
Overall, an interesting E3. My first one I really watched (was always a PC gamer before), and though I know lots of people are calling it a dud, I found that if I ignored the chat rooms, the experience was much more pleasurable (seriously, there’s some real idgets in this world that like to do nothing but complain.)
I also got to watch it in HD (today) as I signed up for the IGN Insider year subscription. The video was streaming great in HD, and I had few, if any, video hiccups. I also picked one of my favorite, long forgotten characters I always liked as my icon. Edge from Final Fantasy 2.
