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I'm not in a very good mood so I've decided to express my specific gripes with everything I've seen at E3 so far.
Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii):
Could the title be any more literal? Not Donkey Kong Returns, but Donkey Kong Country Returns. I had wondered where this franchise had gone to. I imagined it coming back with real-time graphics that looked as good as the pre-rendered graphics of the Super Nintendo original. Sadly, the Wii isn't quite up to the task. You'd think Nintendo would be there almost 20 years later. The graphics look ok, but blockier than the prerendered sprites from 1994.
As for the gameplay, the original Donkey Kong Country was a solid, completely unoriginal platformer (except for its unique 2-player mode). It couldn't hold a candle to Super Mario World or Yoshi's Island in terms of gameplay. This new rendition doesn't seem to be pushing any boundaries either. I would have preferred for it to be in 3d. Outside of Mario Galaxy there really aren't any quality 3d platformers to speak of, while a new 2d platformer seems to come out every week. Never thought I'd say that.
Xbox Kinect (Xbox 360):
Exactly as I thought it would be.
I have no interest in playing games that don't use an input device. Explain to me, Microsoft, how I control my character's view, his position, and his actions with only my two hands and no joysticks? I'm sure doing so as POSSIBLE but it would be about as intuitive as using a Sega Activator (or the Nintendo Powerglove). Maybe you expect me to physically turn around in order to make my character do so? I guess I'll just tape my plasma screen to my head then.
Oh I see, you don't care what I think, and you don't want to hear about my 3 axis gameplay nonsense. You're gonna focus on casual titles for the Kinect. Well good luck getting the casual consumer to shell out $150 on top of the price of an Xbox 360. He could just buy a Wii for half that price. Sure, you and I both know that Kinect + Xbox 360 is WAYYY more powerful than a Wii, but do you know who doesn't know that? The casual consumer. He also doesn't care.
And I don't want to wave my hands around in order to scroll through a DVD menu. DVD menus are designed as 2d grids and a 2d input device is the best way to navigate them. Likewise I don't want to have to speak into a microphone in order to and resume a movie. That's a binary input. That's what buttons are for. If I wanted a something like this, I would have bought a Clapper 20 years ago.
Star Wars Lightsaber Title (Xbox 360 + Kinect):
Well that was a nice prerendered video, but how exactly is the game supposed to work? I'm not thrilled by the idea of balling my fist and pretending that I'm holding a lightsaber. I suppose I could hold a stick in my hand and probably not confuse the Kinect too much. But we still run into the interface question. Again, how am I supposed to control my character's position or his view without any joystick or buttons?
From the looks of the video, the game might be on rails so changing the view and character position won't be necessary. Kindof limits the gameplay a bit don't you think? I paid $50 for Star Wars: Rebel Assault 15 years ago, but I'd rather not do it again next year.
Goldeneye 007 (Wii):
Wow! Melee only mode! Paintball mode!! I'm totally asking my parents for this for christmas!! Wait a minute. It's not 1997.
Sorry, but Goldeneye had it's day. It was awesome for its time, but that time has passed. You can't recapture that magic 10 years later by (slightly) upgrading the graphics. It may not seem like it, but there have been a lot of gameplay and technical innovations in the first person shooter genre since Goldeneye came out on the N64. Activision can pretend like Halo, and Call of Duty, and Halflife, and Team Fortress, and the Battlefield series never happened, but most gamers won't be able to.
I remember a time when the original Perfect Dark was the most amazing first person shooter experience you could have. Recently I played the remake on Xbox Live and realized that part of the reason it and Goldeneye were so amazing was because they were cutting edge. Replaying Perfect Dark's multiplayer mode now makes me feel like someone in 1990 must have felt when they fired up the old Pong console.
Twisted Metal (PS3):
To me this looks like a game that was made because someone from corporate said it ought to be made. Where's the creative spark? It's like they took Twisted Metal Black and just added all the required upgrades to make it a current-gen title (objetive based multiplayer, player classes, etc). Why couldn't Sony make a balls-to-the-wall post-apocalyptic shooter that happens to focus on car combat? Why can't getting in a car be a strategic choice rather than being the only way the player's allowed to play the game?
It looks solid enough, and I'm sure it will be fun. Twisted Metal was always fun.
Sorcery (PS3 + Move):
I have high hopes for Move. From a technological standpoint, it seems like it can actually do what we all dreamed the Wii would be able to do. But Sorcery doesn't look like it takes advantage of the gameplay possibilities the technology offers. Why should I wave my arm around over my head to make a tornado? Couldn't a button do that? How does making a complicated gesture in order to trigger a simple output enhance the gameplay at all?
To me, the Move should be about doing things that you can't do with a normal controller. Things like swinging a sword or a whip. What about a game where you play as Godzilla and have to pick pedestrians and vehicles up off the ground and throw them? Wouldn't that be cool?
Kid Icarus: Uprising (3ds):
This game looks very nice for a handheld title, and I've heard the 3d is spectacular, but damn Japan, can you please stop ruining classic videogame themes? Is electric guitar really the most appropriate instrument for a game set in ancient Greece?
It makes me wonder if Japan would have been such a dominant force in videogames in the 80s and 90s if NES cartridges had the memory to support prerecorded music and voices. When I look at recent Sonic games, I feel like the answer is no.
Zelda Skyward (Wii):
Well at least they're trying to do 1:1 swordplay, but from Miyamoto's E3 demo it seems that either the game isn't ready or the Motionplus just isn't up to the task. Then again, people have told me that the controls feel great. So who knows? I had assumed the new Zelda would be super-casual, with more gesture-based gameplay, but thankfully that doesn't seem to be the case. The new graphic style looks like it gets the job done. A for effort.
Epic Mickey (Wii):
Wasn't this supposed to be dark or something? It just looks like any old Disney platformer, but with more thought put into it. I guess I should be happy about that, but maybe all this effort should be put into something with wider adult appeal. At least then marketing wouldn't inevitably force the developers to dumb it down for a more casual/child audience.
Dead Space 2 (Xbox 360):
Ok so it's an action game rather than a survival horror game. Does that mean we're allowed to judge it by the standards of other action games or does it get a pass like Resident Evil 4? Are we allowed to compare it to Call of Duty, Uncharted, and Gears of War? If so, I'd say it has a ways to go. A lack of multiplayer aint helping. *Correction: Apparently it will have online multiplayer.
Nintendo 3DS:
Ok this looks like a sweet piece of hardware, but really Nintendo? The joystick and the d-pad on the same side of the machine? After so many reviews of PSP 3rd and first person shooters clamouring for dual stick controls, couldn't you have put the joystick on the right side and made a lot of people happy?
Oh that's right, Japanese gamers aren't so hot on shooters. And we all know from Nintendo's online strategy that if something's not popular in Japan, it's not popular ANYWHERE.
Metroid Other M (Wii):
This game doesn't know what it wants to be. Everything from the Super Metroid music, to the gameplay, to the 3d minimap scream hardcore game. So why is Nintendo making me play with this dumbed-down casual-friendly control scheme? Why do I have to do 3d platforming with a d-pad when the console that has an analog stick? Why do I have to stop in my tracks in order to aim my gun, when the last Metroid on the Wii allowed me to move and shoot at the same time? Why Nintendo? Why!??
But at least they didn't screw up the music.
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Classic stuff...I'm only trying to figure out if this is a parody or not. The only difference between a parody of a extremist view or the extremist view is the explicit notion that it is a parody.
I've been pretty disappointed with E3 this year. Zelda was the most underwhelming trailer I think I've ever seen. What I remember from it: It looks just like one of the OoT style games, it uses a very bright color palette, apparently you can morph into a beetle and you fight a giant scorpion. Only one of those things is something I haven't seen in the Zelda series, and it doesn't look very interesting. Or at least didn't appear to be interesting in the 5 seconds I was allowed to see it. I can't figure out if they just made a bad trailer or if the game will be to Twilight Princess what Twilight Princess was to Ocarina of Time. (Even though a rush job, at least Majora's Mask utilized a lot of different stuff in new and interesting ways to provide a different experience than Ocarina of Time)
The Warhammer 40k MMO also looked pretty bland. Very formulaic trailer. Impressions reassured me that my 5 years of WoW will have me taking to the water like a duck on this one. Sad there was only a couple seconds' glimpse of what gameplay would look like (with the UI) from the player's perspective. I mean, if there ever was a reskinned WoW I'd be interested in playing, it would be from the 40k universe, but... yeah. Bland. Like sugar-free vanilla pudding.
Just wish there was more emphasis on showing awesome things that are new to E3 instead of trying to be sneaky and unveiling something you haven't officially announced (but denied rumors of 2 months in advance). I still kind of miss the excitement of anticipating E3 back when the Wii was called the Revolution. The hours and hours and hours that could be spent speculating and discussing the possibilities with an online community or friends was pretty sweet, but now it just feels like "Yep, rumor confirmed. New trailer that shows basically the same thing the last one did. This conference didn't even address the skeptical concerns of the product, it just continued to show footage while a guy talked in front of it about how awesome it's going to be. Next?"
(Do I seem like a cynical bastard yet? =D)
I think we get so wrapped up in how this stuff will be able to adapt to games we already like playing that we don't see how awesome it could be for new gameplay. You'll probably never be able to play a satisfying FPS on Kinect. So what? Can't play one on the DS either, but that's not what it's for.
I say we stop demanding the sorts of games we've seen for the last twenty years and start embracing new stuff, whether its new, casual, social, hands-free or hands-on. The other types of games will always be there, but it doesn't mean we can enjoy whitewater rafting with some friends using no hands! Not every technology will work for everything.
As far as menus go, I think you should add the time it takes to actually find the remote, get it in your hands and then press a button as compared to saying: "Xbox: Pause." I'm really looking forward to using it for interface, myself.
I honestly don't see how anyone would be happy with the new style after even just seeing Twilight Princess. Then again, I'm in the minority and think A Link to the Past was the best Zelda ever made and everyone else seems to think it was the ones on the N64.
Having said the above, I think I'll put up a post for myself, as Dead Space 2(PC)'s new direction has me worried. The last thing I want is another let down like RE5, but I'll hold final judgement until after I've installed and played it.
And your comments about Epic Mickey, when you haven't even played it, a WARREN FREAKING SPECTOR GAME, ANGERS ME!! **RAGE!!!**
And your comment about Zelda's technical issues. Google I/O and Apple both had problems with Wifi. So maybe it seems as if Nintendo were also having Wifi issues?
And who knows? How about the people that you've talked to? Are you saying they're liars? Go to Nintendo's site and watch the first impression videos. Also, have you actually tried out MotionPlus? I ask, because it does work as advertised and has no problems fallowing even subtle hand movements.
OK, this bothers me. You said;
"I remember a time when the original Perfect Dark was the most amazing first person shooter experience you could have."
You needs to plays mores games. :)
Anyways, you should post a fallow up blog after you have actual first hand experience. :)
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@Chris Pasley,
I kind of disagree about your comment about FPSs on the DS. Metroid Hunters was actually quite good. The stylus provides a much faster input method than a thumb-stick -- closer to a mouse, but of course that limits the amount of available buttons that can be pressed, making the screen pull a double duty for both aim and action, which sucks.
I feel like the goal of an interface should be to give the player as much control over his actions as possible as seamlessly as possible. For instance in a tennis game motion controls allow us to control the angle of our swing in 3 dimensions as well as the force of our swing all with a simple flick of the risk. The angle and force all have a REAL EFFECT on the game since they change the path of the ball. To control the angle and force of a swing as precisely with a normal gamepad would require the simultaneous use of multiple buttons. This is where motion controls excel - enhancing the level of interaction.
But asking the character to do a complex gesture with a motion controller in order to trigger a single, binary action, is a waste of the technology's potential. All of the extra data the game is getting from the controller (the angles and momentum of the motion) has no REAL EFFECT on the game. You might as well just push a button.
"You needs to plays more games. :)"
? are you saying Perfect Dark wasn't the best shooter available for at least a year and a half after its release? 'Cause it was. =]
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"But asking the character to do a complex gesture with a motion controller in order to trigger a single, binary action, is a waste of the technology's potential. All of the extra data the game is getting from the controller (the angles and momentum of the motion) has no REAL EFFECT on the game. You might as well just push a button."
I think that depends... I played Kinect Adventures, and it's hard to argue that pushing a button to perform a jump is as fun as actually performing the jump. There can be a certain visceral enjoyment to physical actions that a binary button press simply doesn't deliver.
@Chris Melby
I think the same sort of things will exist on Kinect, but there will be gameplay compromises, just like your metroid example. It's never going to be a perfect fit. I saw a fairly awkward FPS being demoed on Deca Sports that seems really weird.
To a degree I still worry about this, because largely on the Wii it IS an all or nothing view- everything is about the control method, and I feel its not an option on the Wii but a requirement. This may not bother you, thats what the Wii is for right? But now the other two major consoles are moving towards motion controls which leaves what?
I actually do like the dvd menu stuff, feels like a step in the right direction... but I'm curious to see it in practice.
To me, the Move should be about doing things that you can't do with a normal controller. Things like swinging a sword or a whip."
But couldn't you swing a sword or a whip with a button? It seems odd you would contradict yourself in the space of a single sentence. Regardless of how complicated the action is, if it is accurately portraying the on-screen action then it should, in theory, immediately improve immersion. +10 Alliteration.
I do agree for the most part though, I'm not a happy bunny after this e3. Child of Eden and Journey are the only titles I really took particular interest in :(
I don't think what I said was a contradiction. Swinging a sword, for example, is something that can be done in hundreds of different ways. The angle of the swing, the force, the initial velocity, the initial position of the sword in 3d space, all have an effect on the outcome of the sword fight. A thrust is not a horizontal swing. A high horizontal swing is not a low horizontal swing. To capture all the different moves you can do with a sword would require hundreds of buttons and it would be VERY cumbersome. Even a scheme using traditional analog joysticks still wouldn't work because they're not nearly sensitive to capture the full range of motion you can do with your arm.
That, in my opinion, is what Move should be used for. Requiring the player to do a complicated gesture that either results in the spell being cast or not is a waste of the Move's potential.
I see lot of potential in kinect, but it depends on how well it works. Some video I saw it didn't seem very responsive, in which case it would suck.
I was hoping to see some games like Heavy Rain but I just saw a lot of destroyed cities, aliens and guns.
The only things I nit pick was Microsoft and it trying to make Kinect the second coming, only to show off game Nintendo had at the first coming. And Sony trying to show off way to much content, which just confused me on their ultimate direction.