E3 Aftermath

E3 is finally all over and done with. I think I speak for many when I say thank god. It was a return to form of sorts, as E3 had not been what it once was the past couple of years. It certainly was information overload this year for sure though. I would personally have to say all three console manufacturers delivered good shows this year. You could certainly nitpick each a little, but overall, the future looks bright.

On the Microsoft and Sony fronts, I took away one glaring statement that went unsaid. With project Natal for MS and Sony's motion control, these consoles are going to be around for alot longer. The 360 has been out since '05 and PS3 since '06 respectively. Taking console history into account, I figured these machines had 2-3 years left in them at most. But there certainly is a large amount of R & D going on in those camps. Too much if they think the consoles half lives have been passed, it just wouldn't make good business sense if they did. I think they are here to stay until at least 2012, and the techno-junkie part of me finds that a little bittersweet.

The one worry I really have with some of what's coming out is all of the peripherals. Nintendo has been pretty successful in this arena, but they are an anomaly in my opinion. That's not a bad thing, they just have a much broader audience that seems to really click with that stuff. The Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises have also done well with peripherals, but again, they also appeal to a much more social and casual audience. Typically in this industry however, peripheral adoption rate usually pretty low. For example, I own a 360 camera, but out of all the 360 gamers I know, only two others do. Only time will tell, but I certainly hope this doesn't lead to unhappy stockholders in the long run. It would be excellent though if this really sparked a creative revolution in gaming, and not just more mini-game collections.

The games, oh the sweet, sweet games. There were so many games on display, it will be impossible to stay awake and list them all, so I'll give you some of my personal highlights. In fact, let's do it in video form!


























Whew! And that's just the stuff, that I can remember, I'm looking forward to. How about you?