E3 2012 apathy

[joshnickerson]

Oh snaps.

I guess I'd better shut up, guys. This guy posted one link to a Joystiq article.

I rarely laugh out loud reading these forums, but this one did it for me. Kudos, G-Boobie.

[joshnickerson]

I'm confused.

Everyone here knows that.

[InsaneDavid]

Oh snaps.

I guess I'd better shut up, guys. This guy posted one link to a Joystiq article.

He's the DP Servbot! It has become sentient!

[JSoup]

He's the DP Servbot! It has become sentient!

And annoyingly retarded. What has science done?!

[The 1 2 P]

He's the DP Servbot! It has become sentient!

This is why I suggested we pull the plug months ago.

[BetaWolf47]

WTF is wrong with the ergonomics of Nintendo devices lately. Since the Gamecube, Nintendo has created the most uncomfortable devices both handheld and console. The Wiimote both regularly or as a rail gun shooter. They went from the amazing GBA to the GBA SP. The DS and DS Lite were actually more comfortable than the GBA SP, but still crap in comparison to any of their other systems. The 3DS feels more uncomfortable than the DS and DS Lite despite being the same design(L and R has even less room.) The new regular Wii U controller looks to be quite uncomfortable playing games, and then this new controller, the digital pad and the buttons look so far close to the center.

The PSP Go has shitty ergonomics. L and R, while being extremely nice, they have no room to rest your fingers, and there's only a bit of room on the front of the control pad. Thankfully the Dualshock 3 is usable and you can use the system as a portable "console" with component cables. Microsoft got it right with the 360 remote control, the regular Xbox controller sucking, but damn, Nintendo has did this for every console and portable since the Gamecube.

That's a matter of opinion. I actually thought that the Gamecube controller was the most comfortable analog controller ever made, for one.

Not sure how anyone could be apathetic about new consoles...



Maybe some of you are in the wrong hobby.

This is going to be an interesting next few days.

That controller is interesting. I don't like the Xbox 360-ish design, personally. The controller grips on that look way too wide to hold comfortably. The most curious thing is the fact that it has analog triggers, while the regular Wii U GamePad does not. I wonder how that will work.

[Ryudo]

DP servebot has become sentient. no worries people it's not Judgement day. He renamed himself Retrocade Fantasia but still only has the IQ of a retarded cockroach

[Trumpman]

The South Park game looks amazing.

[Rob2600]

It does look like the Smart Glass functionality is a clever way to head off the advantages of the WiiU pad early rather than taking a reactive approach like Kinect was.

WCP raised a good point in the Microsoft E3 thread:

"The Smart Glass idea seems interesting, but since both devices have to communicate thru the cloud, I could see a ton of lag being a problem. Microsoft is hoping to 'one up' Nintendo's touchpad with Smart Glass, but the difference with the Wii U pad is that it communicates directly with the Wii U. It doesn't have to pull from the cloud. This makes me think that Smart Glass won't be as cool as it could have been."

[Ryudo]

WCP raised a good point in the Microsoft E3 thread:

"The Smart Glass idea seems interesting, but since both devices have to communicate thru the cloud, I could see a ton of lag being a problem. Microsoft is hoping to 'one up' Nintendo's touchpad with Smart Glass, but the difference with the Wii U pad is that it communicates directly with the Wii U. It doesn't have to pull from the cloud. This makes me think that Smart Glass won't be as cool as it could have been."

It's Microsofts way of saying we don't want to fully dive in Wii U idea but at the same time don't want to be left behind also. Similar to HD DVD when they had a separate attachment.

[Bojay1997]

WCP raised a good point in the Microsoft E3 thread:

"The Smart Glass idea seems interesting, but since both devices have to communicate thru the cloud, I could see a ton of lag being a problem. Microsoft is hoping to 'one up' Nintendo's touchpad with Smart Glass, but the difference with the Wii U pad is that it communicates directly with the Wii U. It doesn't have to pull from the cloud. This makes me think that Smart Glass won't be as cool as it could have been."

I don't know, cloud based gaming through OnLive and Gakai has gotten pretty lag free at this point. It obviously varies by your Internet connection and other factors, but at least if you live in many major metropolitan areas, it's not that laggy. Similarly, there are tricks with preloading of content that can be done to minimize the data that needs to be sent to the wireless device. Frankly, I wouldn't count Microsoft out on a technology like this.

[Aussie2B]

I love how the E3 apathy thread became the E3 news thread, haha. I thought you guys didn't care? :P

[WCP]

I love how the E3 apathy thread became the E3 news thread, haha. I thought you guys didn't care? :P

Even when e3 is a disappointment, there are always things to talk about. We wait so long for something like the e3 to come along... Normally, there are at least a couple of bombs dropped that totally change the gaming landscape, but it appears that we aren't getting anything Earth shattering this year. I'm confident next year will be an e3 to remember, but until then, I need to bitch about this one...

[The 1 2 P]

Even when e3 is a disappointment, there are always things to talk about. We wait so long for something like the e3 to come along... Normally, there are at least a couple of bombs dropped that totally change the gaming landscape, but it appears that we aren't getting anything Earth shattering this year. I'm confident next year will be an e3 to remember, but until then, I need to bitch about this one...

For me it's not that I need to bitch. I didn't expect much this year considering we are in year 7 of this gen. I just thought I'd see more from Nintendo. But Microsoft and Sony showed pretty much exactly what I expected to see at their conferences. Still a pretty lackluster E3 all together but it had it's moments, however brief they were.

[G-Boobie]

I'm surprised that there isn't more Vita stuff on the way. Call of Duty, Assassins Creed... and that's kinda it, other than a few ports.

I've been on the fence about buying a Vita since launch and was actively looking for a reason to pick one up. I guess I'm still waiting.

[Bojay1997]

I spent a couple of hours at E3 today at lunch and I have to say that it was much more mellow than past years. The crazy lines at Nintendo just weren't there this year (I was able to hop right in to try a few of the WiiU titles) although perhaps they didn't offer the same swag like styluses or other items which seemed to drive the lines in the past. It was also weird that Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft were all basically right next to each other this year where my recollection is that at least one of them (generally Microsoft) was in the other hall in past years.

I looked specifically for Vita and Move stuff and I didn't see anything that wasn't already covered at the press announcements and on various web sites. They were still pushing Sorcery, they had Sports Champions 2 playable and there were several lounge area kiosks devoted to Eve Dust 514 which was being touted as free to play, but also supporting Move and the gun attachment. Nothing else was there that I could see specifically for Move. Vita seemed to have a ton of PSN games on display but not a whole lot on the retail release side.

Microsoft put most of their focus on the games they showed during their press presentation. There were big stages for Dance Central 3 with live dancers and a large chair so you could play the Kinect Fable game. Nothing else really caught my eye.

There were larger lines at Disney Interactive because you could get Oswald hats if you played the new Epic Mickey game and there was a line at Atlus to play Persona 4 Golden where you could have received a bright yellow shirt.

Natsume had very little to show and it appears they are focusing primarily on digital distribution for the future.

Sega actually had a fairly large booth this year and focused mainly on the Aliens game which is set to release early next year.

There was definitely a feeling of stagnation in the air and there was a pretty massive presence from non-console gaming companies on the mobile device side in both halls. It actually makes me wonder if the console market can sustain all three platforms in the next generation, plus two handhelds.

I do have to say the true highlight was the large display done by the Videogame History Museum. People were very excited to see the museum and play the row of classic arcade games. They have really taken it to a whole other level and it really did look professional enough to be an actual museum display with well drafted information cards and large glass cases full of unique prototype items.

[duffmanth]

I wasn't really blown away by anything at E3 other than Sony demoing The Last of Us and Beyond. Also Konami showing Metal Gear Rising. I really have no interest in anything that Nintendo or Microsoft does.

[Graham Mitchell]

The wii u was a bit of a bummer for me. I didn't see any evidence that it's more powerful than a wii. Super Mario Bros. U is just new smb wii with new levels. They literally appear to have taken the same engine, changed some textures and music, and lazily plopped it together. The only difference is that the wii u runs at a higher resolution, so it doesn't look like a muddy mess.

The Nintendo Land mini games were pretty unimpressive as well. Some of them, particularly luigi's ghost hunt, are fun with 5 people, but how often are u going to have 5 people around to play with? By yourself those games will get old in 5 minutes. They all had less depth than galaga.

I've seen teaser pics and concept art in Game Informer showing a pretty sweet-looking HD Zelda mock up, but there was nothing at the show that even resembled that. All these games just used Miis as characters, with no arms or legs.

Overall, the whole thing was pretty uninspired. Either this thing is going to be a pile of shit, or they hurriedly just threw some crap together to show off the controller. I tried to ask if these games were part of a pack in or something, but the staff were trained to be evasive and dodge the question.


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[Tupin]

Is that all Nintendo had at the Nintendo booth, just NintendoLand and Pikmin 3? Not a single bit of Wii? Wouldn't surprise me, they drop console support super quickly.

"No Zelda" was trending worldwide on Twitter within two minutes of the end of the conference. Supposedly Nintendo had an announcement from Retro Studios that they were going to save for the end of the conference, but Retro said they weren't ready to show it.

Every site I've seen says the Wii U is stronger than the 360 or PS3. It has to be to supply the same image to three screens at once in real time. I doubt that it will be more powerful than the PS4 and 360 successor, but that's to be expected.

[Graham Mitchell]

The only wii games I saw were from third party publishers. There were a lot of zumba and dance games. Epic Mickey 2 was the only big wii game I saw being showcased, but to be fair, I didn't explore every nook and cranny of the show.

Interestingly, the only 3ds game I saw was the guardian heroes style game atlus was bringing over. I can't remember what it was called but it was very good.


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