E3, E3, E3 & flat

Right…

I though I’d take a moment or two to write down my thoughts so far on E3.

I have watched all of the Nintendo conference, half of the Sony conference and have downloaded a lot of gameplay video/trailers. Read several “hands on” reports and pretty much taken in as much of E3 as possible without actually being there.

So far, it looks like Nintendo seem to have hit the ground running… and skipping. Sony on the other hand, seem a tad unprepared, over expensive and ever so slightly uninteresting.

Zelda on the Wii is looking very promising and Super Mario Galaxy just looks stella. Other promising looking Wii games are: Metroid Prime 3, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, Excite Truck, WarioWare, Red Steel and Super Smash Bros Brawl. My only slight concern is that Nintendo are heavily marketing the Wii as a console that anyone can use, but there isn’t anything as immediately open to non-gamers in the same way that Brain Training and Nintendogs has been on the DS.

Talking of the DS… Phoenix Wright 2, Yoshi’s Island 2, StarFox… Yeah :)

On the PS3 both Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII are looking stunning and I quite like the look of Warhawk, but other than that – nothing truly new or immediately interesting.

As for Xbox360 – I’ve barely even looked…

I thought I’d also mention the PS3 controller. As predicted, this has reverted back to the old dual shock design (playing it very safe Sony). However, they have also include motion sensor in this at the expenses of the rumble pack. This just screams to me as a half-arsed attempt to outdo Nintendo. However, as the controller itself hasn’t changed, I don’t see this being as versatile or as well used as the Wii remote. It’s a good addition, just not sure how much it will be used.

Back to the Wii remote… A speaker on the remote? My first thoughts were simply… “huh”? But the more I think about it, the more I can see the sense of it. After all the sound of hitting a ball and a slight rumble of the remote would be a great indication that you’ve made virtual contact with a tennis ball. It should be interesting to find out how this is put to use by various developers.

Just also recently downloader the trailer for Super Smash Brothers Brawl. That has to be both one of the coolest and funniest trailers ever!

On a less happy note… Our tenant situation has taken a turn for the worse. I’m not really in the mood to blog about it now, but rest assured – the saga is not over.