E3 - Pre-Show Announcements Overwhelm, Entertain

Thanks to GameSpot for its massive E3 update list, GameSpy for a similar E3 index, IGN for its latest E3 news, and 1UP for its E3 dispatches, as the major gaming sites update on "hundreds of new games" revealed leading up to the E3 Expo in Los Angeles. New highlights include an "epic three-hour press conference" revealing Konami's new games, including screenshots of Metal Gear Acid for PSP, and elsewhere, screenshots and a preview of Metroid Prime Hunters for Nintendo DS, the announcement and screenshots of "unique armband"-toting EyeToy: AntiGrav for PS2, preview and screenshots of Mario 64x4 for Nintendo DS, and much, much more. What's been your favorite hardware or software revelation so far?

Comments

Re:Nintendo DS looks most impressive

[metroid composite]

I'll agree that most of those look like rehashes. The big exception I've seen is Warioware, where the gameplay is largely through the touch screen which changes the dynamic dramatically from the first one allowing for several different gameplay options.

Then again, name means little; tell me Super Mario Bros 2 is just a Super Mario Bros 1 rehash. (Given that it wasn't even a Mario game to start with, but repackaged as one...).

There's also that little fact where guess which games make headlines in the previews? The big name stuff--cheap sequels to games that turned out really popular. You have to sift through the garbage if you want to find anything. PSP games people are excited about are Metal Gear, Gran Turismo, Viewtiful Joe, and Devil May Cry. XBox games people are excited about are Halo 2, Half Life 2, and Doom 3. GC games people are excited about include various things with Zelda, Resident Evil, Metroid, and Mario in the title.

Re:PSP vs DS

[nicky_d]

It wasn't just the storage system that helped the PS 'beat' the N64, though; Sony's marketing and the focus of its games played a large part - specifically titles like Wipeout, which roped in a huge casual market while Nintendo at launch were wowing the longtime gamers with Mario 64, but hardly attracting the man in the street. Sony continued this trend with titles like Gran Turismo, and generally created the casual gaming market.

That isn't to say Nintendo didn't produce some cracking games, but their market for them was always limited more by their image than by the choice of cartridge technology. Obviously the expense of cartridges didn't help (when Turok came out in the UK, it cost almost twice as much as a new PS game), but games like Resident Evil 2 (admittedly a late entry) showed that the cartridge could compete with the CD, and games from the outset like Mario 64 and Pilotwings proved that Nintendo could deliver the goods regardless of format.

Anyway, the handhelds? Well, being the owner of a NES and SNES, and therefore familiar with the original Mario Kart, Metroid and Mario games. the Game Boy Advance hasn't done much to wow me beyond Advance Wars and Wario Ware. I'm sure it's a fantastic system for someone who's playing Mario Kart or Super Mario World on it for the first time, but I'm clearly a jaded old fart. The link-up options and touch screen sound like they could be promising, if used well. At the same time, the inclusion of an analogue controller on the PSP is important and sadly missing from the DS - though it would probably boost the price and maybe raise the vulnerability of the unit.

The PSP software lineup also feels very familiar, of course, but there is the saving grace that many of these titles are seeing their first handheld iteration, and might gain some novelty points that way. A portable Metal Gear sounds and looks wonderful, if a little antisocial...

At the end of the day, I'll probably get 'em both just out of curiosity and hope. And I'm sure both will have a few great games and a lot of dross. So why on earth I've been wittering on like this, I've no idea. Go Nintendo! Go Sony! Give us hell!