E3 - to come and go

E3 has come and gone, with a great deal of anticipation before hand and a greater deal of that left afterwards, taking into account all that we've seen so far in the Expo.

It's been 14 years now since I've first picked up a gamepad (not to mention a freaking portable). It's been years with highs and lows in gaming for me, and my interest towards it. There haven't been many years in which my interest could flare up as much as it did this year and I'm honestly glad to be able to raise my glass and say: Welcome back our E3 of young!
Since 1999 and 2000 I have been watching the even year after year. Finally, a year worth of remembering this time, with the console wars in full effect and some good titles coming out of it.

I ain't an XBox owner...was, aren't anymore. Can't say I'm sad about it. However, having watched the Microsoft press conference, there are some key points that will probably make me spend a few days with my XBox wielding friends:

Halo ODST
Ok, it's hard not to get excited over one of the biggest franchises of the moment, even if my personal opinion is that Halo Wars was a flop. I've enjoyed the stories from Halo 1-3 and am actually interested in seeing them expand. The universe for the game is interesting so there's potential in ODST and that new title announced. I almost wish I'd see the game on the PS 3 for myself so I may enjoy it at home...but nonetheless, I'll play them when they'll come out.
Gameplay in ODST, from what the demo showed, looks pretty slick and interesting, even if I'm not one for changing characters constantly.

Forza Motorsport 3
This looks mostly like an OK driving game. I don't know if it'll be anything to praise the heavens about, but I'll be interested in giving this thing a whirl as well.

Splinter Cell: Conviction
The first two Splinter Cell games were for me some of the best games I've ever played. I never finished the 3rd one because of savegame errors, and the fourth never even got to play. Conviction seems like a good game so far, as long as the sneaking remains intact throughout. I want to play a sneaking game that ain't MGS (I can't stand that kind of sneaking, I want shadows) and until Thief 4 hits shelves there will be waiting involved.
Conviction, from what I've seen, is shaping up to be a great game for the 360. I want to try it out.

If these games, coupled with Risen (that was unfortunately absent from E3 from what I've seen) manage to impose some quality, I may reconsider my position on the 360 and risk my money once again for the console. But other than that, the Natal is a cool gimmick, but I'm not sold on it. I find motion sensing as something that may be important for the future, but not vital. I want to play with gamepads, it's one of the reasons I've remained a console gamer for so many years, even if my PC experience far exceeds the console one.

Next on my list would be the Sony conference that I had to unfortunately watch recorded and not live. The quality suffered, but the message got across for me.
Before anything else...I liked the introducer. The Microsoft guy gave me the impression of a douche...the Sony guy was rather mellow and calm. It's easy to trust a face like that, makes the conference a lot more bearable through the boring parts.

As a PS 3 user, it's MUCH too easy to become hyped for games like God of War 3 and Uncharted 2 so I won't say anything about those two. Those will be good games, they have their pedigrees, the teams have experience, it'd be hard to botch up something like that. Even more of the same is welcomed.

My E3 news bomb is Arcania. Gothic needed a face lift at long last and a jump to the consoles...I can't build another rig just to play that game and a console port usually means more work on stability and optimizing. So here's me waiting for my favorite RPG to hit market...whenever it'll be, at least I know it'll come.

Demons Souls had a weak presence at this years E3. It's understandable, since the game is already launched in Japan so there's really little point in preparing the waters for it any longer. I'm not that interested in White Knight Chronicles honestly so I may actually give DS a run down and see what it's got to offer. From the reviews I've read so far I got the fact that it's a hard, no-nonsense RPG game. And that's just perfect for me...I want something to actually make me play the damn thing not just press some buttons. I want something as hard as Soulbringer or Planescape: Torment. I want a game I need to play to win, I want something that punishes mistakes with more than a slap on the wrist so I'm hoping Demons Souls is that game for me.

I finally saw a presentation for Quantum for the PS 3. Yes, I know all you fanboys out there are yelling GEARS CLONE. BURN AT THE STAKE but for me, who has played the first Gears, the game looks fun enough to buy. Needs some spit and polish from what the trailers showed so far, and a more aggressive AI, but the game shows promise and I really hope they get the gameplay right. The graphics are standard fare so I won't comment, and the story may be over before it even begins...but the gameplay will make or break the thing.
I'm hoping for a meaty 3rd person shooter for the PS3...will my hopes be answered? Time will tell.

Modern Warfare 2 looks rather good, far better than I was expecting honestly. I think it's high time I got myself a copy of the first game and see what the hubbub's about. I may pick up the second one as soon as it launches if I'm impressed enough with the first. So far, only the first two CoD games made any impressions on me...the 3rd was bland so I never tried the fourth. 5 is as if it never existed to me.

One of my most anticipated games for E3 had to be the new Ratchet & Clank Future game. I'm happy to see I'm in for more of the same with A crack in time, and the story seems to go along well. If the variety in levels will be as impressive as it was in the previous games, and the weapons as fun to upgrade and use to maim and destroy...I'm definitely buying the game.
From what I've seen from the developers so far in the interviews, there's little to worry about. The new fast ways of going around the levels looks fun, and some of the weapons seem like they'll be quite amusing. I can't wait for a demo of the game honestly.

Afrika, I'm happy so say, did not thwart my expectations. The game still looks awesome and I want to play it so bad it hurts. I'm a photographer of sorts so that trailers of the gameplay just got to me.
I continue to respect the PS 3 for allowing and encouraging such projects with such a limited chance of success. I want more like this, more indie and more courage, like there once was.

Definitely not last and not least, but I'm rather tired of writing and most people won't event try and read this, would have to be Gran Turismo 5. I was never a GT fan but this caught my eye. It's not the graphics, that's just hogwash as far as I'm concerned, it's the sheer volume of data they're packing into the game. So many cars and track and modes and this will get anyone's attention.
I'm a Burnout fan myself so it's far fetched for my expectations to be great for a simulator. But, nonetheless, they are. Let's hope for a great game.


Yes, there are big names missing from that. Bad Company 2, Bayonetta, Left 4 Dead 2, Dead Rising 2, Lost Planet 2, Tekken 6, MAG, Brutal Legend, MGS: Rising, White Knight Chronicles, Final Fantasy XIII, Assassin's Creed 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum...and many more. Many of those games do not interest me, many have no reasons to interest me and many have been talked to death so far so there's no reason for me to say anything again.
All in all, E3 2009 was a good show. For me, it managed to spark my interest in a lot of titles and in next years show. I'm sorry there was no Diablo 3 or Max Payne 3 in the show but that's life, we'll see at TGS so GDC this year about those...or even Blizzcon.
Welcome back E3 and thank you for a good show and many, many promising titles for our favorite pastime.