Quick thoughts on E3 2010
With Microsoft and Sony playing catch-up to Nintendo each with their own version of motion control, it was easy for Nintendo to steal the bacon. While Sony and Microsoft both attempted to wow us with their new hardware, which promises to make us feel more physically invested and involved in games, Nintendo instead focused on games. Promising a new Zelda, new Kirby, a new Donkey Kong Country, new Metroid, and a remake of Goldeneye 007.
I’m not trying to say that Microsoft and Sony didn’t give us anything to be excited about because they certainly did. Microsoft’s main highlights were when they debuted sequels to their most popular franchises Halo and Gears of War. Gears of War 3 is going to feature 4 player campaign mode which looks pretty awesome. Sony’s biggest highlights came from sequels to their younger franchises Infamous, Dead Space, and Little Big Planet. As well as a return of an old classic, Twisted Metal, whose multiplayer features might have you busy for hours.
We’re coming to a changing of the guard, where developers are excited to be rid of the confines of the typical controller, and are now experimenting with the limits of motion control games. Unfortunately we might have to endure a slew of crappy games until the industry molds to what works and what doesn’t. It would be foolish think there wasn’t a learning curve with these things. One motion control game that worries me is The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. I’m concerned about gamer’s stamina. To exhaust a Zelda title of all of its features can at times take 40+ hours. When the effort of a sword swing, bomb throw, or arrow shot is increased from a simple button combination to actual motions done performed by you, I worry that those 2-4 hour games will be a lot more tiring. Tiring to the point where effort verse return value might slip to the other side of the proverbial line, because if this happens and the effort of playing the game is greater than the entertainment value received from playing it then we’re going to see a lot of unfinished quests. This would be a terrible thing. I’m hoping in the future that there will be two types of games in for each system, motion control games and classic controller games, because sometimes I just want to sit back relax and let my character do all the work.
What was the most disappointing or exciting parts of E3 for you?
Really? You’re worried about getting tired? You don’t even have to be standing. If you can’t manage easy swings (not hard swings like Red Steel 2’s) for a couple of hours then you can always take a break. It’s not exactly a workout (I’ve played Red Steel 2 for more than 2 hours before and supposedly Zelda is much less exhausting).
How relaxing is an action game anyway? I’m pretty sure that’s not the goal. If you want to relax play a puzzle game or an rpg. Games like those will never have a large amount of motion controls. I’d gladly give up lazing around on the couch while playing for the precision, realism, and unique opportunities motion controls provide.
Also, they had Mario Sports Mix, which will hopefully prove as fun as any of the other Mario sports titles. Wii Party has gotten some good impressions and so has Sonic Colors (I was surprised) and Epic Mickey. They even had DS support with Golden Sun Dark Dawn, Professor Layton, Okamiden, Super Scribblenauts, Final Fantasy (a new multiplayer title), A new Mario vs. Donkey Kong, and Dragon Quest IX.
Besides that they brought even more software with the flood of announced 3DS support:
Kid Icarus
Paper Mario
New Resident Evil
MGS Snake Eater 3D
Starfox 3D
Nintendogs + Cats
Animal Crossing
Mario Kart
Legend of Zelda: OOT 3D
Kingdom Hearts
Dead or Alive 3D
Super Street Fighter IV
Not to mention many other titles and franchises that have been mentioned as coming to the 3DS (like Final Fantasy, Assassin’s Creed).
So to say they brought games is an understatement. Not only did they support their current consoles but they managed to rack up a ton of support for their next handheld. It’s not like they just had a few games at the show, they had an avalanche of first and third party support for the future both near and far. Definitely the last thing most people expected (Zelda, Pikmin 3, Vitality Sensor and 3DS).
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Davy Reply:
June 17th, 2010 at 5:48 pm
Nintendo definitely brought on the games, and it definitely looked like more breadth and depth than their competitors. However Zelda games to me have always seemed like a long enduring quest. It is required that you search high and low to get everything out of your game. However if I’m going to have as much trouble as Miyamoto had at bouncing octorock rocks back at enemies with a shield bash then it’s going to be an extremely long game. I understand that there was wireless interference when he was doing the demo but I have doubts if that would have affected nunchuck’s performance.
I understand that you can do this all from your couch but certainly some motions would get awkward from a sitting position like bowling a bomb. In fact, for intents and purposes you might be getting away from the experience that the developer intended on if you sit while playing this game.
Also I’m not trying to say there can’t be a good balance between motion control and action/adventure games. I enjoyed playing through all of No More Heroes, and I definitely played through that whole game while standing.
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Dakaggo Reply:
June 18th, 2010 at 1:19 am
The wireless signal to the Wii Remote wasn’t working right. The signal was being scrambled. That includes every single function of the Wii Remote. You could see the pointer skipping even.
Every impression I’ve read clearly shows that the controls are the smoothest on the Wii. I didn’t see anything saying that it worked any less than perfectly. Additionally there are tons of videos of people playing with no problems so it was clearly interference.
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Clearly Microsoft and Sony are doing this to prolong the life of their respective consoles and go after the casual market while Nintendo is preparing more games and hopefully will have a HD capable console with better friend networking. The only thing I saw that I’d pay for within the first year of release was the 3DS.
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J Reply:
June 18th, 2010 at 1:20 am
Wow you BRR’d right off the screen. Impressive.
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