7/12/2007

You can't please all the people all the time...

I understand where Nintendo was coming from, I do, And if I was an investor, a senior-citizen, or a soccer mom, I'd be damn pleased watching Reggie talk today. But I'm a gamer. A longtime gamer. While not necessarily a loyal Nintendo fanboy, I definitely was one of the guys who supported you through the rough times with my hard-earned cash. And watching this conference, I felt bored and a little angry. Mario Kart! Yay!! Solid '07 dates for Mario Galaxy & Smash Bros, yay! And that was really it. The rest was patting themselves on the back how they've had great success with an audience that doesn't normally play games and announcing games for that audience that while we veteran gamers may get some fun out of things like the new Wii Fitness, it's not something we bought the system for, and we don't want to hear about it. Where's the virtual console news? Or some concrete info on Wii Ware? Why didn't you talk about some more of the great games you've got coming out instead of sales numbers we already know about? I mean, Nintendo knows it's the hardcore fanbase that really watches this stuff, that's who they should've catered to. There's lots to be excited about for Wii in '07, but judging from this conference, you wouldn't know it.

Surprisingly, I think Sony fared far better this year, but still had an underwhelming show, with the message seeming to be "look what we have coming out in '08!", and indeed, I will probably be willing to pony up $500 for this system next year sometime as they have some stellar titles on the way. But Sony really needs some killer apps this holiday season, and I just don't think games like Uncharted & Ratchet & Clank are going to move units. Especially not compared to what MS & Nintendo have coming. If Sony can't really capitalize on this holiday season, the doomsayers may actually be correct, cause Sony cannot afford to be a distant 3rd in this race. On the bright side, Home actually looks pretty functional, if completely over the top; and Killzone 2 actually looks phenomenal, but it's not coming for awhile.

And no, I haven't completely forgotten about Harry Potter, but I'll save any thoughts on it til at least tomorrow, depending on how much more E3 news breaks out. In the meantime, here's some of the best vids to chew on:

Metroid Prime 3 trailer:



Metroid Prime 3 Stage Demonstration:



Mario Galaxy Trailer



Mario Kart Wii



Metal Gear Solid 4



Killzone 2

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