Now that you are sitting there paying attention with that silly what the hell look on your face; welcome. Here we are for our weekly Monday blog post, this week I wont be keeping you long as there is much gaming afoot and research to be done in preparation. Preparation for what you may ask? Well that's elementary my dear denizens of the internet, preparation for E3.
Well as years have gone by hardcore gamers and industry aficionado's have come to expect a certain pattern of sorts for each major console company that presents at E3. Before I get into what that is though let me just give brief heads up as to what E3 is for those ladies that are blessed with a gamer boyfriend but slightly lost as to why their man is so excited over it. Electronic Entertainment Expo, commonly known as E3, is an annual trade fair for the computer and video games industry presented by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). It is used by many video game publishers and accessory manufacturers to show off their upcoming games and game-related merchandise.
Unlike Gamescom, Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), and other video game trade fairs that are open to the public, E3 is an exclusive, industry-only event. Persons who apply to attend are required by the event's governing body (Entertainment Software Association) to verify that they have some professional connection to the electronic entertainment industry.
So as I mentioned before; in recent history E3 has pretty much been a bit repetitive. Maybe its in the spirit of competition, maybe its cause this has been the longest generation of gaming lasting something like 10 years. Whatever the reason here is the run down of all the usual suspects and hopefully what they avoid come this E3.
Nintendo & The WiiU
Every year Nintendo in a push to appeal to a general public and to attract a wider seemingly untapped market share have gone the route of the casual gamer. regurgitating a Super Mario game here or there but totally ignoring the die hard fans and giving them what they want. Namely a new Smash Brothers, Metroid, Zelda or open world Pokemon Stadium 2. Seriously hoping they announce a game or two from those because the WiiU is in desperate need of a bit hit to call back home all the naysayers. Granted Nintendo finally caught up graphically and spec wise somewhat it is already for naught as both Sony and Microsoft are leaping ahead into the next generation of gaming. Nintendo seemingly have the most to lose at this year's E3.
Microsoft & The XBOX One
Microsoft in a bid to follow in but improve on the path of Nintendo has always sought to have mass market appeal. As such from the advent of their Kinect peripheral they ave been trying to garner the attention of the average Jo Schmo. From gimmicky little things such as Just Dance video games to maneuvering the Xbox dashboard with Kinect; Microsoft has sought and fought for a solid way to justify the Kinect. They seem to have now found that in the newly designed Xbox One architecture toting an always on methodology as well as straying from the trivial gimmicky little games that usually have Kinect features tacked on it. Since Microsoft decided to have a pre-unveiling press conference thankfully they wont repeat the typical mistake of dwelling on the media aspect of the console instead of the video game related side of things. With all the negative press surrounding the Xbox One it will be interesting to see how Microsoft appeases the gaming masses and gets them to open up their wallets.
Sony & The PS4
Not much is needed to be said about the so far wonderful people at Sony. They have only made 2 mistakes so far in comparison to Nintendo and Microsoft. Not showing what their new console will look like which we can sorta excuse since not only may it have been a marketing ploy to get Microsoft to show theirs but also since it helps hype up their E3 presentation. As well as not having backwards compatibility for their next generation console. Granted they can still flop big time at a moments notice I am hoping they don't fall into their usual bad pattern of trying to keep up with Microsoft and their motion gaming push. Thankfully it seems they have finally learnt their lesson and are pushing more of their focus into the hardcore gaming aspect of their system and all the things that true gamer's care about. i.e. the online environment, streaming, hardware specs and graphical output.
With all that said and done it should definitely be interesting to see who make the most of this E3 to sway the fans into the next generation of console gaming. So far its a clear cut case for Sony to come out on top with all the flack Xbox One has been getting on the internet but who knows. Maybe Microsoft can show us a truly spectacular future on the Xbox One for more than just TV. Eagerly counting down the days till next week; I very well may have to call in sick to work for those first two days of E3. Which console team are you currently supporting into the future of next generation gaming? Hell rumors are flying that their might be an announcement of another new console coming to light. We will just have to wait and see....
