E3 Day One

So here's what I'm thinking about all the new games and systems in general: meh.

I'm happy to see Nintendo doing something different than everyone else by skipping graphics to focus on new ways of playing but, well, I don't think I want to play all of my games the way they want me to. I just hurt my elbow a little today by bumping into something. I can't play a Wii game now because it will hurt. My fingers are okay (albeit still CTS'ed) but I don't want to swing my arms around. Video game in general are a lazy experience. A few games with novel controllers like Dance Dance Revolution are great but a whole system based on that? Sounds like too much work.

And while they're pushing for new types of games they're still ignoring the men factor. I think they're ignoring hardcore gamers at their own risk. A lot of people are making the comment "Nintendo doesn't care about me anymore" and now I'm starting to believe it too. If the virtual console doesn't turn out well (i.e. it doesn't have cheap games) then Nintendo might have a dud on its hands.

That doesn't mean the other guys are doing so well either. The Xbox 360 is, for all intents and purposes, a fancy PC with no keyboard. The hottest game on there is not exclusive so why do I need to buy one? I'm not paying 400 bucks for Geometry Wars, I'll tell you that now.

As for the Playstation 3, who cares? They ditched the boomerang controller too quickly because of fanboy complaints even though the reviewers said the controller felt great. It's almost as if they're doing the opposite of Nintendo and catering to the hardcore too much. They're so concerned with feeding that market that they give them what they think they want instead of what they really need. Comfortable controllers are a necessity. Pretty controllers aren't.

That and they did a pseudo rip off of Nintendo's big idea. Industry guys are already crying foul over the gyroscopic features of the new Dual Shock. Their complaints are much more important than fanboy whining as that might lead some developers to be reluctant to develop PS3 games just out of spite. Nintendo doesn't know what's good for them but they still have loyalists.

As for the games, which are what matters most, there's only Spore so far that really excites me. The new games on the Wii seem interesting (the disaster game sounds like the non-traditional game for grown-ups they need) but I'm still getting cold with the extra hand waving and too many of them have the dreaded cute factor. Even though I still like some cute things I'm beginning to realize that as I get older I want things that look and feel my age. Unless the game looks to be brilliant or a nice walk down memory lane (New Super Mario Bros does both so well that I'm going to buy it) I don't want to play cute, colorful games. That said, bloody demon shooters also feel like young stuff. I'm 25. I want to play games that challenge my brain and touch my deeper emotions.

I'm seeing a lot of sequels that I don't care much about. I'm really disappointed with Square-Enix making sequels off of games that haven't even been released yet. The Final Fantasy XIII stuff does well by not having a boy-girl character like that freaky Ashe creature from FF12 but I'm a little put off by the full on sci-fi look they're pushing--but I'll wait and see.

New games? I haven't seen anything that really does it for me. Spore gets me because it lets me be creative and too many games pass that opportunity up. I don't see any really cool RPGs. First person shooters look cool but they all seem the same and nothing is changing with that (plus, I SUCK at them in multiplayer.)

All in all I get the feeling that Nintendo should have stuck with the name Revolution but moreso I feel they should have really tried harder to start a revolution because that's what games need right now. Will Wright could start one (and I even have a few doubts about Spore, believe it or not) but who will take it up after him? People are always talking about how cool and different The Sims is but nothing has challenged it save for possibly Animal Crossing. And for everything else it seems like the same old same old.