The many faces of Sony's E3 2011 presser

Sony's E3 2011 press conference ended a few hours ago, but I haven't had a chance to chime in about it until now because of dinner and work and all of those other things that pop up in an afternoon and keep a guy from blogging about games.

With that out of the way, what did I think about said presser? Well, I enjoyed it more than Microsoft's presser, that's for sure.

That's not to say Sony's conference was one mind-blowing announcement after another. On the contrary, it started rather boringly--with Sony's Jack Tretton apologizing for the recent PSN debacle before yammering on about how well the "PlayStation family" is doing these days. (I can't fault him for that, as it's part and parcel of these sorts of events.)

Anyway, if I had snapped a photo of myself during Tretton's opening salvo, I probably would have looked something like this:

Except, of course, I'd have looked like a grown man and not a young girl.

Anyway, things thankfully turned around as soon as the folks at Sony started showing games. I've yet to play any of the previously-released Resistance or Uncharted titles, but their latest iterations--Resistance 3 and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, respectively--looked pretty awesome to these eyes. (Uncharted 3 was especially enticing thanks to the demo's cruise-ship setting.)

That double dose of awesomeness definitely piqued my interest. In fact, if I had taken a photo of myself at that point in time I likely would have looked a bit like this lovely lady:

Unfortunately, Tretton went back to yammering as soon as he was done talking about Resistance 3. The focus of his yammering this time: Some sort of PlayStation-branded 3D TV that will sold later this year for $500. (That price includes a copy of Resistance 3, an HDMI cable and a pair of 3D glasses, by the way).

If you want to know how I probably looked during this particular section of the presser, just scroll back to the image of the bored little girl.

That's also how I looked when Tretton talked about a bunch of in-the-works, Move-enabled titles. Honestly, I don't have anything against the Move, but I'm also not all that interested in it. If you are interested in it, you may like to know that BioShock Infinite, Dust 514 (from the makers of Eve Online), NBA 2K12, Medieval Moves: Deadmund’s Quest, some sort of Star Wars game and a bunch of other games will make use of Move whenever they finally hit the streets later this year or next.

My hopes and fears for the 'big three' at E3

E3 2011 is upon us. Well, as of Monday. Anyway, I'm excited. I'm also a bit wary, as I've been through the ups and downs associated with such events many times over the years.

So, what am I excited about and what is making me a bit wary--or, rather, what are my hopes and fears for the "big three" at this most awesome of gaming events? Well, here are my hopes:

Microsoft--Honestly, I'm not expecting much from Microsoft. You know they're going to show a bunch of "hardcore" games and a bunch of Kinect titles. I have little interest in either. I'll be perfectly happy, though, if they announce even a few wow-worthy XBLA titles.



Nintendo--As of now, this event is all about Nintendo for me, as I'm curious to see what they have planned for the 3DS and the Wii successor, currently known as Project Café. Regarding the latter, I'm looking for the company's latest console as well as its launch software to wow me like the Wii and Wii Sports did at E3 in 2006. Also, I hope Nintendo announces a few more Wii releases. I'd love to see the new Kirby, The Last Story, Rhythm Heaven/ Tengoku Wii and Xenoblade all brought to North America, but I'll be happy if even one or two of them come our way.

Sony--Will we finally get a release date and release price for Sony's next portable, which seemingly is going to be called PS Vita? I hope so. I also hope we get a peek at some of the stellar first- and third-party games that surely are being planned for the system.

As for my fears for the "big three" at this E3, here they are:

Microsoft--I fear they're going to expend most of their energy on so-called hardcore and Kinect games and ignore XBLA.

Nintendo--I fear they're going to completely drop the ball on the DS and Wii. I know the 3DS is now the company's focus in the portable space, but there are plenty of DS and DSi owners out there who aren't going to upgrade anytime soon and who would still like to play some new games--games like the Lemmings-esque Kirby title that's going to be released in Japan this August or the fourth entry in the Professor Layton series. As for the Wii, well, Project Café, or whatever the console ends up being called, isn't going to hit store shelves until next summer, if not later. Why not localize a few--or, even better, all--of the as-of-now-Japan-only games mentioned above in the meantime?



Sony--I fear that Sony is going to wait too long to release the PS Vita in the US--it has to hit store shelves before Christmas, in my opinion--and slap a price tag on the system that's far too high given current economic conditions. The system is likely to find success in Japan regardless of price thanks to its rabid fan base and games like Monster Hunter, but its future is much less certain in the States. If it's not priced competitively with the 3DS, it's going to have a hard time faring any better than its poorly received predecessor.

We'll find out in any of my hopes or fears will become reality on Monday and Tuesday of next week, by the way. Microsoft's press conference will begin at 9 am Pacific on Monday, with Sony's occurring later the same day, at 5 pm Pacific. Nintendo's press conference, on the other hand, will start at 9 am Pacific on Tuesday.

All of the above-mentioned conferences will be streamed live on GameTrailers.com, by the way. I'll certainly be watching them. Will you?

3DS or NGP?

So, the brass at Sony Computer Entertainment recently revealed the successor to the PSP, which they're currently calling Next Generation Portable (or NGP).

According to andriasang.com, this sexy system will sport a five-inch screen, front and rear touch panels, front and rear cameras and dual analog sticks. (Go here and here to see more of the NGP's specs.)

Unfortunately, the folks at Sony are mum on the subject of the oval-shaped system's price and release date--although they have let it slip that it will hit store shelves around the world "by the end of the year."



Assuming it carries a price tag that's comparable to the soon-to-be-released Nintendo 3DS--which will hit the streets in Japan in late February and in Australia, Europe and North America in late March and cost around $250 in each region--which one will you pick up?

I'm definitely planning to buy a 3DS, but that probably won't happen until 2012 at the earliest. I may buy an NGP eventually, too, but only if it's affordable (i.e., $249 or less) and if it has an attractive software library.