Bullseye Guest Blog – E3, *Insert Witty PhilthePill comment Here*

Hello, my name is Bullseye and I am PhilthePill’s nerdy video game friend. I have an opinion. You will hear it. You will agree and say, “wow! That bullseye dude is really smart and intelligent!” You will love me. Cries of upheavel will result in a revolution. I will take over PhilthePill’s blog. From there I will rule the world.

Sorry. I don’t have PtP’s biting humour.

As I said before, I am PtP’s nerdy video game friend. I’m currently working in the video game industry and I LOVE it. So here’s my guest post for you. If you are unaware, this week is the Electronic Entertainment Expo (or E3). This is the time of the year that all the major developers and publishers, as well as the big three (Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft) unveil all their big announcements.

To summarize Monday:

Microsoft demoed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Fucking tight. They also announced Metal Gear Solid for the 360.  No one knows wtf is going with it, other than the fact that it’ll involve Raiden.

They also introduced the Natal full body motion controller. It’s like the wii, but without the controller (it uses a camera to map your movements). It looks like it could be awesome. It also looks like it could be a gimmick that’s full of fail.

Electronic Arts unleashed a massively awesome trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic. Check it out. It’s better than the prequel movies, and it’s only about four minutes.

Ubisoft put an entire audience to sleep. They showed silly wii game after silly wii game. James Cameron ranted about Avatar for about 30 minutes and ended up not showing a trailer or footage. In short, ubisoft was fail.

E3 Grades – Monday
Microsoft: B
Electronic Arts: B
Ubisoft: F^500 power

What I really wanted to talk about today was the Nintendo and Sony press conferences. So here we go:

Nintendo Press Conference: The Nintendo Wii becomes more than a gaming system
It becomes something that measures your pulse! Seriously. They released an attachment to the wiimote that takes the place of the nunchuck. You put it on your finger and it measures your pulse. Now that may be great for some Wii exercise games (EA’s Active, not the wii fit. the Wii fit is not exercise.), but seriously?! They made it out to be some big announcement and when they unveilied it I’m pretty sure about half the audience was thinking the same thing. WTF mate.

They also debuted a new Super Mario Bros with Coop play. It doesn’t look that impressive Nintendo fans. Super Mario galaxy got a teaser and so did the real bombshell of the press conference: A metroid game made with the help of Team Ninja (of Ninja Gaiden lore). It looks pretty awesome. It doesn’t really look like Metroid, but it looks awesome. It’ll be interesting to see how Team Ninja handles the Nintendo Metroid brand.

Nintendo’s E3 grade: C

Sony Press Conference: The Year of Sony?

Those of you that have been following the console wars know that Sony is losing. The leadership at Sony can best be described as a malignant tumour. Analysts have been calling for a cut on the Playstation 3’s price point since April and Sony still hasn’t delivered. They’re focusing on “profitability.” Bullshit. They wonder why they’re losing market share when they’re the most expensive and least affordable option in the market. Thinking about it makes me want to dong slap them in the face.

But I digress.

Give credit where credit is due. Sony had a rockin’ press conference. They showed off some great demos (Demos. Not just trailers). They debuted a new system. They had a surprise announcement. They released new hardware. They left gamers excited for the future.

On the gaming front they demoed Uncharted 2, MAG (a 250+ multiplayer First person Shooter) and God of War 3. That alone was enough to blow Nintendo and Microsoft out of the water on the gaming front. They also had a new trailer for Final Fantasy XIII. Then they announced Final Fantasy XIV. At first my head exploded. Then I recovered when I found out it was online. Final Fantasy XI wasn’t that great.

They debuted what they called “the worst kept secret of E3.” For a couple of months there’s been rumors of a new PSP. Now it’s finally become reality. A smaller PSP (that’s Playstation Portable for you n00bs out there). No UMD drive, all content is downloaded digitally. It’s smaller, it’s lighter, it’s cooler. The button placement is weird. The analog stick is in a very strange location, but hey. That never stopped people from playing the Nintendo 64. They also announced a new Metal Gear Solid for the PSP, thus mitigating the damage of the announcement on Monday of a Metal Gear Solid for the Xbox 360. (on a side note: the MGS franchise is overrated. Metal Gear Solid for PSX was AMAZING. The rest are good, but the franchise doesn’t deserve the fanboyism it currently holds). I want it, not going to lie. However, the 250 dollar price point is a little high for me.

They then proceeded to show off basically “Playstation Wii.” Really there’s nothing you need to know here. When this controller comes out when you purchase a PS3 you’ll have access to both a wii and a ps3. How did they differentiate their controller from the Wiimote? IT HAS AN ORB THAT CHANGES COLORS! SO TIGHT!

They ended with God of War III. Watch the footage. It’s pretty kick ass. Although I’m starting to feel that God of War is a little stale. Give us something new!

All, in all, a pretty good press conference. The PS3 has a lot going for it this year. They have a lot of good games coming out in the next fiscal year that could help them reestablish themselves as a competitor in today’s gaming industry. The press conference may have blown my mind more if the PSP Go wasn’t leaked or they showed they weren’t copying the Wii.

However: No Price cut. That mitigates all the good that Sony has done at this press conference. What’s the point in releasing good games if people can’t afford to buy the system? That prevents the Sony press conference from getting an A at this years E3.

Sony’s Grade: B+

Well that’s it. Hope you enjoyed it. PhilthePill I rove you!

Sincerely,

Bullseye