Have you been flicking through the gaming media lately? Then you’ll know that E3 2010 has come and gone. It was a bit of a mixed bag.
First impressions of the major new contenders are, in fact, rehashes, remodels, and graphically tweaked relics and ripoffs: a shot to the nostalgia gland and a truckload of foolproof sales.
Undoubtedly the most unsurprising move expected at this year’s E3 was the unveiling of the amazing, wonderful…slim line 360. The model looks great, comes complete with a PS3 style gloss finish and touch sensor power button. It’s even nodding towards the Wii’s semi-iconic stand – which pitches the system on a jaunty angle – through a mid chassis bend on Microsoft repackaged five year old hardware.
Annoyingly for wireless Live players, Microsoft have finally built in its Wi-Fi adapter, making the £60 device obsolete. Oh, and this console won’t red ring… That’s a bold claim. And, according the gaming bloggers Destructoid who’ve tried out the new machine, it still kills game discs if you touch it while it runs. Shame.
The whole reshuffle is the company’s next step towards project Natal, which will apparently be amazing.
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Second up is Sony, with it’s new ‘Move’, erm, move. In a nutshell, we’ve got the similar gaming framework the Wii is currently using to spearhead through the new Zelda: Skyward Sword marketing campaign – which we’ll get on to. However, the remote is slightly repackaged, with a truly ugly and silly looking ping pong ball attached to the top. This is, according to an article on CVG, “crucial” says Sony.
The ball just looks so silly.
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Finally we’ve got the king of revisited concept: Nintendo. There was a wave of hype and anticipation to see what Ninty would roll out this E3, and it has been bittersweet.
Introducing the SIXTH rendition of the DS – the 3DS. Well, it’s 3D portable gaming. Yay. It’s also not suitable for small children (is this Nintendo we’re talking about?) – yay? Shoving the health concerns to one side, Nintendo have wheeled out Zelda: Ocarina of Time AGAIN for the FIFTH time onto the new console. Admittedly, this does look great. If you were ever a fan of the classic in the humble days of the late 90’s, be sure to check out the fantastic graphical overhaul that is sure to do justice to a crowning jewel in console gaming.
What was a bit of a misfire was the new Wii Zelda: Sundering Sword. Promised to be a real use of the Motion Plus (at last – the tutorial game Wii Sports Resort was kind of getting old), Zelda introduces swing for swing precision of the in game swordplay…or not. Initial responses of people able to get hold of the game at the expo we’re divided in its application. Players were queued against a wall displaying what can unfortunately only be described as ‘combos’ to pull off certain moves.
Fail.
Still, we can play GoldenEye 007 on the Wii now.
Get ready for a new game, called GoldenEye 007… It features a Daniel Craig lookalike, and is ‘sort of’ based on the movie. Copyright dodging acknowledgements to Rare’s classic FPS return. Let’s just hope it’s playable with whatever control schemes get sewn into it.
So yea, 3D gaming is on the horizon – again (anyone heard of the Nintendo Virtual Boy?) – along with some resurrections of gaming expos past. What should be congratulated is Nintendos persistent effort to lead the pack in the future of gaming innovation. They may let down on a great idea from time to time, but when they get it right, we know we’re in for a treat.
Yay Zelda on TEH 3DGAMEBOY!
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