E3 Next-Gen Big winners and losers!!

[ringsyde]

I just watched all three conferences, and I also watched G4's E3 feedback, and some fan feedback (courtesy of a CNN friend who taped quite a bit of fan feedback). Here's the concensus about the show:

NINTENDO
People could clearly be heard booing the presentation. G4 reported on this, as did Nintendo in their own feedback report. The big problems were that they rolled out a new machine but showed no controller and no game content. Also, the Revolution requires an add-on to play DVD movies. Many felt that Reggie Phils-Aim's (Nintendo of America Vice Chairman who gained fame for his "we're gonna kick the other guys' a$$es next go around" comment") comments about Nintendo's leap ahead of the entire industry was a joke in the face of their lack of any next-gen content. Nintendogs(DS) and Zelda(Gamecube) were their two marquee products, and the new Gameboy Mini (about the size of a pocket watch) drew some interest. Otherwise, fans and attendees were greatly disappointed.

Microsoft
A mixed bag here. Microsoft talked up the capabilities of the Xbox 360, but what they showed was a series of games that were either not complete enough to inspire confidence and generate a "WOW" factor, or were simply not impressive at all. Also, a quarter of the audience at the 360 press conference were Microsoft interns and employees planted at the show to go absolutely nuts whenever a 360 product was shown off. Pretty lame! Fans and attendants were excited about the machine and its capabilities, but they were underwhelmed by the games.

Sony
The BIG winner!! Killzone 2 had 'em drooling in the aisles. Sony's demos were so impressive that many attendants were heard saying they would buy the machine no matter how much it was. Fight Night Round 3, Metal Gear Solid and a new FPS by the creators of Ratchet and Clank were among the best presentations on the machine because they showed off the monstrous power of the PS3.

When the post-show voting was tallied, Sony came out on top because of the overall quality and design of their new machine, the "WOW" factor many of their games and even their "Duckies" demo (rubber ducks in a bath tub) generated, and because they laid out a clear plan for their current generation system and how they will transition to the PS3.

Microsoft came in second. The machine certainly got the crowd excited, but DOA4 and Project Gotham Racing 3 demos made attendants feel like the system wasn't that much more powerful than the current Xbox, and certainly not as powerful as the PS3. Other demos like Perfect Dark Zero, Madden, Godfather and Scarface impressed, but they were renders instead of actual demos.

Nintendo's big buzz came from the Revolution's ability to download and play ANY Nintendo game to have been made in the last TWENTY YEARS (ANY!!), and from the revolutionary Zelda and Nintendogs. Aside from this, they had nothing to offer. The clearly audible boo's, the IGN, G4, Gamespot and Ziff Davis editors' expressions of disappointment with the presentations and the fact that someone took a hand-count poll and found more than forty people playing their DS's or PSP's during the Nintendo conference spelled a bit of disaster for the big N. The overall impression is that they are positioning themselves not as competitors to Sony or Microsoft, but as the company who makes a great machine for kids and folks who want a "unique" second system.

After pouring over all this info, I'm starting to become a big believer in Sony. If they can deliver a PROBLEM-FREE machine, I'm in!! I really hope Nintendo has an ace somewhere up their sleeve. Microsoft could be playing their HALO card a little too close (EVERYONE at E3, including Sony and Nintendo wanted to see or hear something about a new HALO), and they really botched what could have been a great conference for the first Next-Gen system to hit the market.

[Chris Ingersoll]

Nintendo never has mind-blowing press conferences at these things, since they play everything so close to the vest (and, granted, usually don't have as much to present anyway).

The fact that the Revolution can play DVDs at all sends an interesting yet conflicting message about Nintendo's "Games only" policy, but at least they won't be expecting people who don't want it to pay for it anyway. Given the rumors surrounding the Rev's innovative control input, I cna't blame them for not showing that off just yet.

My favorite bit from the G4 commentary that I managed to watch was the fact that they picked out the plants in the Microsoft audience as being the people who were supposedly hardcore gamers yet applauded the new Tomb Raider game (or something like that).

Also, people were playing their DSs/PSPs during other press conferences too, not just Nintendo's.

[ringsyde]

Three handheld game players at Microsoft's, no one at Sony's. Far different from the forty or so at Nintendo's. Four of the offenders identified themselves as hardocre Nintendo fans for an upcoming EGM article covering E3.

[Chris Ingersoll]

I thought Morgan Webb admitted to playing a demo on her DS during Sony's conference. Maybe I mis-heard her.

[thefamoustommyz]

admin said:

The fact that the Revolution can play DVDs at all sends an interesting yet conflicting message about Nintendo's "Games only" policy, but at least they won't be expecting people who don't want it to pay for it anyway. Given the rumors surrounding the Rev's innovative control input, I cna't blame them for not showing that off just yet.

This was one of the big reasons I went GameCube over X-Box or PS2 (I later bought an X-Box as well...just never seen anything on the PS2 that I couldn't get elsewhere).

People would be all "But X-Box (or PS2) plays DVDs!" and my response is "See, for that, I have a DVD player. I want something that's going to play games that I want to play."

That's pretty much my criteria for wanting any game system. So it's way too early for me to say which system(s) I'll be getting, if any.

[Chris Ingersoll]

thefamoustommyz said:

People would be all "But X-Box (or PS2) plays DVDs!" and my response is "See, for that, I have a DVD player. I want something that's going to play games that I want to play."

Which is funny, because I just look at the PS2 in our house as a DVD player that I occasionaly use to play games.

[ringsyde]

That's all my PS2 was; a glorified DVD player.

And yes, Morgan Webb did say she played her DS during the Sony conference. HOWEVER; I have now watched three separate tapes of the ENTIRE Sony conference. Not only is no one playing another system, ALL eyes are on the stage and seemed to be tuned in to Ken Kuteragi and other presenters. Granted, I can't see every single face, but what I have seen looks like an audience more in tune with the presentation than Microsoft, and certainly moreso than those gathered for Nintendo's presentation. Interestingly, Morgan Webb isn't in ANY video for any conference (which supports my friend's claim that G4 people were hardly noticeable throughout the show).

Whatever the case, fan reviews, press statements and even stock prices all concur that Sony was the champ of the show and Nintendo really dropped the ball. Again, time will tell the story here.