I’ve been busy the past few days watching the conferences of this year’s E3. Although there aren’t really big surprises like new consoles or such, it was still quite a satisfying watch.

And so, here are my thoughts, neatly segregated according to company.

Microsoft Conference

• Call of Duty: Black Ops - Could be fun. But aren’t people tired of modern shooters already? We had two Modern Warfares now and a Bad Company game. You’re too late COD.
• Halo: Reach - Not really a big fan of the Halo series.
• Kinect name change - Microsoft changed their gadget’s name from Natal to Kinect. Just when Natal has been rolling smoothly through my tongue, they change it to a much harder to pronounce word.
• Kinect games - Microsoft showcased some games and most of them have already been done before by Wii. Kinect Sports? C’mon, Microsoft. Have you no shame? Other titles were ‘meh’. Kinectimals are kinda cute, though.
• Dance Central - A dancing game for Kinect. Now this is perfect for a technology like Kinect! Or should I say, Kinect is the only perfect technology for a dancing game!
• Your shape: Fitness Evolved - Your personal fitness instructor. Had some issues with the height measuring thing. Again, something better than the Wiifit because there is no need for additional peripherals.
• Gears of War 3 - If they don’t add anything new, then its still just Gears of War 1 only with better graphics.
• XBox 360 Slim - It’s slimmer and it’s black. W00t h00t!

Sony Conference

• Killzone 3D - Couldn’t see the 3d effect from where I’m sitting from but people say that it’s awesome.
• Heroes on the Move - A sort of platform game featuring characters from previous Playstation titles. Characters like Ratchet, Jak, Sly, Bentley, Clank, and Daxter. How will this play out? No idea.
• Kevin Butler - Kevin Butler showed up. Boy is he funny. “Gaming is having a big screen TV in a tiny one-room apartment”, so true.
• E3 on Playstation Home - The playstation floor on E3 is replicated on Playstation home, so those who couldn’t come to LA, can just visit the place in the comfort of their own homes.
• Little Big Planet 2 - Not only will you be able to create levels. You can also create your own game. Oooo…
• Portal 2 - Portal 2 is awesome. Period.
• Final Fantasy XIV - To my eyes, the series is already dead. I wonder what Square can do to revive the franchise.
• Twisted Metal - A revival of an old favorite. Can’t wait to have my hands on it.

Nintendo Conference

• Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - Uber fail on the demo. Game was having some technical problems, allegedly from the motion sensor. Ouch.
• Mario Sports - Like Wii Sports, only with Mario skins.
• Goldeneye 007 - Gasp! The classic FPS shooter is back. I wonder if they could replicate the success of the original.
• Epic Mickey - Concept is cool. Especially the worlds and characters inhabiting the game world, which are the ones not used by Disney.
• Kirby’s Epic Yarn - It promises a new type of gameplay. Will wait and see. Looks cute though.
• 3DS - You get to play in 3d, without any need for glasses. A truly remarkable technical feat. I wish I could try one.

Ubisoft Conference

• Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood - You now have a team of Assassins by your side! This will surely affect the gameplay. Whether this will be AI or Multiplayer, I’m not yet sure.
• Shawn White Skateboarding - Who? It’s skateboarding games, re-imagined. You can alter the world around you in-real time as you skate. Though it looks like that the things you can alter are predefined. Pif.
• BattleTag - People started shooting around the conference room holding stupid looking plastic guns. It was Laser Tag 2.0 as it was described. Gee, what year are we in? 1990s?
• Innergy Sensor - Hmm… Looks very familiar.
• Ghost Recon: Future Soldier - A stealth action game where you are in stealth mode 100% of the time. This game will be a breeze, I reckon.
• Driver: San Francisco - Another revival. This time, the one that started it all: Driver. It has a very peculiar mechanic though. Your character is in a coma and you can switch from person to person anytime you like as you take over their consciousness. Weird, I tell ya.
• Michael Jackson Game - It all ended with a dance number. But wait, it’s a dance number for a Michael Jackson game!? No details were announced yet.

EA Conference

• Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit - Police Cars as Bugatti Veyrons? The fastest and most expensive car known of today? Ha! That aside, it looks very promising.
• Crysis 2 - You’re now out of the jungle and into the urban city landscape. It looks awesome.
• Star Wars: Old Republic - Probably the best trailer I’ve ever seen in the whole conference. But I’m kinda skeptic on how the game would turn out.

Konami Conference

• Metal Gear Solid Rising and Castlevania Harmony of Despair - The only thing I wanted to hear.
• A conference full of fails. Don’t let game produces present the game. Hire some people for that. And please, look for people who speaks fluent English, for chrissakes!

Likes to comment… A lot! ~ Pol