More Kinect games, a $249.99 PlayStation Vita and Battlefield. We highlight the good (and bad) of E3 so far!
The first day of E3 brought us four press conferences, and they all had their moments. Well, most of them anyway.
Microsoft was pushing Kinect; Sony had the Vita; EA showed off Battlefield 3 and Ubisoft had a guy who cracked a stunning number of bad jokes. And between "Fist Bump!" and "Good job, Jeremy," we already have two new memes. Not bad for the first day of E3 2011.
Here's a quick compilation of the good (and bad) of the first full day of E3, and my thoughts on some of the biggest announcements so far.
The Good
Battlefield 3
While Battlefield certainly has its fans, it hasn't made much headway in competing with the annual juggernaut that is Call of Duty. That might not change with Battlefield 3, but DICE sure seems to have taken a big step forward with what will surely be one of the best-looking shooters of the year.
DICE highlighted the destructible environments and the tremendous lighting effects their Frostbite 2 engine is capable of, culminating in a massive tank assault upon a fortified compound. I'm no audio-visual junkie, but I couldn't help but be impressed by all the particulate matter flying through the air, the highly-detailed scrubland and the constant stream of dynamic audio while steering the tank.
I hope no idea whether Battlefield 3 will end up overtaking Modern Warfare 3--it probably won't--but I know which game had the more impressive demo during E3. And it wasn't Activision's.
Halo CE Update (and possibly Halo 4 too)
High-definition updates have become a popular trend this generation, but few of them look as extensive as Microsoft's update of Halo: Combat Evolved. Given the new art assets (complete with the ability to switch between old and new styles), I think might finally have an excuse to jump into Halo. At the very least, it'll be nice to look at.
A tiny bit more iffy is Halo 4, which was mostly introduced as a teaser trailer here (with the promise that it marks the beginning of an all new trilogy). It was easily the most interesting announcement of E3, but it'll also be the first one created by someone other than Bungie. So it could be a breath of fresh air for the franchise, or Wing Commander Prophecy. We'll probably get a better idea which next year.
Minecraft
One of the few genuine surprises found in this round of press conferences was the revelation that Minecraft will soon be coming to the Xbox 360. It didn't receive more than a minute of attention, but it certainly produced its share of "oohs" and "ahhs" here in the War Room. Who's going to turn up their nose at one of the best user-generated games ever made?
Inexpensive Version of PlayStation Vita for $249.99
Your move, Nintendo. Your move.
Source: Daily News from GamePro.com
Tuesday, June 7, 2011