Is E3 Worth It?

[Xman490]

From 3D to touchscreen controllers, Nintendo is moving from "silly gimmicks" to "painfully silly gimmicks". I don't mind flicking my wrist to make a character spin around, but I refuse to tilt and move my head around.
As for portable HD on the NGP, I... already have a PSP and DS and don't want to have another wire and small game box. If Sony pastes inFamous (2) on there, then I'll be interested.

 

[Rafe]

Being a long term fan of Jim Sterling and Yahtzee, I cant help but get excited when I see them sharing an article.

I have to agree with Sterling on this one, I think E3 really is an exciting showcase for all the consoles.

I'm hoping Mistwalker's 'The Last Story' can fly its way over to Europe and that Deadly Premonition 2 is announced... Maybe Yahtzee is right in that I shouldn't get my hopes up.

 

[ewhac]

If memory serves correctly: E3 is the result of an attempt some years ago to move Summer CES from Chicago, IL, to Philadelphia, PA. This represented an enormous inconvenience to the exhibitors, and enough of them said, "Screw this," that Summer CES pretty much died right then.

That didn't assuage the desire for a summertime marketing event, especially for the entertainment-oriented vendors, for whom Summer CES represented their major opportunity to drum up Christmas sales. And thus was born E3.

In other words: E3 has always been a sales and marketing event, since it was born from the ashes of a sales and marketing event. Any consideration given to gamers or game developers is secondary and, in all likelihood, entirely accidental.

 

[emeraldrafael]

I thought that there was talk to get rid of E3 in favor of something else like E3, but more... serious? Probably no the word, but basically more "hardcore" and tech focused and such.

 

[Goofguy]

I don't really have a problem with E3. Since I've never attended, I don't know what it's like to be right there in the thick of the action. As a Canadian gamer, I enjoy the inundation of new video game footage for a few days from the comfort of my igloo. I can browse the press conferences and individual videos at my leisure which is fine by me.

 

[Hungry Donner]

A few years back, before E3 tried the "serious convention" bit and then realized none of the participants, I think E3 was a far more important event. Was it worth going to? Maybe not, but I do think it was worth having.

Today there are so many gaming conventions that the importance of E3 has dwindled and I think some of the other cons have a better idea of what makes for a good event. Perhaps some people in the industry would disagree, and even as a fan I've never been to one of these, but sitting on the side-lines (that is, reading about them on the internet) E3 no longer does much for me but PAX looks great.

 

[Axelhander]

Said it before, saying it again: these are much better without MovieBob's drivel.

 

[Aprilgold]

I can't help but not read Jim's opions in this. Its not that I don't like reading, its just he plays himself as a complete joke who shouldn't be taken seriously. Its like if you had a good friend who was always messing with you and only you but always went to the who "I was joking." Excuse, thats praticually what Jim is to me at this point, a funny friend who jokes more then he should, but then tries to be taken seriously out of the blue, its hard to read or watch him without laughing in hopes that he is joking or if hes being straight up.

Oh, sorry, yes E3. I agree with yahtzee on many things and E3 is one of them, but also see what the Extra Credits Writer had as well [why can I never remember his name.] on both that its usually only good as something slightly surprising and a " Oh I didn't know that." moment, and probably the exclusiveness to it is more of a press event for people to shoot games at journalists, then to gamers, instead of going straight to gamers.

"I expect Nintendo to continue pulling this massive, multi-billion-dollar practical joke it's been playing for the last few years. "Casual gaming and motion controls are the future," it declared."
No, that's what you declared.
""Look, we're doing it too, look!" cried Sony and Microsoft desperately. "LOL J/K," went Nintendo. "Here's some overbloated hardware paid for by all the shitheads and their money.""
Once again, this is what you declared. Yahtzee has such a warped perspective of Nintendo and the game industry.
"Anyone who buys them is a traitor to us all."
What else does this deserve besides a straight up, go fuck yourself?

1st line: A ton of people, journalists and some Execs said it was the future. So not only Yahtzee isn't the only one that declared it.
2nd: Isn't his wharped perspective what makes him entertaining? And the fact that nintendo THEM SELVES stand by their motion control decision then rip it from their new console isn't exactly good for them, including they themselves said it was the future.
3rd: It could be a straight F u, but then again it could be worse then that.
My question: how long do you think motion controls will last? Seriously, how many more consoles do you think it will last?
still, your comment did make me think of why I started hating sony and microsoft a little bit more on the inside.

On, E3, my own opinion on the subject could be said straightly as this, its not worth it, and is only one long, boring speech, same speech at everywhere but slightly changed.

On the 1st point) I was actually making a point that Yahtzee was only putting words in Nintendo's mouth. It had nothing to do with what journalists or execs say.

On the 2nd point) No, it doesn't. He's only entertaining when he's being reasonable and when his jokes aren't abstract convoluted metaphors that just yell "trying too hard" (which is very few times). Also, there's no proof that Nintendo ripped motion controls from the new console. We don't have any hard facts about it.

Your question: I think it will last for the rest of gaming unless the matrix replaces it. The problem is most 3rd party developers have been retarded and made swinging activate what's essentially a binary function. To figure out it's possiblities, think of a mouse but with an added Z-axis, the ability to record it's orientation and it's acceleration on all 3 axis. You can do alot with that.

Aw, thanks for clarifying, and I really didn't know much of that, thanks.

 

[HalfTangible]

Towards project cafe: It's possible the screen on your controller will also show whatever's on your part of the big screen (ie, less like the nintendo DS and more like an ipad with a stylus)

 

[Bobbity]

Personally, I love E3. It's the first time we get to see actual gameplay for a lot of coming releases, it means some fucking awesome new titles to be announced, and, in recent years, it's meant a sweet new TOR cinematic.

I don't care that it's a hype machine, because beneath that hype, it means that there's actually something to get excited about.

 

[Eri]

Jesus Christ can anymore people jump on the hate Jim Bandwagon? We get it, you don't like it. Stop babbling about it then. I like him just fine but don't go into every article praising and giving him accolades. Just lay off.

 

[Reincarnatedwolfgod]

who knows maybe Nintendo will announce a new ip. i don't expect them to do that since it's much easier to just rely on existing money printing franchises in stead; just like they always do.

that being said i would like to hear more about skyward sword

 

[Falseprophet]

Wow, I'm not the only person who laments we'll probably never see Edge of Twilight. Thanks, Jim.

I like this feature (anything to get more insight from Yahtzee and James Portnow), but if the Escapist wants to have a real rumble instead of this passive-aggressive consensus, have Yahtzee and MovieBob trade blows over Nintendo's significance. Maybe add Shamus to the mix to represent the PC Gaming Master Race. Just sayin'.

 

[matrix3509]

Seriously, this touch screen bullshit with project cafe has to be the worst fucking idea Nintendo has had since...well the Wii controller.

Nothing is going to ruin immersion more than having keep looking down at the big fucking colerful plastic controller in my hands.

Remember when immersion used to be important?

 

[MB202]

Wow, I never thought I'd see James this cynical... And Jim this optimistic! Yahtzee, on the other hand, acts the same way he does every E3.

 

[Mr Pantomime]

Finding it really hard to get excited for E3 after Digital Cowboys trolled me for a good half hour before I realised what was going on. To be fair, I wasnt near a computer, had no idea when E3 was on, and I dont follow Microsoft news that much since I dont own an Xbox.

 

[Fat Hippo]

WOW. Jim comes across SO much better in text than in video. It's honestly very shocking. In this particular article, I agreed with him much more than Yahtzee and James (which is unusual, cause normally I like both their opinions).

Ditto. Now if he gets rid of that awful picture, takes off the sunglasses and replaces talking with full-time writing, I wouldn't mind him sticking around at The Escapist at all.

 

[Wolfenbarg]

I've been with Yahtzee for a while now. I used to get extremely excited about E3 since that's when all the biggest news came out. I remember having my mind absolutely blown by the Final Fantasy XIII teaser in 2006, especially since XII came out. Even in the two boring years that followed there were some relatively exciting announcements. However, after E3 2008 I've gotten excited about the event and then crashed pretty hard each time. So I don't really expect anything great out of that show anymore, and am pleasantly surprised if something interesting does pop up. Developers don't necessarily rely on E3 to make announcements anymore, so big news can come any time of the year.

 

[Sentox6]

Sorry but as soon as I found out that Jim was involved in this I stopped reading.

Then I went and read everything but what he said.

Well done at ignoring the best parts of the article, then.