It's funny how Sony and Microsoft both have their version of Wii Sports and sell it as innovation and their own idea
Microsoft:
The Kinect "software" looks ok, but they are not selling it to me with that. But I'm quite exited both about Move and Kinect and what third party developers can do with it. I liked how they were able to browse the Xbox' interface with thier voice but that's more of a cool gimmick than anything else. Metal Gear Solid Rizing looked pretty good though, but that's not an exclusive. I loved Dance Central
If they are going for party games with Kinect, this is the direction they should go. Kinect Adventure or what it was called looked like fun, but they should stop there before they go down the same mini game shovel ware route that Nintendo took. They really need some games for non-casual players, or as they call it nowadays core gamers. Give away a few hundred new slim Xboxes was a nice move. I like the new model, but I already have 2 Elites. So unless the new slim model doesn't have SIGNIFICANT changes in heat- and noise reduction I'll pass. I don't need a bigger HDD (I have 120gig at the moment, a truckload of retail and arcade games, Rock Band and other DLC and 2 or 3 most played games installed and Im still at 70gigs of free space) and I certainly don't need Wi-Fi. I prefer cable. All in all, it was ok.
Sony:
I liked Sony's announcement that the limited edition of Dead Space 2 will have a Move-compatible HD-version of Dead Space Extraction and that not only Resident Evil 5 will be made Move compatible via software update but also Heavy Rain. If Resident Evil 5 "Move Edition" plays anything like Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition control wise that that's enough for me to buy Move. I'm a Resident Evil nut anyway but RE 4 Wii Editon's controls were exellent and porting that experience to RE 5 will be awesome. I loved Heavy Rain but there were some scenes were the controls were a bit awkward (the butterfly trial for the ones who played Heay Rain). Now thinking about a more intuitive control for Heavy Rain gets me quite excited. And these are just the "old" games. Right now it's not much more than a Wii HD but that's good start. Gran Turismo 5 in November was good news as well. In their video of upcoming games they had a Sly Collection, if that's a collection of the PS2 games with HD graphics and maybe added features that'd be cool. Their version of Xbox Live Gold...i don't know yet. If it doesn't take away anything from the unpaid PSN service then why not. Everyone can choose whether it's worth it or not. But I hope they don't give paying customers any unfair advantages in games, like weapons or items that are in any kind exclusive and better than what you can get without paying. I was very surprised about their commitment to the PSP. Didn't see that one coming.
But just as Microsoft, ok but not groundbreaking for now.
Nintendo:
Nintendo is a mixed bag. I think the Zelda presentation (for me personally) was a HUGE let down. It's Zelda, and no matter what it WILL be awesome and I WILL buy it. But what I found rather shocking is that the new Zelda, coming 2011 looks just like Twilight princess, a game from 2007! Don't get me wrong, I didn't buy the Wii for its graphics, but to see them not evolving graphically in the slightest was really, well, shocking. I can't put it another way. The fact that they had technical difficulties during the Zelda showcase, where they wanted to show the Wii Motion + features didn't help either.
Then Mario Sports Mix. What the hell? I guess calling it Wii Sports 3 was too embarassing even for them. I was about to turn off the press conference at that moment and thought I've outgrown Nintendo. But it got better with Epic Mickey, that looked quite good and they totally had me with Kirby's Epic Yarn and the New Donkey Kong Country
Metroid Other M didn't fully impress me yet. I think of it as Ninja Gaiden meets Metroid, but they showed very little combat and just Morph ball, platforming sequences. I have high hopes but I'm not completely sold.
The new Goldeneye..I don't know. Multiplayer is out of the question for me, at least online multiplayer. So they have to deliver on presentation, and I don't mean graphics. They won't stand a chance agains COD Black Ops and Halo Reach anyway, but if it has a cool story and good production values I'll give it a shot. I'm not the biggest fan of the original Goldeneye so they have to impress me, the nostaliga alone will not draw me in
I'm not sure about the 3DS yet, I have to see it with my own eyes to fully understand it. I liked how enthusiastic they were about it and that they are really convinced of it. The new Kid Icarus game looked great. An all new and original(!!!) Metal gear and Resident Evil were awesome announcements, but I have to see the hardware first and experience what it does to me to decide.
At the end of the day, I think Nintendo had the best presentation but they were all close.
The biggest disappointment was no mention of the rumored Ico/ Shadow of the Colossus collection for PS3 yet. THAT would have made my day, Shadow of te Colossus in HD.
