Entelligence: The aftermath of E3
By Michael Gartenberg 
posted June 19th 2010 6:01PM
posted June 19th 2010 6:01PM
Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he'll explore where our industry is and where it's going -- on both micro and macro levels -- with the unique wit and insight only he can provide.
Microsoft: The folks in Redmond led the way with an intro launch party featuring a custom performance from Cirque de Soleil. That was just to warm things up -- when it came to actual announcements, Microsoft took a two-tiered approach. On one hand it's building on the success of long established titles like Gears of War, Fable and of course, Halo. On the other it's taking the time to re-boot the Xbox 360 with Kinect, which brings controller-free gaming to the platform, as well as adding voice and gesture controls. I think Kinect is a major leap forward in the gaming experience that will appeal to both mainstream and casual gamers. With a streamlined new Xbox 360 and an impressive set of launch titles debuting alongside, Kinect is more akin to a console launch than a peripheral. Overall, I'd say Microsoft is in the lead post-E3 and very well positioned for holiday.
Nintendo: Nintendo is taking a much different approach than it did last year -- the focus is all on games, with no mention of Wii Fit or any other odd peripherals. Wii titles like a new version of Zelda and an exclusive Mickey Mouse game looked pretty good, although the Wii experience is starting to feel dated. Instead of adding new tech to the platform, Nintendo's spending a lot of time with familiar franchises and updated some old N64 classics, like Goldeneye. It's a strategy that's worked well in the past, but it's starting to feel repetitive. Zelda? Mario? We've been there and done that.
On the mobile front, the DS is getting an upgrade to 3D -- and no glasses are required. The 3DS looks like a nice differentiated device but it's not clear to me that 3D isn't gimmick, and Nintendo wisely lets you dial down the 3D effect or even turn it off. The initial titles look good, and Kid Icarus and Starfox (yep, another SNES classic) both especially look like fun. However, no word was given on cost or release. A lot will depend on how well Nintendo gets this out the door and if the 3DS is available for holiday 2010. Overall, I'd say Nintendo walked out of E3 in second place.
3D is impressive, but it requires new games, uncomfortable and expensive glasses and a new TV set to make it all work. |
Sony: Sony led off with the familiar tagline "it only does everything" tagline, and unfortunately, it's starting to feel like the PS3 is a jack of all trades and master of none. Sony's biggest PS3 push centered around 3D, which is impressive, but it requires new games, uncomfortable and expensive glasses and a new TV set to make it all work -- adding cost and hassle that seem to outweigh the benefits.
Sony's also getting big into motion control with the PlayStation Move, which is good effort but also costly. Start at $100 for the main controller with the Eye camera and Sports Champions, then add in $30 for a secondary controller. That's $130 for just one player, and for that you get an overall experience that's smooth but not better than what we've seen with the Wii. Sony is also looking to integrate motion control into controller based games, which might be a good way to leverage existing franchises but could also be the worst of both worlds from an experience standpoint. We'll have to see.
Sony also launched Playstation Plus, a premium online service that Sony will introduce after spending years telling us it didn't believe in charging for a premium online service. The good news is that Playstation Network's free online service won't go away, but for $50 a year, gamers can get discounts on games, free content, early demos etc. It doesn't seem like a great value but we'll see how it fares. From my point of view, Sony's running third with a lot of technology, services and titles but not a whole lot of actual fun. Instead of focus, Sony seems all over the place with different strategies -- it feels like the company is throwing a lot against the wall to see what sticks.
Bottom line? It was a pretty impressive E3, arguably the most interesting show we've seen in years. Gamers have some really nice choices ahead of them, and all three major players have a chance to gain some ground over the holidays and pick up some new users. But there's a wildcard here -- Apple's recently made some big moves into gaming with their iOS platform, which has taken mobile game marketshare from both Sony and Nintendo. Will iOS make it to the TV screen on a new Apple TV, and if it does games come with it? The gaming market might change dramatically if that happens.
Michael Gartenberg is a partner at Altimeter Group. His weblog can be found at gartenblog.net. Contact him at gartenberg AT gmail DOT com. Views expressed here are his own.
This summary of E3 is vague at best.
I've always loved Maeda Naoki. Konami had some ...interesting presenters.
You have to be from another planet to not be excited about Kinect. Most people have been dreaming of this future for a long time. It's like finally getting a hoverboard and then quibbling over whether it's perfect or not. Version 1 is never perfect, but that doesn't mean it isn't still mind blowing.
The 3DS is a big deal as well, but it doesn't seem like it's coming out this year and it's hard to convey what the device does without seeing it in person. Until I see 3DS first hand I don't know if I will like it or hate it. I love the idea, but I don't like modern 3D movies, not just because they give me a bad headache. Will playing 3DS just leave me feeling sick after a while? Will I end up shutting off the 3D effect and defeating the whole purpose?
The Playstation Move just seems derivative of the Wii controller and it looks even more ridiculous. I think the glowing balls and the dorky 3D glasses are a very tough sell to mainstream consumers.
@cool8man
Yeah agreed, Kinect and 3DS both have disruptive, game-changing technology. Being the first to market with this tech is a big deal. There isn't any other consumer product you can buy with coded light 3D object scanning and skeletal tracking (Kinect) or auto-stereoscopic LCD screens (3DS).
Going into this I knew MSFT was going to be the winner.
Wii is going to be in trouble after kinect is launched.
PS3 is not going to sell over priced move. Also who the hell wants to play games while wearing 3d glasses plus have to buy new 3d tv.
Move=fail
3d games=fail
MSFT=Winner
@pinktacoyummm
Do you think kids play the Wii purely because of the Controller nowadays? No they don't.
It's Mario and Pickachu that keep them hooked.
The XBox doesn't offer much to the Under 14 crowd.
Nobody cares if your pun was intended.
Lol at the Sony fanbabies trying to convince themselves and others that Sonys show didn't suck.
I just hope that the kinect can translate my real, instictive duck into a virtual duck that keeps my head from being blown off my sholders in gears of war or call of duty.
Then maybe my wife will quit laughing at me...
Engadget: if there was any concern about an Apple bias, explain having this guy write up an E3 summation and *very* forcibly stuck an left-field Apple remark. Maybe some of us are just touchy about strangely written articles that no one(well, the better number of commenters, anyway) enjoys. His silly/smug intro sits loudly and lonesome. Remains the only jounalist here who needs one.
We want Chilli Willy.
Kinex? Seriously? I really don't want to STAND to race a car. Or pantomime a sword/lightsaber. The best part about K'nex is the voice control for movies, except they are all low-def. K9 is too expensive for too little reward.
Hows the Pixel Density? Thats the question!
It does look awesome, but ild give their keynote a E.
E3 is for the cores, a few bits of information may trickle down to the casuals but its only really the core audience that watches E3.
Their Kinect presentation was not aimed in our direction, this stuff would wow mothers and families, but its not aimed at the core who is the direct E3 audience. The same thing for the Konami keynote, it was painful to watch. The games they showed there would get the Japanese audience wiled up, but to a western audience of video games journalists it wont have the same effect.
Even with that said, I think Microsoft is in the best position for the upcoming year.
At the end of E3 I think Nintendo owned this expo. DKC, Goldeneye, Zelda those were enough to get me excited to dust off that Wii again. DKC is back to its roots, giving us that retro feel which has sold plenty of games (and I think the next on schedule game like this is Sonic the Hedgehog 4). Zelda is always a good play and any new Zelda game is a new Zelda game. But the Wii took over and I got some respect from Activision when they pulled out Goldeneye. I had never expected an update but merely a port of the original to the XBLA, PSN and Wii Marketplace, but then they showed that off and I had a true on nerdgasm and preordered it from Amazon asap.
I though Nintendo couldn't wow me anymore but then they pulled out the 3DS and it just blew everything out of the water. No one has something this capable on the market and with the games and films planned to view in glasses-free 3D. And with Nintendo's notable cheaper handheld prices, I can see myself grabbing one of these shortly after launch.
Microsoft was next for me with the new more efficient less hardware problem ridden 360. Internal WiFi, swappable hard drive (though still proprietary broke my little heart). More power efficient is nice too.
Kinect is a gimmick, and any true racing fan needs the steering wheel and the 1/10th of a second lag on Kinect is a dealbreaker for Forza IMO. Though this could be cool for any aerobic game, aside that I can't see myself using it anymore efficiently in a game than the Tony Hawk Ride board. Video Calling is cool though.
Sony didn't really wow me at this E3. Game announcements were fantastic, pricing on Move was nice. 3D was cool but who can afford that yet? Though I would say Move+3D could be a winning combination. Imagine a game where you are an archer or something similar and it looked like you were pulling the arrow toward you and it felt truly like you were immersed in that world. I am sure Killzone 3 has the same feel (I know I liked Left 4 Dead in 3D...can someone loan me their 3D using Mitsubishi DLP?).
Ubisoft failed to impress. A massive 15 hour Assassins Creed game for $60 makes me cringe (I loved AC 2 a bunch though). Though I feel they did do some good at the conference with some new good looking titles, and returns to older platforms with the Scott Pilgrim Game and Rayman Origins.
Konami had a watermelon being sliced into pieces for MGS:Rising. That sort of attention to detail, makes this game one I want to play just to experience the beauty of it.
Apple never needs to be at E3. The Pippin was a POS and I think Apple will never jump into an open market like games, it is against their more controlled content nature (like pre-blood Mortal Kombat Nintendo).
I wanted to see a new PSP as it has been about six years now since the last one was released, but I can live without.
All commentary is based on consoles. I know nothing about the handheld segment.
Sony is a conglomerate and they did a pretty good job tying together their product portfolio in a very solid release. They put together a line up of products that tie in with 3D. They released a host of 3D games the same week they start shipping 3D capable TVs AFTER they had already made every PS3 in the installed base 3D ready. Bravo. I give them a B+ for E3 as a result. Remember that the PS3 is a BluRay player and that 3D BluRay movies are also hitting the market.
As for Move and Kinect, that is, as everyone in the comments has pointed out, a direct play to steal market from Nintendo. Good for them. I'll give MS props for doing it in a more unique and original way. But in both cases, they're trying to prevent future casual customers from choosing Wii for lack of a comparable functionality in the PS3 and Xbox. Sony however gets better grades from me on this for issuing more games for the Move controller that speak to their hard-core customer base than MS. Hardcore Xbox users got nothing from Kinect games. I predict better Sony sales of the Move to beat Kinect as a result.
Summary:
Sony B+; For having a comprehensive company wide plan and effectively rolling it out along with very good gaming content.
MS C+; Expected game content, Kinect is at least new functionality but there's no reason for hardcore users to buy it. Is there a reason to care about a smaller hardware package in the new stealthbox?Nintendo D; Rolling out new games at E3 is expected. Compared to Sony and MS they got caught flatfooted.
Engadget doesnt know shit about games.
@fel
Yep. I'm just wondering how many rocks this guy smoked before writing up this article. You really can't do much worse than he did.
Overall, IMO I think Sony and Nintendo tied this E3. They both showed off some pretty cool stuff this year. For me though, I think the best of show would have to go to sony because of the move. Just watching Socom 4 being played with the thing really made me think of how it would be to play killzone 2 with that thing.
I hate using the controller in FPS's (and imo FPS's are getting stale anyway) and this looks like the best replacement.
Nintendo: 3DS was the star of the show, drawing 4-5 hour lines to glowing reviews. The launch lineup, as well as the Wii holiday list, is extremely solid. The market for third party developers is still not bright, but Nintendo came out of E3 in an incredibly (I'll say unbeatably) strong position for 2010. 3DS will be the must-have toy this Christmas. Grade: A+
Sony: Gran Turismo 5 3D is the kind of game that will not only move consoles, it will sell 3D TVs. Same for Killzone 3, albeit to a lesser extent.
Move is a mixed bag; I'm not sure that Sony benefits from having a Wii-too controller, but at least it'll be cheap ($49, although you need at least two for most games). I'm looking forward to The Fight 3D, but many of the other games look downright bad. And Socom 4 will provide the stress test for whether the controller adds anything to core gameplay. Grade: C
Microsoft: At a time when Microsoft should benefit from having the cheapest console on the market, they're going the opposite direction by introducing a $400 bundle featuring Kinect.
Kinect looks like a disaster. The launch lineup is horrible, offering nothing that hasn't been done before and better on Wii. The lack of a must-have first-party title will relegate the thing to casual gamers only, and the fragmentation of the dashboard into Kinect and non-Kinect controlled features is a bad idea. Add to that a prohibitive $150 price point and Kinect looks DOA.
But hey, they've still got Halo and Gears of War 3. And the Activision exclusivity window will prove popular with the base (who claim to hate Activision, but really don't). Grade: C-
I go Nintendo>Microsoft>Sony.
Nintendo brought the popular franchises that the people want and 3DS looks to raise the bar.
MS just brought to from all angles from new 360, to ESPN, to the first console with a native robust music store with Zune, to Kinect, to AAA hardcore games, to Minority Report style navigation. Their was something for everyone.
Sony placed a big bet on getting people hyped about 3D, and to be honest, it just didn't work. Its simply too expensive and years away before 3D can be a viable option... less than 1% of all PS3 owners will experience those game in 3D. Also, their motion controls were very Wii too. Nothing about it was fresh or new and other than adding Move to existing games, it was a complete joke IMO. Lastly, they failed to announce on some pretty hyped up items going into E3. Both PSP2 and the new ICO maker game were no shows.
@timotim OH, and Apple cant compete in this space right now. Yes, they have a nice mobile "gaming" platform (if you want to call it that) but to compete with the like of 360, Wii and PS3 means you need a very powerful box and something Apple simply doesn't have... FIRST PARTY STUDIOS! Apple doesn't know the first thing about making games, so what would they have to separates them from the rest? Without great first party games, your box is nothing but a 3rd party console... no Halo, Mario, Zelda, Metal Gear, Gears of War, Metroid, Forza, God of War, Fable etc... it wont work.
Michael Gartenberg, this article fails more than just about every other Apple-loving article at Engadget.
Your articles just plain suck. You got just about everything wrong. And keep Apple the hell out of reports that have nothing to do with Apple (or reports that have nothing to do with reality, like this one).
I don't think there was a clear winner - all had their moments. I agree Microsoft's Kinect was impressive... Dance Central will be their big debut title, IMO. One thing about the article that bugged me was PlayStation Move being written off as a smoother Wii control? How about tons more accurate and more what a 1-1 motion control experience should be like. With the Wii, you can sit on a couch and read while you wave the wiimote slightly and your boxing, skiing, golfing, what have you.. No comparison to Sony's Move system. But I do agree on the pricing - oh boy is this crap getting ridiculously expensive.
I would say Mr Gartenberg is out of touch here.
The PS3 is increasing in momentum with more games announced than 360 and a motion controller that people who have tried it say actually works (unlike Kinect/Natal which is clearly a gimmick)
One thing that engadget and a lot of sites seem to leave out is the fact that you dont need the second move ($30) controller, you can use the sixaxis controller in one hand. So for $99 you can play all move games, because all ps3 owners have at lest one "normal" controller.
What does Apple have to do with E3?
I know the company gets a lot of free press, but cmon now, really? =p
First of all I would say that this article lacks any kind of analysis or logic. Instead author plainly writes what happened in e3 and expresses his opinion without any support of analysis.
But I agree partly with about microsoft is ahead in the game now. They were first to introduce high end gaming with xbox 360. Now again first with controller less gaming. If they are good at it, it opens up whole different gaming experience. But more that this opens up a whole new HMI human machine interaction in living room. So again Microsoft is ahead.
Nintendo did same thing with motion controllers which opened up totally new kind of gaming experience and that made them successful for years now. But unfortunately they need to improve now instead riding on same idea.
Sony was ahead with their ps2 console. But later kind beaten by xbox360 which was far superior technically. So they tried catch up with xbox360 and released ps3. Then they started working on to catch up with wii and they still not released yet. So may be in next two years they will try to catch up with microsft regarding controller less gaming. But ps3 has advantage of technically superior console with lot of power. Alsoit could give quite good competition to xbox in terms of media experience. But again Sony has to move fast...enhance both media integration and service and at same time improving gaming. Of course Sony has 3d tech with them now. So that might be differentiating factor now. But 3d has been there in market as technology for sometime now but it is not a huge success yet. So I am not expecting this to be huge success again...
Okay, the whole article is based on one person's opinion, so who won what isn't a big deal.
But not only was the Apple mention almost completely random, it was a plain stupid way to end an article about a show where the company was not even present. I myself am an editor and I'm surprised that was actually published. It would have been okay if there were a relevant comparison to the 3DS because iOS is a competitor, but first of all we don't know anything about the new Apple TV and second of all we don't know if it even EXISTS.
Comparing the entire gaming industry's new products to a RUMORED device is just stupid and articles like this make this usually wonderful site seem juvenile.
You can't say...
"Microsoft are cool, they're giving us NEW Halo and NEW Gear of War, and NEW Fable"
and then say..
"Nintendo are shit, they're just doing new Goldeneye, and new Mario and new Zelda.. I've played those!"
Nintendo won E3 by faaar. They have many new and upcomming titles. Sony second, the move have some interesting games and if it works better on release it will probably sell more than shitect from M$ because of more games.
in my opinion MS got nothing. E3 is about games and i hope it will stay that way. And i really dont think people will buy more ps3's or more 360's because they too have some type of mediocer motioncontrol now.
Nintendo did it first and therefor they will always win the casualgamers hearts (who have no sense for games whatsoever)
And its not about the console its about the damn games! Its always been that way. It will be really interesting to see how everything plays out the next generatoin ! If there is no option but to play with shitty motioncontrollers i will stop playing, and i think many others will too.
Wait a cotton picking minute. Didn't Nintendo get hammered last year for showcasing that casual crap. This year MS shows the same casual crap and gets praised.
You chastise Nintendo for Zelda and Donkey Kong and you label it "been there, done that". Yet you praise metal gear solid and the umpteenth FPS on Xbox.
This guy has zero credibility. I would gander that he doesn't know anything about anything.
You think new Zelda games and new Mario games are a bad thing? Have you ever seen sales numbers for any installment of either franchise?
HAVE YOU EVER EVEN PLAYED A VIDEO GAME?!?
And what was with that reference to Apple TV? That was completely 150% irrelevant...
@Ryan P
Also, the StarFox game for the 3DS isn't a remake of the SNES title, it's a remake of StarFox 64, for the Nintendo 64. Just thought that some clarification was needed, as the information in the article is incorrect.
This article should be removed. It is obviously bias towards Microsoft (and Apple for no reason at all).
E3 is not only for showcasing new games and tech for the short term, but also the long term as well. And Sony put themselves in a excellent position for the holiday with gameS (capital 'S' because they showed more than just FPS's with different coats of paint) and tech and the long term with 3d. Yes, right now it's a complete niche feature that cost WAY too much. So did a HDTV some odd years ago.
Microsoft set themselves up for the short and long as well, but all on the shoulders of Kinect. Which as of right now is only for the casual gamer. It's a big question mark if it will translate well to the core gamers, which they showed no evidence of. And with the lag and mixed comments on wiether or not you will be able to sit down and play games with Kinect(Microsoft said you will, but developers said you won't and they showed no demos in which people actually sit) it's still up in the air. Oh, and they made a SHORTER 360 with all the features the PS3 had when it launched, but Sony's the only one playing catch up.
Nintendo is nintendo great games & print money.
And you're contadiction on Micosoft has long established titles (FPS, FPS, FPS, CRAPTASIC RPG, FPS), but Nintendo and Sony don't? WTF?! Twisted Metal? Mario? Zelda? Dk? GT5?!?! Killzone 3? I could go on...
Engadget please remove this bias piece of shit.
@RyanBailey
Stop crying. Life goes on.
It's all about Portal 2.
You monster.
the winner of e3 was us gamers
You know, I'm a huge Xbox 360 fan. I got mine on Day 1, I haven't had red ring yet, I've been to midnight releases of the top games, and yet this years MS press conference sucked harder than a crackwhore earning her keep. Sure the Halo thing was great, too bad I already have it preorded. Sure GoW 3 was great, too bad it was announced 2 months ago, and they waited to detail the Beast mode till they were on IGN. Sure Fable 3 was great, but again, I already have it preorded.
They offered me no new reason to be happy with my purchase. The only thing that was new was the MGSR trailer, and that was awesome.
Atleast Sony and Nintendo focused on the things that mattered: Games!
So yea, fire your writer please. It's blatantly obvious to us that he's just taking his new Xbox as a kickback.