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E3 2012: the year of the lackluster blockbuster
The Electronics Entertainment Expo is no place for the easily distracted, every inch of convention center carpet devoted to capturing the attentions of calloused video game journalists. In spite of the customary flash however, it's hard to come away from this year's festivals without a creeping sense of disappointment, that for all the showmanship, we didn't actually see all that much at E3 2012 -- an in-between year that seemed lackluster even by those standards. It's diminishing to break such a show up into clearly delineated binaries like "winners" and "losers" certainly, but if impact can be measured by lasting buzz, Epic's certainly sitting pretty at the close of the event. It's telling, really, that Unreal Engine 4 generated some of the most excitement around the show. In a year when Sony and Microsoft are no doubt focused on churning out next generation consoles, one of the show's highlights came in the form of a gaming engine -- a backend on which the next generation titles will be built.
Microsoft SmartGlass hands-on
Sure today's Microsoft E3 keynote was jam-packed full of high octane explosions, but the biggest excitement from the hardware-free event was arguably SmartGlass, a new technology from Redmond that promises to help to bring together users' diverse array of screens. When it was initially leaked ahead of the event, SmartGlass looked to largely be a somewhat straightforward AirPlay competitor. Judging by Microsoft's flashy demo video, however, the company is clearly looking to build it into its own beast all together. Thankfully, we got to play with it a bit -- albeit for a very short amount of time, given the fairly early state of the technology. Let's start thing off by clarifying a big question surrounding the somewhat enigmatic demo that we saw at today's event: yes, SmartGlass gives developers the potential to turn smartphones and tablets into a controller for the Xbox 360. As suspected, it will likely be integrated into more casual games -- after all, we shudder at the thought of controlling, say, Halo 4 using just a touchscreen. As is the nature of the product, the company isn't letting the details flow too freely here, but in a demo we saw of the technology tonight, a Microsoft rep name-dropped a title called Home Run Stars -- a baseball game, as you've likely already gathered from the fairly straightforward name. We didn't get to see the game in action, but the rep mentioned a gameplay scenario in which one player uses the Kinect to bat and the other pitches with the touchscreen -- again, not too dissimilar from the kind of dual-screen gaming we've seen with the Wii U thus far. And you can also invert that game play, if you so choose, pitching on the Kinect and batting with a tablet or smartphone. Thing is, Microsoft is looking to make this whole process open for developers. As the rep put it, "what we've done is create a platform." In other words, Redmond is putting forward the tools here and letting the content developers play around, to come up with their own functionality based on SmartGlass.%Gallery-156997%
Xbox SmartGlass: did Microsoft just render the Wii U controller obsolete?
One surefire way to make sure your company gets out in front of the E3 buzz? Launch a pre-pre-E3 press conference, of course. Nintendo was already set up to kick off the show on Tuesday, getting the party started according to tradition with an early morning press conference ahead of show floor opening. As it has in the past, the gaming giant was scheduled to be the third of the big three, unveiling its wares a day after Sony and Microsoft had their moments to shine. For 2012, the company made an unorthodox play, opting for a small broadcast event the Sunday afternoon ahead of the show, with Nintendo president Satoru Iwata standing alone in an unassuming wood-paneled room, giving yet another sneak peak into the world of the Wii U. Popular opinion has positioned E3 2012 as a make-or-break proposition for the company. Nintendo's had an unprecedentedly rough year, with a continually eroding sense of excitement around its aging Wii console and a lukewarm reception greeting the 3DS. And with mobile competition nabbing pretty sizable chunks from the company's casual offerings, Nintendo needs to remind people what the console can bring that handsets can't. In earnest, Iwata offered up a smattering of additional details on the Wii U, with a finalized layout for the system's tablet-esque controller, the introduction of Miiverse social functionality and the promise of a bit of mobile device compatibility.
New game convention by CEA to ease the loss of E3?
The Consumer Electronics Association has given thought to a new trade show due to E3's change. The Consumer Electronics Show, CES, was the biggest in the US prior to E3's 1994 birth. Now that things have altered slightly, the industry calendar shows a gap where a new show could be instigated. What's the purpose of this new show? Gary Shapiro, CEA's president and CEO, said: "Since ESA decided to eliminate the E3 event in its known format, we have been deluged with inquiries on whether we could fill the tradeshow needs of smaller video entertainment companies."So the new show will be primarily for showing off electronics of a smaller company? Those extra gadgets and consoles that found their home in the bottom of the E3 barrel get their own show, now? Not that it's a bad thing... getting the word out on new, less-marketed goods can be life-changing. It would be great if the smaller game developers showcasing at the event get picked up by larger companies for distribution -- didn't Bungie go through a similar process? Practically all smaller companies do and this may be a great event to jumpstart some new innovative game developers. What about you? Support the new show or nah?
E3 cancelled? Don't jump the gun, guys
Seems the media has been jumping all over the rumors of E3 being cancelled, even our pals over at Joystiq had a small celebration. Come on, the gods of E3 would never let Sony's last show be remembered as sub-par, which may be an ulterior motive to a lot of the media spreading this rumor. How does that make sense? A skewed sense of logic, some may say. Bias is everywhere, after all.However, check out this article. We at PS3fanboy may not be the first to report some news, but at least we can be spared the shame of making too many large mistakes. Jumping the gun isn't good. Basically, the show is being downsized. It used to be a little more private and it's going to become more closed-door again. Will we still be able to bring the public news, or are media outlets limited too? Limited, maybe, but not barred. Most of the change will be the cost of setting up E3. It will probably turn into a more humble beast instead of a glitter and candy show. Also, more attention is to be given to all exhibits, not just the three big names in video gaming -- Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft. There you have it. E3 is returning to its smaller roots, not getting canned. That just doesn't make sense, really. Why cancel something so big? This is a much more logical solution.
