Now that E3 is done and over with, what did you think? What was the most exciting thing you saw come out of it?
Jenni: I think I expected a bit more from E3 2009. It seemed like the majority of announcements and games displayed were all games that we knew were going to be there. Plus all of the leaks sort of ruined many of the things that were supposed to be surprises.
Nintendo definitely made E3 for me this year though. With the exception of the lackluster vitality sensor, the company really showed off some games with a lot of possibility. I’m now incredibly excited for Metroid: Other M, Golden Sun DS, Style Savvy, WarioWare DIY, New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Wii Sports Resort.
Louise: The showroom floor felt less crowded than the last “real” E3 I went to. Maybe because there weren’t any major consoles being unveiled, but things certainly felt a lot more calm. If all E3’s could be like this, I’d be pleased.
As far as games go, I was happy with the Nintendo and 360 line-up. Last.fm on the 360 is a great idea and I’m surprised it took them so long to bring this feature. I am surprised that Nintendo is bringing out another Mario Galaxy so soon, but that’s a good thing. New Super Mario Brothers on the Wii was one of the best things I saw this year. From what I’ve played with it, it’s going to be a blast with friends — but I do wish that it had online support.
As for most exciting thing? Scribblenauts. The game is just so full of silly potential. I really hope it delivers on what it promises and really has a robust dictionary of words.
Ishaan: This year’s E3 was great in so many ways. Every single publisher had tons of games to show off, even if they were mostly games that we already knew about. More importantly, this E3 provided us with answers to a lot of questions that had been bubbling for a long time. Microsoft and Sony both showed off the direction they intend to go in with regard to motion control, so we can all finally stop speculating about that. It was also nice to finally just have that damned Metal Gear on 360 announcement out there. Scratch another off the heated debates list. (Note to self: Never believe anything Kojima says.)
Nintendo impressed this year, too, with Golden Sun and Metroid: Other M, both of which I get all tingly just thinking about. And with Team Freaking Ninja? It’s good to see them going after their core audience so aggressively. Other highlights for me were Alan Wake, God of War III, Gran Turismo PSP, Crystal Bearers (great to have a release timeframe for that) and Red Steel 2, all of which look very promising. We said this for the year before last, but 2009 and 2010 look like they’re going to be among the best years in game releases.
Spencer: Shiren the Wanderer getting an international release was one of the most unexpected announcements at E3. Sure, some Sega games like Shining Soul and Puyo Pop Fever came stateside via Atlus, but Shiren? The US version of Pop ‘n Music caught me off guard too.
Since the show was bigger many publisher chose to focus on their blockbusters instead of showing their entire line up. Sega brought Bayonetta (which was awesome) and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, but left their fleet of RPGs like Phantasy Star Zero, Bleach: The 3rd Phantom, and Sands of Destruction in the office. While its true that RPGs don’t demo as well as a Sonic racing game I was surprised that Sega didn’t promote these games at all.
Little King’s Story is a game to watch out for. Since Xseed didn’t have a booth it probably won’t get much mainstream coverage, but we’ll be talking more about it here. I’m sure a lot of people are saying this, but Heavy Rain has potential. The elastic storyline is a good concept. Even though I’ve seen it before I was still excited to see Demon’s Souls. It’s menacing difficulty and online community features should make it a (sleeper?) hit.
The most exciting thing? Is that you don’t have to be at E3 to experience most of it. The press conferences and all of the headline announcements were trailers for games far in the future. You didn’t have to walk through the Los Angeles Convention Center three days for that! Unless you were lining up to play stuff or doing interviews E3 is pretty much in your home. Now, if publishers just released online demos during the show…
