Monday, June 21, 2010

Personal Gaming: Best of E3 2010



Time for a summary after this blog marathon I did on this year's E3. I watched all the press conferences that were watchable, saw pre and after shows on the big event, read on gaming sites and in forums. I've been practically glued to my chair the last week. Don't expect that I'll let other's peoples opinions dominate mine, though. So here's what I found best, most entertaining and what made me want to go out and buy it instantly. My instant first impressions of the press cons can be read here:

E3 2010 Microsoft Press Conference Live Blog

E3 2010 Electronic Arts Press Conference Live Blog
E3 2010 Ubisoft Press Conference Live Blog
E3 2010 Nintendo Press Conference Live Blog
E3 2010 Sony Press Conference Live Blog

Okay, let's begin with the Best Press Conference. And the winner is:

Sony's E3 2010 Press Conference

Sony's Press Conference this year was in my opinion the best for core gamers. Not only they had lots of sweet titles shown on stage, like Killzone 3, Dead Space 2 or Twisted Metal, it as well announced a new God of War game for the PSP. PS Move is also the only motion control to do core gaming. And let's not forget about Kevin Butler and Gabe Newell. Definitely my winner.

Follow ups are:
2. Electronic Arts: Dead Space 2 and Crysis 2 on stage demos were awesome. Blew my mind!
3. Nintendo: I'm not a portable gamer, so Nintendo 3DS can't really hype me up, but their 3rd party support is impressive. Also the new Donkey Kong and Zelda look great!
4. Microsoft: Started great with Gears of War 3 and Halo: Reach and ended terribly with Kinect. Only casual games? That's a big no-no from me and I'm one of the loyalst 360 fans around.
5. Ubisoft: Well, the Ghost Recon Future Soldier demo was nice, but the rest I didn't see due to connection problems.

Best Motion Control

1. Playstation Move


Wow, Sony really did it. A year ago when both Project Natal/Kinect and the Playstation Move were shown, I favorited Natal. But this year's show proved that Sony can do some real games with PS Move, as Sorcery proved. It doesn't come cheap, but for me it could be an investment in the far future.

Follow ups:
2. Kinect: Stephen Spielberg titled it as ground breaking at E3 2009, but this year Microsoft unleashed Skiddles from Kinectimals along with a bunch of other non games and that's nothing which appeases me as core gamer.
3. Wii Motion Plus: Pay more just that this thing works like intended? Not with me.

Best Trailer

Castlevania: Lords of Shadows E3 2010 Trailer



Castlevania: Lords of Shadow looks like one epic journey full of vampires, werewolfes and big old castles. This trailer pretty much sums this up.

Follow ups are
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood Trailer, Marvel Vs Capcom 3 Trailer, Knight's Contract Trailer, Portal 2 Trailer and both of the Star Wars trailers, of course.

Best On Stage Demo

Dead Space 2





Just look at this massacre. I am still deeply impressed. But it was very close with Gears of War 3.
Follow ups are:
Gears of War 3, Bulletstorm, Crysis 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops

Best Action Game

Gears of War 3




The good thing about Gears 3 is that you know how good the first two games are, which leads to that Gears 3 won't disappoint. Definitely a must buy game for all action fans.
Follow ups were: Dead Space 2, Medal of Honor, Call of Duty: Black Ops

Best RPG

Fallout New Vegas




I loved Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas will be of the same greatness. Follow ups are... Were there even other RPGs? Haven't seen anything of Diablo III. Anyway.
Oh, I remember: Final Fantasy XIV. MMORPGs, not my kind of game.

Best Platformer/ Jump'n'Run:

Sonic The Hedgehog 4




Sonic The Hedgehog 4 is a retro dream coming true. For me as a die hard fan of the Sega Mega Drive titles, it's a game that's too good to be true. Even the music sounds like back in the 90s. Sonic is finally good again.
Follow ups are Donkey Kong Country Returns (looks also very sweet), Trine 2, Rayman Origins, Dust, Hard Corps Uprising

Best Racing Game

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit



I played Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit when it was fresh out on the first Playstation and that's 12 years ago. Alone out of curiosity I want to see what Criterion, creators of the Burnout series, can improve in this remake.
Follow ups are Gran Turismo 5 (it feels like twelve years since its announcement), Motorstorm: Apocalypse, Kinect Joyride (that was a joke) and Driver: San Francisco.

Best Fighting Game

Mortal Kombat IX




I've always been more of a Street Fighter fan, but Mortal Kombat is enjoyable as well. At least the Mortal Kombat games that I've played and those were on SNES and Playstation (Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3). Since then the series has gone down the drain, as I see it at least. Concerning how blood less the last Mortal Kombat games were, it is surprising how ultra brutal Mortal Kombat IX will be.
Follow up is Marvel Vs Capcom 3 (as much as I like Capcom fighting games, this looks a little bit too hectic for me).

So far, that's it from me. I'll update this post if there comes more to my mind. What were your favorites of this E3?

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