Discuss anything you want about E3 here. The games they announced, the press conferences, what you think of it all, etc. Obviously we already have a thread on FF13 being on the 360, so if that's going to be all you talk about it, take it there. Also, for anyone who isn't keeping up or doesn't know where to, IGN (you'll need to install their player as a plugin on firefox, and yes, it is a slow piece of shit)has live podcasts and GameTrailers has recaps.

So today Sony had their press conference, and imo it was pretty sad. One of their big things they were talking about was the addition of TV shows and movies on the PSN store, where you can either buy or rent. The prices are actually good, and they have a large list of studios partering with them on this. But now that you can just rent/buy stuff from their store, it sort of negates the need to buy their super special awesome Blu-Ray DVDs. Also, they were talking about how they're proud of the ability to copy those movies/shows to the PSP, and how the PSP wasn't just a device to give to your kids to shut them up on trips, but a wonderful multimedia device that you'll carry around with you in the living room and wherever else.

Then at another part of the conference, the guy bragged about having 23 exclusives to the system. I'm not sure if they even have 23 exclusives (and I'm not going to count), but that's a very pathetic number for being out two years already. Then he proceeded to flash up a video of a bunch of trailers meshed together. Funny thing was, it showed Resident Evil 5 and some other non-exclusives...and even worse, a Naruto game and a trivia quiz game. Then they showed a tiny trailer for God of War 3 (we already knew that was coming), and some game called MAG (Massive Action Game), whose bragging point is that it will have large battles of 256 players all divided into 8-member squads. Another guy came out and introduced a DC Universe MMO. Obviously they can't have a hundred Supermans running around, so you make your own superhero character and you help the major superheros, I'm guessing those will be the "quests" of the game. So basically it's City of Heros, only with DC characters thrown in.

The Sony guy also bragged about being able to dl games off PSN and get a "great entertainment experience for the price of a movie ticket." Only problem was, it's all casual stuff. And I have to say, one of the big games they're touting (which is casual) sounds retarded. It's called fl0wer, and the whole point of it is that you're a flower petal and you can free-fly around all these large fields as the wind blows you along. That's it. I honestly cannot figure out what kind of audience they're trying to target. If they're going after the Wii audience, they won't succeed because the Wii has a price advantage. And their not giving the hardcore audience much either, especially not in the way of exclusives. I get the impression that they're trying to do way too much and not really concentrating on one core audience. They are bringing back the 80 gig model, and they'll be selling it for the same price as the 40 gig, which might help them a little...but until they decide to place all their focus on one or two core audiences, I think they'll keep floundering.

Thoughts?

I sat through that whole damn thing hoping to see something Final Fantasy and there was none. The only thing that i thought was really cool was the MAG game at the very end of the show and how it can get over 256 people playing at one time. I think thats awesome and the chaos of it all is going to be epic from the looks of it. Lag would be a problem though and theres going to have to be alot of people that actually own the game and playing when you are to have that happen.

Originally Posted by Haden

I sat through that whole damn thing hoping to see something Final Fantasy and there was none. The only thing that i thought was really cool was the MAG game at the very and of the show and how it can get over 256 people playing at one time. I think thats awesome and the chaos of it all is going to be epic from the looks of it. lag would be a problem though and theres going to have to be alot of people that actually own the game and playing when you are to have that happen.

I want to know why they settled on 256 players. The Sony guy was really bragging about the PS3's internet capabilities, so I wonder if 256 players is the max they could fit in at one time? With 8-member squads that's going to give you 32 all at once...which is still a weird number to choose.

And yes, you're right, lag is going to be an issue. Their idea of an epic battle will be severely hampered if a few people with subpar internet decide to play. Oh, and when they were talking about being able to dl movies, they said of course ISP speed is going to factor into everything, but with a relatively fast service a 2 hour movie will take 2 hours to dl.

Another thing they showed off was more of that Home thing, and the custom hub rooms for games like Drake's Uncharted and Warhawk and Resistence. Basically they're just rooms skinned to look like the game, and your Home avatars can all gather up in the room and talk or whatever before it loads. It showed other little minigames scattered around Home for your avatars to play, like pool and stuff. It looked an awful lot like the Sims, and I still don't understand the point of it. Sure it's a nice little online hub...but I don't see what's supposed to attract me to it.

I guess they thought 256 players playing in one game was enough. I was like damn.... thats HUGE! Having so many people in one place at a time will be some crazy shit XD. Knowing me, id be right in the middle of it all just going wild, chunking nades and running like hell! lol Man if this plays as good as it looks id be very happy =D I like this kind of stuff.

Anyways, I thought Wii's presentation suked, that old lady was driving me nuts there wii remote plus was probly there biggest announcement from what i remember and it wasnt even that great. and Animal crossing? wtf is this.. XD

I don't know...I would think it'd would be more disorienting and easy to get separated if you were in a 256 battle, think of the chaos x_x Of course if you're the type who just runs around like Rambo and guns the hell out of anything without any regard for safety (like I do) then I suppose it would be epic. The title is awful though. Massive Action Game isn't catchy at all, couldn't they have come up with something more original?

I missed the Wii's presentation, I guess I'm lucky then? I know Wii Music was a big thing though...but honestly I could care less about that (EDIT: watching a demo for it right now, and the guitar sounds like a synthesizer...ugh). I did see the trailer for Mega Man 9 though and that filled me with joy

Well, all I'm currently interested in is some more FF Dissidia news, and whatever revelation they have about their 'big FF7 announcement.' If it's anything's other than a FF7 remake, then I don't care what it is.

Alot of very promising concepts being brought forward, MAG for instance catches the eye with its insane 256 players promise but what impresses me most is Microsoft's push for ultimate connectivity. Fable 2's albion orb system is pure genius and the new LIVE Party plans are a step in the right direction for the gaming generation. Just shows the 360 has every capability of being the new entertainment hub that will feature alongside the Satellite / cable box and dvd player in the living rooms of many families accross the world.

As far a FF7 announcement goes I would say that it is unlikely seeing as work is still seemingly heavy on their current array of projects and that the FF7 cash cow has been poked quite a bit too recently with Crisis Core, DoC and THAT movie. Give it awhile and let the announcement be a special one, not one that compliments the spin-off series.

Bleh, MAG was just Planetside version 2. They said that it's a Action MMO, right. It looks like a FPS online.

Then they announced DC Universe which his basically City of Heroes/Villains but with DC characters. That didn't really impress me. Also besides Batman, Marvel Universe > DC Universe.

Also the new, cheap 80gig is like the 40gig but without PS2 backwards compatibility. ...That just sucks, and pointless to buy an 80gig now. :/

I'd say Sony had the weakest presentation and Microsoft had the best presentation. I haven't watched Nintendo's presentation yet but I heard it wasn't that great. Also that Nintendo was mostly just targeting casual gamers.

I hope Tokyo Game show will be better than E3 this year.

I heard tell that they were doing away with E3, and replacing it with some other very similar nerdfest. I kind of like E3, though. Hmm.