Electronics Entertainment Expo

[DanGarion]

Anyone else going to E3 this year? I'm going tomorrow.

Here are some pictures from last years event that I took, and also of the Gamespy after party I went to that was put on for Vivendi Universal Games (my friend works for them).

http://www.dangarion.com/gallery/e32004

[Honolulu_Blue]

Nice pics. Looks like my man enjoys the booth tail.

[Franklinnoble]

Nice picks. Looks like my man enjoys the booth tail.
Agreed.

Dangarion = PIMP

Nice.

:D

[JeeberD]

What, only one party vid? I feel cheated!

[sterlingice]

Decided to toss my show notes in here, rather than in the individual threads since this seemed more logical...

SI

[sterlingice]

Sony Presentation
They were relaxed and calm. They know they're on top and while they don't entirely seem complacent, they seem comfortable and at ease. They essentially brought out the heads of EA and Squeenix and said "top this". Showed of the specs of the new system- kindof was boring and I fast forwarded through most of this- watched it just enough to catch each of the powerpoint slides for anything interesting and moved on. Specs don't make the machine- what you do with them does. I almost fell asleep through the stuffy British guy talking about the Cell processor- it's just not that interesting and his voice didn't help. Not much in this that really was worth mention- if you want tech specs, you can look them up, but there's nothing too surprising. They showed a pretty nifty Spiderman demo where they took scenes from Spiderman and put a race happening down on the road below- essentially splicing two movies together. I'd be impressed if I knew that was actual gameplay but I don't know that. Same with an Unreal Engine 3.0 demo which looked pretty but I want to see it in action.

I've never seen the EA Chairman but he looks exactly like i pictured, a cross between Jabba the Hutt and a CEO: slimy, bloated, and evil. He showed some neat stuff like how in Fight Night, you would see and "feel" how the boxer was and could predict how people were going to do something by how your opponent looks- is this like King Hippo jumping up and down so that you know to hit him in the face and then the stomach? Then they brought out the Squeenix head (I think- forgot who it was now) and he showed a movie like trailer for FF12. Looked pretty snazzy but who knows- I haven't played FFX or X-2 (or XI but that's another ballpark) as the franchise kindof lost steam with me- pretty colors but weak plot and characters, who, well, are starting to look pretty generic because every new one, they have to cobble together a new band of ragtag warriors to put together and you just run out of ideas and have to start reuing ideas at some point. They also showed a FF7 techincal demo that had people all excited (and even funnier is that it's just there as eyecandy and not an actual game) so you can just see the fanboys get their hopes up only to be dashed.

Then the show starts to speed up as the last half hour (of the ~2 hour show) is mostly videos. Lots of returning frachises: Devil May Cry, Gran Turismo, etc. Killzone 2 looks decent- from what I read of Killzone, they have a long way to go to catch Halo, tho. The second video was much more interesting, tho, as it was "new franchises". The first looked like YAFPS, specifically Yet Another WW2-looking FPS and the second had some promise- japanese sword slaher game but still nothing too exciting. I really liked the third, but I doubt it's a showstopper- just a cool idea, basically you put yourself in the role of Bosley in Charlie's Angels where you command your two scantily clad anime vixens in their spying adventures- seems like a geniunely new premise for a game. There was a Sonic Team game that looked kindof like a mental powers FPS, something called Heavenly Sword which looks like God of War's chaotic (and fun) attack engine but with wire-fu as well, a sequel to Warhawk that looks like a slightly more imaginative war game, a shooter from Ubi which looks really generic, and a rallysport type game (Motorsport). Most of which all look pretty but very few new ideas, unfortunately.

In true E3 fashion, with 3 mins left to go, they dim the lights and then unveil the PS3. It looks like a pretty slick little machine- they don't demo it further except to pick it up. I've seen pictures of three different colors (white, silver, black) so that covers all the decorating bases. No controllers or anything- had to see those pics on websites afterwards, too- they look kindof ugly and unweildy but let's see how they feel. Who cares what it looks like- it's how it plays.

In short, Sony looks content to be on top and thus stay the course- probably not a bad plan. The lack of playable stuff wasn't all that surprising but disappointing. Now let's see what they can do with actual gameplay and not pre-rendered movies- as far back as FF8 for the PS1, you could make close to realistic looking movies but I have yet to see a game that looks like you're playing a movie, even with all the advances out there.

SI

[sterlingice]

Microsoft Presentation

The opening demo was just loud and obnoxious- lots of talk about togetherness- good and useful, about personalization- who cares. It's a neat gimmick but devoid of substance, not a pillar to stake your fortune on. They really are the smaller, louder kid trying to steal limelight from what everyone knows is the big kid on the block.

First the intro and showing of 2005 games. Couldn't tell what most were from the Gamespot feed since the titles were small and in the corner. A decent variety of games- not just shooters and sports, tho those made up about half of the presentation, at least. Looks like they have a fairly good lineup for a final year of a console as they're still trying to push XBox Live.

"Backwards compatible with the topselling XBox games" was a curious wording but if it was just that, suspect wording, if they actually have reverse compatibility, that's a feather in the cap and something unknown going into the show. I agree with HA that it's pretty useless- it's a bragging rights point typically. But it's also one of those that people will take cheap shots at you if you don't have it, even if you don't use it (see: people who never used the DVD players on their XBox or PS2 knocking the Gamecube or NFL fans talking about how MLB games are too long). And then something everyone knew but still got a big cheer for some reason: out late this year in all 3 markets. These start to feel like State of the Union addresses- no you don't care about the point just brought up, but it's a chance to applaud so do it.

DOA4 preview- looks pretty and unlike most of the Sony stuff, looks mostly like actual gameplay and not movie (ie yeah, it's prerendered, like everything, but not touched up as much). Not sure I saw anything it brought to the table in terms of gameplay except possibly more interactive settings kindof like SSBM but in a more "traditional" fighter.

Talk, mostly in non-sequitors, about how broad market expands to HDTV to 1 billion people. Still not sure how that works- we go from 18-34 males to every demographic. How, you ask? They never exactly say but it has something to do with the X360. Something about having a new individual experience by playing in a community- yeah, I don't get it either. This is the dull, boring part of the presentation just like Sony's talk about specs for 15 mins or Nintendo's inevitable talk about their part in gaming history.

I guess their way of claiming you can do this is by giving you an XBox Live id. Regardless of how their presentation doesn't logically flow, the fact that you can match up with people who have a similar style to you and can leave text/voice/video messages for people is pretty cool as is the fact that XBox Live Silver is free. Their plan to try to get more casual gamers seems quite little suspect (never mind that they're nearly identical to Nintendo's online plans)- basically, create a yahoo or pogo games like area. While Nintendo can fall back on the "you can pay a couple of bucks and play the actual Tetris or Mario or any number of NES, SNES, or N64 games online", I doubt Velocitygirl, or whatever their hypothetical gaming person was named, will pay $300+ just to play online games and chat which they can do for free on a PC (nevermind that I doubt she'll want to try and create a level for a game she has never played like they suggested).

The fact that Ipods and digital cameras can connect to X360 since it's got USB is not surprising. The fact that they also showed a PSP connecting to it was a bit moreso- curious how that would work. Can stream music and movies on HD and buy online- I think this gen is going to usher in a huge new era of advertising online. Then the Gamespot feed cut out- said the info was proprietary and so the broadcast was suspended. I wonder what that was all about (something about Gates or Ballmer making a joke according to what came next). Wonder why he wanted that not on the site. They spend a couple of minutes talking about how you can customize your XBox Live id (um, yay?) and, in the spirit of E3 and shameless free stuff, part of the reason I want to go, the people there got an exclusive gameplate.

Moore starts talking about the "Zen of Gaming" and I start to nod off again. But thankfully during these boring parts, they splice in clips of games to liven things up. "Lost Odyssey", a game from the original FF minds. It looks pretty and has a good pedigree but it's just an FMV so who knows how good it will be. In the aforementioned clips were "Project Gotham 3"- I've never really been able to see much difference in racing games; "Ghost Recon 3"- YAFPS but pretty cool with little popup screens delivering other messages and nice graphics; "Kameo"- looks pretty good too for an adventure game; "Call of Duty""- YAFPS; "Elder Scrolls IV" looks pretty, had a Patrick Stewart voiceover (always a plus), and is a launch RPG which is a plus; and "Gears of War", a horror RPG using the U2003 engine, but at that point, I'm getting tired of FPS's even tho this one looks pretty cool.

Now they bring out their EA rep, the President, to talk about EA's X360 offerings. Robert Gallery runs up onstage up with a copy of Madden (and other games) and Moore, Gallery, and the EA rep show off the kind of acting you can only get in a high school sketch about staying away from drugs. Madden, Fifa, Need for Speed, NBA Live, Tiger Woods, and The Godfather are shown off in a video montage- only NFS is actual gameplay so it's kindof meaningless. Then the EA and MS reps shake hands with some lovely forced-smile, "you only sent our President here and the CEO went to Sony yesterday" kind of warmth.

For their big E3 climax, Microsoft plays a Squeenix video for FFXI that has the crowd in hysterics, and deservedly so. After all, it's a big gaming company with a pretty looking video that looks to have some actual gameplay footage. The president of the company says they will bring their games to X360 and XBox Live. That said, I could just be reading between too many broken English lines but he never said FFXI would be for XBox Live- but I dunno if Square wants to split a piece of their pie with Microsoft. Then they showed a Square tech demo much like the FF7 tech demo for Sony, pretty but ultimately meaningless, as it's just a tech demo. Close with a music video with most of their previously shown games.

I couldn't help shake that this was much more of an "American" presentation than Sony (and probably Nintendo's, which I haven't watched yet). A lot more marketspeak and flashy "glitter and sparkles" (there's no effing way that next gen reaches 1 billion people but it sounds cool in marketspeak). That said, they have a fairly impressive launch lineup- something no company has really been able to do in the past: more than just the standard of "one A game" and a "couple of B games". I know I've been very critical of Microsoft but they have done a few things that I really like in the market and they seem to be continuing this next generation.

As an aside, am I the only one who thinks a curved system kindof looks ugly? Probably, but I never was the stylish type.

SI

[sterlingice]

Nintendo Presentation

Value advantage was one of the first things Nintendo mentioned. It's like they want to head towards being the "value" market and pretend they are not being forced there. We saw how well that worked for KMart. First, Iwata comes out and talks about how he played Smash Brothers last night, the game he made. This is one of Nintendo's biggest strenghts *and* weaknesses- they're run by game designers now, Iwata and Miyamoto, two of the better game designers ever. But they don't have nearly the eye for marketing that the other two companies have.

There's a short video montage of games for both the DS and Gamecube and then Reggie enters. If you've never seen him talk, it's pure comedy, and you're not entirely sure whether it's intentional or unintential. As expected, we now hear about Nintendo and their 2 billion games sold and how they're an "and" company who wants all people to play not an "or" company who segments people, how they're a top 2 hardware and software company both, the GBA and PS2 both sold 28M this generation, the DS has sold twice as many as the PSP, etc. In pure Reggie fashion: "Now, I know what some of you are thinking. The PSP hasn't arrived in Europe yet. So we got there when we said we would and they didn't. You know what? That's Sony's issue. Not my problem".

Next is a short "Electroplankton" video, a wacky art and music sound game and how some DJ has played around with it and then a live demo by him. Pretty creative and imaginative, definitely not for everyone, particularly those of us who are musically uninclined. Gamespy is then announced as providing Nintendo's online network for the DS and a 90% online participation rate because it's free and can be played either at thousands of hotspots or in the home. Vidoes of Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, and Tony Hawk, all wi-fi, all on the DS, all by the end of the year.

Think tamagotchi but with dogs and done by Miyamoto so it's Nintendo-ized- that's Nintendogs. Basically, you raise a pet- play with it, raise it, bathe it, etc. Tina Wood from G4TV demos the game and then kindof fumbles through it once she looks for another dog from a DS in the audience ("Oh, they're good friends. Oops, I didn't teach it that" as she hides her eyes- they don't show in the video what it is, but one guess as to what's going on). So who comes out and saves her but Shigeru. He is easily one of the reasons I love Nintendo so much- he's like a little 55 year old game designing kid- it's genuine. He making games so he can play the ones he makes. It's like one of those award show moments that people call "geniune and touching". And then he offers to show her some more gameplay tricks backstage. Classic Shigeru.

Then comes the GB Micro which Reggie can barely get out of his coat pocket. It's looks absoltely miniscule in his big hands (slightly larger and 2/3rds the weight of an Ipod mini). Kindof a ho-hum item, tho. Sure, it's small and has customizable faceplates but it's nothing new- it's a smaller looking GBA SP for trendy gamers. GBA/DS game video, but most have already been seen. DK Country Advance, Fire Emblem Advance, Mario Tennis Advance, Pokemon: Emerald, Metroid Prime Hunters, Nintendogs, Mega Man Battle Network 5, Mario Kart DS, Splinter Cell Chaos Theory DS, Electroplankton, Need For Speed DS, Trace Memory, Goldeneye Rogue Agent, Mario & Luigi Superstar 2, Animal Crossing DS, Advance Wars DS, Kirby: Canvas Curse, a new Mario DS game, Madden, Spyro, Castlevania DS, an Episode 3 game, Trauma Center (think the board game Operation with a touch pad), and Viewtiful Joe DS.

Iwata takes back the stage with a prototype of the Revolution but it's not even the final product. He talks about how unique the controller is but a loud groan comes up from the crowd when he says they won't show it until a later date. There is a silver lining in this presentation as wi-fi Smash Bros will be a launch title. The predecessor was still one of the top five Gamecube to date and that is not damning with faint praise as some would have you believe. Revolution versions of Metroid, Mario, and Zelda also underway. Duh.

Next comes the questionable claims. Second party will be strong but there are no named mentioned, shame especially after Silicon Knights left. Then comes the dubious "Third parties appreciate our creativity" as they really didn't this generation (see the distinct lack of GBA connectivity, EyeToy, or other games- everyone is waiting to see what works first and copying since costs are skyrocketing). But dropped in is the nugget that a wi-fi Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles in the works. Finally the advantage that the development for Gamecube will be cheaper and faster than any system. While probably true, as costs are starting to overwhelm, I wonder if they will be powerful enough.

The show starts to take an upswing however as it is said that the Revolution will be backward compatible to Gamecube but the more exciting thing is that you will be able to purchase NES, SNES, and N64 games online to play on the Revolution (essentially emulation that comes standard out-of-the-box). But then Iwata practically echos the Microsoft presentation trap of "we're here to get every single person on the planet to buy a game and they will" without giving real good reasons why they should do so.

Finally, Harrison comes out to talk about what is left on the Gamecube and most of these games have had little said about them so it's the first really new content. First is Battalian Wars, the Gamecube version of the popular (and excellent!) Advance Wars. They pushed it more into an RTS rather than turn based strat that the GBA version is so I'm not sure how that's going to work. RTS's have never really translated well to a console because the controllers just aren't complex enough. Then there's Pokemon XD. It's a Gamecube RPG, similar to the one that is part of Pokemon Colosseum, which I think was vastly underrated- basically the Pokemon battle engine brought to a home console with FF7 style graphics. Killer 7 is an artistic cell shaded horror shooting offering from Capcom, but it's been talked about for quite a while. Lastly, Mario whores himself out to Mario Baseball, Mario Strikers (soccer), Mario Party 7, and DDR: Mario Mix. There's a video with those as well as games already known about like Fire Emblem, Geist, a new Harvest Moon, and some multisystem offerings like Charlie and the Chocolate factory, Madden, Scooby Doo, and Incredible Hulk that were shown earlier in the day at other presentations.

Finally, for their E3 Preshow Finale (TM, patent pending), Nintendo shows off the new Zelda video. It's absolutely stunning. I know a lot of people really liked Windwaker but this is the Zelda that will be remembered for the Gamecube. Zelda, as it should have looked, going back to the demo at E3 2000. The biggest shame in all this is that it's coming so late in the generation to make any sort of lasting impact much like Majora's Mask or Perfect Dark for the N64. Horseback combat, wolf mode, new creepier enemies, and the old favorite game elements. I'll say it again, it looks absolutely stunning. In the other major tradition of E3, free crap, everyone at the show got the Zelda video they just showed on a Nintendo DS cartridge.

Nintendo seems almost content to sit back and be the Royals or Brewers of video gaming- develop the talent and let everyone cherry pick next generation. For instance, the PSP being able to hook up to the PS3 (or X360), different colors/versions/skins for the system that Microsoft is using, or the completely wireless controllers of the XBox 360. Nintendo had these in the current generation and never was able to make either really work for them saleswise. They just can't seem to put it all together and this seems like it could be the third system in a row (N64, Gamecube, Revolution) that looks nice but is possibly going to play second or even third fiddle and there's danger the DS could go that way, too. Still, it's early.

Some very disappointing no-shows as there was no new information about Pokemon:Pearl/Diamond, Mario 128, the Nintendo licensing of Palm OS for the DS, or much more about the Revolution than people knew coming in. Nintendo needs to stop playing it so close to the vest and hype a little already or they're just going to get buried in this market. That said, there was some good with the bad. Having both Mario Kart and Animal Crossing out by Christmas pretty much pushes the DS into the "buy" category for me. Come to think of it, the PSP was strangely scarce in Sony's nearly 2 hour presentation- I wonder if they are going to have a development delay for a while with no real games coming out. Zelda looks like an absolute "must buy" but it's a shame they couldn't have gotten it out before next Christmas to compete with Halo 2 and GTA:SA.

SI

[SackAttack]

I wish I could go. If my Philosophy professor hadn't pushed the final to Thursday instead of Tuesday, I'd be there.

Thankfully, next school year apparently ends in June, so the 2006 show will be the first that I'll have had the opportunity to attend not just all three days of the show proper, but the press conferences themselves.

Nice writeup, SI. Hopefully next year I can have something similar from the scene of the crime, as it were.

[sterlingice]

I wish I could go. If my Philosophy professor hadn't pushed the final to Thursday instead of Tuesday, I'd be there.

Thankfully, next school year apparently ends in June, so the 2006 show will be the first that I'll have had the opportunity to attend not just all three days of the show proper, but the press conferences themselves.

Nice writeup, SI. Hopefully next year I can have something similar from the scene of the crime, as it were.
A friend of mine will be there the next three days with a shiny press badge he got from a guy on a message board he is on. I half jokingly messaged him on ICQ tonight: "I feel compelled to point out that any free stuff, particularly from the Nintendo booth, would make a wonderful wedding gift or so I've read somewhere (or just made up on the spot)". If not for being poor right now, I would have joined him but darn that money thing.

It always is a fun show to watch as I can't help but get swept up in some of the hype. This year's is kindof a downer as my major player is really down on their luck. But I still see a lot of cool stuff coming down the pipes even if I don't like the general direction things are headed.

SI

[SackAttack]

A friend of mine will be there the next three days with a shiny press badge he got from a guy on a message board he is on. I half jokingly messaged him on ICQ tonight: "I feel compelled to point out that any free stuff, particularly from the Nintendo booth, would make a wonderful wedding gift or so I've read somewhere (or just made up on the spot)". If not for being poor right now, I would have joined him but darn that money thing.

It always is a fun show to watch as I can't help but get swept up in some of the hype. This year's is kindof a downer as my major player is really down on their luck. But I still see a lot of cool stuff coming down the pipes even if I don't like the general direction things are headed.

SI

This is what I don't understand when I put out the help wanted calls for new writers. Nobody seems to realize that, aside from room and board, writing for me is basically a free pass to E3, and you don't have to sneak around to get in. You get a shiny badge with your name on it, you get invites to the various after-events, and you even occasionally get to skip long lines because the companies want you to cover their stuff.

Our presence at the show isn't anything like the Big Three, but it's still a fun week all the same.

[sterlingice]

This is what I don't understand when I put out the help wanted calls for new writers. Nobody seems to realize that, aside from room and board, writing for me is basically a free pass to E3, and you don't have to sneak around to get in. You get a shiny badge with your name on it, you get invites to the various after-events, and you even occasionally get to skip long lines because the companies want you to cover their stuff. It should be noted that I've never seen you ask for a Gamecube or GBA review (and that's all I can review) ;) Even with our butting heads from time to time, I'm not above being a shameless mercenary :D

Then again, due to that whole budget constraint thing, I don't tend to get games when they come out unless the name Pokemon is attached or there's a premium to doing such like the Zelda bonus discs. Animal Crossing DS will probably be the next "release" game I buy, provided I have the cash to get a DS between now and then. Problem is, about that time a bunch of games I've been wanting for a while will be hitting the budget racks (Pikmin 2, Paper Mario, Metroid Prime 2, Resident Evil 4, Viewtiful Joe 2, etc). Then again, Toys R Us will be having their annual Buy One/Get One about that time, too :)

SI

[SackAttack]

Viewtiful Joe 2 on GC is already $20. FYI. ;)

As for the GC/GBA thing, we don't get 1/10th as much product for those two as we do for PC/Xbox/PS2, and I hate to ask somebody to buy a game to review knowing we can't compensate them for it. That's why I prefer to snag writers for systems that we have product for.

If you rent stuff, though, that can work too. ;)

[riz]

Sports Interactive will be at the Sega section again this year with me, Miles, Duffy and Phillip about. I'll be on the floor with Phillip showing EHM and WSM(FM) on the booths and Miles and Duffy will be backstage with some other neat stuff.

So if you're about, come and say hi to us :D

[sterlingice]

Thankfully, next school year apparently ends in June, so the 2006 show will be the first that I'll have had the opportunity to attend not just all three days of the show proper, but the press conferences themselves.
Out of morbid curiousity, I checked out Ebay. The XBox faceplate they gave away is going for $100+ and the Zelda cartridge is $70+. Scary.

SI

[SackAttack]

Out of morbid curiousity, I checked out Ebay. The XBox faceplate they gave away is going for $100+ and the Zelda cartridge is $70+. Scary.

SI

The Nintendo DS styluses they gave out last year were selling for $50 on ebay at one point. Swag in general just seems to have a revoltingly high eBay value if there's any originality at all. I wouldn't be surprised if a dedicated swag hunter could turn a profit on an E3 trip.

[sterlingice]

I know it's board speak on IGN which is about two evolutionary steps below a tide pool (but strangely above gamefaqs), subject to boulders of salt and all that and destined not to be true. But just for one night I want to believe that what they're saying online is true about the Revolution and the rumors about tomorrow *goes to put on tin foil hat, put hands in ears, and sing "I'm not listening" to any naysayers for a night*

Ignorance is bliss after all. :D

(EDIT: Even if the more likely rumor is the "they're going to show the innovative new controller tomorrow")

SI

[rjolley]

G4 has E3 coverage on now for 2 hours. Could be a rerun, but it's on for those who want to see it.

[sterlingice]

It's kindof surprising, aside from what sounds like a cadre of idiots on G4, Nintendo isn't taking many lumps for its lackluster program. It's kindof a "well, that's neato. we like the retro gaming idea." It's a little of a welcome change from the type of N-bashing that's usually out there but somewhat undeserved ("they're bashing Nintendo"/"they're not bashing Nintendo"/"You're never happy"). Oh well, I'm just hoping tomorrow brings good news.

SI

[SackAttack]

There are some rumors to the effect that the 'big' announcement is coming later today. Apparently the timestamp on the Nintendogs demo was 5/19, and there's some other speculative stuff going around.

Should be interesting to see where things sit when I wake up.

[sterlingice]

There are some rumors to the effect that the 'big' announcement is coming later today. Apparently the timestamp on the Nintendogs demo was 5/19, and there's some other speculative stuff going around.

Should be interesting to see where things sit when I wake up. The little Nintendo On video got me thinking- now I know that was debunked as fake (tho the fake people seem to have as much evidence as the conspiracy theory people) but it got me thinking that what was on there really not that far away. The technology to transmit images onto a small surface such as a set of glasses is here now and not all that crazily expensive if done right. We can transmit gigs of bandwith wirelessly over short distances for relatively cheap- just look at a $50 802.11g router or the low prices on bluetooth technology.

The major problem is having a small enough projector that doesn't break the bank but I was looking last night and it was in the $500 range two years ago (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,667638,00.asp) and SVGA quality ones were around $3000 but that was also in 2000. Another difficulty would be to pack a motion sensor into such a small headset but I'm not sure that's necessary.

So, while it's highly unlikely that is what will happen this generation, I think it will be very doable in 5 years for the next generation. And really, if Sony and Microsoft want to keep getting into pissing contests about terraflops and billions of polygons, neither of which really get realized and those that do just start getting less and less noticeable (I read a great board quote about fans arguing whose system can see less jagged polygons on a sweaty man's ass), if you were a third group, what better way to get people to notice your product. Really, if the main companies just keep offering more graphical power while a challenger offers previous generation graphics but in VR, I'll take the VR 9 times out of 10.

SI

[Daimyo]

We can transmit gigs of bandwith wirelessly over short distances for relatively cheap- just look at a $50 802.11g router or the low prices on bluetooth technology.
Gigs is overstating a bit... 802.11g is like 22 megabits/second theoretical and bluetooth is like ~1 megabit/second. Its barely practical to get a true gigabit of bandwith with wires (up until a few years back it was thought 300 Mbs was the practical limit even with gigabit eithernet)...

[sterlingice]

Well, it seems that all the internet rumors and the like were just a hoax. A fun hoax but a hoax nontheless. Made me feel good for a night. I always wonder about the mentality of people who make up hoaxes- it's like a parent who tells their kid about Santa Claus only for the express purpose of seeing their reaction when they tell them Santa isn't real. Then again, the 'net is a breeding ground for proprietary information and proprietary humor so that's not all too surprising, but I digress.

Now, I know I'm the resident Nintendo fanboy but even I can't help but blast them in light of their E3 presentation. While E3 isn't over yet, if Nintendo doesn't show anything else of Revolution, and it doesn't look like they will, they're going to be three steps behind next generation. That's ok if you're Sony- I think they'll be fine because, while it's too early to tell, it's pretty likely they will have the powerhouse machine this generation. XBox will get off to a fast start, but Sony has the trump cards of both being Sony and having technological superiority. A fairly level playing fiend that will come down to game preference in the first couple of years since that's when your install base is going to be impacted the most. Microsoft is relying on their superior internet service and pretty good launch lineup (tho they kept saying games would come out "in the launch window" which I bet translates as "the first six months"). I suspect what will happen is that Microsoft will come out strong in the first six months but then will slow down much like the PSP development- a lot of stuff got pushed to get it near release and now there's not much coming out for the next year. At that point, Sony will catch up or at least make it competitive, provided pricing is adequate and games are good and plentiful at/around launch. Then the second and third gen year will decide who wins this generation.

There's been a couple of interesting reactions from the Nintendo crowd. The first is a group who's fed up and jumping ship. Frankly, I can't blame them- while Microsoft and Sony are out getting early adopters this E3, Nintendo is saying "believe us, it will be big". Then there's the Nintendo "die hards" who are simultaneously assaulting the first group while hiding their heads in the sand with the "wait for next year". Then there's a third category which I think quite a few people are in for the first time and that's the "wait and see" crowd. If Nintendo really doesn't show a thing for 6 months and doesn't have anything truly special to show, this will probably be their last generation of living room console making (tho not necessarily handheld). They have time, it's just that at E3, they missed an opportunity when everyone would be watching.

Miyamoto gave a pretty wet blanket interview this morning, too.

IGNcube: Have Revolution development kits gone out yet?

Shigeru Miyamoto: We have not sent out development kits to developers yet. However, development kits for the Nintendo Revolution are very similar to the ones for the GameCube. So we feel that the environments are so similar that they will be able to start development very quickly upon receiving the development kits for Revolution.

IGNcube: Can you tell us when you'll send out Revolution development kits?

Shigeru Miyamoto: As far as when we're going to be sending out development kits, we don't have set schedule at this point. It really sounds like they don't have their stuff together. "No, our dev kits are just like the Gamecube and no, we don't know when it will come out".

IGNcube: Coming back to power. We apologize, but if we don't get some answers our readers are going to go insane. What are the tech specs for Revolution? Or, to put it another way, is Revolution as powerful as Xbox 360?

Shigeru Miyamoto: You know, in regard to the power of the Nintendo Revolution versus, say, the Xbox 360, we're looking at making a small, quiet, affordable console. If you look at trying to incorporate all that, of course we might not have the horsepower that some other companies have, but if you look at the numbers that they're throwing out, are those numbers going to be used in-game?

IGNcube: Can we expect Nintendo to collaborate with more third parties on Revolution games?

Shigeru Miyamoto: At this point, we've only been talking with a few companies.
There's a grain of truth here, sure. For instance, remember the super power of the PS2 that was never realized? Great, but you can't just mail it in or you'll get no third party support, but they already metioned that, too. And Nintendo has great first party stuff but you've gotta have second and third, too.


IGNcube: We're all assuming that the revolutionary aspect of Revolution is the controller. Do you know what the Revolution is yet or are you still trying to figure that out?

Shigeru Miyamoto: You're doubting me, aren't you? I can see that you're over there mistrusting my word. I understand.

Of course. It's set in stone. It has been determined. I'd love to show it to you. I'd love to be able to show you the features of the Revolution controller and tell you about them. However, unfortunately if we do that too early those ideas would be stolen. They really sound like the same old Nintendo. No nifty stealth campaign, ultra paranoid, and falling just a bit more out of touch.

SI

[DanGarion]

Sports Interactive will be at the Sega section again this year with me, Miles, Duffy and Phillip about. I'll be on the floor with Phillip showing EHM and WSM(FM) on the booths and Miles and Duffy will be backstage with some other neat stuff.

So if you're about, come and say hi to us :D
Riz,

Once again it was great talking to you for a second year.

[riz]

Riz,

Once again it was great talking to you for a second year.

Not a problem. Anytime...well, atleast once a year in Los Angeles :D

[Honolulu_Blue]

Riz,

Once again it was great talking to you for a second year.

Are there going to be any pictures of you standing beside Riz in a bikini? ;)

[JonInMiddleGA]

You mean Nintendo is still in the console gaming business?
I had no idea.

[sterlingice]

Not a big fan of PWOT, but I have a friend who is a religious reader and passed along this entertaining article loosely related to next gen gaming. I've gotta think this is written by a disgruntled Nintendo fan about what he really wants from games by the pitch and timbre of the article, but I could be wrong.

http://www.pointlesswasteoftime.com/games/manifesto.html

SI

[TazFTW]

That guy needs some anger management, although I do agree with several of the things he brings up.

[sterlingice]

That guy needs some anger management, although I do agree with several of the things he brings up.
It's PWOT. From everything I've been linked to and told to read by friends, it's one of the most sarcastic places on the net. And, damn if that doesn't take doing.

SI