E3 2010

E3 2010

CSU Cauldron

E3 2010

Technology, not games, focus of this year's E3

This is an exciting time to be alive for a gamer. The next generation of games and technology has just been revealed in Los Angeles at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). In addition to a cadre of new games, two pieces of amazing new technology were shown to a captive and eagerly anxious audience this past June.

It is very apt that the subtitle of the conference is "Creativity Unleashed", since both Microsoft and Nintendo unveiled technologies that could change the way people game for the next generation and beyond. Sony trailed behind the other two this year, bringing out a controller which felt ultimately like too little too late.

Microsoft presented its newest peripheral/controller, Kinect. This is very reminiscent of Sony's EyeToy, except with a much better stable of release games and much more completed feel. Of course there will be cutesy casual games in addition to more ‘hardcore' games, but I did not feel as silly playing them as I did with the EyeToy.

The premise of the Kinect is to use your body as the controller, waving your arms to change the menu/dashboard to get into the game. Once in the game, instead of using a controller to drive or shoot pool or dance, you simply use your body to mimic the action on screen. The games also controlled more fluidly and had a better feel to them, especially the newest dance game from Harmonix, Dance Central.

Being a white guy with no rhythm can be frustrating if people want to go out dancing, until now that is! Sure at the end of the day, I'll still be a white guy with no rhythm, but this game can and will teach me how to dance well enough that I won't have to resort to the running man, bus driver, the carlton, or the sprinkler. Not only will this be of great use in social situations, but the advent of Kinect will also have potentially far-reaching societal impacts as well.

With the exception of the Wii, playing video games are still mostly played from a couch or chair. This new way to navigate the game environment forces people to get off of their butts and actually get involved in such an interactive medium. In addition to that, actually carrying out the activities on screen will produce a greater sense of presence, or the feeling of being in the game. Whether that activity is dancing or playing football or racing, one can now more fully experience those activities by actually mimicking those actions.

Nintendo unveiled a new handheld console called the 3DS capable of playing in three dimensions without the use of special glasses. Not only was this an amazing little piece of technology, but each one was attached to a beautiful woman at the hip. I was first able to test the camera, striking a pose throwing a football, which illustrated the capability of the 3DS to switch seamlessly from 2D to 3D with the use of a slider. In addition to the camera, there were some demo machines to play (also attached to beautiful women) in which I was able to play a port of StarFox 64, the intro to a new Metal Gear Solid title, as well as a visually stunning submarine game. Nintendo's take on 3D was based on depth of view into the screen rather than things being shot or thrust out of the screen at you.

The 3DS is more innovative possibly than Kinect, allowing the gamer to experience a different style of 3D, as well as featuring a similar increase in presence. Both of these push video games closer and closer to a state of virtual reality, in which we will be able to live out more fantasies and situations without fear of consequences or repercussions. Since this was first shownw, many have complained about the effectiveness of the 3D capability when viewing the screen at any angle but straight on, but how many angles should one really need to view a handheld console meant for one person to play?

Sony's big news turned out to be the new Move controller, which looks suspiciously like a Wiimote and nunchuck attached with a matte black finish. Move is only distinguished by a little glowing ball attached to the tip. Of the five available games, two were rail shooters and one was the latest Tiger Woods game. None of the three were too impressive.

Having played rail shooters as well as golf sims before, with the Wiimote, the Move was wholly disappointing. It's as if Sony is trying a last ditch effort to stay relevant in a fight that was over almost four years ago when the Wii came out. Any new ground that the Move could explore has already been done by the Wii.

E3 was an amazing experience and I am truly thankful for the opportunity to have attended. Not much was mentioned about the games themselves in this experiential review, because I feel that while video games were the reason and focus for the event, they were not the biggest part of the expo. With more space, I would happily write a daily account of everything I demoed and witnessed and even went back to demo or watch a second or even third time. In my capacity as a member of the press, I could not have done this annual event justice had the focal point of my written experiences been the video games instead of the technology behind the video games. This event truly is the embodiment of "Creativity Unleashed".