E3 2010: A retrospective

I'm back in New Zealand now and E3 has finished in the US.

I had a wee nana nap shortly after I got home, too. I forgot how uncomfortable those airline seats can be, especially on a long-haul flight. I'd also forgotten how shattered I feel after a 12-hour flight from LA and then an hour and a bit domestic flight to Christchurch.

Now starts the analysis and breakdowns of everything that was on show at E3. It was an interesting year, to say the least, and Nintendo scored a coup with its 3DS, an ingenious device that, as we all know, lets you view 3D without wearing the glasses.

Microsoft's big presence this year was definitely Kinect. And after having hands-on with it I'm quite impressed with how well it functions, especially when it comes to the dance game, Dance Central.

While there's no denying that Kinect Sports is very Wii Sports-like (a Microsoft exec that I spoke to admitted as much) the standout games on show were definitely Dance Central and Ubisoft's Your Shape: Fitness Involved. They show what the system is capable of. And could Video Kinect, with will let you video chat with not just other Kinect users but anyone with Windows Live Messanger, be a Skype killer?

Another feature of the Kinect that is sure to appeal is the ability to use voice commands to select applications and activate commands. Microsoft is using the mantra: "If you can see it, just say" with the Kinect, meaning if you see the Zune movie service, you can just say "Xbox Zune" and the application will start up. It's pretty impressive.

The Kinect seems really suited to the casual games that it is targetting and Microsoft hope that the device, which is a camera with a lens and two depth sensors, will attract non-gamers to the Xbox 360, which hasn't traditionally had a lot to offer non-gamers. How it will fare with more action-orientated games, like shooters, is yet to be determined.

Oh, and then there's the redesigned Xbox 360 which runs quieter, has a 250Gb HDD and comes with wireless out the box. Three things that gamers all wanted. And it'll cost $499 and be available on July 9.

For me, Sony's big push this year was 3D and the game's that will utilise it. Sure Move played a big part, but 3D seemed to be one of Sony's main focuses this year, and watching and playing Killzone 3 3D was mightily impressive.

The company said there will be 20 titles in 3D by March 2011, including 3D versions of Crysis 2, Mortal Kombat, Tron Evolution and Sean White Snowboarding. Oh, and Gran Turismo 5 is coming in 3D as well and it will also feature head tracking using the PS Eye camera.

But make no mistake, Move is big on the agenda for Sony this year with the company saying that Move will bridge the gap between core and casual gamers. Move will launch in NZ on September 16 with the main controller selling for $79.95 and the secondary one for $59.95. 

I played The Fight Lights Out and Socom using the Move and was impressed with the level of accuracy, especially with The Fight (even with motion tracking being disabled because there were too many people passing the camera's field of view at PlayStation Europe's room). 

I don't know who is going to win the motion-sensing controller wars. Really, I don't. My wife asked me today which one I thought was better and I honestly couldn't give her an answer. If that's not sitting on the fence, I don't know what it.

And then there are all the great games. I'm not going to list them all but from the hands on I had, Bulletstorm was a highlight, as was Mafia 2. I'm looking forward to Fable 3 as well and Xcom. Halo Reach is going to have space dog fighting,  To be honest, there are too many great games to mention here, but the fact that Twisted Metal is making a return is great news.

Oh, and Sony's Kevin Butler was a hoot at the press conference. Here are a couple of his most memorable quotes about why gaming is so great: "You stay up to 3am to earn a trophy that isn't real - but is", "A girl gamer knows the way to a man's heart is through a melee attack" and "We all serve one master and his name is gaming. Forever may he reign."

For me, though, the hard work starts now: I've got something like 15 interviews to transcribe from my dictaphone to text and a whole pad full of scribbled text to decipher. 

Right, enough chat, I'm off to have another nana nap to give me some strength for transcribing all those interviews. Wish me luck.

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