First before I go into what they did right I want to do a few criticisms first.
- Beatles Rock Band: Bad way to kick off, especially a title that is most likely going to be selling on Wii (the older generations who only really buy Wii Fit). The Beatles were way before the time of most gamers and not really something to show off.
- Don't encourage Activision selling 3 digit numbers for another piece of plastic. The market is flooded with plastic junk and Activision is the main culprit (Guitar Hero, DJ Hero, Tony Hawk). Don't encourage them!
- They seemed to want to give the impression that Metal Gear Solid Rising was a 360 exclusive: It's not.
- Shadow Complex? That's the new big Cliffy B project? Sure it looks a little fun but I expected much more from Mr Gears of War
- Halo: ODST was supposed to be a small expansion and now its a full priced game.
All that being said Microsoft did have some good stuff to show, as I said before their exclusive content wasn't up to the level Sony had but still an impressive line up.
- The exclusive game they displayed above all others was the one that we have heard squat about for a long time: Alan Wake. The game looks awesome in the sense it reminded me of Alone in the Dark before they ruined it only creepier. Cant wait to see more!
- Metal Gear Solid: Rising is one we all saw it coming but it is a big announcement for Microsoft, just like how they snagged GTAIV and FFXIII, Sony's biggest exclusive 3rd party franchises going multiplatform has been great for them. However I was reminded that you play as Raiden, the guy you played as in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and I also remember that during that time Raiden was more hated than Luigi. Kojima did a great job making people love him in MGS4 making him an ultra-cool cyborg ninja so now people are excited to play as Raiden... funny how things turn out.
- Splinter Cell: Conviction going exclusive was a good move on Microsoft, sure its 2nd best in the stealth genre behind Metal Gear but now that Rising is 360 bound as well they can brag they have the 2 big stealth franchises on their system. The game looks like it has come a very long way since the first trailer was leaked a couple of years ago to the point it raised my eyebrow.
- Despite I do not care about Halo at all, Halo: Reach looks like its going to sell millions weather its good, average or total garbage. Personally I don't like the name, sure I know its the name of the planet but how will new games (possible converts) know that? Give it a new name, I would even settle for Halo 0 or Halo: Zero, that way it would indicate that this game is the prequel to the first game (and highlight how much I care about the game).
Now onto Natal: Obviously Microsoft wanted to show off Project Natal as their big surprise (which it wasn't, after they bought the company that actually made the thing it was obvious) and despite I think it has the potential to be big I want to stress one thing: This is not new technology, just more up to date technology in the old ideas, which is good. If the technology is there than it could finally be pulled off and will feel new.
I am not at all convinced that the little demo (Milo/Mylo, however you spell it) of the little boy understanding sentences and all that, I felt was staged and not really real. My suspicions were confirmed when I was listening to a podcast on GameTrailers where someone tried it and Mylo was only talking very generic statements that could apply to anything.
With that said the stuff like the dodgeball demo all looked legit and looked like fun. That would never sell on its own but do a Wii Sports like bundle (maybe even with the camera itself) and Microsoft could be on to something but I don't expect it to be released until they have enough of a game library that supports it.
Overall I think Microsoft had a good solid E3 and what they lacked in substance they made up for in presentation. Sony could really learn something from Microsoft's PR.
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