Wednesday, June 1, 2011

The 2011 E3 Conference Is Coming...I Hope This Doesn't Suck

The 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo is about a week away, and while there is some buzz this year, it's not as big as it was in previous years. Several publishers are focusing on showcasing one or two big titles and while I'm sure there will be plenty to discuss after the multiple press events and interviews on various sites, it just feels like there won't be a lot of new fresh content out there for the masses. Sony should be showing off their new portable, currently codenamed the "NGP", in playable form, while Nintendo will reveal it's latest home console, which is being called "Project Cafe". While many video game journalists seem excited about Sony's new offering, they're pretty lukewarm on Nintendo's. Could this be a byproduct of the 3DS and it's lukewarm sales so far, or a general backlash because of Nintendo's seemingly blatant disdain for all things Wii? Meanwhile, besides Gears of War 3, Microsoft will probably spend their press event trying to convince folks that Kinect can be used for more than HD Wii party games with no Remote. As far as games, besides a few RPGs and a handful of random action games, E3 will be overrun with first person shooters. Duke Nukem Forever, Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3, Rage, Bioshock Infinite, Resistance 3, Prey 2, and a host of others is making E3 seem more like a gun show than a video game trade event. I'm surprised The NRA doesn't have a new game coming out soon. I hope there are other, smaller games being shown that the "video game media" will give light to, but considering how biased some of these outlets can be, I'm not hoping for much. Hideo Kojima did state that he would have an announcement at this year's show, and Grasshopper Manufacture will have a great deal of info on Shadows of the Damned, so I'm excited about what I'm hearing there. Then there is the Devil May Cry reboot along with games like: Batman: Arkham City, Uncharted 3, Mass Effect 3, and Elder Scrolls 3. That handful of titles give me hope that the glut of shooters coming to the show won't be the only stories we hear about. All in all, the 2011 E3 conference feels like it might be a mixed bag, and as a veteran gamer, I can't wait to fish through it for some treasure. I just hope my hand isn't full of poop afterwards.

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