Justin fixes the press orgy: E3

Well E3 06 has come and gone, and my oh my was it a big one. With 2 new consoles on the horizon this fall, gamers worldwide looked to this event to unleash the details on the new Sony and Nintendo systems. Microsoft, already a few months into the next generation, was to point to their software and perhiperal plans. How did they do??

Sony-
Sony completely shit the bed on framing the debate. Instead of coming out of this event with everyone blown away by the capabilities of their console, everyone is talking about the outrageous price tag. They have created a unique situation in this console generation as compared to console generations past: we could be looking at a severly fractured gamer base as the prices of each console are radically different, and with a certain xbox announcement that I will cover in a few short paragraphs, users didn't see much to make this system, or it's crippled 499 version, worth the extra cash. The controller is a nerfed version of their admittedly great Dual Shock, minus the shock and plus a ripoff Revolution motion sensor. This reminds this old gamer of shades of the N64..a console can't get by on hubris and past success alone.

Microsoft-
They did moderately well. The Halo 3 trailer looks beautiful, but I gotta say..I wish they would have put it off, the game is clearly nowhere near finished. I am now interested in Gears of War whereas I was not before. The biggest annoucment in my opinion, and one that almost levels the playing field instantly, was the newly split Grand Theft Auto liscense. If Microsoft were to make a bigger play towards Square-Enix, Sony would lose their third party edge completely. They come out of the conference in a good place..they have a jump start and with availability likely low from the other two this Christmas and their third generation of games coming, they can increase on this jump substantially. After the Christmas rush, these guys will have the biggest install base, a well established Xbox Live community, and the price tag that will appeal to people who still want the cutting edge experience, but see no reason to shell out more money for the PS3.

Nintendo-
In my opinion, these guys are the big winner of E3. They managed to generate excitement without giving too much more info away..we still don't know the price or launch date for their Revolution. What we do know is that they will be releasing a new Mario and Zelda game shortly, and for my money, no game or series has come close to the legacy in those two names. Nintendo will always have that. Other than that, we clearly have the most innovative competitor. Choosing to not go head to head with the other two in terms of technology, they go back to what makes games good: fun. I will certainly pick up this console, and hell..the name is even growing on me a little bit, but I'm still not comfortable saying it. Should be the cheapest console by far..anywhere from 199 to 250, and coming with a large fan base and great enthusiasm, we could be looking at a return of the company of the early 90s, when you didn't play videogames, you played Nintendo.