The Omphalos of Nintendo
E3 2009: Microsoft Press Conference Viewed by Nintendo-Centrum
Yeah, were going to do things slightly different with this and the next post. We are going to tread into dangerous waters of the Microsoft Camp and let you know what we thought of the Microsoft Conference and you might be surprised by my response and possibly Carl and dajaco will speak on this in the comments.
Alright, now bare with me Nintendo-Centrum and Nintendo Fans. It is always good to study your opponents movements, products and ways of their business and it is interesting to see what Microsoft comes up with to top the industry. We’ll get to the conference video in a little bit let me just post my thoughts on some of the things shown at Microsoft’s Conference. First off the opening of the conference was pretty sweet with the Beatles Rock Band Opening Cinematic. However Ringo and Sir James Paul McCartney seemed to be so out of place it was crazy but still cool they were on stage.
Modern Warfare 2 looked freaking sweet and I have not seen a game yet that could do snowmobiling justice like this game did. Also Bungie showed off their new Halo game which looks okay from my aspect but doesn’t look much different from previous Halo or even other FPS in the industry. Bungie also had a teaser for another Halo game. Halo Fanatics of course are foaming at the mouth but come on guys its just a pretty good FPS game.
Tony Hawk Ride Controller is pretty awesome. Really the only thing I could say about it.
And last but not least Project Natal blew my mind away to be very honest. This product does look to be the next step in gaming but we will have to see why type of software is created for this device. The Block Breaker Game was pretty cool. The painting software was neat but what Lionhead showed was some crazy futuristic stuff. And and a pretty funny Wii diss by Kudo. Waggle Controls. And a special appearance by Steven Spielberg talking about Project Natal.
Now here is the MS E3 2009 Conference Video via Gamespot.com
And some of the important parts I think of the Conference broken out below.
Project Natal
Natal Ricochet Stage Demo
Natal Splat Stage Demo
Milo Project
Tony Hawk Ride
Pros:
Project Natal
Milo Project by Lionhead Studios
A Metal Gear Game
Halo Games – If your into it.
Cons:
Halo Games
Worry of Software for Project Natal
A pretty good show with more Energy than at the Nintendo Conference from the crowd. I think project Natal and the Milo Project shocked the crowd and of course another Halo that brought Halo fanatics to their knees. I really do not have to much opinion on this show though some things shocked even me coming from Microsoft. The Spielberg thing seemed a bit out of place but deep down Spielberg knows this is a very good project which has money behind it. Interactive movies I sense will be a big deal with Project Natal.
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06/06/2009 - 2:58 PM
I guess it was pretty cool to start with that band.. what’s their name again.. nevermind, but the game had some nice tunes. They were fun on stage.
Modern Warfare 2. I guess Modern Warfare is a game where the developers have thought similar to me in terms of story, having a very linear storytelling, kudos to them for that. As for the sequel that was shown.. I don’t know, I don’t play FPS’ers, or games much, but I guess it looked fun. Though there were some texture issues in the opening sequence when the avatar climbs the mountain, or maybe it was just the arms cloth animation that was a bit off, or the video didn’t show it properly maybe.
Halo? hm, not my cup of tea at all. Like those commercials done by the guy who is making District 9 though, but that has nothing to do with this e3 conference. :)
A new MGS for xbox 360, did they say it was exlusive? That part was during the segment where they only showed exlusive content so that’s what you thought at least… well, that’s not the case since it’s apparently comming to the PS3 now as well.
Tony Hawk? So Tony is made to look like a fool? “Hey look, we have Tony playing around with a board that you have to buy to enjoy the game”, and minutes later “but hey look what we also got! A new controller that will be the foundation for tons of new games to come! You can play Tony on that as well, at least according to our showcase video”
Ok, this isn’t true, but MS probably don’t get that yet, but they will eventually… bc using only camera is not the way to go.
1. The wiimote is good, because you have something in your hand, and you can imagine it being the tennis racket or what not. The wiimote have buttons.
2. The balance board is a lot more advanced than controlling a skateboard using a camera is. Why? The camera wont pick up subtile movements the player does with his/her muscles. So you wont be able to control something like a skateboard, snowboard, skiis very well. Sure, bend knees, tilt body forward backward… it can pick up those basic movements, but that’s like playing an 8-bit game (control wise)with extremely advanced graphics. You can’t have precise movement by balancing your weight.
3. There’s a reason why the Sony eye-toy guys who demoed their new motion controllers picked something that was similar to Nintendos wiimote and not a more advanced HD camera for tracking movement, and those are:
buttons, something tactile, and… the problem that arises when you play a third person adventure game using natal… when every movement you do in front of a camera is registered and used to control an avatar… If you suddenly are supposed to decide the avatars actions with 1:1 actions, well how does this work when you’re in the livingroom in front of a TV? The answer is: slightly awkward. This means…
4. Natal will only be used for casual games, and not traditional videogame genres like action adventure games, RPG’s etc. etc., it will be used for a lot of what you saw on the video, such as eye-toy esque mini-games: play “I am Godzilla”, “Buzz quiz” etc. It can also of course work with some other genres, in particular sport genres: boxing, etc. or racing etc.
Of course… this means that MS will pose a big threat to Nintendo, since their income is on those geners: sport, activity, racing.
Then again, by the time natal is born and taking his first steps Nintendo has already gotten into the next phase of wiimote controlls: Red Steel 2 (although a delay in the controls here is not so good if there is a delay), Zelda, etc. etc.
bc the wiimote actually works for these genres as well, since they have the analog stick together with the wiimote, and they have buttons.
Still, just bc Nintendo at that time have established themselves in the traditional gamer market with the wiimote doesn’t mean they really pose any threat to MS who owns the core, traditional segment of the videogame market.
In other words: both sides will try to close in on each other, and MS might actually succed better at this since natal is such an easy sell for casual players, and for good reasons.
In other words: MS wins this battle in terms of revenue, but Nintendo will have a better control scheme solution for both segments (traditional, casual) and soon probably games as well.