Microsoft @ E3 (summary on page 1)

StayDead wrote:Not only are Microsoft and Sony running with their tails between their legs trying to grab a slice of the preverbial casual pie, they're also copying their gooseberry fool conferences from a few years ago.

Wait, MS are running? From what?

Apart from the stunning Halo4, the MS E3 showing was pants. Was waiting for a big send off at end, maybe Alan Wake 2 or a New Perfect Dark but BLOPS2? seriously? it looked utterly wank too!

Random thought experiment, what if the ordering in MS conference was different, same content just change the order. Lead with Usher and all that gooseberry fool, then have the sales numbers, bullshit PR stuff, SmartGlass etc Then move onto the games, the Summer of Arcade, the new Ip stuff, Kinecty things, South Park, then wheel out the big hitters Gears, Forza, BLOPS then finish with the Halo 4 trailer. It would have ended on a high and the good stuff would be fresher in the memory.

Basically structure it like Ubisoft did, get the casual stuff out of the way then build up to the big finish. Could completely change peoples reactions to it.

Zellery wrote:

StayDead wrote:Not only are Microsoft and Sony running with their tails between their legs trying to grab a slice of the preverbial casual pie, they're also copying their gooseberry fool conferences from a few years ago.

Wait, MS are running? From what?

Mediocrity?

Zellery wrote:

StayDead wrote:Not only are Microsoft and Sony running with their tails between their legs trying to grab a slice of the preverbial casual pie, they're also copying their gooseberry fool conferences from a few years ago.

Wait, MS are running? From what?

Well, that new Nike app will come in handy

Photek wrote:Apart from the stunning Halo4, the MS E3 showing was pants. Was waiting for a big send off at end, maybe Alan Wake 2 or a New Perfect Dark but BLOPS2? seriously? it looked utterly wank too!

QFT. Such a boring end to the show. Should've done it the other way around, really. Started with "Oh, we've got exclusive DLC yay" BLOPS and finished with the Halo blowout. Then everyone would have gone away thinking it was the best show ever despite the rest of it being wholly disappointing.

Frank wrote:

Photek wrote:Apart from the stunning Halo4, the MS E3 showing was pants. Was waiting for a big send off at end, maybe Alan Wake 2 or a New Perfect Dark but BLOPS2? seriously? it looked utterly wank too!

QFT. Such a boring end to the show. Should've done it the other way around, really. Started with "Oh, we've got exclusive DLC yay" BLOPS and finished with the Halo blowout. Then everyone would have gone away thinking it was the best show ever despite the rest of it being wholly disappointing.

Did anyone else think they were going to end the show with a GTA V trailer - especially when he talked about it being a blockbuster and again having timed exclusive DLC In all honesty....after Halo 4 kicked things off I completely forgot all about any potential Black Ops 2 demonstration.

I kinda agree with Raxicori, a better ordering of contents may have made things slightly better but it's a patter Microsoft have followed for the last 3 years - start off with a bang and then progressively go down hill. Difference is in previous years they always ended the show on a pretty high note to make up for the awful middle part.

Xeno wrote:

Zellery wrote:

StayDead wrote:Not only are Microsoft and Sony running with their tails between their legs trying to grab a slice of the preverbial casual pie, they're also copying their gooseberry fool conferences from a few years ago.

Wait, MS are running? From what?

Mediocrity?

I thought they were embracing that?

BLOPS2 looked alright, but the formula's getting so old now. Just explosion after explosion after explosion. Pacing, chaps. PACING!

Eighthours wrote:BLOPS2 looked alright, but the formula's getting so old now. Just explosion after explosion after explosion. Pacing, chaps. PACING!

Apparently they have completely changed the game.

There are sections where you have an overview of the battlefield and can jump into anyone on it or something.

Knew it was going to be gooseberry fool conf again. Oh well, Halo 4 trailer does look good but I don't get why they're showing multiformat games and show off games we already know :/

While Sony seems bad from reading Sony thread (waiting for summary); at least it's not downright bad as this one. Ubisoft did excellent E3 due to showing new IPs as well Assassin Creed III. I'm really looking forward to Watch Dog.

Seven wrote:Knew it was going to be gooseberry fool conf again. Oh well, Halo 4 trailer does look good but I don't get why they're showing multiformat games and show off games we already know :/

It would be a very short conference if they didn't.

HSH28 wrote:

Eighthours wrote:BLOPS2 looked alright, but the formula's getting so old now. Just explosion after explosion after explosion. Pacing, chaps. PACING!

Apparently they have completely changed the game.

There are sections where you have an overview of the battlefield and can jump into anyone on it or something.

Yeah don't show that for a stage demo or anything.

satriales wrote:

Seven wrote:Knew it was going to be gooseberry fool conf again. Oh well, Halo 4 trailer does look good but I don't get why they're showing multiformat games and show off games we already know :/

It would be a very short conference if they didn't.

Yeah, I know. Still doesn't excuse it for being good conference, it would be nice if they have some games we haven't heard of before and reveal them for first time. But no.

Just watching the Usher section again. Why on earth do they only start the pyro when they start showing footage from the game on the big screen?

Cuttooth wrote:

HSH28 wrote:

Eighthours wrote:BLOPS2 looked alright, but the formula's getting so old now. Just explosion after explosion after explosion. Pacing, chaps. PACING!

Apparently they have completely changed the game.

There are sections where you have an overview of the battlefield and can jump into anyone on it or something.

Yeah don't show that for a stage demo or anything.

It always amazes me how mis-stepped modern cod single players are in single player. Ask any call of duty player, one who has played them across the entire franchise from the pc orginal to mw3 about the single player levels. Ask them which was their favourite or which they remember most. I bet you it won't be the same old everything explodes every two seconds 'go-go we are Oscar mike' bullshit of the last 3 games. Instead I'd wager: The beach landing from allied assault. The prypiat level from cod4. Stalingrad from allied assault. Etc.

Modern cod games always seem to be chasing the intensity of their previous 'best levels' they want their own 'beach landing bit' but they fail so badly on pacing. They often can't match it so go for controversial nonsense like 'no Russian' instead. Treyarch's single players tend to be even worse. Often just poor shadows of dull infinity ward levels from the game before. To be honest I wonder why they even bother with sp modes in cod games anymore. Your fan base probably wouldn't give a toss if it was all multi player only activision.

Zombitedesade wrote:

Cuttooth wrote:

HSH28 wrote:

Eighthours wrote:BLOPS2 looked alright, but the formula's getting so old now. Just explosion after explosion after explosion. Pacing, chaps. PACING!

Apparently they have completely changed the game.

There are sections where you have an overview of the battlefield and can jump into anyone on it or something.

Yeah don't show that for a stage demo or anything.

It always amazes me how mis-stepped modern cod single players are in single player. Ask any call of duty player, one who has played them across the entire franchise from the pc orginal to mw3 about the single player levels. Ask them which was their favourite or which they remember most. I bet you it won't be the same old everything explodes every two seconds 'go-go we are Oscar mike' bullshit of the last 3 games. Instead I'd wager: The beach landing from allied assault. The prypiat level from cod4. Stalingrad from allied assault. Etc.

Modern cod games always seem to be chasing the intensity of their previous 'best levels' they want their own 'beach landing bit' but they fail so badly on pacing. They often can't match it so go for controversial nonsense like 'no Russian' instead. Treyarch's single players tend to be even worse. Often just poor shadows of dull infinity ward levels from the game before. To be honest I wonder why they even bother with sp modes in cod games anymore. Your fan base probably wouldn't give a toss if it was all multi player only activision.

Yep, it seems that modern COD games go out their way to be exploitative and crass. I wouldn't mind a decent period shooter as a change from all the ones set in the modern day, but I shudder to think what the equivalent of 'No Russian' would be, in a WW2 game, for example.

StayDead wrote:Not only are Microsoft and Sony running with their tails between their legs trying to grab a slice of the preverbial casual pie, they're also copying their gooseberry fool conferences from a few years ago.

You don't half talk nonsense sometimes. Running with their tail between their legs? Hardly. On current trends their home consoles are outperforming nintendo's which has been dead software-wise for the best part of a year now and they are much better at generating revenue from other online sources than Nintendo who, thank god, appear to have come out of the dark ages with their approach to the wiiU online.

It is true that the 360 and PS3 are tracking along behind a course that Nintendo's wii already appears to have travelled, but I think they are doing so on a much more sustainable basis in terms of software support (i.e. 3rd party games continue to appear) hence why I don't think that either of MS or Sony's current gen systems will suffer the embarrassing slow death that the wii has had to ensure in terms of quality titles being released at the end of its life.

So it appears that this wasn't the worst conference of the three..

Bigerich wrote:So it appears that this wasn't the worst conference of the three..