PixlBit

And other quixlbits...

I must be getting wise in my old age, or maybe cynical.  I watched the latter half of Microsoft's E3 presentation and wasn't all that impressed, aside from what I believe are amazing visuals.  For a moment, my heart panged nostalgic at the sight of a new Killer Instinct game, and I briefly longed to play Dead Rising 3 when it was demonstrated on the big screen.  Other than that, the show seems more like a corporate-speak con job than a fun exhibition of my favorite hobby.  The guy from the Forza team tried to sell me on this new *driveatar* concept, which to me is another way of saying *fancy ghost data*.  

Like I said, all the games look fantastic, but I don't buy into the visual end like I used to, especially at a price tag of $499.  I never paid that much for a console.  I remain steadfast in my determination to aschew the next gen (aside from Wii U) for a while, long enough to catch up on the current gen backlog, which could take years.  As great as the games look -- and I was impressed by Ryse -- I know these games will most likely employ control schemes that have now been in place for years.  The player will be holding a similar controller, using dual-analog, with perhaps a Kinect voice recognition boost.  Has voice recognition technology fully matured?  Last I knew, there are glitches.  The rest of the features -- video-streaming, cloud storage, and all the discouraging DRM fish hooks -- are non-factors to me.  I don't care about any of that.  Maybe today's young hip gamers are, but not I.  Yes, there's secondary tablet input, but that seems a knee-jerk response to Nintendo's Gamepad.  How much fun will it add to the experience?

Having fun is where my investments lie, and it's a shame that Nintendo will be primarily skipping E3.  Maybe tomorrow's Nintendo Direct will prove me wrong, and Nintendo will transmit the most amazing ND ever.  I'll have to wait and see.  Regardless, though, the more I learn about ONE/PS4, the more the Wii U's value seems to rise.  Granted, no Wii U games have yet to blow my socks off, but the potential is there, and the pricetag looks more appealing, especially with a tablet-esque peripheral already included.  In fact, while I as watching the E3 ONE demonstration, I couldn't help but think that these companies are missing out on a large chunk of profitability by reserving these titles for next gen, and not offering slightly trimmed versions for current gen.  Maybe I'm out of touch with what's popular, but many of my friends aren't interested in making the jump right away.  Those who are interested will do so regardless of whether or not a softer version is released for older consoles.  They want cutting edge, and they want it now.

Other Bits:

-1UP fans might like to know that Jeremy Parish landed a Senior Editor gig at a brand new gaming website: USgamer.net.  Well, it's not entirely new, but the American extension of the Eurogamer brand.  It launched today.

-After insistence from many friends to check out the Uncharted series, I finally have, starting out with Drake's Deception.  I'm almost at the end, so a blog should be forthcoming.