Just How Good HAS E3 Been, Really?

On 06/13/2013 at 12:17 PM by gigantor21

So we all saw Sony kick Microsoft's teeth in on Monday. Now that I've calmed down, I want to post a more sober assessment of what we've seen. That being the biggest moment of the show worries me.

I love that the PS4 will be more supportive of consumer rights. But what kind of experiences are we getting next gen? So far, these games are just prettier takes on the typical fare we've seen this generation. The biggest games for me were a remake of a fighter that came out 20 years ago (Killer Instinct), and a Final Fantasy game first revealed 7 years ago (FFXV).

Very few games looked to rock the boat much, splashing cold water on developer claims that new hardware would open up new creative vistas. Didn't Bioshock Infinite, the Walking Dead and The Last of Us come out this gen? The games they've showcased only look next-gen from a graphical standpoint, not like some bold new step forward in game design or story content.

Even Nintendo is resting on it's laurels. The main argument for Nintendo's lack of new IP is how they do so many different things with Mario and Zelda and the like. But this E3 Nintendo Direct, which sought to validate a push away from E3 in general, instead showed they didn't have enough to counter the Sony and MS press conferences.

As cool as FINALLY seeing Mega Man in Smash is, the game itself didn't leave much of an impression on me. It looks...like Smash. Meanwhile, the big 3D Mario and Retro announcements ended up being an HD version of 3D Land and yet another DKC platformer. The coolest looking games were X from Monolith Soft and Platinum's work (Wonderful 101 and Bayonetta 2), rather than the all-too-safe looking games from the old Nintendo pantheon. How much better is that than a sea of Call of Duty and Halo sequels exactly?

Then you had Iwata going on about how realistic Donkey Kong's fur looks, or how shaderific the Wind Waker remake's visuals are. Seriously? The same guy who said "specs don't matter" on the Wii is talking about shaders and screen resolution now? Do they really want to get into a spec debate they can't win? Wasn't the WiiU meant to provide a unique experience through the Gamepad, not bleeding edge visuals or tech? Because I sure didn't see enough of the former out of Nintendo on Tuesday.

And even Sony's vaunted announcement, in the end, is just a PR stunt meant to delay the inevitable. They simply took advantage of the fact that MS went all in way too soon.

I was 12 when the PS2 first came out in Japan. Kids born in 2000, who've never known a gaming landscape without digital content or mobile, are older now. If this generation lasts as long as this one, they'll be in college when the PS5 and X-two come out. They aren't going to be anywhere near as attached to physical discs as we were. Plus the global network infrastructure will be much better than it is now, just as it's grown by leaps and bounds since '05.

Will there be enough gamers attached to the old model to prevent them from going all digital next time? I doubt it. Are those people going to be anywhere near as willing to pay $60 per game? Doubt that part too. People like me who almost never buy games at $60 at retail will be a lot more gunshy as well. Nor will F2P be a panacea when 90% of users never pay a dime.

The industry is severely underestimating how much value people put on these games, and how much they'll be willing to pay when their options are more limited. After all, the main reason Steam works so well is the flea market sales they have on a regular basis--a result of PC gaming not being a huge chunk of these company's sales. If such services become their bread and butter on console, and they need to sell those games closer to full price, would people be willing to pay up? And would the industry be willing to take a hit on pricing to keep the model afloat--which would negate the purpose of going all digital in the first place?

I went into E3 worried about the future of gaming in general. All it managed to do was keep me from worrying too much in the short term. But the long-term problems it's facing haven't gone away, and I'm not any more confident now that the industry is ready to deal with it.

transmet2033

06/13/2013 at 12:33 PM

Isn't it sad that most of us are so excited and happy at Sony because they are keeping things the way that they are now. I agree, and expect the xbox one to be the future. We should accept that the change is inevitable, Sony is just taking their time, and easing us into it. They did the same thing with PS+. The introduced it in its current form, knowing full well that when the ps4 came out they would add online multiplayer to it. I think that sony will do the same thing this upcoming cycle. So then when the ps5 comes out it will be an easier transition.

I cannot tell if this makes any sense anymore.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

06/13/2013 at 12:36 PM

good blog. a lot of your points ring true. a lot of us will be attached to discs or cartridges but that will change.

I'm most excited by assymetrical multiplayer.

gigantor21

06/13/2013 at 05:21 PM

Thanks!

Any games in particular?

06/13/2013 at 07:12 PM

the division and the was another player could interact with your game in Watch Dogs really interests me. It makes for more alive worlds. It's exciting.

mothman

06/13/2013 at 03:13 PM

Personally I don't want to pay $60 for a digital game and the only reason I pay that for a physical game is to sell it once I'm done.

Ok, it used to be that I bought games to collect them and even from that perspective digital doesn't make sense. First because consoles will have to support multiple Terabytes of space for the collector and second because having a 5 TB HD full of games just ain't the same as having physical discs and cartridges.

Yes I've embraced digital in the form of Virtual Console, the eShop and PSN but those games fall into the following categories. They were either free, dirt cheap or unavailable in any other format.

Anyway it didn't take much to put me in the Anti-M$ camp because I've always been there. Long before I ever bought an NES I've hated those underhanded, arrogant pricks. I bought their first two systems because there were games I wanted so it was a necessary evil. However those systems didn't come with all the baggage that the One does. They just provided me with a damn good reason to keep my money and I thank them for that.

Super Step Contributing Writer

06/13/2013 at 04:03 PM

If all digital is inevitable, I'll be out of the game, inevitably. Hopefully people rally behind the PS4 and send a message about what the consumer will put up with with their wallets, since obviously everyone's already rallied behind that model with their keyboards.

Julian Titus Senior Editor

06/13/2013 at 04:12 PM

I think you're way too down on what was shown at E3. You can't look for innovation at a console launch. It's just not going to happen, unless you're introducing a completely new input like the Wii remote, and even the Wii launch lineup didn't have much in the way of innovative titles. Those will come later, although if we want to get really reductive, BioShock Infinite is a first person shooter with a sidekick, and The Walking Dead is a point and click game that replaces the pointing and clicking with direct control and QTEs. When you get down to it, they aren't that innovative, but they provide memorable experiences.

For my part, what impressed me was that the games I'm looking forward to in next gen seem to be letting me have my cake and eat it, too. Sure, inFAMOUS: Second Son is a waaay prettier version of the PS3 games, but the thing that got me most excited were the scenes between the main character and his brother. It came off as a natural and easy to relate to type of storytelling. Ditto for The Witcher 3. I was expecting next gen games to be even more restrictive and confined than they've gotten in recent years. But Witcher 3 looks massive while still blowing the graphics snob in me away.

I think the future is bright. Not as bright as it could be, but far brighter than I expected it to be.

I can't look at this the same way as I did with past generations. There's no huge paradigm shift here. The current gen consoles can't even handle 720p well, while the next gen consoles can do 1080p. That's a far cry from the shift from 2D sprites to 3D polygons, or even the jump from the PS1 to the PS2. In light of that, I think it's perfectly fair to expect more ambition outside of the visuals, whether in gameplay or story content.

In all three conferences, I kept waiting to be wowed in a big way by some of the games that they showed off. While I was impressed by the graphics in a lot of the games, even the ones I liked and want to play didn't leave as much of an impression on me as I was hoping for.

06/13/2013 at 05:50 PM

I guess it's a matter of expectations. We've officially reached the point of diminishing returns. Games from this gen are going to remain easy on the eyes, and as such aren't going to age as bad as games from the PSX or PS2 era.

The places where I'm expecting to be wowed isn't in mechanics or graphics, but in the way games behave and how I can interact with the environmen, as well as better collision detection.

And I'm still waiting for realistic hair and clothing physics.

asrealasitgets

06/13/2013 at 04:34 PM

About Nintendo
I skipped out on Nintendo games during Wii generation and though their games only have slight enhancments in HD versions now, these tired franchises feel new to me so I'm excited to play DK, Mario Kart, all over again.

Sony is just delaying the inevitable. If you check the PSN store there are plenty of great games on sale for like $20-- and that's without PS+, so good prices for digital downloads. I would have purchased some of these games if my HDD wasn't already full. So digital download doesn't feel so bad, aside from ownership issues, PS is already like Steam.

MS
A lot of journalists, a lot of them, are not so down on MS as the rest of the internet is. They know that this move to Digital Only is inevitable and aren't really fighting it like we players are. They are just embracing it which kind of pisses me off actually. The lack of discussion about MS DRM and always on from some of my preferred writers has made me loose interest in their writing. There are plenty of people who are buying into MS and don't care.

Eventually PS and XBO will become online services like Netflix or iTunes and/ or Steam. Sony is just easing us in a bit softer. It's like being smothered slowly with a pillow, rather being shot in the face unexpectedly.

NSonic79

07/06/2013 at 10:54 AM

I'm with you on that one. I was in a dark mood after last year's E3 figuring it's the beginning of the end. Now I do have some hope for the industry if only for the short term like you said. Much can happen till then so I'll still reamin hopeful (and be joyous when Online pass is offiically DEAD), till then I'll continue to remain vigelant and score some more retro games while others buy up the newer games at full price.

PixlBit

Just How Good HAS E3 Been, Really?

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