Today, Nintendo and Sony held their press conferences to show off their stuff. You’ve already seen them and you probably know all about what was shown, so I won’t go into painstaking detail about each and every title that was touched on (though we’ll go through the major announcements). Instead, however, I’m just itching to tell you how I felt about what we saw.
Nintendo
Nintendo’s press conference was filled with genre-expanding titles like the quite surprising Wii Sports 2 and Wii Music. They also spent a good amount of time on the heavily-rumored Animal Crossing: City Folk for Wii, as well as some of the software built to support Wii MotionPlus (in addition to Wii Sports 2 and Wii Music, this list also includes Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party). On the DS front, they also referenced an English version of Cooking Navi, a new Guitar Hero for DS, Spore for DS, a new Pokémon Ranger, and even a DS Grand Theft Auto, subtitled Chinatown Wars.
I’m predictably excited for Animal Crossing: City Folk, and I love the voice chat functionality (though I’m not yet convinced that the Wii Speak accessory, which merely sits atop your television set with the sensor bar, will serve as a rational replacement for the traditional headset), but I really hope the game is more open-ended than what was shown. I mean, don’t get me wrong; City Folk looks to expand upon the usual formula quite effectively with the addition of the remote city players can visit. But I was also hoping for the oft-rumored different locales and environments that would provide different collectible rewards and all that jazz. The fact that it’s not massively multiplayer is all right with me I suppose, but it also would have been cool to see a busier town hub environment. However, I will certainly reserve judgment until it’s time for a review—because the original surprised me on the GameCube, and I’m certain that City Folk has the capacity to do so as well.
I also love the idea of a Wii Sports sequel, though I suppose it should have been expected considering the ridiculous success and positive critical response to the first installment. It looks to be quite the logical sequel, with a number of events utilizing the Wii MotionPlus, ranging from tossing Frisbee with your virtual Mii-dog or shredding some waves on a jet ski Wave Race style. I personally can’t wait to get my hands on it, as I was an enormous fan and proponent of the first installment.
But sorely missing from the media briefing was any mention of a storage solution for the Wii, which has long suffered from a cruel case of memory limitations (really, whose 512 megabytes is not mostly filled by now?). Likewise, we saw no reference to the highly-touted WiiWare phenomenon, which has proven to be a fantastic venue for indie developers and big-name companies alike to take some risks beyond the usual only-invest-in-what’s-proven-to-work philosophy of modern gaming. And finally, Nintendo didn’t even touch upon games like Kirby Super Star Ultra for Nintendo DS, Wario Land Shake It! for Wii, or any number of upcoming third-party triumphs (including Mega Man 9 and Chrono Trigger Revived). These games are all on the way, but they’ve received no prior recognition from the big N, which is puzzling to say the least. To put it quite frankly, the core gaming audience saw very little love from Nintendo today, a move that I found fairly surprising considering the projected philosophy that has carried the DS as high as it is today.
I’m also not so sure how I feel about the concept of a we-did-everything-we-could-to-make-it-so-you-can’t-lose music game. I mean, don’t get me wrong—I understand the appeal of creating something that carries no repercussions of failure. But isn’t that sort of the point of a videogame to begin with? Even Wii Fit gauges you on your performance in a midly arcade-like style. I hope Wii Music works out to be something better than a mere novelty. But I have to say, I’m excited to try it for myself.
The light at the end of the tunnel? Why, yes, of course. Our good buddies at IGN.com have apparently managed to prod some information from—who else—Shigeru Miyamoto during an interview (nice work Matt). Apparently, as it sounds, a new Pikmin, New Super Mario Bros., and Super Mario Galaxy are all on the way. Also, Zelda is coming (no surprise there, of course). Awesome? You bet. Now if only Nintendo would mention their existence before the end of the show to keep people appeased.
Sony
Sony’s press conference was, from the beginning, obviously more expensive. If one were to rank the briefings in terms of food and beverage provided, Sony would win hands-down, with their amazingly tasty pastry treats, mixed drinks, ice cold bottled water, and artery-dominating bacon-wrapped sausage death rolls. However both companies score a bit fat “zero” on Wi-Fi accommodations, as we were relegated to using our (remarkably crippled) cellular connections during both conferences.
But we like to talk about games here at DigitalChumps as well, and thus let’s take a look at that side of the equation. Put quite simply, Sony rocked all over Nintendo’s lineup this year. Don’t get me wrong; I’m a Nintendo fan at heart, but the stuff Sony showcased is simply more compelling, and overwhelmingly plentiful in comparison. Everything from the Resistance 2 opening to the MAG (Massive Action Game) closing was jaw-dropping in quality and scope. And damned if I don’t wish LittleBigPlanet was coming to my Wii for review this holiday season as well—that’s got to be the single most Miyamoto-like videogame that the man never produced… and the customization looks to be fantastic.
Resistance 2, with its 300-foot-tall Leviathan, 8-player online co-op, and 60-player competitive online play, may be just what the doctor ordered for PS3 fans. It appears to take the original storyline to the next level—and while I’d love to delve into more detail, I never managed to play through the first installment, so I’d hardly be qualified to do so (for that, you’ll have to turn to Senior Editor Eric Layman’s write-up, soon to be posted if not already available).
Elsewhere at Insomniac Games, Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty (come on, fellas, did the Capcom announcement really create that much of a domino effect?) looks to be quite the experience for $15 (even if it is aimed primarily at “new” Ratchet & Clank players), and it fits in well with the rest of the inexpensive, and uncommonly creative, PSN downloadable content we’re poised to see in the coming months. I have to admit, PlayStation Home’s “second life” approach kind of spooks me out, but it does look to be quite revolutionary in its design. And the $400 80 GB announcement is a great deal, but it’s going to be irritating if it doesn’t include PS2 emulation (as it was also made clear during the conference that Sony is still milking that console—but wouldn’t including PS2 functionality in the $400 PS3 model make it easier for PS2 lovers to switch, as Sony has been saying is so important to them?
LittleBigPlanet received what was hands-down the coolest game demo ever; in case you haven’t see a streaming version of the conference yet, the designers basically put together a level of the game to work like the usual Powerpoint slides shown at these media briefings, driving home such normally monotonous concepts as market growth, price drops, and the like.
Finally, I don’t even really need to say anything about MAG, as it just looks ridiculous. If they pull it off properly, it might be one of the most amazing online action gaming experiences to date.
Microsoft
You might also be wondering why we don’t have any impressions of the Microsoft conference. Put quite simply, we didn’t receive invitations! Yeah, we’re a new site, so occasionally stuff like this slips through the cracks. But sadly, we can’t provide any information for you regarding our opinions of the Microsoft products shown there. Tomorrow or the next day I may be meeting with a MS exec to walk around the show floor and get a guided glimpse of some of the products on showcase, but until then, my isolated play impressions will have to do.
Anyhow, I hope you’ve enjoyed my impressions of the media briefings. Now it’s time to get onto some in-depth looks at individual titles. Keep your eye on the site as I toil away endlessly with no regard for personal health and sleep regimen simply to provide you with high-quality updates at all hours of the night.
-Steve
