With E3 now in full swing again it was Microsoft who was kicking ass and taking names … of supermodels … “call me”, it seems that once again MS is/has/will dominate the convention. So now that the dust has settled what are my most favorite promos from the opening?
GhostRecon Future Soldier again has made me squeal and passout with their Kinect support and the ability to customize the ENTIRE gun even down to the firing pin. I can’t wait for this to be released! Battlefield 3 also caught my eye with their Tank and Air Support demo. Like Medal of Honor and unlike Call of Duty you will have the ability to call in air strikes from the ground using a predator to lase the targets for an attack run made by A-10 Warthogs. The ability to issue voice commands to your troops in both GRFS and also in Mass Effect 3 made me pass out even though I was holding myself up by clutching LordGideon’s shirt. I think MS did a bang up job and I have yet to see anything top that. While the showing of the Sub mission in Modern Warfare 3 was well done it seemed to be more of the same from the series. Kinect was a huge part of the presentation and with 30% of the Xbox 360 market owning Kinect I think it was time well spent.
What made me cringe? SONY’s presentation started with ten minutes of awkwardness I could only achieve with years of study at the Temple of Awkwardness high up in the WTF mountain range. Jack tried to overcome the stares of hatred and distrust coming at him from the crowd with a joke about the press. The joke failed and only reminded us of just how arrogant SONY is. You would think this would have taught them some humility … nope. The presenters for SONY came out one by one in nervous fashion and after presenting their wares scurried back into the safety that was protected by Navy SEALS. SONY was outright “boo’ed, hissed and jeered” at when they announced that their PS Vita’s 3G would be using the AT&T network. I’ve never had a problem with AT&T and I’ve been on it for over a year, but haters gotta hate. I think the highlight of the event was watching Yoshinori Ono get his ass kicked by his own game which is a Street Fighter/Tekken crossover for the PS Vita. His flamboyant presentation made me giggle. I enjoyed it very much. Not because he lost or was questionably playing for the other team, but the smile on his face in spite of the reactions from the crowd proved he has big brass ones and knows how to use them.
So to sum up. MS kicked butt, SONY tried to joke their way back into my heart… and wallet and EA and Ubi blew me away with their Kinect supported titles. This looks like E3 is gonna be jam packed with sweaty, smelly nerds fighting for swag, elbow room and a chance to play that “must play” demo. My hearts go out to all my friends who are working the show or viewing the show. Try to breath through your mouth for the rest of the week.
