E3 from the eyes of a fan.

Probably one of the last years I can exist solely as a fanboy, my personal impressions of E3! Now, I want to point out that I'll be editing this particular post quite a few times more this week. One: for readability. Two: My statements may change as I have more time to digest the information. Three: ALL my misspelled words.

If you have 5 hours to burn, you can watch each press confrence here: http://www.gamespot.com/e3/index.html
Windows Media player needed, but the streams are pretty solid.

I have to say the Sony section is a bit skewed right now. I've had the longest time to digest it, and pretty much I just remember the negatives. I'm hoping to change that in a few days.

Sony
The good
PSP - Will have PS One games saveable on memory sticks! Loco Roco still looks awesome! Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops has me curious but a bit hesitant. Past that- still not really regretting trading it in, though everytime the library grows, I'm more likely in getting yet another one.
PS3 - Info is out! The batarang controller is gone. My potential crime fighting ability has been greatly diminished, but now the controller makes sense and looks usuable. Remember when they said the Cell processor was going to piggy back wireless with other Cell processors to 'improve' the game? Besides being a terrible idea (as multiple processers work diffrently then that), it would have shot the price through the roof. Luckily that idea never saw fruition and the PS3 is safely nestle in the mid-triple digit range (rather then low four digit, BLAH). Standard Hard drives like the original Xbox, standards are good things as developers know they can rely that a form of technology they can use to improve loading times, graphics, content, etc. will always be there for a certain system. Though the new news also leads into...
The bad
PS3 - I wanted to be impressed. I really did. But I HAVE to buy the $600 dollar version because trying to be cheap is not good, as seen here. It doesn't come with wi-fi (which runs on b/g channels, the most common thus the easiest to cause interference), doesn't have a memory card I/O? Look at that graph and let me know if I read that right? And no HDMI out? I'm just going to assume that mean it doesn't have the cable. If I end up buying everything separately, it'll end up costing me a lot more. What's up with the (now cordless) duel shock controller having the gyro to detect it's position. Couple reasons it's bad, there was a Microsoft Windows controller similar way back when and the direct comparison to the Nintendo Wii. One- You can't lay upsidedown or on your side and play games anymore, you have to sit up and straight. Two- the guy they got to show off the controller, looked more like he was throwing elbows then playing a game. Not his fault, you need exahurated movements to give a proper demonstration in a large crowd. But you're talking about a crowd that LIKES being lazy, large physical movements are not a big selling point. Online plan? Um, pretty much like Xbox Live... just not as developed? We'll see. Not a whole lot of new information on it. Not a lot of information on it period. Though it does have a center 'guide' button like the 360, which is good. I guess? Large hard drive, but will Sony's dislike of Mods and what not make it a lot of extra space? Why is there 3 seperate Final Fantasy XIII games coming out?
Good and Bad
The new Grand Theft Auto is coming out on PS3 and Xbox 360 at the same time, with episodic content. Bad that they lose the exclusive, but that allows other games to shine as exclusives. Can you imagine what would have happened if Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Katamari, or God of War would have hit Grand Theft Auto numbers? Metal Gear Solid 4 is going to be awesome, but it won't be ready for launch. I can't wait that long!

Nintendo
Wii - Legend of Zelda will making me buy the system. Cause I want all the bells and whistles. Plus the controller has a small speaker. In Zelda for example, when he pulled the bow, the controller made the taut sound and whistled when he released. Only to have the remanining sound occur on the screen. Am I impressed entirely on novelty? Yes. Though enough has been shown that I plan on picking up a Wii on day one. Nintendo has proven that it's first party portfolio is always the strongest and it doesn't look that it's going to change anytime with the Wii.
DS - Final Fantasy 3. Looks awe-sume.
The bad
Wii - Still called the Wii. Games really don't look all that great, I know that isn't their focus but for some games it takes great games and puts them into phenomonal games. Resident Evil 4 and Fight Night Round 3 come to mind. Can you really play a motion sensor controller that long? Think of a FPS and you have your arm somewhat extended, like holding a gun. Now imagine playing a LAN like that for 8 hours. No clear online focus. Let Mario take a break, now I know he's awesome but the guy deserves the vacation. You don't need the Mascot to be in everything to be successful. Hayao Miyazaki doesn't have Totoro past the Studio Ghibli intro, and he seems to have done okay for himself. Give Luigi a game that involve it being an action platformer. All I'm saying.
DS - I don't think the line up seems incredibly strong after that (good but sporadic), but I think it's because they don't want to pull any momentum away from the Wii.

Microsoft
The Good
Windows - Crysis looks freakin' amazing. But if you saw the Crytek 2 tech demo, you'd know it's seriously one of the great advancement in rendering engines especially in the ambient lighting category. Also, they're making a new Shadowrun game for Windows Vista and 360! YAY!!!
Also Spore, spore is still looking great.

Xbox Live Arcade - They're adding a bunch of classics from Namco like Pac Man (SWEET!) and Konami with Contra!!! YES, it was confirmed that THE code will work. And later in the year, they're planning on releasing Heavy Weapon. HEAVY FUCKING WEAPON. If Microsoft could acquire Bad Dudes I 'd be set for life. There's a lot of other games coming out for Arcade, but I can't seem to find a list right now. Xbox Live is going to strech across Windows and Mobile devices, which has the possibility of being rad.
Xbox 360 - Gears of War, F.E.A.R., Forza 2, Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, Too Human, and Halo 3. Got to download some of the trailers on my 360 thanks to live and they look fantastic. Lot of games I cannot wait for.
:3
The Bad
Windows - GAH, no way Vista is going to be cheap. Both in software and I also need to upgrade my hardware to support it.
Xbox Live Arcade - Did you know that small independent game companies can cheaply distrubute their games and pull a profit using Arcade as a vehcile? Sadly, it's not commonly known as Microsoft makes the big publishers known and that shock and awe stress of upcomign products. If they took more time looking out (and promoting) for the small guys, it would only help their PR and their fan base. OH! And Lumines Live was announce. Lumines on PSP drained my life. Now on Live? I'm never going to see the sun again. Xbox Live is going to strech across Windows and Mobile devices, which has the possibility of being a mess.
Xbox 360 - Only next gen that doesn't have a motion sensor controller. Good for the lazy, but is a cool feature. HD drive additional attachment, too high of a price and I'll just get a regular HD DVD player. STOP SELLING CORES.

E3 in general... Big thing. This console elitism needs to stop. If one doesn't want to buy all the systems- that's fine, but it seems to ostricised if you want to support more then one. :/
Every system has a title that makes it worth the purchase. Even the Jaguar had Alien vs. Predator. Gah, that was 12 years ago. I feel so old.