Today was the first day of this year’s E3, which is a huge 3-day video games conference in LA. It means a lot of announcements, new screenshots/videos, and a bit of one-ups-man-ship from the big names in the industry. It’s a time when video game fans check blogs constantly and companies put their cards (real or imaginary) on the table.
So with day 1 in the books, what promises has the video game industry made that it can attempt to not break within the next half year or so?
Microsoft definitely brought the big guns with announcements about Natal (a new camera that promises better full body motion control games then ever before!), social integration through Twitter and Facebook, and a couple Halo games, along with Metal Gear Solid (further deflating any console-exclusivity argument that Sony may try to use).
EA honed their female Wii focus with some Littlest Pet Shop and Charm Girls Club announcements, along with a new sports title (Mixed Martial Arts? Really?) and an expansion for EA Active coming out later this year. We also showed off some stuff for “core” gamers like Bioware’s Star Wars MMO and Brutal Legend.
Ubisoft is making a Tintin game and decided to enter the Wii Fit/EA Active market with a game that comes with a different camera peripheral that reads your body shape (or something).
Telltale Games is going to make more Monkey Island games. Which will either be brilliant or thoroughly disappointing.
And we’re only on day 1, folks. I feel like there’ll be a lot more excitement to come, although I’m not sure how Nintendo and Sony will respond in their press conferences. Nintendo is in a league of its own, be that good or bad.
Either way, with the release of Sims 3 tomorrow, it promises to be an intense week.