E3

Both yesterday and today my productivity was highly affected by watching the E3 keynotes – Microsoft on Monday, Nintendo and Sony today. I would feel bad about it if my coworkers wouldn’t be “working” just as hard at watching the World Cup games. This actually reminds me of the last year in high-school when I used to sneak out to the computer lab while most of my classmates were out on the field playing football. Things haven’t changed much apparently.

So far the Microsoft Kinect demos were technologically impressive – the sports, dancing and workout games looked fun. Nintendo didn’t impress me much – the 3DS looks nifty, but I haven’t touched my NDS or PSP since I got the iPhone. I doubt I’ll get it – unless they release another Advance Wars or Fire Emblem. Sony hyped the PS Move, but after seeing Kinect it kinda felt flat. It’s basically a glorified Wiimote. Their presentation was much better though, while MS and Nintendo’s presenters kept using marketingspeak – “franchise”, “mass market”, “consumer trends” – Sony’s Kevin Butler went with a funny speech crafted for their target demographic. Too bad Jack Tretton went back to BS right after. I also thought PSN Plus is crap since you basically rent the content – it’s yours as long as you pay the subscription.

Wish I was there though – Microsoft gave free Xboxes to all keynote attendees and Nintendo had pretty girls demoing the 3DSes. Games-wise, I’m excited about the next Mortal Kombat, that should be fun. The Medal of Honor, Bulletstorm and Crysis 2 trailers looked really good. Should be a fun holiday season.