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[GrandHarrier]

Not really a review per se, but I gave it a shot.

Nice. It's just fascinating the silence. I mean, no one can say it was great, so maybe EDGE would prefer to remain silent?

Interestingly, don't know if this is true, but a @Polygon editor claimed MS showed more exclusives (counting XBLA I assume) then Sony showed games, total. This true?

 

[Xater]

Microsoft is way too comfortable in their position and it showed. They think they can present all that crap and we will be happy about it. Well I am not and it's even worse as a European. Sony's event wasn't much better but at least it seemed like they still cared about the gamer.

 

[Withnail]

MS don't care about EDGE's opinion any more. These days they are more interested in getting Oprah's endorsement.

 

[Phat Michael]

Yeah, MS-Conf' was a bummer. It has been fun the last couple of years because we just made fun of it on GAF, circle-jerk style, but now it's just boring. Even GAF is less lively than usual.


I just stopped watching when that fat tattooed chick came on stage.

I still would.

 

[Graphics Horse]

Nice. It's just fascinating the silence. I mean, no one can say it was great, so maybe EDGE would prefer to remain silent?

Interestingly, don't know if this is true, but a @Polygon editor claimed MS showed more exclusives (counting XBLA I assume) then Sony showed games, total. This true?

EDGE's other conference reports should go up later. At least I think they did one for each last year? Not sure if they're in L.A. or watching from the UK, the Sony one may have been past their bed time.

 

[GrandHarrier]

i cant help but think that the xbox360 was a bait and switch and it came into full form with this E3.

it might mostly be a cause of the "end of the generation" but it is seemingly at the "upturn" of iOS/Android gaming and how they may be taking away users from consoles, so xbox has to validate its existence by showing it can do all of those other non-game things.

but really what it is is getting a microsoft product next to that tv screen. if it wasnt gonna be windows, it'll be "xbox." For some reason Xbox is like a pseudo mobile OS all of a sudden.

All this because they add more media capability? Are they removing the ability to play games? Are third parties no longer making games for it? Do they no longer generally have a 2:1 skew on multiplatform titles? Have they abandoned XBLA? Have they shuddered their first party studios?

 

[Roland Deschain]

I didn't watch the Sony conference since I don't own a PS3 (and don't plan to), so I have no idea what they said. I'm Swedish btw. We can't use any of the most interesting 360 services, like Netflix. For us, the 360 is a gaming machine and nothing else, yet MS seems to think it's some kind of entertainment hub. And it might be, for some countries. Good for them I suppose. We're getting pretty used to being marginalized and ignored in Europe, which seems to me like a pretty big misstep by MS. If they want the Xbox to be more than a gaming machine for the average person, they should've focused on getting similar services worldwide as soon as possible.

We don't even have Kinect voice integration in Belgium yet.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

I dunno, they made a lot of good points, and are generally right that it was an atrocious conference. But some of their points were fairly petulant for me:

"Halo 4, it turns out, does an excellent impression of Metroid Prime"
Um, the visor looks similar I guess. Also, " whatever else keeps Halo fans happy. They’re still out there, presumably," OK, you're kidding right?

"Forza: Horizon’s trailer reminds us what Need For Speed would have aimed for had Criterion not shaken some sense into it." What, like the open world NFS game they just announced?

"The “unique” Tomb Raider looked like Uncharted plus archery until it turned into Crash Bandicoot," So a TPS featuring a bow and arrow is "Uncharted plus Archery"? Wow, that some slick deduction right there. And Crash Bandicoot? Pass. Maybe because you running towards the camera briefly?


I like EDGE, and this was a well written article with a sound basis for the most part. Just plenty of questionable remarks for me.

 

[Fabrik]

All this because they add more media capability? Are they removing the ability to play games? Are third parties no longer making games for it? Do they no longer generally have a 2:1 skew on multiplatform titles? Have they abandoned XBLA? Have they shuddered their first party studios?

Yes.

 

[linko9]

Nice. It's just fascinating the silence. I mean, no one can say it was great, so maybe EDGE would prefer to remain silent?

Interestingly, don't know if this is true, but a @Polygon editor claimed MS showed more exclusives (counting XBLA I assume) then Sony showed games, total. This true?

That's completely false if you count that crazy montage at the beginning of the Sony conference.

 

[brotkasten]

Yes.

And they're rebuilding them again. But it's easy to forget that when those studios are working on next gen titles.

 

[Auto_aim1]

After seeing Sony's conference, this doesn't seem too bad. It feels like the article was a bit harsh. Both Sony and MS showed an equal number of first and third-party games. Usher was embarrassing? Yeah. But that doesn't warrant the vitriol Edge has spewed here.

 

[Chuck Norris]

Perhaps we are just experiencing a valley before we experience a peak for MS and Sony next year with new consoles?

I seem to recall their E3's before PS360 were revealed being pretty dull affairs

 

[NinjaBoiX]

After seeing Sony's conference, this doesn't seem too bad. It feels like the article was a bit harsh. Both Sony and MS showed an equal number of first and third-party games. Usher was embarrassing? Yeah. But that doesn't warrant the vitriol Edge has spewed here.

Seems most un-EDGE. It was a poor conference and focused way too much on the media side, but half of EDGE's points were misguided or just flat out childish.

 

[-Plasma Reus-]

Then, in a sneak move worth of Solid Snake, Usher managed to do a live performance halfway through a trailer for Dance Central 3. The guy’s a pro: he even looked like the audience was enjoying it.

This was so surreal. I wanted new Geow gameplay footage. Guess that was too much to ask.

 

[Sentenza]

I'm not sure why everyone is hating this year's conference so much when the previous year was worse by FAR.
At least this time they had a few games.

 

[Fabrik]

And they're rebuilding them again. But it's easy to forget that when those studios are working on next gen titles.

I'm not sure they will have that many worthwhile first-party studios. They got lucky with Halo.
I think they're gonna have a tough sell with XBox 720 outside America.

 

[Dan Yo]

I'm not sure why everyone is hating this year's conference so much when the previous year was worse by FAR.
At least this time they had a few games.

Because every year that MS goes out and does the same thing, it becomes more and more disappointing that they didn't learn a thing from the previous year.

Halo trailer. Advertise a bunch of games that will be on your competitor's console. Couple of uninspiring Kinect games. Goodnight folks!

 

[systemfehler]

As far as I am concerned I do like all those side-effects modern consoles produce. The TV streaming, music stores and everything else but to be completly honest I mostly care about games. Without them I don't care about Nike+Fitness or Hulu and and certainly not about Usher.

Wow me with good games and put so much effort into them like you do with all the non game stuff and I am happy. E3 is still a core gamer product display - let the "regular" media cover Usher, Kinect and casual stuff but if I stay up, buffer 3 streams and have 2 live tickers open meet me at least halfway MS (Sony).

 

[brotkasten]

I'm not sure they will have that many worthwhile first-party studios. They got lucky with Halo.
I think they're gonna have a tough sell with XBox 720 outside America.

We'll see next year. I'm skeptical, because we don't really know which studio is working on what.

Because every year that MS goes out and does the same thing, it becomes more and more disappointing that they didn't learn a thing from the previous year.

What is there to learn? It's not like E3 affects the sales of consoles. If consoles sold based on the company's E3 conference, Microsoft would ship around 100k a month. Sadly, that isn't the case.

 

[Wildstar75]

After seeing Sony's conference, this doesn't seem too bad. It feels like the article was a bit harsh. Both Sony and MS showed an equal number of first and third-party games. Usher was embarrassing? Yeah. But that doesn't warrant the vitriol Edge has spewed here.

Agreed Sony had one of the worst conferences ever! Microsoft had some stupid stuff in there like Usher/Dc3 and smartglass out your controller down, pick up your tablet , then put it down then pick it up(too respond to wii u and apple airplay). But they had halo, gears, cod, south park, new forza, re6, splintercell...that's alot I would actually buy. Alot of good hardcore stuff. And the games look amazing will be tough for wii u to impress. People who should be dissapointed are kinect fans. It was a horrible show for that. And they didn't
spend too much time with filler talk. What
more do people want the year before they show/sell 720?

 

[Dunlop]

Because every year that MS goes out and does the same thing, it becomes more and more disappointing that they didn't learn a thing from the previous year.

Like selling the most hardware and software ?

As a gamer these E3's are more disappoiniting each year, as a business microsoft knows what they are doing

 

[AntiTout]

bye bye e3.

 

[Speedymanic]

MS don't care about EDGE's opinion any more. These days they are more interested in getting Oprah's endorsement.

Did wonders for the Wii. ;p

 

[brotkasten]

bye bye e3.

See, that's the problem. I'd love to say that and stick to it, but with next gen starting next year, it's going to be a bit hard not to follow it.

 

[DEADEVIL]

Ahhh edge just tatooed a 50 foot bullseye on themselves as the wait begins for their impressions of the Sony show. Time to call a spade a spade.

 

[REMEMBER CITADEL]

Interestingly, don't know if this is true, but a @Polygon editor claimed MS showed more exclusives (counting XBLA I assume) then Sony showed games, total. This true?

Counting presentations and trailers, yes, it's absolutely true. Sony showed:

Beyond: Two Souls
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale
Assassin's Creed III: Liberation
Assassin's Creed III
FarCry 3
Book of Spells
God of War: Ascension
The Last of Us

Although several other games like Dyad, Papo & Yo, The Unfinished Swan and Diggs Nightcrawler were just namechecked, with no trailers or live footage shown.

Microsoft's exclusive games were:

Halo 4
Fable: The Journey
Gears of War: Judgment
Forza Horizon
Nike+ Kinect Training
Ascent: New Gods
LocoCycle
Matter
Wreckateer
Dance Central 3

There were a few interesting titles in both conferences, in my opinion. The Last of Us and God of War: Ascension looked great, and Beyond could also be good, although I was hoping for something more original.

And they're rebuilding them again. But it's easy to forget that when those studios are working on next gen titles.

They also announced they've acquired another studio, Press Play.

 

[Speedymanic]

Ahhh edge just tatooed a 50 foot bullseye on themselves as the wait begins for their impressions of the Sony show. Time to call a spade a spade.

Are they doing this for all the conferences? It's been hours since Sony's finished, this was up within a couple of hours of MS' conference finishing.

 

[Dr. Feel Good]

Rare coming on stage to show off Kinect Sports Season 3 would have been great just to see GAF reaction.

 

[TJP]

Are they doing this for all the conferences? It's been hours since Sony's finished, this was up within a couple of hours of MS' conference finishing.

Edge have posted about the Sony conference: http://www.edge-online.com/news/e3-2012-sony-press-conference-report

 

[quickwhips]

Yeah, MS-Conf' was a bummer. It has been fun the last couple of years because we just made fun of it on GAF, circle-jerk style, but now it's just boring. Even GAF is less lively than usual.


I just stopped watching when that fat tattooed chick came on stage.

I think something is wrong with you when you have be so mean to someone for no reason at all.

 

[Speedymanic]

Edge have posted about the Sony conference: http://www.edge-online.com/news/e3-2012-sony-press-conference-report

Hahaha. I knew this would happen, shouldn't have posted.

 

[PerZona]

I had 2 problems with MS conference. Almost no variety in games, and Usher. South Park was the best part of the show.

This. I totally feel the same way as you. Kinect, services, Kinect, services and out of the sudden Usher appears. I was like WTF, geez.

 

[TUROK]

Edge have posted about the Sony conference: http://www.edge-online.com/news/e3-2012-sony-press-conference-report

Definitely a lot nicer and less cynical than their MS write-up.

 

[mdtauk]

E3 is for games. Microsoft seems to want E3 to be CES.

E3 stands for Electronic Entertainment Expo, so what about Microsoft's show didn't fit that bill?

 

[JaggedSac]

Counting presentations and trailers, yes, it's absolutely true. Sony showed:

Beyond: Two Souls
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale
Assassin's Creed III: Liberation
Assassin's Creed III
FarCry 3
Book of Spells
God of War: Ascension
The Last of Us

Although several other games like Dyad, Papo & Yo, The Unfinished Swan and Diggs Nightcrawler were just namechecked, with no trailers or live footage shown.

Microsoft's exclusive games were:

Halo 4
Fable: The Journey
Gears of War: Judgment
Forza Horizon
Nike+ Kinect Training
Ascent: New Gods
LocoCycle
Matter
Wreckateer
Dance Central 3

There were a few interesting titles in both conferences, in my opinion. The Last of Us and God of War: Ascension looked great, and Beyond could also be good, although I was hoping for something more original.




They also announced they've acquired another studio, Press Play.

I was thinking the same thing. When including the multiplats that MS demonstrated, I can't see how anyone could say there were no games. I guess you could say there were no games that they liked, or there were no games that were surprises.

 

[Neuromancer]

Insult.

That's what I thought but then he goes on to say 'For whatever reason, no one thought to mention that Horizon is actually very ambitious'. Which sounds like a compliment. Weird.

 

[AdventureRacing]

Outside of halo absolutely nothing interested me even slightly. MS has been growing its first party stable lately but it looks like all that effort is being put towards next gen (no surprise really).

 

[Freezie KO]

Definitely a lot nicer and less cynical than their MS write-up.

Maybe they genuinely liked the Sony conference more than MS's conference.

 

[King_Moc]

I dunno, they made a lot of good points, and are generally right that it was an atrocious conference. But some of their points were fairly petulant for me:

"Halo 4, it turns out, does an excellent impression of Metroid Prime"
Um, the visor looks similar I guess. Also, " whatever else keeps Halo fans happy. They’re still out there, presumably," OK, you're kidding right?

It was the environment and enemies that made it look like Metroid Prime. Several people i know made the same observation.

 

[Kasumi1970]

Outside of halo absolutely nothing interested me even slightly. MS has been growing its first party stable lately but it looks like all that effort is being put towards next gen (no surprise really).

I feel that MS conference was just as good as Sony this year. (Or just as bad as Sony on who you talk to)

 

[Uno Venova]

Maybe they genuinely liked the Sony conference more than MS's conference.

That would fall in line with what most here seem to think.

 

[markatisu]

Nintendo's E3 2008 is still the worst. They were on top of the world and didn't give a shit.

But yet that had more game content than Microsofts 2012 presentation

 

[Sean]

Microsoft's and Sony's conference were equally shitty imo.

Both followed the same format - showed a handful of first party titles, showed some multiplatform titles with 'exclusive DLC!', spent far too much time on shit that doesn't demo well (services, Wonderbook). Neither had any huge announcements and it's clear they are focusing/transitioning to next-gen consoles.

 

[Hatten]

Part of their view is maybe coloured by the fact that many of the services lauded by MS are not available in the UK

Maybe? more like it is

And smartglass, they got half the industry raving about the iPad and the non-existant iTV, what else could they do? the avalanche of complaints for not showing a better entertainment suite would be 100 times bigger than this

 

[Revolver]

Edge on David Cage and Ellen Page...

He praised her "stunning performance" ahead of a realtime demo in which she sat stock still and said four words.

I noticed the exact same thing. Anyway, Sony's presser was pretty dull. Outside of TLOU, and Beyond it all seemed pretty much same ol' stuff.

MS' conference was awful, but Halo 4 looks way better than I was expecting. I'd probably score Sony a C- and MS a D. Neither was anything to write home about.

 

[Zero_Hour]

I like the way he gloated that all the services are based around North America. It just proves that is why the PS3 is more popular around Europe.

 

[LQX]

After now seeing all the conferences(...most of Nintendo's), I think this guy went overboard with his comments. If anything MS was the only one that covered all there bases and did it timely. They pretty much hit everything, though there Kinect sections left much to be desired.

 

[Dan Yo]

Like selling the most hardware and software ?

As a gamer these E3's are more disappoiniting each year, as a business microsoft knows what they are doing

They're doing fine now, yes, but a lot of that was built up from earlier in the generation when they actually did their job appeasing the enthusiast base. They're not going to sustain good business with another year or two of resting on Halo and a Fable Kinect game + Kinect exercise game. They need to come out with some new and exciting software at some point.

People said the same thing about Nintendo and their crappy conferences, but sure enough, one too many E3s where they didn't show anything new or exciting and they lost their goodwill.

 

[MrNyarlathotep]

After now seeing all the conferences(...most of Nintendo's), I think this guy went overboard with his comments. If anything MS was the only one that covered all there bases and did it timely. They pretty much hit everything, though there Kinect sections left much to be desired.

Well, MS spent a very large portion of time showing off their movies selection and what film stores they support, while both Sony and Nintendo said "Of COURSE, we have all these film providers [shows film providers], now lets look at some games"