Toomanywires

E3 2012 Coverage: Round-up - Microsoft - Sony - Nintendo I enjoyed spending the last week wallowing in E3 negativity. I would have preferred a bevy of Vita games, Timesplitters 4 and a western bound Yakuza 5, but I knew that we almost never get what we want from E3. So I settled on making the most of the disappointment, and what a disappointment it was. Twitter gave off a collective, week long sigh and websites big and small bemoaned a lack of innovation and three days wasted on overly familiar games. Some high profile sites even questioned the necessity of E3 in a culture of all-year-round video game announcements. This final, E3 2012 write-up was originally intended as a do-over post, where I’d speculate on which companies would benefit most from having another crack at E3, as I did last year . I soon realised that almost all of them would welcome an E3 mulligan and that I'd struggle to keep such a post below 5000 words. So instead of dwelling on the countless mi...

After three days of dubstep, shotgun facelifts and overconfident suits talking about video games, E3 2012 has drawn to a close. For the most part it was a disappointment, as we saw Microsoft and Sony struggle to bridge the gap between this generation and the next. Unwilling to even allude to future hardware, Microsoft were unsure of what to do with themselves and Sony were content to send out conflicted messages. Nintendo played their next gen hand, and it looked like a slightly prettier re-run of the current. But there is more to E3 than the headline conferences from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo, as the week saw countless show-floor trailers, demos and announcements. Of all the third parties, it was Ubisoft who made the biggest splash, providing highlights for both the Sony and Nintendo conferences, while proving to be the most dependable of developers. Far Cry 3 is fast becoming one of my most anticipated games of the year. I have fond, albeit selective memories of the...

This was the final of the big three, E3 press conferences. More games and announcements are likely to follow over the next few days, so keep checking back for updates, opinions and disappointment. Nintendo’s E3 2012 Press Conference The show opened with Shigeru Miyamoto lounging in his changing room, unaware of a herd of Pikmin trampling all over his shit. E3 really needs to step-up security. Miyamoto brought his CG mini companions to the stage and before you knew it they were clambering all over the audience. Despite knowing relatively little about Pikmin, it’s hard not to get enthused by Miyamoto with his childish grin and unfaltering enthusiasm. The reveal was of course for Pikmin 3 for Wii U, which drew a roar of approval from the crowd. It was all very colourful and charming and there was talk of new features, depth and strategy, most of which was completely lost on me. Still, it was an excellent opening gambit and as Nintendo as you'd like. Reggie Fils-Ai...

I’ll be following the Nintendo press conference later today and live tweeting at @toomanywiresUK. A Nintendo round-up will be posted sometime tomorrow. Sony’s E3 2012 Press Conference I was struggling to stay awake and the 2am start was not helping. A dub step powered opening nearly put me in a coma, though Sony did manage to mix in a few other genres in their extended, opening montage which succeeded in waking me up. Jack Tretton, who always remembers to dress up for these events and comes across rather well, was the host for the evening. He opened up by thanking the people who make this all possible - the gamers (that’s me!) - and then announced his unrequited love for Kaz Hirai. The Emperor stood and took a bow. David Cage was up first with Quantic Dream’s follow up to Heavy Rain, Beyond. The trailer, running in real time, looked very impressive but did not appear to show any gameplay. It’s all a bit supernatural and perhaps more action orientated than Heavy Rain; a...

I’ll be following the Sony press conference into the early hours – thank god for the Jubilee, four day weekend - and will be live tweeting to the best of my abilities @toomanywiresUK. My Sony round-up should be up at some point tomorrow, though the time difference will mean that it won’t be posted as quickly as this one. Microsoft’s E3 2012 Press Conference With a tall glass of Pimms – it’s a long bank holiday weekend here in the UK – and a screen full of windows ready for juggling, I was ready for the opening slice of E3 2012. Microsoft managed not to disappoint, initially at least, playing their strongest hand from the get-go with Halo 4. It started off live action, with a collection of vests and dog tags, before shifting to Master Chief and some exciting game play. I’m not a huge fan of the series, but even I couldn’t deny the quality of what was on show. Full of action and jungle-based blasting, it was rather impressive and set the bar high. With Halo 4 done for the...

The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2012 is almost upon us. By this time next week you’ll be sick to death of phrases like "Cloud Gaming", "Kinect compatible" and "Reggie Fils-Aime", but for now every rumour is a welcome tease and we can't help but make wild predictions.  In reality, there might be a couple of mildly surprising announcements next week, but for the most part we already know what's coming: Nintendo will talk Wii U until they are blue in the face, then announce a new Mario, Sony will attempt to convince us that there is life in the Vita and Microsoft will milk Halo 4 for all it's worth. Bold Prediction #1 : During the Nintendo presser, Shigeru Miyamoto will drunkenly refer to Link as "that bastard boy in green" before throwing a punch at Reggie and sauntering off stage. Nintendo must dominate E3 with the Wii U and bury twelve months of luke-warm publicity. While the 3DS has gone from strength to strength, the W...