Pretty Colors

 

 

 

I’ve been sort of orbiting the E3 scene. I find that trying to keep track of what happens at E3 without actually being there is like trying to look into a tornado with a kaleidoscope. Some people want to see pictures of every single booth and interviews with all the game developers and general managers. Sorry, but I’ll pass. As another writer who didn’t attend this E3 so tactfully put it:

“There is nothing identifiably fun about having to elbow a 380-pound man wearing a T-shirt with "Orcs FTW" written on it in order to play Destroy All Humans 2 so you can write your 20th 600-word preview of the day for GameWanX or whatever site you're working for.” -Kevin Gifford

I agree. But the fanboy inside me still longs to go to the Mecca of Gaming. I do have to say, that having attended the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) that I think Gabe and Tycho are on to something. They’ve attended E3 for a few years now, and they’ve sort of taken it and processed it into something for the average joe. I strongly recommend attending PAX if you get the chance. I’ll make a prediction that in a few years, PAX will become as big as E3, but not because of the media aspect, but because of the real-life aspect. Anyone can go. It’s direct-to-consumer. And unfortunately, big companies will probably latch onto that. Let’s hope Gabe and Tycho can resist the shiny lights of the big companies and their money to “keep it real”. I have faith.

The last thing I wanted to mention about this year’s E3 is about the “big 3”. Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. Ahh, the monoliths. Pillars of entertainment. To be honest, I think that Sony is one of the worst influences on the gaming – nay – technology industry. With their proprietary formats that limit compatibility, to their all-important condescending attitude towards gamers. Like we should be thanking them for their consoles instead of vice-versa. Unless Sony does something drastically different with the PS3, Nintendo and Microsoft are going to wipe the floor with them.

Nintendo is a company that I have always respected, and while they have seemingly diluted their marketshare by producing games that are more focused on the younger and more “casual” crowd, they have managed to slip out of the “pretty colors” attitude that seems to define the console wars. This simple fact is that Gameplay > graphics. Once these companies learn that, they will start succeeding. Nintendo understands that it’s about the games. It’s not graphics, DPI, 1080i, 720p, pixel shaders or transistor count. It’s about fun.