E3 2011: Day One Impressions

Microsoft: They didn't sell to me, but they knew they didn't have to; they were looking to increase console ownership, not satisfy those who already support them. Some may look at this as a bad choice because they believe the hardcore is supreme, but the hardcore doesn't abandon a console so easily. What Microsoft did was sell their platform to all those consumers who don't own, or just recently purchase an Xbox 360. The majority of Kinect titles may not have interested me, but if I was a parent, I would feel justified in my purchase or become interested in joining the bandwagon. Simply put, Microsoft held a conference to bring in new customers, not satisfy current customers. That may not be what you wanted, but it doesn't mean it was a bad for business. P.S. The new Tomb Raider looked great, the new dashboard is Windows Phone 7, and Kinect Sport 2 is Step Brothers: "The Game."

Electronic Arts: This is probably the conference that held my attention the least. There were sports games and a weird moment involving three NFL players, which included one of those stupid Packers. Mass Effect 3 is going to be more Mass Effect and Star Wars: The Old Republic continues to prove EA and BioWare should have put all their money into a feature-length CGI movie, instead of an MMO we've barely seen in action. Need for Speed: The Run is basically Heavy Rain: "The Car Scene" over and over and over again, a.k.a., horrible. Insomniac Games reveals their multi-platform title, Overstrike, which looks like a ton of fun with a nice, exaggerated art style. And Battlefield 3 is still amazing.

Mr. Caffeine himself. Even I would make a better host than this guy.

Ubisoft: The best showing with the worst hosting. According to Twitter, Mr. Caffeine—the host's name—should be dead by now if people follow through on all their threats. There's no point in continuing the hate for their Ubisoft's host, so I'll get onto the actual games. Rayman Origins is my current game of show. I never would have expected to say that, but I did, in fact, just say it. Rayman Origins is a beautiful 2D platformer, with four player drop-in/out co-op and what looks to be a ridiculous amount of fun. Far Cry 3 will hopefully top the highly underrated Far Cry 2 in every way and Assassin's Creed: Revelations is looking beardtastic. Everything else did nothing to resonate, especially Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. There was also a Rabbids Kinect game where you fill holes and shapes.

Sony: Sequels, sequels, PlayStation Vita, more sequels, three dimensions and no Kevin Butler. Sony spent a decent amount of time on apologizing, but it quickly turned into a "this is why we're so great" apology. Also, Sony only apologized for an "outage," not for the breach or the stolen information. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception looks unsurprisingly great, but I will continue to be annoyed by the excess of shooting. Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time gave us a teaser trailer, but it was rather amusing and I quite enjoyed it. Apparently there's this Move thing, but no one seems to care. The PlayStation Vita is not for me, but the extremely shocking $250 price tag for the wifi model—$300 for 3G on AT&T—was a killer announcement. Whether or not people buy it/want it is still up in the air.

Did I mention every single game announced, or every announcement in general? No, I only stated that which caught my interest in either a positive or negative way. Now it's time to wait and see what exactly Nintendo has in store for us, besides the new console of course.