Who Will Have The Best E3 2011 Conference?

[Hero-of-Time]

In just over 24 hours the excitement and madness that is E3 will kick off. Microsoft will start off the conference wars at 5:30pm with Sony following at 1am. Nintendo will then have their conference at 5pm on Tuesday.

 

Many rumours have been flying around for all 3 of the big players but which ones will turn out to be true?

 

Nintendo: Nintendo have talked a big game this year with wanting to get 3rd parties back on board, a better online system and reaching out to the hardcore. The 3rd party and online messages have been heard before in previous generations so it will be interesting to see if they put their money where their mouth is.

 

I imagine 3DS will be a big part of their conference. The system should be selling alot better than it is so Nintendo will aim to get some games shown that will release before the end of the year and get the thing back on track.

 

Wii no doubt will have a few loacalised games announced such as The Last Story, Xenoblade for the US and of course a showing of Zelda. Then there's the showing of the 25th anniversary Zelda package.

 

Sony: For me Sony have had some of the best conferences in recent years. Sure they focus alot on charts and sales but when it comes to showing the goods they usually deliver.

 

I'm expecting a HUGE blowout from the PSP2/VITA/NGP. With the slow start for the 3DS Sony need to make an impact with their next handheld. Graphically the thing already looks amazing and with portable versions of Resistance, Killzone and Uncharted on the way it looks to have the software sorted aswell.

 

I'm looking forward to hearing more about the PSP to PS3 games that are heading our way. They announced it in Japan with Monster Hunter Portable 3 being the first to arrive. I'm expecting big games that aren't available on the PSN to be ported over such as Kingdom Hearts. Fingers crossed they do decide to release these PSP to PS3 titles in the west

 

On the software side on things i'm expecting a few surprises. We all know that Uncharted 3 and Resistance 3 are on the way, along with the new Ratchet and Clank game, but what else? I'm hoping for a reveal of the next God of War game and hopefully it will be on the PS3 and not Sony's new handheld.

 

Microsoft: For me this is the hardest one to call. Will they go the casual route like last year or will they bring it back and focus on more traditional games? It could be a mix of both.

 

Kinect was a big deal for Microsoft and they seemed to have done well with it's launch period. What happens now though? After the launch the games for Kinect just stopped so hopefully we will get to see the next wave come E3.

 

I'm enjoying the rumours that have been going around that Mass Effect 3 will support Kinect. This is the kind of thing I was looking for when purchasing the thing, normal games that have Kinect features in them. Many are spectulating that the rumoured Halo remake will also have Kinect features added.

 

My most anticipated title at Microsofts show has to be Gears of War 3. The beta was fantastic and gave many gamers the chance to go hands on with the game. Just the other week we got a campaign trailer so anything they show at E3 will be a bonus at this point.

 

EXCLUSIVE CORE GAMES! Lets be honest, so far this year Microsofts own output has been pretty bad. They have shown that they can survive on 3rd party support which is fine but what about our exclusive 1st party games?

 

XBLA is a fantastic service which has gone from strength to strength. I'm hoping that they will give the service some decent airtime during the conference and show off their fall line up. I'm also hoping for some sweet discounts come E3 week.

 

In closing I think Nintendo will, or rather should, have the best show due to a new console be shown. Sony a very close second due to their end of year line up and new handheld. Microsoft 3rd because alot of their conference will be based around Kinect and if they havent got any core titles other than Gears, Halo remake and Forza to show then it could be a boring conference.

 

Your thoughts?

[flameboy]

Nintendo for me purely because of the fact they are the only one showing off brand new never seen before hardware. Sony 2nd cos of NGP and I think they have more (I mean more as in quantity) exciting exclusives and I think Microsoft will be all about their 2nd glut of Kinect titles.

[ipaul]

Kind of hoping for Nintendo to blow everyone out of the water with their new console. Not sure it will happen but I can hope.

[S.C.G]

Nintendohmygod10charlimitlol

[Happenstance]

I think Nintendo have the edge with the unveiling of the new console but im hoping Sony pull something out of the bag with their conference, the suprises are always the best things about E3. Microsoft I can see focusing on the Kinect and that still doesnt interest me in the slightest so for me at least their conference will be the least interesting.

[nekunando]

I seem to care very little about what Microsoft and Sony are up to so my only real hope for E3 is that Nintendo completely blow me away

[Grazza]

New hardware is one of the most exciting things, so Nintendo have an open goal. If they don't win this E3, they'll have done something wrong. They have to show games for it though.

 

Sony should be 2nd, as the NGP is genuinely exciting, but I think the pressure is on them to show more interesting software than has been revealed.

 

Microsoft should be a clear 3rd, but could be 1st if they revealed the Xbox 3. Not just the shell though, they'd have to show demos.

[Wesley]

I think Microsoft could steal the show with a decent showing of exclusive games, third parties giving them priority and a decent entertainment line-up.

 

Personally I'm more interested in Sony showing some kick ass games and to see where Nintendo are heading.

[Cube]

Nintendo should have the best one this year with announcing a new console.

 

As for Microsoft and Sony, they both had pretty bad conferences last year, so hopefully they can make things more interesting. Hopefully Sony have announced all the NGP stuff already so they don't waste time on it at the conference.

[ViPeR]

Nintendo and Microsoft is who I have my eyes on. Though I think Nintendos will just be Nintendogs 3DS sales, 3DS sales, new Nintendogs, then 5 minutes for the new console (ho ho ho).

[Wesley]

I'm really confused to how Nintendo are going to show off Wii games while touting a new console.

[Ganepark32]

As others have said, it should by right be Nintendo who have the best conference, at least content wise. New console, Wii (and potentially DS) localisations, and 3DS software should potentially edge out Sony and Microsoft.

 

Hearing some things through the grape vine that Microsoft's conference may have a heavy focus on Kinect, both in terms of them trying to show off some more core oriented games as well as casual ones. They could still surprise but so far there's only been a lot of rumbling that Kinect will be taking centre stage.

 

As for Sony, it's really with NGP that they could steal the show, and Uncharted 3. They'll probably try to big up Move but it'd be the wrong thing to do as it's not got that thing which separates it enough from the Wii-mote in most casual gamers' minds (which may well be why Kinect has sold more) and I think most people watching won't be that interested. Save that for another day and lead with their big games and they'll put on a great showing. Whether they've got anything big announcements for new games (i.e. things that haven't been announced yet) is another question though, as talk from Judge's Week suggests that they don't have a huge number of PS3 games for the show. Could surprise us though.

 

So yeah, technically Nintendo first (but it is Nintendo so who knows how it'll turn out), Sony second and Microsoft third (unless they come out with a few non-Kinect surprises).

[LegoMan1031]

It has to be Nintendo's year, simply because we know they are showing off a brand new console.

 

If sony or microsoft outshine them then nintendo would have to do something really wrong!

[Jamba]

Bit of a tough one...

 

I agree with some of the sentiments on Gametrailers though. I think with the recent events, it's going to be a tough presentation for Sony. They have to convince people that PSN is still a worthy service as they have genuinely lost users who have converted to XBL.

 

I think a big section of their conference is going to be promoting this service. Hopefully we will see lots of content for the Vita (NGP) but I'm not sure about exclusives for the PS3... I wouldn't be surprised if we just see a lot of what we have done before. This in mind (and their track record) make me think that Sony is going to have the worst show. I don't expect another Kaz "Riiiidge Raaaaceeeeeeer...... [silence]" moment; however expect the wider Sony business to impact on the conference and drag it down.

 

Nintendo and Microsoft have it all to play for but obviously Nintendo has the advantage with a hardware reveal. I truly expect Microsoft to have a very good conference all the same with solid software being shown off (as almost everything is unknown) and showing how Kinect can really be used, which personally I'm quite excited about.

 

Part of me is still very worried about what Nintendo has to show... please, please, please don't screw it up.

[heroicjanitor]

It has to be Nintendo as long as their new console is exciting. Sony will be second since I want to see what they have with NGP and they have the most exclusives to show. I'm not sure with Microsoft, they will show kinect a lot, and their new cable tv service for xbx live diamond. Nothing to really interest me though unless they have an exciting new exclusive.

[Aimless]

Nintendo's should prove the most interesting by virtue of new hardware, but as optimistic as I am there's always the chance their new console will be a bit of a clanger in comparison to the rumours; people have spent weeks building the machine up and theorising as to its secret functions, a level of hype that can only work against it. It's also pretty inevitable that delays will be announced for some first-party 3DS games, although on the other hand at least we should get to see them.

 

I'd peg Sony's presentation as the most reliable. We know they're showing NGP, a device that's been shown before so there aren't false expectations surrounding it, and we're guaranteed a decent reel of third-party titles for the machine. I also think NGP-PS3 connectivity will be a fairly big focus: that's something that hasn't been talked about, and I think there will be more interconnectivity than people are expecting, such as CoD players on NGP being able to play multiplayer with those on PS3. On a similar note, expect a new fantasy IP from Guerilla that can be played both on the home console and handheld interchangeably.

 

Microsoft's hand isn't looking too strong to me. Not to say they don't have anything to show, I simply suspect there won't be much in the way of surprises. A lot of their focus will be on Kinect as an ancillary input for core games, such as giving squad orders in Mass Effect 3 or Ghost Recon — one of those will be demonstrated on stage — and they'll also have a collection of Kinect-only games that utilise core IPs, such as Gears and Fable, but I suspect those will be seen as somewhat gimmicky by the fans of the main series. I don't think we'll see any new, exclusive core games, although Microsoft will be the ones to announce a multi-platform titles such as GTAV or RE6.

 

In short: it's Nintendo's game to lose, Sony's showing should be reliably decent with a smattering of surprises, but I suspect Microsoft will be very unadventurous and rely on third-party announcements to score points.

[Debug Mode]

I'm actually looking forward to all 3 of the 'main' conferences. I'm making an attempt to watch all the big publishers conferences too because I missed out on some hilarious shit that went down at last E3.

 

As for who is going to have the best, god knows. If I base it on last years E3, I expect Nintendo > Sony > Microsoft. Microsoft had the most hilarious, but that's just because of how terrible it was. C'MERE SKITTELZ. And my god who can forget Dance Central..

 

But this year it's going to be interesting. I'm hyped as fuck in regards to Cafe, really can't wait to see what's going to be happening for that.

 

NGP/Vita for Sony's is another thing I'm incredibly excited about. I never thought the PSP as a terrible handheld, it just wasn't pushed as much as it could have been because of the easiness of pirating. So something tells me Sony has something big planned for the NGP and has learnt a lesson from how things were handled with the PSP. Although I'm not a very big fan of Sony, if they get this right this could be the handheld to top Nintendo.

 

Microsoft... god knows what's going down there. They must be hiding something as all I've heard about is a TV service (which is not a video game ¬__¬). What I did find very interesting though is the fact the Konami Pre-E3 was hinting that 'transfarring' will be available on both platforms. A Microsoft handheld? Unlikely, but it just feels incredibly strange to have 2 of the big 3 showing off new hardware and the other one letting that slide. That or they've got some massive exclusives planned this year.

[jayseven]

Let's try and utilise our IRC room during this, fellas Should be fun!

[gaggle64]

Unless Sony or Microsoft pull out something spectacular or Ninty really fluff it, Nintendo stealing the show seems to be a foregone conclusion this year.

[ShadowV7]

I'm kind of stuck. I want Microsoft to do good, because they'll be lagging behind a bit. One one hand I don't want to watch another E3 2010 because it was so bad. On the other hand, it was an amazing laugh.

 

I'm expecting some good things from Sony and with the NGP. Then ofcourse we have Nintendo which should win, unless they do something wrong.

[Daft]

I don't think Nintendo will blow everyone away. I think a lot of people will be left buzzing but also fail to actually understand the potential of Nintendo's new machine. As per usual.

 

I think Sony are definitely a safe bet. NGP/Vita blow out, so that's reliable. They already have some great exclusives to show off and they always something new up their sleeves. Sony, maybe a little more Nintendo after some horrendous earl PS3 showings, understand how important a hard hitting and well rounded E3 showing is.

 

Microsoft are still scratching their heads over the casual/Kinect market. I don't expect much. A few payed for XBL extras will be shown. Maybe a new Halo game. Basically, nothing inspirational. They are running out of steam.

[Aimless]

I wouldn't say Microsoft are running out of steam, more that they're being a bit... complacent, I suppose. They're largely relying on third-parties to keep the core consumer happy, and whilst that's clearly working out for them I see it as a bit short-sighted.

 

No matter what form Nintendo's next machine takes there will be a demographic who buy, even grudgingly, just to play the companies games. Similarly Sony has done a stellar job of beefing up their Worldwide Studios this generation, to the point where people are interesting in forking out for an NGP purely to play Uncharted: Golden Abyss; when it comes time for the PS4 to appear, Sony have enough internal talent that people can be assured they're investing in a machine that will feature games that will never appear on a rival console. Microsoft, on the other hand, don't have a stable of developers so much as a horse box, and as Sony can attest going from the PS2 to PS3, you can't rely on third-parties sticking around to champion your system for you.

 

Then again perhaps Microsoft will surprise us all and announce a slew of core games at E3. Although I'd say a more likely reason for their apparent complacency is that their next console will be the true fruition of the Trojan horse strategy: it will explicitly be a living room entertainment box, games being just another facet.

[Daft]

Yeah, you're right. Out of steam is totally the wrong way of describing it. Internally Microsoft are unsure whether to go 'casual' or 'hardcore'. And it's showing. But then again, who knows. Stranger things have happened at E3.