411 Games Fact or Fiction 06.14.11 E3 Edition
Posted by Adam Larck on 06.14.2011
Does Bioshock Infinite really need Move support? Did Nintendo have the best press conference at E3? Are we interested in picking up the Wii U or the Playstation Vita based on E3? 411’s Justin Weinblatt and Mark Salmela debate these topics and more on in this week’s 411 Fact or Fiction: Games!
Welcome back to another week of 411 Games Fact or Fiction. I'm Adam Larck, and I'm checking out some free games on PC, mainly League of Legends. Also, I'm in the process of reviewing Red Faction: Armageddon.
With E3 over with, attendees Mark Salmela and Justin Weinblatt are back this week to give us their thoughts on the conferece. Let's see how these two do. Time for banner!
1.) Nintendo beat Sony and Microsoft in press conferences.
Justin Weinblatt - Fact: It's not really a fair question though. Nintendo was unveiling a new home console, so obviously their conference was going to be the most interesting. I think that the Wii U is an great idea. I'm not completely sold on it yet, but I'm definitely intrigued at the possibilities. I thought Nintendo also had a pretty good lineup for the 3DS. Resident Evil, Kid Icarus, and Super Mario 3DS all look like great games. I'm beyond excited for a new Luigi's Mansion.
Sony had a decent conference. I was underwhelmed by the Vita, until they announced the price. Two hundred and fifty seems absurdly cheap considering the PSP Go retailed for 200. The PS3 stuff was good, but nothing new was shown off.
I wasn't at all impressed with Microsoft.
I'll have detailed recaps and analysis of all the conferences in this week 3Rs column. But yeah, I think Nintendo won.
Mark Salmela - Fact: I'm a sucker for new consoles. Yes Sony had the PlayStation Vita, but I was anticipating Nintendo's console much more. I'll say that all 3 press conferences were above average, but none of them blew me away. Microsoft spent too much time on Kinect games I didn't care about, Sony spent too much time on PS Vita games I didn't care about while ignoring titles like Twisted Metal, and Nintendo didn't have enough exciting announcements or details on the Wii U. All 3 had their positives, but I'll give Nintendo the edge because they announced plenty of new games like Luigi's Mansion 2 while Sony ignored a lot of their new games I wanted to see like StarHawk and Twisted Metal.
Score: 1 for 1 - Even without the new console, Nintendo had enough big name titles to easily come out on top for another year.
2.) It's odd that Microsoft didn't announce cloud storage during their conference.
Justin Weinblatt - Fiction: Maybe I'm not seeing the big picture, but I don't really see why Cloud storage should be all that exciting to 360 owners. I guess being able to sign in at my friend's house is kind of neat, but without a secondary device, like the Vita, Cloud storage isn't too important for X-Box users.
Mark Salmela - Fiction: I knew going into Microsoft's press conference that Kinect would be their focus, so I wasn't expecting anything that hardcore like announcing cloud storage. I didn't however guess that after Modern Warfare 3, Tomb Raider, and Gears 3 Microsoft would focus almost exclusively on Kinect games that as far as I'm concerned were mostly for the casual crowd. Tomb Raider being awesome was the only real surprise for me at Microsoft's press conference.
Score: 2 for 2 - Microsoft could have at least taken a few minutes out of their conference to tell users about this.
3.) BioShock Infinite doesn't need Move support.
Justin Weinblatt - Fiction: The wording of this question makes things a bit tricky. Bioshock's first two entries worked perfectly well with twin stick or keyboard/ mouse controls. However, I think motion controls actually work well in the FPS genre. I'm glad the option will be there for people who choose to use it. If you've never tried an FPS with a Wiimote or a Thriimote you should give it a go. You may be surprised.
Mark Salmela - Fiction: I'm torn on this one. I don't think BioShock Infinite needs Move support since the game is already awesome, but the team over at Irrational is clearly creative. I say we hold off until we see what exactly Irrational is doing with PlayStation Move before passing judgment on this one.
Score: 3 for 3 - I've tried motion support on some Wii games, and it just seemed too touchy for me. Maybe Irrational can perfect it, but I'm going to hold my judgment for now.
4.) A Minecraft port to 360 will help draw some PC gamers over.
Mark Salmela - Fiction: Quite frankly I'm totally fine with Minecraft coming to XBLA but I'm not sure why it's coming to XBLA. As someone who isn't that big of a PC gamer even I can see Minecraft is meant to be played on the PC. Minecraft is also coming to Xperia so I guess there must be some sort of a demand for Minecraft on other platforms. Once again I'm fine with porting Minecraft to other consoles I just don't see what the XBLA version will have that will draw people over.
Justin Weinblatt - Fiction: I don't see how the Minecraft experience will be much improved with the 360. PC gamers won't flock to the 360, but Minecraft will be opened up to a whole new audience.
Score: 4 for 4 - If it has some good co-op features I wouldn't mind creating worlds with friends.
5.) It's surprising that the Nintendo stock keeps dropping after the Wii U announcement.
Mark Salmela - Fiction: It's not surprising to me at all. I've had several people ask me if the Wii U is a totally new console or if the Wii U is an add-on to the Wii. When people can't even tell if your new console is actually a new console you clearly did something wrong. Nintendo spent too much time emphasizing the controller of the Wii U when they should have started off talking about how the Wii U will be a brand new console with high definition graphics not capable of being produced on the Wii. I liked Nintendo's press conference, but they did a bad job showing off the physical box and explaining why they needed a new console rather than just a new controller.
Justin Weinblatt - Fiction: The Nintendo DS and the Wii were both met with skepticism. The reaction to the DS was lukewarm at best and the Wii's initial reaction wasn't much better. It will take time for Nintendo to completely sell the idea to gamers and to their investors, but I think the system will be successful and Nintendo's stock will bounce back.
Score: 5 for 5 - I just want to see how long the drop will continue now.
6.) You'll pick up either the Vita or Wii U based on what you saw.
Mark Salmela - Fact: I'm a sucker, what can I say. I was going to buy the Wii U regardless of what I saw and played at E3. I own all three home consoles now and I will own all three consoles of the next generation. The PlayStation Vita is a different story. I honestly anticipated a price of $300 or $350 for the Wi-Fi model so I was planning on net getting it, but now that they announced a $249.99 price for the Wi-Fi model and playing Uncharted on Vita I may just pick it up. It may or may not be a day one purchase but I'll most likely pick up a Vita at some point.
Justin Weinblatt - Fact: I don't see myself getting a Vita, but that could easily change if Sony announces some must have games. There was never any doubt that I would buy Nintendo's next home console. I love Mario, I love Zelda, I love Metroid, I love Kirby, and I love Smash. So, I'm going to buy whatever system has those games.
Score: 6 for 6 - I'm still skeptical about these systems. I barely use the previous models as it is, so I don't want to rush out and buy the new version without seeing some good support for them.
Bonus Question 1.) What's a worse name? PS Vita, or Wii U?
Mark Salmela - Wii U: By a long shot. That's honestly the best you could do Nintendo? No wonder people are confused as to whether or not the Wii U is an accessory to the Wii or a brand new console. I'm fine with Vita.
Justin Weinblatt - Vita: I think the Vita. The Wii U is an awful name, but after having so long to adjust to the name "Wii" it doesn't seem so bad.
Adam Larck - Wii U: At least Vita I can get used to, and it makes it seem like Sony at least gave the name more than a few seconds of thought. The Wii U, though, makes it seem like deadline was approaching and no one was stepping up, so a dart was thrown, landed on "U" and gave birth to this lackluster name.
Bonus Question 2.) Favorite 2011 E3 moment and why.
Mark Salmela - AT&T: People booing the hell out of the announcement of AT&T being the exclusive carrier of 3G for the PlayStation Vita. Not sure how it came across on television but damn near everyone in the live
crowd groaned at that announcement with a pretty loud chorus of boos. And yes, I was one of those boos. I am not a fan of AT&T.
If you want a more positive moment than definitely BioShock Infinite. I had a behind closed doors viewing of BioShock Infinite and god damn if it didn't blow me away.
Justin Weinblatt - Tomb Raider: My favorite moment of E3 was surprisingly Tomb Raider. Games like Mass Effect 3 looked great, and the Wii U had a good showing, but I expected those things. Lara's latest adventure took me completely off guard.
Adam Larck - Twisted Metal boss video: I loved the Skyrim demo video, but was really surprised by the Twisted Metal video, the boss battle looks cool, and looks like it is shaping up to be a great entry to the series. My interest is definitely up for this game.
The pair finish this week going a perfect 6-for-6. What do you think? Agree or disagree with their answers? Let us know. See you in seven!
The PSPGo's original MSRP was 249.99. Makes the Vita seem like a bargain.
Posted By: MM (Guest) on June 14, 2011 at 12:45 AM
Nintendo knows that the 'brand name' most casual players know the Wii by isn't the NINTENDO Wii, but just Wii. so by saying Wii U, they capitalize on an already established brand name (Wii), and add something simplistic for easy remembering. Wii = We + U = You
Next Gen Portable did nothing to capitalize on the Playstation branding, so they called it the PS Vita. It's in line with how they name their other consumer electronics (see their VAIO laptops) while taking advantage of the 'Playstation' name.
Posted By: D (Guest) on June 14, 2011 at 12:59 AM
I like the name PlayStation Vita it makes since to me, PlayStation because that's its brand and Vita because the way you interact with it makes it feel as if the games come to life.
As to the Wii U the name didn't sound as if they gave it much thought.
Posted By: Andre H (Guest) on June 14, 2011 at 12:04 PM
Layout is bad. Old one is better.
Posted By: Josh@Work (Guest) on June 14, 2011 at 05:29 PM
"Nintendo knows that the 'brand name' most casual players know the Wii by isn't the NINTENDO Wii, but just Wii. so by saying Wii U, they capitalize on an already established brand name (Wii), and add something simplistic for easy remembering. Wii = We + U = You"
I definitely see your point, but remember, Nintendo is not only trying to appeal to the casual gamer. The Wii brand is powerful among the casual gamers, but it's very unpopular among the "hardcore".
I think using the Nintendo name would have been a good compromise. It's still easily recognizable to even the most casual gamers, and it's associated with games like Zelda, Mario, and Goldeneye, moreso than the Wii is.
Posted By: Justin Weinblatt (Registered) on June 14, 2011 at 07:04 PM
"Sony spent too much time on PS Vita games I didn't care about while ignoring titles like Twisted Metal"
Twisted Metal - That NO ONE cared about
Posted By: Guest#4626 (Guest) on June 14, 2011 at 07:47 PM
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