The E3 of Disillusion

[MartyG]

People in here aren't getting old, games are just getting dull and lack a true feeling of excitement and discovery.

But there are games out there doing this - I've become enveloped in KoA Reckoning over this last week and have clocked up over forty hours, yet the game has sold so badly that it's discounted to under ?20 (and the reason I picked it up). It's a decent RPG that hasn't completely dumbed itself down.

On the other hand I can count on one hand the number of new releases I'm actually interested in buying this year, with the XBLA/PSN stuff really making a much better impression. I'm sick of the sequels and as a result I'm buying far less games this year - and by the looks of it next year too given the 2012 E3.

That said there were some interesting titles displayed - they just ended up lost underneath all of the rubbish.

[eastyy]

anyone ever think stuff that contradicts themselves ? .......i was watching some of e3 and saw halo 4, forza, assasins creed 3 ,dead space 3 .crysis 3 and all i could think off was urghhh more of the same ...then soon after i saw borderlands 2 and thought ooo cannot wait for that

[MartyG]

Possibly - or perhaps the sick of sequels thing should be changed to sick of formulaic sequels.

I'm pretty interested in Borderlands 2 as well.

[Family Fry]

Wouldn't borderlands 2 still fall under that? Well least not til Borderlands 3 on next gen, calling it now.
Maybe people should just say they are fed up of sequels to series of games they have grown to hate.

[hush]

I've always sorry for saying this thought that E3 was overhyped i mean when it was only print it was a little different but now this the internet and all

[MartyG]

The internet perhaps has had an adverse influence; we're so swamped now with information that it's impacted on the whole wow announcement thing as Charles and others alluded to before. When we only had the monthly mags, every scrap of gaming news seemed golden.

However, the shows this year definitely didn't wow - even Nintendo which so desperately needed to. That one probably stings all the more because of the expectations with the new hardware.

[nakamura]

But there are games out there doing this - I've become enveloped in KoA Reckoning over this last week and have clocked up over forty hours, yet the game has sold so badly that it's discounted to under ?20 (and the reason I picked it up). It's a decent RPG that hasn't completely dumbed itself down.

On the other hand I can count on one hand the number of new releases I'm actually interested in buying this year, with the XBLA/PSN stuff really making a much better impression. I'm sick of the sequels and as a result I'm buying far less games this year - and by the looks of it next year too given the 2012 E3.

That said there were some interesting titles displayed - they just ended up lost underneath all of the rubbish.

Yeah course there are still top titles out there that are excellent, no doubt. So many franchises though have become insanely dumbed down or new one just being weak in the first place.

No all games are dull, I should have perhaps been a bit more clear in my post.

['Press Start']

I am blessed to have played the bedroom coded games gone by, waiting 15 minutes for a game to load was painful but when it loaded it made me smile like never before.
Then I was blessed with colour, such vivid colour help me loose myself in the 2D world, it loaded instantly too. The colour made me smile like never before.
Then the world became 3D, I could move forward, back up and down. Run free and jump into trees, swim through water. The environment became more real and made me smile like never before.
Then whilst this took place I got 2D & 3D graphics like the arcades in my house, no need to pump cash into a machine, the machines is in my bedroom. I smiled but was sad I didn't need to go to the arcades any more.
Then came an advance in the environment. So lush, so vast. Even though I was now used to 3D this was different, the fire fights added an intense, it became more realistic, I played against my friends with a whole screen to myself and it made me smile like never before.
I got used to playing against my friends over a distance, exploring vast worlds with amazing graphics, intense fire fights and vivid colours, the new way to control was a bold move but not one for me. I longed to smile like I did those times before, then I realised, I grew up and matured the same time as gaming grew up and the experiences were maturing.

4-7 C64 - Childhood *how many 15+ games?*
7-11 C64 & Amiga - Early teen, more adventurous, more challenge *how many 15+ games?*
11-15 SNES - Teenage, exploring the world, competitive, using brain more *how many 15+ games?*
15-23 N64, PS1, DC, PS2, GC, Xbox - vent frustrations, escape reality *how many 15+ games?*
24-31 - Xbox 360, PS3, Wii - story driven, character driven, detailed worlds. *how many 15+ games?*

Most teens now have got to the vent frustration stage and have such detailed graphics and realistic game play that it's almost a drug. I could not imagine being 13 and playing COD.


ramble ramble.

[Family Fry]

I can't imagine being 30 and play CoD, I joke of course.
What I love is that most of the internet will complain and moan yet completely fail to highlight new talent, ideas and games or better still not even support them when they come out.
Example, Vessel (nice lil puzzle platformer on steam, xbla/psn sept-Oct) is currently ?11.99. Have seen people say the following, "loved the demo but will buy on steam sale" multiply that comment by bout 20. Right then, game went 30% off few weeks ago (?8.39), lets see if those people bough it "will buy it when its no doubt 50% on steam sale" seriously? ?2!
This happens a lot, in-fact it happens too much both retail and online. Then as gamers we all sigh and moan when cod 12 is shown, part of me thinks we have made this bed and now we must lay in it.
E3 this year was a shocker all round but I kind of expected that if next gen is to be shown 2013, I was most disappointed with Nintendo though cause I thought if anyone has had the time to create some new stuff it will be them and various 1st/3rd parties.
I'm getting older by the day but I'm still enjoying gaming, I just go where the good games are and play them or the ones I have missed and have been recommended. People should seek to discover new stuff and most of all share details about it, I'm not talking mainstream by the way I'm talking about all that stuff behind the mainstream on all platforms.

[Skull Commander]

I have been quiet on the subject years E3, but most years it seems to leave me cold. The games I enjoy for the most part are not really "Headliner" games apart from Call of Duty, so I never expect to be blown away by these shows. I always still manage to find something to play on my Xbox360 and it has a large enough and diverse enough catalogue to keep me playing for years to come.

I guess what I'm saying is that my experience of E3 over the years is not representative of my gaming habits so is largely irrelevant to me.

[Sam The Man]

I do think fundermentally thought the more games you play the more you raise the bar in what you expect from a game .

I agree with this totally as i have been gaming for over 20 years and played and experienced so many great games that these days if a game is coming that's suppose to be a big deal i expect it to be better in ALL AREAS than whats come before and alot of the time it doesn't or it betters it in some ways but also does things worse at the same time (Gran Turismo 5).

But i also agree with Mart and feel games have not progressed down the path we once hoped they would in the 90's. Graphically mabee but not gameplay and level design wise. I still get that buzz playing old 16 bit titles i loved as a kid and have also enjoyed titles that i missed back in the day.

Games seem to be trying to be movie experiences more and more lately. Waypoint markers, automated jumping, unexplorable areas with one way jumps etc. It all seems to be geared as a throwaway experience now.

You totally summed it up right there. Uncharted is a prime example. I feel that once a game like that is completed, you have no reason to keep hold of it and might as well put it on ebay or trade it in.

[Kaido]

We are getting older, but so is the target demographic for video games. Cover shooters starring the regenerating man are stagnant and I expected E3 to fail to recognise that, so I didn't even bother to watch any this year.

Roll on xcom: enemy unknown and starbound

[Golgo]

Just occurred to me: did Dragon Quest 10 appear anywhere?

[fuse]

I've often been quite dismissive of E3 and the furore that comes out of it, but have nearly always found little snippets of smaller games hidden between the big announcements to get excited about. This year I was actually there in person and found it much the same again - I sat in on the Sony, Nintendo and EA presentations, but didn't find too much to get excited about.

For me, the 'AAA' badge has been about chasing Hollywood and mass-market pandering for a long time, but it is certainly getting a lot more obvious as people get better/more efficient at making these kinds of games. As with movies themselves, I don't mind dipping my toes into the odd blockbuster every now and again, but it's certainly not my regular intake, and I'm surprised so many people were looking to these kinds of games to 'make' E3 for them - I know that it certainly fits with what E3 has become, but if you scratch beneath the surface there's still plenty of cool things going on for those with more refined tastes.

If you want a bright, colourful, fun game, why is no-one getting excited about Project P-100? Someone quite accurately described it to me as 'Viewtiful Pikmin', and I'd have thought people would be going nuts about it.

Just occurred to me: did Dragon Quest 10 appear anywhere?

If so it was only behind closed doors - certainly wasn't in the conference or on the show floor.

[Brad]

Mainstream gaming holds almost zero interest for me these days. Like others have said, there is no innovation. I don't want to play a movie. E3 only served to highlight these thoughts. Luckily there are millions of old games I've never played as well as a thriving independent scene. I see a videogame industry crash very soon.