Magnus Nevstad

E3 wrap

Friday, 19. May 2006, 10:11:31

console, gaming, nintendo, sony, ps3, wii, xbox 360, technology

It has already been a little while since this years E³ finished, and this year there was alot of exciting news especially for the console market.

Sony released some more news on their PS3, for instance that the controller will be identical to the PS2 controller in form factor, without rumble but with gyro. It still is rather unclear what Sony will do to battle the 360's already growing advangate and market share, but hopefully for them it will be something ingenious. Their late start, combined with the fact that the PS3 will be quite expensive ($499 for a PS3 with a 20-GB hard drive or a $599 model with a 60-GB) as well as the uncertainty of how it will perform and look compared to the 360, means they have their work cut out for them.

The Nintendo guys finally brought out the Wii to show off some games and how the new controller layout and functionality will affect your gaming experience. A controller with light sensor pointing, built in gyro as well as built in sound and rumble should hopefully be a refreshing change and not just some whacky idea that never really worked out in practice. Of course now that it is official that Opera will be on the Wii I can admit to having already toyed with the controller for a bit

But perhaps more importantly for now, there was a lot of showcasing for upcoming titles for the 360 - some titles which have been in the making (and waiting) for quite some time now. Games like Gears of War, Too Human, Mass Effect, BioShock, Forza Motorsport 2, Halo 3, Prey, Lost Planet, Table Tennis, Brothers in Arms, Dead Rising ... to metion a few. Go here to have a quick look at the montage video showing off many of the upcoming titles.

Though I rarely use my PC for gaming anymore, there are also a handful of upcoming titles which have caught my attention, such as Spore, Crysis and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars.

Domi back with a vengeanceOpera for Symbian passes Acid2

Comments

misund007 # 19. May 2006, 12:05

So what did you think about Wii? How was it to use the controller?

spz # 19. May 2006, 12:28

Well since the devkits don't come with other developers works/games (obviously) there is limited fun to testing it. It is also an earlier development version which is wired instead of wifi, and I am unsure if it has gyro and rumble. It does sit in the hand pretty much like a remote and the trigger button underneath feels relatively comfy. When held sideways it should also work quite nicely as your traditional NES paddle style controller, especially with the added gyro to make it more interresting. I really hope Nintendo get it right, and that playing the Wii will bring back the simplistic yet extremely fun vibe we had back in the days of the NES and SNES (or C64 and AMIGA for that matter for those oldschool enough).

vetler # 19. May 2006, 13:14

I'm saving money for a Wii!

spz # 19. May 2006, 13:49

That's another good selling point of the Wii, though you won't be getting the raw power that the 360 and PS3 deliver, it's pricepoint will be much easier on your wallet. Especially compared to the PS3!

biggy # 23. May 2006, 14:03

Carn't say I am impressed with the Wii (unfortunately.) The only cool game of any recognition I saw was Zelda. And the gyro seems like it would be confusing, unreliable/malfuction often and hard to learn or use. Perhaps...