E3 2012 and more

Hey, guys.  I know it's been a while since my last blog.  I seem to always forget I have one even though I have so much on my mind about the industry.  Since January, I finished up my Associate's degree (was technically done in December but needed a math class and 2 extra credits to graduate, so I did an internship) and now I'm starting on my Bachelor’s in the fall at the University of Baltimore.  With that said, I'm also still gaming.  I've been out of school since early May and I been catching up on my massive backlog of games, movies, and anime.  In February, I did get a Playstation Vita and I also have obtained many other 3DS/Vita games since then as well.

First off:

1. The Playstation Vita had a terrible launch and will likely end the year in misery. 

This honestly isn't much of a shocker.  The Vita is a powerful portable, but it had the same two problems that plagued the 3DS at launch as well: A lack of good games and a high price point.  At this time, I have five Vita games, and I just picked up Gravity Rush (great game) and Mortal Kombat (great port for the most part). 

Yeah, about that...

None of my friends I know own one yet and I personally think if the upcoming Call of Duty game for the system doesn't sell a ton, the Vita is sadly done for.  I can't think of any killer app for the Vita as of this point, and while Uncharted was great, it really doesn't keep you coming back after you've beaten it.

2. People are finally buying the 3DS because it now has good games and a lower price.

Just as I said above, the 3DS's second year has so far been great.

Looks like we're getting a bonus this year, woo hoo!

A lot of big games are hitting in the fall, and I feel 3DS sales will without a doubt blow the Vita out of the water this holiday season.  I also wish I wanted a year to buy one, but hey, I like new shiny things when they come out, but oh well.

And now for the main part of the article:

E3 2012 was terrible because the "Big 3" is holding out on their new consoles new year

Everyone should have known this before the show, but E3 was a total crapfest this year.  A lot of good games got some nice trailers (The Last of Us, Resident Evil 6, Halo 4, the God of War prequel sequel whatever game, etc.) but every conference was pretty boring.  Sony really had nothing new to offer, and Microsoft is basically ripping off the Wii U controller with its new Smartglass, go figure.

Nintendo even failed at trying to sell the Wii U to gamers.  It sure did better than last year (most people thought the Wii U was a new controller for the Wii since they never showed the system), so Nintendo finally acknowledged that "yes, we got a new console on the way!" but the games were for the most part were either on other consoles, or they weren't that great.  Everyone would agree that Nintendo is FINALLY getting on the ball for making this console for the "hardcore" gamer, but the problem is, we already have hardcore game consoles, therefore, I and many other gamers don't care about it.  

Come back tomorrow... we'll show you "more", we swear!

They had several conferences at E3 (compared to just one) and most of it was just fluff and apologizing to us that they had "no time".  Their main presentation was all Wii U and constantly told us to come back tomorrow for more stuff, and the 3DS was put on the backburner despite the system only being one year old.  Ouch.  The 3DS conference the next night was even worse and barely showed us anything that we didn't already know about.  It was just a massive waste of everyone's time for something that could have been done in 15 minutes at the main conference.  The kicker was that they held back announcements even after everything was over, and the Wii U still has no price or release date.  For that Nintendo, you made your E3 suck. 

Next year, I know E3 will be obviously be better.  But Nintendo is going to be in trouble selling the Wii U in general.  Since it's a year ahead of the upcoming Playstation and Xbox consoles, it best sell itself now before people are wowed but the "real" next generation of game consoles.