So, the latest E3 Expo show in Los Angeles has been and gone. I've watched a fair few videos from the event and as always it's exciting to see new technology showcased. I have to confess this year though for the first time instead of my usual fervour I have actually questioned certain announcements or pieces of tech, mainly gaming tech.
First up is the new Nintendo Wii U announced at the E3 to great excitement. I've always loved Nintendo stuff and have much of their back catalogue myself. With Nintendo there ought to be the kind of mission statement along the lines of 'with great risks there are great gains' which mostly is very true on their part as they are a company that pioneer innovation. The new Wii U however left me asking lots of questions and instead of my usual excitement I felt quite vexed and a little let down. It's supposed to be a controller and a console but also seems to have an identity crisis going on too! Now, this said I may be wrong when the actual Wii U comes into play but until then I can only go on the concept videos, 'concept' being the important word here at the moment.
So what is the Wii U? I really don't know, Nintendo state it's not a handheld yet it clearly resembles one and is gripped very much like a large portable console. Nostalgia filled my mind when I saw it of the old Sega Gamegear and Atari Lynx, both portable consoles but quite large! Back to subject, so watching the concept video, though impressed I was left with lots of questions such as to its connectivity, the media it will use and how it generally interacts with the other piece of kit. After pondering these questions yet more questions arose, and the next day some of the media seemed sceptical as one critic remarked Nintendo had invented something for problems that didn't exist. In some respects he was right, the video of the Wii U opens with someone wanting to use the Tv and the other person switching his game from the Tv to the Wii U. A great idea for sure but look at how many kids of today have Tv's in their own room!? It struck me that the new Wii is being vaunted as a kind of jack of all trades for the home but master of none. You can surf the web, it has a touch screen, you can make video calls on it and so on, very versatile but seeing as people already use laptops and touch tablets for this kind of stuff already then is there really a need for more of the same?
Whilst I am sceptical about the Wii I am not going to dismiss it just yet, it would be silly to do so but I do feel the whole idea at present seems blurred as to what exactly it is and as I stated to a friend, not all new ideas have to be good ones (the new Nintendo 3D has had problems). I do really want it to be good but it just seems to be much of what everyone else is doing at present with the whole motion sensor / touch screen thing. I guess I was hoping Nintendo would do a high end gamers console going back to their roots a little and also a new high spec portable console though we seem to have an odd combination of both that is also integral to Nintendo's existing Wii kit (allegedly).
Next up is the new Sony Portable called the 'Vita' though I gather it had a couple of different names before it was unveiled at the E3. I'm really not keen on the 'Vita' tag, it just conjures up images of breakfast cereal or slimming products for some reason. What I see with the Sony's new offering, like Nintendo is very much in line with what has been released so far, it looks very Sony as the new Wii U looks Nintendo. I guess both companies have a brand and style and feel safe with the product and imagery and neither want to upset the consumers by doing something that looks too different. The Vita looks like the existing psp range, on a glance you could be mistaken for thinking its just a new Psp, after all we've had a few of them so far. Sony seem to have gone for touch screen technology as well, after all its very 'en vogue' at the moment. On the positive side both Sony and Nintendo machines have buttons and controllers beside touch screen capability unlike Apple who try and fool us that their stuff is also ideal for ardent gamers out there, trust me it isn't. My problem with touch screen stuff on the Apple range is fun games aside, that your hand always seems to be in the field of vision and touching a screen is never as responsive as a button. Gary my friend in Hong Kong always tries to sell the idea of an ipod/ipad as a gaming console of sorts and it never washes with me, whilst they are fun and look aesthetically good, gaming dedicated gaming devices they'll never be. Anyway, I digress, back to Sony. So their new Vita is all singing and dancing, front and back camera's, rear touch pad (not screen) and front fascia adorned with buttons and again a touch screen. I'm pretty much a Sony fan boy make no mistake but after a range of Psps including the Psp light, 3000 and Psp Go the new Vita just seems like much of the same with added bells and whistles. The new Sony/Ericsson phone/console isn't doing too well I hear and is very expensive so I wonder how Sony will fare with the new Vita?
Maybe it's just me these days that feels a little de-sensitised to the new stuff when back in the day things seem to have had a more wow factor. I recall getting really excited about the Game Boy Advance clam shell handheld and I wasn't disappointed, I still cherish it now. We seem to be in a period now where things seem slightly static and the next big things are yet to come, you only have to watch programs like the Gadget Show to see that devices that replicate true 3D or are controlled by thought are on the horizon. I saw some head gadget at the E3 that gave each eye a different perspective on a driving simulator to make you feel like everything was real and 3D around you and you could turn your head 360 degrees too. Voice recognition also seems to be vastly improving these days so I expect we'll see more of that in the future. The fact is with the new stuff these days is that I am a little bit old school in some respects, whilst I love new stuff I do like my buttons on things, especially when playing games as repeatedly touching a screen with a thumb doesn't feel that convincing to me. I don't think being old school is a bad thing, on the contrary it shows a healthy respect for the past and games that got us here today yet whilst I will always embrace future good ideas I will always remember good solid gaming experiences from the old days.
So that's a few thoughts on things, and in fairness regarding the new stuff a lot remains to be seen and I've no doubt what is coming our way in future months will be good.
For a link to E3 preview stuff including the new Sony and Nintendo items click 'here'.
First up is the new Nintendo Wii U announced at the E3 to great excitement. I've always loved Nintendo stuff and have much of their back catalogue myself. With Nintendo there ought to be the kind of mission statement along the lines of 'with great risks there are great gains' which mostly is very true on their part as they are a company that pioneer innovation. The new Wii U however left me asking lots of questions and instead of my usual excitement I felt quite vexed and a little let down. It's supposed to be a controller and a console but also seems to have an identity crisis going on too! Now, this said I may be wrong when the actual Wii U comes into play but until then I can only go on the concept videos, 'concept' being the important word here at the moment.
So what is the Wii U? I really don't know, Nintendo state it's not a handheld yet it clearly resembles one and is gripped very much like a large portable console. Nostalgia filled my mind when I saw it of the old Sega Gamegear and Atari Lynx, both portable consoles but quite large! Back to subject, so watching the concept video, though impressed I was left with lots of questions such as to its connectivity, the media it will use and how it generally interacts with the other piece of kit. After pondering these questions yet more questions arose, and the next day some of the media seemed sceptical as one critic remarked Nintendo had invented something for problems that didn't exist. In some respects he was right, the video of the Wii U opens with someone wanting to use the Tv and the other person switching his game from the Tv to the Wii U. A great idea for sure but look at how many kids of today have Tv's in their own room!? It struck me that the new Wii is being vaunted as a kind of jack of all trades for the home but master of none. You can surf the web, it has a touch screen, you can make video calls on it and so on, very versatile but seeing as people already use laptops and touch tablets for this kind of stuff already then is there really a need for more of the same?
Whilst I am sceptical about the Wii I am not going to dismiss it just yet, it would be silly to do so but I do feel the whole idea at present seems blurred as to what exactly it is and as I stated to a friend, not all new ideas have to be good ones (the new Nintendo 3D has had problems). I do really want it to be good but it just seems to be much of what everyone else is doing at present with the whole motion sensor / touch screen thing. I guess I was hoping Nintendo would do a high end gamers console going back to their roots a little and also a new high spec portable console though we seem to have an odd combination of both that is also integral to Nintendo's existing Wii kit (allegedly).
Next up is the new Sony Portable called the 'Vita' though I gather it had a couple of different names before it was unveiled at the E3. I'm really not keen on the 'Vita' tag, it just conjures up images of breakfast cereal or slimming products for some reason. What I see with the Sony's new offering, like Nintendo is very much in line with what has been released so far, it looks very Sony as the new Wii U looks Nintendo. I guess both companies have a brand and style and feel safe with the product and imagery and neither want to upset the consumers by doing something that looks too different. The Vita looks like the existing psp range, on a glance you could be mistaken for thinking its just a new Psp, after all we've had a few of them so far. Sony seem to have gone for touch screen technology as well, after all its very 'en vogue' at the moment. On the positive side both Sony and Nintendo machines have buttons and controllers beside touch screen capability unlike Apple who try and fool us that their stuff is also ideal for ardent gamers out there, trust me it isn't. My problem with touch screen stuff on the Apple range is fun games aside, that your hand always seems to be in the field of vision and touching a screen is never as responsive as a button. Gary my friend in Hong Kong always tries to sell the idea of an ipod/ipad as a gaming console of sorts and it never washes with me, whilst they are fun and look aesthetically good, gaming dedicated gaming devices they'll never be. Anyway, I digress, back to Sony. So their new Vita is all singing and dancing, front and back camera's, rear touch pad (not screen) and front fascia adorned with buttons and again a touch screen. I'm pretty much a Sony fan boy make no mistake but after a range of Psps including the Psp light, 3000 and Psp Go the new Vita just seems like much of the same with added bells and whistles. The new Sony/Ericsson phone/console isn't doing too well I hear and is very expensive so I wonder how Sony will fare with the new Vita?
Maybe it's just me these days that feels a little de-sensitised to the new stuff when back in the day things seem to have had a more wow factor. I recall getting really excited about the Game Boy Advance clam shell handheld and I wasn't disappointed, I still cherish it now. We seem to be in a period now where things seem slightly static and the next big things are yet to come, you only have to watch programs like the Gadget Show to see that devices that replicate true 3D or are controlled by thought are on the horizon. I saw some head gadget at the E3 that gave each eye a different perspective on a driving simulator to make you feel like everything was real and 3D around you and you could turn your head 360 degrees too. Voice recognition also seems to be vastly improving these days so I expect we'll see more of that in the future. The fact is with the new stuff these days is that I am a little bit old school in some respects, whilst I love new stuff I do like my buttons on things, especially when playing games as repeatedly touching a screen with a thumb doesn't feel that convincing to me. I don't think being old school is a bad thing, on the contrary it shows a healthy respect for the past and games that got us here today yet whilst I will always embrace future good ideas I will always remember good solid gaming experiences from the old days.
So that's a few thoughts on things, and in fairness regarding the new stuff a lot remains to be seen and I've no doubt what is coming our way in future months will be good.
For a link to E3 preview stuff including the new Sony and Nintendo items click 'here'.
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