or: How I Loathe Those Going to E3.

I’m no member of press or media. Sadly, that means no E3 for me. But besides Toyko Game Show and the MacWorld (or the iPod version), E3 is one of my most ancitipcated events each year. I can’t play the games, we won’t get the games soon, and anything else we get out of there is pretty pointless for the consumer, yet I’m still pumped. For the next two or three days, I’m going to be posting a TON of E3 impressions. I’m hoping it doesn’t disappoint. For now, this post will center around what I’m expecting, what I’m hoping for, and news that has already spilled out.

Expecting:

Sony’s conference will be far from a mystery. We know that Heavy Rain, God of War 3, and Uncharted 2 are their big fall games and we’ll most likely be seeing more of them. Pair that was the recently leaked news of PSP Go, Sony doesn’t seem to have many surprises in store. A solid showing, yes. Though there are the everything-but-confirmed rumors of the PS3 Slim, which, without a price drop, would be beyond pointless news.

Microsoft is another deal all together. We’ve gotten NXE and the FF13 news last year, so what could they have in store now? Mass Effect 2 and the latest Halo is all that comes to mind. I suspect, as with Sony, we’ll be getting a new toy, a camera that detects motion. Both have been working on one, so will E3 be it’s unveiling? Honestly, I’m not expecting big things from Microsoft, but  I hope that my 360 will have some good news to look forward too.

Nintendo will be a complete surprise. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing, well, only time will tell. Nintendo for the past few years have been extremely disappointing with their announcements. Between Reggie and the crazy lady sword fighting on stage (Wii Sports Resort) and Wii Music with the psycho drummer, Nintendo’s bar is so low that they can win points by doing almost absolutely nothing. I can hope for a new Kid Icarus or Zelda, expecting that we’ll be seeing more games and less “play things.” Of course, I’ll do myself a favor and just expect them to do better than last year. That’s a pretty low expectation, right?

Beyond the big three, there’s also the announcement that’s coming from EGM of their revival! Heck yeah! I love the magazine and I’m extremely glad that everything has worked out for the better. Not only are the ones who got laid off doing fine on their own, but EGM, the briefly dead gaming magazine, decided not to give up either. I just hope it’ll be able to be just as good, if not better, than the last iteration.

Hoping:

Off the top of my head, I can’t think of what, for sure, is going to be shown. But there are a few games that I hope to see more of. There are the more obvious games including Final Fantasy 13 and Beyond Good and Evil 2. I don’t expect anything beyond trailers and with FF13, a playable English demo (that probably won’t be released to public if so).

Then there are some new games coming out this fall such as Sabateur, Dante’s Inferno and Bayonetta that I’m optimistic about and want to see more of. We need more new IPs, and I’m glad there are companies taking these risks.

Finally, I’m hoping that Hideo Kojima’s announcement will be more than just a new PSP game (as said in the Qore video). It seems to still be related to Metal Gear, but I want Solid’s saga to be done with. He had his goodbye with MGS4, and now it’s time for something new. I’d be happy that it’s a new Metal Gear game as long as it’s a new story as well. I won’t be happy if it’s PSP only. The PSP is a great system, but when you have the power of the PS3 or 360 and the mind of Kojima, do it right. Go big.

Already Known:

For a show big as E3, news is bound to slip out before show. The most recent one has to be the images and Qore video of the PSP Go. My impressions… Well, at least it’s not replacing the PSP 3000. It is definitely an attempt to combat the DSi and with nothing new other than looks and a few new features, this isn’t the next-gen PSP. I won’t condemn it for not having dual analog nubs because of that fact. However, being 44% lighter is quite impressive as the weight of the PSP already feels light.

That’s actually it for the already known, at least, off the top of my head. Plenty of awesome trailers have been shown and this E3 is shaping up to be a great one. E3 2008 can suck it.