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E3 doesn’t officially start until Tuesday, but gamers have a lot to talk about already with Microsoft, Sony, EA, and Ubisoft all holding their press conferences earlier today. They all dazzled us with new games, big announcements, celebrity appearances, and paid actors pretending to have fun in hopes of capturing the hearts and minds of consumers everywhere.
Monday was quite a start to this year’s E3, but some companies came out better than others. Here’s a short list of the day’s biggest winners and losers:
Winner: Uncharted games
Naughty Dog showed off a new level for Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, featuring some of the best water effects I’ve seen. The Uncharted series is at its best during over-the-top action set pieces, and watching Nathan Drake escape from a sinking ship being flooded with water reminded me exactly why my love for this series outweighs my love for life itself.
Meanwhile, Uncharted: Golden Abyss is clearly on a mission to single-handedly sell the PS Vita with the best graphics I can recall seeing for a portable game. Even the touchscreen features, like sliding your finger across a series of obstacles you want Nathan Drake to cross, look surprisingly decent.
Loser: Child actors
Some of you may have heard about my undying love for all things Disney, so it won’t shock you to learn that I was pretty excited when Microsoft announced a Disneyland game for Kinect. My wide, Cheshire cat-like smile quickly turned into a series of cringes at the fake enthusiasm of the child actors narrating the title’s clunky mini-games. Groan.
Winner: Halo fans
Most of us figured we would see Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary during Microsoft’s press conference. We weren’t disappointed. The updated graphics look slick, and I’m personally looking forward to the nostalgia that’ll come with playing all of those classic maps again.
The real surprise was the announcement of Halo 4. Microsoft even called it the beginning of a new trilogy, so I guess they basically announced Halo 5 and 6, too. Looks like fans of the series will get their fill of Master Chief for years to come.
Loser: Star Wars fans
The much-anticipated Star Wars game for Kinect looks like less fun than swinging a plastic lightsaber at a tree. It looks like this thing just walks you in front of an enemy, waits for you to flail your arm, then automatically moves you to the next idiotic battle droid. We also found out that the title is going to take place during the prequel trilogy. God. Damn. It.
Even Star Wars: The Old Republic disappointed with its meager showing at EA’s press conference. All we got was a montage of old trailers. No gameplay, no release date, and no HK-47.
Winner: Rayman: Origins
I thought Rayman: Origins sounded neat when I first heard about it. A retro, 2D Rayman game? Sure. Sign me up. But the gameplay Ubisoft showed at their press conference was far more impressive than I expected. It looks like a beautiful, vibrant cartoon with elements of…Tetris? Hell yes.
Loser: Cable companies
As if Hulu wasn’t doing enough damage to traditional television, Microsoft announced that live TV will soon be coming to the 360. It’s not hard to imagine millions of gamers dropping their cable services if you can get the same content on Xbox Live. Of course, details on this new service are scarce, so I’m assuming a lot here. Still, I’m sure that Comcast isn’t exactly thrilled about this news.
That's it for Monday. Tomorrow I'll see Nintendo's new system and get my first chance to walk around the show floor. If nothing else, that'll make me a winner.