This year’s E3 keynotes once again failed to truly rouse the gaming community with any groundbreaking revelations or megaton announcements, much to the disappointment of those of us hoping to see some unexpectedly juicy details spilled. All in all though, despite the presentations being terminally dull the messages sent out by the big three were fairly positive, if a little predictable. Nintendo have no plans to stop riding their casual gravy train, Sony are dropping prices, and Microsoft are continuing to gain ground with their publisher relations.
We’ve not had a lot to work with, but as usual E3 marks a fantastic point in the year to examine the industry and make a few predictions as to what the next year will hold. First up though, let’s have a rundown of the three main keynotes...
After last year’s focus on Wii Fit, many expected Nintendo to put more focus on their core gamer franchises this year to make up for the rather slim offerings on this front over the last year. If anything Nintendo’s keynote this year should be the final signal to stoic naysayers that the company really is in full swing in an unapologetically different direction. Announcing a sequel to Wii Sports and a Wii version of Animal crossing, as far as the majority of their fans are concerned Nintendo news doesn’t get any bigger or better than this. From a more traditional perspective, most of what they showed appeared fairly weak but – shock horror – lucrative. Most confusing of all was Wii Music, which I can’t personally see doing terribly well retail unless they keep the price nailed pretty low: Simplicity’s all well and good, but Wii Music seems to be lacking the competitive edge that’s made Wii Sports the phenomenon it is.
Overall there’s very little to predict about Nintendo’s next year that won’t seem entirely obvious, but you heard it here first anyway: Nintendo’s sales will continue to flourish, with the 1:1 movement attachment for Wii Sports 2 whipping up the same hype that its predecessor has for the last 18 months. Expect clueless casuals to be passing on Chinese whispers about the 1:1 attachment like wildfire over the next month, and confused mothers to start describing it as being the ‘Wii 2’. Much to the contradiction of my previous predictions, it seems likely we’ll see some seriously interesting projects announced over the next year; with EA consciously making an effort to get the most out of the Wiimote so far it’ll be interesting to see what third parties manage to cook up using the new 1:1 mapping. Wii cynics, hold your fire...
