LOS ANGELES—By the time you read this, I'll be back in New York nursing a rather potent strain of Convention Plague. E3 has come and gone, and we've seen plenty of games at the show. We've covered the press conferences of the big three system manufacturers and got hands-on time with several games.
We just haven't been very surprised by the show. I'd have to describe this year as a "by-the-numbers" E3, with the standard hype, the standard upcoming game previews, and the standard lack of major announcements.
Nintendo detailed upcoming features and games for the Wii U, but it didn't reveal a price or a specific release date for the new console. Despite some rumors earlier this week, meanwhile, the company also didn't announce a "Nintendo 3DS XL" or any incremental upgrade to the Nintendo DS.
Likewise, Microsoft showed more games for the Xbox 360, but there was no hint of new hardware. Sony showed off more games for the PlayStation 3 and some upcoming features for the PlayStation Vita, but there was no mention of new hardware from the company, either.
All the major series are getting new games, but we already heard about Halo 4, God of War: Ascension, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. There just wasn't any really big news from the show.
This doesn't mean E3 was a failure, though. On the contrary, the big companies showed enough games to keep me excited through the next year. While 2K Games postponed Bioshock Infinite and didn't show much of the game at the show, the previews I saw of Borderlands 2 and X-Com: Enemy Unknown looked great. While Konami didn't have many details about the upcoming Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, the 3DS game Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate will be very Metroidvania-like, and series favorite Alucard will be in the game. More importantly, I tried out Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and while the game isn't exactly tactical espionage action, it looks like an exciting, third-person sci-fi slash- fest.
Microsoft and Sony are still trying to find their footing with motion controls, but new voice controls with Kinect in games like Madden NFL 13 and FIFA 13 could make sports games more immersive without making players wave their arms. The PlayStation Move controllers haven't caught on very well, but Sony's new Wonderbook and the Pottermore-developed Book of Spells could be the family-friendly hook Sony needs for its augmented reality features to get big.
Halo 4 will be a sequel, and there aren't any hints it will be drastically different from the other Halo games. God of War: Ascension will be a prequel, and there aren't any hints it will be drastically different from the other God of War games. Gears of War: Judgment will be a prequel, and no, there aren't any hints it will be different, either. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 looks promising as the series' first foray into the near future, but it will likely stick to its formula of an exciting single-player campaign and deep multiplayer features. If you're a fan of shooters or otherwise big-name violent games, you know what's coming and it'll probably be great. It just won't be surprising.
I personally am more excited about the upcoming game remakes. I'm sure Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 will be fun, but I'm really looking forward to Persona 4 Arena and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD more. While Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation will make a home in my Vita when it comes out, the ability to play PlayStation One Classics and the upcoming Final Fantasy X HD will probably eat up even more time. Some of those games (the two HD titles from the classic PlayStation and PS2 eras) weren't on display at E3, but between Jack Tretton's statement that PSOne Classics will finally come to the Vita and Atlus's Persona-heavy booth, there was plenty to excite genre fans.
This year's E3 was a fun look at new titles, and while it didn't have any big surprises, it had enough reminders that the industry is still going strong and, regardless of your favorite platform or genre, there are several promising games on the horizon.
For more from E3, see the slideshow below.
