Extra Punctuation: The Big E3

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I'm giving Nintendo the benefit of the doubt so far, and considering the WiiU controller a "prototype" still. Meant only to demonstrate the mini-screen functionality. Hopefully, when the real thing is released it will have upgraded tactile inputs. Dual analog sticks would be a nice start.

As for the dual screen stuff, I see plenty of games (both single- and multi-player) that can make use of it. For instance, ANY RPG with an in-game menu. Instead of pressing a button to pause the game and bring up your inventory, save game options, etc... you can just access your inventory from the mini screen. If you need to pause the game, well, that's what the PAUSE button is for.

Imagine Fallout (not a Nintendo game, I know, but I'm playing New Vegas atm) where the handheld screen was a permanent PipBoy. You could sort through your inventory and drop unneeded items while you stroll. You could switch weapons or ammo on the fly. And if a game developer wanted to be mean (read: make it more lifelike or challenging) they could take away the "pause" option in combat. You want to use a stimpack mid-combat? Find a hiding spot because the bullets will continue to fly.

Any FPS could track minimap, multiplayer kill count, weapons and ammo on the small screen, leaving the whole TV for unobstructed field of vision. RTS (which generally suck on consoles, true) could have a replica of your main screen on the touchpad allowing for touch-input to mimic a mouse.

TL;DR EVERY game has a hud of some sort, most games have menus. Those items could easily migrate to the handheld device, freeing up TV real estate for the game.

I certainly didn't need your help being disappointed by the E3 announcements this time. Oh hey! A bunch of franchises that have already gone on too long are getting yet another installment! Sony and Nintendo still haven't come up with their next consoles yet! Absolutely nothing interesting is happening with PC gaming for like the tenth year in a row! Nintendo came up with another silly gimmick to sell their next system! Yeesh. At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if the entire industry collapses 1983-style in another year or two.

The Sony splitscreen thing was the only remotely interesting news I've heard so far, and I had managed to miss that the first time around so thanks for informing me. And even that, well...

the antithesis:

My biggest shock was not that someone figured out how to do it, but that someone already makes sets that use polarized glasses and not those retarded shutter glasses. And it's only $700? Wasn't it just like a year ago that non-3D sets that big were selling for that amount?

My big question is why Vizio decided to put a top-bottom mode in their sets in the first place. I guess maybe it was because they anticipated this use for it, but then why didn't they make their own splitscreen glasses available commercially?

I love how when anyone DARES to say something negative about Nintendo the fanboys come out of the woodworks. Tears. Delicious. B'awwwww!

Anyway. Yeah the TV was the most exciting thing for me too. But like mentioned it was meant as an entry level tv to get people started. The technology should spread to other (bigger) tvs too. I had hoped to hold off for glasses free 3D to land, but this is giving glasses an extra perk.

The ME3 voice commands looked retarded. Let's think about this. I can press a few buttons, like i have been for 25 years. -OR- I can break my immersion by yelling out at the TV and then feel completely ridiculous.

I want to give MS the benefit of the doubt. But it honestly does feel like they're giving up on their user base to chase the casual market. I can't blame them given the money involved, but ow.

Sony: "$2--motherfucking-49!" They actually had some decent games in there too, like Dust and Ruin.

Nintendo's controller lacks dual analogs. Good grief.

Though you got to look at it like this. At least Nintendo and MS are trying to make their gimmick work and please everyone. Cause the Causal crowd won't care about the next Gears, or FF, or whatever we "hardcore" gamers are playing. They like these little mini games that aren't to hard.

I hardly believe that any company will fully switch over to just pleasing the "Causal" crowd. They might make games for it, sure as they want to keep making money. But I still think that the big time company will make the good hardcore games. Like ME3 and all that. For Sony, not to be a fanboy or anything but I haven't heard shit about the PSMove.

I too am sad that there's no E3 video, but it's cool. I love you anyway, Yahtzee.

Please, PLEASE do DNF though!

Of course the Wii U's name was going to be picked on. I defy any game reviewer to not make a joke on it. The instant thing which came to my mind was Ling from Kung Pow; Enter the Fist.
And apparently I'm not the only one.
Although it's a well know fact that giving things a silly name is key to getting the name remembered.

Although the rest of the console looks good. I've always liked the DS and touch screen, it's a much better idea than motion controls, although I'm going to wait and see if the games will have left handed support, which, being left handed, was always a huge problem with most of the games on the DS.

I still think that the "table" game play is very cool (buttonless and all). The problem is look at the 2 screens at same time. Work on the DS because the screens are close and have the same measures. The majority of the games on the WiiiiiiUUUUUU will use the gamepad screen to show subscreens: inventory, map, this stuff. It's cool but you you can live without it. So, in the end of the day, people will buy the console to play Nintendo games. There's a lot of Nintendo fans saying that this is a big innovation but they don't care. They wanna just more Zelda, Metroid and Mario and I can't blame them.

I thought the voice control for Mass Effect was pretty cool, and probably the only cool thing I've seen a gaming company do with Kinect, but yeah, I can see how it could go wrong.

Y'know, for all his cynicism, at least he says to try this stuff for yourself. XD Some people judge things without even trying them, which just makes them lose out.

Golden Gaytime is delicious, especially if you have it in one of those Krusher things from KFC.

Anywho, I pretty much agree with what you said. I for one really hope that the split-screen thingy Sony has going becomes a success, seems like an ingenious idea.

[Esoteric Reference]:
I always feel awkward when I have to do something like give voice commands for a game. It was OK for Hey You Pikachu cause I was little and didn't know the difference between T.V. people and not-T.V. people.

Now that I have firmly established that there is a difference, voice commands don't hold any merit for me.

Well, it certainly doesn't help their argument for ME 3 and Kinect voice commands, when other games have done the same exact thing with just a normal headset. Microsoft is just forcing them into using Kinect as a way to push a few more units out the door.

Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft was shoving Kinect units so deep into Shepards arse, simply because Bioware branched out with ME 2 and released it on the PS3 as well, killing off one of the 360's most potent "exclusives".

Yaaay, Fanta!

Using voice commands is in theory more convenient than pressing buttons because it doesn't require moving your otherwise-occupied fingers to different places.

But moving your fingers requires less effort than talking.

The voice command for ME3 is a ripoff that fells forced upon the game.
If they wanted us to experience that "squad commander" feeling, they would have made it so we could use our headset on the xbox. No reason they couldn't have used that instead.

The only thing exciting about this E3 were the awesome games we would all be excited for ANYWAY. Think about it. Would you be LESS excited for the Fifth installment in the revered Elder Scrolls series if you "didn't see hype trailers for it"? What about the third Mass Effect? Or the third (or second, depending on who you ask) Deus Ex?

They are all sequels. We're gonna have expectations for these games with or without E3.

I'm down with you, Yahtzee. I owe my fresh cynicism to you, so I must take the time now to thoroughly thank you (no really) for revealing the games industry for what it is.

It's always better to just assume everything is shit until it can prove itself otherwise.

well, atleast you already got Duke Nukem out of the way!

For Microsoft and Sony its business as usual?

Did you write this before E3 was finished Mr. Croshaw? Sony have put out - to quote my favourite Penny Arcade sentence ever - a lump of congealed future, that seems to be completely unmentioned? You got the awesome TV thing in there, but no mention whatsoever on a pretty strong looking Playstation Vita, which is a shame I was hoping you'd have something to input for that one.

I sure hope that this week is a Duke Nukem Forever review since we Australians were first to get it.

Why bother? The old one said it was terrible, and it turned out to be. If he did another it just be a waste of time.

voice control sucks, I'm an adult and I hate talking to stupid phone answering systems, I don't want to talk to my TV also

the nintendo controller will work for many types of games

metal gear where the controller is your codec
aliens where the controller is the motion detector
games like culdcept where you can keep your hand on the controller
rts games that can have a minimap on the controller
rpgs keeping inventory and stats on the controller and leaving the main screen for eye candy
a battlemech game where the controller showed your mech status
a terminator game where the controller was your health and you played a minigame when you got shot to re-route your systems like in the movies

no more heros already used the wiimote as your cellphone and that was freaking AWESOME

having the controller screen adds to the immersion if it is done right

The future of console gaming...Gimmick after gimmick after gimmick after gimmick. Just make games damn it, not this shit that keeps on flowing out of control. I find myself turning more and more to my PC, that and I picked up a PS2 (large one, not that slim flimsy POS) and large collection of good games (in good condition no less) for a fraction of what 2 modern "games" would cost. Maybe I'm just getting old, but screw accessibility and fuck these gimmicks.

Now grandpa's going too go take his nap. :p

Dude, you're trying to hard to bash on stuff.
Same goes for Kinetic and Move. Yeah, they maybe aren't the future of gaming, but they ARE fun.

Same goes for the 3D. Yeah we get it, it's not real 3D, no one is retarded enough to think so. But still, it is fun, jet again. I'm not a big fan of 3D my self, but I truly enjoy watching a movie when the effects are done good. Same goes for games.

Motion controls are all down to personal preference. I'm not a fan of motion controls, which is why my wii is collected dust now. Motion controls can show the shakiness of your hand (aiming a bow for example) and it can be a little annoying if you can't steady your hand to hit the target, especially a moving one. That and the flailing the wii remote around hurts my wrist if I'm not careful. I just prefer to smash random buttons that flail a controller around if things heat up.

Again, 3D is personal preference. I don't find 3D fun, since any 3D makes my head ache and (after long exposure) can make my stomach heave. If I had the choice between playing in 3D or 2D (excluding my low 3D tolerance) I would pick 2D since I fail to see the point of 3D. You don't read books in 3D, I don't see why you need to play in 3D for entertainment. That's just my opinion however.

Of course, you are entitled to your own opinion. Just pointing personal preference out, that's all.

OP: I'm going to reserve judgement on the WiiU (hopefully they change the stupid name, doubt it though). We'll see how it goes after a month on the market. If GAME or Gamestation ever get one to try out, I'll give it a shot for myself. I don't own a 360 so I can't say much on that. I also don't own PSPs so the TV news is the only thing there. Doesn't affect me but I bet it makes some people happy XD

Can't wait to see next week and the opinions on the games. Is it just me or are there a lot of Shooter games/FPSers in this E3?

Yahtzee Croshaw:
Finally, the only thing that really struck me as interesting from Sony's presentation was the concept of the dual TV - the idea that the two people in the room could put on different glasses and each be seeing a different screen. It's such a simple idea to implement with current 3D technology it makes me wonder why it took this long to think of it. Playing splitscreen is always a massive pain in the arse when you know for a fact the other bastard is only winning because he keeps watching your screen so you throw your Fanta at him and your mum yells at you. This is an actual gaming technology advancement that seems like it would actually enhance gaming without getting in the way of all the existing bits of it I like. It's just a shame they expect us to buy a whole new TV for it when there doesn't seem to be any reason you couldn't modify existing 3D TVs to do it, use some of that fucking technology for good for once.

Don't know if anyone has beaten me to it, but 2 things.
1: That split screen technology has been around for a few years, the only new thing there was the nice price.
2: All 3DTVs can already do it.

Otherwise, nice article, happy to hear you skipping that video this year, there are other more deserving ones. Really looking forward to your inFamous 2 review, DNF I can pretty much guess what you're gonna say.

For the Mass Effect 3 voice activation thing... Yahtzee's "argument" doesn't really seem to see past the tip of his own nose. Sure a button is faster most of the time... but what if all the immediate buttons are used up by all the other functions?

If the choice is between going in to some kind of paused state to negotiate some kind of command menu or instead just actively staying in-game and being able to say the command... well I'll take the latter any day.

The more interesting point in that argument is: why do you need the Kinect for this feature? A headset could surely do the same job, as I'm guessing the voice recognition lies in the software rather than the hardware?

Using voice commands is in theory more convenient than pressing buttons because it doesn't require moving your otherwise-occupied fingers to different places, which is something I think a buttonphile could get behind. It's not likely they'll get voice control right, though. There are not nearly enough attempts at implementing it to know which mistakes to look out for.

Me personally, do not want to be yelling at a computer to move a character when one button press does it far quicker. Games suck. Ive had games that you tell your guys to go behind cover (you mark the spot) and the computer still makes them hide behind the opporsite side. The side the enemies are shooting at. Yes, thats you Operation Flashpoint. Thing is, yelling "Hide behind wall" takes more time than a button press and we make you more pissed off with lack of control when they do the wrong thing. You will be shouting "No my side of the wall fucking retards!" as your guys get shot to pieces. Only way round it is to make the games easier to make the voice command work better. Voice command is a gimmick, and adds nothing to a game that you couldnt already do before better.



Considering that Fallout 3 is probably my favorite game from this gen, I should be excited for Skyrim (also a lot of room for sophomoric humor in that title) but at this point, I'm never going to buy a Bethesda game at launch. And this one has a new engine so you know it's going to be a mess; they never even got the hang of working with the last one.

If you're refering to Fallout: New Vegas, it was made by Obsidion not Bethesda.

Have you ever had a Bethesda game that worked really well? I don't mind glitches (especially in big open world games) but if glitches were gold, Bethesda would be rich.

Awww, Yahtzee I was really hoping you'd touch on the lolz of Sony's AT&T exclusivity for the Vita and the reaction the audience (and most definitely everyone watching) had as well as the lolz that is the Nintendo Wii U and how it only supports one controller per console as well as ALL the games they showed that were third party and "amazing looking" were the PS3/360 version of the game or the many many lolz from Microsoft and its complete lack of anything interesting for games at all (sorta touched on it, but barely). I mean, Halo remastered in HD with no multiplayer? A Halo 4 when they claimed Halo Reach would be the last? I lol so much at them and their 1 trick pony.

The stuff does sound interesting but i think that the whole dual screen thing might be a bit rushed out. It might be the same effect as the 3DS if you move you head away from a certain spot.
Just saying

The only time I would see voice as udeful is if you can use it during cut scenes where the bad guy just blabbers crap and points the gun at the protagonist while he/she points back but no one shoots. Then you just yell stuff like "Shoot him *profanity*!!!" and the protagonist makes the bad guy an ex-person.

Apparently this feature would've been very handy story wise in RE5, or so I've heard.

Also, I use two controllers simultainiosly, one has 7 "buttons" and the other has... a huge buttload, at least. I'd go nuts if any of them had a screen as well. More specifically the smaller one, can't think up a way to place a screen on it in a decent way and still have it show.

Also, someone has to take all the cloud living fanboys down to earth (and sometimes below, just for good measure) and you my good man do so very well.


Wow. What a flimsy, elitist, self-righteous argument that is. Putting the fanrage aside, let me offer a different take on this topic: It doesn't matter how much more ammo Nintendo gives you in your critiques Ben, it's getting old, it's not funny anymore and it's just done to deliberately piss people off while beating a dead horse. Running gags must die and that's a problem you haven't gotten into your beer-fueled brain.

This is another reason I don't like Yahtzee anymore. Not only does he not man-up to his own critism, he's starting to sound like a broken record.

Really? I always thought that Yahtzee tries to think of new jokes every week. Sure he ends up repeating a lot of the same jokes he made before, but still...

I still believe the best of E3 was Dark Souls. I hope i wasn't the only one to think this...

Here's what I have to say for the big three:

-Nintendo: Honestly, the idea of a second console that's also a controller with a second screen that interacts with the Wii just sounds unweildy. Now, if the Wii U can function as an HD handheld on its own, then we've got some potential. Maybe this is where portable movies could succeed where the PSP and UMDs failed. Oh, and all the HD games that could be developed. Hell, gets some of those people making games for the smart phones and have them work on the Wii U.

-Microsoft: not much more to say, although they have shown this simple attachemnt to the Kinect that would reduce the space needed to play it. Good for people with less space in their homes. And it would only cost $30. Too bad it probably doesn't change what's inherently wrong with the whole concept of the Kinect.

-Sony: Like Microsoft, Sony seems intent on salvaging motion controllers. But unlike the Kinect, I think Sony just might. I've seen footage of a new controller set-up using some weird sphere thing in front of the player. And it visibly improved the 1-to-1 ratio of control. It's one of those things you have to see to believe, but I think if anything will make motion control more viable, it'll be this "Razer Sixense".

Jesper Christiansen:

Newsflash: ITS OPTIONAL!

I actually enjoy your E3 videos Yathzee. Its always fun to hear what you have to say about it! I am both excited and a little bit annoyed by the Wii U. Im really looking forward to seeing how the new controller can be used, especially after hearing some talk about how in the new Aliens: Colonial Marines, they could map the motion tracker to the controller.

And im still very ambivalent towards Kinect and MOVE. I've had a 360 for about 3 years now and a PS3 for about 2 and I still don't largely pretend like they don't exist. If anything I like the MOVE better than Kinect, because like you pointed out, Kinect lacks tangibility and while I can see that working for party games, I just can't see it working with titles like say, Gears of War. Then again that was probably never the intention and also I have yet to actually try either of the two, so I'll reserve my ultimate judgement for now.

You know, this article has been on the front page for a little while now and the typo pokes me into the eye every time I open the escapist.

"Yahtzee wees" not "Yahtzee wee's"

I wee, you wee, he/she/it wees, we wee, you wee, they wee.


Maybe I just lack the imagination to see its applications but all I know is that a screen stops feeling like my proxy eyes for looking into a magical new world if I have to swap it out for another, smaller set of eyes every now and again.

Oh but when a handheld does it, it's actually a good idea, right? Seriously, I don't care how close to each other the DS/DSI/3DS's dual screens are, I'm still pretty much looking from one screen to another when I play games on it. The Wii U, isn't really doing anything to convince me that same scenario won't happen with it's controller.

Ah, but when the DS does it, it's on the same focal plane and the screens are almost the same size, or close enough that it doesn't matter. Switching your focus from a 6 inch screen 15-20 inches away from your face and a 42" (for examply) screen 6 feet away would probably get tiresome rather quickly. Not to mention that depending on the height of your TV, your eyes might have a long ways to travel between screens. I think that most people hold a controller in their lap. Imagine constantly looking from your lap to a TV 3 feet of the ground. It just sounds annoying for a lot of applications.

Now, I'm not judging it, as I haven't used it. It might work fantastically for all I know, but from what my experiences are with using the VMUs in the Dreamcast controllers, it wasn't easy, it wasn't intuitive and generally I ended up ignoring the VMU because taking my eyes of the main screen was detrimental to my ability to play the games well.

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