Written by Game Rant‘s Andrew Dyce and Anthony Taormina.
E3 2012 has come and gone, and with it, another batch of press conferences, cinematic trailers, gameplay demonstrations and efforts by each publisher and developer to catch just a bit more of the spotlight. Some managed to do just that exceedingly well, but no E3 would be complete without a few missteps, a few blown opportunities, and several decisions that had gamers everywhere scratching their heads.
Not every moment of E3 2012 was golden, even if the rest of the show was full of fantastic announcements, gameplay demos, and even surprise sequels or brand new IP. And while most of the moments we took issue with will likely be soon forgotten, or go on to be wise business decisions, there’s no denying the disappointment and horror that was experienced the moment they were unveiled.
There’s a good chance that those who paid close attention to the events will share our frustration and confusion as we offer the 5 moments of this year’s show that were, undeniably, the worst.
Scripted Banter
The concept of scripted banter itself is counterintuitive to be putting on a live show in the first place. It doesn’t encourage on-the-fly thinking, nor does it give off the sense that any of the people playing these games care about the product in front of them. There were several moments of scripted conversations scattered amongst each of the big three’s press conferences but the most egregious crimes go to Microsoft’s demo of Madden 13‘s Kinect functionality and the brief 3DS details during Nintendo’s event.
Joe Montana is one of, if not the, greatest football players in history, but he’s also not that great of an orator. His demo of Madden NFL 13 wasn’t all bad, it is Joe Montana after all. But his inability to make the play calling feel natural, and his post-demo claim of: “this brings back some great memories, and I just might have an advantage being a quarterback at this new Madden stuff” was clearly Microsoft trying to get the Hall of Famer to express enthusiasm, but instead it felt like my grandpa talking about “vidya games.”
That awkward interaction, unfortunately, looked like a live performance of Shakespeare at The Old Globe when compared to Reggie Fils-Aime’s witty banter with Scott Moffitt. Since Nintendo’s Press Conference was primarily focused on the Wii U, Moffitt was only given about five minutes to hype up the 3DS’ upcoming slate. The obviously disappointed Moffitt wanted to make sure Fils-Aime knew he felt slighted. His retort? “Thanks a lot Reggie! A couple of minutes? Where’s the love?” Cue the groans.
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I was hoping yall would mention g4′s absolutely atrocious attempt at covering e3.
not part of E3. Just helps bring E3 to those who are not exclusive enough to go.
Yea the girl at ubisoft’s (Not sure if she hates Toby turner)
EA needs to they will make even more money if they actually put effort into multiplayer and not some last minute stick together crap. Dead space 2′s multiplayer was terrible and there is a reason I have not touched ME 3′s multiplayer sense the demo.
shrift?
Wow, so after watching that E3 demo of Far Cry 3, I somehow want to play that game even less… So the main character is supposedly looking for his “girlfriend” but on the way he’s getting with this other girl?? And I’m sorry, but is he invincible or something? He was literally shot like 20 times or more point blank on several occassions without any consequences… And I still hate how freakin’ quiet all of the weapons are, I feel like I’m watching an airsoft fight, and the amount of hits he can take kind of supports that too…
Normally they play these demos on really easy with maxed out health so I wouldn’t put much into that. But yeah I’m not sure about the whole tribe thing with the naked lady. I think the game will be pretty good. I’m excited for the cover option and stealth kills in this game along with the open world. I think the cover did really well for a FPS in Killzone.
Wow! Talk about jumping the gun. DS3 Looks nothing like Gears. Oh wait, it’s because Isaac can roll and John Carver yelled out curse words?
Remember the experience will differ when you play solo or co-op. exactly how you said, co-op will be “fun & excited” with a touch of facing horror with friends. Solo will still carry that same survival/ horror of the 2nd and Im sure playing on higher difficulties will still give that intense, alone feeling.
That is putting ALOT of confidence into what hasn’t been shown. From everything we saw at the press conference, and behind closed-doors demo, the title is placing far more emphasis on machine-gunning and cover than in previous games.
We can’t speak to the game in its entirety, but I really hope you’re right to assume that the rest of the game will be exactly what you expect.
How did Usher’s waste of time not make this list? Seriously. We wanted game info, not a mini-concert. even 2 minutes on that is time lost in marketing.
Though it wasn’t for the more hardcore gamers Usher’s preformance was the best way to sell Dance Central. Certainly better than watching random dancers actually play the thing.
Pretty much all of EA’s conference was godawful. Only two things I liked: Dead Space 3 and TOR going free to play to level 15 in July.
Basic summary of rest:
Heres a bunch of sports games! Oh, yeah, and we’re remaking a NFS game we put out 7 years ago. Also, here’s generic shooter- I mean Medal Of HonorL Warfighter. Also, Crysis 3, by the company who SHOULD make Timesplitters 4, but due to it underselling on PS2, we’ll just hide behind this.
SKYLANDERS GIANTS will sell more than every game in that summary on Justin’s comment
Now remember, when it comes to cancelled games, it comes to ruined games.