Winner of 2011 E3: Microsoft - Software Overpowers Hardware!

The E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) is traditionally an event where people get excited about futuristic products that will be released at later points in time. Generally speaking, a new hardware device tends to carry more weight than a new game. When games are announced that focus on the future, it usually generates more excitement than games being released that year. However, the E3 show is an opportunity to place publicity on current products that will be sold later that same year.

Sony tends to have a reputation for focusing on games being released years down the road. Some critics have pointed out the reason for this is because Sony has nothing to show “that particular year.” This year, Sony unveiled a new portable console called the PSVita, while still showing a lot of games for the PS3 being released later this year. The games Sony displayed for the PS3 were the ones expected (and the ones rumored), but Sony actually did not show off several PS3 games that were available to be shown. This may suggest the games will be delayed.

I believe the PSVita disappointed a lot of people in several different ways. The name of “PSVita” is considered relatively stupid. The price of the PSVita is between $249 to $299, but this is too expensive for Sony to expect a large market anytime soon. There is no doubt Nintendo will remain champion of the handheld game market for many years to come.

The PS3 has a relatively strong lineup of games scheduled for release this year, but none of these games are “best-sellers.” Games like Uncharted 3 and Resistance 3 are considered good games born in the PS3 era, but both of these series are known for experiencing disappointing sales that were lower than expected. I believe Sony did the right thing trying to focus on this year’s games rather than Gran Turismo 6, which won’t be released for a very long time. But it was a mistake for Sony to try and shine all the light on just a couple of this year’s games rather than evenly distribute the light on others in niche markets.

Sony: B
The PSVita announcement was handled nicely, but the name actually left people disappointed. Sony has a nice lineup of PS3 games for 2011, but several of the games Sony announced were rather disappointing. Sony’s lack of desire to show several games also suggests some of the games on the show floor may be delayed.

Nintendo is the company I really thought had the best chance of winning this year’s E3. Nintendo was said to be unveiling a new “next-generation console.” But here at Controversy, we knew the console would not be a “next-gen” console with “next-gen” graphics due to the fact that the hardware specifications would not allow it – as we discussed here. Nevertheless, I really thought any form of new console from Nintendo would carry so much excitement along with it that Nintendo would easily be crowned the winner of the 2011 E3.

Unfortunately, Nintendo’s presentation of the Wii U left a lot of people disappointed and confused. Nintendo has made it clear the Wii U is not a portable gaming device. But the Wii U does seem to be both a console and a controller in one. And the evidence suggests that as long as the Wii U is kept within a certain distance of your TV set, it can be used as a portable gaming device.

Nintendo did not officially unveil hardware specifications or pricing for the Wii U. But our industry insider sources at Controversy have already provided us with information relating to Wii U specifications. As expected, the Wii U has graphics similar to the Xbox 360 and PS3. In fact, it actually appears the graphics of the Wii U are less impressive than the Xbox 360 and PS3. For example, there is no doubt the Tekken games on Xbox 360 and PS3 look better than Tekken on the Wii U.

This is a bit surprising because according to the reported specifications, the GPU and CPU of the Wii U are very impressive. The Wii U has a GPU nearly identical to the Xbox 360 GPU, and the same can be said about the CPU. Similarly, the Wii U has the same 512MB amount of RAM as the Xbox 360 and PS3. I think the reason why the Wii U probably has graphics less impressive than the Xbox 360 and PS3 is because so much processing power is devoted to other functions that Xbox 360 and PS3 don’t need to deal with.

Nintendo: B-
Nintendo focused on the Wii and 3DS consoles very nicely. But the Wii U ended up being a confusing disappointment. Whenever an audience is confused, you can say something was handled incorrectly.

Microsoft is a company known for using trade shows such as E3 to focus the spotlight on products being released relatively soon. From a business point of view, this is a very smart decision. High-profile games receive all the attention they deserve, which can help boost preorders. And if enough spotlight focus is placed on a low-profile game, market status can be raised to new heights.

I really thought Microsoft would be given the lowest rating this year at E3, simply because both Nintendo and Sony would be announcing new forms of hardware. I knew Microsoft had the strongest lineup of popular software this year, with amazing games such as Gears of War 3 and Forza Motorsport 4 – both considered the best game ever released in their particular genre. I also knew Microsoft may be announcing a couple rumored games, such as some form of Halo Anniversary Edition. Thankfully, Microsoft lived up to all these promises.

What really won the 2011 E3 show for Microsoft was the announcement of a new Halo “trilogy” starting with Halo 4! Microsoft is known for their tradition of saving exciting announcements until the end of their E3 presentation. Some people thought Halo 4 might be announced, due to the fact that hours earlier the xbox.com page apparently listed Halo 4 as an upcoming game as an accident (since Halo 4 was deleted from the list shortly after being posted). But nobody thought an entirely new “trilogy” of Halo games involving Master Chief John 117 would be announced for Xbox 360!

Halo: Reach is an amazing game, which is why it is so awesome to watch Master Chief use that form of jetpack in Halo 4! The anniversary edition of Halo: Combat Evolved is completely updated to high-definition. The game also adds a variety of new game play elements not included in the original Halo: CE game. This additional game play will link the anniversary edition of Halo: Combat Evolved to Halo 4, Halo: Reach, the Forerunners, and other elements of the Halo plot.

Microsoft also focused on some amazing games and features associated with Kinect. The theme of making games better with Kinect is very important to Microsoft. It’s very cool the way games such as Ghost Recon: Future Soldier will actually have custom modes only available if you are using Kinect!

The anniversary edition of Halo: Combat Evolved will be released on 11/11/11. We were told Halo 4 will be launched during the Holiday shopping season of 2012. Gears of War 3 will be released in September and Forza Motorsport 4 will be released on 10/11/11.

This lineup of games is amazing! Halo has been called the greatest First-Person Shooter ever made. Gears of War is considered the greatest Third-Person Shooter ever made. Forza Motorsport 3 is now considered the greatest racing game ever made, and Forza Motorsport 4 races further ahead than ever. The announcement of the Halo 4 “trilogy” pushed this over the top for the Xbox 360!

Microsoft: A
The Xbox 360 holiday lineup of games for 2011 is literally the strongest lineup of games in the history of the videogame industry! The only other year to come close was 2007 for the Xbox 360. But getting Halo, Gears of War, Forza, and all of the other third-party exclusives, Xbox Live Arcade games, Xbox Live Indie games, and the surprise announcement of a new Halo trilogy makes it so Xbox 360 and Microsoft easily win this year’s E3.

E3 Champion of 2011: Microsoft
The Xbox 360 software overpowered the relatively disappointing hardware announcements from Nintendo and Sony. The Xbox 360 has the best software lineup this holiday season. Microsoft easily wins the 2011 E3.