We are getting closer and closer to the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo and while the previews will be flying, I decided to kind of look back at last year’s conference. I decided I wanted to start off with something a little fun. Filled with some decent moments, and a few surprises, the E3 keynotes fill the gaming audience with a lot of highlights. Unfortunately, it also has it’s share of low points. So without further ado, I bring to you, the people:
The Top 5 Worst 2011 E3 Moments
5) Konami:
I hate to say Konami’s keynote was bad, but it was very strange to say the least. For one thing, the show was taped before E3 and showed off very few new titles. Pro Evolution Soccer, and Neverdead. Showing off “transfarring” for the Playstation 3 and the still unnamed Playstation Vita. Also, Hideo Kojima showed off the new “Fox Engine” and announced HD Remakes of a few Metal Gear Solid games and even the Silent Hill collection. The biggest problem I had was that this was a production before the show even started, and just simply didn’t offer up enough new titles to get excited for in the coming year. Well, except for that Contra teaser, but nothing really panned out after that.
4)AT&T Exclusively on the Vita:
Sony for the most part had a decent enough conference. They apologized for the PSN outage with class, and showed off new titles coming up for the year. The biggest news was the Playstation Vita was officially announced. Showing off a few nice looking titles, great looking graphics, and a pretty good price point (for the Wi-Fi version), Sony could have had the people going until they announced an exclusive partnership with AT&T. The collective crowd groaned, and even booed the announcement. It took away what was a fairly decent keynote for Sony.
3) “Mr. Caffeine” Aaron Priceman
Ubisoft had a, well let’s say, “improved” keynote last year. Where in 2010 they highlighted a few games, including one that wasn’t ready until 2011, and laser tag peripherals, 2011 had Mr. Caffeine. Pronouncing Tom Clancy as “Tom Cuh-lancy”, making very inappropriate and bad male genitalia jokes, and even cussing live on the air. But one of the more awkward offenses was making the “diddly-doot” and hand motions a la Wayne’s World. To quote WWE Superstar CM Punk, “It’s 2011, not 1994″. Oh well, at least he didn’t “poop on my toothpaste”
2) Nintendo Wii U
Don’t get me wrong, the new console is good news. Unfortunately, due to the strange presentation, a lot of people, myself included, thought the Wii U was a new controller for the Wii. Only after the keynote did I find out the Wii U was indeed a new console, with HD graphics, and the controller being showcased was specifically for the Wii U, and not a new controller for the Wii. It’s almost unfortunate that due to the name of the new console, it’s going to be hard to shake off the reputation given to the Wii by the core gaming community.
1) Kinect games
Let me say this, as a Playstation fan, I don’t hate Microsoft, I commend them on their console sales and if I wasn’t so broke, I’d buy an Xbox 360 and maybe the Gears of War franchise, some XBLA titles, and some apps. With that said, I cringed just about every time I saw a Kinect game showcased. The child actors, that guy yelling out plays for the football game, the child actors, the poor Star Wars demonstration, and did I mention the child actors? So with the great piece of technology the Kinect is, and the potential it has to play great games, why were the Xbox people showing off games for kids?
Well those were some of my gripes with the show last year, what did you think? Was there something else so bad that it replays over and over in your head like an awkward fist bump? Let us know in the comment section below. Also stay tuned to New Gamer Nation for our E3 coverage.