E3 2010 recently came to an end, and the show was another major success, with large crowds, and numerous exciting announcements. For Sony fans, the Move was the major topic of discussion heading into the show, and should continue to be coming out of it. Sony has also jumped squarely on the 3D bandwagon, by announcing 20+ games with support for 3D in the future, including the highly anticipated Killzone 3, which was shown off at the show.

The Move Steps Up

The Move looks to be a great success for Sony. Whereas Microsoft’s Kinect had an extremely underwhelming demonstration and lineup of games (consisting almost entirely of silly mini-game style games, exercise games, and the like), which place it firmly in the ranks of novelty item at present, the Move is much more akin to the Wii in that it can be used to fully control the action in any number of different full games. Whether it’s a sports game, an action game, or a first person shooter, the Move will have no trouble expertly controlling the action.

Several demonstrations of the Move’s capabilities were shown during Sony’s E3 press conference, including one for a new game designed exclusively for the Move called Sorcery, as well as the head of EA Sports showing off its ‘moves’ in conjunction with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2011. The PlayStation Move will release in North America and Europe in the middle of September, with an October release in Japan (we’re actually getting something before the Japanese!!). It will come bundled in different configurations, and you’ll also be able to buy the controllers individually if you prefer (or if one breaks; make sure you have a good grip on it before ripping a drive on Tiger Woods or may crush more than just the ball).

The PSP2 Hides in the Shadows

A slight disappointment was the lack of a PSP 2 announcement, which was rumoured as a realistic possibility heading into the show, given the recent announcement of the Nintendo 3DS. While Sony didn’t announce the PSP 2, they did boast about the PSP’s continuing strong library of games, such as the recently released Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, and the upcoming God of War: Ghost of Sparta, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Ace Combat: Joint Assault, and Dragon Ball Z Tenkachi.

Sony also detailed the recently rumoured PlayStation Network subscription service. The service will be called PlayStation Plus, and will cost gamers $50 per year. This subscription gives gamers access to free demos, beta versions of games, free classic games, and more. The major downside to this is that the content is lost if you close your PlayStation Plus account and go back to the free service (which will retain all of its current features); any demos, games, themes, etc. you acquired will be inaccessible. This seems to be the direction the industry is headed in as a whole, and I’m definitely not thrilled with it. OnLive and PlayStation Plus are only the beginning of this trend.

While I won’t go into all the individual game details, all in all it was a solid show from Sony, though there really weren’t many major new game announcements (Twisted Metal 3 has me pumped though). Perhaps the biggest surprise was Gabe Newell of Valve Software showing up at the Sony press conference and declaring Portal 2 for the PS3 would be the best console version of the game. For those who don’t know Gabe, he’s been a major critic of the PS3 in the past.

The Competition Readies Their Big Guns

As for the competition, Microsoft was seen by and large as having the weakest show. The Kinect underwhelmed with its lack of versatility and lack of major game announcements, as virtually every game shown for it was of the casual game variety. The rest of Microsoft’s show consisted mainly of more of the same, that being shooters, though other genres did get some representation, including RPG’s with Fable 3, and action games with Metal Gear Solid: Rising (also available on PS3 and PC).

Nintendo had a much stronger showing. The 3DS was well received, and has massive developer support already behind it, with numerous AAA series being planned for 3DS installments. Nintendo also had several major game announcements of their own, including a new Zelda game, a new Donkey Kong Country, the revival of Kid Icarus (one of my childhood favourites!), and a Goldeneye 007 remake.

What did you think of this year’s E3? Who were the winners and losers? What are your thoughts on the Move and Kinect now that more details have surfaced regarding these devices? Join the discussion below!

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