On June 16, I spent a day at E3, which is one of the largest video game trade shows in the world. It’s not open to the general public and you either have to be in the video game industry or a member of the press to be allowed into the event. This was the first time that I’ve been to E3. I still play a lot of video games and I was excited to see what video games that we can expect to see in the next few months and what the next big trends are.
It seems that games that require more physical movement will be something that we will be seeing a lot more of in the next few months. While Nintendo’s Wii has been out for a few years, Microsoft has now developed its Kinetic system and we will soon be seeing games for it. Unlike the Wii, the Kinetic system doesn’t not require the player to hold any controller at all. A camera and sensor system can detect the player’s movements. Sony has also developed its Move system. The Move system does require the game player to hold a controller in order to play games. I’m not really sure how big of a hit these type of games will be. Most of the games seemed very basic such as bowling and yoga and skiing. None of these games looked very complicated. I’m not sure if these type of games are the challenges that video gamers want, myself included.
One type of game that will benefit will be dance type video games. I’ve always felt that games like Dance Dance Revolution were a bit cheesy. You’re not really learning any dancing by playing Dance Dance Revolution. Upcoming games like Dance Central and Just Dance 2 are very well suited to Microsoft’s Kinetic system. Dance games are definitely going to be a more realistic experience. There are some games that are a better experience with less controls involved, but I think those are very few.
Another thing that we’re going to see more of are 3D video games. Sony will be releasing a few games for the PS3 and Nintendo will be selling its new 3DS very shortly. This is another technology that I’m not completely sold on. Seriously, I’m not even a big fan of 3D movies. Does 3D look more realistic? I don’t think it does. I guess I’m one of those people who thinks that traditional 2D movies look a lot better.
Of course there are a lot of games coming out that aren’t 3D or use traditional controllers and quite honestly, I’m looking forward to some of those the most. I’m definitely excited about the new games for the Gears of War , Ghost Recon, and Assassin’s Creed series. I’m sure other players are looking forward to Final Fantasy XIV and the new Marvel vs. Capcom. There’s definitely plenty of exciting things coming up in the world of video games.