What I am about to say is nothing new. I might even suggest not reading it.
I just need to get it out of my system.
Today is day 0 of e3, the day where we as a gaming community engage in press conference wars. Everyone collectively blows their loads and shows what is coming out for the rest of the year, all in very exquisite detail. Today was Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft and Sony.
Microsoft started by unveiling Modern Warfare 3, the game that will sell tens of millions of copies when it releases in November. EA countered with Battlefield 3; Ubisoft showed off Assassin's Creed 2, part 3. Sony came out strong with Uncharted 3. Everywhere you looked, there was a 3: Mass Effect 3, Saints Row 3, Bioshock 3, Resistance 3, Far Cry 3, Gears of War 3. It's almost comical how many 3s are battling for the right to sell millions of copies this November. Since, you know, they're all coming out that time because they're the biggest things on the market.
I actually don't mind sequels THAT much. Many of them improve on the previous product. Some add new features or new mechanics and refine a preexisting product. Bioshock Infinite, for instance, looks really awesome. Uncharted 3 will be supremely good. I don't really like Mass Effect but I'm sure that game will be in good shape come next March.
But what IS bothering me is the obsession with guns. You've heard this before and it's a tired argument, but it is rare that the gun obsession with the gaming industry beats you over the head about it like it did today. I must have watched ten thousand bullets get fired today and I didn't even watch all the press conferences. After the Ubisoft conference I had a splittling headache from listening to guns fire in my ear for the 7000th time. It was impressive.
Video games are limited in that they need to be interactive. The easiest way to be interactive is to try to overcome an objective, and the most efficient way to do that is to kill them. 95% of games are about killing dozens and dozens of opponents in order to reach your objective. People like to feel empowered from shooting things. I can't blame them. Shooting somebody in the face is a strong thing that should resonate with a person.
But there has to be a limit on how far we are willing to go. Today I watched game demos or game videos of Modern Warfare 3, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, Gears of War 3, Fable: The Journey, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 4, Battlefield 3, Far Cry 3, Brothers in Arms, Overstrike and Resistance 3, and you can extend that to games with shooting as the main gameplay focus with other elements attached like Bioshock Infinite, Mass Effect 3 and Uncharted 3. There was even some kind of PS3 shooter named Dust that linked up to the MMO Eve Online. They actually went and made a generic console FPS to fit in with a PC MMO. Impressive.
I have never been about the press conference war because the kinds of things I like are generally more creative offerings that can only really thrive on smaller budgets. I am 100% sure that day 1 of e3 will offer me more than the Sony/Microsoft cold war of guns and motion technology. Everything is either a dumbed down game for kids or a game dedicated to killing people in the most surgical way possible.
What's wrong with something inbetween?
