E3 2007: Winners and Losers

I like ending on a high note, (like George Costanza from Seinfeld) I will begin with the losers. The loser had to be Nintendo hands down. With the exception of Mario Galaxy, there was no original content. There were 2 new peripherals: zapper and Wii fit. That's it. No new innovative games were displayed. It was a shameless self-promotion. The entire press conference consisted of praising the Wii. That's a shame (another Seinfeld reference for you Seinfeld fanatics). Nintendo merely accentuated what they achieved; however, they did not say what they will accomplish. Microsoft was neither a winner or a loser; there were in between. They showed 2 noteworthy demos at their press conference which were Assassin's Creed and Madden 2008. I am not exactly sure why Reggie Bush was demonstrating Madden 2008 because Vince Young was the cover athlete, but that is a separate issue altogether. Furthermore, both of those games were multi-platform. The only 2 exclusive games that Microsoft was able to score were Halo 3 and Mass Effect. Halo and Halo 2 were the 2 smash hits for the original Xbox that redefined the first person genre. This will also be the conclusion of the trilogy. On the other end of the spectrum, Mass Effect looks like an epic role playing game.It is made from the same critically acclaimed creators of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for the Xbox. The gameplay looks eerily similar to Star Wars as well because making certain decisions can alter the outcome of the game. It looks to have a non-linear storyline imbued with side-quests and brilliant visuals. The winner is drum-roll please...Sony! I know Sony has to share its rights to games such as Assassin's Creed, Grand Theft Auto 4, Resident Evil 5, and Madden 2008; contrasty, Sony does not have to share its rights to anyone with Metal Gear Solid 4, Killzone 2, and Final Fantasy 13. As far as Metal Gear Solid 4 is concerned, a new trailer made its debut featuring Ocelot (Liquid Snake), Meryl, Raiden, and Solid Snake. Reprising their roles as antagonist and protagonist were Ocelot (Liquid Snake) and Solid Snake respectively. The trailer shown included a scene with what seemed to be Foxdie, and Naomi (from Metal Gear Solid) saying to Snake via codec that he must "fulfill his destiny."The 2nd and more appealing part of the trailer showed Raiden in a chaotic fight sequence with Vamp (from Metal Gear Solid 2.) Unfortunately, this will be the last and conclude the Metal Gear Solid serious. Creator of Metal Gear Solid, Hideo Kojima believes this game will tie up all the loose ends and answer all the unanswered questions. Konami has been teasing us with trailer after trailer, but no gamplay has been playable. The lack of gameplay footage gives Metal Gear Solid fans the impression that it will be available the same time as Madden 2077. After a dismal plot in Metal Gear Solid 2 which was like trying to decode hieroglyphics, MGS 4 looks promising. The bottom line is that Metal Gear Solid 4 will be the PlayStation 3 exclusive that salvages Sony's disastrous PS3 sales.