The Best And Worst Of E3 2014
The 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo is officially over.
While gamers will be sad to see the show go, attendees are likely too tired to realize that the three-day game-fest has come to an end.
This year's show was definitely an improvement over the last few years, but it (like all E3 events) had a number of ups and downs. Click through the slideshow to see them all.
Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this slideshow.
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Good: Nintendo's Crazy Idea Might Finally Pay Off
Nintendo's (OTC: NTDOY) Wii U has seemed like a silly console.
It comes with an oversized, wireless controller that offers no more than a couple hours of battery life. The controller, known as the GamePad, must be used in the same room as the Wii U console -- otherwise the game will crash.
Unlike the Nintendo DS, which immediately showed gamers why a touch screen was necessary for handheld gaming, Wii U felt like another GameCube, minus the great games. GameCube was a good console, but it lacked the innovative features of its predecessors. Wii U seemed to lack the innovative features of the original Wii.
In reality, Wii U simply lacked innovative game ideas. The hardware itself was good -- even better than Nintendo's own developers seemed to realize.
This became crystal clear during the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo. Nintendo unveiled a cornucopia of games at the event, including Mario Maker, that take full advantage of that "silly" GamePad.
Nintendo is also working on a Star Fox prototype that sounds very promising.
Will these games save Wii U? That depends on the quality of the finished product, their release schedule (software delays will turn off new customers), and their eventual marketing campaign.
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Bad: It'll Be 2015 Before Consumers Know For Sure
Nintendo may appear to be headed in the right direction, but it'll be a long time before the truth is revealed.
Nearly every new, groundbreaking game -- such as Mario Maker -- will not be released until 2015.
The Star Fox tech demo sounds cool, but it doesn't have a release date because it is not an actual game yet.
Nintendo is (without question) in a much better place than it was 12 months ago. But until the best and most innovative games are actually sitting on store shelves, Wii U will continue to feel like another GameCube. It has some games that consumers will love forever, but the innovation has yet to come.
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Good: Microsoft Focused Entirely On Games
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) wants consumers to buy more Xbox One units.
The Windows maker came up with an exciting campaign to make this happen: it decided promote Xbox One as an actual game console!
The non-interactive TV nonsense is out. Microsoft insists that it still an important part of the Xbox long-term, but it realized that TV lovers aren't going to spend $499 or $399 for another set-top box. But gamers -- the people who bought the original Xbox and Xbox 360 -- will pay that much for new gaming experiences.
At E3 2014, Microsoft came out swinging with a cornucopia of games.
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Bad: Too Many Enhanced Trailers
Publishers and game developers are eager to show off their latest software. Unfortunately, sometimes that eagerness blurs the line between what's real and what's fake.
Benzinga isn't going to call out any particular company, but it was obvious that a good number of the new, unplayable game trailers were nothing more than pre-rendered videos. It will be very difficult for developers to re-create those effects in an actual game. In some cases, it may not even be possible.
This tactic is far from new -- game companies have been concocting fake trailers for years. To counteract this, developers happily inform consumers whenever the trailer content is taken from an actual game.
Many of the questionable trailers did not have any designations, indicating that they were as fictional as they appeared.
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Good: Sony Flexed Its Exclusivity Muscle
Fifteen years ago, it wasn't uncommon for console manufacturers to fight for exclusive games from third-party developers. Without them, Sony (NYSE: SNE) might not have dominated during the PSone and PlayStation 2 eras.
In recent years, exclusive games have slowly drifted away as third-party developers seek the value of multi-platform releases. Grand Theft Auto V, for example, sold more than 30 million units across two platforms. It couldn't have done that on one console alone.
Thus, hardware makers have been looking for other ways to make their console stand out. Sony may not be able to get exclusive games, but it did get to brag about two exclusive betas: Destiny and Battlefield Hardline.
These betas aren't merely good news for PlayStation 4 owners, they also indicate that game developers prefer to test their games on Sony's platform.
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Bad: The Best Won't Be Here Before 2015
Destiny might be the game that dethrones Halo. That would be appropriate considering that Bungie created both franchises.
Even so, the majority of Sony's new games were announced for a 2015 release.
It did surprise the crowd with a November 2014 launch date for LittleBigPlanet 3, which should be a blast. But the game does appear to be an extension of the previous titles, which could explain its imminent release.
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