Following on from my E3 article the other day I thought I’d do a brief run for those lazy readers on what exactly were the best bits. This will go through parts like Best Publisher and Best Announcement to the standard Game of the Show award. I’ll try and throw in some less conventional options too. So without further delay please see below Your Video Game Blogs E3 Awards.
Game of the Show: Watch Dogs
Watch Dogs was Ubisoft’s crowning announcement and as I’ve said before probably saved the whole show on multiple counts: actually being a surprise, not being a sequel while having some exciting ideas and looking so good we thought it couldn't possibly be running on current consoles. Because of how lovely the game looks many are expecting this to breach the gap between the current generation and the next generation when it is released – a lot like King Kong did at the beginning of the current lifecycle (even if it was pants).
The action adventure genre was the most overcrowded area this year with the likes of The Last of Us, Tomb Raider and Assassins Creed III all on display. It was a nice change of pace to have a complete surprise entry stealing the show. In fact the ability to hack anything in your immediate surroundings sounds like a good theme to me especially in this era of corporate suspicion and electronic data usage.
Beyond and Far Cry 3 were the only real competition for Watch Dog in this category but neither of these were quite as interesting. Far Cry looks quite unhinged and imaginative but didn’t do anything revolutionary while Beyond looked lovely but didn’t give us any idea what it is going to play like.
Best Graphics: Star Wars: 1313
So in all honesty this of course far from an original title and didn’t really show anything we hadn’t seen before … however didn’t it look ridiculously gorgeous. I mean look at Coruscant’s surface; it looks tremendous and is definitely adding a new level of details to anything we are used to. In fact we have also been told that everything on display was in game too making this something to truly be excited about. I fully expect this one to be another cross-generation release especially seeing how good it looks.
Once again Beyond had another chance for stealing an award but lets face it character design and expressions aren’t everything and I’m still undecided on how much better than Heavy Rain it actually looked. The Unfinished Swan has an interesting concept and follows in the current arthouse design trend but didn't make anyone go 'wow'.
Best Technology: John Carmack’s Magic Hat
This is quite an impressive achievement considering this was literally a publicity stunt for Doom 3: BFG Edition and will not be sold commercially. It’s an attempt to revive the retro idea of Virtual Reality (troopers) headsets and almost captured our imaginations enough to start the trend all over again.
The improvised VR headset combines stereoscopic 3D goggles with a motion sensor for head-movement tracking. The whole concept has become a bit of an in joke within the industry but this fine creation was still the most impressive piece of kit on show mainly because we never expected to see anything like it. It shows us a time when video gaming was rated by the use of new technology and not clever marketing – all in all it shows brilliant talent and big ideas which is something the whole industry has been lacking in recent memory.
You had to look at the two main engines on offer to find any competition in this award sector and golly were they both lovely to look at. Unread Engine 4 showed off a wonderfully lit atmosphere with millions of tiny particles and even some glorious lens flare. In fact it’s mainly been redesigned for ease of use to developers and to therefore make it even more popular than it's predecessor. Luminous from Square Enix however produced a wonderful Final Fantasy themed demo which looked like one of its gorgeous CG sequences from their previous titles. Granted it wasn’t as interactive as Epic’s showing but it made us see what to expect in the future – I mean look at the beard on the guy at the beginning.
Best Publisher: Ubisoft
Given that it’s main game Watch Dog ran the show and also that many of those it previewed had a chance at being game of the show means this award again falls to the awesome publisher from France. It’s hardly surprising either given the lacklustre show and their catalogue of quality franchises. I mean who isn’t excited about Far Cry 3, ZombiU and Assassins Creed 3?
Sometimes the French publisher can seem like its just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks due to the large amount of different games it tends to display each year, but, next to the almost non existent approach of its rivals there wasn’t really a lot stopping them from taking top spot.
Unfortunately there wasn’t a lot of competition for the best publisher crown this year; Sony tried ever so hard to wow us without producing their next generation console, Microsoft pretty much wrote off this year, 343i didn’t show much more to an already well announced Halo 4 and everyone else trundled along without much purpose.
Best Game Announcement: Watch Dogs
This isn’t very surprising considering the amount I’ve already spoken about this newly announced title. Well done to both this and Ubisoft for saving the show.
Best Trailer: Beyond
Yes I know I said this didn’t really give away any of the gameplay elements but it certainly looked lovely and the trailer did the announcement some justice. Let’s see if the final game lives up to what the Playstation users out there are hoping for.
Biggest Trend: Sequels
Nothing announces the end of a console lifecycle like a bunch of sequels and that’s exactly what we got this year. Without having new hardware on show the biggest developers would have been under strict guidance not to give away their next gen games so we got forth, fifth and sixth outings of all our old favourite.
Best Celebrity Assistance: Snoop Dogg
He came on board for Tekken Tag Tournament 2 saying "The Dogg is a fan of the Frog, yes indeed - I love Frogger like I love my motherf***ing weed," – CLASSIC
Worst Celebrity Assistance: Usher
His 3 minute performance probably cost Microsoft a pound from every copy sold of the next instalment in the Dance Central series. Also his dancing wasn’t in time with the footage at all and neither were his rather horrendous vocals.
Most over the top Interviews: Peter Molyneux
Bless Peter, his constant ramblings are a bit like Marmite – you either love them or hate them. I personally find his enthusiasm contagious and his ability to always talk about things he shouldn't to be quite enjoyable too. I’m just waiting for him to announce the next generation plans for Sony or Microsoft before they get around to it. Don't change, Peter.
Most Interesting Technology: SmartGlass
This will allow you to do all sorts of interesting things with different peripherals and has a great looking future, however…..
Worst Technology: SmartGlass
It doesn’t do a whole lot at the moment that isn’t already available.
So that’s it really the E3 awards from Your Video Game Blog 2012 are now over. Are you happy with the results? If there is anything you’d change please let us know in the comments section below.
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