So who "won" at the E3 Expo anyway?

Now that the 2010 E3 Expo big media conferences have finished, the big question now is: Who Won?

In a simple two word answer: The gamer!

Now the real fun begins, as gamers and critics and bloggers (myself included) litter the internet on who did what and why it worked (or didn’t work) and who came out on top.

Every year, deciding who 'won' E3 is a fairly simple question, but to me, it is more like who cares?

The winner in this three day battle in the console war, is typically decided on which company brought the most to the table and who surprised and shocked us.

In one corner of the triangle, stands the mighty Microsoft, who threw the first punch on Monday. Preaching to the masses, they unveiled (again) Kinect. A hands free device devised to take what Nintendo had done for the casual gamer and removed the physical technology from the consumers hands to appeal to this target group.

Did it work? Well, yes and no.

Reaction from the crowd at E3 seemed to be mostly underwhelming (a key word at this years’ expo) which critics and Xbox’s loyal followers asking: "where are the core game?" What we were subjected to were demos of games like Kinectimals, which were pretty much makeovers of an amalgamation of any one of Nintendo’s Wii and DS animal games and Playstations EyePet. The one cool thing about Kinect is the ability to go through your Xbox by using simple voice commands. However, is this really a technological breakthrough, or is this just targeting consumers that are now to lazy to even press a button?

Hard core gamers were not left out as Halo: Reach and Gears of Was 3 were both unveiled (again), this time with more footage. The impact of these games at E3 were not felt as both games were already announced weeks, and even months, in advance.

Finally. Microsoft introduced the world to their brand new console (again), the Xbox “Slim” which has a 250 GB hard drive, the fastest built in Wi-Fi in a console and is quiet. Note also, the glowing rings have been removed, so consumers will no longer be able to see the problem and report it first on the internet and second to the store they bough it in. Not really a barn burner, as the Playstation 3 slim was released last September and the Wii has been slim from the beginning (leave it to an American company to build a fat piece of technology, then slim it down four years later, add a few bells and whistles and shout out, “look what we can do!”

By the conclusion of Microsoft’s conference, the question was is this enough to put them above the competition? We would have to wait a day to see, but the people and press in attendance were impressed as they left the auditorium with a brand new Xbox slim. Is this really what it has come down to? Buying loyalty to win a battle?

In another corner was Nintendo, a walking-softly-with-a-big-stic k company thrown in between the big boys on Tuesday morning.

At the Nintendo conference we got going with the first look of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for the Wii. Zelda had long been speculated, but never really confirmed until E3. The demo, despite some wiimote 'wireless interference' looked like Zelda for the next gen console, the same way as Twilight Princess did years earlier, this time with the assistance of the Wii motion plus. Skyward Sword was needed to help Nintendo, as sales seem to be plateauing for the Wii.

Several game announcements followed: Mario Sports Mix, Wii Party, Just Dance 2, a “new” reboot of the classic and inspirational FPS Goldeneye, Epic Mickey and Kirby's Epic Yarn, Metroid: The Other M and Donkey Kong Country Returns. Kirby and DK Country looking the most impressive may give a helping hand to the Wii’s sales, as fans have been waiting a long time since these characters last appeared.

Sadly, no new Wii hardware “upgrades” were announced.

After the Wii game announcements, Nintendo brought their A-game: the new Nintendo 3DS. The specs: 3.5" widescreen upper display, slide pad for analogue control and... two cameras on the outside of the system to take 3D images! And NO 3D GLASSES NEEDED! Are you kidding me?

Critic and crowd reactions were jaw dropping. If you were following critics and fans on twitter you would know the type of reactions the 3DS garnered: “high praise” and “you have to see it to believe it” and just plain “Wow!”. The announcement of the games followed: KID ICARUS (!), RESIDENT EVIL (!!) and METAL GEAR SOLID (!!!) to name a few.

Right then and there, the Microsoft conference meant nothing and was a forgone conclusion. If Sony could not step to the plate, then for sure the PSP was dead in the water.

In the final corner was Sony. By this time, Microsoft was an after thought and Nintendo had just brought it. Sony would need to bring out the big guns of they wanted to save face by the humiliation Nintendo just served Microsoft.

To begin, Sony started an awesome demonstration of the PS3's coming 3D capabilities, by introducing Killzone 3. By all accounts, they did not fail. Even in 2D Killzone 3 looked amazing. It made Uncharted 2 look like a Wii game (no offense Nintendo). If Killzone 3 is setting the bar for 3D then I can’t wait to see what’s come (remember how good Resistance: Fall of Man looked at the beginning? And compare that to games released now!)

Next Sony introduced (again) Move. Sony's answer to the Wii and Kinect, with a dash of hardcore. Remember a time when Move controllers were first introduced and we said WTF? Has Sony gone all soft? Really? A glowing ball? This expo proved to silence the Move naysayers.

Games like The Fight and Killzone 3, Sorcery, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 and Heroes on the Move all looked great. Imagine the possibilities the glowing ball now has to gamers as witnessed in Sorcery where you, playing a wizard, has to create a potion to heal yourself. You choose the potion you want, shake the Move controller until the ball turns green then proceed to “drink” from the controller until it turns red indicating the potion has been consumed. Wow, that’s cool. Your controller is now more integral to the game than ever before.

Next on the agenda, Sony introduced developers Valve (Portal 2 – which Gabe Newwll has gone on record to saying the PS3 version will be the nesy console version, A far cry from Mr. Newell’s past indications of disdain for the PS3 and the fact that Valve will never develop for the PS3. Even Portal was dumped into EA’s lap by Valve to port to the PS3), EA (Dead Space 2 and Medal of Honor), Media Molecule (LittleBigPlanet 2), Ubisoft (Assassin's Creed 2: Brotherhood) and Eat Sleep Play (Twisted Metal). The latter of which was a total surprise to all because the creator (David Jaffe) denied any sort of Twisted Metal in the works, right up to the expo.

So, who won? Everybody did and yet nobody. All manufacturers presented hardware and software that will appeal to their target fanbase. There were no real surprises other than Twisted Metal for the PS3 and fine technological advances of the 3DS and it’s list of AAA games. But, if I had to choose, based on the definition of the winner, I would place Nintendo at the head of the pack, purely based on the technology of on-the-go-and-no-need-for-glas ses 3D gaming. Next, Sony at a very close second for its array of 3D games and hardcore game promises for the Move. And finally, in third, comes Microsoft, with their only real wow factor, in my opinion, being voice command with Kinect.

Now that E3 is pretty much said and done, it looks like 3D is here to stay, despite the pundits naysaying. That, along with motion controls getting people to actually work at gaming may be the next step in gaming. What will E3 2011 bring? We can only dream…