So Much E3 So little time! and why Game reviews annoy me!

So it's the almost the end of the first (real) day of E3 after all the pre-conferences with the big console touting their new wares. So with all the booths open for the game reviewers to wander around getting hands on with the new toys and gadgets the information coming out of the place is so thick and fast it's hard to keep up with everything. It's at this point that game reviews really start to annoy me. It's of little surprise to anyone that I'm more interested in what's happening in the world of Nintendo than anything else and with the Wii available for people to get their hands on, I'm most interesting in how the new controller that in theory and concept sounds fantastic actually works. Nintendo has taken a big step out of the race for Biggest and Shiniest console and tried to create something different in the world of gaming. It's something that at least for me has made the thought of the new console pretty exciting. The notion that instead of using a small analogue stick to control your interaction with a game a series of hand gestures simulating what your character would actually be doing is a pretty big stray from the current mold. The whole focus for this new console is a different and more engaging way of interacting with games, something that is designed to more involving and intuitive so you can have your Grandma over for a cup of tea and a round of tennis in your living room. Nintendo have made it clear from the outset that this is what they are about so all we're really looking for from the reviews is does it work? Have they made it more involving, do you feel like playing the game? So when people are complaining about back stories in games it's a little irrelevant   For example, a review I saw today from GameSpot was for a title we've heard very little about until now ProjectH.A.M.M.E.R. It was a 'hands on' impression of the game. It's basically a beat 'em up where you controll a character that wanders around carrying a Hammer beating up robots. The final paragraph of review went like this

The demo was short on back story, not really giving us a sense of where the robots were coming from or where our character had acquired the world's biggest meat tenderizer, but the quick-and-easy gameplay wasn't really in line with the kind of game that would be heavy on the story elements anyway. We're definitely curious, though, about any additional moves we might be able to execute using the motion-sensitive Wii controllers.

At this point in the Wii's life cycle I'm not really concerned if the game has back story or not, I'm interested in whether the design decision that Nintendo has pinned all it's hope on is really taking shape or not.

Essentially the level of mixed reports on the gaming and controller integration is becoming frustrating, some reviews say a game is great others say the controller was too sensitive, not sensitive enough and so on.

I have high hopes for the success of the Wii, the DS has become more successful (at least in Japan) than I would have thought. Initial reaction to the DS touch screen control is similar to what we're getting for the Wii and developers seem to have warmed to that new control format so in that vain there is hope for the Wii. Combined with the fact that the same basic plaform as the Gamecube was used the lower development costs might see more titles coming from the 3rd party arena. The only disappointment from this is there wasn't a little more effort put into making the console more graphically impressive but again the market Nintendo are searching for isn't necesarrily the one with the latest and biggest HD display hanging on their wall.

For me at least it will be a definate purchase, if only for the joy of party games. Games like WarioWare and Mario Party are frantic and fun enough with standard controllers which I can only imagine what will happen when you actually have to swat the fly with your controller.

I guess even with the amount of information and hands on we're getting from the E3 conference it's still a game of wait and see. The real test will come when it hits the shelves and has to compete against the US$500+ Graphics processing giants of Microsoft and Sony.