E3 2009, Day 2, 3, Sony, Wow, Brain Hurts

So, obviously I got busy and got behind on E3 blogging. If you've been following me on Twitter you should be up to speed, but before I flee the convention center for my hotel to collapse briefly before getting plastered, I wanted to drop you some quick links!

You saw my roundup/analysis of Microsoft's briefing yesterday -- I did one for Sony, too. Short version: I liked Sony's presentation better. Watching Microsoft's, I had plenty of moments of "that's interesting," or "that looks cool." Watching Sony's, I had tons of moments of "I want that."

The press section did cheer a lot during Sony's briefing, and it made me wonder. You wouldn't see film critics hollering and cheering at Cannes, would you? (Maybe you would; I wouldn't know, I've never been). There's an idea among the games press that we should be reporters; we should be objective. We shouldn't be fanboys.

But when it was announced that Kojima is making a sequel to MGS3 that covers Big Boss establishing Outer Heaven, I squealed. Out loud. Not because I meant to; I couldn't help it. This is precisely the game I have always wanted (well, I wanted it on console, but hey, I'll take it).

One of the main things I was hoping to get out of E3 was a reinvigoration of my enthusiasm for games themselves. Y'know, they've become work to me; I've felt a little bored and jaded, disinterested in playing new titles, primarily focused on the work of being an industry reporter. That I no longer felt like a gamer in recent months has been a big source of concern to me -- I really feared losing touch with the things that my audience longs for, cares about, gets angry about, excited about, emotional about.

So yeah. I cheered during Sony's conference (and probably a little bit during Microsoft's, too. Splinter Cell: Conviction looks rad) -- and I'm glad I felt the urge to. I don't think that being a fan must preclude me from being a qualified writer -- just because something's personal to me doesn't mean I can't be objective alongside it. In fact, I think being a fan is a necessary component of being able to write effectively for an audience of people interested in games.

Other industries can have their poker faces. I'm having fun here.

Anyway, that was yesterday, and today, I got to talk to a couple of Sony execs about some of the more interesting things from their briefings. Worldwide Studios North America head Scott Rohde talked to me about the company's internal developers and why first-party strength is important to the platform. He also talked LBP and Mod Nation as the first two phases of a broader strategy to build a user-generated toybox genre on the PS3.

Hardware marketing boss John Koller talked to me about going digital with the PSP Go and how the dual download-versus-UMD idea works. I asked Koller what most of you brought up via Twitter -- what's with that price point? Check out my coverage to see what he said.

Hideo Kojima said E3 needs big announcements in order to really work, so he dropped no fewer than four new title announcements. Two of them were the Metal Gears you've already heard of, one online coin-op arcade Metal Gear that will start in Japan and then aim overseas (though I'm skeptical Konami can really launch arcades in the U.S. and Europe in any kind of visible way) -- and then he announced he's supporting Spanish studio MercurySteam on the next Castlevania. Where was IGA? No idea.

They also showed the Silent Hill re-up for Wii, and it made me really, really excited about it. It's not a "Wii-make," thank god, and even "remake" isn't quite the right word. It's a combat-less reimagining that looks really clever, and they've clearly put a great deal of effort in prioritizing emotional horror in the way it's designed.

I've done some other things today and yesterday, interviews and stuff I've yet to write up, so this is just some of my E3 stuff so far. Hit up Gamasutra regularly for your wide-ranging news and analysis! I still recommend Kotaku for up-to-the-minute details and showfloor experiences, and I know the Destructoid army is doing some clever stuff, too.

By the way, this how hardcore Kotaku's staff is: Mike Fahey is ill, half his face is paralyzed, and in Konami's conference his wireless card did not work -- so he liveblogged the entire thing using only his iPhone. That, my friends, is a flippin' soldier.

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