My Obligatory "Best of E3" Post

Here is a quick rundown of the games I was impressed by and/or excited for following E3 2012 in no particular order. Note that I am mostly a PC gamer so take that bias into account. Anyways, here they are:

• Watch Dogs (Ubisoft, multiplatform) - No doubt the Game of Show for many, Watch Dogs came out of nowhere during Ubisoft's press conference and blew everyone away with incredible graphics and potentially revolutionary "hacker" gameplay. The shown gameplay (see video above) was running on a PC but console gamers will likely have to wait until the next console generation to see similar visuals on their TVs.

• Planetside 2 (Sony Online Entertainment, PC) - The original Planetside was one of the first MMOs I played and the franchise still holds a special place in my heart for the massive single-shard world, epic battles, and crazy Battlefield-eque moments. PS2 will be free-to-play, though I hope there is an optional subscription model like Star Trek Online where subscribers get additional benefits rather than having to pay piecemeal for things. Also, SOE only showed off one continent, will there be more?

• Star Wars 1313 (LucasArts, multiplatform) - Personally, none of the recent Star Wars games has impressed me. The Old Republic seemed like too much of a WoW clone (same can be said for The Elder Scrolls Online at this point too) and the Force Unleashed franchise was way-too over the top for me. I think the last Star Wars game I really enjoyed was the PC strategy game Empires at War. That said, 1313 looks like a bold new direction for Star Wars that seems to be channeling mojo from Star Wars: Bounty Hunter.

• Aliens: Colonial Marines (Sega/Gearbox, multiplatform) - Aliens remains one of my favorite movies and Colonial Marines is looking very solid despite its delay to 2013. The humans vs. xenomorphs multiplayer reminds me a lot of Left 4 Dead in all the right ways and I hope it is properly balanced so neither side dominates online. I, for one, LOVE the cornbread.  

• ARMA III (Bohemia Interactive, PC) - I have not played ARMA II, but this new title looks like the true war simulator that Battlefield is a bit too arcade-y to be. Massive maps with tons of vehicles and (hopefully) a speedy port of DayZ should make this sequel a hit. 

• Assassins Creed III (Ubisoft, multiplatform) - ACIII will be the first Assassins Creed game I have ever purchased, and it should be well worth the cash. It is set during the American Revolution, a period of time that has been surprisingly ignored by most historically-based games. The expansive wilderness open to exploration outside of the main cities of Boston and New York reminds me of Skyrim's wooded sections in a good way and I can't wait to introduce some Redcoats to my blades.  

• Dishonored (Bethesda Softworks/Arkane Studios, multiplatform) - With a visual style coming from a mash-up of steampunk and Half-Life 2, Dishonored also seems to be taking a page out of the gameplay of Deus Ex. Games that fully simulate an open world with systems you can take advantage of to complete your objectives are among my favorites, so hopefully this new IP can pull off everything it is attempting.

• The Last of Us (Naughty Dog, PS3) - The only game on this list I won't be able to play as I don't own a PS3, but that doesn't diminish how good The Last of Us looks. Zombies are the new Nazis as far as developers are concerned these days, but the cinematic combat and potentially great storytelling should make this game a hit.

• XCOM: Enemy Unknown (2K/Firaxis, PC) - As one of the only strategy games at E3 this year, XCOM had to fill a big hole in my heart. Luckily for me the gameplay looks solid and longtime Civilization developer Firaxis has a reputation for great strategy games. 

Honorable mentions (or games that weren't shown at E3):

• Metro: 2034
• SimCity
• StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm
• Command and Conquer: Generals 2
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (if only for, finally, a change in scenery for the franchise)
• Whatever Retro Studios is working on for Nintendo
• Skyrim: Dawnguard
• Hawken
• Battlefield 3: Armored Kill
• Company of Heroes 2

Rapid Reactions: That's One Small Step for Microsoft; One Giant Leap for Cable Cutters

The Facts:

• Microsoft announced multiple new content partners for the Xbox 360
• ESPN will bring 24/7 live streams of their major TV channels
• The NBA and NHL are bringing their apps as well
• Other providers include Revision3, Twitch.tv, Comedy Central, and Paramount
• A full list can be found here
• A subscription to Xbox Live Gold (~$60/year) is required to access this content

Initial Reaction:

At the annual gaming love-fest known as E3, there have been a lot of great games announced. Games that will surely sell millions of copies and make many millions of revenue. Nintendo is even set to reveal everything about the first of the next generation of consoles, the Wii U, tomorrow at their main press conference (which might also be their last home console, but that is for another post). But only one announcement has really left me feeling I have seen the future, and it isn't a videogame.

ESPN is coming to the Xbox 360. And no, I don't mean the online-only offerings of ESPN 3; I am talking about the full force of 24/7 live feeds from the ESPN, ESPN 2, and ESPN U TV channels. Buy an Xbox 360, Xblox Live Gold, and have Internet access (and, if my Dad is to be believed, possibly pay a small fee to ESPN as well) and you now have the first real a la carte TV experience. And this is not coming from Apple, who has fumbled for years with the "hobby"-status Apple TV, or Google, whose Google TV program has been at best a flop for them and hardware partner Logitech, but Microsoft. Yes, the same company that thinks we want a smartphone UI for desktop computers.

Microsoft seems to have been trying to reach this point for several years. It was one of the first companies Netflix partnered with to get their streaming service onto every screen in existence. Hulu and ESPN3 were added alongside movie rentals and purchasing in Zune. On the PC, Windows Media Center has allowed users to buy a TV tuner card, plug it into a PC, and watch live TV in a window on your monitor for years. Earlier, I wondered aloud on G+ the possibilities if the next Xbox were to come with an internal or external TV tuner. Microsoft may not have had the first connected set-top box or the best content deals for some time, but they have made lapped the "big boys" while no one was looking. It is probably safe to say that there are more Xbox 360's hooked up to TVs than Apple TVs, Google TVs, Boxee Boxes, and Roku boxes combined. And the usage numbers are probably in Microsoft's favor to an even greater degree.

ESPN on the Xbox 360 will now become the first real toe of a major cable network in the water of a la carte channel offering. It's success could prompt others to follow; it's failure could leave us with the current model of paying the cable company for channels we never watch. Time will tell. Sooner or later, time will tell.

Questions moving forward:

• Will the new ESPN app be free or be an additional monthly fee?
• Will ESPN offer a similar deal to Apple, Google, or other players?
• Should Xbox Live Gold be free now that it mostly covers 3rd party digital content?
• Will Apple, Google, and others really get behind their set-top box and/or connected TV efforts?
• How will other networks and the cable companies react?