TheMisterManGuy on 20 July 2024
Nintendo's E3 2008 presentation is often considered one of the most awkward, unpolished, and painful experiences to be graced on to the gaming industry. Showing almost no games but "Non-gamer" titles. Tons of fake cheesy acting, and the grand finale being a god awful rendition of the Super Mario Bros. theme in Wii Music. Nintendo has since turned it around in subsequent showings, but E3 08 left a dark mark on its reputation with hardcore Nintendo fans.
However, seeing the success the Wii was having at the time, Microsoft got in on the action with its Kinect peripheral for the Xbox 360. First revealed at E3 09 as project Natal with some rather underwhelming tech demos. Microsoft proceeded to torture gamers for years with seemingly endless press conferences dedicated to Kinect games, features, and actors. With every subequent E3 featuring less and less exclusive content for more traditional gamers.
Nintendo at least learned its lesson rather quickly, with its future E3s having a better balance of non-gamer and gamer titles. The Xbox 360 meanwhile began being plagued with Software droughts as most of the content Microsoft published for the system in its later years, were Kinect-powered Wii knock-offs. It wasn't until the lead up to the Xbox One where gamers really started getting annoyed as a next gen version of Kinect was planned to be forced onto every Xbox One user, whether they wanted it or not.
IMO, I think Microsoft's era was worse since it lasted a lot longer, and did more damage long term. Nintendo's was simply a one and done deal, and while criticism could be had for the Wii final two years (operation rainfall specifically) and eventually the Wii U era, I think more gamers look back on the Wii overall more fondly today than they do with Kinect, which many consider a cheap fad that nobody actually wanted.
However, seeing the success the Wii was having at the time, Microsoft got in on the action with its Kinect peripheral for the Xbox 360. First revealed at E3 09 as project Natal with some rather underwhelming tech demos. Microsoft proceeded to torture gamers for years with seemingly endless press conferences dedicated to Kinect games, features, and actors. With every subequent E3 featuring less and less exclusive content for more traditional gamers.
Nintendo at least learned its lesson rather quickly, with its future E3s having a better balance of non-gamer and gamer titles. The Xbox 360 meanwhile began being plagued with Software droughts as most of the content Microsoft published for the system in its later years, were Kinect-powered Wii knock-offs. It wasn't until the lead up to the Xbox One where gamers really started getting annoyed as a next gen version of Kinect was planned to be forced onto every Xbox One user, whether they wanted it or not.
IMO, I think Microsoft's era was worse since it lasted a lot longer, and did more damage long term. Nintendo's was simply a one and done deal, and while criticism could be had for the Wii final two years (operation rainfall specifically) and eventually the Wii U era, I think more gamers look back on the Wii overall more fondly today than they do with Kinect, which many consider a cheap fad that nobody actually wanted.
