Mass Effect absolutely mesmerized me this year. From the superb trailer to the snippets of game play, everything I saw about this game makes me wish tomorrow it was November. Before you read my thoughts on the game I strongly encourage checking out Gamespot’s stage demo, it absolutely increased my Mass Effect fervor.

Here’s a rundown of what I’m totally stoked for:

• Presentation–Have you seen the dialogue system? No, seriously, have you? It’s ridiculous. Enough said.
• Conversations–Speaking of, you apparently can end most conversations by shooting someone in the head. Something about that speaks to the evolution of KOTOR that Bioware is going for.
• Reminiscent–The way you can explore your ship and interact with your party is very similar to the system that you had in KOTOR wherein you could explore the history of all of your subordinates.
• Star Wars–I’ll miss the Jedi but I’m excited to feel like I’m making my own Star Wars-esque story.

Not everything seems up to snuff:

• Combat–The combat needs to become mroe exciting looking or more RPG-like. Or the conversation trees better be amazing.
• Slowdown–The game seems choppy in video, this may be due to the video feeds or it may be the game. Either way the game shouldn’t ship choppy.

Considering I showed the preview to my father, a sci-fi buff, and his reaction was to ask me: “What movie is this trailer for?” I think the presentation is really strong. Had Microsoft demoed this game on stage, their score would have gone up two points (a nine if you recall the seven I gave MS). I’m at a loss for why this exclusive wasn’t touted as much as Halo 3.

It almost makes me worry that the game isn’t as good as I’m hyping it up to be. As if Microsoft is not focusing on the game because it may not be the best game this year. Or it could be that more people who own an Xbox360 like Halo over anything else. Here’s hoping Bioware delivers.

Many of the games shown during the conference will not be coming out any time soon; certainly not a knock against the company, more like a show of future force. Unfortunately, I can’t tell how far off that future is. On one hand Metal Gear Solid 4 will be arriving soon (exclusive?). On the other hand a lot of the titles I’m really interested in–Final Fantasy XIII, LittleBigPlanet, White Knight, Home(game?)–seem to be ages away.

Did the Sony press conference this year around convince that I’m going to buy a PS3 before the end of the year? No. But is that what their goal should really be at E3? Kind of.

Nintendo and Microsoft could talk about title that aren’t coming out for a while because they both have a decent foothold in the current console market. Sony, surprisingly, doesn’t have that same luxury. Sony needs to sell they’re system now. Not later. Hopefully TGS will remedy this.

That’s not to say they’re conference wasn’t strong. Plenty of games were shown–Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, Heavenly Sword(no jump button?) and Ratchet and Clank Future–all with the potential to sell some units for Sony. Just not as many units as I feel they need.

Oh yeah, and they talked about the PSP and played some Motorstorm. Whoopee.

Sony Press Conference 7/10

No wonder he seemed uncomfortable.

In between the self back patting and nigh masturbatory YouTube clips there was a glimmer of hope. Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Mario Galaxy finally got release dates. And Nintendo couldn’t care less. Perhaps you could labor over these important titles? No?

We get WiiFit instead? Oh boy. Can’t wait to get on that over simplified DDR mat. Nintendo thinks they’re Apple, and now they seem to be telling us what we should like just like Apple.

Nintendo seems to be going down the path that I had figured. They are positioning themselves as the mass amrket console. Or at least, they think they are. I’m more inclined to believe they are positioning themselves as the introductory console. Think: “If you like Nintendo Wii, then you’ll love the Playstation 3…” Sickening to think about.

Nintendo Press Conference 4/10

Microsoft focused entirely on 2007 in their press conference. A decent strategy in my opinion, considering the vast lineup they have slated for release by the end of the year. I wonder how many of those claimed titles will actually release by 2007. I’m hoping Assassin’s Creed gets delayed until it plays like a real game. From what I can tell the fact that the thing actually runs on any system is a miracle. They must have programmed that thing in Pascal, it’s so glitchy.

Luckily Mass Effect was around to look super sexy. The trailer for that game played more like a movie than anything else. I plan on showing my parents that trailer sometime, I want to see if they’ll think it’s for a movie.

Alan Wake? Fable 2? Would’ve been nice to see you. Ever since the tech demo of Alan Wake I saw last time the game was on display it seems to have disappeared. As a long time Silent Hill fan I’m excited to see a different take on the survival horror genre. Preferably one that doesn’t take place in the nightmare of a small child. Even though Fable 2 was at the show, internet reporting on it is very limited. Granted, the game is a long way from release, but a trailer would’ve been nice.

Grand Theft Auto IV Trailer 2? Seen it, it’s good, but old.

Halo 3. I wish I was a Halo fanboy, only then could I appreciate the crappy trailer and the somewhat uninspired Neil Blomkampt short. I loved the multiplayer beta more than any previous installment of the series, I just wanted bungie to show a demo or trailer they could hang their hats on. Something Microsoft could wave it’s hands and point to, saying “Look, the Xbox360 may not win the console war, but we sure ain’t losing.”

Rock Band, Microsoft was given a gift from the rock gods, and it squandered it. The only company to get to demo the game on stage and they ruined it. Not that Peter Moore didn’t rock hard enough, they just trucked all the equipment on stage, played, and left. Pathetic.

I did appreciate the huge list of interesting games they had coming out this year. Peter Moore rattled off that list, even adding his own entries, with a smirk like he was slapping Nintendo and Sony in the face; because he was. Moral of the story? If you can only get one system this season and you’re older than 12. Get the 360. Halo 3 plus Mass Effect equals crazy delicious.

Microsoft Press Conference 7/10