E3 2011 is over, all of the biggest gaming news of the year is in the bag, and our Los Angeles soldiers are returning to the UK shattered, slightly chubbier - and thrilled by the prospect of what they've witnessed.
Here, the editors of the UK's biggest games magazines give CVG their opinion of this year's standouts - and the one title that will live longest in their memory.
"The Wii U reveal was spectacular. When Nintendo showed off that concept video in the conference you could hear half the room literally gasp.
"Later on at the show, the handful of Wii U 'experiences' available to play around with neatly showed off just how much potential this device has. The Zelda HD demo in particular was a glimpse into a future in which Nintendo games can now lead the way in terms of graphics as well as being the games industry's true innovators.
"Getting my hands on a previously unseen Mario game was a treat, but in terms of an overall best game I think Mario Kart edges it. Lush visuals, 3D effects and a large soft spot for the series make it my game of the show. Just."
Check out everything that happened at E3 2011 - all the news, screens, video, reaction and rumours - in CVG's special round-up page. It's been a pleasure sharing the week's events with you.
You can Order ONM and have it delivered to your door through here.
Comments
28 comments so far...
wwinterj on 10 Jun '11 said:
OPM: Uncharted 3, ONM: Mario. Shocking isn't it? ..... Although I'd have thought the Xbox one would have said Gears of War 3.
Balladeer on 10 Jun '11 said:
Mario Kart? Really? A game we knew existed and which does barely anything over its DS forebear? Sure I'll buy it, and probably enjoy it, but best game of the show? That's ridiculous.
ste hicky on 10 Jun '11 said:
was there a mario kart there? all i saw was a shambling corpse with handgliders, subs, etc... bearing the MK name.
in fact, i took it so badly when i saw the trailer that i now class the franchise as dead.
onm have bleedin lost it if that's what they think.
roynluc on 10 Jun '11 said:
Calm down dear, it's just an opinion.
ste hicky on 10 Jun '11 said:
perfectly calm sir. just expressing mine.
weird, my last story board has just moved. fair enough it's on nintendo hardware but a heads up hey people. ta.
seems like the mods ain't happy with me these days.
roynluc on 10 Jun '11 said:
I was on about Balla, actually.
ste hicky on 10 Jun '11 said:
ah my mistake, quotes help in that context tbh.
my mistake anyway.
Stryker89 on 10 Jun '11 said:
Have you played it yet, Balladeer? Reserve your judgement, sir! I'd say in terms of sheer surprise and delight, Luigi's Mansion 2 was a personal highlight for me, the original was so good and criminally short.
Laughlyn on 10 Jun '11 said:
Mario Kart is my main 3DS game i'm waiting for. Probably be picking OoT up next weekend but MK3DS is one that will have me on my 3DS permanently. Barely touched my 3DS since having it cos games are pretty lacking atm
Balladeer on 10 Jun '11 said:
If ONM aren't reserving their judgement them I'm bloody well not going to!
And I've played MKDS which I reckon this'll borrow heavily from. Soulless game - worst Mario Kart I've played outside Super Circuit.
It's an opinion aired by ONM, which automatically makes it worse. Anyway, I'm as chilled as a cucumber that's been in the freezer, but I really don't agree with this opinion. Although he does admit "a large soft spot for the series", which explains his MASSIVE OBVIOUS BIAS.
Well, that, and that he's an ONM-er.
roynluc on 10 Jun '11 said:
I would've, except for when I posted, there was no reply to his post, then no notification to say that someone had already posted something when I submitted it. Plus when I submitted the post and had a look at it straight afterwards, yours wasn't there.
Strange things are afoot at castle C&VG.
Imaduck on 11 Jun '11 said:
Wow, not would I would've said or even considered, but I guess they're entitled to that
Cryotek on 11 Jun '11 said:
Battlefield 3 was game of show from what I saw, with Skyrim and Bioshock Infinite just behind.
Of course, I am a PC Gamer and all three of those will be way better on PC
ste hicky on 11 Jun '11 said:
mine were skyward sword which won me over with it's soundtrack alone. the fact the entire world is a puzzle outside of dungeons, flight being in (i called that 2 years back, scuse whíle i pat myself on the back) and it being set before ocarina just adds up to a game i have to play.
skyrim which was somehow running on 360.
PS3's dust 514 really surprised me with it's high end concept of linking in to eve online persistently and looked damn good to boot. if a little grey. uncharted 3 looked rather spiffing as well with plenty of colour and exceptional deserts.
the trailer for dragon's dogma blew me away at times. dunno if it'll be good but the graphics are insane.
bioshock infinite surprised me more than anything though as i hadn't really had my eye on it.
nintendo should make serious efforts to get that on wii u. it's devastating.
rbt2 on 11 Jun '11 said:
Whilst MK3DS wouldn't be my game of E3, that would be SM3DS, I'm really liking the look of it. Quite surprised at Ste's apathy towards it really but horses for courses and all that. I like the fact that they appear to have brought the coins back. That was always a great tactical play in snes MK. I'm not sure how the gliding will work or how it'll add to the game but it looks interesting and I like the fact that there seems to be multiple paths, judging from what I saw of the video.
Really quite looking forward to this.
kimoak on 11 Jun '11 said:
I am more and more looking forward to Kid Acarus than anything else at the moment. I crave for something deep.
ricflair on 11 Jun '11 said:
I think that's the position nintendo are in rbt. It's a fine balancing act getting the right level of progression and keeping the fans happy and making a game that can live up to the name!
I wouldn't criticise it, but in the same way I wouldn't say game of the show from what was shown. Actually, was it playable? MK may not be the same game that we loved on SNES (I know ste and I have both said it before, but please release the original with a tiny make over and proper online play!), but I still really enjoy them.
Was there a blue shell in it? Give people matchmaking options like Bomberman Live and let them chose what weapons they want - it would solve so many of the problems.
rip_it_up on 11 Jun '11 said:
I get where your comming from hicky with the mario kart trailer as i was thinking the same thing.
But i reckon it will turn out well, I'm thinking maybe when your gliding you have to use the gyro senors to turn then a nice transition to analogue controls when racing.
I actually had more fun with the wii wheel on mario kart wii than with the standard pad. I hope bikes dont make a return!
Because they wernt balanced well with karts.
As for the blue shell thing a think the easiest way is to to a call of duty and have a normal mode and a hardcore mode.
Balladeer on 11 Jun '11 said:
Oh God, forgot about the coins! Those are the main reason Super Circuit is my least favourite MK ever. They'd better not be necessary to unlock stuff, and I'd better be able to turn them off in multiplayer.
YCshinobi on 11 Jun '11 said:
ONM are big MK fans, they rated MK Wii like the best or second best Wii game if I remember correctly.
Me being a huge MK fan myself I liked what I saw but not overwhelmed by the new stuff, gliding, etc. Zelda Skyward Sword and Super Mario 3DS left the biggest impression on me.
aawells07 on 11 Jun '11 said:
Lol you just couldnt bare it you had to add that they would be better on PC cause we need to be in the know and we didnt already know that. Thanks for clarifying.
roynluc on 11 Jun '11 said:
Coins were one of the main points of the original Mario Kart on the Snes. I'm sure that the more you collected in a single race, the faster your Kart went, if I'm not mistaken.
Good to see them back though, I must say.
Balladeer on 11 Jun '11 said:
The problem was that when things like lightning bolts and Boos hit you in Super Circuit, you lost coins and there was nothing you could do about it. No amount of skill could save you. Getting the rankings became even more a game of luck.
ste hicky on 11 Jun '11 said:
true there balla, one of super circuits few failings with me was that it introduced the double/triple punishment mechanic to mk.
if you got hit with a ghost you always lost your power up but sc added the effects of being slowed down and your coins eaten away as well.
it also had the cheap blue/red sparks in a powerslide, the blue shell and ruined the snes courses but it's actually my joint second favourite mk out there with mk64.
ribbon road is my favourite mk track since the snes tbh. hitting that perfectly in 150cc is just like mk should be.
please nintendo, now you've gone even further away from the template on the snes, can we have a hd 20th anniversary online edition of smk next year for wii u?
ric and i will by it, promise.
The_Jaster on 12 Jun '11 said:
Super circuit is my fave after the SNES original......glad to see the coins back & after a little NGamer feed back from Matthew MK3DS is sounding real good to me especially the hand gliding bits.
The under water parts not so much but if all tracks have branching paths then that won't matter as I will be gliding all the time.
ste hicky on 12 Jun '11 said:
yep, you needed 10 to hit top speed.
it lead to all kinds of coin hogging in mp so your mates were at a disadvantage. they were also set out in a way that you could powerslide right through them on the likes of ghost valley 1 and in hindsight that was nintendo encouraging the learning of an advanced technique through trial and reward.
excellent design.
another thing i adored in the snes version was that the power ups didn't respawn. there was a set amount and when they were gone, they were gone. that led to some insane scrambles on lap 5.
those were the days. that was mario kart.
yup gonna have a day on smk and sc in 480p on the wii tomorrow. the one time the cc comes into it's own.
nintendolad on 12 Jun '11 said:
What a surprise. I'm a reader of this magazine (How I've stuck by the magazine for over 10 years I'll never known) and even I feel like ONM doesn't look past Mario. Now I love Mario as much as the next fanboy, but I can appreciate games that don't have Mario in them.
The magazine is aimed at kids and young teenagers, the podcast even more so (don't get me started on that turd), but the new design does make the magazine more mature. I'll stick with the magazine for now. Heaven forbid if a Mario game is crap! Literally, Nintendo could release a game that has nothing but poo in it with the M logo in it and they'll still give it 90%+.
Balladeer on 12 Jun '11 said:
Not a fan of ONM at all, but I should point out that Mario Power Tennis (which I really liked!) only got 77%.