Nintendo, the company that everyone loves to love, was considered to have a good showing at E3 and this was heightened by the praise Nintendo received from press and public alike.

Yet those who cared to look behind the hype the GC and GBA were receiving saw a company stuck in its old ways, a company which could be so much more then it is today yet refuses to change its ways. Those who looked at Nintendo as just another company exhibiting instead of having their views distorted by the love they might feel in their heart for the company saw a Nintendo that has seemingly learned nothing from the past. I came away from the Nintendo booth with a feeling of déjà-vu, Nintendo still treats its third parties (apart from a few minor preferred ones) as shit and simply doesn't seem interested in providing a real challenge to Sony, instead opting to extend on their N64 business model (thank God Nintendo now has some select Sega teams at its side who will provide the sort of games otherwise sorely lacking from Nintendo's own line up).

In fact most of their games at the show floor were looking and playing like N64 games running in a higher resolution or simple upgrades from games we played long ago. Even the much touted Pikmin was nothing more then a Lemmings update for the new millennium. GBA Nintendo's freshly released cash cow didn't help matters. Instead of the killer portable we were promised we got a machine that at best is comparable with the 16 bit home consoles of over a decade ago. The games as well mostly consist of cheap ports of decade old games which are being sold at full retail price. In the 16 bit era, Nintendo had fierce competition from Sega so they were forced to give people their money's worth, people wanted more Mario so Nintendo gave them Mario All Stars, a compilation of 4 older Mario games enhanced for the SNES.

With the GBA Nintendo simply doesn't have ANY competition to speak of so we get Mario 2, a 15 year old game, supported by a league of other 16 bit classics like Mario Kart, FZero etcetera, all at full price with little to no extras added.

Nobody understands the art of ripping people off as well as Nintendo does (no not even Sony or Microsoft) and no other company can get away with it like Nintendo can.

Microsoft

Microsoft, the company that everybody loves to hate, wasn't able to captivate audiences like they should have.

It wasn't the hardware since that is a step above the Gamecube which in itself is a step above the PS2. It wasn't the software either since Microsoft had a lot of games in either playable form or on video (many of which are in fact excellent as games or looking way ahead of the games on other machines graphically), many more in fact then Nintendo had this year or Sony had last year.

Games like DoA3 and Jet Set Radio Future upped the bar graphically and have no peers on other machines, games like Gun Valkyrie and Project Gotham feature unique and innovative gameplay and there are announced but not yet shown high potential games like Crazy Taxi next and Panzer Dragoon as well as high profile ports like Onimusha or Silent Hill 2. Yet where Nintendo and Sony were applauded Microsoft got the cold shower. So what was it then that Microsoft did wrong, that left a bad impression with the attendees?

I am from the opinion that Microsoft was considered to have had a bad show simply because it was Microsoft, not because of a lack of good games or bad hardware or whatever but simply for being Microsoft. Seemingly Microsoft has taken Sega's place as the company that just can't get any respect.

With the PS2 sweeping the marketplace and the Gamecube and Gameboy Advance on the attendees' minds, people are unwilling to give the XBox the chance it deserves simply because it's a Microsoft product. Microsoft with the XBox at E3 was unable to convince people to judge the machine and its games, instead people judged the company behind it and as such Microsoft failed by default.

Regardless of the above Microsoft's own games were generally disappointing as well which is never a good thing. In fact the most exciting products coming to it seem to be the announced Sega games and unless Microsoft gets its act together the XBox stands the chance of becoming a money pit of epic proportions which will make Sega's losses seem like pocket change.

The press, attendees and general consumers (yes YOU)

Like previous years, press and public had chosen their favourites well before E3 and few things at E3 could have changed that. Sony and Nintendo won and Microsoft lost because it had been decided long in advance that that would be the picking order. Like I mentioned at the start, perception is more important then reality. Never mind the fact that Microsoft had a showing that was much better then that of Sony a year prior, people have short memories. Never mind that people were complaining about the frame rates of some XBox titles or the fact that the games were not complete yet and then went on to defend Gamecube titles because they are not complete yet while claiming to honestly not see the low framerates in some Gamecube titles.

Never mind the fact that people call the XBox a PC or a port box yet when it gets exclusive games say they won't remain exclusive and they will just wait for a PS2 or Gamecube version. Never mind the fact that people wouldn't have given Pikmin a second look if it had been a game featured in the Korean games booth in Kentia Hall yet hailed it as the second coming because Miyamoto is producer.

Never mind all that because it was decided by the Borg long ago. For further proof of that, look at last year when Sega's games on DC were kicking the pants of the half finished crap in Sony's booth and in the booths of Sony's third parties.

Yet it was decided BEFORE E3 2000 that Sega had no chance against Sony so almost everyone declared a non-playable trailer to be GAME OF THE SHOW.

Half-assed tech demos and unfinished games which later turned out to be crap were touted as killer titles (The Bouncer springs to mind as does Zone of Enders which was being called a Virtual On killer despite being nothing like Virtual On). And as such, the sentiment before E3 and the subsequent reporting made for a self-fulfilling prophecy, Sega failed last year because people wanted Sega to fail, Sega didn't have a chance because it wasn't given a chance despite their monumental efforts. Now Microsoft is in the danger zone Sega used to be in, and it remains to be seen just how much they can bounce back.

Difference is Microsoft can financially handle it and they weren't anywhere as good as Sega was last year. By acting within this frame and reacting within the confines set up by the Borg YOU have allowed the assimilation of this hobby. You as a consumer, member of the press, retailer, developer, publisher or whatever are as guilty for the situation we are in as the Borg and what's even worse most of you don't realise it and happily go on evangelising the word of the Borg as if your lives depended on it.

For those still wondering what I mean with the Borg I'll explain, it's like a huge maelstrom which decides what happens; the maelstrom consists of us yet despite it consisting of us, we can't control it and instead it controls us, and instead of realising it most people choose to believe that it's them controlling the Borg and not the other way around, because our fragile egos can't handle the truth, we can't comprehend our own insignificance in the never-ending movement of the larger ego.

An ego that is not ours yet who we, through conformity or non-conformity, try to make our own so that our own egos become nonexistent and our entire way of life and way of thinking ends up being controlled by the Borg.

Other smaller annoyances

Sega's appointment only policy and show presence: Although I can understand Sega's reasons (after all no company ever gave as much as Sega did last year without getting so little in return) for keeping its booth closed to the general attendees (and apparently even people like Miyamoto and Molyneux), I still feel it was a bad move since this way the people who will actually sell their products (retail clerks) had no chance of seeing and playing the games they are supposed to sell for Sega, bad move.

Sega also decided to showcase fewer games compared to previous years, a few XBox games, a few Gamecube and Gameboy Advance games, NO PS2 games at their own booth and most of the DC games coming in the next few months. Disappointing as well was the fact that all of the Sega games on other platforms were either ports (from arcade or DC) or sequels to established franchises.

No original content was shown for any machine apart from Dreamcast. One of the things that made Sega so great was that they were never afraid to take chances and in doing so made games that influenced the entire industry ( even more so then Nintendo), going the third party route however might change this.If Sega stops being the innovative creator they always have been and becomes a third party like Konami or EA, the entire industry will suffer.

The death of PC: Fewer PC games than in previous years coupled with mega projects which seemingly take decades to finish (yes Gathering of Developers that's you I'm talking about).

Minors at E3: Minors have no place at E3 and IDSA advertises with an ABSOLUTELY NO MINORS policy yet hand them the money and you can buy badges which allow minors to be admitted. Last thing a crowded trade show needs (apart from Nintendojo guys who think they know Japanese) are spoiled little brats.

Fanboys, eBay swag auctions, E3 food quality and food prices, Vic Ireland, missed appointments, 15 hour flight time to reach LA, overpriced dollar making everything super expensive for me, etcetera.

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