2005 E3 Report
Posted by: kmikeym
E3 Report
First thing we noticed was that parking seemed much more expensive. The lots near the convention center were going for $40 to $60. Eventually we found a spot that was only $20. We knew there was something special going on when paying $20 for parking was a "good deal". As we were driving around we also noticed the US Army had an entire parking lot and giant RV for their AA demo/recruitment game. I wonder what they paid for that? (and then I wonder, how many vehicles could be armored in Iraq for that money?)
The first thing we noticed when we walked in was The Nightmare Before Christmas. And while the level and character design were nice, it seemed like an awful lot of fighting to be really be true to the game. Cabel, Dave, Noby and I were discussing the draw of the "weirder" games. We were much more excited for the Katamari sequel than the next realistic WWII shooter.
Personally, I love simulations. I will never play a game like NHL Eastside Hockey Manager 2005, but with no hockey happening this season, at least the fans can fake it. John might be interested in picking up Worldwide Soccer Manager 2006 (though I think it is PC only).
Other simulators included a poker gaming sim and The Movies, where you not only run a studio, but get to direct and edit the movies, which was almost a Final Cut Pro primer.
Walking deeper into the show we saw Microsoft. The Microsoft booth looked expensive. Not "inviting" or "impressive" really, just expensive. We walked up on their "bridge" where I was able to get some very nice pictures of the show floor. The place is crazy. As soon as you walk in it's loud music, flashing lights, crowds of people, and sporadic scantily clad ladies. Down under the bridge were all the XBOX games, and in the far back area were a few non-playable demos of various games for the XBOX 360.
From up on the Microsoft "bridge" we spied our old friends N-GAGE of Nokia across the show floor.
They were having some sort of contest with a young hip black urban male trying to pump up the crowd, but only his team of sidekick hotties were interested in answering his cries of, "Let's hear it for the players, ya'll!" They seemed to have more games coming out and in various stages of development, but the giant booth was not well attended. I find it both courageous and stupid that Nokia is dedicated to continuing with the NGage.
Rockstar had some painted bus props in a fenced off area that no one was allowed to go in. (media only perhaps?) Since they don't want to show me anything, I don't really want to talk about them.
The game I am most excited about is Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney for the Nintendo DS. You play the role of Phoenix battling for justice in the courtroom.
It's basically a Japanese version of Matlock. The other DS title that I will be purchasing as soon as it comes out is "Trauma Center: Under The Knife", so that I can watch Fiona translate her real life training to the dual screens.
The DS section of the Nintendo booth had the most energy. People playing, downloading, and getting excited about new games. Plus a lot of people (ourselves included) brought their own DS, so there was just a sea of them.
Cabel won prizes for playing Mario Kart DS and Nintendogs, which sounds like the dumbest title of any game in the whole world, but is actually a really interesting PuppySim with social networking aspects to it. You teach your puppy tricks and throw him a frisbee, clean up his pee, pet him, and all the good and bad you'd expect from a virtual pet game. But, while walking around, with your DS off, if you pass into proximity of another Nintendogs player, your DS will alert you, and you can interact with the other person. Social networking via the real world proximity of your virtual pets.
It's exciting and frustrating to see a game that was at E3 last year still in demo mode a year later. Two games I was excited about last year, Killer7 and Odama, were playable this year.
They have now added a microphone element to Odama, making it even weirder. It's an ancient Japanese combat game using a giant pinball machine as a defensive weapon against enemies, and now you can now issue commands via the microphone! Truly creative, and weird, and I hope it gets released soon.
So many fantasy role-playing games! Even the Disney kids are jumping into the Fantasy RPG genre. There are so many of these games I tend to just gloss over them, but one game does include the vicious puppeteer as an enemy. Something about four adventurers beating up a guy playing with dolls strikes me as bad game design.
At dinner after the E3 show I asked Dave, Cabel, and Noby what they thought the worst thing they saw was. Noby was quick to answer that Mario Soccer was terrible. Noby feels that the Mario brand is being spread much to thin and that Nintendo is apply a coat of Mario to everything from DDR to Baseball games. For me, it was the N-Gage booth. Just to see so much effort go into a product that is a flop. Starting with the empty booth and going all the way back to the development of this product. It was risky, and it failed. Dave found the worst moment when we walked into Kentia Hall and saw a throng of the skankiest booth babes I have ever seen. They were trying for the "dark, metal, goth" look, but they were only able to get to skeevy before the whole look fell apart, multiplied by the sheer number of them. Normally the "booth babe" is an aspect of trade shows I have come to ignore, even when cleverly used. But this was just depressing on so many levels. 1) The company thought they were being cool. 2) The company spent a lot of money on these girls. 3) There is nothing cool or particularly clever about paying a woman to dress like a slut and hang out with you. Cabel's "worst of" moment was the lack of anything to do with the game "Perfect Dark Zero", a title from Rare that is supposedly an XBOX 360 launch title. Rare has long been Cabel's most admired game development company, and ever since it was swallowed by Microsoft there hasn't been much to be excited about.
Thinking more positively, it was nearly impossible to decide which DS title we were collectively most excited about. After some complicated table top mathematics, we decided that Animal Crossing DS is our most anticipated DS game. Lost In Blue, a game where you are shipwrecked on an island, has you milking goats, starting fires, and even cooking. It looks very innovative, like having you close the DS while cooking!
We tied for our 3rd place, both Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and New Super Mario Bros. Phoenix Wright just seems so weird. You figure things out by turning evidence around and accusing people of being liars. And with all the Mario branded crap out there, it's refreshing to see a real Mario title again.
And finally, the big payoff and what we all feel is the best new game: We (heart) Katamari. We saw the giant new Royal Rainbow, the incredibly cute graphic design, and new levels!
Yay!
The king is looking as stately as ever, but seems to hide his bulging package now, and the Prince can now be assisted by a cousin in a two player mode.
"Assisted" may be the wrong word. In the two player version both players are pushing the same katamari ball, sort of like controlling the tracks on a tank. It is more difficult, but also a lot of fun and requires communication. The demo game was created for E3, and the King had a few words about the new consoles.
The first Katamari was just too short. I would be happy if they just released new levels every year.
It was a good E3. The Nintendo DS was by far the most exciting console on display, and the debate for this week has been about Nintendo's choice to not compete in the Sony/Microsoft "Most Bad-Ass System" fight, and if that is a good decision or a cop-out. We all seem to agree that it's a great move, and will result is more of the "weird games" we love.
For more pictures, check out my Flickr set.
