by norm stovall normstovall@gmail.com
If you are familiar with video games and the video game industry, you probably know about the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3 for short. With this year’s E3 event, they did away with all the show-like aspects, including cosplaying booth babes, game related swag, and the like, to focus more on the press release side of things. While it sounds like a real drag that they toned things down so much, in the long run it really does help get information out in a much quicker way, with better results. I was able to find my way through many of the major events that happened over E3 week by going to popular sites such as joystiq.com, 1up.com and the like, and I was even able to get some nice info from Xbox live and the Playstation network. While there were tons of new things for show, I couldn’t possibly find room to mention them all here. I will, however, run through my list of favorites and some upcoming game news that I think is definitely noteworthy. I encourage you to do some looking for yourself!
First up is Nintendo. Nintendo’s PR dude and number-one tubby guy, Reggie Fils-Aime (pronounced FEES-ahMEE, for all you non-Canadians), took the stage to introduce his company’s goods. For those of you craving a more realistic shooting experience, Nintendo showed off their new two-handed gun peripheral, and allowed attendees to play a demo of Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles with it. The impressions I read gave mixed reviews, but the game is in beta stages right now, and the controller add-on has not yet been released, so I’m sure there will be revisions.
Another big deal from Nintendo is the announcement and demonstration of Nintendo’s Wii Fit, which is a fitness game controlled by a peripheral in the shape of an excercise stepstool. This little device can detect subtle changes in weight shifting, and has a left and right scale along with an awesomely smart game included. In Wii Fit, you can excercise away, playing various step-related games, and you can also use it to do push ups, yoga, and various balance related games that you control by simply shifting your weight, such as hula hooping. Very cool-and definitely worth some mom-points. In a live demonstration, Fils-Aime showed off the game and it’s fitness measuring techniques, and in the process clued the audience in to the fact that he was indeed overweight with a body-mass index of 27.51. Everyone had a hearty chuckle, to which he replied: “muscle weighs more than fat.” Hee hee.
In regards to Sony’s gaming news, there were a few noteworthy things to talk about. Sony’s PSP is getting a makeover, and the much anticipated Killzone 2 had a big showing. What really impressed me, however, is Little Big Planet, a Sony game based on small toy-like creatures that move along amazingly detailed levels, interacting with nearly everything. The level of customization shown in the demo was really amazing-Little Big Planet really seems like something to watch for.
On the Xbox 360 there were some cool things for show as well. Microsoft’s Halo 3 had a big showing, and the upcoming role-playing game Fable 2 was impressive as well. Some of the main draws for Microsoft, in my opinion, however, were titles that aren’t exclusive to Microsoft’s console, including the two music titles, Guitar Hero III and Rock Band. Overall, there were some good titles on show for the 360, including classic games-turned Xbox live games.
E3 this year has been a great success, and if you are a fan of great games, you owe it to yourself to check out these titles for yourself on the net, because there are way too many worthwhile titles to mention here.
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EU Critic’s Choice Awards
