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E3 - Pre-Show Announcements Overwhelm, Entertain
Thanks to GameSpot for its massive E3 update list, GameSpy for a similar E3 index, IGN for its latest E3 news, and 1UP for its E3 dispatches, as the major gaming sites update on "hundreds of new games" revealed leading up to the E3 Expo in Los Angeles. New highlights include an "epic three-hour press conference" revealing Konami's new games, including screenshots of Metal Gear Acid for PSP, and elsewhere, screenshots and a preview of Metroid Prime Hunters for Nintendo DS, the announcement and screenshots of "unique armband"-toting EyeToy: AntiGrav for PS2, preview and screenshots of Mario 64x4 for Nintendo DS, and much, much more. What's been your favorite hardware or software revelation so far?
Given the choice I'd go for the Ninty DS. That optical drive on the PSP is bound to cause battery life issues, and I quite like the dual-screen arrangement over the PSP single screen (even though it's a good size). Is it just me, or are the titles announced for the PSP not very exciting compared to the DS? At least Nintendo have got some innovation in there rather than churning out the usual sports muck.
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One other thought. Nintendo should give Gamespot the "business" over that screenshot index for Metroid Prime: Hunters. It had me wondering if the pics were a joke until clicking and finding out the index was populated with the low-detail map screen instead of the main game. :)
That one's easy--Halo 2. I wasn't able to be physically present at E3, but I'd still gone into it with little enthusiasm and nominal expectations. I expected some more progress from Halflife 2, maybe another movie from the Doom 3 folks, and, if lucky, something from Blizzard, as well. I knew that Bungie was going to be at E3, but all I expected from them was, at the most, another teaser or demo video. They pretty much "submarined" their way into the conference, with just about nothing coming out of them as to whether or not they were even going to be there until last Thursday.
So they showed up, and I wasn't there for it, off studying for a more-important Final Exam. I get back, check a website or two, and WHAM! Halo news sites have gone bonkers. So I get curious and start checking things out... couple of interviews, ok, nothing too awful special, damn spiffy new screenshots, and... sweet jeebus, they had a playable demo and there's already a shakey-cam version of the presentation they gave before they allowed folks to have at it. I watch the presentation, of course, expecting something along the lines of Halo's multiplayer action in look and feel.
Nope, I'm most pleasantly surprised. Even through the really crappy compression and resolution, I'm blown away. Customizable this, that, and another thing, new weapons that look, sound, and work better than anything I've seen in a video game, before, and... destructable environments AND intelligently-designed destructable vehicles!? Woah, momma!
So, yeah... definately going with Halo 2, there, and I'm rather unsure why it hasn't been covered here.
~UP
Eat the Path.
It wasn't just the storage system that helped the PS 'beat' the N64, though; Sony's marketing and the focus of its games played a large part - specifically titles like Wipeout, which roped in a huge casual market while Nintendo at launch were wowing the longtime gamers with Mario 64, but hardly attracting the man in the street. Sony continued this trend with titles like Gran Turismo, and generally created the casual gaming market.
That isn't to say Nintendo didn't produce some cracking games, but their market for them was always limited more by their image than by the choice of cartridge technology. Obviously the expense of cartridges didn't help (when Turok came out in the UK, it cost almost twice as much as a new PS game), but games like Resident Evil 2 (admittedly a late entry) showed that the cartridge could compete with the CD, and games from the outset like Mario 64 and Pilotwings proved that Nintendo could deliver the goods regardless of format.
Anyway, the handhelds? Well, being the owner of a NES and SNES, and therefore familiar with the original Mario Kart, Metroid and Mario games. the Game Boy Advance hasn't done much to wow me beyond Advance Wars and Wario Ware. I'm sure it's a fantastic system for someone who's playing Mario Kart or Super Mario World on it for the first time, but I'm clearly a jaded old fart. The link-up options and touch screen sound like they could be promising, if used well. At the same time, the inclusion of an analogue controller on the PSP is important and sadly missing from the DS - though it would probably boost the price and maybe raise the vulnerability of the unit.
The PSP software lineup also feels very familiar, of course, but there is the saving grace that many of these titles are seeing their first handheld iteration, and might gain some novelty points that way. A portable Metal Gear sounds and looks wonderful, if a little antisocial...
At the end of the day, I'll probably get 'em both just out of curiosity and hope. And I'm sure both will have a few great games and a lot of dross. So why on earth I've been wittering on like this, I've no idea. Go Nintendo! Go Sony! Give us hell!