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E3 Wrapup Documented
mindless4210 writes "The new Nokia N-Gage, shown at E3, looks promising, but Nokia better be prepared to compete with Sony and Nintendo. Nokia is betting the N-Gage's wireless communication abilities will set it apart and allow multiplayer gaming to move away from computers and living-room consoles and into consumers' pockets." Reader harikiri writes "According to the BBC, the much-maligned Infinium Labs has showcased their Phantom console at E3. Apparently Infinium have made agreements with AMD and Nvidia to provide the processor and graphics controller. The specs seem very respectable: a 2.5GHz AMD processor, 256MB RAM and a 40GB HDD." Reader Ipingforpong writes "E3, probably the most well known video game trade show was assaulted by the U.S. Army in a promotion for America's Army. Soldiers rappelled out of a real Blackhawk helicopter with real rifles and rushed the show."
Does anyone have any sales figures on the original N-Gage? I can't imagine that the sales were decent enough that they felt they could give it another shot. Perhaps they just have a lot of extra money that they don't want to be burdened with. Money is a rather cumbersome thing for some people, I guess.
-Vendal Thornheart
PSP: Clearly this was shown only because of the Nintendo DS. Someone told me that Nothing shown on the PSP looked even remotely close to being complete. I heard some analyst predicting March 05 but I think even December 05 would be optimistic. That said, I think that it has potential -- it's just too soon to tell.
Nintendo DS: For me, this was the biggest surprise of the show. I had low expectations, and had serious doubts as to how dual screens or a touch screen could add much to gameplay. Boy was I wrong. The games they were showing were amazing. It turns out that the stylus makes FPS gaming on a handheld quite workable. For the Metroid game, you move/strafe with d-pad, and pivot/shoot by moving your stylus on the touch-pad... genious!! Even the chat program was a blast. If this thing sells for less than $150 I think it will do quite well. Very curious to see the pricetag.
Half-Life 2: Still impressive, but you can tell that the community good-will is fading. At the demo I attended, when Gabe Newell said the release date would be sometime this summer, some guy got a few laughs by blurting out "For real this time??". Gabe was not amused.
Doom 3 (X-Box): While I'm sure the PC version will be quite awesome, I was unimpressed by the X-box version. Obviously it can't look as good as the PC version, but it didn't even seem to set a high-water mark for XBox. Didn't seem very fun to play. Still, I'll reserve judgement for the final product.
Chronicles of Riddick: Much like Vin Diesel's performance in Knockaround Guys, this game was surprisingly good. This could have easily been shovelware, but this is a game that could stand on its own without any licensing. Seemed like it had some innovative ideas for an FPS. It's hard to explain, but the viewpoint is more immersive. For example, you could look down and see your feet, your character casts his shadow on the wall, and a lot of little touches that gave you the environmental "perspective" of a third-person shooter.
NGage 2: Doomed. Booth had very little foot traffic. There were always more kiosks than people (a bad sign at e3), and half the people there were Nokia staff. New form factor is better, but the hardware is the same (still underpowered) and it still feels awkward both as a phone or a portable gaming device. What is Nokia thinking?
Nintendo showing (not including DS): Impressive, just like last year (though the konga game seems a bit silly).
XBox Showing: Impressive, unlike last year.
Sony showing: generally a disappointment.
Lots of other little things (maybe I'll add to this thread later), but those are the standouts. What did you guys think was neat / lame?