A gamer's haven.
May 18 '00
Having worked at both the 1998 and 1999 E3 Expos (in Atlanta, Georgia and Los Angeles, California, respectively), I'd have to say that E3 2000 had a strong show of titles for all platforms (save for Nintendo) and is still a great convention for gamers.
You can check out all sorts of E3 goodness at sites like e3news.com or ign.com , so for now I'd like to put down memorable parts of the Expo.
Games:
Probably the biggest surprise (for me) was Sega's "Samba De Amigo" (slated for an August U.S. release), another "music genre" game except here you hold maracas and shake them at appropriate times (and positions) for points. It's hard to describe in words how fun this is, but it's definitely something you'll want to watch for when it comes out here in the Fall. I ended up playing it 3 times despite the small crowds eager to shake their booty (and the maracas too, of course).
Accessories:
Microsoft's Sidewinder "Game Voice" is your basic headset, but it uses DirectX to transmit voice data, allowing you to play ANY game with it. They had over 5 isolated 'stations' running Unreal Tournament over a LAN. The headset saves so many headaches in terms of issuing commands or screaming out for cover when playing capture-the-flag games. I'm aware that there are other voice comm. programs out there (Roger Wilco, etc.), but when I tried this out, the thought of using the Game Voice with other multiplayer games held new promise for me.
Booth Babes:
Cliché but still part of conventions. There were some absolutely beautiful women at the convention this year from those who passed out the Show Daily magazines to (as always) the Eidos girls. Nintendo has stayed the same every year with conservatively dressed assistants at the game stations. Tecmo, however, featured two of the characters from Dead or Alive, in all their hardbody glory.
Metal Gear Solid 2:
Konami featured a lengthy video of MGS2: Sons of Liberty every hour, on the hour. If Hideo Kojima stays true to his designing roots, this will be THE game that makes you buy a Playstation 2. The graphics are extremely impressive and the video was edited to perfection. Hopefully we'll see this in playable form at next year's Expo. I'll definitely buy this one.
Halo:
Bungie had a great Halo presentation that drew in a lot of attendees. Initially we were introduced to real-time character animation and vehicle movement. Our host, one of the programmers/designers, walked to his system and ran a character around with various weapons and then went onto some vehicles. Very nice. Shortly thereafter they ran a DVD of a scripted action sequence lasting maybe ten minutes or so (but all with in-engine graphics). I give Bungie props for covering the bases in their presentation by showing things in real-time (makes the game much more tangible). It definitely assures gamers and press on how on-the-ball they are with their title. More companies should follow suit instead of just showing video footage. It definitely gives them an edge on grabbing the eye of both press and public.
Free Stuff:
If you walk out of E3 with no bag and magazines, you're probably not really too enthused about the con are you? Imagine media was there in addition to any other company who makes gaming magazines. If you're good you can nab free T shirts (Gamespot and IGN were giving them away in addition to other companies either posting contests or other events) and additional goodies.
Next Year:
Next year E3 will probably be just as fun, moreso for gamers who live in Southern California. Find a way to go without spending the mucho cash for tickets and you've got a one way ticket to three days of gaming heaven.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
JamesWong
|
|
Location: California
Reviews written: 60
Trusted by: 40 members
About Me:
Video/PC gamer, video editor.
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.