Overloading at E3

>>California’s landmark gaming conference
has scaled down, but its hot new games,
awkward celebrity endorsements and
all-out decadence remain in full force.
An exclusive Mirror report

HYPE AND HOOPLAH: Saints running back Reggie Bush (left)
plays Madden ’08 at the Microsoft press conference

This year’s E3 Media and Business Summit, the annual video game trade show hosted by the Entertainment Software Association from July 11–13, was equally controversial for its new slate of games and slimmed down format. Usually taking place in the Los Angeles Convention Center, E3 was as famous for its excessive loudness and booth babes as it was for hot new games. For the first time (and possibly last time, if the negative reaction from veteran journalists and game companies gathers any momentum) the show was moved to seven hotels in the Santa Monica area, and instead of 60,000 media types, rabid bloggers and every electronic store manager on the planet, only 5,000—including only one English-Quebec journalist—were invited to the new, booth babe-less E3.

This being my first E3, I did not have a point of reference when comparing this year’s shindig to previous shows, despite following it since the first show in 1995 (mainly by reading interview transcripts in the now-defunct Next Generation magazine). It was commonly known that some of the problems in the past were the long line-ups for games, the excess of abrasive fanboys and the game companies fighting for attention by being as loud as possible. The sleeker conference had none of these annoyances but the new format was hardly infallible.

Logistical gaffs and endless Grey Goose

When choosing to disperse the typically concentrated show over seven hotels along Ocean Avenue, it was obvious that commuting from location to location, often with only a few minutes between meetings, would result in a few missed appointments during the 16-hour days (including the industry schmoozing at the many high-profile after-parties). Despite giving myself at least 30 minutes between each meeting, I could not pencil in a few companies I wanted to see. The individual press conferences for the game publishers were a major disaster; they were all held one after another in the same room, and journalists and their expensive equipment were forced to leave the conference room while the next company would set up their presentation. The logistics issues were not lost on Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima; during the Konami presentation, Kojima gave an impassioned short speech asking for the old E3 back.

Almost more important than the products on hand was the decadence on display at E3. At the Sony conference at their Culver City film studios, patrons were treated to plenty of free grub and free cocktails (before noon). A Games for Windows party was held poolside, where Microsoft execs and a variety of moochers and yes-men enjoyed bottle after bottle of Grey Goose. Like any good business show, I was able to go the entire week without paying for food (although a diet of only hors d’oeuvres can’t possibly hold much nutritional value).

It was all part of the self-congratulatory aspect of the show, since the game industry is on the type of ridiculous upswing the movie and music industries could only dream about. The three major companies, Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony, cleverly skewed the numbers to prove they were dominating the business, but truthfully all three companies are doing extremely well and should continue to grow.

Rock stars and half-baked celebs

All this aside, E3 has always been the place to unveil new games. Unfortunately, most veteran game journalists suspected the major surprises were being saved for the upcoming game shows in Tokyo and Liepzig, Germany, and they were largely proven correct. The only big surprises were the next billion-dollar idea from Nintendo—the exercise Wii game WiiFit (tabbed for release in 2008) and very brief mentions of Resident Evil 5 and Silent Hill V, both for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. The major companies seemed more content to display titles coming out this holiday season, and at least many of these games were much further along in development than the last time we saw them.

With a partial count, I managed to either play or view 71 games in three days, and the total number of games present was considerably more than that. As with the old E3, the presentation from each company was as noteworthy as the games themselves. Companies were more than willing to spend lavishly on food, transportation, shiny objects and celebrity cameos to ensure their games were being uttered on the lips of every shell-shocked journalist on the many shuttle-bus rides from location to location throughout the day.

As odd as it was to see E Street Band member Steven Van Zandt bestow the virtues of the latest offering from Guitar Hero designers Harmonix, called Rock Band, it was much more uncomfortable witnessing a very unfunny and dishevelled Jamie Kennedy awkwardly emceeing the Activision press conference (sorry, Son of Mask, the “all gamers are sexless Star Wars geeks” jokes lost their lustre years ago). Van Zandt’s appearance made more sense: he will help choose the music for Rock Star, a music game that will be packaged with a drum kit, two guitars and a microphone.

Montreal and Mario represent

Last year’s recipient of the E3 game of the show prize in the action/adventure genre was Ubisoft Montreal’s Assassin’s Creed, due sometime this November on the Xbox 360, PC and PS3. I was able to play the demo, which took place in a faithfully reproduced Jerusalem circa 1911 A.D. It stars the Assassin Altair in a game that blends the stealth of Splinter Cell with the wall-climbing acrobatics of Prince of Persia. The mission of the level was to infiltrate a slave-trading building and depose the business’s owner. The different ways of actually accomplishing this is astounding; players can discreetly infiltrate the base, or merely kill everyone in sight. After finding the enemy, a furious chase scene begins in the streets, where the enemy acts randomly as he runs for his life. With superior agility, Altair can swing from flagpoles to ledges in order to catch up with the slave-owner. It was one of the show’s more fully realized and enjoyable demos.

During the Nintendo press conference, held at an off-site location, a major disappointment was watching Mario-creator Shigeru Miyamoto more content to pimp the new WiiFit, an exercise game that utilizes the new balance board peripheral, than his own Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii, but a three-level demo with Nintendo Canada reminded me of why I still care about Mario games. Galaxy perfectly blends the Wii remote motion-sensor with traditional Mario controls in an often spinning and colourful 3D world. For instance, Mario could spin up a flower stem by spinning the Wii remote, then leap onto the platforms with the jump button. A new Mario costume was also shown—the plumber can transform into a bee.

Shooters, puzzles and role-playing

One hot title was Bioshock, a PC and X360 first-person shooter from 2k Games. In addition to having an array of weapons in your character’s right hand (like any other shooter), his left hand can shoot electricity, fire and other biological weapons known as plasmids, in a beautifully designed underwater city. For M.C. Escher fans, the minimalist puzzle game Echochrome, available for future download on the Playstation 3 Store (the console’s online download service), is loosely based on the graphic artists’ impossible creations. Betheseda Softworks’ one-hour Fallout 3 presentation was an exciting look at the PC role-playing game set after a nuclear holocaust.

There was a very strong local showing this year beyond Ubisoft Montreal’s Assassin’s Creed, Naruto: Rise of A Ninja (based on the popular animé) and the PS3-exclusive Splinter Cell: Conviction. EA Montreal displayed a playable version of Boogie, a hilarious dance and karaoke game for the Wii, along with Army of Two, a PS3/X360 war game made exclusively for two players. Artificial Mind and Movement (A2M) will also be working on different versions of a few upcoming movie adaptations: Iron Man, Golden Compass and the latest Indiana Jones.

There were grumblings that this E3 would be the last, and that would mean a new conference will likely grab the mantle as the pre-eminent gaming trade event for the exploding industry in North America. Perhaps the summertime in Montreal would be the ideal time and backdrop for the next big game show?

Good and Bad at E3

Top 5 games
Bioshock (2k Games)
Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft)
Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo)
Fallout 3 (Bethesda)
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (SCE)

Bottom 5 games
Simpsons the Game (EA)
Hellboy (Konami)
Turok (Disney)
Nights (Sega)
Civilization Revolution (2k Games)