... it sucked! I was really disappointed. It just didn't have the excitement and urgency that it did in previous years (this is the third year I've attended). Sure, a lot of games looked great, but it was just more of the same, only with better graphics.

I'd write more, but a friend of mine wrote what I feel is a spot-on evaluation of E3's first day.
You can read it at: http://www.vgn-online.com
It's the top article ("E3 Day One: A Survivors Tale")

You must be smoking dope.

In any case, i read your friends report on the event. it looks like other factors pissed him off and he took it all out on E3.

Mountain dew?? EWWWWW as for the star trek, i have not seen any one with any star wars or star trek shirts in the place for the last two days. most a buisness like or casual attire.

Uh. you have to expect a crowd. this guy sounds to bitter on the actual event then anything else. hell he didn't even go into any detail on Any game.

thats what the whole thing is about. THE GAMES. not how many crappy people there are in the world, not how many spot lights, not how fast you get there. but the product!

someone else, who would actually enjoy this show should have got his pass instead of having one bitter whinny person in who will just be a critic for shock value.

Okay, maybe I was being a bit melodramatic. It didn't suck, but I was just comparing the vibe and feel of this year's show to previous years.

Of course the games will be better each year, so I wasn't really judging the show based on the games. If you remember, just last year, there were numerous staged shows, pro wresteling matches, contests/tournaments, even a huge ramp in a cage for pro bikers and skaters to do tricks in. There was none of that this year. For example, Sega's booth last year rocked. This year they had maybe 10% of the space and an exremely low-key presence. I know, I know, Sega's not making consoles anymore, but they had a weaker booth than most 3rd parties half their size. It just seemed that everyone was trying to cut down on the Spectical which is, to me, what makes E3 greater than any trade show in the world. Without it, E3 becomes just another fun trade show. But I still wouldn't miss it for the world.

Now, since you say the whole thing is about the games, let's talk about the games.
First of all, you have to understand that most everything at E3 is unfinished and therefore, basically a tech demo. It's hard to judge how good a game will be untill it's finished. E3 just gives you a pretty good idea how a game is coming along.
Having said that, I was not really disappointed with anythng I played. I just wished that there was more originality in the new games.
Examples:
Rouge Squadron 2: Best looking game at the show. And it played great. But it played just like a better looking Rouge Squadron 1 from 2 years ago, just more refined.
Wave Racer 2: see above.
Smash Bros. Melee: see above
Tony Hawk 3: see above
Madden 2002: see above
Final Fantasy X: see above
Capcom vs. SNK: see above
Wofenstien 2: see above
Halo: see any 1st person shooter
Resident Evil... whatever: see above

Get the idea?
Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to a lot of these, but since I've played their earlier incarnations to death, I'm not crapping my pants over them. Most games are getting just a bit too redundant.
The only games I saw with any real innovation were Luigi's Mansion and Pikmin. Miyamoto games, of course. But as I stated, E3 is not the ideal environment to truly get the gist of these types of games. So what gets shown and played are the good looking, yet same old types of games.

But I guess it's the nature of the beast in entertainment:
What is popular is not necessarily innovative.
Music: Boy bands and Limp Bizkit
Films: Scary Movie and Mummy Returns
Video Games: Almost all sequels

~ discuss

[Edited by slop101 on 05-19-01 at 04:26 PM]

It's just part of the games sceen of today, you just have to accept that 99% of the games are old concepts with a new layer of polisgh applied. Fact is, there just aren't that many genuienly original ideas in the gaming world any more. You get the odd spark of inspiration, sure, but by and large, it's the same stuff as there was last year, only fancier looking. It's gotta happen with any entertainment medium at some point or other, I mean, look at Hollywood. How often does a genuinely original film come out? Once in a blue moon... Same with the games arena, there just aren;t enough concepts to keep every company in original ideas for as long as they last, and it's inevitable that after a while, the "new " ideas are just gonna be old ideas tarted up.

IMO, this is one of the few areas where Nintendo have the edge; they seem to have a knacl for adding to their "old" titles, as opposed to just bringing out the same things with better graphics. I mean, the Mario franchise has been going on for what, 15 years now? And they're still managing to make decent, original games out of it. All I'm worried about is that they seem to be putting too much stock in Shigeru Miyamoto... apart from him and Rare, there doesn;t seem to be any genuine originality on the videogames scene at all lately

i miss when it was at the CES. You could sneak into the porn show after you got your video game fix. I was like 16 and 2 shows about video games and porn in the same place was the happiest place on Earth

Ohh man...talk about heaven. Wait, my place is like that now. I'm outta here!