I hate the inverted Y axis. then again I use a different lay out than the typical WASD. I use space as back and S as forward with shift as jump. So it's always a bit of a hassel for me to get into FPS. ATI's section was pretty cool. Enjoyed the star wars games.

I agree with you trigger about the booths. I brought up Xbox because I just didn't feel comfortable in the area. The ton of playable systems was good for players, but bad for people looking and bad for body heat being trapped there. Doom 3 was fun but after that game I left the area fast. to hot.

I didn't care for the playstation at all and it did sort of seem like a blah point that it was pretty much the same layout as last year.

Booth babes on thursday were all over the place and I took advantage of that. The shirts this year are actually ones I would wear as last year there wasn't many I have. I still have most of those Nvidia shirts from last year still folded up.

I got a picture of Sean and Marlon Wayans in the hallway between south and west hall on Thursday - no crowd at all, they were just standing around. We couldn't get a picture of Vin Diesel though, but I heard he was really cool about his appearance - spent extra time to sign stuff and talk to people and take pictures and such. He seemed like a nice guy. That's probably the biggest celeb from this year, no? Jack - did you get any shots of Vin? Ours came out blurry.

I didn't bother doing the Vin thing. to crowded. I did get a picture of sinbad just walking around.

sinbad...

hey jack - you can email me your number or somethin if you want - I'm in town until tuesday. I lost the paper I wrote it down on last year.

ah alright

Microsofts stuff was weak?

Halo 2
jade Empire
KOTR 2
Mech Assault 2
Ghost Recon 2
Rainbow Six:Black Arrow
Full Spectrum warrior
Republic Commando
SW:Battlegrounds
Conkur
EA on Live
Doom 3
LOTR Third Age
Brothers in arms
Feza Motorsport
Unreal Championship 2

There are more but some are dual system

Dont any of these games intrest you at all?

Do we have announced street dates for these three yet? I'm most excited for the first two but Battleground looked good as well. Isn't is based on the 1942 engine (or something like that)?

KOTR 2 supposed to be Feb, 2005 with a simultaneous launch for PC and X-Box last I heard.

Can't get here soon enough Although to be quite honest i am actually more excited for Jade Empire than KOTOR2 even.

the ones that do will be on PC. Perhaps I should point out that I'm not all that much of a Xbox type of guy. So the FPS' that are going to be on Xbox are going to be much more enjoyable for me on PC.

Playing battlegrounds on PC was hella fun

I didn't bother trying any of the Lucas Arts stuff - I didn't mean to, but I guess I was subconsciously boycotting their products because of the whole Sam and Max/Full Throttle thing.

I can't wait for Forza to be released. It looks incredible.

I just did a quick once over of everyone's booth and didn't play much. I liked nintendo's booth, and enjoyed watching people playing Donkey Konga (although I was a little confused watching people clap to the beat instead of hitting the drums...). I didn't feel like waiting on lines to see the cool stuff (Nintendo DS, Half Life 2). Didn't really whore myself for t-shirts either.

Star Wars Battlegrounds looked like it could be fun.

It seemed like every game at the show was a sequel...It was kind of a disappointment. Reminded me of the "Death Of Videogames" article posted around here awhile back.

I ended up being more interested in watching the girls. That girl that Jack posted in the girls of E3 thread was definitely super-hot. Highlight of the show for me!

Care to discuss this in a little more detail? I'm really looking foward to this game and din't know they'd have something relating to it at E3.

In all fairness. It was a great E3. I have a crap load of swag.. soooo much swag it is hard to believe and I got many pictures of me and unattainable girls dressed in outfits that remind me of my only comfort... anti-social video games.

I also got a picture of a Blue Mary that ISN'T pixy. So that makes it worth it in the end


Till next year!

As I told my friends while leaving on the last day "they're gonna have to chizzle this smile off my face." Some highlights for me were...

Nintendo DS
RE 4
Metroid Prime 2 Echoes
Devil May Cry 3
Paper Mario Story
Starfox Armada
Killzone
SquareEnix theater
Zelda trailer
Sly 2
Meeting Charles Martinette the voice of Mario and getting his autograph.
Meeting Kato and Lisa (reviewers from Game Informer)
Meeting Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb
Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogies revenge
Viewtiful Joe 2
SF Anniversary Collection
Konami's booth
SNK's booth

there is a lot more I'm probably forgetting but this E3 was even better than last years. Until next year!

-zero

Zero,

Was this any good? I'm a huge NBC fan, and was kind of jazzed for a video game based on the film, but if it's just a crappy licensed platformer, I can pass it up easily.

God damn Jack, that Blue Mary is HAWT! I'm so jealous.

Microsoft pissed off 90% of the people there by making Halo 2. Invite only. How lame is that?

Nintendo let anyone see the DS presentation if they didn't mind waiting 2 hours in line.

Sony's booth had the PSP on display and anyone could catch a glimps.

Overall Nintendo had the most comfortable booth, friendliest staff and best respect for the attendees.

Sony, as always had tons of games, but not enough stations for the most popular ones.

Microsoft, basically was out to piss people off.

Sega, small and uneventfull.


The best swag by far was the GAMESTER 20Q handheld game. Man, that thing is just amazing. I've been using it non-stop since I got home.

One day was enough for me to see that I'll probably have more fun and be more excited next year.

I didn't go but checked out most stuff on IGN. With the drawn out wait for Halo 2 and lack of videos getting to the public the past few months, I don't care anymore. It will be great, and I will buy it release day. But enough with the secrecy already. Release is only a few months away. All that being said, personally, I think Zelda was the true star of the show. And I for one am now pumped for that more than Halo 2. Way to underpromote MS!

What exactly is this?

I too was expecting this to suck, but I was pleasantly suprised. The game mirrors the style of the movie very well, and the gameplay is somewhere between DMC, and Castlevania. That green goo on Jack's arm is a weapon called "rubber soul" with it he can grab enemies, whip them around and even launch them into the air for a combo. Jack himself has three forms. Normal Jack, Scarecrow Jack he throws fire bombs and breaths fire. Santa Jack who from what I can tell (I didnt use this form in the demo) leaves presents for his enemies and they blow up. Fighting the first boss was rather odd, Jack doesnt jump but instead side steps like he is dancing. It took me a few minutes to adjust but it ended up working pretty well. The boss of this demo was a shadow version of Oogie, you had to hit him with rubber soul and destroy the ghosts emitting from his body. Once youve collected enough musical notes Jack's attack can begin, heres where it gets tricky. Once Jack begins your attack is like a rythym game hit the corresponding buttons as they pass the marker (think Dead to Rights) if you've managed to keep the rythym going for the entire attack the damage dealt is massive. The hall was very loud so I couldnt tell if the game was using the original voices. Just based on this demo I wana buy the game. Hope this helps.

-zero

Halo 2- will pick this up sometime, in no rush as I wasn't a huge fan of the first.

jade Empire- no interest, only reason I loved KOTOR was for the SW atmosphere. Actual gameplay was just ok IMO.

KOTR 2- sucker for the atmosphere, will be buying this at launch. It's a long way off though.

Mech Assault 2- hate mech games.

Ghost Recon 2- hate squad tactics games

Rainbow Six:Black Arrow- ditto

Full Spectrum warrior- ditto

Republic Commando- ditto, the SW license isn't enough to get me into this genre

SW:Battlegrounds- not sure, never played BF1942, I hear it's more multiplayer oriented and I'm only into single player gaming.

Conkur- I assume you mean Conker. I didn't like it on the N64, don't see any reason I'd like the remake.

EA on Live- Don't do online gaming.

Doom 3- not into FPS's much, but will probably check this out.

LOTR Third Age- big LOTR fan, so I'll keep an eye on this

Brothers in arms- never heard of this one

Feza Motorsport- not big into racing games

Unreal Championship 2- not big into fps ones, especially ones that are centered around online gaming/multiplayer.


So it's a pretty uneventfuly list of games for me.

So any news come out of E3 about Gran Turismo 4? I half expected to see 15+ threads on this game, but I've seen relatively little to date. Anyone?

Also - I like the idea of the NBC game. I loved the movie, and a game based on the characters is definitely worth a look.