E3 2007: Day 1 Impressions
Wow, this year's E3 is completely different from past years. The low key, toned down atmosphere makes it so much easier to cover all the games you want to play, at the expense of the over the top glitz and free swag. That's right, no swag! NO FREE STUFF! WTF! Well, that's not entirely true. I got a hat. So far, I have had an incredible time. I could have left yesterday and been completely satisfied. Just being able to meet so many industry people that I admire has been great. That's one thing this new E3 is supposed to foster as well: networking, meeting people and making those connections. The guys from Destructoid are pretty darn great, I must say, and they are super kind for putting me up and carting my lame ass around.
Hit the jump for my impressions of day one of this new wacky E3.
We started the day with the Nintendo press conference. The Destructoid guys didn't have invites, but I assured them I could get them in. I used my magical schmoozing powers to get them all tickets from the reservation desk guy, who was obviously charmed by my lack of sleep and zombie-like visage. A couple big things were announced at the Nintendo conference, but all in all it was a bit of a disappointment for me. They showed some fun fan videos interspersed between re-announcements of already shown titles, such as Metroid Prime 3 and Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. They talked about taking online play seriously, and then showed Pokemon Battle Revolution, and Madden. Nintendo, we've been playing Madden online since the Dreamcast, that's nothing new. They announced a new peripheral, called the Wii Zapper, which is essentially a plastic housing for the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. They announced a Wii Wheel for the new Mario Kart, which is just a housing. Then they showed Wii Fit, which is a game based on standing. That's right, standing. They have a built in boring version of DDR as well! Yay?
I am increasingly more and more frustrated at Nintendo's insistence on marketing to my grandparents. Then they say they aren't ignoring the core gamer, but then releasing watered down versions of previously great franchises. Mario Kart is going to be easier for novices to win in races against veteran Mario Kart players? What? No more party games. No more minigame tech demos. Just start releasing more good stuff. I'll post full impressions of all of Nintendo's showings in separate posts, but for now check out this video recap from Destructoid. My head's in it! See if you can find it.
Next was the Sony conference, and luckily we had a bunch of shuttles to cart us between them. The conference was at the Culver City Studios, which was pretty far away from the Nintendo conference. Why spread things so thin? We arrive, get our wristbands, and get some breakfast and bloody marys while waiting to get in to the theater. I was so exhausted from sleeping on the floor the night before, that I couldn't each much, but what I had was delicious. Always nice to be pampered a bit!
I had a really weird feeling walking in to the Sony conference. It was the feeling of transition. It was the feeling of Nintendo no longer catering to my needs as they have done in the past, and Sony and Microsoft coming to the forefront. Sure, the Wii is selling like crapcakes, but when it comes down to it I just don't like the direction it is heading. Sony is releasing so many new PSP titles that actually look GOOD, we were remarking at the show that it seems like the PSP actually may become a viable system within the next year. Sony showed some new PS3 downloadable titles, and their horrible Home system. So awkward and stupid. Chewbacca came out to introduce a special edition Darth Vader PSP (neat!), and a couple neat titles like one called Echochrome were shown. Echochrome seems to be a bit like Crush meets an MC Esher drawing. Puzzly and stylish. I dig.
After the (long) conference, we were able to try out some titles in the arcade area and were fed even more food. Yay food! I rushed immediately to the Ratchet and Clank Future demo area and played. I love me some Ratchet and Clank, and the PS3 version looks pretty slick. It was actually the first time I had used a PS3 controller, and I was really surprised about how much I missed the rumble. It seems so silly, but it really made the games more immersive. I checked out Little Big Planet, Heavenly Sword and a couple PSP titles, everything looked great. If the PS3 still wasn't so expensive, and maybe if they had a more integrated online system like Xbox Live, I'd actually consider getting one.
Then, it was off to the hangar to check out some games. One of the marked differences about this year from previous years is the sheer lack of crowds in the demo areas. No more waiting 3 hours in line to play what you want to play, now you can just walk up to the Mario Galaxy booth and play for as long as you want. Amazing. It was quieter, calmer, and much more conducive to actually being able to check out the games, which is what it is all about.
I ended up skipping the Bethesda party that night in favor of sleep in an actual bed, and this morning I am definitely better for it. E3 day one was quite amazing, let's hope days two and three are just as good! Stay tuned for my impressions on individual games, and of course remember to check out my flickr set, as I will be uploading photos daily.
What say you?!