E3 2007

This is the first E3 during which I've been able to watch all the new game footage and trailers that have been released, thanks to my excellent cable modem which I adore and croon love songs to every night. Sadly, this is also the first E3 that has taken on the convention's new "press only" format, eliminating the large floor show. It's not a big deal, I think, it just means that developers and publishers get to focus more on actually making their games, rather than spending valuable time and money plugging them. Still, the more experienced gamer might propose that this has made E3 less exciting and informative. Sure, I guess, but I was still pretty enthralled by the info that was released.

Lover that I am of simplicity and text, I kept up to date via Games Are Fun's live blog on the three major console owners, Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony. When I found something interesting, I looked for the new footage of it on Game Trailers. The words following this sentence are my personal highlights of the show, so get ready for link-o-rama!

Microsoft's press conference was overall quite unexciting. Madden, GTA, Halo...frat boy shit. There was some really cool footage of Mass Effect, but the main event for me was definitely the Assassin's Creed in-game footage. I have been jacking off to every frame of this game I've seen. There is more gameplay depth in just this six minute video alone than I've ever seen in any other video game. Crowd mechanics, realistic physics, beautiful buildings, NPCs, and objects, and EVERYTHING can be interacted with. Wonderful atmosphere, convincing voice acting, alluring character design, and apparently dozens and dozens of gameplay abilities, from simply hunching your character to look down from a rooftop to freerunning, to advanced and realistic swordplay. I am currently more excited about this game than I have been for any other in a very long time. I really want to play it. I might buy a new console just to.

What was I talking about? E3? Right. Nintendo had a much better session, although making Wii Fitness their big announcement was just awful. Good points included the always excellent Metroid Prime 3, a December 3rd release date for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, a trailer for Mario & Sonic at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games (which showed a ridiculous track competition where Sonic was obviously running slower than usual so Mario could keep up), and a trailer for Super Mario Galaxy. Honestly, I wasn't impressed by previous footage and info for Galaxy, but this time I'm sold. It looks like it might be the best Mario game since 64.

Sony's conference was the most solid. PSP stuff was predictable and boring, but I'm getting pretty impressed with the Playstation Network's offerings. Home sounds like it ought to be cool. I'm most excited about being able to share movies with friends online. I think it might open up doors for movie clubs and make it possible to see hard-to-find movies or tv shows or anime. Echochrome, a game that uses the camera to change perspective and fool the eye to solve puzzles, also looks freaking sweet. The conference marks the second trailer for Resident Evil 5, which looks too similar to RE4 for me to be comfortable. Third world country-esque setting. Apparently American special agent. Hordes of not-zombies. I hope the premise is something new, because as much as I love and worship RE4, I was not a fan of its story at all.

Sony's conference didn't end with Metal Gear Solid 4, but it might as well have. Expected stuff was shown after, like Ratchet and Clank Future and LittleBigPlanet. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune looks like it might rival Assassin's Creed as far as gameplay. But the footage shown of MGS4 was really quite spectacular. Sony knows what it's doing when they build anticipation for this game. I was also glad to hear Hideo Kojima state that this will be the final installment of the Metal Gear franchise. I love Solid Snake as much as the next man, but all good things must come to an end they say, and I agree.

So whether or not this was a lame E3, I'm very excited about the future. I still can't get over my lust to play Assassin's Creed and it may have been the highlight for me. This ought to be a very fun year to game.

Going to an RBF concert on the morrow! Might be getting an Xbox, too!