Random rabblings:
- The real reason for the “old new” boomerang PS3 controller: to keep you from noticing how frikking big the PS3 really is.
- There was a long line to play with Nintendo’s Wii. At least they gave you someone to talk to in line. My personal disappointment: Shutting down the line before I was able to actually get in.
- It was much harder to actually get into E3 this year. The amount of accredidation to get an expo pass was much more than past years, but it sure kept a lot of the SWAG trolls away
- All first-person shooters look alike after a while. Doesn’t matter what engine. Doesn’t matter what console. Doesn’t matter what graphics card. The gameplay is still the same. Although, Battlefield 2142 looks pretty cool.
- If you describe a game as a combination of one really popular game along with another, then it’s really not original or much fun. (It’s like Command and Conquer with a Diablo RPG-ish hero system set in a full 3D world like Warcraft 3.)
- Other than Freedom Force and City of Heroes, there is still no good superhero game. All the DC properties do not look good. Which sucks because I am a BIG Superman fan.
- World of Warcraft must be pretty popular…
- I pray that Fallout 3 will have the same kind of vivid world that Morrowind brought to fantasy RPGs.
- Bioshock… Bioshock… Bioshock…
- This was the first year where the Sims slowly started to fade away from the spotlight.
- The PSP demo kiosk is pretty cool. They should set those up in coffee shops or make mini-arcades out of them at the movie theater or airport. They don’t look any dumber than the Nintendo geeks (see below)
- PS2 is still going strong.
- Madden 2007 was probably the worst demo at the show for Xbox360 and PS3. I pray this is the end of the Madden series, which ironically is the horrible incremental gameplay model that everyone else has adopted. The same model that is killing the industry.
- Gran Turismo HD looked great in some scenes, but was still basically Gran Turismo 4 with a larger resultion.
- Nintendo’s DS and Wii are indeed a different breed of device.
- Playing the new NBA 2007 game showed me why Nintendo may actually be on the right path. It took me and another gamer 2 games just to figure out what all the buttons and analog sticks did for the game (it was not the same as last year’s).
- But it leads to people learning to communicate by PicoChat like this. Hint guys, try talking, it’s usually easier.
- Nokia had a huge booth. Remember, Nokia sells more cell phones than like any other company sells… well… just about anything else.
- Amp’d Mobile and Scion were two brands trying to associate themselves with the hip gaming crowd.
- Kojima can still make the Metal Gear Solid stuff interesting for trailers
- Square Enix have sequels to Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy VII… huh?
- Engadget and Joystiq have kick ass coverage of E3.
- It’s been well over 20 years… The 80s are BACK!!!
- Girly and casual gaming is still on the fringes of the show, but all seem to be trying to follow in the wake of what Nintendo is doing.
- Gaming is a business. E3 is just another tradeshow. Just ask the people working the show…