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These columns (as well as the 'releases') come from weekly content that we write for the Edmond Sun, out of Edmond, OK (though we live in Chicago). This page contains the archives for said column, many of which are in their pre-published, unedited state. Some titles and editing by Brendan Sinclair.

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E3 2005 - Where Are The Games?
Thursday, June 02, 2005

Last week I was one of 70,000 fortunate souls who wormed their way into E3, the largest video game trade show in the world. After spending 24 of my precious hours during the course of three days walking around a seemingly endless arena full of screaming morons with microphones, nearly naked women and enough violent images to make Gandhi snap a turtle in half, I came away with a few revelations about the industry I didn't quite want to believe beforehand. First of all, I must make up a ridiculously small segment of the gaming populace because, of the thousands of games on the show floor, only a dozen or so were actually titles I wanted to play for more than the five minutes of demo time allowed. Which leads me to my second revelation - there is simply no more room for innovation. Budgets have gotten so high that companies are terrified to try anything different, lest it succumbs to a horrible fate at retail. Every developer seemed to be in competition to create the most violent, sadistic experience ever - which means fans of gameplay were left on the sideline. My third revelation is more of a reaffirmation of a belief I have held for some time: Nintendo is still the king of gaming and one of only a few companies who truly care about pushing the industry forward.

Before I get into all of the good stuff that occurred, let me get something off my chest - Microsoft must be the stupidest company around. Don't get me wrong, I’m a PC guy all the way, I love my Xbox and still plan on buying an Xbox 360, but considering they have a new console coming out in just a few months MS did absolutely nothing to get me excited about it. One of the main reasons I flew to LA in the first place to attend this hellish event was the thought that Perfect Dark Zero - the sequel to one of my favorite games ever and easily one of my most wanted games of all time - would be fully playable. Granted, MS never said they would allow people to play the game, but I assumed it would be there. After all, it is the most important launch title for the system. If it stinks it could sink the X360 before the Revolution and PS3 even come out. You would think MS would try to get the hype machine going by letting people actually play the title, or at least see it in motion. Instead, they kept an early build locked away in their high tower of secrecy. Only a few members of the press were able to see it but weren't able to provide any movies or screenshots of it. Boo to MS for completely ignoring gamers with their next console. If they really think the way to sell systems is to show lame infomercials on MTV and hype software that no one has actually played it will be an uphill battle for them.

As far as the Sony showing is considered... they had We Love Katamari and that's about it. Sony had a strategy that may have been even more baffling than Microsoft's - they talked about the PS3 and nothing else at their press conference two days before the event actually started. Seeing the system and controller revealed to the world, along with tech specs and videos that I doubt were of actual gameplay footage, I assumed Sony would have the PS3 in their booth. Nope. Instead they had a smattering of PS2 titles that felt like the same old games they've been pushing for years, a handful of PSP games that weren’t worth the time it takes the system to load, and a huge line to see some more videos of the PS3. They didn't even have Final Fantasy XII on the show floor, the one game that is guaranteed to be good and sell ridiculously well. I have no idea why Sony even bothered to show up if they weren't interesting in displaying actual games.

After wading through all that crap I began to question why I even play video games in the first place. Luckily, my faith in gaming was regained when I entered Nintendo's own booth. Even though they didn't announce anything substantial about their next console, the Revolution, they more than made up for it by showing off actual games on systems that are currently available. Novel idea, no? In fact, the best system of the show was the Nintendo DS. Proving that power is hardly indicative of fun, the NDS had more games that I actually will end up buying than every other system on the show floor combined. With a new Kirby game coming this summer and a ton of Mario
titles (Kart racing, RPG and platformer) coming later this year, it looks like my stubborn holdout from buying this system will come to an end in a matter of weeks. I would gladly fill up the rest of my allotted space gushing about the utter joy that is Nintendogs if I didn't already write an entire column doing the same thing just a few weeks ago. However, it must be said that this is the cutest title ever conceived. I cannot wait to buy this game come August. Now Nintendo just needs to make a Nintendinosaur and I'll be all set.

While the Gamecube lineup wasn't nearly as strong, it still offered enough interesting titles to keep me wandering happily around Nintendo's massive booths. Mario is still being whored out to every genre imaginable, but his next two sports titles are still quite fun. Mario Striker is made by the folks who made Sega Soccer Slam so you know it must be good. And Mario Baseball is just goofy enough to lure in people who don't necessarily like the slow moving sport. Odama is where it's at, though. It’s a real time strategy game combined with old school pinball action. You roll a massive ball at opposing troops while commanding your own using a microphone. Crazy? Yes, but really fun.

The star of E3, though, has to be Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Lame name aside, this was easily the most fun title I had a chance to play. Nintendo got rid of the cartoony look from Wind Waker and has created a realistic looking world that is both gorgeous and terrifying. If you're worried this will simply be the same old Zelda experience in a new skin you should be ashamed of yourself for ever doubting Nintendo. Link can now transform into a wolf when he enters certain parts of the world. Concrete details on how this affects gameplay, as well as what else is new, are obviously not available now, but I have no doubt this game will be fantastic
when it's released later this year.

Just like every year, E3 offered just as much fun as it did disappointment. In the future I would love to see the emphasis placed back on games. I'm sure Sony and MS have plenty of quality games coming out they were just so worried about their hardware they didn't bother to show them. The world would be a scary place if everyone followed Nintendo's lead, but showing off a ton of quality games is never a bad idea.

- Tom


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