E3 2011 Coverage
Show: E3 2011, Electronic Entertainment Expo
Date: June 7-9, 2011
Venue: Los Angeles Convention Center
City: Los Angeles, CA
BOY vs. GIRL
Instead of sending only one writer to E3, we decided to send two writers, Albert Marrero Jr. and Heather Spears. We wanted to see the experience through both male and female eyes and see what sparked each of their interest. It’s a true boy vs. girl match-up. Let the games begin!
ROUND 1
Written by Albert Marrero, Jr.
Once a year in June, thousands of folks related to the gaming industry descend upon Los Angeles to attend the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, for short. For some, it’s a way to network and build valuable relationships. For others, it’s a gamer’s paradise. Swag, demos, videos, presentations, you name it. The information is overwhelming. The experience is nothing short of spectacular.
When one first approaches the LA Convention Center during this special time, it’s similar to walking from the parking lot to the gate of your favorite theme park. Once inside however, the anticipation becomes thicker than frozen peanut butter. Luckily, I’ve attended before, so I know to look at a map and decide which areas I wanna visit first. And there was no better place to start than Nintendo. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for the Wii looks incredible. Welcome back Link. For the 3DS, a plethora of upcoming titles, like Mario Kart, Kid Icarus: Uprising, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, and a new Super Mario game are the bees knees. Despite my adoration for the new 3DS games, my main focus was on the Wii-U, which is going to be one of the coolest things since frozen popsicles. From what I saw, this is Nintendo’s foray in the HD gaming console market. Supporting 1080P and below, it’s backwards compatible with all the Wii games/controllers/etc. and brings HD gaming with Wii functionality. All of sudden, Nintendo has taken a rubber glove and slapped the other two guys across the face. The new controller for the Wii-U is amazing. Sporting a 16:9 ratio touchscreen, it has a stylus, headphone jack, and controllers. And the coolest part, you can turn the TV to a cable channel and still be playing using your screen. So when the wifey or girlfriend wants to watch Housewives of Beverly Hills, you can sit right next to her and slap in some ear-buds and continue on your quest. Genius.
Microsoft’s approach wasn’t as groundbreaking as it was in years past (the year that everyone in the audience gets an Xbox360?), but it was an impressive showing. Gears of War 3, as I’ve said before is probably one of the most, if not THE most anticipated game of 2011. This game was on proud display for Gate’s team. But ironically, a game not on display stole the show (at least for Monday’s press conference). Yes folks, it seems that Master Chief will indeed be back again, this time in Halo 4, slated for a Fall 2012 release! Other great Microsoft news included Dance Central 2, which I saw performed numerous times, with one of it’s more cool features being that two folks can dance at the same time side by side. Like the Guinness guys… “Brilliant!” Kinect Sports 2 looks promising as well. I got a chance to demo the football portion. I took a sack on the first play, but then pulled a Peyton Manning and hit a 98 yard bomb (60 yards of YAC) to my Kinect partner (yep, two players) who leaped and bounded his way to the endzone. Hang on, ESPN is calling…
Playstation’s biggest draw was its new handheld, the PSVita. I didn’t get a chance to play with it, but what I was able to learn from reps is that it’s a really sweet device. Sporting both a front touchscreen and a rear touchpad, dual analog sticks, SIXAXIS, and an OLED screen really pushes the envelope for mobile gaming. Much like the WiiU, the Vita will be compatible with the PS3 on select titles. It also rocks WiFi, 3GS, and works with AT&T. From what I saw of this tiny little creature, it’s going to be something that Playstation fans can hang their hat on. Outside of mobile gaming, 3D gaming seems to be a real strategy for Sony. I was able to play some 3D games on PC’s, and the result was nothing short of breathtaking. Like, Avatar-for-the-first-time-breathtaking. Sony’s experience holds its own. Uncharted 3, Resistance 3, Cars 2, and the new Ratchet and Clank were all on display in three-dimensional glory and they did not fail to impress. Complete with some surround sound headphones and you have a truly immersive HD experience. It’s like being in the game. No, really.
Outside of the big three, there were tons of games, products, and hidden gems that caught my eye. Rift (PC) is one of the best looking games I’ve seen all year. Making a splash last year with a polished game that was super eye candy, Trion is now allowing characters to change servers. A fairly new company, it’s nice that they’ve learned fairly early on that gamers want to play with their friends, and that’s what makes any gaming experience, especially a MMORPG, a winner. Rise of Nightmares (Kinect) is something I simply cannot wait for. Using your hands to pick up chainsaws and the like to chop zombies is simply bone-chilling. I can’t wait to get my hands on that. Hurry up September! Batman: Arkham City looks badass. It was an hour long wait just to get in the demo area. And the artwork is money. UDraw (Wii, 360, PS3) is a very innovative concept. It’s a table, essentially, that allows you to draw with very accurate precision. Some of the artwork created by attendees was Picasso-grade. Ok, maybe not, but it wasn’t too shabby… Oh, and the coolest PC peripherals of the entire show? Razer. If you’re a PC gamer, do yourself a favor and pick up their latest mouse, keyboard, and headphones. You’re kill:death ratio will surely increase. If not, then at least you’ll look great trying.
All in all, E3 was a lot of walking , a lot of spectacle, a lot of booth babes, and a lot of “I can’t wait” moments. With gaming making just as much if not more than movies, it’s safe to say that if you love games and all that is electronic entertainment, you’ll be occupied for a long time to come. It’s an exciting time in the industry with all the newest technologies arriving and the creative envelope being pushed all for the sake of our enjoyment. See? It is cool to be a geek after all. Now start saving those pennies!
See you online…
ROUND 2
Written by Heather Spears
My blood rushed through my veins as I laid eyes on the LA convention Center. The posters displaying upcoming games were some of the most amazing things I had ever seen. It was the day I had been waiting for my whole life, the day I got to attend the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3. The anticipation was killing me so I arrived much earlier than the doors opened. Even with getting there so early there wasn’t a lack of things to see. There were tanks set up outside, Free NOS energy drinks, and an actual replica of Saints Row‘s finest car customization shop “Rim Jobs”. A smile was stained over my lips while I waited for the doors to open.
Once the time came and the doors finally swung open I made sure I was the first person in line to see the 3DS. I already own a 3DS but I wanted to see what Nintendo planned next for this amazing hand-held system. I loved seeing all the remakes of the old Nintendo 64 games for the 3DS. The game that stuck out the most was Super Mario. The new Super Mario game was the perfect mix between what Mario brought to the super Nintendo, and the open world game play of Super Mario 64. The booth babe was so knowledgeable about the game and so nice to me while teaching me all the features; I was in gamers’ heaven.
My day had only just begun. From Nintendo I rushed off to a Sony VIP appointment to view the PS Vita. I traced my eyes over the line of hundreds of people waiting to play the system I was being led to. Sony set me up with a custom PlayStation water bottle while I played Uncharted: Golden Abyss. The PS Vita made Uncharted look even more amazing than before. I couldn’t believe you could play through the whole game using a touch screen if you didn’t feel like using the buttons. The touch screen feature will make it possible for anyone to play the PS Vita. Another game that impressed me, beyond my dreams, was Ruin. The game allowed the player to save their progress on their PlayStation 3 console and take it with them to their PS Vita. More games should include a feature like that. What a gamer would give to take their game save to work, school or even on a road trip with them. I was blown away with Sony’s presentation with the PS Vita; there’s not much more that could have been better at the Sony booth!
A few of my favorite games have always been Tomb Raider and Hitman, so I figured I would head over to Square Enix to see what they had to offer for the next chapter of each of these games. When I got over to their booth I saw a huge screen playing the latest Tomb Raider trailer. Lara’ croft’s new look was surprisingly delightful. I never expected a make-under to fit the Tomb Raider series so well. The sight of the first screen shot sold me on this game. After sitting in on a live demo of the new Tomb Raider game, Croft’s new adventure is sure to impress fans of the series around the world. My time at Square Enix was far from over. Right after seeing Lara and part of her new story I went right over to see a live demo of Hitman: Absolution. The game exceeded my expectations with a whole new idea to the game that didn’t lose Agent 47’s unique attitude. I was impressed with the new direction the game was taken while keeping what Hitman brought to the table in the past. Both games I saw over at Square Enix were very impressive. They left me breathless.
Next I had THQ in my sights. THQ is the publisher of my favorite video game Saints Row, so I wasted no time getting over there. I was in awe when I saw the giant Saints airplane above the line for the showing of the demo. As I was in line I was met with Zidos the pimp and Oleg the bouncer of the upcoming title Saints Row: The Third. Each of these characters will be in the new game; they each brought a whole lot of personality to the booth. Oleg even appointed which people he saw fit to make it into the demo. Even though everyone in line was chosen I thought it was a fun way to let people into the screening. Inside the live demo THQ’s goal was obviously comedy. The whole audience couldn’t stop laughing at the new weapons and characters. In the demo the Saints figured it would be easy to rob a bank on camera for an upcoming Saints movie when the tellers ducked under the desk and emerged with machine guns. Needless to say the Saints were surprised and fought back, however, they were eventually run out of the bank, making their getaway, on a helicopter with the bank’s safe in hand. What way to start off a video game!
The day at E3 was nearing the finish; I wanted to do one more run around both halls before leaving the convention. I saw a huge statue of Marcus Fenix from Gears of War and replicas of the guns they will use on the game. It was amazing to see the guns in person, and to hold them. I felt like I was part of the COG team with that gun in hand! Unfortunately they closed off the line before I was able to get a hold of the Gears of War 3 campaign but almost every person walking away from the consoles told me how impressed they were with what they saw on Gears of War 3.
My last stop was Ubisoft where I saw the latest trailers of Assassins Creed: Revelations, Just Dance 3 and Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. All of the games were fun; but my favorite had to be Assassin’s Creed. The graphics on that game looked so good, Ezio looked like a real person not a game character. Ubisoft never fails to impress, with their unique game style that fits with all types of gamers.
I was upset when it was time to leave, although E3 exceeded my expectations more than I could have ever imagined. I left a part of me back at the convention center. I can’t wait to find out what secrets they have in store for us next year at E3! Until then, “Happy Gaming!”