Lee Cieniawa gives his take on E3 2006.

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Have games, will travel: My E3 2006

My bag is now unpacked of its hefty swag and press kit contents. And after a 12-hour sleep Saturday night through early Sunday afternoon, my body has finally sufficiently recovered from the time zone adjustment of West Coast time back to East Coast time and the physical exhaustion of walking, walking and more walking over three days on the show floor of the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2006. But my first E3 show was all worth it, as I finally got a chance to experience E3, the crowning event of the video game industry, in all its glitz and glory. While there’s still plenty of reviews for me to write and interviews with E3 industry folks to transcribe for Armchair Empire visitors, here’s a report of my personal highlights (and lowlights) of E3 2006 and my visit to L.A.

I’D LOVE TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE WII, BUT ...
Don’t let anybody that attended E3 2006 tell you otherwise; by far the most popular happening was over at Nintendo, where Mario’s company was finally showing off its newly named Wii. Surprisingly, there was little talk of what had been a head-scratching name change from the seemed-to-be-perfectly-named Revolution to the Wii, although before E3 many had openly questioned the moniker alteration. Instead, for three days, people numbered in the thousands gathered in lines that took hours to finally reach the pinnacle of the quest, entering the Wii arena.

I’d love to tell you all about the new Wii system, games (many that impressed those who actually got a hands-on experience) and unique (or some may say revolutionary) controller, I really would. But while fellow Armchair Empire members Aaron and Dan each found their way onto the floor with opportune timing and Kurt attended the invitation-only tour, with so much more to see than just the Wii, I wasn’t able to justify a half-day wait to get a glimpse of Nintendo’s future.

GAMES I ACTUALLY WAS ABLE TO SEE WITH THE MOST “WOW!” FACTOR
GEARS OF WAR: Yes, Gears of War definitely will be a killer app for the Xbox 360. This was the most incredible game I saw at E3 2006, and looks like it will give Microsoft a definite system seller to move Xbox 360s off the store shelves before Halo 3 arrives next spring. Developed by Epic Games, the people behind the Unreal Engine (and Gears of War will incorporate the all-new Unreal Engine 3), Gears of War is a non-stop, guns blazing kill-fest that sported absolutely incredible visuals, excellent “one button” control and tons of exciting gameplay. No doubt about it, this game will be one that practically each and every Xbox 360 owner will buy. It’s that unbelievably amazing.

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GOD OF WAR II: Sony showed us all that there’s still plenty left to give from the PS2 with God of War II. One of the best PS2 games ever, God of War, returns, and fans won’t be disappointed. The game offers the same incredible gameplay that the first did, and honestly I can say that if you didn’t know any better, you would swear you were looking at an Xbox 360 or PS3 game. Really, it looks that good. Expect God of War II to surpass the outstanding all-around quality the first game.

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DEAD RISING: You’re a photojournalist caught in a shopping mall. Zombies are everywhere. What do you do? You use everything and anything to down the walking dead and get the story of a lifetime -– if you survive. Not, it’s not another Dawn of the Dead movie, it is Dead Rising, exclusively for the Xbox 360 from Capcom. The gameplay offers a different approach to sandbox gaming and you’ll literally be fighting off horde after horde of attacking flesh-eating zombies. Tons of fun and definitely looks like it will be one of the better second-generation Xbox 360 titles.

LOST PLANET: Although Lost Planet isn’t quite up to the Xbox 360 killer app status of Gears of War, it isn’t too far behind. This third-person shooter showcases incredible graphics, especially with the frozen planet’s topside snowstorm effects and brilliant black smoke plumes from explosions. The single-player gameplay is exciting itself, but Lost Planet adds the bonus of online Xbox Live play that has tons of potential as another stellar second-generation Xbox 360 title from Capcom.

ENEMY TERRITORY: QUAKE WARS: Quake newest franchise, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, looks to be the next great PC shooter. This is no mere first-person shooter as previous Quake ventures. Mix heavy gunplay with vehicles of mass destruction reminiscent of EA’s Battlefield series with patented Quake gameplay and, if the amount of people playing the title at E3 2006 were any indication, you have what should be a humongous PC online hit when it reaches stores.

TABLE TENNIS: What had to be the biggest shock from Rockstar Games isn’t that there wasn’t a trace of Bully to be seen on the floor, but that the next Rockstar title coming out is Table Tennis. Yeah, ping-pong. No joke. Not a glimpse of the next Grand Theft Auto. Not a small sampling of the violent gaming that Rockstar is known for. No, instead it was Table Tennis for the Xbox 360. But guess what? The game looks visually really good, with challenging gameplay that was incredibly fun for

those who played it. It has huge potential to be a big hit when it releases in just a few weeks.

“WOW, I THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE MUCH BETTER” GAMES
MADDEN 07: I’ll just clarify what I’m about to say next concerning Madden 07 by saying that the game was only in a 30% WIP (work-in-progress) state. But Madden 07 was a total letdown, especially considering that NCAA Football 07 looked twice as polished as Madden 07. Gameplay, graphics and features don’t seem to be any better than before and after last year’s Xbox 360 disaster, Madden 07 could be in for another losing season. I don’t want to slam it too hard, but with only a few short months to go before it is released, what of Madden 07 that was shown on the E3 2006 floor for all platforms surely had me worried that another mediocre next-gen football title was awaiting us all.

NFL HEAD COACH: Again, I can’t slam the criticism too hard on the other EA football game set to debut soon because I didn’t delve too far in what is supposed to be the game’s more compelling elements, but my early reaction of EA’s NFL Head Coach is one of dismay. No, I didn’t get into the “behind-the-scenes” head coaching duties such as practices, designing playbooks and strategies for each game, and drafting players and signing free agents to contracts within the salary cap while attempting to build a Super Bowl winner. And that’s what will make up a big part of the NFL Head Coach appeal. But haven’t we seen much of this already in Madden’s excellent franchise mode? The actual calling of plays during a game and “watching” what happens on the field in your role as your respective team’s head coach wasn’t very exciting, and worse, was boring. Maybe a more engaging role with the front office duties will eliminate some of the boringness, but as of right now, NFL Head Coach looks sort of lame duck.

SAINTS ROW: Another game that seems to be nowhere near where it was anticipated to be is Saints Row. This was supposed to be the Grand Theft Auto game that was much more than just another GTA clone. More role-playing and strategy elements with advanced lighting and environmental effects were supposed to make Saints Row the game that would snuff out Rockstar’s GTA franchise as the penultimate sandbox game. But if what was shown at E3 2006 is any indication, the already-delayed Saints Row shares more in common with the way-below-average sandbox game Driver 3 than GTA itself.

Its graphics weren’t impressive in any shape or form and when the “strategy” boils down to instructing you to kill the competing gang members across the street, you’ve got some serious development issues that need to be worked out. Why the game has been delayed from last fall’s original release date is no longer an unsolved mystery to me.

GRAN TURISMO HD: While Gran Turismo HD for the PlayStation 3 may not seem to belong here, it deserves mention for not looking any better than its predecessor on the PS2. I’m sure that the game is the same feature-packed title it has always been, but for a game with “HD” (as in high definition) in its title, the graphics were anything but high def to my viewing eyes.

STRANGE GAME, INDEED
In the tradition of Seaman and We Love Katamari, the game that has a lot of potential to be an eclectic hit with a cult following is Microsoft’s Viva Piñata. Although it’s not totally original, as it is based on a television series, its God-game gameplay with a totally bizarre cast of piñatas was one of the most unique games at E3.

MOST SURREAL MOMENT
I arrived for my first-ever visit to L.A. at 1 a.m. Wednesday morning after traveling 2,700 miles from the East Coast, but I had a completely surreal, déjà vu moment on the taxi ride to Hollywood: The actual streets my cabbie was racing through at reckless, breakneck speed seemed to be right out of Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

PROOF IT MAY BE TIME TO FOR SECURITY TO GET AN EYE EXAM
E3 is supposed to be an 18-and-over, and strictly an 18-and-over, event. However, I personally saw at least four children nowhere near the age of 18 roaming around the floors of E3. With scantily clad Booth Babes, an F-bomb-laden Scarface: The World is Yours game video playing for all to see and hear and buckets of blood being splattered throughout the many M-rated games on the show floor, how exactly these shouldn’t-be-here kids got by the usually eagle-eyed security, I’d really like to know.

SIGN THAT THE APOCALYPSE IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER I
Walking through the streets of Hollywood and Los Angeles, and the show floor of the L.A. Convention Center, I actually saw more people wearing Los Angeles Clippers gear than Lakers wear. The Clippers, renowned as one of the worst sports franchises in history, have just barely more playoff appearances (four) in the team’s 22 years in Los Angeles than the amount of NBA championships won since the new millennium began (three) by the Lakers.

doa xtreme 2

A key moment from Dead or Alive Xtreme 2

BOOTH BABE BAN? WHAT BOOTH BABE BAN?
Infamous in the past for its use of “sex sells” tactics in the form of scantily clad Booth Babes, E3 2006 was supposed to be the year that the Booth Babes would be no more, eliminated from the show floors, thus removing a strip club mentality from the show.

But too many companies seemed to ignore the directive with a “Booth Babe ban? What Booth Babe ban?” attitude. They didn’t disappoint the drooling male denizens ogling plenty of uncovered female flesh. I felt bad for many of these Babes, who had to put up with a plethora of lecherous males grabbing tight hold of the Babes’ waists for a photo. Most of these guys were getting their photo taken with a gorgeous girl that wouldn’t have posed with them outside of E3 without being paid an exorbitant amount of cash.

Naturally, with Dead or Alive Extreme 2 scheduled to appear at E3 2006 (officially dropping the “Volleyball” from its predecessor’s title, because everyone knows that the volleyball is the least bit that attracts buyers to this game) everyone expected Tecmo, known as the most extreme of the Booth Babe movement, to show up with a full contingent of stripper-quality Booth Babes. And they didn’t disappoint.

But what may be the most shocking fact is that the Tecmo Booth Babes weren’t the worst offenders. There were many more less-dressed, more sexed-up females whoring for their respective company’s product line.

Bandai Namco was the show’s worst offender of the Booth Babe ban, with a stage show that would have made some porn stars blush. Skirts that just barely qualified as clothing were worn by all of Bandai Namco’s Booth Babes. Webzen was right behind Bandai Namco with a dominatrix aura to its stage show of tightly dressed women. It took me two days to figure out what Webzen actually was promoting at the show (primarily the game Huxley).

Nokia was less subtle in its “sex sells” approach on the outside, but ramped it up with females in tight leather dresses inside its cloudy booth. Plenty of other companies employed a similar less-clothing-is-more-sex-appeal approach to their booths, effectively snubbing their noses at the supposed Booth Babe ban.

Look, it’s not like I don’t appreciate the female body myself. I’m not opposed to attractive females dressed as sexy game characters like Lara Croft or Joanna Dark. They have relevance to the product. There is a time and place for sexy, scantily dressed women (like in the local gentleman’s club), but a gaming trade show isn’t the time or place. After all, it’s supposed to be about the games, not the gals.

SIGN THAT THE APOCALYPSE IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER II
The scruffy guy silently roaming the entryway of the L.A. Convention Center, carrying a doomsday prophecy sign, greeted E3 visitors all three days. However, unlike some certifiably loony doomsday “prophets,” he was actually a living, breathing viral advertising campaign, as a close inspection of the back of his sign revealed he was plugging the apocalyptic Xbox 360 game Gears of War and its “Emergence Day” later this year.

SEE YA NEXT YEAR
Each E3 always has a game or hardware piece shown off that always finds its way back to the next E3 before it is released. Some simply just disappear, never to be seen or heard from again (anybody remember Duke Nukem Forever, Starcraft: Ghost or the Infinium Phantom?) Two games that almost definitely will make a return trip to E3 before they see the light of day on store shelves are LucasArts’ Indiana Jones and Electronic Arts’ Command & Conquer 3.

LucasArts was readily admitting in their secretive conference room setup that its next-gen Indiana Jones title (shown on the Xbox 360) was still a year or more away from completion, but showed off some of the game’s features that will take advantage of technology from sister company Industrial Light and Magic. Indy will be adventuring through a world with better graphics, A.I. and randomization techniques that seem to promise a whole new way of creating less linear and more open gaming worlds and escapades.

The long-anticipated Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars was announced shortly before the show, and all that was seen on the show floor was some static vehicle renderings in Electronic Arts’ 360-degree video rotunda. New graphics, a new story based in 2047 surrounding the alien element of Tiberium and plenty of new strategy gaming in one of the most reverently beloved strategy game franchises is slated for a 2007 release, so next year’s E3 should see much, much more of Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars.

E3 HAS LEFT THE BUILDING
E3 blitzes the senses with a heavy dose of glitz all for the sake of introducing the “next big things” that will be a part of the gaming world now and in the future. Every E3 leaves its mark, and 2006 is no different.

For me as a first-time attendee, it was a memorable gaming adventure that exceeded my expectations. But in the big picture of the gaming industry, E3 2006 will be known as the Wii and PS3’s introduction party. More importantly, E3 2006 is the official beginning of yet another full-fledged console war. Ah yes, it certainly will be an interesting next 12 months until E3 2007 kicks off (May 16-18, 2007 for those interested).

- Lee Cieniawa

lcieniawa@armchairempire.com

(May 16, 2006)


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