M.R.I. #8: The Return of Randomness: E3 2008 - Editorials

More Randomness from the Internet (M.R.I.) makes a glorious return after a year-long hiatus.

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M.R.I. #8

The Return of Randomness: E3 2008

It Was The Best Of Times

Many of us that fill with nostalgia for E3's past -- the booths, the babes, the incessant headache from too much noise -- were a little saddened at this years event. Previous conventions often felt like a gaudy display of lights and XXXL t-shirts, but as we roamed the cavernous Los Angeles Convention Centre, it was made all the more cavernous by a distinct lack of noise, wall-to-wall TVs and 100' banners. It was like showing up at the site of your childhood home -- there was a

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hint of a smile on your face, a slight flutter in your stomach -- only to find it paved over with a shabby parking lot. Your whole world is split open from laraynx to groin and all your fond memories spill onto the asphalt... no, it wasn't quite that bad but it was kind of depressing to see the place so empty. The trade-off, of course, was that I got a lot done in terms of making it to appointments and playing the games.

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It Was The Worst of Times

If the sight of a practically empty convention centre is enough to bring tears to your eyes, then the Games for Windows Party would have been enough to make you seek out a train to step in front of. Granted, it took place on Wednesday night -- a time when many journos are in need of some sober time -- and was competing with events hosted by Ubisoft and MTV (starring The Who) but that was no excuse for the awfulness of the party. There was a sum total of four -- FOUR! -- computers present and only one of those was actually playable. The one other computer that was actually functioning was running a Call of Duty: World at War demo and was very watchable, but the demo rep wouldn't let you play it. The large screen TVs throughout the bar featured a continuous 5-second loop of a graphic intro to Games for Windows that Microsoft used at their press conference in 2007. However, since there were only a handful of people in attendance the lack of games wasn't that much of a problem. This is in contrast to the Gears of War 2 and Fable/Banjo events held in previous nights at the same bar to a much larger audience. As they closed the event down -- a full hour ahead of schedule -- it dawned on my that I had just attended the wake for Games for Windows. In my mind, the initiative is dead. Not PC gaming; just the Games for Windows initiaitve.

So close, yet so far away...

Fallout 3

After waiting an entire year to play Bethesda's upcoming Fallout 3 -- I described watching the demo last year as seeing the first act of a strip show; you're left waiting for the final reveal -- and finally getting a chance to put some time into it, all 30 minutes I was allotted, I can firmly state that this is like being promised a lap dance then the dancer saunters in, quickly looks at her watch then leaves. Somewhere in the distance you hear a car door slam and wheels screeching on the pavement. In my half-hour with Fallout 3 I died ten times; I pissed off the residents of Megaton by taking a book I shouldn't have; killed a dozen mutant dogs, a few giant bees; and travelled as far as I could into the Wasteland to just take a look around. I would have happily sat there all day playing.

Hockey

At EA's booth, there was a very promising line-up of titles present at their booth. Dead Space, Facebreaker, Mirror's Edge, etc. but the place was 100% NHL free. I almost couldn't comprehend it as my guide informed me that NHL hockey was not being shown. Hasbro's Family Game Night were there but no game involving heavily equipped millionaires slapping a puck around a frozen surface. Either they don't want to show NHL because it's horrendously broken -- not good, considering it's supposed to come out in a couple of months -- or they didn't want 2K Games getting a look at it. Either way it sucks. And, as I sit on the plane winging home and "inadvertently" looking over the shoulder at the laptop of one of EA Canada's PR honchos typing up feedback reports on NCAA 09 and Madden, I want to hand her my card with a brief message scribbled on the back. "No NHL? Boo!"

- Omni

(July 20, 2008)


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