Omni tells us about some of what he saw at E3 2003.

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Pokemon characters and uneven floors do no mix

Just outside Microsoft's Xbox both

E3 2003 in 3D!

The Electronic Entertainment Expo (commonly known as E3) was like no other journey I’ve been on. I went armed with my sense of direction, a media badge and the vaguest notion of what to expect. Not only was I on a quest to see a bunch of in-development games and meet all sorts of interesting people, but also dispel myths and confirm rumors.

Myth #1, that E3 is a Bacchanalian orgy of booze and games was dispelled first. Much to my dismay they don’t hand you a martini when you arrive. At the after-hours parties the booze flows freely as evident the day after when PR and gaming media pop aspirin like they were breath mints. Any onsite drinking was restricted to behind closed doors or private rooms. I knocked a couple of beers back at BioWare’s enclosure – that was the extent of my drinking. My careful preparations of building up my alcohol resistance (i.e. becoming an alcoholic) were pretty much a waste of time. But I persisted in my journey – collected my media badge and waited for the show doors to open.

The most overwhelming aspect of the show was the assault on my senses. First, by the sheer number of people milling around, waiting to get in. Everything was in constant motion and this was amplified once I hit the show floor (in the South Hall). There were mammoth display screens everywhere, creating a visual feast but an nearly nauseating experience as everything seemed to be moving. Contributing to the visuals is the continual pounding music that comes from each and every booth, not to mention the high-powered speakers at each game station and shouted/screamed conversations. The impact was made all the more overwhelming by the fact I didn’t have anything to eat that first morning.

After Doug Lowenstein’s, President of the IDSA, made his opening remarks to the assembled press there was to be a breakfast in the media hospitality room. I made the mistake of sitting through a few questions after the presentation. (Actually this might have been more to do with my eyes glazing over – the setting was too close to a university lecture theater.) I ducked out and got in line for breakfast, my stomach rumbling. By the time I got into the room the only breakfast items left were a few pastries and four trays of fruit. Cursing myself for getting in line so late, I jammed an orange juice in my bag and downed a cardboard cup of coffee – not exactly the liquid diet I had envisioned – and headed back to the South Hall to watch fellow media and a vast sea of Attendees scramble to get to their favorite company’s booth first. If you can image what it would look like to have Willy Wonka suddenly throw open the front gates of his chocolate factory, you have a picture of what the scene was like that first morning. Unless you were waiting to get into Kentia Hall (underneath the South Hall) where a couple dozen people were eager to rush in.

Once in the South Hall, traveling in a straight line proved impossible. I adopted a weaving pattern but I always seemed to be moving against the current, like a spawning salmon. It proved to be a real killer in terms of making my appointments. Not helping were the masses of transfixed show-goers parked in front of some booths – Konami being the biggest impediment to traffic flow.

(After the first day, the crowds were considerably less dense and the music turned down a couple of notches thanks to the collective hangover. But until then it was a lot of shouting and me yelling, “What?” to just about every question.)

The first day also taught me about the unevenness of the show floors. In the large halls, each booth had their own thick carpets. The area separating them was covered in thin red carpet so when I entered a booth, I nearly always tripped on the thicker and raised carpet. If that weren’t bad enough, Nintendo’s booth had a raised platform that cut right down the middle of the booth. Even though it was marked along the edge I managed to trip on it twice – once almost taking out a Pokemon character. E3’s a dangerous place.

Now just imagine you’re a shapely model in a bikini.

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Now we’re talking danger. Or at least a high level of uneasiness as some sweaty gamer puts an arm around you for a picture. Nowhere was this more evident than Tecmo’s booth, which featured six Dead or Alive girls and one or two games on display. When the girls were on stage you could tell by the long line of stereotypical gamers around the booth, waiting for a chance to have a picture taken. By day three, the strained smiles

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of the models showed a different mood: relief. Strangely this wasn’t the mood at Ubi Soft’s booth, which sported a harem (in conjunction with the new Prince of Persia). There were wandering booth babes throughout the show but Microsoft seemed to score big at their booth. Not only were the handlers of the Halo 2 line-up keeping order with a simple toss of the hair and a quick smile, but those around the Sudeki display had the area so packed it was hard to move.

But through it all I couldn’t help but have Bill Linn’s words about PR events scrolling through my brain:

"Anybody that thinks they need stars at a party to get journalists jacked-off, that’s bullshit. That’s not what it’s all about. It’s all about the product. And if people try to make it more than what the product is about then they’re blowing smoke up people’s asses and they’re wasting money."

For all the t-shirts and swag, I kept reminding myself it was all about the games. And most of the coolest stuff was showing behind closed doors or in enclosed theaters, which I still can’t understand.

The back wall of Take 2’s booth was a massive posted for Max Payne 2. I was being shown privately and only to VIPs. Half-Life 2 was shown at ATI’s booth, if you could take the long waits. (No waits for those waving media badges!) The wait to see Halo 2 was considerably shorter. My figuring is that Half-Life 2 and Halo 2 should have been shown right on the floor to maximize exposure; however, it does create a sense of exclusivity among those that got to see it. Never mind that the video was available on the Internet and G4TV soon after. But I won’t squawk too loudly because I got to see some games not shown on the floor, including BC, True Fantasy Live Online, and Fable (demoed by Dene Carter, who’s either insane or a genius).

Meeting game developers is one of the cooler aspects of E3. I finally got to meet some of the minds behind the games we play. It’s like meeting people you’ve only ever heard on the radio. And for the most part, they’re just like you and me – they just make games for a living. Except Todd McFarlane who has his thumbs in a number of pies.

Besides comics, action figures, and movies, McFarlane has two games (three if you include the contribution to Soul Calibur 2 with the characters and action figures) based on McFarlane properties: Spawn (from Namco) and Konami's game based on the McFarlane's Monster action figure line). I had a meeting arranged and I wanted to ask Todd about his involvement with so many mediums, but never got the chance. I wasn’t the only one having trouble keeping appointments. Wired Magazine showed late for their appointment throwing off the schedule and putting my appointment in conflict with MTV. Needless to say, I got bumped. I hung around waiting my turn but had to answer the call of Nature. By the time I returned, MTV was gone and so was Todd. Maybe next year…

What’s not so cool are the little rooms in which the behind-closed-doors games are demonstrated. It’s the E3 version of the hot box, which some endured with the determination of Alec Guinness in Bridge on the River Kwai. The same went for the theaters. Near the end of day three (around the Halo 2 theater) the rank air lingered long after the doors had opened and closed to let the next group in.

For all the games I saw, I played only played a handful or two. I bounced from one appointment to the next, hardly allowing me time to ask extra questions let alone pick up a control. The final day I gave myself extra time to futz around, explore Kentia Hall and actually play a few games.

Another myth exploded is Kentia Hall, which is so drastically different from the rest of the convention you might think you were at a different trade show. The other halls are dark places, filled with flashing lights and the glow from a thousand TVs and computer monitors. Kentia was brightly lit, spacious and packed with a variety of nifty gadget companies and other companies that sit on the fringe but are important nonetheless. That’s where I found Workshop Toys, makers of the American McGee’s Alice figures and the upcoming Oz figures; and 1C, a Russian publisher that managed to make an impression on me even with a low-key booth and an absence of booth babes or free t-shirts. The idea that Kentia is the place of the undead and unworthy of a visit just isn’t true. And if you’re at the show as Media, it’s a great place to get away from the crushing fanboy element.

And here’s a friendly tip for next year folks and fanboys: Wash your hands more often. I can’t count the number of times I picked up a control or dropped in front of a keyboard and instantly felt the need to run off and wash my hands. They were alternately sticky and slimey. My imagination ran wild as to how they got that way. Also, good oral hygiene is not an option. At the very minimum, make use of breath mints. Eidos and BAM! Entertainment had a great idea giving out hi-octane breath mints but it was obvious not many people were taking advantage of them.

After three days of binging on games, it was actually a relief to leave the Los Angeles Convention Center behind me. Nearly all the developers and PR reps I talked to on the last day were looking forward to heading home, because as fun as it is, E3’s also physically and emotionally draining. I was constantly on my feet (except for brief respites at booths that had places to sit) and subjected to a strange of myriad of sights, sounds, smells, and textures, while trying to remember names and faces of people I’ll probably only see once a year and not come off as unprofessional as I scrambled to ask questions to indicate I was paying attention. The reps, although subject to the same stimuli, all remained professional right to the end (and smelled good).

But what was I most impressed with? What game was Best of Show? The worst games? Which console will rule them all? Were the booth babes hot? What did you learn? Who had the best booth? What freebies did you snag?

I won’t answer any of those questions although I will address the issue of Best of Show. There weren’t any Best of Show titles. Many would say Half-Life 2 took it but I beg to differ. Although it certainly piqued my interest, how can a game be termed Best of Show when it wasn’t playable by the general public and there were over 1,000 games on display along side it – 90% with months of development still ahead of them? Do you think anyone could have possibly played/viewed all the games on display (and long enough) to form an informed opinion by weighing its strengths and weaknesses against the other 1,000 games? Simple answer: NO! This is why I staunchly refuse to present Best (or Worst) of Show awards.

But the journey is over. My curiosity about E3 finally quelled. There was almost too much to see – three days doesn’t seem long enough in some respects and too long in others. It was fun and sometimes informative and filled with the sights, sounds, and smells of gaming – and is as rambling as my writing.

- Omni

(June 1, 2003)