E3 Chronicles: The First 10 Years - 2001: Features

While the PlayStation 2 had hit the market in America a good six months earlier, this E3 had a lot going for it in terms of console hardware. Nintendo was out in full force, showing off their new Gameboy Advance, with its slick SNES visuals, while changing the name of the Dolphin to the Gamecube, and finally letting people see the thing. Meanwhile, Microsoft was on the scene with their hulking Xbox, evoking searing rage from PC gamers after it was announced that Halo would be making its way to this new console with the PC version coming out later. Game-wise we saw the birth of a ton of series, with Devil May Cry, Jak and Daxter, and Pikmin, among others. The most surreal thing about the show was that it was happening in the wake of Sega announcing that they were dropping out of the console market by the end of the year. Now Sega games were starting to appear on non-Sega consoles, and the whole thing just felt weird for a lot of people.

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E3 Chronicles: The First 10 Years - 2001

Nintendo:

It was nice to finally see what Nintendo’s next generation console was going to look like, and it was subject to mixed reviews, as some loved how compact it was, and others were none to pleased that it, “looked like a lunch box.” Since gamers already knew what sort of hardware was under the hood, what got a lot of the attention was the controller. Looking at the thing, and reading impressions people were busy trying to figure out if the peripheral’s layout would be ergonomic. Despite the Gamecube’s coming out party at this E3, the main piece of hardware that Nintendo was promoting at the show was its new Gameboy Advance. After over a decade of service, and some slimming down of the unit, the original Gameboy / Gameboy Color was starting to look pretty long in the tooth. Looking at the GBA, many got goose bumps thinking about how they would be able to play SNES-quality games on the go, and the GBA-Gamecube connectivity was intriguing. The sheer presence of the unit at that year’s show was phenomenal, with seemingly every booth there showing games for it.

Microsoft:

With the Xbox at the show in 2001, Microsoft’s first console was getting a fair share of snide remarks about how huge the thing was, along with liberal doses of angry fist shaking from PC gamers miffed about the unit taking Halo away from them. While the console was starting to get support from Western developers, things weren’t looking so hot from Japan, still the kings of the console market at the time. What probably hurt the unit the most at its first E3 where the unit was actually there to be seen was the criticism that it received for its projected library, which was looking a lot like much the same sort of thing people could find on the PS2. Regardless, the visuals on what was being shown at the event were very impressive, with games like Dead or Alive 3 standing out from a lot of the other games at the show.

The Games:

Activision:

While Activision had mountains of Tony Hawk, Matt Hoffman, and Spiderman games on display, and Return to Castle Wolfenstein was coming along nicely, what turned out to be a pleasant surprise from the publisher was that they were localizing a quaint little GBA platformer called Pinobee. But it wasn’t all cutesy, smootsy, as they also had Soldier of Fortune II Double Helix, which was looking a wee bit controversial with all of the violence being crammed into the thing.

Bioware / Interplay:

With Neverwinter Nights making a return appearance at E3 in 2001, and looking pretty nifty, attention was shifting to Bioware’s next project: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. With Bioware’s track record in RPGs, the thought of them handling a Star Wars property was amazing.

While not being handled by Bioware, a new edition to the world of Baldur’s Gate was also being shown by Interplay this year. Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance was taking the series into the realm of action RPGs, and looking very impressive in the process. What Snow Blind Studios was doing with water effects at the time was incredible.

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Blizzard:

Less than a year after the release of Diablo II, fans of the game got to take a look see at the planned expansion pack for the game. It was looking good, now everyone was just keeping their fingers crossed that they wouldn’t have to wait just as long for the expansion as they did for Diablo II. Meanwhile, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos was on display once again, with the press eager to take what was ready of the game for a spin.

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Capcom:

It was a veritable cornucopia of next gen gaming at Capcom’s booth in 2001, with a mix of games for both the PlayStation 2, and the Xbox. For the Sony console, we got to check out Devil May Cry, with its slick gun and swordplay, top-notch graphics, and bad assed hero, Dante. Also being shown was Maximo, a platformy action game with lighthearted graphics.

Capcom was showing its support for Microsoft with a retooling of the Onimusha for the Xbox, Genma Onimusha, as well as Dino Crisis 3. Gamers also first learned of the publisher’s upcoming mech game, BRAIN-BOX, which would eventually be known as Steel Battalion, notorious for it humungous controller specially made for the game.

Eidos:

One of the most ambitious looking games to be found at the Eidos booth this year was Republic: The Revolution (PC). This game let players become a dictator in a newly formed independent republic after the fall of the Soviet Union. Between propaganda campaigns, secret police, and other functions synonymous with a dictatorship, the dark deeds one could do in the game were looking quite appealing.

Also on the PC was Praetorians, which was trying to strip away much of the micro management polluting strategy games at the time. The game was attempting to do away with the need to constantly keep an eye on one’s economy so gamers could focus on warfare and tactics, bringing cheers from many who were tired of spending more time chopping wood, mining, and building factories than actually attacking enemies in this sort of game.

For the PS2, Eidos had a very cartoon-like game in the form of Herdy Gerdy on the show floor. What stood out most about the game were its visuals. Up to this point there were already plenty of games available that had cartoon-styled visuals, but the level of crispness and detail in the graphics for this title were far enough ahead of the pack to garner special attention from many.

Electronic Arts:

EA has traditional had quite a few games on display when E3 came around, but in 2001 the sheer number of announcements and games on display was really something. Right off the bat, the publisher announced that they were firmly behind the Xbox, and had 10 games in production for the system, citing Madden 2002, Cel Damage, and Pirates of Skull Cove as particular standouts.

The company’s offerings for the PC were also looking pretty interesting for that year. Freedom Force was taking role-playing in a new direction with its superhero sensibility, while the phenomenally successful Sims series was on its way to the world of online gaming. Another online game that was getting pushed hard was Earth and Beyond, bringing a sci-fi spin to MMORPGs. However, one game that got a lot of people saying, “Whaaaa?” was Sid Meier’s Golf. The man responsible for the Civilization series was working in conjunction with Maxis Studios (Wil Wright’s company) to create a game where players had to create financially viable golf courses. It was a bit of a departure from what people were used to from these legends of game design, but given their pedigree, most were eager to see how the game would turn out.

Konami:

While not as bombastic as a year ago, Konami had a strong showing in 2001. Metal Gear Solid 2 was, of course, the centerpiece to what they had in the works, but there were some other gems to check out as well, not the least of which being their survival horror sequel, Silent Hill 2 for the PlayStation 2. Another game getting a fair bit of attention from the publisher was Castlevania: Circle of the Moon on the GBA. After the series had gotten itself a bit of a black eye with its 3D efforts on the N64, it was a relief to see it returning to its 2D roots on Nintendo’s handheld. Konami also showed some support for the Xbox in this year, with Air Force Delta. It wasn’t overly impressive to look at, but the fact that the company was making a game for Microsoft’s console was encouraging.

Infogrames:

There were a pair of games being shown by Infogrames that PC gamers were happy to see, both the third installment in their respective series. After what seemed like an eternity, we were finally getting a new Civilization game, and considering how addicting its predecessors were, part three couldn’t come soon enough. However, what got gamers even more anxious was seeing Masters of Orion 3. The first two games were gems, and there had been no new additions to the series in quite some time. A chance to play part three was difficult to resist.

Microsoft:

While there was plenty to see in terms of Xbox games that everyone already knew about (like Halo), there were some new games as well that Microsoft was promoting in 2001. Leading the charge was Project Ego, which would eventually become known as Fable. Even in the early days of development the game was looking very good. From Bizarre Creations, gamers got to see Project Gotham Racing, continuing on the gameplay features originally found in Metropolis Street Racing. And to make sure that the Xbox had a respectable number of giant robot games in its library, Gunvalkyrie was also on display.

Nintendo:

With the launch of the Gamecube fast approaching, Nintendo had a moderate number of titles to show at E3 in 2001. At the head of the pack was Rogue Squadron 2: Rogue Leader. From what people saw of it, the game wasn’t only visually stunning, it also taught many gamers that the words “rogue” and “rouge” were two very different things. An interesting surprise for many was that instead of Mario leading the way for Nintendo in the next generation, it would actually be Luigi as the tall, lanky plumber would be getting his own game: Luigi’s Mansion. Another turn of events was Starfox Adventures, which would do away with flying spacecrafts, and, instead, be a more conventional action game starring many familiar faces in the Starfox universe. Continuing Nintendo’s tendency to try and bring something new to gaming, gamers also saw Pikmin, a new take on strategy games.

This was also a year of showing off the Gameboy Advance for Nintendo, though. With that, we saw the return of old games like Super Mario Advance, but also some very interesting new efforts in the form of Advance Wars, and Golden Sun.

Rockstar:

With E3 2001, Rockstar started on the long path to parental groups' bad books right across America, as the publisher displayed a pair of games, one that would make them tons of money, the other that would receive a collective, “Ummmm, no” from the gaming community. Both Grand Theft Auto III and State of Emergency were shown at this E3, and both were looking quite violent.

Sega:

It was a very surreal experience to walk into the Sega booth in 2001. After the announcement came in January that the company was not going to make consoles anymore, it took some getting used to seeing Sega’s games on other platforms. This year there were a couple of sequels worth checking out with Phantasy Star Online ver. II, and Jet Set Radio Future, but it was the new, original games that got the most attention. Monkey Ball was looking very interesting, and gamers were starting to learn about Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s masterpiece, K-Project, better known today as Rez.

Sierra:

Half-Life had a strong presence in 2001, as Sierra got the word out on a planned PlayStation 2 port, as well as Half-Life: Blue Shift, which took Half-Life, and had players go through the game with the title’s loveable security guard. Another FPS that was looking pretty neat at this E3 was Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza.

There were also a pair of RPGs to check out at the Sierra booth. Arcanum was looking delightfully Victorian in its sensibility, while Throne of Darkness was also on the scene, an ancient Japanese action RPG being made by some of the team responsible for the original Diablo.

Sony:

With the PS2 on the market now, SCEA was busy fleshing out the system’s library in 2001. Among the games that stood at this E3 were the music game Frequency, a new platformer from the makers of Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter, and a very unique looking adventure game called ICO. Everyone agreed the game seemed interesting, we just needed to figure out how you pronounce the bloody name of the thing. It wasn’t just new properties that Sony wanted to show for the PlayStation 2, though. They also had Gran Tursimo 3 to promote. The game looked incredible on the PSX, and seeing it on a next gen console was something to behold.

While promoting the PS2 was at the top of Sony’s To Do list at E3 2001, their online gaming division also had a couple of games in the works in the form of Planetside, a massively multi-player FPS, and Star Wars Galaxies, a MMORPG being handled by the same folks who did Everquest.

Square:

E3 just wouldn’t be the same without a new Final Fantasy to look at, and that was the case in 2001 with Final Fantasy X. The series first entry onto the PS2 was looking very nice, even though the game’s hero looked an awful lot like Meg Ryan. Not only was this game getting some buzz, though, as Square had recently signed a deal with Disney to use some of the animation studio’s most popular characters in an RPG that would feature the likes of Mickey Mouse, Goofy, FF VIII’s Squall, and so forth. It was a very unconventional cocktail, and everyone wanted to learn more about it.

The Best of the Rest:

Here are some of the other games that people were checking out at E3 in 2001: IL-2 Sturmovik (Ubi Soft – PC), Pool of Radiance (Ubi Soft – PC), Arx Fatalis (Fishtank Interactive – PC), and Dead to Rights (Namco – PS2).

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