mrmonkeyman
05-13-2004, 12:42 AM
And lo', twas the day in which the Electronics Entertainment Expo was due to start. It all kicked off with the media breakfast, which was great fun for several reasons. First and foremost, nobody watching the briefing was really taking it seriously. Except of course the president of the ESA, who like an overenthusiastic headmaster rattled on about the success of the industry, and the wonderful new oppurtunity that gaming was going to give us all to make money and such. Second of all, it was free food. Media briefing + Media BREAKFAST! Okay, it was a crappy croissant, but it was good starbucks coffee, and I made yet more contacts which will I will probably never speak to again. Indeed, it was an interesting morning, and I still have not completely accustomed myself to these crazy timings, awaking at 6:30 in the morning, and falling asleep at 8:30 or earlier. Thus waking up early for the event was not a problem. Not eating in the morning was, however. Remind me never to not eat a proper breakfast again!
And so, friend in tow, we entered the west hall, amongst a crowd of screaming peoples.
Five seconds later, and I was on my own again.
Now was when it all got a bit much for me. You see, this is the first time I've ever seen the americans do a trade show, or anything remotely entertaining beyond Television. In england, when we have a trade show, it's a big room with a few signs, and we all sort of clap a bit and say "Come to our booth, I'm not going to help you, it's more than my job's worth." In america, they have FULL ON LIGHT SHOWS AND GIGANTIC BOUNCING WARIOS AND BEAUTIFUL LADIES WHO ENTICE YOU TO VIEW THEIR GAMES.
Though it's reasonable to assume that 90% of the time, the bigger the company, the least likely you are to find any booth babes. Believe me on this one. Sony? No. Nintendo? No.
Xbox?
You betcha!
Ohhh, in the zone.
From what I saw today, there were some interesting revelations.
Final Fantasy XII
I'd love to say that I went away from playing this with a head full of butterflies, and lots of hyperbole to describe the epic brilliance of it. However, as the worm turns, Square appear to have lost the plot as to what sort of game they are making. From the cinematics I saw, the game looks the part - beautifully motion captured, and in no way as jerky and badly acted as Final Fantasy X was. However...the battle system has completely changed. Instead of the game's old active time battle system of turn based combat that, I, personally, have always liked, we now have something very much similar to a simplified FFXI combat system.
My jaw dropped too.
So, now you run around your enemy, comically waiting and hitting them, then they hit you, like some sort of misguided and laggy Everquest battle. There is no more ritual to the battle, which while some may enjoy, as you now flow into battles as if you are playing Zelda, or, say, FFXI, I personally believe that this is an enourmous dumbing down of the series, and the first sign that Final Fantasy may be going in a very bad direction. The story itself is something I really cannot comment on, as the game was incomplete and wasn't prepared in the same format as the metal gear trailer. But overall, I'm very worried. I have no doubt that I'll buy it, as the story looks good enough from what I've seen, and it is quite fun to play, but it doesn't seem...it doesn't seem FF-ish enough. It's hard to explain.
Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater
I wont speak a long time about this, as it is COMPLETELY IMPOSSIBLE TO PLAY IT IN A CROWDED EXHIBITION HALL. Unlike the square exhibit, which came with gigantic headphones to immerse you, and big seats to rest on, Snake Eater was stood up, with low sound. Thus, the entire atmosphere of the game was lost, and it merely became a frustrating jungle simulator. From what I played, it's quite hard to get used to the jungle as opposed to facilities. From the huge video that they showed, though, the storyline is just as cool, epic, and brilliantly cinematic as MGS2. I expect great things.
The Phantom
Okay. Now, Infinitum Labs, I heartily apologise for my conduct today. I'm not sure what came over me. It may have been the utter ludicrious pricing of your console. Maybe it was the fact that it was the size of a small country. I mean it, I have stools smaller than that fucker. And I don't mean turds, I mean stools you sit on. The phantom is a gigantic tumour of a console-cum-pc-cum-whale, that gives you various games you can play on the PC for cheaper for the low low price of $30 a month.
I admit, I caused a bit of a stir. I made a few comments.
(On entry to the exhibit)
Me: Good god, it's HUGE!
(An infinitum labs man looks at me disapprovingly. The guys next to me are laughing lots.)
Me: Well I'm not denying it's groundbreaking. I mean, if you drop it, your tiles are fucked.
(We move on. I ask to pick one up, and actually hurt my back slightly doing so. Really, this is heavy as hell. A nice infinitum labs person turns to me.)
IL man: (Cocky) So, any questions my man?
Me: Yes. Do you expect people to be able to carry this thing home? Or do you have a deal with various hauling firms that will tie in with the launch?
I then move on and get my free t-shirt. I then cracked an all-too-loud joke about Bill Gates taking them out for making a bigger console than the xbox. On leaving, a Q+A session of sorts is taking place, with a few people crowded round a TV screen.
IL Man: Well, as you can see, the phantom has all the games you could ever want, and you can subscribe to or hire them for $30 a month, and if you subscribe for two years, you receive the console free! Yes, you, sir, in the orange t-shirt.
Me: Hello. Do you expect people to actually be stupid enough to pay $700 for a console service, when they're able to pick up a dell that can do probably more than your system will for $500? That, and you've already said it's unupgradeable...
At this point, the phantom people weren't looking too pleased with me. The crowd was grinning ear to ear, though, people around me were stifling laughter. However, I had the feeling from the two infinitum heavies moving towards me that I had to split, and fast.
And thus I did.
Ejection from Blizzard's booth.
A little while later, I found myself at Blizzard's booth.
I noticed a connection screen for World of Warcraft, and sat down, and logged myself on. A blizzard rep stood beside me, watching me play. He then realised my character was 25.
Rep: He...hey! What're you doing? You're not meant to do that! Get the hell out of here!
At this point I logged off, wiped my info from the screen, and made like Zoidberg.
The Babe Ratio
Ahh, yes, the babes. The comission I have involves their pictures. You'd think that these girls would understand that, yes, they're there to look pretty and have their pictures taken. Most of them are very much willing to, and pose in various suggesting ways for the budding pervert to take a picture of them with, or without their friend. The playboy bunnies were happy to have their picture taken, as was this friendly vampire (
). However, some appeared to have some sort of vicious aversion to the camera, scowling nastily at anyone who revealed one near them. Some smiled sweetly, and posed in a pretty manner. What was funnier, was others who just seemed to scowl at anyone who LOOKED at them. Why do they think they are hired? Their intellectual capabilities? Their knowledge of volaire? Their ability to burp the national anthem?
At the moment, the winning sexiness is a tossup (I've been waiting all day to find a reason to say that) between the G4 girls, and the Tecmo Ninja Gaiden death woman girl. Rumblings, yes.
I apologise for the brief update, but nothing really interesting beyond updates from other sites that you can find easily was seen. Tommorow I hit Kentia Hall, to see all the minor companies, and get my remaining 5 shots!
And so, friend in tow, we entered the west hall, amongst a crowd of screaming peoples.
Five seconds later, and I was on my own again.
Now was when it all got a bit much for me. You see, this is the first time I've ever seen the americans do a trade show, or anything remotely entertaining beyond Television. In england, when we have a trade show, it's a big room with a few signs, and we all sort of clap a bit and say "Come to our booth, I'm not going to help you, it's more than my job's worth." In america, they have FULL ON LIGHT SHOWS AND GIGANTIC BOUNCING WARIOS AND BEAUTIFUL LADIES WHO ENTICE YOU TO VIEW THEIR GAMES.
Though it's reasonable to assume that 90% of the time, the bigger the company, the least likely you are to find any booth babes. Believe me on this one. Sony? No. Nintendo? No.
Xbox?
You betcha!
Ohhh, in the zone.
From what I saw today, there were some interesting revelations.
Final Fantasy XII
I'd love to say that I went away from playing this with a head full of butterflies, and lots of hyperbole to describe the epic brilliance of it. However, as the worm turns, Square appear to have lost the plot as to what sort of game they are making. From the cinematics I saw, the game looks the part - beautifully motion captured, and in no way as jerky and badly acted as Final Fantasy X was. However...the battle system has completely changed. Instead of the game's old active time battle system of turn based combat that, I, personally, have always liked, we now have something very much similar to a simplified FFXI combat system.
My jaw dropped too.
So, now you run around your enemy, comically waiting and hitting them, then they hit you, like some sort of misguided and laggy Everquest battle. There is no more ritual to the battle, which while some may enjoy, as you now flow into battles as if you are playing Zelda, or, say, FFXI, I personally believe that this is an enourmous dumbing down of the series, and the first sign that Final Fantasy may be going in a very bad direction. The story itself is something I really cannot comment on, as the game was incomplete and wasn't prepared in the same format as the metal gear trailer. But overall, I'm very worried. I have no doubt that I'll buy it, as the story looks good enough from what I've seen, and it is quite fun to play, but it doesn't seem...it doesn't seem FF-ish enough. It's hard to explain.
Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater
I wont speak a long time about this, as it is COMPLETELY IMPOSSIBLE TO PLAY IT IN A CROWDED EXHIBITION HALL. Unlike the square exhibit, which came with gigantic headphones to immerse you, and big seats to rest on, Snake Eater was stood up, with low sound. Thus, the entire atmosphere of the game was lost, and it merely became a frustrating jungle simulator. From what I played, it's quite hard to get used to the jungle as opposed to facilities. From the huge video that they showed, though, the storyline is just as cool, epic, and brilliantly cinematic as MGS2. I expect great things.
The Phantom
Okay. Now, Infinitum Labs, I heartily apologise for my conduct today. I'm not sure what came over me. It may have been the utter ludicrious pricing of your console. Maybe it was the fact that it was the size of a small country. I mean it, I have stools smaller than that fucker. And I don't mean turds, I mean stools you sit on. The phantom is a gigantic tumour of a console-cum-pc-cum-whale, that gives you various games you can play on the PC for cheaper for the low low price of $30 a month.
I admit, I caused a bit of a stir. I made a few comments.
(On entry to the exhibit)
Me: Good god, it's HUGE!
(An infinitum labs man looks at me disapprovingly. The guys next to me are laughing lots.)
Me: Well I'm not denying it's groundbreaking. I mean, if you drop it, your tiles are fucked.
(We move on. I ask to pick one up, and actually hurt my back slightly doing so. Really, this is heavy as hell. A nice infinitum labs person turns to me.)
IL man: (Cocky) So, any questions my man?
Me: Yes. Do you expect people to be able to carry this thing home? Or do you have a deal with various hauling firms that will tie in with the launch?
I then move on and get my free t-shirt. I then cracked an all-too-loud joke about Bill Gates taking them out for making a bigger console than the xbox. On leaving, a Q+A session of sorts is taking place, with a few people crowded round a TV screen.
IL Man: Well, as you can see, the phantom has all the games you could ever want, and you can subscribe to or hire them for $30 a month, and if you subscribe for two years, you receive the console free! Yes, you, sir, in the orange t-shirt.
Me: Hello. Do you expect people to actually be stupid enough to pay $700 for a console service, when they're able to pick up a dell that can do probably more than your system will for $500? That, and you've already said it's unupgradeable...
At this point, the phantom people weren't looking too pleased with me. The crowd was grinning ear to ear, though, people around me were stifling laughter. However, I had the feeling from the two infinitum heavies moving towards me that I had to split, and fast.
And thus I did.
Ejection from Blizzard's booth.
A little while later, I found myself at Blizzard's booth.
I noticed a connection screen for World of Warcraft, and sat down, and logged myself on. A blizzard rep stood beside me, watching me play. He then realised my character was 25.
Rep: He...hey! What're you doing? You're not meant to do that! Get the hell out of here!
At this point I logged off, wiped my info from the screen, and made like Zoidberg.
The Babe Ratio
Ahh, yes, the babes. The comission I have involves their pictures. You'd think that these girls would understand that, yes, they're there to look pretty and have their pictures taken. Most of them are very much willing to, and pose in various suggesting ways for the budding pervert to take a picture of them with, or without their friend. The playboy bunnies were happy to have their picture taken, as was this friendly vampire (
). However, some appeared to have some sort of vicious aversion to the camera, scowling nastily at anyone who revealed one near them. Some smiled sweetly, and posed in a pretty manner. What was funnier, was others who just seemed to scowl at anyone who LOOKED at them. Why do they think they are hired? Their intellectual capabilities? Their knowledge of volaire? Their ability to burp the national anthem? At the moment, the winning sexiness is a tossup (I've been waiting all day to find a reason to say that) between the G4 girls, and the Tecmo Ninja Gaiden death woman girl. Rumblings, yes.
I apologise for the brief update, but nothing really interesting beyond updates from other sites that you can find easily was seen. Tommorow I hit Kentia Hall, to see all the minor companies, and get my remaining 5 shots!