Another year, another E3 passed. I can't really compare it to the previous showing, since I missed last year, but I can say out of all the E3s I've been to this one has been the best. Instead of seeing a handful of games I was really looking forward to, I saw a whole bunch from all over the place. Let's take a look at some of my personal highlights from the show:

Press Conferences
Microsoft had a big-budget program devoted to promoting many of its improvements in up-and-coming technology. The new and improved Xbox Live service looks great, and XMA will definitely help out the smaller developers. Microsoft comes off less like Big Brother and more like a company committed to giving you a good gaming experience.

Since Sony deemed most of the media not worthy to lick squashed insect guts off the bottom of Ken Kutaragi's boot, much less good enough to get into a press conference, I can't comment on that one, but upon hearing the words of those who attended, we didn't miss much besides a load of sequels.

Nintendo's conference really made everyone excited, and is considered by many on our staff to be the best of the bunch. The DS showing was spectacular, the games lineup was filled with top-notch titles (including many from Nintendo itself that had not been announced up to that point), and the personalities onstage were great - culminating in Miyamoto showing off his swordplay ability to a frenzied crowd after the video of the newest Zelda had run.

Both of the press conferences I actually attended were fun, and their messages were amazingly similar: gaming is driven by innovation, and we want to be comapnies that help drive that innovation. Remember the chill that went up everyone's spine at Sony's 2002 press conference when Kaz Hirai asked, "Would you rather follow an innovator. . . or a market leader?" It's obvious now that Microsoft and Nintendo felt our reactions to that, too - and they're out now more than ever before to prove that innovation is the foundation of this industry. More power to 'em.

Most Improved
A lot of people were very happy with Nintendo's interesting new lineup, especially after the rather flaccid showing last year. I, however, was most impressed by Capcom's new titles.

It's a very ill-kept secret that Capcom hemhorraged a lot of cash last year, with disappointing sequels and poor new efforts resulting in lackluster sales. In fact, only one game from its lineup last year was truly spectacular - and we all can name which one, right? As a result of the tought times the company faced, it shuttered its arcade division. It's a rather sad chapter in arcade history, but in truth, it's really benefitting the company as a whole, as many more resources are going into home game development. And it's all looking great!

Viewtiful Joe 2 looks to improve upon the original while delivering the familiar action that made it a fan favorite. Devil May Cry 3 is going back to the series' roots by pretending the disastrous second effort never happened, introducing a new play system that lets you pick from four different new abilities, and giving us a Dante who acts like a badass again. Resident Evil 4 looks gorgeous, and hopefully will make up for Resident Evil Zero's shortcomings. The Mega Man Collection gives a lot of play value for the dollar, but let's hope the music is emulated well! (I hate the cover art, though. Seriously, what the hell happened there?) Killer 7's visuals and atmosphere are incredible, capturing a dark and gritty comic-book feel perfectly. Under the Skin is funny and quirky, and has all the makings of a cult classic. Capcom Fighting Jam looks promising - much better than that Fighting All Stars train wreck - but how about some new sprites this time? Pleeeeeeeeeease?

All in all, Capcom had a lineup that looked exciting and fun, and thus, they get my (unoffical) Most Improved award. Congrats! The DMC3 intro kicks ass, might I add. Fighting off hellspawn while scarfing cold pizza - brilliant!

Best Smoke and Mirrors
The PSP. Word has it that not a single working prototype - as in, one that does not need to be connected to a workstation all the time - yet exists. Sony's showing did nothing to quell these rumors. The mockups they had couldn't be removed from their secured bases, and the movies displaying on some of the LCD screens were certainly not running off any actual PSP media. The fact that it's Sony, however, seems to indicate that the public will salivate over and gnaw on any bone that's thrown at them - even when there's no real meat on it.

Best Surprises
As if Shin Megami Tensei 3 weren't enough to get excited about, Atlus also announced out of the blue that Digital Devil Saga will be getting an English release. Couple that with Phantom Brave and Shining Force, and you've got a killer RPG lineup for the rest of the year. Agetec obtaining the rights to Wild Arms Alter Code F was also a pleasant and very welcome surprise. And I think everyone was surprised by what the DS turned out to be - not the weird, Virtual Boy-like disaster many were dreading, but a solid and unique platform that will produce some interesting new titles. The 3D ability of the system is above and beyond what we all had thought, as well.

Biggest Disappointments
What the hell happened to the GC Advance Wars? If I wanted a mediocre RTS game, I'd just pick up a random PC bargain bin title. There's nothing about this one that even remotely resembles the wonderful GBA titles. Ugly graphics, horrible art, uninspired gameplay . . . you know that feeling you had when you first played Contra: Legacy of War after remembering how fun the 16-bit games were? That's what playing the GC Advance Wars is like. For shame!

I also found the CGE showing a bit underwhelming. I know most of it is saved for the CGE itself, but come on, E3's an international exhibition! Where are all the historically important Japanese and European systems? I mean, seriously, you guys left out the MSX, one of the most important systems in the history of Japanese development and gaming! (Or at least, I didn't see it.) Also, there were plenty of games to try for each system, but the selection for each was, well, quite underwhelming. I know it's expensive and risky to put out some of the rarer, more highly-regarded games, but still.

The retro-arcade was great, though . . . but where was Bubble Bobble?

Some people will whine about there not being any new home console hardware shown, I'm sure, but that's just silly. All the consoles out now are getting killer new games that are pushing the hardware farther than ever before. Why are we all so eager to drop several hundred more dollars on new hardware? Why shouldn't we work to get the most out of what we have already?

Biggest Personal Disappointment
Losing the dice game at the Natsume booth. I waited fifteen minutes to try and get a Harvest Moon cow stuffie, dammit!

Coolest Corporate Personality
Reggie Fils-Aime from the Nintendo press conferences. Is it just me, or does he look like Antonio Inoki? Anyway, he did a great job presenting the DS to an increasingly excited gaming public. He also took a little bit of time to chat with me at the Nintendo party about the marketing ideas behind the DS. Thanks, Reggie, I really did appreciate that a lot!

Reggie's also on his way to fast becoming a Photoshop personality, it seems.

Best "You Will Never Live That One Down" Story
Last year it may have been Ali molesting Gaming Age's Patrick Klepeck, but this year he was manhandled and abused by none other than Tecmo's Tomunobu Itagaki himself. See, Itagaki had recieved word that Gaming Age (in a pretty awfully done review) had given his much-beloved Ninja Gaiden a piddling C- score. Word has it that the first part of the interview consisted of Itagaki ranting and raving about the idiocy of GA. It continued on with Itagaki making random derogatory comments in Japanese to his interpreter throughout, leaving the two of them snickering and a very, very uncomfortable (to say the least) Mr. Klepeck. This should serve as a wake-up call to all game journalists: when you criticize games or write bad reviews, especially if you do so in an ignorant and uninformed manner, the developers are reading and listening, and will take you to task. Don't think they won't hear it because they don't understand the language you speak - they will get word of it somehow.

Random Observations
Korea is now an undeniable powerhouse in gaming development and sales. The country's presence and representation has grown every single year at E3 - and with mega-hit titles like Lineage II, Korean developers are truly making a solid impact on the international market. It's only a matter of time now before they start doing more work for consoles.

It's almost like SNK never died. The SNK booth this year had lots of nice freebies and giveaways, and plenty of displays for both original versions and ports of popular Neo·Geo franchises. I didn't have the time to play King of Fighters: Maximum Impact, sadly, but it at least looks like the company is trying harder on that one than on the Hyper Neo 64 3D disasters. Seeing as how KoF is the world's most popular fighting game series, they do have a reputation they need to live up to on that one. Still, a truly deep and playable 3D fighter with many exaggerated characteristics of the best 2D games hasn't come to fruition yet (Rival Schools is fun, sure, but certainly not profound in the gameplay department), so it's going to be a pretty tough task. Let's hope for the best.

Why no pictures in the Square booth? Seriously, guys, your Full Metal Alchemist and FF toy display looked really nice - why wouldn't you want us snapping some photos? (Editor's note: [Ahem.] You'd be surprised how far an autographed picture of Eric Williams can get you.)

That Street Fighter 15th Anniversary controller thing looks like it's just a Saturn pad. Now I know it's the controller nearest and dearest to the heart of SF fans everywhere, but does it need to be hyped as this mysterious, awesome power that can't yet be shown to the public?

What's eating Yu Suzuki? Nobody seems to know what the heck he's actually doing nowadays. He's been off the game creation oversight panel that Naka and Nagoshi have spearheaded for a while, and his DigitalRex crew has yet to show, well, anything. He could be seen wandering the show floor this year - alone. Previous times, he always had a little entourage of AM2 folks and PR lackeys with him. While many of the Sega staff went to parties and talked in groups (Naka and Nagoshi seemed especially close), Suzuki seemed strangely distant from the rest of the Sega staff. Perhaps the most telling incident was seeing Naka, Nagoshi, Miyamoto, and Itagaki standing in a group having a conversation at the Nintendo party - with Suzuki standing alone just a few feet away, talking briefly only to those who recognized him.

I have to credit Christian and Shane for initially bringing this up" "Urban"-themed games are now all the rage. Def Jam Fight, 25 to Life, and of course The Urbz. Is it genuine respect and recognition of a subculture or shameless pandering? Sadly, I'm inclined towards the latter.

Dishonorable Mentions
Dear Company PR People:
I know it's a stressful time and a tough job, and we do appreciate what you do, but could you please, please keep track of your company's meeting schedules just a little bit better? Pretty much everyone on TNL staff got screwed over by a misscheduled time or a mysteriously canceled meeting.

Also, companies that pack up and leave before Friday. (Not to name names - *coughATARIcough*) Remember, a lot of us journalists have most of our meetings on Wednedsay and Thursday, as do corporate folks. Friday is the day we're most free to get out and observe your wares. You do want that, right? I mean, isn't that why you're spending millions to have a presence here?

Finally, why do many media people conducting interviews waste time with:

1. Questions developers have already answered previously?
2. Questions whose answers anyone can find out by reading the manual and/or press releases?
3. Questions about old releases that nobody cares about when new and interesting stuff is in the pipeline?
4. Questions about things these guys have absolutely no involvement with?

A certain U.K. interviewer (name omitted to protect the guilty) committed all of these offenses during the roundtable sessions he sat in in on with Ali and me. Talk about frustrating; it not only wastes our time, but wastes your time as well. Who likes to read boring interviews with redundant questions and developers forced to give half-assed answers? I sure don't!

Most Looking Forward to:
DMC3, Viewtiful Joe 2, SMT3, Digital Devil Saga, Star Ocean III, Outrun 2, Spikeout Battle Street, Virtua Quest, Paper Mario 2, Fire Emblem GC, Metal Slug 4 & 5 and Advance, Phantasy Star Universe, Suikoden IV, upcoming DS titles.

Special Thanks to:
Ali, Lucan, All the TNL crew, Tim Lindquist, Thomas Wilde, all the Doublejump staff, Teddman, Christian Nutt, Shane Bettenhausen (ZELDA II FDS BATTLE MUSIC SUCKS), Matt, Jason Wilson, Andrew Fitch, Makoto Osaki, Toshihiro Nagoshi, Ahmad Asam, Tetsuya Mizuguchi, Reggie Fils-Aime, Gail, Yu, and all the Atlus SMT3 and DDS staff, the Softbank staff I met in the media room, and my parents for believing in me even through recent stressful and tough times - I always love you.

· · · Heidi Kemps