 Bahn Unplugged: The Minority Report: Part One |
6/04/02 |
| This ain't your typical E3 roundup report... |
 (Pictured from l. to r. [Front Row] Lucas Barton, Kitty, Burgundy, Makaze, Bahn, Nick, Kenshin, Werewolf. [Back Row] Shinobi, Riisuke, Master, Reno, Red Terrier) Click here to enlarge. A world of its own, indeed. I f you take a moment to stop and listen, you just might hear a collective sigh of relief as yet another E3 expo has come and gone. As any experienced attendee can tell you - even with careful planning and preparation - nothing is absolute or can prepare you for the frenized pace that takes place during the three-day event. From a personal perspective, my first visit consisted of a recipe of anxiety and joy, which eventually would evolve into a more relaxed and savvier persona. Now, three years later - being more experienced, wiser (and according to the staff, more flirtatious), this year was especially enjoyable and productive, to say the least.
Are we late? After coordinating some last minute arrangements and obtaining the exact directions to reach the Orpheum Theater (this year's location hosting the Xbox Press Conference), we got back on the road. I was a bit concerned about getting caught in the rush hour madness, which would've delayed our arrival anywhere from a good hour or up (Protip: always leave early...) Fortunately, luck was on our side as we made our way to Quality Inn to drop off my bags and pick up Rob in the process. The conference was but a five minute drive - thank goodness. When Rob and I arrived at the front entrance, we saw the MS personnel unloading what we would later find out were our press package. I want to take this time to mention that I hate the Kinko's location I used to process my cards...it was the worst! Alright, I am exaggerating - it wasn't that bad - but they screwed up about 15% of my cards because someone didn't bother to check the toner, so I ended up getting a bunch of cards with spots, or faded print. And just my luck, I happened to hand one of those cards to the man operating as the gatekeeper...Rob didn't have that much better luck either. Needless to say, he looked at us and just blurted "these are some pretty sad cards, guys." Refusing to accept such ridicule, I whipped out my media badge which felt like the equivalent of handing him a $50 bill. "Ah...now that works." says he. For the sake of repetition, I won't go into full detail of the press conference, since Nick will be highlighting points about it in his feature. Though I will state that I found Microsoft's entire presentation to be quite impressive. The theatre consisted of hues of green, heavy bass, and every major print, broadcast, and gaming enthusiast member in attendance. the style and presentation made me feel like I was at an awards ceremony. Rob and I entered during the presentation of Panzer Dragoon Orta, a game which I seriously will make every effort to indulge when its released. We apparently had missed much of the opening previews of the Xbox library as the program shifted gears to the console's online network - Xbox Live (more on the shortly). Microsoft also introduced the audience to several more titles in its upcoming lineup, including Project Ego (an all new RPG developed by Peter Molyneux) in which player's every action determines the skills, appearance and morality of the main character - looks promising. Yet the decibel level truly shattered the theatre when Ninja Gaiden, developed by Tomonobu Itagaki of Team Ninja showcased the first footage of the classic ninja Ryu Hayabusa. Making his transition into the 3D realm, Ninja Gaiden looks like it will go head to toe with Sega's updated installment - Shinobi. The trailer demonstrated some of the in-game action, full of assorted hack-n-slash attacks, but not much else...(not even Tecmo's E3 press conference elaborated much on the gameplay...) And while we're on the topic of Tecmo, as many already know by now, another installment derived from the Dead or Alive series featuring the vixen fighters will arrive in the form of sports - Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball. It's a hilarious gimmick graced with softcore porn that's bound to sell plenty of copies and become an instant hit with the male audience (kid tested, Reno approved.) Looking towards a much broader perspective, specifically with online gaming, Microsoft elaborated more on Xbox Live, which is currently in beta test throughout the country. The package will include a communicator device and Unreal Championship as its pack-in title, priced at $49.95 in North America for the first year. Microsof's presentation seemed the most aggressive (with the Sony event running mildly close to holding the second slot). Xbox Live is taking the console online network to another level - providing gamers with a solid network, a volley of titles and an affirmative goal to be best. After the program concluded, Rob and I eventually caught up to Kenshin and Nick (Reno was somewhere in the area, schmoozing no less). A small banquet of chocolate-covered strawberry treats, green-colored cocktails, and yes - even vegetables. Yum...a full course meal. There were also two stations which all attendees could sign up for the Xbox Live beta test program (I don't have broadband at the moment, but whatever - I signed up anyways). Eventually, we made our way outside, departing with the rather disappointing Xbox backpack (I guess eventually all those marketing dollars will go into investing a truly aesthetically cool design). Fortunately, as Kenshin sprinted up to the rest of our party to reveal the hidden gift inside - a special edition Xbox "S" Controller. Ah yes...life is good, Xbox Press Conference automatically gets a thumbs up of approval. Related Links: Media: Xbox LIVE
Live in our world, play in ours...
Seriously, this year's conference seemed to go on a diet with details and plans for the future. But to its credit, this year's PR swag, nice - but still doesn't beat out last year's design (I've got a few dozen requests or so to hand over that model). It's a bit more compressed and doesn't seem as if you can pack nearly as many items as before. Meh. The press notebook was keen, composed of a blue metal cover (but sadly very little documentation inside). Ah and of course, I can't forget to mention the goodies that awaited us inside - a metallic notebook and a pen (extra batties included in its case) which glowed with a vibrant blue and blinked in a highly rhythmic fashion. Nice. But wait, there's more...(just not right now.) Later this week, I'll discuss the Nintendo Press conference, outline the best/worst of E3 (at least, what my eyes gazed upon) and throw in some modest photographs to compliment the entire package (and yes...we're investigating the nature behind our photographers who supposedly snapped booth babe shots...our guess is, we may not be seeing them ever again). Join us back in 48, until then... Game On!
Past Columns:
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For many of us, the festivities began as early as Monday evening, flying in from our native regions throughout the country and into the land of LA. I got into the city roughly around a quarter after 3 at LAX International Airport and was picked up by my friend Clockw0rk. I also happened to run into Reno and Kenshin briefly, who hopped into one of the airport shuttles en route to the hotel - Quality Inn, where the majority of us were staying that week. There was just a bit under an hour left and I wanted to make sure that I had collected all the data from our E3 Prep. section - so I stopped off at Clockw0rk's to use his PC. Seconds after I got online, I got bombarded with messages, among them including comments like "shouldn't you be in LA right now?" Um...ya. Anyways, I manually synched the information on my Palm with the documentation online (left the friggin' software, so I had to input the data instead of having it transferred electronically), got a ring from Red Terrier about his business cards; Kinko's was giving him drama, which later followed by a call from Robert Rence. Suffice it to say...the beginning of E3 adventure had begun.
The next morning, a much larger TNL posse took off for the Sony's press event held at one of their sound studios. The whole crew consisted included Kenshin, Reno, Nick, Burgundy (his girlfriend Kathleen), Robert Rence, Ali, Zero and well of course - me. Compared to last year, which was something of a media snore, Sony's presentation came across extremely over-confident (or bullish, depending on your perspective) as SCEA's Kaz Hirai outlined statistical figures and sales charts leading to a blanketed statement - "The console war is over..." Odd, when did it begin? A psuedo-epiletic flash of game images featuring Sony's 2002-2003 first/third-party lineup got things rolling, followed by various guests who were introduced throughout the program. Among them including TeamSoho who provided teaser clips and background info regarding the development of its latest project - The Getaway in which the audience seemed less than impressed (let alone interested...so much for that). As the conference shifted gears towards Sony's online network, we got a sneak peek at Resident Evil Online, and a live demonstration of the next installment of Madden, played by two pro footbal players graced by the football icon himself, John Madden via satellite who brought plenty of laughs (and restored life) to the event as he took cracks at his own style of color commentary. So anyone wanna take a guess what an octifractulon is?
