This expo ROQ'd! The event was open to the public this past weekend
with Friday reserved for people in the business. I didn't get a chance
to get good photos due to many booth's no photo policies, but I did
manage to sneak some shots here and there. I'll post these soon.
The stuff that I bumped into:
- Drag-On Dragoon - posted about this the end of last month. Got to sample the dragon portion. Fun air combat, but not enough. More, more, mooore.
- Transformers - got to demo the game. It was classic. Childhood
memories of G.I. Joe, Transformers, and comic books. I played while
some guy up on stage sang the theme song to Raideen. Started off as Optimus Prime, and had to go through a valley full of
hovering mines with Deceptacons shooting at me. I could transform from
robot to truck w/ that classic transforming sound. It was a kewl demo,
but I'm not sure if it'll be worth dishing out $50. Here's a review of the game from ign.com. Link to trailer videos. I hope they add the original song from the cartoons for the release in the states.
- True
Fantasy Live Online - XBox MMORPG. I didn't get a chance to play this,
but from what I saw it looked nuts. Anime-style fantasy online
game. The game looks beautiful and definitely worth checking out.
Here's a good review.
- Monster Hunter - saw this right before we had to leave. A
multiplayer game to hunt ... monsters. Looked like dinosaurs. Looks fun if you're online or w/
some friends. Photos here.
- Metal Gear Solid The Twin Snakes and Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater - the preview CG movies are intense.
- Digital
Creators School booths - many Senmon Gakkos or trade schools. They run
around $12,000. Sounds like Heald, but for building games. Hmmm...
- Pretty large Magic The Gathering booth - live blow-by-blow eplanation of two players going at it.
- Large area reserved for board games.
** UPDATE **
Here are some pics:
  
1) Some flight simulator Jet game w/ Glastron looking VR eyewear for the PS2.
2)
At the end of events in Japan all the campaign girls lineup and the
shooting begins. There are many men w/ BIG cameras. These 'fans' follow
the campaign girls to various events and know them by name. Some of the
popular ones even have their own sites.
3) Square-Enix's Kingdom Hearts 2 (link to GameSpy article) and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (link to GameSpy article). Big hoopla over this game. The Disney-Square mix has got the Mojo.   
4)
Space Invaders - first the song and video on MTV. Now the game's back.
The 25th anniversary of the coin-op classic. Now I feel old. :( The
controller for the PS2 looks pretty kewl. It's actually just housing
the controller. (see here)
5) I forgot what game she represented ... If you see me carrying around a bigger camera, please smack me ;)
6) FullMetal Alchemist - A new anime starting this month. Square-Enix game to follow. (link to GameSpy article).
Sony Music's headquarters is located across the street from our office.
Their 1st floor is like a show room / preview of what they are pushing.
Last month was Metallica's new album. Now there's a huge Alphonse Elric.
7
and 8) Steel Battalion... The controller is pretty kewl and I was
trying to get a clean shot of the lineup, but the girl got in the way.
Jama!?! ;) I got to sample the game at Aso Bit City
a while ago. Their setup was nicely done w/ large screen, private
booth, and pounding sound. That's the way to play this game. Puts you
into the VT. I just found out that there's a new Steel Battalion Line of Contact announced at E3. This new game supports XBox Live with 5 on 5 action. I don't know if the demos were of the new game.
  
9) Catan - Game originally from Germany. Looks fun. Link to Amazon product description. There was a whole area dedicated to board games like Catan, Monopoly, and various card games.
10)
Magic The Gathering booth in all it's splendor. I guess g33ks do the
same thing all around the world. Games ... on the console, PC/Mac, and
offline on boards or with cards. Sometimes w/ just pencil, paper, dice, and alot of imagination.
11) Heated Magic battle. You are now being Televised.
 
12)
Dressing room for the cosplayers. This is another fanatical group. So
there are the campaign girl 'fans', and the cosplayers. There must be
cosplay 'fans' too. I forgot about the Karisuma (charismatic/popular)
campaign girls and cosplayers. I don't think there are Karisuma 'fans's
w/ big cameras ...
13) Katamari Damashii - control a Huge sticky ball throughout a city and pick up EVERYTHING. Link to review by GameSpot.
14) And finally for all the aspiring game coders ...
4:17:08 AM
Google It!
|
|
