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Hiya gang! ‘This’ll be a long one…get set.
At the absolute last second possible; I managed to get into E3! I won’t bore ya with the details, but yeah…. After pretty much accepting defeat, as my credentials were not up-to-date, it was an unexpected surprise; leaving me in super-charged nerd mode all week. I typically dislike going to most conventions, but I *always* enjoy myself, here….
Day 1: Since I hate Nintendo so much, I decided to go there first just to get it over with. :P
Their booth looked like a giant jellyfish :D ….a Jellyfish you can walk into and there’s lots of games in his belly. ^_^ I played Yoshi’s Island 2 for a good long while, which was very similar to the original SNES title. I have an uncontrollable weakness for all that is Yoshi, so my biased ass loved the ever-loving crap out of it. ‘Though I can see you unbiased asses loving this one, too ;) It’s a Nintendo platformer for cryin’ out loud! Those almost never suck. Speaking of 2D platformers…quite a few of them are in the works; including THIS ONE; Super Paper Mario! :D Somewhat odd: the Gamcube had ZERO presence at Nintendo's booth.
 ‘Rob and I also liked both volumes of Brain Games, a lot! Brain Age and Big Brain Academy. We got a little competitive …which was just more indication that we’re gonna have to get another DS sometime down the line. ….And oh, convenient enough: the DS Lite comes to the US next month. Well, DANG!
The Wii line was roughly an hour and a half long right around opening time on day one (( 10:00am on Wednesday )). Rob and I declined…thinking it wouldn’t be as bad the following day. Ha! It only got worse…a LOT worse. ‘More on that later…
Here we have Sony’s booth. ‘Nice use of the Spiderman font, here. Mmm-hmmm…
Let’s see…. I liked Capcom’s Okami (( but I played that one last year, too )). ‘Same ol' thing… 3D platformer…smash crates…get items...blah, blah, blah… BUT! It’s oh-so-nice on the eyes. ‘Very interesting art direction; which is nice for a change. ‘Not a big fan of that muddy rendered "realistic-as-possible" look that constitutes sooo many 3D platformers these days. I'll take bright colors and a stream-lined look, over exceedingly complex, desaturated models any day.
I’m regretting not returning to the PSP area to try out Loco Roco…’cause that one looked like it’d be right up my alley.
For me, the Sony area highlight was Guitar Hero II. It was my first encounter with the game, and I was sold after just playing through one song! The masses are positively SPOT ON with this one: it’s a total must-have. I’ll be picking this one up very soon. ^_^
Namco’s booth always rocks. The dancers were there again this year…
They also get the “best gimmick” award for keeping my ass stationed there for a good long while. If you play one of their cel phone games (( not for you fellas with the long nails :P )), you’ll be rewarded with a pacman token...which can then be used in various capsule machines they had set up all over the area! Collecting all the little PacMan capsule toys became a fun little side-quest :P
Thankfully, many were eager to trade with me, making my little enterprise much easier. :) ^^Sue!
Day 2: I stood in the West Hall’s entry line with Rick at 8:00am, thinking we’d have a good shot at avoiding a bit of the Nintendo line Wii-tardedness we’ve witnessed the day prior. ‘Quite the opposite: as the doors opened at 9:00am, the nerds practically trampled eachother running over to the Nintendo area!! Holy crap, the sliding glass doors were actually shaking!! STAMPEED!!! Oh man, I wish I documented this…. You’ll just have to trust me; it was a sight to behold. See, this particular crowd wasn’t exactly in the best physical shape… <:) ’watching them clumsily run with over-sized backpacks while trying not to spill their coffee was quite a spectacle. Rick and I decided to keep our dignity and power-walked instead. Our wait for the Wii: 2 hours 15 mins. I held our place and played 7-player Mario Kart DS with my new pals I met in the line while Rick explored. That 2 hours+ went by pretty quickly, actually.
Wii area:
Impressions….
Wario Ware: Smooth Moves... I’ve always loved this series. In the demo, you have to point and move the remote around to clear the stages (( no buttons were used )). Rick loves it:
Zelda; Twilight Princess: ‘Had to wait an additional hour to play this one /:P I played through the dungeon level and boss battle. Fun! ‘Took a few minutes to adjust to the new gameplay, but once I remembered what all the buttons did, I thought it worked surprisingly well!! Using the remote’s pointer for the bow-and-arrow mode required a very steady hand, though. If you’re a total spazz, this’ll be a huge pain in the ass. ‘Having a fairly big TV screen would probably help, too.
Most everyone I talked to around here was just completely apeshit over the new Smash Brothers Brawl trailer. ‘Not a huge fan of this series, but Pit looks really, really awesome o.0
‘Some gaming celebrities:
(( left )) Me and head cheap-ass, CheapyD, of www.cheapassgamer.com ! Cheapy’s site has saved me hundreds of dollars over the years. I visit CAG almost daily.
(( above )) The-Artist-Formerly-Known-as-The Blindfolded Pianist: ...The VideoGame Pianist!
(( ‘Just taking a break to mention… it’s been extremely difficult typing up this E3 report when I’ve got THIS nearby in my peripheral vision. I haven’t even opened it yet!!! It wants to be played in the worst way. Tell it to shut up! ))
Day 3: More Wii. ‘Got in line AGAIN in the early am; the line was just plain ridiculous: a 4 HOUR WAIT from where I entered the line (( which was now wrapped around Nintendo’s booth, then through the fire exit area, and then into Sony’s area. )). Soon after I took my place, the line was CLOSED.
While standing there, wondering if I should forget it and move on, I get a call from Larry telling me he had arrived and was looking to meet up. ‘Figured now, I could at least give him the option to bypass about an hour or so of waiting if he were to join me line where I was standing. ‘Though, just 10 minutes later, that was no longer an issue: a Nintendo executive was walking along the line and shouting “DOES ANYONE HERE HAVE ANY MARIO TATTOOS??” Nobody was really paying attention…. 'too busy playing their DS's.
As he got a bit closer to me, I showed him my Bowser pin that’s been a permanent part of my PF messenger bag for the last few years.
I got this “Oh c’mon! … A pin isn’t even CLOSE to an image forever inked onto you skin.” expression. Ha! ..But then that quickly changed to a “Hmmm…oh wait…does that count for something..?”. (( I’d like to think it was my adorable smile and the little hip twist thing I did :P )) He agreed to let me and my pals jump to the front of the line! I called up Larry; I sounded like the fast-talking guy from the old micro machines commercials; ‘telling him we can just walk in!
We Wii got the royal treatment…Here we are in the VIP couch area!! Larry and I are taking turns playin’ some Zelda:
I think I remember Larry saying something like “OMG THE WII IS SO AWESOME!!! AHHHHH!!! GREATEST EVERRRRR!!!111!1!!” It’s sooooo damn obvious from these photos; he fucking just loves this thing :D Haw! Haw! Haw!
Before leaving the Nintendo Jellyfish, we had a booth girl snap a picture of Larry and I around where we met for the first time last year. Rob, unfortunately, missed the photo op since he had to work that day. Thank goodness for our radical time machine!!!
Shopping list after E3: Guitar Hero, Brain Age.
Missing from E3: Cooking Mama, Oendan, Super Paper Mario /:P
Future shopping; (( favortie demos )): Yoshi's Island II, Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Big Brain Academy, ....Wii.
'Fun shit! :D
-Sue
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