E3: Highs and Lows

Strange Timing Award: Four days after the show’s finale, Capcom announces Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop. Did they think the title would get lost in the E3 shuffle?

Most Improved Company: While Sega’s Devil May Cry clone,
Bayonetta, looked great, we are going to have to give the honors to Midway.
After releasing stinkers Blacksite: Area 51, Game Party, Cocoto Kart Racer, and Hour of
Victory last year, there’s no where else to go but up. We played three games
that we actually enjoyed and are looking forward to another one (Touchmaster 2,
DS).

Most Disappointing Title: While Brothers in Arms: Road to
Hill 30, and its sequel, BIA: Earned In Blood held our attention with their
combination of FPS action, squad flanking strategies, and Band Of
Brothers-inspired narrative, Gearbox’s latest was underwhelming. BIA: Hell’s
Highway looked and felt like a two year old FPS. Disappointingly, the only real
difference between this demo and the E3 2006 walk-thorough was the amount of
environmental damage that could be wrought.

Best Food: While Sony’s completely un-kosher sausage wrapped
in bacon were enjoyed by N’Gai, Activision’s edibles were so appealing, attendees
seemed more anxious to eat, then to listen- the show started twenty minutes
late. Hideo Kojima wanted nothing of the sort- he went for pizza across the
street.

Best Hardware: While
sword fighting in Wii Sports: Resort was amusing, the Wiimotion Plus attachment
should have been incorporated in the original Wiimote design, not as an
afterthought. Although we always seem to be extolling the virtues of the
Novint Falcon, our time with the controller and Battlefield 2 was pure bliss.
From the amount of force feedback given by the sniper rifle, to being able to
feel in-game walls, we can’t imagine playing the game without the controller.

Worst Line-up: With the exception of Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir, Atari had nothing remotely interesting in their lounge. For a name that was once synonymous with the hobby of videogaming, the compnay didn’t even look like they were trying. Deer Hunter Tournment, Backyard Football 2009, and What’s Cooking with Jaime Oliver were the highlights.

Most True ‘Punk Rock’ Moment: When a Konami representative,
showing off Rock Revolution, failed miserably at “Blitzkrieg Bop”, thereby
ending the whole event.

Most ‘Hot Topic’ Moment: While describing the $200 wireless
Stratocaster Rock Band guitar, a Mad Catz Representative told us, “These are
hot enough to attract groupies.” Uh, yeah.