E3 2003 Photo Gallery Comments Off
E3 2003 Comments Off
Electronic Entertainment Expo 2003 Coverage:
Holiday 2003 Software Gift Guide Comments Off
by Ken Gagne
Video games can be serious business, especially when it comes to making sense of the myriad choices available this holiday season.
The video game market is currently supporting more systems successfully than any other single time in its history. The Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, and Sony PlayStation 2 are all competing for consumer televisions, while the Game Boy Advance offers portable pocket gaming. Each system has its own strengths and unique library of entertainment titles. Though the hardware varies in capability and expansion opportunities, the best criterion for any console purchase is the selection of appropriate software. Some games exist for all systems, while others are exclusive to one or two systems. The following games are some of the best titles released for each system this year.
The perennial party favorite returns in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! for Nintendo GameCube. This racing game sports multiplayer mayhem as popular Nintendo characters team up to drive tandem karts, with one person behind the wheel and another acting as gunner, launching turtle shells and banana peels at opponents. Up to four players can race or battle, or eight people can network multiple GameCubes and televisions for massive tournaments.
Another Nintendo series returns on the GameCube in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. A young boy, a wicked warlock, and a princess in distress are elements of this 3D adventure set in a watery world. The hero Link must sail the seas and recover magical artifacts to defeat the villain Ganon. The cartoonish art style may dissuade more mature gamers who can't see past the surface into the involving gameplay, while younger gamers will need patience for both problem-solving and the long journeys between islands.
For an aquatic adventures with less action, try Everblue 2, a PlayStation 2 game from Capcom. Players become scuba divers and salvagers, collecting junk, lost personal possessions, and legendary treasures from sunken cruise ships, planes, submarines, and pirate ships. The sale of recovered items funds the purchase of better equipment, allowing gamers to dive deeper and longer; otherwise, if they run out of air or health, or are carrying too much luggage, it's game over. Though the occasional shark or man-o-war will strike, evasion is the only option, as Everblue is entirely non-combative. With so many tasks and treasures, the game is both relaxing and addictive.
At the opposite end of the spectrum is the not-so-relaxing PlayStation 2 and PC perversity known as Silent Hill 3, the biennial installment in Konami's survivor horror series. The resort town of Silent Hill has intersected with a dark dimension possessed by demons and unnatural monstrosities. Heroine Heather must discern her connection to this nightmare while surviving brutal onslaughts and mysterious encounters. The story connects directly with the first Silent Hill game, rewarding players who have previously experienced the series. Disturbing images and a pervasively profane atmosphere render this game for adults only.
It's less frightening to take up arms against the underworld in Konami's other gothic game, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, for the Game Boy Advance. Castlevania, the home of the ancient and evil Dracula, has reappeared in the year 2029. Trapped among its evil inhabitants, young Soma Cruz must employ both the classic armaments of swords and axes with futuristic weaponry to escape the vampire lord's domain. This action-adventure game challenges players to collect the souls of Soma's enemies, each which increases his range of moves. Fatalistic fiends will try the skills and souls of even the hardiest vampire hunter.
From dungeons and demons to dragons, take to the skies in Panzer Dragoon Orta, an Xbox game from Sega. A highly advanced civilization long ago wrought its own destruction; now, an age of unearthed technology clashes with fantastical creatures. A young girl of unknown origin is chosen by a dragon, a creature thought extinct, to help overthrow the draconian Empire currently enslaving the world. This flying game moves airborne gamers along a set path, but allows them the freedom to combat hostiles from 360 degrees, as the both the dragon and its foes can circle to any of each other's sides, calling for swift decision-making and button-pushing as players sweat and tear over its extreme difficulty.
Remain airborne in Skies of Arcadia Legends, a GameCube role-playing game (RPG) by Sega. Air pirates inhabit this fantasy world of floating islands and endless skies, where ancient crystals are being revived to threaten the six kingdoms. With all the vibrancy and enjoyable storytelling of the early Final Fantasy games, Skies of Arcadia has aged well since its original release for the Sega Dreamcast some years ago.
Technology and fantasy are combined in another galaxy far, far, away in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, published by LucasArts for both the Xbox and Windows. Set 4,000 years before the events of the films, this Star Wars role-playing game lets players tailor their own protagonist with which to venture forth and defeat a Dark Jedi uprising. Gamers will converse with hundreds of people, spanning hours of spoken dialogue, and will be presented with decisions that will determine whether they fall to the Light or Dark side of the Force. The massive inventory and complex gameplay system isn't for people looking for a simple, fast-paced time, but Knights draws fans in as few Star Wars games do.
You needn't travel to the stars to find conflict. Nintendo's Advance Wars 2 for the Game Boy Advance offers strategic struggles as players plot against the imperialistic Black Hole army. Using a gridded map, players move units representing tanks, bombers, infantry, and batteries, while managing resources to produce new units in the fight. Two Game Boys can be connected for players to battle against each other, or to swap terrain maps they've created for custom campaigns. The animated setting and lack of demonstrated violence make this game appropriate for any age of gamer willing to think through her moves.
More frantic but no less calculating is the combat in Soul Calibur II, a fighting game for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube. Published by Namco, Soul Calibur pits two fighters wielding swords, nunchakus, polearms, staves, and whips against each other in 3D arenas. Each warrior has a vast repertoire of detailed maneuvers to master, elevating combat to an art style. Exclusive to each version of this game is a unique character: the comic book character Spawn on Xbox; on PlayStation 2, Tekken's unarmed Heihachi; and best of all, Link, the hero of Nintendo's Legend of Zelda series, on GameCube.
Soul Calibur II is a worthy sequel, as are many of the best games of 2003. With decades of franchises under its belt, the electronic entertainment industry has made an art of resurrecting old licenses and preserving their heritage while updating them for a new generation of consumers. This remodeling doesn't always succeed, but the above nine sequels are proof that, this holiday season, what's old is often worth being new again.
This article is copyright (c) 2003, 2007 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not to be distributed without permission.
Original publication: Gamebits, 01-Dec-03
E3 2003: LucasArts Comments Off
by Ken Gagne
| Armed & Dangerous ETA: 11/14 (PC), 11/3 (Xbox) |
Wrath Unleashed ETA: 11/3 (PS2, Xbox) |
Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike ETA: 10/15 (GameCube) |
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| Secret Weapons Over Normandy ETA: 9/15 (PC), 11/3 (PS2, Xbox) |
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy ETA: 11/14 (PC), 10/1 (Xbox) |
Full Throttle: Hell on Wheels ETA: 10/14 (PC), 2/16 (PS2, Xbox) |
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| Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic ETA: 10/14 (PC), 6/17 (Xbox) |
Gladius ETA: 8/19 (PC, PS2, Xbox, GameCube) |
Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided ETA: 6/26 (PC) |
Amid the glory and glitz of the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), a mammoth publisher hid themselves away in a private meeting room. Behind these closed doors were candidates for "Game of the Show", yet LucasArts was showing its wares by appointment only. Tom Sarris, director of public relations, justified the intimate setting as allowing his staff to demonstrate their games in a more manageable, less distracting setting. Given the high ratio of staff to press (each game was personally demonstrated by a LucasArts employee to two or three people at a time), and the ability for Tom to explain this to me without screaming in my ear, I had to approve of their decision.
I took the time out of my E3 schedule to visit LucasArts not just to see another half-dozen Star Wars games, but because that was the least of their wares this year. The very first title I was escorted to was proof of their lineup's diversity.
Gladius features two avatars, Ursula and Ludo, each with a unique, 35-hour storyline that has them training in and managing a gladiatorial school, and recruiting students to defeat competing regions. Battles are turn-based, placing this title in the category of role-playing game (RPG), but physical and magical attacks feature real-time swing meters, requiring exact timing on the player's part to score critical hits. The use of magic, as well as the presence of minotaurs and giant scorpions, comprise the fictional part of this historical fiction adventure, though many real settings and figures, including 20 different arenas, are incorporated as well. Gladius is not being ported from one console to another, but is being built from the ground-up for Xbox, GameCube, and PS2. When I asked about unique features for each version, assistant producer Chris Susen grinned, then suggested that each edition will take advantage of its system's hardware capabilities. Hmm.
Star Wars Galaxies was the next title, and the one with which I spent the least time, due primarily to its lack of console representation. Galaxies was announced for PlayStation 2 and Xbox at last year's E3, but the regular delays in shipping the PC version have shifted the console editions to "wait-and-see," Sarris explained. Subtitled "An Empire Divided", Galaxies is LucasArts' first massively-multiplayer online RPG (MMORPG), in the tradition of EverQuest. That means almost every person you meet in this galaxy is controlled by another person, not the computer. You and everyone else can choose occupations and alliances for your avatars, such as a Rebel smuggler, Imperial bounty hunter, a merchant or bartender, and other residents. With several planets to explore, this galaxy will not seem so far away once you're living there.
I then moved onto another Star Wars game, this being Jedi Academy, the third in the Jedi Outcast series. Former protagonist Kyle Katarn takes the role of mentor to a new generation of Jedi in this game developed by Raven Software, who also handled the previous Outcast games. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good look at this title. It appeared to be the only game other than Galaxies that LucasArts was demonstrating on a PC, and the demonstrator continuously moved from standing aside the monitor holding a joystick, to in front of the monitor to use the keyboard. I jockeyed for a good vantage point, but it seemed he and the two other people in his audience were caught in the game's minutia, such as the variety of hilts available when creating your custom light saber. Jedi Academy appears to be another 3D action-adventure game, but what distinguishes it as an "Academy" game, I could not discern.
I jumped 4,000 years back in time for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Though none of the characters will be known this long before the films, technology hasn't actually changed much since the discovery of hyperdrive 20,000 years ago, so the galaxy's mechanics remain unchanged. This role-playing game (RPG) lets players become a member of a variety of races — human, Wookiee, android, and more — and choose to follow either the light or dark side of the Force, each with a different ending. Learning each side's various powers have different costs, including physical manifestations of following the dark side, such as a pallid skin tone. Players will return to Tatooine and also visit Dantooine and Kashyyyk, the Wookiee homeworld.
I briefly left a galaxy far, far away to observe Wrath Unleashed, an action-strategy game. It struck me as bearing a slight resemblance to another game, but the more I saw of Wrath Unleashed, the less slight the resemblance became, until I had to ask the LucasArts rep, "Have you ever played an old game called 'Archon'?" Rather than profess ignorance or extort the differences, he simply nodded and said, "Exactly." Wrath Unleashed sets four warring factions on a hexagonal map that contains eight temples; six must be held for a set number of turns to claim victory. The four clans each represent a different element — earth, fire, wind, and water — and are more powerful on terrain that matches that element. When two opposing pieces occupy the same hex, a real-time battle ensues. Damage from one encounter is carried into another, so several consecutive rounds of attacking pawns can drag down even the most powerful general or overlord. Magic can be cast both in and out of battle to affect terrain, strengthen allies, and the like. Unfortunately, Wrath Unleashed fails to include the online play featured in the 20-year-old Amiga classic it resembles.
A few steps to the right, and I was watching Luke Skywalker on the planet Hoth for the millionth time. Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, the only GameCube-exclusive title LucasArts was showing, is a flight action game that builds on its predecessors by including more vehicles and foot-based missions. Han Solo, Leia, and Chewie are all now playable characters, as is Luke, who can ride a Tauntaun and climb AT-ATs on the aforementioned ice planet. A new two-player mode includes all the levels from the GameCube game Rogue Leader, and can be challenged in a variety of formats, including cooperative, tournament, capture the flag. Rogue Leader has been further improved upon in Rebel Strike by doubling the enemy fighters it can simultaneously manage (now up to 100), displaying terrain fifteen times more detailed, and incorporating vehicles such as speeder bikes and AT-STs. Players can spend a full day completing all the missions, or a month earning all the bonus medals and unlocking various extras. Despite the addition of foot missions, such as when Luke must rescue Leia from the Death Star, the game remains firmly entrenched as a flight-based game, unlike the Nintendo 64 game Shadows of the Empire, which was primarily pedestrian with only a few vehicular levels.
I stayed airborne but changed eras for Secret Weapons Over Normandy, a game set in 1940 — 1944 Europe. It's not a flight sim, but an action game, I'm told. Regardless, I wasn't overly impressed, despite the presence of the "Flying Pancake" prototype plane, or the authenticity of sound effects, taken from the LucasFilm audio library. When targeting an enemy, the camera maintains a focus on it, not the player, which creates some cinematic but confusing angles that I've not appreciated in other games. Except for downloadable content via Xbox Live, I did not see any stand-out positive qualities, though history aficionados may find different attributes to value.
From the accurate to the absurd, I made the transition to LucasArts' next game, Armed & Dangerous, developed by Planet Moon Studios. Among this strange game's protagonists are a British robot and a Scottish demolitionist on a fantasy Earth. A&D features two modes of play. The first is a typical third-person, 3D action-adventure game, but with more than a touch of hilarity. "Rag doll animation" displays enemies being sent sky-high upon detonation, only to scream and bounce upon impact. At one point, I watched the main character whipped out an unusual weapon: "Topsy Turvy", a corkscrew which he planted into the ground. The screen then flipped 180 degrees; all on-screen enemies, with no screws of their own to hold onto, immediately fell victim to gravity's new polarity, only to come crashing back to Earth once the perspective was righted. Weird. The other mode of play charges gamers with defending a castle's walls, similar to Helms' Deep in Lord of the Rings. If 100 enemies make it over or through the wall, it's game over. With more than 1,000 grunts to overcome, these levels could take awhile.
Speaking of grunts, biker Ben may be known for his brawn, but gamers will supply the brains in Full Throttle: Hell on Wheels, a sequel to a 1995 point-and-click PC game. The sequel is 3D and fully interactive, including a variety of characters with whom Ben can interact. The conversations progress through selectable responses, and in both this, art style, and humor, the game reminded me very much of LucasArts' recent Escape from Monkey Island. But Full Throttle features more action, as when Ben gets into bar fights and the Mojo Meter comes into play, allowing him to embarrass enemies by breaking chairs over their heads, sliding them down bars, and other classic moves. I found Monkey Island to be funny, but not fun; perhaps Full Throttle will possess both qualities.
Full Throttle concluded my tour of the publisher's booth. What about what LucasArts wasn't showing? RTX wasn't on the floor, apparently to conserve room for works-in-progress; with a June release date, RTX is "imminent", Sarris explained. Also, announced for the first time at E3 was Star Wars: Republic Commando, which will be one of the company's showcase titles at E3 2004. This Xbox title depicts players as clone troopers in the Episodes I — III era, hunting new and familiar enemies from a first-person perspective.
LucasArts' 2003 lineup displayed variety, expanding beyond its Star Wars namesake while adding further depth to that familiar universe as well. But will they ever mine a Star Wars source other than Lucas' movies? The New Jedi Order series of books "are no less fertile than what we do from the films", Sarris responded. Though nothing is currently in the works, LucasArts seems at least open to the possibility of creating game that would appeal to their literary fans.
It is Star Wars for which LucasArts is best known, despite many of the franchise's titles traditionally being less than stellar in quality. Almost half of their E3 titles this year are set in that galaxy, but in general, LucasArts looks to have on their hands many hits and a few questionable titles, regardless of heritage or originality. This will be a year long remembered.
This article is copyright (c) 2003, 2007 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not to be distributed without permission.
Original publication: Mensa Computer Gaming SIG, 01-Jun-03
E3 2003 Comments Off
by Ken Gagne
In an industry about games, these companies take their business seriously.
Developers, retailers, and the press gathered in Los Angeles this week for the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), inviting each other and other industry members to bear witness to what the computer and video game industry will produce in the coming year.
Unlike a personal computer, which executes a variety of tasks including word processing and email, video game systems have traditionally been capable of only entertainment — a role which is beginning to change. Since the debut of the current generation of video game consoles — Nintendo's GameCube, Sony's PlayStation 2, and Microsoft's Xbox — technology has exerted itself in diverse and powerful ways, prompting uses formerly far outside the realm of video games.
"Look for us to find the right path for entertainment convergence," promised Kaz Hirai, president and COO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, who demonstrated the EyeToy. This $39 digital camera connects to the PlayStation 2 and doubles as a motion sensor and input device, allowing gamers to interact with games and other applications through a wave of the hand or nod of the head.
The PlayStation 2 will also continue to advance onto the Internet, as begun in the past year with multiplayer online games such as SOCOM: U.S. Navy Seals — a sequel to which is coming this fall — and EverQuest, a popular fantasy role-playing game. One of the few franchises developed in-house at Sony is Gran Turismo, which will soon manifest its firsth iteration to feature online competition. Gran Turismo 4 will allow gamers to purchase and tune 500 real cars, assemble a personal garage that will read like a history of the automobile, and race them against other enthusiasts across the country.
Microsoft's console is also diversifying its strengths. The Xbox is the only system to have an inbuilt hard disk drive, giving it the capability to store and edit vast amounts of data in conjunction with games and in other venues. This storage will be used to balance the PlayStation's EyeToy visual gimmick by adding a new aural dimension to the Xbox: a music mixer, to be released later this fall. The software will come with a microphone attachment with which virtual disc jockeys can add music and other sound effects to a multimedia presentation of lights and video.
The Xbox also has inbuilt broadband for high-speed Internet connections, which the PlayStation 2 needs a separate network adaptor to attain. Microsoft's online service, Xbox Live, will receive an update this fall, with more tournaments, voice communication, web sites, and player status notifications via cell phones and other devices. "We're not waiting for anything," said Robbie Bach, chief Xbox officer, "because at Microsoft, we don't have to."
The Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation 2 left E3 sporting new price tags of $179, with the PS2 anticipating a separate $199 bundle that includes the network adaptor necessary for Internet gaming.
While Microsoft and Sony endeavor to make their consoles the center of the digital household, Nintendo's reluctance to experiment and adapt may be playing a role in their inability to obtain a large market share in the console wars. Despite a constant stream of high-quality software, the GameCube and games such as Mario and Metroid have not sold as well as expected. Nintendo's narrow focus will produce sequels to these games and others, though it is unlikely they will find themselves with anything akin to the PlayStation's Grand Theft Auto, a mature and violent title and the best-selling game of 2002.
Failing to ride a burgeoning trend, Nintendo is also eschewing Internet functions in their games, including the latest Mario Kart, a racing game which traditionally has multiplayer competition as its strongest point. The one hardware feature Nintendo can boast is connectivity between their two systems, the GameCube and the portable Game Boy Advance. The two systems can link together to exchange data, unlock new game levels, and create other unique gameplay opportunities, as in games where characters can travel between the two systems.
Nintendo currently dominates the handheld market with the Game Boy Advance, which can play more than a thousand games released in the Game Boy's 14-year history. But competitors Nokia and Sony are aiming to grab pieces of this pie as well. Nokia, a newcomer to the electronic entertainment industry, will release the N-Gage, a $299 handheld that sports cellular capabilities. Though Nokia vows the system will serve equally as a games system and cell phone, the price and lack of popular name brands of software may prove powerful deterrents to its success.
Of greater potential is Sony's Portable PlayStation, or PSP, a disc-based system to be released in late 2004. Despite the name, the PSP will not play existing PlayStation games, but will use a new mini-disc medium developed by Sony. Only technical specifications were given for a product this early in the development phase, but Sony, who was themselves a newcomer to the business when they launched the original PlayStation in 1995, now has the industry standing to pose a significant threat to the Game Boy's status.
As J Allard, vice president of the Xbox platform, pointed out, "Real competition goes beyond one game." Nor can any one publisher provide a console with a rounded software library. Among the hundreds of third-party software publishers is Konami, a company with thirty years of history in the industry and many successful franchises with which they will support all the major consoles.
Metal Gear Solid, a series which has included best-selling games in 1998 and 2001, will continue next year. This Christmas, the Nintendo GameCube will receive The Twin Snakes, a recreation of the original Metal Gear Solid game that uses the enhanced graphics and gameplay features of Metal Gear Solid 2. Meanwhile, PlayStation 2 owners can expect Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater in 2004, which returns the series to its tropical origins with a lush, jungle setting. The PlayStation 2 will also enjoy Silent Hill 3, the latest survival-horror game which exerts disturbing and perverse imagery; and Castlevania, which will attempt to be the first successful supplantation of the long-running vampire hunting series into a 3D world.
To satisfy its demanding audience, publishers and developers will continue to innovate, walking the fine line of preserving what has worked while translating it into new media and genres. New hardware and software will continue to play important roles, but they are simply means to an end.
Douglas Lowenstein, president of the Interactive Digital Software Association, the host of E3, outlined the industry's goal: "It's not about coming up with better ways to kill people or blow up cars. It's about character development and storylines."
Ultimately, the publishers who are able to deliver a package that, be it violent or scary or challenging or funny, is most of all fun, will be those who remain in the business of making games.
This article is copyright (c) 2003, 2007 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not to be distributed without permission.
Original publication: Syndicomm Online, 28-May-03
E3 2003: Konami Comments Off
by Ken Gagne
Though it is often first parties such as Nintendo and Sony who host press conferences, when you're a powerhouse like Konami, sometimes your lineup necessitates your own event. Such was the case with Konami's conference at the Los Angeles Public Library in downtown L.A. this afternoon. The amount of food was inversely proportionate to the length of the conference, which went into detail on many games, with three in particular.
First up was Botkai: The Sun is In Your Hands, a Game Boy Advance game and the first game to be sunlight-sensitive. A sensor in the cartridge makes the game aware of the amount of light in which it is being played, so whether you are indoors or outdoors, in a shadow or the open, facing east or west will affect the game, in which you play a vampire hunter. Django, the hero, uses a solar-powered gun which needs constant recharging to face the undead hordes that are weak against both this weapon and natural light. When playing in the dark, vampires are unlikely to be caught asleep in their coffins, and windows will shed no light by which Django may recharge his weapon, though "sun banks" can store energy for nighttime play (or, if you live in Sweden, for those six months of dreary weather). Some trappings of Metal Gear made their way into Botkai, allowing Django to sneak along walls and tap them to draw undead lords from their prescribed patrols. This demonstration was a bit excessive, featuring not only a trailer but also a play-through of the entire first level. I'm unsure if this game's exclusive feature will enhance its fun factor, or prompt gamers into getting a tan, but it is definitely unique.
The second game was Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, the GameCube remake of the original MGS. This update is a collaboration between Hideo Kojima and Silicon Knights, the development team behind Eternal Darkness. Konami's Twin Snakes trailer was the same as the one shown at Nintendo's conference, only with better contrast. Little to no gameplay was shown, only cinematic sequences. The story will remain largely untouched, suggesting only the graphics and some gameplay elements will be updated to the MGS2 engine.
Of course, the third and final game for which we'd all waited outshone Twin Snakes by far. A 12-minute trailer of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater showed us a good deal of gameplay, and very little story. Since Kojima is a master of crafting twisting tales, it is unlikely more will be revealed regarding the plot or its connection with other Metal Gears, prior to the game's 2004 release. This installment returns Snake to the jungle, a setting he's not experienced since the original 8-bit Metal Gear. Though he will occasionally enter buildings, Snake's primary setting is organic, where he can climb trees, swing from branches, hide in and behind logs, and snipe soldiers. A new game engine is being developed to adapt to this new setting — an engine which will be shared by a possible, separate Metal Gear Online game. (online elements in MGS3 as as of yet undetermined) This time around, Snake must hunt and eat to survive, developing tastes for certain beasts the more he eats them — including kinds of fish and, yes, snakes. Harry Gregson-Williams, composer of the soundtrack for the movie "The Rock", returns to provide music for this title.
After a brief intermission, the conference continued with more titles. A stream of brief videos showcased Yu-Gi-Oh; Silent Hill 3; MacFarlane's Evil Prophecy (PS2) which pits players against classic monsters like Dracula and Frankenstein's monster; Cy Girls, based on the action figures; Firefighter F.D. 18 (PS2); Bloody Roar Extreme (Xbox) and Bloody Roar 4 (PS2); Air Force Delta Strike (PS2); K-1 World Grand Prix; Silent Scope Complete (Xbox), a light gun-compatible bundle of the entire trilogy; Gradius V (PS2), which boasts 3D graphics, 2D gameplay, and a new control scheme; and Dance Dance Revolution Ultra Mix (Xbox), which will be Live-compatible, and DDR Max 2 (PS2), which has songs' accompanying music videos.
A deeper examination of the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game was then unveiled. This 3D brawler will be released for all systems in Fall 2003 with one- and two-player modes, both cooperative and versus. It closely resembles the arcade games of yesteryear in which players can choose to be Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, or Raphael, each with unique strengths and abilities. The voice actors from the new cartoon will be present in the game's cast, while the art style of the cartoon will be preserved and accentuated with Batman-style visual sound effects ("Bam! Pow!"). The control scheme will consist simply of small and large attack and jump buttons, but will allow the turtles to damage enemies with 20- and 30-hit combos. I love the license, but 3D games are all starting to look alike. Will Konami use more than the license to distinguish this title from other beat-em-ups?
Koji Igarashi, producer of Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, then presented us with footage of the PlayStation 2's first entry in Konami's classic series. This 3D title is set in the 11th century, in the time of the Crusades, and stars Baron Leon Belmont, a knight of the church and the first to take up arms against the dread Count Dracula. This game appears to be story-driven but with much freedom for exploration. Leon will have sub-weapons which can be powered up in a manner similar to Harmony of Dissonance, but will not gain experience points as in Symphony of the Night. When I asked Igarashi-san what will distinguish Lament from Castlevania 64, he gave the right answer: "Everything."
A celebrity guest was then introduced to unveil a surprise title from Konami. Jennifer Love Hewitt took the stage to sing along with Karaoke Revolution, a PS2 game being released in November. Using the SOCOM headset, Karaoke Revolution detects a player's pitch and timing to give scores, and offers a four-player alternating mode for sing-offs. Thirty-five licensed songs from top artists are included, though hard drive support may make available more. Several of my compatriots could not imagine why anyone would want to play this game, which surprised me; I have a singing background and imagine this title will be a hit among many of my friends. Time will tell. Jennifer then went on to perform singles from her latest album, "Bare Naked". (Does this mean I can tell her, "I know what you did last E3"?)
An impressive lineup, to be sure, but how did Konami close without a thorough dissection of Silent Hill 3? This unnatural series is extremely good at what it does, and of all the titles Konami has at this year's show, will be coming out sooner than most others, which makes me more eager for it than some far-off 2004 game.
Konami's portfolio this year speaks well of innovation. Castlevania 3D, Metal Gear Solid 3, and Karaoke Revolution will all be trying new formats for established franchises. These experiments will soon bear fruit which I predict will be a bumper crop.
This article is copyright (c) 2003, 2007 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not to be distributed without permission.
Original publication: Gamebits, 13-May-03
E3 2003: Nintendo Comments Off
by Ken Gagne
Anything can go at E3. After the surprises of this morning's Sony conference, I was ready for anything when Nintendo got their 15 minutes. Though their lineup consisted of the many quality franchises that had the audience, myself included, bursting into wild applause, there was little that was unexpected.
George Harrison, senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications, offered some optimistic numbers, indicating growing sales for the GameCube platform and a strong future for the Game Boy, which has an existing library of 1,000 games and will include 20 games that feature GameCube connectivity by the end of the year. In video form, we were briefly exposed to GameCube games Mario Kart Double Dash; Pikmin 2; Pokemon Colosseum; Billy Hatcher & the Giant Egg; Wario World; and Star Fox; and Game Boy Advance games Pokemon Pinball Ruby & Sapphire; Wario Ware Inc.; Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3; and Donkey Kong Country. Sega's Billy Hatcher was the only third-party game shown, and Wario Ware received a surprising amount of applause, though many of its 200 mini-games apparently borrow from Nintendo's strong heritage, making it familiar to old-school gamers.
Despite Harrison's upbeat mood, Saturo Iwata, president of Nintendo Co. Ltd. since last May, was a bit more pessimistic — or perhaps simply more realistic. He acknowledged many problems the GameCube has faced: lower-than-expected sales of not only the console, but leading titles such as Super Mario Sunshine and Metroid Prime; an unfortunate reputation with some gamers; and worry from some retailers and licensees. Though Nintendo has increased internal development in Kyoto and opened their first office in Tokyo, I did not feel the rest of the presentation addressed the issues which Iwata had chosen to admit. Regardless, videos of some impressive third-party titles then rolled.
Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, developed by Factor 5 and published by LucasArts, is another Star Wars flying game, though now includes third-person, foot-based missions, such as Luke Skywalker infiltrating an Imperial base to save Princess Leia. On the moon of Endor, he will ride a speeder bike and perhaps pilot an AT-ST, and when we return to Hoth, he can ride a tauntaun and toss thermal detonators into the bellies of AT-ATs. Missions from Rogue Leader will be revisited in two-player, split-screen mode.
Another important publisher, Capcom, surfaced with video of Resident Evil 4, which appears to take a turn to the occult. The biological zombies are this time accompanied by less corporeal spirits, one which menaces Leon Kennedy with a scythe. Shinji Makami suggests, "Don't pee your pants."
Will Wright, inventor of The Sims, was present to announce that the best-selling PC game of all time will be adapted to the GameCube and Game Boy and will feature connectivity, though neither version was shown in any formats.
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, originally a GBA title, will now become a four-player GameCube game. As four Links compete for rupees, they can disappear from the television and reappear on a player's Game Boy when they move off-screen, such as into a cave or house. The GBA Four Swords cartridge is not needed.
Another connectivity-enabled title, this one developed by Shigeru Miyamoto himself but licensed by Namco, will be a GameCube Pac-Man game in which players alternate being Pac-Man and evading the other three gamers, who control the ghosts. Both this title and Four Swords look like fun multiplayer games, but appear rather simplistic in nature and require much hardware to get the most fun. If priced appropriately, they may be successes.
For details on the Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes video that was shown, see the Gamebits report on the Konami conference.
Other titles were shown: Soul Calibur II; Viewtiful Joe; P.N. 03; The Hobbit; 1080 Avalanche (no longer called White Storm); and F-Zero GX, all for GameCube. Most surprising was a very brief video of an immaterial alien nearly impaling a well-known bounty hunter and thrashing her to the ground. Metroid Prime 2 is official!
Mentioned in the press releases but nowhere else were other mysterious titles: Metroid Mission Zero for Game Boy Advance and The Legend of Zelda: Tetra's Trackers, presumably for GameCube. Also documented was Mario & Luigi, a comic adventure for the two brothers on GBA. Why omit these big-name titles from the conference?
It's the unexpected it seems in which Nintendo must engage. Harrison had assured us that "Donkey Kong will remain a lovable ape; Link will never lose hope; and Mario will never start shooting hookers." But if these games aren't selling, why is Nintendo making sequels to them? What must change? I am happy with the quality and substance of Nintendo's games, but it's more than just Vice City that Sony holds over them. Can Nintendo remain a major player in the hardware market?
This article is copyright (c) 2003, 2007 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not to be distributed without permission.
Original publication: Gamebits, 13-May-03
E3 2003: Microsoft Comments Off
by Ken Gagne
The Grand Olympic Stadium was the site of this year's Microsoft press conference, the first which I'd had the opportunity to attend. Unlike last year, when attendees received free Xbox controllers, this year's public was treated to only stadium-style concessions: cheese steak subs, vegetable paninas, beer and soda, and popcorn and peanuts. Laden with sufficient snacks to occupy the one-hour wait before the show began, my friends (Joe Talladira, Will White, Ian Johnston, and Chris Bonilla) and I crossed the threshold manned by green-clad, impossibly thin "booth babes" and assumed central seats.
The conference was hosted by Robbie Bach, chief Xbox officer; Ed Fries, VP of Xbox game publishing; and J Allard, VP of the Xbox platform. In sharp contrast to Sony's traditional, numbers-oriented approach, Microsoft's team did not offer sales or membership numbers for its products and services, instead displaying game after game that we can expect to see this year.
Heading the pack were two Xbox Live games, making their debut this evening: Project Gotham Racing 2, and a new LucasArts title, Republic Commando. This latter game presented two Imperial storm troopers following a pair of insect-like creatures deep into a ruins, only to stumble upon a veritable nest which quickly swarmed over the humans. Perhaps this game will be a first-person shooter. LucasArts is the one company with whom I have a booth appointment this year (since they are by invitation only), so Gamebits will have more details on this title later in the week.
Two other games which have previously received little coverage were also presented tonight. True Fantasy Live Online looks comparable to Phantasy Star Online, though less action-oriented. Breakdown,. from Namco, is a first-person shooter that includes hand-to-hand combat. The game appears to borrow elements (in presentation, if not gameplay) from sources such as Metal Gear Solid, The Matrix, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Resident Evil, and ONE, with a story featuring mad scientists making the impossible real.
These games are four of 100 that Microsoft hopes to release with Xbox Live compatibility by May 2004.
Though Microsoft Games Studio has released many first-party titles, chances are you are not as familiar with them as other well-known brands. To add strength to its in-house development teams, Microsoft last year purchased Rare from Nintendo. The company known for Goldeneye 007, Perfect Dark, and Banjo-Kazooie tonight premiered Grabbed by the Ghoulies, a fun and friendly romp through a magical, haunted mansion, in the vein of Harry Potter.
Another rare game, Conker: Live and Uncut (as in Xbox Live), was also demoed in a stream of brief clips that most notably included Star Wars: Jedi Academy, Soul Calibur 2, Pitfall, Legacy of Kain: Defiance, Sonic Heroes, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, The Simpsons: Hit & Run, Ghost Recon: Island Thunder, Crash Nitro Kart, Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup, StarCraft Ghost, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (a 3D brawler with plenty of cartoon art), James Bond: Everything or Nothing, Counter-Strike, Ninja Gaiden (finally!), Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds, XIII (a cel-shaded first-person shooter with inspiration from comic books), Dino Crisis 3, Sega GT Online, Kameo: Elements of Power (Rare's cancelled GameCube game), and Fable (formerly Project Ego).
Of course, Xbox being a console from a company that likes to have its hands in everything, there are other developments planned for the system. Xbox Music Maker will release this year with a microphone peripheral, bringing to the system music and video editing capabilities, karaoke, and more. Details on this product were scant, and led to a like amount of applause.
Xbox Live, the broadband-only online portion of the system, will receive an upgrade later this year, formerly called Live 2.0 but officially known as Live Now. Exactly what new features this upgrade will entail were not disclosed. Live Web offers users at web-capable machines a means of checking Live events and standings without accessing their Xbox, while Live Alerts can inform gamers of such affairs and changes on their PC, PocketPC, cell phone, or wristwatch. Expect many events to be occurring on this network, especially after the introduction of XSN Sports, an online brand for competition and fantasy sports.
Fortunately, Microsoft wasn't about to end the evening without a live (not Live), in-game demo of their most highly-anticipated shooter, Halo 2. Marking the return of Master Chief, Halo 2 opened to a CG sequence that put our protagonist in the middle of a warzone, whereupon he sniped some Covenant creeps. A soldier handed Chief a second weapon, making for some double-fisted action that brought cheers from the crowd (though why something Goldeneye did six years ago is now innovative mystifies me). We also briefly saw Chief in third-person view as a manned a turret, then again as he operated a minigun from the rear of a jeep. A Covenant fiend leapt atop the vehicle and overturned it, putting the Chief back in first-person view and on foot. When an alien hovercraft attempted to ram him, I was surprised that the hero instead grabbed the hood of the flying vehicle and punched out the pilot, claiming the controls for himself! This sequence then became automated, leading to another CG sequence which ended the demo of a game we shan't see in full until February 2004 at the earliest.
This evening's conference was a fine kickoff to the 2003 Electronic Entertainment Expo. With both Sony and Nintendo not having anything to share until their press conferences tomorrow, Microsoft left us with nothing but the Xbox to think about for the next 12 hours. The Seattle giant has announced neither a price cut on their system, nor a streamlined version of their current model, both of which have been rumored for months and the former which Nintendo and Sony have indicated they would not initiate, but pundits expected them to follow should Microsoft move first. Perhaps this year will truly focus on software, not hardware — a field in which Microsoft has so far put on a fine show. What Microsoft was lacking in surprises, it made up for with a steady stream of what gamers want: hot titles from well-known publishers in a variety of genres.
This article is copyright (c) 2003, 2007 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not to be distributed without permission.
Original publication: Gamebits, 12-May-03