E3 – Day 1 First Impressions
E3 is a lot like walking into a casino – there are lots of lights, lots of sounds, lots of flash and lots of under-dressed girls vying for your attention. If E3 took the conservative road over the last few years, it is certainly back this year.
As an E3 neophyte, I was a bit surprised about the focus of the show – purely about games that will be coming out over the next year or two. For the most part, these games are pretty ho-hum in terms of innovation – I don’t know how many para-military first person shooters I saw. They all have their quirks, and they are all enjoyable on some level, but they certainly don’t get the blood pumping like the days when it was all so new. (Not until I got a chance to play so many did I realize what a terrible FPS player I am on the console. Fortunately, the XBox 360 seems more forgiving than the PS3 for me, but ouch – did I get pwned.)
There were a few surprising games to me, though. My favorite was Eidos’ Mini Ninjas. Yes, this is the company that created such hits Blood Omen and Hitman, but in Mini Ninja’s, quoting the Eidos rep at the show: “There is no death.” You just hit enemies with your sweet ninja moves and they disappear in a cloud of smoke; poof – they are gone. What was really enjoyable, however, was the simplicity of the game play, the way in which it didn’t take itself too seriously and the numerous things you could do (from creeping along in the grass to conjuring the spirits of animals around you).
Tomorrow, I’ll plan on taking a closer look at some of the non-game announcements and demonstrations. I’ll also take a special look at some of the companies offering various monetization approaches.
