The bottom line is that E for All expo (also known now as E4) has a great potential but it’s not there yet. Don’t get me wrong – it’s fun, loads of fun (like entering a huge arcade room…), but it still needs some work.Here’s some history (Booth babes are down the page so don’t go away…): The legendary E3 expo which was the main gaming show for a long time and attracted tens of thousands of people from all around the world, was cancelled last year. The official reports indicated that publishers simply couldn't bear all the needed preparations which were unprofitable for them.
This led to the breakdown of E3 to two shows: E3 Media and Business Summit, a much smaller version of show, destined to the industry professionals, and E for All destined to consumers. E3 was held last July and to participate you had to have an invitation from one of the ESA members. There were only a few thousands attendees and reports are it wasn’t that good…
The main problem of E for All, which was held this October, is that exhibitors participation was thin, even too thin. Only one of the major console manufacturers exhibited (Nintendo; Microsoft and Sony weren’t there). On the publishers side, EA, the leading publisher did have a large exhibition area, and so did other leading publishers as THQ, Namco and more, but many important publishers such as Blizzard were missing.
Anyway, it still was a rather enjoyable show and again, in the tradition of the Nextys awards I started back in 3GSM 2007, Here are the winners of the show (BTW – They don’t actually win anything other than very limited fame and glory…):
Best Game: Guitar Hero III / Rock Band
THE game of the show was definitely Guitar Hero III, published by Activision. This game is so much fun, and was placed in many stations across the hall, that everybody took a try. I guess the brilliance of the game all boils down to its controller – the guitar. Timing games with notes/moves that reach to the bottom of the screen and then you have to press the right key, were here a long time ago. Guitar Hero took the same concept but made it way much cooler by adding an actual (fake) guitar that makes its player look and feel much cooler… The visuals on the screen and the audio also make things look more glamorous and that’s the trick…And the best part is that it also makes sense business wise: piracy is much less attractive if the whole idea is not just the software but also the controller/hardware. You might as well just buy the whole set and not settle for nothing less.
Among the activities in the show, there was a stage in which Guitar Hero masters played like crazy and after they finished, went wild on the stage and got applauds from the crowd…
Hero’s twin brother Rock Band, which is published by EA and developed by Harmonix (Which was acquired by MTV about a year ago) is equally as cool, only this time you can play with a whole band, including guitarists, drummer and even a lead singer… My ears still hurt as I remember the peculiar sounds that went out from the amateur singers’ throats… But then again, it’s all for fun… Nobody expects you to be an American Idol (Or even an American…)Best Booth Babes: Entropia
One of the long time traditions of E3 were the amazing half-dressed (or half-naked depending on your point of view) booth babes (There's actually a site dedicated to E3 booth babes called e3girls). In recent years it was so wild that E3 management had to constitute a “booth babe police” to ensure nobody is crossing the line… Anyway, it seems that this tradition is one of the other things that got lost in the way… I wouldn’t call most of the presenters booth babes, although they were cute. One company did keep the tradition and that’s Entropia with their lovely booth babes. Oh, and they also have a rather neat MMORPG called Entropia Universe that you may want to check out....Best “out there” phenomenon: Fatal1ty
Do you know Lance Armstrong, the cycling legend? How about Michael Schumacher, the formula 1 all times champion? Well, meet another champion: Jonathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel… (And no the 1 instead of an 'i' is not a typo, that's gamers lingo). Fatal1ty is a professional gamer, and like Armstrong/Schumacher he also has a lot of branded merchandise, not so much sports gear, but gaming gear, especially hardware… This guy also tours around the world to participate in gaming competitions… In the show he demonstrated his skills by playing Quake 4 head-to-head with some poor attendees which were eliminated about 20 times in 3 minutes… He’s good... (But C’mon, branded merchandise?... This is way too weird for gaming...)Greatest blast from the past: Nintendo’s gun
After the success if the Wii controller, Nintendo is trying to innovate further that field, and while doing that they actually brought back a piece of history that reminds me of the good old days: The gun. It was very popular in consoles in the 80s, and is now making a swift comeback. Some people (like myself) wonder why it was gone in the first place… Anyway here in the picture you can see people wearing the best fashion from the time the first Nintendo console came out, using their long gone controller…Most Anticipated Game: Metal Gear Solid 4
From the line at Konami's Metal Gear Solid 4 booth (which looked like a detention facility…) it was clear which game is most anticipated by the real gamers. MGS4 is a game that gamers dream about in their sleep… The trailers that came out recently caused some of them to temporarily lose their sanity… and in today’s gaming arena it is really difficult to do so…Best show in town: Video Games Live
On the evening of the second day of the show, the “Video Games Live” concert performed in LA’s theatre hall (as a separate event). For those of you who don’t know it’s basically a concert (with an orchestra, choir etc.), but the masterpieces were not written by Mozart or Beethoven, but rather they are soundtracks from games… Martin Leung, also known as the "Video Game Pianist" from the show demonstrated his abilities inside E4, and it was simply amazing. This guy can move his fingers so fast you can barely track them…
Most popular trend: Immersive technologies
One of the things that could be noticed at the show is the number of immersive technologies which expressed mainly in gear for gamers (in other words hardware). I guess that after perfecting video and audio, there's a lot of promise in the next gamers accessory. Among the interesting gadgets were:
Novint's "Falcon" 3D Joystick
Novint’s Falcon 3D joystick is truly an immersive experience. It allows you to “feel” the textures of objects, block you from advancing if you’re against a wall, provide force feedback if something happens, and even simulate situations like holding a ball on a string (the way the weight of the ball pulls the hand etc.). Currently it is priced at $239.
This vest from TN Games has 8 vibrating pockets, 4 in the front and 4 in the back. It can simulate gunshots, and can be important to gamers as it immediately lets you know where you’ve been hit. It’s a nice experience and really gets you in the game, but I guess it can also be annoying after a while… Anyway I really enjoyed it, and you can get one for $169 (which is rather low compared to the next two products...)Euro Touch Interactive's Z-dome
Ever wanted a personal iMax theater? Here’s your chance… The Z-dome which is a 3D sphere (which uses back projection) gives the illusion of 3D by surrounding its viewer. You just stand in the middle and enjoy… The picture doesn’t really capture the effect it has, but still I took one.. Oh, and the price is just $19K, so you might as well get two just for the fun of it...HP Voodoo's D-Box chair
Now this is how a racing game should be played! Forget about keyboards or joysticks or even those small steering wheels that plug in to consoles… Voodoo, HP's high performance gaming brand now offers us this $15K chair with pneumatic pumps for tilts/vibration, real pedals and speakers in the back, and it seems to be the real thing! I took 3 laps normally which was very enjoyable and had the feeling as close to a car as I have ever seen in simulators, and then on the fourth I mostly tried to crash into things… and it was just awesome! (Forgive me for articulating myself as if I was a Ninja Turtle, but I guess all this gaming frenzy has this effect...That about sums it up. I just hope next year's E4 will live up to become the old-new E3. Guess I'm gonna have to check it out personally again...
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