By Yulia
Aug 5, 2004
When I arrived at the Los Angeles Convention Center for the Electronic Entertainment Expo, I was shocked by the sheer number of gamers swarming about the place. Gamers are by nature a rather antisocial bunch, as they spend most of their time bonding with their consoles in the dark. After getting over my initial awe at a massive building packed full of other gamers (at least three quarters male), I attempted to accustom myself to all of the flashing lights and blaring sounds of the games that had drawn us all out during daylight hours. Though my friends and I spent a large part of our time hanging out in the Classic Gaming Expo area playing Atari, I did manage to get a look at some games I’d been anticipating beforehand, as well as quite a few I’d never heard of, but am now looking forward to. Before I go into all the new games I saw, I must gush about the Classic Gaming Expo, after all, shouldn’t we get to know our roots first? Sadly, my first console was a Super Nintendo and I barely got to experience any of the earlier systems, so I was overjoyed when I had the chance to play any of the older systems I wanted. Besides having exhibits of old games and consoles in cases, there were all sorts of obsolete console systems set out for our gaming pleasure. We spent a good bit of our time hanging out on a couch in this section, playing four player Warlords on an Atari. The whole couch area was surrounded by old arcade machines that were also available for entertainment. To top it off, a very unique band called 8 Bit Weapon was playing their music nearby. They remixed video game music and added in live drums and occasionally some original GameBoy sounds. Almost all of their equipment was made out of vintage gaming system parts, plus the drummer was a very cute girl; I was impressed. There will be another Classic Gaming Expo at the San Jose Convention Center, August 21 and 22.
Of all the games that I saw at E3, the one I was looking forward to most was The Sims 2. Ever since I read about the idea for the first game in a magazine, I have been in love with The Sims, so I was thrilled to find a playable demo of The Sims 2 for PC. Maxis’ brilliant sequel (not expansion pack!) provides much of what avid players of the original, like me, had been yearning for. First off, your sims age and die, which has anyone who played the first game screaming, “Hurray! The annoying children finally grow up!” According to Maxis there are six stages a sim goes through: infant, toddler, child, teen, adult and elder. And if you were thinking that grandma and grandpa sim couldn’t possibly fit into a house with all of their family members, you’ll be glad to know that homes can be up to three stories tall, plus have a rooftop floor. The sims that live one house will no longer have to be genetically related, as well. Maxis states that a house can be “anything from a sorority house to a commune or a retirement home to a bachelor pad.” Another relief to the players of the first game will be that your sims are actually given weekends and days off from work. Say goodbye to cramming in all the social action you need into the time between work and sleep. I could ramble on about how thrilled I was with this game, but like at E3 where I had to pull myself away from the demo, I must stop or I might cry in frustration since I can’t have it yet. The game is due out in early September, and yes, I have pre-ordered it.
I also encountered several other sim games that got me rather giddy. Also in the Maxis area was an altered take on The Sims called The Urbz for PlayStation 2, GameCube and and Xbox. I didn’t get to play the demo of this game, but from what I gleaned from peeking over shoulders it seems to be an alternative, urban incarnation of The Sims. In this version, your sim is working hard to make his or her way up the social ladder. You are finally able to control your sim throughout the workday, which will add a whole new element. Also, you can choose to live in one of nine different districts which will influence the way the world views your sim, as will the clothing he wears. This game is also scheduled for release in the fall.
Playboy: the Mansion, which is coming out for all consoles, appealed to my gamer senses as a business and life sim as well as to my dirty mind. As Hugh Heffner you get to arrange your mansion, recruit models and work on your social status to make the best magazine possible. I’ve read that you are even able to create your own magazine each month with pictures you’ve taken of your models. I wish I’d gotten to actually play this game, because I have no idea when I’ll be able to get it to play at home.
Atlus, the makers of several of my favorite games of all time, Disgaea, La Pucelle Tactics and Persona 2, is coming out with an interesting new RPG, Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne for the PlayStation 2. As the interestingly tattooed main character traverses post-apocalyptic Tokyo, you will be able to persuade enemy demons to join your party and use “Magatama” a sort of parasite to modify your characters and give them powers. This game looks very promising – what screenshots I saw were quite impressive and the style of game seems different from your average RPG. There is also apparently a cameo – or perhaps more – made by Devil May Cry’s Dante. This game will be released sometime this fall, according to Atlus. Having already been impressed by many of their games, I’d strongly recommend picking up this one.
I was very amused when I saw a booth advertising a game that appeared to be based on dancing. I am not sure if I would have kept on looking if the guy manning the booth hadn’t immediately given me a UV reactive plastic bag as an offering. Interesting swag will make me stay at least a little bit longer, and in this case I was glad I had. An independent Korean company, BinaryCraft, is coming out with a two player game called XTango Shuffling Roses for the PlayStation 2. The graphics were lovely; there is a selection of at least five female and four male dancers, all very detailed, as well as ball room and street settings to perform in. There is also some mention of hidden characters and area. Different costumes can be selected for the characters, as well, allowing the player to personalize the characters somewhat. From what I saw in the demo, the motion of the characters is fluid and graceful. The game allows player one to input a dance command which must be repeated by player two to create their own choreography. Movements for the characters can be input through both the controller and dance pad, for Dance Dance Revolution fans. At the moment I do not know the release date for this game, but it’s worth watching for.
For the fans of MMORPG’s, Dark and Light looks promising. Developer NP Cube claims to have created the largest game world yet and to have removed the inconvenience of zoning. While these innovations, as well as the truly impressive graphics, are impressive on their own, the part of this game that really intrigued me was the option of involving your character not only in fighting but also crafting, exploration and politics. I’m not sure how a character would go about gaining political power, but the prospect appeals to me. This game might just have the potential of taking MMORPG’s out of the repetitive “must kill more monsters” mindset. It is set to be released this fall, though the subscription fee has yet to be announced.
There were two games I saw at E3 that I thought would just be good plain fun. The first is Detonator by Midas Interactive Entertainment, a game for PlayStation 2 in which the player gets to demolish buildings. I know you’re already getting excited at the thought of all sorts of explosions, but it’s not all that simple. Dynamite charges must be placed strategically or else the building won’t topple. If the charges are positioned correctly, then you can watch the building fall in real time, with the action determined by where the charges were placed. The second game that drew me in was Flight of Fancy by Gaijin Entertainment, a Russian developer. This game is based on new motion detection technology and allows the player to be a dragon flying around the world accomplishing various tasks. Though it appeared to be a little hard on the arms – the player looks similar to a little kid playing airplane – the idea of flying around as a dragon is just as irresistible as making buildings cave in, at least to me. Though unfortunately, Flight of Fancy does not have a potential release date listed, Detonator is out now.
Of all of the new gaming accessories showcased at E3, the Eye Toy got the most media popularity. That’s why I’m not going to bother praising it. Instead I must let the health conscious gamer know about the GameBike by Cateye Fitness. Most gamers, myself sometimes included, think of exercise as boring. Though I’ve known a few people who could get all of their needed exercise through Dance Dance Revolution, they are pretty rare. Even the most uncoordinated person, like me, can use the GameBike which is compatible with both current PlayStation systems as well as “the next generation of Song game consoles.” It looks just like an exercise bike, but has a controller mounted on the handlebars. Racing my friends, inside with air conditioning, doesn’t seem bad at all.
There is no way I could possibly cover all that I saw at E3; besides, I think there are parts of those three days that I can’t even remember. Parts are just a blurry haze of blinking lights and jostling crowds. I got to play the demo of StarOcean 3 and I enjoyed the battle system, which reminded me of the last StarOcean game, but I couldn’t get too much of a grasp of the plot. I also got a peek at Final Fantasy XII, which I am looking forward to as it is being designed by Yasumi Matsuno, designer of Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Advance. It will be set in Ivalice, the world of the Tactics games, as well. The game did not look to be as flamboyantly colorful as Final Fantasy X and X-2, but that is not necessarily a bad thing at all. Despite quite a bit of looking around, all I could find of Xenosaga Episode II was a few pretty posters featuring KOS-MOS and some more allusions to Nietzsche (Jenseits von Gut und Bose translates to Beyond Good and Evil, which was the title of one of his principle works). Although I’ve always been overly fond of German philosophers, I would have liked to see a bit of the actual game. Despite the vague advertising for some games, plus a few that looked silly (Spell Mage by Buruxo), generic (Cenega’s The Roots) or just plain bad (Cenega’s Shade: Wrath of Angels), it seems as if this year will be a good one for gamers. Enough promising games are coming out that most of the bad ones should be avoidable. I know that The Sims 2 will be taking up any of the time that I might have wasted on lower quality games.
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