No, I'm not at E3. But I have been trolling the gaming websites for news from the show. Here's some of the standout stuff I've seen so far...
One of the early stories was news of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. After watching a few seconds of Snake in the jungle eating a snake, I figured this one was a fake, but it's not. True, true, completely true. And on top of that, creator Hideo Kojima is up to his old tricks of obtuse dialogue:
Kojima: "It is the third Metal Gear, and in that sense, it is very important. Not that there will be a lot of threes in the game. You see, Metal Gear Solid is the third game in the series. There is has been Metal Gear games on the MSX and a solid is something that is three-dimensional, and it's solid. This is the third Metal Gear Solid. So, in a sense, this is like Metal Gear nine, with the three threes. (Laughter)"
This is the year that Nintendo will really push the GameCube / Game Boy Advance connectivity, and there has been a ton of games that show off bizarre and wonderful uses for the two. Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles will allow four players into the same action-RPG game, but will use the GBA screens to give the players different info... so it's up to you if you want to share your secrets with your friends. Legend of Zelda: Four Swords (yes, a GameCube version of the GBA game) puts four Links on the TV, but when your Link enters a house, the house interior is only shown on your GBA screen.
But the showstopper on this front is Nintendo's implementation of Namco's video game icon Pac-Man. One player plays 1980 Pac-Man on the GBA, while three other connected players are the ghosts! the ghost players play on the Cube with a limited viewpoint, forcing cooperation to track and eat Pac-Man. Just about everyone has been wowed by this idea, but we're all curious how this can make it into a regular-priced game. Perhaps it will be some sort of cheap disk ($15?) or simply a bonus feature inside a bigger game. Maybe even a compilation of new-look, high-concept versions of classic games?
Sony finally pulled the pin on the anti-Nintendo grenade they've been holding: announcing their own handheld device, the PlayStation Portable. It's still really far away (winter 2004), so it's too early to tell what effect, if any, if will have on the GBA. It will have a bigger screen - 4.5 inches compared to GBA's 2.5 - but it will need its own media format... meaning you won't be playing your PS1 games on it. Like I said, Nintendo isn't scared at this point... and it's always been widely assumed that the reason GameCube disks are so small is so a future Game Boy can play them...
Resident Evil Outbreak, the online multiplayer RE, is finally starting to show some legs. We've known for a while now that the game will rely heavily on teamwork and survival... and that you won't know for sure who among your partners is computer-controlled and who is a real player... and that eventually you could turn into a zombie yourself and impede the remaining humans... and now we're assured of zombies that chase you more convincingly...
In the past, the meandering buffoons would stop in their tracks if you closed a door on them or left your current area. That's not the case anymore. Regardless of where you go and how you get there, the undead keep coming after you -- busting down doors, breaking windows and crawling through, or finding scary new ways to enter the room so they can claw your eyes out is all part of the fun.
Last year's Spider-Man: The Movie was a fine game, but the sequel appears to have looked to Grand Theft Auto for inspiration...
The game's structure will be wide open where you're free to go anywhere at anytime, but there will be specific goals you'll need to meet in order to advance the story. The streets of Manhattan are alive and teeming with all kinds of petty crime. You'll get to really experience the "friendly neighborhood" elements of Spider-Man this time around as you help women get their bags back from purse snatchers and retrieve lost helium balloons for crying little boys. Often times, Spidey will simply see an exclamation point over a citizen on the street as he's passing by and you'll have the option to go investigate and opt to accept the minitask or whatever it is.
That's EXACTLY what I've been hoping for in a super-hero title. Non-linear gameplay. Although the idea that Spider-Man is just "passing by" people on the street is a little weird. This style is probably best suited to a character like Superman; somebody who does more public appearances.
The Pokemon front is somewhat sad. Nintendo has opted to essentially release "upgrades" of older games instead of genuinely creating a new pokexperience. And even more annoyingly, the older games don't even include the one I would like to see, Pokemon Snap. Pokemon Colosseum is the new version of Pokemon Stadium. Yes, it looks great and will likely have some great additions (you can already see they've added trainers to the battle arena, one of my Perfect Pokemon requests) but it's still shaping up as the same old non-combative combat. Blaziken does a kicking attack, and the kick just animates without ever touching the victim. Guh. The demo movie I saw did not have much sound, so there's still hope for actual pokemon voice effects and not that obnoxious crystal radio screeching.
Pokemon Channel is the N64's Hey You Pikachu without the flaky microphone controller. That's probably a good idea to eliminate the mic (although that game did cause my young cousin Colin to yell into it "Come here Pikachu or I will punish you!" which we found hilarious) but is the gameplay going to go beyond HYP's utterly simple point-and-clickiness? Pokemon Box is a Cube/GBA linkup title that allows you to play Pokemon Ruby or Sapphire on the tv and store up to 1500 of your GBA catches on a Cube memory card. Let me tell you, I'm about as big a Pokefan as you can get, and there is no way I'm catching 1500 goddamn pokemon. And come to think of it, the N64 Stadium games let you play your GB Pokemon games on tv as well, so either that feature won't be included in Colloseum or Pokemon Box is a complete waste. The final Pokemon title is a Ruby/Sapphire version of Pokemon Pinball, which was a great Game Boy Color game. It will likely be a fine GBA game now too... but it better have more than two stupid boards, which is all the early screenshots seem to reveal.
Same old, same old. It's a frustrating time for Pokemon trainers.
Aside from that bit o' bad news, there are plenty of other great franchise titles coming. Mario Kart: Double Dash. Fatal Frame: Crimson Butterfly. Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes (the GameCube-exclusive remake of the first MGS.) Mario & Luigi, a sort of GBA Paper Mario. Mario Party 5, which is probably going to have to go a long way to keep people interested. Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. Metroid Prime 2. Starfox.
Overall, I see more interesting stuff on the GameCube side than the PS2 side, but that's probably because Nintendo is throwing everything out there since their biggest premiere titles are already out. Nintendo still has no online plans, which is hurting them more in perception than in reality. There's a good deal of swagger in Sony's PSP announcement and in their online situation; EA has announced their intention to release online sports titles only on PS2. And Sony likes to remind everyone that the PS2 is still the exclusive home for the next GTA game and the Kingdom Hearts sequel, both of which just might show up for E3 2004.
