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Friday, July 6, 2007

Tale of the Tape: The Battle for E3

With each console hitting their stride this year, who will walk away with honors this E3, and who will simply walk away?

Many of you out there will remember around this time last year when the fate of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (or E3, for short) was called into question. The show became more about spectacle than substance, leading some of the bigger publishers to pull out in favor of smaller, more intimate affairs where each of their games would see more hands on time with the press. This is understandable, given the amount of money that these publishers would put into their booths, as well as the enormous crowds that the event would draw in annually.

Being a veteran of the show and having covered it on behalf of GameZone for several years, E3 did grow a little big for its britches, and a scaling back was definitely necessary. However, there will always be a part of me that misses the big show as it once was, from the free swag that you’d be almost guaranteed to get to the great games on display everywhere you turn.

However, the past is just that, and the show must go on. This year’s E3 will be a completely different beast than it has ever been. Instead of the LA Convention Center, which has been the show’s home for many years, it will now be a much more intimate, invite-only affair spanning a variety of hotel meeting rooms and locations across Santa Monica, California. Fortunately, we still plan on bringing you lots of coverage on some of the biggest games on the roster for all systems.

When approaching an annual event like E3, there are usually two distinct types of years; a hardware year or a software year. Last year’s event showcased the playable PS3 and Wii units before they were readily available, making it a hardware year. However, the console wars are now in full swing and all three systems are on the market, making this year a software year, and a pretty serious one at that. After the initial growing pains that every console goes through in the beginning (weak launch titles, supply shortages, angry fanboys, etc.), each system has now had at least a year to prep their lineups while using the systems’ full capacities (or the console’s launch deadline hanging over their heads). Considering that, we are now beginning to finally get into this hardware generation and see the potential of the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii come to fruition. While handhelds like the PSP and NDS seem fairly stable and are each performing quite well in the market, the real battle this E3 will be between the consoles as each of them will hit this year’s show with some definite strong points, and some weaknesses.

The Xbox 360 has been showcasing some great software over the past year, and this E3 will be a great continuation of the system’s phenomenal line-up. Titles like Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey from coveted developer Mist Walker will give the system a much-needed boost in the Japanese RPG genre, while it may be seen whether or not Fable 2 might actually deliver on the promises the original game made many years back. Halo 3 made a fine showing with solid multiplayer elements with the beta that closed last month, but does the title have what it takes to bring the gameplay and the single-player element truly into the next generation?

Nintendo’s little holiday system that could, the Wii, certainly had legs last Christmas. The console sold like hotcakes, and to this day is still extremely tough to find on a store shelf. However, things have slowed down quite a bit since launch, with the last (and arguably only) truly high-profile game to release on the console was Super Paper Mario a few months back. There are some big things on the horizon for the system, like Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Mario Galaxy from Nintendo themselves. We can only hope that there will be some playable builds on hand of those titles, as details have been pretty slim for each of them, aside from the occasional teaser trailers.

And then there’s the PS3. Sony’s system has been the unfortunate whipping boy of this console generation, taking a ton of flack for a number of reasons, from price to losing exclusives like a bloody nose. This could very well be a “make or break” E3 for the system, as Sony needs to prove that the initial difficulties that developers have had with the system are only short-lived. One of the system’s most controversial titles, Killzone 2, not only needs to make an appearance, but needs to show that the debut teaser video shown at E3 a couple years ago wasn’t all smoke and mirrors. Luckily, the system has yet a few more cards to play at this year’s show, and may have a good showing that will instill confidence in gamers who picked up a console at launch.

Last but certainly not least is the PC. With the launch of Vista and Microsoft’s new Games for Windows initiative, the PC is experiencing a period of synergy between console and PC gamers. We’ve seen this with Games for Windows Live, which allows PC and Xbox 360 gamers to play online against each other in the same game. Unfortunately, less then a handful of games on the market allow you to do this at the moment. Hopefully, we will see a strong showing of support for the platform, with new announcements of titles taking advantage of a great opportunity.

Of course, while E3 holds many uncertainties for us writers, it still means good things for you. Be prepared for an onslaught of news, previews, and info on your favorite upcoming games, and what promises to be an exciting event.

 

Be sure to check out GameZone's E3 2007 Coverage