It's A Wrap! A Look Back At E3 2007

E3 2007, the much anticipated, never duplicated, and largely restructured event from years' past is now in the books, leaving many attendees looking back as they evaluate the proverbial good, bad, and ugly. For me at least, there was a lot to like about the show, which moved from the chaotic stomping grounds of Los Angeles to the more serene Santa Monica, this year taking up residence in a handful of hotels rather than the LA Convention Center. In many ways this proved to be a positive move for the event, as developers and marketing reps were able to spread their wings and speak to much smaller groups of people for longer periods of time, making Q&A sessions more viable and altogether resulting in a much more relaxing experience.

That's the good part.

The flip side to this is that while on the map these hotels, six in all, look to the casual observer to be well within walking distance, in practice many are anything but, meaning that scheduling suffered, and many such as myself who had planned appointments based on previous years' experience found that there simply was not enough time to account for the walk. And while shuttles and taxi cabs presented another option for journalists, many times the wait and traffic, especially in the evenings, presented another hurdle altogether.

So, as said, there were things to like about this year, but as I overheard while waiting in line for the Activision press conference, one person said it best by referring to the event as "an experiment," and it will be interesting to see how feedback such as this makes its way back to the ESA as preparation is put in motion for E3 2008.

My suggestion for next year is that the whole should show follow the lead set by Microsoft, which rented out the entire Le Merigot beachfront hotel to show off its wares, meaning that in one location you got to see and talk to everyone Microsoft and anything the company had up its sleeves. We have a year to plan for this next year, so if hotels are the venue of choice, let's pick a couple side by side, throw money at them for a week, and provide journalists with one or two stops that are truly within walking distance. Because I don't know about you, but a 10 minute walk in the California sun is not my idea of an ideal way to prepare for a meeting with Peter Molyneux.

Plus, I wear deodorant, but this week proved that maintaining good hygiene isn't a common practice among video game journalists, making some appointments reek of sweat and what I can only describe as day old cheese.

So while holding my nose and sprinting from appointment to appointment, there was a great deal to see and talk about. Some of these games re-energized even my jaded outlook on gaming, while others just kicked me in the junk. With that said, let's hold hands as we take a look back at some of the stand out games and events that made up the E3 2007 Media & Business Summit. This is our story, and we're sticking to it.

Best Non-Playable Game

Mass Effect (Bioware)

Bioware's upcoming Xbox 360 exclusive Mass Effect blew me away at E3 2006. The combination of a branching Hollywood style script and some of the best voice acting ever in a video game helped lift the title up as my favorite from last year's show, an award that we took a lot of grief over at the time given that the game wasn't even playable.



Now a year later, the sci fi action RPG was once again unplayable by attending media, and once more I was floored. Bioware officials took the opportunity to demonstrate even more of the game's flair for the dramatic by showing just how dynamic Mass Effect's story really is, and how your decisions will dramatically shape the story of Commander Shepherd and his companions. Provided everything comes together nicely and offers a complete and satisfying experience from beginning to end, a problem that admittedly plagued Bioware's Knights of the Old Republic series,Mass Effect could be one of those genuinely rare single player titles that manages to remain in the console long after the credits roll.

This is further helped by the sheer amount of non-critical tasks to be taken on as well. After speaking with project director Casey Hudson on the game E3, it now looks like you will be able to leave the main quest at any time to explore the galaxy and see other planets. He pulled the camera out to the solar system and galaxy levels, showing the vast number of worlds you can visit. Some you can just use the harvest materials, others you can visit in your rover, and still others you can traverse on foot.

Really, the game just looks big, like Oblivion big, offering a canvas that you can just let yourself get lost in if you should want. I worry a bit that you can leave this otherwise time sensitive narrative to jack off in the far reaches of space, only to return whenever you feel like it, but I can overlook that for Bioware giving me…well, the ability to jack off in the far reaches of space.

Honorable Mention: Fracture (LucasArts)

Best Playable Game

Rock Band (Electronic Arts)

Harmonix has earned a loyal fan base with its Guitar Hero franchise, and while the company has abandoned the series for greener pastures offered by Electronic Arts and MTV, all indicators are that its legions of by proxy rockers are set to follow the company to the ends of the earth. Or at least the stage.

Without question, EA took advantage of opportunities at this E3, showcasing its efforts across both the casual and hardcore markets, and arguably no other game at the event bridged these two demographics better than Rock Band. The only oversight to the game's presence at E3 was its relative scarcity compared to other products, namely the competing Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, now being helmed by Tony Hawk virtuoso Neversoft.

While Activision's rhythm action sequel was extremely prolific, getting your hands on Rock Band took much more effort, with the best opportunity coming thanks to a rather exclusive party Wednesday night. Still, ask any of those who managed some face time with the game, and you'll hear that all of that effort proved worth it in the end. Rock Band is the ultimate party game, marrying the hard rocking licks made famous by Guitar Hero, with the kinetic pleasure of drumming and the inner front man in all of us pining for a chance at the mic.

Of course, the price remains the all present X factor in the success or failure of Rock Band at retail, with the complete experience expected to cost players hundreds of dollars, a fact that Activision and Neversoft are no doubt banking on souring some consumers' hearts and wallets at the cash register. That presumption notwithstanding, however, Rock Band remains the most fun, most rewarding title shown during E3, and the only one that I lined up for multiple times to play again and again.

Honorable Mention: Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo)

Best Surprise Announcement

Wii Zapper (Nintendo)

The Wii Zapper was first shown during E3 2006 behind glass, but at that time it was more for show, hardly a functional piece of hardware. Since that time, the peripheral has been relegated to little more than a ‘what if' scenario, that is until Nintendo's 2007 E3 press conference. It was during this presentation that the company chose to unveil its official, significantly redesigned Wii Zapper.

Essentially just a plastic housing for the Wii remote and nunchuck attachment, the Wii Zapper is designed hold the console's controllers, making the device ideal for a possible revival of light gun games with Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and Ghost Squad leading the charge. Even so, after spending some time with the device at E3, I'm a bit concerned at how it leaves my arms cramping after extended use, but to be fair I'm really out of shape, so this may be less a complaint against the Wii Zapper and rather just another sign that I need to revisit the gym.

Plus, you simply cannot beat the price of $19.99, though considering that the Wii Zapper is just a plastic molding, asking much more for it might seem greedy. Now, bring on Hogan's Alley Wii.

Honorable Mention: Metallica included in Rock Band (Electronic Arts)


Worst Use Of The Surprise Announcement

Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles (Capcom)

From Operation Wolf and Crossbow, to more contemporary examples like Time Crisis and Ninja Assault, light gun games are the video game equivalent of a summer popcorn flick, offering more action than substance, more brawn than brains. Often the pace is break neck, as players move along a predefined path from area to area, gunning down bad guys en masse, pausing only to reload or dive into their pockets for more quarters. It's a proven formula. So you'll understand how excited I was when Capcom gave us some face time with the Wii exclusive Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, an on-rails shooter designed to take advantage of the Wii's newly announced Zapper peripheral. However, after spending several rounds facing off against zombies, spiders, and menacing crows, excitement quickly melted away, leaving only disappointment and frustration.



Coming off of the phenomenal Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition, which proved beyond any doubt the Wii's potential as a serious game machine with gameplay that surpassed an already superb original, expectations were high for Umbrella Chronicles. Maybe unattainably so, but regardless I simply did not have as much fun with the game as I'd hoped.

As said, games of this sort usually depend on a brisk, adrenalized pace in order to keep things interesting, something not unheard of, but far less common in traditional Resident Evil titles. Here Capcom has tried to shoehorn the series' survival horror atmosphere into a genre where it doesn't necessarily fit, resulting in an experience that feels less like House of the Dead and more like a laborious shooting exercise from a carnival midway.

Of course, the shambling hordes of zombies may be a blessing in disguise, as aiming with the Wii Zapper proved imprecise to a measure that would be largely inadequate in any other, more conventional on-rails shooter. Again coming off of the tight precision of Resident Evil 4, Umbrella Chronicles' loosey goosey aiming is a bitter pill to swallow. For now Capcom's latest trek through the streets of Raccoon City remains a disappointment, through we continue to hold out hope that things can be tightened up in the march up to the game's release.

Most Dramatic Change

Burnout Paradise (Electronic Arts)

Burnout 3: Takedown still represents the absolute zenith in refined arcade style racing, with subsequent titles in this and other series having spent the last three years trying to recapture the magic of that single, near-perfect racing experience.

Electronic Arts and developer Criterion have revisited the series a handful of times since the third game's release, each time striking some measure of gold, but with each effort also moving slightly more astray of the Burnout's master stroke. The next and latest game in the series, Burnout Paradise, widens this gap, taking a page out of Atari and Eden's Test Drive: Unlimited by offering players a persistent, vast cityscape in which players can race both on and offline seamlessly, where the only race tracks are the city streets themselves.

We sat down with the game during E3, and found the experience to be a good deal different from what we had come to expect from Burnout. While crashes still play a role in the game, what we experienced seemed to indicate that the more visceral impact that we had come to love about the series has taken a back seat to simply racing to the finish line. To be fair, EA officials did tell us that more information regarding different game modes would be announced in the lead up to the game's November release, but as it stands we saw no indicators of the crash modes or even the aftertouch takedowns we've come to expect and love.

Also immediately evident is that the cars themselves are much more durable than ever before, marking a departure from previous games that flirted with disaster with races unthinkable speeds, where a wrong turn could and invariably would end in a rain of sparks and twisted metal. While the emphasis on crashing was removed somewhat with the addition of traffic checking in Burnout Revenge, Paradise toughens up all of the game's vehicles to a point, like I said, where the emphasis seems placed more on racing than wrapping your car around a light pole. Not to say crashes are not present (seeing your car crumple like an accordion after hitting a concrete pylon looks magnificent on current gen hardware), but they're just less common.

As mentioned, the game's shift to online marks another significant change to the series, with players able to join and create multiplayer races and competitions among their friends at the literal press of a button. Of course, time will tell if this all turns out as lag free as it came across on the show floor, but at E3 it was almost eerily easy to join multiplayer matches, and then find other players on the city map for an ad hoc match. And should you find yourself on the business end of a crash, Paradise will send a picture of your anguished face to the friend who did you in, provided your Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 console is equipped with a camera.

Altogether, Burnout Paradise looks to be another fun, yet wildly different take on EA and Criterion's storied racing franchise. Online seems to be a significant component of this game, however, so it remains to be seen if these modes will be able to carry the experience, or if those players unwilling or unable to go online will be able to enjoy the title at all. For now, this one is counted among those titles that we are withholding judgment on until it's in our hands.

Honorable Mention: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Activision)

Best Swag

Trauma Center: New Blood syringe pen (Atlus)

While in previous years it was not uncommon to bring home an entire suitcase of random freebies both cool and outright odd from E3, this year's more subdued flavor meant also that there was very little going in the way of conference swag. On the one hand, it was nice not feeling the need to cart around an extra bag of plastic trinkets, t-shirts, and keychains, but like so much about this year's E3, without it something just felt off. Something was missing.

Thankfully a handful of companies answered the call, bringing their own baskets of goodies to contribute to attending media's insatiable need for all things random, and few of these topped what Atlus brought to the party to celebrate its upcoming Wii release, Trauma Center: New Blood. In a stroke of genius, Atlus was giving out clear pens made to look like medical syringes, complete with the obligatory red "blood" sloshing around inside.

As an aside, the new Anchor Bay Re-Animator DVD release also includes a syringe pen as well. Is there some company out there making these things that is making a killing on nerd culture? God I hope so!

Honorable Mention: Those cushions from the Microsoft press briefing (Microsoft)

Best Party

Killzone 2 trailer premiere (Sony)

E3 is usually home to a string of parties that overlap and stretch well into the early morning hours, and so it's appropriate that for our last look back at the event that was E3 2007, we recall our time spent rubbing elbows with fellow journalists as we all socialize awkwardly the way only gaming nerds can.

These parties force online online journalists in particular to weigh the benefits of drinking and socializing with being yelled at over their cell phones for being scooped by the more sober competition. E3 2007 was no different, though the number and ferocity of the parties were a bit smaller in scale. Some genuinely stood out, such as Sony's uber exclusive shindig at Sushi Roku in Santa Monica on opening night, where a small cadre of journalists and Sony execs gathered to eat a never-ending stream of fresh sushi and drinks (just one more spicy tuna roll please!)

It was great to share space with other journalists, while taking time to share a joke or two with the likes of Phil Harrison. And after filling our bellies, party goers were taken in groups to the back room to watch a near 30 minute plat through of the entire first level of Killzone 2 (not just the snippet that was played at the Sony press conference). While the game didn't knock my proverbial socks off (my shoes were on particularly tight that night), the whole event still left a positive impression. Much more so than the rather expensive cab ride back to my hotel…what would be the first of many that week.

Incidentally, EA and Harmonix WOULD have won this nod hands down with their even more exclusive Rock Band party, but the fact that they held the party in West Hollywood, with the rest of the E3 event taking place in Santa Monica, this made the late night shindig a chore to get to for even those of us who managed to secure an invite. For shame.

And with that... we, like the annual show, wrap. It was fun, more or less. Now, as said before, we wait for the fall out…and you know it's coming. Hell, it may already be here. But suffice it to say, there is a lot of good stuff in the pipes, regardless of your platform of choice. I've said it before, but this is a really terrific time to be a gamer.

Game on!

Jul 18, 2007 - 11:40 am | 3 comments
Jason Dobson