E3 06: Final Thoughts

Saying that E3 2006 was big is quite the understatement. With the Xbox 360 hitting its stride, the PlayStation 3 hitting the floor in playable form, and the Nintendo Wii having 27 (more if you count Virtual Console) playable games on the floor made for a big year on the console front. The DS, however, came out with one of the most solid lineups in E3 history this year; a fact that was often buried by next-generation console hype. Here, some DS Advanced editors that attended E3 2006 will weigh in on the highs and lows of E3 from the perspective of a journalist whose main focus was to cover Nintendo’s touchy feely handheld.

Note: This article is not to be confused with AMN’s official E3 2006 awards.

Jeff Rivera – DS Advanced Editor

E3 2006 was a great time to be covering the Nintendo DS. I thought that last year was big for the handheld, but this year easily surpassed it in quality and quantity of titles on the floor. The DS lineup at E3 had every genre covered in both video and playable form and usually each genre sported several titles.

My personal favorites for the DS included: Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, Yoshi’s Island 2, Final Fantasy III, Mario Hoops 3-on-3, Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2, Contact, Lunar Knights, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Big Brain Academy, Starfox, Kirby, and Elite Beat Agents. Each one of these games are solid day-one purchases for me with a handful of others being strong candidates as well. Never have I seen a single system exhibit such a high amount of must-have software at E3. It was easy for me to claim that the Nintendo DS had the strongest showing at E3.

Konami’s newest Castlevania looked (and played) incredible at E3 2006

Aside from the DS lineup, there was plenty to get excited about on all fronts at E3 this year. The Xbox 360 has some huge titles coming soon and a few of them looked great on the floor. Gears of War wasn’t playable, but it sure looked great. I was impressed with Mass Effect, BioShock, Lost Planet, and Rainbow Six: Vegas. The lineup going into the holiday season is really strong for the 360 and the future looks bright with Halo 3 somewhere on the distant horizon.

The PSP had a pretty good showing at E3, but it just didn’t grab me like some of the other systems did. I wouldn’t say that I was disappointed, but I only managed to get truly excited over a couple of demos. The Ultimate Ghosts ‘n Goblins demo was easily my favorite that the PSP had to offer and it’s probably my most anticipated release on the PSP.

The PlayStation 2 proved it wasn’t dead with Final Fantasy XII, Okami, God of War 2, and Guitar Hero 2 all on the horizon. My personal favorite for the PlayStation 2 is Capcom’s Okami; the game is fine art fused with rockin’ gameplay.

Sony’s PlayStation 3 had a few highs and lows on the floor with Warhawk being my favorite demo. Many of the demos seemed to fall really short of the trailers we had seen previously while some titles shown last year in video form were absent from this year’s exhibition (see: Killzone). Overall the software on the PS3 just didn’t look like it was completely ready to be shown, but hopefully with the final development kits (shipping in June) things will be noticeably improved by November’s launch.

The Xbox and GameCube were pretty much worthless as far as stuff on the floor goes, but Super Paper Mario looks to be absolutely stunning as well as The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

The most in demand item at E3 was Nintendo’s Wii, and for good reason. The line to get into Nintendo’s Wii demo area was insanely long, but it seemed to satisfy the majority of those that got a chance to play the demos, especially Super Mario Galaxy and Wii Sports. The Wii launch lineup looks like it’s going to be big and well-rounded. If most of the titles that were demoed at E3 make launch, I’m looking to pick up around 6 or 7 titles on day one, with my previous high being 4. The Wii also produced my personal favorite demo at E3, Super Mario Galaxy.

All in all it was a wonderful E3. I had a wonderful time with the demos, news bits, and working with the great guys here at AMN. I’d rather not get into anything that I disliked about E3 since the good outweighed anything bad by such a large margin (like getting Miyamoto’s autograph on my DS and meeting Satoru Iwata). Here’s looking forward to a great year of game releases and console launches!

How do you make a cool system cooler? Get Shigeru Miyamoto to sign it.
(NOT FOR SALE!)

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Stephen Smith – DS Advanced Editor

The Nintendo DS debuted at E3 2004, and at this year’s E3 it has had its strongest showing ever. Previously Japan-only releases like Quenden, and Dragon Quest: Slime Monster made their US debut, and will now be known as Elite Beat Agents, and Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime in the US. Plus, Nintendo’s booth was also packed with such high caliber DS offerings as Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, Final Fantasy III, Starfox DS, a new Kirby game, and Mario Hoops 3-on-3 just to name a few.

Rocket Slime is looking slick.

Sadly, E3 2006 had a few low points for me. First, and foremost, in my mind was the lack of Game Boy Advance games in Nintendo’s booth. Nintendo’s press release only highlighted one game, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team. There were some notable third party releases like Metal Slug, but for the most part the Game Boy Advance had a very thin showing at this year’s E3. I have to face the facts that the Game Boy Advance is slowly going the way of the dodo bird.

Filling out the major handhelds, the Sony PSP had a decent showing this year. Namco Bandai led the charge with new portable renditions of Ace Combat and Tekken. Q entertainment brought out their sequel to Lumines this year, which is sure to be another colossal hit for them. But by far my favorite game at the show was the new Ratchet and Clank for the PSP. Finally my favorite gaming duo makes an appearance on the PSP.

Sony’s other machine, the PS2, had a nice stream of games for it, but it was overshadowed by the behemoth known as the PlayStation 3. What can I say about the PlayStation 3 that hasn’t been said before? Nothing really, but I hope that Sony realizes they are going to have to put forth a better showing than E3 2006 if they expect people to shell out the money for this upcoming console. I might even try day trading in anticipation of the PlayStation 3 release.

At last year’s E3, I was really disappointed with Microsoft and their new console. It just didn’t seem like they were prepared to launch the 360, and the software seemed like it wasn’t up to par either, but man, did they change my mind this year! Microsoft had one of their best showings ever at E3 2006. They showcased new games like Gears of War, Forza 2, and Fable 2 in an effect to let their software lineup do the talking for them. I think Microsoft has found their audience, and they know what they want.

Stephen was kind enough to lend his car to the Forza booth folks

Did I forget something? Ah yes, the Nintendo Wii! All I can say is if you are turning your nose up at this console because it uses a new interface, then you are missing out. The games look amazing from The Legend of Zelda, to Super Mario Galaxy, all of which use the new control scheme dynamic. Let us not forget about the virtual console either. All and all I can’t see why anyone who truly loves gaming wouldn’t want to park this little system beside their Xbox 360, or PlayStation 3.

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Weston Bass – DS Advanced Contributor

Believe it or not, E3 is not fun. The highlight of the past 6 years was when Tylenol decided to start giving out free massages, earplugs and of course, Tylenol. E3 is crowded, loud, and it is all but impossible to try and cover every game readers are interested in. With this in mind, a great E3 is measured by whether or not I’m ready to pack up and fly home after Wednesday. This year however, a very small part of me was sad to see it end. This sadness lasted for as long as it took me to remember how much my feet, back, and head hurt. I’d say six, maybe seven seconds tops.

I’m sure you’ve all read about how Nintendo stole the show. This is an understatement. I think you could have run through Microsoft’s booth swinging your arms Bart Simpson style and not actually hit anyone. Gears of War was pretty much the only draw there. Too Human was Too Early. Shadowrun… I don’t think I’m ready to talk about it yet. The memory is too fresh, too painful.

Sony finally had real PS3 games to show, and while the MGS4 trailer garnered the most attention, Warhawk and Heavenly Sword were always drawing crowds. Warhawk was surprisingly fun. The motion controls felt very natural and while I couldn’t keep my thumbs from wandering toward the analog sticks, I’m sure after more flight time it will become second nature. Interestingly enough I just found out that Incog was a little disappointed with their E3 showing, but not in the way you would think. It turns out there was a multiplayer demo on the same disc that was rarely accessed by the Sony reps running the demos. This multiplayer portion was apparently more robust than the single player level on display and even allowed for Incog employees back in their offices in Salt Lake City to dog fight with E3 attendees in 16 player matches. For shame, Sony. For shame. Heavenly Sword is a classic example of style over substance. While the action on screen was beautifully choreographed brutality, the player really has little control over the action. I think that while initially impressive, the actual game would become stale rather quickly. With the exception of Warhawk’s controls scheme, Sony’s PS3 lineup was offering more of the same, prettied up. This leads me too…

An aerial view of Sony’s booth at E3 2006

Nintendo. Never afraid to veer from predictability and the status quo, Nintendo’s E3 was all about disruption. From the little handheld-that-could absolutely crushing the sexy, but ultimately shallow PSP lineup, to Wii generating positive buzz not seen since I can recall. First there is the Nintendo DS. Stop and think for a minute about these games:

Final Fantasy III
Children of Mana
Yoshi’s Island 2
Star Fox DS
Mario Hoops 3-on-3
Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2
Diddy Kong Racing
Contact
Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
New Super Mario Brothers
Kirby DS
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles
Dragon Quest: Rocket Slime
Lunar Knights

And many, many more. My wallet has already curled up in a ball in the corner, quietly weeping. How does Nintendo expect me to play these games and still find time for all of the Wii goodness in store?

Wii was the star of the show. Due to the massive DS presence, I wasn’t able to get around to checking out the Wii until Friday morning. Jeff and I were more than willing to do the honorable thing and wait our turn in line. That is, we were, until we found the end of the line, having circled almost entirely around the west hall. Jeff is the cute one, so he batted his eyes and we were fortunate enough to sneak in. (Tami, if you’re reading this, we owe you dinner next year!)

Nintendo’s Wii booth was the hot place to be at E3

Having denied ourselves the pleasures of Wii in order to satisfy the demanding readers of DSA, we were ready to spend the entire day (if necessary) trying out all Wii had to offer. (Note to self: great plan, but try eating something before next time and bring water. And maybe wear a diaper.) I won’t bore you with hands on impressions that you can read over at the Wii channel. Suffice it to say that Wii has made me a believer. The fact that the Wii-mote senses not only motion but velocity means swinging for the fences in Wii Baseball involves actually swinging for the fences. It is almost as fun as the real thing, though I imagine it’s only a matter of time before the first Wii lawsuit. “I wath playing thith gabe with by friend and he broke by nothe.” The star of the show was undoubtedly Super Mario Galaxy. A game you don’t even have to play to know it is distilled fun in videogame form. Watch anyone playing it and if they aren’t smiling, they have no soul. It has been almost 5 years since we’ve seen the portly plumber in action and the triumphant return of Mario in Super Mario Galaxy is definitely worth the wait.

Can the excitement generated by Nintendo this E3 translate into real world mind and market share? I sincerely hope so. Will the hordes of unwashed nerd masses who braved the hours in line at E3 also line up for Wii when it launches this fall? I sure hope not, because I’ve had enough smelly nerds to last me until next E3. As for the rest of you, I’ll see you in line. Bring your DS.