E-3 THE SHOW ATLANTA (June 19 - 21) The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E-3) opened with a media briefing by Interactive Digital Software Association's (IDSA) President Douglas Lowenstein. Mr. Lowenstein said this year's E-3 covered an area about the size of 35 football fields, had 486 exhibitors, 1,550 new titles on display, and an expected attendance of over 37,000. He added that this was the largest content show ever mounted anywhere in the world. Highlights from Mr. Lowenstein's briefing: - Video gamers over the age of 18 has increased to 42 percent. - Action, puzzle, and RPG video games are the most popular. - The computer and video game market forecast by years end 1997 will reach $5.3 billion. - Sixty percent of all entertainment software is run on video game consoles and 40 percent is run on PCs. - IDSA projects the sales of console software will increase within a year by 43 percent and PC software by 18 percent. - E-3 1998 will be held in Atlanta again. The keynote address for E-3 was given by Tom Brokaw of NBC News. Mr. Brokaw's remarks were filled with references to himself, Bill Gates, MSNBC, and some humorous anecdotes. The only reference he made to gaming was in a single reference of "gaming business". The doors to the show opened at 10:00 a.m. Normal conversations were drowned by the loud music and sound of games in progress. Flashing lights, dazzling displays and thousands of TV sets and monitors (in all sizes) provided a visual overload. The pace for the three day show was fast and furious. It was an impossible task to sample all the games available for play. Compounding the situation were lengthy meetings with representatives of the various companies. Most of the exhibits were located in the impressive World Congress Center. Additional exhibits were located in the Georgia Dome, rooms in the World Congress Center (outside the exhibition floor) and at various other sites. Transportation was provided to haul the media to sites outside the main exhibition area. PSX GAMES PREVIEWED ACCOLADE: - Hardball 6 - Baseball simulation. (September 1997) - Jack Nicklaus '98 - Golfing with one of the sport's legend. (Christmas 1997) - Test Drive 4 - Ten exciting cars like the Viper, Corvette, Shelby Cobra and Camaro ZL-1 COPO 9560 race at some exotic international locations. (November 1997) ACTIVISION: - Apocalypse - Action game with Bruce Willis as your virtual partner. (Fall 1997) - Grand Tour Racing '98 - Race vehicles include: rally, sports cars, all-terrain, dune buggies, and Indy cars. International courses. (Fall 1997) - Pitfall 3D: Beyond the Jungle - Pitfall Harry is back for more 3D adventures. (Early 1998) BULLFROG: - Dungeon Keeper - You play the bad guy in a fully operational dungeon. Monsters, goblins and fire-breathing dragons dwell in this evil environment. (Fall 1997) - Populous: The Third Coming - A beautifully rendered and much improved sequel to Populous ll. (Winter 1997) EIDOS: - Chill - Snowboarding down 50 tracks on 5 mountains. Perform over a dozen tricks including grabs, spins, Fakies, bonks, and rail slides. - Deathtrap Dungeon - Fast and furious, hack and slash 3D/combat game set in a dungeon environment. - Fighting Force - Fighting game with more than 40 moves. The locale for this 3D fighter includes office buildings and secret islands. - Lunatik - Top-down 3D shoot 'em up set in a futuristic earth. - Ninja - Arcade fighting action with new weapons, magic spells, and special moves. - Tomb Raider 2 - Lara Croft is back with new moves, enemies, weapons, and puzzles. KALISTO: - Nightmare Creatures - A 3D action/combat game played in real time. Fight and kill an endless stream of terrifying monsters. Over 24 special moves and an assortment of weapons. - The Fifth Element - An action packed game based on the movie of the same name. You play the young woman named Leelo who is an alien. Leelo is a Lara Croft type character with red hair and a very bad attitude. There's no puzzles to solve here just plenty of action. KONAMI: - Broken Helix - Action RPG featuring the voice of actor Bruce Campbell. This science fiction game has 4 different stories involving aliens and Area 51. There is an extensive arsenal of destructive weapons. (Now) - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - The game follows Alucard, the half-human/half-vampire as he strives to end the vampire bloodline by exploring the vault-like castle. - Enforcers - The CD includes the classic coin-op titles: Lethal Enforcers, Lethal Enforcers ll - Gunfighters. Game supports Konami's lightgun the "Justifier". (July 1997) - Metal Gear - Classic spy action/adventure with covert activities, tons of weapons and specialized communication gear. (First Quarter 1998) - Midnight Run - An arcade racing game featuring sports cars on the freeways of Tokyo. - MLBPA Bottom Of The 9th '97 - This in-depth baseball game contains everything hardball fans could possibly expect. Possibly one of the best baseball games ever. - Nagano Winter Olympics '98 - Winter games includes: bobsled, luge, downhill skiing, slalom, speed skating, ski jumping and snowboarding. - NBA In The Zone '98 - This second sequel to NBA In The Zone includes enhanced graphics, more dunk shots, no limits on trading and intuitive crowd noise. - Poy Poy - A wacky game where up to 4 players throw objects at each other in different settings. - Suikoden ll - This RPG sequel includes 3 types of battles: person to person, party versus party, and epic army battles. Interact and manage over 100 unique and different characters. - Vandal Hearts - A combat-intensive RPG set in an empire torn with political strife of good versus evil. NAMCO: - Ace Combat 2 - A jet fighting sequel with more missions, smarter enemies, debriefings, maps and ground strikes. (August 1997) - Ghost Zone - Pac-Man swims in 3D water and explores 14 worlds. Tons of tricks, traps, puzzles and mazes. (November 1997) - Time Crisis - A shooting game with multiple endings. Multiple modes that include Story, Arcade and Time Attack. (September 1997) - Treasure Of The Deep - Pilot a submarine, shoot people and fish as you hunt for treasure. Includes an assortment of gadgets like night goggles and homing torpedoes. Eight different subs. (September 1997) - Xevious 2D/G+ - A 3D shoot-a-thon against an assortment of giant alien bosses. Features horizontal or vertical screen modes. (Now) PLAYMATES INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT: - Battle Arena Toshinden 3 - Another sequel with 10 newly designed arenas and over 30 deadly characters. New moves, strategies and multi-hit attack combinations. Two player mode. (Now) - Covert W.A.R.S. - A fast paced mission based para-military action/adventure. Variable global terrain, mission specialist and high tech weapons. (Second Quarter 1998) - MDK - An action game set in 60 arenas using a first and third person perspective. Fight on foot or in futuristic vehicles. (September 1997) - VMX Racing - Motocross and supercross racing. Four racing teams, 2 classes, 8 different tracks and 2 player action. Two throttle speeds allow an assortment of stunts, Total race replay via 32 different camera angles. (July 1997) SONY: - Armored Core - An arcade-action game where well-armed mercenaries fight for profit. Link cable with 2 players on a split screen. (October 1997) - Blasto - A humorous character based shooter. Walk, run, jump, swim, pistol whip and ride a big blue alien chicken. (October 1997) - Bushido Blade - A realistic as opposed to an arcade sword fighting game. Large battle areas. (October 1997) - Cardinal Syn - A 3D fighter using axes, swords, maces, hand-to-hand, and magical spells. (January 1998) - CART World Series - Realistic racing with the greats like: Rahall, Andretti, Unser and Penske. The tracks include Long Beach, Laguna, and Detroit. (November 1997) - Cool Boarders 2 - This snowboarding sequel includes more boards, tracks and challenges. (November 1997) - Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back - This 3D action sequel picks up where the original left off. (November 1997) - Exodus - An action-shooter with a fully interactive 360 degree battle zone that allows freedom of movement. (First Quarter 1998) - Final Fantasy VII - Another sequel to the popular best seller. This 3 CD epic RPG adventure set in a vast world where magic and technology collide. (September 1997) - Intelligent Qube - A challenging puzzle game that will test you intelligence. Supports 2 players. (October 1997) - Jet Moto 2 - This sequel features beefed up bikes, 10 tracks, improved graphics and better handling and ride physics. (November 1997) - MLB '98 - The gameplay has been speeded up. Strategy elements and numerous features to simulate the real game. (August 1997) - NBA ShootOut '98 - A complete basketball game with features like: spin moves, behind your back passes, post up moves and tons of dunks. (December 1997) - NCAA GameBreaker '98 - Real college football players and numerous formations including the Wishbone. (November 1997) - NFL Gameday '98 - Lots of new gameplay elements such as new stadiums, sideline crews, coaches, and camera men on the players field. (September 1997) - NHL FaceOff '98 - Play the entire season starting with Practice, Exhibition and into the Stanley Cup playoffs. (October 1997) - Parappa the Rapper - A music game where the player moves through an animated world going against the best of the master rappers. (November 1997) - Porsche Challenge - Race in accurately modeled Porsches. (August 1997) - Spawn: The Eternal - An action-fighting game based on the comic book character. There are 3 different time periods and a variety of puzzles. (December 1997) - Steel Reign - A 3D tank combat simulation. A variety of terrain, weapons and enemies. There's even a Missile Cam that allows the player to ride and guide a missile to its target. WORKING DESIGNS: - Raystorm - A traditional arcade style shooter in a neat ship. Includes 2 player simultaneous action. (Now) OTHER STUFF: - M2 - Matsushita was conspicuously absent from the show. Inquiries made to software companies rumored to be developing games for this new system were unenthusiastic about the prospects of the system seeing the light of day in the next year. - Justifier Light Gun by Konami - Compatible with all Playstation gun games. Boasts a smooth trigger action and feel of an arcade game gun. - The Glove by Reality Quest - A comfortable fitting controller glove that performs all the functions of a standard controller, driving controller or single-stick joystick. Patented wrist action for movement plus a customization feature. Combination moves in fighting games are executed in a flash. Suggested retail price: $89.95 (US). THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THEN THERE'S SONY -an opinion- THE GOOD: - The E-3 show was definitely good. How good depends on who you talk to in the media. Those who were wined and dined, and carried out the most loot tend to rate the show high. But overall the show got a favorable rating from all who attended. - The BEST exhibit goes to SONY. It was the biggest and flashiest of all the exhibits. There was more to see than time allowed. - The outstanding PR professionals at Nintendo, Namco, Activision, Bullfrog and a number of other exhibits. - Free food for the media in the Hospitality Room. THE BAD: - The number of kids under 10 at the show. - The booths that were "invitation only" like Virgin Interactive, Interplay and a few others. "Come on folks, it's a show and everyone should be allowed in to see your stuff!" - The Backstage And Booth Exhibition Staff (B.A.B.E.S). The National Organization of Women would have had a field day at E-3. - The light traffic in the Georgia Dome where some fine exhibits were located. - Attendees at the show who set up a web site just to get a media pass. Then hogged the popular games for hours on end. AND THEN THERE'S SONY: Beneath the glitz and glitter of the outstanding Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) exhibit is a mysterious dark side. When "Sony" was brought up in conversations with software developers, exhibitors, or other media the response was usually less than favorable. Rumors, questions and general talk concerning Sony were discussed in whispered conversations and in the context of, "Don't quote me on this but........." The appearance was, no one wanted to incur the wrath of this entertainment giant. There were a lot of questions circulating on the show floor such as: - What's with all the different colored (gray, black, blue and red) Playstations? - What Playstation magazine has an exclusive deal with Sony and did they agree to feature Sony products on 6 of the next 12 issues, no matter how good or bad the product is? - Why must Sony's legal dept. review and approve your questions before the company will give you an answer? - Why doesn't Sony cooperate with on-line publications? - Is it SCEA's policy to dictate what's best for gamers or do they actually listen to input from gamers? When SCEA's PR people were approached for answers the response was rude and the questions unanswered. One has to wonder if this arrogance is the policy of Mr. Ken Kutaragi, SCEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, or of some misguided overzealous functionaries who do not understand the concept of "public relations"? SCEA should follow the example of Nintendo's excellent PR professionals who readily answer any question no matter how controversial.-Voltranic Syndicated News & Reviews The opinions expressed above are solely those of Blaine E. Pynkala of Voltranic Syndicated News & Reviews.