E3 2007 blogroll

Last summer, I was in Santa Monica, Cali., covering the E3 Media & Business Summit from Tuesday, July 9 through Friday, July 13. I’m loading my posts from the show here, for posterity, y’know?

Thursday, July 12, 7:00 p.m.

On Wednesday afternoon and Thursday, the focus of my exposure here at E3 shifted from hardware and the 'Big 3' to the video game developers and publishers.

Konami thrilled with their announcement of Metal Gear Solid 4 (for the PS3) that creator Hideo Kojima says will be the definitive end to the franchise. Also pending from Konami are new versions of their popular Dance Dance Revolution games for all platforms. They also screened a trailer for Silent Hill V, which was suitably creepy and looks to bring the horror franchise into the high-definition world.

Today, I started off at Electronic Arts, where I was shown the revamped Need for Speed Pro Street game from Vancouver's EA Black Box studio. Producer Mike Mann said that they "wanted to make it faster and more violent". Army of Two comes from EA's new Montreal studio, and is an aggressive shooter that truly invokes co-operative gameplay. You cannot succeed in the game without your partner; if you don't have any friends, the computer AI will help you out. But the most exciting games - as far as I'm concerned - coming from EA are two that I mentioned last night: EA Playground, from EA's Burnaby campus, and Boogie, from Montreal, both of which were created for the Nintendo Wii. EA Playground is "for kids and the kid in all of us," explained EA's David Tinson. He gets the award for best soundbite of the show, by the way.

2K Games were showing of Civilization: Revolution, the first true version of the strategy game for consoles, which provides all of the fun of the PC game, with simplified controls. More fun, less frustration. Bioshock, also from 2K Games, is a frantic, frenetic, futuristic thriller in which you need to put a stop to the diabolical plans of a megalomaniacal rich genius. It's a first-person action game with whacked-out weapons, the walking dead and psychokinetic powers.

Sony was showing off lots today, including the online-only Warhawk, which has morphed into a massive battle game and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, which has the spirit of Indiana Jones with a little bit of Apocalypse Now thrown in. Two games for their PlayStation Network download service caught my eye: Pain, in which your objective is to cause as much physical harm to yourself and the environment as possible, and Everyday Shooter, a collection of levels inspired by various shooter games, accompanied by a ripping guitar rock soundtrack. Little Big Planet is also reason to be excited about your PS3. Just Google it.

Microsoft has two big reasons to be excited this fall: Halo 3 and Mass Effect. The first will wrap up the story of Master Chief, and stands to become the biggest selling video game of all time. The second, developed by Edmonton's BioWare, is perhaps the deepest, richest role-playing game ever created. You'll be in command of a starship, and every action you take, every decision you make will affect the story you play.

More reasons that you should start saving your pennies so you can buy games this fall:

• Beautiful Katamari (Namco Bandai)


• Soulcalibur Legends (Namco Bandai)


• Turok (Touchstone/Disney Interactive)


• Club (Sega)


• Nights (Sega)


• The Golden Compass (Sega)


• Devil May Cry 4 (Capcom)


• Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (Capcom)


• Dark Sector (D3 Publisher)


• Dragon Blade (D3 Publisher)

On Friday, I start meetings with video game publishers at 9:00 a.m., and do not stop until 5:00 p.m. I don't even have room in my schedule for a bathroom break.

But I'll file a final report after it's done, to let you know what I see tomorrow. There are even more reasons to get excited.