First of all, is it really that difficult for the rent a cops who run security here to keep time? The original plan was for E3 to open its doors at 9am, but only for qualified members of the press. Everyone else had to wait until 11am to get in. Nothing to hold me back from checking out the PLAYSTATION3 and Nintendo Wii, right? WRONG! Access to South Hall was not available until 9:15. Even worse, I had an urgent meeting with Electronic Arts at 9am sharp.
Eventually we are able to get in, and the showing that Electronic Arts had was impressive. In their round video wall room, they showed off both the PS3 and 360 versions of Madden, the 360 version of NCAA Football 07, and the Xbox 360 version of LOTR: Battle for Middle Earth II. The LOTR title looked very polished, featuring a unique control scheme that takes full advantage of the 360's controller. NCAA 07 looked good as well, as an initial release of an NCAA game to a next gen console. The product looks like it is coming along smoothly, and should make its July launch date.
Madden 07 also looked like it was coming along well. But what really concerned me was how it looked on both the PS3 and the 360. Aside from a slightly smoother frame rate on the PS3, the graphic quality looked too much like the 360 version.
And that brings me to the biggest disappointments of the first day. The PLAYSTATION3 failed to impress me. Early showings of Madden 07, Formula One 06, and Gran Turismo HD did very little to wow me. Even worse, the much awaited trailer for MGS4: Guns of the Patriots suffered from horrible frame rate drops. If there were any doubts I had that the previous trailer was running on true PS3 hardware, now they have come true. All this for a console that is supposed to cost upwards of $600 (or $500 if you strip the Wi-Fi, memory card slots, and HDMI output?)
At least Sony had that PLAYSTATION3 available on the show floor. One of my ten questions was whether or not Sony would show it or wuss out and put it behind closed doors. I asked the right question, but just the wrong company. It was NINTENDO who wussed out and forced the Wii behind closed doors. Not a single Wii console was available to look at, let alone play. Why Nintendo must you torture me like this? Are you afraid of what I'd say about the Wii's stupid name?
The bright side came in terms of mobile gaming. Earlier today was the Sprint Player's Lounge, where they demonstrated new titles from Namco, Gameloft, Hands On (formerly Mfroma, best known for their World Poker Tour franchise,) Glu, and EA/Jamdat. The biggest announcement came from EA when they announced Madden 07 for Sprint phones. Namco also came out with announcements of Super Pac-Man and a 25th anniversary version of Galaga.
As in previous years past, the Sprint show ended with me obtaining a brand new phone from them, and in this year's case it was a doozy: the Samsung A900. Anyone familiar with the Motorola Razr line of phones will be aware that the A900 is Samsung's and Sprint's equivalent to the Razr. So far I am very impressed with the phone. Like the Razr, it is very thin, and has both a main display and a small LCD when closed. The main display is gorgeous; it is very bright and carries a high resolution. It is also equipped with Sprint's Power Vision EV-DO broadband network. I tested a couple downloads on it and the speed is unbelievable. I will eventually write a review of the A900, but for now let's just say it might be Sprint's best non-PDA based phone yet.
The last meeting I had was with Konami. Aside from the previously mentioned choppy but impressive as heck MGS 4, I also had a chance to check out the latest Castlevania for DS, as well as two Coded Arms titles for PS3 and PSP. The PSP one is said to correct the biggest issue of the predecessor: the control scheme, while the PS3 version looks quite impressive, if only as an unplayable trailer (pre-rendered perhaps?) I also saw an early version of Silent Hill Origins for the PSP, which is going to be a prequel title explaining a lot about the series and the mysterious town of Silent Hill.
Tomorrow is looking to be a busy day. Starting off with RedOctane, who should wow me with Guitar Hero II, and ending up with SNK/Playmore, I will have tons of meetings to attend, and hopefully more coverage of the PS3 to write about.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm on my way to Santa Monica for a classic gamer's party.