As I mentioned yesterday, day two is when the intoxicating smell of new finally wears off on the show floor and people start getting things done. For many of us today, that meant a hasty blitz to the areas we most wanted to see, with the hotly-contested Wii Sports Resort being a popular front-runner. (Mr. Miyamoto was even hanging around the booth at the very beginning of the show hours, presumably to see if anyone he told to go play it in the developer roundtable last night had actually heeded his advice.)
Game-wise, we all got a lot of play. Between the members of our staff (and some individually) we've played all ten available levels of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, a wide variety of the Wii Sports games, Wii Fit Plus, Sin and Punishment 2, and a number of games in other booths, which you can expect impressions of as the show continues and as we retreat to our respective homes tomorrow evening and Friday.
Highlights of this day's activity included the continually baffling line for The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (which I'm convinced a lot of people are only lined up for so they can get one of the special feather-styluses that you receive upon completion of the demo), massive, enormous crowds gathered to see Stan Lee of Marvel fame and get signed posters from him, and the somewhat baffling appearance of the fabled Wii Bowling Ball accessory that we had been making fun of in concept all day yesterday.
We also had our interview with Denise Kaigler from Nintendo of America, which we'll have transcribed and available before long, and an entertaining meeting with High Voltage, where we were shown their new games Gladiator A.D., an arena battler, and The Grinder, a excellent-looking first-person zombie-blaster with graphics even better than The Conduit.
Fatigue is also setting in: we've all gotten to take most of what we wanted to sample for a spin, and the lines are still long enough to dissuade more fleeting pursuits.
I find myself particularly missing the "quirkiness" of the E3s of years past—sometimes you just feel like a retreat to Kentia hall for the vintage arcade exhibit or a variety of other interesting goodies, but not so this year. The only close approximations are the tiny booths off to the side which harbor a variety of cheap knockoff Sega Genesis(es) and useless garbage Wii peripherals, and that just ain't cutting it.
At any rate, we'll see you from the show floor for the last time again tomorrow, and thanks for sticking it out with us! We've sure enjoyed taking E3 for another spin.
From your staffers heavy of eyelid and pizza,
N-Sider
Game-wise, we all got a lot of play. Between the members of our staff (and some individually) we've played all ten available levels of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, a wide variety of the Wii Sports games, Wii Fit Plus, Sin and Punishment 2, and a number of games in other booths, which you can expect impressions of as the show continues and as we retreat to our respective homes tomorrow evening and Friday.
Highlights of this day's activity included the continually baffling line for The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (which I'm convinced a lot of people are only lined up for so they can get one of the special feather-styluses that you receive upon completion of the demo), massive, enormous crowds gathered to see Stan Lee of Marvel fame and get signed posters from him, and the somewhat baffling appearance of the fabled Wii Bowling Ball accessory that we had been making fun of in concept all day yesterday.
We also had our interview with Denise Kaigler from Nintendo of America, which we'll have transcribed and available before long, and an entertaining meeting with High Voltage, where we were shown their new games Gladiator A.D., an arena battler, and The Grinder, a excellent-looking first-person zombie-blaster with graphics even better than The Conduit.
Fatigue is also setting in: we've all gotten to take most of what we wanted to sample for a spin, and the lines are still long enough to dissuade more fleeting pursuits.
I find myself particularly missing the "quirkiness" of the E3s of years past—sometimes you just feel like a retreat to Kentia hall for the vintage arcade exhibit or a variety of other interesting goodies, but not so this year. The only close approximations are the tiny booths off to the side which harbor a variety of cheap knockoff Sega Genesis(es) and useless garbage Wii peripherals, and that just ain't cutting it.
At any rate, we'll see you from the show floor for the last time again tomorrow, and thanks for sticking it out with us! We've sure enjoyed taking E3 for another spin.
From your staffers heavy of eyelid and pizza,
N-Sider