Entering the E3 floor at 10 AM, I walked briskly to the Nintendo booth. My eyes opened wide when I saw the extravagantly decorated booth. Created with the use of clean, crisp white sheets, Nintendo's booth layout was quite different from years' prior. Attendees entered through the usual "hole" but this time to see a layout with a central theme. Below is a rough sketch of the booth and not fully representative of its contents.
In the middle was a stage that was outlined with curtains that could be lifted and dropped when needed. DJs were playing in the middle on the first day. Nintendo also held celebrity contests on this stage on the later days. From the center extended eight legs, similar in appearance to the shape of a starfish. This layout made "people" traffic very difficult. People would go towards the middle of the stage and have to make a U-turn to get out. Things can get ugly when you have fifty people trying to make a U-turn at the same time and in different directions. On the highway you have to worry about road rage. At E3 however, beware of the booth rage.
The outside perimiter of the square walls of the booth, were lined with first party game kiosks as well as sound booths. Each sound booth contains a single game and is enclosed to drown out the sound from outside so that players receive a better sense of the game's atmosphere. The 8-player networked Mario Kart: Double Dash was also set into the right bottom hand corner of Nintendo's booth. For playing this game, Nintendo was handing out Mario Kart t-shirts and to the top four racers, Game Boy Advance SP cases. In the back of the booth was Nintendo's executive lounge and offices.
Finally, whoever created the booth decided to place raised walkways (pictured left) on the ground which ultimately created "dangerous for old women" ledges. This caused, on many occasions, people to literally fall off. For the remaining days of E3, Nintendo was forced to have employees idly stand and tell people to "watch your step". Being in Nintendo's booth the majority of the time, I was told to watch my step a good 20 times.
After entering Nintendo's booth, I immediately saw Julian Eggebrecht of Factor 5 fiddling with the TV at the Rogue Squadron III game kiosk. I grabbed Dean and together we convinced Julian to introduce our N-Sider video.
While I knew what to expect before the show even began, I was still somewhat dissapointed with the lack of a true Pokemon RPG, Zoonami's Game Zero, a new Mario title, and Mario Tennis. In addition, many of the rumors and speculation also failed to blossom into reality. A GameCube SP turned out to be a false hope. No further information turned up on Grand Theft Auto ports. A no-show for an Eternal Darkness 2 or Too Human. No 'realistic' Capcom Zelda GameCube game. No online first-party games. A Nintendo fan's imagination is perhaps too demanding.
There was good news, however. Geist turned out to be a pleasure to play. Also, Giftpia (GCN) and Fire Emblem (GBA) are definite North American releases.
I managed to provide various news updates including:
a Mario & Luigi preview, Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes preview, news that AM3 is creating a device that will allow video to be watched on the GBA, Wario World impressions, a closer look at Nintendo's Stage Debut video game, information on the Zelda connectivity GBA/GCN games, news that Capcom's booth lacks Resident Evil 4 and Killer 7, and the confirmation of the developers of Nintendo first-party titles. I'm proud of my work, so of course I'm going to show it off. You can read these updates here.
Another day of E3 and another day of exhaustive video game playing.
Dean Bergmann, David Hellman, and I interviewed Charles Martinet - voice of Mario, Wario and other well-known video game characters. Martinet is an extremely kind individual. Although, the man does has a strange affection for the voice of Baby Mario. We really enjoyed speaking with him in his various voices.
We also had an interview scheduled with Nintendo of America PR, however it was cancelled and rescheduled for Friday. To make up for it, we were treated to ice cream and a private showing of Nintendo's games. We felt like the dorks waiting impatiently outside the upscale dance club, and when finally being allowed in, we did the white man shuffle like no white man has ever done before. Then shortly thereafter we were kicked out.
As the show closed its doors at 6 PM, the N-Sider staff met up with the guys from GCAdvanced at the Media Center. We gathered everyone up then returned to our hotel to have a Super Smash Bros. Melee Tournament. Seth Walker from GCAdvanced and Cory Faller (N-Sider) competed for the ulitmate prize, a Game Boy Advance SP. In the final round, Seth managed to overtake Cory. Congrats to Seth. Cory, you're fired! Afterwards, the 25 of us made a pit stop at Chez Denny's. Quickly ordering and inhaling our food, we waved down taxis just outside the door.
I absolutely despise Taxis. I hate the drivers, the vehicles and everything they stand for. Why is it that a bus ride across a state will only cost you $20, or a subway ride across a city costs you $1.25, while a single Taxi ride to a destination but 20 minutes away will rape you for nearly $40? It's ridiculous and the mere thought of it fills me with so much rage that I feel inclined to stop here and strangle the life out of the topic.
Five came rushing after us. It was like a stampede of taxis. Startled by the sight, everyone froze in their steps. As a result, I and a few others nearly got our feet run over. After reluctantly getting inside, we were driven to the Magic Johnson 12 theater to see the disappointing Matrix Reloaded and its painful ten-minute dance scene.
The final day of the almighty Electronic Entertainment Expo...
Not waking up until 11:00 AM, most of the day was already wasted. Nevertheless, the most interesting event today was Dean and my interview with Tom Harlend, Nintendo of America PR.
One of the topics we discussed was Sony's announcement of its portable game player, the PSP. The launch date for the handheld is Q4 2004.
Sega pioneered the idea with its Dreamcast Virtual Memory Unit (VMU) and Nintendo has set the trend with its Game Boy Advance. It's only understandable Sony would like to get in on the connectivity action. Nintendo doesnt feel it has anything to worry about right now but I think we can all be sure that Nintendo is keeping close tabs on Sony's moves.
I'd have to say out of all the games on the show floor, my favorite picks would be F-Zero GX, Viewtiful Joe and Geist. F-Zero I feel has everything I want from a next-generation racer - beautiful graphics, speed, and a variety of vehicles and levels. Viewtiful Joe is the super-hero of the 21st century. The uniqueness of the game will blow you away. Geist is another eye-opener and I suggest you keep a look out for my N-Depth on the game. Geist was my most played game at E3, next to Mario Kart. Speaking of Mario Kart, I placed 1st every single time I played the game. By the fifth time playing it, I surprised even myself. My pick for most disappointing game of the show is Kameo for Xbox. It appears Rare has lost its mojo.
A day of rest and relaxation. The highlights of the today included getting pooped on by a bird as I walked under a tree and waking up in the middle of the night to a blaring fire alarm.
Flight out.
The flight would have been fine had the woman behind me not commented on how it was so "nice to not have to wear a face mask anymore after coming from China".
"Dear god", I thought and attempted to hold my breath. A minute later I gave up.
Besides my close call with SARS, E3 2003 was a pleasant gaming experience. I appreciate Nintendo for having its games playable however early some of them may have been (ex. Starfox). The emphasis other companies had were on video presentations. For a video to win game of the show is ridiculous and makes me sick to my stomach. Nintendo focused on product we'll see later this year or early next, and if you look at its lineup (Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, Mario Kart, F-Zero), Nintendo is in an exceptional position.
Thanks to John Cordell, Tom Harlend, Nathan Bihldorff, the beautiful Nintendo booth ladies and others for helping N-Sider with its persistent questions.
End.