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It began pretty much how you’d expect it to – with lots of commercials. There were no less than seven game previews prior to the meat of the pre-show ‘conference’ (itself a giant commercial – but that’s what these things are supposed to be, of course). Star Wars, Mech Warrior 2, Conker 2, et cetera. There were a lot of 2s showing up. What really struck me were the cheers emanating from the crowd. We were seated in the Shrine Auditorium, home to the Emmys, and a two minute walk away from where the ic staff is squeezing itself nightly. The crowd literally erupted in a cheer on seeing Conker’s Terminator 2 parody-style preview. I begin to wonder – have I lost interest in games completely? I just cannot get excited by seeing game images on a screen anymore. Or…that’s what I thought.
As the event wore on, J. Allard took the stage and did his PR thing. The demo of Xbox Live! video chat was actually rather nice. Three-way conversation was no problem – apparently 5 people total will be able to video chat when their webcam peripheral launches later in the year. They successfully demeaned a bikini-clad Jenny McCarthy without embarrassing too many people.
Then they talked about XNA. It’s…some sort of…windows thingy. To demo their XNA technology, they smashed virtual Saleen S7s into each other (those are automobiles, you know). All I could think about while watching the demo, where they changed speed, height, ramps…was Truck Dismount. But I bet their demo (called Crash Reloaded) cost a whole lot more to make.
One Trump parody later (think N64 era Nintendo “Sony is stupid” video tactics), they brought out the Halo 2. And…it actually impressed me. More than the ability to wield two weapons at once, or store a weapon for later – more than the selectively destructible vehicles (blow the fender off a ghost), more than the target tracking missiles, I was impressed by the presentation. They really seemed to realize that this is the game that will make or break them, and they weren’t going to screw around with it. The demo of the game was classy, showed only what you needed to see, and ran flawlessly – all without any corny jokes. Or…they were minimized at least. They really let the game show itself off.
Basically – Halo 2 looks fancy. Not too much added, but just enough for you to get interested. As long as the two player co-op game holds up as well as it did in the original…well. Yes. Apparently I can be moved by watching a game be played. And I don’t even own an Xbox.
Oh, and there’s a November 9th release date. Peter Moore displayed the date on his arm with a fake tattoo, Nokia body-image style. He was flexing the whole time his arm was displayed, which might mean something to somebody.
Other games were shown (DOA Ultimate, Doom 3, Jade Empire) but nothing bested the Halo 2 buzz. Their new racing game, which promises realistic sim-style play was a bit lackluster. I attribute this to a lack of Eurobeat in the trailer they showed. Eventually America will learn – a racing game is nothing without a solid Eurobeat soundtrack. Even Sonic R had one………..kinda.
But finally – EA took the stage. Most of EA’s big sports titles are coming to Xbox with Live! Support. To hammer home their ‘we make lots of sports games’ message, they brought out a representative from every style of game they’ve got. Most impressively, Mohammad Ali was standing right in the center. When they announced his name, there was a standing ovation in the stands. Now…I really don’t care for sports. But Ali is a political legend in addition to his boxing prowess. His ‘damn the man’ attitude kicked ass in his prime, and it kicks ass now.
How can I think this even when he’s hired by Microsoft and EA to stand in front of a crowd? Because when the crowd stood up, as shaken by palsy as his body is, he pointed at members in the crowd in rapid succession as if to say “you, you and you – motherfuck you.” Then he brought his finger to his lips in a smooth motion to shush the crowd. The man is still a badass.
Microsoft has the same attitude. They’re not number one here – but they’ll still point at you and call you out. Next year might be something for the big black paperweight.
brandon sheffield
has a Eurobeat soundtrack
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