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From Gamespy:
E3 2002 Press Conferences: The Good, The Bad, and The Online
An irreverent opinion and a whimsical analysis on the three console manufacturer's E3 kickoffs.
By Raymond "Psylancer" Padilla | May 22, 2002
Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo have held its respective E3 press conferences, and while each company had its moments, there was a clear winner and a clear loser. As I've attended every E3 from the beginning, I wasn't expecting anything different from this year's press conference. For the most part it was business as usual, save for a new focus in console gaming. Aside from the usual statistics spouting and software showcasing, Internet plans played a major part in each company's gathering. Read on for an opinion on what each company did right, what it did wrong, and what it has cooking on the Internet.
Microsoft Madness
The good: Microsoft had the luxury of holding its press conference first and did an excellent job with the opportunity. Its presentations -- particularly the intro videos to the speakers -- were slick and the show flowed smoothly.
Microsoft showed a fantastic lineup of games currently in development. Counter-Strike, Knights of the Old Republic, Crimson Skies, Panzer Dragoon, Ninja Gaiden, and more had the crowd amazed. The two that stood out were DOA 3, Extreme Volleyball and Blinx. The former stood out for its scantily clad women, while the other has the potential to be the most unique game in a genre that will get extremely crowded.
As one journalist exclaimed, "Extreme Volleyball will do for sports games what DOA 3 did for fighting games. Forget [Sega's] Beach Spikers. That game doesn't have the ... bouncies." Blinx time-shifting features -- undoubtedly inspired by TiVo -- definitely helps differentiate it from all the platform games coming out this year by putting a unique twist on a genre that's difficult to be innovative with. With the numerous platformers schedules for a 2002 release, Blinx seems to be the one with the most originality.
Finally, having huge names like Yuji Naka (Sonic Team) and Peter Molyneux in attendance went a long way into illustrating that Microsoft does indeed have strong third-party support.
The bad: As Tony, our Xbox editor, mentioned in his recap, we were served salty popcorn without any drinks. I'm not trying to be one of those spoiled journalists you read about in the L.A. Times or anything, but it was a little uncomfortable. Ed Fries repeatedly told us about how the Xbox's "pipeline is jammed" with exciting games. Hearing that phrase made me want to get the Xbox some Metamucil.
Seriously though, the one weak part of the Microsoft presentation was its number regurgitating. I totally understand that it's an integral part of any E3 press conference, but the numbers were not that impressive. Although its installed based isn't large enough that it can boast PlayStation 2-like sales figures, bragging about five titles that sold over 500,000 units is weak.
The online: Its online effort, dubbed Xbox Live, was definitely exciting. The company has a list of compelling titles and very ambitious plans for its foray into the Internet. Since the architecture is very similar to a PC's it's appealing to developers as well as consumers. The only downside is that Microsoft had nothing live to show about Xbox Live. For now it's just a potential-filled initiative.
Sony Sizzles
The good: Although the lineup it touted wasn't as large and diverse as Microsoft's, Sony had a very strong showing at its press conference. Games like The Getaway, Sly Cooper and the Thievius Racoonus, and SOCOM should solidify the company's position as the industry leader for the rest of 2002. And that isn't even counting all the third-party goods. The installed base of the PS2 still dwarfs the Xbox's making the PS2 more appealing for publishers.
The number-hurling portion of Sony's presentation was staggering. There are loads of PS2's on the market and even more games that are selling like gangbusters. Compared to Microsoft's five titles selling over 500,000, Sony's list of multi-million sellers was gargantuan.
Getting the exclusive console rights to the Grand Theft Auto franchise is tremendous.
The bad: Although its first-party lineup looks very solid, it's definitely not comprised of AAA games, as Sony claims. Both Ben, our PS2 editor, and I concur that it's wishful thinking on Sony's part that these games are of AAA quality. If anything its seven first-party titles are mostly B-level games.
Sony had more developer participation than the other two companies, but these portions of the press conference were a bit rough. I'm not saying the producers had to go up to the podium and snap of a Winston Churchillesque oratory, but more rehearsal or perhaps a more gregarious member of the development team would have been better.
The Online: This was by far Sony's strongest showing. The company demonstrated two online games that were playable now. Its SOCOM showing didn't go as smoothly as the company would have liked, but it couldn't have prayed for a better performance than it had with its Madden demo.
In attendance was the Minnesota Viking's Daunte Culpepper matched up against the Tennessee Titan's Jevon Kearse, who was in Florida. Initially there were a few moments of lag, but the game is still early. The key point is that unlike Microsoft, Sony had online products to show now.
The fact that Sony will try to support analog and broadband connections gives it a wider audience to draw from. Though it also gives it a headache Microsoft will not have to worry about.
Nintendo Nosedives
The good: As expected, Nintendo had the strongest first-party titles of the three. The crowd was very hyped for the latest incarnations of Mario, Metroid, Zelda, and to a lesser extent, Starfox.
Its E-Reader peripheral, initially to be used in Animal Crossing, has tremendous potential. This device reads coded cards that supply the game with data. It will be used modestly in Animal Crossing to deliver some extras, but this device is likely to spur the biggest Pokemon boom ever. The cards have been big and the games have been big. The E-Card reader will bring both crazes together to create something scarily huge.
The bad: Oh man, from a production standpoint this was by far the worst press conference of the three. The pacing was off, the speeches were dull, and it didn't have the modern feel of the other two pressers. The venue was also too small; many journalists had to sit outside the room and listen to the presentations while only being able to see what was shown on the video screen.
By unveiling the most horrendous promo I've seen in years, the company may have killed any interest in Animal Crossing. When I first saw the game a few months ago, I was quite excited at its genre-defying potential. Unfortunately Nintendo chose to present the game with a wretched segment hosted by a Malcolm-in-the-Middle wannabe (an observation made by many in attendance). The promo was stupid and annoying, plus it revealed very little about what makes the game unique. If I ever find this kid, I will put a hurtin' on him.
The four-player Zelda GBA game was a bit disappointing. I believe I saw many years ago when it was called Gauntlet.
Animal Crossing had a horrendous promo at the Nintendo conference. Out of GameSpy's three console editors, Nintendo's presser was the only one where I had a drastically different opinion than the respective platform editor had. Bryn, our Nintendo editor, was fairly pleased with Nintendo's showing, whereas I thought the company struck out. Sure it will sell millions of its first-party games, but the new titles Nintendo showed were hardly cause for excitement. The stuff it's been hyping for the last year--Mario Sunshine and Metroid -- are titles most gamers have been psyched for already. The titles that were introduced during the address were hardly earth shattering.
The online: Aside from brief mentions of Phantasy Star Online, Nintendo didn't have anything to announce in regards to its online plans. Instead it harped on its systems superior "connectivity." With peripherals like the E-Reader and the Link Cable, the GameCube and Game Boy Advance certainly have more creative options than the competition. Nintendo was pushing this aspect of its systems really hard, nearly to the point of saying that it's a substitute for online play. But it's not and never will be.
That isn't to say these features aren't innovative, because they certainly give developers options that Sony and Microsoft cannot offer. However, they're not so phenomenal that it can substitute the experience online gaming offers. And most third-party developers do not scratch the surface of what these peripherals have to offer.
And the winner is...
Microsoft did the most with its pre-show press conference. In terms of presentation, quantity, and quality, the company created more buzz than the rest. Sony's presser was splendid, but didn't have as many new and exciting games as Microsoft's did. Although it is the market leader, it came in second (albeit a close second) in the press-conference showdown.
And then there's Nintendo. The company might as well have played a tape of its 2001 press conference for half the show. Very little was new, and what was new wasn't terribly exciting. The first-party titles were known quantities from a buzz standpoint, so the company didn't give gamers any new reasons to buy a GameCube. Press conferences are staged to generate excitement, and Nintendo didn't have any new goods to do so. That coupled with its smooth-as-gravel presentation made for an awful press conference.
While these events are important in terms of setting the tone for each platform, it doesn't translate to each system's overall E3 showing. I've little doubt that Nintendo's booth will be the most crowded. Perhaps hundreds of PS2 games that weren't shown during the press event will capture our imaginations. But judging purely from the press events, the Xbox had the most to be excited about.
