000NAG E3 Supplement 2004
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E3 2004 SUPPLEMENT It’s an undeniable fact - we love gaming. Why else would we spend 23 hours in the air, endure the rigours of the US Customs checks, not once, not twice, but three times in the space of 15 min- utes by three different officials, only to miss a connecting flight and in the process, miss our first scheduled press conference, arrive in LA tired and harassed and spend the next five days in a whirlwind of meetings, conferences, behind closed door viewings and getting our hands on some of the mind-blowing titles that will be released over the next year or so? [You get paid? Ed] We did it all for you, the reader, so that we could come back home, contents experience three days of severe jet lag, stumble into the midst of another NAG deadline and slave away for a week putting this sup- plement together. So please, when you flip through the pages of this supplement gasping at the unbelievable screenshots, try and read at least one line on every page, allowing us the indulgence of E3 Conferences 10 thinking that our efforts actually brought joy to a gamers life. More exciting than wandering around For those of you new to this whole E3 fanfare, welcome. It's our fifth Downtown L.A. in the middle of the night. stint at the world's largest electronic entertainment expo, and while we like to think of ourselves as E3 gaming veterans, we always State of the Industry 12 come away with a renewed sense of excitement at where the indus- Take a look at the facts and figures of the gam- ing industry. try hopes to take gaming. This year's event drew over 65,000 attendees and displayed over 5,000 products - 1,000 of which were Classic Gaming 13 revealed for the first time ever. That's a lot to wrap into one issue Going back to the days where it all started. and we're not going to claim that we did it. But we came close with a comprehensive list of games that were showcased during the NAG E3 Awards 14 week that we were in Los Angeles. Picking favourites is always hard to do, and after We think we made good. But we'll let you be the judge. Enjoy… many arguments, the NAG staff decided to all have their say... Babe trivia 16 What would E3 be without scantily clad ladies to gawk at? When it’s done 18 Some games are making repeat appearances at E3 for the second, or even third, year running. E3 Game List 20 It may not be all the games, but it’s a good chunk - and besides, they’re the ones you really want to know about. NAG Magazine E3 Photo Gallery 42 P O Box 237 Not everyone can go to E3, but at the very least Olivedale we give you an idea of what one of the world’s 2158 biggest game exhibitions looks like... [011] 704 2701 www.nag.co.za [p] 10 Reggie Fils-Aime Muhammed Ali and other Nokia added more shows off the DS stars announce EA on LIVE publishing partners It’s all DS Nintendo, and gaming alumni Shigeru company, once again the same as last Nintendo started their show with consid- Miyamoto, Nintendo’s gaming prodigy year. His presentation followed the erably less flair than last year’s song- responsible for the likes of Zelda, Mario, unveiling of the DS and he rode on this and-dance number. Instead of the Pikmin and Metroid amongst others. announcement with hints of the next Kodak Theatre, this time we were all Harrison was intent on talking business, platform to succeed the GameCube – headed for the roof of a prominent LA just as he did last year. Reflecting on the due to be shown off at E3 in 2005. hotel on Hollywood Boulevard where, figures for 2003, he proclaims that the Announcing the new Zelda game was inside a large conference hall, the com- GameCube is actually the leading con- the only reason why Miyamoto-san was pany unveiled its next line-up as well as sole at the moment. But it doesn’t take there, running on stage brandishing the Nintendo DS – Nintendo’s answer to much time in this industry to learn that Link’s sword and shield. Apart from this the next generation of handhelds. The you have to accept any console sales title, which reverts back to the realistic ceremony was pretty low key, probably figures, especially from Nintendo and visuals of the N64 games, the confer- because they didn’t have that much to Microsoft, with a pinch of salt. Still, the ence also announced a Metroid Prime say. MC’d by Nintendo of America’s console saw a 73% increase in sales sequel as well as a stack of first and Reggie Fils-Aime, their new figurehead. over 2003, mainly thanks to aggressive third party games planned for the DS. He introduced the three guests – price cutting and the release of several But apart from the unveiling of the DS, George Harrison, President of Nintendo highly-anticipated games. Nintendo’s conference this year held of America, Saturo Iwata, President of Iwata-san focused on Nintendo as a few real surprises. Every year the big names in the gaming industry launch upon Los Angeles – Californianot only to show off their wares Dreaming at the show – but to also hold their own con- ferences and parties to a select audience. This year NAG attended three of the big ones: those of Nintendo, Microsoft and the neophyte Nokia. Microsoft gets livelier this year’s GDC conference. XNA was was an improvement, even though the It was pretty apparent that none of the touted a lot, a technology Microsoft has occasional sound problem crept in. console companies were going to show a lot of faith in to boost both the Xbox Communication and connectivity are the off their next generation machines this and Windows platforms and to tie in two key words for Nokia this year, year, especially since both Sony and with this a MMORPG in development by thanks to a lesson hard learned by them Nintendo would hog the space for their the people who brought us the first with the original N-Gage. Illka mobile platforms. Microsoft might have Everquest was also mentioned. Raiskinen, head of the games division, been the most likely – there were Other games shown was a remake of started the proceedings by talking about rumours that they planned to push the Rare’s Conker, Mechassault 2: Lone the learning period Nokia just went Xbox Next out far before any of their Wolf (bound to be very popular online), through and how important it is to build competitors. But they also kept that back ambitious RPG Fable, Jade Empire, relationships with the industry and its for next year. Doom III and DOA Ultimate, the first 3D gamers. He then announced that Atari You do need a major announcement of fighting game that will be playable and Capcom are on board to develop some kind, though, because not every- online. new N-Gage titles. While Capcom’s one came all the way to LA just to see But Microsoft’s big announcement was contributions remained unnamed, Atari footage of Halo 2. Most of the time was EA finally arriving onto Live, in particu- plans to bring Driver and Civilisation to spent on Live, the Xbox’s online service lar with their sports line-up. This finally the mobile. that has to date been leaving its com- clears up a long-standing disagreement These are obviously good steps that petitors in the dust. This all started with between the two companies, one which Nokia needs. While the QD’s a parody video starring the core Xbox has seen EA missing from Live since the announcement swayed a lot of much- crew, actors pretending to be Sony’s service’s launch. Announced in style by needed attention back towards the core PlayStation crew and Donald the president of EA, he was also joined Finish mobile company, they still have a Trump… in a nutshell it poked fun at by numerous US sports stars, including lot of ground to cover, especially in get- Sony’s inability to get their online gam- Mohammed Ali. ting more games. EA’s Executive VP ing side up and running, without hitches Because it didn’t announce any new North America Publishing, Nina Smith, or gamer dissatisfaction. hardware, the Xbox conference might echoed this need by announcing FIFA After this there were a few minor seem lower key than the happenings at 2005 and SSX. Gerhard Weiner then announcements for the service, such as its rivals, but for those interested in Live announced the rest of the titles they plan improved elements, new features and a lot of significant announcements were to release. Games such as Pathway to that PopCap games will be releasing made, not to mention that they gave the Glory, Ghost Recon and Ashen were their games onto the Xbox and the Live street date for Halo 2. also showed on the big screens, as well service – something puzzle fans will be as a CG-movie for RIFTS, the popular very happy to hear. Jay Allard explained Round 2 for Nokia program by Ken Segelia. Weiner also how big Live is – currently sitting at 150 While everyone went to conference halls discussed the Nokia Arena and the new games and over 1 million users.