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E3 Takes Los Angeles By Storm

Gamers flock to trade show for unveiling of latest offerings

By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.Com

June 5, 2009
For Los Angeles residents, the low-slung, sprawling glass and steel edifice that is the downtown Convention Center often gets lost next to its flashier neighbors, the Staples Center and Nokia Plaza. But this week, the building was commanding the attention of thousands of geeks, gamers, and more, heeding the call of the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo — "E3 " for short.

Massive banners were draped over the hall advertising numerous games, including "Brutal Legend," the hotly-anticipated game featuring Jack Black as a rock band roadie thrust into a mythical Age of Rock and doing battle with evil overlords, even as the game's owners, Electronic Arts, are doing battle with former owners Activision, who have sued to block the game's release.

Out front was a perfect replica of the infamous "Ghostbusters" mobile, celebrating the arrival of their own tie-in video game, as well a giant Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.

Who ya gonna call? The Ghostbusters are back in action. Photo by Martin H. Bosworth.

Over 35,000 enthusiasts attended the industry trade show this year, bringing with them an estimated $15 million in spending — a welcome shot in the arm for the gloomy local economy. But attendees to the video game industry's flagship convention only had one thing on their minds — what were the hottest (and coolest) new toys on the market?

And what an array of toys to choose from! Before the official start of the expo, the Internet was abuzz with the announcements from all the major game companies and developers, as well as heavyweights like Microsoft, which announced that the XBox 360 would integrate social networks into its XBox Live online gaming system, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Last.FM. Microsoft also scored a major coup with the announcement of "Project Natal," a full-body controller for the XBox 360 that throws down the gauntlet (so to speak) to the Nintendo Wii for the ultimate immersive gaming experience.

ConsumerAffairs.Com journeyed to E3 on Wednesday to get a look under the hood at some of the hot new games, trends, and ideas on display at the big show.

Under the hood

The Convention Center's West and South Halls were teeming with gamers of all ages, shapes, and sizes, with men and women roughly equally represented. The "girl gamer" demographic is being hotly courted by every developer in the industry, helped along by female-friendly groups such as Girl Gamer, and for every scantily-clad, underfed "booth babe" hawking wares, there was a woman executive, developer, advertiser, or hardcore fan present who knew their stuff.

Electronic Entertainment Expo, West Hall Entrance. Photo by Martin H. Bosworth.

Because E3 is a trade show (No one under 17 was allowed), the tone was somewhat more serious than you'd find at a comparable comic book or sci-fi convention. Gaming is a multi-million dollar business, one of the few still showing high profits in the midst of a global recession, and the competition between developers, licensors, and various entertainment properties is as fierce as any multiplayer kill spree. I was forbidden from taking pictures of any game demos by all the companies I spoke to, for fear a rival development house would steal the idea, get their product to market first, or that bad buzz from attendees would kill the project's momentum before it was released.

Still, for all the avowed cutthroatedness of the industry, the prevailing sentiment at the show was one of unbridled enthusiasm. After two previous years of a much more downscaled E3, this year's installment went all out, with massive displays and exhibit booths from Sony, Disney, Warner Brothers, Microsoft, Activision, and more. Huge wall-sized screens displaying trailer footage from "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction," "DJ Hero" (The latest installment in the "Guitar Hero" juggernaut), and the hotly-anticipated "Final Fantasy XIII" played incessantly as attendees wandered from booth to booth, playing games and sampling wares.

Here and there I'd see fans and workers gussied up in the more typically flamboyant outfits you'd expect from a big geek event. Several attendees came in full pirate regalia. Others were decked out in military combat gear, while several employees of Activision donned the familiar green shells and masks of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The heroes on a half shell pose with a fan. Photo by Martin H. Bosworth.

Blood and guts

I spent a decent amount of time at the Bethesda Softworks pavilion, a huge two-story affair that could in no way be called a booth, sampling both their current hits and future releases. Among them was the latest downloadable expansion pack for "Fallout 3," the hugely popular post-apocalyptic first-person shooter set in the ruins of Washington, D.C. In the "Point Lookout" pack, players get to battle horribly disfigured mutants and cannibals in Maryland's Point Lookout State Park. As senior game producer Jeff Gardiner demonstrated the bloody action, he (a native of Maryland) and I both joked that this was not at all implausible.

"It took members of our team several weeks to map and create this entire landscape," Gardiner said. "We really wanted to create a fully explorable, open mission with this module."

Also on tap from Bethesda Softworks is "Wet," a crazy over-the-top actioner that mixes the "bullet ballet" action moves of vintage John Woo with the grindcore sensibilities of Rodriguez and Tarantino on a serious bender. The demo I saw was a hyperkinetic comic book come to life, with sexy assassin Rubi running on walls, twisting and shooting, and dispatching foes in very gruesome and creative ways. Don't let the kids anywhere near this one.

Just as games are now big business, they're also as cinematic as any big-screen movie, with the voice talent to match. "Dollhouse" star Eliza Dushku is providing the voice of Rubi in "Wet," while gravel-voiced Mickey Rourke is providing dialogue for the protagonist of "Rogue Warrior" from Bethesda, based on the long-running series of military thrillers by Richard Marcinko. Across the way, Danger! High Voltage Software's creepy conspiracy-thriller game "The Conduit" featured the equally raspy Mark Sheppard, known to fans as Badger from "Firefly," Romo Lampkin in "Battlestar Galactica," and most recently Timothy Hutton's nemesis Sterling on "Leverage."

Moviemakers as well as movie stars are devoting their time to bridging the gap between the cinema and the console. "Red Dawn" writer and director John Milius revisits the concept of America under occupation by a foreign power in "Homefront," from THQ and Kaos Studios. Set in 2027, the visceral action follows a member of the Resistance as they try to puzzle out how the invasion occurred and what the invaders want. In the demo I witnessed, the action was fast and furious, including massive six-wheeled unmanned assault vehicles that the host said were under development by the U.S. Army.

The biggest draw for movie lovers, however, was long-awaited footage from both the movie and video game of James Cameron's "Avatar," his 3-D sci-fi adventure. The game, developed by Ubisoft Entertainment, displays astounding graphics and environments as it follows Cameron's story of human soldiers battling the inhabitants of a far-off alien world for control of their resources. A full-scale ten-foot model of a military power suit was on display at the Ubisoft booth, letting passersby know this game was serious business.

Heavy metal: A full-sized power suit from James Cameron's "Avatar." Photo by Martin H. Bosworth.

Fun for the whole family

It wasn't all gore and violence by any measure, however. The imposing presence of Disney's booth reminders conventiongoers that even video games are not safe from the likes of Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers, while Sony's free online multiplayer "Freewebs" and the latest edition of "Kingdom Hearts" provided lots of good clean fun for young gamers.

Disney's EPCOT Center-like pavilion at E3. Photo by Martin H. Bosworth.

One of the biggest hits from the convention was "The Beatles: Rock Band," enabling up to six players to take on the roles of the Fab Four (plus original drummer Pete Best) throughout their many incarnations, singing along in beautiful three-part harmonies among ever-changing landscapes. Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr themselves came out to the debut, hailing the game as faithful to their legacy.

"DJ Hero" let wannabe musicians take their skills in a different direction, scratching breaks and breats, rocking parties, and mash songs from the Beastie Boys to Benny Benassi, for one player or several. From what I could tell, the game looks versatile enough to make any lover of music feel like they could get two turntables and a microphone and make some magic.

"DJ Hero" on display. Photo by Martin H. Bosworth.

Game over

It would take even more than the three days of the convention to document every game, booth, company, event, or happening going on, and the press room was going nonstop with bloggers, reporters, enthusiasts, and aficionados feverishly delivering updates of all the good news as they got it. But I had to bid my goodbyes to E3, and as I was trudging out to the rainy Los Angeles afternoon, I took one look back...

"Final Fantasy 13," literally underfoot at E3. Photo by Martin H. Bosworth.

I'll definitely be back next year.

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