By Abe Babe

E3, the largest gaming exhibition in the world. And that is not an understatement. Everything is so large, so loud and done on such an enormous scale. The money that many of the game developers must put into this event is astonishing. The exhibits are impressive, for a booth must be more than just a few demo consoles in order to be noticed.

Unfortunately, as was speculated, Oddworld did not have their own booth at this year's E3. But here is my day 1 report on some of the highlights that E3 has had for me so far. Square-Enix: Of course this is to be expected, with the Final Fantasy series being my second favorite game series. Square-Enix's booth didn't have any fancy props to it, just a really futuristic look and feel about it. The entrance was a giant video wall, or arch which advertised the titles that were being displayed. In the center was a theatre and down each side were demo consoles where you could play all of the latest titles. The theatre showing was a limited ticket event, and the highlight of this was of course the Advent Children trailer. This showed much new footage from the movie including new and old characters, with totally stunning and realistic CG.

Sammy Studios: Sammy's latest title is a game by the name of Darkwatch. Darkwatch is a first person shooter which mixes in horror and a western theme. Some of the developers are ex-Oddworld Inhabitants including Paul O'Connor and Farzad. I had a chat to some of the guys there about the title and although I am not usually a fan of FPS games, this one seems like a good one. There will be a lot to do other than just shooting and the game will take a different courses of action depending on what you choose to do. Their booth was also very impressive as it consisted of a gothic building and had an overall dark atmosphere about it. A visit to the Darkwatch theatre also showed some impressive graphics running on the PS2.

Konami: Konami's booth was sectioned into different displays for each of the games they were showing. The two displays that impressed me the most were Silent Hill 4: The Room and Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater. Although I didn't play MGS, as that isn't my kind of game, the display was really cool as you went into an area which was just like being in a thick jungle. The Silent Hill 4 display had demo consoles placed in apartment like areas such as a kitchen, lounge, etc. Someone even commented that they got the couch from the side of the road! A door was also in the display held by chains to represent the locked door of "The Room". I did play one level of the SH4 demo. Enemies appear to be much more difficult and in one place you couldn't even run from them, as you were outside and couldn't run because of a snowstorm, with enemies in pursuit [and they were much faster than you]. The demo level contained only minor puzzle solving.

Blizzard: Blizzard had two main games on display, Starcraft Ghost and World of Warcraft. Their display was futuristic, much like what you would expect from Starcraft architecture. A large overhead screen displayed trailers and a Warcraft statue greeted visitors at the entrance. An second tier allowed for more demo stations to be included. Some concept art was also included in this booth. I did play Starcraft Ghost, but wasn't very good at it, so I'll leave it at there!

Sony PSP: As mentioned in my Advent Children report, I was very impressed with the PSP. A system which has the clarity of a digital television with such a small size. The booth was nothing fancy, just some demo stations showing the different media that the PSP could display [i.e. movies, games]. There was also some information on the media the system will use [Universal Media Disc] and PSP development/promotion in different areas of the world. The booth didn't need to be fancy however, as it was a very effective display. The highlight of the day would have to be the Square-Enix presentation. This of course allowed me to see the Advent Children trailer in all of it's glory. The overall presentation was impressive with a dramatic feel about it. It took place in a rotating theatre and covered all of the titles that Square-Enix presented at E3. Advent Children was the main highlight for me, but the Final Fantasy XII and Kingdom Hearts 2 trailers were also very impressive. The long registration queue. Although the sign said "express registration, the queue was the longest queue I had ever been in, and the wait time was well over an hour. If I attend in future years, I will be sure to get there very early! E3 is something that needs to be seen to be believed. Or seen to be correctly experienced. Writing up a report on a website hardly does the entire show justice. Thousands of gamers all in one place to see all of the latest games. Loud noises, lights, excitement everywhere you go. Wherever you walk, there is always something to see or something to play, depending on how you look at it. There were two main halls where everything was shown [and some smaller halls] with the South Hall being the main hall and was where all the real action was. The West hall was mainly taken up by Sony and Nintendo.