By Abe Babe

The third and final day of E3. Like they say, all things must come to an end. I managed to get a ticket for the Square-Enix presentation this time, and was actually in the final session for the entire show. At the end of the presentation, everyone gave an applause of appreciation, something that was not done in any of the previous sessions. MU: MU is a MMORPG that currently has millions of users in Asia and is now extending out into the US. Their booth had a couple of cool looking people dressed up as characters presenting an information session. They also gave out these really cool blow up beach balls! It is almost impossible for two characters in the game to be alike, as there are hundreds of items that you can equip your characters with in order for them to become unique.

Fable @ the Xbox Booth: I'm not sure why, but I forgot all about this game. I had heard good things about it, but didn't remember to check it out myself, until some friends I met up with said they wanted to see it. So unfortunately I didn't get to play the demo, but I stood watching some other people playing it. It appeared to be a hack and slash RPG game with a lot of exploration, awesome graphics and interesting characters.

History of Video Games Exhibit: This bought back a lot of memories! Old consoles like the original Nintendo, Atari and more. Old arcade machines with space invaders and even a set up of the game that started it all, Pong. As I am someone who was a gamer from an early age, there was a lot of games that I knew and loved as a kid. I couldn't resist the temptation to have a go at the original Mario Bros. that was set up in one of the areas there! Ah, those where the days, when game play was basic and graphics were even more basic! This is really a message for all of the Halo fans that are on Oddworld Forums [as I know there are many of you]. Unfortunately according to the official E3 directory that was given out, Bungie were not listed as part of the exhibitors. So I cannot report anyting back on Halo 2 for you all. Take a guess. Yep, you got it, the Square-Enix presentation. Again! I just can't get enough of that Advent Children trailer, not to mention that larger than life Sephiroth that is projected on the wall! ;) That it all had to end. It has been an exciting few days, and it's one of those things that you just wish didn't have to end. You never want something like this to end. But there is always next year to look forward to. Day 3 was a more relaxed day for me than the previous days. I played a few more demos than I had on previous days, and I just walked around making sure that I hadn't missed anything. I happened to score a lot of free magazines for some reason today. Freebies are one of the great things about E3, and if you don't want them yourself, you can always sell them on eBay!. However, E3 itself appeared to be the busiest today. The queues were much longer and there just generally appeared to be more people around. As I have said in my first E3 report, E3 was bigger than I ever thought it would be. I went over expecting something large, but not this large! When they say that E3 is the biggest gaming show in the world, they are not wrong.

But E3 has also left me with something else, a desire to work in the gaming industry. Although I am currently trying to start up my own web design business, there is a part of me that would love to be involved in this exciting industry. I will have to see what happens when I get home and think things over. But for now, I have my memories, my photos, my reports and my ... 4 bags full of goodies! Hopefully I will be able to return again next year. And hopefully next year, we will be able to see Oddworld there, that is if Oddworld 4 hasn't been released by then.