The Digital Pulse 07.16.07: The Best of E3 2007

Posted by Joshua Richey on 07.16.2007

Crap, I guess we all have to buy PS3's now.




What a difference a year can make.

This time last year, Nintendo showed off their Wii and everyone instantly fell in love with it. That's where the Wii buzz started. It was at last year's show that the Wii began that momentum that it's just now beginning to lose. It was also at last year's E3 that people began to see that Sony's launch of the PS3 was going to be more than a little rough. Last year, Sony really dropped the ball as far as getting people excited for their new system. On top of all that, a lot of the games that Sony had been hyping were no shows. That was obviously a sneak preview of how the next year was going to play out. Nintendo's Wii is still hard to find on a store shelf. It doesn't have many quality games for it, but it doesn't seem to stop people from purchasing them. Meanwhile, Sony has been forced to drop the price of both the PSP and the PS3 – though they won't come right out and call it a price drop.

It was also at that same time that it first appeared that Microsoft was the future of gaming. It was an honor that they had won by virtually default. Now, for the first time, Microsoft was on top of the Gaming Mountain; which also translated into a very good year of sales for them throughout the year.

Flash forward one year, and things just got real interesting.

Nintendo

Nintendo's show did nothing but continue to separate Nintendo from its hardcore gaming audience. Nintendo fanboys usually go ape shit over the littlest things. They'll bow before games like Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart. But this year, Nintendo really needed to show them something. They needed to show that they're not completely abandoning those people that have stuck with them for oh so long. They didn't. Gamers wanted to see some actual games that took advantage of the Wii's capabilities. What they got was Wii Fit. Sure the mainstream press is going to eat that up – as will casual gamer, but hardcore Nintendo nerds are going to be left disappointed. It appears that the Wii is going to be nothing but gimmicks and filler games with a few quality games spread out…just like Nintendo has seemingly always done.

Sony

Not only did Sony put on a good show, but they put on a GREAT show! How great was it? Well I anticipate buying a PS3 in the next few months. I'd say that's something.

Sony did everything they could to repair their relationship with gamers. One of the biggest criticisms against Sony was that they were always far too arrogant. You would never know that judging by their presentation at this year's E3. Everyone that spoke was very casual, very humble, and very likable. They announced a price drop on their 60 GB PS3; they showed off some of the great features that will be available in the Playstation Network; and they showed off some games that I would give a testicle to play. They knocked one out of the park, and they really, really needed to do that this year. I couldn't help but to be impressed with how none of the Sony execs were pressing the panic button. Their launch of the PS3 has been horrible. I don't even have to tell you people that…you know. But it looks like Sony has managed to survive that and that they're now circling the wagons to get back on track.

Microsoft

This year's E3 was the first time where Microsoft was the ‘head honcho'. You could tell that Microsoft was enjoying every moment of it. There was a swagger, a bounce in their step. Microsoft put on a decent show. They played it safe and went with a stance where they only showed the games that were going to be released this year. (With the exception of Resident Evil 5) I'm not going to blast them for taking that stance. They've got an impressive lineup planned for this year with games like Halo, Mass Effect, Grand Theft Auto, and Bioshock. But my only complaint was that this was Microsoft opportunity to really show that they are the future of gaming. They could have closed the door on Sony…but they didn't. Instead, Sony put on an excellent show and now the console wars are back. Better than ever.

Top 15 Games of E3 (According to me)

So the following are the 15 games that I am the most excited about now that E3 has come and gone. This was originally going to be a Top 10 list, but with the amount of games coming out this year, I couldn't limit them to 10. Hell, I had a hard time limiting it to just 15. Looking back over the list now, I can't believe that I didn't include Ratchet and Clank, Mass Effect, Kane and Lynch, or even Rock Band. But that's how impressive the games at E3 were. Good enough to put those notable games on the back burner.

Honorable Mention: Star Wars: Force Unleashed

I don't think that I've played a Star Wars game since Shadows of the Empire back on the Nintendo 64. But if I'm ever going to play another one, it'll probably be Force Unleashed. It's hard to tell, looking at the trailer, what's gameplay and what isn't; but it's the idea that has caught my attention. You appear to play Darth Vader's apprentice who just goes around tearing the world apart with the Force. Now, of course, the story will probably take a turn because a lot of the destruction that the main character is causing is at the Empires expense. But it looks like a game that'll finally allow you to do justice to the Force, and I can't wait. Plus, the guy single handily took down a Star Destroyer… did you see that?!?!



Honorable Mention: Crysis

Crysis looks unbelievable. However, the reason that it is only an honorable mention on this list is because it would require an advanced PC just to do it any justice. Here's to hoping that the game will get released onto a console.



No. 15:Resident Evil 5

Kind of sucks that the only new media that we got from E3 2007 – in regards to Resident Evil 5 – was half of a trailer. That's why it's at number 15. Apparently the full trailer will be available for download sometime within the next 2 weeks. But although Resident Evil 5 didn't make much of an appearance at E3 – that doesn't mean it didn't make an impact. RE5 was announced and shown at both Sony and Microsoft's conferences. The game won't be released until 2008, but by looking at the trailer…it's going to be well worth the wait. The games setting takes place in Africa this time, with some more of those angry villager types that we seen in Resident Evil 4.



No. 14:Bioshock

Bioshock has probably taken the largest hit in anticipation with me than any game might ever have before. 3-4 months ago, I was looking forward to Bioshock more than I was looking forward to Halo and even Grand Theft Auto. Now, I just have a hard time getting as excited about it. I don't know what it is. I still can't wait to play it, but it's just that I've seen so much of this game in the form of demo's, walkthroughs, and screenshots, and I'm just getting too used to all of the cool elements that it brings to the table.



No. 13:Madden 2008

I've not played a good Madden football games since… oh, never. The series has been especially bad on the 360. But now it looks like EA has finally got their heads out of their asses. I've never been able to draw the strength to get excited for a Madden game; that was until Madden 2008. The games looks better, has better features, and runs smoothly. Unfortunately I think that that dumbass radio announcer is still in the game.



No. 12:Assassin's Creed

Assassin's Creed was one of the more controversial games that were shown at E3. A live demo of the game was shown Tuesday night during the Microsoft Conference. During that live demo, the game looked buggy and appeared to lag. Some fans were concerned about these ‘bugs' being that the game is scheduled to be released in a few months. But Jade Raymond, the games producer, says that the game was a rough build and that most of those problems have already been fixed. Because she is so hot, I'm inclined to believe her.




No. 11:Blacksite: Area 51

This is a game that not a whole lot of people are talking about. Granted, there are lots of awesome games coming out now, and it may just be getting lost in the shuffle. But it's a game that I'm really looking forward to. In this game, you'll play a soldier that upon returning from Iraq has to deal with a horde of alien nasties.



No. 10:Haze

I couldn't help but notice that every time that Sony would brag about Haze – a FPS from Ubisoft – being exclusive to the PS3, the words ‘this year' were used in the same sentence. Which hints that maybe it'll be available on the 360 in 2008. Either way, it's a beautiful game that is coming from a studio with an awesome track record. I love the plane sequence that's about ¾'s the way into it.




No. 9:Left 4 Dead

Here we have a game that I wasn't all that excited about until E3. It's a zombie game, but it features those new-age zombies that we seen in movies like Dawn of the Dead and 28 Days Later. These guys aren't slow-pokes. No, they run at blazing fast speeds. And holy shit, look at how many there are!



No. 8:Little Big Planet

I'm usually more of an action game guy, as you can tell by this list that I've composited. I'm not big on MMO's, RPG's, or puzzle games. With that said, I find Little Big Planet to be simply an incredible idea. On the surface it just looks like a bunch of cute little animals running around these detailed environments. But there is actually a lot more to it than that. This game has got so much potential that I'm not even sure the games developers know what they've got.



No. 7:Uncharted: Drakes Fortune

This is one of those games that really shows of what the PS3 is capable of. It's a beautiful game, with thousand of life-like animations. It comes to us from Naughty Dog and it's a very big reason for why I plan on buying a Playstation 3, as the game is an exclusive to them.



No. 6:Turok

Besides Goldeneye, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter was probably my favorite game for the original Nintendo 64. I'm talking about the original Turok…because lord knows that the sequels sucked something awful. Thankfully the license is in someone else's hands this time around. The game looks great; it's got some of the best environments that I've ever seen, and any game that allows you to stab a dinosaur in the head is a must-have in my book.



No. 5:Grand Theft Auto IV

There was only a small morsel of GTA on display at this year's E3. Rockstar wouldn't allow anyone to take pictures or video of anything that they were shown, but we're told that actual gameplay was shown. While GTA didn't make much of an appearance, it has still got to be one of the most anticipated releases ever.



No. 4:Killzone 2

HOLY SHIT! Two years ago, we were shown a Killzone 2 trailer that was obviously nothing but CGI work to get people excited. The game didn't even make an appearance at last year's show. Then, BOOM, we get this. I'm still a bit skeptical of what we were shown, but Killzone 2 has the potential to do for the PS3 what Halo did for the original Xbox.



No. 3: Metal Gear Solid 4

Everyone kept expecting MGS4 to be announced for the 360 at E3, but the only earth-shattering announcement that was made was the sad news that MGS4 will be the last game in the series, and that Hideo Kojima will not he at the healm for any other MGS game. We got an awesome trailer from the fine folks at Konami. The trailer had the first voice recordings from David Hayter and the other MGS cast. The fight scene that you see between Raiden and Vamp looks incredible. MGS4 will be released in 2008, and exclusively for the PS3.



No. 2:Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat

Infinity Ward has followed up their best selling Call of Duty 2 with an even more impressive title, Call of Duty 4. Modern Combat plays really smoothly; and the sheer amount of chaos that is on screen at any given time gives me goosebumps. Can't wait!



No.1:Halo 3

First off, let me say that I feel that Microsoft completely botched Halo 3 at this year's E3 showing. Microsoft's conference started off with a few fans from Illinois playing the Halo theme song – which was awesome. Microsoft later showed off a ‘short' that had been directed by Neil Blompkamp – the man that was suppose to direct the live-action Halo movie. It was also awesome. Then when it came time to show Halo 3 off, all we got was a shitty montage of clips that were going by so fast that we couldn't even tell what was happening. It would have been a lot nicer for someone from Bungie to maybe play some of the game, or something like that. Halo 3 was hyped up to be a very big deal by Microsoft, but then they treated it like just another game when it was shown.

However, with that said, the montage featured our first real look at what the single player campaign would look like. And oh my, it looked good. I'd like to send a nice big ‘fuck you' to all those people that complained about the betas graphics. What we seen on Tuesday night was beautiful and truly next-gen looking. Despite Microsoft's mishandling of the game, I'm still completely excited about it. I'm ready to finish the fight.



Oh, and here is Neil Blompcamp's awesome Halo 3 short. (Someone give this man 175 million dollars to make this movie already)



So there we have it. E3 2007 was a lot different than E3's of previous years. Gone is the crowds, the booth babes, and the glitz... but I also can't help but feel that some of that legacy of E3 is gone as well. E3 was the gaming industry's big show... and I feel that this industry needs that. Oh well, the booth babes might have been gone, but the games were not. And E3 2007 featured some of the best games that you'll ever see.