The Digital Life Expo 2007: 10.03.07
Posted by Vincent Chiucchi on 10.03.2007
I went to the DL Expo to check out some new games and score free swag. Pictures and videos galore!
Usually this would be the day where I point out the worst of video games for The Hall of Shame, but this week the hall will be closed as I talk about something that isn't shameful: The Digital Life Expo.
But before we get to that, here's some feedback from last week's column on the SpikeTV Video Game Awards from Chris Allen:
After reading your article on the SpikeTV video game awards. I couldn't help the feeling that came over me....ANGER. Lot's of it. As a 21 year old gamer, who goes to school, has a job, and still makes it to the bar on weekends to have fun with my friends(yes, gamers have friends), hearing these "entertainers" comments on what it is to be a gamer really set me off. Because I play Oblivion frequently, I have to kill my self? Because I beat almost every Zelda game, I've never gotten laid? I'm a loser for enjoying a severly underrated medium of entertainment? Who the fuck do these people think they are, and what in the hell was (is-seeing how these so called award shows are still annual) SpikeTV thinking by having a show for gamers...that shit on gamers? Apparently, I'm missing the humor.
I'm glad you pointed this out. Not much I can really do, but it frustrates me that when you consider yourself a gamer, whether casual, hardcore or otherwise, you're automatically labeled as a loser with no life or friends. Granted, some members of the gaming community take things a bit to far, but as far as I know, that's with almost everything. What's the saying...Everything in moderation? Jenna Jameson calling us virgins now? Well, safe to say, I think I have a label for her....Slut. Or Sarah Silverman saying go kill ourselves? I'm sorry, am I supposed to be unoffended by that? As my father would say, "Is this bitch serious?". I'm honestly surprised the show hasn't drawn alot of heat by some of these derogatory remarks towards gamers...
Oh wait, I forgot, no one watches the show.
Well, my point is, I feel you on this, and agree 100% that the SpkeTV game awards has a solid place on the Hall of Shame. I consider myself a pretty laid back guy, but this one really pushed my buttons. I'm damn proud to be a gamer. The negative views people have on them, I just brush off. Let's face it, games are taking over. They're becoming bigger than movies, and the worlds are becoming just as detailed, if not much so more, than even books. Where else can I take the fantasy of fiction to new levels by actually becoming the main character? Where else can I be placed in a fictional world that I can fully interact with? Where the fuck else can I have a bad day, and vent by mowing down hundreds of people in frustration without having real-life consequences? No, now where else I can think of.
Gaming is underrated, and sooner or later, people are gonna look back, and wonder why they're so behind the curve on a medium that will, one day, find it's rightful place at the top of the entertainment field. Already, video-games are used by a number of professions. Classes teaching young students math through computor math games. Pilots learning to fly by playing real-time flight simulators. There are so many examples one could point out, it's almost surprising that educational games aren't a requisite for certain classes or subjects.
Anyways, just thought you should know the article really hit home some of the unfair negative views our society has placed on video-games. I can only hope that, in time, those views will be forced to change, when the younger generation of gamers get older, who are more used to game consoles being around since birth. A generation that is accustomed to going home after school and turning on the Xbox after school work is done. That's not to discourage other healthy activities, which apparently, many people think all gamers neglect. But, if I had to choose, I would think a choice between a teenager staying home at night to play the new 360 game, or going out with friends to drink and get high, is a pretty easy choice. One day, gamers will get the respect we deserve. And when that happens, we'll laugh at the former haters coming out of the woodworks saying "Oh yea, I played video-games all the time". Until then, we can only bide our time, and continue to enjoy what it so sadly underappreciated.
Thanks for the feedback Chris.
THE DIGITAL LIFE EXPO
The Digital Life Expo is a consumer electronics convention where companies show off the latest in video gaming, computer software and hardware, and home entertainment systems. Naturally I was there for one sole reason: new games. Unfortunately this year, there wasn't a lot of news games to check out. The games available to play were basically released already, so there was very few to really report about. Nonetheless, here are the new games that was shown off at the expo:
GUITAR HERO III
This quickly became one of the most popular things to do at Digital Life and was the one thing I really wanted to do above all else. There was a whole section for people to play the latest Guitar Hero game on the Xbox 360, and the place was crowded all the freaking time. That guitar on the Xbox 360 felt a lot different then the guitar for the PS2, and I gotta say I liked the PS2 one better, but that's likely because I've been used to it. I don't like how they changed the look of the star power from the guage to the lightbulbs, but besides that the graphics looked awesome. GH3 looks to be as great as the previous games even with the change of developers, so unless you don't like the songs of choice, you won't be disappointed.
The most interesting thing I've learned at the expo that I don't think was covered before was "Battle Mode." In this mode when two players face off against each other, the star power is replaced with power ups that screw your opponent up. "Lefty Flip" for example will reverse the position of the notes so you have to play like you were holding the guitar left handed. I'm not sure if there was a "Righty Flip" but I'm assuming there is for the people who are already left handed. "Whammy" disables you from playing any notes until you hit the whammy bar a lot of times. There was also one where the difficulty of your song gets raised one level higher (unless you're playing on Expert) and one where the ntoes keep disappearing and reappearing on you. A representive also said there would be one where one of the strings/notes gets cut off and you have to whammy that back as well.
THE EYE OF JUDGMENT
As someone who has played CCGs, this was awesome to play. If you've ever played Magic, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, or something similar, you should be able to understand this game pretty quickly. In order to win you have to control 5 of the squares on the board. Monsters are summoned through paying mana, they attack in the direction they face, and depending on what their type is, they can get a field advantage/disadvantage. For example, playing a Fire creature on a Fire field gives them +2 health, but putting a Water creature on a Fire field gives them -2 health. It also works vice versa and with Wood to Earth monsters. Monsters with the grey symbol (I forgot what it was called) are neutral. The really powerful monsters are limited to where they can be summoned until a certain amount of turns pass.
Playing a game against someone else took me about 20 minutes (half the time was asking what to do and such), and I was actually able to win it! That really made my day. They were also handing out free promo cards, so I already has an incentive to get this game. The CCG is being done by Wizards of the Coast, so it's bound to be pretty good, especially since you don't neccesarily need to buy the video game in order to play the CCG.
Here's a video of two people going up against each other:
Out of all the games at the show, I'd have to say this was the "Game of the Show." A lot of people were having fun with this game and the line was HUGE when people wanted to play for the free T-Shirts. My brother played the beta months ago and he absolutely loved it. So eventually I gave a shot, and even though I wouldn't consider it the greatest game in the world like my brother was almost doing, it was pretty fun. The driving is done with the arrow keys, Shift does a tight drift, and ctrl sends out the weapons. One of the weapons I found both good and bad was a magnet that makes you attracted to another player. That sounds good in theory, but once you pass that player it starts slowing you down. It was pretty hard to win at any of the races considering the people playing were you and the people who made this game at their California offices.
On a sidenote, a lot of people were asking me where to get the bag with the Kart Rider mascot on it. A lot of them also kept saying that the mascot looked like either Mega Man or Bomberman.
Yesterday Nexon released the open beta version of the game, so head on over to the site and start playing.
MOBILE OR NO MOBILE
Toshiba once again brought back Mobile or No Mobile and once again it was one of the most popular booths to go to. This is a spoof of "Deal or No Deal" where a random contestant selects a case, and they can either take a prize given to them (ranging from a backpack to a media player) or go for the case. The best prize was a laptop that I saw about 2 or 3 people win. They also threw a bunch of hats into the crowd. From the look and attitude of the host to the lovely looking ladies, this was a spot-on replication of the game show
Here's a video of what Mobile or No Mobile was like:
Pac-Man lollipop given away at the Namco booth. I think it was blueberry.
My new Pac-Man T-Shirt. I feel ashamed in that I forgot who's who.
My 7-Day free trial disc for LotR online. I played the demo but didn't really get to do anything. I hope the free trial doesn't become as boring.
Right next to the Guitar Hero area they had real guitars set up for you to play.
Pool table at the Namco booth, promoting their pool game for cell phones.
Pac-Man cell phone booth.
R2-D2 moving webcam.
Digitaltips.org bag I got as swag. Came in handy for carrying all the other swag I would get.
This is a program called "Memory Mixer" where you can make digital scrapbooks. I tried it out by doing some pluggin.
More "Eye of Judgment" pics.
Water costs three dollars and fifty fucking cents. I'm so glad I brought my own drink.
This is me wearing "Head play", a thing you wrap around your head and watch TV or a movie or something like that in 3D. All I saw was a trailer for The Nightmare Before Christmas.
This thing kept flying around the convention. Cool to look at.
Random Lara Croft cosplayer.
The day ended with a perfect rainbow, but it pissed me off because it was raining on what looked like a sunny day, so just before I left I buy an umbrella and get out there, only for it to stop raining. Oh well, at least I didn't waste the money on a bottle of water.
OTHER NOTES OF DIGITAL LIFE
-The Global Gaming League was back holding some tournaments, and I wound up catching the finals of Guitar Hero III. Those guys made Expert mode seem like nothing, and as for someone who can play about three songs on that difficulty, I found that very impressive. I have the video of it but didn't upload it yet, so be sure to catch that in my news report.
-Other swag I got: Free trial of Nero and a yo-yo, stress ball brain from Wizards of the Coast, pins and patches from WotC, LotR temp tattoo (which sucked), bunch of HP pens, ESPN Classic pins, Magaic the Gathering Mousepad, PC-cillin Internet Security 2007 (not sure if it's a free trial or not), an issue of PC Magazine, Windows Vista playing cards, Geek Squad flashlight, and another flashlight from Ooma. Despite all that however, the fact my brother was able to get not one, but TWO free T-shirts makes me think he got the better stash.
-I came across a product called the "Neuros OSD" where you can record from all kinds of media, from DVDs to PSPs to Home Videos to YouTube. It costs about $270 so I'm going to have to save my money for a LOOOOONG time before I get my hands on one. Looked awesome.
-A friend of mine who also attended got a video of a 7-year-old competing in a DDR tournament and doing good on songs with a 9-step difficulty! I'm lucky if I can even do a 6-step song. I hope to get a copy of that video soon.
-Lots and lots of people really like funnel cake.
-At the kids section there was this toy from Hasbro where you and others hook up your MP3 players and play some sort of trivia game that has to do with your playlists. For example, you'd have to find a song that contains the word "blue" or something. I never got around to playing it or finding out what it was called, but it was cool.
-Played some Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection at the gaming pavilion. Tekken is really not my kind of fighting game.
And so the expo is done, and next week the Hall of Shame will be back openned for more in the worst of video games.
