One of our diarists, Dave Amor, seems to have gone awol - it was bound to happen as the pressures of demo-ing all day and attending free booze parties important meetings at night began to mount up.
Today, I've put the surviving E3 chroniclers in a single post - first up is Tony Liviabella from SN Systems, the Bristol-based company that designed the key development tools for PSone, PS2 and PSP and is - I suspect - now working with DS and PS3. Below that, we've got David Braben, co-programmer of legendary space trading game, Elite, and founder of Frontier Developments.
Dave, where are you?
Tony Liviabella SN Systems (day one | day two)
"The day begins with another nightmare trek across the city. One and a half hours to do less than 15 miles isn't the best way to start your day. On arriving, I'm greeted by two fellas who haven't quite grasped the concept of portable gaming. Still, at least they look happy.
The government's cruellest Asbo community service order yet.
"So into the halls I venture, for another day of razzmatazz. I go in search of more unseen footage – West Hall is my destination where Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft, Activision and a whole host of other big guns are positioned.
"I head straight for EA at the front of the hall and enter their booth to see the biggest 360 screen I've ever seen. Running is a "next gen" demo with titles such as FIFA, Madden, Tiger Woods and Fight Night. They all impress big time but Fight Night takes the crown, if that's the future then get ready for some serious fun.
"Onto Microsoft, where demos of the 360 are on show and the crowd is also just as big. Rare's Kameo is running and it looks nice. The only downside I've ever experienced is that the noise and lights can distort the atmosphere of many games as it can be tough hearing effects and music, so judging a game solely on a play test at E3 can be a bit harsh. In saying that, some titles just jump out at you, oozing quality and fun the moment you pick up the controller.
"Before I know it, I realise I have to be back at the meeting room for another demo. This place is huge and getting from A to B can take time. On my way I think about getting some food - but I take one look and think otherwise.
A crowded, stuffy E3 food hall, serving toxic burgers and warm, flat soda to portly young men who haven't showered for three days. The very definition of glamour.
"I'm out here with Steve and Alex who are heading up our US office and the owners of SN Systems, Andy Beveridge and Martin Day. They're old school games programmers who set up SN back in the '80s, they still sit on the shop floor of SN with all the other developers coding away like they did back in the day.
"They love to code and it's a passion that's not exclusive just to the development team at SN but widespread in all the games developers I get to meet. We're all tired from the battering of visting South hall and glad to be back in the relative quietness of Kentia Hall as you can only take the noise for so long. As we head to our meeting room we pay homage to a Korean booth, I like the name and I like the idea.
Probably the best software company name in the world
"It's the Sony party tonight but I just don't have anything left to give. E3 can do that to you, if you let it.
"Tired and Weary."
David Braben Frontier Developments. (Day one | Day two).
Today (Thursday) was a good day for me - I finally managed to get a long enough "snatched" time to see some more of the show, and it was very interesting. On the EA stand was the most amazing giant cylindrical display, mounted above the heads of the visitors to their stand (I'm a sucker for technology). No joins were apparent - it was a coherent whole, displaying a single 360 degree high quality animated image, a render relating to their much touted Godfather game. I'd have thought the 360 degree nature of it all to be more something Microsoft would do, given the name of their newly conceived baby.
"Speaking of the Xbox 360, I also got to get more of a look at the titles touted for release on the machine. As I said in yesterday's piece, this is only really a graphical showcase, but I was astounded at the range of quality on show - and not astonishing in a "good" way.
"Quality ranged from impressive - the best on public show (at least that I saw) I think was id Software's Quake Wars, showing as video of in-game graphics on Activision's stand - to suprisingly poor.
"The worst I saw was EA's Need for Speed: Most Wanted. This astounded me because of the ways it was poor - framerate was low, pauses were evident, and the render and model quality, apart from what looked superficially like high dynamic range lighting effects, were not significantly different to what is already readily achievable on Xbox. To give them credit, it was a playable version; but the impression that was left was one of discredit.
"To finish on a positive note and after a good meal and some very nice wine at a meal hosted by a good friend of mine, Jacqui Lyons, before writing this piece, my impressions overall were pretty upbeat. We're in for a great rollercoaster ride with the opportunities these new machines offer, and despite the obvious hiccups that always seem to happen, I'm looking forward to it."
