The last entries from our three diarists, covering the final day of E3 2005. Dave Amor is back after going missing for the day on Thursday (and he has some interesting insights into EA's game development set-up), David Braben has a nightmare flight from LA and Tony is fed up about our captions for his Day Two photos. Sorry Tony!
Tony Liviabella SN Systems (day one | day two | day three)
The day starts badly as I read my blog from the day before and see the editors comments under one of the photos. Two emails from SN colleagues giving me grief confirm my thoughts and I have to explain that the captions under the photos are written by the editor and nothing to do with me. Believe me, "I've been as sweaty as the rest during this show", I proudly reply.
It's an impressive 55 minute journey in today and I'm thinking maybe our luck has changed. As we've got nearly an hour before the first meeting I offer to get some coffee from Starbucks, to get the blood flowing ready for the day. I should have seen it coming as I'm forced to queue for over 40 minutes just to get three lattes and a bottle of water. Fortunately, I have my DS in my bag and I play the GBA version of Advance Wars to kill the time. It's a title perfect for the handhelds and one of the best I've played. Finally, I get my drinks and head off to the meeting room. On my way back I'm greeted by a booth babe. Standards really have dropped this year.
Booth babes - by day three, the pressure often begins to show.
Today's been another day of meeting after meeting and I've no time for any 'playtime'. I mention in one of the meetings to EA how impressed I was with the next gen Fight Night demo, especially the final punch that crumples the boxer's face. They tell me it was created by the guy that did the Matrix and that he now works for them.
Finally, I get a break unlike poor Steve who's locked in the meeting room all day. As I walk around looking for the smallest queue to join, I'm reminded that the LA gang culture is never far away. Even at E3, you come "packin' a piece" if you want to make it through the halls.
Packing a piece - because you never know when you may need to fight for your place in the Legend of Zelda queue.
Three meetings follow with Ubisoft, Sony and Pandemic. Bang on 4pm, a trumpet is played over the speaker system to signal the end for another year. By 4.05pm, carpets are already being pulled up and the hall starts to feel cold and empty. E3 is over for another year and there's lots I didn't get to see and do. Tomorrow I head back home as I'm back to work in the Bristol office on Tuesday.
For my sins, I've treated myself to a shiny PSP. I couldn't wait any longer, Wipeout and Untold Legends will keep me occupied on the flight home. Luckily I have my trusty DS with me as well so I'm covered for the entire flight. So until next year, it's been tough but fun.
Tony "Thumbs of steel" Liviabella SN Systems
David Amor Relentless Software (day one | day two)
A late diary entry as yesterday was pretty busy.
As a friend pointed out to me yesterday, the show is about hype. With so many games on the show floor, to make your product noticed you really need to shout loudly. Without doubt, EA know how to shout loudly. Most of their booth this year is a semi-enclosed 360 degree cinema complete with vibrating floor, which plays incredible CGI videos of forthcoming products. It's more impressive than anything I've seen at Universal Studios or the Trocadero. There's not a piece of real gameplay footage in sight and they make no apologies about it. Pure unashamed hype.
Despite being a massive business, it's a pretty incestuous industry and a lot of what makes E3 interesting from a personal and business sense is running into old friends and acquaintances. After a deafening on the EA booth I ran into an old friend who emigrated to Canada and is now line manager for EA's FIFA franchise. Most of the work we're doing is on current generation systems, so it was interesting to hear his production experiences making FIFA next generation. He spoke of the 130 man team with sub-teams to do player heads, and then artists hired to do sweat maps to give characters realistic perspiration effects. It's clear that the step up in production from current generation to next generation is going to be a large one, at least if you're working on an EA product.
Thursday night is Sony party night, and fortunately our second party status with them means we can secure tickets. Sony know how to throw a party and have been setting the benchmark since they hired Pulp to play at their first PlayStation party in 1995. This year was no less impressive: coaches take party goers to Dodger's Stadium where supergroups play loudly, wrestlers wrestle and burlesque dancers entertain a crowd of thousands. A great night, but a night that is bound to cause a hangover the next morning. My head hurts.
David Braben Frontier Developerments (Day one | Day two | day three)
At last, the show is over and I'm sitting in Los Angeles airport, waiting to board the 8:50pm flight home in the sprawling, disorganised main Los Angeles airport. This is the worst part of the trip by far; on arriving, the queues for customs can last hours; in departures there are almost no facilities (and no WiFi, hence the lateness of this piece) - which seems a surprise given how big a city it serves.
Looking back at the show, obviously this one will be remembered for the launch of the big three new consoles - despite the fact that none of them were officially unveiled at the actual show itself – although there was really very little that wasn't already expected long beforehand. For me the surprise of the E3 2005 was the buzz about the PSP; I think this will do very well for Sony this Christmas, and frantic wireless battles (eg Ridge Racer) will be seen in bars and bus queues all over the country, like we were doing in our hotel bar only yesterday. I look forward to it!
PS. Our flight was delayed two hours by a passenger refusing to fly (a mother and son), meaning baggage had also to be removed. They had apparently become hysterical. Incredibly, they boarded the flight, but changed their minds as we taxied to the runway. The collective 'hate-rays' from the remaining passengers who had to endure the wait was palpable.
