By: Sarju Shah, GameSpot - Posted on June 18, 2009
E3 2009 came back in brute force: big crowds, big announcements, and a truckload of showstoppers. In no particular order, we've gathered up some of the more notable moments. Not all of them are games or products, or even great for that matter, but each one certainly was a spectacle unto itself.
The Beatles: Rock Band
Ringo Starr. Paul McCartney. Yoko Ono. We could probably stop right there. Anything with an introduction like that won't be forgotten. Just to make sure, Harmonix went one step further and re-created Abbey Road Studios on the show floor of E3. The Beatles came to E3 as rock stars and walked away as video game icons.
The man announced Metal Gear Solid Rising for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Sony's loss of exclusivity with this enormous franchise cannot be overstated. The game that moves consoles is now on two major consoles. In addition, Kojima Productions is also on the hook for Metal Gear: Peace Walker, a PSP-only title. If that weren't enough from the man, he's also there to help out on Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.
Splinter Cell is evolving. The series that usually has you skulking around in the dark ups the tempo in the latest title, Conviction. Almost like the Bionic Man, Sam Fisher will now be faster, have more-visceral moves, and be highly improvisational to the point of being able to dole out death by urinal.
Microsoft's Project Natal stunned audiences at E3 2009 with its accuracy and versatility. When Peter Molyneux makes a demo to show off Microsoft's motion controller, you know something big is up. It was almost unbelievable the way Molyneux's emo computer child, Milo, interacted with an actual person. The emotions conveyed by the character went beyond anything currently available, and the coup de grace occurred when the woman communicating with Milo literally handed him a drawing of a fish. In another demo that showed off Natal's capabilities, stage demonstrators painted a jungle scene onto the screen using various colors. The defining moment took place when two folks stepped onto the stage to form a sort of shadow-puppet elephant that was then imported into the digital painting.
In what was probably one of the oddest announcements of the show, Nintendo's new Vitality Sensor arrived and then disappeared just as quickly. One moment the president of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, was talking about expanding the gaming audience, and the next moment he was speaking about heartbeats with a shot his finger stuck in the Vitality Sensor as the backdrop. Then, just as quickly, the presentation shifted gears to Mario. The sneak peek left us with tons of questions, most of which remain unanswered.
A Metroid game is always a big deal. But this year Nintendo made it even bigger. The company handed the reins of the franchise, quite unexpectedly, to Team Ninja, the developers made famous by their work on the Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive franchises. From the game footage shown off at E3, it's clear that Metroid: Other M is going in a new direction that's likely to be well received.
By Sony's own acknowledgment, the PSP Go was the worst-kept gaming secret of E3 2009. As a result, its unveiling from Kaz Hirai's pocket brought about a less-than-enthusiastic response. With 16GB of storage space and a more pocketable form factor than the original PSP, the device looks great, but it's relatively clear that the public is somewhat disappointed with one key spec: the price point. On the bright side, Sony dropped the price of the PSP development kit by 80 percent, which should ease developer costs and bring even more games to the handheld.
Project Natal definitely set expectations for motion controllers at E3, but Sony's prototype motion controller also turned a few eyes. Like with Microsoft's motion controller, details such as pricing and availability were scarce as the entire demo was meant to show off how the technology works. Sony's new motion tracking technology basically functions by using cameras to track a controller with a lit bulb at the end of it. The real kicker is being able to dual-wield them to pull off combination movements, such as those necessary for a bow and arrow or a sword and shield.
James "I made Terminator, Aliens, and the Abyss" Cameron. The name inspires awe, and how can it not when you've attached crazed homicidal robots and aliens with acid for blood to it. When Ubisoft trotted out the acclaimed director to talk about Avatar the game, expectations were set. Popcorn and soda at the ready, we waited. And waited. Instead of a spectacle, we got a book reading, sans book. While the man gave a great description of Avatar, a video, a picture, or even a crudely drawn cat on a napkin would have been a nice accompaniment.
Scribblenauts stole the show at E3 2009. Oddly enough, it did so without the help of a big announcement, or even a mention at any of the major press conferences. Scribblenauts came out of left field, and more than a few editors were stunned. You play the game as a little boy trying to collect stars by any means necessary. Using the DS's stylus you can write just about anything into existence. If the star is in a tree, you can cut the tree down, get a ladder, or even sic a beaver on it. It sounds both crazy and impossible, and yet it works.
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