E3 2008: Show floor show-and-tell

  • By Polybren, GameSpot
  • Posted Jul 17, 2008 7:18 pm PT

E3 2008 moved back to the Los Angeles Convention Center from Santa Monica this year, and it apparently brought the Barker Hangar show floor with it. As with last year's convention, show management imposed guidelines on participating publishers' displays. Each company's "booth" consisted of a...

E3 2008 moved back to the Los Angeles Convention Center from Santa Monica this year, and it apparently brought the Barker Hangar show floor with it.


As with last year's convention, show management imposed guidelines on participating publishers' displays. Each company's "booth" consisted of a handful of identical kiosks with simple signs and plain logo banners hanging overhead, and no publisher was allowed more than 20 feet by 20 feet of floor space.

Where last year's cavernous airplane hangar setting made the show floor seem emptier than it actually was, this year's exhibit space is set in the LACC's significantly cozier Concourse Hall. The room is made to appear even smaller by a series of partitions walling off about one-third of the show's participants into a narrow (and easily missed) corridor at the back of the hall.


Even so, the show floor wasn't exactly crowded. There was very little waiting to play most of the games, and attendees generally had room to try out even the most energy-intensive of Wii games without fear of accidentally pummeling their fellow show-goers.

The first thing visitors saw upon entering the hall was Nintendo's booth, where gamers could go hands-on with Wii Music, Wii Sports Resort, and Animal Crossing: City Folk. While the focus of both Nintendo and the visitors to its booth was on that trio, a handful of DS games were also on display, including Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir, Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia, and Rhythm Heaven.


Just to the left of the entrance, Sony likewise showed off some of its biggest games. Resistance 2, Killzone 2, and LittleBigPlanet were all playable, as were MotorStorm: Pacific Rift and the downloadable offering Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty. Rounding out the big three, Microsoft let gamers go hands-on with a few of its featured titles, including Fable II, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, and Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2. However, Gears of War 2 was noticeably absent, and the Xbox Live dashboard update and avatar system were only present in video form.


The biggest Xbox 360 game of the show--the just-announced Final Fantasy XIII--was also nowhere to be found. The game wasn't at Square Enix's booth in any form either, although the role-playing game publisher did have playable versions of the upcoming Infinite Undiscovery for Xbox 360. RPG fans on the go could also check out DS remakes of Dragon Quest IV, Final Fantasy IV, and Chrono Trigger.

From the rest of the publishers, there were a few eyebrow-raising offerings. Akella had an early playable build of Postal III (complete with "badger saw" weapon), EA had Crytek's Crysis: Warhead and Pandemic's Lord of the Rings: Conquest out to try, and Sega showcased Gas Powered Games' Space Siege.


Even with limited exhibit sizes, many exhibitors left kiosk space empty. While most major publishers opted for the full-size booths, a handful of big names like Capcom, Square Enix, and Take-Two Interactive were content with significantly smaller parcels of the floor.

For more from the show floor, check out GameSpot's extensive E3 coverage.

47 Comments

  • SalFlame

    Posted Oct 9, 2009 10:48 pm PT

    @rob123911

    It's just you. The 360 has just as many if not more exclusives than the PS3. Why can't everyone like you just admit that they're both great systems and they both have great games.

  • holypro

    Posted Aug 8, 2009 7:34 am PT

    this game is gonna rock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it will probaly get poor scores like 6 maby 7 but i will like it

  • game_buddy64

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 7:34 pm PT

    god i cant wait for this game 2 more mouths tell it comes out ppl xbox rocks plase add me if ur a fan off xbox or whatever game plz think you!!!

  • TACOMAN9000

    Posted Aug 11, 2008 12:50 am PT

    oh yea i forgot WII is for 8 yr old kids and as we ALL say on halo "if your under eight then DIE!!!!"

    i h8 lil kids

  • TACOMAN9000

    Posted Aug 11, 2008 12:49 am PT

    vmfstorm EVER heard of the red ring of death look it up then you'll realise 360 doesn't do THAT MUCH BETTER i mean 360 is good and all but sony waited sorted out problems and sold it at the right time 360 came too early

  • callofdutyfreak

    Posted Jul 30, 2008 6:32 am PT

    Its kind of telling that Wii has sold almost twice as much as either PS3 or 360, Something around 21mill. most people just don't want to dish out $500+ for a decent start for one of the HD systems. And be honest people, the games up till now have been sub-par. Come on Sony what are you thinking?

  • blackangel2008

    Posted Jul 29, 2008 6:21 am PT

    How I see it is:

    The 360 and the PS3 are BOTH good systems...
    I grew up on PlayStation and I HATED the first X-box (no offense, I think it was the controller), but I got a 360 for my 21 B-day and I have to say that it is definitely one of the best systems ever made, NOW before anyone jumps guns on me...

    The PS3 seems to remake a bunch of older games and therefore has a smaller amount of games VS the 360 ( I could be wrong, I don't track the PS3), but system wise, it's too much...

    The graphics are great sure but the system is so advanced that it doesn't meet its potential, basically; game programmers aren't taking advantage of the systems full potential, therefore it is slowly falling behind the 360...

    I used to be a die-hard PS fan and now kinda fall for the 360 more, I still like both systems, play both systems, and buy games for BOTH systems...

    I'm not bad mouthing either system, I just stating a personal opinion, and opinions are like @#!holes everyone has one(granted some people just take a crap from their throat).... EDIT: And Yes I do agree E3 just isn't the same as it used to be
    Still pretty cool though

  • twmilli

    Posted Jul 28, 2008 1:36 pm PT

    nintendo owns all, animal crossing should be great

  • bcviper

    Posted Jul 26, 2008 7:56 am PT

    @vmfstorm

    congrats u just posted the most ignorant fanboy biast comment of all time and i award you with the medal of stupidity

  • Djinnator

    Posted Jul 24, 2008 2:15 pm PT

    Was that Alex Navarro in the 3rd picture playing rock band?

  • Vasot

    Posted Jul 24, 2008 1:15 pm PT

    OMG
    Hey vmfstorm1

    Some PS3 fans put you two thumbs down and did not liked your comment

    Hahaha the truth hurts for PS3 little boys as it seems

  • Fat__matt

    Posted Jul 23, 2008 8:11 am PT

    dark bit harsh he only arsked bt i totally agree lol ad rob as 4 'sony has loads' really?? i dn't seem to remember more than 1 or 2 half decent exclusives lol

  • vmfstorm1 posted Jul 22, 2008 10:38 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    vmfstorm1

    Posted Jul 22, 2008 10:38 pm PT (hide)

    the 360's unit sales do so well year after year they don't really need any exclusive content, that and since PC's and 360 are both MS platforms titles are usually released on both, developers throw in the ps3 just because they feel bad that it has sold an infinitesimally small fraction of the units the 360 has.

  • dark51

    Posted Jul 22, 2008 8:54 pm PT

    ROB123911... WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! MS HAS LOADS OF GAMES TOO, TAKE fABLE 2 FOR EXAMPLE, BEAT THAT YOU SONY LOVING NOOB! LOL I HAD CAPS LOCK ON, BUT I DON'T WANT TO RETYPE THIS.

  • mario_fanatic59

    Posted Jul 22, 2008 1:21 pm PT

    i love the series

  • xialon

    Posted Jul 21, 2008 9:35 pm PT

    Game looks okay. I don't expect anything amazing from this game, though it will be fun like the Battlefront series.

  • tyzwain

    Posted Jul 21, 2008 1:34 pm PT

    Nice E3 looks plentiful, but its probably the better photos they've used.

  • Hungry_bunny

    Posted Jul 21, 2008 11:20 am PT

    I remember the days when e3 floor pics made me as excited as a puppy during dinner time... it's cool to see Alex Navarro on a GS page again though

  • VXCOM

    Posted Jul 21, 2008 5:03 am PT

    wow...its look like not alot of people goes to E3 nowdays huh....since they like the old ones.........but its still a great E3 im with *akiwak* in this...
    like WizengamotX says "is a much smaller scale that makes the market look very empty"-.......its still an awesome place to be and enjoy...
    no booth babes????.........o,o"

  • leofiregod

    Posted Jul 20, 2008 6:33 pm PT

    bring back the booth babes!

  • CVM_123

    Posted Jul 20, 2008 7:38 am PT

    this year e3 was cool but not awesome

  • ognen

    Posted Jul 20, 2008 6:36 am PT

    I miss the old E3...

  • GeckoOne

    Posted Jul 19, 2008 5:49 pm PT

    You realize that unless you are in the industry or the press, you aren't going to E3. It isn't open to the general public anymore (which is why it sucks so much ass now.) Diahrrea in the lungs suckage.

  • zombieman666

    Posted Jul 19, 2008 1:57 pm PT

    Tell me more

  • necronaux

    Posted Jul 19, 2008 8:38 am PT

    Too bad it was in Cali again. I'd like to see them change venues each year (NY, Boston, etc.). Add another "E" and bring it East Coast.

  • AranJatt

    Posted Jul 19, 2008 7:45 am PT

    e3 was ok

  • tawagivercetti

    Posted Jul 19, 2008 4:39 am PT

    2008 e3 score 6/10

  • Donnyp

    Posted Jul 18, 2008 3:02 pm PT

    Halo Wars looks like crap. Basically C & C but as Halo Chars.

  • level3mikes

    Posted Jul 18, 2008 2:15 pm PT

    even though i missed the old e3's this one did kinda suck the only thing good was fable 2 not enough RPGs this year

  • K-Grogg

    Posted Jul 18, 2008 1:44 pm PT

    Yeah, this E3 wasn't exactly amazing, nothing new announced that's for sure.

  • Fyre8892

    Posted Jul 18, 2008 1:30 pm PT

    MS seems to be holding a lot of their major titles back. Major 360 titles like Gears 2 and Halo Wars were almost nowhere to be seen at E3. I'd bet they have something up their sleeve for further down the road.

  • Macgyver40

    Posted Jul 18, 2008 11:01 am PT

    I miss the old e3's

  • lightwarrior179

    Posted Jul 18, 2008 10:39 am PT

    The press conferences were rather mediocre,but the actual later part of E3 was good enough. Too bad,there was no Gears 2 on play.

  • akiwak

    Posted Jul 18, 2008 10:35 am PT

    I think it is better this way because they are spending less money on the glitz and glamour and more on the actual developing of the games. Might only be temporary with the surge in sales of all consoles. More people are becoming gamers.
    Maybe not next year either but I could see E3 2010 being another HUGE event.

  • Sonicplys

    Posted Jul 18, 2008 10:23 am PT

    Come back old E3!

  • KillerFPS

    Posted Jul 18, 2008 10:11 am PT

    Doesn't matter what they do from now on, E3 will never be the same without the glitz and the circus from E3 2006 and prior. It was just a much more exciting 3 days than it is now. These days, I look foreward to the E3 press conferences and past that I stop caring.

  • killzone_gamer

    Posted Jul 18, 2008 10:01 am PT

    E3 seemed to be pretty cool this year. I'd like to go sometime, shame i live in a different country really

  • TehFuneral

    Posted Jul 18, 2008 9:53 am PT

    I think E3 was really awesome this year.

  • Mozillo

    Posted Jul 18, 2008 8:31 am PT

    I thought E3 this year was quite good... Lots of good games. Sure most of the info was already known but at least we got to see some more gameplay.

  • -mostwanted

    Posted Jul 18, 2008 5:44 am PT

    E308 wasn't that bad I mean I knew about mosts of the games that were coming out anyways.

  • football_legend

    Posted Jul 18, 2008 3:19 am PT

    This E3 was overall, extremely poor.

  • combatsoldier

    Posted Jul 18, 2008 1:29 am PT

    Well I thought this E3 was better then the past three years. However the old E3 was by far the best. Oh E3 Where art thou E3.

  • TXMostWanted

    Posted Jul 17, 2008 11:15 pm PT

    E308 = Lackluster. OH well, if it was between this and TGS, I'd rather go to the latter since I can't afford to come to the badAss States :-(

  • WizengamotX

    Posted Jul 17, 2008 10:21 pm PT

    This E3, while amazing in every respect, is a much smaller scale that makes the market look very empty. I'd like to remind you all that there are dozens of other quality games pending 2008 release! Keep your eyes open, and keep watching!

  • jakeboudville

    Posted Jul 17, 2008 8:39 pm PT

    indeed..all the e3 now will not be the same as the old ones

  • Tamer_kai

    Posted Jul 17, 2008 7:41 pm PT

    Oh how I miss the old E3

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