E3: The Morning After

It ended as quickly as it began. But looking back on it now, there didn't seem to be any major surprises. No 64DD, no surprise Nintendo 64 games, no Donkey Kong Country 64, no Dreamcast on the show floor, no new Saturn games, no real PlayStation surprises, etc. Even with that, it was still a turning point for the industry. One thing was clear from being on the show floor - interactive entertainment is here to stay.

Nintendo is set to have a great year. Zelda 64 is the most-anticipated title the system has seen since Mario 64. The company may have had a slower start in 1998 against Sony, but the release of Zelda will likely even the playing field. Even with Zelda, there weren't a whole lot of other impressive N64 titles. Conker's good, Perfect Dark and Jet Force Gemini are great (but won't be around 'til 1999), but licensees continue to pump out games that are anything but hits. The exception to that is Acclaim's Turok 2, which will also be one of the biggest N64 titles this year.

Nintendo's Game Boy Color and Pokemon will probably be where Nintendo makes the biggest impression on the marketplace. I think the Game Boy is about to experience a huge resurgence, and Pokemon will drive that in the US. Game Boy Color is icing on the cake, and I for one will be in line to get one November 23. That and Zelda on the same day.... Time to start saving.

Sony's position in the marketplace has been cemented. We're seeing developers pump more out of the system than ever before. It may be one of the last great years for the system as far as new, jaw-dropping titles (although you never know what Sony might have up its sleeve). Licensees like Konami, Eidos, and Square are making the top titles this year. Most impressive were Silent Hill,Metal Gear Solid, Spyro the Dragon, Crash 3, Parasite Eve, Xenogears, and Tomb Raider III. Against the N64, the PlayStation has a large lineup of quality games that, while Sony won't be able to use to fend off Nintendo and Zelda, should help Sony retain its number one status in the marketplace.

Sega, on the other hand, is playing it safe this year to rock the market next year. While the Dreamcast was impressive the day before the show, it was hard to understand why there wasn't at least a video running on the show floor that would show off the system to people unable to attend Sega's pre-show shindig. I think Sega's showing this year on the floor was so low-key that most people probably just walked right by (that is, if they weren't sucked in by the arcade machines Sega had all over the place).

After seeing Project X, I'm skeptical of the system's ability to attract people to its game playing applications (especially after having seen demos of what the Dreamcast can do). VM Labs' model is innovative, and I think it'll do well, especially since the company is going after the market for digital video consumers, not video gamers specifically. It's going to be extremely difficult going against the Dreamcast though. One very surprising thing was that the announced list of developers for Project X was more impressive than Sega's Dreamcast licensee list. Let's just see if these developers can create the kinds of games that will propel the system into a solid position in the market.

That's the wrap-up of the major console players at the show. When E3 moves from Atlanta back to Los Angeles next year, I think we'll see a much bigger, better show. I'm already looking forward to next year's games. And a playable Dreamcast - now that will be great.