E3 recap with G4's Abbie Heppe
Little Big Planet
We didn't go to E3, so we talked to someone who actually did: G4 Games Editorial Manager Abbie Heppe.
What impressed you the most from the show? Were there any specific games that
you were genuinely blown away by?
Despite being a scaled down E3, there
were a tremendous amount of big games on the floor. Fallout 3, Infamous, Little
Big Planet, Mercenaries 2, Project Origin and Dead Space are all amazing games.
I have a game wish-list a mile long after the show and I know I'm going to
forget to mention something. I'm really glad to see companies integrating so
much co-op into games as well; I'm a very social gamer.
Did anything completely surprise you (other than Final Fantasy 13)?
I was moderately
surprised that there weren't bigger announcements at the press conferences,
but only moderately surprised. I didn't know what to expect from a handful of
games and came away really surprised at how good they were: Bionic Commando
Rearmed, Far Cry 2, Prince of Persia, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe and Red
Faction to name a few. I had no idea what to expect from Infamous either and it
became of my favorite games at the show. There were also some head turners in
the indie games section like The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom. Time travel
and pie...awesome! But one of the bigger surprises for me, and I can't believe
I'm saying this because i'm not a sport game person, really, is Madden '09...for
a game that comes out every year you don't expect much to be different and this
one got my attention.
Is Nintendo batshit insane
or brilliant? Or does it even matter?
Um...I feel like those things aren't
mutually exclusive. I would err on the side of brilliant seeing as its 20 months
later and the Wii is still killin' it. Even my mom, who has resisted the Wii so
far is interested in WiiFit. That said, I'm fiending for some core Nintendo
franchises to make a re-appearance on the console (and its rumoured Pikmin and
Zelda are in the works), so I'm gonna keep playing Smash Brothers till the next
big one hits.
Did Sony have the better
show in your estimation or did Microsoft? Or - again - does it not matter?
While
I thought Microsoft had a better press conference, the first party Sony games I
got to try at the show were all solid reasons to own a PS3. Killzone 2, Little
Big Planet, Heavy Rain and Infamous were among the most impressive titles I saw.
I'm definitely stoked on the 360/NetFlix deal as well and of course will spend a
disgusting amount of hours this fall playing Gears of War 2.
What of Rock Band 2?
Rock Band was swarmed with people trying to get their hands on the new content
and try the new drumset, and it's really an improvement over the old one. The
track list is killer, but then, Harmonix has an incredibly talanted team who are
passionate about music and it shows in everything they do.
Some of us who didn't get to go thought the show was maybe much ado about little. Would you agree or disagree?
The press conferences definitely weren't the big deals we've seen
in past years, but between the show floor and behind-closed-doors meeting rooms
there was a ridiculous amount of games to play. E3 is really about the games,
right? You can take away the glitz and glamour and booth babes but what
remains is still the heart of E3 and that's games. If people need spetacle to
get their attention then they're missing the point.
You can catch Abbie Heppe on G4's X-Play at 8 P.M. EST Monday through Friday