Sorry about not reporting last night, but I was just to damn tired to write anything. This morning I awoke still half drunk from parting with Lotus Rich and Suede so I may forget a lot of stuff I saw on the first day. So I'll try and start from the beginning.
In true 2old2play fashion we got standbyed like a game of Halo 2 in matchmaking. Since I am not the best at waking up before 11 a.m. we got to the air port a little latter then we should have. First we missed the train going out to O’Hare and then missed our flight. To make matters worse we were one of the lucky few that got chosen for the in-depth search.
After the kind security guard removed his glove from my ass we finally headed to our gate to wait for yet another hour. Luckily we boarded the next flight out and actually got a seat next to one another. Then the only problem was finding out where the hell we were going. Neither of us had any idea where to pick up the E3 tickets or where to even go for that matter. So we just had to trust in our Goggle map and drive.
Luckily our trusty Hyundai Accent got us trough and after an hour of waiting in all the wrong lines we got our Badges! Finally we had the chance to enter Mecca and what a Mecca it was. The sheer size of the event would blow your mind. I have never been anywhere where that many people have met all at once. If this was in Chicago, they would need 4 United Centers to contain this thing. Anyway on to the games and events.
There are so many to talk about that I’ll try to focus on only a few for today. First, let’s discuss the new Halo 2 maps. To put it simply, they are breathtaking. Relic is a snipers dream with vast space and very little cover. There is actually a switch that allows you to open a teleporter that sets you right in the enemy base. It was hard to really take in all the maps detail since your playing with a crowed of 40 people watching you and your on a split screen that’s 30in wide. The map I really loved was the train yard. It’s size is amazing, but better then that, it has so many levels to it. You can climb way up onto the tracks and play chicken with the train as you snipe your enemies below! The swamp has a different feel all together as it plays a little more stealth like. You need to find a good hiding spot and wait out your opponent and strike when he passes your tree. The best is when you grab the sword and go from tree to tree hacking and slashing your foes like a hot knife through butter. Without a doubt, all the maps will be more then worth the wait and I can’t wait to play them again today.
The Xbox 360 really deserves its own write up, so I’ll just touch on that for now. The versions we played were actually 2 hidden Mac G5’s under a counter top with a fake Xbox 360 plugged in below. The controllers were wired and actually felt fantastic (cant wait to use them). Seeing the graphics first hand proves that the new Xbox will completely amaze you. The pictures that you see on the web simply can not do it justice. Kameo from RARE was by far the best looking game I saw on the show room floor playing at a unbelievable 720p. Every scene they played was better then the next. One level had over 300 enemy’s on screen at one with 0 lag or loss of frame rate. It was NUTS! It played just like a scene from lord of the rings and each enemy had its own AI and actions. The demo game of Need For Speed I played had crisp graphics and fantastic shadowing. The 360 seems to really shine where this is involved. Each game has perfect shadows that give all their games a level of realism we have never seen before.
The Ps3 was impossible to see. The 2 hour wait was a little to much for me and Ebola to handle so I think will try again today. I’ll try and collect some more notes from todays visit and I’ll get some photos up ASAP.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTO GALLERY
After the kind security guard removed his glove from my ass we finally headed to our gate to wait for yet another hour. Luckily we boarded the next flight out and actually got a seat next to one another. Then the only problem was finding out where the hell we were going. Neither of us had any idea where to pick up the E3 tickets or where to even go for that matter. So we just had to trust in our Goggle map and drive.
Luckily our trusty Hyundai Accent got us trough and after an hour of waiting in all the wrong lines we got our Badges! Finally we had the chance to enter Mecca and what a Mecca it was. The sheer size of the event would blow your mind. I have never been anywhere where that many people have met all at once. If this was in Chicago, they would need 4 United Centers to contain this thing. Anyway on to the games and events.
There are so many to talk about that I’ll try to focus on only a few for today. First, let’s discuss the new Halo 2 maps. To put it simply, they are breathtaking. Relic is a snipers dream with vast space and very little cover. There is actually a switch that allows you to open a teleporter that sets you right in the enemy base. It was hard to really take in all the maps detail since your playing with a crowed of 40 people watching you and your on a split screen that’s 30in wide. The map I really loved was the train yard. It’s size is amazing, but better then that, it has so many levels to it. You can climb way up onto the tracks and play chicken with the train as you snipe your enemies below! The swamp has a different feel all together as it plays a little more stealth like. You need to find a good hiding spot and wait out your opponent and strike when he passes your tree. The best is when you grab the sword and go from tree to tree hacking and slashing your foes like a hot knife through butter. Without a doubt, all the maps will be more then worth the wait and I can’t wait to play them again today.
The Xbox 360 really deserves its own write up, so I’ll just touch on that for now. The versions we played were actually 2 hidden Mac G5’s under a counter top with a fake Xbox 360 plugged in below. The controllers were wired and actually felt fantastic (cant wait to use them). Seeing the graphics first hand proves that the new Xbox will completely amaze you. The pictures that you see on the web simply can not do it justice. Kameo from RARE was by far the best looking game I saw on the show room floor playing at a unbelievable 720p. Every scene they played was better then the next. One level had over 300 enemy’s on screen at one with 0 lag or loss of frame rate. It was NUTS! It played just like a scene from lord of the rings and each enemy had its own AI and actions. The demo game of Need For Speed I played had crisp graphics and fantastic shadowing. The 360 seems to really shine where this is involved. Each game has perfect shadows that give all their games a level of realism we have never seen before.
The Ps3 was impossible to see. The 2 hour wait was a little to much for me and Ebola to handle so I think will try again today. I’ll try and collect some more notes from todays visit and I’ll get some photos up ASAP.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTO GALLERY
