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Dear Diary,

Today I visited that glorious mecca of gaming that the world knows as E3. I know it as "the happy boom boom time" but everyone looks at me oddly when I say that, so I'll stick with E3.

This was the first year in awhile where I wasn't pimping a project in a booth, so it was a different first day for me.

I took my time and just cruised the various halls, not really stopping to play anything. I wanted to see what caught my eye and what didn't before I spent time feeling stuff out... At least that was my intent.

Of course, 45 seconds after entering the south hall I was engrossed in Lost Planet by capcom. The demo they showed is the same one that's on Xboxlive, I guess, but since I'm not actually cool enough to own a 360 I didn't know that. All I have to say is "yummy gunplay goodness!" Solid controls, great look and giant walking robots. Could I ask for anything more?

Well, yeah - how about multiplayer on par with battlefield... wait a minute! Did I say Battlefield?! I did, and guess what?! Battlefield 2142 was right around the corner. Let's see, Sci-fi... check. Lots of snow and heavy weather... check. Kick ass multiplayer... check (hell it's a given, right?). Giant fucking walking robots of doom? BIG CHECK! Sign me up.

Though, to tell the truth, it really did feel like more of the same. Where's my deep immersive story driven fps experience that includes giant robots? When someone makes that game, I'll be all over it! (though, I'd rather be the guy to make it, but you can't get all your wishes, can you?)

I think the game that stood out as a surprise for me was Hellgate: London. It was no surprise to me that the game had high production values with great texture work and lighting and good art design, but what surprised me was how easy it was to hit the Diablo crack pipe now that it was dressed up in pseudo-sci-fi colors. Ever since I gave that dread lord a part of my soul to get the 1st one out the door I've been off the Diablo wagon (except for that D2 binge when it shipped, but I cleaned up; got my act together)... Hellgate is going to get me right back on it. It's sick. I'm already fiending it and I only played it for like 5 minutes.

Speaking of fiends, I got a look at the new WoW content... I thought they had done everything I'd be impressed by already, but the 1.11 patch, Shadow of the Necropolis really got me grinning. Seeing that huge floating city of the fleshy damned cruising towards Thunder Bluff to begin it's assault was exciting. If only more games would do those big world events. Oh well, at least I got to work on a game that toyed with that stuff first, 3 years ago. I can keep my "older skool than you" attitude intact. They did it better, of course, but when you've got more money than god and a team numbered in triple-digits, that's to be expected. In fact, I'd have been surprised if they hadn't done it better.

Oh and Blizzard, I had to give god a quarter today. I met him outside the show, he said he'd spent all he had on gold to level his character to 60 and now that the cap is 70 he's got to raise a new stake. Couldn't you kick the guy down a free account at least? That's just cold. Though... I have to admit, I was surprised that god looked like a homeless black man. It's a given that he's black, but homeless? I thought Heaven was a kickin pad, you know? Eh, maybe he just let himself go with all the WoW play and all...

Err, where was I? E3, right! Entirely populated with criminals... oh no, that's Australia, E3 is populated by sweaty nerds who don't know what Deodorant is (note to self: Google deodorant, it might be worth knowing about). Actually, the show was remarkably less sweaty than usual. Don't get me wrong, it has its usual odor, but on a smaller scale. Maybe that booth-babe ban has a bonus effect we hadn't considered...

I have to say I was impressed with Nintendo's Wii. (pause for effect) It was quite bold and unusual! And with around 15 or 20 playable games at the show, it's obvious Nintendo is playing for keeps. I wish Sony was. The sad thing is, they (sony) believe they're in it to win it, but so far I get an "also ran" vibe from the sony camp. It's weird. It's like they don't get it, know they don't get it, and are depending on Nintendo and Msoft to show them the way.

Msoft! Consider the ebil!

Actually, Microsoft has impressed the hell out of me this round. Nothing new in their lineup but the announcements they made, and I still feel like they're leading the pack. Of course, with titles like Lost Planet, Gears of War and GTA IV confirmed it's pretty easy to see why. What great Sony-only game is coming out that I must have?

Hmm, I'll get back to that, but I want to wrap this up today so I'm gonna let that thought stew for a bit.

Actually, I'm going to take an in-depth look at Sony's offerings tomorrow just to make sure I'm not missing something. They can't really be as lackluster as they came off today - I mean they'd be the talk of the show if they were, but no one I spoke to said anything about them at all.

Speaking of speaking, I ran into all sorts of folks I know today. Chris Cao (love your games dude!), Joey-Ray Hall (I'd say smile, but that creeps me out when you do that!), Shane Dabiri (no time for love, Dr. jones -- I'll say hi tomorrow!), Michael O'Brien (dude! Say hi next time, dork!), the whole AA crew (The new threads are dope!) and peeps from the Collective were everywhere. It was cool. If not a little creepy. for all our reported growth, this industry still feels insanely incestuous. It feels a little like I know someone everywhere.

Well not everywhere, I met some cats from Madrid today who make the Commando games. Damn I love those games and the dudes I met were very cool, if not very talkative.

Well, anyway Diary, that's my E3 Day 1. Did I mention the Shadowrun game? No?! Well, I'm gonna sit down with it tomorrow and see if brings the flashbacks of my high-school buddies. I'll fill you in later!

- Snipehunter