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So I arrived at about 9:15 and already there was a huge queue to get in, which was expected. The queue was also comprised almost entirely of nerds, geeks, trekkies and sweaty fat people in Doom t-shirts. This was also expected.
As the doors opened most people wallked briskly towards the Halo 2 place, which had an almost full 2-3 hour queue for the whole day. I don't really care enough about Halo to wait 2 hours to play it for 5 minutes, so that's the biggest game that I didn't play.
First game I played was Burnout 3 Takedown (PS2 version), and although I came last (hey I had NO idea what the burnout button was), it made me sad that the game isn't coming out on Cube, because even from my limited play it was a lot of fun. I did have a huge crash, and managed to use the aftertouch feature to guide my wreck of a car into an oncoming taxicab. Which was nice.
Next I played Splinter Cell 3: Chaos Theory. Although it felt similar to the previous games, there were several new things, the most amusing of which was a "Bash Door" option, where Sam barges his shoulder into the door in order to open it. Suffice to say the only time I used this, I got shot in the face almost immediately.
Next up was Prince of Persia 2. The level was a ship in the middle of a storm. There was a seemingly endless supply of enemies to slice and dice, and the fighting seemed just as fluid and enjoyable as in the previous game. The decapitations and some of the new moves were very cool, although there werent any time-warping related options as I think it might have been the first level. The graphics were lovely and it's definitely ddarker and more detailed that the previous game. I'll definitely be getting this when it comes out.
I played Ghost Recon next, and I really hope it comes out on Cube. The level I played was set in the jungle and, to me, seemed far more enjoyable that Rainbow Six 3. I didn't know the controls so I basically just dashed it around testing out my orders. Unfortunately, i issued the halt order just before I emerged into a clearing, and I was shot to peices. Oh well.
Next I moved on to an empty Brothers In Arms booth, and while I was waiting for it to load, I watched the people either side of me playing. It didn't look like very much fun, as both of them spent most of their time shooting at rocks with enemies behind them. From what I remember about this game, you're supposed to use flanking tactics CONSTANTLY to outmanouvre the enemy, but these guys didn't seem to know that, preferring instead just to shoot wildly in the hope that one of their bullets would penetrate some solid rock. My booth crashed while it was loading so I left (I returned later to find that 3 of the 4 booths had crashed, leaving me to suspect that Brother's in Arms isn't quite finished yet).
Next it was the Nintendo 'Pier', which was a huge boxed off area all set up like a beach arcade/carnival. There was hardly anyone about, seeing as the exhibition had only been open for about 20 minutes, so I just walked in and started playing on an empty Pikmin 2. I had 20 pikmin and collected a battery. Then I realised that it was pretty much the same as the original Pikmin, and without extended playing, wasn't worth my time. I moved around the other playable games, seeing Tales, Wario Ware (1 player only - wtf?), and, inevitably, Mario Kart. Looking around some more I saw the Metroid Prime 2 room and headed straight for it. There were 6 stands with lines behind each. I only had to wait about 10 minutes to get my go, but I was disappointed to find that it was multiplayer only. I really wanted to play the single player, but seeing as I'd managed to lose my 5 friends somewhere (turns out they were busy playing Dragonball Z) I had to play against some random guy. We played Shuttlehopper Station or whatever that level's called, and it was really quite good, even if the level was a bit empty with only 2 people. I got the first kill thanks to the death-ball (which respawns all too quickly), but then quickly lost 5 kills in a row. The odd thing was, in every shootout (which mostly consist of a lot of circling around each other and a lot of luck), I got him down to about 20 health, but by the time I respawned he had a full 2 tanks of energy. God knows how he did it, but the game ended 5-3. Moments later, my friends arrived, and so instead of waiting around to play again, I went off and left some messages on the Animal Crossing noticeboard ("touch me baby", "does anyone have any crack I'm almost out", "I am a police officer" and so on). I saw the Donkey konga stand and went off to find my friends only to forget everything and wander off to the HUGE EA section to play Fifa 2004.
The EA section was massive, and while I waited for two small, ponytailed nerds to finish their Celtic v Real match (it was 5 minutes each way!), I wathced the little EA Stadium where you could do kickups, play footy-tennis, or have a 1 v 1 match. Looked like fun but I never got around to it (I was there to play games, not do REAL LIFE stuff). Anyway Fifa was really smooth and although it felt quite a lot like 2004 (I couldn't really see many differences), it certainly looked nicer. With about 12 minutes to go and the score at 0-0 (I really didn't know how to do free kicks), the TV suddenly turned itself off. Completely unphased, george and I just turned out attentions to the large screen that was displaying our game, before a tEAm member came along and promptly restarted the whole system. Thanks.
After this moment my memory gets hazy, but I vaguely recall losing my friends again and wandering off to play Madden (PS2 version sadly). Although I didn't know the controls, I managed to hold my own quite well, until I got to a 3rd and 8 in the 1st Q. With no passing options left, I decided to scramble with Mcnabb. I took a guess at the scamble button (it's Y on GC, so i figured triangle). Well apparently triangle is throw ball away. My next series ended in exactly the same way. End of the 2nd Q, and the score was 0-0. I used the hit-stick and missed, but I also figured out the defensive playmaker controls and totally shut down their offence. I get the feeling that I'm gonna rock at this game, and it was my no.1 from the show.
I played loads of other games too, got a free bag (with a Playstation 2 t-shirt and an Xbox demo - useful) from the main stage and played some real basketball, followed by a little go on NBA Ballers (it's no Courtside). I went into the tiny over 18s zone, and saw Second Sight, Mortal Kombat and Conflict Vietnam. There were couches and all the TVs were occupied by people who didn't look like they were going anywhere fast, so I left.
My memory gets hazy again at this point, but I think we went to have a street fighter II Deluxe version tournament in the Retro Lounge, where I had the best hotdog in the world (only because I was so hungry - it cost £2.60! ha! and i had 2). There was also the fattest man in the world here, perched on a small square stool and playing Golden Axe with a very scared looking child.
My friends had managed to play Pro Evo 4, and they said that it was amazing, but, predictably, their game ended 0-0 as well. They were having a huge tournament in the Bear Pit area, and the same guy was playing on the stage when we left as when we arrived. He must have been WELL GOOD.
I played loads of other games too, but I've forgotten most of them (I have only had 3 hours sleep since 7am yesterday morning, after all). I never got a chance to go back into the Nintendo pier, because by about 11am it had a queue round the corner for it, which was a shame, so I never got to play Donkey Konga, and I left before the competition on the main stage (I could have won a Platinum GC + iPod but I was FAR too tired and everyone wanted to go home)
All in all it was a wonderful experience and I'll go again next year if it's on, and you should all go as well. I feel like I've walked a million miles but it was worth it.
My top 3 games were:
Madden 2005
Prince Of Persia 2
Metroid Prime 2
I got home to find Fifa 2004 and one of my £3 DC controllers had arrived. I'm off to play Body Harvest now, though.
As the doors opened most people wallked briskly towards the Halo 2 place, which had an almost full 2-3 hour queue for the whole day. I don't really care enough about Halo to wait 2 hours to play it for 5 minutes, so that's the biggest game that I didn't play.
First game I played was Burnout 3 Takedown (PS2 version), and although I came last (hey I had NO idea what the burnout button was), it made me sad that the game isn't coming out on Cube, because even from my limited play it was a lot of fun. I did have a huge crash, and managed to use the aftertouch feature to guide my wreck of a car into an oncoming taxicab. Which was nice.
Next I played Splinter Cell 3: Chaos Theory. Although it felt similar to the previous games, there were several new things, the most amusing of which was a "Bash Door" option, where Sam barges his shoulder into the door in order to open it. Suffice to say the only time I used this, I got shot in the face almost immediately.
Next up was Prince of Persia 2. The level was a ship in the middle of a storm. There was a seemingly endless supply of enemies to slice and dice, and the fighting seemed just as fluid and enjoyable as in the previous game. The decapitations and some of the new moves were very cool, although there werent any time-warping related options as I think it might have been the first level. The graphics were lovely and it's definitely ddarker and more detailed that the previous game. I'll definitely be getting this when it comes out.
I played Ghost Recon next, and I really hope it comes out on Cube. The level I played was set in the jungle and, to me, seemed far more enjoyable that Rainbow Six 3. I didn't know the controls so I basically just dashed it around testing out my orders. Unfortunately, i issued the halt order just before I emerged into a clearing, and I was shot to peices. Oh well.
Next I moved on to an empty Brothers In Arms booth, and while I was waiting for it to load, I watched the people either side of me playing. It didn't look like very much fun, as both of them spent most of their time shooting at rocks with enemies behind them. From what I remember about this game, you're supposed to use flanking tactics CONSTANTLY to outmanouvre the enemy, but these guys didn't seem to know that, preferring instead just to shoot wildly in the hope that one of their bullets would penetrate some solid rock. My booth crashed while it was loading so I left (I returned later to find that 3 of the 4 booths had crashed, leaving me to suspect that Brother's in Arms isn't quite finished yet).
Next it was the Nintendo 'Pier', which was a huge boxed off area all set up like a beach arcade/carnival. There was hardly anyone about, seeing as the exhibition had only been open for about 20 minutes, so I just walked in and started playing on an empty Pikmin 2. I had 20 pikmin and collected a battery. Then I realised that it was pretty much the same as the original Pikmin, and without extended playing, wasn't worth my time. I moved around the other playable games, seeing Tales, Wario Ware (1 player only - wtf?), and, inevitably, Mario Kart. Looking around some more I saw the Metroid Prime 2 room and headed straight for it. There were 6 stands with lines behind each. I only had to wait about 10 minutes to get my go, but I was disappointed to find that it was multiplayer only. I really wanted to play the single player, but seeing as I'd managed to lose my 5 friends somewhere (turns out they were busy playing Dragonball Z) I had to play against some random guy. We played Shuttlehopper Station or whatever that level's called, and it was really quite good, even if the level was a bit empty with only 2 people. I got the first kill thanks to the death-ball (which respawns all too quickly), but then quickly lost 5 kills in a row. The odd thing was, in every shootout (which mostly consist of a lot of circling around each other and a lot of luck), I got him down to about 20 health, but by the time I respawned he had a full 2 tanks of energy. God knows how he did it, but the game ended 5-3. Moments later, my friends arrived, and so instead of waiting around to play again, I went off and left some messages on the Animal Crossing noticeboard ("touch me baby", "does anyone have any crack I'm almost out", "I am a police officer" and so on). I saw the Donkey konga stand and went off to find my friends only to forget everything and wander off to the HUGE EA section to play Fifa 2004.
The EA section was massive, and while I waited for two small, ponytailed nerds to finish their Celtic v Real match (it was 5 minutes each way!), I wathced the little EA Stadium where you could do kickups, play footy-tennis, or have a 1 v 1 match. Looked like fun but I never got around to it (I was there to play games, not do REAL LIFE stuff). Anyway Fifa was really smooth and although it felt quite a lot like 2004 (I couldn't really see many differences), it certainly looked nicer. With about 12 minutes to go and the score at 0-0 (I really didn't know how to do free kicks), the TV suddenly turned itself off. Completely unphased, george and I just turned out attentions to the large screen that was displaying our game, before a tEAm member came along and promptly restarted the whole system. Thanks.
After this moment my memory gets hazy, but I vaguely recall losing my friends again and wandering off to play Madden (PS2 version sadly). Although I didn't know the controls, I managed to hold my own quite well, until I got to a 3rd and 8 in the 1st Q. With no passing options left, I decided to scramble with Mcnabb. I took a guess at the scamble button (it's Y on GC, so i figured triangle). Well apparently triangle is throw ball away. My next series ended in exactly the same way. End of the 2nd Q, and the score was 0-0. I used the hit-stick and missed, but I also figured out the defensive playmaker controls and totally shut down their offence. I get the feeling that I'm gonna rock at this game, and it was my no.1 from the show.
I played loads of other games too, got a free bag (with a Playstation 2 t-shirt and an Xbox demo - useful) from the main stage and played some real basketball, followed by a little go on NBA Ballers (it's no Courtside). I went into the tiny over 18s zone, and saw Second Sight, Mortal Kombat and Conflict Vietnam. There were couches and all the TVs were occupied by people who didn't look like they were going anywhere fast, so I left.
My memory gets hazy again at this point, but I think we went to have a street fighter II Deluxe version tournament in the Retro Lounge, where I had the best hotdog in the world (only because I was so hungry - it cost £2.60! ha! and i had 2). There was also the fattest man in the world here, perched on a small square stool and playing Golden Axe with a very scared looking child.
My friends had managed to play Pro Evo 4, and they said that it was amazing, but, predictably, their game ended 0-0 as well. They were having a huge tournament in the Bear Pit area, and the same guy was playing on the stage when we left as when we arrived. He must have been WELL GOOD.
I played loads of other games too, but I've forgotten most of them (I have only had 3 hours sleep since 7am yesterday morning, after all). I never got a chance to go back into the Nintendo pier, because by about 11am it had a queue round the corner for it, which was a shame, so I never got to play Donkey Konga, and I left before the competition on the main stage (I could have won a Platinum GC + iPod but I was FAR too tired and everyone wanted to go home)
All in all it was a wonderful experience and I'll go again next year if it's on, and you should all go as well. I feel like I've walked a million miles but it was worth it.
My top 3 games were:
Madden 2005
Prince Of Persia 2
Metroid Prime 2
I got home to find Fifa 2004 and one of my £3 DC controllers had arrived. I'm off to play Body Harvest now, though.
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Yeah, Mario Tennis was in the corner of that darkened GC/GBA room, just to the right of the Mario Room.
Ha I knew it wasn't a good idea to queue for Halo 2.
Was mario Tennis in that Mario World section or whatever it was? I didn't go in there because I thought it was only old Mario games. Maybe I just didn't see it in that darkened room of GCs and GBAs.
I watched Flatout being played while I ate my 2nd £2.60 hotdog (I really should have got a bagel), and it looked terrible. The worst stand by far was the Atari section - it was laughable. I forgot to mention that I played Fable, but only for about 30 seconds because I realised that, like Pikmin, it's a game that you need to spend a lot of time with to enjoy.
Was mario Tennis in that Mario World section or whatever it was? I didn't go in there because I thought it was only old Mario games. Maybe I just didn't see it in that darkened room of GCs and GBAs.
I watched Flatout being played while I ate my 2nd £2.60 hotdog (I really should have got a bagel), and it looked terrible. The worst stand by far was the Atari section - it was laughable. I forgot to mention that I played Fable, but only for about 30 seconds because I realised that, like Pikmin, it's a game that you need to spend a lot of time with to enjoy.
I've got Burnout 3 coming on friday, can't wait for that, also looking forward to Ghost Recon 2 and SC3 on Xbox, got Halo 2: CE on pre-order too, damn shame I couldn't get to the show, sounds like there were some quality games there.
Mario Tennis was there, although I didn't find it right until the end. And from what I could see, it was only playing on one pod. Even Mario Kart had more pods. Strange.
Anyhoo, about Halo 2. I started queing just a bit behind the sign that read 'First UK play of Halo 2 - 60 mins', therefore presuming the queue would be just over an hour long. Just over 3 Hours later, we were finally allowed into the military style bunker that housed the 10 Halo 2 pods. After hearing some spiel about it not being complete, which lasted quite a while, the game finally started. 5 vs. 5 CTF on Zanzibar. After taking the long way up to the plasma sword, I discovered that one of my friends had already grenaded it out of it's hole, which kinda p!ssed me off as well. 5 minutes later and the game seemed to indicate we'd swap sides, but the ushers swiftly came in and effectively told us to b()gger off.
Severly p!ssed off that I'd cut my time at Gamestars in half, to only play
Halo 2 for 5 minutes, I marched off to get lunch at 3 o'clock, only to pay £2.70 for a Beefburger.
Ah well, the rest of the afternoon was pretty good,getting to play:
NFSU 2 - Seemingly completely the same as the original Underground
Burnout 3 on PS2 & Xbox - Fookin' ruled, can't wait to get (although it couldn't be bought in the shop there, twas a shame)
Chaos Theory - Fun, and it seemed much more an evolution of the series than Pandora ever was. But it was very glitchy, and froze the second time I played it.
Brothers In Arms - The demo seemed pretty fooked up. When I first started playing, my character was able to float around the screen. At first I though he was parachuting down or something, but then when I landed, I was able to fly back up again. This glitch then seemed to iron itself out again, but then I noticed some terrible pop-up, and my character then proceeded to fall through the map, so I just walked off.
Rocky: Legends - Quite fun, although I completely sucked at it.
Prince of Persia: WW - Quite similar to the oringinal, but definately much more fighting orientated. Noticed that a lot of the POP stands were crashing though.
THUG 2- Completely the same as the oringal, only it looked at bit more colourful.
Donkey Konga - Really fun, although harder than it looks.
Flatout - Fun, but not a patch on Burnout 3
I'm sure I played some others, but can't remember which.
All in all though, a pretty good day, apart for the Halo 2 shinanigans.
The closest thing I'm ever gonna get to E3. And now I have a ton of free crap [hurrah!] :D
Anyhoo, about Halo 2. I started queing just a bit behind the sign that read 'First UK play of Halo 2 - 60 mins', therefore presuming the queue would be just over an hour long. Just over 3 Hours later, we were finally allowed into the military style bunker that housed the 10 Halo 2 pods. After hearing some spiel about it not being complete, which lasted quite a while, the game finally started. 5 vs. 5 CTF on Zanzibar. After taking the long way up to the plasma sword, I discovered that one of my friends had already grenaded it out of it's hole, which kinda p!ssed me off as well. 5 minutes later and the game seemed to indicate we'd swap sides, but the ushers swiftly came in and effectively told us to b()gger off.
Severly p!ssed off that I'd cut my time at Gamestars in half, to only play
Halo 2 for 5 minutes, I marched off to get lunch at 3 o'clock, only to pay £2.70 for a Beefburger.
Ah well, the rest of the afternoon was pretty good,getting to play:
NFSU 2 - Seemingly completely the same as the original Underground
Burnout 3 on PS2 & Xbox - Fookin' ruled, can't wait to get (although it couldn't be bought in the shop there, twas a shame)
Chaos Theory - Fun, and it seemed much more an evolution of the series than Pandora ever was. But it was very glitchy, and froze the second time I played it.
Brothers In Arms - The demo seemed pretty fooked up. When I first started playing, my character was able to float around the screen. At first I though he was parachuting down or something, but then when I landed, I was able to fly back up again. This glitch then seemed to iron itself out again, but then I noticed some terrible pop-up, and my character then proceeded to fall through the map, so I just walked off.
Rocky: Legends - Quite fun, although I completely sucked at it.
Prince of Persia: WW - Quite similar to the oringinal, but definately much more fighting orientated. Noticed that a lot of the POP stands were crashing though.
THUG 2- Completely the same as the oringal, only it looked at bit more colourful.
Donkey Konga - Really fun, although harder than it looks.
Flatout - Fun, but not a patch on Burnout 3
I'm sure I played some others, but can't remember which.
All in all though, a pretty good day, apart for the Halo 2 shinanigans.
The closest thing I'm ever gonna get to E3. And now I have a ton of free crap [hurrah!] :D
I was going to go, then I realised it was about a million miles away.
Notorious Biggles wrote:
> Ghost Recon 2 will be out on Gamecube.
>
> And in an extremely clever move, the Gamecube version of Ghost Recon
> 2 is completely different from the Xbox version.
>
> Some would say that Ubisoft are just trying to get more money out of
> me.. I think it a master-stroke.
Yea they are bringing it out I just wonder what Multiplayer modes they will have.. otherwise I may get the PC version instead.
> Ghost Recon 2 will be out on Gamecube.
>
> And in an extremely clever move, the Gamecube version of Ghost Recon
> 2 is completely different from the Xbox version.
>
> Some would say that Ubisoft are just trying to get more money out of
> me.. I think it a master-stroke.
Yea they are bringing it out I just wonder what Multiplayer modes they will have.. otherwise I may get the PC version instead.
AfroJoe wrote:
> I wish I was there for PES4 and Madden. And maybe Pikmin, which I'll
> still get even if it is a bit samey.
Might be different if played it a bit longer..
> I wish I was there for PES4 and Madden. And maybe Pikmin, which I'll
> still get even if it is a bit samey.
Might be different if played it a bit longer..
Mario Tennis wasn't there. It's in th elittle Nintendo Booklet but I didn't see it.
Oh and even though you wont read this, Bullet, if you want to play Halo make sure it's the first thing you do. Then Nitendo, then PES4. Have fun.
Oh and even though you wont read this, Bullet, if you want to play Halo make sure it's the first thing you do. Then Nitendo, then PES4. Have fun.
I heard Mario Tennis was there, no truth in that?
I remember when I went to the Games Matrix the other year, that was a great experience, and I went on a Thursday and got in as Trade with my dad (works in computers) and mate, so it was almost empty. Class day, that was.
Will keep my eyes peeled next year.
I remember when I went to the Games Matrix the other year, that was a great experience, and I went on a Thursday and got in as Trade with my dad (works in computers) and mate, so it was almost empty. Class day, that was.
Will keep my eyes peeled next year.
Ghost Recon 2 will be out on Gamecube.
And in an extremely clever move, the Gamecube version of Ghost Recon 2 is completely different from the Xbox version.
Some would say that Ubisoft are just trying to get more money out of me.. I think it a master-stroke.
And in an extremely clever move, the Gamecube version of Ghost Recon 2 is completely different from the Xbox version.
Some would say that Ubisoft are just trying to get more money out of me.. I think it a master-stroke.
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