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Video from The Edge E3 Experience 2004 DVD
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00:11Los Angeles, home to Hollywood, gangster rap, six-lane freeways and fake-breasted wannabes
00:18chasing the American dream.
00:21But for three days of the year, this sprawling Californian metropolis is transformed into
00:25Video Gamesville as the international games industry descends on the LA Convention Centre
00:31to swap business cards, strike deals and gawp at advanced previews of forthcoming products.
00:41E3 is the world's largest video game trade show.
00:56Currently in its 10th year, its importance to the industry can't be understated.
01:01If a game can generate a buzz at E3, it's got a great chance of eventually becoming a hit.
01:06But every year the competition gets fiercer and hundreds of games are lost in the frenzy.
01:12Some publishers will do anything to get their products noticed.
01:18Set to over 720,000 square feet, this is E3 2004, the biggest, the loudest and the sweatiest
01:27games convention ever.
01:30Coming up on the Edge E3 Experience 04, we scrutinise Sony's first foray into handheld gaming and
01:37see how Nintendo's daring DS design was received by the industry.
01:41If you're a game developer, you should be excited about it, I think.
01:44We assess the impact of the heavyweights in the increasingly competitive first-person shooter
01:49genre to discover who's gunning for glory and who's firing blanks.
01:53Halo 2 looks absolutely amazing.
01:56We learn that 2004 is going to be a good year to be a GameCube owner.
02:05We uncover some exciting prospects that aren't just sequels or licensed games.
02:12And finally, we catch up with some old friends from Japan.
02:16Fans of the original, I think it's going to be a dream come true.
02:25This year I think the story is all about handheld and mobile gaming.
02:28There's been a lot of buzz about Sony's PlayStation Portable.
02:31PSP looked absolutely awesome, there's no doubt about it.
02:34I mean, the cues to look at the device really spoke for themselves.
02:38The PSP's strength, I think, is the way that you can play games, listen to music and watch
02:43movies as well.
02:43And I think, in that sense, it's really going to capture the hearts and minds of the gadget-buying
02:48public.
02:48I've just been playing games on DS, and it too is a really nice piece of kit.
02:54It's got really sophisticated 3D processing power, it's touch screen, it's wireless multiplayer
02:59gaming as well.
03:00All these things imply different kinds of games.
03:03Those games are going to have to come before anyone can get excited.
03:12Anticipation was rife for the unveiling of the brand new handheld games machine from the
03:16company behind Mario and Zelda.
03:20Well, the wait is over.
03:22This is Nintendo DS.
03:26Unleashed on the world for the first time in Nintendo's E3 press conference, the DS features
03:31dual screens, wireless multiplayer, a touch screen option and a microphone.
03:36to allow voice controls in some games.
03:38This features list surprised even the most experienced commentators.
03:43Shogo has queued for up to two hours to catch a glimpse of the DS, and they were rewarded
03:48for their patience with a chance to play a series of mini-game demos.
03:54The graphics are better than I expected, it looks really sharp.
03:59It's amazing, it's something else, my mind is completely blown away right now.
04:03Nintendo's legendary games designer Shigeru Miyamoto was on hand to endorse the DS.
04:09He thinks its innovative features will appeal to more than just hardcore gamers.
04:16One of the DS's most important features, and something that's introduced to a lot of DS games, is very
04:23simple touch screen control.
04:24This simplicity can be very appealing to people who have never played games before.
04:31So here on Metroid Prime Hunters, by tapping the screen I can control Samus' movement and weapons.
04:40Some pundits, however, remain skeptical about this method of controlling games on the DS.
04:45It's a bit gimmicky I think, I mean some of the games I think it works better for than others.
04:49They have a Sonic game where you have to go like this with a stylus to make Sonic run.
04:52I can't imagine doing this for 15 hours and not getting tired of it.
04:54While a host of new titles, predictably featuring the likes of Mario and Pokemon are planned, backwards
05:01compatibility means DS can play the existing Game Boy Advance library of games.
05:06I think it will really appeal to the hardcore Nintendo fanboys.
05:09I don't know if it's really going to appeal to older gamers and a much sort of more mass
05:14market segment.
05:14The DS is an attractive prospect, but doubts about the versatility of its key features may
05:21mean that it struggles to find an audience beyond the Nintendo hardcore.
05:30Arguably overshadowing Nintendo's efforts was the debut of Sony's first handheld gaming
05:35platform, the PlayStation Portable.
05:37Its cutting edge design and amazingly sharp widescreen display drew showgoers to the Sony
05:42booth like moths to a flame.
05:44When I arrived at the E3 show this year, I made a beeline straight for the PSP.
05:52All I can say is wow.
05:55PlayStation Portable will allow consumers to enjoy 3D gaming similar to the experience delivered
06:01on PlayStation 2.
06:03It also has the ability to deliver high quality movies, music and video as well as other forms
06:09of digital entertainment content through one central device.
06:13But I think there's no doubt that the PSP is going to be big and everyone is supporting
06:17it in a big way.
06:18It looks really high tech, I'm pretty stoked to actually play it.
06:22Sony didn't have finished production models on the stand, but demo machines, some inside
06:27cabinets, were enough to whet the appetite of the E3 attendees.
06:31As soon as you set eyes on a PSP in real life, you realise that this is one very serious
06:36piece
06:36of hardware.
06:38It's got a really big screen, it's in 16 to 9 ratio, so you've got a perfect platform
06:42to show movies on essentially.
06:45And the fact that it is virtually a PlayStation 2 in a tiny matchbox sized sort of piece of
06:51kit just means that I think a lot of gamers are just going to go nuts for it.
06:55As with PlayStation and PS2, PSP will enjoy support from all of the major games developers,
07:01and Sony were keen to demonstrate how good games will look on their new platform.
07:07Inside the exclusive PSP VIP area, we were treated to glimpses of Metal Gear Acid, as
07:12well as the PSP versions of Ape Escape, among others.
07:17All of the PSP's media will be accessed via a new disc format called Universal Media Disc,
07:23or UMD for short.
07:25UMD is set to become a new global format, one that can be used in many future products,
07:31and in fact its storage capacity is three times that of a CD-ROM.
07:36The handheld market is currently dominated by Nintendo, with over 150 million Game Boy,
07:42Advancers and SPs sold around the world.
07:45But if Sony can emulate the branding success of the PlayStation, Nintendo could find themselves
07:51with a fight on their hands.
07:52Despite Nintendo's incredible prowess with game design, the DS looks like something that
07:59was knocked up in your garage.
08:00So I think, in that respect, I do think that Sony are likely to cause some damage with the PSP.
08:08Questions still remain regarding PSP's battery life and its multimedia capabilities,
08:13but judged simply by the number of covetous glances it received at E3, Sony's about to make an impressive splash
08:19in the handheld gaming arena.
08:21All I can say is tell Santa you want one.
08:33I think Halo 2 on Xbox Live will prove to be the defining multiplayer gaming experience of this current generation.
08:41Using dual weapons is a very, very different feel to the game.
08:45But for people that have a PlayStation 2 and won't be able to play Halo 2, Killzone looks like a
08:49really good entry.
08:51Some of the kind of animations and the way that the characters will react and appear to hunt you down
08:56and act intelligently really did impress.
09:01Doom 3 looks surprisingly good on the Xbox.
09:04A lot of people were thinking the Xbox is not a very powerful system.
09:08I've grown slightly wary of having to upgrade my home PC in order to play these games,
09:13and so it's brilliant that they've been able to get a version of it running on the Xbox
09:17that you can just stick in and enjoy straight away without fussing around.
09:28The most anticipated game on any console, Halo 2.
09:31Ships, November 9th, 2004. Enough said.
09:36While these are brave words from Microsoft's Peter Moore, his claims aren't without substance.
09:43Other than the reaction at the arrival of Muhammad Ali,
09:47the biggest cheer at this year's E3 Xbox conference was reserved for news of Halo 2.
09:53A set in stone, or in this case, Tattooed on Arm, release date of November 9th,
09:59and a demonstration of the multiplayer mode sent the partisan audience into raptures.
10:08Halo 2 was being shown behind closed doors of the show itself, but Edge was lucky enough to be invited
10:13beyond the velvet rope.
10:15This year we're showing just a brief glimpse of what we're going to do with Halo 2 multiplayer.
10:20So we're having people come in, sit down and play for about half an hour and try out some of
10:25the new stuff we have,
10:26and just get a sense for how the game's going to play.
10:28You know, we're showing a new map here.
10:30We're showing people how dual wielding of weapons works, how vehicle boarding works, how destructible environments work, and a lot
10:36more.
10:38But it's not just the look and feel of the game that Bungie have been working on.
10:43One of the things that's really important to us is making sure that we can capture that experience of playing
10:48on a couch with your friends
10:49that I think works so well in Halo, but now we have to do it with people on Xbox Live
10:54from all around the world,
10:55so we're spending a lot of time focusing on that.
11:06It seems like Doom 3 has been at E3 forever, with video footage behind closed doors year after year,
11:13but this year there was something different. Fully playable Xbox code.
11:24They said it couldn't be done, but there it was on the Xbox booth, and it looked great.
11:38Well, everybody's loved the game, and it's been really gratifying for us to see it,
11:41because, you know, it's the first time people have actually been able to play the single-player aspect of Doom
11:463,
11:46regardless of the platform.
11:48Doom 3 on Xbox will also have the same multiplayer modes as the PC version, plus something extra.
11:54We'll have four-player deathmatch, last man standing, tournament mode, so one-on-one, team deathmatch,
12:00and then only for the Xbox you'll be able to play cooperatively over both Xbox Live and System League,
12:07so that's really cool.
12:09Vicarious Visions is in charge of the conversion from PC to Xbox game,
12:14but very few compromises have had to be made.
12:17No news on the progress of the PC version for now,
12:20but Doom 3 should appear on both formats before the end of the year.
12:33Carnage on a global scale is the order of the day in PS2's Killzone,
12:37from Dutch development house Guerrilla.
12:39Convincing first-person shooters are distinctly absent from Sony's armoury,
12:43but this grimy effort should change all that.
12:45The buzz surrounding Killzone has been building for months,
12:49unhindered by the lack of playable code.
12:51Thankfully, the game's official coming out at E3 didn't disappoint.
12:58We didn't anticipate so much hype around the game,
13:02and it came out of a leak somewhere,
13:06and then all of a sudden somebody put a screenshot on the net,
13:09and everyone went crazy.
13:11Set on a distant world in the future,
13:13with beleaguered colonists battling invading hordes,
13:16the plot won't win any awards for originality,
13:19but super-smart squad-based enemy AI,
13:22a confident graphical style,
13:24and the promise of online play make Killzone a worthy prospect.
13:29There's a lot of different types of first-person shooter,
13:32and they can distinguish themselves in a number of different ways.
13:34What we went for was reality,
13:36and really wanted to push that.
13:37You're in an army, and you're fighting another army,
13:40and it's gritty and nasty.
13:42Find out just how gritty and nasty when Killzone ships,
13:45later this year.
13:56It was still one of the most talked about games of E3,
14:00and it did have the biggest crowds of the event,
14:02but it's a hard life being a Half-Life 2 watcher.
14:10In development since the turn of the century,
14:13the big surprise was that there was still no playable code
14:16for one of the most anticipated PC games ever.
14:19Although this hasn't seemed to dampen the fans' enthusiasm.
14:24You forget that you're actually watching a game.
14:27You really feel like you're in it.
14:29I just thought it was visually amazing.
14:32The big spider thing is still impressive,
14:35and the whole physics engine is just brilliant.
14:38Here's what you missed.
14:55Half-Life 2 is looking amazing.
14:58I mean, I have to say that they wheel it out every year,
15:00and it's almost, you know, you actually want to get hold of a mouse
15:03and have a go with the bugger.
15:04They showed a bit of the opening,
15:05and I think, again, a very, very atmospheric game
15:08that I think, you know, does push things beyond where they've been before.
15:12The proof of the pudding will be finally in the eating.
15:15But it's been a while.
15:17Although Valve did give us hope
15:19that Half-Life 2 wouldn't be attending another E3 as a work in progress.
15:23Yeah, right now we're targeting Summer for release of the game,
15:25for completion of the game.
15:27You know, the game's playable from start to finish right now.
15:30The team knows that the end is in sight,
15:32and so we're really, really excited,
15:34and we hope to have the game in everyone's hands,
15:37you know, really, really soon.
15:49The biggest surprise at the Texas press conference
15:51was the revelation of a new Zelda game, Legend of Zelda.
15:53What was most interesting, I think, was the reaction.
15:55There was one particular chap, and when Zelda was revealed,
15:58he apparently fell to his knees and raised his arms.
16:01Making it more adult, I think, really applies to the fact
16:04that the audience playing the games has grown up as well.
16:07Metroid Prime 2 is one of my high hopes for GameCube.
16:13Resident Evil 4, I wasn't even a fan of that series until I saw 4,
16:17and I'm like, wow, I have to play this.
16:18I was most impressed with how fast and how smooth it is.
16:21Previous games have had you dispatching lumbering zombies,
16:24but this time around they're actually people that have been contaminated.
16:30It's so smooth, the transition between aiming and moving and running and jumping,
16:34and jumping is something you've never seen in a Resident Evil game before.
16:40Sony and Microsoft may have had the bigger E3 presences,
16:44but Nintendo was keen to prove that GameCube is far from extinct
16:47by announcing a raft of exciting new titles.
16:50When Shigeru Miyamoto appeared on stage swinging a sword during the company's press conference,
16:56it could only mean one thing.
16:58A brand new Legend of Zelda title for the GameCube.
17:02Most people had been expecting Wind Waker 2,
17:05but as you can see, this game has replaced Link's cel-shaded world with stunning 3D graphics.
17:13The biggest question I had to address in Legend of Zelda is when Link grows up again.
17:18How would he look?
17:20We tried lots of different visual styles, but they didn't really fit,
17:23so in the end we created a similar style to the Ocarina of Time,
17:27which represents an older Link.
17:30I think a lot of people were disappointed when the Wind Waker came out,
17:33it was cel-shaded, it looked kind of cartoony,
17:35you know, like something Disney would bring out.
17:36It was a good game to play, but some people just couldn't get past the kiddie-like graphics.
17:42This one, super realistic, looks super hardcore.
17:46We know that gameplay is more combat orientated,
17:49and that Link gets to ride and even fight astride his horse,
17:52but new Zelda details were scarce.
17:55One thing's certain though, it's taking the GameCube to new graphical heights,
17:59matching the best available on Xbox.
18:01Fans of Zelda have a lot to look forward to.
18:14The DS may have stolen the limelight at this year's Nintendo stand,
18:18but one character determined not to take a back seat was Samus Aran,
18:23the leading lady of the highly anticipated GameCube sequel Metroid Prime 2 Echoes.
18:28The original Metroid Prime was hailed as a classic back in 2002,
18:32but from what we saw at this year's E3, Echoes is a worthy successor.
18:38The first game was such a landmark title,
18:41it really redefined first-person games,
18:45you know, it wasn't a first-person shooter, it was a first-person adventure.
18:49Apart from its striking visuals,
18:51the E3 demo suggested that Echoes won't be a radical departure from its predecessor.
18:56But there are a number of significant new features.
18:59The game alternates between Dark and Light worlds, patrolled by two very distinct sets of enemies.
19:04There's also a fast-paced split-screen deathmatch mode, making Metroid Prime 2 Echoes a must-have.
19:15While you can't question the success of Capcom's Resident Evil franchise,
19:20the most recent offerings have left even the most dedicated Fright fans looking for something original.
19:26Thankfully, with the stunted exploration of old, ditched in favour of all-out action,
19:32Resident Evil 4 looks certain to deliver.
19:35The worn-out T-Virus plot has finally been jettisoned,
19:38and events will take place in a remote village, free from the constraints of Raccoon City.
19:43The star of the show is old Resi favourite Leon Kennedy,
19:46but new characters bring with them new responsibilities.
19:52This time around, we added a girl called Ashley.
19:55Once you find her, you have to guide her through the game.
19:58If you leave her alone, she'll get kidnapped and you have to shoot enemies to save her.
20:03So sometimes you have to protect her.
20:05It's one of the interesting points of the game.
20:09Leon and Ashley will also face new, improved enemies.
20:13It's the end for our shambling zombie friends.
20:16Instead, deranged villagers pose an altogether more potent menace.
20:20And what about this for an end-of-level boss?
20:29Despite the new gameplay elements,
20:31it was the stunning visuals that really underlined Resident Evil Fall's great leap forward,
20:35outclassing anything we've seen on the GameCube so far.
20:40Ah!
20:42Ah!
20:56With StarCraft Ghost, Blizzard are taking all the kind of excellent elements in the StarCraft universe
21:01and making it into a more accessible first-person shooter.
21:04So, on a console machine, you can just walk around and shoot people
21:06and you don't have to sit there gathering together your minions and hurling them forth.
21:10Ratchet & Clank is this really cool, cartoony-style game from Insomniac Games
21:13and it looks like what they're doing with the latest iteration is taking it online with a multiplayer mode.
21:17They showed it at the Sony press conference.
21:19I've been a big fan of that series. Going Command was one of my favourite games last year.
21:22You know, they bring out a new sequel every year and somehow they always manage to top themselves.
21:26There was an awful lot going on. It looked really pretty, really, really maximising what PS2 can do.
21:32So, yeah, to me it was one of those things that you just came away thinking,
21:34I'm bound to buy that and play it.
21:39One of the best new original IPs unveiled at E3 was Destroy All Humans,
21:44an action-adventure game with its tongue wedged firmly in its cheek.
21:49Disguising your alien as a puny human is just the first step at achieving dominion over the Earth.
21:55After that, the sky's the limit.
22:00We've got 50 or 60 years worth of UFO mythology to draw from.
22:06We've got mutilating cows, we've got mind control, we've got ray weapons,
22:11we've got the UFO which you can take off and lay waste to entire cityscapes in.
22:16We've got a whole bunch of different gameplay.
22:19Developer Pandemic Australia's use of retro 50s environments and cunning plots and schemes,
22:25not to mention its thinly disguised tribute to Tim Burton's Mars Attacks,
22:29makes Destroy All Humans an enticing prospect.
22:32It's due to abduct your console early next year.
22:38The transition from PC-based real-time strategy to console shooter has taken an age,
22:44but StarCraft Ghost is finally shaping up to be a heavyweight contender
22:48on this year's PS2 and Xbox release schedules.
22:53The ghost of the title is a bionically and psionically enhanced heroine, Nova,
22:58a kind of cross between Metroid Prime's Samus and Splinter Cell's Sam Fisher.
23:03What was that?
23:09She has a lot of different special powers,
23:11the most important one being the ability to cloak.
23:14So she has a cloaking device that she can gauge any time.
23:16She's somewhat of a psychic operative.
23:20She actually uses her psychic powers to augment her Gauss rifle
23:24and her very southern military hardware.
23:27So, sneaking around shooting aliens and space marines
23:31with a futuristic sniper rifle is something of a speciality for Nova.
23:35But Blizzard is keen to emphasize the variety of gameplay.
23:39We have a lot of missions that are outside the normal stealth action genre.
23:44Like I said, one of the coolest missions we have is Nova actually helps a tank column
23:50move into a valley and she actually spots with her rifle for the tank barrages to land in specific spots.
23:58With its moody atmosphere and animation courtesy of Half-Life 2's Havoc physics engine,
24:03StarCraft Go should make a strong impression when it touches down later this year.
24:15Up Your Arsenal, a terrible pump and a rather distractingly silly subtitle
24:20for one of the most impressive PlayStation 2 titles on show at E3 this year.
24:30Ratchet and Clank Up Your Arsenal is the first online action platformer for the PlayStation 2.
24:36Now this game is really two games in one.
24:38It's a huge single-player game as big as either of its predecessors and a full-featured online game.
24:46Platformers, you know, have really been sort of in a funk for a while
24:48and no one's really knowing what to do with them to make them exciting.
24:51But to me, I mean, the multiplayer in Ratchet and Clank, the online stuff, is just really a lot of
24:56fun.
24:57There are these amazing gadgets you can use and swing around,
24:59you can play different characters, you can walk on ceilings.
25:02It's just a really trippy multiplayer experience.
25:06And the trip doesn't end there.
25:08Those of you without network adapters can enjoy the four-player split-screen option.
25:14Insomniac is renowned for producing polished, witty platform adventures.
25:18And Ratchet and Clank 3's innovative online modes takes the genre to the next level.
25:35Yeah, Metal Gear Solid 3's back at E3 again this year, another of our old friends that's returned, like Half
25:41-Life 2 and Doom 3.
25:43There were huge crowds for it again.
25:46There were people practically camping out just before the hour.
25:48Once again, there was a lot of cheering and clapping.
25:50Obviously, being English, I was slightly more reserved.
25:52I'd just give it a quiet nod, but yeah, I think it's going to be brilliant.
25:56And there's this cutscene I saw where one character approaches another one and grabs him in his groin area.
26:01And I think this is the first groin grab in a video game, and I think we're really, really making
26:05progress in that front.
26:08Devil May Cry proved very popular both on the Capcom booth and on the PlayStation stand.
26:13I think in video games, sequels tend to get better and better and better.
26:16Devil May Cry 2 was kind of okay, but the third one looks amazing.
26:19And that's the beauty of Capcom, really, in that they do listen to their fans.
26:23Hopefully, it will go some way to placating those gamers that were unhappy by the sequel.
26:33The showing of a Metal Gear Solid video every year has become one of E3's traditions,
26:38along with the inevitable appearance of X-Difference Strokes wash-up Gary Coleman.
26:43However, this year, Hideo Kojima had even passed some playable code of Snake Eater in his luggage.
26:50Kojima showcased Snake Eater's new gameplay elements at an exclusive press conference.
27:00The expansive jungle environment forces Snake to utilize camouflage as a means of avoiding detection.
27:08And, as the title suggests, Snake must forage for and catch food if he's going to survive.
27:13Although, with crocodile, insect nests and snake on the menu, our hero's clearly a fan of the Atkins diet.
27:23A playable demo under the foliage on the show floor allowed us to get to grips with Snake's new jungle
27:29maneuvers,
27:29while the typically perplexing trailer asked more questions than it answered about the game's storyline.
27:37Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater will infiltrate your console later this year.
27:50It's a return to the PS2 for Devil May Cry, and it's cooler than Ice Cool Hero,
27:56here seen fending off demons while munching nonchalantly on a slice of pepperoni pizza.
28:03Half-demon, half-human Dante faces off against his brother Virgil in the third installment of Capcom's stylish action-adventure
28:10series.
28:11As you'd expect with a Devil May Cry title, ferocious sword and gunplay is still its raison d'etre.
28:17But after the disappointment of Devil May Cry 2, Capcom has rebuilt the game engine from scratch,
28:22offering greater control over Dante's acrobatics.
28:25They've also introduced a new RPG-style fighting system, which allows you to tailor Dante to your own tastes.
28:35We created a new fighting system where you can choose your favoured fighting style.
28:40For example, if you like to fight at close quarters, you can use swords or hands more.
28:47If you like to fight at long distances, use the guns.
28:50If you're not that good at fighting, you can use both guns and sword.
28:54And of course, use some of Dante's exotic moves to avoid the enemy.
29:00Graphically, the game's a huge improvement over its predecessors,
29:04with impressive numbers of bad guys on screen all lining up patiently to receive punishment.
29:09New moves such as the million stab and aerial rave propel Dante into a rage
29:14as enemies are dispatched in a hail of bullets or a whirlwind of flashing steel.
29:19Devil May Cry 3 left onlookers breathless.
29:31That's it for the Edge E3 Experience 2004, condensing three days of fascinating new video game product into a half
29:38-hour show's tough,
29:39but hopefully we've given you an insight into this year's most important announcements, updates and revelations,
29:45along with a taste of what it's actually like to be there at the hottest game show on earth.
29:49Until next year.
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