Tuesday, July 3, 2012

E3!

The Nintendo area of the show floor

I’ve been gaming since the tender age of seven, and since I was old enough to use the Internet, I have waited impatiently each year to hear and see what was announced at the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). This year, I had the privilege of going to E3, as they opened up their industry passes to students in game design programs! I was super stoked for a number of reasons: because it was free, because I am an avid gamer and didn’t want to pass up the chance to play unreleased games all day, everyday, for three days straight, and for the bragging rights (all my friends were
so jealous!)


During my three days at E3, I played many, many games, some of which I had seen the trailers for before arriving at the show. One such game was Lollipop Chainsaw (http://us.lollipopchainsaw.com/index.php), a hack-and-slash game developed by Grasshopper Manufacture for Playstation 3 and XBox 360. The plot of this game is reasonably odd: a high school cheerleader (booth babe version pictured here) who moonlights as a zombie hunter must battle hordes of zombies in what was once her high school, aided by the severed-but-still-living head of her boyfriend (she decapitated him so he would retain his humanity after he suffered a zombie bite). Surprisingly, the quirky plot fits the game quite well, as the game has a unique art style to match. Though I usually avoid zombie games like the plague, I found Lollipop Chainsaw to be thoroughly enjoyable, and much more approachable than the usual horror-genre zombie game.

Juliet, the main character of Lollipop Chainsaw

Injustice: Gods Among Us (http://www.injustice.com/), another game I'm looking forward to, is a superhero fighting game set in the DC Universe. This game divided its playable characters into “Power” characters, such as Superman or Solomon Grundy, and “Gadget” characters, such as Batman. Each character can interact with the environment in different ways, depending on his or her character class. Players can also throw their opponents into different areas in the environment, each with its own unique interactive elements, providing many ways to use each environment to the player’s advantage. I am a sucker for great visual effects, and the visual effects (dust, explosions, water, etc.) are drool-worthy. They really take the game that extra mile to make the game world look real and to ensure the player is thoroughly immersed. When it is released in 2013, Injustice: Gods Among Us will definitely be one of the few fighting games I will actually buy.

For me, the best take away from this conference was a renewed appreciation for all genres of games. Over the years, I had slowly started playing fewer innovative games and prior to arrival at E3, I had been playing solely adventure and RPG games. During my time at E3, I tried to play as many games on as many platforms as possible and found myself enjoying quite a few outside of my favorite genres and usual platforms. I definitely recommend that others attend this conference. I had a blast!
Piloting a giant robot!