E3 2011: Day 2 Summary

Today was the first official day of E3, which kicked off with the announcement by Nintendo of the Wii U. Everyone squeed and peed their pants, except for the people that decided it is probably just going to be an iPad for Nintendo. I'll reserve judgment until there is a reasonably robust selection of games for it, and also because I'm too tired for critical analysis right now, and there appears to be a party in my hotel room. 

Today was also the first day of the expo floor. I spent most of the afternoon making a single round of it, noting locations for future appointments, and trying not to look any PR reps in the eye lest they try to make more appointments for which there will not actually be time.

I stopped to check out a few upcoming titles, the first among them El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron. I'd played a demo before at GDC, but a bit of familiarity this time made me enjoy the game much more. The lushly psychedelic landscape is visually interesting, but initially made some of the platformer elements of the game really difficult the first time I played. This time I was prepared, and didn't feel like quite as much of an idiot.

I glanced briefly at Ninja Gaiden, which appears nice and bloody (though tomorrow I'll be checking out Prototype 2, and I'm sure it will give NG a run for its money). Also, for some reason Squenix made Final Fantasy XIII-2, and added what seems like a potentially irritating puzzle facet to gameplay, though the combat seems like a bit of an improvement overall, and as always, everyone looks very pretty.

The E3 floor is so visually overstimulating that it can be difficult to keep down any food consumed less than an hour prior to entry. Massive, fortresslike booths are erected wall to wall, housing obscene amounts of hardware, aglow with super-saturated color. It can be kind of a nightmare for photography, but it is impressive as hell in person. There aren't really the proper words to do the experience justice, but rest assured: We are taking a LOT of pictures. 

After the floor closed, dinner was had, and parties were discussed. L.A. is not a terribly walkable city (nor does anyone seem to own bicycles), and most of the after events involved a minimum $40 cab ride. The crew with whom I was rolling hemmed and hawed over the options and eventually ended up just having a quiet night, filing stories, telling stories, and apparently missing out on the chance to party with Ice-T. 

On the plus side, we did end up having a fairly lengthy discussion of Juggalo subculture and social structure, which was kind of like partying, only quieter and with more references to magnets.

And on that note, I leave you for now, because I have to wake up in four hours to begin Day 3, and no one in this neighborhood seems to carry anything even remotely resembling coffee which, for a Seattlite is like not having water.