Day 3: Today I was on a mission because there was so much I still had not seen and played and this was the last day! This was the first time in my life I wish I had a PDA because in my mind I had a long list of what I wanted to do. My first priority was to see the PS3 and I thought it would be better to go to it immediately because of the long line from the day before. Wrong, other people had the same idea and I was still buried in the back, so out comes the PSP. Again other people had the same idea and pull theirs out. Don’t know why we didn’t have huge wi-fi battles but I think we all were more concerned with our position in line. Finally the doors open and I am in a dark room with some plasma televisions on the wall talking about how the PS3 will take gaming and entertainment to the next level. Just then another set of doors open up and we are in a darker theater room with a large screen. The video demo starts and they show how the cell processor will make it easier for developers to make more realistic elements and environments. The demonstration had one ducky in a bathtub being rained on by a barrage of duckys. Next up was a city environment with people walking around with people looking and acting unlike anything I have ever seen on a console or pc. From there it goes into a war scene with soldiers on a modern terrain with hi-tech weapons. Every single preview just kept building up my excitement for this console and it’s potential. The excitement contributed to another outburst of guys turning into raving schoolgirls with anticipation. The doors open and their in a shiny display are three PS3s with different colors from white, silver to black. With the futuristic looking controller now being called the “Boomerang” by some gamers. I had no time to sit there and take it in, so I walked to the next room to get a ticket for the Square Enix movie. I got a ticket for a later showing so I had time to go wait in line for the New Legend of Zelda game. The line was huge as expected so again out comes my PSP. In this line I actually spotted some Nintendo DSes but the Sony PSP was still there because at that time it had just came out. But to be honest I did not see that many playing the PSP probably due us being in a Nintendo line. Of course I was a rebel and had my Ridge Racer out for the world to see. So the line moves and I am still not even half way there so I get back to my game. All of a sudden a lady says excuse me and I look up and standing there is a lady with an official looking Nintendo shirt. Here we go I think to myself, because I thought the Nintendo employee would ask me to put my PSP away or some other type of drama. Instead she asks me a simple question, “What would it take for you to put that away?” pointing to my PSP. So a simple answer pops in my hand and I say, “It would take getting to the front of this long line”. She says okay and I follow her to the front of the line. So with a smile and handshake I am in to play Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (thanks to my PSP) way faster than I would have imagined. The first part of Zelda that I played was getting Link on to a horse and fighting monsters on horseback. The graphics were beautiful and rich to be running on a Gamecube. The next room featured a mechanical wolf with a sinister looking moon that gave way to a video demo of Zelda. The next level available to play was Link fighting a spider type creature. The mix of story and adventures drew me into the game and seeing a mature Link in full 3D was mind-blowing. With no time to waste I dart to the Square Enix show with ticket in hand to wait in a line with a ton of RPG fanatics. The previews shown were all beautiful but the one I was personally there for was Advent Children because at the time I was lead to believe it was a PSP movie exclusive. Cloud is shown with Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within graphics bouncing on screen with his huge sword in hand. I still can’t wait for this one, which has since release in Japan. The last thing for me to do was to play the Xbox 360 and take in as much as I could since it would be and has been released this year. The games that I played for the Xbox 360 was Full Auto, Condemned: Criminal Origins and Need for Speed: Most Wanted. The most impressive game of all three at that time was Need for Speed because of the graphics, game play and speed of the game. Condemned did not interest me because I was not into FPS at the time and with a controller it did not make me walk away a fan. Full Auto compared to Need for Speed could not hold up and the demo was running so slow that the weapons and driving did not make it that memorable. The Xbox 360 did not make me feel like it was next generation in my opinion like the PS3 video demonstration even though I had no game play with the PS3. This was my final day at E3 and even now I can close my eyes and still feel the sensation of the event. It had a huge impact on me and I will try to attend every year if I can.
